Offensive Squid

sheila said:

Yeah, that thread is pretty cool, and I'm glad he was willing to take pictures and explain the entire process.

It was kind of him to share something so personal. 

also, those pictures were less worse than I had imagined they would be.

Oh, they were grewsome.  I have seen the big bare calf muscle of that poor man sans skin, in living color.  The ghastliness of internal parts visible to the open air makes my stomach clench.  I felt badly that I also thought, "good thigh."  How in the world can my brain be reacting with primitive intense sympathetic horror at a breached, cracked-open limb, and another part of it assessing the upper part of the limb in a sexual way.  At the same time. Then I realized : it goes directly to one of Watts favorite topics – that consciousness is not unitary, nor is it in charge.  It is the pointy-haired boss of the body.

These were just fascinating though at times cringe inducing.

Amen sister.

Someone started a thread on metafilter about this: Peter Watts presents: Flesh-Eating Fest '11. And there are some hilarious and interesting comments in there [snip],

a not informative but very funny comment: "No wonder the guy writes such bleak, nihilistic books. He's like the atheist Job."

I liked: "Watts really needs to find that old Gypsy woman and apologize to her."

This was all pretty cool. It falls under being able to look at peoples' brains though. That's always the coolest. If he had a brain implanted in his leg that would be the best combination ever.

Maybe he will get a trepination and take photos? Kidding, kidding, kidding.

sheila said:

[...]
I thought it would be nice to not send a book, rethought it, and sent email to the author of Dinosaur Comics who is also in Toronto ("Remember that web comic guy I read who is in Toronto who… ") seeing if he would consider signing a copy of Dudes Already Know about Chickens with T-Rex and a Giant Squid but my email probably came off as deranged since I didn't get a reply. (I hope the Toronto author cabal* isn't freaked out yet by deranged seeming fans.) Thus, no Toronto proxied book for you GiantSquid.

omg he replied! I guess I didn't come off as much as a deranged person as I thought.

Hljothlegur said:

I just had to mention that Ed Dravecky has updated the Wikipedia page for Peter to mention his bout of NF.  I'm not sure what to think – is that worthy stuff for a bio? I guess so.  I dunno.

 

And, of course, you are not deranged.

I noticed that someone had listed him under famous people on the wikipedia page for NF, but hadn't thought to check his own wikipedia entry.

The only wikipedia page I am subscribed to is about Marisol Valles Garcia because I want to know what happens to her. I want her to live a long and happy life.

And honestly, I have been deranged before. Not in a long time, but whatever.

Hljothlegur said:

sheila said:

And honestly, I have been deranged before. Not in a long time, but whatever.

---

Oh, well, then, I take back my careless comment.  And kudoes on your long spate of non-derangement!  Most excellent!  I've never been clinically deranged, just schizotypal in my thinking, although I have known a number of people who had nervous breakdowns or who were clinically ill.   It sounds awful, on balance. 

I do remember once being in a really bad situation and thinking, if only I could go mad, they would dope me up and let me stay in a hospital for a few weeks in my pajamas, but I had no voluntary control over letting go of that last handhold at the edge of the rabbit hole. 

Huh, if schizotypal thinking doesn't exactly count as deranged then I'm not sure we agree on the meaning, but it is a casual word so it doesn't matter. I usually presented mostly sane to people in person. Writing was very expansive though.

Anyway, I would say it is better to focus on the humor of it than any awfulness. It was funny to be someone who studied the mind and who enjoys thinking about that kind of stuff while at the same time having something going on with my mind and not being sure what it was. kind of entertaining. laughing is better than melodrama.

so, head all split open? It is funny and people could blog about it. maybe be a little instructional for other people who will have their heads split open.