Sunstone Naked! An Interview of Underwhelming Proportions

[Sunstone]

To how many puppies can a dog give birth at a time ?

I have heard of only one at a time passing the birth canal, and never of two or more at once. Yet, I have heard of four or more passing in quick succession.

What is the relationship between the most common number of teats that a species has and the most common size of its liters?

 

[chinu]

I have heard of only one at a time passing the birth canal, and never of two or more at once. Yet, I have heard of four or more passing in quick succession.

But.. till now, have not seen any Dog (male) doing this.

 

[Debater Slayer]

• What religion, if any, would you say has most influenced your personal philosophy, ethics, or outlook on life?

• What do you deem to be the most valuable thing you have learned at university?

• If you were able to relocate to a country other than the United States, would you do it? Why/why not?

• How do you see yourself as an artist in the future in terms of popularity, amount of works, and quality of works?

• If you could reset the state of the world to one of its previous conditions, would you do it? Why/why not?

• What are your favorite foods to cook?

• Being that you used to be a firefighter, how attractive do you find fire hydrants to be?

• If you could either have a pet platypus or a pet walrus, which would you choose and why?

• And finally, describe yourself, one of your portraits' subjects, and one of your more memorable firefighter moments -- each in three words.

 

[Sunstone]

but.. Till now, have not seen any dog (male) doing this.

I see.

 

[sandandfoam]

Hiya Phil,

Let's pretend aliens have abducted you. They're going to wipe your memory - but, on appeal, they have agreed to let you retain one single memory.
What would it be?

 

[Sunstone]

Hiya Phil,

Let's pretend aliens have abducted you. They're going to wipe your memory - but, on appeal, they have agreed to let you retain one single memory.
What would it be?

By "aliens", you must be referring to the 1%.

I couldn't say for sure without a lot of fretting, but a very strong contender for the one memory I'd save would be of the day you declared me an honorary Irishman on account of my poetry. That might surprise you, Stephen, but I'm not making up the feelings I had upon hearing that declaration of yours. I'd long before that day come to the realization that you are one of few people I've met who "gets" poetry. Really gets it.

 

[Sunstone]

I'm a gonna take only one or two of these at a time, DS, on account I can't think up enough lies fast enough to answer them all at once.

• What religion, if any, would you say has most influenced your personal philosophy, ethics, or outlook on life?

In no particular order, Hinduism, Taoism, Buddhism, and Shinto. For the most part, I'd only heard negative things about those religions until I got into college. There I took an introduction to world religions. The one religion that struck me the most at the time was Buddhism.

Whether you agree with Buddhism or not, I think it's pretty much the most logical of the great religions. At least on its philosophical side, the conclusions seem to follow from the premisses with some measure of rigor; and the principles are "cut to the chase", incisive insights into the human condition. Although, on its popular side, it is just as prone to silly irrationalities as any other religion.

There are other things I like about Buddhism, but I won't bother you with them here.

The other religions I listed followed my initial interest in Buddhism. Shinto I became interested in because my second wife was Japanese and a practitioner.

 

[Penumbra]

Awwwww..... how can I resist? Here's a photo of my fourth experiment with painting a portrait. I'm 55 years old and -- for reasons I know not -- I had never painted anyone's portrait until just a few weeks ago. Currently, I'm working on my fifth experiment, so the fourth (shown here) is the most recent finished one.

I'm glad I got to see one of the paintings. I had been curious to how your work was going on them.

Very nice!

 

[Iti oj]

how much dub could dubstep step if dubstep could step dub

 

[waitasec]

I haven’t enough personal stories to keep up my end of a good bar conversation — a fact I feel compelled to compensate for by indulging in endless jokes about farts.

this is interesting...
:yes:

Awwwww..... how can I resist? Here's a photo of my fourth experiment with painting a portrait. I'm 55 years old and -- for reasons I know not -- I had never painted anyone's portrait until just a few weeks ago. Currently, I'm working on my fifth experiment, so the fourth (shown here) is the most recent finished one.

 

[Sunstone]

• What do you deem to be the most valuable thing you have learned at university?

Besides the cup size of my future ex-wife?

The most valuable thing I learned was not an academic subject, but rather that the world held people who would accept me. I had grown up in a small, rural town that a lot of good things could be said about. For instance, crime was almost non-existent, DS.

But I had grown up an outcast among my peers; my peers being the 90 kids my age. Among other things (these things are never so simple as they might sound), my peers were often enough upset to hear or see me question their most commonly held values. For instance, I objected to standing up and reciting the pledge of allegiance to the flag -- on some grounds I forget now. I openly stated my belief in sex outside of marriage. And I was an outspoken agnostic -- which meant to some of my peers in that small, rural town that I was, or at least might be, possessed by a demon.

So it wasn't until I got to university that I discovered two things. First that a lot more people than simply myself believed the things I believed. And second, there were a lot of people -- not one or two, but a lot -- of people who did not think I was a horrible person for thinking the things I thought.

As it happened, that was probably the most valuable thing I learned at university.

 

[Sunstone]

I'm glad I got to see one of the paintings. I had been curious to how your work was going on them.

Very nice!

this is interesting...
:yes:

Thank you both!

 

[Sunstone]

If you were able to relocate to a country other than the United States, would you do it? Why/why not?

Given a chance, I'd relocate to Canada. Largely for political reasons. American politics have become too right wing for me. I don't expect that to change anytime soon because I think the uber rich own the politicians in this country. Consequently, I think America will continue to progress down the road of imperialism abroad and libertarianism at home. I'd rather observe those developments from Canada than from here in America.

 

[Sunstone]

how much dub could dubstep step if dubstep could step dub

In my experience, very few people without an advanced degree in physics or poetry are confident to answer such a question. Hence, I'm taking a pass on this one, iti.

 

[Sunstone]

How do you see yourself as an artist in the future in terms of popularity, amount of works, and quality of works?

Well, at this point, I'm just a wannabe artist who hasn't even completed a single real portrait. So that's quite a difficult question to answer. However, I assume I will stick with painting for at least a few years. And in five or so years, if I work hard, I might start getting good at it.

I hope to do a lot of painting, but I don't think I will ever be popular. I assume by "popular", you mean "sells a lot of expensive paintings"? Even the greatest American portrait artist of the 20th Century, Alice Neel, was not popular during her own lifetime. What chance is there for a wannabe from Colorado?

 

[Sunstone]

If you could reset the state of the world to one of its previous conditions, would you do it? Why/why not?

I'm now and then tempted to think we'd all be happier returning to the hunting/gathering lifestyle. But I think that's most likely a delusion. On the other hand, I'm more often inclined to believe that we live in a golden age of humanity and that what has come before and what will follow are no where near as good. So I would not reset the state of the world.

 

[Alceste]

how much dub could dubstep step if dubstep could step dub

Answer: wub wub wub wub wub wub beep beeeep wub wub wub wub wub.

 

[Sunstone]

Answer: wub wub wub wub wub wub beep beeeep wub wub wub wub wub.

Brilliant! Simply Brilliant! But I expected nothing less.

 

[Sunstone]

Being that you used to be a firefighter, how attractive do you find fire hydrants to be?

Often, I am wont of an evening to stand beside my local hydrant, my arm protectively draped around her shoulder, and watch the sun set over the mountains. I confess, I have at times taken liberties with her nipples. But, alas, she has never returned my heartfelt advances!

 

[Sunstone]

What are your favorite foods to cook?

Honestly, I've come to loathe my cookery. Loathe? Perhaps the right word is "dread". I dread it all, equally, without any favorites.