Erunion

2Cellos just released a new album - 'Score'. I'm listening to it right now instead of sleeping. It is fantastic. Seriously - their 'Chariots of Fire' rendition is just incredible. Makes me want to get up and run (instead of sleep, which is what I should be doing).

Oh, don't be so depressing. We've also built computers, gone to space, walked on the moon and sent robots to Mars. While spreading we have certainly destroyed many habitats through carelessness and over-consumption, but we have also brought dozens of species back from the brink of extinction, and are on the verge of recreating extinct species in the lab. We have painted the Mona Lisa. Composed the Four Seasons. Written the brothers Karamazov, the Lord of the Rings, and so much more. Sure, humanity can be terrible, but we are also really super cool. Humans have capacity that no other creature has. We have the capacity to do truly incredible, wonderful, beautiful things. We also have the capacity to destroy. It's a great responsibility. And on energy use - just think of how much stuff our bodies do! We literally are repairing ourselves at every given second! Sure, we eat a lot - but we use a lot of that food! We run organic supercomputers (thanks Kaymyth for that one!), we can lift ridiculous weights, we grow, we move, we breathe, we regulate temperature, and we make art.

On why the sword is so big - How else would you fight a giant with it? Seriously! That creature is what shardblades were meant to kill, and why they default to obscenely huge swords.

They do Purim costumes? That's so cool! Hopefully they parade you guys around the town square in a royal robe on horseback Oh! Oh! I have some awesome news! Two things - I had two weeks of nightmare workload at school (so two weeks where, while sick, I slept two hours less every night so I could stay up late working); that is now done! Second, much bigger thing - as some of you know I have done martial arts for a long time. Back in February I flew down to nationals (a major event in my organization) to test for rank, and I just received word that I passed! I am now a 4th degree/dan Black Belt in Taekwondo

@Darkness Ascendant - If you scroll back a few pages you'll see that Bleeder broke up. So, uh, in other news, I have something kinda strange, kinda interesting and kinda good? I don't know? going on. I went from being super single, and that not likely to change, to suddenly I am now talking to two girls. It is very strange, and not at all intentional, and I'm not really sure what to do. I've known one girl who I am a little bit interested in. Not hardcore crushing, but generally 'she seems nice, and I wouldn't mind getting to know her better'. I began to suspect she was interested last time we were together - we were working together and she showed some possible signs of interest - but she could just have been being friendly. Fast forward a couple weeks, I post some good news on my facebook wall (huh... which I should probably post in the good news thread ) and she PM's me and we start talking. Have been ever since (this was thursday). Just casually talking, but yeah. She definitely seems interested. Now, that was Thursday. Friday it was the birthday of a girl who I definitely am interested in/have a crush on. Normally when you click the button on facebook to wish them a happy birthday it goes to their timeline and is public. I had just woken up with no where near enough sleep, so I tapped the button on my phone and wished her a happy birthday. However, for whatever reason facebook decided that I should send a private message instead of do a timeline post (probably her privacy settings, but either way I guess facebook decided to be a wingman...). So the message was sent, and she then responded with a conversation starter and again, we've been chatting since. However, the topics we've been chatting on are more neutral, and she hasn't shown as clear signs of interest (plus it's been a slower, sparser conversation - a long response once or twice a day instead of more chatty). So yeah. Here's the thing - I am more interested in the second girl. We seem more compatible, and a few other things as well. However, I don't know if she's interested in me or not. I do know with 90% confidence that the first girl is interested. Interesting things: I don't know either of them very well. Obviously my opinions could change upon further notice. I also don't know if I'm in a good position to be pursuing a relationship anyway. Furthermore, I could be completely wrong on everything. Mostly, right now I'm a little lost. To repeat, none of this has been intentional, I am fine with just being friends for now with both/either and keeping it friendly, but I don't want to burn bridges. Also, one thing that's playing through/preying on my mind right now - I first met the second girl back in the fall of 2011. We were in a class AND on a bus together every week, but I was too socially awkward to take advantage of the situation despite being interested. Later on that semester, the woman who would become my girlfriend for four years (now ex, obviously) and I met and hit it off, but it was definitely her showing interest, and then me realizing I was interested and going from there. So here I am, wondering if I missed a really good opportunity that first time, wondering if I'll make the same mistake again (go for the girl who is more interested in me, rather than this girl). I almost preferred being a single with no prospects. More depressing, but far less confusing.

SO i just wrote an exam I spent all weekend studying for. It's worth 45% of the grade for this course (a 2 credit course, instead of a regular 3/4, but still. Important.) I was the first out, and I'm pretty sure I got 90%

They're fixing your eyeballs with laserbeams. We are living in the future.

@dead-moth - 90% agree, as a slim person who needs to work on their healthy habits. Also, skinny is generally BAD for you, as your body has no reserves and gets stressed easily. Doubly so if you're not eating right. HOWEVER, being significantly overweight is very unhealthy. Generally speaking, everyone has a 'proper' weight. Being 10-20 pounds under, or being 30-40 pounds over doesn't significantly affect your health as long as you're eating reasonably well and exercising a bit. Being a little 'chubby' (reasonable layer of fat) is actually good for you. Being significantly overweight is not. Other points - artificial ingredients aren't necessarily bad, and natural ingredients aren't necessarily good (remember kids! Cyanide is natural!). However, highly processed food is problematic (I'll explain more in a sec) regardless, and home cooking is the way to go - if you have the time. Also, excess sugar (and high-fructose corn syrup!) is very bad. Weight loss, if you strictly are trying to lose weight, is calories in - calories out. It's basic conservation of mass/energy. However, there are a few problems. Firstly, health. Sure, you can lose weight eating a diet of mcdonalds burgers and shakes, but your body is going to hate you for it. That is so bad for you in other ways, that even though you're losing weight you are also seriously hurting your heart, cognition, everything. Secondly, processed foods are processed, which can also be translated 'pre-digested'. This is why people tend to gain weight with processed foods - although the number of available calories may be the same, your body will uptake calories much more easily from processed foods, as part of the digestive process is usually already done. This means that processed foods have more calories for less 'fullness', making them deceptive, and you will also get more calories out of a 100 kcal processed whatever than you will out of a 100 kcal non-processed whatever - your body will uptake maybe 95 kcal with the processed vs. 80-85 with the non-processed. (I think. Anyone with nutrition training able to correct?) Tl;dr - it's ok to be chubby. It's not ok to be obese. Watch for the difference. It's ok to be slim, its not ok to be super skinny (or emaciated). Watch for the difference. Fancy scientific names aren't necessarily bad, but processed food generally is. Try to avoid it (although it is much easier/faster to eat and put together. Find a good balance). Weight loss is strictly calories in vs. calories out, but there's a world of difference between healthy and unhealthy weight loss. Same with weight gain.

@maxal - you want the snow back? Cuz you can have it back seriously though, this is painful. Just brutal.

I just shovelled the driveway. There is snow falling from the sky. The forecast calls for snow every day for the foreseeable future. It is March!!! No more! Just... no more! Please! This feels like revenge from the rest of Canada for the last decade of absolutely minimal snowfall.

I'm glad! In what way?

@Silverblade5 - Sure! The Bible does not say that slavery is a natural state of man. The Bible does say that we are slaves to our sinful natures, a slavery from which we can freed through Christ. In the Israelite economy, slave == employee - you hired yourself out for a set period of time. Slaves were to be freed every 7 years (I think. Slaves every 7 years, land returned every 50 years?). So you would 'sell' yourself until the next year of Jubilee, with the price being determined by how close to that year you were. There were strict rules regarding the treatment of these 'slaves'. Keep in mind, all of Israel were to be landholders and to have their own, ancestral, tribal lands. So if your farm failed, you would hire yourself out until you had enough money to restart it. That's also why land returned after 50 years, you could only sell your homestead for that length of time, after which it would return to you or your next of kin if you were dead. Much of the prophetic work in the Old Testament was lambasting the Israeli upper-class for its treatment of the poor, and specifically for failing to treat 'slaves' (employees) properly. That, and idolatry, were the two crimes that are repeatedly mentioned when God is punishing the Nation of Israel (remember, God made a covenant with Israel - you follow my rules, and I will prosper your nation. They didn't follow the rules, and God punished them. Lots of little punishments; hoping for repentance. Eventually He went with a severe punishment - the exile to Assyria for the North and Babylon for the South, but always with an eye to them repenting and returning to their homeland. Understanding this will go a long way towards helping you understand the Israeli mindset even today, although @Deliiiiiightful will know a lot more about that than me). The New Testament says very little on the ethics of slavery. However, it says a lot on the ethics of the being a master and being a slave (/employee! While Roman slavery is much closer than Jewish slavery to the modern conception of slavery, it is still far different from 17th-19th century plantation slavery. Slaves often outnumbered Citizens in cities, and were basically considered employees). It also has significant underlying themes that caused the abolition movement (the bulk of abolitionists in the 18th/19th centuries who eventually ended slavery in the West were devout Christians, often clergymen. Look at John Newton and William Wilberforce for example). Firstly on what it says explicitly: Slaves(/employees/bond servants) were to remain within the law, and generally behave in an exemplary manner. Many, if not most, Christians in the early Roman world were slaves. They were asked to perform their duties as to the Lord, and not as to men. They were also strongly encouraged to earn their freedom through the conventional means, if at all possible (remember, 'no man can serve two masters'). At least two early popes were slaves who had either been freed or had earned their freedom. . Masters, on the other hand, were commanded to treat their slaves well. Most telling is the letter to Philemon, a slave-owner, about Onesimus, a slave of his who had run away, met Paul, and converted to Christianity. Paul was sending Onesimus back to Philemon, while carrying the letter. In that letter, Paul asks Philemon to treat Onesiums as Philemon would treat Paul himself - as a beloved brother. He also says that he will repay any damages incurred, and strongly hints that Philemon should release Onesimus. Church tradition holds that Philemon did manumit Onesimus, and that the two became extremely close friends. Crucially as well, there was and is no distinction in church services or standing. In Christ there is neither 'slave nor free, male nor female, Jew nor Gentile' - all are to be equal. The slave is supposed to sit beside the king in church, and to live as equal to him in life. Paul wrote several strongly worded letters to new christian groups who were showing prejudice, esp. ethnic prejudice and class prejudice. Onto more theoretical stuff: the way Christ orders us to treat each other completely excludes slavery, in its modern sense, and discourages slavery in its classical sense. We are commanded to be humble, to help one another, to 'turn the other cheek', to be generous, compassionate, kind, patient and on and on and on. Scripture teaches that people are made in the image of God, and that they are inherently free, valuable and equal one to the other, that we are to love our neighbours (with neighbours being shown to mean anyone you come into contact with), treat others as better than ourselves and so much more. This is completely incompatible with slavery (as we think of it). You do not put your brother in chains. The slave is your brother. Its as simple as that. It is compatible only with the mildest of ancient/classical slavery - that is, paying someone to work for you for a set amount of time. But during that time, you are still to treat them as your brother, as better than yourself. Honestly, there's a lot more to be said on this, but it would take me doing more research and readings and I just don't have time right now. Too much school. (For the record, I googled, like, two things briefly, and re-read the letter to Philemon while writing this post. The rest is from memory. All errors are thus mine). Also, I'm touched that you asked my opinion on this @Silverblade5 - practically blushing. I hope I was helpful, and I'm glad you think so highly of my opinion on these things! (I'm generally a sarcastic person - that response was NOT sarcastic. I am really touched)

@Quiver - it works as well as any, and it's one I heard a long time ago but forgot

@StrikerEZ - No problem! And it's easy to confuse yourself on that topic - but to paraphrase Lewis, the real world is rarely simple. It's rarely clean, and almost never easy to really understand. Think of looking at a table - simple, right? You look and its there. Simple for all practical purposes. But if you really want to understand it? Then it's an incredibly complex matter - we start discussing electromagnetism, light reflected off of atoms, wavelengths, the structure of the eye and the optic nerve, a deep, complex matter. Why then should it surprise us that the deep, real nature of God is not simple? Certainly, for all practical purposes you don't need to think/worry about these things. Just as you don't need to when looking at a table, but if you seek true understanding you have to go deep.

@Darkness Ascendant - You are a quick, engaging and open person, and bring a fresh and exciting perspective to issues!

That's actually super easy - Jesus claimed to be God. The burning bush did not. You can reject Jesus' claim, of course. That's on you. More specifically, Jesus claimed to have been equal to the Father, one with the Father, to have existed before Abraham/etc. His closest friends and followers, those who knew him best (and would know best if he was BSing) claimed him to be God (and were killed for it). Of course, you could go into depth about Jesus merely being a representation of God and not God himself - that Jesus was merely a mouthpiece. Philosophers and theologians have been talking about this exact thing for 1900 years or so. I am neither a philosopher nor a theologian, simply a layman. If you are really interested in what the Christian answer to this position is, then I recommend you go to the works of philosophy and theology. For an excellent and in-depth read on what Christians actually believe, I strongly recommend 'Mere Christianity' by C.S. Lewis. Like you, Lewis was raised Christian but became an Atheist in his teenage years, (he only later became a Christian as an adult at 33). You don't need to agree with him, but I think you would find his work extremely enlightening. It really helps you to understand the core of the Christian faith, while being extremely easy to read (it was originally a radio broadcast done during WWII), and also remaining basically non-denominational (hence "Mere Christianity"). What's said there is stuff that Catholics, Orthodox, Evangelical, Methodist, Anglican, Lutheran/etc. all agree on. Give it a read. It's a short, easy to read book.

There's a world of difference between 'appearing as' and being. God is said to have 'appeared to [Moses]' (exodus 3) in the burning bush. God did not say 'I am a burning bush'. Same with the cloud, and the pillar of fire/etc.

Woo, artifabrian! AKA what I would probably actually be in Alethi Society....

@Deliiiiiightful - belief in the Trinity is fairly universal to mainstream Christianity, so believed in by roughly a quarter to a third of the humans on the earth. That being said, most don't care too much to delve into the theology of it. @TwiLyghtSansSparkles - another good metaphor (if, like all metaphors to describe the indescribable, imperfect). One I've heard as well this: God is like water, in that he exists in three forms - water, ice, vapour. Each form is distinct, it has its own characteristics, its own 'personality', yet each remains fundamentally the same (H2O). That, of course, is another imperfect metaphor - it misses a lot. But I think it helps.

@Mestiv - Because reality is sometimes complex Seriously though, it's hard for us to expect to completely understand God. In order to describe Him, we have to use tons of imperfect language to describe perfection, an incomplete tongue to describe completion, and a temporal, mortal mindset to comprehend the Immortal and Eternal One. A God that is easy for Man to understand is always suspect in my mind (This being said, I am neither theologian nor a great philosopher. Theologian's and Philosophers have devoted thousands of pages to these very questions. Hrmmm.... I guess I have more reading to do!)

Because we don't think Jesus is God's creation in the same way you and I are (although certainly his corporeal form was), we think of Him as being God. Literally God Made Flesh, and dwelt among us. The Apostle Paul says it better than me:

@The Honor Spren - Nice. Very nice. Well done.

He made some pretty explicit statements regarding his own deity - specifically a series of 'I Am statements' - like John 8:58: ' Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I Am.” ' This is pretty clearly him claiming to be the same 'I Am' of the burning bush; certainly that's what the people there thought he was saying as they immediately tried to kill him for saying it. Now, someone saying they're God usually means they're crazy. If they back it up with clearly miraculous acts? By multiplying food? Healing the sick? With raising people from the dead? Then you start to give them more credence. (All this is, of course, presupposing the accuracy of the Gospels. Which is an entirely different discussion that I am more than willing to undertake, but I don't think this is the right place for it?)

Just for the dye for a CT angiogram. I had some white matter lesions show up on an MRI a while ago. Had a brief scare that I had MS, but I'm clear of that (thank heavens). Looks like there's nothing actually wrong with me, but my doctor is being thorough and checking for EVERYTHING (even though we think I have nothing). The dye felt really interesting though! Kinda like how I imagine magical healing would feel - a warm, extremely strong tingling sensation all throughout my body, following my bloodstream. Burning without being painful - just warm. A bit like the way whiskey feels going down your throat, but in your blood and all over.

So, I have decided that having an IV in my arm is uncomfortable. And annoying. Especially as now I can't really use that hand to read my book, and here I am waiting.