Complex Numbers

Wavering

I've been trying to think of something to say today; preferably, something innovative, honest, revealing, self-deprecating and more than a little funny, since that sort of thing seems to draw in blog readers - but I can't seem to pull any bumper-stickers out of my hat, these days.

I didn't want to resort to another day of weird news stories, though I have a couple I'd really like to post - only one of which involves Hello Kitty. They can wait.

Sadly, the big news today seems to be the "economy stimulating package" or some such from Washington, which apparently does to us what the government always does to us - stick their package to us in a stimulating (to them) manner, over and over again. If I were a politically-inclined blogger, I'd link a serious article on it from a serious news source, like this one:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/24/AR2008012400532....

In case you can't read it, I'll summarize:

Nancy Pelosi and John, A Boehner (a setter and a pointer, respectively) worked late into the night trying to find different means of stimulation, rejecting trickle-down schemes in favor of something similar to the Bush stimulation a few years back, wherein almost everyone gets some (unless you're wealthy, in which case you're already getting some). This isn't meant to shaft Americans so much as stroke them, convincing us to spend ourselves into exhaustion. Seems like quite the opposite of the trickle-down theory - I'll call it the "spurt" theory of economics where the flow is from the "bottom" of the economic frenzy to the "top," from which it just might drip back down again.

So it seems we can expect the package (which Bush said was "just the right size") to climax sometime in May. It'll most likely be spent quickly. Then the government can roll over and go back to sleep, leaving the people blinking at the ceiling, frustrated and wanting more despite the frenzied activity of mere moments before.

...But I decided that to comment at all upon such trivialities is beneath me; first, because I'm not a politically-inclined blogger; second, because you'll have heard all about it already and formed your own opinions; and, finally, because it lends itself too easily to parody, and I'd never stoop so low.

Then I thought that maybe I could present to you my latest forays into the philosophical world, especially as regards the meaning of life, the Universe and everything; the difference between reality and illusion, with an emphasis on why it is that so many people find deep comfort and meaning in the belief that reality is an illusion (with commentary on how difficult people like that are to deal with); and the general banality of things like economic stimulation packages. But when it comes to philosophy, I really don't know what I'm talking about. I mean, apparently, those things that I think are real - like trees, flowers, the past and concrete - are actually abstractions, illusions formed by my mind to distract me from the real, true reality, while those things that are illusions to me - like dreams, fantasies, the future and story ideas - are, to these same people, the true reality that I should be focusing on. Worse still are the "forget the past, ignore the future, live only for the present" types, most of whom have credit card debt that make many small countries jealous. But it's been made clear to me that I don't know what I'm talking about on that score, and besides, it takes too much effort to type anything on this illusory keyboard - especially anything about the past, which they've already established as illusion that can be disregarded, but to me makes for the most engaging writing (after all, you can't write about the present - because by the time you've written about it, it's the past).

I mean, seriously - how shitty does your past have to be for you to make like it's not real?

But I'm not going to go there.

I guess I'll have to post the Hello Kitty link after all.

But first, the Idiot Test. Take it and see how far you can go with it:

http://users.skynet.be/bk258512/idiot_test.swf

And now, the Nefarious Neko herself:

http://www.hellokittyuniverse.com/page/Indecent%20Hello%20Kitty%20Products?t=ano...

Oh. That's why people have to claim everything is an illusion. It makes the prospect of Hello Kitty Menstrual Pads that much easier to take if you can keep saying to yourself, "It's only an illusion... ignore it and it'll go away...It's only an illusion... ignore it and it'll go away...It's only an illusion... ignore it and it'll go away...It's only an illusion... ignore it and it'll go away...It's only an illusion... ignore it and it'll go away..."