Tuesday, February 24, 2009
I Tested my Spanish Today
By trying to read this. It's just the wikipedia Spanish page for Mathematics. I've had to look a couple of words up already. More on this as it comes.
Friday, February 20, 2009
It's been so long...
Hello internets! It's the k-man, back in action after a lengthy sabbatical. I am alive and studying at Portland State, taking some sociology courses as a declared Sociology Major.
Hmmm... nothing all that interesting is happening in my life at the moment. I've bought a few things recently as I am doing my best to support our economy in these tough times. A joke. BUT: the economy and the foundations for the global economic paradigm are pretty much the focus of two of my courses and I've learned that some major changes definitely need to occur as far as trade agreements go (see WTO, NAFTA, etc) before we see any lasting change (hint: buying an mp3 player and a drum set from random people on craiglist won't solve or ease the crisis we're in), especially internationally. Corporations able to sue countries = ERROR.
Anyway: I am also taking a course titled "The Sociology of Integrative Medicine," which is basically a review of complementary and alternative medicine modalities with a sociological twist. I'm proud to say we've meditated (more or less) as a class on multiple occasions.
Soooo: nothing too exciting. I might start contributing to SCCOS on a more regular basis if I get the urge.
Take care, internets! I leave you with a link! It be a hosted mp3 of a tune I've been groovin to lately. "Raphael Saadiq - Skyy, Can You Feel Me"
Hmmm... nothing all that interesting is happening in my life at the moment. I've bought a few things recently as I am doing my best to support our economy in these tough times. A joke. BUT: the economy and the foundations for the global economic paradigm are pretty much the focus of two of my courses and I've learned that some major changes definitely need to occur as far as trade agreements go (see WTO, NAFTA, etc) before we see any lasting change (hint: buying an mp3 player and a drum set from random people on craiglist won't solve or ease the crisis we're in), especially internationally. Corporations able to sue countries = ERROR.
Anyway: I am also taking a course titled "The Sociology of Integrative Medicine," which is basically a review of complementary and alternative medicine modalities with a sociological twist. I'm proud to say we've meditated (more or less) as a class on multiple occasions.
Soooo: nothing too exciting. I might start contributing to SCCOS on a more regular basis if I get the urge.
Take care, internets! I leave you with a link! It be a hosted mp3 of a tune I've been groovin to lately. "Raphael Saadiq - Skyy, Can You Feel Me"
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Blood Sugars Blogging (02-19-09)
Blood Sugar table! EDIT: BLOGGER SCREWED IT UP. DO NOT HAVE TIME TO FIX NOW.
Accurate table will be up tomorrow!
Date MOR LUN AFT DIN
01/28/09 181 201 414
01/29/09 226 273
01/30/09 110 218 326
01/31/09 112 362
02/01/09
02/02/09 226 254 294
02/03/09 125 138 196 274
02/04/09 86 182 235
02/05/09 202 220
02/06/09 141 142
02/07/09 106 169 324
02/08/09 141 262
02/09/09 187 216 357
02/10/09 115 278 390 349
02/11/09 119 150 290
02/12/09 101 171 374
02/13/09 140 140 195 324
02/14/09 152 214
02/15/09 99 270 308
02/16/09 182 263 220
02/17/09 119 181 212
02/18/09 98 143 207
02/19/09 82 113 227
Accurate table will be up tomorrow!
Date MOR LUN AFT DIN
01/28/09 181 201 414
01/29/09 226 273
01/30/09 110 218 326
01/31/09 112 362
02/01/09
02/02/09 226 254 294
02/03/09 125 138 196 274
02/04/09 86 182 235
02/05/09 202 220
02/06/09 141 142
02/07/09 106 169 324
02/08/09 141 262
02/09/09 187 216 357
02/10/09 115 278 390 349
02/11/09 119 150 290
02/12/09 101 171 374
02/13/09 140 140 195 324
02/14/09 152 214
02/15/09 99 270 308
02/16/09 182 263 220
02/17/09 119 181 212
02/18/09 98 143 207
02/19/09 82 113 227
Lent: The Rules for the Season
Warning: I'll be talking a lot about sex!
No, that's not what I'm giving up, because there's nothing to give up there, really. But my lenten sacrifice this year is sexual innuendo. I am aiming for a permanent reduction in its prevalence in my conversation, preceded by the period of Lent during which it may not be used.
But what is to qualify as innuendo? For purposes of this lenten sacrifice, innuendo will be defined in the following way, with exceptions listed below. If and only if I remember that I have forgotten an important exemption (i.e., a time when I am allowed under these terms to utilize sexual innuendo) I will add it here and make note that it has been added. It might seem a little legalistic to codify a Lenten sacrifice. I know that. But it's the best way for me to do this stuff.
For the entirety of Lent (up to, but not including, Easter Sunday afternoon), I may not commit:
(1) A deliberate attempt to make a coarse joke that involves sexuality.
(2) A deliberate attempt to make a pun which in some way involves sexuality.
(3) A deliberate attempt to set someone else up for such a joke or pun.
(4) A deliberate attempt to let someone else know that they, myself or anyone else has intentionally or unintentionally created a sexual innuendo.
(5) A failure to avoid modifying my own phrasings so as to avoid such setups.
Notes on the rule and exceptions to the rule:
(5) applies if and only if I have sufficient warning. So if I realize mid-sentence that the statement is open to innuendo, I may finish the sentence as originally planned, barring that a better wording occurs immediately.
I may utilize sexual innuendo in an effort to be more discrete and avoid more awkward discussions of sexuality and related concepts.
One of my housemates and I have a running joke/contest where we give each other quotations from The Office and then see if the other can identify where the quotation is from. If I am engaging in this game, I am allowed to use sexual innuendo if and only if it appears in the quoted statement by the characters. However, this is not an excuse to play the game merely so I have an excuse to use innuendo.
Lent begins, and so does the self and communal enforcement of these rules, next Wednesday, that is, Ash Wednesday, 12:00 AM.
No, that's not what I'm giving up, because there's nothing to give up there, really. But my lenten sacrifice this year is sexual innuendo. I am aiming for a permanent reduction in its prevalence in my conversation, preceded by the period of Lent during which it may not be used.
But what is to qualify as innuendo? For purposes of this lenten sacrifice, innuendo will be defined in the following way, with exceptions listed below. If and only if I remember that I have forgotten an important exemption (i.e., a time when I am allowed under these terms to utilize sexual innuendo) I will add it here and make note that it has been added. It might seem a little legalistic to codify a Lenten sacrifice. I know that. But it's the best way for me to do this stuff.
For the entirety of Lent (up to, but not including, Easter Sunday afternoon), I may not commit:
(1) A deliberate attempt to make a coarse joke that involves sexuality.
(2) A deliberate attempt to make a pun which in some way involves sexuality.
(3) A deliberate attempt to set someone else up for such a joke or pun.
(4) A deliberate attempt to let someone else know that they, myself or anyone else has intentionally or unintentionally created a sexual innuendo.
(5) A failure to avoid modifying my own phrasings so as to avoid such setups.
Notes on the rule and exceptions to the rule:
(5) applies if and only if I have sufficient warning. So if I realize mid-sentence that the statement is open to innuendo, I may finish the sentence as originally planned, barring that a better wording occurs immediately.
I may utilize sexual innuendo in an effort to be more discrete and avoid more awkward discussions of sexuality and related concepts.
One of my housemates and I have a running joke/contest where we give each other quotations from The Office and then see if the other can identify where the quotation is from. If I am engaging in this game, I am allowed to use sexual innuendo if and only if it appears in the quoted statement by the characters. However, this is not an excuse to play the game merely so I have an excuse to use innuendo.
Lent begins, and so does the self and communal enforcement of these rules, next Wednesday, that is, Ash Wednesday, 12:00 AM.
Fun with Definitions and Living
guilt: a feeling of responsibility or remorse for some offense, crime, wrong, etc., whether real or imagined. (dictionary.com definition number 2)
shame: the painful feeling arising from the consciousness of something dishonorable, improper, ridiculous, etc., done by oneself or another. (dictionary.com definition number 1)
Now as a Christian, I think guilt and shame can both be useful in motivating us to change our ways and repent; but I find that guilt (which I associate with actual wrongdoing on one's own part) is both healthier and more theologically sound as a motivator than shame (which I associate with wrongdoing only insofar as it is perceived by society.) Example:
A Christian man who is a regular church attender goes to a strip club. Now his guilt is a function mostly of his own moral code as it has been built up--if he's been in church most or all of his life, it's probably acting up at some point during the evening. But the shame is relative to his different social circles: his congregation, and the people, if any, who are at the strip club with him. One of those circles places a good deal more shame on the incident than the other.
I guess I find shame problematic because it gives others too much control over how one feels and makes moral decisions and is relative to society, whereas guilt is (at its best) a function of a well-formed conscience.
But what if we notice something about ourselves that causes both feelings? Guilt and shame? Is there a way to properly respond to the guilt within us without giving too much power to the shame? Certainly I distinguish the two, but certainly they are not without commonality, and find themselves often intertwined or at least incidentally aligned.
So what to do if I do something, or find myself doing something, that causes both?
Blood sugars will be posted after prayer tonight.
shame: the painful feeling arising from the consciousness of something dishonorable, improper, ridiculous, etc., done by oneself or another. (dictionary.com definition number 1)
Now as a Christian, I think guilt and shame can both be useful in motivating us to change our ways and repent; but I find that guilt (which I associate with actual wrongdoing on one's own part) is both healthier and more theologically sound as a motivator than shame (which I associate with wrongdoing only insofar as it is perceived by society.) Example:
A Christian man who is a regular church attender goes to a strip club. Now his guilt is a function mostly of his own moral code as it has been built up--if he's been in church most or all of his life, it's probably acting up at some point during the evening. But the shame is relative to his different social circles: his congregation, and the people, if any, who are at the strip club with him. One of those circles places a good deal more shame on the incident than the other.
I guess I find shame problematic because it gives others too much control over how one feels and makes moral decisions and is relative to society, whereas guilt is (at its best) a function of a well-formed conscience.
But what if we notice something about ourselves that causes both feelings? Guilt and shame? Is there a way to properly respond to the guilt within us without giving too much power to the shame? Certainly I distinguish the two, but certainly they are not without commonality, and find themselves often intertwined or at least incidentally aligned.
So what to do if I do something, or find myself doing something, that causes both?
Blood sugars will be posted after prayer tonight.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
An Awesome Short Play
This is a short play by David Ives called Sure Thing it's about two people who meet in a cafe and whose conversation continually goes awry. Each time it does, a bell is rung and time resets to the last "good point" of conversation. It's...pretty hilarious.
Content warning: A single f-word is present in the script, which occurs here about 5:40 in the part 1 video. If you skip from 5:40 to 5:46 you should miss it. So you don't miss stuff, the gist is something like "Django Reinhard record...only all you'll really want to do is--"
Part 1:
Part 2:
Content warning: A single f-word is present in the script, which occurs here about 5:40 in the part 1 video. If you skip from 5:40 to 5:46 you should miss it. So you don't miss stuff, the gist is something like "Django Reinhard record...only all you'll really want to do is--"
Part 1:
Part 2:
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Nancy Pelosi + Pope = ?!?!?!
Well, here's an interesting news story. Nancy Pelosi's going to be meeting the Pope in Rome. And it's going to be an amazing to see.
Yes, I left out "thing" from "amazing thing." It's so amazing that it's just an amazing; the "thing" is not even necessary.
Hat tip to the Religion News Service.
In other news, I've discovered that Drum and Bass makes excellent music for doing mathematics to. What's currently playing is Pendulum's "Through the Loop," which samples the original Willy Wonka and makes me think it must be the scariest movie ever.
Yes, I left out "thing" from "amazing thing." It's so amazing that it's just an amazing; the "thing" is not even necessary.
Hat tip to the Religion News Service.
In other news, I've discovered that Drum and Bass makes excellent music for doing mathematics to. What's currently playing is Pendulum's "Through the Loop," which samples the original Willy Wonka and makes me think it must be the scariest movie ever.
Thursday, February 05, 2009
This is an Interesting
Via Creative Minority Report. Apparently, the Obama campaign has made a strong commitment to transparency, and there are some questions as to how strong this commitment really is.
Moneyquote from CMR's Patrick Archbold: "Mr. President, if you have any mercy in your heart, any mercy at all, give Press Secretary Robert Gibbs a new job."
Watch, comment if you please.
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