Updates All Around!!!

I have not updated my blog in too long. It appears I have let this blog slip from the top of my fingertips.

As an update, I will be the Mad Hatter for Halloween!!! Not the mad hatter from the disney version of alice and wonderland, but an original mad hatter inspired by Tim Burtons work.

If you wish to see the trailer, it is available here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjMkNrX60mA

I do not have the orange hair, but I do have a hat, makeup, yellow contacts, and a pretty bow. Pictures will be posted as soon as I have them available.

I also have been reading many books since I last wrote here. I have read the entire series of the city of ember.
In truth, the first and second books (City of Ember, and People of Sparks) were better than the Prophet on Yonwood, and the Diamond of Darkhold. In all, these books give some insight as to what may be the future of our human civilization, even though they are only childrens books. The Prophet of Yonwood in particular sounds like it could have taken place in todays society, with war, and a constant feeling of dread perpetually being fed into our minds through the mass media.

I have also finished reading the Dangerous World of Butterflies. It is an exceptional book, and I believe it went well with the Orchid Theif. They both are books that look at a natural subject, but the main focus of the books has little to do with nature, and more to do with the people that research the subjects, and deal with them on a daily basis. Butterfly and Orchid smuggling go hand in hand, and I was very interested when the Laufer admitted the similarities of his and Orleans book.

I am still in NYC, and working at the hostel. I made employee of the month, which earned me a new Ipod Nano. It is pretty cool. I use it to watch podcasts such as CNN news, and Countdown with Keith Olbermann. No, I am not a liberal, I am a moderate, but I still watch CNN and MSNBC. The Ipod can also record video, and it has radio. It was amazing when I was learning how to use it. motion sensitive, and a pedometer, are some of the many functions included as well. I hope to continue to do great work, but I am not sure how many more "employee of the month" or quarter, I can get. I would love to receive another gift, and the prestige again, but who wouldn't. Also, I am afraid that it will create some animosity between me and my coworkers.

Tomorrow I will be going to video games live! It is a concert (at the Beacon theatre tomorrow, but they travel worldwide), that plays music from video games. They allow the crowd to record, and I have great seats, so I will see, and most likely have video, of how it all went down!

I am currently reading Will they Trust Us Again by Michael Moore. Since I just started it, I am not sure how good it is yet.

I am still waiting for a book by Richard Dawkins to come. I purchased it on half.com, and it is supposed to arrive before the 26th, but as the date nears, I am worried I will not have the book in my hands by Halloween. If anything I will contact the seller, but I should not have to go through such pains. Also, I can always purchase books from the Strand in NYC, one of my favorite book stores.

I also have been trying to get in contact with some of my friends, but I am not sure I have much to talk about with them. I miss them. I miss Vermont, and I wish I can go back to college.

Maybe one day.

My Life - An Impromptu blog entry

It has been a while since I have written anything in my blog. I guess that is a good thing since it means, at least in theory, that I have been keeping myself busy. In truth all it really means is that I usually work during the day and have no internet at home to do my blogging.

I got a great job working the front desk at L Hostels. If your not from the city, but are looking for a place to stay, I definately recommend staying at a luxory hostel instead of a hotel. Especially in NY.

I am still living in Soundview though. We had found the perfect apartment in a high rise building, but the plans fell through when the owner decided to be a douche and give the apartment to someone else. Unfortunately, there was nothing we can do. We are however still looking for an apartment. There is one that we may move into, even though it is a bit above our price range. It is on the first floor of a private house, which means that there is plenty of space outside to take care of my valuables, but we will have to see if that's where we will end up.

My mother has come to terms with my atheism, at least in the sense that she is not asking me to go to church with her anymore. I went to six flags earlier this month, and I saw my cousin Divine who is also questioning his mother's christian beliefs. He keeps on upsetting her by saying he has converted to the nation of Islam. I congratulated him. Both to me seem absurd, but at least he is trying to think for himself, rather than just taking his parents religion and running for it. Perhaps one day he will see.

Anyway, I have to go. I am at my job waiting for the mail to come in, even though I am not working. I am not sure what I will be doing tonight but I have to work tomorrow at 4 p.m. (Evening shift). Perhaps I will call some friends tonight and try to see a movie or something.

An Intellectual Thinks About Love and Sex With Robots

I just finished reading Love and Sex with Robots by David Levy, and I think the hypotheses it poses are very fresh. He devotes the first three chapters to the book to explaining how (and why) humans love, and then decides to apply those attributes to how (and why) we would love robots. The last four chapters are devoted to why people seek sex, and why we would seek sex with robots. One thing that is left out is the major roadblock to this (sensuous) idea becoming a reality.

CONSERVATIVE CHRISTIANS. They go as far as to deem everything sexual a sin. Premarital sex, homosexual sex, masturbation (solo sex), and even sex with multiple partners are all sin in the eyes of their God. In Texas, it is actually illegal to have a vibrator. It is interesting to note that God, in their eyes, created sex for procreation. This makes me wonder: why does sex feel so good? Was is the devil that has perverted sex from a procreational activity to a reacreational one?

Obviously the reason sex feels good is because we evolved with the need (a basic biological hunger, if you will) to pass on our genes. If sex hurt us, we wouldn’t want to do it. However sex feels good, so we want more of it. Chemicals such as endorphins are released when one has sex (or when one eats chocolate) that gives people the feeling of being in love. However I am sure the christian God will frown about this assessment of sex. On top of listening to everyones prayers, creating beings (such as humans) that destroy everything, and loving everyone, he is also given the job of disapproving of nearly everyones sex lives (including our sex lives with ourselves). But then again, christians are losing their grasp over this great country (I am relieved, I thought we were going to go through another period of time like the Dark Ages, or even worse, the Crusades).

I actually think that sex with robots is a great answer to something that is lacking in our current culture. Sexual education. David Levy goes through great lengths in explaining how robots can train people to be good lovers. I had health education which did have a sexual education segment in school. It consisted of learning about STD’s, condoms and contraception, and the female menstrual cycle. One thing it did not teach was technique. I am sure many people will have a problem with teaching sexual technique in school (I would have loved to have taken such a class for PE in college), citing that it is too vulgar, or obscene. But when you think about it, what is vulgar or obscene about great sex? Shouldn’t it be something we look forward to in our relationships? Something natural within us? What I mean to say is, isn’t it a good thing when a female tells a male “You’re an animal!”

Many people will disagree that such a thing can be regarded as “good”. These people are prudish of course, and probably enjoy sex more than they would ever admit. In this sense they are living a lie. Unless, of course, there is something biologically wrong with them that they cannot feel pleasure, in which case, employing a robot to see what turns them on will help.

Robots can be equipped with the sum of all human knowledge. They can teach the inner workings of the Karma Sutra, or the fine subtleties of cunnilingus, or even the childish nature of foreplay. And they can do this by simulating human-human relationships and interactions. Imagine being able to experiment with a robot as opposed to a human. We as humans shouldn’t feel the need to feel guilty if we did not pleasure our robot, because it is only a robot. We should not feel the need to feel ashamed of what we are doing. There is no one else in the room to see us. And we should NEVER feel the need to force a girlfriend or wife, or other friend to have sex with us, since sex will come in the form of a humanoid robot whenever we need.

I would even go as far as to say that love and sex with robots may be the answer to overpopulation. Christians may have a problem with this. They have a problem with anything that has to do with naked people, and women. Abortion and masturbation are the tip of the iceberg. I could imagine that their response to sex with robots will be that every time a male comes without a female, they are in essence aborting their sperm (never mind that fact that most sperm will never make it to the egg anyway). It is people like them that make the biggest roadblock to love and sex with robots.

If having sex with a life sized human look alike is foreign to you, I ask you to take a look at the Realdoll website (warning nudity, click link). The concept already exists with lifeless dolls, so why not with dolls that move and talk? Dolls that can teach us the finer workings of lovemaking! Dolls that have infinite patience, and that never HAVE to be pleased (although they can probably be programmed to simulate pleasure). These dolls can probably be used to cure sexual dysfunctions, like premature ejaculation, or even help raise the comfort of people who are extremely shy, or submissive during sex.

Imagine a husband turning to his wife, and her saying “Not tonight honey I’m tired”. Or imagine a female turning to her boyfriend, and him saying he’s not ready. Where are these poor souls to turn to? Robots are the answer. They can also help couples who are curious about being swingers, or to individuals who are curious about homosexuality. There is a void in society. A sort of emptiness that is filled with taboo when it comes to sex. How can something so natural come to a point in the 21st century that it is uncomfortable to talk about?

Will Levy’s dream ever come true? Will my dream ever come true?

 My only hope is that I don’t have to fight for the right to have sex with a robot, like multiracial couples had to fight for their right to marry, and like homosexual couples are fighting for their right to marry. Hopefully, after the fight for gay marriage, people will be more open minded to sex as a natural outlet for pleasure (more pleasure than six flags), and stress relief (like watching a movie).

Now that I think about it, I may just have found the reason why I am so irritable lately. More on this to come.

Jonathan Grows Baby Spiders!

When we last left the subject of spider plants, I had put small plantlets into water bottles (with their tops cut off), to root. I have no soil or pots to put them in, so rooting them in water is the ONLY solution I have to keep them alive, and to keep the mother plant nice and clean before my mother intervened, as she tends to often do.

I have been attentively watching over the small plantlets (almost on a daily basis)- adding water to the bottles so they have all the water they need, rotating the bottles so that each plant has enough light (and grows straight, as opposed to towards the window). I have also placed a fan in my room to circulate the dusty, tenement building air. But on this particular occasion I decided to give them each a thorough evaluation. I wanted to see which plantlets had produced roots and which ones were lagging behind in development. I grabbed the small plantlets, and brought them out of their watery environment.

Even from the photo above anyone can see that these plants have grown many roots (however they have not grown as much as the Plectranthus "Mona Lavendar"). But how would I compare all the plants (I have more than 20!)? I decided to lay them all out on the table to do my work. So I emptied out one water bottle and placed all the plantlets on the table.

I think the best part of growing these plants is the rewarding feeling I feel when I see that some of them have actually grown roots (as opposed to just drowning). But now what will I do with these plants? I decided to separate them into two categories, ones that had a lot of root growth (compared to others), and ones that didn't have much (or any). To do this, I had to empty out both water bottles, and I did.

I didn't notice any dust or herbivores on the plants, but I decided to wipe them down anyway, just to give them a fresh look. Afterwords I made two piles of plants, ones with roots that will soon need to be acclimated to life in soil, and ones which needed to remain in water.

I didn't take any formal measurements, but I did observe that the plants that had more roots tended to be bigger. This is what I expected, bigger plants can capture more light, and thus have more energy to root. So separating them was the first step in finding a suitable place to plant them.

I do not currently have a job so if you want a (bare root) spider plant, please let me know. The spider plants I have are fully green (no white streaks), and they have been grown from asexual (stolon) reproduction, not from seed. I am willing to sell them for very cheap! I am only selling to people in NYC, since it is easy to deliver them in the area (thanks to public transportation). Potted spider plants may become available soon if I get a job, or if I find someone to donate small pots and potting soil (if you wish to donate to the Jonathan's World ghetto windowsill garden please contact me).

So where are my spider plants now? Well I placed them on either side of my Nightmare Before Christmas teapot set next to the window. They all seem to be alive and doing well, but I cannot grow them like this forever.

Atheist Reviews - A Natural History of Love by Diane Ackerman

I just put down A Natural History of Love by Diane Ackerman, and I must say that it did not make my top list of books people must read. The book goes through how different cultures and era's expressed their love, why men like the Indy 500, and women tend to like horses, the love of children, pets, and how love can ruin, or fix lives.

The best part of this book was the history section. It seems to me that the way we express love is a sort of evolution of a memeplex, sort of like religion. In this book it is apparent that ideas about love, such as homosexual love, marriage ceremony, beauty in youth, and infidelity, are not new. The only things that have changed are the cultures. What does seem to be a luxury, according to her book, is romantic love. She cites many times in the civilized world, where women were traded like objects to create social bonds. Many cultures even today marry their women to young (or old men) without the women even knowing about it. The men then have a right (according to certain laws or social constructs) to possess the women, and to force the women to bear his children. While this sounds frightening, it does not seem unthinkable. We as americans have the right to choose who we love (but unfortunately we do not have the right to choose who we marry), and this right is a luxury that has been given to us. Many religions and cultures give that right to the parents, and I can easily see why.

For people unfamiliar with the struggle between parents and their children I would ask you to read these previous posts to my blog:

My Mom's Problem With Taboo
Mom Discriminates Against Atheist
Mom Thinks I Smoke Pot
Mom Steals Shoes and Rips Jeans
Mom Finally Decides To Put My Clothes Where They Go

This is somewhat an issue of control and freedom. Parents in many cultures have controlled their children for so long while the children were young, that when the children grow up it is difficult for them to let go. As a matter of fact, many parents choose to cast their children out of the household for disobedience. This is normal in american culture as well, or else the saying “As long as you live under my house you will obey my rules” will not make any sense.

While this book was very insightful, and the facts contained within it were interesting, there were certain portions which I found overly poetic. The author, as a teacher of english, took great lengths to describe scenes poetically, and sometimes, in my opinion, she overused metaphors to the point where the book was sickening.

Compared to the Orchid Thief, which also gave factual information, this book does not stack up. Some of the best parts of this book is when the author spoke about her own personal experiences. She spoke about attending surgeries to children with cleft mouths and noses, and about her own experiences with love for horses, or about her friend who was interested in seeing a psychiatrist for issues involving love. Sometimes explaining the natural history of a particular set of emotions is better explained when ones personal experiences are used to do the explaining, although I perfectly understand why she felt the need to add other cultures in the book.

When she spoke about other cultures I was a bit disappointed. The cultures she spoked about seemed like “other”. Like their love practices and rituals were not our love practices and rituals. It is true that whenever a girl gets married in the U.S.A., she doesn't shave her hair to be less attractive to men, but the emotion of belonging with someone, or to someone still stands. In truth I see more in connection with the various cultures of the world than I see differences.

And to those who do not have the freedom to choose who they love, because of religion, sexual orientation, culture, or societal norms, I simply say this: The zeitgeist through time has been such that this country as a whole, has become gradually more accepting. Accepting of black people first as non slaves, and then as truly equal (in terms of legality, although I believe racism still exists), accepting of women in politics, the workforce, and as equals in the home, and accepting of multicultural relationships (legally, if not completely socially at this point), all point towards a trend of acceptance, which I hope will continue.

There was a time when women could not vote in this country. When our founding fathers founded this country, the idea of a women voting was preposterous! Now the idea of ending women suffrage will be equally preposterous. I soon see a day where the same will be true of homosexual marriage, atheism, abortion, and even marriage between different religious, and cultures. My mom has often said that my girlfriend, Donna, seems like a nice girl, but she would prefer if I had fallen for Puerto Rican girl. These ideas of preference stem from culture. Donna's culture seems foreign, and while my mother doesn't fear Chinese culture (per se), she is apprehensive of ME changing MY culture (something she need not worry about, since it is too late to save her cultural heritage through me - I proclaim to be a member of the human race long before I proclaimed to be Puerto Rican).

Overall I give this book a 5 out of 10. For it's factual information, and it's acceptance of biology and evolution as a means to explain human behavior. Not many authors would do that.

Also this author openly claims to be religious, and agnostic. This brought upon some confusion for me towards the end of the book. She sees her connection to the natural world as a sort of a religious experience. I think this is a mirage. These connections occur in the neurons of the mind, and while it is wonderful to marvel in the beauty of evolution, and gemstones, and mountains, appreciating nature is and always will be very different from a religious experience. Religion implies that you need faith to believe in something. Faith is belief in the absence of evidence. You marvel at nature because of the overwhelming abundance of evidence of it's beauty. You marvel at how every living organism is the result of millions of years of evolutionary history, and you recognize their patterns as beautiful and valuable! Not simply because they are there but because they exist in our world and at this point in time. Is nature chicken soup for the soul? Yes. But I would run away as soon as I see someone praising God for the wonderful mountain, or tropical bird he has created. Evolution of the landscape, and of species is what created it all. Science not God.

Religious agnosticism is an oxymoron, and I will end with this:

Love is the greatest power of all. It tells me that even though I disagree with most of society on various issues, I can still appreciate all individuals as people of this earth, and as the result of millions of years of selection. We ourselves (as postulated by Diane Ackerman) are museums.