Happy 3000th Post! I know just how you feel. Like it’s 30,000 posts. Still, I am glad you are here. But I have to ask: why are you here?
If you have to question the sanity of somebody who has read all 3,000 gems, most rough, some polished, and you do have to question it, imagine the queries we must put to the author of these precious stones.
What were you thinking?
I can’t remember.
What is your major malfunction?
Hypocrisy.
“For that which I work, I understand not. For I do not that good which I will; but the evil which I hate, that I do. If then I do that which I will not, I consent to the law, that it is good. Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. For I know that there dwelleth not in me, that is to say, in my flesh, that which is good. For to will, is present with me; but to accomplish that which is good, I find not. For the good which I will, I do not; but the evil which I will not, that I do. Now if I do that which I will not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.”
Also, the inability to keep my mouth shut.
What are some of the stranger things people have searched for such that search engines directed these people to your site?
“your cousin is seeing fashionable shoe from overseas.he has requested you to advertise these shoes write out the advertisement” (Buy these shoes, please), “boneless pork rectums” (this one is my fault), “does laverne cox still have male parts” (yes, he will always be a man), “how many geniuses are born each year” (almost none), “why aren’t marbles popular” (because people are addicted to devices), “objections to realism” (the world cannot be what you want it to be), “how does the brain tell the difference between good and bad music” (the former enhances the soul, the latter corrupts it), “calibrate porn” (every carpenter likes tight-fitting joints? or was this some sort of inveterate frequentist?), “can an untucked shirt be worn with corporate shoe without sock” (only at sea).
How do you write?
By binge. Many posts all at once, and then long fallow periods where I stare at the ceiling saying, “I should be writing something more lasting.”
But aren’t you working on other books?
Leave me alone. Oh, did you mean reading or writing other books?
Both.
Leave me alone.
Well, what about the podcasts? Didn’t I hear you were getting a camera to do real videos?
I can’t control what you hear.
If you don’t want to talk about what you should be doing, what do you want to talk about?
We could always fall back to the weather. Except even that has been politicized. Insanity. It is as if solar neutrinos suddenly became politically important, and you had nitwits running about moral signalling, saying idiotic things like “Tau neutrinos are more important than electron neutrinos.” Yet if you asked these morally upright folks just what a proton-proton chain reaction is they couldn’t answer. Substitute ‘global warming’ or ‘sustainability’ for neutrinos and you get the same thing.
That’s a strong opinion. I already know not to get you going on gender ideology.
Feel free to ask. Hey, there really is such as thing as gender! Nouns, for instance, can be masculine, feminine and neuter, animate or inanimate. But people can only be male or female.
What’s your opinion about the burgeoning government bureaucracy?
It causes more misery than it does good. It will choke civilization to death. And nobody can stop it. Short of a military coup. Or perhaps a giant rock from space. Or our Lord’s parousia.
Let’s not be too gloomy. This is an anniversary, a time of celebration. What do recommend readers imbibe?
Torpedo ale from Sierra Nevada brewing. Delicious.
Speaking of beer, what can you tell me of the term session ale?
It’s asinine.
When cleaning a fish, should you scale or gut it first?
Gut it first. That way you can grab the now-empty space by the head for extra purchase. If you cut off the head, cut off the pectoral fins, too, where it’s difficult to remove scales. And then hold up the guts to terrorize the squeamish.
Which animal you have hunted that tastes unexpectedly delicious?
Squirrel.
I understand you are fully independent. Do you accept donations?
Thank you. I look forward to another 3,000 posts.
Yeah, but who’s going to write them?
Just as a desired attribute of a car is ‘fun to drive’ so is a desired attribute of a blog that it be ‘fun to read’. And your blog accomplishes this with great ‘elan.
Congratulation William!! Keep your delightful messages flowing.
Talking to yourself now? When done in public that’s a sign for something not quite right. But then so is blogging I suppose, even when it’s not an auto-Q&A piece. Anyway, congratulations on this extended logorrheic (in quantity, not quality) milestone. Keep ’em coming. Your fanboys (sorry, don’t know the gender-neutral word) want more.
Hey, that’s pretty cool. 3,000 posts! I am very impressed by your drive, and your raw honesty, and willingness to simply accept and admit your own hypocrisy. I do! I make no bones about it. Hey, we’re only human, and certainly agree on that. Oh, and you look kind of like Gary Sinise – and he’s kind of like you in a few ways, too!
I think, because of your approach as an antiphilosophy statistician, you genuinely believe we simply do not have the evidence of man-made global warming, and you focus on models as modelling falls into your field of expertise. I have to admit, my opinion is of a priori foundation, though I am as strong or stronger on antiphilosophy as you, it simply seems to me that the sheer volume of pollution (stuff that doesn’t otherwise belong) we’re putting into the environment should be very dangerous, given the nature of nature, causing global climatic changes, which would have all sorts of other consequences, mass extinctions, food and water issues, mass migrations of humans and other fauna and flora, etc.
The problem with my logic, of course, is connecting observed changes in the environment to that pollution, let alone to what the future may hold. Modelling something as complex as the atmosphere or the oceans is exceedingly difficult, as these are very complex systems. I’m learning video game making now, and just modelling a seemingly simple thing like a lake is no walk in the park. I can’t imagine the complexity of modelling the oceans, for example, with all the various components and chemicals and flora and fauna, solar radiation, the moon, and on and on.
But I don’t pay attention to the models. Never have. Like you, I understand they’re measuring something with not nearly enough measurements. I do pay attention to things actually happening, though, and I do think we’re playing a little too much fire (pun intended). This fascination with burny-burny things is all fun and reminds me of being a kid, but it’s a messy and expensive and unpleasant business, that should and could be more marginalized. The most efficient and cleanest and constant sources of energy should always be preferred to the messy and expensive and unpleasant. It’s not a matter of philosophy, but rather just pragmatism, a simple survival technique.
But it does make for fun debate! Happy 3,000th!!!
JMJ
If more people knew how delicious they are when properly prepared, gray squirrels would be on restaurant menus.
My model had you at about 6000 posts. As an astrophysicist by trade, I’m quite happy with this; 3,000 posts is between 600 and 60,000 posts, meaning my model is accurate enough for publication.
Many happy returns.
Stop counting…it makes you dwell on unimportant things.
And congratulations–I look forward (after my 87th birthday this Sunday) to reading another 3000, or at least a major portion of them.
The next 3,000 messages will be written much faster! Do not have time to blink an eye!
Congratulations on finishing the 3k marathon. Writing is hard work. It’s not easy crafting polished phrases, sentences, and paragraphs that clearly, efficiently, and pleasurably communicate truth. That’s why I seldom comment. I write something, then read what I wrote, wince, hack at it, chop it, fold, spindle, and mutilate all to no avail; it stinks and out it goes like old fish guts.
But you manage to pop out lots of tasty good stuff. And with pretty good cheer, too, considering the unsavory, depressing complexion of so many modern topics. And it’s a fine thing to see a man stand firm against the great, bloody-minded beast of Beelzebub. Just pop that devil right in the kisser! Ah! – feels good.
As a change of pace from the Sierra Nevada Torpedo try Lagunitas Pilzner – that is some crisp, clean brew for a bright summer day. Finally, looking at that funny photo at the top, I got the idea you might have been, in addition to your other talents, a fine accordion player. Maybe it’s not too late? You do that and I’ll take up the banjo.
Gosh, you have been busy!
Agree with you about the squirrel – but only after soaking it overnight in water tinged with vinegar, then pressure cooking the flesh off the bones before making into a tasty and nutritious stew with onions, carrots, potato, celery & garlic. Would have added walnuts had the plump little varmint not stripped the tree.
Anyway, keep up the good work,
gareth
PS: have book, it’s about #3 in the reading queue (=line)…
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Just tuned in after a long time.
On podcasts, I think you bowed to pressure of sulky readers who don’t like audio. They could have been a big success. Audio books are now very popular with drivers and travellers, not just people who have problems reading. Mark Steyn read his own book in audio as have many celebs.
What a load of old grumps when you announced them with such promise and excitement! That soon wore off.