Focus at Infinity

Westradamus

Wed, 14 Jan 2009 22:10:00 GMT

Batman: "Nobody wants war."
Robin: "Gee, Batman. Belgravia's such a small country. We'd beat them in a few hours."
Batman: "Yes, and then we'd have to support them for years."

source

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 04:49:37 GMT

Oh
GOD
I love Vaarsuvius!

I don't know how I scored so low on "gloomy"

Mon, 01 Sep 2008 15:59:21 GMT

The Dante's Inferno Test has sent you to the First Level of Hell - Limbo!
Here is how you matched up against all the levels:

Level	Score
Purgatory (Repenting Believers)	Very Low
Level 1 - Limbo (Virtuous Non-Believers)	Very High
Level 2 (Lustful)	High
Level 3 (Gluttonous)	Moderate
Level 4 (Prodigal and Avaricious)	Very Low
Level 5 (Wrathful and Gloomy)	Low
Level 6 - The City of Dis (Heretics)	Very High
Level 7 (Violent)	Moderate
Level 8- the Malebolge (Fraudulent, Malicious, Panderers)	Moderate
Level 9 - Cocytus (Treacherous)	Low

Take the Dante's Inferno Hell Test

It's funny because it's my life

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 03:58:02 GMT

Background: He's just imagining her

Title goes here

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 18:58:47 GMT

Last night I had a dream where I was participating in some sort of adult-baptism ceremony at my old church. Partway through it occurred to me that I'm an atheist, and what the hell am I doing at church? (I have this sort of dream every couple months, although I've never been at the center of the ritual before.) Normally I leave as soon as I come to this realization, but I am one of the 3 people being re-baptized (or whatever it is), so I'm trying to figure out how to leave without causing too much of a fuss. But I realize I have to get out of there fast, because I could not in good conscience swear the vows they would ask me to swear, and that would be a hell of a lot more disruptive than me just getting up and walking out.
At this point in the ceremony, the officiant asks people to volunteer what their greatest fear is. People start chiming in, and I try to decide what mine is. My first thought is "Being wrong." I think that compared to most people, I really hate being wrong, so I try to have as much information as possible and think things through thoroughly before stating my opinion. But I'm willing to admit that I'm wrong (again, I think I'm better than most people about this) if I'm confronted with new information or a different interpretation that makes more sense. My second thought was "Hurting people." But that didn't fit either. It's certainly something that upsets me, and I try to avoid it if possible, but there are too many situations where I'm willing to hurt people, badly even, to be true to myself or another.
At this point I am awakened by my phone, thus freeing me from my dream-dilemmas. But in the few minutes before I fall back asleep, my fatigue-befuddled brain examines the last bit my dream over and over. "Not being true to myself" is another wrong answer that seems promising at first. Again, being true to myself is something very important to me, that I take great pride in, but there's no fear involved. One, while I might make minor compromises, especially in moments where I have to make a quick decision, I'm not at all concerned about having a major breach of integrity. Two, even if I were to fail myself and have a major breach in integrity, it wouldn't necessarily impact other people. My actions could certainly harm other people and/or demonstrate that I was wrong, but those would fall under the two previously-discarded categories. Then it came to me all in a rush. Each of these things was related, but not what was at the center.

My greatest fear is failing those who have put their trust in me.

Available through Sunday...

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 01:04:58 GMT

Neil Patrick Harris vs. Nathan Fillian in a 3-part musical by Joss Whedon.

I need to learn how to do this (SFW)

Wed, 09 Jul 2008 04:29:44 GMT

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=b12_1214215739

Book review: Hunter's Run

Sat, 05 Jul 2008 18:48:53 GMT

I picked this up from the library because George R. R. Martin's name was on the cover. (George, if you're reading this stop with the sci-fi crap and finish A Song of Fire and Ice!) It's co-authored by Gardner Dozois and Daniel Abraham, neither of whom I've ever heard of.
I loved it. The major theme is identity, which is my favorite topic in sci-fi, and I like how they have the protagonist handle it. I also really liked the protagonist, who is a complete asshole whom I hated (at least at first). As in a complete asshole, not the more common "rough but lovable" protaganist. Additionally, he was an uneducated Central American, which was a nice departure from the professionally trained scientist/space captain who's always European/norteamericanos, except on the occasions where they're asian.
There was only one point where the scientist in me went "GAK!" (rot13 encoded to prevent spoilers: gur nyvraf jrer noyr gb tebj fbzrbar bhg bs n svatre, naq gur qhcyvpngr unq nyy bs gur fpnef, jevaxyrf, naq zrzbevrf bs gur bevtvany.) They also did a good job of making the alien alien. I made the mistake of reading "just one more chapter," and ended up staying up until 2:30 AM finishing the book, which is something most books can't make me do.

I'm not fooled either

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 14:23:55 GMT

My new favorite acronym

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 05:29:02 GMT

IQOQI: Institut für Quantenoptik und Quanteninformation
(Pronounced "ee-ko-kee".)

Quotes that remind me of me 6

Sun, 22 Jun 2008 00:04:31 GMT

"He was too inhibited to just lay it out there, and too honest to try to say it in euphemistic code. He was too self-conscious. He was too chicken. There was an awesome power in sex, he wanted it to go right."
-Kim Stanley Robinson, Fifty Degrees Below

Gorram "LiveJournal cut" won't work

Sat, 07 Jun 2008 04:55:58 GMT

100

As a 1930s husband, I am
Very Superior

Take the test!

As a 1930s wife, I am
Average

Take the test!

Tonight's "Holy shit I'm old" moment

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 03:13:57 GMT

I'm the same age my parents were when they had their first child.

The mere existence of this video makes me happy

Tue, 25 Mar 2008 05:17:44 GMT

http://www.gbh.tv/music.videos/utahsaints/somethinggood08page.html

Learning hurts (other people sometimes)

Wed, 19 Mar 2008 21:02:33 GMT

Today at lab I learned that my hands are more heat-tolerant than those of some of my labmates.

Tue, 18 Mar 2008 06:17:50 GMT

Walking home tonight in the spring(ish) air I recall walking home in the bitter cold and wind and I am stuck more strongly than ever before that each day that ends never comes again.

Wed, 12 Mar 2008 00:32:46 GMT

Why I love my brother

Sat, 16 Feb 2008 02:57:34 GMT

(Link NSFWoK)

(8:46:51 PM) Fan91785: shoulder-deep
(8:47:17 PM) roidesfoux: like this?
(8:47:18 PM) roidesfoux: http://imagechan.org/img/img.php?id=110
(8:48:27 PM) Fan91785: WHY?!
(8:48:31 PM) roidesfoux: lol
(8:48:37 PM) Fan91785: WHY IS THIS HAPPENING?!
(8:48:47 PM) Fan91785: WHY DID YOU HAVE A RESPONSE?!
(8:49:14 PM) Fan91785: WHY IS YOUR RESPONSE ANIMATED?!

Thu, 14 Feb 2008 19:35:10 GMT

Wed, 13 Feb 2008 05:20:43 GMT

"'But if nothing we do here has any guarantee of lasting, if even the best gestures have only a slim chance of outliving us - is there any reason not to just give up?'
'Every reason in the world,' Rudd said. "We're here and we're alive. It's a beautiful evening, on the last perfect day of summer...Now let's go down there and make the most of it, while it lasts.'"

-Alastair Reynolds, Pushing Ice

Apparently I died

Wed, 06 Feb 2008 04:43:37 GMT

I have a temperature of 8.201.
I am amazed at the precision of my thermometer.

Be careful what you wish for

Sun, 03 Feb 2008 19:18:34 GMT

Needing to kill a few minutes at work before the bus came, I decided I'd look at the news headlines on my Yahoo! mail homepage. These stories tend to be rather depressing, and as I navigated to the page, I thought to myself, "What horrors do they have in store for me today?"

Mentally disabled women used in bombings

I think the brain froze something in my cold

Thu, 24 Jan 2008 08:40:22 GMT

It's 8° F out. The windchill is -10°. I waited outside for the bus for 10 minutes. After it dropped me off, I had to walk 4 blocks to get home. As soon as I got in, I looked in the freezer, and decided I wanted ice cream.

Analyze THAT

Wed, 23 Jan 2008 05:13:27 GMT

When I have dreams in which I am naked in public, it's never "Oh god, I'm naked in public!" It's always "I'm probably making people uncomfortable. I should put on some clothes when I find the opportunity."

Lying Basterts

Mon, 21 Jan 2008 19:51:54 GMT

It irks me when the machine says "Ice Cold Coca-Cola" and then says "35° F".