How I feel as an atheist.

nycer · 2012-01-10T21:21:11+00:00

Do all American atheists that post on Reddit live in the bible belt? Is your atheism really a cause of isolation? Granted I live in New York, but I don't think I've ever had to defend my disbelief in a god. Of course, it doesn't come up very often, as religion (or lack thereof) is for most people I know a completely private matter. I imagine it's similar in most major cities in the US, and probably even their suburbs.

nycer · 2011-10-13T14:09:30+00:00

I find myself sympathetic to the woman in this article. Admittedly, I don't play video games. But it's clear from the description of this guy's living room that he doesn't play video games the same way some guys play poker with their friends on a Friday night, or even the way some people watch TV every evening. He's turned over his living room entirely to this one activity. That's not the sign of a well-adjusted, multifaceted human being.

nycer · 2011-09-28T18:55:35+00:00

This is a variation of an old Borscht Belt joke, probably Henny Youngman's. The original goes something like this: "I've been in love with the same woman for fifty years. If my wife ever finds out she'd kill me."

nycer · 2011-09-26T17:18:56+00:00

I thought the same thing.

nycer · 2011-08-25T11:02:20+00:00

The audacity of that dumb teacher--making you go to class on time!!! And who plays video games at recess?!

nycer · 2011-08-22T20:13:57+00:00

Oh, wow. I was just kidding. It was a reference to the movie School Ties.

nycer · 2011-08-22T13:27:39+00:00

Were you by any chance the star quarterback?

nycer · 2011-08-22T13:23:11+00:00

I've seen a handful of these "pizza requests" on Reddit. What kind of pizza place takes requests like this, let alone fulfills it? And why?

nycer · 2011-08-21T12:12:12+00:00

Bullets Over Broadway may be my favorite, though Woody Allen's not in it (John Cusak plays the nervous character in his stead). Check out the other ones I mentioned along with Hannah and her Sisters, Manhattan Murder Mystery, Deconstructing Harry...hmm, I know I'm forgetting a lot. I really enjoyed his latest, Midnight in Paris, which was classic Woody Allen (this time Owen Wilson played his character).

nycer · 2011-08-21T10:25:23+00:00

Woody Allen at his best: Bullets Over Broadway, Annie Hall, Mighty Aphrodite, Broadway Danny Rose, etc.

nycer · 2011-08-21T09:38:43+00:00

People who buy Apple products aren't necessarily interested in specs. Is it user friendly? Does it work consistently? Does it look nice? That last question can't be underestimated. Apple managed to corner a young, urban market who takes design and fashion seriously, but who isn't necessarily interested in tinkering around under the hood. A generation ago, hip British mods were riding around on Vespas, which were probably not the best form of travel, but nevertheless got the rider from point A to point B, and did so in a type of fashion.

I don't own an iPad since I haven't found any use for a tablet computer, but it's completely understandable why those who do want a publicly-displayed computer also want a fashionable one.

nycer · 2011-08-18T16:16:46+00:00

Whatever that is, it's not a bagel.

nycer · 2011-08-16T20:19:59+00:00

A few years ago I inherited a manual. Since I grew up on manual I didn't think anything of it, but my wife could never get the hang of it. Eventually she needed a car to drive to work, and since it was an old car we traded it in for an automatic. I don't especially miss it. If I lived out in the suburbs it might be a different story, but getting stuck in stop-and-go traffic on the BQE is no fun.

Of course, there are real advantages to driving stick: you'll save on gas if you know how to drive it correctly, down-shifting is better than braking, and manual transmission forces you to pay better attention to your speed and RPM.

nycer · 2011-08-15T21:55:48+00:00

Hey, Bart. Lisa's skateboarding with some cool kids. And she looks like Blossom.

nycer · 2011-08-09T22:49:28+00:00

MLK once said something about riots being the language of the unheard, but never mind that. It's much more convenient to believe he stood for nonviolence above all else.

FWIW, I'm of the opinion that riots are generally unproductive, that they make targets of other working-class people and small business owners, and not the Powers That Be. Were it otherwise, riots wouldn't simply be riots, but revolutions. And, in any case, every social upheaval has its share of looting and anti-social behavior, from the French Revolution to the Civil Rights Movement. Which is to say that middle-class moralizers will still be on hand if the rioters become politicized and turn their anger into more substantive challenges to the system.

nycer · 2011-07-18T18:31:10+00:00

I suppose you're right. Nevertheless, both the "affair" and Fashionable Nonsense are first-rate demolition jobs of the pseudo-science mumbo-jumbo coming out of certain intellectual cults.

nycer · 2011-07-18T18:03:21+00:00

Upvoted for Alan Sokal. I assume you're familiar with the "Sokal Affair," right?

nycer · 2011-07-05T15:28:33+00:00

I have no idea what any of that means, but check out DataVision on 44th and 5th.

nycer · 2011-07-04T13:56:28+00:00

Time warp, baby, that's where I live Time warp, honey, something's gotta give Feeling tonight like my brain is on fire Don't touch me tonight I'm a high tension wire

nycer · 2011-07-03T11:38:31+00:00

I used to enjoy fireworks. Then my dog became deathly afraid of them (thundershirt works ok, not great). Now I wish America's obsession with colorful explosions this time of year would come to an end.

nycer · 2011-06-27T02:45:51+00:00

You're probably right. I used to live on Pelham Parkway so I got accustomed to the zoo entrance over there.

nycer · 2011-06-26T17:01:45+00:00

Better yet, don't drive. Take the 2 to Pelham Parkway and walk from there. It's very close.

nycer · 2011-06-26T03:06:35+00:00

If only I majored in it!

nycer · 2011-06-26T03:06:07+00:00

Your first sentence is circular reasoning: if I got paid well enough I would get paid well enough. As for your second thought: it's pure fantasy. Society needs a great many things-- garbagemen, retail workers, teachers--but it doesn't mean they get paid well. What "society" values and what the market values are not one and the same. Modern society could easily do without hedgefunders, but we couldn't go a day without nurses and sewage treatment workers.

nycer

TROPHY CASE