Cinco de Meier

A la Ryan's post about the "Things I Remember from Cinco de Meier", here is a list of "Things I Remember from Cinco de Meier":

Currently Reading: Born on a Blue Day - Daniel Tammet

I saw this guy, Daniel Tammet, on 60 Minutes a few weeks ago. He is in his twenties, lives in Kent, and is an autistic savant - think Rain Man. The difference between Daniel and Dustin Hoffman's character is that while Daniel displays characteristics of savantism, he is not as afflicted by social anxiety as most other savants.

He experiences synesthesia, which means that he experiences numbers as shapes, colors, and sensations. "In his mind, he says, each number up to 10,000 has its own unique shape and feel, that he can "see" results of calculations as landscapes." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Tammet).

This guy is really amazing. The really cool thing about his situation is that he is one of the few savants who are capable of explaining how he does the things he does.

I would suggest checking this guy out, either by reading his book, which is very good so far, or by looking up more information about him on the interwebs. The URL for wikipedia is already listed above, and he has his own website, http://www.optimnem.co.uk/, where you can get more information about him and buy his book.

He is probably one of the most interesting people I have learned of in a long time.

Recurring Dream

I have had this particular dream at least three times now, which, I believe, qualifies it as a recurring dream. In these dreams, I find myself looking at myself, although I don't think it was ever in a mirror. It was always like an out of body experience.

When I look at my face, I am pleasantly surprised to find that I have a respectable amount of facial hair, in all the appropriate places. In real life, I have a barren patch of face on each side, right where a mustache, goatee, and sideburns would connect, leaving me in the awkward position of being able to grow any three of the aforementioned face coverings, but not being able to put them together.

In these dreams I don't have a fantastic beard, but there is something, and every time I think, "Wow! This is great, I actually have a full face of hair! If I let it grow in a little more, it might look really good." I comforts me to know that even in my dreams I am reasonable.

Anyway, these are truly great dreams, for I am afraid I may never be able to connect my facial hair into a full beard. Waking is the nightmare. The last time I had this dream, which was a couple nights ago, I didn't realize it was a dream until I had been awake for several minutes, and I wandered into the bathroom to take a leak, only to glance at my bald face in the mirror.

"They" say that it will help facial hair to grow if you shave a lot, so I have been trying to shave every day, whether it looks like I need it or not. I am tempted to try Rogaine on my face, but I hesitate for fear that I will end up looking like Michael J. Fox in that movie he did, you know, Back to the Future....no wait, wrong flick.

If anyone has suggestions about how I might increase my facial hair growth, I am very interested in hearing it.

Light Beer

I really like beer. While I don't exactly consider myself a beer snob, I certainly wouldn't be caught dead paying for light beer, unless of course I am playing some drinking game and pitchers of Guinness just doesn't make sense (I know, it is hard to believe, but sometimes a whole pitcher of Guinness just isn't a good idea).

I will, however, always drink a beer if one is given to me free of charge. I'll drink Bud Light, or Miller Lite, or even something as degrading as Natural Light or PBR. There are people who would tell you they even saw me drinking Milwaukee's Best Ice. It happens...

Anyway, as you would probably imagine it is not common for a guy to be given free beer, so I have very few experiences in the realm of beer flavored water, and I don't remember the last time I drank enough of it to actually become intoxicated...until last night.

This was a standard night of drinking and good times with good friends, but I realized something last night about light beer that I have never known before. It makes me so incredibly gassy! They should market this stuff as Burp Juice or something!

I am not saying this is a bad thing, I love burping as much as the next guy. Now I know that whenever I am in the mood to belch up a storm, all I have to do is crack open a frosty six pack of ___________ (insert light beer here).

Non-Religious Church

I don't why I got to thinking this the other day in the car, but I think it is a great idea!

Many people say that going to church is beneficial because there is a community like a large family that one feels they belong to and can turn to in times of trouble. I know that when someone is ill many churches will include prayers for them in their services. For a long time my grandmother was in charge of sending "get well" cards to the hospitalized members of the church.

I agree that having a group a people outside of and larger than your biological family would be beneficial, but I do not see why this group must be a religious group. It is true, unfortunately, that most support groups or other welcoming communities are religiously based, but this is not inherently true.

I propose a non-religious "church". This church would welcome believers and non-believers alike, but would be 100% secular. Anyone who longs for family and a sense of belonging can come to the meetings of this church. People can discuss difficult times they are going through, and receive support from other members who have similar experiences or can help in other ways. Other people can share successes they have had in their life, ones that are of great importance to them. These people might not have any other family or friends, and needs someone to congratulate them and encourage them to do more or stick with it.

Many people turn to religion in times of hardship. Do they turn to religion because believing what is said in ancient books makes them feel better? Or is it the sense of belonging and the support of other members of the church? I would argue the latter.

Schmutz Wednesday

The only reason I ever know that it is Ash Wednesday each year is that I see someone fresh from church and get the urge to walk up to them, lick my thumb, and say "Oh, hold still, you have some schmutz on your forehead" as I proceed to wipe it off.

Bless you?

I have been swaying back and forth lately between saying "Bless you" and not saying "Bless you" when people around me sneeze. I NEVER say "God bless you" of course...that would be stupid.

Since I am currently working toward my teacher certification and Masters degree, I have been thinking about how things will be when I can a teacher. I certainly can't say "Bless you" sometimes and not say it other times, or students might think I am playing favorites.

I think the responsible thing for me to do as an atheist is to stop saying anything, but I am afraid people will find this to be rude. We need to come up with a new, secular phrase to use when people sneeze. Sometimes I tell people "Shut Up!" when they sneeze, but that's just plain mean.

Brownie Points

So I don't believe in god, that should be obvious, but just in case He does exist it's nice to know that I have some brownie points...well, maybe.

Bri and I were in Philadelphia, and when we returned to our hotel from the play I dropped her off a the door and parked the car. As I was leaving my car, I saw an older, larger gentlemen with a cane having some trouble getting over a mound of ice/snow. I offered to give him a hand and I helped him over the mound and across a sheet of ice leading up to his car.

I guess I was in a really good mood, because I also offered to help him get all the ice off his car (it was an SUV actually, which was definitely necessary since it was just him). As I reached into his SUV to get the ice scraper he said to me, "You're gonna get something out of this, you know." And I'm thinking, "Oh my god(lol), what have I gotten myself into?" but I said, "Oh yeah?" He said, "I don't know if you're a Protestant boy or a Catholic boy." I told him that my family is Catholic and he said to me, "Well I'm a Catholic priest."

Of course the first thing I think is that I might get molested, which I chuckle at inside, but I helped him clean off his SUV and made sure he could climb up into it (an SUV is a great idea for someone who can't walk great) and I went on my way.

I would like to think that I get some points for being a good samaritan regardless of this guy's status as a priest, but if the Catholics are right then I just scored some major points.

Just an afterthought: It is interesting that an atheist, with no moral code, would go out of his way to help someone at night in the freezing cold. Just goes to show that not all atheists are depraved heathens...some of us are just heathens.

God is an Electrician?

I always thought he was a carpenter!

My dad was working with a friend of his, trying to get the emergency
generator hooked up.  They thought they were done, but the generator
just wouldn't start up for some reason.

My dad's friend, who happens to be a born-again christian, thought to
look for a loose wire among a few dozen.  In a very short moment he
had found the wire and secured it.

While recounting this story later, my dad commended his friend for his
electrical skills, but he responded, "It wasn't me, it was god." I
don't think he was joking.

It is obvious that the reason he could find this loose wire is because
he is an experienced and observant electrician.

I don't like how many people attribute accomplishments to god because
it diminishes the greatness of some of the best advances humans have
made.

This, of course, is a trivial example, but it is good enough here to
make a point.

Young Earth Creationist Doctor of Palaeontology???

On the front page of the Times today (below the fold) there was an article about a man who recently received his doctorate from the University of Rhode Island in palaeontology. The thing is, he is a young earth creationist. If you don't know what this means, I'll tell you. This means that he believes that the earth cannot be more than about 10,000 years old because of the chronology of events in the bible. What a fucking stupid idea that is!!! I wish I was joking.

Anyway, he does all this science in palaeontology under the "paradigm", as he calls it, that the earth is billions of years old...which it IS!!!! But he doesn't actually believe that! He lives his personal life under the "paradigm" that the earth is only a few thousand years old...which is utter nonsense.

The research that he performed and the dissertation he presented apparently were solidly scientific and supported by evidence, but since he doesn't believe any of the science that he spent years proving, what is he going to do with his Ph.D.? He is going to go around advocating the young earth theory, giving it the appearance of legitimacy because a Doctor of Palaeontology supports it.

There was debate in the article about whether a university should be allowed to discriminate against people who are intending to use their degrees for something which the university or the department would not want to be associated with. It is a tough debate. I want to say they should be able to deny people for this reason, but then I realize that this is discrimination based on religion, which we aren't supposed to allow.

Either way, I say fuck this guy for using his degree in science against science. Fuck him.