The Story of Arkeithios, God of Balls.
The 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)
I 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)
Ok, it's a silly [x] generator, but this one did make me laugh:
On the twelfth day of Christmas,
ineffabelle sent to me...

Twelve
regohemias drumming

Eleven
ninjers piping

Ten 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...
Sorry 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)
It'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)
"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.
All 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...
If 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)
“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
If language is a map of reality, it's a map drawn on a chalkboard in a rainstorm.
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)
It 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...
I 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)
Today 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.
Some practical info, you might be able to use.
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)
Poker 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.