Monthly Archives: April 2010

Sometimes friendly joke emails turn out to be more complicated

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;”>Okay, I have something to tell you about this photo.

First of all, thanks, that made me smile. 🙂

SECOND: the original of this picture, before it got photoshopped, was taken at the San Diego Wild Animal park. There is a HISTORY between that zebra and that giraffe.

Giraffes are born with littl tassels on the end of their tails. You know? a smooth tail with short short fur and then a little brush of fluffy fur at the bottom. At the SDWAP, the Giraffe was an arrogant giraffe that pushed everyone around. Eventually, the zebra got sick of the giraffe and BIT HIS TAIL OFF.

So, this giraffe has the bottom of his tail missing. And that Zebra, that’s climbing on his neck? He’s the one that did it.

..makes me laugh and feel very nerdy that I know that…well, it’s not nerdy to KNOW that, it’s nerdy to write an email response explaining the whole thing.

But thanks again for the pic. Like I said, it made me smile.



zebra giraffe

If you had two months to live

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..other than the obvious, what would you do? The obvious being saying goodbye to loved ones.

That was the question at Toastmasters and it really sunk in. I am lucky enough to have more than two months to live…

or at least THINK that I have more than two months. Who knows these things?

But it sums up the problem of life. We humans are not ants and we know that we die. We know that we have a span of life, and we think about what we want out of it.

The person who responded to the question said he would travel and see everything. He’d run up his credit cards to the max and live it up.

I was thinking the whole time of what I would do, but I couldn’t get past the ‘obvious’. All the people I would want to say goodbye to…

But what is the point of that time? correspondingly, what is the point of life?

If I knew I only had two months to live, perhaps I would try all the drugs that people lose their lives to. What is the deal with heroin, cocaine, meth and crack? If they bring so much delight and the only downside is addiction…Sounds like a pleasant way to spend two months. Maybe…

But what am I on earth for? What do I spend my next two HOURS on, other than the obvious (sleeping, eating, etc.)?

I spend a lot of time on trying to finish projects. Almost all the projects are particular ways of expressing my individuality.

Presidents and other like important people get to talk about their legacy as if it were a weighty responsibility. Well, it’s a responsibility for everyone, you know! I get to think about my legacy too. How would I like to be remembered, or even more relevant, how would I like to to improve the lives of those that come after me?

I can say that I leave a legacy of a child behind. I have propagated the species! And so far, she is a great benefit to the world, if only in that people smile when they see her. On the other hand, having progeny is the legacy of an amoeba. It’s not that distinctive. I would like to leave MORE behind.

I have only 24 hours a day, regardless of how many days I have. So what else would I do with this time?

How do the people that I admire make an impact on the world? They seemed to give a perspective on the world, or find a way of fitting things together that helped people do what they needed to do. In retrospect the pieces all fit together, but I bet while it was happening they didn’t feel so tidy.