archaeology, anthropology, diy, intelligent punk rock, anarchy, science, literature, entheogens, psychadelia, soil, clay, silt, erosion, deposition, ecology, patch disturbance, succession, deep ecology, computer networking, open-source, polymerase chain reaction, human genome project, deoxyribose nucleic acid, material culture, the story of b, non-procreative sex, living for joy, atheist peace, bad religion, negative utopia, natty boh, dendrochronology, anthropological history, nomads, nomadism, carbon-neutral, traveling, bicycling, dead baby jokes, rectory of doubt, alpha-methyltryptamine, 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine, delta9-tetrahydrocannabinol, shooting TVs with an assault rifle, volcanos, earthquakes, hurricanes, typhoons, gales, blizzards, tsunamis, tornados, landslides, avalanches, wildfires, asteroids, ice ages, dinosaurs, wooly mammoths, bison, sabre-tooth cats, cultural memory, collective unconscious, genocide, famine, drought, disease, epidemics, critical mass, carrying capacity, dystopia, negative utopia, plagues
Music
Movies
Television
The West Wing, Jeopardy, The Daily Show, The Simpsons, South Park, almost anything on NOVA or National Geographic specials, Animal Planet.
Books
"The essential act of war is destruction, not necessarily of human lives, but of the products of human labour. War is a way of shattering to pieces, or pouring into the stratosphere, or sinking in the depths of the sea, materials which might otherwise be used to make the masses too comfortable, and hence, in the long run, too intelligent. Even when weapons of war are not actually destroyed, their manufacture is still a convenient way of expending labour power without producing anything that can be consumed. A Floating Fortress, for example, has locked up in it the labour that would build several hundred cargo-ships. Ultimately it is scrapped as obsolete, never having brought any material benefit to anybody, and with further enormous labours another Floating Fortress is built. In principle the war effort is always so planned as to eat up any surplus that might exist after meeting the bare needs of the population. In practice the needs of the population are always underestimated, with the result that there is a chronic shortage of half the necessities of life; but this is looked on as an advantage. It is deliberate policy to keep even the favoured groups somewhere near the brink of hardship, because a general state of scarcity increases the importance of small privileges and thus magnifies the distinction between one group and another. By the standards of the early twentieth century, even a member of the Inner Party lives an austere, laborious kind of life. Nevertheless, the few luxuries that he does enjoy his large, well-appointed flat, the better texture of his clothes, the better quality of his food and drink and tobacco, his two or three servants, his private motor-car or helicopter -- set him in a different world from a member of the Outer Party, and the members of the Outer Party have a similar advantage in comparison with the submerged masses whom we call 'the proles'. The social atmosphere is that of a besieged city, where the possession of a lump of horseflesh makes the difference between wealth and poverty. And at the same time the consciousness of being at war, and therefore in danger, makes the handing-over of all power to a small caste seem the natural, unavoidable condition of survival."
-Emannuel Goldstein, The Theory And Practice Of Oligarchical Collectivism
Heroes
I had a list of heroes up here, but I decided:
No one is perfect. I respect and admire a lot of people for different reasons, but they all have flaws and I'm sure we don't agree on everything. We're all just human animals doing the best we can, no one is a hero. Don't waste your life trying to be like someone else. Just borrow their ideas sporadically, and be a fucking original person. Even though your chances of being remembered in future generations are slim, if you succeed, the credit will be all yours.
If you want to know someone I admire anyway, I give you Dr. Greg Graffin. The lead singer and a songwriter for Bad Religion, as well as a PhD in zoology, his ability to excel both artistically and academically really amazes and inspires me.
OK, I gave in to the pressure (what pressure?). Here are some more of my admired people: Albert Einstein. Marie & Pierre Curie. All of my wonderful professors: Matt Palus, Paul Shackel, Michael Paolisso, Aubrey Williams, Judith Friedenberg, Bill Stuart, Marilyn London, and especially Fatimah Jackson at the University of Maryland, College Park. James Watson & Francis Crick. Charles Darwin. Jane Fossey. Daniel Quinn. Brian Sapient, Rook Hawkins, Kelly M78, Yellow Number Five, Razorcades, and the entire Rational Response Squad community. Richard Dawkins. Carl Sagan. Douglas Adams. Emma Goldman. Michio Kaku. Brian Greene. James Gleick. Galileo Galilei. Guy Fawkes. Mr Wizard and Bill Nye for inspiration in youth. Mrs. Claudia Lewis for being an outstanding high school biology teacher in the public school system.
And so importantly, my mother, my father, my brother and sisters; my aunts and uncles and cousins who shared with me the wonder of the natural universe as I grew into an adult, and refused to force their faiths (or lacks thereof) upon me.
All of my brilliant, talented, creative, open-minded, just, positive, compassionate friends who are far too numerous to name.
And finally Celeste, whose appreciation of and exhibition of progressive, rational thought is a long-needed and exhilarating breath of fresh air.
About me:
Hello, my name is Tim. Hola, me llamo Tim. Sorry, that's just about all the Spanish and Arabic that I know. I'm afraid I'll have to be rather monolinguistic about this... let's just get down to brass tacks.
I am a naturalist. I reject dogma and demand empirical evidence for claims about what's real. I believe passionately that reason and free, critical thought are the most important things we have to hold on to in this world plagued by irrational and often dangerous thinking.
I'm moved by mystery. I like to explore — discovery is my motivation. I really want to understand what makes the universe work the way it does. That said, I still like to drink and party with my friends and act like a little kid a lot of the time, too. I think the acting like a kid comes along with being curious about everything. I can wipe myself, though. Don't worry.
One thing that I believe strongly: the elimination of suffering in sentient organisms (humans and other animals) should be the great project of human intelligence, our prime directive. I have a tremendous admiration for compassion in others. I am not, however, a pacifist. Sometimes the ethical choice is to fight or even kill an oppressor to prevent the suffering of the oppressed. I really try to keep that in mind.
I'm actually easy to get along with. If you can teach me something, or otherwise amuse me, I would love to meet you.
Mark Twain was a damn genius. This is one of my favorite quotes:
"Strange, indeed, that you should not have suspected that your universe and its contents were only dreams, visions, fiction! Strange, because they are so frankly and hysterically insane--like all dreams: a God who could make good children as easily as bad, yet preferred to make bad ones; who could have made every one of them happy, yet never made a single happy one; who made them prize their bitter life, yet stingily cut it short; who gave his angels eternal happiness unearned, yet required his other children to earn it; who gave his angels painless lives, yet cursed his other children with biting miseries and maladies of mind and body; who mouths justice and invented hell--mouths mercy and invented hell--mouths Golden Rules, and forgiveness multiplied by seventy times seven, and invented hell; who mouths morals to other people and has none himself; who frowns upon crimes, yet commits them all; who created man without invitation, then tries to shuffle the responsibility for man's acts upon man, instead of honorably placing it where it belongs, upon himself; and finally, with altogether divine obtuseness, invites this poor, abused slave to worship him!" --Mark Twain
talk to me on aol instant messenger: just ratiocinate
THE ASTONISHING BEAUTY OF NATURE'S COMPLEXITY:
Build a man a fire, and he's warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he's warm for the rest of his life.
Who I'd like to meet: greg graffin, richard dawkins, sam harris, daniel quinn, terrence mckenna, albert einstein, richard feynman, kurt vonnegut, stephen colbert, jon stewart, dick cheney, sarah silverman, you, voltaire, erasmus, mark twain, anarchists, saboteurs, subversives, journalists, chaos mathematicians, entheogenic chemists, quantum physicists, deep astronomers, new archaeologists, and other progressive theoriticians. Also cannibals, wankers, feminazis, hippies, gypsies, punks, ravers, hackers, crackers, phreaks, and batman.
Well I'm supposed to help someone out with something at lunch, I could probably just run out real quick. Would you be able to start walking up Charles and I can meet you in the middle? I can leave my building at noon. And how much for the wallet?
The age range for everyone was around 40-50. They made it clear that they'd love us to bring more of our young pretty friends. About the same number of males and females since it's mostly couples. Besides the lady getting head at the bar I didn't really see any sex acts, lots of ladies with their shirts off and a wet boxer contest showed off the male goods. Lots of the private rooms had their doors closed though. Jake and I made use of one during the night but we were generous and left the curtain open. A couple told us afterwards that they stopped by the window to watch a bit. :)
Sorry, that's just about all the Spanish and Arabic that I know. I'm afraid I'll have to be rather monolinguistic about this... let's just get down to brass tacks.
