Conceptually, fighting for one's honor - for example fighting over an insult in a sausage kiosk line - is very close to trial by combat, and conscription in wartime is very close to human sacrifice, and yet fighting over insults appears to be close enough to many people hearts that it happens fairly often, and would happen a lot more if people did it every time they wanted to, and conscription in wartime is popular enough to be mandated by law in most countries, whereas the actual trial by combat and human sacrifice, as practiced by some cultures in the past, seem like a very silly idea.
With conscription and other forms of human sacrifice I can of course see the obvious practical difference in efficiency: when you sacrifice a young virgin or a considerable bunch of them to the cause of a military victory it might well be instrumental in bringing about that victory, but no matter how many virgins or more sexually experienced individuals you sacrifice to the gods of rain, it's not likely to result in any actual rain.
With fighting for one's honor (yes, I know, it's not a very common term for fighting over insults) it's more mystical though: what is the impulse that drives people to do it, and why doesn't it feel as silly as trial by combat? I totally have this impulse, and I still don't understand it. I don't actually do it, haven't done it as an adult anyway, but when I abstain from it it's for some practical "adult" reasons, such as that I don't consider it worth possible pain, injury, trouble with the law, and, in my most charitable moments, not worth the other person's pain or injury either. But I really should be abstaining from it because the whole concept is quite absurd and somehow implies that my honor is more worthy than that of the less physically able, and less worthy than that of the more physically able. Why doesn't it feel as silly as it actually is?
Showing posts with label questions. Show all posts
Showing posts with label questions. Show all posts
Monday, February 22, 2016
Friday, July 27, 2012
Weird scooter
Saw a really weird scooter in Stockmann. (by scooter I mean a kick scooter, not a motor scooter). It had 3 wheels and was sort of V-shaped.
I asked the saleswoman what it was for and she said that you are not supposed to propel yourself by pushing off the ground, like in a regular scooter, but by rotating your butt. Then she tried to demonstrate. Then I tried. Then she tried again. We rotated our butts like two helicopters but the damn thing just wouldn't move an inch.
And now for some reason I still find myself wanting to buy this miraculous device, and wishing to find out how it works. So, my dear readers: have any of you tried to ride a scooter like that, did it work, and if yes, how?
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Maybe it's just a little bit deeper?
How come none of the people who claim that you can find the truth about everything if you look into your own heart never seem to find any content from the Spring 3.0 API reference manual in there?
Friday, January 07, 2011
Hourly chime
Just turned an hourly chime on my watch by accident. you know, the thing that starts beeping once an hour and then you have to google for a manual somewhere to figure out how to turn it off?
OK, I have given up complaining about unintuitive user interfaces that have you googling for manuals, but what I really want to know: what is the damn chime for? All the digital wristwatches seem to have this feature; if there a person somewhere who actually uses it?
OK, I have given up complaining about unintuitive user interfaces that have you googling for manuals, but what I really want to know: what is the damn chime for? All the digital wristwatches seem to have this feature; if there a person somewhere who actually uses it?
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Progress
Sometimes it feels like I am the only one who believes that the world is actually getting better (not everything in the world, but on average).
I know this is not the case, and that the people who tend to say that the world is going to hell in a handbasket are just understandably more vocal about it. It's probably a healthy phenomenon, too: the people who are unhappy with some changes are making justified noise about those changes.
To me the progress is self-evident: look what a shithole the world was 150 years ago, look what a bigger shithole it was 1500 years ago, etc. The are occasionally some very troubled times and places, that are worse off than the same place was a little earlier, but in general the world is getting better.
There is one thing I am wondering about, though: I have heard many mostly-sensible people say that it was probably not all that bad 200 years ago. I have never heard anyone remotely sensible (this excludes homicidal eco-philosophers) say that it not all that bad that some people live that way now: without clean water, or antibiotics, or other similar trappings of modernity.
I know this is not the case, and that the people who tend to say that the world is going to hell in a handbasket are just understandably more vocal about it. It's probably a healthy phenomenon, too: the people who are unhappy with some changes are making justified noise about those changes.
To me the progress is self-evident: look what a shithole the world was 150 years ago, look what a bigger shithole it was 1500 years ago, etc. The are occasionally some very troubled times and places, that are worse off than the same place was a little earlier, but in general the world is getting better.
There is one thing I am wondering about, though: I have heard many mostly-sensible people say that it was probably not all that bad 200 years ago. I have never heard anyone remotely sensible (this excludes homicidal eco-philosophers) say that it not all that bad that some people live that way now: without clean water, or antibiotics, or other similar trappings of modernity.
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Removing glass from under the skin (warning: really gross)
I removed a glass shard from my eyelid last night. It wasn't one of the best moments of my common sense, but it went well. This is something that is not advisable to do on your own, at 2 in the morning while being extremely drunk, but there was the damn piece of glass sticking out of my damn eyelid, and it was either remove it myself, or go to sleep with it (not an option), or try the emergency room in the middle of Saturday night during the high Christmas party season.
I've removed glass from my skin before, hundreds of shards, but those were fresh, and none of them was in my eyelid. This one had been in my eyelid for 18 years or so, until a couple of weeks ago it started to move from its habitual place outwards, for reasons unknown.
I whined about it to my friends, every one of them recommended seeing a trained professional, and for some reason (severe attack of sudden russiannness?) I failed to do so. I was sort of thinking of doing so. Next week. Maybe. Or maybe not.
Anyway, for more than a week now I had a little hole in my skin that wouldn't close and wasn't big enough to let that thing through, it was getting bigger and more uncomfortable, last night it was big enough for a little bit of glass to stick out, so I squeezed it the way you squeeze a zit (more carefully though), more glass came out, and I grabbed it and pulled. It came out, nothing is damaged, nothing is bleeding, and it sure does feel weird not to have any glass in my eyelid.
The glass came to be there 18 years ago, as a result of an accident (face, meet windshield, windshield, meet face). I was taken to the emergency room, the doctors put a couple of stitches where they were needed, disinfected everything that needed disinfecting, and let us home with an advice to use bacitracin ointment, which turned out to be rather good. (OK, there was a lot more trouble involved but it wasn't medical and is beside the point.)
When I got home and slept on it, I realized that my face was totally full of glass shards, and some of my scalp too. I wondered why the doctors did nothing about it, because they must have known they were there.
In any case I was not about to go back there. I took tweezers, washed them with vodka, and started pulling out whatever stuck out. The process was suprisingly painless and bloodless. After getting rid of everything that stuck out I realized that there is lots more under the skin, and that they are easy to find (those were the places where even a little pressure on top causes sharp pain). A very small amount of very intuitive experimenting showed that they can be squeezed out like acne, although more carefully, and that all there is to it is squeezing them from the directions where they are flat, not from the directions where they are sharp, and that it's very easy to figure out which is which.
After a few days of that work all the glass was out, except for the shard that came out last night (it was in the middle of a rather big wound which i didn't feel like squeezing). No more damage was done, because every piece came out exactly the way it came in, without cutting anything.
And here is the thing I've been wondering about all those years: how do the trained professionals go about removing small shards of glass from patients' skin? The procedure I have just described requires the person to feel what he or she is doing. Do the professionals just cut bigger holes? Do they have some special way of finding the glass and squeeze it out themselves?
I've removed glass from my skin before, hundreds of shards, but those were fresh, and none of them was in my eyelid. This one had been in my eyelid for 18 years or so, until a couple of weeks ago it started to move from its habitual place outwards, for reasons unknown.
I whined about it to my friends, every one of them recommended seeing a trained professional, and for some reason (severe attack of sudden russiannness?) I failed to do so. I was sort of thinking of doing so. Next week. Maybe. Or maybe not.
Anyway, for more than a week now I had a little hole in my skin that wouldn't close and wasn't big enough to let that thing through, it was getting bigger and more uncomfortable, last night it was big enough for a little bit of glass to stick out, so I squeezed it the way you squeeze a zit (more carefully though), more glass came out, and I grabbed it and pulled. It came out, nothing is damaged, nothing is bleeding, and it sure does feel weird not to have any glass in my eyelid.
The glass came to be there 18 years ago, as a result of an accident (face, meet windshield, windshield, meet face). I was taken to the emergency room, the doctors put a couple of stitches where they were needed, disinfected everything that needed disinfecting, and let us home with an advice to use bacitracin ointment, which turned out to be rather good. (OK, there was a lot more trouble involved but it wasn't medical and is beside the point.)
When I got home and slept on it, I realized that my face was totally full of glass shards, and some of my scalp too. I wondered why the doctors did nothing about it, because they must have known they were there.
In any case I was not about to go back there. I took tweezers, washed them with vodka, and started pulling out whatever stuck out. The process was suprisingly painless and bloodless. After getting rid of everything that stuck out I realized that there is lots more under the skin, and that they are easy to find (those were the places where even a little pressure on top causes sharp pain). A very small amount of very intuitive experimenting showed that they can be squeezed out like acne, although more carefully, and that all there is to it is squeezing them from the directions where they are flat, not from the directions where they are sharp, and that it's very easy to figure out which is which.
After a few days of that work all the glass was out, except for the shard that came out last night (it was in the middle of a rather big wound which i didn't feel like squeezing). No more damage was done, because every piece came out exactly the way it came in, without cutting anything.
And here is the thing I've been wondering about all those years: how do the trained professionals go about removing small shards of glass from patients' skin? The procedure I have just described requires the person to feel what he or she is doing. Do the professionals just cut bigger holes? Do they have some special way of finding the glass and squeeze it out themselves?
Tuesday, October 06, 2009
And while we are on the topic of bodily secretions...
People are advised not to do a number of things: pick their noses, remove wax from their ears, squeeze out acne, puncture blisters, scratch mosquito bites, scratch healing abrasions, pick dried blood off their surfaces, scratch all sorts of things, etc.
Some of these make more sense than others, but I am still wondering: it there some evolutionary purpose in the fact that most people want to do most of the above? For example, why does healing skin itch in the first place?
Some of these make more sense than others, but I am still wondering: it there some evolutionary purpose in the fact that most people want to do most of the above? For example, why does healing skin itch in the first place?
Nosepicking
When I was a little kid, we were told not to pick our noses. And it was made quite clear that this didn't mean "don't pick your nose in public", but "don't pick your nose at all, even in private".
The funny thing was that nobody ever offered any viable alternatives to picking one's nose, or at least not any alternatives that didn't assume that the contents of the nose had to be liquid.
I am curious: did anyone's parents ever really say what to do instead of picking one's nose? Or did the parents in the civilized world just tell their kinds not to do it in public?
The funny thing was that nobody ever offered any viable alternatives to picking one's nose, or at least not any alternatives that didn't assume that the contents of the nose had to be liquid.
I am curious: did anyone's parents ever really say what to do instead of picking one's nose? Or did the parents in the civilized world just tell their kinds not to do it in public?
Monday, August 10, 2009
Tattoos
Am I imagining things, or am I seeing a lot more tattoos on people's bare arms and legs this summer than there were last summer?
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Spring and wine
The neighbor's bulldog seems to like me. She has invaded my apartment three times already, although nowadays the owner tends to be on a shorter leash and has learned to extract her from my place really fast.
I am not sure how I managed to earn such attention.
Spring is coming. It's getting warm, which seems sort of noteworthy.
Vappu is coming too. Objective: not to drink too much sparkling wine. Gonna be an epic fail.
While we are on the subject of wine: I bought a bottle of non-alcoholic red today and the salesperson specifically warned me that it was non-alcoholic. Which makes me wonder: why is there so little non-alcoholic wine around? Is it bad? (I am about to find out.) I have a feeling that people tend to think of non-alcoholic wine as something fake and unworthy - including the people who actually dislike alcohol and drink wine for taste only. Oh well, maybe it is bad. We'll see.
Went to the zoo yesterday. I tend to go there on a sunny day and then remember why cloudy days are better. Anyway, it was a disappointment: no more seals, no more arctic foxes, most of the animals asleep somewhere. The only things that saved the day were a couple of camels kissing like young lovers, and a very determined otter that was trying to give itself a blow job.
I am not sure how I managed to earn such attention.
Spring is coming. It's getting warm, which seems sort of noteworthy.
Vappu is coming too. Objective: not to drink too much sparkling wine. Gonna be an epic fail.
While we are on the subject of wine: I bought a bottle of non-alcoholic red today and the salesperson specifically warned me that it was non-alcoholic. Which makes me wonder: why is there so little non-alcoholic wine around? Is it bad? (I am about to find out.) I have a feeling that people tend to think of non-alcoholic wine as something fake and unworthy - including the people who actually dislike alcohol and drink wine for taste only. Oh well, maybe it is bad. We'll see.
Went to the zoo yesterday. I tend to go there on a sunny day and then remember why cloudy days are better. Anyway, it was a disappointment: no more seals, no more arctic foxes, most of the animals asleep somewhere. The only things that saved the day were a couple of camels kissing like young lovers, and a very determined otter that was trying to give itself a blow job.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Flu, tissues and foaming at the mouth
Been distracted from blogging and my social life by a lot of work and a nasty flu.
I hate flu in all its manifestations, and I have never even had a stomach flu. This one has been of the kind that starts at the throat, makes it really sore for a couple of days, then proceeds to the nose and makes it sore for a few days more, after which it usually disappears and leaves you with a sore nose because you have rubbed the skin really raw.
One thing I really miss here is the American tissues. I mean, I usually manage to rub my nose raw even with them, but they are not nearly as rough as the Finnish ones. On the other hand it makes them fragile and not very good for blowing your nose, so the only sensible strategy is to blow your nose into the Finnish tissues and then wipe it with the American ones.
I shared this observation with another American once. His eyes went round and he said "You worry about the tissues? Look at their toilet paper! Doesn't it make your ass sore?" It doesn't, and I played an old Russian macho card and told him about growing up wiping my ass with a newspaper called Sovetskaya Rossiya, which was marginally softer than Pravda but left brighter pictures of Lenin on its user's ass. I am sure he regretted ever raising the subject, and we never talked about it again, but now I started wondering: are there any real live people besides him whose asses are more sensitive than their nostrils, paper-wise?
Yesterday during a bout of coughing and sneezing green foam came out of my mouth and nose. At first I was somewhat surprised, then realized that I was drinking matcha latte (for those who doesn't know, it is very green). It is a very soothing drink, and I finally found the right recipe, and I would like to drink that at work, too, but I am not sure how the coworkers will relate to the green foam. Maybe I better wait till the flu is over.
I hate flu in all its manifestations, and I have never even had a stomach flu. This one has been of the kind that starts at the throat, makes it really sore for a couple of days, then proceeds to the nose and makes it sore for a few days more, after which it usually disappears and leaves you with a sore nose because you have rubbed the skin really raw.
One thing I really miss here is the American tissues. I mean, I usually manage to rub my nose raw even with them, but they are not nearly as rough as the Finnish ones. On the other hand it makes them fragile and not very good for blowing your nose, so the only sensible strategy is to blow your nose into the Finnish tissues and then wipe it with the American ones.
I shared this observation with another American once. His eyes went round and he said "You worry about the tissues? Look at their toilet paper! Doesn't it make your ass sore?" It doesn't, and I played an old Russian macho card and told him about growing up wiping my ass with a newspaper called Sovetskaya Rossiya, which was marginally softer than Pravda but left brighter pictures of Lenin on its user's ass. I am sure he regretted ever raising the subject, and we never talked about it again, but now I started wondering: are there any real live people besides him whose asses are more sensitive than their nostrils, paper-wise?
Yesterday during a bout of coughing and sneezing green foam came out of my mouth and nose. At first I was somewhat surprised, then realized that I was drinking matcha latte (for those who doesn't know, it is very green). It is a very soothing drink, and I finally found the right recipe, and I would like to drink that at work, too, but I am not sure how the coworkers will relate to the green foam. Maybe I better wait till the flu is over.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Life? Don't talk to me about life. And memory. And webcams.
I've been a bit tired lately, partly because my life has been very hectic, partly because I am still paying my sleep debts after a recent flu. Anyway, too tired for any hobbies except reading and occasionally seeing some friends.
Anyway, when I am somewhat stressed and tired I usually buy more memory to cheer myself up. It's cheap nowadays, too.
Problem is, I don't remember running out of memory in recent past. Looks like I don't need more than the 4G I have. Wow, I didn't think I'd live to see the day.
How is a girl supposed to cheer herself up by shopping if she doesn't need more memory and doesn't have physical space for one more hard drive in her computer? An external hard drive would be an obvious answer, but I already have two.
Which brings me to the question: can anyone recommend a webcam that works with Linux? I can find tons of them by googling, but the problem is that by the time they are mentioned on the Net in this context, they are usually out of stock in stores.
Anyway, when I am somewhat stressed and tired I usually buy more memory to cheer myself up. It's cheap nowadays, too.
Problem is, I don't remember running out of memory in recent past. Looks like I don't need more than the 4G I have. Wow, I didn't think I'd live to see the day.
How is a girl supposed to cheer herself up by shopping if she doesn't need more memory and doesn't have physical space for one more hard drive in her computer? An external hard drive would be an obvious answer, but I already have two.
Which brings me to the question: can anyone recommend a webcam that works with Linux? I can find tons of them by googling, but the problem is that by the time they are mentioned on the Net in this context, they are usually out of stock in stores.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
"And no nukes, while you are at it"
I came back from a trip to Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong and Macau last week. A more detailed report is forthcoming, but one thing I noticed is the amount of interesting warnings, bans and advice. "Please see a doctor if you are sick", "Please drink water to avoid heat", no discharging missiles in the park and a lot of other stuff, etc.
The most mysterious, however, was this, in Tapgol park in Seoul. Why two pictures of people throwing trash? What do the head and the hand mean? Do they really mean "don't set fire to the buildings" in one of these? And what the hell is the fourth one from the left in the top row (a closeup)? My first guess was "don't measure chipmunks' temperature anally", as good an advice as any, but then my friends also came up with "don't abuse chipmunks in the butt with a sparkler", "don't give chipmunks pregnancy tests", and many other creative ideas. If any of my readers know any Korean, please shed some light on this mystery.
The most mysterious, however, was this, in Tapgol park in Seoul. Why two pictures of people throwing trash? What do the head and the hand mean? Do they really mean "don't set fire to the buildings" in one of these? And what the hell is the fourth one from the left in the top row (a closeup)? My first guess was "don't measure chipmunks' temperature anally", as good an advice as any, but then my friends also came up with "don't abuse chipmunks in the butt with a sparkler", "don't give chipmunks pregnancy tests", and many other creative ideas. If any of my readers know any Korean, please shed some light on this mystery.
Tuesday, September 02, 2008
Movies and seats
Been to the movies yesterday. Kung Fu Panda, which was OK, and the new Indiana Jones, which I liked better.
Made me wonder about a few things, not related to these particular two movies:
1. Why do most people seem to dislike the front rows regardless of their actual location, the size of the screen, the angle, the height, etc.?
2. Am I the only person who orders the tickets "one ticket to the movie X, row Y please"? How come they never seem to hear or acknowledge my location request? The conversation usually continues: "is row Z OK"? "No, I would like row Y, please." Row Y invariably has more free space than row Z.
3. What the hell is wrong with the people who want to get up and watch the end credits? I can understand people wanting to get out as soon as the end credits start, although I disapprove of it because they get in the way of those of us watching the credits, but why the hell some of the people who want to watch the credits themselves seem to have a problem with the idea that somebody behind them might want to watch them too, and that they are not quite transparent?
4. What's the point of having places for senior citizens on public transport? If there are no senior citizens around, they don't need them, and if they are around, isn't it nice to offer them a seat even if it isn't a designated senior citizen seat? Are the designated seats just so that everyone knows who should be the first to give up their seats to the elderly?
Made me wonder about a few things, not related to these particular two movies:
1. Why do most people seem to dislike the front rows regardless of their actual location, the size of the screen, the angle, the height, etc.?
2. Am I the only person who orders the tickets "one ticket to the movie X, row Y please"? How come they never seem to hear or acknowledge my location request? The conversation usually continues: "is row Z OK"? "No, I would like row Y, please." Row Y invariably has more free space than row Z.
3. What the hell is wrong with the people who want to get up and watch the end credits? I can understand people wanting to get out as soon as the end credits start, although I disapprove of it because they get in the way of those of us watching the credits, but why the hell some of the people who want to watch the credits themselves seem to have a problem with the idea that somebody behind them might want to watch them too, and that they are not quite transparent?
4. What's the point of having places for senior citizens on public transport? If there are no senior citizens around, they don't need them, and if they are around, isn't it nice to offer them a seat even if it isn't a designated senior citizen seat? Are the designated seats just so that everyone knows who should be the first to give up their seats to the elderly?
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Singing
In all my Russian schools, and AFAIK in at least most of the Finnish schools of my friends, there were obligatory music lessons where people were allegedly taught to sing. Except that they weren't. People were ordered to sing, and given good grades if they could and bad grades if they couldn't, but I don't remember anyone actually teaching us to sing at any point, in the sense of explaining to us how to do it. Either you could do it, or you couldn't. I was an adult before I realized that singing is in principle teachable.
Now that I think about it it's quite weird. I started wondering whether the same was the case with any other subject, and it wasn't. In any subject there were people who could just naturally do it without any input from the school, but the point was to teach stuff to the ones who couldn't. The people who were not gifted in math were taught at least some math, the people who couldn't spell well were taught the proper spelling, the people who had absolutely no talent or experience in drawing were taught to draw at least somehow, but the people who did not know how to sing were just ordered to demonstrate this fact and given bad grades. In every single school that I'd been to.
I wonder why. I also wonder whether there is any place who teaches singing to adult people who don't have any talent and aren't planning to do anything with this particular skill except maybe singing some drinking songs at some party.
Now that I think about it it's quite weird. I started wondering whether the same was the case with any other subject, and it wasn't. In any subject there were people who could just naturally do it without any input from the school, but the point was to teach stuff to the ones who couldn't. The people who were not gifted in math were taught at least some math, the people who couldn't spell well were taught the proper spelling, the people who had absolutely no talent or experience in drawing were taught to draw at least somehow, but the people who did not know how to sing were just ordered to demonstrate this fact and given bad grades. In every single school that I'd been to.
I wonder why. I also wonder whether there is any place who teaches singing to adult people who don't have any talent and aren't planning to do anything with this particular skill except maybe singing some drinking songs at some party.
Monday, June 16, 2008
Where did all the Russian stores go?
Life has been nice and fairly peaceful lately. Went to two parties on Saturday, one friend's birthday (coffee, cake and Wii) and another friend's graduation party (a lot of fun in spite of lots of scary strangers). Saw a fight in Lepakkomies (an awful-looking bar in Sörnäinen). Catalogued most of my books (2.5 bookcases left).
BTW, does anyone know a nice Russian ISBN server? Nice as in one that actually answers, and has books in its database. I usually use all the Amazons and Helmet for other languages.
Also, does anyone know where did Eestin Herkut move to from Kolmas Linja? They had an ad about moving somewhere to Pasila in one of those free newspapers, and I promptly lost the newspaper, and googling didn't help any. And where did Kalinka go from Itäkeskus?
Yesterday went to the old Eestin Herkut, in hope that they have a sign on the door, but instead of the sign they had a new store there, also selling Estonian food. There was a middle-eastern-looking man in there, who said that the owner has changed.
I took the change with suspicion, but finding dulce de leche there totally endeared me to the middle-eastern guy and the rest of the new owners. (That's вареная сгущенка for the Russians; the best I can explain it to Finns is "kinuskia metallipurkissa".) Now let's also hope that the new owners order more ice cream. And while they are out of ice cream: where did the old store move to?
BTW, does anyone know a nice Russian ISBN server? Nice as in one that actually answers, and has books in its database. I usually use all the Amazons and Helmet for other languages.
Also, does anyone know where did Eestin Herkut move to from Kolmas Linja? They had an ad about moving somewhere to Pasila in one of those free newspapers, and I promptly lost the newspaper, and googling didn't help any. And where did Kalinka go from Itäkeskus?
Yesterday went to the old Eestin Herkut, in hope that they have a sign on the door, but instead of the sign they had a new store there, also selling Estonian food. There was a middle-eastern-looking man in there, who said that the owner has changed.
I took the change with suspicion, but finding dulce de leche there totally endeared me to the middle-eastern guy and the rest of the new owners. (That's вареная сгущенка for the Russians; the best I can explain it to Finns is "kinuskia metallipurkissa".) Now let's also hope that the new owners order more ice cream. And while they are out of ice cream: where did the old store move to?
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Why do people sleep together?
I've always wondered why so many couples like to sleep together, even if they could afford separate rooms and separate beds.
When you sleep together, you have only half the usual bed space. The bed gets too hot, the other party snores, farts, steals your blanket, steals your pillow, rolls right into the middle of the bed, pushing you out, and accuses you of doing all of the above in the morning. Or else you can't fall asleep properly for fear of doing all of the above to the other person. Or you wake up during the night and want to read in bed and have some tea, but can't do it because of the other person.
It's fun to have sex or simply hang out with a guy in bed, but usually when one of us starts to fall asleep, I want to be out of there and in another bed.
Don't get me wrong, I am not surprised that some people enjoy sleeping with each other. But why so many?
When you sleep together, you have only half the usual bed space. The bed gets too hot, the other party snores, farts, steals your blanket, steals your pillow, rolls right into the middle of the bed, pushing you out, and accuses you of doing all of the above in the morning. Or else you can't fall asleep properly for fear of doing all of the above to the other person. Or you wake up during the night and want to read in bed and have some tea, but can't do it because of the other person.
It's fun to have sex or simply hang out with a guy in bed, but usually when one of us starts to fall asleep, I want to be out of there and in another bed.
Don't get me wrong, I am not surprised that some people enjoy sleeping with each other. But why so many?
Monday, March 17, 2008
Personal violations
Some recent conversations about school meals and whether or not they should be obligatory made me wonder whether or not I value my physical self-determination more than most people (it certainly seems so), and if yes, why - or rather why don't many other people value theirs as much - and to what extents does the culture affect the attitudes towards it.
It seems like our society (probably all the Western societies, including Eastern Europe), and probably many others, considers a sexual assault a very serious violation of a person, but many other intrusions on a person's physical privacy much less so. I sort of understand the historical background for it, it's the people's current emotional reactions that are hard to understand.
I am not saying this to say that rape is not a serious crime - I'd rather other forms of assault be taken more seriously, too.
The reason I am writing this post is that I don't take personal violation lightly - and every time the subject comes up I keep running into people saying things like "but surely this cannot be that serious?". I can understand that for them it isn't (people can and do forgive some personal violations under some circumstances, and I have done so myself), but for me it is, and I am sort of surprised at their surprise.
To take one simple example, on the emotional level I don't see much difference between people trying to forcibly stuff unwanted penises and unwanted food into my mouth. It's my mouth, dammit. I decide what goes into it. If you try to physically override my decision - well, you just might get that fork in your eye. The law might well disagree, which I am sure will be a great consolation to your disembodied soul.
We had some obligatory meals in the daycare (you wouldn't believe what these people tried to make me eat, but luckily the actual violence was rather mild on both parts) and in theory in the first three grades in school. My first semester of the first grade was spent with every lunch break in the lunchroom, the teacher telling me that we are not leaving until I eat whatever is on my plate, and me pointing out that I am not in a hurry to get anywhere, and the class is not likely to start with her in the lunchroom anyway. After the first semester she gave up and banished me from the lunchroom to the great satisfaction of all the parties involved.
Anyway - when I hear Finnish people's rather numerous stories about being forced to eat in school I always wonder why they didn't employ this simple strategy, but I wonder even more about those who make those policies. Don't they understand that some percentage of people affected by them consider this a personal violation? Or don't they care? Or am I really that far out on this?
It seems like our society (probably all the Western societies, including Eastern Europe), and probably many others, considers a sexual assault a very serious violation of a person, but many other intrusions on a person's physical privacy much less so. I sort of understand the historical background for it, it's the people's current emotional reactions that are hard to understand.
I am not saying this to say that rape is not a serious crime - I'd rather other forms of assault be taken more seriously, too.
The reason I am writing this post is that I don't take personal violation lightly - and every time the subject comes up I keep running into people saying things like "but surely this cannot be that serious?". I can understand that for them it isn't (people can and do forgive some personal violations under some circumstances, and I have done so myself), but for me it is, and I am sort of surprised at their surprise.
To take one simple example, on the emotional level I don't see much difference between people trying to forcibly stuff unwanted penises and unwanted food into my mouth. It's my mouth, dammit. I decide what goes into it. If you try to physically override my decision - well, you just might get that fork in your eye. The law might well disagree, which I am sure will be a great consolation to your disembodied soul.
We had some obligatory meals in the daycare (you wouldn't believe what these people tried to make me eat, but luckily the actual violence was rather mild on both parts) and in theory in the first three grades in school. My first semester of the first grade was spent with every lunch break in the lunchroom, the teacher telling me that we are not leaving until I eat whatever is on my plate, and me pointing out that I am not in a hurry to get anywhere, and the class is not likely to start with her in the lunchroom anyway. After the first semester she gave up and banished me from the lunchroom to the great satisfaction of all the parties involved.
Anyway - when I hear Finnish people's rather numerous stories about being forced to eat in school I always wonder why they didn't employ this simple strategy, but I wonder even more about those who make those policies. Don't they understand that some percentage of people affected by them consider this a personal violation? Or don't they care? Or am I really that far out on this?
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
Hangovers
The comments on the yesterday's post about hangovers made me wonder: how many people always get a hangover when they drink a lot?
I usually only get somewhat dehydrated and hungry and feel like it's hotter in the room than it actually is. Debilitating splitting-headache hangovers are quite rare, and when they happen they are not a result of drinking more than usually, but of some other circumstances, most often prior dehydration.
When I drink too much or too fast, which is also rare but happens more often than a severe hangover, I usually get sick immediately, and am quite fine by the next morning.
I usually only get somewhat dehydrated and hungry and feel like it's hotter in the room than it actually is. Debilitating splitting-headache hangovers are quite rare, and when they happen they are not a result of drinking more than usually, but of some other circumstances, most often prior dehydration.
When I drink too much or too fast, which is also rare but happens more often than a severe hangover, I usually get sick immediately, and am quite fine by the next morning.
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Flu moves in mysterious ways
Why does rest make flu/cold better, even though most people, certainly myself included, are not lacking any physical energy to burn? Is there something about the resting heartbeat rate that helps? Is it unhealthy to masturbate during a flu?
Why does it always start with some sore spot in the nose, or the throat, and then moves around there? What determines where it starts, and where it goes?
Why does it always start with some sore spot in the nose, or the throat, and then moves around there? What determines where it starts, and where it goes?
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