| KHftCEA 1999-11.1 November |
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KHftCEA 1999-11.1 November
There are only four questions of value in life, Don Octavio. What is sacred? Of what is the spirit made? What is worth living for? And what is worth dying for? The answer to each is the same: only love. --Don Juan, from Don Juan DeMarco (1995) --- "I have made a ceaseless effort not to ridicule, not to bewail, not to scorn human actions, but to understand them" -Spinoza "The ridiculing and scorn, that's just gravy."-Courage --some sig --- The AIDS virus has undergone so much mutation in the last decade that its history over that period exhibits more genetic diversity- measured in codon revisions- than is to be found in the entire history of primate evolution! --Dennett --- two rubberbands overlapping each other on top of a scribbled page of poetry this is romance --The Guppy --- "These poems will convince more than one other you were loved greatly and should be again. Will it be the way a fallen star tells the ground about the night sky?" --Tess Galagher's "Kiss Without a body" --- In a crowded mall in New Jersey, waiting for Mo and Lena and Bjorn at the foodcourt. 99-11-6 --- "I dunno, isn't there a drink that uses a egg? Like a 'gin & egg'?" [on seeing eggs sold in a liquor store] 99-11-6 --- We are made up of the same sorts of autonama that invade us [viruses and bacteria] -- no halos of *élan vital* distinguish your antibodies from the antigens they combat; they simply belong to the club that is you, so they fight on your behalf. --Daniel Dennett, "Darwin's Dangerous Idea" --- The Panglossian pessimist says, "Isn't it a shame that this is, after all, the best of all possible worlds!" Imagine a beer comercial: as the sun sets over the mountains, one of the hunks lounging around the campfire intones, "It doesn't get any better than this!" -- at which point his beautiful companion burts into tears: "Oh no! Is that really true?" It wouldn't sell much beer. --Daniel Dennett, "Darwin's Dangerous Idea" --- "The Web brings people together because no matter what kind of a twisted sexual mutant you happen to be, you've got millions of pals out there. Type in 'Find people that have sex with goats that are on fire' and the computer will say, 'Specify type of goat.'" --Rich Jeni --- Beyond its role as a playground, beyond its use as a glossy brochure, beyond its imitation of traditional print media, the web is a gateway to specialty topic information that bridges chasms of geography and disinterest. It is timely in a way books in a library could never be, covering a wider range of sudject matter than the mass media ever does. The ability to trivially search for detailed information on any subject that comes to mind is wonderful- whether that subject is trivial or not. Of course, that ability does depend on dedicated fandom. Luckily there seems to be no shortage of that- and the ability to cheaply publish is the other side of that information paradigm 99-11-11 --- Just saw Dogma. Mo liked it more than I did. For me, it had far too much talking head "theological backstory". Still I'm glad movies like this are getting some play. 99-11-13 --- The days and weeks go by and I measure them in monthly T passes. Mortality sucks. 99-11-15 --- "Knew someone in the pagan community who asserted that for the majority, Jesus Christ was the god of minor injuries and household emergencies..." --dcarpend@kiva.net --- Capricorn: (Dec. 22--Jan. 19) Cheer up: Nobody ever died of a broken heart. Unless, that is, you count suicides, depression-related anemia or heart attacks. Lloyd Schumner Sr. at The Onion --- So, if happiness isn't being rich, then it's probably not being middle class, which means you're just as likely to find it at rock bottom, which doesn't require all the effort, and hell, I'm already there. --Jake, "Staggering Heights" --- Wow! E-mail from Greg points out that this is the last day until 3111 that has all of its digits odd- my last odd day. 99-11-19 --- "Wham, Bam, Thank You Flan" --idea for a dessert 99-11-21 |