I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours.

— Stephen F. Roberts

The giant squid.  The secretive behemoth of the deep.  One of the most spectacular unknowns in the world of today.  A secret Mother Nature has not shared with us.  Until now.

Regardless of how it may be described, the recent filming of the elusive giant squid can only be historically noted as one of the most phenomenal opportunities for modern biology.  While we have seen evidence of this creature of the deep, including carcasses washed ashore, no one has until now ever seen one alive in its natural habitat — more importantly, no one has ever seen the creature's normal behavior, and no living evidence has ever been caught on film until now.  This news has spread rapidly across the globe as excitement grows in response to these pictures and their source.  This truly is an historic occasion.  Our understanding of Earth has just taken a significant leap forward by furnishing a profound discovery.  That discovery involves the last great unexplored environment on our planet: the deep sea.

I can only describe this as one of the most exciting scientific events in recent history.  It's the living proof of a true natural mystery and legend, a creature hidden from us for so long while remaining integral to our shared mythology.  Architeuthis dux, the giant squid, has been as elusive as it was enticing.  A great predator of the seas, a true and real answer to the question of the kraken and its equivalents throughout all of history and the many cultures who believed in such, the giant squid is the Sangraal oceanic.  But architeuthis may not be the kraken after all.

Deep-Sea News reminds us that another species of mollusk, Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni, is not arbitrarily called the colossal squid.  It dwarfs the giant squid which we have only just seen alive for the first time.  To wit:

"All we knew prior to this specimen coming through was that this animal lived in the abyssal environment down in Antarctica," New Zealand squid expert and senior research fellow at Auckland University of Technology, Dr Steve O'Shea, told BBC News Online. Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni was first identified in 1925 after two arms were recovered from a sperm whale's stomach. There have only ever been six specimens of this squid recovered: five have come from the stomachs of sperm whales and the sixth was caught in a trawl net at a depth of 2,000 to 2,200 metres. "Now we can say that it attains a size larger than the giant squid. Giant squid is no longer the largest squid that's out there. We've got something that's even larger, and not just larger but an order of magnitude meaner."

These related yet dissimilar news items renew my excitement in the knowledge that we still have so much to learn.

[title shamelessly adapted from Apostropher; via Apostropher at previous, via Pharyngula at previous and this, via Deep-Sea News at previous and this]

From Brain Terminal:

Two words. At Bucknell University, that's all it takes to get dragged into the President's Office for a half-hour discussion of word choice. And these aren't offensive words, at least not out here in the real world. But Bucknell apparently has a different definition of what is and is not acceptable. On August 29th, the Bucknell University Conservatives Club sent out a campus-wide e-mail announcing an upcoming speaker: Major John Krenson, who had been in Afghanistan "hunting terrorists." Those two words — "hunting terrorists" — resulted in three students being called to Bucknell's Office of the President by Kathy Owens, the Executive Assistant to the President.

One must respond when tagged.  In reply to Ethan's tagging of his readership, here are three things that you may not know about me.

1. I have a terminal condition.  It's called life.  Anything that ends in death 100% of the time is considered terminal, n’est-ce pas?

2. I once spoke (or, in the case of Latin, could at least read and write) eight (8) languages fluently (French, English, Spanish, Italian, Russian, German, Latin and Arabic).  I used them all regularly until about 15 years ago; sadly they have remained unused since then.  As with all skills, lack of use over time diminishes and eventually all but eliminates unused abilities.  Now I'd probably be hard-pressed to remember how to say "hello" and "how are you?" and "what's your name?" in more than five languages.

3. I think kissing is one of the most sensual and exciting activities we can experience with another human being.  I'm not knocking sex, but there is just something about kissing that really sparks an inextinguishable flame.

OK, #1 could be considered cheating.  If not that, at least it's easily accused of being a cop-out.  In recognition of this failing I am happily admitting to #4.

4. I normally use about 2000 minutes every month on my cellular plan.  Sometimes I use less and have dropped as low as 800 minutes; sometimes I use more and have gone over 3000 minutes on more than one occasion.

Everyone wants something.  They can call it what they will: desire, want, wish, longing, craving, yearning, or what-the-fuck-ever.  It's all the same; everyone wants something and will do everything possible to make you perceive it as a need, a need only you can fulfill, a need you personally must fulfill.

We spend so much time trying to satisfy these desires when they are simply that — desires.  We see them as needs because the requester displays them as such.  We feel obligated to address them because they are handed to us as needs rather than desires.

Because we feel that someone needs something or that we need to fulfill the desire of someone else because they are important to us, we likewise feel obligated to act accordingly despite any other obligations to the contrary, including obligations to ourselves.  We minimize our personal needs and desires in response to that which someone else needs.  This is most notable within familiar relationships— friends, family, significant others, et al.

Many people, me included, allow arbitrary requests to dictate our lives even when we resent them.  We sullenly accept whatever responsibility is thus heaped upon us while simultaneously disregarding our sense of self-preservation which is telling us we should do this, we want to do that, or we ought not do what is being asked for any number of reasons (too tired, it's illegal, it will hurt someone, it's contrary to our own moral imperatives, or any number of possible reasons).

Yet here we are, begrudgingly acting on the wants of others while ignoring our own needs.

I am not advocating selfishness.  What I am referring to is the tendency of people — not all people, but those who care for others, especially those in their lives for whom they care — to respond to every request, no matter how whimsical or seemingly out of touch with your own life or self-centered it may seem.

This, I'm afraid, is the sacrifice we make for those we care about.  This is the obligation of family and friendship.  For people like me, this is also the obligation of life.

This obligation, however, does not prohibit lamentation or umbrage.