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Novus Ordo Seclorum and The Nostradamus Factor - The Cowboy Was Wrong

In my last post, I tried to warn you against the dangers of the twenty dollar bill. Some of you listened; others didn't.

One woman, claiming to be "Melissa," had the following to say in the comments section:

wow - I'll take you seriously when you learn how to spell

I must warn you that this chills me down to my very bones.

I intentionally misspelled most of the last post to hide my identity, but apparently, my cover's been blown.

Melissa: Disappointed reader or elite secret soldier of The Order? You decide (provided you choose the latter).

What concerns me most is that "Melissa" is allowing a few grammatical whoopsies to stand between her and the truth about "TUNA SOFA." I fear that others, having read her comment, might make the same mistake. Don't be drawn in by her lies.

There was another deception, unbeknownst to me, in my last post, and even I was fooled by it. It came from a source I thought reliable, but I couldn't have been wronger.

The Cowboy is offering a service to help you rid yourself of the accursed twenty dollar bill, but at what cost? At first it appears to be an act of philanthropy, but if you read his post closely, you'll find his true intention in the following:

Your twenties are no longer safe!  You must get rid of them now!  Can you burn them?  No.  There's a secret sensor inside them that can detect when you're trying to destroy them.  You'll have SWAT teams bashing in your windows before you've even got the fire going.  Don't burn them!  Your only option is to...

SEND THEM TO ME!

Yes, that's the only way you can be sure.  Send all of your twenties to me, for I've unlocked the secret of how to disable the sensor and can safely destroy your twenties.  I would post the information here, but that would alert the PRIVACYINVADER 3000 server and then I'd have the SWAT teams bashing in my windows.  You have to send them to me now, it's the only way!

This is poppycock! Pure humdrivel! I dare say, this is FIDDLEDEESTICKS!

While I know - KNOW - that his methods for safely disposing of twenty dollar bills is sound, I have discovered that he has mixed legitimate information with FALSE TRUTHS that he may gain your confidence with facts, only to hide within them the lies - similar to the way you hide your dog's Prozac in his Alpo to fool him into eating it.

But let me tell you, friends: The Cowboy is dangerous. You may follow him if you wish - I permit you to do so - but remember that, should you follow behind The Cowboy, know that you will be following his horse as well, and his horse will eventually have to go to the bathroom.

Whence this revelation?

Perpend:

The Cowboy says that you cannot burn your twenties. This is patently false. You may burn your twenties. All it takes is a match and the will and the courage and the lighter fluid to bore a child of truth into this world of lies.

Unlike The Cowboy, however, I have PROOF to back up my assertions. Where he, like Melissa, would like to lead the sheep to slaughter, I will provide you with the information to shield yourself from false falsehoods.

The Nostradamus Factor

Nostradamus saw into the future, which is now.

It is said that he prophesied in quatrains, but this is a misinaccuracy. In fact, Nostradamus prophesied in single sentences disguised as - hidden in - quatrains.

Because I know this is blowing your mind, I will say it again: Nostradamus prophesied in single sentences disguised as - hidden in - quatrains.

Do you understand me? I don't think you do. Once more, Nostradamus prophesied in single sentences disguised as - hidden in - quatrains.

Do I think the world is ready for this? No. But, we can no longer afford to hide in a cloak of ignorance. I know you're out there, Powers that Be, and, though you would ask in fear that I hold my tongue, senza tema d'infamia ti rispondo.

One must take risks; one must pretentiously quote Dante to draw attention to those risks.

I have read and internalized every prophesy of the great Nostradamus, and know of one - just one - of the sentences hidden in the quatrains that accurately counters the entirety of The Cowboy's argument:

    Quis quid bibid aquam.

Don't bother searching for this, as you will not find it. There is only one work outside of Nostradamus' prophesies in which this line appears:

    Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

George Lucas, who is a member of the Illuminati, was ordered to pass this message on to the rest of his brothers by way of this film. It doesn't even appear in the script, as it was a last minute addition by Lucas while on set.

If you don't speak Latin, the line roughly translates to:

    He who drinks water.

What more proof do I need? What more, Cowboy?

You don't know this, because you're a royal dickhead, but Nostradamus always prophesied in code. To decrypt the message, you need:

  1. An Official Little Orphan Annie Ovaltine Secret Decoder Ring - do you have one of these? I didn't think so.
  2. An abacus.
  3. All the wooden letters from Scrabble AND the bag you shake them up in.
  4. A tide schedule for le Mont Saint-Michel.

You need to put all of these items inside the Scrabble bag - this includes the bag itself - shake the contents while you're posted anywhere along the Tropic of Capricorn during the thirteenth full moon of the Chinese new year as viewed from your chosen location, and spill their contents where you stand after you shake the bag thirteen times.

Take the letters from Scrabble, lay the ones facing down in alphabetical order (you cannot flip them over to see what the letters are), use the abacus to multiply the running value of each letter by the one that follows it, carry the one, and then write the final value out backward on the medium of your choice (EXCEPT limestone).

As you'll see, you now have a set of space-time coordinates. If you've done this right, you can convert these coordinates to a latitude and longitude, as well as a Gregorian date indicating where along the continuum the values fall.

The coordinates will always put you at a location within exactly thirteen-thousand cubits of the french-fry stand near the base of the steps leading you up le mont from where you get off the bus.

Be at the latitude and longitude at the given time. If, according to the tide schedule, the tide is going out, then you must face north. If the tide is coming in, you must face south. If the tide is exactly halfway through its journey in any either direction, you must face north and south simultaneously.

When the time comes, there will be an earthquake. It will vary in strength and last for thirteen minutes. You must transcribe the frequency of the vibrations every thirteen seconds.

Return home and enter these frequencies into a tone generator. When this task is complete, you'll have the melody of the second verse of a song written by Journey. Check your melody against every Journey song ever written. You will eventually find what you're looking for.

Take the verse and translate it into Korean using google. Take the output and translate it into Spanish - again, using google. Next, translate the Spanish into English with the help of Estrella-Bruja Misterioso of Vejer de la Frontera. As soon as you have the translation in your hands, you must kill Estrella-Bruja Misterioso of Vejer de la Frontera, for she has Seen. Don't feel bad about this - she will be resurrected thirteen days later by a celestial being, but with no memory of her time with you.

The final step is to write the translation down on a piece of paper in lines of thirteen letters with no spaces.

The proof you seek is an acrostic based on the first letter of each line. This is the decrypted "Quis quid bibid aquam."

I would tell you what the message is, but this is a journey you must take on your own.

When you have it in your hands, you will see the falsity of The Cowboy's wicked claims.

Novus Ordo Seclorum

Although the method I've just described is proof enough, I choose to provide one additional and definitive counter to The Cowboy's lies.

As some of you may know, the one dollar bill carries the words "Novus ordo seclorum":


You buy soda-pop with these lies!

But, did you know that there is an intentional typo?

I have uncovered evidence that I cannot share with you now because it would put my family in further danger than it already is, but, I assure you, my source is reliable.

"Novus" is written as intended, and it means, of course, "New." This part of the translation is, as all scholars who are correct will agree, accurate.

However! "Ordo" is not as it seems.

According to my source, the "d" is read, by those in the Circle, as a "k"!

This renders "ordo" as "orko"!

Orko, if you aren't familiar with 80s lore, is the strange, legless, floating character from He-Man and the Masters of the Universe:


The "O" is for "Orko"!

Where am I going with this?

You will understand when I translate the last word - seclorum.

"Seclorum" is translated into English as the very same word we use in everyday conversation - "seclorum" is "seclorum"!

As in: "Mommy, seclorum toast is burned!" or "Yes, seclorum - I'll take the blue one."

No change there.

There's one last crucial piece to this puzzle. To my knowledge, which is vast, I am the first to have discovered this secret message within a secret message:

The All Seeing Eye, around which we find the words "Novus ordo seclorum," is on the LEFT side of the dollar bill. As the Latin scholars will know, "left" in Latin is "sinistra" - the word from which we get the English word "sinister"!

Do you see now the peril we are in?

Charlatans translate "Novus ordo seclorum" as "New world order," when the REAL translation, including the proper implication of "sinistra," is:

EVIL NEW ORKO SECLORUM

I KNOW!!! IT'S UNBELIEVABLE!!! BUT TRUE!!!

If I do not write again soon, it is because The Evil New Orko Seclorum has found me, and is probably torturing me with cream of squash pig soup accompanied by mushrooms. It is a well known fact that I hate squash, pig, and mushrooms. At least I think it is. If it wasn't, then it is now.

Save Yourselves

Run - do not walk - to your cellar. If you took my advice from the last post, your family should already be down there.

If you don't have a cellar, then dig one. Your life - your family's life - depends on it.

If you can't dig a cellar because you live in a condo or apartment, it is acceptable to move your family to storage space if you have it.

If you don't have storage space or a cellar, then go out to the wilderness and disguise your family, including yourself, as a forest. You will have to remain still in perpetuity, and spotted owls will poop on you, but at least you'll be safe.

Remember what I have said here.

Find the message from Nostradamus.

Beware The Evil New Orko Seclorum.

I must go.

Adieu.


[Gratuitous Links to my Homies - Not Part of the Post Above] [Learn More]

Today I honor what are probably the two youngest readers of Neopoleon. Their combined age is still younger than I am.

Allowing them access to this site is probably a federal offense here in 'Merica. Fortunately, these guys aren't 'Merican.

- Lloyd Humph - The youngest, I do believe. Also, should I write a gospel for A Neopoleon Religion, I've been thinking I'll call it "The Gospel of Lloyd Humph" on account of just how effing nice and supportive he's been.

- Yuvi - Also very nice and supportive, Yuvi's one of those people who help whip me into finishing my creation story. I've continued to write it, but I've always resisted endings. Probably because of some deeply rooted psychological damage that I'll never be able to undo. Hopefully, though, I'll be able to push it to the back of my head long enough to finish.

Recently, Yuvi's asked a few times how old I am - to answer, I put my birthday - as Massif noticed - in the latest Tractor Photo at the top of the page. Like Nostradamus' secrets, I've left my message as a code...

Published Tuesday, December 11, 2007 4:53 PM by Rory

Filed Under: , , ,

Comments

 

The Cowboy said:

Ya got me.  It was a joke.  It restored my faith in humanity a bit that nobody actually asked me for the address to send them to.  Not even Melissa.

However, that server crash about 20 minutes ago was just a bit creepy, man.  I thought maybe they had actually found you.
December 11, 2007 7:15 PM
 

Rory said:

"Ya got me.  It was a joke."

Hey... you can't do that.

I spent all this time debunking your thing by getting all "Orko something something something." It's like you don't want to eat the chicken-pot-pie I made for you - FROM SCRATCH.

I'll get over it based on my knowledge that I've made the world a safer place, but I *am* hurt.

"However, that server crash about 20 minutes ago was just a bit creepy, man.  I thought maybe they had actually found you."

I didn't know there was a server crash. I think that's pretty normal around here. When I picture my $19.95/mo hosting plan, I see this big Mad-Maxian Thunderdome style methane plant powering all the servers.

Sometimes the pigs just can't go, and then we're out of fuel.

That's what you get for $19.95/mo.
December 11, 2007 7:46 PM
 

The Cowboy said:

Actually based on the error message it was more like the database server went down, but that's just my guess.  They didn't actually print out a stack trace or connection string so I'll never know.  Don't let Tina Turner take over your hosting plan or you can kiss any semblance of security good-bye.  Keep the short guy happy.
December 11, 2007 7:56 PM
 

Massif said:

If you have to be at Mont St. Michel to decode the message, does this mean that I was right, and that Nostradamus used St. Michael's Mount for the encoding?

Are Mont St. Michel and St. Michael's Mount the largest and most geographically stable public / private key pair in existance?

And what does this mean about the monks who lived there, clearly medieavel cryptography needs more study.
December 12, 2007 12:59 AM
 

Rory said:

Massif -

"If you have to be at Mont St. Michel to decode the message, does this mean that I was right, and that Nostradamus used St. Michael's Mount for the encoding?"

You have this way of always complicating things.

It's simple - elegant - as it is now. Go to the Capric of Tropicorn and spin around and throw some letters and something and blah blah blah full moon and orko and blah blah blah.

Let's not disturb that beauty, 'k? I have the last two episodes of the creation story written, but there's still a couple bits between, and you never know what might happen to Massif.

Catch my drift?

Eh?

(Actually, your character's part is awesome. That's all I'm gonna say.)
December 12, 2007 2:14 AM
 

Massif said:

Sorry, I do much the same thing at home too. I just have a knack for asking questions which make people sigh, roll their eyes, roll up their sleeves and either get back to whatever it was they were doing, or chase me around the house screaming "just shut up would you?!?"

I used to have the knack for blurting out loud and offensive things at precisely the wrong moment, (when everyone else sees the person who may be offended and shuts up), so this knack is better than that one.

Also, I liked the idea of the geographical public key cryptography, but that's my problem, and I'll deal with it.
December 12, 2007 2:22 AM
 

Rory said:

Massif -

"I used to have the knack for blurting out loud and offensive things at precisely the wrong moment, (when everyone else sees the person who may be offended and shuts up), so this knack is better than that one."

One of my best friends does this routinely, and it's one of the reasons he's one of my best friends. I love it. He's so offensive, and his outbursts are so well timed, that nobody knows how to respond. His insolence is transcendent.

"Also, I liked the idea of the geographical public key cryptography, but that's my problem, and I'll deal with it."

I do, too - and, honestly, it's one of those ideas I try to ignore because I didn't think of it, but wish I had.

Did you ever read The Sirens of Titan? It's old Vonnegut, and it's his best. Everybody raves about all this other bullshit crap he did, but The Sirens of Titan truly is good, and it plays with an idea, in a very different way, that's similar in the abstract to what you're talking about.

It's a natural formation that, to us little peoples, looks like a random feature, but some Thing out there requires it for some grand scheme.

I might just steal it for The Gospel of Lloyd Humphrey should I write it.

I'll credit you, of course.

In the small print.

Backwards.

In Swahili.

Using the Wingdings font.

(I give credit whenever I recognize that I've lifted something from someone else, but, the better the idea, the more obscure I want to make the credit. That said, despite what I want, the better the idea, the more arrows I'll point back to the originator of the idea. I just won't pay him.)
December 12, 2007 2:43 AM
 

Massif said:

Oh yay! Credit! That's what I crave, just so long as I can point at something and say "that's me!". No-one else I know cares anyway, so it doesn't have to convince them; just so long as I know, deep in my soul.

Of course, Douglas Adams riffed on a similar idea too: In that Wowbagger the Infinitely Prolonged had a deep desire that the entire universe, when viewed from the correct angle would spell out something rude.

Whether or not it does is an exercise for the reader (provided the reader is a celestial being capable of viewing the Universe from the outside... Which should be impossible to most of us owing to the 'Uni' nature of the Universe. <Insert joke about not having a degree here... >

Also if that %lt; Insert joke about not having a degree here... &gt; comment got filtered out because it looked like an invalid html tag I shall sulk.
December 12, 2007 5:13 AM
 

ghost dog said:

(In whiny voice) "I've always resisted endings"

Why don't you apply that grand gathering of gray goo residing at the top of the Blythian tower to consider, say, a structure that has no endings?

Consider the story of Jörmungandr in case you get stuck.
December 12, 2007 8:14 AM
 

Celes said:

Why is it that men always betray me? Cowboy, I trusted you- TRUSTED YOU! *weep*

"I've continued to write it, but I've always resisted endings."

Welcome to the world of writing anything longer than a short, short story (um, and even sometimes that). Every writer I've ever known has trouble finishing what they've written. Yes, we're all probably psychologically damaged to resist endings.

One way to overcome this is to write the ending before you've actually reached the end. While this doesn't help your blog posts come up any faster, it does help write everything else.

When I write, especially when I'm stuck, I just just jump to whatever I'm currently thinking about and write those scenes no matter where they fall. It gets them out of my head and lets me move on. It also makes it easier to fill in the blanks when you know what you're linking.

The only things I've ever finished that were more than a few pages were written like this. Many writers I've talked to have similar methods to get around the pressure of ending.

I'll admit, I never write the ending very first thing. The few times I've tried that I killed the idea for myself. I no longer wanted to write the stuff leading up to it. In my mind, the story was over before it began.

And remember, in writing, there is no such thing as a real ending anyways- or beginning for that matter. You just need to write the linking place to your next book (or where another book could be written). :) Many authors you have drawn parallels with, like Douglas Adams, really don't write endings so much (Terry Pratchett who I've said a few times you remind me of, just kind of stops writing and shamelessly cliff hangs you). I mean, Hitchhiker's Guide ends with a short chapter in which Zaphod asks Arthur if he wants to get something to eat. This demonstrates that an ending doesn't even need to be a logical stopping place especially if you write somewhat illogical and silly stuff in the first place.
December 12, 2007 8:59 AM
 

Lloyd_Humph said:

yaaaay :)

Thanks Rory.

And how old are you? I'm ill and can't be bothered doing the math. Really, really ill. I can't stand on my left leg because that somehow causes my brain to hurt. The perfect excuse to sit and read the neo religion over again...

Your RSS seems to be fixed now.... I reckon I was being stupid but now it works. It was my fault, I think. Outlook sucks as an RSS reader. I'm switching to Google. Over'n'out.

(Oh yeah, wicked post... again)
December 12, 2007 9:05 AM
 

The Cowboy said:

Celes: "Why is it that men always betray me? Cowboy, I trusted you- TRUSTED YOU! *weep* "

[Oh crap, now I've made her cry.]
Um.... I was saving it all for you Celes!  Yeah, that's it.  Um, for a trip to Vegas.  Yeah.  I was going to buy you a trip to Vegas.... and a diamond necklace.  And a Porche.  But since Rory blew the whistle I had to give it all back.  Sorry, but I was thinking about you the whole time.  Yep.  Uh-huh.  

Rory, about the ending, I'm thinking: don't write an ending.  Just keep it going :D  I thought of that while Chris Hanson from Dateline NBC was interviewing me.  He was all:

Chris: "Cowboy, did you take the money?"
Me: "No, I never would have done that.  I was just trying to warn people!"
Chris: "Cowboy, I have your blog post right here.  You clearly said 'Send me your twenties.'  What did you do with the money?"
Me: "I didn't do it.  Can I go now?"
Chris: "Well, I have to let you know, I'm Chris Hanson and you're on Dateline NBC."
Me: "Oh crap, am I going to be arrested?"
Chris: "Cowboy, that's not up to me.  The Sherrif's department is outside waiting to take you into custody..."
December 12, 2007 11:21 AM
 

bliz said:

Happy birthday!
December 12, 2007 12:14 PM
 

Rory said:

Massif -

"Of course, Douglas Adams riffed on a similar idea too: In that Wowbagger the Infinitely Prolonged had a deep desire that the entire universe, when viewed from the correct angle would spell out something rude."

1. I didn't know that, so, whether you ripped it off a tad so hardcore doesn't matter to me. I'm going to consider you The Guy.

2. Your idea is different enough that it doesn't violate his patent.
December 12, 2007 1:51 PM
 

Rory said:

ghost dog -

"Why don't you apply that grand gathering of gray goo residing at the top of the Blythian tower to consider, say, a structure that has no endings?"

I have something like that planned, but there *are* delimiters. I want to do it that way so that I don't feel obligated to continue the writing if I feel like doing something else.

It's a fun thing, though, so I'd want to come back to it, but I wouldn't want to continue to put these little episodes out on a regular basis without some decent breaks between.
December 12, 2007 1:54 PM
 

Rory said:

Celes -

"Why is it that men always betray me?"

Because you're a woman.

It's OK. Women betray us right back :)

"One way to overcome this is to write the ending before you've actually reached the end."

Yeah. I wrote the ending a couple weeks ago. *Writing* the ending wasn't hard.

It's posting it.

When I was at Channel 9, the two best videos I did never got posted. I spent *so* much time on them, but, when it was time for them to go up, I just couldn't do it.

I sat and edited one of them for thirty-six hours straight. I saw the cleaning crew come and go twice. I guess I *did* take a couple food breaks, and I also passed out in the chair a couple times, but I'd pick right back up where I'd previously stopped.

The more effort I put into a video, the less inclined I was to post it.

I don't even like it in other people's work. I get a weird, empty feeling when the credits roll for a movie I enjoyed to the maximum. Same thing for a good sunset. I get worried I'm never going to experience something like that again - and I *won't* - 'cause each one was its own little thing.

I felt this way the first time I saw Amelie. When it ended, I knew I was never going to see it for the first time again, and that meant I wasn't going to get to react to it the same way, which was a super-duper satisfying way.

I saw a sunset like that in Venice. I was on a vaporetto - it's like a bus for the water/canals - and I was the stinkiest thing on it because it was during a heat wave and I was too busy to change my clothes, or wash them.

But, I was standing on the outside of a sweaty crowd - where the other people are all slippy - and there was that uber peaceful moment when the boat stopped, we happened to be stopped in a gorgeous canal, the sun was coming down, and a breeze came along to cool me down a tad.

It was another I'm-never-going-to-see-this-again moments. I was alone, and that frustrated me because I wanted to poke a friend of mine and say, "Hey - lookit that," so there'd be someone else to remember it so that we could drive other people nuts by saying, "Remember that sunset in Venice...?"

You get that longing feeling - the light is orange and Blade Runnery, like Tyrell's building when Deckard visits it the first time.

That feeling drives me insane.

So, I don't like it when good things are over, and I feel like my creation story is a good thing.
December 12, 2007 2:06 PM
 

Rory said:

Lloyd -

"And how old are you? I'm ill and can't be bothered doing the math. Really, really ill. I can't stand on my left leg because that somehow causes my brain to hurt. The perfect excuse to sit and read the neo religion over again..."

If standing on your leg makes your brain hurt, you might want to get checked out. I had viral meningitis in 1998, and it was a terrible experience that was only made worse by the diagnosis (the nine foot needle into my spine bothered me a little), but it's good to know these things so that, when things get super bad, you at least know to head to the hospital and get something drained or whatever it is they do.

'Course, you might just have the flu. You probably shouldn't listen to a (recovering) hypochondriac about diseasal matters :)

Also, I'm twenty-nine. I turn thirty in a few days. Or, as Astrid calls it, "29+1" - I came up with a slightly more complicated expression, which I'll post, but I'm actually not freaked out about turning thirty. I lived my thirties in my twenties when I got a career and met most of my career-y goals.

"Your RSS seems to be fixed now...."

Your reader seems to be unbroken all of a sudden...
December 12, 2007 2:14 PM
 

Rory said:

Mr. The Cowboy -

"Rory, about the ending, I'm thinking: don't write an ending.  Just keep it going :D"

That's the plan, but for structure and my sanity, the story needs to be divided. I'm obviously modeling this thing on another book that's all about religion and stuff - That's where the gospels come in (although there's a section that's very Old Testamentish that I have in my noggin, and not only does it need to be written, it has the potential to be as fun, if not more, than writing the creation story).

"I thought of that while Chris Hanson from Dateline NBC was interviewing me."

That guy's awesome. I don't think I've ever watched someone so sleazy be respected by so many people.

Anyway, why don't you have a seat right over there, Mr. The Cowboy. Yeah, right there - right over there.

Have a seat.
December 12, 2007 2:18 PM
 

Rory said:

bliz -

"Happy birthday!"

Thanks, mister :)
December 12, 2007 2:19 PM
 

Celes said:

"[Oh crap, now I've made her cry.]
Um.... I was saving it all for you Celes!  Yeah, that's it.  Um, for a trip to Vegas.  Yeah.  I was going to buy you a trip to Vegas.... and a diamond necklace.  And a Porche."

Vegas? Diamond necklace? Porche? Are you sure you weren't thinking of another woman- someone who would want that stuff? So that's what you're telling me- there's another woman! I knew it!

----

"Because you're a woman.

It's OK. Women betray us right back :)"

Man, I feel so much better now to know that betrayal is running rampant in the world for both sexes. Thank you Rory! ;)

"So, I don't like it when good things are over, and I feel like my creation story is a good thing."

I'm picking up what you're putting down (mm... pudding).  The other thing about those moments is because of how we remember moments, we remember that there *was* a spectacular feeling or sight or whatever, but can never quite fully capture it or hold onto that feeling enough in our memories to ever be able to fully revisit it mentally either.

I often try to memorize the way things are in those moments, and I remember more clearly the act of trying to memorize in that moment than the things I was trying to memorize. :) Intangible, fleeting things...

Sometimes they're over to fast to even try that. Ends of good books are that way for me. And I'll remember what happened, remember I was crying or full of awe etc, keep the book so I can reread it... but I know that it's gone.

Relationships with people are often like that too. The moment of real 100% connection is fast fleeting and you're back on separate planes of existence.

Yes, endings are bitter-sweet things.
December 12, 2007 8:05 PM
 

The Cowboy said:

Celes: "So that's what you're telling me- there's another woman! I knew it! "

Ooops....

--------

I was watching 12 Monkeys a few days ago.  There was a brilliant quote.  I tried to look it up, but apparently it wasn't interesting enough to make it on any web pages that do quotes and get indexed by google, so here goes from memory.

"The movie never changes, but I've changed, so the movie seems different."  Strangely I felt the quote applied to that very movie.  The first time I saw it I was in a very bizzare stage of my life (as if I'm not now).  

I've done things and been involved with things I wanted desperately to never end (and a few I wanted to end but wouldn't), but you can never move on to the next amazing thing as long as you hold on to it.  You've taken several rather silly concepts and combined them in a way that's produced a compelling story, and there's a lot of people (myself included) that are dying to see where it goes.  That's truly amazing man, not many people can do that.  

You're the kind of guy that will always have something cool to do.  There will be something else after the story is complete.

I don't know if that helps or not... probably not, but hey, I tried.
December 12, 2007 10:57 PM
 

Andrew said:

First of all, happy advance birthday.

Second, I've been lying to everyone and I need to come clean. See, I've told everyone who has asked (which is no one) that I'm seven years older than Rory. This, it turns out, is not precisely true: I am, in fact, six years and 360 days older than Rory. I apologize for my gross imprecision and will resolve to do better in the future.

Third, I'm glad to see that Rory isn't freaked out about the impending change-of-decade. He's done more living just in his 20s than I've done in my entire [age left as an exercise for the reader]. I find that I'm a strange combination of envious and extremely grateful that my life has been so sedate.

Fourth and final, if you're thinking about getting Rory something special, DO NOT I REPEAT DO NOT get him a combined birthday and Yule gift. That's cheap and inconsiderate and really shows a lack of regard. Unless it's a big-ass check, in which case feel free, or unless Rory doesn't plan to celebrate one or the other or both felicitous events, in which case he's a dolt, because c'mon, free stuff.
December 13, 2007 12:19 AM
 

Rory said:

Celes -

"I often try to memorize the way things are in those moments, and I remember more clearly the act of trying to memorize in that moment than the things I was trying to memorize. :) Intangible, fleeting things..."

I was trying to put that same thought into words, but I couldn't, and then I meant to do it again, and then I forgot, and then I hit "Submit" and walked away to eat some Cheerios.

I completely understand what you're saying, and you reminded me of how I think about it when I remember how I think about it when I think about it.

It reminds of people who see every significant event of their lives through a viewfinder. They're so busy recording everything that they don't even get to experience whatever it is that's so important that it *must* be filmed.

There are few photos of me from my childhood. I think they'd occupy the bottom third of a manilla envelope without stressing the paper at all. Neither of my parents has a "Hall of Children's Photos," and that makes those few photos special to me.

When you're cataloguing your life as it happens, you're experiencing it second-hand.

But, I still do the same thing you do - I might not be taping whatever it is, but I'm trying to get every detail down in my head. I also try to artificially extend whatever emotion I'm feeling, but it doesn't work. Whatever the moment is, I'm hyperaware that it's going to end, and that almost takes over the experience.

I went out with someone last night, I think we spent a half hour alone talking about the amazing things that shoot right past you. You almost have to wait for the event to go by before you can enjoy it. The memory's fresh, and you get that "Whoah. That was something," feeling. Then you walk around in a daze because you can't get the moment out of your head. You say "whoah" a lot.

I don't know what I'm talking about.

But you get it, I think.
December 13, 2007 12:35 AM
 

Massif said:

See, all that remembering stuff is why I bought a nice digital SLR and learnt how to use it. Because my memory is appaling and a good photo is just the right amount of jump-start that it needs. (Although all to often I'm a million miles from my camera when something truly cool happens, but you just have to not worry about capturing everything y'know?)

Despite my supposedly bad memory for events there are still a few sensations which are stuck so vividly that it's unreal. They are (minus the ones featuring nudity):

Seeing the view from our villa when we had just arrived for our two week holiday in Tuscany. (My and a bunch of college friends lauding it over the poor saps doing A-levels by going on holiday while they were doing exams.)
Discovering the powerful air-conditioning vent which created a freezing cold one foot square of dance-floor at my favourite nightclub. (Literally, suffocatingly hot everywhere on the dancefloor, except this one square foot which was freezing... awesome!)
The chocolate pudding at Harts restaurant, Nottingham.
Plus a few ones relating to getting married.

Also on the subject of photos: My parents do have giant catalogues of photos, of my brother and sister, it would appear the novelty had worn off by the time they got to me.
December 13, 2007 12:58 AM
 

Celes said:

"I don't know what I'm talking about.

But you get it, I think."

I get it and I get you're getting it, so it's gone already and that was the sad point or something.

Um, yes. :)

"See, all that remembering stuff is why I bought a nice digital SLR and learnt how to use it. "

Massif getting it? I'm not so sure, but then, maybe he has super powers and we're defective.

"Despite my supposedly bad memory for events there are still a few sensations which are stuck so vividly that it's unreal. "

Yup, we're defective. As long as you use your super powers for good, Massif, that's cool.
December 13, 2007 8:08 AM
 

xtine said:

Rory, have you been watching "National Treasure" again?  This plot sounds awfully familiar....very similar to the one that my Personal Sherpa recounted to me of "National Treasure".  Or perhaps the after-effects of having certain hairs ripped off your body by force are finally catching up to you.
December 13, 2007 1:28 PM
 

bliz said:

wait - i pulled a bit of a Nostradamus the other day when i wished you a happy birthday. i was looking at next week's calendar.... so really i was predicting that i would wish you a happy birthday next week.

um, yeah.

anyhoo.... happy birthday (early) (again)
December 14, 2007 6:15 AM
 

ghost dog said:

Rory:

To reiterate: I would have you consider a structure that has no endings.

You never read the story of the World Serpent, now did you?

To be very explicit, you should craft your story as a circle (or an ellipse, or even the number eight). In other words, the first chapter should be the natural next step following the seventh.

That way, you would also trap us in a perpetual process of reading.
December 14, 2007 12:59 PM
 

Massif said:

A week since this, and you've been teasing us saying that you've written the next part of your creation story, knowing we desperately crave it like the hollow, tortured, vacuous and depraved harpies we are.

note from someone with literary diarrhoea to someone with literary constipation: publish and be damned!

Come on! Give US a birthday present, and I don't care if you don't get to eat any cake on your birthday because you're slavishly editing away. Give generously, it's better than receiving you know.
December 18, 2007 7:17 AM
 

Rory said:

Massif -

"A week since this, and you've been teasing us saying that you've written the next part of your creation story, knowing we desperately crave it like the hollow, tortured, vacuous and depraved harpies we are."

I'm actually rewriting it - I didn't like the feeling of the first attempt.

There's a way, I realized, that it *has* to be done, though it's more time consuming.

You'll understand when you read it... I'm about 3/4 of the way through, but 1/4 of this thing is harder to write than one of the previous episodes.

It'll be worth it - I hope :)
December 18, 2007 12:41 PM
 

Akshay Vasudev said:

Hey Rory, wish you a very happy birthday!
December 18, 2007 10:52 PM
 

Andrew said:

Indeed, happy birthday, dude.
December 19, 2007 5:01 AM
 

Blue said:

Happy Birthday Rory, All the best! :)
December 19, 2007 9:34 AM
 

The Cowboy said:

The Evil Cowboy says: "Happy Birthday Rory." :D

I'll try not to take it personally that I didn't get an invite to the party.
December 19, 2007 11:52 AM
 

Caffeinated Coder » Blog Archive » An Open Letter to a Certain Delusional Canadian Blogger said:

January 8, 2008 11:17 PM
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About Rory

I *own* this site, you loser.