Random Thought Thread

We're handing out titles? I want Patron Saint of Pan Frying.

 

Drats! If only I were cleverer a moment ago, but the order of dibs must be preserved. . .

I will call upon you often in my hour of need—please protect my gyouza & bacon. And the pan from me. I'm always afraid I'm going to screw up somehow and ruin the pan. . .

 

I'll trade you Shenanigans for Hypocrites.

 

. . . do I have to protect people from the shenanigans of others, or am I just the saint of those who frequently indulge in shenanigans?

And if the later, do they need repent from their mischievous ways? Or do they just give up shenanigans on Fridays for lesser activity of some playful game or other mutually agreed upon by all participants?

I need to know what precisely I'm signing myself up for.

 

I need to hunt that series down, I keep forgetting.

 

I'm pretty sure you get to make up your own rules if you're the patron saint.

 

The writings or the television series?

Technically there are two series, one from 2010-12 that's wholely British and far more like the source material (although also different); that one' just Dirk Gently.

The recent BBC America series is decidedly American and very, very far removed from Douglas Adams' story. It's this one that I'm in love with, and I'm not sure if that's just incredibly American of me or if I'm blaspheming the cult of Douglas Adams or just a heretic in general against the religious order of the sacred "The Books Are Always Better."

I feel rather guilty about all this.

But then I hear Gently say "the rarer, sexier coinky-dinks" and I'm a goner.

Also: "That fence was not climbed, just ambitiously fondled."

How can a girl resist such sweet talk?

Oh good. I was afraid I might have to answer to a higher power or something.

In that case, you have yourself a deal.

 

The lesser saints answer to the greater saints, and the greater saints to the patrons. It's a very simple hierarchy, but you're on the top.

Being the Patron Saint of Hypocrites, does that come with any responsibility whatsoever?

 

Oh, you're all for responsibilities & actively fulfilling one's duties and you hold others accountable with great alacrity. So much so in fact that this admirable dedication has left you no choice but to assign your own duties to the lesser saints, as your time is better served in gracing the hierarchy with your unique talents & ensuring the rest of us are* all pulling our weight.

 

24 October 2017

107 degrees Fahrenheit (41.7 Celsius?)

This is why Californians* are such whiny babies when the temperature drops below 65~ (18.3)

We have very little context for actual cold weather.

 

Was thinking of a family trip (parents, kids and grand kids, ages 60+ down to age 3) to San Diego area in mid-October 2019, but was told it would be too cold for any beach time. Want to celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary with a big family vacation. Anybody have any thoughts about that time of year?

 

To me, the water in California is always cold. I was in San Diego in April '03 and the weather was great, but the water was numbingly cold. I've heard it's that way year-round.

 

If not an unpardonable sin, it certainly is a horrible lapse in artistic choice.
I loved the two books, listened to them on audio... and am still pissed at Adams for having the nerve to die before giving us more Dirk Gently adventures!

 

I don't think our waters are particularly cold, but they aren't tropical. But every other (non tropical) beach I've experienced has been colder/less pleasant. But that's my limited experience.

Usually it's colder on the beaches with the sea breezes during the fall/winter, but with weather in the triple digits right now it's as good as summer.

San Diego is famous for maintaining a stable temperature somewhere in the mid 70s year round.

I think it's 97 there today, though.

Edit: This is what google says about the water temps.

 

Why the asterisk?

 

Because technically there are parts of California not part of the Inland "Fire-Nation" or the delectable Mediterranean climates or the beach communities, and apparently people actually live in these places.

Most people understand that the generalisation of Californians are usually just Southern California in LA & the beach counties—NorCal and other bits aren't usually included in the stereotypes. Or at least, not the go-to stereotypes.

(Like obviously the people who actually live in Big Bear aren't the whiny babies who pull out their parkas when it drops a degree under 64)

 

This is the primary reason I am moving north. I can't stand the SoCal climate. Too hot, too dry, too droughty, too unchanging. It withers the spirit right out of me. I want some weather, damnit! Some rain, some cold. Something green to look at. It's good for the soul.

 

All aboard the Pain Train to Mad-Land.

 

Now I actually like the rain—even though it is problematic for my family's piece of property and my parents dread it—but I prefer dry weather. I can't stand humidity; I feel so gross & icky.

Also, my dad has curly hair (he actually had a white afro in the 70s which is the funniest thing) and little by little my hair has gone from naturally sleek straight to nearly frizzy waves. I suspect in another couple years, it might authentically be big, loose curls. The result is humidity now hates my hair as much as my skin hates humidity. Granted, some of it might be the excessive amounts of bleach used to colour my hair—the time my hair started seeming various intensities of wavy does coincide with when I started dying it.

Regardless, humidity makes me look just as awful as I feel.

Also, Mediterranean landscaping can look absolutely lovely—and green. Various succulents have a nice green to them, so when you plant them all about you technically can have a green lawn AND they have the right build for the climate (waxy cuticles to protect against the sun stripping water, spikey bits for points of condensation to catch moisture in the air & drain down to the roots, and typically low & bushy to shade the earth beneath them to keep the sun from drying up what moisture they've gathered) plus they come in such pretty shapes.

Not to say you're wrong. Obviously you're not. I definitely think various climates are lovely for different reasons—I personally don't know if I could bring myself to live in other parts.

Even Japan, which has always been my favourite place to be, I've technically only visited during the best parts of Spring & Autumn my whole life—so it's hard to say if I just have a romanticised notion of the country. Or else it's relatively easy to say I very well might have a romanticised notion.

Northern California is nice. I always liked San Francisco; it has a nice energy. And Dublin is rather quaint.

 

http://www.iflscience.com/plants-and-animals/neanderthals-cared-for-the-disabled-in-their-social-groups/

This reminds me of something I read in my archeology book back in college about Neanderthals. Apparently there exists a skull of a Neanderthal woman with horrible teeth deformities (basically infection reduced them to nubs, meaning she wouldn’t be able to chew anything) yet she managed to live a relatively long life. This, according to the textbook, suggested that her kin helped her by crushing the food to a drinkable state for her.
Just thought I’d share that.

 

@Link the Writer you know our ancestors wiped out the Neanderthals right?
Seems we don't like competition.

 

So I'm reading Bryan A. Garner's The Elements of Legal Style to help prepare myself for being something akin to a copy editor in a law firm, and I came across this section:

I'm now suddenly very interested in the remnants of Latin grammar in English, as I don't think I know anything about that.

 

I prefer rain or sunshine, and I don't mind humidity, but I think I'd prefer SoCal based on my experience. Colorado isn't overly humid or dry, but it's cold (<60° F) nine months out of the year.

I like forests and beaches and thunderstorms and cold surf on hot days with fog and city lights under the stars for landscaping.

 

Hm, 4 out of 5 POV characters are just sitting on a boat floating downriver, there's not a whole lot going on. How to keep from getting boring?

I think I need a...