A "What Did You Think Today" Digression!

Indeed..... if we speak of myths and such, shouldn't we also speak of legends? Like HughJass..... a legendary legend.

Sigh - Hugh - there is a whole digression dedicated to him ....sigh...

So - what made Hugh so folkloric?

What do we think makes legends of some?

I don't know Deb. It's rather small compared to the ones I usually see and it looks so lonely. I feel bad for the poor thing.

MCs beach parties were ah, well they were something. And all the Pubs Setena created for us. Y'all are making me go misty eyed.,

Er, deb, that's too much thinking for me tonight, maybe tomorrow..... or maybe someone else will take up the HJ-greatness-thread.

I think about weird stuff. Like when did we as a species become human, and why is there only one of us? Most other animals have more than one species.

I think about the first person who dared to each an orange. They're so bitter on the outside, how did she or he know it was worth taking the peel off?

I think about people walking upright and how ungainly that is compared to four-legged critters.

I think about our human brains and wonder how much of us is thinking and how much of us is instinct.

I also think about a lot of stuff from the Bible, but I don't want to cause any trouble. So I'll keep those thoughts to myself.

But mostly I think about why I didn't buy more chocolate. Now I've run out. Waaaaaah. Guess I was too busy thinking about other stuff when I was in the supermarket.


See, dlowan, thinking causes nothing but trouble.

heehee...hmmm, yes, when did something become "human" - was it a leap, of sorts - sort of like something reaching critical mass - or a gradual piling up of things.

And - the apes we teach to talk - who teach their progeny - is this going to be a slow-growing or suddenly reaching critical mass sort of thing for THEIR brains?

I suspect we watched birds and animals for the oranges. Lord knows how THEY found out.

I suspect a lot of it is instinct - we have brains seemingly hard-wired to explain things - I suspect we make up a lot of clever stories about why we do things....

Not gonna mention ANY of your god things? Awwwwwww - we can handle it! This is the thinking person's mind-candy thread!

Chocolate....ummmmmmmmm.....

Somewhat apropos of the above, I was thinking today about whether we experience the same emotions as our remote hominid ancestors (we LOVE to say "remote" don't we, as though it makes us really different - in evolutionary terms it wasn't long ago at all!) or even our ancestors in, say, 2000 BC or 1400 AD?

Do the layers of experience and the social differences make for different emotional responses? The "big four" - anger, disgust, fear, joy - or however you wanna divide them up (is lust an emotion? - oh, nemmind) - you know, the ones whose expression seems universal in terms of facial movements - would seem likely to be the same - but has something been added with complexities and leisure and even longer life?

This morning I was thinking about world affairs. I'm a pacifist, basically. I think now what I thought at the end of 1990, we should go in, nab Saddam and scoot out of there. Then we try him and his top aids in a world court. Some would die uneccessarily, but not like what B-boy is planning for Iraq's near future. Then I read Deb's thread about Downer being a bully. I started thinking: this is world politics. This is huge political figures throwing their weight around. I wondered if Bush's explaination of how he would bomb the hell out of Iraq on the first days and then go in to get Saddam is all just bluster to pressure Saddam to comply. It makes more sense than not. Why would any leader expose his strategy if not for effect? And, as a smallish woman in a liberal haven of the most powerful country (in many ways) in the world, what experience have I in the political arena to judge those that do it for a job? My conclusion was, yes, this is the way the cookie crumbles, the chips fall, the big boys play, but can't it change? Isn't that was human's do? Evolve?

Digression 36b subsection 2 paragraph 3-star date 2326.2

It occurred to me that we need to tell stories so that future a2k'ers know we existed, this is the way that the red indians kept their culture going through such stories and some of the more enlightened business leaders are doing.

My story is quite simple and its true.

Once upon a time a group of folks used to buzz around and generally communicate in a not entirely serious and in most cases quite humorous vein. These good folk were made up of all different sizes, colours, sexes and brought with them different kinds of baggage, different religious ( and non religious) backgrounds, different tastes in music, education, fitness and NONE of them could see each other. I mean how bizarre is that.

Anyway eventually the medium that they used to buzz around in got so prone to burnout that slowly they drifted away until the first Saint Craven with associated Saints Jespah and others did set up a different and more robust medium called Mark one a2k and more recently Mark 2-a2k.( Yes I knw you're probably on Mark 100042567 by now just shut up and listen )

Here at this special place you can meet Ozzie type people, American type people, sometimes even Brit type people and not really know that thats who they are, that's the beauty of this thing, we could all be a little guy in a little hut somewhere in the antartic teahing germanium cystals to grow in an atmosphere of argon and no one would know.

And so dear future reader this is the heritage that you have , with legends in their own lunchtime like Dlowan, Little k, Msolga, Gezzy, Roberta, JoanneDorel, Roger, Phoenix, Jerry R and oh yes Hiama a pulchritudinous creature of whom David letterman once said - who ?

But then of course you'll never know will you ! :wink:

hmmmmm.....

Littel K, whats this hmmmmmm.. thing - Deb is always doing it to me ?

Hmmmmm.

Its the humming chorus from Madame Buttefly-my favourite

Why, thank you. I'm honored :-)

And so am I- I can just hear it now [

LOL!

I was thinking yesterday (Sunday) about just how educated some people are - compared to others (e.g. - me!).

I was at a big send-off lunch at a friend's place, and a couple of people really surprised me.

First was a lady from the Spanish Embassy, trade section. She comes from Barcelona. She had come to Oz some years ago on holidays (unusual in itself for Spanish people), and decided that she had to spend more time here - so went back to Spain and worked at getting herself a job here. She has travelled over much more of OZ thatn I have, and knew so much. And she knew so much about Spain, too. So much energy and enthusiasm for her second country - a great ambassador for both countries.

The second was a long time acquaintance of mine, a Sri Lankan fellow, involved in IT. Most of the IT people I've met have a very narrow range of interests, but this fellow is a revelation. He has so many interests, some completely unexpected, and can talk interestingly about an amazing variety of things. He was so enthused about archeology that I've decided I want to go to Iran too -i t just sounds so fascinating.

How do these people get so educated and enthused? When do they have the time? How can I do that?

I woke up early, and it was only 8-30 and it being Sunday as well. Ha bloody ha. Anyway I got up, made some tea, had a couple of cigaretes and it was still only 9-00. So I THOUGH, sod it, back to bed. I think i'll think again tomorrow, when I've got more time.

HIAMA - she gets my hmmmm all the time.