The work week started.
Jul. 18th, 2005 09:31 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
silveradeptAnd it started pretty badly. My headphones lost one channel, then the other. I suppose that's what I get for buying the cheap ones, but I don't think I bought them that long ago, which makes me pretty fuggin mad. And there was that certain feeling like I was going to get washed out by a tidal wave, only to have it crash down and simply lap my toes on the beach. Actually, that's a good thing. It goes up there with some hopefully-useful conversation at lunch today (for matters that I'm not sure I can divulge quite yet.) Unfortunately, there's a bit of a bust from yesterday - turns out one of the more popular software program I have can't do its function completely - and it produces files that are unreadable by the program that can. So if someone knows a good Hex-viewing/editing program that I can use so that I know where to put the data generated by the one into the other, I'd be very happy. It'll take some time, obviously, to transpose the data bytes and blocks correctly, but it's about the only way I'll be able to accomplish things. Maybe I'll use my leap second to work on that.
Oh, and there was that storm thing that rattled through the area. Not nearly as bad as the hurricane which is passing right over Maritza's house (stay safe, all of you!) And the storm that happened today, too.
Erm - well, when you go away, the weird news keeps happening. Like breast implant thieves. And spontaneous gender changes. But I think it's the marble-shooting air gunthat makes my antennae quiver.
Ever wonder how someone can zone out into a game? Maybe it's something far more mystical than we think. Enjoy The Tao of Tetris as a way of possibly understanding how it might be Zen to do so. Once in a properly beginner state, you should be able to not WTF at The Poodle Disguise Kit. (No, not disguising your poodle. Disguising something else as a poodle.)
More grammar fun, this time with a distinctly regional flavor (at least for the moment): Ruminations on y'all. Speaking of regional flavors, there are people positing, that based on similarities of story and transmission, The Buddha might have become a Christian Saint. Well, it does make sense. After all, if the people say that indigenous gods became saints, then an Enlightened One would have made the cut.
The socialist that I was talking with made some mention of the ideas in this piece about how to Be Free, mostly involved with the stuff talking about supporting the State Apparatus. The article goes further, however, suggesting that apathy is the way to anarchism. By withdrawing from the voting and then as well from the taxation system (as much as possible), one can loosen the grip of the government on you. At least, that's the argument. It seems flawed to me in that the state apparatus can still butt itself in when it feels like it if you're still telling them that you exist. There are probably other flaws as well, and something about me rankles when voter apathy is being encouraged.
And then there's this short clip - The Seven Words You Can't Say In Kindergarten. For extended material and hilarity, be sure you read all the commentary delivered so far. There's short-sightedness, inability to understand, over-analysis, and more than a few people making jokes at others' expense. I have to say, I agree with the premise - the seven words do seem to be the ones that are forbidden right now. Maybe not with the way of delivery, but it does make a point.
That brings us up to the quasi-thought-provoking thingy (of sorts) for tonight - it would be rated for older audiences (most likely an R, if not an NC-17), although it discusses an age range that is lower than that ceiling in it's ramblings.
So there's been a bit of banter over at a site that I've stayed with, even while the crowd continues to turn considerable more teenage girl angst - Ask the Suzaku Seishi. It had a sister site for the Seriyuu set, run by different peoples, but that site was closed, possibly due to volume as well as the clientele. Anyway, one of the characters made mentioned that soon after having left to pursue banditry as a career option, he made at least one visit to a sex worker. It was apparently a matter of peer pressure as well as drink, at least according to his account. (I have no idea whether this is canon or not for the series. Bear with me.) Someone appears to have taken him to task about the matter, though, thinking that somehow his visit at the tender age of fifteen was somehow morally repulsive (or just repulsive to him).
I looked at this, and I may be quoting out of my Liberal's Guide to Destroying Moral Values (it might be the chapter in between Selling Your Soul to Satan for Fun and Profit and Baby-Killing (and Eating!) on Less Than Twenty Dollars a Day.. or was it included in the Mind Controlling Children through the Schools supplement, next to the chapter on Evolution... anyway...) but my response was "Would that more children had such an option to explore in their early lives!" (Minus the drink and pressure, I suspect.) Think about it - a licensed professional sex worker would take more than a few of the problems and get rid of them. No worries about diseases, or not knowing how to utilize protective tools, or even necessarily anxieties about underachieving or lack of performance - a good professional would be able to walk someone through all of those aspects properly. Plus, the guy (girls, too - I suspect, however, the services would probably be used more by gentlemen than ladies - I'm not saying exclusively, however.) gains experience about the act in a safe environment. Someone who wanted to be abstinence-until-marriage would not have to even acknowledge the existence of the sex workers, if they so chose. It might even become part of the parlance that the experience with the sex workers really isn't breaking the idea of abstinence - although both of these courses would be degrading to the image of the sex worker. Which would probably not be a good thing. There are several ancient civilizations on record that have a licensed class of sex workers (I suspect, several modern ones do as well). They didn't collapse because of that, as best as I can tell. But here, in the place where the Puritan mentality still holds considerable sway, suggesting such an idea is tantamount to a political suicide - prostitution is still the sort of thing that people think you'll go to hell over, after you go to jail for a long time.
Then again, I'm probably making arguments that many a person before me has made. To about the same effect, most likely. The licensing scheme would probably help things out and set standards and such, but before such a thing happens we'll have to get over the mindset that sexual activity is icky-yuck-ONLY-FOR-PROCREATION-OR-YOU'RE-GOING-TO-HELL!-abstinence-is-better. So, my descendent searching the historical archives of the Puritan Twentieth Century, please tell me that you've managed to come to terms with your sexual identities. You may not have the Temporal Regression Device to scribble it here at this time period, but make a note of it in your school report, okay?
Oh, and there was that storm thing that rattled through the area. Not nearly as bad as the hurricane which is passing right over Maritza's house (stay safe, all of you!) And the storm that happened today, too.
Erm - well, when you go away, the weird news keeps happening. Like breast implant thieves. And spontaneous gender changes. But I think it's the marble-shooting air gunthat makes my antennae quiver.
Ever wonder how someone can zone out into a game? Maybe it's something far more mystical than we think. Enjoy The Tao of Tetris as a way of possibly understanding how it might be Zen to do so. Once in a properly beginner state, you should be able to not WTF at The Poodle Disguise Kit. (No, not disguising your poodle. Disguising something else as a poodle.)
More grammar fun, this time with a distinctly regional flavor (at least for the moment): Ruminations on y'all. Speaking of regional flavors, there are people positing, that based on similarities of story and transmission, The Buddha might have become a Christian Saint. Well, it does make sense. After all, if the people say that indigenous gods became saints, then an Enlightened One would have made the cut.
The socialist that I was talking with made some mention of the ideas in this piece about how to Be Free, mostly involved with the stuff talking about supporting the State Apparatus. The article goes further, however, suggesting that apathy is the way to anarchism. By withdrawing from the voting and then as well from the taxation system (as much as possible), one can loosen the grip of the government on you. At least, that's the argument. It seems flawed to me in that the state apparatus can still butt itself in when it feels like it if you're still telling them that you exist. There are probably other flaws as well, and something about me rankles when voter apathy is being encouraged.
And then there's this short clip - The Seven Words You Can't Say In Kindergarten. For extended material and hilarity, be sure you read all the commentary delivered so far. There's short-sightedness, inability to understand, over-analysis, and more than a few people making jokes at others' expense. I have to say, I agree with the premise - the seven words do seem to be the ones that are forbidden right now. Maybe not with the way of delivery, but it does make a point.
That brings us up to the quasi-thought-provoking thingy (of sorts) for tonight - it would be rated for older audiences (most likely an R, if not an NC-17), although it discusses an age range that is lower than that ceiling in it's ramblings.
So there's been a bit of banter over at a site that I've stayed with, even while the crowd continues to turn considerable more teenage girl angst - Ask the Suzaku Seishi. It had a sister site for the Seriyuu set, run by different peoples, but that site was closed, possibly due to volume as well as the clientele. Anyway, one of the characters made mentioned that soon after having left to pursue banditry as a career option, he made at least one visit to a sex worker. It was apparently a matter of peer pressure as well as drink, at least according to his account. (I have no idea whether this is canon or not for the series. Bear with me.) Someone appears to have taken him to task about the matter, though, thinking that somehow his visit at the tender age of fifteen was somehow morally repulsive (or just repulsive to him).
I looked at this, and I may be quoting out of my Liberal's Guide to Destroying Moral Values (it might be the chapter in between Selling Your Soul to Satan for Fun and Profit and Baby-Killing (and Eating!) on Less Than Twenty Dollars a Day.. or was it included in the Mind Controlling Children through the Schools supplement, next to the chapter on Evolution... anyway...) but my response was "Would that more children had such an option to explore in their early lives!" (Minus the drink and pressure, I suspect.) Think about it - a licensed professional sex worker would take more than a few of the problems and get rid of them. No worries about diseases, or not knowing how to utilize protective tools, or even necessarily anxieties about underachieving or lack of performance - a good professional would be able to walk someone through all of those aspects properly. Plus, the guy (girls, too - I suspect, however, the services would probably be used more by gentlemen than ladies - I'm not saying exclusively, however.) gains experience about the act in a safe environment. Someone who wanted to be abstinence-until-marriage would not have to even acknowledge the existence of the sex workers, if they so chose. It might even become part of the parlance that the experience with the sex workers really isn't breaking the idea of abstinence - although both of these courses would be degrading to the image of the sex worker. Which would probably not be a good thing. There are several ancient civilizations on record that have a licensed class of sex workers (I suspect, several modern ones do as well). They didn't collapse because of that, as best as I can tell. But here, in the place where the Puritan mentality still holds considerable sway, suggesting such an idea is tantamount to a political suicide - prostitution is still the sort of thing that people think you'll go to hell over, after you go to jail for a long time.
Then again, I'm probably making arguments that many a person before me has made. To about the same effect, most likely. The licensing scheme would probably help things out and set standards and such, but before such a thing happens we'll have to get over the mindset that sexual activity is icky-yuck-ONLY-FOR-PROCREATION-OR-YOU'RE-GOING-TO-HELL!-abstinence-is-better. So, my descendent searching the historical archives of the Puritan Twentieth Century, please tell me that you've managed to come to terms with your sexual identities. You may not have the Temporal Regression Device to scribble it here at this time period, but make a note of it in your school report, okay?
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no subject
Date: 2005-07-19 09:21 am (UTC)Oh yeah, this guys has flaws comming out of his other flaws. Contradictions abound, save your money but destroy the state that prints the money? The biggest problem is that this guy must have been asleep during history class. The second is I wonder how he can manage to brush his teeth with the idealism blinding him so.
Nothing wrong with wanting a better world but when it's approached with such unrealistic methods it make the whole idea of striving for a better world seem foolish.
And I've been all for state liscened hookers for years. It happens in a few places in Europe and Nevada, and if it goes further mainstream America will be one of the last places to get it I think.
no subject
Date: 2005-07-19 10:42 am (UTC)Re: Licensing, I just wonder how many otherwise-confident people are stopped from pursuing what could be a most excellent sexual relationship because they have no experience in the sack?
no subject
Date: 2005-07-21 12:14 am (UTC)I can't see anything wrong with that. I mean, it's going to happen anyway, right? Why keep laws that guarantee it to be dangerous?
no subject
Date: 2005-07-21 12:31 am (UTC)