Russell & Kimmy

Hello California! And welcome to Russell’s Super Awesome 49 state challenge; for all of you counting that is just 34 more states I need to catch.  So damn it visit my site and why you are at it; comment.

And this morning, as every morning, I was thinking in the shower.  I do some of my best and deepest thinking while in the shower but since the apartment installed a midget water heater I only get about 15 minutes of good thinking in each day (30 minutes if I take two showers).  So like I said I was thinking in the shower, and some how I came across the OPB problem. For those of you who were not in my philosophy class (shame on you) the OPB problem was the nick name we came up with for God.  I loved arguing God in philosophy; it angered a lot of people, confused even more, and in the end there were bruised egos with some hurt feelings and even more confusion about God running rampant. So what brought all this deep thoughts on the OPB Problem when there are so many other things to worry about? I blame BoingBoing for running a bit on the Westboro Baptist Church.  For those of you who have never had the pleasure of reading anything about the Westboro Baptist Church, count your blessings.  The WBC is one of those nice little fringe groups that illustrates the most redeeming quality about America and how annoying it can be when people you really don’t like use the 1st Amendment.  But I am getting off topic, this morning’s profound shower insight was not about the WBC but the OPB.

It is odd, coming from a large Catholic family I internally wrestled with the idea of God for a long time.  Back in the crazier days of my youth I wasn’t sure where God, Faith, and Science fit … but where ever it was it didn’t fit well; and so like most problems I couldn’t figure out I gave up and quite caring.  Then I got into computer science and I think I became a  Diest.  Diesm nicely solves a lot of problems about the OPB … mainly by making him rational.   The idea of a perfectly rational and ordered universe actually does a lot to help me sleep at night.  In fact to quote some one from Avlis, it is like pissing your pants; everyone can see it but only you get a warm feeling … sure a rational universe is a little pissy from time to time but you can’t dicount that warm feeling it brings.  Of course, my little mental wandering does nothing to cover a GOOD OPB or Free Will; the warm water ran out and like a soap bubble going pop there went my deep thoughts.

Well stumbling philosophical musings aside; I have excellent news that I want to share.  Actually Kimmy has excellent news that she wants to share and has done so but hasn’t officially blogged about it.  Not wanting to steal her thunder I think I’ll leave the 4 people who will read this today in a bit of suspense.  But the news is good and it is creepy how the pieces of our life our transitioning us out of our twenties and into the scary world of adult hood.

Ahh it is time to add five more states to my roster; thank you New Mexico, Washington, Maryland, Illinois and North Carolina!  That is ten down, only thirty nine more to go in Russell’s Super Awesome 49 State Challenge!  As an added side note I developed a new drinking game, the rules are simple … for every ! I use you have to take a shot!!!!!! <# include floor>

Other than collecting states and spending an incredibly quite week at work I am proud to admit that I have given up on Nietzsche right now and have been reading the Farseer Trilogy.  That’s right America I am an anti-elite, anti-intellectual Vote Russell 2028!  Political pandering aside I have been pleased wit the Farseer Trilogy, it has been like yummy delicious fantasy candy for the mind; while being deep enough to make it worth reading.  Told from the perspective of Fritz the Bastard the story takes you from his childhood up through his angsty teenage years; were he murders for the King, is a little emo, and in the second book well … you’ll just have to read it to find out.  The author goes to great lengths to make Fritz the outcast/pariah/misfit with out quite crossing that Shakespearean line and turning him into Hamlet; how I hated that whiny bitch.  She also has him screw up several times which is both funny/frustrating as you cheer on the un-loved hero, only to grimace as he goes down in flames.  Instead of covering a set time period she jumps from event to event in Fritz’s life so be prepared for an action packed book that is driven by events.  My one big complaint is some of the characters are a little flat in the first book, but she pumps them up in the second book with surprising depth.

While I wouldn’t put it on par with George R. R. Martin, I still suggest it; so far the series is a good read and I look forward with eager anticipation to the third book which Kimmy is currently reading.  It is a little deep (it dips it’s toe into political intrigue and revenge) but the author manages to keep things simple so the pages fairly fly; it also helps that this is not a huge series the first book weighs in at a slim 464 pages, the second is a little heftier at 675 pages.  But Most important is the trilogy is FINISHED, which gives me closure and doesn’t leave me hanging for two decades waiting for the next book to come out.   Like I said a good read, buy it and enjoy.

On a whim I tossed google analytics into the code for the footer and I am now obsessively watching statistics like some sort of super obsessive type person who obsessively watches something.  The stats are a little depressing since it filters out the spammers and verified my worst fears that people do not obsess over my blog.  I had to admit that I cried a little bit when I found that out.  But I am not one to let bad news depress me, in fact I decided this new and wonderful feature is going to inspire me and I am formally tossing down the 49 State Challenge.  My goal is to have someone from all 49 states (excluding that crappy pretend state Alaska) visit my blog, read my blog, and hopefully leave a comment.

So far I am off to an excellent start; people from the great state of New Jersey,  Texas, Pennsylvania, Minnesota and surprisingly Arizona have stopped by.

So it is time for the other 44 states to pony up, visit, and for the love of Toby please leave me a comment; I get depressed dealing with the spammers who constantly insult my manhood by offering prescription Viagra.