Findings

Eleven Amazing Cosmos Photos

I was glancing over some archives... and these are some of my favorites. Mouseover for name of image. Right-click and "View Image" for hi-res.













Credit goes to NASA and their miscellaneous related organizations and astrologers and whatnot.

Celebratory

Christmas Eve.

I'm now eighteen.

Woo hoo.

Audi Q5: Unbox The Box
by hourigan

[ sculptor ][ scaryideas ][ inkscape ][ wine ][ songbird ][ parlophone ][ travel ][ DJ ][ lunar ]

Sweeter Than Anything I've Tried

No Longer

No longer will I have to rewind the past
Those I've come to glimpse of it;
No longer will I carry this weighted mass
Now I face the day with no shame!
- "No Longer", Decyfer Down

This song perfectly describes today for me.



And, oh my God, there are only ten days until my birthday.
I'm thinking a navel piercing is in order.

mp3toss . cowbirds . tv-links . film noir . relativism . danyboy

Let's Go Again

A love song based off of MarioKart... that actually doesn't suck. Who knew?

Performance High

Just finished my choir concert. I am COMPLETELY jazzed with energy, and am ready to do the entire performance a SECOND TIME.

Let's go. Let's go right now. AGAIN!

A few of the songs we sang:

Solstice

The twenty-first of December is the first day of winter on the Gregorian calendar. It is also the winter solstice.

The winter solstice - the shortest, darkest day of the year, the day Earth is the furthest away in its orbit around the sun - has been celebrated the world over, through many different ceremonies and festivals alike. Usually the festivities are aimed towards convincing the deities of that culture, or even the sun itself, to extend the days once more; to bring light and warmth, and turn the seasons forwards in their cycle. Depending on the culture, the celebration was either a desperate sacrifice, one to make sure the seasons kept turning, or else it was a holiday, to celebrate the eventual coming of the spring.

The winter solstice - the shortest, the darkest day of the year - is also the day I was born.

This coming solstice, I will come of legal age.

It is almost the sort of thing that fantasy stories are built from. But really, it's just my birthday. Not all that special.

I'm feeling a little on the creative side. I want to create something. Write, draw, sculpt... something to let out the emotional oddness that I feel building inside me. I need an outlet.

They're Going Down

I can picture in my mind a world without war, a world without hate. And I can picture us attacking that world, because they'd never expect it.
- Jack Handey

Six-Point Perspective: A Marvelous Thing

The art of Dick Termes. It's a bit of a tricky switch, but look at it as though you're seeing through a clear glass and scanning a room from right to left. It's really quite fabulous.

Imbecility

"Nobody poor was ever called democratic for marrying someone rich." - Mr. Fairchild, Sabrina

"Death and Life"

– Charles Carroll Bombaugh, Gleanings for the Curious from the Harvest-Fields of Literature, 1890

Tricky Questions

A quote my dad sent me:

German General to Swiss General: "You have only 500,000 men in your army; what would you do if I invaded with 1 million men?"

Swiss General: "Well, I suppose every one of my soldiers would need to fire twice."

Breathe In, Breathe Out, It's Only Monday

Had first read-through of the It's A Wonderful Life script tonight. I have officially been assigned the role of Violet, which, while not a major part, is incredible nonetheless. After only reading the lines aloud I had several people tell me I was perfect for the part, which is just great, considering what a sexy fox Violet is.

I'm making a contest with myself to see how soon I can memorize all of Violet's lines. I'm shooting for the end of this week. We'll see how that goes.

After rushing home from rehearsal I managed to finish ALL of my online Spanish workbook about seven minutes before the stroke of twelve... which probably doesn't actually affect my grade, but I'm still proud of myself for managing it. Why I didn't remember I HAD an online portion of the homework to do was completely bogus, to the point of being absolutely moronic. Undergoing a verbal beration from my mother about it when I was already beating myself over the head (with what little energy I had left from lack of sleep) somehow managed to make it that much worse.

And earlier today I finally (FINALLY) finished the pitcher from ceramics class that I've spent the last three weeks straight working on... I figure I've spent about eighteen to twenty hours on it total, what with the working on it outside of class and whatnot. I really hope I can still manage to get the other projects on my ceramics list done in time.

On a different note I've been hacking these lovely, chesty, phlegm-producing coughs for the last four or five days now. I'm not sure what these coughs are or where they came from, but the fact that I'm actively coughing things up is a good thing. I think.

Okay. I'm going to go collapse into bed now. Kitty want to snuggle?

Oh, yeah, and it's only Monday. DAMMIT.

The Collective

Completely ingenious way of putting it.
"The Oak Beams of New College, Oxford"
http://video.stumbleupon.com/#p=o05e8xnxmv

I love how I didn't see the absolute skill coming... it completely surprised me, and was awesome. Also, German really is a beautiful language when spoken by natives.
Amazing Hammer Skills


Reminds me of a certain scene from The Court Jester... but this is just excellent.


I would really like to sing this. It's a great accapella tune.


Wow. That's just... wow. I feel so cushioned.


I will no longer let anyone profess the keyboard an inferior instrument. Also? Why is anyone this weird so FREAKING TALENTED?


This is SO MUCH BETTER than video games!! I really want to do it!


Fireballs. Need I say more?


Okay. Honestly? NO ONE should be able to do this and have it come out awesome.
"Spray paint art"
http://video.stumbleupon.com/#p=nf6c81n6bb

Out, Damn Spot!

Adorable. And awesome.



He's like the Mission Impossible of the dog world.

Briefly Speaking

It's strange

I'd like to sleep...
I'd love to sleep...

I'm so very tired

Tired...

But not sleepy.

I close my eyes
And rest my head
And my mind busies itself

Restlessly self-defeating
My own best intentions

My body cannot remain
Comfortable
I twist and turn
On my usually comfortable mattress

Can I yet sleep?
I am so tired...

My mind must eventually stop

My thoughts must eventually meld
Into the bizarre dreams
And strange images
Which the brink of sleep lends them.

But not yet.
Not until my mind has exhausted itself
Run itself into the ground
Never listening to my own body

Please, stop, it entreats
And my mind listens not
But runs its own course
Robbing me of rest
Of peace and of healing

Can I yet sleep?
I am so very tired.

Of Actors and Auditioning

I had an audition on Friday evening to be in the play It's a Wonderful Life, the production by a local church. For my audition I found a really cute little poem I read aloud (and need to memorize):

“A Puzzle”, by Margaret Eytinge

Old Nathan was out in the garden
One beautiful flower-sweet day,
When Dorothy, golden-haired maiden,
Came pensively wandering that way.
“And isn’t this very fine weather?
I never saw finer,” said he,
But she made reply, “Why, I think it
As cheerless a morn as could be.”
“As cheerless?” repeated old Nathan,
Half in doubt he had heard her right,
Then he muttered, “She’s daft,” for he knew not
She had quarreled with Robert last night.

The day was departing; its sunshine
Had vanished; the wind whistled shrill;
The birds hurried home to their nestlings,
And the air grew quite heavy and chill.
The gardener hastened to shelter
His tender young plants, when again
Dolly passed him – this time with light footsteps –
And she called in the merriest strain,
“Oh! isn’t the weather just lovely?”
While her face fairly shone through the mist.
“She’s daft,” said old Nathan – he knew not
The lovers had met and had kissed.

Yes. Completely adorable. Well, a friend of mine (who auditioned soon after me) is good friends with the director, who is apparently the father of his best friend... and he says the director said that he "enjoyed me", which, despite its capacity for double entendre, is a very good sign. I should hear back within the next week on whether or not I got a part, though I've been informed that "there's a good possibility", which is heartening.

As for the audition itself, I believe I really do have a bit of the acting bug, so to speak. I almost expected myself to be entirely nervous about auditioning, but, quite honestly, I was merely excited. I wanted the opportunity to take my neat little poem and go to the front of the room and show it off to my three-person-audience. I was really very happy about it. My body still shook while I was performing, but the reaction didn't reach my emotions... as a matter of fact I was annoyed at my body for betraying what I considered a positive and fun experience.

Anyways. In short, we'll see how this pans out. I'm really very happy about this. Even if I don't get the part, I liked auditioning so much that I'm willing to try it some more.

As a completely irrelevant side note, my birthday is in 69 days. For the first time in years I find myself counting down the days. I think someone should throw me a party.

To My Passengers

Okay. So this last week has been a bit... busy.

Firstly, in my classes I am doing quite well. Art History is interesting, though certainly not riveting; Creative Writing Poetry I'm actually enjoying, and may post the fruits of my latest labors here before long, though as an actual "class" it is woefully lacking in instruction; Spanish is good to sink my teeth into, and it's cool to learn languages as well as find that I love doing so; Ceramics is not only fun, it's challenging, and I'm completely enjoying myself in creating these clay pots, sculptures, and whatnot. The problems come when I get too involved in the detail of a single pot when the class has been assigned to complete a certain number of objects by class' end. That aspect is rather frustrating to an artist like myself.

Secondly, spending five full hours with a person of the opposite gender who you have no will or desire to cultivate a personal relationship with, or, really, any relationship at all, is really rather stupid. On the one hand, yes, I learned a bit from him, and sketched a very nice full portrait of his character, but on the other hand five hours really wasn't necessary, thank you.

Thirdly, spending enough time talking with the person of the opposite gender, who you did have a very good interest in cultivating a personal relationship with, enough to find out that you really can't see spending your life with them, seems to be rather... disappointing, to say the least. Mentally, I'm already beginning to speak my goodbyes, and can even discern the beginning of relief; emotionally and physically, however, I can feel the palpable desire to take this relationship a lot further. It doesn't help that I really like and respect the guy.

Fourthly, I'm sick, and being sick sucks. I want to go to classes, and I HATE knowing that I'm not there and I'm going to MISS OUT ON SOMETHING! but alas, there is not really anything I can do besides sleep... and there's not much chance of that if I go to classes today.

So. In summary, there's been a little bit of frustration. I really wish... well. Several things. But the most important is definitely that I weren't feeling sick.

Also, read the book Darkly Dreaming Dexter (by Jeff Lindsay) the other day, which was the basis for the series Dexter on Showtime. Completely fascinating and amusing novel, sadly very short and not enough to truly get myself involved with... but I'm onto the second novel now, which will hopefully be a bit better in that respect.

Novel Advice

Also:
hamburger . ubuntu . labyrinth . rejection . de-noted . grimm . virus

Sextepalabras Segundos

Can't compose coherent thoughts. Too tired. Take some six-word stories instead. (Look on projectsidewalk for more community projects.)

• Flirtatious... too shallow, perhaps, for me.
• What more could I ask for?
• The steady pulsing beat expels thought.
• A hug... pause... an awkward reunion.
• Such tiredness assails me... cannot think...
• Place your hand here, in mine.
• The graceful curve of a bowl.
• Chirping crickets greet the pale moon.
• Computers, phones, players - too much technology!
• Paper holds secrets, in folds, creases...
• Curling up with books and blankets.

The Actions of Children

Mon dieu, I am friends with absolute children! And ones who are trying to make lasting, adult-level decisions about the rest of their future... based on what? Physical attraction? Everyone else can see they're idiots for even hanging out together.

He's the most like a child... absolutely ridiculous in his actions, using his huge, gawky adult body to accomplish the will of a twelve-year-old (wrestle with me over a magazine? What kind of kid are you? What happened to the gentleman she said she was looking for?). She's practically babysitting him whenever she's with him. (And that will benefit a lasting relationship... how?) I fervently hope they don't have kids. It would be better if they never married in the first place, but I don't want any mother to have to deal with her children on top of a child-mannered father. I shudder at the thought of that scene.

She says she texts the most random inane sentences to him, and loves that he just texts back "Okay". A hint, sweetheart: it's not because he understands, accepts, and moves on. It's because he doesn't know what else to say. It's acknowledging you've spoken, that's all.

I love her to death, and I hate seeing where this relationship is taking her. All she's getting out of it right now is emotional gratification. I really hope the military with mature him, because I can't think of anything else that might. He's like a barely house-trained pet that has finally become big enough to realize the leash can't hold him. He doesn't appear to have solid rules for behaviour at all, let alone any social clue as to how a man should behave.

And this whole "I'm seeing a guy because he's seeing a girl I don't like"? What the hell? Oh yeah, that's completely solidifying your adult relationship. Come on, I thought you at least were more mature than that, girl. But even if you're not, this is CERTAINLY not convincing me of your adult status in the world.

Both of you... grow up. Dios mío.

Desesperación

Will there never be a time or place when age does not define your abilities?

God damn it. It's only a year. One year. Less, as of now... a mere couple of months. Damn it. I feel so... impotent. Inarticulate. Incapable. Irrevocably ejected from the adult world, the capable, responsible echelons of humanity. I am... exiled.

More importantly, why did it take an entire year of classes for this to sink in?

I am tired of it. So tired. And despair rips at my gut... worse than hunger or sadness, worse than those vague twinges of guilt or pain... it is loneliness that eats away at my insides. Humanity has deserted me, the sub-human, the less-than-adult me. And no matter how hard I try, I cannot redefine their lawyer's terms. I am child. That is all.

Today's Composition

So I had poetry class today. I like what I wrote, but I didn't fulfill the assignment (to stay away from abstract concepts and depict only representational visuals), so oh well.

Concepts: Order, War, Solitude, Peace, Hunger

A lily resting on a glassy lake
Is nothing to the placid contentment within.
Alone, I am crowded by my country -
Its turmoil palpable, its quest for justice
Irresistible; hungry as an avalanche
And twice as destructive.
But here in my solitary self, I rest
My soul ordered within me
And I am at peace.

On a completely different note, while I was walking to my Art History class, I passed a bush, and heard these strange high-pitched chirping noises. I looked through the bush and saw this tiny little hummingbird, perched on a tiny little branch, expanding its teensy tiny little red throat and squeak-chirping like I wasn't two feet away and looking right at it. It was fantastic!

Loneliness

I went with my dad to his office so that he could take the carpool lane. While waiting for him to return from his meeting, I finished my book... and so, thinking of my poetry class, wrote the following two poems.

Visit To an Office

An unknown street,
A mystery house,
An alien town.
Wandering through doorways
Down hallways, alleys,
Wandering without purpose
Without meaning
In an unknown land.
Strange pale colours,
Bizarre carpeted floor;
Strangers populate its roads.
These inhabitants do not smile.
Escape is a meaningless word,
And discourse an empty option.
These aliens do not notice the alien
Wandering in their midst,
Do not stop to ask questions -
They stare, and then move about their tasks;
And I, the alien among them,
Don't know what to do with myself.

I hope I don't get lost.

And poem the second:

The Stranded Poet

Single, solitary light -
The others flicker,
But you, faithfully, stay
Lit
A beacon to those
Wandering these halls
And to I, who sits
Pen in hand
Scribbling these thoughts.
You are the one
Who allows me to write
For you are
Both
My inspiration
And my vision;
My enabler
And my guide.
I am lost without you.

Collegiate

Here's a poem I wrote during my poetry class while the teacher rambled on about inconsequential things. I was looking around the room and wondering if I could compose an entire poem about a random object:

Projector

Fine, sleek silver box
Instrument under teacher's hand
Presenting words and images
Meant for guidance

Whirring instructional box
Your eye doesn't absorb, but reflects
For the benefit of all
Who could not learn from you?

Suspended electric box
A source of light and knowledge
Quiet and unassuming -
The projector.

But this poem is my favorite so far. Based on the writing assignment of, "Imagine someone, standing in a doorway, somewhere", I wrote it in its entirety in less than ten minutes, and was the first to finish. Still needs a title, though.

To step through the door
And freeze upon the threshold -
Frozen by the sight before your eyes.
What rare beauty, what fine garment,
What musical speech hath this girl!
Her soft laughter perfumes the air with sound,
And breaks your heart as it does your stride.
Beautiful girl! Grey, ocean-filled eyes,
Watery cascade of sand-golden hair;
She is fluid in motion as the seagull's flight,
Graceful as the lines of the wind-curved dunes.
There is no breath that does not taste
Of her sweet tang whilst she is near,
And when she is absent the mouth is flooded
With the bitter salt of sadness.
Wonderful girl! Whose talents and grace
Break like caressing waves
Upon those fortunate enough
To drown themselves... in you.

"Shapeskearean Venting"

God, you ever get to that point where you're so tired of stupid movies, and then you see a Shakespeare, and it's like water after a desert?

That's how I felt after I watched Much Ado About Nothing. It was so refreshing to see a cohesive, coherent, plausible movie, with completely solid characters, played by actors who completely understood their roles and the spirit of Shakespeare. It was just... nice.

Flash Fiction-ating

As I don't really like posting entire compositions here, I'll try something new and just give you the first few lines:

I ran down the corridor, breathing heavily. I had lost her. My chest heaved, and a sob cracked its way through my chest and up my throat. I thought furiously through the desperation that threatened to consume me. There was no way to regain her. She was too far away, they would know exactly where I went, and I would lose her again, whatever I did. They knew me too well.

... and then give you the link to the rest: My Life - Gone, With One Click.

Wrote it in a flash of inspiration based on a six-word story I wrote, now serving as the title, on projectsidewalk.com. You should go look at that, too.

Repentence

If you say you're a Christian, this slams you to the wall, lifts you up by the throat, and strikes you through the heart with a stake to keep you up there. Click for bigger view.

Great Moments

A list I composed back in June, but didn't share. I'm not sure why. But here, you can have it now.

Feeling the heat of the sun on your body
The earthy smell of ripe blackberries in summer
Having a really good picture on your driver's license
The feeling you get right after finishing a really good book
The closed-in feeling of driving down a country road in the dark
Getting enhanced nightvision right after it snows
Sliding down banisters
The word "snazzy"
Tipping a chair backwards and getting that perfect balance
Walking along a trail in the woods and realizing you're the only one there
Having whatever's in your head come out perfectly on paper
Listening to a great surround sound system
Painting your bedroom the perfect color
An entire stack of the books that you love
Figuring out all the shortcuts on your cell phone
Customizing all the shortcuts on your cell phone
The clean, abrupt smell of permanent marker
Movies that leave you breathless
People you can watch those movies with
Dangly earrings
Summer days, in February
A perfectly sharpened pencil
Old TV shows nobody remembers
Knowing your cat's body language
Watching a movie on YouTube over and over
Old radio broadcasts from the '40s and '50s
Having all your laundry clean at the same time
An equalizer preset that does exactly what you were looking for
Playing hide-and-go-seek with small children
The sight of a herd of deer in a meadow
Estate sales with huge collections of baubles
The little wiggling thing cats do before they pounce
A candle lit for the first time
Getting personal letters
Glass bottles of ink
Small silver charms
Real, old hardwood floors
Floating on a lake in the bottom of a boat
Ancient vine-covered concrete that reminds you of ruins
Having a dragonfly land on your arm
The smell of water lilies
A completed sudoku board
Old chandeliers
Getting a perfect cadence to your words
Doing something childish and not caring who disapproves
The feeling you get after completing a really long essay
The moment when you've got the inspiration, right before you create something amazing

Give it a thought. When was the last time you noticed, and enjoyed, those kinds of (almost entirely superfluous) moments in your life? No one else will enjoy them for you.

Footnote: This is my 200th post to this blog.

Arabic Poetry

Love Compared

I do not resemble your other lovers, my lady

Should another give you a cloud

I give you rain

Should he give you a lantern, I

will give you the moon

Should he give you a branch

I will give you the trees

And if another gives you a ship

I shall give you the journey.

- Nizar Qabbani

Quotes of Many Colors

Here are selections from a site of quotes from sub-English signs.

Advertisement for donkey rides in Thailand:
Would you like to ride on your own ass?

In the office of a Roman doctor:
Specialist in women and other diseases.

In a Japanese hotel:
You are invited to take advantage of the chambermaid.

In a Hong Kong supermarket:
For your convenience, we recommend courteous, efficient self-service.

Two signs from a Majorcan shop entrance:
- English well talking.
- Here speeching American.

From a brochure of a car rental firm in Tokyo:

When passenger of foot heave in sight, tootle the horn. Trumpet him melodiously at first, but if he still obstacles your passage then tootle him with vigor.

A sign posted in Germany's Black Forest:

It is strictly forbidden on our black forest camping site that people of different sex, for instance, men and women, live together in one tent unless they are married with each other for that purpose.

The Final Cellodown

Sort of reminds me of Apocalyptica, whom I love.

It's the Final Cellodown!

Prophecy

Whilst sun and moon endure, America shall remain a city of refuge for the whole earth, until she herself shall play the tyrant, forget her destiny, disgrace her freedom, and provoke her God.

- George Duffield II (1732-1790)

It's Like A Disease

Oh. My. God.

I don't think there's anything cuter on the face of the planet. Makes me want to be a park ranger, quite honestly.

Chip Pics

Sample:

Cravings

Fascinating site. I think I may continue to use this as a reference.

Reduce Your Food Cravings

XKCD

This stuff always manages to make me laugh. I'm a nerd like that.

http://xkcd.com/

Research and Development

Basically I really want one of these amazing action figures. And normally I'm not one for toys, but this one takes the cake for best action figure. It's really a work of art. It's just freaking amazing.


See?

In other news, you can apparently make a fairly adequate solar power generator for less than $300. Something to think about.

Have you ever experienced the feeling of a warm, purring cat, arching against your palm as you smooth down its fur? Then go do it. It's amazing.

Adorable

Just watching some Psych on USA. How cute is that?

Multimedia message

Multimedia message

Multimedia message

Just Stumbling Around

For some reason, I cannot find Weapons of Mass Destruction.

It's amazing, how drinks taste differently when you sip them than when you gulp them. If you haven't noticed, try it.

Another One Bites the Dust

Click to read:


I utterly agree. Shotgun entrances even manage to completely beat out grenade entrances, if you can believe that.

In other news, I have now discovered the Firefox Facebook toolbar add-on, which is completely convenient, as well as Firefox's NASA Night Launch theme, which finally works for Firefox 3.0. This makes me very happy.

In addition to these, Mozilla is apparently working in tandem with Adaptive Path (the designers of MySpace's revamp/relaunch) in order to develop Aurora, a very interesting web browsing application. You should go see the concept videos, episodes one and two (more are on their way).

Good Day

Today I went with Tracy on my bike (which I love!) down to a gorgeous park, where we essentially spent the entire day between biking there, biking around the area, and biking back. We even took a dip in the lake while we were there. It was LOVELY (though soggy, as I forgot Douglas Adams' invaluable advice). Dinner was good too, the Chinese restaurant we stopped by was quite delicious.

By the end of the trip we had biked a total of 28.5 miles. As I have not biked in years, and never biked seriously, I was surprised at my stamina. The fact I have a great bike totally helped.

So now I'm all showered off and sleepy and ready for bed, and I have a nagging suspicion that I'm going to be incredibly sore tomorrow morning. Sigh.

On a related note, bikely.com is a great resource for biking routes if you don't know any. The number of miles vary (though on the site it's listed as km, meaning you'll want to check out Google Calculator if you're used to miles), so you can tour the entire Seattle area or just the small town of Forks.

Saving the Nation

OH THE IRONY.

Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog

Oh my gawd, I KNEW I loved the Firefly writers.

This is why. THIS IS WHY.

...SO MUCH LOOOOOVE.

Times I've watched this so far: |||| |||| |

Beachouse Snapshot

This is one of my favorite photos of the beach. Makes a fantastic cell phone background.

Day at the Cafe

Was at a cafe close to Newport, OR when a very friendly grey cat walked in. I picked him up and set him in my lap, and he promptly began purring. It was a very happy moment.

Shot via my sister's cameraphone.

Blinking Sweaters

Holy crap, this is seriously cool.

The funny thing is, if you found a way to mass-produce these, you could probably make a boatload of money. Think about it.

A-Grade Occupations

Okay. So. Updates.

I am currently working my way through Assassin's Creed on the 360, which is taking me far longer than usual due to my penchant for investigating every corner of each map. It's taking me a while, but I really love the game itself - the collecting flags, conquering Templar, sniping archers with throwing knives, pickpocketing and sneaking around? It suits me perfectly. One big puzzle to achieve. Completely awesome.

Also, watching the TV series The Avatar: The Last Airbender. There's currently a marathon showing on Nickelodeon. I keep forgetting how much I love this show.

The Skillfully Employed

My new favorite quote, which I found while reading The Art of War:

The skillful employer of men will employ the wise man, the brave man, the covetous man, and the stupid man. For the wise man delights in establishing his merit, the brave man likes to show his courage in action, the covetous man is quick at seizing advantages, and the stupid man has no fear of death. - Qtd. by Tu Mu

Bike

I am now in possession - and apparently have been for some time - of an incredibly cool bike. A Univega Shimano 600, circa 1980 or so. Fabulous bike. Blue, with California road licenses on the frame, and almost exactly like this one. An old road racing bike.

I've cleaned all the rust off of the chain and the spokes, and now all it needs are some new tires.

I really like this bike.

Univega is still around, is apparently a German bike company, and has some really cool bikes. You should go take a look.

I'm going to use this bike. I'm not sure what for yet, but as I suck so much at driving cars, this might be my saving grace. We'll see.

Why, Because Then They'd Be Adults?

One of the things I'd like to be able to say when I'm older is that I successfully avoided the trappings of youth.

Whether that be in decisions about occupation, education, or men, I wish for wisdom.

It makes my heart hurt when I see those people who don't respect maturity, or don't desire it.

There's nothing wrong with maturity. It is the next phase, the graduation of intellect, of existence; it is what we have termed Moving Forward. While there are some things we should retain of our childhood, the selfish desires of youth are not one of them. Innocence, openness, yes - but intentional blindness to the knowledge and behaviours of adulthood?

We are made to grow older. We should accept this as the nature of the passage of time, and grow with it, rather than resist what is. We cannot control the passage of time, but we can control how gracefully we will accept the inevitability of change.

And our tastes should adjust with our wisdom, with our realizations of what is real, what is important, what is crucial in life, in love, in spirit.

My taste has changed from boys to men, as I am aware that the taste of men has matured to reflect what is deemed crucial of value in life. So it hurts even more to realize that my friends don't care for what I consider to be the natural change in preference.

Random Noteworthy Remarks

The Stalagmites is a GREAT name for a band.

Film Etiquette

One of the traits in my ideal man is that he will know when commenting during a movie isn't okay. There are times when the movie is spinning such a great atmosphere that I want to lose myself in it, and someone beside me commenting on the scene tends to ruin that atmosphere. No questions about the film, please; no clarifying, no jokes, no comments. Allow the epicness of the film to stand alone. It should be able to handle it.

That's not to say that I don't like joking around with movies EVER. It's just that there is a time and a place and a certain type of movie that I can't STAND it with. We can discuss the interesting change of social interplay AFTER the credits.

It's not that I'm angry, either. I just really wish more people knew how to lose themselves in the same movies that I do.

I Know Kung Fu

Ended up seeing Kung Fu Panda on Thursday night. Surprisingly enough, I really enjoyed the film. Jack Black's voice acting wasn't nearly as distracting as I thought it was going to be. The animation was very good, and perfectly suited to the content. The kung fu aspect was totally interesting, and the parts that got ridiculous were, again, perfectly suited to the content; the parts that made fun of old martial arts flicks didn't go so far as to completely interrupt the storyline, so that worked out just fine as well. I really liked the movie.

I identified the voice of Jackie Chan after the second word he spoke. Nate next to me waited for the freaking credits to roll before telling me, "Hey, it was Jackie Chan... good call." As if I haven't seen enough Jackie Chan movies to know his voice when I hear it. *Insert derisive snort here*

One Billion: Perspective

Found the following in a bulletin posted on MySpace. I really like it. You should read it.

The next time you hear a politician use the word 'billion' in a casual manner, think about whether you want the 'politicians' spending YOUR tax money.

A billion is a difficult number to comprehend, but one advertising agency did a good job of putting that figure into some perspective in one of its releases.

A. A billion seconds ago it was 1959.

B. A billion minutes ago Jesus was alive.

C. A billion hours ago our ancestors were living in the Stone Age.

D. A billion days ago no-one walked on the earth on two feet.

E. A billion dollars ago was only 8 hours and 20 minutes, at the rate our government is spending it.

While this thought is still fresh in our brain, let's take a look at New Orleans. It's amazing what you can learn with some simple division.

Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu (D) is presently asking Congress for 250 BILLION DOLLARS to rebuild New Orleans. Interesting number... what does it mean?

A. Well... if you are one of the 484,674 residents of New Orleans (every man, woman, and child) you each get $516,528.

B. Or... if you have one of the 188,251 homes in New Orleans, your home gets 1,329,787.

C. Or... if you are a family of four...your family gets $2,066,012.

Washington, D.

C, HELLO!
Are all your calculators broken??

Accounts Receivable Tax
Building Permit Tax
CDL License Tax
Cigarette Tax
Corporate Income Tax
Dog License Tax
Federal Income Tax Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA)
Fishing License Tax
Food License Tax
Fuel Permit Tax
Gasoline Tax
Hunting License Tax
Inheritance Tax
Inventory Tax
IRS Interest Charges (tax on top of tax)
IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax)
Liquor Tax
Luxury Tax
Marriage License Tax
Medica re Tax
Property Tax
Real Estate Tax
Service charge taxes
Social Security Tax
Road Usage Tax (Truckers)
Sales Taxes
Recreational Vehicle Tax
School Tax
State Income Tax
State Unemployment Tax (SUTA)
Telephone Federal Excise Tax
Telephone Federal Universal Service Fee Tax
Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge Tax
Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax
Telephone Recurring and Non-recurring Charges Tax
Telephone State and Local Tax
Telephone Usage Charge Tax
Utility Tax
Vehicle License Registration Tax
Vehicle Sales Tax
Watercraft Registration Tax
Well Permit Tax
Workers Compensation Tax

STILL THINK THIS IS FUNNY?

Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago... and our nation was the most prosperous in the world.

We had absolutely no national debt... We had the largest middle class in the world...
and Mom stayed home to raise the kids.

What happened?
Can you spell 'politicians!'

And I still have to press '1' for English.

I hope this goes around the USA at least 100 times.

What the heck happened?

Puts things in perspective, doesn't it?

The Original Goofy Laugh

Also, see this amazing commercial.

But seriously, THIS GUY is the best dancer, like, ever.

I love Alex Trebek.

Whereas THIS is the best music video I've ever seen in my life.

And I'll never look the same way at cell phones ever, ever again.

This is just incredibly impressive.

Jewelry

Scanning through the products of a company called Vagabond Jewelry, and these are my favorite pieces:

Oddity - Look Up - Knave - Kite - Innocent Bystander - I know stuff - and most of all, Geek.

Seeing their prices would have me far more excited, but I really do like silver better than copper... pretty much for the same reason she describes it on her main page. I've always liked air and water better than earth and stone.

Radiohead's Remix

First:


Then:

Big Ideas (don't get any) from James Houston on Vimeo.

Found on The Ridiculant, here.

Obama? Seriously?

It's a long movie, but worth seeing. Interesting stuff. I knew I didn't like the guy.

Motion Carried

Here. Have a poem.

The rhythm of the lines -
Steady - beat, beat.

Blue bars on a page,
Thick beats on a drum.
Versatility in motion,
In sound, in sight.

Touch the bitter colors
Taste the silken verbs
See the rhythms inside;
Hammering at the walls,
Scratching at my throat.
Dry birds, thick wingbeats,
Buzzing at my fingertips -
Beat, beat, beat...

Steady as a motor,
As a pulse in my wrist.

Hear the shift in motion.
Air thickens, movement
Hastening to keep up -
Beat, beat, beat.

Self-Decoration

It was a D&D game, and my character hadn't been introduced yet. I officially despise being a mere level 1 char.

Crystal Skulls are Meh

Okay. You want to know how the Indiana Jones movie was?

Television Without Pity's review sums it up absolutely perfectly. I don't need to add anything to it. It could have been my review, that's how much it jives with my opinion.

Browsing

Just finished going through the archives of the Zebra Girl webcomics. It's really interesting to see the difference between the older and the newer comics - the artist has really come a long ways in terms of storytelling, layout, and detail skills. I totally approve, and look forward to seeing more from him.

I continue to like the playlist I made in this post. Listen to it on random, and it is good.

I added a new wish on the Corrupted Wish boards:

I wish I had a free wish, with no consequences but those which I dictate.

The response:

define consequences:
the physical, social, psychological or emotional effects of a behavior.

Wish granted. You make your second wish. You dictate positive consequences as one would expect. You're living the dream, and everything seems great... Then one day you develop low-self esteem and become self-mutilating. From that day on you live the most terrible and miserable life anyone has ever lived, because now, you dictate negative consequences.

I wish I could see the eye of a tornado and be untouched.

(one a side note, I think paradoxical wishes are awesome. It takes a whole lot more thought to try and corrupt a wish that seems incorruptible. I would like to know what exactly jcroxmisox would have wished for the second wish.)

My response in turn:

Wouldn't you like to know? ;P

Sextepalabras

And, in case the six-word stories you've .already.seen. weren't enough, here are some more.

• Flying, fire-breathing... I can take him.
• Shuck off the weight, stand tall.
• Six walked, but I heard thirty.
• Try something a little more... tailored.
• Perusing the soft, worn, leather-bound books.
• Lovely, a green tea... Too hot!
• Bamboo, stretching towards the green canopy.
• The mouth yawns to swallow me.
• I'd lie, but he'd know it.
• It's the ring - won't come off!
• Twittering bird, perched on stone.
• The diamond glittered in trembling hands.
• "Why didn't you see this coming?"
• "The age of man is over."
• The shotgun gave a satisfying recoil.
• A warrior must not be tempted.
• My soul was scraping my insides.
• It will come, if I call.

And yes, yes I should be asleep right now. Mind your own business.

Swoosh

Moral of the story: Don't go to bed with wet hair.

Lawl

Stumbling Into Addictiveness

LINK!

And

(wait for it)

...another link.

The Language of Colors

It's really interesting to read about how the human race distinguishes colors, and fascinating to find out how we learn them.

New knowledge is FUN!

ALSO. I've desired (like so many) to fly for quite a few years now. Thanks to this guy here, I finally can.

City Life

It's so loud, here, in the city. I open my window at night, and hear the white noise of the freeway and the impatient blaring of horns. The dirt in the air, kicked up by thousands of tires daily, coats everything in dust and grime, even up to a mile away.

It's not right. I want to hear the wind through the trees, smell the pollen in the evenings. I don't want to look up at night and see the orange lights of the city reflected off the belly of the clouds, or diluting the shining arm of the Milky Way. I want to have a black night, without the grim orange haze of streetlamps at every corner, nor waking in the morning to the sounds of lawn mowers and construction. I want crickets and frogs to make my nighttime lullaby, and birds to be my morning alarm clock.

Classroom Activities

I'm not actually going to join the group on Facebook that has these, but I found a funny list of actions you can do in the classroom to eliminate boredom. I'll post a few of my favorites:

• Carve a bust of your professor out of cheese. Tie a ribbon around it, and present it to him/her at the beginning of class. Demand extra credit.


• Whenever you answer the phone, do so in a French accent, and slowly change it to a Japanese accent.


• Threaten to jump out of a ground floor window.


• In a meeting or crowded situation, slap your forehead repeatedly and mutter, "Shut up, damn it, all of you, just shut up."


• Leave your zipper open for one hour. If anyone points it out, say, "Sorry, I really prefer it this way".


• Look at the person next to you for a while, say "You're one of them!", then run out the classroom.


• Every few minutes, take a sheet of notebook paper, write Signup Sheet at the top, and start passing it around the room.


• Name your pen Mr. Pen. Talk to him often. Cry and go mad if Mr. Pen commits suicide (falls off the table).


• Have a funeral for Mr. Pen.


• When you are taking a true/false test: Whenever the answer is false, stand up, grab your hair with both hands, and scream "LIES, ALL LIES!" Sit back down, acting like nothing happened, and repeat.


• Pluck out someone's hair and yell, "DNA!!!"


• Play Teacher Bingo: Have everyone in the class write down 6 words, and when the teacher says one of your words, you cross it off. When all your words have gone, stand up and shout "BINGO!", then sit down and carry on working.


• Organize a whole bunch of people to fall off their chairs at the same time.


• During a test, open up your bag, look inside, and say, "Got enough air in there?"


• Put a sign on your desk that says "Out of my mind, be back soon", then go to sleep. If your teacher wakes you up, scream, "CAN'T YOU READ THE SIGN?!", then go back to sleep.


• Start having fights with yourself aloud over which one of your personalities is better. Start to cry and say, "I love you both; why can't we all just get along?" And if you are really insane, have your personalities hug and make up. Then have all of your personalities gather round to sing Kumbaya! (I suggest you do this when it is really quiet in the room; it scares more people.)
  

Overanalysis

I was perusing Facebook instead of studying, and I came across this guy's comment:

Groups: The Paradox of Belonging
by Patrick Shearing at 11:36pm on May 8th, 2008

"Throughout our Facebook lives, we wander aimlessly through a mass web of irrelevant data and commercialized logic. Nonetheless, we also have the responsibilities which resound with importance such as our Inbox, Wall and the more recent addition of Chat. These serve as our only means of communication with our peers as we meander through the infinite streams of Application requests, Pokes, You Might Know This Person lists and nefarious Super Pokes. Groups tend to be a median between the monotony of obligations and the desultory nature of freedom. Nothing needs to be done as far as groups are concerned, they are simply worn as badges on a profile. In our contemporary culture, creating Facebook groups is the social equivalent of establishing a catchphrase. The title of a Group should either be regarded as a statement expressing information about the author (in an indirect manner) or as deeply symbolic. The influential scientist and theorist Niels Bohr once exclaimed 'Every sentence I utter must be understood not as an affirmation, but as a question.' This is an apt description of the ritualized phenomenon of group appellation. The process of creating and joining these groups is intrinsic to this diverse subculture. The correlation between Bohr's theory of Complementarity and Facebook groups can be summed up as follows: physical reality is determined and defined by manifestations of properties, in the virtual world these manifestations are called applications. This explains how a Facebook group can be meaningless and symbolic at the same time, that is the paradoxical nature of this application."

On the one hand, wow. Heck yes. On the other hand, dude... a little bit of overthinking, are we? He even goes so far as to use a Niels Bohr quote. A freaking Bohr quote, and it's a blurb about Facebook's GROUPS.

Jeez. I don't know whether to shake my head and walk away or to add this guy to my friends list. O_o

Interesting Results

I asked my friends to describe me in three words. This is what they came up with:

Kara: Energetic, positive, sexy
Bacon: Smart, persuasive, classy-ish (alternately: determined, stubborn, and "slusherish")
Natasha: Sexy, bold, intelligent
Rebekah: "Why?" Independent, critical...
Tre: Fun, happy, interesting

And later:

Brittany: Bold, different, smart
Ashley: Fun, intelligent, unique
Rian: Intelligent, intrepid, forward
Rollin: Cute, smart, sarcastic

Hiking Trips

Sprouting

Well, I'm not sure how it's happened, but it seems I've grown taller lately. I should be too old for growing. It makes me happy. :)

Also it would explain my recent inexplicable habit of eating like a horse at every meal.

But it reminds me of the part in the second Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers.

Merry: Why are you taller than me?
Pippin: I've always been taller than you. What are you, three foot six? At the tallest? And I'm pushing three foot seven. *burps* Three eight!
Merry: Three foot eight...?!

It's funny, because even though they're totally excited about growing a couple of inches, they're still less than four feet tall, so no one else cares, because everyone else is five nine and up.
Yeah, I feel like that.

That Daniel Radcliffe Comic Guy

Pop Rocks


His name is Dartanion London. He whines because everyone says he looks like Harry Potter. His whining is funny, though.

More Headroom.

[ tips ][ cashfolds ][ conversion ][ normalcy ][ p.neruda ][ halam ]

Liquify My Laundry

[ variation ][ zoo humor ][ gay ][ art trade ][ skin tone ][ coupons ]

until the light comes
I am caught within the web
of my subconscious.

Browsing

This is a really well-done search engine, which filters through the tags on Flickr photos. Really cool, lovely interface, simple and elegant. Very nice.

Also, Nick Brandt and Eric Gustafson are amazing photographers.



Here is all you need to know about mythology, of all nationalities.

The band Flobots. Fascinating sound. Go check them out.

Iron Man Review

Just finished Iron Man. This tale of weirdness begins when a young sorceress has an argument with a headstrong sailor.

Okay, just kidding. But you've got to admit, the plot is pretty flimsy - who wants to sell insanely hi-tech weaponry to some backyard, dime-a-dozen terrorists? And to what, shift the balance of power? I mean, come on. Aside from that, Robert Downey Jr. is a fantastic actor and performed wonderfully. The effects were great, and I even liked Gwyneth Paltrow (who I wasn't holding out much hope for). Jeff Bridges, however, needs to stay away from these kinds of roles. He doesn't do the whole "comic-book villain" very well, especially when it comes to the predictable good-vs.-evil monologue at the end. Just no, Bridges... you can do better than that.

On the other hand, I loved the cinematography, the directing was good, and there were some really great moments. Not the most fantastic movie ever, but certainly one of the best superhero movies I've seen so far. But then, the only good ones I've seen so far have been Hellboy and X-Men. I haven't liked the Fantastic 4s, the Spidermans, Batman Begins, or Smallville. I didn't even bother seeing Punisher or Superman Returns. (Did I miss any...?)

I like Ghost Rider, but not because it's good. It actually sucked, but I find myself watching it repeatedly anyway. Just shallow entertainment, I suppose.

Oh! The Incredibles. That movie was amazing. There is no getting around that one; it was too great. Good old clean fun. I wish they would make a really good sequel, but I just don't see that happening.

Making the Leap

Further Explorations, in Verse and Swindling

Hey look, ANOTHER haiku.

floating, so gently
a breath of wind underneath
my wings hold me high

Then you can learn about how to get a free meal at McDonald's.


SeeqPod - Playable Search

I'll admit, I don't like Fall Out Boy's newer sound. They've become a little more punk and a little less rock than I like. But I think I'll keep listening to their original albums - I consistently like the first two.

Images and Poetry

Here are some funny pics that I had saved and then forgotten about. I like them a lot. Here, you can have some. Clicky, clicky!



And now, some haiku. Because I feel like it.

silvery light flows
over my pillow, drowning
me in darkest sleep.

the city awakes
in my mind. I travel down
many avenues.

shall we dance, upon
glassy wooden floors, to a
heated samba beat?

Technological Advancement

I have new laptop! Bweee, go me!

I am now the proud owner of a Gateway M-6309. While apparently not a very popular notebook, it is actually very nice quality. Good resolution, lightweight, thin, a gig of ram, and some great media capability. Wifi, of course. I'm really enjoying having a laptop of my own... now all I have to do is remember that I don't own it, and it's not really mine, and I'll be fine. *sigh*

(Image will go here when I take a picture of it, as there are no images to be found online! Jeez...)

In other news, I had a singing lesson today. Recently, I've felt really frustrated in my singing. There are some places where I know I need to get better, but I don't know how to fix it, or even if I'm really hearing it right in the first place. And it's especially hard to hear some advanced people on all sides of me with wonderful volume and better pitch than I've got, and here I am feeling totally inadequate in an advanced singing class. Not good.

I didn't realize the intensity of emotion I felt about this until I started crying about it in front of the teacher. It really was hard to try and contain the emotion and listen to what he was telling me. Once he saw the source of my frustration he assured me that the advanced skills I have are totally usable, the places where I'm failing completely fixable, and my quieter singing voice utterly understandable.

So apparently, I have some pretty advanced techniques as a singer, especially considering my young age. But because I don't have some of the more basic skills, I am incapable of using the advances ones effectively. Thus all the frustration I've been feeling about my singing. So now I've established with my teacher that I need to work on a) correct breathing (which is a helluva lot harder than it sounds), b) pitch finding on the keyboard, and c) relative pitches (the distance between pitches).

It's a really good thing I've a passion for singing, and that I'm stubborn. Otherwise I'd be dropping out.

Currently reading: The Lair of the White Worm.

Gorgeous Day!

You'd never know it was pouring down rain this morning. It's gorgeous now... I hope it stays this way for longer than twenty minutes or so.

Parlez-vous francais?

Molière was an interesting film about the famous French playwright. You should go check it out.

And you have to admit, Josh Groban is phenomenal for relaxing. It makes me want some classical training for my voice.

Reading: Lady Chatterley's Lover, because it's a classic novel. Haven't gotten far enough to find anything scandalous yet. We'll see.

Google search: (intitle:"index.of" (mp3|mp4|avi) august.rush)

Tastiness is a virtue.

Be My Sixcape

You remember the six-word stories? Well, I've been doing some more of those. I have a notepad beside my pillow, and I've been coming up with them. Go me ^_^

Anyhow, here's some more:

• The ever-present stars - lost, forever.
• If only we'd tested for that.
• Now, thousands will die... except me.
• A darkness falls... arms catch me.
• White shoals are calling - see ya!
• His eyes were two restrained cobras.
• Swords, daggers, pistols... all were useless.
• My watch whispers. It is time.
• Rain's needle feet patter across rooftops.
• We raced, dark and silent shadows.
• Your freedom is in their hands.
• I trip. Hello, ground. That hurt.
• Stretch, apart from time and circumstance.
• A single glare, silencing the class.
• How many more deaths are necessary?
• All wars end up bloody messes.
• Stop bragging or you'll be shot.

And here's the song that's been stuck in my head the past few hours:


Also I've just finished the story Lady Into Fox by David Garnett. It was quite interesting, though I can't help feeling as if it might not have worked better as a shorter piece.

Talents

You know, not only has this guy got musical talent, but the cameraman (-woman?) isn't a bad cinematographer.

More Reminding

John Keats' Ode on Melancholy is a great poem.

Twilight is the first in a series by Stephanie Meyer, which I think I need to read.

Flights is a really good fantasy anthology.

Orphans of Chaos is the first in a trilogy by John C. Wright, which I would also like to read.

Wishes

As to my entry in the Corrupted Wish game:

Someone's wish: "I wish I were back in Boston."

My reply: "Wish granted. Unfortunately, Boston was the first target for the nukes sent by the terrorists, so now you are infected by highly radioactive material and will die slowly and painfully. I wish I had a furry prehensile tail. :P"

Someone's answer: "Wish granted. Now you can't get a date with any normal person, but instead become a furry icon (which also isn't helpful when prospective employers google your name and come up with very very disturbing pornography)."

Crazily enough, I'm totally fine with that.

Six-Word Stories

Again, something from ProjectSidewalk.

• Innocent flower, yet so many deaths.
• "Throw them overboard." "But... your son!"
• Footsteps stopped outside the door. Shit.
• Red hair flowed, flames in wind.
• Heavy coat... something in my pocket...
• Brilliant blue eyes. My heart stops.
• My love, Death, comes for me.
• A button marked "Self-Destruct". Too obvious.
• Across the beadspread, so many photographs.
• Can't tell him... he'll kill me.
• I cough. Meaning I'm still alive.
• My hat walks into the bar.
• The grey rabbit is following me.