Couch 92 Found my shoe

Yum I love coleslaw.

That's cool. Good to know.

I don't really buy things unless they're required for a specific reason other than it might be fun. Maybe one day if we have disposable income.

Sure. Standby...

I guess I mostly photograph dead things.

Here's hoping this one doesn't give my location away. lol

I really like these. Both. You can sure compose a photo!

Oops! I didn't realize the first one had 3 photos. They look really good together that way.

Thanks. I wish I had more time to take photos and play around with different settings. Yesterday was unplanned and just sort of happened. Though, sometimes that's better.

Yes. We have dominion. The good book says so. Hmm. Yeah, i guess i would call it a good book if it said i had dominion wait wasnt there a chapter on humility?

Took this one on vacation a few years ago.

Here's another from a different vacation.

Dominion happens to be one of my favourite board games. H and I play it regularly.

catonyx that's so preeeetty.

I would suggest not believing everything in a book.

I have never heard of that game.
Admittedly, I don't play many board games - I have played monopoly (to me - the most boring game ever invented for people over the age of 5) and dominos and backgammon.

Great photos Catonyx!

I was using the pastrami as a rather silly example of human tool-using capabilities, and ability to think ahead and postpone reward. As humans, thinking and solving problems is our specialty. Yes, other animals can and do learn, but not to the level that we can. There is no other species on Earth that can match us at it. Yes, I know that's a rather species-centric position, but I am human, and a scientist. I value human innovation very highly.
That's not to say we aren't responsible for our impact on our world - having the abilities that we have make us responsible.
Having a point of view is a thinking function - a higher-brain, cortical function. Most mammals have a highly developed limbic brain, and are therefore capable of complex emotions - which is why we form such strong bonds with our pets, but they lack a highly developed cortex, and thus the ability to form a point of view. They also lack the ability to mark time - this is also why trauma is timeless. Reptiles don't even have emotions.

I used to love monopoly as a kid. I have no idea why. It is mind-crushingly boring...

Monopoly is boring to the point of being unplayable, to my mind. Apparently, most people play it wrong - the rules specify that when you arrive at a street that's not owned by anybody, there has to be an auction for that street, whereas most people have a house rule that says that you get to choose whether you want to buy it or not, and if you choose not to buy it, it remains unowned. I guess it becomes slightly more fun with the real rules, but I'm not going to test it. I do like backgammon.

We've had a lot of fun recently with a game called Tales from the Arabian Nights, and I also like Twilight Struggle, where one player is the US and the other player is the USSR, and you play the Cold War. We have several games based on Lovecraft's books - horror games where the players work together to try to stop the world from ending horribly. Those are fun, too. But Dominion is still my favourite game. (If one wants to find out about interesting boardgames, old and new, boardgamegeek.com is the place to go.)

I don't think we can know if any other creature does not have emotion. Making those sorts of judgements is how humans have justified wreaking havoc upon other humans and other species with reckless arrogance.
I tend to believe we simply may not know how to tell or see it. But I am not a big believer in the superiority of humans. And if I was, I still would not consider emotion to be the thing that was all super duper.

I like playing cards better than board games.

Nope, reptiles have a very primitive brain, therefore no emotion. No way around it. Not a judgement, a fact.
But that's what they are. They're still a hugely important part of our ecosystem. Wrecking havoc is what I see happening when people lack understanding. It's not about superiority. It's about seeing the world as it is and working with that rather than dreaming of some romantic utopia, or dystopia, depending on how you see it.

I am perfectly willing to accept we are just going to disagree on this. I have less faith in what we believe are facts than it appears you do. Nothing to do with romanticizing. Just that I do not believe humans know as much about anything as we may like to believe. Scientists are wrong all the time - and sometimes in spectacularly harmful ways.

That, or I could make a PowerPoint presentation for you

I suspected that was the rule in monopoly. But i got shouted down. I guess thats too complicated for people.

I hit the gym in my apartment building. Yay me.

Looking for my tax stuff, i actually opened some of my insurance bills. Something is going on with my ts payments. Like something not good. I wonder if ive hit my lifetime limit or something. That would be very bad.

Ooooo! Don't make me go find pictures of brains for you!

Yeah, scientists are wrong as often as anyone else. But not about reptile brains!