Suou

I suppose I should try to weigh in on this since I spend a lot of my free time dicking around in forests and shit.

Gonna start by saying that I believe that both nature and humanity are neither fundamentally "good" nor fundamentally "bad." Both have their perks, both have their disadvantages. I think that a world strictly ruled by either would be totally bullshit.

Humanity and nature are neither good nor bad.

I believe that so many people idealize and romanticize nature because they've been isolated from it and they don't know much about it, or people have experienced it and have accepted it despite its perceived flaws. It's a bit like space. Space is beautiful, and we're all a part of space. But if you were to hitch a ride on a rocket and head up there, you might similarly find it very violent and barbaric as stars collapse and explode, lifeless balls of ice circle around clouds of gas, galaxies collide and eat each other, rocks slam into each other, and so-on. But even with all of this scary and dangerous activity, even though on earth we feel separated from it, space is still adored by many and we are and always have been a part of space.

I love nature. I think animals are fascinating and beautiful (yeah, even when they're dismembering each other), plants and fungi are majestic, rocks are varied and interesting, and so-on. But I also adore big cities, genetic engineering, pharmaceuticals, jewelry, and cameras in space.

I'd never take one over the other because I'm a greedy fuck who wants it both ways. I think a lot of that is reflected in my job, which often involves making compromises between nature and people or bending nature to meet the needs of people.

Day 19 - 100,001

Not many people are doing the wheel. =(

I think there may be a good reason for that.

I'm going to admit up-front that I have a personal bias because I once had to kick a "good friend" in the face several times and run to keep his penis out of me.

Now to begin, how about we stop comparing people's bodies to objects? Mishelle already covered this, but it seems that nobody is honoring that request. Stealing an item involves taking away an object that can be replaced. It may disturb the victim of the theft, but it is impersonal and something that can be gotten over.

An anonymous guy described the effect of rape pretty well on an article submitted to The Escapist:

The experience of being raped has touched every aspect of my life. People like Ron Rosenberg, the PR head for Tomb Raider, tend to talk about rape like it’s some character-building challenge to overcome, a wound that heals into scar tissue, making you tougher. That’s a fundamental misunderstanding. Rape isn’t a scar, it’s a limp — you carry it with you as long as you’re alive, and it makes life harder, not easier. Being raped does change you: it’s more than non-consensual sex, it’s psychic murder. The person you were beforehand ceases to exist and you can never, ever be them again.

As I said, I managed to get out of an attempted rape. I did the thing that everyone tells every rape victim ever to do: I hit the guy until he lost his grip on me and I ran. And you know what? I didn't get a parade or even a cookie, I got more criticism.

To this day I wonder if I did the right thing by fighting back. I completely understand why someone wouldn't or couldn't fight back even if they're 100% sober (as I was at the time). That's because when you find yourself in a situation where you know that someone intends to rape you, there are two options: You can act the way you've been taught to act for your entire life (be passive, be sweet, be gentle, be quiet, don't argue), or you can break the rules you've always known. It's hard. Getting out the "Please stop, please stop touching me"s when he started undoing buttons and yanking off articles of clothing was easy, but after that? You're not taught what to do after that.

My roommate was the first person I told, and she informed me that I was a huge bitch for what I'd done. That's what the guy had said, too, yelling "You cold German bitch!" Others said I must've led him on, that kicking him in the face was excessive, that I should've done something earlier, that I should've had "intuition" that would tell me to avoid that situation, that I shouldn't have made friends with the guy.

Just what the hell does everyone want victims of rape or attempted rape to do? I followed all of the typical "rules to prevent rape" and they're utter horseshit. Didn't help me a damn bit.

If I were to revise the list, I'd only put one item on it: "Get lucky." That's what it takes to avoid rape. You have to get really fucking lucky.

We are not all equipped with "rape-dar." Rapists aren't typically a shady guy in the park at midnight preying on tiny, fit white girls with cute blonde hair. Rapists don't wear a big sticker that says "Hello I am a rapist." Rapists are your best friend, your neighbor, your parent, your priest, your friend's parent, your coworker, your boss, your teacher, your coach...

As for a punishment for rapists, that I don't know. I'm not good with punishments. As I said, I still feel somewhat guilty for kicking my would-be rapist in the face.

Funny thing about student loans. In the US anyway, elementary, middle, and high schools don't teach you shit about money. I don't think a lot of kids fully understand what they're getting into when they sign those things.

I know I sure as hell didn't.

I got lucky because my field of study is linked with environmental causes and I get very good grades, so various organizations throw cash at me relatively often. For a field that I've been told is useless and is going to get me nowhere in life it's been very good to me.

That said, I think typically your best bet is to figure out what you want to study and then try to find specific scholarships related to that subject. Then you can forego all the bullshit like writing essays about how great Ayn Rand is.

The hottest lady I can think of off the top of my head is London Andrews. I want to be her, and I also want to do her.

What about a Tesla Roadster?

It's named after Tesla and Tesla was a badass therefore it must be badass. I will fight anyone who disagrees.

Human penises are not cute.

Some of them are! Particularly in motion. Have you ever watched someone get hard? It's like a proud little elephant sticking its trunk up. Adorable.

I don't think I can match a recent masterpiece of an introduction, so I'm not even going to try to be clever here.

I've been lurking around for the last week or so and decided that it would be rude not to at least stop in and say hello. Maybe we'll even get all friendly-like, this seems like a pretty friendly community.

Outside of being a filthy, filthy neo-cheater I study Botany. My actual jobby-job involves diagnosing problems with trees and shrubs, rejuvenating plants, cloning/grafting plants, and generally doing things that seem impressive but really aren't if you know the science behind them. I have a lot of fun, a lot of stories, a lot of pictures, and a lot of flowers.

Not sure what to say about my neo-life. I had an account 11 years ago and sucked at everything, got talked into getting one 3 months ago, and I think Yurbles are really cute (and I think a big Yurble plush needs to exist so that I can buy it and give it hugs.). I collect flower themed/garden items and other things that I generally find cute.

Feel free to let me know how much I've already managed to embarrass myself.