Lorne

Lorne Lawson's personal blog

I’ve decided to remove the google adsense ads from blog.lornelawson.com. I honestly never hoped for this particular site to bring in the millions. It’s not really a “money making” site in the first place, mostly because I never focus on one topic for too long, which causes ads to be all over the place content wise. I also never really intended for it to make a lot money wise, so it’s never been “tweaked” to do so. To give a rough comparison, another site of mine, makes HUNDREDS/month with adsense, and blog.lornelawson.com in august (it’s the end of the month too), is at an amazing $9.43. Honestly, in my opinion, I’d rather just not make that $9, for the sake of my site being google ad free. I will however, keep the page peel ad that is advertising my hosting site (top right of this page), because it entertains people, even if only to keep peeling/unpeeling it out of boredom.

I should be writing about more this evening and/or tomorrow. Bye for now!

Yes, I know, I’ve failed as a blogger as of recently. I got mildly distracted by non computer life, and even a little distracted by my other blog (the secret one) so have been neglecting my ~7 fans here. I’m back now though, and things should stay pretty consistent from here on out. This blog may be a little out there though, since I’ve still not gone to bed since yesterday and it’s 11 A.M. =)

I’ve had a lot on my mind lately. I wrote a blog about a week ago in notepad. It was insanely long and dealt with a lot of my current mental “issues”. After re-reading and spellchecking a few times, I decided not to post it though. There are some things about me I’d really just rather not introduce the general public to QUITE yet. Maybe someday though.

As for all of the things on my mind. The first and foremost would have to be death. I’m sure everyone thinks about it from time to time. Being that I lack in any religious beliefs, my best guess is that the lights just turn off once you’re dead. Something in your body fails to the point that all of the other parts of your body are unable to carry out their life functions, and you just shut off. Much like if I popped the battery out of your little toy robot, the arms/legs/etc would all cease their normal motions, solely because some defect (in this case battery removal) caused the circuitry to not be able to complete it’s cycle. I see humans as roughly the same, except the “battery” can’t be reinserted, at least not by modern science. I try my best to think of death in a positive way, a sense of being relieved of all of the stress, heartache, agony, etc of every day life. Then the other side of me is bothered by death. As human beings, we’re conditioned to believe that we serve a purpose, and even that we’re more important than other living beings. The sad truth though, is that we’re just bags of flesh and bones. Our only real “purpose” to this earth is to digest vegetation into soil (eat and shit) and produce offspring that will digest vegetation into soil when our bodies are too frail and weak to do so any longer. Many of you are thinking “no, we’re here to love, and make people happy, and blah blah”, which I agree. I personally have very fond emotions towards quite a few of these bags of flesh and bones. I’m just saying that outside of our usefulness to other human beings, all we’re made to do is make fertilizer, be it with our dead bodies, or with that burger we ate yesterday. For some reason that just bothers me. It’s difficult to admit how insignificant we really are to the universe. Our planet is just a spec in space, and our lifespan is just a spec in time on that spec in space. If I were to die today, some people may be sad. Actually, I’d like to think that quite a few people would be sad. Nothing in the universe would CHANGE though. In X billion years when our sun explodes/implodes/whatever, my lifespan will have meant nothing. The universe will carry on regardless of my being alive or dead. I actually suspect that my “legacy”, if you can even call it that, will long be forgotten even 200 years from now. It’s just all a lot to take in, regardless of how long you’ve recognized it as truth. =\

Some are asking (I can tell, Lorne knows all lol), “if that’s such a problematic outcome for you, why don’t you turn to religion?”. Good question. The simple answer though, I can’t just replace anything that displeases and/or confuses me with a god. I’m also horribly uncomfortable with being in heaven forever. I’ve only been alive 25 years and have already grown severely bored. Forever just seems like way too long to do anything to me, despite how good that anything may be I’m far more comfortable with beginnings and ends. This having to walk on clouds for an eternity is far too choring for my tiny attention span. I’ve also found that the majority of religious people, are religious for one of the following reasons, all of which I refuse to give in to:

1.) They’re scared. They solely believe in god because there might be a heaven/hell, and an eternity of hellfire scares the piss out of them. This is sadly the category that I fell into when I was religious. I remember laying in bed as a child, and just being so terrified of hell. I wasn’t ever happy or excited about heaven, but I figured I’d better be a good person solely so I didn’t burn my ass off later. Many preachers even use this tactic to “scare” religious people into being good. I’ve learned now though, that nobody should believe anything solely based on fear. Even if there IS a god, believing in him solely because you’re scared of his opposing being, is just crazy.

2.) They need an explanation for that which can’t be explained. All too often, my religious friends in an attempt to make me believe, tell me “well how do you explain miracles, or how beautiful nature is, or my mom getting healthy after she was supposed to die, or something as special as a newborn child?”. This one bothers me the most. Lack of understanding doesn’t PROVE anything! It’s like if I tell a child “well Santa is real”. Then the child asks “well why should I believe that” and I say “well who made that tree so pretty outside?”. Anyone with some sense can see that is a horrible argument. Miracles = God exists? Not a chance. Miracles only prove that we don’t know everything about everything, which humans have understood for a good long time now. Were we to understand everything, there would be no disease, or even any need for scientific advancement of any sort. Something happening in a way contrary to what we understand, isn’t a miracle at all really. It’s just a reminder that we do have flaws and aren’t able to understand everything that this world can dish out.

3.) The truth is far more difficult to take in. This one is simple. If you have the choice of believing that you’ll be worm food when you die, or the choice of believing that you’ll get to play in clouds and never feel sadness, one of those options just seems to work better. I’ll be the first to admit that being an atheist isn’t easy, but I’d just much rather live a harsh reality than a fantasy. Picking fantasy over reality belief wise solely because you want a happy ending, is just wrong.

Now don’t get me wrong. It’s ok for you to believe as you wish. I clearly can’t 100% say that there is no god, the same as you clearly can’t 100% claim there is one. For that reason, and many others, we’re all free to believe as we wish. I’m just stating the arguments I’ve been given for why I should “sway to the other side” and why they’re bogus.

Enough religion though, back to the death talk. Death is tough to grasp. I’ve seen a lot of people close to me pass in the last few years. All I can ever think is “wow, nobody will even remember what a special person that was in 100 years”. I think that really is the hardest part for me. If you know me personally and are reading this, you understand how hard I try to bring a smile to everyone’s face. I put forth an insane amount of effort daily to make even strangers have a slightly better day. I try my hardest to not be ill tempered, I’ll feel sorry for even someone I dislike if they’re in need, and I overall just like to think of myself as a nice, good guy. Yet no matter how much good I manage to do, none of it will matter once enough time has passed and I’m forgotten. I guess we’re all going to pass on eventually though. If I’ve made even one person happier than they’d have been without me in their life, then I suppose it’s worth it, even if I am just a blink in space and time.

4 posts into my new blog and I get busy as shit, and then can’t think of anything to blog about. Got topic ideas? Comment and let me know. I seem to excel in religion/psych, but will write about just about anything that gets the brain goin.

Apparently, On December 21, 2012, we’re all going to die. Empty out your 401K, stop saving for your child’s college, and be sure to go see all of your relatives over the next 3 years while you still have the time. Or don’t do any of that, because the world’s not really going to end. Yet the media will have you believe we’re doomed, to the point that there is even a 2012 movie coming out. It sadly, actually looks like it’s going to be a good movie!

So what’s the basis of all of this 2012 hype? A calendar. The best part is, it’s not even the “end” of a calendar like everyone is saying it is. The calendar has a 20 base unit. Meaning it starts at 0.0.0.0.0, then to 0.0.0.0.1, all the way up to 0.0.0.0.19. Then the next day is 0.0.0.1.0. Pretty simple, once you get to twenty, it topples over to the next digit. Some scientists are claiming that when it hits 13.0.0.0.0 from 12.19.19.19.19, Dec 21, 2012, we’re all done for. Even if this were the final day, the Mayans typically saw calendar endings as a time of celebration, not a time of mass destruction and death. I honestly believe that SOMETHING will happen on Dec 12, 2012, given all of the planetary alignment that’s happening on that date, but I really don’t believe we’re all going to die. Hundreds of doomsday prophecies have failed in the past, and I don’t see this one being any different. I’ll touch on some of the previous failed doomsday predictions.

2800 BC – An Assyrian clay tablet dating to approximately 2800 BC was found bearing the translation “Our earth is degenerate in these latter days. There are signs that the world is speedily coming to an end. Bribery and corruption are common.” This is one of the first doomsday predictions that tied moral decay in society to the end of the world.

389 BC – Some romans believed that the number revealed to Romulus represented the number of days in a year, the Great Year concept, so Rome was expected to be destroyed around 365 AUC (389 BC)

1-50 AD – In Matthew 16:28, Jesus is quoted as telling the Apostles that they will not taste death before he returns in his kingdom. Apostles expected the return of Christ before their generation’s passing. A small religion known as “preterism” believes that jesus did come back, and the world as we currently know it is our “second chance” after the rapture.

66-70 AD – A sect of Jewish ascetics, some of which believed the current Jewish revolt against the Romans marked the end-time battle.

2nd Century – Montanism unfolds. A christian doomsday “cult type” religion founded in 156 AD, believes that christ will return within their generation. Despite Christ never showing up, this religion somehow kept going strong for many centuries.

247 AD – Rome celebrated its thousandth anniversary this year. At the same time, the Roman government dramatically increased its persecution of Christians, so much so that many Christians believed that the End had arrived.

365 AD – Hilary of Poitiers predicts the world will end in 365 AD

380 AD – Donatists, a north african christian sect headed by Tyconius, predict the end of the world to be in 380 AD.

~500 AD – Many Romans believed that the world would end 6000 years after it’s creation. It was commonly believed then, that the world was created roughly around 5500 BC, placing this doomsday prediction in the early 500 AD range at latest.

799-806 AD – Bishop Gregory of Tours calculated the End occurring between 799 and 806.

March 25th 970 AD – Lotharingian computists note this day when the Annunciation and Good Friday fell on the same day. They believed that it was on this day that Adam was created, Isaac was sacrificed, the Red Sea was parted, Jesus was conceived, and Jesus was crucified. Therefore, it naturally followed that the End must occur on this day.

1000 AD – Too many prophecies to get into. An excellent article on “Y1K” prophecies can be found at the following link http://www.mille.org/scholarship/1000/AHR9.html

1033 AD -  When Jesus failed to come back in 1000, many people pushed the date back to the 1000 year anniversary of the crucifixion, which would be roughly 1033 AD.

Sep 23, 1186 AD – John of Toledo, after calculating that a planetary alignment would occur in Libra on September 23, 1186 (Julian calendar), circulated a letter (known as the “Letter of Toledo”) warning that the world was to going to be destroyed on this date, and that only a few people would survive.

1284 AD – Pope Innocent III predicts that the second coming of christ will occur on 1284 AD, 666 years after the rise of Islam.

1306 AD – The 1000 year anniversary of Constantine’s rise to power, seen by many as the date of the end of the world.

Feb 1st 1524 AD – London astrologers predict that “the end” would occur by flooding that begins on this date. 20,000 abandon their homes, and not one drop of rain falls on this day.

Apr 28, 1583 AD -  The Second Coming of Christ is to take place at noon, according to astrologer Richard Harvey. The date of a conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn. Numerous astrologers in London predicted the world would end on this day.

1658 AD – In his The Book of Prophecies, Christopher Columbus claimed that the world was created in 5343BC, and would last 7000 years. Assuming no year zero, that means the end would come in 1658. Columbus was influenced by Pierre d’Ailly.

1666 AD – 1000 (millennium) + 666 (number of the Beast) made many Londoners believe this was the end time.

The list goes on and on. My brain probably doesn’t even have enough memory capacity to hold all of the idiots that were wrong about when the world was going to end. As you can see though, people have been predicting the end, since nearly the beginning. Some religions, such as Preterism, believe that the end already happened, and we’re the jerks that jesus didn’t take, which honestly isn’t as crazy as some of the other stuff I hear come out of people’s mouths.

So what exactly is the reasoning behind everyone constantly cowering at the thought of the apocalypse being right around the corner? I’m not really sure. It seems people wouldn’t bother predicting the end anyways. If you’re wrong, you look like an idiot, and if you’re right, nobody will be here to congratulate you on your infinite wisdom. It’s a lose-lose situation. As for those that aren’t predicting anything, and are just scared that they’re going to die, don’t sweat it. We’re all going to die at some point. You’re more likely to be killed in a car wreck than you are to be killed by the apocalypse. I personally welcome the end of the world. I only hope that I will be fortunate enough to witness Armageddon. I won’t have to go to any family’s funerals, and vice versa. That to me, seems much better than dying of some other cause, where all of my family would have to attend my funeral and be saddened by my passing. Who knows though, maybe I’m just weird in feeling that way. Either way though, stop worrying about the end, and start focusing on now. Any one of us could die at any moment, and if you keep focusing on when that day will come, all of the time between then and now will be far less meaningful.

I told you my blog is random. Blogging about cars and girlfriends one night, and the end of the world the next morning. =D

This blog is mainly being posted out of annoyance. I’ve decided to clear up a couple of questions for the multiple people asking them.

Q1. Hey Lorne, why don’t you get a girlfriend?
A. Simple answer, because I have no desire for one. More complex answer… I spent literally 10+ years of my life bouncing from long term relationship to long term relationship. Aside from this previous year, I don’t recall a point in life when I was ever single, or even in something not horridly serious. This stemmed from some bad insecurity issues. I’m perfectly content/secure with myself now, and I’m over the bullshit with relationships. Nothing lasts. You get with someone and play the “how long can I deal with this person until I can’t stand them” game, and my time isn’t worth playing that game anymore. I’ve found life to be EXTREMELY better since my decision to be single, so that’s that.

Q2. If you make/made so much money, why don’t you have a nice car?
A. Well first off, it’s not your fucking business how much I make. With that said, I’ve surely been “able” to buy a nicer car at multiple points in my life, but I like my car. My income shouldn’t factor into my “wants”. A lot of people think that because you make a decent amount of money, you HAVE to like fast cars and mansions, and that’s just stupid. I personally reinvest most of what I make, in hopes of making more money. I sometimes reinvest so much, that I barely manage to pay rent. This is my decision though. If I want to dump all of my earnings into stocks and a new business, I should have that option. If you want to buy fancy shit if/when you start making decent money, as opposed to investing said money properly, by all means, knock yourself out. When I’m sitting on $1,000,000 in 10 years, and you’re sitting with a busted up 10 year old sports car and no money, wondering how you’ll ever manage retirement, you can go fuck yourself.

This first real blog was supposed to be about something a little nicer, but people piss me off. It seems any time I hang out with a girl, even just friendly, her boyfriend asks her “well why doesn’t he get a girlfriend, and if he’s so business minded, why’s he driving a civic?” all defensive and shit. If your dick is so small that you’re worried about having your girlfriend stolen by a 400 lb guy that loves being single, the least of your worries is my honda civic and lack of a girlfriend. Grow up.

So I’ve been blogging for about 3 years now on a “private” site, that none of my family/friends really know about. My private blog has gathered quite a decent following, so I figured I’d just start blogging here where all of my friends and family can see as well. No use hiding anyways.

Anyways, this blog will get quite random at times. Whatever pops into my head for the day, I normally write about. Some may be offensive at times, as I tend to discuss race and religion both a lot in my private blogs, but you’re free to chime in with your opinion via comments if something ever bothers you. I should be posting my first “real” non welcome blog sometime tonight or tomorrow. Welcome to my blog! =)