I like a good conversation topic

you probably do too.

they pass time when you are in a situation without constant entertainment. I like to turn my TV off every now and then, so conversation topics are useful.

some good ones:
what is the greatest scientific invention?
- note, this one has a tendency to wander off topic into the definition of scientific invention and the necessity of one invention for another. you end up with the plow or some other simple tool that created the time/space/beginning for other inventions. barely anyone chooses nuclear reactors. we think old ideas are better than new ideas. But, importantly, if your conversation goes off the initial topic, that is OKAY! the purpose of a conversation is to talk and listen, in turn. you should be interested in the things being said to you and have something to say in response. if you don't, then you should change the topic to something that you do have responses for. If you can't think of anything that you could converse about, then you should depart. Those of us with conversing skills need skilled others to be with us. you are taking up space in our conversation circle.
Are we ready for a major disaster to strike?
- a good conversation topic will bring up other topics, like what sorts of things do I need for a disaster? What is a likely disaster for my area? what would happen if we got hit with a freak tsunami instead? Which dog would we eat first? that sort of thing.

conversation topics can involve a suspension of belief, like when you go to see a play and you have to pretend like the people in front of you are actually 1930's era New Yorkers. A good example of a conversation topic that requires some suspension of belief is
What will we do when the zombie apocalypse comes? should we run or should we hunker down to defend?
- if involved in a suspension of belief conversation it is only polite to take the topic seriously, but don't be contrary. for instance, when the question gets posed: how fast do you think zombies can run? this is important to the fight or flight discussion, try to put some thought into it. don't be a jackass and make fun of the topic by smartassing back that a zombie runs as fast as a zombie can do anything, which is not at all because they don't exist. you, my friend, are no fun and not a good conversationalist. I hope you are front and center when the zombie apocalypse starts.

tagged

I got tagged by Jobonga.

6 random things about me:
1) when I drop something plastic I say, out loud, "thank god for plastics" - I don't know why.
2) more than 15 minutes of my day is spent thinking about caffeine acquisition. that is just the thinking time.
3) I have thought about becoming a combination spoken word/stand up comedian - I would just tell stories.
4) I go lengthy stretches of time wanting to eat only one kind of food - cinnamon pop tarts, scrambled eggs, spaghettios at room temperature, and spaghetti are some examples from my past.
5) my brain seems to be wired wrong for the colors/words Green and Orange. When I see orange I know what color it is, but green will pop out of my mouth. it primarily happens in that direction, but it has happened with me calling green orange.
6) I can't understand Young Earth Creationists. the link is just one example, there are plenty of others. I can understand pro-life arguments, even though I am strongly opposed. I can understand the belief in God, even though I am an atheist. But, for some reason, (that reason likely being that it is illogical and yet tries to position itself in the field of logical science therefore exposes itself so quickly as illogical), I can't understand what they are thinking.

the summary on my Madison.com RSS feed said this:

Cow-hitting good Samaritan arrested for OWI
from madison.com - RSS by TCT: Bill Novak
Helen McCollum says she was just trying to help a guy staggering down the
highway after hitting a cow in the middle of the road.Instead, she was arrested
on a drunken driving charge after hitting the same cow."I was helping this guy
and I was busted," McCollum called The Capital Times to say today. "This is why
people don't stop and help others anymore."

you can see why I had to click and read the entire article. It actually impressed me how confusing they made this paragraph... there is all sorts of chaos about!

The full story is worth checking out:
http://www.madison.com/tct/mad/topstories//index.php?ntid=283034

I have a lot of questions/comments/concerns/giggle-inducing-thoughts about this story:

1) are you surprised at the lack of journalistic quality in the article? Why are we including ridiculous comments from Helen about her dad dying and not even including the requisite: "Dane county sheriff's office refused to comment about an on-going investigation"?

2) Helen, come on now. We all know what a "glass of Dr. McGillicutty's" (pardon the spelling) is about lady! it is only 48 proof, but nevertheless, a glass of it is a bit more than a beer.

3) what is the deal with the "staggering man"? where is he now? was he drunk too?

4) I keep picturing the cow, car, airbag, man, helen situation. I drew a picture:

if you were wondering, the owl and squirrel are observiing and commenting on what idiots these people are.

podcast recommendations

I did this before here. And now Jobonga is asking for podcast recommendations. I am sort of an expert having 48 subscriptions. Here are mine:
Funny that 11 Frogs pointed out Radio Lab, I really like it.
for free fiction -the best is certainly the 7th Son trilogy by JC Hutchins. However, I also like Scott Sigler. Ancestor, Earthcore and Infection were really good free books.
I listen to the Cato Daily Podcast, but Jobonga, with your hatred for all things libertarian (well meaning jest, I assure you), you might not appreciate it.
I have some really cool college courses - GEO 10: World Regions, Peoples and States, and then also have History 132 (I may or may not have fallen in love with the professor on this one. In the last podcast he reveals a child... gnnnr)
I like Knit Picks, but this is best for falling asleep to.
I love PRI: Selected Shorts - less so: The New Yorker: Fiction
Ooo, a fun 10 min one is Oxford Biographies - people that have shaped all walks of British life.
The Thomas Jefferson hour - for when you find yourself wondering What Would Thomas Do?
Travel with Rick Steves
another cool fiction one is WrightTales: FairyTales for adults.

hairy necks

The guy sitting next to me at this meeting has a hairy neck. Front and back.
I think you are probably familiar with men with the back-of-the-neck hair. His is fairly normal for men that have this problem. The amount of hair isn’t overwhelming or curling over his collar or anything.

The remarkable thing is the front –his beard stubble (beyond stubble, mostly 1cm long hair) is growing right down his collar and I am assuming right into his chest hair.

He has a line about an inch wide of hairless skin on his neck.

This was yesterday’s meeting: I attempted to get a picture and am posting it here. My camera would have been way too obvious, so I used my phone. Not the greatest, for sure.

This may lead you to ask, which guy is this? is he one of the 2 that made it into the super category or just the okay category? I will let you guess.

today's meeting - 4/4/0

3 of the 4 men in the room are the same as yesterday’s meeting, including the 2 that I would vigorously sleep with. I downgraded one of the guys based on his super boringness at the basketball game last night and the other for being a bragger workaholic.

You know, those people that tell you about how they work until 2am each night and how many hours they put in? blah blah.

Dude, have a drink and shut up.

"Sometimes I think you should marry young", my mother told me

and 11Frogs' post: http://wittyrepartee.blogspot.com/2008/04/why-all-good-ones-are-taken.html proves this is true using game theory.

I also declared this true to R the other day: I am too set in my ways now. It might be too late for me to concede any of my living decisions to someone else.

Lucia's way of occupying herself in meetings

Sometimes I get bored in meetings. This is true in only about 10-20% of my meetings, but since my entire life is lived in meetings, it happens often enough.

To occupy myself I have some strategies:

1)       Rewrite my tasks/notes from previous meetings – I use this strategy when I just have my notebook and can’t open my computer.

2)      Play with the font and templates on my OneNote notebook. The benefit to this is that I can do this in between actually taking notes.

3)      Take a census of the room as to who I would sleep with. I have developed a system for this:

a.       I only count men, typically. If there is some woman that I really think I would sleep with then I put that as an addendum.

b.      There are three numbers – for instance, this meeting is a 4/4/2.

c.       The first number is the denominator of the equation – the total number of men in the room. (why do I put this number first in my documentation? Because that is the first thing I count)

d.      The second number is the numerator for the fraction of men I would sleep with.

e.       The third number is the numerator for the fraction of men that I would happily/vigorously sleep with. (why do I use the term vigorously… it seems creepy. I agree, but I guess I mean, I would be really into it with the second group. The first group, I would do it, but I wouldn’t really care.)  

What is great about the #/#/# activity to distract me – I can do it during the meeting and still look like I care about the meeting, and it really distracts me from my boredom.

a hug

I haven’t been going to my own blog very often lately. I even post directly from my email. Something to do with the bad mood and the transition from winter to spring I think.

Anyhow, I just caught up on comments. Someone I don’t know left me a comment (which I adore!!!) and they ended it with the conclusion: a hug.

 

At first, I was taken aback. A hug? Really? I don’t know you. In person I am not a hugger. A girl just told me in the parking garage at work that her boyfriend proposed this past weekend, I squealed and hugged her. I have to tell you, I felt I was just playing the part. I don’t really like to hug people.

But, now in retrospect, I am very pleased with the concluding statement: a hug. Even from a stranger. Perhaps it is easier for me in written communication than in person.

A hug,

Lucia