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(no subject)
Jan. 1st, 2010 12:01 amHappy 2010 everyone.
The Story of Arkeithios, God of Balls.
Dec. 18th, 2009 07:18 pmThe record of the worship of Arkeithios has been stricken from history, but oral tradition survives to this day, if you ask an old guy at a diner.
When the Christians were taking over Greece, the Priests of Arkeithios prayed to him: "Give us strength, Arkeithios!"
But he replied, as he always did "Tha sas doso Arkeithia!" (I'll give you Balls!)
The worshippers of Arkeithios developed huge, invulnerable testicles. This made it difficult to hide from the Christians. They recognized each other with their secret greeting "Na, Vrai!" (Here, dude! *pointing down at the scrotum*)
Arkeithios eventually removed the balls of all the Christian missionaries. They instituted the tradition of priests being celibate to hide their shame.
Eventually the Christians took over anyway, but some of the Arkeithian tradtion has become part of Greek culture to this very day.
Even now you can hear people greeting each other with "Na, Vrai!".
(for Faidra)
When the Christians were taking over Greece, the Priests of Arkeithios prayed to him: "Give us strength, Arkeithios!"
But he replied, as he always did "Tha sas doso Arkeithia!" (I'll give you Balls!)
The worshippers of Arkeithios developed huge, invulnerable testicles. This made it difficult to hide from the Christians. They recognized each other with their secret greeting "Na, Vrai!" (Here, dude! *pointing down at the scrotum*)
Arkeithios eventually removed the balls of all the Christian missionaries. They instituted the tradition of priests being celibate to hide their shame.
Eventually the Christians took over anyway, but some of the Arkeithian tradtion has become part of Greek culture to this very day.
Even now you can hear people greeting each other with "Na, Vrai!".
(for Faidra)
(no subject)
Dec. 8th, 2009 04:51 pmI don't want anyone to "protect" me from making "bad" decisions. If I do something stupid and hurt myself, that's my own business. I'll take my chances.
(no subject)
Dec. 7th, 2009 03:41 pmOk, it's a silly [x] generator, but this one did make me laugh:
On the twelfth day of Christmas, 
ineffabelle sent to me...
ineffabelle sent to me...Twelve regohemias drumming
regohemias drummingEleven ninjers piping
ninjers pipingTen dirigibles a-leaping
Nine cyphers dancing
Eight metanarratives a-ravelling
Seven codes a-weaving
Six hypostasis unravelling
Five apo-o-o-ocatastasis
Four monophysites
Three cryptognosis
Two gay philosophers
...and a shekhinah in a pneumatology.
Into the forest you must go...
Dec. 7th, 2009 11:36 amSorry if I've been fairly inactive lately. Things are very strange and intense for me this holiday season. It's like everything in my life has been compressed, a wave of force pushing me up an exponential hill... hard to describe better than that really. The omega point is getting closer and closer, and yet the gateway through to the other side is not quite ready for me yet.
Oh well, I've never been someone to do things the easy way.
I feel like someone who's been living in the woods for so long, they forgot how to speak to people. I mean all the words are there, but they are a private language only. My mc'pozzmic/instrumental thinking is sharper than ever, but I can't function in The City right now, so to speak.
Oh well, I've never been someone to do things the easy way.
I feel like someone who's been living in the woods for so long, they forgot how to speak to people. I mean all the words are there, but they are a private language only. My mc'pozzmic/instrumental thinking is sharper than ever, but I can't function in The City right now, so to speak.
(no subject)
Nov. 24th, 2009 12:03 amIt's just not *there* yet but when it is, it will be quite dramatic.
The Adversary wins almost every battle, but the Adversary HAS TO win almost every battle, just to stay in the game, because everything in nature and in the universe at large is working against it. You almost have to admire the forces of evil for doing such a good job of keeping their end up.
The Adversary wins almost every battle, but the Adversary HAS TO win almost every battle, just to stay in the game, because everything in nature and in the universe at large is working against it. You almost have to admire the forces of evil for doing such a good job of keeping their end up.
(no subject)
Nov. 20th, 2009 12:30 am"I'd tell all my friends, but they'd never believe me,
they'd think that I'd finally lost it completely...
I'd show them the stars, and the meaning of life,
and they'd shut me away,
but I'd be alright..."
they'd think that I'd finally lost it completely...
I'd show them the stars, and the meaning of life,
and they'd shut me away,
but I'd be alright..."
All one knows.
Nov. 19th, 2009 11:53 pmAll one knows is domination
the other only struggle
ceaseless suffering made
inevitable, by each needing the other
to exist
and yet they each claim they wish to end
the process
but the process can never end
until they do.
What do I say?
I am neither fish nor fowl
not spectacle nor spectator
entirely and whole
but something made up
from bits and pieces I found
a tatterdemalion of soul
And this is how I found myself here.
the other only struggle
ceaseless suffering made
inevitable, by each needing the other
to exist
and yet they each claim they wish to end
the process
but the process can never end
until they do.
What do I say?
I am neither fish nor fowl
not spectacle nor spectator
entirely and whole
but something made up
from bits and pieces I found
a tatterdemalion of soul
And this is how I found myself here.
some aphorisms for today...
Nov. 10th, 2009 03:14 pmIf you give a man a fish, you will feed him for a day. Teach him to fish, he will eat for life.
But if you don't give a man a fish while you're teaching him, he'll starve before he can learn anything.
There are greater mysteries than what is apparent, but they manifest as what is apparent.
The revolution against evil is always itself evil. But the evil it revolts against, is certainly also evil.
There is another way, and if you look for it, you will find it.
Everything is easy once you get past the beginning. But beginnings are never easy.
But if you don't give a man a fish while you're teaching him, he'll starve before he can learn anything.
There are greater mysteries than what is apparent, but they manifest as what is apparent.
The revolution against evil is always itself evil. But the evil it revolts against, is certainly also evil.
There is another way, and if you look for it, you will find it.
Everything is easy once you get past the beginning. But beginnings are never easy.
(no subject)
Nov. 10th, 2009 02:09 am“I’m confused. Is Crankshaft rattling off a list of location-specific weather phenomena, or the colloquial titles of perverse sex acts? He may well be ready for the Saskatchewan Snowjob, but you can’t ever truly prepare yourself for a Winnipeg Windjammer.” –Caroline
From the comments section of the ever entertaining Comics Curmudgeon
The Viking Thread is actually an interesting test of someone's internal linguistic machinery.
If your initial reaction is "OBVIOUSLY it means he's dreaming he's a Viking, and anyone who doesn't get that is stupid or insane", I would suspect that the last letter in your MBTI is probably a J. You generally build your language linearly and formally, and if/when you don't, you're breaking that consciously in order to create an ambiguity on purpose.
But some people create their language out of context and connotation more than a formal understanding of "what language is" (and they're not all stupid or insane).
Personally, I agree with the "He's dreaming of being a Viking" interpretation, in the sense that I think that's probably what the writers meant, but the other interpretation is intuitively clear to me as well. Even though it's probably the first time anyone ever used it that way. New metaphors arise all the time.
Now, comedians/comic writers often have a skill for creating ambiguities and absurdities that they might not even consciously understand, but that somehow "strike them as funny", which is what I suspect happened in this case.
If your initial reaction is "OBVIOUSLY it means he's dreaming he's a Viking, and anyone who doesn't get that is stupid or insane", I would suspect that the last letter in your MBTI is probably a J. You generally build your language linearly and formally, and if/when you don't, you're breaking that consciously in order to create an ambiguity on purpose.
But some people create their language out of context and connotation more than a formal understanding of "what language is" (and they're not all stupid or insane).
Personally, I agree with the "He's dreaming of being a Viking" interpretation, in the sense that I think that's probably what the writers meant, but the other interpretation is intuitively clear to me as well. Even though it's probably the first time anyone ever used it that way. New metaphors arise all the time.
Now, comedians/comic writers often have a skill for creating ambiguities and absurdities that they might not even consciously understand, but that somehow "strike them as funny", which is what I suspect happened in this case.
(no subject)
Nov. 8th, 2009 10:45 pmIt amuses me that among my interests "apocatastasis" has more people than "anti-universalism"
... and that cryptognosis has none.
... and that cryptognosis has none.
I've seen things...
Nov. 8th, 2009 10:19 pmI walk among the leaves and detritus
of the ineffable
you try so hard to recapture me
and draw me in
but my outline's not so
accommodating
as all that.
I don't doubt that reality is real
I just don't think you know
what you're dealing with
You deal with boxes
and controlled environments
and that's why you want
to put the world in a box
because not knowing,
not being right,
scares you so deeply...
but I walk among the leaves
and detritus
of the ineffable-
I don't know, and I don't need to.
And neither do you. Sorry.
of the ineffable
you try so hard to recapture me
and draw me in
but my outline's not so
accommodating
as all that.
I don't doubt that reality is real
I just don't think you know
what you're dealing with
You deal with boxes
and controlled environments
and that's why you want
to put the world in a box
because not knowing,
not being right,
scares you so deeply...
but I walk among the leaves
and detritus
of the ineffable-
I don't know, and I don't need to.
And neither do you. Sorry.
(no subject)
Nov. 8th, 2009 10:11 pmToday was a day of great awesomeness.
I took a nice long 4 hour walk through the woods of Prospect Park. Fall foliage in full effect.
I went to the zoo and saw kangaroos, otters, sea lions, and a red panda, among other things.
Best of all I got to feed Aggie the Cow out of my hand! A very cute cow. She mooed a lot when I left.
I took a nice long 4 hour walk through the woods of Prospect Park. Fall foliage in full effect.
I went to the zoo and saw kangaroos, otters, sea lions, and a red panda, among other things.
Best of all I got to feed Aggie the Cow out of my hand! A very cute cow. She mooed a lot when I left.
Methylation is an important metabolic process, especially in the brain, but also in the bones and joints. Most people's methylation pathways become degraded by modern lifestyles.
The list of foods that contain the necessary methyl donor molecules will probably look familiar: green leafy vegetables, legumes, citrus, berries, and nuts. Although in this particular case, it’s very important that the foods have been processed as little as possible before you eat them—and that includes heating and freezing. Keeping these foods as fresh and “raw” as possible helps preserve the methyl donor molecules they contain.
There are also a few supplements that supply methyl groups, including particularly S-adenosylmethionine (SAMe), followed by methylsulfonylmethane (MSM), betaine (including the betaine from betaine hydrochloride), 5-methyltetrahydrofolate (a “new-in-the-stores” and more natural form of folic acid), and methylcobalamin (a form of vitamin B12).
Improving the methylation process by "boosting" the precursor count can improve depression (SAM-e in particular has been studied in this regard) by helping the conversion of 5-htp into dopamine, and can make your joints and bones more strong and flexible (by improving the methylation of calcium).
It also will improve the metabolism of estrogen, for all of those on HRT.
The list of foods that contain the necessary methyl donor molecules will probably look familiar: green leafy vegetables, legumes, citrus, berries, and nuts. Although in this particular case, it’s very important that the foods have been processed as little as possible before you eat them—and that includes heating and freezing. Keeping these foods as fresh and “raw” as possible helps preserve the methyl donor molecules they contain.
There are also a few supplements that supply methyl groups, including particularly S-adenosylmethionine (SAMe), followed by methylsulfonylmethane (MSM), betaine (including the betaine from betaine hydrochloride), 5-methyltetrahydrofolate (a “new-in-the-stores” and more natural form of folic acid), and methylcobalamin (a form of vitamin B12).
Improving the methylation process by "boosting" the precursor count can improve depression (SAM-e in particular has been studied in this regard) by helping the conversion of 5-htp into dopamine, and can make your joints and bones more strong and flexible (by improving the methylation of calcium).
It also will improve the metabolism of estrogen, for all of those on HRT.
(no subject)
Nov. 2nd, 2009 07:35 pmPoker is not gambling. In Poker, over a long enough span of hands, in theory, everyone gets the same amount of "sets", i.e., everyone will get the same number of Pairs,2 Pair, Three of a Kind, Straights, etc.
There are no actual "odds" in poker, in the long run. Once you see your cards, you have a temporary set of odds, in that hand, but over the span of the game there are no odds.
When you play poker in a casino, you and the other players are essentially renting the table space and paying someone to deal the cards to you, but the house has no incentive to "jack" anyone.
Since everyone sees the same sets in the long run, Poker is actually a game of skill, based on:
1. your ability to decieve and not be decieved by the other players betting strategies and pantomimes.
2. your ability to calculate complex expected values in your head, in order to facilitate #1.
There are no actual "odds" in poker, in the long run. Once you see your cards, you have a temporary set of odds, in that hand, but over the span of the game there are no odds.
When you play poker in a casino, you and the other players are essentially renting the table space and paying someone to deal the cards to you, but the house has no incentive to "jack" anyone.
Since everyone sees the same sets in the long run, Poker is actually a game of skill, based on:
1. your ability to decieve and not be decieved by the other players betting strategies and pantomimes.
2. your ability to calculate complex expected values in your head, in order to facilitate #1.
(no subject)
Oct. 23rd, 2009 11:29 pm"Conservative populism is largely fake, Liberal elitism is largely real" - Anon (some radical socialist I read online, but don't remember his name)
It's a great quote, and underscores what has been excised from American political discourse, ever since Woodrow Wilson demolished the IWW.
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amp23 has a really good rant on a not related topic (except insofar as everything is really related, in the world of true history)
read it here
It's a great quote, and underscores what has been excised from American political discourse, ever since Woodrow Wilson demolished the IWW.
amp23 has a really good rant on a not related topic (except insofar as everything is really related, in the world of true history)read it here
Vive la difference!
Oct. 20th, 2009 12:31 amWhenever people unite, agree and subsume themselves into a group, this is when humanity degrades terribly. They may have horrible goals, they may have seemingly wonderful goals, but it is during this phase that all the damage is done. It is when people are scattered, bitter and cynical, left to their own devices and skeptical of every ideal, that they are healing and rebuilding the world.
Sadly our inability to percieve the lag of time and how it works allows demagogues and their idealist dupes to convince us otherwise.
There is a third path but most people are definitely not ready for it, from what I have experienced. This is the path of optimistic cynicism. To know that there is no great unity, but that we are beautiful in our disagreements, and we all have something to say to each other. To be non-violent because you know that you might be wrong at any moment. To know that we will never merge and become God, but that it is unnecessary because Tat Tvam Asi, and we are doing it the human way and we wanted it to be so. I don't want to make the whole world agree with me, I just want to find people who are sympathetic and understanding of the greater truth that there are many good roads (even though not all roads are good).
Sadly our inability to percieve the lag of time and how it works allows demagogues and their idealist dupes to convince us otherwise.
There is a third path but most people are definitely not ready for it, from what I have experienced. This is the path of optimistic cynicism. To know that there is no great unity, but that we are beautiful in our disagreements, and we all have something to say to each other. To be non-violent because you know that you might be wrong at any moment. To know that we will never merge and become God, but that it is unnecessary because Tat Tvam Asi, and we are doing it the human way and we wanted it to be so. I don't want to make the whole world agree with me, I just want to find people who are sympathetic and understanding of the greater truth that there are many good roads (even though not all roads are good).
So far I've found techniques for processing the sadness components of my low cycles, a sort of centering in time that makes it into an exquisite tragic pain/joy of existence type of feeling that is easy to tolerate and almost enjoyable. And I'm figuring out how to get past the guilt by marking the past off as a sort of film, making it grainier and less saturated so I can really intuitively grasp that it was literally someone else who did these things.
The future still haunts me though. Fear and shame are still difficult for me to deal with. But by conquering these other two demons of my cycle of pain, it's given me some sort of basic clue on how to approach the rest.
I can't formalize how I do these things yet, and so I can't really teach them to anyone yet. But give me time, just a little more... and I will get through the membrane separating myself and everything I need... to do.
Anger hasn't been as much of a problem for me since beginning my transformation... It flares up but doesn't linger, where there used to be endless painful storms of rage. In fact what wrath I have is much more focused on the immediate, more of a righteous indignation at those who cause others pain. I love the world and everything but it disappoints me sometimes, as one's children often do.
I had a delightful grilled tuna and baked potato lunch today with lemonade spiked with mint to drink. It was a good thing. I wish I could convey through this post how lovely this song is. I hope you're all doing well right now and I miss you all.
The future still haunts me though. Fear and shame are still difficult for me to deal with. But by conquering these other two demons of my cycle of pain, it's given me some sort of basic clue on how to approach the rest.
I can't formalize how I do these things yet, and so I can't really teach them to anyone yet. But give me time, just a little more... and I will get through the membrane separating myself and everything I need... to do.
Anger hasn't been as much of a problem for me since beginning my transformation... It flares up but doesn't linger, where there used to be endless painful storms of rage. In fact what wrath I have is much more focused on the immediate, more of a righteous indignation at those who cause others pain. I love the world and everything but it disappoints me sometimes, as one's children often do.
I had a delightful grilled tuna and baked potato lunch today with lemonade spiked with mint to drink. It was a good thing. I wish I could convey through this post how lovely this song is. I hope you're all doing well right now and I miss you all.
(no subject)
Oct. 6th, 2009 12:53 pmDealing with Verifone is always like pulling teeth. Why do they hate their customers so much?
And what might save us, me and you, is if the Muslims love their children too.
(no subject)
Oct. 2nd, 2009 06:29 pmThe beginning of love is to let those we love be perfectly themselves, and not to twist them to fit our own image. Otherwise we love only the reflection of ourselves we find in them. -- Thomas Merton
(no subject)
Sep. 21st, 2009 09:53 pmif you like lil bebehs and lil cute pets, and the combination thereof, prepare for a cute assault, class 1:
Pets and Kids
Pets and Kids
(no subject)
Sep. 19th, 2009 01:27 pm"We're out looking for Zero-day torrents today! Don't stop till you find some .isos, damnit!"
(no subject)
Sep. 19th, 2009 01:11 am(1:10:06 AM) annamnesis: this is the funny thing though
(1:10:21 AM) annamnesis: most "christians" seem very defensive about their beliefs
(1:10:35 AM) annamnesis: even though most people in the US are "christian"
(1:10:53 AM) annamnesis: I think they're trying very hard to convince themselves.
(1:10:21 AM) annamnesis: most "christians" seem very defensive about their beliefs
(1:10:35 AM) annamnesis: even though most people in the US are "christian"
(1:10:53 AM) annamnesis: I think they're trying very hard to convince themselves.
(no subject)
Sep. 13th, 2009 02:39 am"Whoever blasphemes against the Father will be forgiven, and whoever blasphemes against the Son will be forgiven, but whoever blasphemes against the holy spirit will not be forgiven, either on earth or in heaven."
This might be the cleverest thing the J man ever said.
This might be the cleverest thing the J man ever said.
(no subject)
Sep. 11th, 2009 02:11 am"There are somewhere around 90,000,000 gun owners in this country. That number is 30 times bigger than the entire Chinese army. Armed civilians here outnumber all “law enforcement” and military personnel by a huge margin. The American people CANNOT be ruled by brute force alone, not by any foreign power, not by any local gang, not by anyone on this planet."
- Larken Rose
- Larken Rose
(no subject)
Sep. 6th, 2009 11:44 pmbest headline ever:
Prison van crash...Adviser resigns...Volcano explosions
Prison van crash...Adviser resigns...Volcano explosions
(no subject)
Sep. 6th, 2009 11:53 amI saw a bird today, and said "you don't know it, but you're the word". I looked up at the sun and said "today's your day".
I am in an incredibly good mood.
that is all.
I am in an incredibly good mood.
that is all.
(no subject)
Sep. 1st, 2009 10:12 pmI still wonder why they haven't made the movie version of A Canticle For Leibowitz.
(no subject)
Aug. 26th, 2009 03:46 pmOw. My stomach is getting kind of oogy and I still have 3 hours of work left. Boo. :(
(no subject)
Aug. 23rd, 2009 08:05 pmUGH WORK ON SUNDAY WAS FUCKING ROUGH.
Someone's whole Point of Sale system sort of died on them, and I spent all day working on it, instead of doing what I needed to do today.
I did get a bonus out of it though, so fuck it.
Someone's whole Point of Sale system sort of died on them, and I spent all day working on it, instead of doing what I needed to do today.
I did get a bonus out of it though, so fuck it.
(no subject)
Aug. 21st, 2009 11:30 pm"What it comes down to, I think, is the difference between standing up for yourself and being a bully. What I am about to say is maybe not the most popular or welcome thing to hear in discussions like this, but: sometimes you need to stand up for yourself. Sometimes something is so big and so bad that you just have to call it out, because you think making the fucked-upness of a situation or statement or wacky cinematic date rape leading to true love will help other people, maybe even the person that you are calling out. But – ah, BUT! – it actually is possible to be a total jerk about this. You can belittle people and attack them personally and fail to listen to them and score points off them. And it doesn’t actually help anyone. It just makes the cause you are presenting look like something that crazy mean people use to boost their self-esteem and justify their cruelty."
- Sady of Tiger Beatdown
I like her more and more, the more I read.
- Sady of Tiger Beatdown
I like her more and more, the more I read.
Science vs "Science"
Aug. 16th, 2009 10:58 amThe reason why physics is a pretty solid discipline is not because physicists are particularly smarter than anyone else, they just have a much better set of mechanisms for checking their stupidity than most fields do.
The thing that makes science ... well, scientific, is the position of maximum possible scepticism that it takes toward all knowledge. If scientists start losing that scepticism, they become less and less scientific.
(Socio-biologists, for example, seem to be particularly prone to making claims way beyond what the evidence would allow)
The thing that makes science ... well, scientific, is the position of maximum possible scepticism that it takes toward all knowledge. If scientists start losing that scepticism, they become less and less scientific.
(Socio-biologists, for example, seem to be particularly prone to making claims way beyond what the evidence would allow)
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"Come on Jake, forget it, it's Chinatown"
Aug. 1st, 2009 09:14 pmSaw Oldboy and Chinatown this weekend.
o.0
o.0
