Religious Declaration

After reading an article a little while ago about an Agnostic-Humanist married to a Roman-Catholic I got to thinking "What is an Agnostic-Humanist?"

Now recently I have been referring to myself as an Agnostic but I was not entirely sure of what the definition of one was. I just assumed I did (and I was mostly right as it turned out). And I could assume what a Humanist was (but I was pretty wrong on that one). So I wondered, what am I really? Well after some research it turns out that there is a variety of Agnostics (of course) and I am in essence what is called a Strong Agnostic which believes "that it is impossible for humans to know whether or not any deities exist." This strengthens my belief that I have always viewed Agnosticism as the great indecisive category, the maybe-maybe not of the religious world. I have always felt that people are entitled to their own beliefs but any of that stuff always falls short for me. I believe what i can see and test. Anything outside of that I can't prove it doesn't exist so I leave it open for interpretation.

But I am also a Humanist it seems. Humanism is the belief in morals and other such stuff that religion can teach you just without the religion. I for one have always been in the camp that you don't need religion to be a good person (i.e. not all atheists are bad). Morals and ethics stem from a belief in good and bad, something that is in human nature, not a book (i.e. killing is bad, obviously, you don't need divine inspiration to figure that out).

So in essence I am a: Strong Agnostic Humanist.

2009 Personal Goals - August Update

7 Months

1. Finish the first draft of my fiction novel.
Start of 2009 - I have the first 1/3rd of the book written
February 1st - Nothing more written
March 1st - Nothing more written
April 1st - Nothing more written
May 1st - Nothing
June 1st - Nothing
July 1st - Still Nothing
August 1st - Notta

2. Drop my weight to 167lbs.
Start of 2009 - I started the year at ~185
February 1st - ~180
March 1st - 175.2
April 1st - 172.2
May 1st - 172.2 (somehow again)
June 1st - 171.0 (Finally something)
July 1st - 172.2 (I bet the scale likes me at this)
August 1st - 171.2 (Yea, back down a little)

3. Pay off all my credit cards.
Start of 2009 - I started the year with 5 credit cards with balances and one relative we owed money to.
February 1st - Payed back the relative. Still 5 cards with balances.
March 1st - Payed off 1 card. 4 cards with balances.
April 1st - Payed off another card. Currently 3 cards with balances.
May 1st - Payed off one more. Down to 2 cards with balances. 1 with 0% APR until 2011 though so that one may be waiting a while.
June 1st - Still 2 cards to pay off
July 1st - Still 2 cards to pay off
August 1st - Still 2 cards to pay off

Other achievements of note.
School prep is still going pretty much on schedule. I start at the end of the month. Loans have pretty much been set and I have an office and a TA position. I can get my student ID on the 11th. So I am pretty excited.
I also finished fixing the sprinkler system which was a big job I was worried about. I replaced 3 out of the 4 valves, the timer, and 10/13 sprinkler heads, cut-off one sprinkler completely (it was outside the fence) and added a new one.
Training for the triathlon goes eh but it is in 6 weeks, so I best get on that. On a bright note I believe I have all the equipment that I need.

New must Read

Ok so this one won't take THAT long to read but I just found an article listing a Hemingway story that he wrote as part of a bet to write an entire story in 6 words or less. Now I have looked online and saw several other stories that mimic this approach (sometimes called "flash stories") but none even come close to this one. It is by far the best 6 word story I have ever read. I will reprint the entire thing here since I feel I might not be violating copyright, or something of that sort.

"For sale: baby shoes, never worn"

Now the story itself evokes images and stories all on its own. What happened?, Why were they never worn?, etc. I just thought it was cool and am passing it on to anyone who hasn't heard of it yet.

Another humerous website

Anyone who enjoys laughing at other people's stupidity should check out You Suck at Craiglist. It pretty much finds listings that stupid people put up and makes fun of them.

The 306 Greatest Books #86 - The Picture of Dorian Gray

The next up on my reading of the 306 greatest books is The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. This book can be found on the Sybervision, Observer, and My Book Lists.

The Picture of Dorian Gray is a rather enjoyable book about a man who (unintentionally) sells his soul so that he may remain the Adonis that he is forever. Dorian Gray starts out pretty naive until he is told by a painter that he is the most beautiful person he has ever seen. After the portrait that he paints is complete, Dorian sees it and realizes that the painter is correct. At the same time he meets another man, Lord Henry, who says that it is a pity that he will lose his beauty at such a young age, prompting Dorian to sell his soul to maintain his current appearance.. Since that time Lord Henry had steadily corrupted Dorian, acting as a Satan character, leading him down a dark path. Fantastic book. The ending is perfect and unexpected. I recommend it to anyone interested in a fairly short, enjoyable read. Wilde does go off on some tangents at times and some of Lord Henry's speeches are difficult to follow, but enjoyable nonetheless.