It's the end of the world as we know it (and I feel fine)...

"Fire and Ice"-- Robert Frost

SOME say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I’ve tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To know that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.

I've been thinking a lot about the end of the world lately. Pessimistic, I know, but it just seems to happen. My dad is convinced that we're living in the end times and that President Bush is going to get us all nuked and dead. Religious fanatics are always predicting the end of the world, we were all supposed to die at the turn of the millennium, and between global warming and other ways we're polluting our planet, it seems like an environmental Armageddeon is imminent. (Catastrophes like Katrina and the tsunami seem to support the last one.)

I don't know what to think, quite frankly. Do I trust that we will just go on living, go on eating and drinking and fighting and fucking, bombing eachother and breathing carbon dioxide and construncting elaborate theories and philosophies? Just hope for the best and do what I can to stop the war, help the environment, etc? Or do I give in to the total pessimist within me? I know that the world has to end sometime, but I really don't want to think it will end in my lifetime, or my children's lifetimes.

Then there's that whole Mayan calendar ending in 2012 deal...

My question is this: what do you think on the subject, Lyd? Do you think the world will end (or just humanity be exterminated) in our lifetime? The next couple centuries? Ever? And whenever you think the world is going to end, how do you think it will end? Nuclear holocaust, Book of Revelations come to life, bird flu/other pestilence, global warming/natural disasters, or what?

Sorry for such a depressing question. I do hope that besides being a downer it's also interesting, though.

questions, the end of the world, global warming, nuclear holocaust, Armageddeon, Robert Frost

Re: The Meaning of Life

Sorry I took so long with this one, babe! It's very hard to answer.

Wow, Lyd. So this was a big question. It took me a while (and a couple drafts) to wrap my head around it and sort out my thoughts. By the time I was done, I felt that my response was really too long to go in the comments section, so I decided to give it a post of it's own.

In Douglas Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (although Matt said in his comment that it was a later book... anyway, if I remember correctly, you've never read it, although I think I remember you saying you saw the crappy movie version, which is to the book pretty much what what the Memoirs of a Geisha movie is to that book-- soul-shatteringly awful and disappointing), the answer to the meaning of life is even more simple than according to Monty Python. The meaning of life is *drumroll*... 42.

Which is, of course, at once incredibly simple and completely inexplicable. The meaning of life is a number? What the fuck? I'm not good at math, what does it mean? It could mean flipping anything. But that is, I think, the point. The meaning of life is probably so simple to a higher being like God, or in the book, the rats who are the physical manifestations of higher beings and created the Earth as huge computer/experiment (you really need to read the book), although even the rats don't really understand the meaning of life, so maybe it's not understandable to anyone. Anyway, my point is (if I didn't entirely lose myself on a tangent) that 42, or the real meaning of life whatever it may be, is certainly too much for us humans, with our inferior little monkey brains, to understand.


I was watching another brilliant Monty Python movie the other night, Quest for the Holy Grail, in preparation for my trip to see Spamalot on Thursday. After going home and having a few beers (I am turning into a closet alcoholic), I started thinking more and more about the holy grail itself. I know you read The Da Vinci Code, but I don't know if you've ever been interested in other theories about what the grail might be. I remember seeing a special a while ago on the History Channel (damn, I love that channel, last night I was watching a show about the Queen of Sheba) and one of theories it showcased was that it's not the grail as an actual object (or improper bloodline of Jesus) that matters at all. What matters is the SEARCH. It's like in all those fantasy novels, the quest as a motif is more important than what you find at the end of the quest.

So, what's the meaning of life, according to me? It's that we think about the meaning of life, and these other deep questions, and search for some spiritual significance. Although neither you nor I are big on the organized religion, we're always seeking something, some meaning, some explanation. We're always thinking, always wondering. And that, my dear Lyd, is the meaning of life. That's the way I think we become closer to God, whomever he or she may be. Simply by asking these questions and investigating and searching, we're fulfilling our duties as humans. I don't think there's any higher calling than to be a thinker, and if I thought I could make money off being a philosopher, I would be one.


Does that make any sense at all? If not, all I have to say is, well, take my theories with a grain of salt. This is the same girls who's said the entire meaning of life can be derived from/encompassed in the lyrics of Once More With the Feeling, the Buffy the Vampire Slayer musical episode.

That's it for my response to this question, for now at least. Now I need to go post my question for you. *rubs hands evilly* It's another doozie.


answers, meaning of life, Douglas Adams, the holy grail, quests, Buffy the Vampire Slayer

The Meaning of Life

Ok Mar, here it is. The first Really Deep Question.

Last night James and I watched Monty Python's The Meaning of Life. While it was highly entertaining (I do recommend it if you have not yet seen it, have you? Lots of sex), I was a bit disappointed. The meaning of life, according to them, is, "Uh, try and be nice to people, avoid eating fat, read a good book every now and then, get some walking in, and try and live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations."

What do you make of this? Sadly I think they are right. Life just seems so long sometimes, for that to be all... like there should be something we all have to accomplish or discover. I can't get my head around only being 20. I just keep asking, "What next? What else do I have to do?" Just wondering your thoughts, it obviously doesn't have to be anything profound. And take your time.

meaning of life , life , monty python , friends, questions

Our first real post, OMG!!!

So, Lydia...

Ever since I got my iPod (I'm behind the times, I know), I've been thinking a lot about music. Even more than I usually do, that is. When I was setting up this blog, I chose to use a line from the Simon and Garfunkel song, "Old Friends" as the title and quote the song in the footer.

To me, this song reminds me a lot of our friendship. It's at once a comment on the stability and longevity of our relationship, but it also speaks to me about both our past and our future.

It reminds me a lot of our past, because you were really the first one to introduce me to Simon and Garfunkel. In fact, as I'm listening to my Best of Simon and Garfunkel CD at this very moment, I remember that I burned it off of your copy years ago.

As for the future, I can totally see us sitting on a bench in Rec Park when we're seventy, bonding. The sentiment "How terribly strange to be seventy," also strikes a chord for me, since I just turned twenty-one. That's a long way from seventy, but it still feels strange and new to me right now, like I'm kind of old. As we grow older, I think our friendship has only grown stronger, and I hope you would agree.

Okay, so for my question (sorry for all the babbling, but hey, that's what blogs are for, right?), I'd like to ask: If you could pick a song that reminds you the most of our friendship, what would it be? Why?

I'm looking forward to hearing your response, and hope that you liked my first post. This should be fun and interesting.


friendship, music, songs, lyrics, Simon and Garfunkel, questions

This is just a test post until we get started. :)