View Full Version : Greetings from MS.
nastassja
06-14-2008, 11:03 PM
Hello, I thought I'd introduce myself. I'm Natasha; I'm sixteen and have been living in Mississippi for the past 4.5 years. I recently graduated from high school from this suffocating town and I will be going to college at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a concentration in Physics.
I've been atheist for as long as I can remember. My parents were both Hindu but they only actually started practicing until after we moved to India when I was in the second grade (in a Catholic school) and it was entirely too late for me to understand the concept. Fact: There was a time in my life when I believed in the tooth fairy more than a God. I had evidence for the tooth fairy--the tooth magically disappeared every time no matter how long I tried to stay up.
(In seventh grade I went to a baptist school. Grades 7-12, only about a hundred students. So I tried the Christian thing out. For a week. I felt like I was taking to the walls. It honestly made me feel stupid and awkward.)
I was pantheist for a while after reading Daniel Quinn books (which I still think are amazing) but it only took the very first chapter of Richard Dawkin's The God Delusion to change that.
So there's a bit about me.
I find this forum pretty exciting. :|
Welcome!
Great story :D
Impressive on the education, stuff, too :thumbsup:
nastassja
06-14-2008, 11:16 PM
Welcome!
Great story :D
Impressive on the education, stuff, too :thumbsup:
xD
Thank you!
all the best, dear! and welcome to our humble forum.
psychodiva
06-15-2008, 01:30 AM
welcome :) it's good to find a 'home' isn't it ?
nastassja
06-15-2008, 01:47 AM
Thank you, thank you for the welcomes and such. I have frequented other forums, and members weren't so friendly on those (at first, only).
Professor Chaos
06-15-2008, 12:27 PM
Welcome, nastassja!
Welcome, nastassja, glad to have you here.
Mississippi is a great place to live for an atheist. ;)
Where's Boris? (I'm sorry, I couldn't help myself).
Smellyoldgit
06-15-2008, 05:21 PM
Another damn foreigner joins the ranks of the great unwashed!
Have fun - and grow plenty of thick skin. :P
skribb
06-15-2008, 09:13 PM
Natassja, hey!
We can always use more younguns :)
Choobus
06-15-2008, 09:21 PM
I will be going to college at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a concentration in Physics.
If you get a chance, take a class from Tony Legget. That man is a bona fide genius, and he speaks proper English and everything......
nastassja
06-16-2008, 03:39 AM
Well, fuck yes, he's got a Nobel, but I doubt I'll be able to take a class by him because he only teaches grad students.
Sternwallow
06-16-2008, 08:59 AM
Welcome, nastassja, from the rational side of this strangely mixed concoction of folks. I won't speak for the theists here except to say that you need not be offended by their insults and bad manners because they are baseless and useless.:)
nastassja
06-16-2008, 02:14 PM
Ah, I'm not so worried. I've lived with them; I'm sure I can handle their weak attacks in text. :P
Choobus
06-16-2008, 02:15 PM
Well, fuck yes, he's got a Nobel, but I doubt I'll be able to take a class by him because he only teaches grad students.
I have had the pleasure of meeting or attending talks by seven nobel prize winners and not all of them are good teachers. Legget is excellent. In some universities they make the big names teach undergrad classes because it's good exposure for the deptarment. Not there I guess.
nastassja
06-16-2008, 02:52 PM
Guess not. But U of I's Physics Dept. is ranked 8th in the nation by the NAS. I don't think they need that much exposure. ;)
But I'm sure I'll get to attend lectures of his; I just won't have him teach a class.
Choobus
06-16-2008, 03:12 PM
exposure = funding, so rank doesn't much matter because everyone always needs more money
nastassja
06-16-2008, 03:46 PM
They are ranked that high because of their research. Research takes money, lots of money. More money=better research=higher ranking.
It's this little cycle.
Besides, Leggett's probably too caught up in his own research to teach undergrad. It's better that way, to me. It seems like a waste for him to teach a handful of physics majors, many of which will not even go into a research-based career.
Choobus
06-16-2008, 04:41 PM
They are ranked that high because of their research. Research takes money, lots of money. More money=better research=higher ranking.
thanks for explaining that. I had no idea.
nastassja
06-16-2008, 04:48 PM
No need to be sarcastic. I'm just saying the ranking IS linked to exposure.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e5/Dripping_faucet_2.jpg/450px-Dripping_faucet_2.jpg
Choobus
06-16-2008, 04:51 PM
No need to be sarcastic. I'm just saying the ranking IS linked to exposure.
This dog may well agree
http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g10/choobus9/flasher-1.jpg
nastassja
06-16-2008, 05:03 PM
I'm afraid I don't see the cause for such a reaction considering the man is wearing pants.
Choobus
06-16-2008, 05:49 PM
Could be that they are wide open, or they could be special francis pants that stop under the knee and are held up by elastic bands
Wakkun
06-16-2008, 06:10 PM
Could be that they are wide open, or they could be special francis pant that stop under the knee and are held up by elastic bands
:lol::lol::lol:
Choobus
06-16-2008, 06:13 PM
come to think of it I'm sure franny said once that he only wears arseless chaps, although that could just have been while he was at work.
nastassja
06-16-2008, 07:08 PM
But that is simply speculation. The fact remains there are pants visible that are not bunched at the bottom.
If he was going to use the bathrobe, the least he could do to add credibility is to go pantsless.
Anyway, the photograph's purpose is ruined.
Choobus
06-16-2008, 07:12 PM
All professional flashers know how to prepare the illusion of pants, and judging by the reaction of the dog this would seem to be the case here.
http://www.cartoonstock.com/newscartoons/cartoonists/ksc/lowres/kscn879l.jpg
http://www.cartoonstock.com/lowres/rst0078l.jpg
nastassja
06-16-2008, 07:20 PM
Hardly, my dog reacts similarly if I throw invisible objects at her.
Choobus
06-16-2008, 07:47 PM
perhaps, but does she react to perfectly ordinary pants?
nastassja
06-16-2008, 07:58 PM
Perfectly ordinary! Who walks in the woods with bright white dress pants and a bathrobe?
Plus, you haven't considered the fact that he may have had some sort of belt that startled the dog.
For all you know, he could have had a dead cat strapped to his waist.
Choobus
06-16-2008, 08:06 PM
I guess we'll never know.
http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g10/choobus9/Flasher_gif.gif
nastassja
06-16-2008, 08:10 PM
I suppose not.
Sternwallow
06-16-2008, 08:32 PM
All professional flashers know how to prepare the illusion of pants, and judging by the reaction of the dog this would seem to be the case here.
Is that a look of canine admiration? :)
Choobus
06-16-2008, 08:41 PM
Is that a look of canine admiration? :)
could be that he has snausages in his pants........ I hope he's prepared for the wurst!
http://www.insanus.org/martelada/imagens/Kostelecke-uzeniny.jpg
Choobus
06-16-2008, 09:53 PM
:lol:
what the fuck is that!
The wurst!
Dude, I thought you'd recognize it. :(
:P
nastassja
06-16-2008, 09:59 PM
He looks like he's wearing mascara. Possibly even eyeliner.
Choobus
06-16-2008, 10:02 PM
The wurst!
Dude, I thought you'd recognize it. :(
I wasn't prepared......
http://www.asmp.org/images/members/2233/138-lg.jpg
There! Now you're set!
Choobus
06-16-2008, 10:11 PM
people who drive around in bentleys are always stuffing their faces with hot dogs. I'm surprised the mustard dispenser isn't built into the door......
Sometimes it's rigged to the undercarriage.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y98/hsvw/mustard_bomb.jpg
Choobus
06-16-2008, 10:36 PM
what the buggery bollocks is that????
Sartre1
06-16-2008, 10:43 PM
?
nastassja
06-16-2008, 10:47 PM
They've taken over my thread. :|
clambake
06-17-2008, 07:53 AM
They've taken over my thread. :|
Consider it an honor. Welcome aboard!
what the buggery bollocks is that????
It's a mustard bomb. Those Germans are all about the mustard bombs, you know.
Prepare for the wurst!
psychodiva
06-18-2008, 07:45 PM
I miss all the fun :( every time I go away :\
http://www.cartoonstock.com/newscartoons/cartoonists/gcu/lowres/gcun30l.jpg
psychodiva
06-19-2008, 04:19 AM
:lol:
Sternwallow
06-19-2008, 08:55 AM
Perfectly ordinary! Who walks in the woods with bright white dress pants and a bathrobe?
Plus, you haven't considered the fact that he may have had some sort of belt that startled the dog.
For all you know, he could have had a dead cat strapped to his waist.
Is that what the kids are calling ED these days?:D
nastassja
06-19-2008, 12:49 PM
:o
:lol:
Pssht. He didn't seem old enough.
skribb
06-19-2008, 10:40 PM
Perfectly ordinary! Who walks in the woods with bright white dress pants and a bathrobe?
Plus, you haven't considered the fact that he may have had some sort of belt that startled the dog.
For all you know, he could have had a dead cat strapped to his waist.
http://mythicmktg.fileburst.com/war/us/home/images/conceptart/CA_May_2006_12.jpg
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