X-Message-Number: 10312 From: Date: Mon, 24 Aug 1998 00:32:31 -0500 (CDT) Subject: The Pleasures of Eternal Life Just a suggestion. Perhaps someone has already made it. Perhaps someone is already doing it. What if we devoted some portion of communication to compiling pleasures for mind and body as an ongoing directory of fun things to do, be and have on this wide, wide world? My impression of most of us (I have met face-to-face only one other cryonics sign-up outside my family, who are all members) is one of serious, determined and hard-working intellectuals. What I miss in my imbalanced and myopic perspective of what I suspect is the authentic situation among cryonists, is the FUN. If we are dedicated to living longer, I feel there should be some attention drawn to the joys of living, period. Perhaps the cryonet is the wrong place for such a gathering of suggestions, I leave that issue to you to determine, but I am envisioning sharing the items which you have found especially rewarding somewhere. I offer four examples which come to mind: (1) If you like Disneyland but prefer to avoid long lines, I know that going there the last week of November and the first two weeks of December finds Disneyland with the smallest number of attendees for the entire year. If you don't mind rain or cooler weather and can come during such brief times, you will find most of Disneyland deserted except for the rides and attendants. (2) If you want to tour Europe but do not want to break the bank, you can pick up a current copy of Rick Steve's EUROPE THROUGH THE BACK DOOR and, by visiting Europe more like a native than like a tourist, you can cut your trip expenses by more that half. The trick is to stay at local hotels where the locals go and to eat like locals limiting restaurant-use and expanding picnic use. (3) Carrying a large and heavy wooden cane, preferably with a knob on top is magically effective in causing automobile drivers to treat you courteously when you cross at intersections. This is especially effective if you choke up on the cane about halfway and bob it playfully up and down on a level with car headlights as you cross the intersection. Everyone smiles. The world becomes a happier place. (I have also found that this eases mental disturbances in ranting psychotics we sometimes pass on city sidewalks as well as equally magically reduces interactions with the street criminal element). (4) If you live where there is congested traffic and too many crowds for your taste but don't want to move, see if you can become a night person. I knew one gentleman who lived in San Francisco for years and had the streets virtually to himself for driving, enjoyed attending restaurants where he was commonly the only patron and generally enjoyed a "private" city. He simply rose when the sun set and went to bed when the sun rose. Broad spectrum "sun lamps" attended to his mood needs and, if he really needed a bright and sunny day, he tended to travel to France without having "jet lag" insofar as his body clock was concerned. People in general seem to me to be too quick to mention things "to die for". I can't speak for the rest of you, but one reason I intend to stick around is because there are so many wonderful things "to live for". (So many books, so many books, so many books...) I suspect that most if not all of you out there share this attitude with me to some extent more than the norm (or it would be norm for everyone to have already signed up for cryonics). So would it be highly inappropriate to ask for YOUR tricks, tips and suggestions for enjoying life now, coping with the problems of life as it is, as well as to anticipate what further marvels life may hold in store for us? If this is already being done elsewhere, please tell me where. I'd appreciate it. And if this is being done elsewhere, may I suggest we cryonics members borrow some of it for the direct benefit of our members... and to demonstrate to those who encounter our movement why life is worth living and enjoying. If the cryonet is not the appropriate place for this, I can accept that, but would also ask if there might be a better place to be suggested in that case. Living forever is laughing forever. He who laughs, lasts. Thank you for your consideration, George Smith Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=10312