A survey of town names in Texas reveals a pattern - many of the names are those of major cities or countries elsewhere. Though this makes sense, it's still interesting. The following list is not exhaustive.
Town names in Texas:
Albany
Amherst
Athens
Atlanta
Bellaire
Beverly Hills
Boston
Breckenridge
Bunker Hill Village
Carthage
Charlotte
China
Cleveland
Corinth
Detroit
Dublin
Edinburg
Egypt
Florence
Hollywood Park
Iraan
Ireland
Italy
Jamaica Beach
Jonestown
Lexington
London
Memphis
Miami
New York
Normandy
Omaha
Palestine
Paris
Pasadena
Petersburg
Pittsburg
Portland
Princeton
Reno
Scotland
Sudan
Trinidad
Troy
And a few of my favorites:
Robert Lee
Santa Anna
Happy
Log Cabin
Lone Star
Matador
Cactus
Sharp
Cut and Shoot
Gunsight
Gun Barrel City
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Friday, May 30, 2008
This morning, ironically, I woke up in the city of my birth - Tyler, Texas. Apparently it was more of a town 24 years ago. It was a much needed night of sleep after some 30 straight hours driving on the road. During those hours, however, my mother and I made some 1,800 miles from Pepperell, Mass. to Tyler. We stopped in Long Valley, New Jersey and scaled Schooley's Mt. to discover the house that we lived in back in 92 painted green. We had hoped to find the house that my parents and I lived in for a year in Tyler, but no dice. The alleged location was just off Texas Highway 155 on County Road 1125. The subdivision was not where it was supposed to be and a different one had taken its place. Upon further scrutiny, we noticed that the shades and even the direction of the road changed just off the highway. Alas, it appears the house and the neighborhood are no more.
Police on the highway are like great white sharks patrolling the high seas. The sentiments experienced by drivers cannot be all that different from terrified fish: the sinking feeling in your gut when the cruiser lurches, lights blazing like barred teeth, the ensuing relief when it nabs the helpless victim to your immediate right who was merely swimming along with the school, and the final blissful schadenfreude as you swim on. The great whites increase in size and number once you cross into Texas, and they wear ten gallon hats.
Police on the highway are like great white sharks patrolling the high seas. The sentiments experienced by drivers cannot be all that different from terrified fish: the sinking feeling in your gut when the cruiser lurches, lights blazing like barred teeth, the ensuing relief when it nabs the helpless victim to your immediate right who was merely swimming along with the school, and the final blissful schadenfreude as you swim on. The great whites increase in size and number once you cross into Texas, and they wear ten gallon hats.
Monday, May 26, 2008
Lemonade tastes better when small kids make it and it costs 25 cents a cup. Today in a small town called Downesville in the Catskills my bro, sister, mom, and I perused antique stores and ate lunch at the town Diner. My sister took Polaroid shots, my bro bought "The Invisible Man" by H.G. Wells for 25 cents, and I thought about how I never really noticed Memorial Day until I came to a small town where American flags, parades, and Army figurines dominated the land and counterscape. After some more driving, some walking, some sundaes, Barq's Root Beer Floats....we crossed into the birthplace of the Revolution, located a phat motel with a jacuzzi....and settled into a game of Haahhhts.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Studies at the National Institute of Health indicate that patterns and tendencies of alcohol consumption among monkeys closely reflect those of humans. Individuals vary in their choice of alcohol type and in amount consumed. With regularity and predictability, some monkeys don't drink, some monkeys drink a little, some drink to get drunk, and some drink until they pass out. Isolated monkeys drink more than grouped monkeys. Subordinate monkeys drink more than dominant monkeys. Interestingly, consumption among monkeys increases after stressful periods, such as after a strenuous 8-5 day of various other testing activities. Also interesting, there were no reports of monkeys virtually drinking themselves to death, though this occurs in humans.
These results support the opinion that cocaine is more dangerous than alcohol, as monkeys, as well as other animals including some humans, will self-administer cocaine until death.
These results support the opinion that cocaine is more dangerous than alcohol, as monkeys, as well as other animals including some humans, will self-administer cocaine until death.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
A most exquisite of potential exquisite happenings happened today. We were on Franklin St. in Chapel Hill. We wanted Mexican so we tumbled down some stairs to a basement restaurant called Bandidos. I was incredulous. However, once I entered I was immediately put at ease by the closeness and the bright colors...yellow, green, RED! Mexcio!
There were FOURTEEN lunch specials! I had 2 beef tacos, rice, and beans....for $4.95! I was so happy. $4.95. But that's not all. Unlimited chips included....and Iced Sweet Tea! Thoughts of permanent residence raced through my head as I helped myself to a large cup of El Scorcho sauce from the extensive sauce bar. I sat down and dug in to the chips as the waitress brought my Iced Sweet Tea.....GARGANTUAN! A few moments later my plate was placed before me....GARGANTUAN! I was blissful, waxing idyllic in spice. A few moments later (or hours...I don't know) the waitress returned to ask if I wanted a refill of my huge Iced Tea. I sat shocked, muttered a few incoherent ramblings, and the glass was refilled.
Margaritas...$2.95. Beers...$1.75. I ran.
Later on, we were locked out of the apartment, and I had the privilege of employing my climbing skills. Scaling the backside psuedostratified rock wall of the apartment, I obtained the rail, hauled myself up, unlocked the door, and contemplated how that was more difficult than it would have been 5 years ago.
There were FOURTEEN lunch specials! I had 2 beef tacos, rice, and beans....for $4.95! I was so happy. $4.95. But that's not all. Unlimited chips included....and Iced Sweet Tea! Thoughts of permanent residence raced through my head as I helped myself to a large cup of El Scorcho sauce from the extensive sauce bar. I sat down and dug in to the chips as the waitress brought my Iced Sweet Tea.....GARGANTUAN! A few moments later my plate was placed before me....GARGANTUAN! I was blissful, waxing idyllic in spice. A few moments later (or hours...I don't know) the waitress returned to ask if I wanted a refill of my huge Iced Tea. I sat shocked, muttered a few incoherent ramblings, and the glass was refilled.
Margaritas...$2.95. Beers...$1.75. I ran.
Later on, we were locked out of the apartment, and I had the privilege of employing my climbing skills. Scaling the backside psuedostratified rock wall of the apartment, I obtained the rail, hauled myself up, unlocked the door, and contemplated how that was more difficult than it would have been 5 years ago.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
I often (really often) wish I could go back into the past. I wish I could go back and live with Australopithecus africanus. That would be the shit. I just wish I could so I would better know, ya know?
I wonder if time travel is even theoretically possible within the parameters of causal determinism. It seems like it's quite possible; it merely requires the reversal of universe expansion. But that doesn't sit well with me, it seems that one's own presence in the midst of that reversal necessitates an insincere reversal, and a change. If time travel is defined as returning to the unadulterated past, exactly as it was, then I am inclined to think it is not possible, simply because one's own presence makes it a novel situation. Surely, all other facets of the situation could have existed exactly as before, but because one's self is included, it is the past and one's self, and unless one's self is nothing, which is impossible, then the past plus one's self is not the past, and time travel in the sense that we talk about is rendered impossible.
If we acquiesce to the change, the future will necessarily be altered. A host of problems arise. What if you went back into the past and shot your great-grandfather? Then how do you even exist? Even if one argued that this was possible by allowing repeat cycles that included singular changes, this would still fall prey to the argument outlined above. Traveling back through vast quantities of time (space) could occur, but this would still happen in the same direction of the space-time continuum, and thus, be part of the future. This is analogous to turning around 180 degrees while walking on a train that is moving in the same direction as you were initially walking, but now backpedaling. Everything would look like the past but you are still moving in the same direction. Furthermore, contemporary events would cease to exist - this is easier understood after considering a less self-centered and perhaps more convincing argument.
If one were to travel through time, surely one would not bring contemporary events with them; that is, the occurence of events would not depend on a singular presence. Therefore, the past, future, and, indeed, all points in time would have to be occuring ALL the time. To arrive in another point in time would necessitate that point in time existing at that moment. This reality would require an infinite array of parallel universes, each experiencing a different point in time of this same world, ALL the time, simultaneously. Because this would necessitate distinction in space, and time and space are the same thing, this reality must be impossible.
It seems to me that time travel cannot occur even theoretically, and, interestingly, seems to put an ultimate limit on what can happen in this universe.
I wonder if time travel is even theoretically possible within the parameters of causal determinism. It seems like it's quite possible; it merely requires the reversal of universe expansion. But that doesn't sit well with me, it seems that one's own presence in the midst of that reversal necessitates an insincere reversal, and a change. If time travel is defined as returning to the unadulterated past, exactly as it was, then I am inclined to think it is not possible, simply because one's own presence makes it a novel situation. Surely, all other facets of the situation could have existed exactly as before, but because one's self is included, it is the past and one's self, and unless one's self is nothing, which is impossible, then the past plus one's self is not the past, and time travel in the sense that we talk about is rendered impossible.
If we acquiesce to the change, the future will necessarily be altered. A host of problems arise. What if you went back into the past and shot your great-grandfather? Then how do you even exist? Even if one argued that this was possible by allowing repeat cycles that included singular changes, this would still fall prey to the argument outlined above. Traveling back through vast quantities of time (space) could occur, but this would still happen in the same direction of the space-time continuum, and thus, be part of the future. This is analogous to turning around 180 degrees while walking on a train that is moving in the same direction as you were initially walking, but now backpedaling. Everything would look like the past but you are still moving in the same direction. Furthermore, contemporary events would cease to exist - this is easier understood after considering a less self-centered and perhaps more convincing argument.
If one were to travel through time, surely one would not bring contemporary events with them; that is, the occurence of events would not depend on a singular presence. Therefore, the past, future, and, indeed, all points in time would have to be occuring ALL the time. To arrive in another point in time would necessitate that point in time existing at that moment. This reality would require an infinite array of parallel universes, each experiencing a different point in time of this same world, ALL the time, simultaneously. Because this would necessitate distinction in space, and time and space are the same thing, this reality must be impossible.
It seems to me that time travel cannot occur even theoretically, and, interestingly, seems to put an ultimate limit on what can happen in this universe.
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Black Label, Maker's Mark, Red Label.
This afternoon I composed a poem. I don't compose many, and I thought I would share this one with you. It's based on an inside joke with my girlfriend; perhaps you will find it humorous anyway.
O Shree
Shree, how did you
Become so Shreeful?
Shreefully, you consume
Salad.
Shree, where did you procure
the Shreeness of your
Face?
From whence forth such Shrealty
Cometh?
Shree!
How I long to Shree your
Shree in my Shree,
Shree.
Come with me, Shree,
I will guide you.
Compelled, am I, by
your
Shrealty.
May > ________.
This afternoon I composed a poem. I don't compose many, and I thought I would share this one with you. It's based on an inside joke with my girlfriend; perhaps you will find it humorous anyway.
O Shree
Shree, how did you
Become so Shreeful?
Shreefully, you consume
Salad.
Shree, where did you procure
the Shreeness of your
Face?
From whence forth such Shrealty
Cometh?
Shree!
How I long to Shree your
Shree in my Shree,
Shree.
Come with me, Shree,
I will guide you.
Compelled, am I, by
your
Shrealty.
May > ________.
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Nominalism is the doctrine that abstract concepts, ideas, and universals exist only as spoken words and have no other independent existence. We describe Joey and Fluffy as cats both, not because of some intrinsic "cattiness" quality, common to each, that has a real, ideal, or metaphysical existence of its own, but rather because both cats fall into an acceptable range of physical stimuli that we agree to describe as the spoken word "cat." Blood and fire ants do not carry less-than-ideal forms of "redness," rather, they both reflect light within the range of particular wavelength that we, in our supreme intellectual capacity, decided to call red.
To declare that each and every physical stimuli has its own universal is to maintain that all possible stimuli or, moreover, combination of stimuli, have ideal copies, and thus every possible real situation exists seperately and is somehow more "ideal;" this constitutes an infinite regress and an unnecessary multiplication of entities, illogically complicated and explaining nothing.
The admirable philosophy of universals is perhaps Plato's best, and many philosophers after him. But I am inclined to believe that nominalism has a greater probability of being more correct, though I do not necessarily want that to be the case.
To declare that each and every physical stimuli has its own universal is to maintain that all possible stimuli or, moreover, combination of stimuli, have ideal copies, and thus every possible real situation exists seperately and is somehow more "ideal;" this constitutes an infinite regress and an unnecessary multiplication of entities, illogically complicated and explaining nothing.
The admirable philosophy of universals is perhaps Plato's best, and many philosophers after him. But I am inclined to believe that nominalism has a greater probability of being more correct, though I do not necessarily want that to be the case.
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Today's run included an unexpected detour to the bottom of Lake Norman. I ran the Davidson landing route, which consists of a semi loop around the aforementioned lake through the connected backyards of the waterfront houses. It's May in Davidson, which means it's hot during midday. Not Texas hot, but hot enough to run shirtless, sweat admirably, and desire to immerse oneself into natural bodies of water. At the spot of choice I kicked off my socks, shoes, and as I was wearing glasses I kicked them off as well. I jumped in. Marvelous.
As I was lacing up my shoes and taking off again, feeling refreshed and rejuvenated and contentedly wet, I shook my head violently in order to somewhat dewet my hair. Brilliant. Off went the glasses over the dock into about 9 or 10 feet of murky lake water. I contemplated my predicament and quickly realized that no, I could not afford new ones and, no, I would not just wear contacts until I could afford new ones.
I entered the lake from the shore, some 25 feet away from the target, hoping in vain that I would come upon them without any water over my head. Once I reached the target I went under and discovered the approximate distance from the surface to the lake bottom, half defeated, half incredulous, and half excited for the obvious adventure of the day. I proceeded to methodically check around the target spot by sinking to the bottom and feeling around in sweeping motions with my feet. After about 5 minutes of this I brushed up on what could be glasses, grabbed at the spot with my hand, and resurfaced with my Ralph Lauren Chaps, aged 3.45 years. If my glasses could speak English, they would have described my facial expression as triumphant.
As I was lacing up my shoes and taking off again, feeling refreshed and rejuvenated and contentedly wet, I shook my head violently in order to somewhat dewet my hair. Brilliant. Off went the glasses over the dock into about 9 or 10 feet of murky lake water. I contemplated my predicament and quickly realized that no, I could not afford new ones and, no, I would not just wear contacts until I could afford new ones.
I entered the lake from the shore, some 25 feet away from the target, hoping in vain that I would come upon them without any water over my head. Once I reached the target I went under and discovered the approximate distance from the surface to the lake bottom, half defeated, half incredulous, and half excited for the obvious adventure of the day. I proceeded to methodically check around the target spot by sinking to the bottom and feeling around in sweeping motions with my feet. After about 5 minutes of this I brushed up on what could be glasses, grabbed at the spot with my hand, and resurfaced with my Ralph Lauren Chaps, aged 3.45 years. If my glasses could speak English, they would have described my facial expression as triumphant.
Friday, May 2, 2008
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