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Feels Like Rain
Ooooooohhh yeeeaaah, peeps. Went looking for that hilarious "Age of Aquarius" scene from the 40-Year-Old Virgin and found this coolio sh*t instead: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TP2P_dmY0PY Unfortunately, I won't be buying a copy of this dude's book. Look at how much the darn thing is selling for! But look at the REVIEWS (which I assume are legitimate. One never knows). http://www.amazon.com/Aquarians-Ancient-Prophecy%…— December 26, 2009 7:44 p.m.
Feels Like Rain
Re #11: Heehee. Talk about a smartypants. (That's your new name, BTW. Smartypants Grant.) I don't have anything close to that ability. Quite the opposite. I'm the Queen of Mnemonics. I color code, make up stupid sayings to remember things, etc. I'm a ridiculously super-organized anal-retentive freak, because I know that I can NOT hold all that s*** in my head. Not that it matters anyway, because MY job doesn't amount to squat. So, I don't make too many mistakes either, but it's because I have a system. Most of my coworkers, however? http://files.byondhome.com/Teka123/2008-12/Icewar… And guess who ends up playing the role of the cavalry to these hopelessly disorganized eejits? Drives me nuts.— December 25, 2009 8:02 p.m.
Feels Like Rain
Re #8: Well, Grant, the interesting thing about Kim Peek's brain is that he had agenesis of the corpus callosum -- the tissue that normally joins the 2 halves of the brain was missing. His were separated. It's interesting to me when things that are classified as "abnormalities" or mutations somehow seem to enable GREATER abilities in some areas. Of course, it's not for certain that there was any cause-and-effect relationship there at all. We just don't know. We do know that agenesis of the CC does tend to have some specific symptoms that are often confused with Aspergers Syndrome or Autism. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agenesis_of_the_corp… I've been interested in things like the nature of genius and different learning styles for a while now. I was finally diagnosed with ADD (or ADHD, if you prefer) back when I was 31. It's the physically nonhyperactive, exclusively mental type that interferes with concentration, scattering focus. I'm much better at learning things via video or kinesthetically than sitting still and trying to concentrate on something that doesn't move. I often say that my mind works in terms of something like constant Freudian "free association." Most people have trouble doing this. I have trouble NOT doing it. While it makes it difficult for me to sit and read nonconversational material, it also makes it possible for me to make associations, connections and analogies that wouldn't occur to others. The papers I wrote throughout my sporadic college career were always a mixture of disciplines. I could never write within the confines of a single subject, much less trawl through the godawful tedium of deciding exactly WHAT I was going to write about and coming up with a THESIS statement. How the hell should I know? I was (and am) also a horrible procrastinator. The earliest I ever started on a paper was 3 days before its due date, and that was a graduate-level paper on Einstein that I was supposed to have been working on all semester. Other "good" students -- and professors -- were appalled at my methods, or rather my lack thereof. All I could ever say to their queries about what I was writing on was, "I dunno. Hasn't written itself yet. It'll come." This seemed to aggravate people. Can't imagine why. :)— December 25, 2009 1:25 p.m.
5:AM and all the world is still asleep/first edit
Apparently, some creatures WERE stirring, Eh, nanners? ;)— December 25, 2009 12:52 p.m.
A sad day in America...
Yeah, so have you been able to Google up any hard numbers as far as individual COST on this thing, Pete? A few weeks ago, I had found some that suggested it was going to be something like $5000 annually per person, or about $440 per month. Isn't that about double what it would cost you if you just purchased it on your own? $750 fine if you DON'T purchase it, jerked out of your tax refund. If that's accurate, this isn't any kind of gift at all. There's no public option -- this is not the government that we're purchasing this insurance from. It's just a major boon for the existing insurance companies. Apparently, insurance stocks reached a 52-year high last week. The winners are insurance companies here, not the American "sheeple." And of course, now we have all these new "studies" and "opinions" about how women really don't need mammograms and pap smears NEARLY so often (because the insurance companies have to pay for them). Yet somehow, this "holds the insurance companies accountable," according to Obama. How's that again? Nobody else smells a dead, stinking rat here? Really? If I wasn't so tired that my dry little eyeballs are about to fall out, I'd do the research right now to find out how many insurance companies funded Obama's campaign. I voted for him and was thrilled when he won. But I'm completely disgusted with this insurance situation. A $750 fine levied on people who can't afford insurance, yanked out of the one little financial bright spot -- their tax refund -- that most people see all year. It's just more outright robbery by the U.S. Federal Government. But this way, they don't have to call it a "tax," right? Correct me if I'm wrong on any of this. I haven't been digging into it much lately.— December 25, 2009 3:17 a.m.
Merry Christmas from me
This was beautiful, nan. Thanks! That site is a great new find.— December 25, 2009 2:33 a.m.
Feels Like Rain
Re #1: You're right, Cuddle. Kim's father, Fran, did worry about what would happen to Kim after he was gone. He had talked about this. It's the one situation in which it may be best that parents outlive their children.— December 25, 2009 2:28 a.m.
Feels Like Rain
Re #2: At least your clinical psychologist was half right. That's 50% better than some of them. ;)— December 25, 2009 2:19 a.m.
Feels Like Rain
Re #3: Oh, I know, Grant. The timing of the comment (which was an innocent one about doing mathematical calculations in one's noggin) was just odd. Kim's death wasn't reported by the media until a couple days later, as far as I can tell, and I wondered if you had earlier knowledge of it. But to get a couple of facts straight, Kim was actually not autistic. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim_Peek http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/aspergers-dia… From the Today Show, 10 years ago: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/34575495#… He remembered almost every word of every book he'd ever read -- thousands of them, including phone books. (Fran's guess was 98%.) He could read "sideways, upside down, even when he's talking." He read the left page with his left eye while he read the right page with the right eye. Wikipedia states that he likely had FG Syndrome, of which agenesis of the corpus callosum (which Kim had) is symptomatic. Another feature of that condition is mental retardation. So at first glance, this diagnosis does not sound like a fit. However, his I.Q. tested at 73. So it seems that one of the world's greatest minds was actually "retarded" by our standards. Shows how much we know. The recommendation to his father was to have him lobotomized. Our greatest living savant may just be this guy, an epileptic Aspergian, with synesthesia: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbASOcqc1Ss Take a look. Utterly amazing. Unlike Kim Peek, his specialty is advanced mathematical calculations, beyond the capability of a computer. Recited Pi to 22,500 places. Accurately. He knows nine languages. A new one takes him about a week to learn.— December 25, 2009 2:18 a.m.
Doomed Because It's So Damn Easy
Interestingly, MsGrant wrote this comment on Sat, December 19: Re #9: "Technology is causing brain overload. It is not because it is making us lazy. Quite the contrary. It is requiring us to process too much information in too short a time. Our brains are screwed. I do math in my head. Rainman, anyone?" Kim Peek, the real "Rain Man" died that day. But the earliest media report of it that I can find is dated yesterday. Did you see an earlier report? Here's the mini-blog entry I just posted about it: http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/antigeekess… But with regard to the original subject, if technology is leading to an increase in I.Q., I'd argue that it's only helpful to development of a very particular type of I.Q. that falls within very narrow parameters. It sure ain't helpin' common sense none.— December 22, 2009 7:52 p.m.