esse

Scenario: you're in this awkward social experiment called "life", and you need to organize things before you go crazy.  How do you attempt to deal with everything going on, everything that you have to do, everything that you want to do, and the rest of the chaos around you?

A common practice that test subjects have (oh goodness, I'm beginning to sound like GLaDOS) is to organize things into to-do lists. I sometimes do this when I have a lot to do in a day.  Here is an example:

Thursday:

• Statics homework
• Calculus homework
• finish reading The Chosen
• catch up on writing
• clean out some fridge food
• watch a  talk

This is all good stuff, but...what is it leading to?  As soon as I finish my homework, new assignments replace those.  As soon as I catch up writing, there's more to be written.  The instant I finish washing all the dishes, the sink is filled anew.

What's the point of doing things?

Well ultimately, I believe that doing things will lead to being things.  If I continually do math homework, I will eventually become adept at mathematics.  If I persist at washing dishes, I will eventually...be...the only one in the house that washes dishes?

Anyway, I have constructed a to-be list, for several reasons.  Aside from giving long-term goals and an end in mind, I think this is sometimes more constructive than a to-do list.  Instead of just getting my statics homework done to get a grade, I can also focus on getting it done to become an engineer.

It can also combine several trivial tasks into something more meaningful.  It adds depth to what I'm trying to accomplish here.  And simplicity.  Instead of having a list of things to do like "make eye contact" "say thank-you" "open the door for people" "say 'excuse me'", et cetera, you can condense it into one task: be polite.  Then you only have one thing to remember and one question to ask, rather than a whole slew of things to remember to do.

So.  Here is a to-be list that I have constructed for the next couple weeks.  That is not to imply that come several weeks I will have become each of these things, but that these are the things that I want to particularly focus on and progress in for the next while.

To Be:

• Kind
• Serving
• Hard-working
• Grateful
• Eager to learn
• Respectful

There.  Six things, just like on the to-do list.  But there's a lot more to be done here.  Don't let that overwhelm you, though.  You don't have to suddenly become everything all at once, just like you don't have to do everything all at once.

It requires a little bit of a different way of thinking and maybe some different effort, but I think it's worthwhile to have a to-be list.  If anything, it might just be refreshing to get away from the to-do lists for a bit. :)

imaginatio

Today, as I was spending another day at the ASCE Conference surrounded by fellow engineers, I found myself wondering why more people aren't engineers. 

I mean seriously.

When I have that wonderful everyday conversation with other people where we ask each other what we're studying, and I tell my conversee that I'm an engineer, they always make some silly remark about "Oh, you must be really smart," or "That's cool, I'm not smart enough for that."

I don't think this is the correct approach.

Many people seem to believe that engineers are born, not made.  They have a "knack".

This may be true, but I feel like I could take any number of career paths by making myself whatever I want to become.  A quantum physicist or a soccer player or a researching mathematician or a dinosaur or a writer or a musician or a painter or a historian...

Some of those things, like a painter, would take a lot more effort for me to do.  I have previously held little interest in painting and therefore have developed little talent with it.  Maths and physics, however, I have already had great interest in and therefore I've developed quite a bit of experience in those fields.  But I wasn't born with any of that...I learned it over time, because that's what I wanted.

I believe that it is the same for engineering.  Sure, there are a few of those with "the knack", but there are natural pianists and doctors and lacrosse players and chemists, too.  It's not like every single engineer was born with some supernatural gift and destiny.  Most of them are just normal people with interests and science.

So if you're not sure what you want to do with your life yet, I suggest you consider being an engineer.  See, here's the best thing about engineering: you can do whatever you want with it.  The other day, my friend who is an engineering major asked me what it is that engineers actually do.  This is a difficult question to pin down because there are a lot of different fields within engineering.  At first I responded that engineers make life better.  But really, people in general try to do that, via all sorts of careers.  My next answer was this:

Engineers make the imagination tangible.

How cool is that job?  Imagine whatever you want, and then make it real.  Ahhhh, coolness just radiates from you.  Impress all the ladies.

But seriously, engineering is an art.  It requires a lot more than just math and science and graphs.  It requires craft and creativity. And it produces beautiful things.

So.  If you like things, you should be an engineer.  Because no matter what you like, engineering has something to do with it.  Just through my first year of my engineering studies, I've already used engineering in canoeing, music, soccer and other sports, home improvement, construction, legos...
allll sorts of things.  Engineering opens all the doors.  If you're not sure what to do, be an engineer and eventually it will lead you to something incredible.

anomalia

I met a guy on campus the other day, at a political event.  When he asked what I was studying, I told him I was going into Engineering.  His response was this:

"You're an anomaly.  You're interested in politics, you're going into engineering, and you're a girl."

Yes.  Yes I am. Thank you, thank you.

My roommate heard of this exchange and she agreed with the boy, because on top of being politically interested and adept at maths and science, I also like fine literature and working out.  

Hopefully none of this is coming as a surprise to you, o blog readership.  I feel like I have mentioned many of these aspects of my life here on the blag-o-blag.

What makes me wonder, though, is this:
If there was a guy who was politically interested and an engineer...would he be an anomaly?
I mean, there were about as few women at the political event as there are in my engineering classes...in fact, after the event a few of us hung around to keep talking to the speaker, and of those twenty of so, I was the only one sans Y chromosome.

So am I an anomaly in the sense that I do a lot of different things, or am I an anomaly in the sense that I do things and I am a girl?

I prefer to think that perhaps anyone who is interested in engineering and politics and literature and soccer could be considered an anomaly, regardless of their gender or race.  

Of course, I would prefer to think that anyone who is interested in a vast array of differing subjects is not an anomaly.  Why do people assume that if you are good at one thing, you must be inept at others?  People see math and English as an either/or skill set; you can't possibly succeed at both.

Society...

It's not that I don't like being so different. I love being an anomaly, really.  The problem here is not that I am an anomaly, but that society can be so narrow-minded sometimes.  

Please don't be so surprised that an engineering major reads books.  Don't think it weird that a girl takes apart motors to see how they work.  Don't think that somebody who likes playing soccer in the mud and isn't afraid to get messy cannot also read fine poetry and sing classical music.

And even moreso, please don't limit yourself to your own paradigms and fallacies.

genius verus

Aaaand...it's Pi day. :D

Hopefully the majority of my readership is well acquainted with pi, though.  So I thought it might be important to celebrate another event in conjunction with pi day.

Don't worry, fellow nerds...pi is not being abandoned, nor is nerd-dom.  

It's time for a birthday party :D

Today in 1879 in Germany, Alberto Einstein was born.  Being German, his parents opted to call him "Albert" for short.  Born on pi day.  He was destined for greatness.

young Albert quickly outgrew the awkward baby stage

and became a dapper young lad.

Most people know the standard Einstein trivia: he was a theoretical physicist, he was a pioneer of the Manhattan project shortly after becoming a US citizen, is one of the more prominent geniuses of history...

I mean, you really cannot dispute the genius of a man whose brain has its own wikipedia article.

By the way, all of the silliness saying that Albert Einstein's brain was significantly smaller than the average man's is...partially true.  We'll have to discuss this fascinating neuroscience later.

(Just don't believe everything you hear about brain sizes; you might begin to believe that women are stupider than men because their brains are smaller.)

So.  Einstein was all about mathematics and physics and the universe and complex stuff like that, right?  Well the funny thing about being human is that you must also dabble in things like religion and arts and other aspects of life.  Man cannot exist on math alone.  Albert Einstein did many things throughout his lifetime.  He learned to play the violin as a child and continued his beloved hobby passionately, perhaps to get his mind off math once in a while.  He went through three marriages and had three children and learned a thing or two about love in the process.  He offered a fair amount of political and theological commentary, as well as physical theories.  His ideas in physics were met with much higher regard, however, leading to a Nobel Prize in physics.

Einstein would often hang out with Niels Bohr (Sorry, that's not a creation of Bram Stoker...it's a scientist) and discuss quantum mechanics.  You know, the way that buddies do. 

Despite being so heavily involved in math and physics, Albert Einstein is quite quotable. Many people seem to think that people who are crazy with the hard sciences are difficult people to understand and are probably too smart to talk to, but I believe that a conversation with Einstein would be fulfilling, enlightening, and enjoyable no matter what your IQ was or where you were in life.

Here are a few quotes of his.  He had many, and it's difficult to choose a favorite. (If you have a favorite, mention it in the commentary of this post!)

• Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.
• Science is a wonderful thing if one does not have to earn one's living at it.
• The only thing that interferes with my learning is my education.
• Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding.
• The most incomprehensible thing about the world is that it is comprehensible.

I'm often inclined to list Albert Einstein as a personal hero or inspiring example in my life, and I think the vibe that people get from that is "Oh, look who's the physics hotshot now" which is really not what I'm aiming for.  He was a lot more than just a high-functioning brain somewhere in the universe.  Some science, some philosophy, some music, some religion, some math,  some politics, some love, some humor...

And a whole lot of life.

stabilis

The weather is warming up. Grass can be seen.  This means that the only thing I really want to think about at the moment is soccer.
Mmm...soccer.

Last semester I spent basically all my efforts in my English class writing about soccer.  It was a great English class.  Now if only my statics class could also revolve around soccer.  Or even just sit still around soccer, since it's static...

Statics and dynamics tests should look like this:





← 1) Find the applied upward force needed to stall the .5 kg ball. 

2) If there is a 2 N force pushing the .5 kg ball to the left, what is the coefficient of friction between the ball and the boot?








← 3) If the goalkeeper's forward force is equal to 250 lbs, find the amount of work done in stopping his momentum by the spikes of his cleats.  The keeper weighs 180 lbs and the coefficient of friction between grass and the bottom of a normal shoe is 0.5. (Assume the keeper's boot acts like a normal shoe in between the spikes)



This is infinitely more interesting than bridges.  Also, if you solve all three problems correctly, you get a hat trick.  That's a well-deserved three points, whether you're at home or on the road.

Ahhh...soccer puns. X)

But seriously.  Some people in engineering classes like statics aren't really interested in bridges and trusses and structures.  They want to grow up and be a soccer engineer, not a civil engineer.  (Could you imagine how terrible it would be to be a civil engineer?  You'd have to behave yourself all the time!)

dilectus

As I'm sure you've noticed by now, today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day.  It's one of the easier days to remember because we have school off and other things like that to point out that today we should be doing something out of the ordinary.

So, what did we use this opportunity to do?

Well I for one attended to my tomes of homework. I'm not really proud that this is how things ended up, though.. There are so many better ways to commemorate Reverend King.

I'm not going to focus on telling you facts about King's life. You all probably know that he was an African American supporter of the Civil Rights movement in the 50's. You all know that he had dreams, that he gave speeches and wrote letters from prisons he was placed in because of his nonviolent acts of civil disobedience.

He was a pretty influential guy, right?  So why do we dedicate an entire day of our busy lives to him?  The only other people who have a US Holiday to their name are George Washington and Christopher Colombus. The idea for MLK day was originally proposed in 1979, but the bill didn't pass. Many people were opposed because the federally-paid holiday would affect the budget, plus King was a private citizen who had never held public office.  This mode of honoring him would seem to break tradition.

Eventually MLK day was signed into law in 1983 and was first observed in 1986.  Some states were reluctant to observe the holiday, though.  The bill had been met with an overwhelming (veto-proof!) vote in congress, but many states tried to find loopholes such as combining it with other holidays or changing its name.  The holiday wasn't officially observed by all 50 states until the year 2000.

That's thirteen years ago, people.  Most of us were alive then, and there were some states still stubbornly avoiding honoring Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Aside from the cost concerns of a holiday and the fact that it has probably the longest name of any US holiday, why would a state go so far to avoid this holiday?

Well, to answer that, we really need to understand what this holiday is recognizing.  Obviously Reverend King is best known for his involvement in the Civil Rights movement. He was also an inspirational speaker on many other topics (I encourage you--and myself--to read more of his speeches and writings) but no doubt MLK day chiefly recognizes his belief in civil equality. In fact, Martin Luther King Day has been observed in places outside the US- including Hiroshima, Toronto, and Jerusalem under various circumstances.  Each of these observances have been in honor of King's work for civil rights.

So believe it or not, there are still people who oppose civil rights.  In the 21st century.  And some of those people hold public office.  So they were elected by yet more people who seem to oppose the ongoing fight for civil rights.

Is it just a race thing?  As sad as it is to admit, there is still a great deal of racism in the world.  You read about slavering ending with the Civil War, and then the Civil Rights Movement, and think to yourself, "I am so glad that we have finally moved past that as humans."
Well, unfortunately, we haven't.  It has taken us so long to get this far, and we still have so far to go.

I met a man on campus the other day and spoke with him for a while.  He was Saudi Arabian, and was studying here before returning to his country for a graduate degree.  I asked why he came here, and he told me that he had originally gone to London, but that the people there were too racist.  He moved to the United States instead.

Now, before you pat yourself on the back for being a city on the hill, realize that we're pretty racist here, too.  Not necessarily against Saudi Arabians, but there is a lot of intolerance toward Mexicans and South Americans because of immigration struggles.  There are many hate crimes committed against Muslims.  And there are still instances of outright white-supremacist racism.  It's active and it's here, and sometimes it's us.

And of course you're thinking to yourself "well I'm not the problem..."  But sometimes it's hard to realize that maybe you are.  Do you stereotype every Spanish-speaking person you see as "Mexican"?  Believe it or not, many people take offense to that.  Take a minute to think about the things you assume.  You can even have a conversation with people you know about the racially inept things people do, both that you've seen and that you've experienced.  It might not be the easiest of conversations to have, but it will be eye-opening for everyone involved.

Another thing you can do to really honor Martin Luther King and his efforts is to view the day as an opportunity for civil service.  In various areas around the nation, MLK day has become "Martin Luther King Day of Service" and citizens are encouraged to spend the day volunteering to make a difference.  There are so many things you can do in Reverend King's name to commemorate the occasion.  I personally would promote the continuation of the fight for civil rights (it's an ongoing process. So many people worldwide and here in America are denied rights!) or some other public involvement.  But really doing anything to promote peace and understanding throughout your community would easily mark the day.  After all, one of my favorite quotes from Reverend King is this: 

Love is creative and redemptive. Love builds up and unites; hate tears down and destroys. The aftermath of the ‘fight with fire’ method which you suggest is bitterness and chaos, the aftermath of the love method is reconciliation and creation of the beloved community. Physical force can repress, restrain, coerce, destroy, but it cannot create and organize anything permanent; only love can do that. Yes, love—which means understanding, creative, redemptive goodwill, even for one’s enemies—is the solution to the race problem.

The biggest part of today is to carry on doing good.  To continue the pursuit of our happiness and our dreams.  You can kill a man, but you cannot kill what he stood for if that notion and that dream is carried out in the heart of the people.  Not the hearts, but the singular, shared heart of a community unified in mind and in goal.

So I know we're all caught up in important things today.  I still have homework to attend to. I didn't actively commit to civil service today.  But that doesn't mean that I didn't take some time to reflect on my life and the lives of those around me, and whether we are living the best way we can.  And it also doesn't mean that I can't continue to pursue the dreams of this nation and this world another day.  I can serve someone tomorrow.  I can extend love to another person any day this week.  Every single effort we make to do things like that will take us closer to our inevitable goal:

Our goal is to create a beloved community

and this will require a qualitative change in our souls

as well as a quantitative change in our lives.

-Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

educationem

Baaaaugh. I feel like it's been forever since I posted last (indeed, a whole week).  I've been having a small case of writer's block, really.

But that's ending today. Not because I have a good idea now, but because I'm sick of it. So I'm going to write stuff whether it's good or not.

Ha, whether it's good or not...
See, I used to be an avid writer.  Throughout most of middle school I thought I wanted to grow up and become an author.  So I would write stories all the time.  I had a particular preference for stuff set in medieval times and also science fiction.  Kindof a weird match, but true...I was really quite steampunky, looking back.
I was going through some old writings I found recently and was like "Woh, this was written forever ago!  I think I was a better writer five years ago than I am now..."
Which, when it comes to fictitious writing, may very well be true.

Once upon a time in ninth grade, I got sick of English.  I think part of it was that I got bored with the teacher and a little distracted by myriad other things, but I stopped enjoying writing assignments (and really, stopped doing them altogether) and since then I've been largely focused more on maths and sciences than writing.

It doesn't really help that my high school writing career largely involved analytical and technical writing.  I still enjoyed it and succeeded at it, but it wasn't as inventive and didn't always consist of a whole lot of myself.

So frankly, it's a bit strange to me that now I'm in university, studying mechanical engineering (where all my classes are math and science-based) I've kindof resurrected my former writing self.  Of all times to do so.

Perhaps it just goes to show that now I've finished all my required English and Art classes for the rest of my foreseeable educational journey, I have to get my fix some other (optional) way.

I just think it's interesting that when it comes to science versus art, the only ground seems to be middle ground.  You really can't have one without the other; even in individuals it's somewhat impossible to devote yourself to becoming entirely immersed in one while completely avoiding the other.

"Ohai, I'm Leonardo da Vinci, and I'm the boss of Art and Science."

It almost seems as if the further you delve into one area, the deeper you go in others as well.  Like the more you know about anatomy, the better you are at drawing people.  And the more experience you have with music, the easier it is to understand sound waves and sound interference. 

So I guess as long as you're learning something, you're gradually learning everything. Which is a pleasant thought to me.

dominus

So it's now the third day of the semester, and an interesting pattern developed over the past two days as I went through syllabus after syllabus.

They all included the word "master".

And it wasn't even in the context of "In order to pass the final, you will have to pray to your Master" or "I am the ENGR2210 Master, I will decide who will pass and who will fail."

No, it was always along the lines of mastering the subject material.

And really, that's nothing unusual to be said, but I guess after being beaten over the head with in first in Statics, then in Calculus and Electronics and Physics and Graphics (Yes yes...you're all jealous of my kick-butt schedule) it made me think about the phrase a little more...than anyone really should, I guess.

Master. Mastery. Mastering...
In terms of education and syllabi, it's really not that strange. It means that you have gained an understanding of the subject and you can use it and not look silly in front of the nerds.

But then I started thinking about it in different terms.  I like to do this with words, really...and sometimes it's enlightening, and sometimes it's confusing, and sometimes it really doesn't get anywhere at all.  I guess we can decide where this one ended up after I describe it to you.

Master, as in "Master and slave"
Initial reaction: "slavery is bad!"
Then: "waiiiiit a minute.  I could enslave physics?  It could do my bidding?  Ooooh."  NOW this syllabus is getting somewhere.

"Physics! Solve this paltry homework conundrum!"
"Yes, Master..."

Suddenly, the world is becoming mine, and I'm realizing just how important education is, if it allows you to enslave Physics.  Calculus and Electronics, too.  Pretty soon I could be the master of lots of things!

Master, as in "Master's Program"
Yes...but this isn't a master's program...this is a sophomore-level engineering class...
But I suppose getting a good grip on this stuff is not a bad idea either way.  To get accepted to a master's program. So far off, but so much to think about...

Master, as in "Master, the Tempest is Raging"
Initial reaction: "RAAAAAAGING."   This tempest, Lord. 'Tis furious.
Then: Well, I suppose He mastered physics, too.  And calculus and electronics and graphics and statics...
I mean, to take a raging tempest:

I have labelled some stuff here (e.g. propagating waves :D), but it's very minimal.
I have not yet mastered all the physics...

And make it pleasant. Peachy, even:

Net Force: 0  Net Torque: 0
Net Celestial Fruit: Peach.

You kindof have to be a master of Physics and Statics to do that.  And in order to Master those, you have to master Caculus.  And when there's lightning, knowing a thing or two about Electronics probably wouldn't hurt, either.
As far as graphics, though...I'm pretty sure the Big Guy has a supercomputer.  And one heck of a laboratory.  And a huge white board in the sky for math...

But we can talk about Heaven and science later.

Anyway.  This semester is a promising one, if any of those three 'Masterings' comes true...
Most likely that of a Masters' Program.
...but I really wouldn't be disappointed if my mastery of science resulted in weather control or enslaving physics...

titulari

As I'm sure you all know, the year is now drawing to a close, and many people like to reflect on the year past.  For Lionel Messi, that includes a record-breaking 91 goals in a calendar year.

 

The record that he broke, though, is also worth reflection. It was previously held by German forward Gerhard "Gerd" Müller, who in 1972 scored 85 goals.  That's right, his record stood for 40 years.

Messi's 91 goals were scored over 69 games, and if you're a Messi fanatic, here's a great website worshipping his accomplishments this year. It has plenty of graphs :)

Müller's 85 goals were scored over 60 games, and if you do the math, Müller, aka "Der Bomber" averaged more goals per game than Messi.  Müller is currently ranked tenth on the list of all-time international goalscorers, despite playing fewer career matches than any player featured in the top 25. He began his professional football career at the age of 18 in 1964. Müller quickly established his value as a striker and made huge appearances in the World Cup, scoring 10 goals in the 1970 games (earning him a Golden Boot*), and scoring the winning goal against Holland to see West Germany take the 1974 Cup.  In these two World Cup appearances, Müller scored a total of 14 goals, setting a record that would not be broken for 32 years.

Müller, far left, all old school and classy. He enjoyed wearing the number 13.

Just to put this in perspective, many records are broken fairly often.  Watch the Olympic Games and you'll see a new record being made in almost every race (track and swimming, for example).  So for a record to stand so far beyond anyone else's reach for 40 years, the person who set that bar is certainly the stuff of legend.

Müller, sometimes teasingly called "short fat Müller" by his earlier coaches and teammates still holds several national and league records, as well as the international record of 66 goals in 74 European Club games.  

And who knows whether Messi will challenge any more of Der Bomber's records.  Messi still has quite a career ahead of him.  Gerd Müller himself congratulated Messi on breaking the record this December, and commented that the Argentine's only fault as a footballer is that he doesn't play for Bayern Munich.

(Hallo to all my German readers...interestingly, I do have a fair number of pageviews from Germany. :D)

*For any soccer illiterates here, the Golden Boot award goes to the World Cup player who has scored the most goals in the tournament.  The last couple awards have gone to players who have scored only 5 goals, and the average number of goals scored by a Golden Boot player is 7. 

gyrus

And now, as promised, a post before the end of the world.

So my family and I visited the Yucatán peninsula a couple years ago.  We toured the ruins of various civilizations there, largely known as the Maya.  Of course, each independent civilization was a little bit different, but there were many striking commonalities between the two or three groups we studied there, and so it will be simpler and still fairly correct to lump them all into one general group of Mayans.

We visited Chichen Itza, perhaps the most popular Mayan site.

This Central American ziggurat is also believed to be a calendar, as it has a total of 365 steps on each side.  A theme throughout much of Mayan construction was that their structures would align with the sun in specific ways on important dates including equinoxes and solstices.  For example, el Castillo (above) has a snake head at the bottom of its staircase, and on the equinoxes the body is perfectly illuminated.  To the Maya, this represented the serpent either ascending or descending (depending on the equinox).  Other structures featured windows that would align with sunrise or sunset on specific dates.  One such date is April 6th, for anyone to whom that is significant. :)

There are so many fascinating things about Maya culture and the things they constructed with such careful precision. They studied the stars, and even built observatories (below), and even though they are known for being bloodthirsty in their rituals and contests, I find them to be an advanced and scientific civilization.

They created a solar calendar that is highly accurate in correlation to our current calendar, which is quite a mathematical feat.  They mastered principles of acoustics, astronomy, architecture, medicine, and so much more.  So they do have quite a bit of credence for predicting the end of the world.

But did they really do that?

Something interesting about the Mayan culture (almost religion, really) is that they were very dedicated to cycles.  Seasons, years, astronomical events...there are countless cycles that we experience throughout a lifetime. The Maya believed that the Earth completed many different cycles, some 52 years long, some 5125 years long.  Today marks the end of the thirteenth 5125-year long cycle, called a Baktun, and the beginning of a new one. Many people are elated at the new beginnings and believe that we have started a new and better age.

So where do we get all these prophecies of doom?

Well, the Maya do believe that the Earth goes through elemental cleansings from time to time (another cyclical occurrence).  One such cleansing, that of Water several millenia ago, is commonly known as Noah's flood.  So there has been speculation that this new Baktun could usher in another elemental cleansing, perhaps of fire, earth, or air.

Aside from the Maya, there has been mass speculation from the scientific world for several years now saying that the world is due for a few massive explosions having to do with tectonic pressures and other sub-surface happenings.  Yellowstone National Park is one such hotspot, waiting for a meltdown.

There have been several astronomical speculations from the scientific world as well, as the end of 2012 coincides with a solar maximum, an 11-year cycle where the sun reaches a maximum of sunspots and radiation.

In addition to the solar maximum, our solar system is allegedly passing through an area of its orbit through the galaxy that will bring it closer to the center than ever before, and some are expecting disasters to yield from our unusual proximity to what is commonly regarded as a black hole at the center of the milky way.

And for the Mormons reading my blog, there's quite a bit of hearsay about China opening soon (or already being opened, depending on who you ask, and whose Bishop's wife heard it from a relief society lady who was friends with the wife of an Area Seventy who overheard it in an elevator in the Church office buildings...)

(If you're not Mormon and you have no idea what China opening means, and how that even relates to the end of the world, all I can say to you is to investigate the Mormon church's missionary system and maybe you'll get an explanation later.)

Overall, it seems to me that 2012 is the coincidence of any number of cycles beginning anew, reaching an apex, or some other significant part of the cycle, and the sum of it all is what many are regarding as the end of the world, which is something we seem to have been waiting for for quite some time.

Personally, I do not believe that this world will end anytime soon (which is a very relative term, so...I'm right no matter what, ha!) but I do believe that it is the beginning of a new epoch. I wouldn't be surprised if there were any manner of disasters, natural or otherwise. I might even be excited for the challenge.

So for now, keep on being alive, go ahead and celebrate being alive if you must (which is something you should do every day...you don't need an excuse like an apocalypse to do that) and participate in the cleansing of the earth by improving yourself and the world immediately around you.

draconum

Today marks the 200th anniversary of the publication of the Brothers Grimm's first book of fairy tales.

...is that the possessive of "Brothers Grimm"?  Personally, I'm more in favor of "Brothers' Grimm", but...either way, now you know that it belonged to them.

So originally I wanted to make a post about the end of the world, since today is supposedly the last day we have to live.  But I think I will postpone that until tomorrow morning (explanations and justifications to come...tomorrow) and go for some commentary on fairy tales instead.

See, procrastination at its finest.

For now, it's time to spend my last hours talking about fairy tales.

Which is something I never thought I would be doing.

So, 200 years ago the Brothers Grimm wrote down some fairy tales.  They didn't invent these tales, because the description of these two men provided by Google is:

"The Brothers Grimm, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, were German academics, linguists, cultural researches, and authors who together collected folklore."

So although they are listed as authors, they also collected folklore, and I have reason to believe that fairy tales fall under the "folklore" genre.  Even though the fairy tales are so universally popular and often common.  Or perhaps because they are.  I mean, we're still making fairy tale movies. All the time.  And even though I've heard the story of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs countless times and seen many movie variations and read the story in countless variations....I still watched a Snow White movie last night.

And the funny thing is, I still found it engaging. Despite Kristen Stewart! I still found things to think about that I hadn't necessarily thought about in that way before. I knew exactly what was going to happen throughout the plot, and I still had hopes and anxieties concerning the ending.

And, of course, I still wondered what in the world is the appeal of kissing a dead person.

Any clarification on that would be welcome in the comments.

So, what is up with our seemingly innate fascination with fairy tales?  I mean, here I am, a known skeptic and perhaps even hater (or anti-fan?  do those exist?  Well, they do now, and I am one) of fairy tales, and yet...they're making an appearance here on Martin.

And they're so cliché!  We have countless fairy tales, but they all have so many things in common.  Magic and curses to be broken, orphaned children, stepmothers, kissing dead people, dragons and other fantastic creatures, groups of three, princesses, kingdoms, good versus evil, the power of love...

So it might be nice to have all this touchy-feely imagination stuff balanced out by some hardcore science and realistic mathematics.  Enjoy the following quote from Albert Einstein:

“If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales.” 

Apparently our friend Mr. Einstein is an advocate of fairy tales. Perhaps this is a conspiracy, though, because both Alberto and The Brothers Grimm were German-born...

So, perhaps a quote from an Englishman. G.K. Chesterton:

“Fairy tales are more than true; not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.” 

That no matter how evil your stepmother is, or how many apples she gives you, or how many small men you have to clean up after, there's still a way for you to win a man and a kingdom in the end.

That even after a wolf has eaten your grandmother and in some versions, yourself, his digestive acids are very slow, and he didn't chew his food well at all, so a nearby lumberjack can come and free you by chopping the wolf up with his axe while keeping you unharmed.

That after someone curses you to die at the hand of a spinning wheel and your father destroys them all, then foolishly sends you to live far away from any protection so you die anyway, fairies can drug everyone into sleeping for thousands of years until a prince finally finds his way to the castle (needed to wait for GPS to be invented) where he can kiss this rotting dead girl, suck the death out of you, and marry you.

It gives us this unrealistic expectation that no matter how bad it gets, there's still a way for it to end happily.  It will require sacrifices, but after the big battle, you're settled down with a prince, the dragons are gone, the kingdom is at peace, and the happily is ever after.

But it is nice to be taken out of our own world and our own dragons to a much more objectified world, where villains wear capes and the good-looking are also good people.  Where things are predictable and there's always a catch to the evil plans. Where there is a clear line between good and evil, where evil is fated to fail, and good is destined to prevail.

And I think it's important to visit this place from an early age, and to indulge in a return on occasion, but certainly not to live there.  It is important to live in your own world, which is indeed a different world from anyone else's.  Our individual worlds are affected and sometimes even defined by other worlds though (such as Jupiter shielding the earth from fatal asteroid attacks...there's some science for you) which is why it is important to choose worthwhile worlds to visit.

So here's an answer that might just say a lot about you:
What is your favorite fairy tale?  And if you care to provide any explanation, go for it.

sciscitator

I've been thinking about superheroes lately.  There are plenty of different ones with varying powers and situations and nemeses, but the other day when I was watching part of Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog, I thought it was a little bit funny that so many villains shared a common trait:

Science!

And who do we have to defeat misguided nerds like Lex Luthor, the Mad Hatter, Doctor Two-Brains, the Terrible Trio, Megamind, Doctor Octopus, and the Lizard?

Heroes!

The typical hero is brawny and has origins either on another planet, or from some radioactive mishap.  They defeat science by punching things and bending steel and flexing muscles.  Yeah, a lot of superheroes use science and gadgets and technological wonders, sometimes built by themselves, sometimes built by their inventor-ally, but on the whole, the people seen in the laboratories doing the science and math are the villains, and the people seen punching things and succeeding in life are the heroes.

And I am well aware that this is not characteristic of every superhero-villain setup.  Indeed, there are many superheroes and villains and they represent a varied array of strengths and former lives, but how many villains' names include the word "Doctor"?  How many superheroes' names have the suffix "-man"?  It's a fairly recurring theme.

And it seems a little too reflective of the Jocks beating up on the Nerds.  Like society is supporting these weirdos from other planets coming in to beat up on someone half their size.  The fact that the scrawny nerds were about to destroy the city could explain for this glorification of middle-school violence, but I think the bullying stereotype still stands in comics.

Is there something just not heroic about knowing lots of math and pushing the limits of science?  Does scientific research always get pushed too far and end in manic disaster?  Because it certainly seems to be the theme here...

So.  If you know any comic book designers or movie script writers or anyone working with DC or Marvel, tell them it's about time we had a nerd hero.  Who uses math and science and maybe even language and history for the common good!  Who defeats muscle-brained bullies with their smarts!  Who throws protractors as ninja stars!

Because really, the nerds are the ones bringing about the progress of society.  Saving lives from cancer, diseases, unsafe conditions, car crashes, drowning, bridges collapsing, pollution, constantly studying ways to improve our lives and make things a little bit better by solving real-world problems.

And we do still have the brawny heroes like soldiers and firefighters and the FBI, but they too rely on their nifty, nerd-made gadgets and safety apparati. (Apparently "apparati" is not the plural of "apparatus", but it should be.) 

So don't buy into the silly superhero mindset and wait for some muscly, hansdome fellow to come punch all your problems away.
Start sending your distress calls to the nerds in your life ;)

prima

In case you have not been on the internet yet today...check out the Google Doodle!

Okay, so it's not really up anymore, because of time zones or something...and it is pretty late in the day...but don't get mad at me, because I've done several hours of physics today in preparation for finals.

Anyway.

It's a tribute to Ada Lovelace, who was the first person (get that, PERSON.  Not "woman".  PERSON!) to envision a computing machine that was much more complex than just a simple calculator.  If you know much about computer history, you'll recognize the name "Charles Babbage", who is the inventor of the first mechanical computer.  Well, our girl Ada worked alongside Mr. Babbage and developed the first algorithm to be interpreted by a computing machine...making her the first computer programmer.

SHE'S A WOMAN AND A SCIENTIST AND A MATHEMATICIAN AND AN INVENTOR AND SHE WAS THE FIRST.

In case you can't tell, I am a little bit excited to learn that this is one of those rare instances in history where women were the ones breaking boundaries. None of this "the first man in space, then the first woman in space" or "first president, first female president" or "first comment on a youtube video, and then twelve comments later, a comment saying 'FIRST!'" crap.
FIRST.  PERSON.

I am elated.

Also, something noteworthy, Miss Lovelace was born "The Honorable Augusta Ada Byron of Lovelace"...also known as Lord Byron's daughter.

This girl has got EVERYTHING going for her.

Though her mother did remove her from her father's influence when Miss Ada was but one month old.  Her mother apparently wanted to avoid her father's influence of more "eccentric" careers like poetry and naming bridges and guide young Ada down a more practical path, namely maths and science.  (Way to go, Mom!)

Miss Lovelace took such a big role in technology that was not the norm back in 1833 that she now has a holiday, aptly named "Ada Lovelace Day". (perhaps her father could give that a more imaginable name sometime when he's not busy...)  It is celebrated by people writing about women in science and technology whom they admire.  And apparently the date is variable (perfect for a mathematician, no?) because it was last celebrated on March 24th, but the next Ada Day will be October 15th, 2013.  PUT IT ON YOUR CALENDARS NOW.

My only question is why we don't do this every day?  Or even just write about PEOPLE we admire?

(And if you need help admiring someone, just spend some time on wikipedia learning about influential people in whatever interests you.  Like soccer, math, or bacon.  You will find lots of noteworthy people.)

And so...get ready for some posts in the near future about admirable people :)

And in the meantime...POWER TO THE PEOPLE, when we can lead and be led by men and women alike, and nobody has to wait for the Same Old White Guys to be first at everything.

colegio

I was told on more than one occasion that success in college is really based only on how well you read, and how well you write.

Percentage of reading/writing/'rithmetic I have done in my classes this semester:

(formatted in a table for ease of understanding)

Class	Reading	Writing	‘Rithmetic
Conditioning	0	0	0
Chemistry	5	1	94
Chemistry Lab*	12	4	27
Calculus	10	-10	100
Physics	0	0	100
English	35	65	0
Weights	0	0	0
World Religions (institute) **	26	0	7

*The other 57% of the time is spent waiting for reactions or doing dishes.

** the remaining 67% of the time is spent praying, singing, or waiting for Brother Bateman to find the remote (in his pocket), his notes, or the word he's looking for.

As you can see, almost no time is actually spent reading.  And even less is spent writing.  High school was a lie.

Or engineering is just...not college?

Hm...time to approach this logically :D

College = reading and writing (according to high school claims)

reading and writing DNE engineering (DNE is math notation for "DOES NOT EQUAL)

therefore...

College DNE engineering!  

and we can assume that the converse is true, that engineering DNE college.

...how do I explain to my parents that I've been up here for nearly ten weeks now and haven't done much college at all?