{"id":8986,"date":"2014-08-07T12:09:16","date_gmt":"2014-08-07T16:09:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chcollins.com\/100Billion\/?p=8986"},"modified":"2022-08-01T07:43:07","modified_gmt":"2022-08-01T11:43:07","slug":"letters-to-the-editor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chcollins.com\/100Billion\/2014\/08\/letters-to-the-editor\/","title":{"rendered":"Letters to the Editor"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dear The 100 Billionth Person:<\/em><\/p>\n

It is getting pretty tiresome to read your blog.\u00a0 SO NEGATIVE all the time.\u00a0 There are lots of fun things about the world, why don’t you write about those?\u00a0 You could post some selfies from places you ate dinner at for example.\u00a0 I’m tired of all the downward spiral stuff!\u00a0 Get a real life instead of all the philosophy.\u00a0 How about some jokes!\u00a0 Thanks, <\/em><\/p>\n

Just Another Frustrated Reader<\/em><\/p>\n

*<\/span><\/p>\n

Dear Just Another,<\/span><\/p>\n

Thank you for correcting<\/a> me.\u00a0 I have been a rather naughty boy, if I may be so bold, sir.\u00a0 Perhaps I need a good talking to, if you don’t mind my saying so.\u00a0 Perhaps a bit more.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

___________________________________<\/p>\n

Dear 100 Billionth Person:<\/em><\/p>\n

I just got through reading the first letter, and I have to say, Amen!\u00a0 No wonder no one reads your blog.\u00a0 Atheists are no fun!\u00a0 You made fun of Jesus Christ in your last post and I won’t forgive you for that.\u00a0 If that’s the best you can do, then you should give up your blog and seek help.<\/em><\/p>\n

I can recommend someone who can help.\u00a0 His name is Jesus Christ and He is the Son of God, whom you should listen to.\u00a0 If you were inspired by His holy writings, you would have many happy readers and you would be happier too.<\/em><\/p>\n

Jesus will take care of the sick and oppressed of this world, so stop complaining about them and start praying for them!<\/em><\/p>\n

A Proud Disciple of The Word (but not yours!)
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

*<\/span><\/p>\n

Dear Proud Disciple,<\/span><\/p>\n

I try to take a “live and let live” stance in my blog.\u00a0 Yes, I’m an atheist, but I don’t go out of my way to pick fights with believers, even though I think this world would be a better place if it were free of the irrationality of religious belief.\u00a0 What can I say — humans still have an appendix and humanity still has religion.\u00a0\u00a0 Evolution is a slow process, but let’s not get all constipated and bring it to a halt.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0___________________________________<\/span><\/p>\n

To The 100 Billionth Person:<\/em><\/p>\n

Your blog can be mildly amusing at times, but I always thought you should rename it to “Ipse Dixit.”\u00a0 The Wikipedia entry for “Ipse Dixit” describes your pieces perfectly:<\/em><\/p>\n

Ipse dixit, Latin for “He himself said it,” is a term used to identify and describe a sort of arbitrary dogmatic statement which the speaker expects the listener to accept as valid.<\/em><\/h4>\n

The fallacy of defending a proposition by baldly asserting that it is “just how it is” distorts the argument by opting out of it entirely: the claimant declares an issue to be intrinsic, and not changeable.<\/em><\/h4>\n

Mr. 100 Billionth Person, you can dixit til the cows come home, but it’s still only your ill-informed opinion against the entirety of human deliberation.\u00a0 Good luck with that.
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

Regards, Oliver Wendell Douglas<\/em><\/p>\n

*<\/span><\/p>\n

Dear Mr. Douglas,<\/span><\/p>\n

You have a point.\u00a0 It may be on the tip of your pitchfork, but it is a point.\u00a0 Next, please.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0___________________________________<\/span><\/p>\n

Dear 100 Billionth Person:<\/em><\/p>\n

I am looking for an interesting new summer drink recipe.\u00a0 Do you have one?<\/em><\/p>\n

Signed, Looking for New Summer Drink Recipe (An Interesting One)<\/em><\/p>\n

*<\/span><\/p>\n

Dear Looking,<\/span><\/p>\n

Finally, a reader to the rescue.\u00a0 When we were in Paris, we went to an Italian restaurant near the Eiffel Tower named Villa Verdi<\/a>.\u00a0 It turned out to be my favorite from our vacation.\u00a0 I was in an adventuresome mood that evening and did something I never do: I ordered one of the specialty cocktails.\u00a0 They called it “Martini Sprint” and it was sparkly and refreshing.\u00a0 I asked our server what was in it, and he answered, “Prosecco and martini.”\u00a0 By martini, he meant Martini<\/a> brand of white vermouth.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Martini website calls this a “Martini Royale Bianco” and recommends a 50\/50 mixture of prosecco and vermouth, with a squeeze of lime, over ice.\u00a0 To my taste, this is a bit heavy on the vermouth.\u00a0 You want enough vermouth so you know this is not plain prosecco, but not so much vermouth that it overpowers.\u00a0 Do your own experiments, but I think a 3:1 ratio of prosecco to vermouth is about right.<\/span><\/p>\n

So here’s my recipe, along with a late-afternoon “Pom” variation.\u00a0 Fill a rocks glass with ice.\u00a0 Slowly (to avoid excess foam) pour in a decent brand of prosecco (not Barefoot please) until the liquid level is about a half-inch below the rim.\u00a0 Add a quarter-inch of white vermouth.\u00a0 Jiggle a stirrer up and down in the ice to break up the vermouth layer.\u00a0 Squeeze in a lime and enjoy.<\/span><\/p>\n

For the “Pom” version, buy some fresh pomegranate juice and freeze it in an ice cube tray.\u00a0 Substitute one cube of juice for one of the regular ice cubes.\u00a0 One cube is enough — that will give you a dry start and a tasty finish — and the red cube looks cool too.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0___________________________________<\/span><\/p>\n

To The 100 Billionth Person:<\/em><\/p>\n

I remember reading on your blog back in February that your goal was to finish one book a month<\/a>.\u00a0 But I don’t see six books in your “2014 Reading List.”\u00a0 What gives?\u00a0 How can we believe anything you say anymore?\u00a0 And I bet that drink tastes awful.<\/em><\/p>\n

I’m Watching You, You Slacker
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

*<\/span><\/p>\n

Dear Watching,<\/span><\/p>\n

I admit that I have fallen behind in my reading.\u00a0 I was doing all right until I started to read “The Language Instinct” by Steven Pinker.\u00a0 I tend to select rather dense books, which can be slow-going whether they are good or bad.\u00a0 If they are good, i.e. content-rich, then they can take a while to absorb.\u00a0 If they are bad, i.e. full of verbiage and repetition, then it isn’t very rewarding to pick them up and read.\u00a0 “The Language Instinct” is content-rich but also repetitive at times.\u00a0 I have plowed halfway through it.<\/span><\/p>\n

The next book on my list, “The Sleepwalkers<\/a>,”<\/span> is about the events leading to World War I.\u00a0 That should be a breeze.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dear The 100 Billionth Person: It is getting pretty tiresome to read your blog.\u00a0 SO NEGATIVE all the time.\u00a0 There are lots of fun things about the world, why don’t you write about those?\u00a0 You could post some selfies from … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[45,36],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8986","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-humor","category-blog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chcollins.com\/100Billion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8986","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chcollins.com\/100Billion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chcollins.com\/100Billion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chcollins.com\/100Billion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chcollins.com\/100Billion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8986"}],"version-history":[{"count":42,"href":"https:\/\/chcollins.com\/100Billion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8986\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9026,"href":"https:\/\/chcollins.com\/100Billion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8986\/revisions\/9026"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chcollins.com\/100Billion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8986"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chcollins.com\/100Billion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8986"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chcollins.com\/100Billion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8986"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}