Elemental's Excitingly Excellent Random Banter: No.CLXXVII (177)

[cycoris]

Originally Posted by TheCountAlucard

You misunderstand - I wasn't asking if you were one... I was asking if being an invisible minority would make you harder to hire.

It can? Sometimes (often) you're required to disclose things that aren't immediately noticeable on job applications, and sometimes job requirements will deliberately exclude people as well. Also, for instance, it may not be immediately obvious that you're part of a minority, but it can come up at an interview, or be hinted at based on your answers on an application. Plus, if you're not obviously disabled, it will become very obvious and be a liability if you want any sort of accommodations from your workplace.

[TheCountAlucard]

As in, you, the person attemping to be hired, are literally invisible, as in - y'know what, never mind, the joke is dead.

[Mutant Sheep]

Originally Posted by Mixt

Hey guys, check this out!

Spoiler

So true.

I LOL'ed.

Also, trollololololol!

I find it very funny. Especially the misspelt'ed "split".

And I goted the joke! Does anyone know joke cpr?

[LaZodiac]

Originally Posted by Teddy

I refuse to call anything that can fall 1000+ meters and walk away from the ordeal fragile.

Given, common colds are notorious for their ability to mutate and the million forms they take, so having one cold generally doesn't protect you against the next one.

That is why I said Go Go Super Humanity. We're incredibly fragile creatures. We're made out of sacs of meat and water. A stong tap to the head can kill us. But a big fall cannot, sometimes.

[Dragonprime]

Originally Posted by CurlyKitGirl

I've now been able to hold down fluids for approximately two hours without wanting to be ill. Even if my mouth is now horrendously dry due to having to supplement my water intake with energy drinks in order to build up the sugars I need. AND I HATE ENERGY DRINKS WITH A PASSION!
I have never been so proud of something so basic.
Being ill sucks.

Oh, and my back is very sore from try to find a place to sit, legs extended due to being cramped in bed.

I pity Serpy darling for her improvised chair-bed now. Your back canes.

Owies.

>_>

I like energy drinks. I'm capable of downing Monster like it's nothing due to the tolerance that I've built up to it.

Though being sick does suck, and energy drinks aren't a desirable remedy, so I sympathize.

Originally Posted by LaZodiac

That is why I said Go Go Super Humanity. We're incredibly fragile creatures. We're made out of sacs of meat and water. A stong tap to the head can kill us. But a big fall cannot, sometimes.

Is Super Humanity the people who have broken out of the cave? If so, I totally support them.

[LaZodiac]

Originally Posted by Dragonprime

Is Super Humanity the people who have broken out of the cave? If so, I totally support them.

I'd imagine so. Super Humanity is also people who, like Teddy noted, survive 20 000 feet falls without dying horrificly into a splatted pancake.

[Cobra_Ikari]

Originally Posted by LaZodiac

I'd imagine so. Super Humanity is also people who, like Teddy noted, survive 20 000 feet falls without dying horrificly into a splatted pancake.

Though given the number that DO become pancakey, I think Super Humanity must have the power of Luck. =3

[araveugnitsuga]

Originally Posted by Dragonprime

Is Super Humanity the people who have broken out of the cave? If so, I totally support them.

Didn't several of them kill themselves, some others went insane, others had a lantern in broad daylight and one decided exiting the cavern was completely useless?

Originally Posted by LaZodiac

I'd imagine so. Super Humanity is also people who, like Teddy noted, survive 20 000 feet falls without dying horrificly into a splatted pancake.

Ubermensch is now defined as not pancake-iform after a big fall. Must take notes...

Originally Posted by Cobra_Ikari

Though given the number that DO become pancakey, I think Super Humanity must have the power of Luck. =3

Or the control of probability.

[wadledo]

I finally saw the Avengers. I actually liked it, though the main plot was uninspiring, and the side plots really brought it together.

I dislike energy drinks mostly because they are either chalky or pointless. Then again, I really like fruit drinks. On my way back from work every afternoon I tend to go into the local corner store and buy a Nantucket Nectar.

[LaZodiac]

The one true fighting game.

[AtlanteanTroll]

Originally Posted by wadledo

I dislike energy drinks mostly because they are either chalky or pointless. Then again, I really like fruit drinks. On my way back from work every afternoon I tend to go into the local corner store and buy a Nantucket Nectar.

A whatnow? And energy drinks are nasty. I was at a sleep over this one time, and my friend bought this horrible drink called NOS for everyone. I declined mine, saying my friend could have it and that I'd just take a Coke from the fridge. Well, everyone had their NOS and I had my coke and this one friend drank 2. A few minutes after finishing the second one (which he started drinking about 10 minutes after his first) he started visibly shaking. And I don't mean shaking like shivering. It was more along the lines of convulsions.

[Dragonprime]

Originally Posted by araveugnitsuga

Didn't several of them kill themselves, some others went insane, others had a lantern in broad daylight and one decided exiting the cavern was completely useless?

I'm not quite sure about that. It's less a story and more a hypothetical situation. The only daytime lantern that I know of in Greek philosophy involves Diogenes the Cynic. Socrates (or Plato, depending on how you interpret it), says that if you dragged a man out of the cave he would temporarily think it useless, and if he came back he would be killed by those who want to stay.

Originally Posted by araveugnitsuga

Ubermensch is now defined as not pancake-iform after a big fall. Must take notes...

"I teach you the overman. Gravity is something that shall be overcome. What have you done to overcome it?... All beings so far fallen from a height beyond themselves; and do you want to be the ebb of this great flood, and even go back to the ground? What is gravity to man? A laughing stock or painful embarrassment. And man shall be that to overman: a laughingstock or painful embarrassment. You have made your way from worm to man, and much in you is still worm. Once you were splatting, and even now, too, man is more splat than any splat... The overman is not able to go splat. Let your will say: the overman shall not be able to go splat... Man is a rope, tied between splat and overman—a rope over an abyss ... what is great in man is that he is a bridge and not an end."

-Friedrich Nietzsche, Thus Spoke Zarathustra

[Heliomance]

...that was a mildly disturbing dream. I dreamt that I ordered AT to set himself on fire and burn himself alive, then watched as he did so.

Some sort of boar was involved as well, also under my control. I think I might be turning evil, guys.

[CurlyKitGirl]

Originally Posted by Dragonprime

>_>

I like energy drinks. I'm capable of downing Monster like it's nothing due to the tolerance that I've built up to it.

Though being sick does suck, and energy drinks aren't a desirable remedy, so I sympathize.

They just taste ghastly; the only energy drink I've remotely enjoyed was actually part of a Jaegerbomb, and even then it tasted a bit . . .aniseedy.

Update on the Horrible Bug Sweeping Through College:
More people have become ill, but I on the other hand, am mostly better though plagued with a dehydration headache and still not allowed to eat most solid foods.
But guys, last night was really bad. As in, about ten o'clock I started having the major shivers and being icy cold even though I was wrapped up in my duvet and suffering from a fever that had me very sweaty.
It was so bad I went to bed and pretty much shivered myself into unconsciousness and freaky fever dreams. Then I woke up, fever mostly gone at midnight and a bit restless. That would be because I'd been sleeping off most of the day.
So I took some medication and went to sleep again. Until half six. And then drank a whole bottle of water before going back to bed, because even sleeping for over eighteen hours the day before doesn't mean I'm getting up that early.
So long story short (way too late), I still feel like Hell, but not as Hellish as I did yesterday.
With distressing dreams.

So energy drinks on top of that, even semi-tolerable ones like lucozade isn't exactly enjoyable. But unless I want to . . . 'starve' . . . I need to drink them.

Originally Posted by Dragonprime

Is Super Humanity the people who have broken out of the cave? If so, I totally support them.

Oh how I've missed you my darling dragonprime.

[The Succubus]

Originally Posted by Dragonprime

I'm not quite sure about that. It's less a story and more a hypothetical situation. The only daytime lantern that I know of in Greek philosophy involves Diogenes the Cynic. Socrates (or Plato, depending on how you interpret it), says that if you dragged a man out of the cave he would temporarily think it useless, and if he came back he would be killed by those who want to stay.

I've often wondered what it would be like to go spelunking in Plato's Cave....

[Elemental]

Originally Posted by Heliomance

...that was a mildly disturbing dream. I dreamt that I ordered AT to set himself on fire and burn himself alive, then watched as he did so.

Some sort of boar was involved as well, also under my control. I think I might be turning evil, guys.

Hmm... Are you sure that you're not somehow the prison of an ancient evil sent to Earth long ago to ensure the safety of the Galaxy?

[Mutant Sheep]

What is UP with coincidences, man. My bro gave me a talking to about the Plato cave shadows-on-the-wall thing yesterday, and now I see DP doing the same. WHAT IS THIS MADNESS?

Why would AT listen to ANYBODY here? He cant even read.

[Elemental]

I just do my best to avoid discussions of established philosophical theories.
They always manage to give me headaches.

[CurlyKitGirl]

Originally Posted by Elemental

I just do my best to avoid discussions of established philosophical theories.
They always manage to give me headaches.

Remind me not to accidentally drag dragonprime into discussions about medieval philosophy and spiritualism then. It can get a little deep.

[Elemental]

Originally Posted by CurlyKitGirl

Remind me not to accidentally drag dragonprime into discussions about medieval philosophy and spiritualism then. It can get a little deep.

That's alright.
I can understand it, it's just I don't have a very philosophical brain. I'm more geared toward science.
Which is a shame that I was forced to give up my hopes of a scientific career due to illness. Still, there's always getting a degree in the future when I have the time and the money.
Edit: And if it gets too deep, I know how to not read things.

[Dragonprime]

Originally Posted by CurlyKitGirl

They just taste ghastly; the only energy drink I've remotely enjoyed was actually part of a Jaegerbomb, and even then it tasted a bit . . .aniseedy.

You were able to enjoy a Jaegerbomb? It seems that our tastes are completely reversed. I tried that while in Belgium last summer and it was foul. Caffeine + alcohol = feeling awful.

Originally Posted by CurlyKitGirl

Update on the Horrible Bug Sweeping Through College:
More people have become ill, but I on the other hand, am mostly better though plagued with a dehydration headache and still not allowed to eat most solid foods.
But guys, last night was really bad. As in, about ten o'clock I started having the major shivers and being icy cold even though I was wrapped up in my duvet and suffering from a fever that had me very sweaty.
It was so bad I went to bed and pretty much shivered myself into unconsciousness and freaky fever dreams. Then I woke up, fever mostly gone at midnight and a bit restless. That would be because I'd been sleeping off most of the day.
So I took some medication and went to sleep again. Until half six. And then drank a whole bottle of water before going back to bed, because even sleeping for over eighteen hours the day before doesn't mean I'm getting up that early.
So long story short (way too late), I still feel like Hell, but not as Hellish as I did yesterday.
With distressing dreams.

So energy drinks on top of that, even semi-tolerable ones like lucozade isn't exactly enjoyable. But unless I want to . . . 'starve' . . . I need to drink them.

I'm glad you're feeling better than yesterday. Get well.

Originally Posted by CurlyKitGirl

Oh how I've missed you my darling dragonprime.

I've missed you too Curly!

Originally Posted by The Succubus

I've often wondered what it would be like to go spelunking in Plato's Cave....

Not much fun I think. The point is to get out. If you try to return to free the others you get killed. My suggestion is to stand behind the chained up people and make shadow puppets on the wall.

Originally Posted by Mutant Sheep

What is UP with coincidences, man. My bro gave me a talking to about the Plato cave shadows-on-the-wall thing yesterday, and now I see DP doing the same. WHAT IS THIS MADNESS?

I know, I'm a Thomist! What are the odds that I'd be talking about Platonism? Especially with the cave, which is a metaphor for the forms! I can't stand the Platonic solution to the metaphysical problem of universals. So what are the odds that I'd be talking about that?

Originally Posted by CurlyKitGirl

Remind me not to accidentally drag dragonprime into discussions about medieval philosophy and spiritualism then. It can get a little deep.

Heh, I even had a medieval philosophy course this semester. I can now make it even more deep.

Well, unless I try to talk about Peter Abelard or Duns Scotus. Those men are incomprehensible.

[Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll]

Curly, DP, it is my dream to one day be able to converse on your level.
That is all.

[CurlyKitGirl]

Originally Posted by Elemental

That's alright.
I can understand it, it's just I don't have a very philosophical brain. I'm more geared toward science.
Which is a shame that I was forced to give up my hopes of a scientific career due to illness. Still, there's always getting a degree in the future when I have the time and the money.
Edit: And if it gets too deep, I know how to not read things.

Argh, science. It confuses me. A lot. But I have a quick enough mind to semi-comprehend 'grown up science' is explained to me. Slowly. Several times.
True that to the degree things though. There's a lady on my course who has a daughter in . . . . primary or early secondary I think. You can study until you're dead.

Originally Posted by Dragonprime

You were able to enjoy a Jaegerbomb? It seems that our tastes are completely reversed. I tried that while in Belgium last summer and it was foul. Caffeine + alcohol = feeling awful.

It's not my favourite drink by a long shot, but it wasn't all that bad. Plus it was bought for me, so it's not like I wasted any money on it. Even though I still owe a lot of people drinks.
Also, curse those riots last summer preventing us from meeting. Would have been so fun. At least you enjoyed Europe though right?

Originally Posted by Dragonprime

I'm glad you're feeling better than yesterday. Get well.

I managed to eat a yoghurt. I am mostly officially well now. If very tired and headachey.

Originally Posted by Dragonprime

I've missed you too Curly!

You're cool, and one of the people who've been around consistently for about the same length of time as me. You're an institution who understand the joys of both metal and medieval philosophy/spiritualism/theology!
Do you have any idea how hard it is to find people who like both of these things?

Originally Posted by Dragonprime

Heh, I even had a medieval philosophy course this semester. I can now make it even more deep.

Well, unless I try to talk about Peter Abelard or Duns Scotus. Those men are incomprehensible.

Oh my.
All my medieval philosophy/thought is self-taught for the most part. As in: reading things like Ancrene Wisse and The Cloude of Unknowynge and the usual things that influenced medieval literature. What can I say, Oxbridge in general is very sink or swim, and you read what you must in order to help you understand such things.
Granted there are likely lectures on medieval thought in various faculties, but not many on my side of things.
I'm going to be so very out of my depth from now on.
I LOOK FORWARD TO IT!
However, I have heard of Duns Scotus. Doctor Subtilis yes? Dude who said that existence was the most abstract concept . . . in existence. But he didn't make much sense to me either.

ION:
Ralph Vaughn Williams set three Shakespeare songs to music and choral arrangement, and they are all very beautiful, although I prefer the third one best.

EDIT:

Originally Posted by Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll

Curly, DP, it is my dream to one day be able to converse on your level.
That is all.

Our fields are very specialised and just tend to coincide rather a lot. Remember when DP and I ended up quotestorming and locking people out of the conversation for several pages back in an RB about a year ago?
Yeah.
But then when it comes to most other topics we're just as lost as most people.
Really, it's just because our fields of interest sound so posh and intellectual that seems so high-brow.
You can have the same level of interest in something completely 'banal', being able to talk about it at length without locking over niety-five percent of readers out of the loop.

Also, you're off to [smart university] to do [smart things, I think English/literature based?] so you'll be able to join in on our chats soon.
Or now. Just go out and read some philosophy or medieval literature. Or both.

[Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll]

Originally Posted by CurlyKitGirl

Our fields are very specialised and just tend to coincide rather a lot. Remember when DP and I ended up quotestorming and locking people out of the conversation for several pages back in an RB about a year ago?
Yeah.
But then when it comes to most other topics we're just as lost as most people.
Really, it's just because our fields of interest sound so posh and intellectual that seems so high-brow.
You can have the same level of interest in something completely 'banal', being able to talk about it at length without locking over niety-five percent of readers out of the loop.

Also, you're off to [smart university] to do [smart things, I think English/literature based?] so you'll be able to join in on our chats soon.
Or now. Just go out and read some philosophy or medieval literature. Or both.

[smart university] = McGill [smart things] = history or linguistics or arabic/islamic cultural studies and language and some combination of all of the above.

The going out and reading philosophy and medieval literature would work as well. However, exams right now are murdering me, I haven't really read anything for the last half-year... I have SO MUCH READING to do over the summer.

I am so very excited for university, I'm not going to lie.

Yeah, I just generally consider you one of the smartest people I know, and one of the best at conversing about interesting-yet-obscure topics. Basically.

[AtlanteanTroll]

Originally Posted by Heliomance

...that was a mildly disturbing dream. I dreamt that I ordered AT to set himself on fire and burn himself alive, then watched as he did so.

Let me assure you, I am alive. Though, I do find it kind of odd anybody would dream of me, especially someone who I've never actually met in person ...

Let's hope the disturbing dreams don't continue, eh?

[wadledo]

Originally Posted by AtlanteanTroll

A whatnow? And energy drinks are nasty. I was at a sleep over this one time, and my friend bought this horrible drink called NOS for everyone. I declined mine, saying my friend could have it and that I'd just take a Coke from the fridge. Well, everyone had their NOS and I had my coke and this one friend drank 2. A few minutes after finishing the second one (which he started drinking about 10 minutes after his first) he started visibly shaking. And I don't mean shaking like shivering. It was more along the lines of convulsions.

Fruit blend drinks. Kind of like a heftyier and fruitier snapple.

[Teddy]

Today was a good day. I picked up on The Project again, and made stuff work. It rained a lot and I didn't even care.

[CurlyKitGirl]

Originally Posted by Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll

[smart university] = McGill [smart things] = history or linguistics or arabic/islamic cultural studies and language and some combination of all of the above.

Oooh. Very fancy. And if at all possible study the Crusades!
We can be all giggly and exclusive and talk about the Crusades. It'll be fun. Base your degree/module choices on what some girl on the internet wants so she can have someone to talk to about it!
But in all seriousness, the Crusades is a really interesting topic that would also cover the arabic/islamic side of things too.

And you may have guessed from a few things I mentioned offhandedly that I also think linguistics is a very fun thing to do. Especially diachronic change.

Originally Posted by Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll

The going out and reading philosophy and medieval literature would work as well. However, exams right now are murdering me, I haven't really read anything for the last half-year... I have SO MUCH READING to do over the summer.

Good for me then that my interests are tailor-made to my degree then isn't it!
Although actually . . . five days until THat Which Must Not Be Named begins, and I definitely feel so unprepared and aarrrgh! about the whole thing.
My revision has consisted entirely of reading things, memorising some (okay, a fair few) quotations, and some vague thinking of things and topics.
See, what my examiners are looking for is something interesting that isn't obviously pre-prepared (or 'downloaded' as they so endearingly call it), so for me this is mainly refreshing my knowledge of the texts and loosely classing quotations under certain headings. But as my Shakespeare tutor said, "There is virtually no chance of you writing anything unique or unheard of before. We're just looking for something interesting, and something you clearly thought about before writing."
Oh, and some criticism of things too.
I actually have a chance at venturing original thought in some of my other papers though.

Originally Posted by Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll

I am so very excited for university, I'm not going to lie.

As someone who's finishing off her undergraduate degree, I can easily say that these three years have been some of the most intense and fun years of my life.
You'll love it.

Originally Posted by Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll

Yeah, I just generally consider you one of the smartest people I know, and one of the best at conversing about interesting-yet-obscure topics. Basically.

I'm just a bit of a ditz really.
Just one who's very good with words. hence probably my ability to make obscure topics interesting.
It'd be amusing if my rants/gushing about things I love/general discourse actually educated people wouldn't it?
Especially as most of the time I just set out to talk about things I like with others. Or, more accurately, to babble excitedly at the uncomprehending masses. Or rant.
I have been told that my rants are fun.

[Dragonprime]

Originally Posted by CurlyKitGirl

It's not my favourite drink by a long shot, but it wasn't all that bad. Plus it was bought for me, so it's not like I wasted any money on it. Even though I still owe a lot of people drinks.
Also, curse those riots last summer preventing us from meeting. Would have been so fun. At least you enjoyed Europe though right?

Indeed I did. Many good pictures were obtained I'll actually be coming back to visit my mom (who lives in Vienna), some other family (who live in Poland), and to just do more tourism.

By the way, did you ever go ahead with that Harvard thing?

Originally Posted by CurlyKitGirl

I managed to eat a yoghurt. I am mostly officially well now. If very tired and headachey.

I recommend napping then, if the energy drinks haven't made that impossible. If you're like me though, then you'll just be resilient. It takes a ridiculous amount of caffeine to keep me up.

Originally Posted by CurlyKitGirl

You're cool, and one of the people who've been around consistently for about the same length of time as me. You're an institution who understand the joys of both metal and medieval philosophy/spiritualism/theology!
Do you have any idea how hard it is to find people who like both of these things?

Not many I think? The medieval part isn't hard for me, given that many of my beliefs dominated very strongly during that era. I think a lot of people ignore medieval philosophy because they're strongly influenced by philosophy from the Enlightenment onward, which stands in stark contrast to the medieval tradition. It gets especially tricky because some people don't consider medieval philosophy to be true philosophy. Too many thinkers of that era (St. Bonaventure comes to mind) fused philosophy to theology so closely that it's really hard to separate the two, partly because some medieval thinkers made no distinction between the two until St. Thomas Aquinas came along and made a generally accepted distinction between faith and reason. Many nowadays want more "pure" philosophy such as the rationalism started by Descartes, so medieval thought goes out the window. I enjoy both fields of thought, so I just get a two for one deal.

As for liking metal...how could I not? It's good music. Just yesterday I went out with a few of my brother seminarians and bought this bit of wonder. It might not be great for every occasion (the one who tries to play metal at my funeral is going to find me coming back from the grave full of anger), but it still sounds great.

Originally Posted by CurlyKitGirl

Oh my.
All my medieval philosophy/thought is self-taught for the most part. As in: reading things like Ancrene Wisse and The Cloude of Unknowynge and the usual things that influenced medieval literature. What can I say, Oxbridge in general is very sink or swim, and you read what you must in order to help you understand such things.
Granted there are likely lectures on medieval thought in various faculties, but not many on my side of things.
I'm going to be so very out of my depth from now on.
I LOOK FORWARD TO IT!
However, I have heard of Duns Scotus. Doctor Subtilis yes? Dude who said that existence was the most abstract concept . . . in existence. But he didn't make much sense to me either.

I may be ahead in philosophy, but you're definitely ahead of me when it comes to a lot of the literature and art of that era. Though I might be getting ahead in that area when I start taking Latin next semester, thus making me able to read many of the texts of that era in the original language.

Speaking of medieval literature, may I make a recommendation? I'm pretty sure that you're like me and have a million things you want to read, but I do have to really recommend this work. It's The Consolation of Philosophy by Boethius. Technically not medieval (written not long after the fall of Rome), but it had enormous influence on the medieval period. Boethius wrote it while imprisoned and scheduled for execution by King Theodoric. This happened not a few months after Boethius was on top of the world. He was descended from several emperors and many consuls, and was in a high position under Theodoric. His two sons were consuls. Then all that got taken away, and The Consolation of Philosophy is his attempt to deal with the problem of suffering. If you're as familiar with the medieval era as I think you are, then there's a good chance you know all this, and may have even read this book. If you haven't though, then do. It's very good both as a work of philosophy and a work of literature.

Duns Scotus is baffling. He's not wrong like certain philosophers of his era, (I'm looking at you William of Ockham) just very tough to read. "The Subtle Doctor" is a fitting title. His works are full of tiny and subtle distinctions that are hard to follow. During the lectures we had on him I was completely lost. What I understood I did like. His development of formal distinction is cool, especially when dealing with the problem of universals. Still, the man is just so incomprehensible, and dull. He's like Aristotle, in that he's brilliant yet extremely dry, unlike his similarly brilliant but much more enjoyable predecessor (St. Bonaventure and Plato respectively). Even his own order (the Franciscans) poke fun at him for this. In a city near where I live there's a chapel with a stained glass window depicting him lecturing to a class. He himself looks very profound and majestic, with light shining forth from his mouth representing the greatness of his teaching. However, in this window the entire class is asleep. Seriously.

Originally Posted by CurlyKitGirl

Our fields are very specialised and just tend to coincide rather a lot. Remember when DP and I ended up quotestorming and locking people out of the conversation for several pages back in an RB about a year ago?
Yeah.
But then when it comes to most other topics we're just as lost as most people.
Really, it's just because our fields of interest sound so posh and intellectual that seems so high-brow.
You can have the same level of interest in something completely 'banal', being able to talk about it at length without locking over niety-five percent of readers out of the loop.

Also, you're off to [smart university] to do [smart things, I think English/literature based?] so you'll be able to join in on our chats soon.
Or now. Just go out and read some philosophy or medieval literature. Or both.

Indeed, it's all about our overlapping specializations. I'm not even that widely versed on all philosophy. I know the medieval and ancient eras pretty well, and I've even got a decent grounding in the Enlightenment, but ask me to tell you more than a few sentences about Kirkegaard, Heidegger, Locke, and many others, and I'll be lost. Then if you take me out of philosophy and stick me into say...advanced quantum physics, then I'm utterly hosed. I've got little to say there.

Originally Posted by Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll

[smart university] = McGill [smart things] = history or linguistics or arabic/islamic cultural studies and language and some combination of all of the above.

The going out and reading philosophy and medieval literature would work as well. However, exams right now are murdering me, I haven't really read anything for the last half-year... I have SO MUCH READING to do over the summer.

I am so very excited for university, I'm not going to lie.

Yeah, I just generally consider you one of the smartest people I know, and one of the best at conversing about interesting-yet-obscure topics. Basically.

History? I'm actually a little bit jealous. That's an awesome area of study. I wanted to take more history electives, but I've got to learn Latin, and possibly ancient Greek.

[Qwertystop]

Hey guys, look what I just made!

Spoiler

As the rushing water approached, I huddled as low as I could in the small gap in the stairwell, which was oddly untouched by the encroaching change. I could hardly believe, seeing the small jungle which was already building in my view, that only a few minutes ago the day had been perfectly normal.

It all started when the drip began from the air-conditioning vent. Dad wondered what it was, and went over to look. As he approached, the change widened, and the floor he was standing on became a rushing river. He hardly had time to yell… At the same time, the kitchen table began to sprout leaves and formed a spray of lavender, and my sister’s clothes choked her as they turned into a cotton plant. Everything was going wrong, and all I could think was that I had to hide where the change could not find me. The front door was a tree, so I hoped to get out of the window-wells in the basement, but as I opened the door, I saw that the sink in the basement had formed a similar river. Blocked on both sides, all I could do was huddle down and hope that whatever was happening would end before it found me…

Lost in recollection, I suddenly remember that Mom had bought an aerosol weedkiller only the day before. If only I could get to the garage before the change reached me…

Knowing there was no hope unless I could get through, I tensed to spring.