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Walrus Insulter: a Fun Little JavaScript Program

September 9, 2024

art, creativity, imagination, javascript, programming

Does the word “insulter” exist in a standard dictionary? I don’t know and I’m too bored to search. But the name Walrus Insulter definitely does, in my dictionary. Obviously for those who know him, Walrus Insulter refers to none other than the supreme overlard [sic] of puns, my cartoon character Punning Walrus. If you haven’t met him yet, just click the “Free Walrus” link on the top menu. Or here’s the direct link for the lazy ones among you…

The whole thing, as they usually do, began on a boring cloudy afternoon. I was playing with my home network, trying to find new ways to annoy my neighbors (more of this in a while), when I realized that the best… walrus for the job is of course Punning Walrus.

Walrus Insulter. Screenshot from the program — Walrus Insulter: Don’t mess with the Walrus 😛

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The Creative Lifestyle: Building Good Habits

September 2, 2024

Writing

creativity, society, writing

On a practical level, a lifestyle is a way of life, a set of habits and actions that guide one’s routine. Obviously, there are many methodological and even moral consequences. For example, a vegetarian lifestyle influences one’s choices of, say, food shopping, as well as their way of thinking about animals. Similarly, a creative lifestyle affects a person’s way of dealing – as well as thinking about – creative expressions.

Ultimately, a creative lifestyle is about building good habits: supporting a way of life that makes it easier to experience, find connections, and express them artistically.

I got inspiration for this post after I realized I’ve drawn more than 500 (at the time I write this text) Punning Walrus episodes in less than a year – starting basically from zero drawing skills. That means, on average, more than one per day. Some days I drew five or six, some days I didn’t draw any. This, too, is important as we’ll see.

Indeed, a creative lifestyle isn’t about being creative “no matter what”. Rather, it’s about including creativity as an integral part of your identity, resulting in creativity becoming not something you do but something you are.

creative lifestyle. image of a man running — As every runner will tell you, once you get into the mindset of running – once it becomes a lifestyle – you don’t see it as something you do; you see it as something *you are*. A creative lifestyle is no different.

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My (Somewhat) Revised Approach to Religion

August 26, 2024

Philosophy, Society

ignorance, knowledge, philosophy, society

Just to make this immediately clear: I am an atheist. I have revised nothing in terms of what I think regarding the existence of a supreme being. And because I consider the current evidence overwhelmingly against the existence of such a being, I do not accept theists’ rational explanations behind it, either. However, I have lately revised my approach to religion in terms of theists’ irrational acceptance.

Much more importantly, in my somewhat revised approach to religion I now place significant weight on such acceptance being a conscious choice.

I will explain all this in more detail in this post – I believe there is merit in establishing such contact lines for the benefit of society – but here’s the general gist: I don’t believe in a supreme being, and – with existing evidence – there’s nothing anyone can do to convince me. More still, if they believe from a rational perspective (“God made humans because how else, intelligent design, blah blah”), I’m entirely unimpressed.

However, if they say “I fully understand science is on the right track, a God doesn’t make sense, but I choose to believe anyway”, then they at least have my sympathy (even empathy, in this flawed life), and we can communicate.

revised approach to religion. image of an unimpressed cat — “There’s only one God, me…”

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