Blog by Sumana Harihareswara, Changeset founder
Three, two, one, impress me!
Hi, reader. I wrote this in 2001 and it's now more than five years old. So it may be very out of date; the world, and I, have changed a lot since I wrote it! I'm keeping this up for historical archive purposes, but the me of today may 100% disagree with what I said then. I rarely edit posts after publishing them, but if I do, I usually leave a note in italics to mark the edit and the reason. If this post is particularly offensive or breaches someone's privacy, please contact me.
Happy birthday, Fred Rogers, a.k.a. Mr. Rogers.
Alien domination yet again, and a request for info re: speed dating.
I'm not very happy with my life right at the moment, but seeing as my apartment is unnaturally clean and today is the first day of spring and possibly the nicest day (weatherwise) I've had for a year, I feel ungrateful.
Alexei Othenin-Girard and I had a very nice conversation yesterday, in which we discussed Harry Potter, the fractal indices of go and chess, and his upcoming trip to Japan. Alexei informed me that there are at least two science-fiction/fantasy universes in which aliens dominate Earth and we have a clue of the resultant political system.
- The Xenogenesis series (beginning with Dawn) by Octavia Butler. I've heard of her, as possibly the most prominent African-American sci-fi/fantasy writer.
- Some intricately involved cosmology devised by some military man who burned most of his work at his death, and whose name/pseudonym Alexei could only recall as "Cordwainer" something.
Thank you, Alexei. You also get a cookie. Incidentally, Alexei was also the one to tell me that I was calling a judo move "the 'friend' throw." More details if requested.
Who out there thinks speed-dating is a good idea? Anyone tried it? Is it more effective/enjoyable in ethnic subgroups, such as Jews/Italians/Indians, than in multiethnic populations? How tough would a speed-dating event be to set up? I assume all you need is a large room and chairs-and-such and publicity. (A few months ago, I heard on NPR about the speed-dating fad among Jews in New York.)
Originally published by Sumana Harihareswara at http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2001/3/20/174917/398
