Joshua Kronengold

On humor. And jokes

2017-12-08T22:21:00Z

So, something you might not know about me. I don't actually know a lot of jokes.

I mean, I know a few. But mostly, if you tell me a joke, I'll probably try to make one up to follow you. And...I'm not awful at it. Usually.

Which partially explains this chatlog between me and batshua. Note that every joke I tell except the ones specifically marked I made up on the spot.

( This is conversation about humor, but not actually jokes )
( Ok, the actual jokes start here! )

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Wonders

2017-03-27T17:50:19Z

When I was young, fantastic films were dead.
It was in Disney's drought, their budget low.
And Even with the Force, the arrows led,
To one poor dictum: "Write that which you know."

Technology, too, limited our work.
Imagination on the printed page,
Might show a starship fly, or spider lurk,
But theater would leave them far off-stage.

But that's all in the past, our hands hold tools,
That let us show whatever we conceive,
And from that cornicopia, we fools,
Have drawn a feast of fantasy and make-believe

Kalidescopes of wonder blind our sight,
Look where you will, and let it bring delight.

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Star Trek on Emotions

2015-06-04T16:11:19Z

I've never been a Trek fan, particularly, but that hasn't stopped me from picking up bits of it, given fannish immersion (and a Next Gen watching weekly gathering before we switched to B5).

But it occurs to me that there's a set of Star Trek races that are inherently a conversation about emotion.

VULCAN: I AM SUPERIOR BECAUSE I HAVE NO EMOTIONS. JUST LOGIC.
ROMULAN: NO, I AM SUPERIOR BECAUSE I EMBRACE MY EMOTIONS, AND THEY EMPOWER ME.
BETAZOID: UM. YOU ARE BOTH LYING TO YOURSELVES, BUT YOU'RE PROBABLY HAPPIER THAT WAY.
ANDROID: DO I HAVE EMOTIONS?
BETAZOID: I CAN'T SENSE ANY, BUT MAYBE THAT'S JUST BECAUSE YOU'RE AN ANDROID.
ANDROID: NOPE. I MUST NOT HAVE ANY. THAT MAKES ME SAD.
BETAZOID: UM....
ANDROID: YUP. NO EMOTIONS AT ALL; THE BETAZOID SAYS SO, AND MY ANDROID LOGIC INTERPRETS PERFECTLY.
BETAZOID: GRRR
ANDROID: ANYWAY, ANYONE HAVE EMOTIONS I CAN BORROW?
VULCAN: YOU CAN HAVE MINE. I DON'T NEED THEM.
ROMULAN: THAT IS ILLOGICAL!a

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A Sonnet for Serenity

2015-01-06T17:10:24Z

A Sonnet for Serenity

First quatrain and last couplet by Joshua Kronengold, second quatrain and following couplet by batyatoon, first couplet (5-6) and editing by thnidu.

Deny me answer to my heart's behest,
Deprive me of my property and lot,
Remove my person, force me by duress,
To where the land shan't bear me, I care not.
For I am unencumbered by oppression,
Nor canst thou wrest the sky from my possession.

Though I be exiled to the endless dark,
And though they tell the world I'll not return;
Though thou may'st fan the flame or set the spark
That seas may boil and that the land may burn;
My will's my own, and so the skies shall be --
And neither wilt thou ever take from me.

Now nowhere can I be, since Peace I found,
But mine is that which lies above the ground.

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