Δαφνη Ευτυχια Αρθουρος

Just curious:

[*] Not to be confused with "identification friend-or-foe", which is another thing altogether.

"But if we can't infer anything about the design from the designer, maybe we can go the other way. What can we tell about the designer from the design? While there is much that is marvelous in nature, there is also much that is flawed, sloppy and downright bizarre. [...]

"The gravest imperfections in nature, though, are moral ones. Consider how humans and other animals are intermittently tortured by pain throughout their lives, especially near the end. Our pain mechanism may have been designed to serve as a warning signal to protect our bodies from damage, but in the majority of diseases -- cancer, for instance, or coronary thrombosis -- the signal comes too late to do much good, and the horrible suffering that ensues is completely useless.

"And why should the human reproductive system be so shoddily designed? Fewer than one-third of conceptions culminate in live births. The rest end prematurely, either in early gestation or by miscarriage. Nature appears to be an avid abortionist, which ought to trouble Christians who believe in both original sin and the doctrine that a human being equipped with a soul comes into existence at conception. Souls bearing the stain of original sin, we are told, do not merit salvation. That is why, according to traditional theology, unbaptized babies have to languish in limbo for all eternity. Owing to faulty reproductive design, it would seem that the population of limbo must be at least twice that of heaven and hell combined."

This coming Sunday, 20 March, I'll be performing with a recorder group in a concert at First Unitarian Church in the Mt. Vernon neighbourhood of Baltimore (at the corner of W. Hamilton St. and N. Charles St.) at 3:00 PM. The church's web calendar entry for the event describes it as an early-music concert, and we'll be playing early music, but we'll also be mixing in some 20th Century music, 18th Century music, and Irish folk tunes. If you're local (and not headed up to Lunacon), come on out and catch the concert.

I think it's pretty cool to be playing with a group that has a bass recorder section, not just one bass at a time. (I'll be playing bass most of the time, alto briefly, and a bit of percussion.)

Y'know what LJ polls are good for? I mean, aside from finding out what people think?

Okay, I mean aside from finding out what people think and finding out who reads your journal but doesn't list you as a friend?

Finding out which of your friends read LJ late at night or in the wee hours, that's what.

Feeling amused. And also informed regarding the question I really wanted answered, thanks. It's kind of interesting to note that "I knew that" was running around 2/3 overnight and jumped closer to 3/4 once the morning respondents logged in. I wonder whether there'll be another shift with the folks who start checking LJ in the afternoon. Anyhow, I was wondering how safe it was to use that abbreviation and expect my readers to understand, and I'm getting useful information on that score. (Of course one side effect of the way I asked is education...)