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Life has no meaning except for the meaning we give it. And that's pretty awesome. :)
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I recently had a dream about the memo fields on Tom Selleck's personal checks.
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One or two, yes. :)
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Hypatia of Alexandria
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Meryl Streep, of course!
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That's actually an interesting story:
In the year 2067, a renowned scientist named Sheb Wooley developed an artificial and universal food that could be manufactured cheaply through high-energy plasma physics, and possibly black magic. Edible Foodstuff #W37, commercially known as ShebWow, became an instant success. Perfectly nutritive and with a flavor akin to banana pudding and roast turkey, ShebWow could take on nearly any shape or texture, including Shebbies breakfast cereal, Sheb Chops, and even ShebChow for dogs. Everyone and their dog loved ShebWow, which soon accounted for as much as 60% the average American's diet. In some countries, that number was much higher. World hunger was at an end.
Soon, though, many people began to suffer from an unknown ailment. At first, their skin began to take on a pinkish hue. Some even reported rapidly growing patches of a deep violet on their skin. When it was discovered that ShebWow might be responsible, it was immediately pulled from the market. Production was halted and ShebWow factories were dismantled. But it was too late. Soon, the horrid extent this plague became known.
Rabotnikov's Syndrome (named after Jimbo Q. Rabotnikov, the first identified victim) was everywhere, affecting perhaps 35% of the world's population. Those afflicted became mockeries of their former selves, stalking the city streets for human flesh. Countless millions -- nay, billions -- died at the hands of the Purple People.
Sheb Wooley, now the world's richest person and greatly distraught at the terrible impact his "wonder food" had wrought, assembled a team of genetic engineers to create a terrible monster with an insatiable appetite for the Purple People. It was to be a great, hulking, cycloptic and winged beast with a gnarled horn used to impale its victims. It would have but one eye and one ear, so to maintain a singular focus on its goal: the eradication of the Purple People.
But again, it was too late. Work on the monster proceeded slowly, and meanwhile the human race was decimated. Only the very rich -- or the very lucky -- remained. In a last ditch effort to save the world, Wooley loaded himself into the Large Hadron Collider to send himself back in time. "I must warn the world of what is to come!" He would stop ShebWow from ever being created.
Sheb arrived in the early 1940s. But the trip through time had destroyed most of his memories. Penniless and tortured by his missing memories, Sheb struggled to build a new identity. Eventually, Sheb became an actor and songwriter. He achieved his greatest success in 1958 with the #1 hit single "Purple People Eater," which told the story of a "one-eyed, one-horned, flying purple-people-eater" who joins a rock band. Sheb would never reveal the horrific nightly dreams that had inspired the song.
And now you know. -
Hmm... I suppose it depends on the day, but for now I will say my sincerity. When I'm not being an obvious smartass, I try to be forthright and honest, both with myself and others. I no doubt I fail at this from time to time, even spectacularly, but I do strive to be the sort of person that I can respect.
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I decided to answer this more fully at http://porlob.tumblr.com/post/638124002
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Since Kurt Vonnegut is quite dead, the answer to all of the above is an unequivocal 'No'.
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Skepticism is a process for examining evidence. Just believing what's convenient to believe and ignoring evidence to the contrary is the *opposite* of skepticism. So nothing (well, FEW things) pisses me off more than when climate change denialists claim they are "skeptics". They're not.
On the issue of global warming, the evidence that it is happening and is anthropogenic is *beyond* persuasive.
Here, I'll let the IPCC, the international team of scientists who is continually doing Real Life Science on the topic of global warming, say it:
* "Warming of the climate system is unequivocal."
* "Most of the observed increase in global average temperatures since the mid-20th century is very likely due to the observed increase in anthropogenic greenhouse gas concentrations."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPCC_Fourth_Assessment_Report -
Yep. And human activity is far-and-away the primary cause.
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While I'd contest the premise to some degree, it makes perfect sense that stories of "great floods" would arise independently in disparate cultures.
Agricultural societies developed in river valleys. Why? Because river valleys tend to be fertile. Why? Because every once in a while, the rivers flood and imbue the soil with delicious plant nutrients.
Flooding was a fact of life for early literate societies. So it makes sense that they'd incorporate floods into their folklore. -
Hello there, potential future employers! :)
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(reanswered due to typo)
Are you surreptitiously asking me if I support the ginger army? If so, Julianne Moore.
Honestly, I wouldn't be able to pick Elizabeth Banks out of a lineup. -
I personally don't mind them, as I'm quite open about myself and my sexuality. My biggest concern is making other people uncomfortable by answering them. But that's my own level of comfort, and it's perfectly fine if others don't like such questions.
It's not unwanted, and I suppose it's a bit fun as this is kind of a safe place for open dialogue.
That said, if the sexually-loaded questions started to dominate, I'd steer this in a different direction, as I don't want it to be "dirty talk with Patrick" here. And I'd not be surprised if the questions I get are a lot less invasive than what a lot of women get. Because there are a lot of assholes out there.
I'm not sure I answered your question, but at least I rambled for a while. -
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I don't know if it's "cool" to listen to Belle and Sebastian. But I think The Boy With the Arab Strap. A good newer album is "The Life Pursuit"
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The picture on Formspring actually is a drawing of me. Except I'm 5 years older now. And have short hair. And I'm not a cartoon.
I usually have a pic of me on Twitter. Maybe I'll put one back up. Gimme just a mo. -
What makes you think I'm unpatriotic? Not saying you're wrong of course...
I'd like to say Sweden, but I hate the snow. So I'll say New Zealand. Golden Bay, to be exact.
Fun fact, Golden Bay was previously known as Murderer's Bay, then Bloody Bay, then Massacre Bay before being renamed to its more tourist-friendly current moniker. Despite all of that, it's entirely lovely.
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Patrick Orlob’s Bio
Rationalist. Atheist. Skeptic.
More of a geek than I'd like to admit.
