Thoughts for ships

[Zohar]

Funerals are very weird occasions - there's always this tension about feeling sad but also glad to see friends and family you haven't been in touch with in awhile. I also find religious ceremonies unnerving, especially at a funeral. For a wedding they can still be strange, but in a funeral there's this common belief by a group of people about what ended up with the deceased that's very hard for me to share in.

[pogrmman]

Funerals are very weird occasions - there's always this tension about feeling sad but also glad to see friends and family you haven't been in touch with in awhile. I also find religious ceremonies unnerving, especially at a funeral. For a wedding they can still be strange, but in a funeral there's this common belief by a group of people about what ended up with the deceased that's very hard for me to share in.

They really are strange. I've been to a few funerals and while most religious services aren't too unnerving for me (product of Christian schooling) (they are still weird though), funerals really are just because of the common belief of everybody else brought so prominently to the forefront (especially because all the funerals I've been to have been those of very devout churchgoers). I've felt really bad at all the funerals I've been to, but that particular component feels really weird to me. Even more so than the tension between feeling sad for the deceased and seeing family and friends you haven't seen in forever.

[Zohar]

I don't mind the ceremony - I think it's healthy to have an organized way to deal with these things. It's one of the aspects I appreciate about Jewish mourning - it kind of gives you a plan on what you have to do in the first week (and month, and year) of the death of a loved one, so you don't have to figure things out. It's easier when there's a blueprint. It's more the involvement of god that I feel uncomfortable with. In the end, I think as long as it's respectful to the dead person's wishes, it's OK.

[HES]

I also find religious ceremonies unnerving, especially at a funeral.

My Grandad's funeral earlier this year, my first time in a church in over a decade, was the most uncomfortable hour of my life.

Immediately afterwards, however, was a wonderful family gathering.

[ObsessoMom]

I am a cantor (basically, soloist/songleader) at a lot of funerals at my church, and I've attended many funerals and memorial services in other faith traditions, too. None for my atheist friends yet.

The most positively-memorable funeral I've cantored was two months ago. Before the ceremony, the widow had gone around distributing the deceased's famous collection of garish Christmas-themed neckties to the pallbearers, and also to anyone else (male or female) who knew him well and wanted to wear one in his honor. When I looked out at the congregation, I saw a whole blizzard of snowmen and Santas and strings of colored lights. In July.

The friend who gave the eulogy said that wearing these festive neckties wasn't denial. It was acknowledgment of the fact that Jesse had absolutely loved Christmas, and that Christmas isn't going to be the same without Jesse's enthusiastic celebration of it...but now his friends will be taking up that mantle. Or, rather, taking up that necktie. AWESOME. Everyone was smiling through tears.

[ivnja]

That idea with the ties is so wonderful, and I love this part:

It was acknowledgment of the fact that Jesse had absolutely loved Christmas, and that Christmas isn't going to be the same without Jesse's enthusiastic celebration of it...but now his friends will be taking up that mantle.

The two most recent funerals I've attended (both grandparents on my Dad's side) were simple affairs, one at graveside and one in a funeral home, with a few religious elements but nothing that would constitute a religious service as such. Perhaps spiritual elements would even be a better term. There were family eulogies and both laughs and tears, and it made me feel like the spirit of the departed was really in the room sharing that time together with all of us. Not long before the first of those, though, I attended a Catholic service for an old family friend, which was a full funeral Mass; as a non-Catholic, that was a very different experience, and while I can see how the ritual would be really comforting to folks who are familiar with it I was continuously having to glance around to see what I was supposed to be doing, and it felt that the funeral wasn't really about her, but rather about God. It was very stiff and formal, and not being from that background, I didn't get all that much comfort from it.

[Liri]

I went to a catholic funeral when I was eight. One of my classmates, a Guatemalan boy who came to the U.S. for treatment, died of leukemia. The church was packed.

Every other funeral I've been to has been very southern baptist, which doesn't overburden me with good feelings. My dad's dad's was pretty good though. One of my actor cousin-in-laws read a secular poem and there was some secular music. The pastor, however, kept making cultural and political allusions (I'll save that for another sermon).

[e^iπ+1=0]

Y'know, I don't think I've ever been to a funeral. My grandparents are definitely getting up there, though, so I'd be unsurprised if I wound up going to one in the not too distant.

[doogly]

I found the religious aspect of my grandmother's funeral deeply upsetting. I was religious and can make a very nice performance of respect generally, but if it's someone who is actually close to me that I am personally mourning, I am pretty liable to slap someone who is coming at me with "she's in a better place." Though I did not in fact slap anyone!

[Zamfir]

The strangest funeral I went to, was my wife's grandfather, lets call him John.

John was not very religious, but he had been a conservative pillar of the local catholic community. Head of the financial board, of the church charity, etc.

John was a stubborn guy, and his funeral plan was simple: Like My Wife's Funeral. The caterer had to go back to an old menu, because those sandwiches had been Good, and John would have the same again.

Now, sandwiches are doable. The real snag: at the time of his wife's death, there had been no pastor, and the mass had been lead by a layman. There is some exception procedure for this. More exactly, it had been a laywoman. Who was also a prominent activist to give women are larger priestly role in the church. Let's call her Susan.

In the years since, Susan had been officially excommunicated. Like Henry VIII or something. This apparently happens. It involves bishops and cardinals and the works. The church was surely not allowing her to lead a funeral mass, before hell freezes over.

I doubt that John cared much about women's role in the church. But as I said, stubborn. And the local church community was hardly going to deny the last wishes of such a prominent member.

Instead, the church board allowed the church building to be hired for a private event, which was definitely not a funeral or a mass. It just happened to involve a dead body and an altar. Susan gave not-a-mass, aided by some similarly activist women.


Towards the end of the event, there was an invitation for speakers from the room. The current pastor,an outsider, came forward. He gave a hurried speech that was like a miniature mass-within-a-mass. Still no bread and wine , of course. I don't know what his plan was. Perhaps he felt that he couldn't ignore the situation, but had no clue what else to do.

[pogrmman]

I found the religious aspect of my grandmother's funeral deeply upsetting. I was religious and can make a very nice performance of respect generally, but if it's someone who is actually close to me that I am personally mourning, I am pretty liable to slap someone who is coming at me with "she's in a better place."

That's another reason I've been unsettled by the religious aspect of all of the ones I've been two. For my grandmother's funeral and those of my two great-grandparents, this killed me about it.

It just seemed wrong to be saying stuff like that. I get why it would help some people cope with it, but it just seems to be kind of uncaring about those who are mourning. Sure, I was only still religious in one of those funerals (the earliest, that of my great-grandfather like 10 years ago). But even then, it struck me as insensitive.

[Liri]

It just seemed wrong to be saying stuff like that. I get why it would help some people cope with it, but it just seems to be kind of uncaring about those who are mourning.

Where my relatives live in the North Carolina, the basic assumption is that you are deeply religious. I've got at least three southern baptist pastors within pretty close relation to me (cousin/uncle/grandparent-tier).

Where I live in North Carolina, the basic assumption is that you're a pagan free-lovin hippy.

[Deva]

Presumes the "better place" line to be more palatable in the recent case. Suffered from failing organs. Estimated a month to live. Feels less callous for that versus a sudden, unexpected death, such as an automobile accident.

Meandering thought (due to above discussion and the Dumbing of Age webcomic): Wore a stole with bread on it. Would play a Bread Priest. Raises dead allies with the power of yeast. Turns undead with a booming "Challelujah". Patches people up with dough. (Sourdough? Rye? Knows too few types.) Guides lost souls with breadcrumbs. (Proofs their existence, of course.) Comprehends a Breadist communion quite well. Suspects a theme of rising above your troubles.

Somewhat related: Updated Prequel after 692 days (including the day of the update). Wondered if it ever would. Posted brief progress notes occasionally. Understands why now.

[Magnanimous]

Somewhat related: Updated Prequel after 692 days (including the day of the update). Wondered if it ever would. Posted brief progress notes occasionally. Understands why now.

Oh cool, I really like that comic. Good to see more updates.

[Weeks]

Does ANYONE know the source of this gif



If you cant view it its a green parrot with its young. The baby is bobbing its head and the big one is wildly shaking its head and its hilarious

[pseudoidiot]

I found this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gi3yUmf07ac

[Weeks]

I found this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gi3yUmf07ac

that cant be the original source. I refuse to believe it.

[Deva]

Found a longer version (posted February 19, 2016) and the "original" (posted January 5, 2016). (Credits forpus.org.)

[Robert'); DROP TABLE *;]

2017 called, but we couldn't hear what they were saying over all the screams.

[Flumble]

January called; they remembered that comic already.

[Liri]

January called; they remembered that comic already.

To be fair, we have more details about the screams now.

[ucim]

To be fair, we have more details about the screams now.

Maybe we'll find out whether or not black holes destroy information?

Jose

[Angua]

Best sentence read today:

The larva from the ingested egg is released in the intestine and then goes on a prolonged safari though the tissues, lasting 1-2 years.

Talking about the human stage of the cat and dog roundworms. I'm imagining little larvae with cameras roaming around.

Edit: dammit - they topped themselves.

Even so, when playing football in most public parks, you are as likely to be fouled by dog faeces as by a member of the opposing team.

[poxic]

So much of medicine gives me existential queasiness.

[Angua]

So much of medicine gives me existential queasiness.

Did you catch the edit?

Also, I'm so convinced that I must have all the parasites so far. Most of them are asymptomatic and can live for years.

[poxic]

Did you catch the edit?

whimper

[Angua]

Don't worry, they aren't saying that you'll necessary catch something while being fouled. The preceding sentence was talking about the importance of encouraging pet owners to do regular deworming.

[Quercus]

So much of medicine gives me existential queasiness.

Did you catch the edit?

Also, I'm so convinced that I must have all the parasites so far. Most of them are asymptomatic and can live for years.

My best friend at uni did a masters in parasitology (wth chrome, why are you trying to "correct" that to parapsychology of all things). I'm pretty thick skinned being a biologist myself, but the stuff she told me made my skin crawl.

[pseudoidiot]

Did you catch the edit?

Why? What sort of parasite is that?

[Liri]

So much of medicine gives me existential queasiness.

Did you catch the edit?

Also, I'm so convinced that I must have all the parasites so far. Most of them are asymptomatic and can live for years.

My best friend at uni did a masters in parasitology (wth chrome, why are you trying to "correct" that to parapsychology of all things). I'm pretty thick skinned being a biologist myself, but the stuff she told me made my skin crawl.

At least there isn't stuff crawling under your skin.

I collected a bunch of persimmons on my walk home from work today! I've been getting one or two a day for the past week and snacking on them, but we had a big rain last night that knocked a lot down. NB: if you've only had Asian persimmons, North American ones are very different.

[Angua]

Did you catch the edit?

Why? What sort of parasite is that?

+1

So much of medicine gives me existential queasiness.

Did you catch the edit?

Also, I'm so convinced that I must have all the parasites so far. Most of them are asymptomatic and can live for years.

My best friend at uni did a masters in parasitology (wth chrome, why are you trying to "correct" that to parapsychology of all things). I'm pretty thick skinned being a biologist myself, but the stuff she told me made my skin crawl.

At least there isn't stuff crawling under your skin.

What, like cutaneous larval migrans, onchocercosis or loa loa?

[eSOANEM]

↶

So much of medicine gives me existential queasiness.

Did you catch the edit?

Also, I'm so convinced that I must have all the parasites so far. Most of them are asymptomatic and can live for years.

My best friend at uni did a masters in parasitology (wth chrome, why are you trying to "correct" that to parapsychology of all things). I'm pretty thick skinned being a biologist myself, but the stuff she told me made my skin crawl.

The best (brood) parasite, and the only one I want to get is a cat

[Quercus]

The best (brood) parasite, and the only one I want to get is a cat

You probably just have toxoplasma in your brain that's making you think that

[eSOANEM]

Well, if the one parasite has to come with the other :p

[ThirdParty]

There's a building in my city, which I pass by on my way to and from work, that feels a little ... anomalous. Google Maps says it's a radio station, but I wonder.

The building is about fifty feet tall, fifty feet deep, and three hundred feet long: from the edge it looks like a cube, but then you try to walk past it and it just keeps on going. I've never seen anybody come in or out. Its sign, contrary to Google's claim that it's a radio station, says "AT&T". The bottom floor looks like that of a normal office building: normal windows, through which can sometimes be seen desks and desk chairs and computers and whatnot; one of the windows has a "Bell Telephone Company" decal in it, which I guess is consistent with it being an AT&T office building. The next floor has smaller, frosted windows. The top floor, which is significantly taller than the other two, is windowless. (It might also be two windowless floors that are significantly shorter than the two that have windows. Hard to tell for sure.)

The roof is interesting. I can't see much from the sidewalk, but there are at least two rows of barbed wire going around the roof, like you'd expect for a ... well, not a prison, since they're straight rather than angled inward ... but some high-security thing. What first drew my attention, though, is that there always seem to be huge numbers of birds perched up there. Like, every seagull in town, whenever it's not out foraging for food, perches on this building. I don't know why; it's not the tallest building around or anything like that. (I guess there could be a rooftop swimming pool, or at least a giant puddle, behind the barbed wire, that's attracting them.) Anyway, at any given time there must be hundreds of birds, maybe over a thousand.

I feel strange while walking past the building. A little worried about getting splattered by bird droppings on the way to work, but it's more than that. I don't know how to describe it. It's a feeling like anything is possible, like ... well, like, I'd be surprised to see an elephant strolling down the street, but I'd be less surprised if it happened while I was walking past this building. I could imagine that the fabric of reality is thin there, somehow. (It's funny what tricks our brains can play on us, isn't it?)

[speising]

Probably an SCP containment site.

[Kewangji]

Is it in a busy part of town? I'd bet it's a server storage facility/cable mess place. Whatever those things are called. There's a nice little history of them in a book called Networks of New York. I think you should try to enter it and document it in case it is SCP though.

[Flumble]

The boring, likely answer would be data center, even considering the barbed wire on top. But file it under SCP to be on the safe side. Try and see with tracert/traceroute whether your internet connection usually passes through an AT&T site. It may be a subliminal mind control facility.

[DavidSh]

I don't understand why you all are so concerned about Service Control Points.

(That's the standard meaning of SCP among telcos.)

[Mega85]

Do vegans object to calling their spouse "honey"?