Robert G. Ingersoll's "The Gods"

At 12:54 am today, I turned 38. In a private celebration at home cleaning, I treated myself to some Robert Ingersoll. I love me some Ingersoll! I found it interesting that despite what I was taught in seminary, few churches really hated Ingersoll or held him in infamy. In fact, he was seen as a scholarly gentleman and great conversationalist who loved to eat and debate with many prominent churchmen and religious figures of his day. His famous lecture - beautifully read by Nick Gisburne - is here for all to enjoy.

(JH)

Save-the-World Syndrome: Aspiring Harlots Rise Up

I don’t know why, but nearly every insecure little slut I have ever known has one thing in common with all the rest—they have this falsely philanthropic notion of saving humanity with their newfound knowledge of what works to have a better life.

Well, I take that back. I do know why, I think; women (and it’s usually the women) suffer from low self-esteem on the deepest levels. Be it a bad body image or a feeling of being inferior while not being able to make and sustain relationships, these marred women or girls give themselves away early in life and make it a habit to keep on doing so. They become sluts taking dick from guys they barely know in a vain effort to feel happy.

A Walk Down Silver Sands

It was 2010 at around 7:30 pm. It started to rain. The early summer humidity is fogging up dad’s glasses and the windows of the house. There are a few bugs flying around inside. The AC feels good. What doesn’t is the family atmosphere. We’ve been at each other’s throats all day. The only thing we can all agree on is that it’s time to eat. But what?

Pizza. At least we agree on the type of food. Sis is bitching in the living room, so is mom. Dad is blasting the both of them to get them to shut the hell up. Sis kept demanding we try this new pizza kitchen off of Silver Sands and Blanco roads called The Chicago Pizza Kitchen. We had never tried it. “It’s THE best pizza you will ever have, I promise you!” she kept saying.

God, Indiana, and Whirlwinds

Just about two weeks after the stage collapse in Indiana, we found ourselves facing a hurricane – Hurricane Irene – a tool of vengeance that the god of the bible has historically loved and used to punish iniquity.

“For they have sown the wind, they shall reap the whirlwind.” (Hosea 8:7) 

“As the whirlwind passeth, so is the wicked no more: but the righteous is an everlasting foundation.” (Proverbs 10:25)

Witness 70-mile-per-hour winds with the ominous sky backdrop and the devastation that follows. When you watch the collapse, think of the screams, the horrors, the shock on everyone’s faces…it is events like these that, sadly, are needed to bring out the best in humanity. Look at how many of the on-looking crowds come to render aid.

The Harm in Being a Loser

It’s Wednesday, May 4, 2011. By 7:41 pm, my fourth consecutive game of Chess ends in checkmate with me as the loser.

My opponent is a computer program written in 1992, or so it says in the “About Chess” tab at the top of the screen. Have no idea who wrote it, but they knew how to do it. Came with my MacBook. The thing plays a damn strong game. Difficulty level is set to just passed the halfway point. I have not ever been able to obtain so much as a draw against it. This thing has not only never lost to another computer program, it beat them as well. The computer at Chess.com set to the hardest level (2000+) loses.

I’m no newbie to the ancient game. I learned to play as a kid, but it wasn’t until I got ChessMaster 4000 Turbo more than a decade ago that I got serious with it. So I had two hobbies growing up—whacking off to Larry Flint’s admirable artwork and Chess.

Martin Guitierrez: The Man Who Was Just Better

These, the tenth-grade years (1990-91) were the greatest of Joe Holman’s high school days. 

It was a kickin’ time. The cars were still mostly square. Saturday Night Live had a great cast. My favorite sitcoms were still on the air. I would anxiously wait for the next Sunday night’s episode of Married With Children just after seeing the then-influential show, Herman’s Head, which happens now to be known as the show where the first reference to “condom” was used in a major time slot broadcast.