Gaiman porn

I've read Neil Gaiman's pornographic prose short story (though I don't remember where), but I never knew he dabbled in the genre more than that, let alone in comics form. The comic reads more like his typical style: it's dry and witty and structured like a fairy tale. And since it's written by an Englishman, it has a natural charm and non-offensiveness about it that anyone can appreciate. So check it out.

http://community.livejournal.com/scans_daily/5114392.html

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And I just listened to this poem by Li-Young Lee and I rather liked it.

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And I had a conversation a minute ago with me neighbors about hypothetical questions. It's an interesting debate, hypotheticals, as to whether they oughta be used in job interviews or not. I've been asked in an interview "What single word best describes you?" and I quite frankly thought it was unprofessional. The argument to that is that the questions show you how well you think on your feet, but here's my counter-argument:

Hypotheticals are best left to casual fun-and-games conversation. Reason being, they're fun and games. I never will be an animal and should I be somehow able to morph into one at some point, it would only define my existence biologically and not philosophically, as I would henceforth be a beast of the field and no longer the possessor of a higher consciousness. Along the same lines, as a biologically and mentally complex life form, reducing myself to the philosophical implications of a single hue or word. It insults my formidable intelligence...

...if the hypothetical is presented in a professional, serious-minded situation. Fun is fun, and I like thinking of ideas to define me or actions I'd undertake in duress as much as the next guy, but, hey, jobs are important. Livelihoods are at stake here, and should an interviewer's decision to hire someone or not rest in any significant way on which historical figure I'd like to meet should I be given the chance then I think the serious-minded people of the world should be pissed off. Because: there are legitimate ways of testing a person's capacity for information processing, cleverness, wit, or whatever. It's me own opinion that hypotheticals aren't in that list--at least the kind of simplistic hypotheticals I've gone and listed. Legitimate hypotheticals, for example, would present stressful or crisis-level situations you might realistically experience at your would-be job, and how you'd react. Or role-plays, even. Hell, even better random questions, like What is capitalism? or What do you suppose our mission statement is? or What's your dream in life and how will working for us help you to achieve it? Questions that require complex thinking and complex answers, which employ the powers of logical, lexicon, and legitimacy (e.g. not hiccuping out the answer folks want to hear, but the answer that best shows your mental prowess).

But I guess that presupposes that all companies want very smart employees, which they obviously don't. One of the (many) great failings of Westernization is that it stemmed from economics and cultural colonialism as opposed to art and philosophy, and so one of the foundational ideas is to create a system where people move as a single entity towards whatever goal the company has in mind. That'd be a good idea, except that it doesn't take human nature into account very well, and the actual result is reduced efficiency. People get bored, work at different speeds based on mood, month, and milieu. (Piss yes I just used that word.) If the system were set up in such a way that workforces were inspired and encouraged to use their imaginations more often--if there were more art in the average cubicle-job--then I think the human race as a whole would benefit. Google is a pretty good example of a company that realized this, implemented it (employees, in addition to a bunch of cool stuff at the office to engage your mind, are encouraged to spend 20% of their on-the-clock time engaging in activities that interest them), and reaped a shitload of success and profit as a result. Small, insightful, and bio/psychologically sympathetic ideas like this could probably save the business world--and maybe the world in general--a lot of wasted time, resources, and cash, while making life altogether more enjoyable for the people who grind their way from 9 to 5 every weekday.

And it begins with intelligent questions in serious situations.