Paw Prints

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 08:59:20 GMT

Jarrad and I celebrated our anniversary today by seeing the Bodies exhibit downtown and then going out with some friends for dinner at The Melting Pot. It was a great day overall! Thank you Jarrad for setting all of this up and being such a wonderful partner. I love you!

Got this quiz from Kovu. ^^

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 19:32:44 GMT

Your result for The Kink Spectrum Analysis Test...

Blue (450 nm)

You scored 54% self-confidence and 51% bandwidth!

Wow! You have quite a big repertoire when it comes to kinky sex. And you're probably also willing to play on either side of the fence. You should look for another Blue, or an Ultraviolet if you want to broaden your horizon. Greens may be okay as well but will probably bore you after a while. Reds are too vanilla for you.

But I promised you a more detailed analysis, so here it is. Note that most scales are twofold: There are separate values for giving (active) and receiving (passive). If you scored high on one of them, you should look for a partner who scored high on the other. If you scored high on both of them, go for someone who is similar (or for multiple partners if you're into that). If you scored low on both, this probably is not your kind of kink.

You scored 56% giving and 46% receiving on oral.

You scored 44% giving and 90% receiving on anal.

You scored 15% giving and 50% receiving on bondage.

You scored 48% giving and 33% receiving on humiliation.

You scored 28% giving and 29% receiving on pain.

You scored 33% dominance and 43% submission.

You scored 46% voyeurism and 28% exhibitionism.

Besides that, you're 50% into fetishism and 80% polysexual (i.e. interested in sex with multiple partners, whether at the same time or not). You'll probably want a partner who is similar, whether you scored high or low in these categories.

Finally, you scored 33% on autoerotic - a scale that measures your ability and/or willingness to have kinky fun without a partner. It's not exactly a matching criterion, but it's good for you if your score is high. Keep it up!

Take The Kink Spectrum Analysis Test at OkCupid

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:21:16 GMT

Stole this from Streak

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 18:43:27 GMT

Twilight fans make me sad.

Lt Dan Choi

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 02:06:49 GMT

There was a gay rights rally downtown today just a couple blocks from where I work. I was walking by and recognized one of the men giving a speech from TV. It was Lieutenant Daniel Choi, an Iraq war veteran and former Arabic Translator for the military. He came out as gay on national television partly in protest of Don't Ask Don't Tell, and shortly after was discharged from the military. He was all over the news for a while, and now he travels around as an activist for gay rights. He gave a very good speech about the love and the important of not hiding who you are. After his speech I was able to shake his hand and talk to him for a moment, as well as to thank him for his service in the military as well as as an activist. It was a pretty cool experience and certainly unexpected, since I didn't even realize there was any sort of rally going on today in the first place. =)

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 16:18:43 GMT

Saw Paranormal Activity again last night. It wasn't nearly as scary the second time around. Awesome movie, though! Another great movie - Zombieland. Next movie I need to see - Where the Wild Things Are

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 19:40:51 GMT

Saw Zombieland last night. It was awesome! Some friends are trying to get me to see Paranormal Activity again today... Not sure I want to. I enjoy sleeping. ._.

Happy Halloween!

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 05:48:06 GMT

Happy Halloween everyone!!!!!

What should I do for fun this Halloween?

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 11:53:04 GMT

I love Netflix suggestions... my top two suggested categories based on my viewing habits are "Musicals on Bluray" followed by "Violent Movies Starring Arnold Schwarzenegger".

Sun, 25 Oct 2009 16:13:52 GMT

Had a great time at the party last night! One of the crazier parties I've been to (craziest?). Tons of awesome people there. Lots of drinks (although I was the driver so had to take it easier than I'd have liked) and fun costumes. I'll try to get ahold of some photos. :3

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 17:11:40 GMT

After tons of busy nights, finally had a chance to just spend some time on the couch with Jarrad watching TV and a movie. It was nice! We watched Trick or Treat, a cheesy Halloween horror movie that was actually really entertaining. Good stuff! Now it's back to moving and being busy for a while.

Finally got a costume picked out for the Halloween party this Saturday! The theme, as I mentioned, is dead celebrities... so I went with John Wayne. It's basically just a half-assed cowboy costume, but it'll do. =) It'll give all the city slickers even more reason to call me an Arizona hick. =P

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 15:27:03 GMT

Finished Uncharted 2 last night! What an amazing game. =) It was like playing through a crazy summer blockbuster.

Sun, 18 Oct 2009 22:02:29 GMT

The Halloween party last night was great! Thanks to everyone who came. It was an awesome way to break in the new apartment. =) And Dead Alive was a pretty sweet movie. Also, whatever that shot was I had was the most disgusting thing ever. The o...nly thing nastier than that that I've had was a bacon vodka shot.

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 20:12:18 GMT

Getting ready to move down the hall into a smaller apartment this week. Even though it's going to be the easiest move ever, moving is still a pain! going to IKEA and Wal-Mart in a few minutes to maybe find some new shelves and furniture.

Also, started receiving my fur sample swatches in the mail so I can test out the fur fabric before I shell out good money for several yards. It sheds like crazy and it's only like 3 inches of fur! When I start making this suit I have a feeling lavender, black, and white fur is going to be all over the apartment. @_@

Uncharted 2

Wed, 07 Oct 2009 07:33:49 GMT

Went to an Uncharted 2 launch event tonight at Lincoln Square IMAX and got to play the game multiplayer and see some cool game footage on a high def movie theater screen! I didn't win anything, sadly, but it was still a lot of fun! I can't wait for the game to come out. =)

Tue, 06 Oct 2009 07:05:46 GMT

New Anti-Smoking Ads Warn Teens 'It's Gay To Smoke'

Halloween Help

Fri, 02 Oct 2009 18:39:22 GMT

So I'm going to a Halloween party and the theme is "dead celebrities". I have absolutely no idea what costume I should try and come up with! Help!? It doesn't have to be someone who died this year (in fact I'd prefer it weren't). Any ideas?

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 01:40:16 GMT

I have foam, scissors, and hot glue.

It begins!

Party!

Sun, 27 Sep 2009 23:40:34 GMT

Had a great time at the party last night! Met lots of fun new people, got really drunk... I think I'm still a little drunk, actually. I drank an entire bottle of midori, minus two shots, plus a few swigs of cinnamon whiskey (tasted just like hot tamales!) plus a 40 of Smirnoff Ice (gay). So yeah... maybe I overdid it just a little. But that midori goes down so easy and it tends to hit me all at once! Plus drinking midori makes me think of Cristi trying to kill me. I was there until 3 AM. Someone tried to do naughty things to me in public, but I was not drunk enough to be okay with that! So that's about when I left. :3

But yeah, it was awesome!!

I need to make a fursuit now.

On second thought I'm definitely still drunk. Things are blurry and moving a little.

Wed, 16 Sep 2009 18:54:45 GMT

And in other news, they've discovered a new non-gas planet, although it's very far away.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gHZc0OhqGBPUJDjyhoSLlcdx8YwwD9AODN3G0

The Healthcare Debate

Sun, 13 Sep 2009 23:12:55 GMT

It's simpler, really, than everyone is making it out to be.

When has the government ever run something more efficiently, or better, than the private sector has?

Never.

Why does anyone think this will be any different?

9

Sun, 13 Sep 2009 20:47:56 GMT

Was privileged enough to see the pre-screening of 9 this past Tuesday. It was a pretty neat event. Not only did you get to see the movie early and for free, but you got free art books, posters, stickers, and postcards.

As always, the following mini review is spoiler-free, but the comments may not be.

I'd give the movie 3 our of 5 stars - which isn't a bad score. It was lacking in plot and character development, but it more than made up for that with the visuals and audio. Plus, the little sack-boy people are adorable and, even though you don't find out a lot about them due to rushed character development, you can't help but like them as soon as they are introduced.

The movie needed another 30 minutes to really build the story and round-out the characters. It was just over an hour long, which makes sense since it was an elongated version of one of the director's school projects. The ending was, well, let's say it was lacking, vague, and didn't make a lot of sense.

That said, the movie was beautiful and the animation was amazing. The atmosphere captured a post-human landscape perfectly and it had a very dangerous and foreboding feel.

While it was PG rated, it was definitely a movie that little kids might not appreciate, or might be frightened by. It was scary at times and had some disturbing images and monsters.

Have I mentioned that I want to bake 9 into a lemon bar and eat him? He is adorable.

Go see the movie if you have the money to spare, or otherwise wait for a rental - but only if you have a good home theater set up. This movie deserves to be watched in HD with surround sound.

Wed, 26 Aug 2009 09:17:26 GMT

The new batman game is awesome!!!

Mon, 24 Aug 2009 14:53:59 GMT

Sooo tired. I worked from 10AM to 2:30 AM last night... a 16 and a half hour day, and I had to be back up at 7AM this morning to go back to work. >.< Stupid store relocation.

The Selfish Gene

Fri, 21 Aug 2009 04:45:35 GMT

I just finished reading The Selfish Gene, by Richard Dawkins. For those who aren't familiar with the book, it was first written in 1976 and, in many ways, turned the current theory of evolution and biology on its head. It argues, rather convincingly, that the gene is a target of natural selection. In other words, an animal/plant/organism is simply a tool or robot that the genes control in order to ensure their reproduction and passage to the next generation. This is in contrast to the popular theory at the time, which was that the individual is the primary unit of natural selection and that organisms use genes as a method to ensure reproduction. Basically, according to Richard Dawkins you are a tool to your DNA, rather than DNA being a tool that you use.

The personification is simply used for convenience, and neither him nor I actually believe that genes or DNA are conscious entities that seek out survival. Rather, because they have the ability to replicate, there will naturally be competition among them and therefore natural selection will act upon them, causing them to act as if they were conscious.

The book does not try and convince its readers that evolution is an accurate scientific theory, even in 1976 evolution was widely accepted as scientific theory. In the opening chapter Dawkins writes, "Today the theory of evolution is about as much open to doubt as the theory that they earth goes round the sun..." That statement is even truer today than it was 30 years ago. Although he doesn't make it a point to argue for evolution, in his attempts to argue for his selfish gene theory he does describe the process of evolution (or his best guess as to how it happened) from the beginning of life all the way to life as we see it today. I thought that this was, in many ways, the most interesting section of the book. I think that even those who are completely new to evolutionary theory would find the book enlightening, and either convincing or challenging - depending on where they're coming from.

The main reason I want to discuss the book isn't directly because of the context of the book itself, but because of some of the context from the forward that was added to the 30th Anniversary edition (also written by Richard Dawkins).

Dawkins quotes a letter that was sent to him from a reader in Australia. The reader had the following to say.

"...I largely blame The Selfish Gene for a series of bouts of depression I suffered from for more than a decade...Never sure of my spiritual outlook on life, but trying to find something deeper--trying to believe, but not quite being able to--I found that this book just about blew away any vague ideas I had along these lines, and prevented them from coalescing any further. This created quite a strong personal crisis for me some years ago."

Another reader sent him this.

"...could not sleep for three nights after reading it, so troubled was he by what he saw as its cold, bleak message."

Are these bleak responses really justified? Does the scientific theory of evolution really reveal to us that there is no purpose in life? That there is no God? That we are only "gigantic lumbering robots", as Dawkins writes in one chapter, built by genes in order to protect them and ensure their immortality? If one of these statements is true, does it make the rest true?

Entire books have been written on this subject. Dawkins himself is an outspoken atheist and has an entire book, The God Delusion, dedicated to arguing that there is no God and that a belief in God can even be a bad or a dangerous thing. Dawkins, however, is nothing but bleak or pessimistic about the state of human morality, altruism, or purpose. He writes the following (actually, he quotes himself)in response to the above letters.

"Presumably there is indeed no purpose in the ultimate fate of the cosmos, but do any of us really tie our life's hopes to the ultimate fate of the cosmos anyway? Of course we don't, not if we are sane. Our lives are ruled by all sorts of closer, warmer, human ambitions and perceptions. To accuse science of robbing life of the warmth that makes it worth living is so preposterously mistaken, so diametrically opposite to my own feelings and those of most working scientists, I am almost driven to the despair of which I am wrongly suspected."

I'm interested in seeing what other people feel about this. Does evolution, or the view that humans sprung up through a mixture of chance and natural selection, drain our sense of purpose? Does a lack of an ultimate purpose mean that our lives are worth any less? Should it depress us? If not, why not?