Paul's Cranium

I was just reviewing my week. That last entry was getting a bit heavy. I think it's time to wrap up my work week with an entry from the lighter side. I'm changing a few things, and I have a challenge for you. As ever, I think you will find something here you will enjoy.

I realize that my last entry zoomed through history hitting a few small events along the way and tryed to draw meaning for the next transition we are currently going through. Did you notice the difference between that and the other entries? Another uncomfortable transition to be sure.

If you are struggling to wrap words around the specific difference, I think I can help there. All of the other entries were looking at one fairly small concept and digging deep for more meaning or insight. That last one did exactly the opposite: it teased apart a trend from a long history that folks rarely even consider these days.

Ok, now for the real order of business. What is with that name "Paul's World"? I think that pretty much describes my contents so far, but I value uniqueness. When I do a Google search on "Paul's World", I get 2800 hits. That sounds like a confusing network of like-named worlds to navigate. I'm definitely not erring on the side of unique with that name. I need another. Here are a couple of ideas:

Really, I had no idea that people were so hugely interested in nothing. I mean, to have so much invested in nothing seems unhealthy somehow. How could nothing be so intriguing? Let me keep trying. I think this is important...

Ok, so take a step back from this for a second. What did I just do? I was using Google, not to find something, but to find the absence of it. I'm sure others do this too, but isn't it a bit odd when you think about it?

In some parts of the country, I have heard phrases like "Let's see if I can't do that". Seeing if one can't rather than can, with the end result being the same. Specifically, that the outcome is that you will know whether or not you can do the thing, irregardless of how you phrase it. Seeing if the glass being half empty makes the problem of dealing with a half full glass easier to handle somehow. Such an odd place.

But in my case, I used the world's best search engine to search for the absence of others that think like me. One can never be sure, of course. It could be a false negative that I am assuming means that similar results didn't exist. Just a funny thing. I'm going to toy with that a bit on my next drive... No! I'm going to see if I can't toy with that on my next drive. Yes, that's much better.

I would like to also solicit my dear readers for ideas for the title of my blog. Such an odd sounding word, blog. It makes me wonder if the Borg (from Star Trek) have a tendency to blog in their spare time. A denial of service attack might ensue: "The Borg have blogged up the works!". Frightening thought, that.

Anyway, if you have a preference for one of the titles I have considered above or have a clever one of your own to submit, I would seriously consider it. Please send your comments.

The Challenge

As I was searching through the Internet one day (do you ever read the Internet like a dictionary or an encyclopedia?), I came across this site: http://www.monkeyshand.com. It seems a fairly normal site, I suppose, but there is a huge problem with this one. You have to think about it. Hard. Try to channel me if you can. What is wrong with this site?

Send me your thoughts. Perhaps next week I will talk about the issue. That will make for an interesting read to be sure.

Well that's it. I can't believe I wrote this entry, really. Most of it being about my own site and all. Not my favorite topic, I guess. I don't like to blog about my blog.

Comments:

I don't have a response to your challenge. Yet. I don't much like monkeys, but I'll continue thinking about this. Anyway, I had a thought about the title of your blog. _Paul's Prefrontal Cortex_ . http://www.waiting.com/brainfunction.html#anchor318669 Let's see if you can't see what I mean. Ellis

Posted by Ellis on August 13, 2004 at 01:12 PM PDT #

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Your dislike for monkeys is the key to success here. I think it is important to understand exactly why you don't like them much. Consider if someone brought a monkey to your house for a party. What would be your reaction, and why? Understand that, and then look at the site again. I think you will see the problem.

Thanks for picking up the challenge. This is going to be great!!

So for "Paul's Prefrontal Cortex". Interesting. Surprising that Google couldn't find one of those, huh? Doesn't exactly roll off the tounge. But I get your point about the "Elaboration of Thought" part. Very nice! Consider it on the list.

Oh, and very clever use of seeing if I can't see what you mean. Well, let's just say that I tried to see if I couldn't see what you mean, but I couldn't not see what you mean instead. As if I were skulking around looking for a glass that was half empty, but could only find a half full one instead. <hr>

Posted by Paul Lovvik on August 13, 2004 at 07:27 PM PDT #

One of my favorites: "Let's see if I can't do that." Especially as your point arrives at, (and I quote,) "Seeing if the glass being half empty makes the problem of dealing with a half full glass easier to handle somehow." --Dave M.

Posted by Dave M. on August 15, 2004 at 08:32 PM PDT #

I'd say monkey's hand seems to have abnormal number of phalanges... OTOH, I may be wrong about monkeys similarity to homo sapiens...

Posted by Cyril Plisko on August 16, 2004 at 01:27 PM PDT #

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Dig deeper, my friend. You are on the right track though. It has to do with monkeys and their hands. A serious issue. There are things that monkeys should never do. Even if they could. It simply wouldn't be right... <hr>

Posted by Paul Lovvik on August 16, 2004 at 02:16 PM PDT #

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Oh, and don't think that OTOH comment escaped me. Very, very clever with your monkey challenge pun, Cyril. Very funny! <hr>

Posted by Paul Lovvik on August 16, 2004 at 04:49 PM PDT #

Monkey hands from around the world. Chimpanzee hand-- http://nmhm.washingtondc.museum/collections/hdac/chimp_c62hand.jpg Great Ape Hands--[Human--> Chimp--> Gorilla--> Orangutan] http://www.zoobooks.com/newFrontPage/animals/virtualZoo/animals/o/orangutans/hands1.htm Capuchin Monkey (New World Monkey,with hands, fortunately)-- http://www.primates.com/monkeys/capuchin.htm Baboon (Old World Monkey, also with hands) -- http://www.wildlife-pictures-online.com/image-files/xbaboon2.jpg

Posted by Heidi on August 16, 2004 at 07:06 PM PDT #

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Thanks, Heidi, for that ... er ... handy reference. Ok, that one is so bad that even I am cringing. Still, a good start on the required research to complete the Monkey's Hand Challenge. Good luck! <hr>

Posted by Paul Lovvik on August 16, 2004 at 07:35 PM PDT #

html> <head> <meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1"> <title>ellis</title> </head> <body style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" link="#000099" vlink="#990099" alink="#000099"> If someone brought a monkey to my house, they would'nt be back.  Why? Because people don't seem to potty-train (or would this be house-train) monkeys properly.

 If cats can be taught to use the toilet then monkeys can too.  Diapers wouldn't be the help you'd expect because what keeps monkey hands out of monkey diapers? Nothing!  That's my point.  Monkey hands poke into nasty places.

Ellis </body> </html>

Posted by Ellis on August 17, 2004 at 06:40 PM PDT #

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You are clearly coming to terms with your monkey issues, Ellis. Don't hold back! Oh, actually you didn't. At all.

Ok, you obviously have a bit of angst with the monkey grooming habits. That will serve you well here. I need you to go back to the site and have a good look. Knowing what you know about monkeys now, what doesn't fit? You are closer than you think...

I can see that this is a bit more difficult than I expected. Rather than have folks thinking about this on the weekend (you didn't do that, right?), I'm going to wrap up this challenge on Thursday evening. You will see my take on Friday when you get in to work, and all will be right with the world and it's monkeys and their hands once again.

Thanks for the great effort! You are so close! <hr>

Posted by Paul Lovvik on August 17, 2004 at 09:01 PM PDT #