The Alien Reflection

2010-02-23T22:12:00.001-08:00

www.youtube.com/watch%253Fv%253DgNYZH9kuaYM

There is not much in this world that can have me crying from laughing so hard, rolling on the floor absolutely doubled up for minutes.
This is one such discovery. Enjoy.

Oh really now? Oh Churches...

2010-02-15T06:54:00.000-08:00

Thank you Harvard. Atheists, spread this around EVERYWHERE! http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/7189188/Atheists-just-as-ethical-as-churchgoers.html

Atheists 'just as ethical as churchgoers'
Atheists are just as ethical and have as strong a moral compass as churchgoers, new research shows.

Published: 7:30AM GMT 09 Feb 2010

People who have no religion know right from wrong just as well as regular worshippers, according to the study.

The team behind the research found that most religions were similar and had a moral code which helped to organise society.

But people who did not have a religious background still appeared to have intuitive judgments of right and wrong in common with believers, according to the findings, published in the journal Trends in Cognitive Sciences.

Dr Marc Hauser, from Harvard University, one of the co-authors of the research, said that he and his colleagues were interested in the roots of religion and morality.

"For some, there is no morality without religion, while others see religion as merely one way of expressing one's moral intuitions," he said.

The team looked at several psychological studies which were designed to test an individual’s morality.

Dr Hauser added: "The research suggests that intuitive judgments of right and wrong seem to operate independently of explicit religious commitments.

"However, although it appears as if co-operation is made possible by mental mechanisms that are not specific to religion, religion can play a role in facilitating and stabilising co-operation between groups."

He added that the findings could help to explain the complex relationship between morality and religion.

"It seems that in many cultures religious concepts and beliefs have become the standard way of conceptualising moral intuitions,” he said.

"Although, as we discuss in our paper, this link is not a necessary one, many people have become so accustomed to using it, that criticism targeted at religion is experienced as a fundamental threat to our moral existence."

Quotes I love, from college textbooks.

2010-02-06T12:05:00.001-08:00

The following quotes should be taught to every student in the nation around the age of 14.

"ccording to Hobbes, life in the state of nature prior to the formation of government was “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short.” Rather than an era of peace and tranquility populated with noble savages, Hobbes envisioned a nightmare of violence where each individual decided only for himself and against all others. In this version of a state of nature, there could be no industry, no crops grown, no security or peace found, and certainly no rights whose claims were equally understood and honored."

"We are either living in an age of sudden awareness where we have evolved and are now aware of a whole new set of rights, or we are confusing what we want with what is somehow our due. The gross multiplication of rights threatens to make the very issue of rights associated with real claims almost meaningless. It appears too easy to move from 'I want X' to 'I have a right to X.' "

- Ethics of Health Care: A Guide for Clinical Practice, 3e
Chapter 4: The Nature of Rights in Ethical Discourse
ISBN: 1401861830 Author: Raymond S. Edge, John Randall Groves
copyright © 2006, 1999, 1994 Thomson Delmar Learning, a part of the Thomson Corporation

Taken from a mouth with a brain attached that knows.

2010-01-16T07:24:00.000-08:00

A transcript of a statement from David Morrison at NASA!

...I'm a space scientist at NASA Ames Research Center. For the last two years Ive been answering hundreds of questions from the public about 2012 and the supposed threat to earth. And so now I want to take a chance to talk to some of you more directly.

There is no threat to earth in 2012. There is no danger. All of the talk about a doomsday is a big hoax perpetuated on the Internet and with people trying to make money. So please dont worry about it. Let me talk about some of the specific things. There has been a lot of talk about a Planet-x, or a Niburu as a giant planet thats going to hit the earth or at least come very close in December 2012. The simple fact is Nibiru does not exist.

Aside from worrying about the weird places, the ideas came from, all you have to do is ask the astronomers. If Nibiru or Planet-X were going to come into the inner solar system in 2012, astronomers would have been tracking it for the last decade. All over the world, amateur as well as professional. And it would be visible now to the naked eye. Its not there. Its a no-show. Theres nothing to worry about some object coming and striking the earth or damaging us.

Theres also been concern about a so-called galactic alignment. Because in December of every year the sun is roughly in the direction of the galactic center as seen from earth. This happens every year, it really does not mean anything, and there is nothing special about 2012. If youre not worried about December 2009, dont worry about December 2012. In fact, alignments, although it may sound scary to some people, are just not an issue for scientists. There are no special forces when planets align, or the sun aligns. It is sort of a curiosity, but not something of real scientific interest.

Theres also been concern that somehow the earths poles are going to flip. No one quite explains how this could happen, and if youre talking about the rotation pole of the earth, that cant change. It never has and it never will. Some people however are concerned about the change in the magnetic polarity. A shift of the north and south pole which does take place every few hundred thousand years. But there is no reason to think it will happen in 2012, and actually no evidence that it would do any harm to us, even if it did happen. Some people couple this with ideas of solar outbursts, of flares, or coronal mass ejections, which could do great damage to the earth. Well, the solar maximum takes place every 11 years, and occasionally there is some damage to satellites in orbit. And we see bright aurora or northern lights here, but very little real damage is done. And theres no solar maximum predicted in 2012. The next solar maximum is predicted for the spring of 2013, and its actually anticipated that it will be much lower than usual.

Again, all this 2012 talk is just a hoax. Its a fake. Its nothing you should worry about. I get questions from many people who are really scared, even some young people who have said they are contemplating suicide, this sort of thing. Its really sad. And the point of my talking to you now is just to explain to you that there is no problem there. And the many things you see on the Internet and Youtube where people claim that there is some horrible threat about to descend on us are not true. Dont worry about 2012, and enjoy 2013 when it comes...

No-matter what 2012 brings, I'm sure it will be no more than any other year brings, and I bet you we are still here in 2013.

I blatently stole this from Combom's website, a website almost entirely dedicated to Doctor Who. The link to the article directly is here: http://lifetheuniverseandcombom.blogspot.com/2010/01/2012-earths-doomsday-imapct-with.html and the link to the rest of the blog: http://lifetheuniverseandcombom.blogspot.com/ and I sure hope he does not mind me taking it given the need to repost this information as many places as possible so we can prevent loads of people from doing something stupid in 2012. I hope to also convince a few of my friends to repost this on their Athiest/science blogs so as many people out there can comfort the scared that all is well. I thank Combom so much for his blog and for posting this information.

Study hard.

2010-01-08T19:27:00.000-08:00

"Seven Blunders of the World"

1. Wealth without work

2. Pleasure without conscience

3. Knowledge without character

4. Commerce without morality

5. Science without humanity

6. Worship without sacrifice

7. Politics without principle

—Mahatma Gandhi

Sick again

2009-12-14T19:59:00.000-08:00

Though it's been a year or so...the Alien is sick again. This time with a cold that has morphed again into bronchitus. This time, I will only be taking penicillin (prescribed to me for another unrelated problem currently), NO steroids. Last year, I couldn't control the left half of my body for the first few days. Let me tell you about trying to work while looking like you are in the process of having a stroke. I've had some embarrassing things happen to me while working at this company, but that one won the prize. I do not intend to repeat the situation.

THIS is amazing

2009-12-03T16:42:00.000-08:00

Thank you PZ Myers for posting this. This is amazing.
http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2009/12/the_same-sex_marriage_debate_g.php

How the Alien rejected Christianity

2009-11-27T15:50:00.000-08:00

I grew up in catholism and protestantism, one on each side of the family. Yes, there was some issues between our families because of that but they were at least civil to each other. While both sets grandparents were definite "every sunday, pray before bed" people, I never quite got the whole religion thing. As far as I was aware (which admittedly, was not much), churches were for old people. I sure didn't understand the point of alter boys and why they were there. I didn't think too deeply into it. Before I go any farther, I must reveal a detail. I do happen to barely have a blood disorder similar to hemophilia. This blood disorder has done nothing bad to me, I have never taken any daily medication for it (save for after one surgery, for a week), and all tests came back normal and healthy. However, because of the disorder, I could not play sports. Wahoo! That's one of the best parts about having a disorder - instant excuse for not playing any sport. I've hated sports longer than I can remember.
So anyway, having this disorder qualified me for special things of course, one of which was camps for kids with disorders. My parents had just barely enough money to buy food and keep the roof over our heads and the 15-year-old pieces of junk cars running. They wanted to give us a good childhood (By this time I was 15 when we found out about camps and such) and so they sent us to Camp Barnabas (www.campbarnabas.org), one such camp for kids with disorders ranging from mental to physical in any way. Each week had a purpose, and I attended during the oncology week. I was around the age of 15. I had spiky short hair. Something I still don't regret having at least once in my life.
Long story short, it was a wonderful camp, based on Christian values and teachings. Bible study was daily. Prayers were said. Plays were performed. Sermons were given (especially on Sunday). I still didn't get it, until one girl gave a very emotional testimonial. I was overcome with emotion, crying and such. One of the counselors said that that was Jesus wanting into your heart and let him in. Wonderful feelings came from that...I felt part of the group. I thought it was forever like this. The week ended, and soon November rolled around. You know, the time of year when Christians are spreading joy and fellowship all over the blooming place? Apparently it never got to me, and despite my efforts to live how I was supposedly supposed to live while in Christ...it faded. The emotion, the happiness, whatever Christians want to call it - it faded. Despite the fact that the holiday should have rejuvenated my "Christian spirit", it didn't. The next year, I went back to camp and lo and behold, the spirit returned to me. Around the same time as the previous year, lost the feeling again despite my harder effort to keep it alive. Back to came, and it was back! Then gone again...
I gave up after that point and haven't been back. Whatever it was, it wasn't something mystical that always stays with you. I guess this may be the reason why fellowship is so important in Christianity, to maintain that feeling of love.

So if fellowship is required to maintain that, and Christians feed off of that love, are they not then comparable to psychic vampires? Also, if other people are needed to maintain that feeling of love, then why need the whole Bible and Christ stories and church too? I've been to a skeptic's convention, it was grand, I felt like one of the guys with people I've never met before! I warm up to people quick, and some people don't, sure. However, meetups happen all the time for all different things in life. If general group get togethers are all that is needed, then needing church and dogma and preachers and heaven and hell are not.

A large step out

2009-11-22T18:13:00.000-08:00

This post will be rather long and rambling and deal with some deep issues.

Over two years. It's been well over two years now since I left the house in which I was, for all intensive purposes, mentally tormented by an atheist. A communist conspiracy theorist atheist who was hell bent on destroying any and all belief, even to the detriment of other people. Stupid, wrong, and, well, inhuman were words I heard quite frequently. Though he and I both paid rent to another person, this atheist and his girlfriend came into my room, violated my space, threw away some things I used in my beliefs, and refused to back down. Though I got my things back, it was not another two months before I got the hell out of that house which had become nothing but gloom, despite living with two other people whom I loved to live with. (There were 5 people in that house.) This is not to say that I was also closed minded, I made many, many attempts to understand his points of view. He made no attempt, and instead riled against any thoughts I had of my own. Paul Poposky, you are an absolute ass worse than the shit you expel out. Knowing you, I know you'll find that comment funny. He liked ass and poop jokes and references for some reason.
After getting out of that, I wanted nothing to do with atheists. Keep in mind that he was the first and only one I knew. If he was what atheism was, I wanted no part of that. In fact, anyone who would dare question my beliefs who claimed to be an atheist, would have gotten screamed out of my subdivision.
Then my best friend told me she had become an atheist. I was more than appalled. I felt betrayed by the person who knew me the most. She, becoming atheist, was like her telling me she was going to become exactly like Paul. It put the largest wedge in our friendship than has ever been there before. I wasn't sure I could stand to be around her, as if she had been contaminated with this disease that turned people into...well, Paul. I'm sure Paul right now is smiling at this.
A few months passed as normal, I'm not sure if I visited because I didn't want to see her or if I just couldn't due to time limitations. Probably the latter mostly actually. But I needed someone to work with me on a house and she was available to help. Somewhere during the first few days, she said she had something interesting to have me listen to. Okay, no problem, this happens quite frequently. I like interesting stuff and she knows what I would find interesting. Somewhere in those next few days (while dealing with the death of my first hard drive which had not been backed up in a year or two - losing half of my picture portfolio and a lot of old college work), she had me listen to this podcast.
It was Point of Inquiry. I had no idea what Point of Inquiry was, but the podcast was definitely interesting. We listened to a few more....and down the line at another house job she helped me on, well we were up to like 6 a day some days.
By this time I had figured/found out that it was a skeptical podcast and that meant Atheists ran it. Not that I came to that conclusion based on the word skeptical, but that she had told me it was run by atheists. Okay. Don't ever want to meet them, but the podcasts are at least cool.
By this time, my friend had started living in a triad with two other...atheists. I've never been so scared to enter a house, ever. Or have conversations with people, but those two? I was adamant on not getting too deep in conversation with them lest they start questioning my beliefs and attacking them upon finding out I wasn't an atheist like them. While I ended up conversing with them, it did not go too deeply. Well, at least they didn't mentally torture me with their conversation. Okay, some athists are okay, not necessarily cool, but not Paul.
Skip to over a year and a half later. I hadn't really done much with listening to more podcasts, but by this time I had picked up a few of her books to read. Richard Dawkins and the like. A book club was coming up and I pretty much figured I could go and see what the book club was like. Hey, I was off at my jobs, why not. Then a few months later, I was headed to Europe for a family vacation, and while I had a ipod-device, it wasn't all that great. I borrowed Chrissy's (now indefinitely) and what was loaded on there? The biggest ton of POI podcasts plus other podcasts (quackwatch and SGU and the like). Oh I knew what I was gonna be listening to on those long train rides between cities!
Back in town, I attended another book club on a book I hadn't read, but oh well, the conversation was good. By this time, I'm starting to figure out that the intellectual conversation may just overpower my now deep fear of atheists. I took some tentative steps, checking out - gasp- other blogs than Chrissy's and the POI website. First one I went to, Skepchick.org. Which is where I found out about Skepticon 2. Okay, cool. I mistakenly thought it was in St. Louis at the time but oh well, not like I could go anyway with work. I also registered and posted a hello post on the POI forums. Cut to a week later, this past Friday. I got off at work at 10am and found out I had the weekend off for once. Rare, but cool. I go to skepchick.com and find Skepticon 2 to be in Springfield. Oh, oh well. I ask Chrissy if she plans to attend and wow, she was. Hm. Weekend off, weekend spent with best friend. At a atheist convention. Imagine that weigh scale going up and down. I bit the bullet and texted her, asking if I could ride along. Of course she said sure - at 1pm. By this time I had already packed cause I had to get to the next job. So I threw everything into my car, went to work, got to her house, and we were off to the convention after that.
Imagine a deep nervousness that keeps on being pushed down by the want for intellectual conversations sure to happen. Imagine being nervous at meeting people you've been listening to not long, but just long enough to feel like you're meeting someone famous. Imagine still being deeply nervous and still quite a bit fearful of the people who were SURE to ask you about your religious beliefs and question you when you still haven't worked out your stand on everything-in-the-known-world-much-less-yourself (see future posts on this) completely yet. You've probably gotten the picture.

Imagine then fitting in better at this convention than fitting in ANYWHERE else ever in your life, even with groups of friends known for years.

So now I must say it clearly to Paul and the other demeaning atheists out there who use mental torture to wear down others. You, sir, do/did NOT help your cause in the slightest. Your strategy did NOT work and scared away someone who COULD have been someone on your side. Now before you think "wait, but it did", technically.... you're still wrong. It would have probably always come to this (just by nature of my friend deciding for herself), and what you did was stopped someone from becoming it for years longer than they probably would have. You did a disservice to your cause and I do not believe anyone should respect what you say given the way you go about proving your points. So instead of protecting Paul's name lest he come back at me in some way, I shall say it now. Paul Poposky, YOU are a DISGRACE TO ATHEISTS and ATHEISM and THEY DO NOT NEED YOU as an advocate.

Making a stand

2009-11-12T10:02:00.000-08:00

It is important to make a stand when you don't agree with something or someone.
So today I am going to an anti-protest against a certain church who believes that God hates gays, hates servicemen, and hates America. They, of course, are the only people trying to convert with hate of such extreme in the Midwest. They are going to go disrupt a few schools and other churches. There has been a call to St. Louis to go anti-protest from one of our main alternative radio stations, and also some of the Atheist society mobilized. I am joining in, with a massive amount of boards with phrases on them, plus empty ones for people to do their own. I hope it will be safe for all, but sometimes you must put your safety on the line to stand for what you believe.

One year. Time to get more serious.

2009-11-03T19:36:00.001-08:00

It's been one year exactly since I started this blog, and truthfully not much has appeared on it. That's what happens when you have two jobs, college, a house, and an addiction to World of Warcraft, a four month addiction to Doctor Who, a 17 day vacation to Europe, and various other things that have kept me from this blog. Add onto that not being able to write or record thoughts exactly when I have them (before I lose them), and that's a recipe for blog failure.
Things have started to change, now that the vacation and Doctor Who addiction is gone and I am once again recording thoughts (and I have submitted to getting Twitter), it leaves a bit more time for expansion on thoughts in this blog. Now it's time to get a bit more serious and use this as a place for what I intended it. A blog about scientific and spiritual ideas and the reconciliation between them.

2009-09-21T13:29:00.000-07:00

The Alien is watching a NatGeo special on the Koran and Muslim religion. It inspired me to write. A lady, educated with a law degree, living in an area of Muslim origin where full head dress is not required, mentioned taking on full head gear because she thought it good, and got her closer to God. She gave up her law practice when she married, took on full head garb, and now stays at home to take care of the house and raise her children. When asked if she feels Allah has rewarded her for her diligence, she replies with a yes, definitely.
A young lady who recently divorced, living in a muslim area where no head dress at all is required, chooses to take on the basic hair covering because she feels the same, closer to God because of it. Her mother, uncovered, does not agree with her daughter's decision to take on the covering.
I stare in awe at these two ladies who choose to shield themselves in the name of their God's word. But what I really do not understand is what the first lady means when she says she has received rewards for her diligence. Yes, the family seems well off for that area of the world, she had a laundry basket, her children seemed well fed and happy, they had electricity and the husband had a job. People in America who believe in Christianity have the same. People in China who are devout Buddhists have a bustling, growing economy. Same in India regardless of their religion. People of the world, please answer this Alien. If God/Allah/whomever has given you such rewards, why do people who do not believe in your religion as devoutly get the same rewards? What rewards have you been given? Good children? Good husband/wife? That's your choice as to who to marry...or your parent's choice for you to marry. And those of Christian belief and Buddhism belief have the same rewards...and those of no belief have the same rewards. The Alien comes to the conclusion that religion for the sake of rewards...is false testimony to God's greatness.

I am the healthiest person in the world.

2009-09-08T18:25:00.001-07:00

I weigh 117 lbs. I eat up to 5x a day, although a few of those meals are small, I can handle a burger and tater tots from burger king or the like. I must eat over 4000 calories per day, at the very least. Ice cream, junk food, doesn't matter what it is. I do not excercise, although I do work quite a few hours per day more than a standard full time job. I have no, absolutely no, major health issues. The minor inherited health issue I do have barely affects me or my family, we actually barely qualify as having it. I am not old, and barely qualify as young, and yet myself and my family are the healthiest people without a single problem yet. My father, in his upper 50s, smokes and drinks daily. Not a single thing wrong with him, is shaped like a stick, and does not excercise. His job does not require a lot of physical activity either. My grandfather died at the ripe old age of 88 only a few years ago from natural causes, only thing wrong with him was emphesema from smoking for 40 years. He did not die from it, just died with it.
Call it the skinny gene, call it luck, call it what you will, we are the healthiest bunch on the planet - and I am wondering what we could do to help the medical industry. Donate DNA as a basis for helping others get healthy? Set a scientific standard for health so differences could be noted from it? Synthesize good DNA for making the best stem cells? Where to start, as the Alien would love to know how she, so blessed with the best health possible by man, could help others with it.

2009-07-19T08:03:00.000-07:00

I am still alive.
It's been months, and truthfully, not much has happened. I have had many thoughts that I wish to type about, all at inconvenient times in which I was not near a computer or too busy to write the thought down before lost forever. For now, I must just update, and perhaps when my current classes are over, I shall begin writing a bit again. I am currently in math classes, a subject that has been the most difficult of all classes for me. I pick up languages easily, currently speaking 3 languages and knowing how to read in one additional language, however math concepts do not file well into my mind and, well, the standard rules of math are consistently lost to me. Because of this, I have hired help, and it is helping, but because of the class itself, most of my time outside of my jobs, are spent on math. Or, my guilty pleasure, currently a small "doctor who" addiction. The Alien gets "addicted" to things and spends much of her free time on them, then in a few months, she has learned everything about the thing, it bores her, and she moves on.
Other than that, a new development, The Alien is going to England, Germany, and France this fall, financials have come through to make this happen, and she is very eager to see new sights and travel again.

A note

2009-04-20T14:56:00.000-07:00

This is in response to a recent post made by Ziztur. Followers of my blog: You shall see many of these. I would rather post them through my blog then just add comments to hers.

"Dr. Harrub went on to say that in schools and colleges, young people are only being taught one theory of origins, which is that the universe came about via the Big Bang and that Evolution by Natural selection is the cause of the diversity in life we see in the world. He says that this theory (which is actually theories, BTW) does not answer these questions:

1.Who am I (and what am I worth)?
2.Where did I come from?
3.Why am I here?
4.Where am I going when I die?

The various naturalistic scientific theories about how the universe operates does not answer the first or third question per se, but that is not the point of naturalism. It does, however, answer the second and fourth. the first and third questions are easily answered by individuals, so I don't really understand the implication here that since naturalistic theories of origins are incapable of answering 1 and 3 that they are somehow inadequate... "

I believe, my dear, we have a case of confusion as to what the questions are truthfully asking. In a rather factual conversation, he is asking semantic questions. While "Who am I" is easily answered by a general person, "what am I worth" is a semantic question that seems rather out of place in a conversation speaking about Evolution. Of course, these questions cannot be answered by people simply because they are of two different genres altogether. It seems as if, in a conversation about trains, the person is asked "yes, but what about the question of peanuts? Why is that not answered by the facts of trains?"

Evolution is a conversation as to how the world came to be, not about why the world came to be, in this Alien's opinion. If speaking in a completely evolutionary text, the four questions could easily be answered in a non-semantic way. Who am I? The Alien. What am I worth? Depends on if you consider worth to be monetary, or perhaps of a certain aspect or caliber of a person such as "selflessness". Where did I come from? Well, most can answer with a certainty about their parental lineage, however this Alien will refrain from answering that one currently. Why am I here? Well, does one mean place, or period of life? Where am I going when I die? Well, where everyone else in body-form goes, into the ground or into a burner!

These questions are easily answered in a conversation about evolution. They of course, are much harder in a conversation of semantics. However the above questions posed by Dr. Harrub, were mixing two different conversations in one, meant to confuse and inspire faulty thinking related to evolution. A shame.

New setup!

2009-04-13T18:32:00.001-07:00

The Alien bit the bullet, got a domain name ( I had a free one available), and did up my blog closer to the way Ziztur's is. Reason: I like hers better. Blogger feels very limiting with the general setup it has, so we muddled through how to set one up for a few hours, created some pictures, and bingo, new layout. The Alien is highly amused. Of course, some testing is still required, but we shall get it set correctly here soon.

2009-04-12T20:37:00.001-07:00

The Alien is crying on her birthday.
It has been a happy birthday, but something else she found out has saddened her.

As I was looking on craigslist, I noticed someone willing to barter their Lost Valley (the lake) membership in trade for something else. The Alien's grandparents had had a membership for years, purchasing it when it was only $100, and selling it for $3000...if that gives one a clue as to how long they had gone to Lost Valley. The Alien had gone with her grandparents there for years. Many wonderful years. On a whim, I went to Lost Valley's website to see how the place had changed, or if it had stayed the same. I figured they would have added new buildings, added new condos, etc.
No...no they did not.

The lodge that I had gone so many times with my grandparents, the Lodge and general store, the weight room and pool...burned to the ground in 2004. They have rebuilt it, but the original place in my memory is gone. Considering the recent shock of having learned that the church (where the Alien had attended with these same grandparents) had closed, the Alien does now somewhat feel like she is losing the memory of them more and more.

Conundrum

2009-04-07T10:07:00.000-07:00

The Alien has a huge choice to make.

The decision weighs heavily, and involve logistics which will be hard to arrange. It will require the help of all of my friends, and perhaps even professional help.

Right now, I cannot give details. There is few details to give when I am still unsure if the beginning logistics will work out. But let it be known, the Alien must soon make a major decision which will change life drastically, as well as do her job 1, job 2, and oh yes, job 3 is coming soon. All with college added in, which has been particularly hard lately obviously with my last post, it is obvious what my current class is. All of the combined have been taking up every waking hour, including lunch hours, and the Alien is more than exhausted. It will hopefully be easier this week, but next class will be harder. I plan to not do large painting jobs as much during that class.

Classroom fun with math.

2009-03-29T20:48:00.000-07:00

Apologies for the slowness of writing. Class has got me completely focused and will continue to do so for quite some weeks ahead. However, I had to post this, one of my favorite math discussion question answers.
Question: If If a <> -b.. Why?

Answer:

Sure number lines work for some people, but to me they just look like a jumbled mess of dashes and numbers. So i must explain it the way I comprehend it.
We need to look at the thing in the middle of those two letters. The <.
When I was in junior high, I had trouble remembering which direction meant what concept. My teacher gave me a great explanation. <> look like crocodile mouths. Crocodiles like to eat, and since they are predators, they dont go for the little mice, they go for the big cats. The <> always point to the larger number because the croc wants to eat larger amounts.
1<2>-2
5<10>15
If you can remember that concept, you can remember which direction the <> go towards generally in math. So, which one means less than and which one means more than? I also had trouble remembering until I thought about how we read. In English, we read left to right. With Less Than, we hit the tiny point first. Tiny = less = <
With More Than, we hit the wide-croc-mouth part first. Crocs want more, and they open up wide mouths to eat. Wide=more= >.

So, now that we know what those symbols mean, looking at the question again:
if a < b = If a is LESS THAN b,
then -a > -b = then negative a is MORE THAN negative b.

Now learning coding, I learned about if-then statements. IF 1 is true, THEN 2 is true. So we must assume both are true with the way this sentence is coded. But is it?
We must also assume that a has more weight than b, b has more weight than c. If we assume that first part of the sentence is true, that crocodile sure would like to eat a bigger letter, which means a < b. Yum!
Going to the negatives, if a is the least of the letters, well, nothing weighs nothing (but nothing)....and if you listen to quantum physics, this may not even be true. So I like to assume that everything has a weight. So if a weighs something, then -a must weight less than something, and -b must weigh even less. Poor crocodile isn't gonna get much to eat here but he still wants to eat the heaviest of the letters. So -a > -b

And that...is how i know that the question posed by Chris is true, thanks to the help of crocodile mouths, computer coding, and quantum physics.

               _.'^^'. 
 _      _.-' ((@)) '.   ./\/\/\/\/\/\,.---.__
..'o'...-'      ~~~    '~/\/\/\/\/\/\__.---.   `-._
:                          /\/\/\/\,-'              `-.__
^VvvvvvvvvvvVvVv                   |                     `-._
;^^^^^^^^^^^`      /             `\        /               `-._
```````````````'.`                `\     (                    `'-._
         .-----'`   /\              `\    )--.______.______._______`/
        (((------'``  `'--------'`(((----'

The Alien is still chuckling.

See Ziztur's post and comments first.

2009-03-16T20:12:00.000-07:00

Continued from Comment left on Ziztur's blog within the Circle-Of-Light Spiritualist Church review posted on March 16, 2009.

In response to the copyright mention:
I have not a clue as to where this "fully copywrited" stuff came from. It is new, and in my perspective, very off-putting to potential new members, or visitors even. Considering no other church says anything like this, I am inclined to learn more as to why this was added to the service, as it sure as hell was not even after the reformat of the service they did some years back. I am inclined so much that I do believe I shall be going to the church again a little earlier, and not only inquiring about the change, but also letting the pastor know of this joint venture of describing churches, and inviting them to read our reviews on the service. Now copywrite usually refers to printed matter only, so the only thing I can imagine is that they do not want that "yellow sheet" being duplicated and spread around.
The alien can only think "Why wouldn't they want it spread around?" The image on the yellow sheets (Named "Wingman") was given to myself free and clear years ago when I had volunteered to do a website revision for the church (a failed venture). I am not sure now as to if that would be the reason for the copyright, or if it was the words itself. In which case, they have already failed as evident Here, and Here, as only two of many examples. So generally, the Alien remains confused and may just go get some clarification on this small matter.

Now as for a few other small things:
I am going to use generic terms here and I do not necessarily mean all people believe in this, but this is what I have come to witness in my time with this church.
-Everyone has spirit guides.
-Each spirit guide has a purpose. Some may be joy guides, those who bring fun into our lives and remind us in small ways to play. Some may be more...specialized...in certain things, such as philosophy (Hence Dr. White), some more in Botany (such as a guide I had for a short time named Rellish), some more in protection or native beliefs. Each person has multiple guides.
-Each of them communicate to us in ways we do not quite mentally understand - these guides are what give us those gut feelings, that small push in a different direction, that still small voice inside. However, some are able to "stand between the worlds" and speak with their/your guides directly to get one specific message to you that may mean something to you right then. These people are trained ...and I must specify this here and now - I HAVE been through the training.
I do not believe nor see any sort of brainwashing to the training, no leads in certain direction to classify people and give them a message based on their looks or reactions (ergo a certain famous psychic we all know).
-Meditation is proven to work. Now I must admit, I am not as up on where to pull the specific, peer-reviewed references from as Ziztur is so good at doing. However, there seems to be enough evidence on Google for such a claim, since I cannot access the same journals and information as some of you all can. If you all would be so kind as to help or prove this statement wrong, please feel free to send me some for or against peer-reviewed scientific evidence as such. Please keep in mind this beginning statement still falls under the generic-terms notation above.
---end notes of church
Ziztur, I saw, I do believe, what your message was supposed to mean for you. I shall tell you at another time as it is a bit more personal. Not that I am seeing something within the message, but I think I may just be seeing the point the message was trying to make to you.
Flimsy, your message had a meaning but not the one you worked it to be. However, as I am still getting to know you, I do not think I may be right as to what your message was about, but regardless, I think I may have also seen the point of the message. We shall discuss it at another time if you choose to. As for now, this post is getting rather long and I'll end it here but will be open to comments and questions the best that I am able to answer them.
The Alien is a funnel mind. Open at top, not so much deeper within.

2009-03-11T12:53:00.000-07:00

The Alien is highly amused by failblog.org.
Reasons below.

see more pwn and owned pictures

Look at the side over here - fill in the words mentally ------> ^^^^
since the photo cuts off a bit.

2009-03-08T19:20:00.000-07:00

The Alien had a dream.

Thursday night or so, she dreamed that she was at church with Ziztur and Flimsy - only the church was one that the Alien was familiar with. It was her old church, one she attended for many years of her own volition. Upon waking, and at a reasonable hour, she texted Ziztur with the idea. Ziztur of course agreed.
So today we went to the church of the Alien's recent past, a Spiritualist church. Meeting with old friends she has not seen in a year, walking around the building the church is held in (A store), and sitting down in those familiar seats to attend the familiar setup was both exciting and foreign. To know what the true purpose of our visit was and yet being in such a place where I once felt normal and accepted (and to some extent, still do), was strangely comforting - and the alien means those two words seperately.
One of the old friends offered her normal service of healing before the service, and frankly, I was looking forward to such an opportunity as with the past months of sickness and stress, it felt rather needed. Some do not believe in spiritual healing methods such as pranic or energy healing, however once again, despite all of the skepticism gained over the past many months listening to more skeptical podcasts and reading skeptical books and athiesm-directed blogs, the Alien is once again positive in her old belief system of energy healing is still true to this day. Specifically, when this old friend "threw off" quite a bit of "bad energy" from the Alien, and the alien felt noticibly lighted, commenting in her mind as such. Not five seconds later, the friend said "I bet you feel a lot lighter on that side now".
Quite.

The Alien will not comment on the church service directly, as her viewpoint is quite skewed having been part of the church for so long - Ziztur and Flimsy will have more neutral opinions. I shall however say that the message portion of the service had a message that intregued me and I shall be looking into it a bit more, as it may resonate with what the Alien is feeling currently -as she had not even a hour earlier mentioned getting back into an old hobby which was mentioned that I should do by the messagebearer. This is where the Alien stops believing in mere coincidence and once again starts believing in what she knows to be true. She may no longer attend that church due to feelings about some of the people and service, but one thing she discovered long ago about herself still remains constant.
The Alien is still a Spiritualist.

2009-02-23T11:45:00.000-08:00

Lots to blog about. First thing first, church. This past Sunday I went to the Deaf Lutheran church here after noticing it while driving by. I entered a nondescript building, sat with my friends and watched every person signing the service, including the "singers". All three pastors signed. The rather interesting thing is that the whole service was recorded by internet camera. Of course, being the new people (along with a family of three), we were asked to introduce ourselves, where we lived, and why we were there generally. On camera. I am always a bit nervous having the spotlight on me. Anyway, the only thing I can say about the service is that it was the smallest and most boring church I have ever attended - as while there was audio in the deaf church, the visuals - which one would think there would be more of in this particular church - were lacking to say the least. The Lutheran church was not much different than a Catholic church and that was something that surprised me greatly, I guess my experience with churches is lacking and I'm glad I am trying different churches just to understand their difference, even if their meaning is lost on me.

And now for something completely different.
Over the past three weeks, the Alien has heard more and more talk about Facebook - now the Alien has a facebook, however she does not use it as she would rather use Myspace. It was under the Alien's understanding that both were about the same, that people use one over another but neither were more important than another - at least it was that way when she signed up for facebook to look at a friend's page about a year ago. Apparently the times have changed, and Facebook has become the business-oriented social network and Myspace the personal-oriented social network. The Alien does not understand Facebook whatsoever but now there is a need to learn as she is looking for a better job.
Twitter, Facebook, Myspace, all have the capability for me to post where I am, what I am doing, what I plan to do. The Alien does...not...understand...the...fascination of telling people what they are doing - as if they are some important figure to be followed around, as if their life is that important that they must let everyone know. It seems to the Alien as if people are inviting stalking, inviting others to take an interest in their mundane lives, inviting others to know the deepest reaches of their soul without developing the trust between that friend. Friends do not deserve to know - Friends are entrusted to know.
The Alien has three friends whom she has entrusted to know most things about her, and only two whom she has entrusted to know ALL things about her. The Alien will not be using the websites mentioned above so that secrets she wishes not to reveal, do not get revealed to the wrong people.

The long dark teatime

2009-02-15T20:06:00.000-08:00

Google has failed the Alien. A place where everything is cataloged and cashed, snapshotted and saved, the Alien has found one term in which Google comes up with three entries- one of which seems to be song lyrics, the term itself found yet found with a comma separating the words, invalidating that entry. The next, a entry which states that the term only appears in documents pointing to the page - and no other info to link the document. The third, a bit more close to a hit, yet it is only a post of someone trying to discredit someone else's dehumanization of the first poster's posting.

The Alien feels alone in this term, a term which has haunted her since she was young - and yet no one else on the planet seems to be able to understand the concept much less feel it themselves. It is made worse by the constant, almost daily reminder, of something seemingly always out of the Alien's reach. The two concepts are intertwined slightly, and as she looks around at others who do not resonate with the term and who seemingly have what the Alien lacks, she is at a complete loss as to how to go about disidentifying with the term and reaching what others so easily seem to get. The alien works hard, well over 60 hours a week, and runs a company of her own. The alien lives in a nice area in a nice small townhouse. The alien has two cars, a few pets, a few friends, and family close by. The alien enjoys a few online games, playing an instrument from time to time, and travelling.

On the surface, it seems as if she has the thing that she knows she lacks. But life also plays another game, one of which drags the Alien back down to knowing that something isn't normal.
It is one of the reasons she is an Alien.
It is one of the reasons she hates being an Alien.

Challenges

2009-02-07T22:02:00.001-08:00

If it isn't already pretty clear over my last few postings, life has given me a rather unusual theme lately: Loss.
To date, I have lost a rather necessary (to me) kitchen appliance, my only credit card (number was stolen), one car's brake pads, my downstairs heater, a computer hard drive, and my health. The alien hopes that it is simply the universe's way of getting rid of all of her bad luck at the beginning of the year so the rest of the year may flow rather smoothly.
Since I am feeling quite a bit better (and I do think now that whatever had me so tired was definitely viral, but I must wait another 3 months or so to make sure), I am hopefully ready to post more thought-related postings again.

One of my thoughts I've been wanting to post for quite some time, was a concept I've come up with to explain myself to, well, myself. The alien has always been somewhat of a different thinker, perhaps not of a scientific nature, but more of a different sort of process leading to same conclusions type of thinker. When most people think, they have access to past situations to help them judge what to do in situations. In a given situation, if someone asks a question, a person will go through memory to answer the question. In a given situation, a person has a reaction based on the situation at hand, not a reaction based on a previous reaction.
Does anyone know someone who reacts based on how they have reacted in the past, or how they have read/been told how to react, and not reacted based on past experiences? The alien has begun to think that there are two minds - the reactionary mind and the precognitive mind (for lack of better terms). The reactionary mind is what a person uses at that second to process what is going on and come up with acceptable solutions for a situation. The precognitive mind is where memories of past situations have been stored, memories such as "don't do it this way again" and "maybe we should try this instead of that" are stored. Most people, it seems, have access to their percognitive mind and reactionary mind at all times. But what of a person who only has access to their reactionary mind during situations? Where the precognitive mentality is not accessed for minutes after the situation ends?
I'll let this stew for a bit-perhaps other words would fit better in this situation, or clarification will be necessary before I continue with this thought.