Blog Year In Review

Greetings, Strangers.

Even though I generally regard this holiday as just another day, I now tender my year-end review.  So long, 2011.  Don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out.

On UFOs:

The object seemed to suddenly shrink in size and its bright reflection was gone.  It was difficult to make out in the sky, but I managed to follow it as it made a lazy drift towards the south.  Then it grew to its original size once more and with it came the brilliant sheen.  This cycle repeated itself at irregular intervals as the object continued to make a slow, seemingly aimless path in the sky.  Were they trying to communicate with me?  To impart mantic messages?  Was I about to get butt-tubed?  As the wind ran across the hairs of my arms and the object shrank once more, it suddenly came to me...

This was a Mylar balloon.

 

On Dreams:

Recently, Armando said that dreams are attempts by the subconscious to tell you something.  Or a phrase to that effect.  Makes me wonder about the popular notion that dreams are far more than "day residue" played back by the subconscious.  Perhaps they are a sort of Matrix-like simulation, an arena where alternatives might be played out and problems sifted through.  Whatever their nature, I certainly had a peculiar one this morning.

I was in a rural area, not at all dissimilar to where I spent my childhood in Indiana.  I was standing next to a beer delivery truck on a gravel apron at a beverage distributor.  My boss was giving me my delivery route; first Lake Station, then Deerfield, then out west to Rockford.  I was also supposed to push insulated bags on the customers and make a sale if I could. 

I like beer.  I had three today while I watched the Bears play with intermittent switches over to the Cubs game.  But this dream made me realize that Hell is an app that is customized to the user.  For one thing, I cannot imagine having to drive a vehicle that large.  I'm certain I would kill someone.  Secondly, if you read the "You Know What Really Grinds My Gears?" post, then  you know that I hate driving in general.  I cannot conscience the idea of making a job out of it.  Lastly, there seemed to be sales incorporated into my dream and that is the worst career I can think of next to...nothing.  I cannot properly express to you the melancholy weight that I felt during this dream.

Then someone from my day job showed up, someone I respect very much.  She took a cigarette out of her mouth and said, "What the hell are you doing here?" 

"I need the money," I replied.

"You were going to be an English professor!" she said.

"That ship has already sailed."

"So what are you doing now?"

"Writing."

"About what?"

"UFOs, among other things."

"That's crazy.  They don't exist and you're wasting your time."

On consciousness:

Lastly, Neppe made one key point: "The universe itself is conscious and intelligent and has an innate order to it."

That statement is critical.  I believe that it gets at what a great many people term as "God."  The universe is energy.  From the stars burning nuclear fuel to the minor levels of electrical current in our bodies.  It's all energy and we are linked in with it  Consciousness itself might be a form of energy, an omnibus of our accumulated knowledge and experience and perhaps even things we aren't aware that we know yet.  The "unknown knowns" as Donald Rumsfield might say.  Oh I could keep going but I need meditate and reflect on all of this first.  So fascinating...

On transhumanism:

I'd have to include my entire interview with Nikki Olson...but here's just a snippet:

5)   How do you see Transhumanism affecting global issues such as poverty and instability in developing nations?

The best answer is that it already is. Though we don’t consider the technologies that play a role here, ‘Transhumanist’ technologies. Information technology, through artificial intelligence programs and automation, has reduced the cost of creating powerful software, and has ‘democratized’ knowledge. Education, and access to information, is probably the most valuable resource lacking in developing nations. It’s perhaps impossible, I think, to overestimate the difference that Internet access has made in these nations, and will continue to have, in nations plagued with economic and political  struggles. Also, we are on our way to solving major health concerns that create enormous obstacles in poorer nations. There is good reason to be confident that through greater understanding of the human genome that we will be able to really tackle things like AIDs and malaria. Through the pursuit of advanced technology, which is a main goal of Transhumanists, we have breakthroughs daily that help to solve global issues. I see a very bright future for developing nations, actually, so long as we pursue these problems with the mentality that they can be solved, and we focus on technology as the way to solve them. 

 

On space opera:

Why am I doing this?  As I pointed out in an earlier post, I love Star Wars.  I wouldn’t be doing any of this if not for that film.  I want to go back to that joy I felt in 1977 when first seeing that film, capturing “the good old stuff” as Brian Aldiss once called the subgenre.  This is not being written on spec for publication or monetary gain, only for fun.  I wish only to move spaceships around in my head, to explore strange, alien worlds in my imagination, to root for androids wishing for status as living things, and to wonder to super powered beings.  And why not?  Even Aristotle recognized the need for “spectacle” in the Poetics, so how can entertainment be all that bad?

On the bird deaths of one year ago:

What do I think?  Personally, I'm calling "b.s." on the fireworks theory.  I also think that the death of a former Pentagon official such as Wheeler, an especially odd death it would seem, is highly suspect.  But the bird die off need not be from any of these exotic, conspiratorial mechanics.  It might have happened as the result of our own detrimental impact on the environment.  That, if you ask me, is every bit as insidious as the other man-made possibilities.  And what will we do?  Probably watch as the skies and the oceans die, say "aw that's terrible," and then hop back into our SUVs to drive off.  We're caretakers of this world.  I wonder when or if we will ever come to realize that?

On April O'Neil:

With Asia Carrera retired and settling into married life (again), I'd say she's pretty much off the market for me.  Who am I kidding?  It's not like she was ever really on for me.  Anyway, I've found a new adult film starlet who while not a member of Mensa has many geeky qualities.  Her name is April O'Neil (that link is NSFW).  Yes she took her screen name from the character on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.  She's also an enormous Doctor Who fan and attended San Diego Comic Con in cosplay.  Also doesn't hurt that she's drop dead gorgeous.

Best wishes for happiness in 2012!

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