Segment Two - 18 July 2007

And then there’s all the stuff that happened today, which requires a second post, because it’s just so link-filled. Or something. It took me quite a while just to get all of it in any semblance of order. So, enjoy it, or something. Because there’s a lot of it.

Let’s start with something complex, rather than simple, and get it all out of the way. Michael Gerson revisits an argument I’ve heard many, many times about the existence of G-d, namely that without G-d, while we can still be moral, and desire morality, without G-d, there's no "purpose" for morality, since in evolution, our natures have us selfish and cruel as well as kind and benevolent. Without G-d, there’s apparently no ability for anyone to have an objective basis to discern good from evil. While some note that Gerson is hardly in a position to be pontificating, it’s your choice as to whether to argue that humans can be moral without G-d, or that an objective basis for determining right and wrong is a hopeless fiction and that we should be concerned more about the appropriate implementation of our brains, philosophies, and ideas so that we are able to live harmoniously with each other and with the planet that supports us. As thinking beings, we can put aside a short-term gain to work on what could be an even bigger long-term gain. Plus, as Liberal Eagle points out, the belief in a god does not equate oneself with an accurate moral compass. For a further example of this, the dungeon once used to house the pope's enemies is open for tours again. Not yet to hold more of the Pope’s enemies, but it’s a good reminder that pontiffs and other people we trust with responsibility are, after all, Hume.

Amy Sullivan, in Time, says that the president and his religious beliefs started becoming very intertwined with Jimmy Carter, and furthermore, that if the Democratic party wants to have a presidency and a majority, they need to aggressively market their faith-friendliness to the voters. The difficulty with this is that, as Mahablog explains excellently, Christianity in America is less about what Christ said and did than about using Christ as a sockpuppet or mascot . If the people who loudly proclaim themselves Christians were doing as Jesus commanded, we’d probably have a lot of our social ills fixed, and many of those people wouldn’t be shouting their religious affiliations from the rooftops. Here in America, though, much like how we like truthiness, we like to see people display their faith as brazenly as possible. And in such a display, selfishly claim that the only god that anyone refers to should be YHWH, for which American United for Separation of Church and State tears them a new excretory sphincter. Or we’ll feel our interpretations are correct so strongly that we'll stab the pastor and others to express our displeasure.

What will that get us? Well, we could see a great example in Afghanistan, where girls who went to school are shot, no doubt because educating women was something “forbidden” under Taliban rule or some other nonsense. Might also lead to complaining about a hate crimes bill being attached to an Iraq war funding authorization. There is legitimate concern about the use of a process that doesn’t subject each individual bill to the scrutiny of the legislature, but, as I’ve said before, there should be no worry at all that preachers are suddenly going to find themselves under arrest for expressing an opinion about homosexuality. We’re more likely to conduct witch-hunts intending to drive someone out of a town then we are to “muzzle the pulpits”. Hell, we’ll still try to exercise "demons" in our children if they swear and then turn around and claim that nothing of the sort happened, trying to blame everyone else of various ulterior motives. We’ll threaten university science departments because they study evolutionary biology and call them terrorists and against capital-t Truth. Or we’ll mail them large glossy books that advocate creation, as based on the Koran, unsolicited, all over the world. We’ll give an unordained preacher who pleaded guilty to sexually abusing three boys no prison time, just five years of probation, a treatment program, and registry as a sex offender, while stripping custody from a mother whose only "crime" happens to be that she's a SubGenius and performs at bawdy and satirical functions (which, by the way, her son was never at). For contrast, a different mother was walking naked, claiming that she would offer her baby to Satan, placed the child in the middle of the road, and had set her apartment ablaze.

After all of that, I must admit, I had no idea there was such a thing as a Wicca School, much less that it was moving from one place to another. There’s something probably off-kilter about this enterprise, but I can’t quite put my finger completely on it. I’d probably be worried about it in the same way that I’m worried about any institution promising the way to a happier life through their easy 12-step course.

Bush admits someone leaked Plame's name, tells America to get over it. I don’t think anyone has actually been fingered as the culprit, yet after commuting Libby’s sentence, Bush finally admits to what we were trying to find out in the first place, further rendering the trial as useless. It’s a dangerous game being played here. Maybe we’ll finally figure out all of what happened several years after all this is done. I’d rather know now, myself. Oh, and the administration also admitted their strategy on fighting al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan is a failure. Stunning admissions from the administration today. Maybe they’ll admit soon that they’re responsible for this upsurge in Qaeda threat level.

Americans see liberal bias in the news. Note that it doesn’t say “There’s liberal bias in the news”, but that there is the perception of such. Breaking it down a bit more along ideological lines, liberals see conservative bias, conservatives see liberal bias. The percentages happen to work out in such a way that the headline can be said that America, as a monolithic institution, thinks the news is biased in a liberal fashion. [sarcasm]I wonder where that attitude comes from...[/sarcasm].

There’s also the mandatory round of Iraq is this generation's holy crusade, withdrawal now would be premature, the Democrats have declared defeat when things are working, the New York Times is encouraging surrender, expressing disaster scenarios should there be withdrawal, trying to convince the American populace that war on a concept is necessary, (even while claiming that Iraq is won and just needs to have democracy flourish in it), and even predicting that history will view George W. Bush as a successful president. All this before/during/afterthe scuttling of a bill asking for troop withdrawal after an all-night session. We’re obviously in this for the long haul, since the people who could force the issue don’t have enough people to do so, and all the others intend on supporting them in every way... excepting perhaps going down to the recruiting office and signing up for a tour.

In other military matters, more robot planes being shipped to combat zones, meant for attack more than reconnaissance. Which could bring some human pilots home, but considering a large part of the current engagements are on the ground in zones that don’t make for good bombing runs, it’s probably not going to do much.

While Donald Lambro may be right in saying the deficit will be shrinking from what was planned this year, and providing plenty of gymnastics on how cutting taxes results in more tax revenues, the point he misses is thus: The government is still spending more than it takes in. Deficit spending and further debt eats more money in interests and other things regarding loans. Perhaps, instead of crowing how the deficit will be smaller because the economy is surging, maybe we should take this surging economy and decide to make some headway on paying down debts and such, y’know, to free up more monies that we can then continue to pay down debts with... and possibly run surpluses as a regular occurrence of government, rather than a celebrated one-time thing? I’d rather have a government that has extra money, so in case of unplanned events like a catastrophically expensive war, the government can pay for it.

Dragging all of this material to a focal point, and perhaps encapsulating in one article what I’ve taken many more to try and get across, a journalist from The Independent of the United Kingdom recently took a cruise set up and sponsored by the National Review. What he found there, he calls Ship of Fools - setting sail with America's swashbuckling neocons. The opinions expressed on that cruise are frightening. I think I’m missing out on something, though, when they keep saying that “the Muslims are going to take over” - or maybe I’m just of the opinion that while I might say “Christians” or “Muslims” are doing this or that, unless it’s a primary tenet of the faith (and even then, there are exceptions), then not all Christians or Muslims are doing that. And perhaps I’m naive, but I don’t think somehow that the radicals are the majority in either sect. If they were, there probably would have been shots fired of the large, phallic, intercontinental variety.

Microsoft is applying for a patent to deliver adware at the operating system level, including the ability to peek at the files on your computer to serve you targeted ads. Forget ad-blockers and other such techniques, you’ll have to somehow get to OS-level code to block those ads. In retaliation, for all I know, Microsoft might rewrite your code or render the OS non-functional. The leap to a non-Microsoft OS looks better by the day, doesn’t it?

With the increased interest in RFID chips as a means of doing business and having possible security applications, Wired offers up three posts related to the matter - one in the past, reminding us of the RFID Hacking Underground, where it turns out that a reasonably inexpensive tool paired with some tech knowledge could easily steal the material on an RFID chip and make clones of it, possibly utilizing them to eventually decrypt even encrypted chips, how to invalidate the RFID chip on one's shiny new passport (hammers seem to be the best approach), and a steel wallet that would prevent RFID thievery of the material inside, by creating a Faraday cage around the cards inside. Sounds like fashion will also incorporate security features, soon.

The first big bug-like thing of the iPhone has appeared - iPhones crash Duke University's wireless LAN by DoS because they keep asking for a MAC address. The obviously unexpected behavior only makes rPhone a more attractive option.

Pooper-scooper laws take a rather interesting turn in Kenya, where the donkeys are being required to wear diapers/nappies in an effort to keep the streets clean. To which the response has been, “Yeah. You try putting this on a donkey and not getting kicked or hurt.”

I could use some clarity here - The Sun seems annoyed at curriculum changes in the United Kingdom, but something about this (other than it’s from The Sun) doesn’t quite ring as on target here. What really happened, and how much of a change will it really become? I could also use some help untangling the argument presented in a decision ruling Canada's current marijuana possession laws unconstitutional (is that really a constitutional thing, or is it a matter of the Charter?) From what I gathered of it, because there’s no law, only policy, about possession and use, when trying to charge someone for non-medicinal possession, the lack of law resulted in a dismissal of the case as well as the judge basically requiring the Government to put the policy into law.

Sometimes, reading about a lawyer tells you much about them. With that in mind, read Kevin A Gilwa's attorney bio and tell us whether you might consider hiring him in an area of his expertise.

American football celebrities have trouble staying out of trouble, it seems. Michael Vick, a quarterback, was indicted on charges of conspiracy regarding a prize dog fighting operation. Some might think it’s a step up from the usual sexual escapades and Hume-Hume violence, but cruelty to animals is not looked upon well by juries or the populace at large.

Our “If the 7-11 is open 24 hours...” department offers a tale of a woman locked inside a 24 Hour Fitness after it closed. One would think a slightly better name choice would be in order, or some different business hours.

A paper linked at FutureHi of Geoffrey F. Miller in 2000 puts forward the idea that music has evolved as a sexual selection trait, and should be studied under evolutionary theories. Which, in a somewhat cynical way, explains why rock stars get all the chicks - they make the music.

To wind this entry down, have a look at a house that's partway between dimensions. That’s a neat effect, although it will only be temporary, as houses that are emitting dimensional vortexes are generally scheduled for demolition. Neat, real, and likely sticking around for a bit, is a new five-fingered prosthetic that the testers say feels natural and that has good control and precision.

Ending on a thinking note (or at least some approximation thereof), bladespark linked to an article about how video and Internet pornography has changed the mindset of the populace - not by turning men into rapacious machines seeking sex from everything that moves, but by isolating men and women from each other, with women feeling that they have to measure up to porn stars to keep male attention, and men losing out on the mystery and the emotional connections to women that they really need to satisfy them both. I’m not sure I agree with the premise of the article, but I can see where that idea comes from. Someone who’s only had erotica as their training on what sexuality is like is probably going to get a rather rude shock when things don’t turn out that way (and if they never do, well, hot damn, and we salute you), but I’m pretty sure that they’ll learn quickly that there’s other parts to the whole erotica/sex/mating/dating thing and work on getting a more complete understanding. At least, I would hope so. We don’t need that many bitter people who complain that they can’t get anything because they don’t have women throwing themselves at them. Makes the atmosphere a little lame-heavy to breathe. It’s a kind of “But I was raised with porn, and I’m okay” argument, to be sure, but the truth is, I suspect most men would prefer a warm body to the eye-candy of the videos. It’s been said enough times that “women in adult movies are not real examples of what women are like” to the point where I’d say most men say, “Yes, yes, she’s not real. For the length of this movie, however, I can pretend.” Which I would hazard is the point of adult films in the first place - not as a realistic depiction of our sexuality, but as a fantasy where there’s never worry about the condom packaging, the woman is always in the mood, and the tow (or more) people that are having sex are experienced and well-suited to each other, with no psychological hang-ups about any type of sexual behavior. Suffice it to say, it rather loudly proclaims its fantastic nature. To mistake that for real generally means we don’t get enough education about what sexuality really is like. The availability and proliferation of various types of adult movies and other materials may have the side effect of making people a bit more open and willing to talk about their sexuality. I say that with the caveat that only those sexualities and kinks that are societally acceptable receive the benefits of this increased open-ness. Those whose fetishes, kinks, or orientations run afoul of their society are probably a bit more cautious about who they discuss things with. This does change from place to place, of course. Being gay in a progressive area makes it easier to talk about being gay, whereas being gay in a more conservative community may end up resulting in serious negative consequences for those who are open about their sexuality. Our difficulty is that we probably need to talk a lot more about sex and sexuality in all forms, but that societally speaking, we don’t want to hear about sex and sexuality in all its forms because good society members don’t talk about those things. And especially don’t teach their children about it in the schools or at home. Which kind of leads to the problem of kids mistaken adult videos for reality in the first place.

So! Anybody here willing to reconstruct a temple where, as part of our religious activities, we provide women and men to others so that they can learn about sexuality in a safe environment at the hands of our trained acolytes, priests and priestesses? Of course, were the temple to ask for a donation to be made (or require it), the laws regarding prostitution would no doubt chomp down on us in a hurry. Shame, as such a temple would have to be open to regulation by and collaboration with governmental entities to ensure the safety and sexual health of all involved. It would not do to be spreading diseases or other unhealthy practices from a temple designed to promote safe sexuality at the hands of experienced professionals. There would be a bit of a tug-of-war between those who would want to make the experience a bit ritualized and play up the sacred sex aspect, and others that would want it to be exposed naked without any mysticism or quackery, both with their advantages. Of course, there would also have to be an accompanying societal change where it would be considered okay or possibly even normal to have one’s first experience (or one of the first) facilitated by the temple, and that it would be okay for both men and women to revisit if they felt that they needed to learn more or better technique, or were curious about something, or had questions. Hopefully, in time, they’d be able to ask their partners about it, but at least having the option of going somewhere to learn would be helpful, I suspect.

Ah, and question for those willing to say something about the matter, either from experience or from what you’ve heard of other people’s experiences - I know that there is at least some perception that adult entertainment is sex-segregated, to some degree - the guys watch something, the girls watch something else. Is there much for mixed-company viewing, whether coupled/mated or not? If not, then I wonder whether it’s because of the reputation that’s been garnered by adult entertainment for transmitting negative characteristics to the people that watch it.

After all that pillow talk, I think it’s time to go to bed. My brain revisits themes, I’m sure, and so much of this is old material, but sometimes it’s nice to repeat yourself when describing a potential future world.

And the last of the stuff to get caught up on.

Decided I was up for an interview-type game, and got one from woodburner and one from sulcharae that are according to the following rule-sets, which I then have modified.

1. Leave me a comment saying anything random, like your favorite lyric to your current favorite song. Or your favorite kind of sandwich. Something random. Whatever you like. Sources, if they exist, for your random material, are highly appreciated. If not, no worries. Your brain’s creativity is more than enough.
2. I respond by asking you five personal questions so I can get to know you better.
3. You may update your LJ with the answers to the questions, or reply in comments, or both.
4. Should you include this in your LJ, please include this explanation and offer to ask someone else in the post. Y’know, propagation and all that. Wouldn’t be much of a game if nobody turned into a host after being a contestant.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, ask them five (or however many it suits you) questions.

From woodburner

1. What’s that quote from and why do you like it?

“That quote” is something bastardized from Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah. What I said was, “Are you trying to tell me that there aren’t six billion people down there living in six billion separate worlds? I find your theory of a unified existence laughable.” I happen to like it because I think that reality doesn’t line up the same way for everyone. There’s enough of it shared that we can talk to each other and function, but each of our reality fragments is different than everybody else’s in some way. It’s not so much a “everyone is unique and special” in a fluffy positive sort of manner, more that everyone sees things differently, and that you have to learn that before you can really start relating to someone.

2. WHAT... is your favorite color? Or colors, for that matter. And why?

It’s not always obvious from the user name, but silver is my favorite of colors. Not grey, but silver. It is apparently also the metal and color that I’m the most in tune with, according to my Western zodiacal sign. If there is no silver option, I tend to favor blue as my color of choice. (Which, as a water sign, also fits, I suppose) I like those particular colors because of the gleam of good silver and the relaxing (and sometimes depressing) blues that keep me fairly on even keel, or at least only likely to explode in a powder keg of rage occasionally.

3. Do you sleep with a night-light? Why or why not?

Ah, no, no nightlight, other than possibly the gleam of my computer’s green Cylon eye. Used to, though, and then I finally graduated to using a beside lamp for my reading rather than trying to do it by the nightlight. I am actually somewhat light-sensitive, having spent most of my life in a room with an east-facing window where the curtains and the blinds didn’t really do much for me. If really tired, I can fall asleep with the lights on (and I have been known to nap occasionally in the middle of the day, when I let my mind think about things more interesting than whatever’s in front of me.) buyt for the most part, I need a reasonable amount of darkness to sleep.

4. What sounds comfort and soothe you?

I won’t say I have a great ear or musical ability, but I can somewhat tune into the emotional content of a piece (if I like it enough to get tuned into it), so comforting and soothing sounds tend to be slower pieces, lots on piano and slow strings and woodwinds. To totally screw up that perception, however, a thunderstorm is one of the best reassuring and meditative experiences I can get.

5. How do you feel about llamas?

When they’re not being exploited to make a Monty Python movie, okay, I guess. I really haven’t seen them much in person.

And sulcharae

1. Would you rather change the world, or discover a new one?

Tough call. To discover a new one, uninhabited, I’d want to have the lifespan to see it grow up and guide it. Were it inhabited, I’d want to have enough time to scour it completely, and learn the place, before I wanted to claim it, as it were. And probably then, I’d want to change it in some way, because I doubt it would be Utopia for me. Might be Utopia, but probably not one for me, or it would take serious getting used to. I think, and I blieve my choice of profession reflects this, I’d rather change the world into something I can be proud of, rather than discover something new.

2. What’s the worst thing you’ve ever eaten? How about the worst thing you’ve ever eaten and enjoyed -anyway-?

Hrm. Worst thing I’ve eaten... and I enjoyed it, to some degree, would probably be the poi.

3. Who do you think have been the three most influential or important people in history?

Tall order, making me work on history at large, rather than a small part of it. Well, if he exists and the writings attributed to him are true, minus the miracle bits, really, then Jesus, son of Joseph is probably one of the most influential people in history, for the message and the massive amount of good and evil done in his name. I’d probably give the second nod to Karl Marx, for similar sorts of reasons, and the third nod to Shakespeare, for taking a barbarous language and proving that good things can come from it.

4. Who wrote your favourite children’s book?

Frank Asch wrote Turtle Tale.

5. Pick one: Cheddar Popcorn, or Toffee Popcorn?

Cheddar Popcorn all the way.

Add one to this thought - 19 July 2007

Okay, resettled and such. As such, I now have time to organize my thoughts. Theoretically, anyway. Wandered about the Art Fair today, bought nothing, spoke with a few people, beat the rain home, paid my bills. All in all, an excellent day, although I need a golf-size umbrella, I guess, if I want to actually avoid having rain fall on my person. Even the bigger umbrella from the vehicle was insufficient. Tomorrow is a day where Great Things Will Be Done, or something.

Perhaps as a sinister way of sneaking things in while people are avoiding the Intarwebs for fear of spoilers, perhaps just as a coincidentally-timed announcement, and causing much more confusion, most likely, than resolving, a post in lj_biz "clarifying" policies about what is and isn't permitted on LiveJournal. As the comments will show, bring forth the firestorm. Specifics are requested on the relevant laws and court citations backing these decisions and the like. At this point, there’s been one clarification on the clarification, and there may yet be more to come. In any case, it would probably be best holding off on writing anything about someone under the age of consent while this matter continues to bubble. Hiding behind things such as obscenity laws may be useful for linguistic flexibility, but it tends to make a lot of people awfully suspicious.An icon about Liberty and Justice is acceptable, of course.

Regarding the incoming release of Mr. Potter’s seventh book of adventures, the weddingplans community was apparently visited by a spoiler fairy, resulting in a backlash from the moderators. Which, of course, brought forth a blacklash from those who want to mock that decision and the general sensitivity of book fans to things that may spoil their experience. I am hearing the term “Potterdämmerung” being slung about. Were I a better Teutonic speaker, I suspect this would make more sense to me, but I am unaware of the origins of such a phrase. Enlighten us, please?

Turning away from reading to writing, and writing science fiction, Rudy Rucker has a few thoughts about "mundane" science fiction, which likes plausible, possible futures rather than things that may not be achievable on our present course. What he correctly notes, though, is that a good story has good storytelling, regardless of whether it touches on or avoids some of the genre tropes. Which is true for any writing, I would guess.

Want to sell your soul for cash? Write yourself a song for Wendy's. Okay, so maybe selling your soul might be a bit harsh, but this is basically the corporation asking you to make their next big commercial, for a mere $5,000 and a studio session. Okay, and the playing of the jingle everywhere. Still, that probably favors Wendy’s quite a bit.

Sliding into politics, Vanity Fair’s online portal has a column from Katherine Bean describing how the United States abandoned working rapport-building interrogation techniques for torture, sacrificing both credibility and effectiveness. In January, if things aren’t blocked for whatever reason, an account of a German citizen who was detained and "interrogated" in Guantanamo will appear, and we’ll get even more first-hand accounts of the new interrogation scheme.

The United States claims to have arrested the Iraqi leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, which no doubt will give more fuel to those who want to point at success in Iraq. Jesus’ General notes there was much more to the information than previously thought. Success in Iraq is coming quickly, indeed.

An earthquake-rattled nuclear power plant is a bit more damaged than had originally been said, which does not make the populace around the plant happy. They definitely do not want to have something serious happen to them and to have the corporations and governments telling them that things are fine. There are enough problems with radiation in Japan’s past to not need any further ones.

For those of our readership that have newborns, or are considering getting some of their own, please read So you've gone and made a baby! first, to acclimate yourself to the process of what child-rearing will be like. Now that we’re acclimated to child life, let’s see how clothing corporations are selling bikinis and such for your one-year old. Taking adult fashions and shrinking them to toddler size. Because, you know, we want our children to look like miniature versions of bikini-wearing models.

Unless there’s some hidden reason for why this is important that I didn’t pick up from the article, apparently "Americans don't understand others". The experiment, though, is a matter of there being two blocks visible to the participants, and one to the “director”, and Americans taking more time to move the correct block when the director requests the block be moved. I think the matter may more be that Americans may not immediately observe the way the director’s line of sight is set up, and thus be confused when the director asks for a block to be moved, because, after all, there are two blocks visible to the participant. Maybe the director knows about the second block, after all.

The big sequence tonight involves consumer goods of a sort. Namely, those consumer goods and services that would appeal to certain Christian audiences, or provided by such. If I haven’t mentioned it before, Wal-Mart will be carrying tall-size biblical action figures, like the 12-inch talking Jesus. I doubt that Jesus will speak Aramaic, though. There’s also the reprints of 50s Catholic childrens' coloring books , which are now being marketed as excellent homeschooling books to use. Apparently, the 1950s really are the time that several conservative religious would like to return to. Or, as dogemperor weaves in a long trail tracing the back story of Zondervan Publishing, would like to provide a complete "parallel economy" to the rest of us, so that no-one in their worldview ever has to be exposed to an outside thought. From books to dolls to a complete parallel world, it’s rather cult-like, I would say, the way that this is happening.

In the services department, church volunteers in Kentucky are monitoring the courts with regard to how they handle drug abuse cases. The judges themselves say that they’re not intimidated and that no judge should be intimidated by the presence of the volunteers. What I find most interesting is the following quote from one of the church leaders involved - “...we believe in giving people chances, but how many chances do you give them?” I believe the appropriately Biblical answer is “Seven times seventy times.” It’s certainly not the solution proposed by Joe Lawson, who thinks teenage mothers don't deserve medicine or food assistance, wants discipline to be a thrashing rather than Ritalin, and says with full confidence that parents who let their children read Harry Potter are guilty of witchcraft and are hellbound. I’m sure he thinks of himself as a stunning example of Christian mercy, too.

Enterprising youngster - a ten-year-old sells handcrafted cards, turns the profits into purchasing cows. The kid has managed to donate enough to Heifer Project International to purchase four cows (at $500 U.S. each) and is likely to continue to do so. There’s good works for you.

Save the Internet links to a Free Press report on the state of telecom development and competition that decries the lack of competition in broadband access, finding fault with the cable companies’ near lock on providing broadband access.

Our last parts are two-fold. One is Running the Numbers, a project that creates big mosaics out of lots of small objects, based on various consumptions or difficulties in the United States. The other is seven tips for having a creative thought, which might lead to ideas like the one above. Many of the ones mentioned there I’ve tried. Sometimes they work on the problem that I’m thinking about. Other times, some other problem suddenly clicks into place when I do them. They’re all good methods for getting your brain to work on something as a background process. The wonderful Eureka moments that happen at the end are just icing on the cake. I’m probably working on a few problems of my own already as it is.

/usr/games/random: Eight random facts

I’ve been tagged by a published writer las to do something, so if I want any hope of ever rising to the status of “librarian to the writers”, I think I’d better do this one.

So, the way this particular game works is as follows:

8) Give Eight random facts/habits about yourself.
8) Choose 8 people to get tagged and list their names. Consult the Magic 8-ball, if you must.
8) The Chosen Ones write in their own blog about their eight random facts/habits and post the rules.

It would help significantly if the person doing tagging leaves comments telling the Chosen Ones they’re tagged, along with a link backwards so that they can understand the game.

Thus, eight pseudorandom facts and/or habits about me:

I am not left-handed, despite my mother’s insistence.

I am, in at least the most rudimentary of manners, a voice actor. (Hey, uncle_pervy, when is that particular piece due up for release?)

I am afraid of consequences and worst-case scenarios. This does not, however, mean that I won’t try things. I’ll just worry about what might happen if they go wrong.

I spent six years at university. To get two degrees, that is.

Children seem fine with my 2 meter height, up to the point that I fold myself down to see them at eye level. That tends to scare them.

I’m absentminded. This creates problems in my life.

I tend to organize in chaotic principles. Coupled with my absentmindedness, this creates even more problems in my life.

My taste in music is wide and varied. This does not translate to any sort of great skill in making music.

There you go. Eight facts/habits about me.

To whom do I pass on the option of continuing things? Hrm. Well, how about greyweirdo, when he gets around to it, because he likes to occasionally post random facts about himself and observations of others. droewyn and hollygrahm , too, just to see if they’ll play along. I’ll return the favor to woodburner and sulcharae for asking scintillating questions about me. That’s five. Who else might participate? I’ll get bossgoji involved. And if she’s not swamped, maybe blacktigr will consent to the matter. Last, but certainly not least, let’s get greenhornline involved in all of this silliness.

Participation is completely voluntary, of course, and if I don’t see anything at all, then there’s no hard feelings.