The dark lord would not stand for this

Book: God, No - Signs You May Already Be an Atheist and Other Magical Tales

I've been waiting for this book for a while. I think Penn Jillette is a pretty awesome guy with the perfectly metered amount of asshole, turning his assholyness on all purveyors of crap. I gained a deep appreciation for unconventional thinking the more I learned about him, and the more I watched Penn and Teller's Bullshit on Showtime. But I most appreciate... and disagree with... his view on religion. He says early in the book that atheism is admitting "I don't know", which on mid 90's Nickelodeon would be a sure fire way to get doused with a mixture of baby shampoo, oatmeal, and green food coloring. But Penn says that not knowing is just fine and that this uncertainty is perfectly natural and should not be supressed.

However, I have heard Penn say "I know god doesn't exist." Huh? I thought it was okay not to know.

Still, he called me "boss" when I met him in Vegas, so all is forgiven.

New Blog - Expiration Date: When I get bored of it.

...which is a very good place to staaaaaaaart.

I'm Jason, in certain circles.  Uncertain circles know me as Edge, but in both certainties of circles, I am certainly known as a over-analyser and a slightly obsessive compulsive hobby and knowledge collector.  If anything, I hoard experience.  I figure you have one trip through the mortal coil, so you should make the most of it.  That's kinda of new angle on life for me.  Maybe I'll expand on that one day.

Until recently, I played video games.  A lot of video games.  I felt there was something uniquely compelling about games until I realized how limited the current market actually was, and how... simple-minded the target audience was.  I mean, there are a few stars like Minecraft and Frozen Synapse, games that use random generation to great effect, and a few desirable mainstream games on top of that, but when it came down to it, things were getting very predictable and ultimately forgettable.  I knew I had been attracted to randomness in games for a long time, but the prevalence of designers willing to leave their creations up to chance has dwindled to very few.

At the same time I questioned my dedication to games, I had been struggling with this angst about being largely a consumer in one of the largest consumer societies this planet has ever seen.  Was I creating something new or rearranging the pieces of someone else's experience?  I felt creation should be more a part of my core.

So, I branched out.  Hard.  I meandered through a few games and started brewing beer.  I know... natural progression.  Recently, I've taken up the study of games of chance and skill, mostly poker. I'm starting to lean towards culinary endeavors as well.

More to come.