Religion, SF, and Other Speculative Fictions.


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Entries from October 2008

thoughts after a sleepless night at Apple

July 16th, 2007 · by Miko · 7 Comments

I got home this morning at 0330 and couldn’t sleep for all the Coke I’d consumed during the day, the better not to turn into a pumpkin around 10, as is usually the case, so this may not be all that coherent (starting with a run-on sentence, w00t!).
I officially started at Apple yesterday. This consisted […]

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Tags: Feminism

On Killing Kittens and Burning Bathtubs.

July 15th, 2007 · by John · 2 Comments

The Great Tub Burning of 1991

After I posted eight (not really) random facts about myself, some of you inquired about how I burned the bathtub. Mel was the only one who mentioned the kitten affair, and I’m glad he did. Kitten-killing is like the international sign of E-vil, a universal metaphor for […]

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Tags: Personal

I’ve Joined a Cult.

July 12th, 2007 · by John · 9 Comments

That’s The Cult of the Amateur, according to Andrew Keen. And he says that me and you and every other non-professional creating content on the Internet are responsible for “killing culture.” His book has made a bit of a splash (I haven’t read it yet, but I’ve listened to two NPR interviews), and […]

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Tags: Technology

Weekly Challenge: Beauty

July 11th, 2007 · by Miko · 5 Comments

“We are surrounded by beauty,” I read somewhere recently (I think it was Rumi, but I can’t find substantiation for that), “Sometimes we just have to be in a garden to see it.”
I thought of this as I sat, tea in hand, cats on either side, looking out my front door at a concrete courtyard, […]

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Tags: Weekly Challenge

Most of These Will Be New to You:

July 10th, 2007 · by John · 10 Comments

Tagged by Miko: Eight things about me (each should be more revealing than the previous):

I’ve ‘run’ two marathons.
I’ve been fighting writer’s block at the ol’ MoF for the past couple of weeks. But I’ve started writing fiction again, so maybe I have limited daily allotment of creative writing energy.
I once set a bathtub […]

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Tags: Meme

Tagged!

July 10th, 2007 · by Miko · 7 Comments

sounds like something you do to an old freight car stuck in an alley. Elise tagged me and so I shall respond. Rules & 8 things about me below the fold…but I’m not sure I can come up with 8 people who have blogs and that I could tag (like, I could tag dooce, but […]

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Tags: Meme

What I Miss About Mormonism.

July 9th, 2007 · by John · 11 Comments

What I miss about being (a conservative, believing) Mormon:

the feeling of belonging to a tight-knit, globe-spanning community.
the sense of certainty concerning my place in the universe.
knowledge of exactly what was expected of me and a clear sense of right and wrong.
opportunities to serve, to feel valued.

Ironically, my greatest blessing in my post-Mormon life is also […]

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Tags: Mormonism

The Prince.

July 4th, 2007 · by John · 3 Comments

While the Americans among you are contemplating your liberties today, I hope you’ll take a few minutes to read the Washington Post’s recent investigative series on “The Angler” (the Secret Service code name for Vice President Cheney).  Like archeologists, WaPo’s Barton Gellman and Jo Becker have done an meticulous job of sifting through the layers […]

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Tags: Politics

Public v. Private

July 3rd, 2007 · by Miko · 5 Comments

As I watch (figuratively, since I get all my news from the radio) LA’s mayor’s marriage slowly dissolve, I’m reminded of the Clinton debate: is what you do in your private life at all applicable to what your public life might be?

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Tags: Activism

Weekly Challenge: Fake Religion

July 3rd, 2007 · by Miko · 5 Comments

At AX (that’s Anime Expo, not Armani Exchange) a few days ago, I bought myself the cutest little murderous monster ever. And I started thinking about why I like the fake religion of Cthulhu (see this treatise to prove I’m not the only one thinking about this in a vaguely serious manner). As stated in […]

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Tags: Weekly Challenge