Supersize
I love it when people leave reading material on the bus seats. Tonight someone left a whole newspaper and I got to read it! FREE worldy knowledge, without the effort of actually going to a newsstand and buying a paper (which I have never done, being as I'm both cheap and lazy)! Very exciting!
So anyway, though, reading the news is disturbing. It's also frustrating. I hate knowing that every news story could be, and probably is, told completely differently depending on who's doing the telling. Especially the international stuff, and the police reports. Most of the time all I can do is assume the article hints at the truth but that the reality lies somewhere in the cloudy space in between.
I'd much rather find out for myself, like go and talk to someone about it.
Which I do love to do, you know--ask people about random stuff. But treating people as my personal encyclopedias at times has its drawbacks. That's how it happened that I had to leap on a random passing bus at midnight on a weekday to get away from a clingy homeless guy... Hmm, I never did tell you that story, did I?
Yeah, I was walking from the Metra to the closest el stop (huge pain) because I'd gone to my parents' that night and taken the train back into the city. As I'm waiting to cross the street, this guy comes up to me and asks if I could just help him out with some change, see, he's stuck down here and needs money for a Metra ticket to get back to the suburbs.
No money, I think (but don't say)? None? No cell phone? You can't make a collect call and get someone to come get you? Hmmmm..... I consider if there's any way he's telling the truth. I look at his shoes, ('cause this guy I went out with once said that's what he always looks for (the reasoning being that if the guy hitting you up has nice shoes, he's probably not that hard up)). The shoes are actually kind of nice. He's young--under 30, black but talks like a white guy, like he's a suburbanite. Eeeeh, I think. I waver.
"Eek-You better get down there! Worry about the money when you get there--the trains only run for about another half hour," I tell him, feeling him out.
"Yeah," he says with a pained expression, but doesn't make any effort to move.
"What suburb you going to?"
"Oh, I live out west..."
Yeah, this guy's full of shit. Right then the little light-up crosswalk guy finally turns (by the way, who was it told me that in some countries instead of a hand for "don't walk," they have a guy standing? Was it Brice talking about France?)... anyway, so as I start to cross, I call back to him (stupidly, I realize later), "....mmmmuuooOkay... I'll contribute 50 cents... if you'll help me understand a little better. What's your story? How'd you lose all your money?"
See, I'd always figured that's what I should do, you know... ask how they got that way. Make them feel that people didn't just see through them, that we care.
Again (I berate myself so you don't have to), I now realize that to them (well, to this guy anyways), people like me, walking around with money, are just marks. They don't have much use for empathy if it doesn't jingle in the pocket.
A light goes up in his eyes. He's torn. He doesn't want to ditch the lie, but I've actually shown in interest in talking to him if he'll tell me the truth...
I'm halfway across the street and he scurries to catch up with me. Suddenly he's my best friend. He asks me which way I'm going. "That way," I say, not wanting to be too specific. Oh, too bad, he says--I've gotta go to the Metra station (ahem, yeah..). Yet strangely enough (or not so), he continues walking with me down the block (in the opposite direction as the Metra) and starts to chat with me. Damn my charming yet exasperating* inquisitive nature!! This is not what I had planned, I thought.
*obviously, my own assessment :)
Now I'm already a fast walker (I know, goes in direct contrast to my slowness at everything else, but it's true.... probably a habit formed because I'm always running late to something, I guess), so I didn't really pick up speed... but I did start to draw boundaries. You know, the whole, calm and collected, businesslike yet not concerned vibe previously discussed... To the outside observer, perfectly happy with a midnight chat in the (almost) deserted loop, but inside becoming superaware of my surroundings. As we walk, I seek out and make eye contact with every doorman, sanitation worker, and late-working businessperson I see.
He's pleasant enough, and I don't feel scared per se, and I figure if I stay away from alleys and ditch the el stop plan and hoof it over to the crowded Michigan Ave. bus stop instead, I'll be fine.
He tells me that he just got out of jail. "Jail? Why were you in jail?" I ask him.
"Oh, pshhhh, man, these cops, they were messin' with me.... See, what it was was there was this girl, and she into a fight with some other guys, and I happened to be nearby, and so the cop, he started messing with me, saying I had stuff to do with it."
"Aw, that sucks. ...They put you in jail just for being there?"
"Well, he was messing with me, so I sorta said some stuff to him."
"Ah."
I walk; he keeps walking with me. I figure I'm obviously going to be stuck with this guy until I get where I'm going, so might as well learn something... Besides, who's to say he won't freak out if I try to ditch him? Better to keep him friendly until I'm someplace more crowded and better lit.
"I've always wondered--what's it like in jail?"
"It's a'ight."
"Yeah? How long were you there?"
"9 days."
"9 days!? They kept you in jail for 9 days just for swearing at a cop?"
"Well, it wasn't a bad deal, you know? The food was okay, and I didn't have anything else to do... I woulda stayed longer but they said I had to leave."
(notice how the story of the lost Metra fare starts to slip away)
Yes, apparently this guy liked it in jail. And who wouldn't, if you're homeless? Bed, relative safety (possibly more than on the streets, especially if you're just being held in temporary costudy at the police station), free food... Well, either that, or he was somehow trying to give me reasons why he didn't get cleared and leave after 24 hours, maybe to hide the fact that he'd in fact done something way worse than swearing at a cop, something that carried a longer sentence.
Who's to say.
Still walking. It's actually a nice night out. In spite of the somewhat dangerous spot I put myself in, I am (to the disappointment of motherly types everywhere) kind of enjoying this.
However, if I had any doubt as to whether he was just another homeless guy hustling for money (and I will add my Becky disclaimer here that I'm sure not all homeless guys are skeezy... I'm sure people become homeless for various reasons, but guys like this one who hang around the loop and work the streets--they're who I'm referring to).... well, those illusions were clearly shattered when we passed a group of about 3 other homeless guys, hanging around under a construction shelter, and they obviously knew him. Elbowing each other, calling out to him... He responded, smiling proudly, showing me off like I was a prize he won (eew), and also throwing a little bit of raised-eyebrow, "heh heh, look at the sucker I reeled in" body language.
At this point we're about a block away from Michigan Avenue, and good, because I've almost run out of things to say. (shocking)
As we approach Michigan Avenue, my companion starts to make noises to the effect of, "Where do you live? Which bus do you you take? I can walk you home."
Oooooooh, honey, I think. That's when I cut him off midsentence, exclaim, "Oh crap! That's my bus! Gotta go!" and sprint off after the bus about to pull away from the bus stop. The doors were safely closed behind me before he knew what hit him, effectively ensuring he couldn't follow me home.
No matter that it was the 151 Sheridan bus, the one that takes 2 hours to go the same distance as an express bus can go in half an hour. For once, I didn't care.
Ah, that bus driver. I think he knew. I think he saw me running across the street and slowed down so I'd make it on the bus. Loved him.
My heart racing from adrenaline (and, let's be honest, also from the general effect of a mile-long speedwalk followed by a sprint to the bus on an out-of-shape cardiopulmonary system), I texted Christy how I'd just escaped a skeezy homeless man that I'd brought upon myself, but that not to worry, I was on my way home. She, of course, threatened to come over there and knock some sense into me.
So yeah, talking to people--you learn stuff, but not always a good idea when you're alone (and female, grr) at night in the city. I have to learn to confine my research to more appropriate places. No fun.
Speaking of research, I have a running list of things I want to know about. Right now I'm actively seeking info on the following subjects. If you have any relevant knowledge, please share... otherwise I'll probably bring it up the next time we're sitting around a campfire, or, you know, stuck at the bottom of a hole with 5 hours to kill. We've got deep, fix-the-world stuff, and we've got random, trivial irrelevance. A nice mix, I think:
1. Why hair is curlier when it's wet
2. The diamond trade
3. In what ways science fiction better explores and understands the human condition than reality-based books/movies/TV shows
4. What factors are necessary for a country/society to prosper without corrupt governments and officials
5. Why (it seems to me, at least) that wounds on your knees and elbows take longer to heal than wounds on the rest of your body
6. North Korea
7. Whether there will ever be a time without war, given that two of humans' most deep-seated instincts are fear and anger
8. ...and if a world like that is possible, what that world would be like
9. Iran, Isreal/Palestine, the Middle East in general (particularly the public's everyday experience, as opposed to the politics of it)
10. How it is that water has no calories. What makes a thing have no calories--the absence of carbon? Things that can't be digested and therefore used by the body?
11. If humans as a race were less intelligent creatures (as other animals, say, like squirrels, octopi (yes that's the real plural--I had to look it up for work), or baboons), whether the world would be more peaceful or less
12. We spend so much time revering nature... If nature's so perfect, ecosystems and the food chain and all that, if animals have the answers, then how come we as humans continually strive to be "above" animals?
13. Are compassion, conscience, and a sense of justice only human traits, or can examples be found in the animal world?
14. A ranking of which appliances in a home use more electricity, and whether turning on the A/C to cold vs. very cold will significantly reduce the energy used, or if the speed of the fan is what's the higher drain
15. How appropriate it is to get involved in another country's affairs--whether it's irresponsible to allow others to suffer when you can help them, or whether it's arrogant and self-serving to impose your values and structure
16. What's going to happen in Cuba when Fidel dies (I find it hard to believe that suddenly with one person gone, the whole regime will change. This worries me on several fronts, including the fact that our own country may take matters into its own hands. And in fact, I would be surprised if the U.S. isn't already ahead of the game, having years ago laid down seeds that will sprout when he leaves. Which goes back to that question above.... Plus there's also his brother Raúl)
(wow I have a lot of questions)
17. The new plastic bottles labeled "biodegradable" and exactly what their half-life is 'cause I don't want to be ingesting plastic molecules... or do we ingest plastic molecules all the time, and nothing happens, like we supposedly eat 8 spiders a year and whole colonies of microscopic bugs live in our eyelashes?
Your question: I just gave you tons of questions! Pick one. Jeez.
Big Event of the Day (tomorrow): Important meeting at work. Planning on dressing up to look semi-respectable
Percent chance: of looking respectable: eeeeh... 68%
of having my shit together before the meeting: 54.21%
So anyway, though, reading the news is disturbing. It's also frustrating. I hate knowing that every news story could be, and probably is, told completely differently depending on who's doing the telling. Especially the international stuff, and the police reports. Most of the time all I can do is assume the article hints at the truth but that the reality lies somewhere in the cloudy space in between.
I'd much rather find out for myself, like go and talk to someone about it.
Which I do love to do, you know--ask people about random stuff. But treating people as my personal encyclopedias at times has its drawbacks. That's how it happened that I had to leap on a random passing bus at midnight on a weekday to get away from a clingy homeless guy... Hmm, I never did tell you that story, did I?
Yeah, I was walking from the Metra to the closest el stop (huge pain) because I'd gone to my parents' that night and taken the train back into the city. As I'm waiting to cross the street, this guy comes up to me and asks if I could just help him out with some change, see, he's stuck down here and needs money for a Metra ticket to get back to the suburbs.
No money, I think (but don't say)? None? No cell phone? You can't make a collect call and get someone to come get you? Hmmmm..... I consider if there's any way he's telling the truth. I look at his shoes, ('cause this guy I went out with once said that's what he always looks for (the reasoning being that if the guy hitting you up has nice shoes, he's probably not that hard up)). The shoes are actually kind of nice. He's young--under 30, black but talks like a white guy, like he's a suburbanite. Eeeeh, I think. I waver.
"Eek-You better get down there! Worry about the money when you get there--the trains only run for about another half hour," I tell him, feeling him out.
"Yeah," he says with a pained expression, but doesn't make any effort to move.
"What suburb you going to?"
"Oh, I live out west..."
Yeah, this guy's full of shit. Right then the little light-up crosswalk guy finally turns (by the way, who was it told me that in some countries instead of a hand for "don't walk," they have a guy standing? Was it Brice talking about France?)... anyway, so as I start to cross, I call back to him (stupidly, I realize later), "....mmmmuuooOkay... I'll contribute 50 cents... if you'll help me understand a little better. What's your story? How'd you lose all your money?"
See, I'd always figured that's what I should do, you know... ask how they got that way. Make them feel that people didn't just see through them, that we care.
Again (I berate myself so you don't have to), I now realize that to them (well, to this guy anyways), people like me, walking around with money, are just marks. They don't have much use for empathy if it doesn't jingle in the pocket.
A light goes up in his eyes. He's torn. He doesn't want to ditch the lie, but I've actually shown in interest in talking to him if he'll tell me the truth...
I'm halfway across the street and he scurries to catch up with me. Suddenly he's my best friend. He asks me which way I'm going. "That way," I say, not wanting to be too specific. Oh, too bad, he says--I've gotta go to the Metra station (ahem, yeah..). Yet strangely enough (or not so), he continues walking with me down the block (in the opposite direction as the Metra) and starts to chat with me. Damn my charming yet exasperating* inquisitive nature!! This is not what I had planned, I thought.
*obviously, my own assessment :)
Now I'm already a fast walker (I know, goes in direct contrast to my slowness at everything else, but it's true.... probably a habit formed because I'm always running late to something, I guess), so I didn't really pick up speed... but I did start to draw boundaries. You know, the whole, calm and collected, businesslike yet not concerned vibe previously discussed... To the outside observer, perfectly happy with a midnight chat in the (almost) deserted loop, but inside becoming superaware of my surroundings. As we walk, I seek out and make eye contact with every doorman, sanitation worker, and late-working businessperson I see.
He's pleasant enough, and I don't feel scared per se, and I figure if I stay away from alleys and ditch the el stop plan and hoof it over to the crowded Michigan Ave. bus stop instead, I'll be fine.
He tells me that he just got out of jail. "Jail? Why were you in jail?" I ask him.
"Oh, pshhhh, man, these cops, they were messin' with me.... See, what it was was there was this girl, and she into a fight with some other guys, and I happened to be nearby, and so the cop, he started messing with me, saying I had stuff to do with it."
"Aw, that sucks. ...They put you in jail just for being there?"
"Well, he was messing with me, so I sorta said some stuff to him."
"Ah."
I walk; he keeps walking with me. I figure I'm obviously going to be stuck with this guy until I get where I'm going, so might as well learn something... Besides, who's to say he won't freak out if I try to ditch him? Better to keep him friendly until I'm someplace more crowded and better lit.
"I've always wondered--what's it like in jail?"
"It's a'ight."
"Yeah? How long were you there?"
"9 days."
"9 days!? They kept you in jail for 9 days just for swearing at a cop?"
"Well, it wasn't a bad deal, you know? The food was okay, and I didn't have anything else to do... I woulda stayed longer but they said I had to leave."
(notice how the story of the lost Metra fare starts to slip away)
Yes, apparently this guy liked it in jail. And who wouldn't, if you're homeless? Bed, relative safety (possibly more than on the streets, especially if you're just being held in temporary costudy at the police station), free food... Well, either that, or he was somehow trying to give me reasons why he didn't get cleared and leave after 24 hours, maybe to hide the fact that he'd in fact done something way worse than swearing at a cop, something that carried a longer sentence.
Who's to say.
Still walking. It's actually a nice night out. In spite of the somewhat dangerous spot I put myself in, I am (to the disappointment of motherly types everywhere) kind of enjoying this.
However, if I had any doubt as to whether he was just another homeless guy hustling for money (and I will add my Becky disclaimer here that I'm sure not all homeless guys are skeezy... I'm sure people become homeless for various reasons, but guys like this one who hang around the loop and work the streets--they're who I'm referring to).... well, those illusions were clearly shattered when we passed a group of about 3 other homeless guys, hanging around under a construction shelter, and they obviously knew him. Elbowing each other, calling out to him... He responded, smiling proudly, showing me off like I was a prize he won (eew), and also throwing a little bit of raised-eyebrow, "heh heh, look at the sucker I reeled in" body language.
At this point we're about a block away from Michigan Avenue, and good, because I've almost run out of things to say. (shocking)
As we approach Michigan Avenue, my companion starts to make noises to the effect of, "Where do you live? Which bus do you you take? I can walk you home."
Oooooooh, honey, I think. That's when I cut him off midsentence, exclaim, "Oh crap! That's my bus! Gotta go!" and sprint off after the bus about to pull away from the bus stop. The doors were safely closed behind me before he knew what hit him, effectively ensuring he couldn't follow me home.
No matter that it was the 151 Sheridan bus, the one that takes 2 hours to go the same distance as an express bus can go in half an hour. For once, I didn't care.
Ah, that bus driver. I think he knew. I think he saw me running across the street and slowed down so I'd make it on the bus. Loved him.
My heart racing from adrenaline (and, let's be honest, also from the general effect of a mile-long speedwalk followed by a sprint to the bus on an out-of-shape cardiopulmonary system), I texted Christy how I'd just escaped a skeezy homeless man that I'd brought upon myself, but that not to worry, I was on my way home. She, of course, threatened to come over there and knock some sense into me.
So yeah, talking to people--you learn stuff, but not always a good idea when you're alone (and female, grr) at night in the city. I have to learn to confine my research to more appropriate places. No fun.
Speaking of research, I have a running list of things I want to know about. Right now I'm actively seeking info on the following subjects. If you have any relevant knowledge, please share... otherwise I'll probably bring it up the next time we're sitting around a campfire, or, you know, stuck at the bottom of a hole with 5 hours to kill. We've got deep, fix-the-world stuff, and we've got random, trivial irrelevance. A nice mix, I think:
1. Why hair is curlier when it's wet
2. The diamond trade
3. In what ways science fiction better explores and understands the human condition than reality-based books/movies/TV shows
4. What factors are necessary for a country/society to prosper without corrupt governments and officials
5. Why (it seems to me, at least) that wounds on your knees and elbows take longer to heal than wounds on the rest of your body
6. North Korea
7. Whether there will ever be a time without war, given that two of humans' most deep-seated instincts are fear and anger
8. ...and if a world like that is possible, what that world would be like
9. Iran, Isreal/Palestine, the Middle East in general (particularly the public's everyday experience, as opposed to the politics of it)
10. How it is that water has no calories. What makes a thing have no calories--the absence of carbon? Things that can't be digested and therefore used by the body?
11. If humans as a race were less intelligent creatures (as other animals, say, like squirrels, octopi (yes that's the real plural--I had to look it up for work), or baboons), whether the world would be more peaceful or less
12. We spend so much time revering nature... If nature's so perfect, ecosystems and the food chain and all that, if animals have the answers, then how come we as humans continually strive to be "above" animals?
13. Are compassion, conscience, and a sense of justice only human traits, or can examples be found in the animal world?
14. A ranking of which appliances in a home use more electricity, and whether turning on the A/C to cold vs. very cold will significantly reduce the energy used, or if the speed of the fan is what's the higher drain
15. How appropriate it is to get involved in another country's affairs--whether it's irresponsible to allow others to suffer when you can help them, or whether it's arrogant and self-serving to impose your values and structure
16. What's going to happen in Cuba when Fidel dies (I find it hard to believe that suddenly with one person gone, the whole regime will change. This worries me on several fronts, including the fact that our own country may take matters into its own hands. And in fact, I would be surprised if the U.S. isn't already ahead of the game, having years ago laid down seeds that will sprout when he leaves. Which goes back to that question above.... Plus there's also his brother Raúl)
(wow I have a lot of questions)
17. The new plastic bottles labeled "biodegradable" and exactly what their half-life is 'cause I don't want to be ingesting plastic molecules... or do we ingest plastic molecules all the time, and nothing happens, like we supposedly eat 8 spiders a year and whole colonies of microscopic bugs live in our eyelashes?
Your question: I just gave you tons of questions! Pick one. Jeez.
Big Event of the Day (tomorrow): Important meeting at work. Planning on dressing up to look semi-respectable
Percent chance: of looking respectable: eeeeh... 68%
of having my shit together before the meeting: 54.21%
posted by Becky at
2:29 AM
10 Comments:
Wow. So many interesting things to think about. Although if I was trapped in a hole with you, or anyone else for that matter, I'd probably be more focused on getting out of the hole than having a discussion on North Korea, but I digress.
I was interested the the calories question. First of all, what is a calorie? Well, I found out that it is a unit of energy. Specificlly, it is the amount of energy that it takes to raise one gram of water 1 degree celsius. Interesting.
But why does water have 0 calories and Big Macks have hundreds? I have no idea. Sorry. I googled for 10 minutes but could not find the answer.
But I did find out some other interesting things. Like drinking ice water actually causes you to burn calories. The ice water has 0 calories to beginin with, and your body has to heat the water to warm it, which burns calories.
Same thing with celery. It takes your body more calories to burn celery than the calories that celery provides.
By
Anonymous, at 8/17/2006 09:20:00 AM
SWEEEEET! So much knowledge!!!!! I like this game. I ask you to look for things, and then you go find them. It's sort of like a scavenger hunt.
By
Becky, at 8/17/2006 10:20:00 AM
I'm very irrated today for some reason, so I thought that I'd entertain myself by taking up another one of your questions. I started with the quesiton, "why is wet hair curly", but when I googled "wet hair" I got a bunch of pornographic websites. So I'm going with the air conditioner question.
1. Air conditioners use way more electricty than anything else in a normal household. Here is a list of the amount of elctricity used by appliances in an average household. The list is provided by the good folks of the Nebraska Public Power District:
A)Air Conditioner Window Unit: $24.42 month
B)Clock: 16 cents month
C)Freezer (modern): $2.71 month
D)Refrigerator (modern) $3.76 month
E) Computer: 77 cents a week
D) Bread Machine: 6.3 cents a loaf
E) Radio: 11 cents for 10 hours
2. So we now know that running an air conditioner is very expensive, compared with making bread, although not as tasty. Now concerning your question of whether it saves more money to either turn down the temperature of an air conditioner or turn down the fan speed, I'm guessing it saves more money to turn down the temperature.
On my unit, the temperature dial goes from 1-9, with 1-3 marked as the "Economy Settings." The fan speeds go from 1-3, but there is no Economy Setting marked.
Plus I figure the real energy cost for running an air conditioner is not the fan which simply blows out air, but in the cooling unit. But I could be wrong.
By
Anonymous, at 8/18/2006 02:11:00 PM
"I'm guessing?" Psshhh. What good to me is unverified information!? I reject your data. Back to the drawing board with you, and don't come back until you have a definite answer!
By
Becky, at 8/18/2006 02:44:00 PM
So much fun! That was a really good story. I felt like I was right there with you, walking briskly away from a skeezy, yet interesting, homeless guy.
I'll take a stab at a few of your questions. The diamond trade is basically run by a cartel of mining companies. Because they are in South Africa, they don't have to follow the same anti-trust/monopoly rules that we do here. Otherwise, I'm sure they (deBeers) would have been broken up a long time ago because of their manipulation of the market. Basically, because they control all the supply of diamonds, they can inflate prices (by withholding supply - diamonds are not actually any more rare than sapphires or rubies), skimp on wages, and advertize unrealistic things (like that you HAVE to buy a diamond for your engagment ring, and you HAVE to spend x amount of money.) These "rules" were not always true, and they were completely manufactured by the diamond companies. And recently too. It was only in the last ~100 years that diamonds became the engagement ring of choice. They are a lot like the middle-eastern oil countries.
The term "blood diamonds" refers to the fact that these diamonds mines are so valuable that African countries start wars over them, and millions of people have died as a result. And of course, the diamonds are only valuable because we buy them. At inflated prices. Because deBeers told us to.
Here's more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_diamond
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Beers
And on why science fiction is better for exploring human nature, it's because we can step outside of ourselves and consider what it means to be human/white/female/whatever from a totally different point of view. I always loved the episode of Star Trek (yeah, I'm a dork) where they discover a planet full of people, half of whom are white on the left side of their bodies and black on the right, and the other people are white on the right and black on left. And they have been fighting vicious wars and hating each other for thousands of years. And you (the viewer) are thinking "but it's all so arbitrary and stupid! Who cares which side is what color!" And then you get it. "Oh," you say.
Science fiction is a great vehicle for experiments that you can't do in real life. Like what would it be like if we had no emotions? Or what if there was only one sex in the world? Or what if there were three? What if apes evolved into smart overlords who kept humans as pets? Oh wait...
By
Anonymous, at 8/18/2006 04:59:00 PM
Wow! You are tough. I coudn't find a definite answer, and have a bus to catch (excuses, excuses).
However, the US Department of Energy does lend us some help. For maximum efficency, they recommend setting the temperature as high as is comfortably possible, and then putting the fan on high. Except if it is very humid, then a low fan is more effective.
I'll send you a link. Gotta go.
By
Anonymous, at 8/18/2006 05:01:00 PM
Garrett,
Much better. I can't tolerate mediocrity in anyone but myself.
This is what he sent me, everybody.
By
Becky, at 8/19/2006 01:26:00 AM
Laura, have you actually seen that Star Trek episode? It's like the most famous one, and still I've never seen it. I try, but they don't run the old ones very often. Plus, sorry to all trekkies, they're kind of annoying. Captain Kirk? So over him.
The Next Generation is way way better.
By
Becky, at 8/19/2006 01:28:00 AM
I totally agree. Captain Pickard could kick Kirk's ass.
Yeah, I saw the episode a long time ago.
By
Anonymous, at 8/21/2006 08:32:00 PM
Becky, while I certainly admire your inquiring nature, if I was your dad (or even your brother, for that matter), you would worry me sick. Does this make me motherly?
On to your questions:
1. It has something to do with hyrdrogen bonds. Seriously.
2. Diamonds are bad news. Avoid them. It's just a rock anyway.
http://www.amnestyusa.org/diamonds/index.do
3. Science fiction has ultimate possibilities. People think "reality" limits them or expects them to behave in a certain way which is not always natural.
4. A population that is informed and not apathetic (i.e., one where everyone votes every time there is something to vote about).
5. Because the skin keeps getting stretched in those places, leaving the wound less opportunity to stabilize itself.
6. Why is it okay for the U.S. to decide who gets nuclear weapons, particularly when we have the largest stockpile in the world? But yes, N Korea is a scary place.
7. No.
8. See #7.
9. Major difference in culture which we don't understand. We should stay in our own backyard.
10. Hmmm... Water is used by the body, though not necessarily nutritionally.
11. It would be a side-step. Most other animals live non-peaceful lives, but in a different vain.
12. Pride. Arrogance.
13. Depends on who you ask, but I think dolphins and many other animals display compassion, though not necessarily a conscience or sense of justice.
14. Refrigerator uses the most.
15. It depends on the motives.
16. I don't think much will change. Despite what we're bombarded with in the U.S., many, many people in Cuba are content (even those who are not rich), and view the U.S. as being part of the problem with their economic woes, not the solution. Just look at the Elian Gonzales case.
17. Plastic is being marketed as the next big condiment.
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gophilipgo, at 8/22/2006 02:01:00 PM
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