Wednesday, the 23rd of August, 2006

[PyleansDontLeaveMe]

Wednesday, the 23rd of August, 2006, in the year of our Lord.

Well... Your Lord.

More and more I become convinced that religion is what will ultimately lead us to completely destroying ourselves and our planet. In that the ultimate goal of most religions seems to be 'must destroy all other religions', as if the human belief experience was basically an enormous game of Mortal Kombat with crappier outfits.

In vaguely related news, I read a quote from George Bush I the other day outlining how athiests aren't actually citizens of the US since we're one nation under God don't you know. While this doesn't seem to be a helpful viewpoint, it does have the virtual of explaining a lot of domestic policy in the late 80s.

But I'm not actually here to discuss religion

Welcome to my first ever blogging experience. Be gentle with me, you're my first. (And it's been quite some little while since I've been able to say *that* to anybody.

The big current news- (That is, the biggest news that I currently possess, not the biggest news about currents.) The Feller and I have decided to have the wedding in the middle to end of November. Exact date forthcoming. Invites will be arranged for you all, so no fears on that front. We told my Mom and step dad about it the other night and they seemed pleased, so that's all well and good.

In other news- Had my first night of fireman school last night as I believe I mentioned to every single person on the planet yesterday. Four hours every tuesday and thursday night. Much of them in full gear tying knots. I'm a bit overwhelmed, but everybody's been nice so far, so - so far so good. There are 19 of us total and the class opened up with a speech from the instructor about how the people in the room were basically going to be our family for the next 30 years, so get to know each other- you're going to know each other for a long long time.

Wierd, but nice feeling.

I believe that that's the most testosterone I've seen in one room for... well since a few college exper...... for a long time.

several months later on and the book remains finished and yet not submitted. I've been farting around working on the book proposal, but the real truth is (I suppose) that I'm afraid to send it in and get rejected. TIme to get over that, yes I know.

I'll leave you with the thought- Does space only exist when there are objects within it, or does the concept of a void exist in any meaningful way? Heard a discussion of that on MPR the other day and it's been haunting me ever since.

Did you know that we're living in 10 dimensions? Well... that's what Math says.

But what does Math know?

[tjaman]

At least 11, and honestly, how do we know?

Three dimensions become essentially 2, at some point, and I can think of a way for them to become one dimension in someone else's reality, so it's kind of hard to say, perspective-wise.

Which ties in neatly to space as defined by the objects within it. even if you were to fill up all the space with things there'd be something beyond the furthermost thing, and that would be potential space.

Dark matter, black holes, and the fun of posting those words in Py's first blog.

I'm right there with you on the fear of submitting one's work just to have it rejected. It's like ... so far, I like it. It's nice and it takes up exactly the right amount of room.

So why give it to someone else who's just going to tell me everything they think is wrong with it?

It must be sent out, and it can't be sent out.

It's a stiffner a pupper a puzzler.

Nice blog entry. Hope you and the guys had a lot of fun at fireman school.

[quantumcat]

I'm an agnostic re Math..or math anyway.

Dubya should follow through on his atheist statement.

First,he should remove all votes submitted by atheists-retroactively.

Second,all taxes paid by atheists should be returned.

Third,all atheists should withdraw from public office,government appointments,
government subsidised work,government declared wars,etc.

Then,do the same for agnostics (only they get to pay half the taxes and work part time.)

These losses will be made up by charging hypocrites twice as much as sincere believers
and working them twice as hard.

(That should remove world debt right there and fund pert near everything.)

I always figured that 'religion' was to faith,etc. what 'politics' is to love of country.

They aren't necessarily mutually exclusive but any time folks get real fanatic and self-
promoting,ya gotta wonder how much belief they have in their race,ideologies or whatever
and how much they're insisting that anything affiliated with them has to be perfect because
their self-image needs all the support it can get.

Compare that with fire school.

I doubt y'all spend much time bellowing about how firefighters are heroes.

I bet you just focus on what a hero needs to survive and function optimally at
being the good guy he already is.

The same premise kinda applies to books.

The book already exists.

Its creator is already an author.

If it never sees publication or if it's panned or inappropriately praised,it still is what it is.

What the world thinks of it is secondary.

That which is true,whether it is a book,belief system or human being,doesn't need validation
from the outside.

Yeah,praise and acknowledgement feel good but it's the unique reality that counts.

Focus on that and if endorsements follow,fine.

It's better to have what's authentic and have it go unheralded than have a falsehood embraced
with loud acclaim.

[PyleansDontLeaveMe]

The fire class safety discussion - big old check. They take it very very seriously.

ANd another thing that they - and by that I should start saying we are very firm on- As of last night we are no longer individuals. We are now a crew. And as such we stay as part of our crew. And if a member of the crew is falling behind we help them to catch up. etc. etc.

It's a very nice feeling, really.

[dEz]

Wow that's allot to read .... *hides so nobody discovers she's here and should respond, but cant because* ... that's allot to read!

[quantumcat]

Let the world witness that on the _____th day of _____ in the year _____ in the community of _____, a sacred covenant was entered into between _____ and _____. Surrounded by family and friends, we affirm our commitment to each other as loving and equal partners in life. Our dreams and our experiences will now be forever intertwined. We promise to celebrate all of the passages of life together with joy and reverence. In times of happiness we will cherish each other, and in times of trouble we will protect each other. Our home will be a place filled with warmth, light and compassion, shared freely with all who dwell there. We willingly enter into this covenant of companionship and love: from this day forward, we are as one.

The above is a ketubah I happened to find today.

Couples can blend whatever words or images are meaningful to them in a permanent document that can serve as contract and proclamation.

I was pleased to see that the ways of affirming are becoming as numerous and varied as the ones doing the loving.

It's wonderful that your loved ones are happy with your plans.

Please keep us up to date on the details so we can help with the celebration,too.

Although you might not need us much if you've got 30 new relatives to clean up after the reception.

[PyleansDontLeaveMe]

Somehow I don't anticipate inviting the crew to my commitment ceremony.
November might be just a TAD early days to let my rainbow flag fly.

[tjaman]

You haven't yet incorporated it into your gear as a cape, perhaps?

[PyleansDontLeaveMe]

I'm ashamed to say that I'm totally butching it up and cowering in the closet at the moment.

Well. At least for a little while. Let's be honest. We all know that I'm not capable of hiding anything about myself for any length of time.

[tjaman]

Py (after saving a couple of lives, just to be safe): "So, that 'Rescue Me,' huh? How 'bout that Mikey character in that? Pretty cool, huh. Say ... have I ever mentioned ..."

[PyleansDontLeaveMe]

QUite honestly? That's actually pretty much my plan...

[Aunt Arlene]

I'm well aware of the world we live in and I really shouldn't be as naive as I too commonly am. That being said, I can't really imagine anyone not accepting Py, for any reason.

I mean he's just so cool.

[PyleansDontLeaveMe]

That's what I like to believe as well, obviously

[dEz]

So do you get paid? Or is fireman duty a free community service, put your life on the line, for no other good reason than except the pleasant feeling one gets from making the world a safer place?

CONGRATS ON THE NEW WEDDING DATE!

And for the book, well you're one step close to signing a book deal if you actually submit a book. Right?

[Aunt Arlene]

pyleansdontleaveme said:

That's what I like to believe as well, obviously