simian

I'd like to meet:

greg graffin, richard dawkins, sam harris, daniel quinn, terrence mckenna, albert einstein, richard feynman, kurt vonnegut, stephen colbert, jon stewart, dick cheney, sarah silverman, you, voltaire, erasmus, mark twain, anarchists, saboteurs, subversives, journalists, chaos mathematicians, entheogenic chemists, quantum physicists, deep astronomers, new archaeologists, and other progressive theoriticians. Also cannibals, wankers, feminazis, hippies, gypsies, punks, ravers, hackers, crackers, phreaks, and batman.

And this kid:

Click to zoom in on my visitor map!

The Social Septic Tank:
(people I may have infected with cordyceps fungus at some point... sorry!)
I have exactly 666 friends at any given time.

Mi Hermano Miguel

Plasterpunk of Dorkonia

iCd-9 Dx: 110.9

Pi is exactly three!

Madame of Chateau Id

Wax Is An Obnoxious Ass

(Sinister?) Motive Within

L. Boozilla, esquire

Wipey the Eyeballs Hand

Travdor, the Crutchinator

Doctor Greg Graffin

Katia, our Commy-mommy

Claire Conscience

Simon Sous-Chef

Allout Guillermo

Thermonuclear Mario

Juan del Kelvello

Sir Charles Darwin

Rational Response Sq.

Flying Spaghetti Monster

Stalk My Friends Instead of Me...

Music:

Movies:

Television:

The West Wing, Jeopardy, The Daily Show, The Simpsons, South Park, almost anything on NOVA or National Geographic specials, Animal Planet.

Books:

&nbsp "The essential act of war is destruction, not necessarily of human lives, but of the products of human labour. War is a way of shattering to pieces, or pouring into the stratosphere, or sinking in the depths of the sea, materials which might otherwise be used to make the masses too comfortable, and hence, in the long run, too intelligent. Even when weapons of war are not actually destroyed, their manufacture is still a convenient way of expending labour power without producing anything that can be consumed. A Floating Fortress, for example, has locked up in it the labour that would build several hundred cargo-ships. Ultimately it is scrapped as obsolete, never having brought any material benefit to anybody, and with further enormous labours another Floating Fortress is built. In principle the war effort is always so planned as to eat up any surplus that might exist after meeting the bare needs of the population. In practice the needs of the population are always underestimated, with the result that there is a chronic shortage of half the necessities of life; but this is looked on as an advantage. It is deliberate policy to keep even the favoured groups somewhere near the brink of hardship, because a general state of scarcity increases the importance of small privileges and thus magnifies the distinction between one group and another. By the standards of the early twentieth century, even a member of the Inner Party lives an austere, laborious kind of life. Nevertheless, the few luxuries that he does enjoy his large, well-appointed flat, the better texture of his clothes, the better quality of his food and drink and tobacco, his two or three servants, his private motor-car or helicopter -- set him in a different world from a member of the Outer Party, and the members of the Outer Party have a similar advantage in comparison with the submerged masses whom we call 'the proles'. The social atmosphere is that of a besieged city, where the possession of a lump of horseflesh makes the difference between wealth and poverty. And at the same time the consciousness of being at war, and therefore in danger, makes the handing-over of all power to a small caste seem the natural, unavoidable condition of survival."
-Emannuel Goldstein, The Theory And Practice Of Oligarchical Collectivism

Heroes:

I had a list of heroes up here, but I decided:
No one is perfect. I respect and admire a lot of people for different reasons, but they all have flaws and I'm sure we don't agree on everything. We're all just human animals doing the best we can, no one is a hero. Don't waste your life trying to be like someone else. Just borrow their ideas sporadically, and be a fucking original person. Even though your chances of being remembered in future generations are slim, if you succeed, the credit will be all yours.
If you want to know someone I admire anyway, I give you Dr. Greg Graffin. The lead singer and a songwriter for Bad Religion, as well as a PhD in zoology, his ability to excel both artistically and academically really amazes and inspires me.
OK, I gave in to the pressure (what pressure?). Here are some more of my admired people: Albert Einstein. Marie & Pierre Curie. All of my wonderful professors: Matt Palus, Paul Shackel, Michael Paolisso, Aubrey Williams, Judith Friedenberg, Bill Stuart, Marilyn London, and especially Fatimah Jackson at the University of Maryland, College Park. James Watson & Francis Crick. Charles Darwin. Jane Fossey. Daniel Quinn. Brian Sapient, Rook Hawkins, Kelly M78, Yellow Number Five, Razorcades, and the entire Rational Response Squad community. Richard Dawkins. Carl Sagan. Douglas Adams. Emma Goldman. Michio Kaku. Brian Greene. James Gleick. Galileo Galilei. Guy Fawkes. Mr Wizard and Bill Nye for inspiration in youth. Mrs. Claudia Lewis for being an outstanding high school biology teacher in the public school system.
And so importantly, my mother, my father, my brother and sisters; my aunts and uncles and cousins who shared with me the wonder of the natural universe as I grew into an adult, and refused to force their faiths (or lacks thereof) upon me.
All of my brilliant, talented, creative, open-minded, just, positive, compassionate friends who are far too numerous to name.
And finally Celeste, whose appreciation of and exhibition of progressive, rational thought is a long-needed and exhilarating breath of fresh air.