adelina

holy cows!!!


Biology/anatomy buff?

Hey...

I'm no kind of expert at all on knives, but I know that people who care about such things do distinguish between, say, a meat-carving knife and a vegetable-chopping knife and a cleaver and so on... different-shaped blades work best for different purposes. But that has little to do with my mention of a carving knife as my weapon of choice. I was mostly concerned with the idea of the "analytic knife", with which we divide large concepts into smaller ones. The canonical example is a motorcycle (from "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance"): one can divide it into components in many ways, depending on the objectives one is seeking. This is what science does, which is why I find it interesting: classify things into successively more refined groups, according to criteria which may or may not make sense... there is endless room for debate about how to carve up the world of ideas to maximize utility... even supposing we could agree on a utility function. So it really has nothing at all to do with the kinds of knives chefs use...

About the Tao Te Ching, I can offer little help. Which edition are you reading? Mine is translated by D. C. Lau. He has this to say about other translations: "The Lao tzu is, without a doubt, by far the most frequently translated work in Chinese, but unfortunately it cannot be said that it has been best served by its numerous translators, as the nature of the work attracted many whose enthusiasm for Eastern mysticism far outstripped their acquaintance with Chinese thought or even with the Chinese language." In other words, what you're reading may or may not have much to do with what was originally written (unless you're reading it in Chinese, of course...). But I can offer a couple of comments:
1) The introduction to my edition makes it clear that this can be seen most clearly as a political (as opposed to philosophical) work: how is the peasant to survive in the face of a powerful government, and how is the governer to best govern? Then a lot of it makes more sense (to me, at least).
2) There is an implied progression of learning. The bit about "those who know don't teach, those who teach don't know..." can be perceived better if you imagine degrees of knowing. At the ultimate end of knowing, one won't bother teaching or speaking at all... but in the intermediate stages, when one has achieved some knowledge but not all, one might pass along the bits one has learned to those who haven't learned it yet. That's how I read it, anyway...

But I'm the first to admit that I'm just guessing wildly here. I recommend Huston Smith's book "The World's Religions" for an excellent overview of the main points of Taoism (as well as the other major religions of the world, as the title suggests).

I hope you were visited by the solid chocolate bunnies of redemption (or something like that) this weekend...

1. First name?
just j. works.
2. Were you named after anyone?
partially....my middle name is after my grandfather.
3. Do you wish on stars?
shooting stars
4. When did you last cry?
its been too long....i dont know
5. Do you like your handwriting?
i dunno. nobody can read it.
6. What is your favourite lunch meal?
youre going to shudder.....cottage cheese and potato chips
7. If you were another person, would YOU be friends with you?
of course. only stupid people wouldnt.
8. If you were a weapon which one would you be?
some sort of bludgeon
9. Have you ever told a secret you swore not to tell?
sort of.
10. Do looks matter?
unfortunately, yes. and fuck people who say they dont, because trying to sound magnanimous doesnt make you a better person.
11. How do you release anger?
i control mine pretty well
12. Where is your second home?
krissies house
13. Do you trust others easily?
fuck no
14. What was your favo(u)rite toy as a child?
he-man....transformers
15. What class in school do you think was totally useless?
gym
16. Do you have a journal?
just the one on here
17. Do you use sarcasm a lot?
who...me?
18. Favourite movie(s)?
shawshank redemption
19. What are your nicknames?
j., cloud, shaggy, the commie, the miserable bastard of 230
20. Would you bungee jump?
fuck yes
21. Do you untie your shoes when you take them off?
if i have to
22. Do you think that you are strong?
stronger than anyone thinks i am
23. What's your favourite ice cream flavour?
chocolate mint
24. What is your least favourite thing about yourself?
my appearance
25. Who do you miss most?
friends
26. Do you want everyone you send this to send it back?
i didnt send it
27. What colour pants are you wearing?
denim blue skirt...no wait...thats you....dark blue pants
28. If you were a crayon, what colour would you be?
paisley
29. Last person you talked to on the phone?
gingers mom
30. The first thing you notice about the opposite sex?
eyes
31. Do you like the person who sent this to you?
i think youre rad
32. How are you today?
tired
33. Favourite drink?
coke
34. Favourite sport?
football
35. Hair Colour?
brown
36. Do you wear contacts?
when im not feeling lazy
37. Favourite food?
beef stew
38. Last movie you watched?
super troopers for the umpteenth time
39. Favourite day of the year?
any day i get to smoke pot.
40. Scary movies or happy endings?
scary
41. Summer or winter?
spring
42. Hugs or kisses?
hugs
43. What is your favourite dessert?
chocolate pie
44. Who is most likely to respond?
jesus
45. Who is least likely to respond?
a sock
46. Living arrangements?
sucks
47. What's on your mouse pad?
my mouse
48. What did you watch last night on TV?
nothing, i had to get up at fucking 3:00, so i went to bed at like 6 at night
49. Favourite smell?
vanilla
50. Rolling Stones or Beatles?
beatles
51. Do you believe in evolution or creationism?
cant it be both?

Video killed the radio star.

The symbology certainly admits the interpretation you give it. However, Christianity "borrowed" a lot of its symbols from other traditions (nothing new under the sun...). The son being tied (or glued, in some odd variations) to a tree is older in Norse mythology (I think) than in Christian. In particular, Odin's son is slain at Loki's instigation using an arrow made of mistletoe. The "world tree" is a classic element of Norse mythology: one root in Hell, one in Heaven, one in Earth. One might speculate on the relationships between Christian and Norse symbolism (and many have... ). But since the whole book is framed in terms of Norse mythology, I'm inclined to see it this way.

Which (if you buy any of this ) answers one of your questions... Shadow's real name is Balder.

I have this new thing where I love curling up when I am alone & watching foreign horror movies.

i guess you do what you gotta do with jobs.

its still better than being po'

anyway, congrats!

strikethrough

[ st ] strikethrough [ /st ]

(but without the spaces...)

(from the boards)

Right... forgot the salesman-djinn scene... I guess it says something about me that I forgot the male-homosexual scene. I remember getting turned on as I read it, but I guess I blocked it out later...

Anyway, details of specific scenes aside, I think it's a great book. Hope you agree, now or later or both...

you are adorable. thanx for the add, sweetie.
xo.

i think youre still cute.

Trust me, as soon as the military allows comfy, cotton, slippers while in uniform, I'm gonna be all over that jazz. Until then, I'm just going to have to take the risk of lacing, and tying my boots every morning.

Hey... I kind of figured out you meant rockfish... rocks, aside from being too crunchy, are not that tasty... Anyway, I don't know about your area, but you can buy rockfish (whole, or fillets) in grocery stores around here. Or you can go fishing... they're not usually that hard to catch. Although they're a bit dangerous... covered with spikes and so on:


It wasn't an especially green day here... but my ancestors were Scottish, not Irish, so I guess that's okay. How about you? Any green beer?

Edited to add: Personally, I'm quite happy wearing utilitarian underwear all the time, but would be very happy to see the ones you posted on you...

[Edited on Mar 17, 2005 10:57PM]

I've never heard of any method of detoxifying anemones... but then, I've never looked, either.... if I come across something, I'll let you know... but don't hold your breath!!

Well, I was lucky enough to find a ticket online and whatnot. So GO ME!

It's wildflower season here, which only comes once a year for a month or so, so the branching out is on hold for now. Can't let those orchids escape unphotographed! One of my all-time favourite photos is of a Calypso orchid... I got this one more or less by accident (I was still new to photography, and was just playing with the camera's features), so I'm hoping to get an even better one this year.

But I'll be trying other stuff as well...

I knew this is somewhat tardy, but I couldn't resist jumping in here.

One of the guys I work with and I got into a discussion recently about how a sport should be defined (in fact the discussion started with his declaration that NASCAR and stock car racing shouldn't be classed as a sport). Now, I'm no nascar freak (hardly even a fan), though I will partake in a race once in a while. In any event, the conclusion we came to was that a sport should be defined as any activity that involves objective, direct competition (as opposed to, say American Idol, where contest standings are based on subjective opinion), and entials some form of physical exertion _or_ a measure of physical skill.

Under those definitions, NASCAR is definitely a sport: It requires physical exertion, and results are not subject to opinion. In fact golf qualifies as a sport as well, in that there is a measure of physical skill involved, and again, results are not subject to opinion.

For comparison purposes, chess wouldn't qualify, in that while the results of any one match aren't subject to opinion, there are absolutely no physical skills needed to play the game (if there were, a computer wouldn't be able to play it without the aid of some robotic appendages or some-such).

In any event, I just thought I'd throw my $0.02 in.

I wonder what it would be like if people got to choose their skin color?

There can be many benefits to a spiritual practice, regardless of whether it takes the form of religion or not. People who have a spiritual practice have been shown to live longer and have fewer health problems. I think people are entitled to practice the faith of their choice as long as it brings peace and wisdom to them. It should improve quality of life, not oppress those who think differently.

I'm really happy that I live in a place where I can be an agnostic buddhist and not be persecuted.

Of course, I could worship a potato if I placed enough faith in it. Cynicism doesn't keep me warm at night...

If I could choose my skil color it would be a sort of brown, maybe like Halle Berry. Of course, this would only be if racism didn't exist. Racism makes me like my lily-white pinky-grey skin, because I get to avoid discrimination. But in a world without hate, I'd go for Halle Berry skin. Or I'd just go for Halle Berry, with or without discrimination (if some bigot came up to me and said he/she didn't like race mixing, I coul say back "Fuck you, I'm dating Halle Berry. HALLE BERRY!!!").

Anyway.

My puppies used to be that cute. Now they are just silly and sweet.