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November 8th, 2009
patrissimo
 | 10:42 am - Agnostic's Prayer
via ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) charleshaynes:
I could totally bring myself to say a prayer like this:Insofar as I may be heard by anything, which may or may not care what I say, I ask, if it matters, that you be forgiven for anything you may have done or failed to do which requires forgiveness. Conversely, if not forgiveness but something else may be required to ensure any possible benefit for which you may be eligible after the destruction of your body, I ask that this, whatever it may be, be granted or withheld, as the case may be, in such a manner as to insure your receiving said benefit. I ask this in my capacity as your elected intermediary between yourself and that which may not be yourself, but which may have an interest in the matter of your receiving as much as it is possible for you to receive of this thing, and which may in some way be influenced by this ceremony. Amen. Apparently it's from this Zelazny book.
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yesthattom
 | 07:45 am - Things make more sense as an adult
Today's "Classic Peanuts" involves Linus talking to a big brick wall and repeating a phrase about trying to get along since we are one big family.
It was published on Nov 11, 1962.
The Berlin Wall construction began a year earlier.
http://comics.com/peanuts/2009-11-08/
Current Music: Long As I Can See the Light-Creedence Clearwater Revival-Classic Rock - Creedence Clearwater Revival
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webster_wotd
| 01:15 am - sacerdotal
http://www.merriam-webster.com/cgi-bin/mwwodarch.pl?Nov.08.2009
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 08, 2009 is:
sacerdotal • \sass-er-DOH-tul\ • adjective
*1 : of or relating to priests or a priesthood : priestly 2 : of, relating to, or suggesting religious belief emphasizing the powers of priests as essential mediators between God and mankind
Example sentence:
It surprised Jim whenever Father Thomas would shed his sacerdotal role to take up a secular topic of conversation such as contemporary rock music.
Did you know?
"Sacerdotal" is one of a host of English words derived from the Latin adjective "sacer," meaning "sacred." Other words derived from "sacer" include "desecrate," "sacrifice," "sacrilege," "consecrate," "sacrament," and even "execrable" (developed from the Latin word "exsecrari," meaning "to put under a curse"). One unlikely "sacer" descendant is "sacrum," referring to the series of five vertebrae in the lower back connected to the pelvis. In Latin this bone was called the "os sacrum," or "holy bone," a translation of the Greek "hieron osteon."
*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.
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November 7th, 2009
patrissimo
| 01:19 pm - Unproductive day so far
Vaporizing THC, hot tub/rock band/cuddling seemed like, and were, a great, relaxing way to spend my Friday night. But the slack seems to have spilled over and destroyed my Saturday productivity :(. I've been lying around reading Less Wrong etc, when I had lots of home organization I wanted to get done. Feeling tired and unmotivated...well, I guess tired captures all of it.
Oh well, time to go run a work errand, that's productive at least.
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patrissimo
| 11:56 am - Shouting vs. Spanking
great article, via Less Wrong:The yelling isn't just disproportionate to the behavior, it has nothing to do with the behavior. She's angry about other things, but she's yelling about the milk.
The kid has learned nothing about good and bad behavior. In fact, they've learned that "bad behaviors" merit only calm discussion, while things that annoy Mom or Dad are met with wrath.
Watch your kid: are they more terrified of your reaction when they are caught in a lie, or when they accidentally knock over a glass?
The natural thing to do would be to yell about bad behavior ("did you push that boy on the playground?!?!") and be calmly annoyed when they spill milk. But.
But that doesn't happen, because the parent isn't being honest.
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patrissimo
| 11:19 am - RAH house in Santa Cruz
Had no idea until just now that an unusual house Heinlein designed w/ his wife, and built himself, was to be found in Scotts Valley. It's the round one on this Google Map. Here are pictures of the house.
If you feel like giving away some money, The Heinlein Society has a program to re-introduce RAH's juveniles to public libraries. Seems like a good idea to me - I know I was influenced by reading him growing up.
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patrissimo
| 10:58 am - Heinlein invented the waterbed?
Well, not really, but apparently his popularization of the concept prevented the inventor of the modern waterbed from getting a patent! Le Wik:A form of waterbed was invented in the early 1800s by the Scottish physician Neil Arnott...Dr. William Hooper of Portsmouth, England, patented a waterbed in 1883. He devised it to relieve bed sore pains in his patients. Unable to contain the water and control its temperature, his invention was a market failure.
The modern waterbed was created by Charles Hall in 1968, while he was a design student at San Francisco State University in California. Fellow SFSU students Paul Heckel and Evan Fawkes also contributed to the concept. Hall originally wanted to make an innovative chair. His first prototype was a vinyl bag with 300 pounds (136 kg) of cornstarch, but the result was uncomfortable. He next attempted to fill it with Jell-O, but this too was a failure.[citation needed] Ultimately, he abandoned working on a chair, and settled on perfecting a bed. However, because a waterbed is described in the novels Beyond This Horizon (1942), Double Star (1956), and Stranger in a Strange Land (1961) by Robert A. Heinlein, Hall was unable to obtain a patent on his creation.
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webster_wotd
| 01:15 am - bastion
http://www.merriam-webster.com/cgi-bin/mwwodarch.pl?Nov.07.2009
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 07, 2009 is:
bastion • \BAS-chun\ • noun
1 : a projecting part of a fortification 2 : a fortified area or position 3 a : a place of security or survival* b : a place dominated by a particular group or marked by a particular characteristic
Example sentence:
The university's economics department was considered the last bastion of political conservatism within an otherwise liberal campus.
Did you know?
"Bastion" is constructed of etymological building blocks that are very similar to those of "bastille" (a word now used as a general term for a prison, but probably best known as the name of the Parisian fortress-turned-prison stormed by an angry mob at the start of the French Revolution). The history of "bastion" can be traced through Middle French to the Old Italian verb "bastire," which means "to build." "Bastille" descends from the Old Occitan verb "bastir," which also means "to build." "Bastir" and "bastire" are themselves of Germanic origin and akin to the Old High German word "besten," meaning "to patch."
*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.
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November 6th, 2009
lifeofreilly
 | 10:52 pm - Remember Remember
Remember me as I am now, before I put on 5 pounds this weekend...
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jwz
 | 07:46 pm - There is no mention of otakukin, however.
Bay Area Vampirism, Energy-work, and Otherkin Society (San Francisco, CA) The Vampirism, Energy-work and Otherkin Society (VEOS) is a loosely-organized San Francisco based group. This group is open those identifying as vampire (sang or psy), donor, otherkin, and to those who wish to learn more about such topics. Other energy-workers are also welcome, so long as you have no problem with the vampiric side of energy work. This group is NOT open to role-players, recruiters of any type, or those seeking to promote any form of religion (discussion about religion is OK, preaching is not).
Current Music: My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult -- The Devil Does Drugs
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jwz
| 05:35 pm - The McNuggetini
Current Music: My First Earthquake -- Meat Pies
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lifeofreilly
| 04:11 pm - Achtung! Attention!
Attention Me:
It is now the start of my birthday weekend. This is the one weekend of the year where it really, truly, utterly is ALL about ME. Anyone that pisses me off this weekend gets the back of my hand or the brunt of my wit (such as it is).
This also signals my plethora of (now cowering) organ systems to prepare for an onslaught of junk food and sex and any other number of pollutants I may potentially steep them in.
This weekend I am indulging my inner hedonist.
And you thought my *outer* hedonist was bad.
I have preemptively called in dead for Monday.
37 was awesome. I won 37.
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darksheik
 | 08:43 am
WHA?
New Best Buy on 18th and Grove Streets in Jersey City?
That could be dangerous.
Probably more for walltack.
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webster_wotd
| 01:15 am - nudnik
http://www.merriam-webster.com/cgi-bin/mwwodarch.pl?Nov.06.2009
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 06, 2009 is:
nudnik • \NOOD-nik (the "OO" is as in "good")\ • noun
: a person who is a bore or nuisance
Example sentence:
James worried that he would never finish his work if the office nudnik didn't quit hanging around his cubicle.
Did you know?
The suffix "-nik" came to English through Yiddish (and ultimately from Polish and Ukrainian). It means "one connected with or characterized by being." You might be familiar with "beatnik," "computernik," or "neatnik," but what about "no-goodnik" or "allrightnik"? The suffix "-nik" is frequently used in English to create nonce words that are often jocular or slightly derogatory. Some theorize that the popularity of the suffix was enhanced by Russian "Sputnik," as well as Al Capp's frequent use of "-nik" words in his "L'il Abner" cartoons. The "nud-" of the Yiddish borrowing "nudnik" ultimately comes from the Polish word "nuda," meaning "boredom."
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