Redirect

For those of you who haven't been there yet, I want to let you know I have a new blog! It's called I Miss Conceptions (ha ha clever pun Dylan) and it's an experiment of sorts.

Here's the link: I Miss Conceptions

I may or may not be posting on this blog still, but I might come back to it after a while, who knows. Either way I'll try to keep things updated on the I Miss Conceptions blog. I have a status page on that blog that you can look at to see what's going on with me. And in case I don't see you, good afternoon, good evening, and good night.

Just A Morceau

I'm doing chemistry and I happened upon a particularly insightful chemical equation:

Chemistry + Dylan → sh Dylan mite Cry

(if you don't get it, you can rearrange the letters on the right side to form the words on the left).

Cup of Tea: Gray Treefrogs!

Cup of Tea: Gray Treefrogs!: On Sunday, May 5th, I finally caught the frog I've been looking for for years the Gray Treefrog!! Then just seconds after I had him in my ha...click the link to see the rest!

Well, well, well...

My school semester is almost come to its termination. I say termination because I feel like a commando with a bazooka, aiming and waiting for the "terminate target" order to come in. I have finals week ahead and most of my classes behind, and here is an update on my life:

Shirt + tie + facial expression = what I like to call "formally irked."

However, a bit of the mess is becoming organized. I applied for a Co-Op position at UMass Lowell for this summer, helping with nuclear reactor experiments and other related activities. It's a 4-day per week, 30 hours per week job and would gain me great relevant experience to put on my resume. I hope I get hired.

Also I might be able to get a used car. That's another complex, detailed issue but I predict all will turn out there.

Well I'm going to leave with a quote that highlights something I find fascinating:

An infinite God can give all of Himself to each of His children.

He does not distribute Himself that each may have a part,

but to each one He gives all of Himself as fully as if

there were no others.

—A. W. Tozer

Small Fry, Big Happy.

You may notice I'm wearing a pink striped shirt in this photo. Yes, even then I was manly enough to pull it off.

It's a selcouth thought to consider that the little bundle of rutilant smiles in the picture above would be interested in things like nuclear fusion tokamaks and Einstein's theory of special relativity. The pink shirt certainly doesn't bespeak the future of this kid.

In Ethics class this week we're talking about Utilitarianism. Basically, the notion that morality primarily stands on the principle of greatest happiness, that the outcomes sought should be those that result in the greatest total happiness. I think the problems with this hinge on the matter of the authority of happiness. That is, who's to say what the greatest happiness possible is in any given situation? I suppose one could respond "historical trial and error", but is that really the greatest happiness or just the greatest happiness so far? Jeremy Bentham, considered a founding advocate of Utilitarianism, seems to suggest that the decision is largely up to the individual. However, it doesn't seem that individuals have the necessary perspective to accurately discern the greatest happiness. Christopher Hitchens brought up this same problem (well, a problem of the same kind at least) in his speech at the University of Toronto in 2006. He questioned, in response to a proposition that would criminalize hate speech, who the audience would trust as their censor. He asked, who would they deem worthy of that role?  In the issue of the greatest happiness principle, if all of human history has not sufficient authority, then the principle actually seeks a more supreme, and in that case perhaps necessarily nonhuman, authority.

Boar-dumb witch a peers the culler blew

I admit I get bored sometimes. When the weather isn't great, college can be pretty dull. In order to combat the twiddling of my thumbs, I've been venturing into some creative outlets. One fun toy I found is Google SketchUp. It's like a free CAD tool, for beginners. However, you can make some cool things with it.

 This is the project I'm working on right now. It's an observatory or something, with an abundance of glass and a deck that took a long time to align. A LONG time.

 I removed the second floor and roof to look inside...

 The best way I can describe the shape of the house is the ticker on the Wheel-Of-Fortune wheel. You know, that little thing that passes across the bars, and when the wheel stops spinning, it usually points at the word BANKRUPT.

If you're interested in Google SketchUp, here's the link to download it:Google SketchUp
I realize I'm incredibly spoiled to have time to even play with stuff like this. One more project I've been working on:

It's a human head I've been sculpting on the free animation software Blender. I haven't finished some things that's why his eyes are pupil-less and his ears are just mush.
Have a lovely week, I'll try to post more regularly (maybe once a week).

A Piece From My Heart

I would like to tell you about the beautiful woman I'm going to marry. She is loving and kind and I am unceasingly thankful for her. Here is a poem I wrote to her.

About You

The ocean, a bench, the wind,

Forever, forgive, fly with music,

These are memories with you.

A brilliant sparkle within,

Somehow so simply sensational,

These are descriptions of you.

Late and summer and downtown,

We walked warm and water wonderful,

These are moments blessed with you.

Cold November ground and rain,

Anticipating an affection,

These are natural to you.

Comfort in a sorrow sea,

Breaking bindings by being beauty,

These are strengths wielded by you.

More than you could ever know,

Taking time to tread the tender talks,

These are your sacrifices.

When with you, sanctuary,

Finally, forever, found my home,

These are my blessings with you.

Slow dance around spheres of pure

Notes nearing no narcotic notion,

These are music within you.

Share, open eyes, astound minds,

Loving laughs like long loving lady,

This is all magic with you.

 

First Day of a New Semester

That's right, my classes started today. But today's story happened a few days ago...

I was driving to Stop & Shop with Harmony in her sister's Nissan Maxima. We were approaching the Cape Hedge Inn, calmly talking and listening to the radio. Just before the inn, I spotted a brown blur outside. Suddenly, the blur seemed to grow exponentially until it was right beside my door and SMACK! The loud impact hopped my arm off the door and Harmony screamed. She looked back and saw something run into the woods. I turned around at the next turn and we searched the area but didn't find a trace of what hit the car. We decided it wasn't a person but probably a deer and we continued to the super market. After we exited the vehicle in the parking lot we checked the door and, sure enough, there was white deer hair protruding from the edges of the driver's side door and windows. There was also a long drool streak across that side of the vehicle.

You may have heard of grandma getting run over by a reindeer. Apparently regular deer also have an unfortunate habit of running into things.

I'm Sure It's Around Here Somewhere

Yesterday I traveled to New Hampshire and THEY HAVE SNOW! Take that, Massachusetts. Although it has finally begun to feel like January, we still haven't really had snow. This is quite unusual. However, I'm not complaining; I prefer warm weather.
School starts in a week. I'll be taking the core Chemical Engineering classes: Chemistry II, Calculus II, and Intro to Engineering II. I'm also going to be in Intro to Ethics (part of humanities credit) and Financial Accounting (for my business admin minor).
I think I'll be able to write more, or at least more often, because I have fewer classes than last semester. Also, with no writing class I won't have weekly writing to do, so this will have to supplement. I think it will be a good second semester, you can be looking forward to more stories, anecdotes, and perhaps more series.

Seriously

Take a deep breath, look outside. Don't you feel like being out there? Even if it's raining. Why are you still here reading this? Go outside. It's nice.

Death and Taxes

They say the only things that are sure in life are death and taxes. Well, I guess that goes for phones too.

My Blackberry recently has been dying, although slowly. So I decided to get something new, that can make phone calls longer than 3 minutes and that doesn't cost nearly as much every month.

So I settled for a touch-screen phone with no data plan. Luckily, it was free because I haven't upgraded in two years. At least, I thought it was free. Silly me, I should have known that sales tax on $0.00 is $9.94.

But it wasn't an error. In Massachusetts you have to pay a luxury tax on the retail value of new phones, even if they're free. In economics I learned that too much taxes mean economic death. So there they are, death and taxes.