I've noticed that on the three or so blogs that I guess I still haven't given up on, even though I don't post that often, I really don't like the designs. I've been trying to make the template not suck so much for the chemistry blog, but it's not the sort of thing I want to spend a lot of effort on because it's not the sort of thing I want to spend a lot of effort on. One thing that I really dislike, though, is that with my current monitor, there's a ton of white space. Well, it's more like brown space here, but shut up. The center of the page has the text, then there's this massive expanse of white space on each side. Maybe I didn't mind as much before, when I was using my old computer, which I donated to my brother. New computer has a wide monitor and old computer had a roughly square-shaped monitor.
I've spent just as much time as I care to on making the template for the chemistry blog suck a little less. I'm unfamiliar with the tools and very lazy, so I'm not doing it here just yet. If anyone knows more about this and could suggest a template or some such thing that makes all this aesthetic crap easier, please let me know. Otherwise, shut up.
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Insults
I've decided that our language (English, since I am writing this in English and you are reading it in English) is too nice. Even when one makes a conscious effort to be rude, it's not nearly as antagonistic as it could be. And to be clear, it is entirely possible to have a language that does not do this and also doesn't make it difficult to be nice. It's not one or the other. If it were, then fine, I'd prefer a language that is always nice. But that's not the problem. To see what I mean, consider the sort of insults people typically use...
"Fuck you"
I see this one all the time and sometimes it isn't even directed at me, but at someone else. Usually me though (because I am a very horrible person). I've been seeing it forever (not actually forever, but shut up). And because of the context, I sort of assumed that it was a mean thing to say to someone. And then I found out what it actually meant! Well, I can think of lots of worse things to happen to a person than this. And by "I can" I mean that I do it regularly and enthusiastically.
"Fuck off"
You can tell from the way that this is used, it's not supposed to be pleasant. It's meant to be rude, curt, aggressive, antagonistic, bullying, or at least a sign of irritation. But it suffers from the same problem as "fuck you." Out of all the ways of telling a person to go away, this one should, logically, be considered a polite one.
Assorted genitalia
Specifically, there's, let's see, cock, dick, cunt, twat, pussy, and a whole lot of other ones that are more obscure or are typically reserved for actual body parts and not used to describe an entire person. But those five, at least, and possibly others, are primarily slang for body parts and are also used as insults for people. But if I wanted to insult someone by calling that person a body part, there would be a lot of better (or rather, worse) body parts to use. Most people like penises or vaginas or both to some extent. Maybe I'd rather be a brain or whatever, but what about a toenail?
Asshole
This is another body part one, but whereas a lot of people are quite fond of genitalia, I can see someone accepting that, but then claiming that in the hierarchy of body parts, "asshole" would be the very lowest. After all, what could be worse than a hole from which feces emerges? Well, a lot of things, actually. Have you ever seen what an asshole connects to? It's called the rectum and it's where feces is stored. It may exit through an asshole, but with the rectum it sits there. Or there's the colon, where the stuff is made in the first place. And really, all of these parts do an important job. It would be way worse to be, say, a stomach ulcer or a wart.
So at this point, you may be rightfully pointing out that we have other insults that are genuinely mean. Um, I've heard things like "eat shit and die" and "die in a fire." I certainly wouldn't want to do either of those! But these aren't used nearly as often for some reason. It's as though even when people want to show their contempt, they feel the need to be civil about it. Stop it, people. If you're going to be rude, then do it.
"Fuck you"
I see this one all the time and sometimes it isn't even directed at me, but at someone else. Usually me though (because I am a very horrible person). I've been seeing it forever (not actually forever, but shut up). And because of the context, I sort of assumed that it was a mean thing to say to someone. And then I found out what it actually meant! Well, I can think of lots of worse things to happen to a person than this. And by "I can" I mean that I do it regularly and enthusiastically.
"Fuck off"
You can tell from the way that this is used, it's not supposed to be pleasant. It's meant to be rude, curt, aggressive, antagonistic, bullying, or at least a sign of irritation. But it suffers from the same problem as "fuck you." Out of all the ways of telling a person to go away, this one should, logically, be considered a polite one.
Assorted genitalia
Specifically, there's, let's see, cock, dick, cunt, twat, pussy, and a whole lot of other ones that are more obscure or are typically reserved for actual body parts and not used to describe an entire person. But those five, at least, and possibly others, are primarily slang for body parts and are also used as insults for people. But if I wanted to insult someone by calling that person a body part, there would be a lot of better (or rather, worse) body parts to use. Most people like penises or vaginas or both to some extent. Maybe I'd rather be a brain or whatever, but what about a toenail?
Asshole
This is another body part one, but whereas a lot of people are quite fond of genitalia, I can see someone accepting that, but then claiming that in the hierarchy of body parts, "asshole" would be the very lowest. After all, what could be worse than a hole from which feces emerges? Well, a lot of things, actually. Have you ever seen what an asshole connects to? It's called the rectum and it's where feces is stored. It may exit through an asshole, but with the rectum it sits there. Or there's the colon, where the stuff is made in the first place. And really, all of these parts do an important job. It would be way worse to be, say, a stomach ulcer or a wart.
So at this point, you may be rightfully pointing out that we have other insults that are genuinely mean. Um, I've heard things like "eat shit and die" and "die in a fire." I certainly wouldn't want to do either of those! But these aren't used nearly as often for some reason. It's as though even when people want to show their contempt, they feel the need to be civil about it. Stop it, people. If you're going to be rude, then do it.
Monday, June 13, 2011
What I've been up to: Diablo II
I've played other computer games too. And I'll talk about those, perhaps. But I've gotten several characters into Hell now. And I finally finished a second character: my summoner. His name is Master. All of my characters except for him and one other are named after mythical beings. Like with Shamash, I took a picture of this character beating the last boss.
Baal never stood a chance. I had fourteen skeleton warriors, fourteen skeleton mages, one mercenary, one golem, and one necromancer with an axe all beating him up at the same time. Anyway, I intend to do this for my other characters when I finish them too. I'm not sure which one will be next. I currently have four more characters that are already in Hell and five more that aren't quite there yet.
Baal never stood a chance. I had fourteen skeleton warriors, fourteen skeleton mages, one mercenary, one golem, and one necromancer with an axe all beating him up at the same time. Anyway, I intend to do this for my other characters when I finish them too. I'm not sure which one will be next. I currently have four more characters that are already in Hell and five more that aren't quite there yet.
What I've been up to: books
I haven't posted here all year. That's not because nothing has happened all year. Things have happened. I just haven't posted. But I'm posting now. I'm here now. I'm so sorry for being gone. Or something. Well, we have a lot of catching up to do, so let's get to that...
Books:
I used to review or note what books I'd been reading here. Well, this year, I've read zero books so far. I tend not to read books much while I'm in school, unfortunately. So that sucks. I did read some books at the end of last year, though:
Books:
I used to review or note what books I'd been reading here. Well, this year, I've read zero books so far. I tend not to read books much while I'm in school, unfortunately. So that sucks. I did read some books at the end of last year, though:
- The Stars, Like Dust by Isaac Asimov
- The Wind from a Burning Woman by Greg Bear
- Six Easy Pieces by Richard Feynman
- All Clear by Connie Willis
- The Door Into Summer by Robert Heinlein
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