Catholic

Quick, name 10 Catholic Saints...

1. Saint
2. Saint
3.  Saint
4.  Saint
5.  Saint
6.  Saint
7.  Saint
8.  Saint
9.  Saint
10.  Saint



So here is my list
1. Francis Xavier
2.  Paul
3.  Stephen
4.  Anthony
5.  Germane
6.  Frances
7.  Peter
8.  Lucia
9.
10.

Yeah, I'm kindof stuck.  There are plenty of names that I'm sure have Saints attached to them, but that I have no idea about who they are (Catherine, Anne) or saints that I have no name for (that one with the river in France).

I am rather shocked that I managed to come up with three female saints.  (Germane, Frances, and Lucia).  I know that there are plenty of female saints, but the only one whose name I remembered (not in connection with the name I chose at my confirmation), was Lucia, and only because of the American Girl Doll from Sweeden.

I'm certainly not a practicing Catholic anymore, but I think that there should be more recognition of Saints.  I mean the trinity includes the Holy Spirit, which is basically what Saints embody, but it seems everyone focuses on the Father and Son.  As a kid, I was interested in becoming a Sister in the Church, but realized that I lacked faith and I thought it would be immoral to "use" the church to further my desire to help people.  And then of course there is Mother Theresa who apparently had huge doubts about the existence of God.

A friend of mine from Trinidad once said something along the lines of faith not being necessary, that to be Catholic it was more important to participate in the life (receive sacraments etc.) than to believe.

Hmm...

Definition: Creative

So, I was thinking about the word "creative".  Meaning something like "having the quality of creating".  But when you talk about someone as being creative, or a job being creative, it implies that something new and exciting is made.  As wikipedia puts it "something of subjective value".  But I think that it should equally apply to something of objective value as well.  Though I guess everything can be described as both subjective and objective.

So if a plumber installs a toilet, is that a creative act?

Types of knowledge

So a project I've been thinking about (for years) is a method of classifying knowledge.  Obviously there are many systems, but I want to have my own in place before I start researching others.  Though I gotta say, "known knowns, known unknowns, and unknown unknowns" is a pretty sweet method.

Definitions-
                When does red become orange?
Protocols-
                 PEMDAS
Useful lies-
                 Species concepts
Truths-
               unknowable, but do exist

I don't feel like finishing this at the moment, but I'll come back to it.


I'm back

So, oddly enough, I started a job homeschooling a kid whose father is a data head and basically likes to classify information.  Huh. He does computer programming stuff, which makes me think I might actually enjoy that if I were willing to give it a chance.  Something to think about later.

Also I had a conversation with a friend about the term "niche" as an ecology term.  Which is leading me into thoughts about nouns and abstract nouns.  Maybe I should look at a grammar book?

Why do stairs exist?

Okay, maybe a strange question, but what are the benefits of stairs as compared to ramps?

Some thoughts:
-cost effectiveness?
-space saving (slope/length)
-more exercise/less exercise?


Can anybody enlighten me as to other reasons?  Because it seems like those reasons are "get around-able" and that having ramps in place of stairs would be really helpful for a lot of people.

The main usefulness is the space, but I wonder how different that is.  I guess I should look up what the requirements are for slopes to be easily used by walkers and non-walkers and try to figure out what the difference is.  I mean, sure, if you want a direct staircase stairs would be much shorter, but what about ramps with landings?  Spiral ramps?

I guess I have a little research to do... anyone want to help?

slope ratio required by ADA 1:12 (one foot of ramp per inch rise)
ceiling height should be at least 7'3''

Okay, so that works out to an 87 foot ramp.  Which if it were a straight ramp, it would probably take up more than one room.  Of course, ramps could be steeper, but they wouldn't meet the ADA.  On the site I found the ADA info, it suggested that home ramps be no steeper than 2:1.  This would cut the length down to 43.5 feet.  Still pretty long, but if it were done in flights, it might not be as bad.

So lets assume for a minute that ramps for most people ARE doable if we don't meet ADA standards.  So, is there a point to making ramps that don't meet ADA standards?

Maybe.  Depends on how the ADA makes their standards.  If you still needed an ADA ramp, would it make sense to also have ramps for general use.  I think so, but I'm going to stop editing for a while while I think about this more.
>>>>>>>

Interior stairs are *best* with a 7'' rise to a 10" tread.  So for a 7"3' height (87") you would need 12.5 treads (lets go with 13) which makes 130'' length or about 11 feet.

Okay, so I think that means that a ramp would have to be about 4 times longer than a stair.  I bet I could have done this with Pythagorean logic, but whatever.

I wonder how hard it would be to build a house that is one long ramp with rooms coming off at intervals.  So this is hard to think about, but I guess the rooms would be built like a staircase.  I think I've seen these kinds of buildings.  I guess it's like a step pyramid.  I wish I were better a visualizing things.  I guess I need to go play with some blocks!  Good thing I have a 2 year old nephew and a 2 year old cousin!

a poem I like

This is what I remember (the poem)

‘I am cherry alive,” the little girl sang,
“Each morning I am something new:
I am apple, I am plum, I am just as excited
As the boys who made the Hallowe’en bang:
I am tree, I am cat, I am blossom too:
When I like, if I like, I can be someone new,
Someone very old, a witch in a zoo:
I can be somone else whenever I think who,
And I want to be everything sometimes too,
And I put it in along with everything
To make the grown-ups laugh whenever I sing:
And I sing : It is true; It is untrue;
I know, I know, the true is untrue,
The peach has a pit,
The pit has a peach:
And both may be wrong
When I sing my song,
But I don’t tell the grown-ups, because it is sad,
And I want them to laugh just like I do
Because they grew up
And forgot what they knew
And they are sure
I will forget it some day too.
They are wrong. They are wrong.
When I sang my song, I knew, I knew!
I am red, I am gold,
I am green, I am blue,
I will always be me,
I will always be new!”

DELMORE SCHWARTZ

Blaming the Victim...

So I read a story the other day about how you shouldn't blame the victim (in regards to rape).  Yes, people should be able to go wherever they want, whenever they want, wearing whatever they want, and imbibing in whatever they want without the threat of being raped.  But, it's not just rape that people should be free from the fear of.

I'm thinking about Aspergers at the moment and social conformation.  Nobody should have to change who they are to please the mainstream and avoid being downtrodden (and teased).  Rather than telling "weirdos" to act normal if they want to be treated well, blame the people who don't treat "weirdos" well.

People say that respect has to be earned, but that is absurd.  It makes way more sense to assume that someone isn't a dickhead/dummy/asshole until proven otherwise (ala innocent until proven guilty).

It's not just Aspergers and such, but any interaction between people of different cultures (basically any two people).

Yeah, of course, people are going to look down on you if you do non-mainstream things (like wearing the same clothes every day), but if someone acts differently towards you because of that, THAT PERSON is at fault (and is a dick-head).

This is probably self-evident, but I don't think this is something people think about.

Bully Breeds

So, I know a bunch of people who like to talk about how nice bully breeds (dogs like pit bulls or bull terriers) can be.

Which is totally true.  And there is a reason that pit bulls are also called "nannie dogs".  So whatever.

But, it has me wondering how this breed came to have both the traits of "likes kids" and "huge jaws."  So what is the "point" of a pit bull?  According to Wikipedia pit bull "type" dogs are crosses between terriers and english bulldogs.  They were used in the US for catching animals, hunting, driving livestock, and as family pets.  I guess the idea is that they are "all-purpose" dogs.  And then they started to be used in dog fighting (ugh).

So, generally speaking, does it make sense to have an "all-purpose" dog?  There are groups of breeds that have specific qualities (companions, herders, terriers, etc.) that are generally good at one or two things.  And of course there are mixed breeds which could have any mix of skills etc.

Rat terriers are similar to pit bulls in their "all around usefullness".  They hunt, catch vermin, and are very human oriented.  They were farm dogs.  (Gloria is .5 rat terrier).  So, I'm going to think of pit bulls as "giant rat terriers" (even though this doesn't quite make sense) in regards to their appeal.

I would think that most pit bull owners keep them primarily as pets, and don't do much catching or hunting with them.  So next question is what makes a pit bull different from other  people-oriented dogs?

1.  They are "large" dogs
2.  They have a distinct appearance
3.  Athletic
4.  Short fur
5.  not hyperactive?

What are other dogs with some similar traits?
1.  Labs
2.  Retrievers
4.  Rat terriers (deckers)
5.  Dalmations

Okay, so we can get rid of labs and dalmations as being too hyperactive.  So what is the difference (in a pet) between pit bulls and retrievers and decker rat terriers?

Types of retrievers

1.  Labarodor
2.  Nova Scotia Duck Tolling
3.

OOH, Animal Planet made it easy!  There is a breed "matching" quiz and I tried to get a pit bull, and these are some of  the breeds it came up with (besides Staffordshire terrier (pit bull-type)):

1.  American Water Spaniel
2.  Chesapeke Bay Retriever
3.  Curly Coated Retriever
4.  Plott Hound
5.  Italian Spinone

Wow, the Italian Spinone sounds like a pretty awesome dog.  Reading more about pit-bull dogs on that site, it sounds like they are very protective.  I'm not sure why that would be regarded as positive in a family dog though...

Okay, so now I want to give some love to the rat terrier...

Okay, I love ratties, and I think that any pit bull lover would also love a decker rat terrier (large rat terrier).  Here is info about deckers;  http://deckerratterrier.nrta.com/index.shtml

Quality 1. A capable utility/hunting dog. 
Quality 2. A wonderful family companion. 
Quality 3. A watch dog with keen alert senses picking up intruders very quickly.

Deckers have all the qualities people like in pit bulls except the face isn't smooshy and the ears aren't floppy.  As far as I know, they don't have the capability of biting as hard as a pit bull, but

In conclusion: Rat terriers are awesome.  Nothing wrong with pit bulls, but I don't know that there is much of anything particularly special about them either.

Are boxers considered "bully-breed"?  They seem to be pretty similar and have the strong bite.  eh....