177 Days 'Til Xmas:

Christmas shopping is probably the last thing on your mind now. Nonetheless, today, June 30, marks the day that the year is half over. For me it's a sad day. Half the year gone and nothing to show for it. I'm not getting anywhere, I'm just getting older.

It's time I got out of the house and stopped screwing around so much with an Internet game that's ten years out of date. I should exercise more and find a less demeaning job or an equally demeaning job that pays a little more.

Our Time:

How do you think future generations will view our time? Do you think we will we be despised for not dealing with global warming? Or will we be ridiculed for ever believing it in the first place? Are we leaving too much debt for people in the future? The reason I ask is because in the year 2000 someone claiming to be a time traveler from 2036 begin posting on an Internet message board. His name was John Titor and according to him:

You should probably know that this time is not remembered for its selflessness, charity or ability to work together.

I don't know of any past time that is held in deep contempt. Maybe the Soviet era. That was a grand experiment that never worked. Rome's debauchery is looked upon with amazement, not moral judgment. The Nazis are viewed as the definition of evil, but nobody really blames 1930's Germans. Maybe that will change with the invention of time travel. Entire generations will be appraised and held to account:

Have you considered that your society might be better off if half of you were dead?

The time traveler though, appears to be a hoax. One of his key predictions didn't come true. He said there was a civil war starting in the US in 2005. That never occurred. He also claims that a larger global war starts in 2015 in which half the population dies.

But it's a fascinating story. So much so, that a film is being made about it. The tentative release date is 2014.

Advantages of Being Poor:

1. You don't need anyone to help you move because everything you own fits in a grocery cart.

2. It makes you smarter because you can't afford cable TV or a smart phone.

3. No need to worry about dieting because you walk everywhere and get all the exercise you need.

4. Lots of unstructured time.

5. You make other, richer people feel better about themselves because they think of you during times of personal misfortune and say "things could be worse, I could be that guy."

The Question I Hate Most:

The question that I hate to be asked the most is:  

If you're so smart, how come you're not rich?

My mother asked me that once, and it cut me to the core. It's such a painful question that I don't even subconsciously ask that of myself. I keep it carefully suppressed to protect my fragile ego.

There is an assumption that wealth is a sign of intelligence. Even SL blogger Nalates Urriah believes this as shown by her discussion of SL losing users:

Then there are the bloggers that write as if they know what the Lab should do. Of course none of those writers are making US$45+ million per year.

From this statement, I can only surmise that she thinks LL is smarter and more knowledgeable than anyone that makes less money than the Lab. Maybe so. And maybe I was never as smart as I thought I was.

The Shadow Network:

Your korass is the shadow thought network of people that you are connected to in ONLY an indirect or virtual way. Their individual presence in your korass offers individual clues to the ancient methodology you used to create material existence. Therefore, always respect all korass members.

-Wiki Answers

All my friends and acquaintances in Second Life are part of my korass. I am connected to them only virtually. I don't know any of them in real life. But I don't see how my korass offers individual clues to an ancient methodology that I used to create material existence. I arrived in this world without my consent, just like everyone else. I didn't create my existence, someone else did.

Best Ending Ever:

I've seen a lot of excellent openings for novels, but not a lot of really memorable endings. Beginnings are no doubt more important because if you can't hook the readers on page one, they're not going to get to the end. Nevertheless, endings are important for a really great work.

The ending to The Novelist by Angela Hunt is unforgettable.

     But I take his hand and hold it tight. "I love ya, Dad."
     I turn and walk away, not sure if he heard or understood. But sometimes you say these things for your sake as much as for the other person's.
     Because love's the thing that holds us together.
     Love's the thing that keeps us sane.

I'm not sure about love keeping us sane, but I understand about saying things for your sake as much as for someone else. It's like a lot of my blog posts.

Wisdom:

I saw this on Serendipity Haven's blog:

A blind man asked a wise man: Can there be anything worse than losing your eye sight?

The wise man replied: Yes... losing your vision.

The reminds me of the saying that a person who has lost faith has lost everything.  Of course if your faith is misplaced, then losing your faith has cured you of a delusion. For example, you may have faith in magic crystals. Unfortunately though, the things never seem to work. Despite having an abundance of magic crystals, you have nothing but bad luck until finally you lose your faith.

Now, I'm not saying that magic crystals don't work. I'm saying I don't know what to have faith in.