Posts from — October 2007

Religion’s initial purpose, I believe, was to worship something greater than one’s self. Not to create excuses as to why one does something, not to explain the unexplainable and not to suppress fear. These are concepts, dealings and the creatings of man. It can, of course, be used to do the previously mentioned, but, again, that is but human nature, not religion itself. I cannot claim to say I know when the first religion was, nor can I prove or disprove the existence of God, but, I can say that ridding one’s self of fear and ignorance fits into the concept of self-preservation; which is, undoubtedly, a trait of man.

Using God to explain things one doesn’t know about is something of a natural inclination. Why does the sun rise in the day and set in the night? Because Helios is constantly riding his flaming chariot across the skies. Easy enough, and believable to one who truly accepts the concept of various, differentiating gods, but does disproving this by saying, “No. The Earth revolves around the sun while turning on it’s own axis, and when an area doesn’t face the sun, then night occurs.” disprove anything but the previously believed method in which a god causes night and day?

When does the existence of higher being prevent man from reaching out and attempting to fathom greater concepts, expand intellectually and understand the rules of the universe? Why do so many have to bicker as if the two are opposites; as if one prevents the other?

Science constantly tries to disprove God, as if it were a disprovable concept. Religion constantly tries to disregard viable sciences, as if it’s disregarding was a sensible thing to do. This, I believe, is a very substantial cause of the perpetual conflict between them. A large difference between the two, though, is the ways in which each side attempts to discredit and degrade the other. In science’s case, many who believe in God have faith in science, only because it allows them to further understand the world around them, and, who wouldn’t want such a thing? Yet, many people who believe in science completely disregard the existence of a God. I’ve heard so many renowned scientists be so obviously hypocritical in their attempts at ridding people of the concept of God, and babble idiotic clips of self-defeating logic as if it were a proven fact; or anything other than nonsense.

In religion’s case, not so much now as in the past, scientific discoveries, theories, things that have generally bettered the life of mankind as a whole and things which have only given us more clarity in the understanding of the world we live in have been smeared. This happened especially when the Catholic church took over. Great scientists were prosecuted; scientists who weren’t even as radical in their thought against the church as today’s, no one tried to disprove or denounce God, but, theories such as the Earth revolving around the Sun were smited by the church.

What very much instigated the conflict between religion and science was actually this period of time. Science, as religion, has been twisted into an intellectual weapon. It was never a concept meant to do anything but further expand our knowledge of the universe. Yet, the church’s prosecution of science could only instill a festering hatred; and, it is in the nature of man to want revenge. To want to do to his enemies as his enemies have done to him. What better way to degrade the church than to base a whole, well believed concept around disproving the core of religion’s concept?

Now, most religion seems to be used as many things, but, I don’t see many as worshiping God. Everything from controlling man to excusing him from morally wrong actions. It’s devolved to man’s ideals, man’s concepts and man’s corruption. If you do not follow this man’s interpretation of God and it’s rules, then you go to hell. This completely defeats the purpose of Religion, and, instead, builds up a completely opposite ideal; to worship what man has put in front of you. Religion, now, is not a religion, upholding or praising of God, but a religion of man.

Geek.

Nerd.

Dork.

Before I ramble off into a series of definitions…simply ponder those three terms and everything they might bring about mentally for you.

O.K.

That and more is what “What the Geek?” shall explore.

Alright…

So here’s the schpeal, the over-exaggerated eccentric writings on a plethora of unseemingly but definitely related topics, from a G.N.D. of the feminine variety.

I’ll start with those definitions I wrote of a few lines up. 

These definitions are a loosely based assimilation of various readings that I’ve come across over time…that would lend me credibility if I could actually provide the correct sources. Oh…and I’m addicted to ellipses dots. My intention is to actually provide sources in future writings when they are needed.

While these three terms are used interchangeably they do have slight differences.

Geek. A geek (of today’s variety as opposed to those of the freak show days whose entertainment value was their shocking oral decapitation of various animals…namely chickens) is a person who has an indepth interest, usually in one particular subject that is mostly out of the societal norm. The person who knows every fact about “Star Trek” would be an exampe of this. The term geek does not necessarily imply any level of intelligence, simply an extreme interest. A related term, in the sense that it implies an extreme interest is the term “Otaku”…which describes eccentric anime fans. But I digress…

Nerd. A Nerd is someone with a passion for knowledge. Nerds seek out information and intellectual stimuli from a multitude of sources. A Nerd may also be a Geek, in that they might have a few interests which they devote more time to.

Dork. A Dork is someone who is socially inept. The term Dork refers to the ability or desire of a person to interact with others. Many Geeks and Nerds have dorkish tendencies.

When you take each of these three terms and combine them, what you end up with is an extensive array of topics to discuss. These topics range in size from broad subjects like Anime to specific ones like Social Anxiety Disorder. The crazy thing about the G.N.D world is how much it touches on the worlds around it in varying degrees.

This specific blog will attempt to broach the ginormous selection of topics available in a Dirk Gently inspired way. That is to say that it follows the “interconnectedness of all things” motto.

Now that you have an extremely general idea of what I’ll be blathering on about…I suppose a brief introduction to the typist behind the words might be minutely useful.

My name is Lorelei. I’m technically a Nerd…but I refer to myself as a Geek as it the term that mainstream society would identify me as. And as one who has dealt with s.a.d. the dork in me occasionally and annoyingly shines through.

I’m a G.N.D. *ponders on possible combinations of the three terms like gerk or derg* Hear me…type fast while I complain about how much lag there is in Orgrimmar, that WoW currency is worth more than the Japanese Yen, and that I need a r.a.m. upgrade while Adult Swim plays in the backround and I wonder when I’m going to fit in the next Robert Jordan (r.i.p.), Douglas Adams (r.i.p.), and Jim Butcher books in between fawning over the c.g.i. in the Beowulf preview, while attempting to keep up with Naruto and writing the story for a collaborative manga, while managing not to be a wall flower at the next party and keeping up with some semblance of a social life.

I promise to at least keep you entertained if not informed in my future entries.

Till then…I bid you adieu.

Let me start by saying that I am not being paid to write on this line of anti-aging skincare- I was given the four products to use and then write about them, so if they didn’t work, I would have nothing to lose. I kept a journal of the day-by-day effects of the products and how I applied them.

For as long as I can remember, my skin has been a mess.  Large pores, sporadic acne and patterned dryness that [Read more →]

Ya know, I’ve been married to Dennis for over 13 years, and I still haven’t learned how to cook.  In fact, I hate the task…I’d much rather clean the bathroom with my tongue than plan out a meal.   I do the laundry, complete [Read more →]

  Stocks are not really a complicated items to make.  A good stock can make a big difference in any soup or sauce that you are creating.  I do not want to get into the technical aspects, but just how to create a great stock.  There are four  elements to create a stock: [Read more →]

Many times have I heard the claim, “If it were not for religion, there would be so much peace!”, as if religion was an evil influence that urges all who follow it to slaughter all who don’t. [Read more →]

Yorkshire pudding, which is really a thick pancake not really a pudding. In England it’s a side dish usually served with roast beef.
Mix together 3 1/4 cups of flour with 4 eggs and 4 1/2 cups of milk. Season with salt, pepper and grated nutmeg. Pour this mixture into a deep pan with the 1/2 cup of fat drippings from the roast. Bake in a preheated oven at 450 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes until it is puffed and dry. Cut into squares and serve as the side dish.

I’ve observed, through out the few years of my life, that our society is slowly, but surely, degrading in terms of intellectual capabilities, individuality, and otherwise virtuous traits. This is due to an array of manifest and latent functions brought about by sociologically perpetuated ideals, phrases, and norms. This short piece, despite it’s long title, will attempt to point out [Read more →]