FAQ (laying down the basics…)
# Who is RA?
RA stands for the human half of the squirrel’s self. Born in 1985, theoretically female and straight, of Romanian-Palestinian descent, a rather ridiculous idealist, inborn skeptic, suffering from bi(multi)polar syndrome and several post-traumatic stress disorders. Much into politics, economics, philosophy, psychology, change, diversity, purity, nature, solitude, self-victimization, (un)motivated outbursts of bliss and drama, harsh experiences. Very shifting. And restless. Loving animals and sometimes humans.
RA is also the ancient Egyptian sun deity. That’s no coincidence, I tend to think. First of all, in multiple ways I am totally magnetized by the sun. Second, for Egyptians Ra meant light, warmth, growth, power. Especially from some deeper/secondary viewpoints, I associate these words with myself or to the version of myself I tend towards. Third, half of my family resides in the close vicinity of the Egypt-Palestine border, in Rafah city. So mentally and geographically I am somewhat close to what Ra stands for. Or at least that’s the version I choose to believe. As you will notice throughout this blog, reality is an empty concept for me. I like building personal, alternative, simultaneous and often competing realities.
# Why do you only use the initials of your name?
Because online research is much too popular these days and I wouldn’t want my present, past and future professors, employers, employees or collaborators to find out compromising information when googling me by my real name. It suffices for them to know the official version on my CV. I mean…who on earth would ever want to hire a multipolar individual ? Or what university would accept the application of a squirrel? By far the prudent thing in a such context is to let others think I am a serious, equilibrate human being, who actually fits into the mutually shared criteria of “appropriateness”.
# Why is RA a squirrel?
Because RA believes in metempsychosis. The whole story begins back in highschool, when RA had a life-shattering experience while reading C. Negruzzi’s “Alexandru Lapusneanu”. One character of this work was called Postelnicul Veverita. In Romanian “veverita” means squirrel. “Postelnicul” is rather hard to translate accurately, as it is an archaic term which probably exists in other languages only if historic circumstances resembled to ours. To attempt clear this aspect: in the middle ages, “postelnic” was an honorific title ascribed to boyars in Moldavia and Wallachia, aristocrats generally having administrative attributions. The name sticked to my mind so badly that I turned certain about me actually being the reincarnation of Postelnicul Veverita. It ain’t anything gotta do with the character himself, but just with the sonority of the name and with what I mentally build out of it. (…) The fact that I consider myself a squirrel is something I’ve been keeping on the low. Few individuals have a clue about my true identity (Miki, Robert, David). Those calling me “Veve” are the ones that had the time and patience to see behind my human surface. And I thank them for giving the squirrel in me a chance.
# What is agnosticism all about?
Although mostly associated to religion (views rejecting claims to spirituality, mystical knowledge, gnosis etc), agnosticism should be more understood in its broad meaning. It partially or totally denies the possibility of objective knowledge of the world, of phenomena’s essence, of truth claims. I more take it in the sense of unknowable > uncertainty > non-commitment. When calling the Squirrel “agnostic”, I incorporate her being doubtful, vacillating, philo-sophical, skeptical, nihilist, relativist etc. Might seem like mixing up too many here, but all seemingly dispersed bits count. What I do believe is that our understanding of everything is limited and deformed, knowledge is fragile and there is no such thing as reality. But now I even doubt of my previous statement. That’s agnostic.
# What is Squirrel RA agnostic about ?
Well, about herself, about others, about God, about knowledge, about non-knowledge, about assumptions, about conclusions.
# Why is Squirrel RA blogging?
Because some time ago someone very dear to the Squirrel taught her the lesson of transparency. She ain’t sure if she understood out of it what it was meant to be learned. She might have actually understood the exact opposite (?) Not long after that another person dear to the Squirrel again taught her a similar lesson on the role of transparency. The Squirrel over time pretty much changed her stubborn, non-transparent ways and it proved to be for the best. Truth is there’s not objectively enough time to disclose yourself to all the people you’d want to understand you better. So the Squirrel is primarily blogging for the relevant ones in her life. Over 90% of the views the Squirrel will be blogging about are completely unknown, even to her closest friends and family members. The Squirrel is not necessarily uncommunicative, but just has a rather particular understanding of communication and interpersonal relations. Her family and closest friends know very, very little about how and what she thinks and feels. So maybe this blog, by offering a more transparent me, will turn into a window of opportunity for building stronger relationships with the ones I care about and who much care about me. And maybe even for building connections with other people who might resonate with the Squirrel !
# Why is Squirrel RA blogging in English?
Because she aims at a global squirrel audience. Squirrels around the world use different languages or dialects, just as humans do. Squirrel RA can never know where in this wide world she can find her squirrel soul mate, so why reduce chances of reaching him/her by using Romanian ? As well, RA’s many squirrel relatives and friends are located all around the world, and the only way to reach most of them is by using English. Another reason is because Squirrel RA considers English a more flexible language than Romanian, so communicating in English suits her better, although she doesn’t claim having top linguistic skills neither in English, nor in any other language. If she’s really good at something, that’s silence. And that is a patent she’s working on right now: a blog disclosing information exclusively through silence – aka blank pages. But there’s an art in being blank and silent ! And I’m sometimes an artist.
# So should comments only come in English?
I would prefer that, but you can however also comment in Romanian. And in Spanish, German, French and Portuguese: I can more or less understand all, but however please keep it either basic simple, or highly neological. Thanks! If I’ll soon also acquire a good passive Turkish and Arabic, I’ll be able to follow your comments in these languages as well. If you want to do me a favor, you can post your comments in Turkish and Arabic, to force me learn new words so as to understand what ‘cha sayin. For posting comments in any other language than the above, please give me extensive private classes beforehand. If men in your country are generally good-looking, then there’s a chance for me to visit your country, so I am also potentially interested in your language. For Romanians only, you can also use the following dialects: dacoroman, aroman, istroroman, meglenoroman. And one extra thing: yes, Romanians are of Latin descent and I did study Latin back in high school, but I am not that good at following comments in Latin. Just for the record. As far as English is concerned, I much enjoy American slang and to a lesser degree British English. “Pass da dough, nigga!” is something I grasp easier than “Long live the queen!”.
Regarding the content of comments: yes, you can and should be critical of me as long as your argumentation is sound and commonsensical. I will not filter comments to only include the ones that sound good and agree with my views, coz I’m not trying to sell myself in a better package than the real one. So I ain’t really in quest of stuff contributing to an always rosy surface. Sneak attacks aimed at compromising my public image….are welcome. For real. And one final request: please try be relevant. Don’t share your having a crush on me in a topic I’m debating the financial crisis 
# What is Squirrel RA blogging about ?
The squirrel is writing about topics of interest to her and hopefully to others too, not confined to: humans, animals, animalic humans, human(istic) animals, economics, politics, socialitics, squirrelitics, visual arts, music, life, the after-life, the non-life. And a whole lot of adjacent blablas.
# How can I contact the Agnostic Squirrel ?
You can connect with the human half of the Squirrel via Facebook, LinkedIn, Y! Messenger, Skype, MSN etc. Bear in mind that I am an open person, but not open enough to add absolutely any dude to my connections. I am interested in networking, but only with people with whom I can share something. And by something I don’t mean flirting or enlarging upon the weather forecast (though these can too be fascinating at times). Therefore, I do not add to my list anyone and don’t accept anyone’s friendship requests, coz my target is not having hundreds of people on my list, but having (few) relevant ones. If you think you can teach me something or help me in any direction, offer me suggestions or correct me…please feel free to email me at agnostic[dot]squirrel[at]gmail[dot]com. Also, do write me if I can by chance help you in any way possible. Don’t spam me, please. Or you will be sorry. I’ve got superpowers and you wouldn’t wanna know what I mean by that. Just to give you a clue, I remind you that squirrels are part of the rodents family. I can begin with some of your cables and follow with (… ) hihi
If you wanna connect with the Squirrel, you should first put some time, energy and nerves into knowing me. You can gimme a call and set a meeting. Or a date. I love going out in the park, rollerblading, playing ping-pong, as well as doing and talking either philosophical or plainly idiot stuff. It has to be mentioned that I don’t yet have rollerblades and have only played ping-pong twice in my life…but I think I’m however excellent at both. If you feel like offering me a chocolate, I’d be glad to accept it. This is a trick that always works if you wanna take me out and I reply “Dear, I’d totally love to…but unfortunately I’m terribly busy at the moment”.
If you are not one of my kin, friends or acquaintances, you can nonetheless meet me. If you ever get to Romania and want to know more about its culture and traditions, especially those pertaining to the (discriminated) squirrel minority, drop me a line and I’ll do my best to meet you. If you want to host me in your country, it will be my great honor to invade your home and especially to vandalize your fridge. Send me an invitation (preferably signed and stamped, in a sealed envelope) and I’ll be your guest when I get to your country or maybe I’ll even set a special trip to your country if your offer is tempting enough. My every response shall be based on a cost-benefit analysis.
# What can the Agnostic Squirrel do for me and/or my business ?
If we resonate, I could for instance support you by writing about your initiatives, by promoting you through a banner or link on my blog and by asking my friends to promote you on their websites and blogs.
If you feel like adding a squirrel touch to your life and business, I’m offering my consulting services free of charge. No, I do not have my own agency yet, coz I currently lack the capital necessary for investing in this envisaged squirrel business. But I am planning to win the lottery. Or if I’ll soon get my hands on a rich, generous sugar daddy, then my consulting agency will be called SIN = Squirrel Innovating Network. Or Agnostic Squirrel Branding (ASB are also the initials of the Aarhus School of Business, where I just sent my master application two days ago…keep your fingers crossed for me being accepted!). Or SDC: Squirrel Death Coaching – it’s the complementary version of the all so popular life coaching services nowadays: I’m basically mentoring you on how to die in a complex and heroic manner, how to accept death with serenity or how to cause somebody else’s death. Or (…) I strayed from the topic, sorry :-S
So! First of all, demand some squirrel invigorating strategy for your pathetic life and/or business. If you do feel like results satisfy you, then extra requests will cost you. Yup, you got it right: one free trial only. Fees are negotiable and 90% of the money earned will be skillfully invested by me in socially-oriented projects of my NGO or directly donated to economically challenged individuals. 10% of the fee charged is put aside as “administrative costs” and goes to buying neurons to replace the ones dead during my intense brainstorming sessions. I can sell ideas that sell. And you can check that for yourself. Just dare try me out ! Hmzzz, sounds like an XXX ad. But you probably got the gist of what I meant.
If you feel like offering me a job, do make sure it suits my interests. You can make out what might interest me by carefully reading my posts. Virtually, I am interested in almost anything requiring usage of my gray matter. Also, do make sure it is well paid. I’ve invested much money, time and energy into educating and building my Squirrel Self and I’ve got myriad abilities that will surely make your business thrive. So caution: I won’t sell myself for little. Conversely, if we’re talking about noble causes, do count on me for free. I’ve been volunteering for some time now and I’ll volunteer any time for non-profits promoting good causes. Also, for stuff like undercover operations I will not rip you of any money, coz it’s exciting enough for me to perform that just for the sake of it. I’ve always wanted to become a spy or at least a private investigator (if I ever had a cartoon role-model, it was “Inch-Eye-Private-Eye”)…so doing this for you will be my utmost pleasure. Just not ask me spy on myself. That costs !
If you’r at a deadlock and maybe feel you could use some squirrel advice, I’d be more than glad to help you out. I am interested in problems facing others, because I also had and have many problems. I don’t claim being able to improve your life, but I am sure I can help you improve your life yourself. Because that’s what I’m trying to do with my own life, so I’ve got some experience in finding the perspectives and approaches that get you up when you feel down. I’m serious and passionate about helping others !
# Why aren’t you consistent with using pronouns?
Yes, you do have an eye for details. Indeed, I often switch from “I” and “me” to “she” and “her”, from my human self to my squirrel self. And to my other, rather misty selfs. I am still confused about my bipolar or multipolar nature, so I can’t make a clear-cut separation between the diverse creatures sharing my mind and soul. For the moment being, I shall use terms interchangeably. As soon as I discover the real voice behind a statement, I will attribute that strictly to the relevant actor. Like: “The agnostic squirrel thinks RA’s boyfriend is an asshole”. Or: “RA disagrees with the squirrel’s alternative theory on quantum physics”. Or: “Neither the human, nor the squirrel side of RA have agreed to sign the global petition for a monster-free world”. Or: “Both A.S, and R.A. pleaded guilty for being alive”. And so forth…
