Gosh, I made that post in eleven thirty thirds of 15 minutes just to relieve some stress. I wasn't really writing for real or attempting to undertake something serious. Sometimes if I don't write down my thoughts then my brain might just walk out. Literally. Just walk right out of my skull and give me the finger with one long pink noodle. And laugh as I can no longer maintain my basic functions.

   I do have something interesting to say about the behavior of people. I used to work with a lot of fat black guys; they worked the kitchen. Their stomachs were prodigiously developed. Inevitably and invariably, people that work with me for a significant amount of time ask me how to lose weight. How they can lose it. These guys all happened to be in the same room with me and I explained that drinking soda (as they were drinking it) helps to maintain fat. They mentioned that they drink too much and continued drinking it, as if I didn't say a thing. I imagine one of them went a day or two without soda, didn't notice any results, and gave up. That's the problem, the main problem. People think that changes to a diet are transient, things to be done very momentarily. A woman I work with always tells me about these new diets she's on or she's starting a new diet on such and such a date, etc. There is really no point in telling her this, because she'd never believe me. But why not permanently change your diet? No one ever thinks of that. Like the black guys and the soda. They thought I meant to stop drinking it for a few days, probably, or perhaps, one soda per day. The most efficacious dietary changes are the ones that are permanent. This eliminates the need to 'diet' because one adopts a new 'diet'. No matter how you do it, you are always on a diet (otherwise you'll be dead). It makes the most sense to simply permanently change it.

Is there a reason why you keep mentioning that these guys you observe being offensively fat are black, Jodo?

I think my resolution this year is not to make sweeping generalizations based on some first-hand but limited observations.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zrv2FuajJZ8

I don't think Jodo meant any disrespect. In fact, it's a well known fact that African-Americans have the highest probability of being overweight and obese in the US.

http://minorityhealth.hhs.gov/templates … px?ID=6456

As for eating people... well, back in 1729 Jonathan Swift came up with an "idea" of how to unburden people who are struggling to get by. It's a classic!

http://andromeda.rutgers.edu/~jlynch/Texts/modest.html

edit: here's an article that talks about what we've been talking about...new laws in 2010

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091231/ap_ … W5nd2hpbGU-

cheers,

-avatar!

I don't think he ment any ill will either; really, there are A LOT of generalizations (some my own) in the last dozen or so posts. Again, I don't think we need to link to a study to prove every mindset and, once again, you can find a study or twist its message to bolster your claims or find a study that counteracts another.

Still, human beings cannot be completely impartial, what we see and experience as a trend is going to make some influence on our opinions despite what scientific data we have in front of us.

Still, just the idea of "studies" can make you laugh. I remember a Lewis Black special where he said that his home state did a study on "why prison inmates want to escape from prison." Really? "And to think, for $5 they could have asked any of us. Even if we were never there we could probably imagine why we wouldn't want to be there."

I didn't think he meant anything overt or specific, I just noticed he didn't specify the races of any other people he cited, so I was curious as to whether there was any rhyme or reason to it--since Jodo ccrafts such meticulous and cerebral posts.

My other remark was indeed aimed at the thread in the general--I was taken aback, to be honest, when I read a thread ostensibly about resolutions and found it nearly immediately changed direction into tirades against nations and demographics. While the banter itself has been civil as I've come to expect from this group, the subject matter itself seemed a little alarmist.

Well, damn.  That means I've only got three more months to live.  Guess it was a good run while it lasted.

On that note, I'm going to be thirty this year.  And that thought depresses the shit out of me.

Well, Jodo himself is over 30 as well, so I wouldn't worry too much about it.

And if you didn't like the Dutch study, here is an abstract (with a link to the full article) from the New England Journal of Medicine back in 1997 that suggested that health care costs would be lower in the short run, but higher in the long run if everyone was a nonsmoker:

http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/short/337/15/1052

Once you add the time value of money, though, the results become much closer.

Same, in August.

calm down kids,, i was born in '74 and i can still act more childish and infantile than all of you combined. i think that also makes me the oldest dude on here.
I say dude 'cause i find it awkward when people call me sir. it's like "dude, do i look like i've been knighted?" so please feel free to use me as free inspiration.

we have a netflix movie called tokyo gore police tonite. it stars the girl who was the psycho chick in Audition.

Calm down, grandpa.

ALARMIST? WHAT DO YOU MEAN ALARMIST? WHY YOU...

gooble gobble, you're alright man.

I mentioned it twice - the black man in the supermarket and my former co-workers. And I predicted someone would bite on it. If I had called them 'white', then no one would have chimed in. I am actually rather amused, like those biologists that hear arguments from creationists, as if creationism is something that actually happened. It's funny to me that some people think race exists. The differences are visual, so it's difficult to convince people otherwise. I enjoy using 'black', 'white', and 'asian', etc., because they are helpful. Imagine if we all looked the same. What fun would it be? While many people think racists are bad, I'd like to meet someone that is not a racist. Racism is a confusing word, like fat. Fat is a rich energy source and rather healthy, and it's not the same as the 'fat' that makes people 'fat'. Same word; two very different meanings. Likewise, a racist can be someone that is xenophobic or someone that just uses the differences as a shortcut. There is no need for 'racism' to always be negative, just like there is no need to shun 'fat' from your diet. Because it does not make you fat.

Another confusing word is 'rape'. The original meaning has nothing to do with sexual assault (I learned that when I took Latin), yet we always associate it with that meaning. Other confusing words are niggardly (that one can get you in trouble if a low IQ person is around) and vulgar.

A word I don't understand is 'nigger'. I spend much of my time with black people and they call each other that. But it is not socially acceptable for me to use that word, because I am white (still a human, though). I'll be buggered if I know what the problem is. Anyway, these black guys at my workplace were teaching a Mexican guy to say: "What's up, my nigger?" They thought it was the height of humor, to hear that little Mexican guy say that. The Mexican guy didn't know any better; he apparently just cleared the fence. Anyway, I thought it was great fun, so I was calling him 'my little nigger'. A black female co-worker became wise to our antics and was furious, especially at me. So I guess it boils down to lability and absolutism. Some people have flexible minds and can play with things, realizing there is no real danger. While others have minds that are not very adaptable or playful. If vocalization of the word 'nigger' literally caused flesh to melt or caused the Earth to leave the solar system, then I'd be worried. But I don't see what other people get so worked up about.

its more funny when japanese say it... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgjwjaBJ5Do

So basically you laid bait to facilitate another opportunity to segue into another chapter in your tome philosophy. Well, I've learned my lesson.

Really? My mood greatly improved once I got out of my twenties. I guess it's because my younger days were so laughably ridiculous, with all the problems I thought I had. The only thought that really depresses me is that I'm going to die young. Even if I live to 120, that's still way too young.

Hi.  I turned 30 last year.  I also work in a school library, and half the kids were surprised that I was ONLY thirty, and the other half thought I was ancient.  Turned 31 this past december and the kids barely said boo.  A happy birthday would have been nice.

As for resolutions:

1) Eat better

2) Lose weight

3) Be less of a shut in.

4) Write more or faster or both

5) Read loads more or listen to more books on audio at work

6) Save as much money as I can without cutting internet (I have no cable, or basic tv)

7) Stop referring to my home as the hermit hole....come up with a better less crazy term

8) Pray the 2010 season of Doctor Who will be better than last years

David

When I was still at Second Cup, we had this really tall black guy working with us. Whenever he and I were working the same shift, and a customer asked for a large black, I'd say "Roger, they're asking for you". Never gets old.

I'd greet him by saying "S'up, nigga", and he'd usually respond with "Yo, Jewfro".

Actually, I was thinking more about this today, isn't the number one killer of African American males heart disease? Such knowledge may have been a contributing factor to Jodo's comment.

As for you resolution, I wish my one co-worker would take that one into consideration - just because I say I dislike GameStop (as a store/company) doesn't mean I'm attacking your precious friends that work there, even though they are part of the reason I dislike the one in our town.

Apparently heart disease is the #1 killer of African Americans period:
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m … _n9486298/

it's scary that some factors, you simply have no control over... but then again, you do have control over many important factors.

Nothing to be worried about, it's probably even a healthy attitude to say "It was a good run while it lasted" and if we croak tomorrow, I wouldn't really mind. Sure there's still more I want to accomplish, but you might as well get comfortable with the notion of expiring at any time.  If I get to live more, great.  If I don't, well that's fine too. 

Just as life and death are merely things to experience, 30 is just another experience.

I agree that life is an experience, but I have to disagree with death. There can be no experience in death, nor even of the actual moment of death, because consciousness will halt. Other people can observe your death, but you can never observe your own. Even if you transferred your consciousness to a conscious computer and observed the destruction of your body, you'd still be alive. The closest thing I've seen to experiencing death were some of the images in the movie Freejack, when Emilio Estevez saw his car explode. The freejacks were pulled out before they actually died, but they were able to witness what was supposed to be their death.

It wasn't purposeful. I find it even more amusing to think that others think I sit at home, laying bait at soundtrackcentral. You're making up information, thinking I placed bait; treating assumptions as facts. This type of thing happens so much in human-human interactions, the automatic generation of information. Maybe your purpose in existence is to facilitate my tome. You see, I can generate information too. I think this calls for a new word. A word that means: the automatic generation of information in human-human interactions without any regard to objective verity. Words that come to mind are fabricate and confabulate, but they don't quite fit what I'm talking about. I don't think an English word already exists that defines the condition I'm thinking of.

So you see, this has nothing to do with placing bait. Like Wintermute in the novel Neuromancer, I simply deal with situations as they happen. Adaptive. (I thought of someone biting my "bait" after I typed it. Recognizing the possibility and not premeditating it.) But you'll never know for sure. Because you create your own facts.

You expected otherwise? Whenever Jodo answers a question I don't ever expect to see short, simple or consise answers - that would be to easy; I expect to see lots and lots of words and some big ones at that. It's not my thing either but, uh... it takes different strokes for different folks? Maybe? I don't know... What was I talking about again?

You're right, of course.  I think it's just going to take me a while to get over the sticker shock of the number.  Honestly, didn't it come as a surprise to you thirty-something fellas when you first hit that age?  Or is it just a naturally easier transition for men than it is for women?

My niece asked me some time ago why she had aunts who were so young. (My sister will be twenty-one this year.)  I asked what would be an age-appropriate aunt to her, and she said thirty or over.  At least one of us can fulfill her wish this year.

On several occasions, when asked my age, I've had to think for a few seconds. I guess I don't keep up with the numbers so much anymore. I'm thirty-one, but I'm healthy and go more by how I feel. And I have the body of a taut, pre-teen Swedish boy, to quote Kramer.
On a side note: I have a twenty-seven-year-old brother who gets annoyed because people keep asking him if he's out of school yet (and they apparently mean high school). He says he's going to set the record for oldest living man because of this.

As far as a wish for the new year...I endeavor to travel. Overseas would be awesome, but I'll have to work my way up to that. I want to travel between states and visit some of the different national parks out there--hiking, camping, looking for a bigfoot. That sort of thing.

If I could detect some significant difference in my appearance or physical or mental abilities, then I suppose there would be a shock. But aging is not concerned with how many times one has orbited the sun; it has no understanding of such things, nor even of the ability to understand. Landmarks in the aging process, whether positive or negative, are not decided by easy to grasp multiples of 10. The transition is entirely manufactured by your imagination. You did go through a transition, a real one, shortly after your teenage years. Your body stopped growing and started aging. The way to stop aging is to stop breathing, because oxygen is acidic. Meaning, there is no way to win unless we somehow free ourselves from our biological constraints.

EDIT:

I thought I had better explain what I mean by win. If we die, then we lose. The only way to win is to not die. I don't consider any of the regular things that people value to be really very useful, like college degrees, money, material objects, religion, etc. Most people are religious and firmly believe that things are going to be better. In my opinion, no human has yet won at the game of life, because everyone has died, with the exception of those that are still alive. The first human to win will be the one that does not die. I like the idea of immortality so much because of how much I don't know. I understand that it's not possible to really know very much during our short life spans; this is why ideas like evolution were met, and are still met, with great skepticism. If we lived for 25 million years, then yes, evolution would be quite obvious.

I think you're attaching too much value to what is only an arbitrary number.
I have to agree with Jodo for once: the fact that you're 30 just means that the Earth has orbited the sun 30 times since you were born, and if you look at it like that, doesn't it feel kinda silly to be worried about it?

In fact, that is one of the main reasons why I don't like to make a fuss over my birthday in the first place, it seems such an arbitrary thing to do.

My sticker shock wasn't heading into the 30s, it was a baldness gene that came early at 26, so the "mental image of myself" had already taken the re-adjustment then.

28 through 32 rolled by with no further adjustment required.
http://i50.tinypic.com/5c0sq1.jpg

You know, while I can't say anything on how it feels to be bald, I honestly think baldness sometimes adds a certain amount of prestigiousness to a person's look. I think those that can admit there bald and not resort to something like shaving their head are stronger for it (there I go making it sound like a disease or something...)

I really like that print on your wall!

And I'll be turning 30 this year too... horrifying for me just because I think I generally go against the American grain and think that women look better than men for waaay longer.  I'm already looking quite a bit older than I did in pictures from just a couple years back.  Greying is my particular aging agent, as opposed to balding.  :\