I took the survey.

I realized while answering one of the questions that the comments that I make for free karma are one of my main interactions with the LW website.

The moral tension of what Celestia was doing was well done. I found myself getting excited at how awesome everything was, and then muttering aloud about the "creeping horror" that was coming. I also loved the parallels to the AI-boxing experiments, except the Princess can argue people into boxing themselves.

Thanks very much for writing this! In lieu of anything specifically useful, I leave you with a small proportion of the warm fuzzies you provided to me :)

Just donated $500 (with the Singularity credit card, so it's really more like $505 ^_^).

Hi! I'm in town from Tucson for the week, and I'm super interested in meeting some new LessWrongers. Unfortunately, I'm busy right at 7; if I drop in later, at 8:30 or 9:00, will people still be there?

Note, this one will go from 7 until 9 before I have to leave.

Also note, if you're trying to find us, I'll have an evolution textbook (red cover like this: http://www.amazon.com/Evolution-Douglas-J-Futuyma/dp/0878931872) and a stripey fedora.

I'm 550 pages into a genetics textbook that I'm reading on my own, which is something I never would have imagined doing two months ago. I've been experiencing success with TDT for habit formation (implementing flossing, fluoride rinsing, sunscreen, running, and taking pills) and using the pomodoro method to chunk my time. I also achieved my goal of creating a piece of fanart for HPMoR (can be watched/read on youtube). Tomorrow or Wednesday I'm going to receive my piracetam + CDPCholine + pyritinol (the nootropics I found recommended as a solid beginner stack). Tomorrow I'm meeting with a researcher to discuss a volunteer position in her genetics lab.

My success with all this has been crucially dependent on finding and recognizing cached beliefs and identities, like "I can't get a cameo in HPMoR, my poetry isn't good enough!" or "I'm a linguist!" or "Drugs are bad!" It's intimidating how many of these I've found and how many more I probably still have to get to.

Are you guys super awesome? Any super skilled programmers or summat?

I ask 'cuz I'm considering moving back to Tucson for a semester or so. Conditional on that, might attend UofA. I'm chiefly worried about losing my Player Character status. But Berkeley doesn't seem to be all that happenin' lately, and most of the people I love live in Tucson. Subplots galore.

Would it make it significantly easier for you two to attend if we slightly altered the start time?

Me and an interested friend (both in Tucson) are planning to make the trip down (up?) for this meeting. If there's anyone else who might be up for the carpool/road trip... hit me up.

My changes in fashion have been wildly successful. Hanging out with two separate friend groups the week after mini-camp, I was complimented repeatedly on how snazzy my new look was and how I was suddenly fashionable. They asked what happened and I said "I went to San Francisco!"

Even better evidence: I went to a bar with a friend last week, wearing a blazer, black slacks, nice shoes, and a decent T-shirt. We got stopped by the bouncer, and he said they had a strict dress code: no athletic shorts, no plain white t-shirts, etc. (basically my friend's entire outfit). He said "This guy's dressed to the core, and you're violating the whole dress code!"

I'm maintaining my habit of studying Calculus on my own using Khan Academy videos, and have a no-money graph up on Beeminder. I've logged about 20 hours, in addition to Precalc videos (so probably over 25 hours), and with no calculus training prior to two weeks ago, I got a 53/100 on a Calc 1 final exam. So, not perfect yet, but certainly astonishing progress in my mind.

This week I went into a complete slump triggered by a hangover on Monday and a difficult piece of schoolwork with a flexible due date (creating a syllabus). I'm still procrastinating on creating the syllabus.