Thursday, June 19, 2008

Meme of Seven



"The release of atom power has changed everything except our way of thinking...the solution to this problem lies in the heart of mankind. If only I had known, I should have become a watchmaker." Albert Einstein

I've been tagged by Pete.

Here were the rules:

1. Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.
5. Present an image of martial discord (partially picture above) something more relavent to my blog from whatever period or situation you’d like.

I had trouble sleeping after getting off from work. I got home around 0500, slept for about an hour. I suppose this tag bothered me a bit because there are only a few blogs I frequent whose authors might respond. Being curious, I decided to trace this tagging back to see if I could find its originator. I seem to be the 20th person in this chain. Since you tag seven people, it's a power of seven function. By now, this blog chain should have reached everyone on the planet. 7 to the 20th power is 7.98 x 10^16 people which is absurb because there are only 4 billion people (4 x10^9) on the planet. My calculations don't take into account nonresponses, loops, etc. The chain started among women artisans who run their own businesses and who keep in touch via blogspot.com. It seems to have started in the US and bounced back and forth between the East and West coasts. It finally circled the world at least once and maybe twice before I got it. The womens' blogs are full of love, warmth, arts and crafts. The Morristown, TN blog is beautiful - full of wonderful photographs of flowers. If you follow the link, you'll find that a blogger called Peachtree tagged her. Peachtree's blog/store is well done and the photos are high quality. The men are generally more intellectual, focusing on facts and opinions. The contrasts are stark.Here's the parts of the chain that I could track:

Andrea and Clara (female, locations unknown) -> Hoganfe (female, location unknown) -> Organidog (F, Texas) -> Tatyana (F, Brooklyn, N.Y.) -> F, Portland, OR -> F, Madison, WI -> Peachtree ( F, Brooklyn, NY) -> F, Morristown, TN -> F, Maine, USA -> F, Portland, Maine, USA -> F, Portland, OR, USA -> F, France -> F, France -> M, New York, USA -> M, Vermont, USA [Soob adds a fifth rule and changes the flow to the Dark Side (martial/human conflict)] -> M, Wisconsin, USA -> M, California, USA -> M, Maryland, USA? -> Pete, Australia -> Me

Andrea's husband suffered carbon monoxide poisoning (seems to be work related). He's apparantly suffered minor brain damage since she's noticed a change in his personality. I'm glad he survived, but it's sad that he's changed. She doesn't say if it's a good change or not. Tatyana is looking for a home for Maya the cat. She's a cute cat, but Tatyana is a dog person, so Maya can't stay. The chain seemed to start around mid March. It made it around the world at least by today.

Now, the dreaded seven facts (weird or otherwise):

1. I am a curious, introvertive, contemplative person. Probably why I trained as a scientist. Many scientists are first born. I am one of those. Had to leave Science to earn a living.
2. I was born on the same day that the Russians dropped the Emperor Bomb, a 50-megaton thermonuclear bomb. It was the largest manmade explosion the planet has thus seen.
3. It's a miracle that I am even here. I was born prematurely, weighing somewhere around 2 pounds, 2 ounces. I was not expected to survive and I was not given to my Mother for about a week. Because of my premature birth, my eyes are in horrible condition. I nearly went blind at 19, and I had cataract surgery before my 44th birthday.
4. I am half English. I am the first Ph.D. in the family on either side of the Pond. Both families are working class. My doctorate is in Molecular Biology.
5. I used to brew my own beer, although I pretty much made barley wines. I have a fondness for British Bitters, brown ales, certain lagers. Mass produced American beer is like making love in a canoe (It's f*cking too close to water.).
6. I am a seeker. I seek wisdom and knowledge. I ultimately am seeking "the peace that passes understanding". So, I am on a spiritual journey.
7. I am inordinately fond of cats - the furry Zen masters that they are. I do not wish to see the fastest cats on the planet go extinct in the wild after they barely made it through the Megafauna Extinction. I do not wish to see the Tiger and the Amur leopards go extinct either. It's taken 15 billion years to make all the life forms on this planet. If they go extinct because of us without evolving into something else first, then we are all the poorer for it. If Mankind does not become a better steward of this planet then we will likely be damned by our own foolishness, shortsightedness, and stupidity. Nature has dynamic checks and balances. If Mankind pollutes the Earth too much, the pollution will kill Mankind. The planet has essentially become our island and Mankind has a poor track record living sustainably on islands.

I am changing the rules slightly to steer the meme away from the Dark.

Here are the new rules:

1. Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.
5. List as one of your facts if you can, your Bliss - that which makes you content and fulfilled.

I now tag:

Julie,
George,
Sophia,
Bruce,
Richard,
Rebecca,
Meredith

Labels:


Comments:
Hi John

Your search through 20 tagging generations was truly an epic quest. Your inquiring mind was certainly at play.

At 2 pounds, 2 ounces I'm glad you're alive as well.

I'm confident your doctorate in Molecular Biology was useful for beer and barley wine making ;) .

Its true what you say about American beer. Australia beer is fairly bland too. Pommy beer and Irish Guinness are pretty good. But Heineken and European pilseners are the best (I think).

I find spiritual fulfilment in human company (rather than in concepts) especially my wife and blogger contacts across the oceans. I like dogs more than cats now.

Regards

Pete
 
Dogs are probably better for you. They are pretty much happy the majority of the time. Cats are like women with fur. Heinlein observed that women and cats do as they please and men and dogs have to get used to it. Yet, when a cat is content , not only does it purr, but it wags its tail sideways like a dog. It's a more sedate or fluid wag since the cat's tail is longer and more whip like.

Wild dogs are dying in the wild. it's due to contracting distemper from domesticated dogs. So, are the lions. Wildlife vets are inoculating all of the dogs they can around African wildlife parks to create buffers or barriers to infection.

Now, if the Kenyans would quit poisoning wildlife with organophosphate pestcides. The organophosphates kill birds even faster than mammals. The vultures die shortly after eating the tainted meat. I guess they didn't have enough atropine on hand to save the lionesses that were poisoned. They shot one to end her suffering.
 
The right brained thinking of women stands out against the left brain thinking of most of the men. Of course, I can't post the liveCDs I create or the strains I used to make as a microbiologist. I used to generate knowledge. Not sure if I really do that any more.
 
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