The Muse of Factoids gets her long-awaited due, with a month to spare. Here’s to you, O fount of occasionally useful knowledge!
Patience, Please
This site is under reconstruction and will look strange for a while. We regret the inconvenience.
Random Thread: Bo-vember!
November has arrived! Along with the long-awaited Muse of Factoids! (I wrote that sentence before I saw the caption, I swear). But there wasn’t really another punny Muse that could be November’s theme, right? Bo was the obvious choice.
So… chemistry homework. Debating whether or not to ask my parents to send my Wii for my birthday. It’s kind of sad to want it just to play one game, but it’s true. I miss Okami that much.
We would be remiss if we failed to inform our esteemed bloggership that a complete line of “Bo Knows” apparel and other Bo-dacious merchandise is available at Musery Loves Company.
(Yes, I have been reading 19th-century newspapers again. Why do you ask?)
(More things should be remiss.)
Robert, I’ve been wondering – is there any option on Cafepress to make letterman’s jacket-type patches? I’ve been toying with the idea of dedicating a sleeve on my letterman’s jacket to the three other major influences of my life over the past four years. I have a chenille letter from my camp, and I’ve heard that my online high school will sell patches as well, so that leaves MuseBlog. Is there any chance I could buy a “Muse Academy” patch, or something along those lines?
Oooh, yes, Muse-related patches would be awesome. *Collects patches*
Attention, teuthophiles!
Check out this knitted squid I found on the website Deep Sea News (http :// deepseanews . com/2012/10/awesomesauce-abounds-donate-and-win-a-giant-squid/). The eyepatch is mystifying, but it’s a lovely piece of work all the same.
It must be a pirate squid.
Ahhh it’s so cute
I can’t knit anything more complicated than a rectangle, alas.
Bo. ♥
Halloween last night was fun, though slightly disappointing.
I’m insanely tired and I’ve still got at least nine hours of straight working/class/working and then maybe even contra because I REALLY want to go, but I’m SO TIRED. And homework and stuff guh.
Wooooooo life updates I guess?
Everything is college right now! I’m applying early to Emerson, and my deadline is on the 6th (it was going to be today, but then Hurricane Sandy), so it’s a bit hectic. College essays are not as easy as I had expected them to be! I’m also applying to Bard, Carnegie Mellon, NYU, Oberlin, Sarah Lawrence, UC Davis, UCLA, UCSC, UCSD, USC, and Wesleyan. Which is absurdly a lot of colleges, but c’est la vie, and I’m already done with my Wesleyan supplement, so once I submit my Common App essay on the 6th I’ll be done with both Emerson and Wesleyan!
Also NaNoWriMo. I’ve told everyone I’m doing it and am
happilyawaiting the public humiliation that comes when I fail. And the Giants won the World Series! I went to the parade yesterday– it was insane, there were over a million people there, I was almost high-fived by Pablo Sandoval.Halloween was lovely; I dressed up as Spades Slick from Homestuck, who is basically a 1930s gangster with an eyepatch and a robot arm, and my friend Egeus dressed up as John Egbert, and Terspichore dressed up as Porrim Maryam, and we all took a lot of in-character pictures and trick-or-treated for half an hour. It was drizzling uncomfortably and Terpsichore’s grey makeup was going to run everywhere, so we headed in early. And it’s a bit uncomfortable to trick-or-treat when you’re 17 years old, anyway. You feel that you’re taking candy away from deserving little children.
On to college apps!
As I was walking out of school on Halloween I caught JUST A GLIMPSE of a girl dressed up as a Homestuck troll. I think Sollux. It didn’t register until I was already past her, and I have no idea who she is, but I wanted to cosmically high five her for that.
I was also in the computer lab by myself today and noticed a little area in the lower right corner of the whiteboard where someone had drawn all of the trolls’ symbols and the Sgrub logo and written “sgrub”. There is clearly a small but-thriving underground population of Homestuck fans at my school. I say underground because, honestly, the only classmates I know who have read Homestuck are the annoying ones, so I hold out hope that there are less obnoxious ones who are simply quieter.
Oh yeah, and I grabbed a different marker color, pointed an arrow at the drawings, and wrote “this is gr8, I approve!!!!!!!!” Hopefully somebody appreciative will see that before it gets erased.
I heard from Terpsichore later that apparently someone ran up to her and yelled hopefully, “Sollux?” She didn’t have the heart to tell him her cosplay had a different gender, number of horns, personality, and existence in certain universe iterations than the troll he was thinking of.
Heyyyyyy
if you ever come visit Oberlin
hit me up or something
this goes for all y’all I’ve had like 4 kokons with musers coming as prospective students and it’s fun times
Ah, how I miss MB. I keep saying I’ll get back on ‘full time’ but then I never do… I really am going to try and do it this time. I miss talking to everyone. I miss the MB excitement. (And I really, really like Asteroids. It’s a great stress reliever.)
So what’s been going on here lately? I’ve missed so much. I don’t know lots of people. D: Hi everybody that I don’t know! I’m Keiffer, and I’d like to be your friend!
Life is good. School is awesome(what?!). And I’m wearing fuzzy Batman pajama pants.
Now,
All I need is love
And I’m gonna pull through
All I need is love
To shake off the blues
I need your sweet, sweet love
To get me on my feet
Baby, your love is all I need…
Bonnie Tyler anyone? No? Oh… Okay.
Hello! I’m Bibliophile, and I don’t really know whether you know me or not. I’ve been here since June 2010, so you’ve come back for short periods while I was here and may or may not have seen me around. Regardless, I know you a bit better than you know me because I’ve seen some of your old posts. You seem pretty awesome. It’s nice to officially meet you, even if it does turn out we both already know each other.
I’ve been on the blog longer than you? That’s weird; I’ve always thought you to be much older blog-wise than me.
But I sort of remember you, Keiffer! Hi! Welcome back!
Hi! I do recall you being around when I was around… I started October 2009, so a little before you! But I remember you!
But it’s nice to officially meet you again. 
SFTDP that was in reply to Bibliophile. XD
((Just looked and you have been on longer than me.))
LBK- HI! I missed talking to you! And I don’t know if you’ve been on longer than me… I’ve always felt like you’ve been older blog-wise.
Tess- It’s good too see you too! And college, how exciting! I hope it’s been going well so far! *will go see R&R after I post this*
Castle- If I recall correctly you’ve known me as long as I’ve been on the blog. I couldn’t seem to locate you on the Chronological Order of MBers list-thing. My eyes aren’t what they used to be.
Oh glob…I’m old!?
Hey, Keiffer! Nice to see you! I’m glad life is good.
Personally, I’ve started college and… well, see R&R momentarily.
I know you. I’m pretty sure I’ve known you either as long as you’ve been on the blog or you’ve known me as long as I’ve been on the blog.
Half of me doesn’t know you half as well as I should like, and I know you half as well as I should.
I’m Agent Hippie, and I’ve been posting since March. I don’t know a lot of people that others would, so I hope we can get to know each other!
Hi there! It’s nice to meet you! I hope we can get to know each other too! Gah everybody that I don’t know that I’ve seen posting seems so nice and cool and — * ‘splodes *
KIEFZ!
I remember you! We joined MB at around the same time, apparently (weird- I always thought you were “older” than me, for some reason).
On my gosh!!
I remember you too!! (Really? I always thought, like, everybody was ‘older’ than me. Or at least thought that at some point in time… :))
Woah hello there how did I miss this! Welcome back! *pies*
Hello! You must have been doing NaNo.
*pies back because pies are fun*
KEIFFFFFFF *GLOMP*
It’s great to hear from you again! A bunch of us are probably off on NaNo right now (ahahahahaha *looks sadly at wordcount* (wordcount=0), so… XD
I accidentally stumbled upon my old “Mostly Harmless: Destination Moon” story today, and… Wow, my writing has really improved since then. But the better parts of it, like the bit with the tape recorder (where Agent Lusca was proven guilty of “attempted murder and sabotage/cabbage”) or the landing and POSOC’s future characters finding the plaque still have charm.
It’s funny that the time the Aeiou lander started roving on the moon– Mid-August 2012, turned out to not be so far from when Curiosity actually started roving on Mars.
By rocket to the moon
By airplane to the rocket
By taxi to the airport
By front door to the taxi
By throwing off the blanket hanging down the leg
/this has been your soon-to-be-daily TMBG lyric from Dodecahedron
(okay not really daily, just when the moment calls for it)
Finally, a month for my favorite Muse!
DID YOU KNOW
That bioluminescence (the production of light by a living organism) in fish and other marine creatures, such as the anglerfish, is often not produced by the organism itself (such as with fireflies), but by a symbiotic relationship with bacteria housed within pockets in the organism?
This has been your soon-to-be-daily factoid from Jade.
THE MORE YOU KNOW
The AMNH had a great bioluminescence exhibit called “Creatures of Light” back in August. I don’t know if it’s still there, but it was cool. It reinforced my desire to someday go to Puerto Rico and see the bioluminescence in Mosquito Bay.
The “Metro” newspaper had a quiz to see which James Bond character you were most like. It should be no surprise that I was the most like Q.
It’s Friday, I’ve got a meeting with my adviser in 10 minutes, and then I’m entirely done with this week and still alive. Rather worse for wear, but I intend to nap my cares away (at least while I’m sleeping) as soon as I’m done today.
Last night I made tofu balls and they were delicious. I had somewhat low expectations, because I didn’t actually have all the ingredients called for, and measuring things is for the weak. So I substituted and fudged. And then nommed happily. I still have half a block of tofu, and all the other ingredients I need, so I’ll probably make more today or this weekend, since otherwise the tofu and the sauce leftovers will go bad. Also because yum.
Tired and sort of behind on studying and sleepy again… or still… dunno. With loverly DST, the sun rises at seven-ish and sets at four-thirty-ish, but since it’s been so cloudy out this week it’s kind of lighter grey, followed by black which is wreaking havoc with my sleep thingy, wossname, cycle. But I’m mkaing that
warm stuff, yeah, black tea, and I put the kettle thingy on ten minutes ago maybe I should check on it? But I’m well into abstract algebra now and if I just finish that chapter today, I’ll be back on track. And I should stop sliding out of the chair about now…This post could almost have been written by me (you’d have to replace ‘abstract algebra’ with ‘the chapter on elections and representation’ though, for example) – I do sympathise. *hugs* I’m not used to DST and it still messes with my mind a bit – it sometimes feels like ten at night when it’s really only seven or so.
This is what happened at the convenience store today…
Me: “Hmm, I should check out the newsstand shelf while I’m here…”
Radio: *One song ends, and the song “A Thousand Miles” starts up*
Me: “Oh, look, a new Time, I should look at that.” *picks up and reads contents page*
Time: “10 Questions: Daredevil Felix Baumgartner.” ((This is a feature they always have where they ask a famous person… ten questions.))
Vanessa Carlton, on radio: “If I could fall into the sky, do you think time would pass me by?”
Me: *Bursts out laughing in the middle of the store*
DID YOU KNOW
The whale shark has an average lifespan of about 70 years, and does not reach sexual maturity until it is 30 years old.
This has been your daily factoid from Jade.
THE MORE YOU KNOW
Writing scathing editorials on ridiculous politicians is quite fun. Appropriate for publication in the school paper – yay or nay?
Yesyesyes.
Accidentally ended up with 1752 words – perhaps nay, then. It’s very critical but I rather like it.
Could we see it?
Bibliophile 15.2.1 – If you like, though I warn you that it’s pretty much excessively everything – excessively long (don’t feel obliged to read all of it, honestly), excessively critical, excessively scathing, excessively un-well-written/polished, etc. This was only written for fun, after all, inspired by today’s Politics lesson (she came up in discussion and was roundly attacked by all students) – and although I may sound a bit cruel I like to think it’s less maliciously critical than humourously so. Now you all know what I waste my Saturday afternoons doing. Anyway, I welcome all advice/criticism on any and all parts of what I’ve written below – please, judge away.
On Nadine Dorries: [Note: the work doesn’t actually have a title]
For those of you have never heard of her, consider yourself lucky. I apologise in advance for any chundering this article may cause.
As a citizen of this country I believe I am guaranteed freedom of expression. All I can say for what may be interpreted as acidity is that, unlike Nadine Dorries, I have not been trusted by thousands of people to represent them as a responsible leader.
Nadine Dorries, also known as ‘Mad Nad’ (not without reason) is a disgusting specimen of a politician who is a disgrace to the Conservative Party, of which she is surprisingly (still) a member.
How David Cameron, the Prime Minister, can tolerate running the country with thorns such as Nadine Dorries – from the rose of his own party, no less – in his side, is a mystery to me. One would be forgiven for mistaking her as a vocal member of the opposition.
In the words of Nadine Dorries, Tory MP (yes, really) ‘responsible’ for the constituency of Mid Bedfordshire, herself: ‘My politics are moving…I’d say in some areas I’m very left.’ On lots of issues ‘you would definitely have me as very left-wing.’. Clearly – how could you get it wrong? – she fits the description of a true Conservative MP just perfectly.
In perhaps the most famous example of her firebrand(-for-no-reason) style, earlier this year Dorries dismissed David Cameron and George Osbourne, current Chancellor of the Exchequer, as ‘two arrogant posh boys who do not know the price of milk’. Not just posh, mind you. Arrogant posh boys, ‘who show no remorse, no contrition, and no passion to want to understand the lives of others – and that is their real crime.’
What a damning accusation. Just the tiniest bit emotionally charged, perhaps? Surely a member of his own party would not be so crass as to imply that Mr Cameron’s in it for the prestige – or does the case of Ms Dorries shatter these rose-coloured illusions I hold about this country’s leadership. And since Ms Dorries obviously must be right about everything – well then, dear me, how could we possibly have allowed such a selfish man to take power?
Would you care to share, Ms Dorries, what shreds of evidence you could cite to back up this egregious claim? Becoming a politician, as I understand it, is at least partly based on a desire to help the lives of one’s fellow citizens. I highly doubt Mr Cameron is above such things.
Ms Dorries has also gained notoriety for her remarks on Mr Osborne’s ‘stupidity and arrogance.’ As if the Conservatives weren’t having enough trouble keeping the coalition together with criticisms coming – expectedly – from the Opposition, let alone outspoken rebels within their own party ranks.
And if that’s not extreme enough for you, in September Ms Dorries publicly called for a ‘kill Cameron strategy’ – although she later tried to defend this as a ‘metaphorical’ statement, I’m getting the feeling, though I could be wrong, that Mr Cameron isn’t exactly politician of the month in Ms Dorries’ mind.
If I am coming across as too harsh, let me state that I believe I am justified in saying all of this, given that her threats to ‘kill’ our Prime Minister, leader of her own party, are published without nary a legal qualm.
‘Nobody wrongs me and doesn’t pay for it,’ she has said. Seems exactly the caring politician type we want leading the country, doesn’t it?
Ms Dorries claims to be worried about the possibility of Labour winning the next election because she believes Mr Cameron’s leadership will provoke a split in the party. Is she not conveniently overlooking the fact that her own divisive actions could – dare I say it – be a major reason for the Tories being less united than she would (claim to) hope?
She may be quite within her rights to criticise the Conservative Party all she likes – heavens knows how many opposition members do so on an hourly basis. What I don’t understand is how this is going to encourage Tory success at the next election.
Mr Osborne has acknowledged her hostility – and dismissed it. ‘She has objected to [along with everything else] the modernising of the Conservative party…and that is her business.’ The party leadership may not quite know the best way to deal with Ms Dorries – those with gardens will know the difficulty of getting rid of weeds (which, in Ralph Waldo Emerson’s words, is ‘a plant whose virtues have never been discovered’); they just never seem to go away. There is no denying she is an unnecessary annoyance to those Conservative politicians actually holding positions of power, who do so perhaps thanks to the fact that they at least are actually fairly sensible people. Something on which Ms Dorries could perhaps do with a few lessons, although she chooses instead a path of scorn.
She has ridiculed all those she dislikes, and to hell with party loyalty. Her mockery of MPs awaiting decisions on the recent Cabinet reshuffle appears pathetic with a touch of bitterness – it’s easy to disparage something unlikely to come one’s way, is it not? Surely, Ms Dorries, if you ever stood a chance of becoming even the most junior of junior ministers, you would quickly change your tune and not adopt such a contemptuous view of our government. Perhaps I am foolish in my optimism.
Her fondness for mockery is not limited to other MPs. She referred to journalist on Twitter as Alice (should have cut my hair years ago but like people to think I’m young and sexy) Thompson. She can’t seem to give it a rest, either – ‘Oh, and Alice, darling, there comes an age where it’s just not ok to wear your hair long and in the style of a sixteen year old and you sweetie, passed it some time ago’ is one of many illuminating quotes to be found on Ms Dorries’ blog. What, please, is the political relevance of someone’s choice of haircut?
There are hundreds more examples. It must be evident that Ms Dorries is fond of stirring up trouble, frequently within her own party, as a vocal critic of government policy. I can’t help but wonder what sort of credentials she’s boasting that allow her to remain a Conservative MP.
Apart from being a liability to her own party, she is also delightfully arrogant and rude. A tweet from November 2nd makes the lovely claim that ‘teenagers don’t watch the news or read papers, apparently’. You’re perfectly right, Ms Dorries – I for one wouldn’t recognise a newspaper if it hit me in the face.
To be fair, though, I’m sure this is a politician who devotes every waking hour to serving the public. Exhibit A, a tweet from October 30th: ‘It is FREEZING [emphasis hers] in the corridors in the House of Commons!!’ Well, there’s no argument to be had there. This is clearly what a representative voted in by the public should be spending her time worrying about. We know that from what she says. ‘Having left my make up bag at work,’ reads another tweet, ‘I hope the car isn’t late to get me into hair and make up or it could be interesting. #morelikescary’.
Apart from lying, she also seems to count indolence among her innumerable virtues. Appointed as a member of the Innovation, Universities, Science and Skills Committee, she went to a shockingly high 2% of sessions. I applaud her ceaseless dedication to the public cause. The committee, reformed as the Science and Technology Select Committee in subsequent years, unfortunately no longer had the pleasure of Ms Dorries’ presence gracing even a single session.
Perhaps the most hilarious of Ms Dorries’ many qualities is her exuberant immaturity. She is categorically obsessed with blocking people on Twitter – half of her tweets seem to consist of gleefully informing people that they’re ‘blocked now’. An October tweet shamelessly informs the world that ‘Blocking is bliss’. Another: ‘I block pratts [spelling mistake, need you ask, hers]. You’re blocked.’ And yet another: ‘You are ridiculous and are now blocked. Goodbye.’ In a piece of splendidly juvenile advice given to good friend Sally Bercow, of bedsheet photo fame, she brags, ‘If you don’t like, block. I do it at least once a day.’
Has the whole of the House of Commons been reduced to a playground since I last checked? Or perhaps only the unfortunate members of the Bedfordshire constituency have the distinct pleasure of being represented by someone who is this reassuringly responsible and upstanding.
On a more serious note, how can politicians be held accountable to the people they are supposed to be representing when they refuse to even acknowledge those who may not agree with everything they do?
Nadine Dorries seems to me a prime example of a self-serving, power-happy maniac. Perhaps she finds it difficult to listen to herself; she happily tells others ‘To be wealthy and posh is not a fault…to be arrogant, is.’ If that is true, then Ms Dorries herself must have as many faults as the Californian tectonic boundary. In many cases it appears that she is utterly unable to face reality – sorry, darling, in life, there are going to be people who disagree with you, Ms Dorries. Did you not realize that before choosing to become a politician, a career whose job description almost guarantees some form of opposition? (Hypocritically, she accuses others: ‘shouldn’t you know better than to tell lies on Twitter?’)
I’ll end with this gem of a quotation: ‘I block anyone who is rude, ignorant, swears or is just plain stupid.’ Too bad Twitter doesn’t allow users to block themselves.
If anyone’s interested in losing a couple of brain cells, Nadine Dorries’ Twitter account [I took out the link] is a fascinatingly revolting way of doing so. Disclaimer: side effects may include nausea, headaches, and general loss of faith in humanity.
“as many faults as the Californian tectonic boundary”… I need to start using that one.
Do, by all means!
All I’m thinking is she had to be bunnified. I enjoy modifying images of everyday people and things to make them actually funny.
Bunnified Mad Nad would be good.
Wouldn’t it be more advantageous of the bunnies to make a government official competent and scheming, not petty and annoying?
It’s their plan to cause worldwide chaos, then take over.
At least, that’s what I would do.
Only if you wanted to just take over the world. What I’d do is cause mass chaos, then take over.
Well, wouldn’t they have to make *every* MP like that, then, not just her?
If you’re changing your name, can we call you Amp, as in short for ampersand?
Why did I hit the button so many times? It didn’t show up!
Ha! She was suspended by the Conservative Party today because she’s going to appear on I’m a Celebrity. Talk about accurate timing.
That moment when you realize normal girls don’t stay up past 11 reading about Joseph Kittinger online…
Normal’s overrated.
Indeed. And I suppose that knowledge of the extremes of human capability is vital in the fight against the HPBs.
*blink*
Average human terminal velocity is 55 m/s with limbs fully extended!
*blink*
You see, if I’d known that back in that RPG where that terrorist blew up the plane Enc and I were on, I would have known how fast we were falling.
Did that start out as an RRR? Because if so, I think I was driving a truck at the time.
Oh, yes, it was the RRR where we were all grown-up…
Or reading Wild Mass Guesses on TV tropes about how, for exampe, in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, Belle’s absent mother is totally a member of VFD.
(I’m sold, in case you were wondering).
Yay for bo!!
Nice to meet you!
You can head on over to the Welcome, Neophytes thread for an official and/or messy welcome.
This is speller dropping by to announce that there has now been a Kokonvention that took place at a football game.
And it was awesome!
Details? Pictures?
I have a photo, which I can send in if Speller has permission. We’re both in our college bands, and Yale and Brown were playing each other at Brown last weekend.
I’d rather not have the photo posted (sorry), but yes, we met up last Saturday at the Yale-Brown football game, which we were both at because of marching band. It was really awesome, and their band gave us cool pins to put on our blazers, and we can just ignore the part where Yale’s football team kind of didn’t score any points. (It’s okay. Our halftime show rocked.)
That’s fine. You know about our “zero pressure” MB philosophy. I’m glad you had fun.
DID YOU KNOW
Because there are such a larger proportion of female ballerinas than male ballerinas, and male roles for shows are often hard to fill, there are “Rent-a-Prince” ballet studios where male dancers will fly to your show to dance a part.
This has been your daily factoid from Jade
THE MORE YOU KNOW
Relatedly, I went to see my roommate dance in an original ballet version of Dracula today! It was fun.
Unrelatedly, I missed the Hour of No Regrets. By which I mean, I was searching youtube for music from the Kirby Nightmare in Dreamland video the whole time. Welp.
Now I’m nanoing and watching Homestuck fanvids on youtube and havign too many emotions about fictional characters why do I do this to myself, I have so much work I haven’t done at all x_x
Do they also do birthday parties?
I certainly hope so, but the person I found the original information didn’t know when I asked her if you could just hire one for a day XD
Do twins have connected umbilical cords? It came up in church…
Nope! Identical twins can share a placenta, but they have separate umbilical cords; fraternal twins have separate placentas and umbilical cords.
…I wonder how that works in marsupials.
Closing night of the play was Saturday.
I honestly have no idea what I’m going to do now. This play ate my life and I didn’t even have a speaking role but it was one of the most amazing things I’ve ever done. I’ve been crazy stressed out for the last week and I thought it was going to kill me but it was also so incredibly rewarding.
Closing night of every show the actors give flowers to the techies. Since I played music for this show I made it onto the list. When one of the seniors got up to give the speech about how fantastic the techies are (seriously though, wow they are amazing and I have no idea how they put up with us), she mentioned the other two musicians specifically. I was sort of standing there awkwardly with the other actors thinking “should I say something…?” and then about six other people said “and (shadowfire)” at the same time and one of my friends handed me a flower and I felt like for once I actually existed and was important and it was the best feeling I’ve had in months.
And I couldn’t properly explain to the friend who gave me the flower why I started crying, but I am so used to being the person who gets talked over and ignored and suddenly everyone was acknowledging my existence in the best possible way and I felt perfect.
DID YOU KNOW
There are only 2 earthworm species native to the United States (though there are more in Mexico/Canada). The ones commonly found are all invasive European or Asian varieties. As with many invasive species, their presence in many ecosystems can actually be harmful. However, there is no documented feasible way of removing them.
Some field studies show that their impact may be small enough to not cause irreparable/lasting damage to such systems, but in other cases the removal of nutrients from the top layer of substrate by earthworms can negatively impact species with shallow root systems, they can interfere with mycorrhzal associations, and completely eradicate some types of plants from the ecosystem after only months.
This has been your daily factoid from Jade
~THE MORE YOU KNOW~
Dear Jade,
When I arrived at the blog just a few moments ago, I saw the beginnings of this factoid in the recent comments bar. Upon further investigation, I see that you share these every day, and I wanted to let you know that I think this is the greatest thing ever.
Love,
Pan
Dear Panda,
Hello! I am glad you are enjoying the facts! I felt it appropriate for the monthly thread devoted to Bo
And nice to see you around, as well.
Love,
Jade
Dear Pan,
I have missed you on the blog. Great to see you stopping by!
Love,
Oxlin
GIANT PALOUSE EARTHWORM. ♥
Happy Bonfire Night!
Remember, remember! Have fun!
Penny for the guy, Sel!
Our school’s bonfire night was, for some reason unknown to me, actually held as early as last Wednesday. Our house’s guy won the competition, and I think had the honour of being burnt on the bonfire first, accompanied by rather splendiferous fireworks that cost only two thousand quid, so I’m told (and free entertainment for the ordinary townspeople, wot.)
Wait, you were burnt? Is that non-literal?
What’s the competition? *does not live in Britain*
Burnt in effigy, I think she means.
she should stay away from that town then
XD
Sorry, I meant, I think our house’s guy was burnt first (although I’m not sure.)
…oh. *rereads post* I, um, missed the word ‘think,’ reading it as, “Our house’s guy won the competition, and I had the honour of being burnt on the bonfire first.”
“No, sir. I do not bite my thumb at you, sir. But I bite my thumb, sir!”
Hahahahahaaa
“My naked weapon is out… quarrel, I will back thee!”
Alright so before Museblog I didn’t know hardly anything about Guy Fawkes day outside of some reference I didn’t catch in Chronicles of Crestomanci, so my main association with the night is ebeth’s wild adventures from like 2007/2008.
Woo?
That should be required reading for MuseBloggers: Ebeth Brings Guy Fawkes to Ohio
Same here, since there was a link to that thread on the thread that introduced me to it here.
Well, in Chronicles of Crestomanci, there was an entire story about it… I think that’s where I learned what it was all about, actually…
Oh, that’s right! I’d read that, too; I just, um, forgot about it.
Yes, though imagine how confusing it would be to read with absolutely no knowledge of the tradition. They explain it in the barest minimum and I wasn’t sure what was going on or why it had been such a big deal within the story.
*confusing at age 9. If I were older I might have worked it out better.
If you mean Witch Week, that is where I read about it first too. Somehow when I was 10 it made sense, even though I hadn’t heard of it before. And somehow I learned about “Penny for the Guy” and all of those traditions. Not sure where that came from, as it wasn’t mentioned in Witch Week.
I know about it because we did a unit on England in 4th grade.
I don’t know where my NC voter’s registration card is. UGH. It’s not in my backpack, it’s not in my room that I can find, maybe it’s in my violin case at work? Or on the desk there? It’s so frustrating. I got it in the mail last Monday and then it vanished into the ether and I have absolutely no memories of seeing it except for when I got it out of my mailbox.
That said, hopefully I’ll magically find it tomorrow or they magically won’t ask for it? My friends who voted early said they didn’t even have to show their cards, just ID and proof of residence (I think I have some official-looking mail I can present, somewhere) and suchlike.
But I’m worried because that was early voting and tomorrow isn’t.
BAH.
On a brighter note, since none of my friends are around I’m just going to go straight to bed when I’m finished with ten more pages of geology. Because I can.
At present, if you are registered you normally do not need to show any ID in North Carolina. They’ll ask you to say your name and where you live and that’s it. They should have your name in the system and will have a printed label with all your info on it. I’ve never had to use my registration card for anything except to look up information. (But you can also look that up online.) Your friends probably may have done one-stop voting, where they registered at the same time. *is a newly trained poll assistant*
There are some situations for first-time voters where you might need an ID, though I’m guessing they don’t apply to you if you’ve been issued a card, but in any case you don’t have to have the card itself. Check this link: www. ncsbe.gov/ content.aspx?id=143
Thank you! This will be my first time voting, so I’ll probably bring along ID and suchlike just in case. But this is extremely reassuring and gives me one less thing to freak out about.
On the other hand though, it’s slightly alarming that there’s so little verification of who I am when doing something as fairly important as voting. Huh.
This country is weird.
“Who was that masked poll assistant?” “I don’t know, but she left a silver ballot.”
You have the best imagined dialogue.
I had lots of practice talking to myself back when I was a weird little kid.
See, I said we weren’t the only ones.Yesss… though admittedly, I’ve been trying to get rid of you for some time, as I am the voice to rule all voices.
Faugh! Only I will achieve true greatness, probably because I’m the only one who actually pays attention when we do math homework and therefore stands a chance of actually, you know, passing the test and not getting kicked out of college.But someone needs to think of what happens when you throw a magical yodeling walrus out the window of your senior year homeroom!
Yodeling? It wasn’t yodeling last time?But it was still magical, green and bore a striking to Santa Claus. I just traded that in for a sound effect. *giggles* C’mon, it’s funny.
And can all be refuted by a helium ballon, which is why I make the plans ’round here.And people wonder why we don’t pay attention in- oh, shiny gooblefish!
*kabosh*
Anyway, I’m just going to go back to studying now…
Um.
TV tropes (I, um, discovered it a few days ago and…), homework, and musicals are working together to eat my life.
To the extent where I keep accidentally pausing in the middle of, say, brushing my hair to analyze something I read in TV tropes or something about a musical or, most often, something I read in TV tropes about a musical. Or just being distracted by whatever musical I’m watching in my head at the moment.
More than once a day.
Oops?
I know it will be hard, but… stop. Stop now, while you still can. That site is dangerously addictive.
I spent five hours there one time. And then I saw the forty other tabs I had open and ran screaming from the computer. There should be a Tropers Anonymous support group.
The thing is, though, I’m not sure I want to.
Once you can’t get anything else done, you will.
DID YOU KNOW
In the 17th century, to make the effigies appear to “scream” as they burned, a live cat would sometimes be added to the bonfire
Thankfully this practice has died out.
This has been your daily factoid from Jade.
~THE MORE YOU KNOW~
THE MORE I KNOW *Shudder*
TOMORROW I VOTE!
Voting day today.
I am stressed out about this. Like, really stressed out. My parents are hosting and election party tonight. So basically, there will be a bunch of really enthusiastic people from the same party in my house and they will stare at the television all night.
But what if the person they want to be elected doesn’t get elected? I don’t want a bunch of angry enthusiastic adults in the house.
Stress.
What if? How? What.
:'(
I know what you mean. But I just keep reminding myself that whoever wins, my homework will still need doing and I’ll still have to go to class the next day.
People your parents’ age have experienced plenty of wins and losses. If things go against them tonight, I don’t think it will ruin the party. Why not cross that bridge when you come to it?
That’s very true. I’m sure they’ll handle themselves well about the whole thing, as they have experienced some trying elections before.
too bad it’s not that way with football
Eep. …hide in your room?
This is continuing to be an appallingly long week. In other news, prospective LVI applicants are sitting their entrance papers tomorrow. This means it’s been an entire year since when I was here last November taking the entrance exams to get in. Where did the time go?
Boom. Voted.
Congratulations! For whom, if you don’t mind me asking?
Bleeding-heart liberal.
Except that Obama’s not really that liberal at all.
That’s what I figured. I do wish there were better candidates to choose from.
How could you tell?!
(I mean, besides the dreadlocks, the veganism, the old Volkswagen, the hippie-commune college, the one-room house in the woods, the bisexuality, the macbook, the hiking boots, and the ripped jeans and flannel paisley shirt dug out of a free pile?)
Well, I’ve officially voted in a U.S. election now. Four years ago I was watching the results from a congressman’s “victory party” (luckily for him, that name did not become ironic), so it feels kind of odd to not be doing that again. Regardless: woohoo, democracy!
Out of curiosity, who did you vote for?
Same-sex marriage is now legal in Maine and Spain! Which seems like the set-up to a very funny limerick, but is actually the set-up to an outpouring of joy and happiness from citizens across the globe who will now be able to enjoy their civil rights. Congratulations and felicitaciones to them!
But is it raining on the plains? (It’s raining in Boston, and Maine isn’t too far away, so maybe… If there *are* plains in Maine… I’ve never been.
*Rubs from silly pun police*
*runs. That’s what I get for posting first thing in the morning.
AND WASHINGTON.
I am faux-bummed that Washington will have to share credit as the first state to make same-sex marriage legal by popular vote.
(Really, the more the merrier!)
DID YOU KNOW
that the United States of America is not only composed of 50 states, but also MANY unincorperated (organized and unorganized) territories?
These organized teritories include Puerto Rico, Guam, the US Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
The unorganized category is much larger, comprising 8+1 (4 uninhabited, 2 primarily wildlife refuges, and 1(plus an extra that is also claimed by New Zealand) that is self-governing–American Samoa.) islands in the Pacific. There are also 3 islands in the Carribian, all of which are also claimed by other countries.
The last territories to gain statehood were Hawaii and Alaska in 1959.
This has been your daily factoid from Jade.
~THE MORE YOU KNOW~
And also Washington DC.
I read that Puerto Rico voted yesterday saying that they wanted to be a state. So this might be changing soon. It’s very interesting!
Link to source may be snipped (it’s CNN):
cnn(.)com/2012/11/07/politics/election-puerto-rico/index.html
Indeed! That is what prompted the factoid. However, it would still have to get through all of our government first… we’ll see! Could be exciting. They’d need to change the flag again though.
*happy pterodactyl noises*
So, I’m having a really good night so far, since Obama won the presidency and Claire McCaskill and Elizabeth Warren won, as well. Also, three states plus Spain have, I think, legalized gay marriage-!!!!!-.
I’d be super-happy, but California has yet to tally up their ballots, and I’m pretty tense because there are two measures on there that could protect the school system from massive, sweeping budget cuts. Only about 25% of the votes have been counted, but so far, one of the propositions has basically lost, and the other is behind two points. If these don’t pass, my district alone will get a $6.5 million cut, and a lot of other districts will be hit much, much harder.
This is the first election in which I’ve paid attention to anything other than the presidential race (in my defense, I was in sixth grade in another country for the last one), and I feel like a lot more of an informed citizen, although I can’t actually vote.
So… Until tonight, I didn’t know that people actually went out and voted on Voting Day. Like, I thought that the polls were open from some arbitrary date and then they closed on Voting Day. I thought that the huge lines at the polls were people being lazy, but no, everybody MUST VOTE on Voting Day. Huh.
In my defense, Oregon is one of two(?) states with a mail-in ballot for everyone, so you just kind of either mail it whenever or go and drop it off at one of several drop points (open whenever) if you want to be extra super secret and careful. In Oregon, Voting Day is literally a cutoff day; if your ballot doesn’t get in by 8:00 you don’t vote. Kind of like Tax Day, I guess.
Remembering the Muse article about voting, I guess Oregon’s voters don’t get to have a “sense of community” when waiting to vote. We don’t get to be extra super patriotic and loudly proclaim that we’re doing our civic duty. That would be pretty awesome and fun. But I did get to have a little private moment of patriotism when I dropped off my ballot in the mailbox. (But Kyra, you’re an absentee voter so it would have been by mail anyway–SHH!)
*rambling about legalized marijuana cut* (it was mostly me saying that states that both did and didn’t legalize it are cool)
Actually, there is one thing from my cut marijuana legalization rambling that I want to keep–WASHINGTON! YES! You DID IT!!! You legalized gay marriage! WOOOOOOO
Yep, Washington’s the other! It surprised my friends in California that everybody votes by mail here. It’s really convenient, but I agree that “sense of community” is way less prominent.
And thank you from all Washingtonians! More than half of us are very proud.
You can also do early voting but it’s usually less convenient – I had to go downtown instead of a few blocks away to do so. I voted early anyway, though, because I figured there’d be more people trying to disenfranchise me on election day.
The situation varies depending on where you live. My county is pretty generous with providing sites. Both early and regular polling places were about five minutes from my house, which was nice since this year I didn’t have a choice as I was working at a different precinct. (Poll workers are not allowed to leave their post during the day except for dire emergency. If they do have to leave, they can’t return.)
My state doesn’t have early voting. I hadn’t heard of it before this year. We have regular voting and absentee voting.
Hey Prussia, do you mind posting on the Roleplaying Thread? There’s a whole group of characters basically waiting on your character to let them into her apartment.
I just posted it.
Oh, look, Obama won.
In other news, marchiing band season is over now, so maybe in all this free time I have, I’ll write a novel. Ha ha ha ha ha.
OBAMA! And also same-sex marriage! HAPPY DANCE
Yay! Everybody I voted for won, and Congressman Neal, who I couldn’t vote for, but who I interned for over the summer, won, too!
(I go to college in Massachusetts, but I’m registered in New York so I voted absentee.)
Woke up earlier today to find out election results; congratulations to Mr Obama!
And all this election talk…I can’t wait to vote in two and a half years’ time.
‘Allo, everyone. Armada is back-ish. (Did you miss me?) Plus a very busy schedule, a bit of a leftover concussion from falling off her bike on Friday, a bunch of letdown from being in a play which closed on Sunday, and happiness elections-wise. So pretty much the usual craziness.
I’ve been lurking on here for a while, but I haven’t really had the time to post… hopefully now that my schedule’s winding down a bit I’ll have the time to be more regularly active.
Also. Everyone. I am going to send Matt Smith a plushie trilobite for Christmas. Does anyone else want to get on this bandwagon with me so we can inundate him with plushie trilobites?
Oh, hi, Armada! *gives squids for concussion*
PLUSHIE TRILOBITE
THAT IS THE BEST IDEA EVER
I’m assuming the plushie trilobite is a reference to something in season 7 which I haven’t seen yet, but yes!
Not really, actually – it was more the result of a long and strange late-night discussion in which I and a friend of mine discussed Four and Six going trilobite-watching and decided that Eleven probably had a tank of them somewhere in the TARDIS, and then the logical extension of this was to send Matt Smith some plushie ones for Christmas. In any case, plushie trilobites seem like a very Matt Smith-ish thing. And they are very cute.
Four and Six going trilobite-watching is pretty much the best mental image ever. Thanks for that.
You are most welcome. I think perhaps I will write some fanfiction about it at some point in time.
They make plushie trilobites?
‘They’ don’t; we, however, can. They’re pretty easy to sew — you just need a machine which is capable of sewing through thin foam. I can email the GAPAs a pattern and some photos of the first one I made as soon as I get it back from my paleontology professor (I gave it to him for an assignment, he took it to a conference in New York and I haven’t seen it since). They are really, really cute.
They don’t? Have you checked? They make plushie tardigrades, after all; I’d expect there’d be trilobites somewhere. *checks* There are some, but they’re all hand-made and thus probably expensive (I didn’t check). (And the lady who makes almost all of the handmade plush tardigrades makes trilobites, too! I’m not surprised. There are actually plush tardigrades being sold by an official toy company, though, which is extremely awesome).
I did check, actually — I meant that there aren’t any commercially available, not that nobody in the world has ever made one before. (I did actually know that they make plush tardigrades and microbes and stuff, which was partially my inspirations. I mean, if you can sell cute fuzzy germs, then why not cute fuzzy trilobites?)
I will jump so hard on that bandwagon.
(I can’t sew, but I would really like the opportunity to knit a trilobite cozy.)
Trilobite cozies are equally welcome! As long as they’re fuzzy and huggable and trilobite-shaped, I see no reason why we should not use a variety of things for Operation Plushie Trilobite Inundation. (Which I quite like the name of, CP. :lol:)
Coming soon: plushie tardigrades.
…I made that post before I saw yours, I swear.
As you’ll no doubt see, they exist. And I have one! There’s a company called Giant Microbes that makes plush versions of various microscopic organisms, and they make Hypsibius dujardini (the first and as far as I know only tardigrade to have its genome sequenced); I got one for my 12th birthday, I think. It’s very fuzzy and huggable, and it’s blue.
Bibliophile:
I know that company! I gave a friend of mine Black Plague, and her niece a bookworm.
That looked so weird in the Recent Comments bar.
Armada! Why, yes, I did miss you. I hope your concussion has abated or healed.
It currently appears that it would be impractical for me to join Operation Plushie Trilobite Inundation, but I APPROVE.
Prop 30 passed! School was full of random hugging! Yay!
I am going to audition for a Real Live Grownup Orchestra, too! D’you suppose I should tell them I’m fifteen before I audition? Half of me wants to just never say anything, unless I get in.
Congratulations on Prop 30! Some of my friends were really worried on election night that it seemed to be failing, but it’s wonderful to hear otherwise!
What does it say about me that my idea of fun is watching old episodes of “What’s My Line?” and going “Oh, she’s going to guess it, she’s going to guess it…” It’s like Akinator but with funny 60s people…
GUYS, GUYS I CAN MARRY ANYONE I WANT IN MY HOME STATE NOW.
That’s mega exciting. I don’t even.
Also Colorado and Washington legalized pot. Whut.
I have a concert to go to. BUT YEAH. STUFF.
DID YOU KNOW
that I have a lab practical on a rat we dissected 3 weeks ago (we had fall break, and then the roof fell off the science center, and classes got cancelled…) and I don’t remember where anything is
so your regularly scheduled fact of the day will be coming a little later when I’m less panicking about not knowing how to tell apart submaxillary salivary glands and lymph nodes
DID YOU KNOW
the typical “screech” used for the Bald Eagle noise in movies is actually the sound of the red-tailed hawk. The collective noun for both these birds of prey is an “aerie.”
This has been your daily factoid from Jade.
~THE MORE YOU KNOW~
DID YOU KNOW
to me that’s like saying “Oil is less dense than water” because i already knew that.
this has been an optional reply factoid from Catwings
THE MORE YOU KNOW (about me)
UNRELATED:
Being able to say “Yes” when someone says “did you know” is the fourth most satisfying feeling in the world.
What are the first through third most satisfying things?
One of them is bound to involve mint chocolate chip ice cream.
Have you found a version better than Baskin-Robbins?
Ben and Jerry’s mint chocolate cookie icecream is heavenly, although not green.
~THE MORE YOU KNOW~
Breyer’s mint chocolate chip is good, just not green. That’s why I like it.
It’s seasonal, but dryer’s thin mint ice cream. Oh my godddddddddddddd
one has to be Winged Cats
Winged cats are a feeling?
Well, they should be.…I have no idea where that came from.
The joy felt when petting a winged cat could be a feeling.
exactly!
Hm. I don’t really know. Some of them involve hugs and others involve yelling really loudly and playing trombone.
There are two inches of snow outside on the ground.
What even.
Same. I’d be surprised, but last year, it snowed before Halloween here.
Me too! I have to dig out my car so I can make it to a doctor’s appointment at 10am (current time: 9:34am, also I am not yet wearing day clothes)
Problems of privilege, though, at least I have a car. Can’t really complain.
you are lucky,
i want snow because i like rolling around in it and playing in the white icy stuff.
All the snow melted yesterday, though. It’s supposed to be 60 degrees here this weekend. Don’t worry, winter will arrive soon enough.
Now i know why i named my almost-finished squid after you!
DID YOU KNOW
There are only two vascular plants native to Antarctica–Antarctic hair grass and Antarctic pearlwort.
This has been your daily factoid from Jade.
~THE MORE YOU KNOW~
I’m still waiting for the first MBer to go to Antarctica. It’s the place to be!
I really want to! I keep thinking about how interesting it is.
ALso there have got to be interesting fossils in there, from when it wasn’t frozen over. But they’re under all that ice AND rock layers now. Alas!
Wasn’t that the only continent they said they’d never gotten a fan letter from in the Muse 10th anniversary issue?
Still true. You can change that!
How many years until the 20thvanniversary? We should try to fix it before then!

Was
torturingplaying around with my gravatar. i hit the wrong buttonSoon only 4! (It’ll be in 2017.)
That’s enough time!
Phone Museblog!… Phone Museblog!… Phone – okay i’ll stop that
im back.
i was trying to blend in to get MBers to notice me but i need to make myself noticeable
I BLEND INTO THE CROWD! NO ONE NOTICES ME UNTILL IT IS TOO LATE! MWAHAHAHA!anyways.i wonder if there are any video game crating programs that you don’t have to download, or pay, or get a Cak’in collage degree because i hae always wanted to be able to make my own proffessional video games. even though i am not proffessional
There’s a programming language MIT put out called Scratch that’s designed for younger people (age 8-16) to make programs and games with. You do have to download it, but you don’t have to pay anything for it, and it’s easy to use. Maybe you should ask your parents to check out this link and help you download it: scratch.mit.edu
You can’t make professional games with it, but the Alice program from Carnegie Melon is a great way to start off with programming. It’s made to be based on Java, so transitioning to Java from it (as I did) is quite easy once you get the hang of it. You do have to download it (As you would need to do for anything – you need a compiler for any language).
Also, a more professional program would be GameMaker, which you can also download for free. It has a very odd syntax (dunno if you would call it that though) and usage, but you can make quite good games with it (I made the game “Snake” once, but I also made different terrains with lava that the snake would start losing segments if it went into, and a two player mode)
i can prove you wrong that you say all makers need downloading.
“
there is an online site called “Sploder” where you go to and can make an account and make video games “Mine is Minotaur games
I recommend GameMaker. You can download it for free, and I’ve found that it is very easy to use, even if you have no experience making games. I first heard of it from a classmate who showed me how to use it to make an interactive map, but you can also make anything from a standard platformer to an intricate multiplayer game (though presumably the latter takes practice).
I’m going to the midnight showing of the Hobbit with a friend of mine. I just ordered my ticket. My excitement is indescribable. That Friday is the last day of finals week, and I do have one exam that day, but it’s not till later in the morning so I should be fine.
I haven’t had much to say lately, but I’m still around.
SFTDP. It seems to me that writing a story (when the words are working with you properly) is really less of a conversion of ideas into words and more of a conversion of thoughts and feelings into pure joy. I wonder if there’s an equation for it.
no fact today
sorry guys was having a terrible day already and my computer display just broke and it’ll be super expensive to replace
so I’ll have to just do facts sometime after I figure out what to do in the meantime
DID YOU KNOW
That I and everybody else really appreciate you and your facts. You enliven my every day! May the world be nicer to you tomorrow!
This has been a virtual hug from Meow.
~THE MORE YOU KNOW~
It’s okay, Jade, we all appreciate you anyway… Hubble you so cool.
depending how old your computer is, it might be cheaper to buy a new one than to replace the display. You have a Mac, right? They have some pretty good tools for transferring your files from computer to computer, from what I’ve heard.
But yeah displays are the worst part to break except for like the motherboard
Good luck ♥
Yeah… emailed the tech store, waiting to see what they say about options for repair/replacement. Thankfully all my data is just fine and everything, and the screen’s un-faded in areas so I can access everything (for the first hour or so I could only get to the top 3 inches of the screen, and none in the upper right corner). Now I’m mostly afraid to move it in case it gets worse : / There’s some weird vertical colored lines that keep changing color/position, and some horizontal ones get thicker/thinner…
I think I’ll just let it sit on the desk until the tech store emails back. At least I can still do my work on it, just in a reduced area. But it’s definitely not as bad as it could be at least… *trying to find some positive to this mess*
Hey guys. Sorry for not posting for a while. I need help with something. My sisters and I are auditioning next week for a talent competition TV show, and they’ll need a band name to announce us by. I would like something simple that evokes an image, if possible. The best thing I could come up with is Highway Lights – adventure and freedom and driving away to a new city – but no one likes it. So something similar to that?
If they don;t know that Rainbow*Storm is your nickname, you could suggest it.
I like Highway Lights, but something similar… Hmm… What was their problem with it? Do they want something more musical? More old-timey? More silly?
Starlight City?
Hm, I’m really bad with names.
Good luck, though!
The first performance of the musical I’m in was last night! It was really fun–Cinderella, so it was full of cheesy goodness. And also guys in drag. (Six, to be precise. Four teachers, then the stepsisters.) I don’t have a big part, but I still had a really goos time. I’m so happy I decided to do the musical–definitely a good decision.
I’ll help Jade out, since she can’t post a fact today…
DID YOU KNOW
Standing on the surface of the Earth, all of the atmosphere between you and space pushes down on you with a force of only 1 kilogram per square centimeter (14.7 pounds per square inch).
However, because water is much denser than air, you only have to dive a mere 10.3 meters or 33 feet underwater to experience double that pressure. At twice that depth, you will experience three times the pressure you feel on the surface, and so, all the way down to the bottom of the ocean.
~ THE MORE YOU KNOW ~
Got back from my first “job” (aka working at a haunted house- SO MUCH FUN)
I got paid quite a bit and got a trophy for Haunter of the Year.
Can I put this on my college application?
Yes! Anything that makes you stand out, especially if you’re applying to a school with a reputation for a creative atmosphere. Original/interesting things are good!
You should definitely put it on your college application if it seems relevant and you can use it to relate some skills or qualities you possess. Like, “you learned the importance of ______ during your time working this job because of this unique situation, ______ and handled it like _____”
I should be sleeping but the Internet, my thoughts, and my parents watching television are keeping me awake. What’s new? At least there’s no school tomorrow!
I had an actual thing to say: Putting diet Snapple peach iced tea (the kind that is half lemonade) into chocolate cookie dough makes cookies that are almost… fluffy in texture. It makes them less densee and a lot more pleasurable to eat. Also, Pixy Stix make cookies taste good. (My friend and I had cookie dough and leftover Halloween candy. We made magical cookies and watched movies.)
SFTDP- I meant chocolate chip cookie dough not just chocolate cookie dough, and by ‘densee’ I meant dense. Just for future reference, my spelling/word choice mistakes are often the fault of autocorrect. My iPad doesn’t like the way I type.
DID YOU KNOW
Sharks, in addition to sight, smell, taste, touch, hearing, and a host of other senses (balance, bodily awareness, etc) also have two that we do not: Lateral lines, which can sense even slight movements in water helping them find prey; and Ampule of Lorenzini, which let them sense electrical signals via many tiny pores in their snout, whcih are then transmitted to their brain. This lets them pinpoint prey that is buried under sand or otherwise camouflaged.
This has been your daily random factoid from Jade, with thanks to Kai for filling in for me yesterday
~THE MORE YOU KNOW~
In similar news, I went to the Cleveland Aquarium this morning with my Shark exco. We saw a buncha fish and spent quality time at the shark tank, of course–sand tigers, blacktips, nurse sharks, and one other I can’t remember, for the most part. Fun! I admit I am rather spoiled by the Shedd Aquariumin Chicago though–few can really compare to it (they have BELUGAS even, I mean wow). But I do love sea creatures so it’s fun to see them.
On the way back and for a while afterwards I hung out with my friend (the teacher) and listened to Great Big Sea’s newly released stuff which was also nice.
Didn’t do any work today and did not much else of merit, and still not feeling great because computer problems/other stuff, but feeling a bit better at least. Now if only the neighbors would quiet down so I can sleep someday perhaps…
Remembrance Day.
It has a different name here in the States. What is it like in the U.K.?
The main commemoration is held in London at the Cenotaph, but there are memorial services held all over the country, including our school chapel, on the second Sunday of November (this year it happens to be the 11th). Two minutes of silence are observed at 11 am, often marked by the firing of cannon. In the days and weeks leading up to and including today, most people – and virtually all public figures such as politicians, news presenters etc – wear poppies from the Royal British Legion’s Poppy Appeal.
What does Veterans Day involve in the States?
And SFTDP but what is the difference between that and Memorial Day, which I believe is sometime in May?
Veterans’ Day is supposed to honor all U.S. Army veterans, living or dead, whereas Memorial Day commemorates people who have died fighting in the army.
I’m still sort of confused because Armistice Day, which my family sort of observes, seems to me like a more concrete, international thing to celebrate.
Anyway, not much is involved. I am the only one with a red poppy around here, so I’m starting to wonder if they don’t do that in the U.S. But we have tomorrow off of school, and the radio is playing some moving speeches. Here’s to peace, yes?
We do wear paper poppies here — or at least we used to. I haven’t seen any this year. In the United States, however, the holiday is observed tomorrow, so maybe that’s when the poppies will appear.
When I was a kid in San Diego, the school celebrated Veterans Day with a flag-raising ceremony. One of the girls always read the poem “In Flanders Fields.” It was solemn and moving, even though I had no idea where Flanders was or why its flowers mattered.
Hm, perhaps it’s observed more in San Diego than here, since San Diego has a naval base. My mom says it was observed more when she was a kid, but much less after the Vietnam War, which is interesting (and dispiriting).
Overall I’ve found that the Bay Area tends to have a different attitude towards soldiers than the rest of the country. The post-Vietnam anti-war sentiment is still very, very strong here; I went to my first peace protest when I was eight, and it was genuinely a very long time before I realized that every person in the world hasn’t grown up seeing war as a necessary evil at the very best.
Which has its upsides and its downsides. Personally, I feel that the anti-war sentiment is largely an upside, since it means that as a community we tend to have strong pacifist ideals, which are heartwarming; but on the downside, it also means that we don’t honor soldiers as much as others do. Whenever I travel to other parts of the U.S., I notice little things: soldiers on airplanes are announced by the pilot and given rounds of applause, soldiers at sports games are also applauded, soldiers on the street are treated with more respect than the average person. At home, people tend to treat soldiers just like any random person.
It was only when I was fifteen years old that I began to realize that yes, soldiers and veterans deserve enormous amounts of respect, and that it is possible to honor soldiers and veterans without glorifying and idealizing war. I think quite a lot of the people in the Bay Area still haven’t had this realization, to be honest.
All the armed services are included, not just the army. Armistice Day marked the end of WWI, so it is indeed more international in scope. Memorial Day derived from a commemoration of those who died in the US Civil War. The original observance was called Decoration Day, because people decorated the graves with flowers, flags, and mementos.
Veterans Day is for all who served, dead and living, Memorial Day is specifically for those who didn’t make it home.
Thank you, Veterans.
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.
This weekend, I studied for exams, read webcomics, and procrastinated enough to feel bad about it. I’m not too worried about the exams, but I do need to study.
My maternal aunt and her husband visited, since they were travelling past our town, so that added interest. I mostly left them to talk to my parents while I did the zombified-studying-smart-student thing. I’d like to be able to see relatives more, but they have their drawbacks. I need my introverted nerd space!
I’m looking forward to getting various things done and actually having some fun in the holidays. Even stress-free boredom. Just today, I actually felt genuine anticipation about Christmas food.
(Oh, hello, :shock:. I haven’t used you in this form for a while.) And that the mostly minor friendship problems don’t grow.
Since this is turning into a ramble, and I really need to go to bed at a reasonable time for once, I should probably end the post here.
I look out the window, and there’s SNOW! There’s not very much, but I still felt the need to be weird and celebrate.
Congratulations! I envy you; I’d be ecstatic in such a situation. Well, actually, I’d be furious because I have homework, and seriously, is the world conspiring against me to make me procrastinate or what, but on a normal day, I’d be ecstatic.
I also have a ton of homework( I find it hard to carry my huge backpack, and our lockers are tiny.), but playing out in the snow takes top priority. College students, what’s your typical workload? Mine’s 2-4 assignments per day.
We’ve just finished the concert (First Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra + solo performances) – as well as playing in both orchestras, I also played a concerto (but with piano accompaniment) which was slightly nerve-wracking because I haven’t been learning it for that long, but I think it went all right despite some minor slip-ups! If I can figure out a way to do so, could I try sending it in, GAPAs? I don’t know if it will be possible to send such a large file though, once I’ve acquired the recording.
I’m not sure what is possible, but we have posted sound files of recorded musical performances before.
What would be the best way of going about it?
in the past, I’ve emailed (if the file is small enough) as an attachment, used soundcloud, and uploaded it to a bit of personal webspace I was able to use. Google docs would also probably work. No clue what the GAPAs prefer.
I don’t know if the file will be small enough to attach to an email, but I’ll give SoundCloud a go sometime, thanks!
On reflection (ie after having finally listened to the recording) it wasn’t an amazing performance. Perhaps not, then.
I saw “Wreck-It Ralph” yesterday. It was really great and darker than I thought it would be, especially at the end. Now I want to go see it again, but I don’t have any friends whom I would be comfortable inviting.
Ah, well. Amsterdam next week! And one of the movies they’re showing is “TheAmazing Spider-Man,” which I really liked!
Amsterdam as in the Dutch capital?
Yep. As in where John Green went to write a bit of TFiOS. *slight fangirl squee*
Oh man, I loved Wreck-it Ralph – I think it’s the first disney movie I’ve really liked >_> Even though I didn’t get a lot of the references, it was so much fun.
Wreck-it Ralph was SO GOOD.
I’ve never played video games, so obviously a lot of the references were lost on me, but I really, really, really liked it. The story was wonderful, and I could tell that it was simply done right, even if I couldn’t always understand why. AND UHG THE FEELS.
ALL OF THE FEELS
ESPECIALLY WHEN THAT ONE THING GETS DESTROYED
AND THE END
WHYYYYYYYYY
Ahh I want to see that really bad but none of my friends here seem super into it, OR have already seen it
Maybe if it’s still in the theater here (small college town, only 2 screens, so things don’t run for too long) next weekend I can go…
If you come into Cleveland I will watch it with you.
Hanging out with my mom, my grandma, and my awesome aunt. Will hopefully go to my other aunt’s house to watch the premier of “Space Dive” on the Geographic later.
Oh yeah, it was epic. Not only did my aunt have the Geographic, she had the special Geographic HD channel. The New Mexico landscape never looked so good.
Things I like:
-Used books and stores in which I can find them
–Princess Bride calendars
-Finally finding a cafe at which I can buy decent Singaporean breakfast foods (oddly enough, not a lot of places here sell kaya-peanut butter-condensed milk toast)
-Dressing up as Helena Bonham Carter (still in search of a black lace top!)
-Actually understanding people when they speak Chinese
In summary, it was a great morning, and my grandmother is coming tonight! *happy wallaby noises*
Wreck it Ralph was surprisingly good, for a Disney movie. For the most part; it was completely predictable, the basic storyline wasn’t terribly original, and the love story felt like it was thrown in because they felt like they had to have one and not because the story called for it. But I sort of liked three of the main characters, there were some pretty funny parts, and I really liked all the video game references.
While surfing the ‘blog with the “Really Random Thread” button, I stumbled across some threads from way back when. A random thread from 2006, for example: http://www.musefanpage.com/blog/?p=222
I just wanted to take a moment and thank the GAPAs for putting up with us until we developed into reasonably mature human beings, and for continuing to do so. I haven’t read Muse in years, but Museblog is a huge part of my life because of the time and effort you put in to making it such an amazing place to be. Thank you.
It’s been our pleasure, Cinnamoon. You were interesting then; you’re interesting now; and I don’t think we’ve made any secret about what we expect in the future. Don’t forget the statues!
Coincidentally, that thread was from the month before I joined MuseBlog.
Anyway, I concur – thank you, GAPAs!
I just found out about Project Implicit, and I want to participate, but when I tried to register, it said, “We are sorry, Project Implicit is not available to individuals under 18 without parent/guardian permission. If you obtain permission in the future, you may return to the login page, enter your login ID (email address), and then confirm that you have permission to participate. Thank you for your interest in Project Implicit.”
Does anyone know how I’m supposed to let them know I have permission?
My guess is you click the little box that says “I have permission”
Once you log in with your email, you get a page that asks for your parent’s email address and asks for their consent.
…Oops. I should have, well, tried. I didn’t return to the login page; when I did, it got, well, obvious.
I did a lot of hurricane related stuff today.
If you can volunteer for hurricane relief in New York or New Jersey or any east coast area near where you live (if you live on the east coast at all), that’s great. If not, that’s fine, but consider donating. You can text REDCROSS to 90999 to donate $10 to the Red Cross, or visit this site and donate to Occupy’s relief effort – currently the best one out there, and the reason I went.
http:// interoccupy . net/occupysandy/
Things are very, very bad out there. Just as bad as it looks on TV. Every last dollar helps. It goes straight to the victims to buy them food, which they get delivered to them every night, or it goes into supplies for shovels, gloves, respirator masks, everything that people need to stay alive and stay healthy while fixing this. If you can maybe bring lunch to school instead of buying it there for a few days, that money can go to the hurricane relief. Maybe you can wait a little while for whatever piece of tech you’re saving for and put ten bucks into this instead. Every bit helps. There’s no way to see how badly some of these people need basic things like water and clothing until you’ve been out there talking to them.
I just spent the day out on Staten Island. Things are pretty screwed up down there. Houses out in the marsh, whole houses. I even saw a church that flooded and floated right off its foundation.
I went in my friend Caleb and a few others. We stopped in Brooklyn at St. Jacobi Lutheran Church, where Occupy was coordinating the relief effort. They’re currently far more on the ball than FEMA or the Red Cross, so much that FEMA is actually sending blankets and supplies to OCCUPY.
We delivered a carload of supplies to a VFW station across the Hudson (575 Mill Rd, Staten Island, if you’re in the area), and we let them dispatch us from there. They handed us a hammer, some masks and a few shovels and sent us on our merry way to Isabella Ave, where we found the homeowners. Their insurance company was refusing to cover a ton of their stuff, including two cars, and the man had a plate in his back from an injury and couldn’t lift the damaged sheetrock up the stairs.
We went down into their basement, which had flooded all the way up to the ceiling, and learned that they had just finished remodeling it. There was sheetrock falling off the walls from the moisture, and mold everywhere. So we stripped every last inch of the sheetrock and corner beads off the ceiling and walls, bagged it, put it by the side of the road for pickup and got a drink. Went back in and saw that the insulation was all soaked, so we decided to pull that out too.
It was like pulling gloppy globs of squishy, wet pink stuff out of a wall, probably because that’s exactly what it was. All the insulation went, and we got to a room that still had a wet floor, and when the sheetrock dust mixed with that we ended up with what was an absolute ice rink. You couldn’t walk in there, you had to slide. So we pulled the insulation out in that room too.
We arrived at about 9:30 and left at about 5:30. It went well. It was a wonderful experience, even if it is in a horrible situation, and I highly recommend volunteering. Props to you if you read all of this. Got some pictures too if anyone is interested.
And we’re going in again on Thursday! I had a pretty great day, and the couple liked us a lot. They mentioned that everyone that lived there was very sad and down, as per the situation, but everyone’s spirits lifted when volunteers came through and brought happiness and energy and help. I’m really proud to have been there and to hopefully be an ongoing part of the cleanup and recovery.
DID YOU KNOW
While humans are all diploid (2n, aka we have a “full set” of genes, one copy (n) from each parent), in bees, all drones (males) are haploid. So, if an egg is laid that was fertilized by a male, it will be female, whereas any that receive their set of chromosomes from the queen alone will be male.
Because all the males in a colony share and will pass down the same genetic code, “sister” female workers will be more related to each other than sisters of other species, including humans.
This has been your daily factoid from Jade, who hopes to someday keep bees.
~THE MORE YOU KNOW~
I’ve read that that’s actually pretty common for colonial insects. For instance, various species of ant also have the same haploid/diploid male/female system.
Did you know that there are species of bee that do not live in hives? I do not know if these “solitary bees” as they are called, follow the same genetic rules as their hive-dwelling counterparts, but I doubt that they do.
I did know about solitary bees! There are a lot more species of them, actually, and some look a lot less like bees than you would expect. I had a classmate who did a REU all about solitary bees, the stuff she mentioned sometimes was pretty cool.
And yeah, I doubt they follow the same pattern. But colonial insects are so cool! I mean wow what a way to evolve
I didn’t see this post until now. You want to look at awesome ways for colonial insects to evolve? Look at leaf-cutter ants. They. Are. Caking. Awesome!!!
Subterranean termites are pretty impressive too.
If you do a Google search on “evolution of eusociality,” you’ll find out all sorts of interesting things.
Or just read Edward O. Wilson’s books.
I very much agree with this. Actually, my comment on leaf-cutter ants was based on something I learned in an article about E. O. Wilson either in Muse or in Odyssey. I can’t remember which.
Hi! I’m a little loopy after studying for my physics midterm tomorrow, but I’m cautiously optimistic about it, considering how mind-boggling easy the math one was.
I was wavering between a physics and chemistry for a bit there, but seeing as how studying for physics makes me happy and studying for chemistry makes me sad, I think physics is the clear winner. Also considering that chemistry doesn’t get any better after first-year courses (o-chem is a nightmare; p-chem is where it gets bearable)… yeah. Physics.
The timeschedules for next quarter went up two hours ago and I’ve been browsing around. I don’t have to take any more math classes (hurrah!), and the rest of this year will be quantum mechanics! Unfortunately I have two (two!) quarters of “Intermediate Electricity and Magnetism” in third year. Ergh. I barely made it through the E&M quarter last year! And “Intermediate?” What’s that supposed to mean? There’s an advanced class, too? Who in their right mind would take that?!
Oh, well. All that is in a year. Speaking of next year… research! Halp! I can’t spend another summer in Oregon!
Oh, the advanced class is a grad student class. Ok. That makes sense.
Hello there, Musers!
I shall write a quick summary of my life right now since I haven’t posted for a long time.
So anyways, Eevee and Swalot are doing great together and are quite very content together~
Also, the same blade that I only used to cut myself and use for nothing else is now being used for cutting out paper models!
Yo Blogz!
as i type this i have my boots, snowpants and coat on and im looking for my gloves.
It snowed in Wisconsin today!
happy winter! (exept for those who live in Texas, California or Florida)
Have you ever tried to type in winter gloves? It’s an interesting experiment in dexterity.
Hey! I’ll have you know it’s just as cold here as it is anywhere else!
(What do you mean, 50Ëšf isn’t cold? It feels cold to me!)
(well 50’F is cold. but it’s not Freezing temperature)
I think she was joking. It really does feel colder when heat is what you’re used to, though. I live in Texas, too, you see–a different area, but it’s about 50 here, too. On the other hand, if we were to go somewhere else… well, I’m sure my brother will tell me about it. He’s on his way to New York right now to visit the seminary where he wants to go to college; I’m sure it’ll be freezing there.
I feel really fat. I was at breakfast with my grandparents when BOOP!
my button flew off of my pants. I kinda liked these pants. *sigh*
Alright well the high of last night has dropped to a crippling low… I made so many stupid mistakes on that midterm because I didn’t study the right things…this always happens to me I can’t stand making stupid mistakes because it lowers the prof’s opinion of me but I can’t stop. I do it on the homework, too. I know this is what learning is, but why is everyone else so much better at it than I am?
midterm in four days- imonnnadiiiieeee…
Shh, you’ll be marvelous.
DID YOU KNOW
In Norse mythology, the 9 realms are held in a great tree called Yggdrasil.
These nine worlds are:
РM̼spellsheimr (Muspelheim or Muspell): A world of fire
– Ãlfheimr (Alfheim): The world of “light elves”
– Ãsgarðr (Asgard): The realm of the gods, the Aesir
– Vanaheimr (Vanaheim): The world of the Vanir
РMi̡gar̡r (Midgard): the world of men
– Jötunheimr (Jotunheim): the world of the giants, sometimes “frost giants”
– Svartálfaheimr (Svartalfheim): the world of “dark elves” (sometimes called dwarves)
– Niflhel (Hel): World of Hel, the Norse version of the underworld (also cold versus hot, but not all unpleasent–it is where almost all went after death, the exception being those
– Niflheimr: A world of ice
This has been your daily factoid from Jade.
~THE MORE YOU KNOW~
I am on a loaner computer while mine’s with CIT so they can tell me ifthey can fix it or now/for how much and it is a PC and everything is wrong
I think I’ve stopped the freezing/shutting down/repeatedly failing installation attempts but okay that was too much work for something this is SUPPOSED TO MAKE THINGS EASIER
and now I just don’t feel like doing work on it because it’s slow and it’s not *my* computer and everything looks wrong/buttons are in weird places
I miss two-finger scroll, the touchpad scrollbar on this apparently does not work.
Emailed the most important homework documents to myself but I can barely work Excel on a Mac let alone Windows, so I’m going to ask for more time to figure that one out x_x Thankfully the teacher for that class is the most chill dude ever.
Also it’s hard to NaNo on a weird keyboard
I keep hitting the wrong buttons when I type…
Signs you’re sleep-deprived:
You think a GI JOE based on someone actually named Joe is hilarious.
I think we need a pie-squid button.
McLennan Center!Cornell wireless just kicked my computer (JUST my computer) off for a week straight. This is the first time I’ve had Internet access on anything other than an iPhone SINCE FRIDAY. Which is actually pretty okay, because this block I’ve been doing basically nothing but traipsing around Chicago watching lots of theatre.
CHICAGO?!?!?!?! *freaks out*
COME VISIT ME
Or I could come to you, y’know, whatever
YES CHICAGO! I AM HERE UNTIL THE 20TH! IT’S ALL VERY EXCITING!
Free time is a little crazy because of the whole class-plus-going-to-shows thing and UChicago (that’s where you are, isn’t it?) is apparently pretty far from where I am (Google maps says about an hour?) so I don’t know how visiting would work out but perhaps we could meet somewhere in the middle?
I was planning on being at the Art Institute starting at about 2 on Thursday?
Otherwise I have class until about 1-1:30 every day (including weekends) and then generally about 3-4 hours of free time before whatever show we’re seeing. Except Sunday, because we have a matinee and then some friends and I are going to try to get rush tickets for the evening performance of Les Mis.
But the point is that YES. YES WE SHOULD DEFINITELY MEET.
I freaked out a bit more at the Art Institute (I get in for free), but I have physics lab! Very sad!
Yeah, I have a better knowledge of public transit so I would be coming to you. Friday and Saturday work for me!
Saturday would work a little better because that night’s show starts a little later. Where do you want to meet?
[No more details on the blog, please. Even if you are in college, our house rules forbid planning meetings here. –Admin.]
Hee hee, I was wondering how much we were going to get away with…
More than you should have.
At auditions for The Tempest Which very well may be a terrible, terrible decision.
I’m taking 18 credits next semester, with a handful of pretty reading-intensive classes.
Possibly also taking off-campus fiddle lessons (for no credit).
Playing in the Early Music Consort.
Working 15 hours a week, as always.
Aaaaaaaand a play now too, maybe.
WHAT IS LIIIIIIFE.
BUH.
Except that these are all things that I really want to do.
*sigh*
I need to learn to never sleep.
SUDDENLY, TOMORROW I AM SEEING NEIL GAIMAN SPEAK ABOUT STARDUST
THAT WAS UNEXPECTED
BUT ALSO WOOOO! Kinda nosebleed seat and a large crowd and all, but yay! People from my Sandman exco are going
It’s like three hours away so I’ll have to bring a lot of homework for the car but it will be worth it.
*goes off to stew in envy*
DID YOU KNOW
Some organisms reproduce via parthenogenesis, which is the development of an egg without fertilization. The single parent contributes all of the genetic material to the offspring (which is still also diploid(2n)). This can be found in various invertebrate species, but also some reptile and others.
This has been your daily factoid from Jade, curtosy of her invertebrates test tomorrow morning.
~THE MORE YOU KNOW~
DID YOU ALSO KNOW
Some tardigrades can reproduce through parthenogenesis, and until a few years ago, only females had been discovered in a few of the parthenogenetic species, so some people thought that maybe there were no males and parthenogenesis was the only way those species reproduced, since sexual reproduction requires males, and tardigrades can’t do other kinds of asexual reproduction. It turned out that the males were just tiny even for tardigrades and had been overlooked; all tardigrades we know of can reproduce sexually.
~THE MORE YOU KNOW (ABOUT TARDIGRADES)~
(*could not resist*)
Fascinating.
Awesome
Just for fun, here’s a little Time Capsule SSSS. The scene: 1966.
♪ ♫ ♪
Dear Sir or Madam, will you read my book?
It took me years to write, will you take a look?
It’s based on a novel by a man named Lear–
Ha. Perfect.
ahaha it’s an SSSS and a condensed story in one, man those were fun to do.
You’re welcome to add your own.
well…
i officially have a cold
i have a Troublesome Throat and a Stuffy Schnoz.
AAND! my warrior cats book that is next in the series didn’t come in the library yet and i find out something SAD in the book after that (because that is the book that i got instead of the next one in the series) i find something sad. Longtail (OMG spoilers!) Dies… what a shame i cried.
and i feel super hyper today for some reason. and i love saying “Totally Ninja!” when i see something that looked so totally ni- er EPIC!!! and i like saying “Go for it Yeah!” whenever the heck i feel like it.
GO FOR IT YEAH!!!!!!
Sorry about the cold and the book trouble. Feel better soon.
My dad says “Go for it!” a lot. I have no idea if this has affected my upbringing thus far.
I’m sure it has.
My dad plays in a band so he doesn’t say many phrases…
that… sounded wrong
I got everyone in my [online] Chinese class, including the teacher, to listen to the My Little Pony theme song in Chinese during class. And I recognized a great number of the characters in the transcription.
I love listening to Disney songs in Spanish.
We watched a John Green video in World Geography yesterday.
Really.
It wasn’t even my idea.
My teacher is awesome.
…And another one today.
Drove 3 hours to Pittsburgh and back with people from my Sandman class to go to a Neil Gaiman talk
He read us some of Stardust and The Ocean at the End of the Lane and my favourite poem of his, “The Day the Saucers Came†and talked about a bunch of things efdsjkesngk
We read aloud from Neverwhere on the way back
I have a quiz tomorrow and I don’t even care, it was so worth it, I got to see Neil Gaiman
DID YOU KNOW
You cannot physically lose a contact behind your eyeball. There is a membrane that prevents it from slipping farther back into your skull.
This has been your daily factoid from a Jade who’s eyes are tired and should really take out her contacts.
~THE MORE YOU KNOW~
(I was going to put a fact from my notes for my Evolution quiz tomorrow but everything is either too convoluted/needs long descriptions or is uh, not blog appropriate. Ohhhh the evolution of asexual/sexual reproduction.)
It’s okay, this is a cool fact, too.
Despite the presence of the words “cannot” and “prevents,” this fact still makes me want to clutch at my face going ARGH ARGH ARGH.
I sympathize.
However, the hard lenses of the Jurassic era—much smaller in diameter than soft lenses—could slip back far enough to be out of sight, as I can report from experience. It wasn’t that big a deal. At first I just thought I’d lost the lens.
hard contacts hurt a fair amount when they go off-center, though
Not for me; I didn’t even notice, except that I suddenly had blurred vision.
okay I read that the first time and was just like, “Dinosaur eyes???”
I had to stop and think for a minute. Whoops XD
DID YOU KNOW –
A de Sitter space is the analog in Minkowski space, or spacetime, of a sphere in ordinary, Euclidean space. The n-dimensional de Sitter space is the Lorentzian manifold analog of an n-sphere (with its canonical Riemannian metric); it is maximally symmetric, has constant positive curvature, and is simply-connected for n at least 3.
That’s what Wikipedia says, and I believe it.
Sounds very pleasant. The Hare & Hedgepig is a de Sitter space, I’ll bet.
Wait… But… If it’s maximally symmetric, then are there no furniture, or was it all custom-made like in the Lovegoods’ house, or…? And why does the picture make it look like a polyhedron?
(“Maximally symmetric” was almost the only phrase I understood, so I can’t analyze the rest, but I’m sure there are interesting dilemmas–does anyone want to have a go at figuring out the other implications?)
You know you’re terminally afflicted with Maths-Student syndrome when you cock your head slightly, try to understand that and then somehow procure a pen (possibly from up your sleeve) and a pad of paper* and ask the other person to make a sketch and/or write it down, with the foolhardy and completely unshakeable belief that even if it all appears to be complete gibberish right now, it will probably make sense by next wednesday at the very latest and will probably have to be proven as a homework assignment by yesterday.
*This simply ignores the laws of causality, it just appears. Also, the first ten pages are always covered in nigh-illegible scribbling going in no discernible or even linear direction, but never reaches a conclusion because the answer was simply obvious at some point. Even though it’s all in the students own handwriting en can’t really remember writing it or what the funny symbols mean and is left haunted by the feeling that it all made sense last wednesday.
I rather like the idea of Maths-Student syndrome. Especially since it recognises the significance of next Wednesday. I’ve always thought that Wednesdays are a little underrated.
I’m going to pretend I understood that..
Good. I’ll pretend I understand it too. If we all do that, we might convince ourselves.
I think the de Sitter space was a trifle excessive. So :
DID YOU KNOW that Enceladus, the sixth largest moon of Saturn, has ice volcanoes? They shoot huge jets of ice with such high velocity that some of it reaches escape velocity, floats around a bit, and then usually gets sucked into Saturn’s rings.
Jade – your turn.
I did know that, and I believe that a picture of that is my current (gr)avatar
WIZARDING WORLD OF HARRY POTTER.
Congratulations! *vicarious joy* *blatantly copies Cerulean Pyros’ expression because it fits (Then again, I’ve quoted MuseBloggers many times before without attributing them as sources; is that plagiarism?)*
A relative made me fight off a dalek with nothing but a laptop, and a couple of my friends and I had a long talk about the state of River Song’s soul and the fact that Ms. Frizzle is a timelord.
OH MY GOSH MRS. FRIZZLE IS A TIME LORD!
I hadn’t thought of it that way, but as soon as you said that it clicked.
MBers have discussed this before.
It really makes sense, doesn’t it?
As is Mary Poppins.
All I want to know is how she gets into her TARDIS. I mean, being bigger on the inside is all well and good, but it doesn’t mean much if you can’t fit through the entrance.
A friend of mine (who has posted here before) once wrote a short story in which Ms. Frizzle was visited by an old friend, the Doctor.
Agent Hippie – That was basically my exact reaction. See, I wasn’t there when said friends proved the Friz was a timelord; one of them used the fact that they had done so earlier with another friend as a conversation opener.
Robert – I didn’t know that! Now I feel really slow…
Oho, Paul, we’re going lunar now, are we? I do have one fact I learned the other day in that regard–
DID YOU KNOW
Titan, Saturn’s largest moon, contains a dense, nitrogen-rich atmosphere and liquid seas composed of ethane (or methane, my geology teacher seemed to suspect ethane). There are even ethane clouds, rain, and frozen precipitation(snow), making an ethane cycle much like the water cycle on earth. Wind causes it to have several surface features like that of earth– vast dunes, mountains, and possible volcanoes and rivers. However, we can’t tell if the materials making up the “sand” of the landscape are mineral based or actually tiny frozen ethane crystals.
This has been your daily factoid from Jade, who is sad she can’t do the non-earth planetary geology winter term project even if she is going to have a great time studying abroad.
~ THE MORE YOU KNOW ~
CRAZY TITAN NERD APPROVES
Jadestone has found the perfect way to celebrate Bo-vember.
This certainly has been a fun installment! Maybe I’ll keep it going after November ends, although not on a daily basis. I’ll be abroad second semester so not as reliable internet and all.
Maybe I’ll create a special thread for fascinating things we find out about. (That happens a lot in my line of work, as you might imagine.)
Don’t we already have a thread for that?
By Jove, so we do. A new one for 2013, then.
That could be fun! And I’m sure you certainly must hear about some new/interesting stuff on a regular basis.
(I found an old issue of Science on the desk I sit at in one of my classes, and in the minute or two I had before class started managed to find your name :D)
There are so many things I’d like to say in real life, but I can’t because people get really annoyed if I keep talking about the same things no one else cares about. I love knowing that I can say these things here and they’ll not only be tolerated but appreciated. It’s… really nice.
Actually, lately, I have found some people in real life who will actually listen to some of these things, which is great. But these are things I enjoy being able to talk about as many times as possible, so the more people who want to listen, the better, and I still really appreciate the interest you take. Thanks.
Somewhat related to Randomosity’s post:
Talking with someone else about something you both love is one of the best feelings in the world.
It was mine, but that’s alright. I agree.
Ha! I actually was referring to Random’s post, it was the most recent when I posted. Funny how we posted basically the same thing, without seeing each other’s posts.
So this morning I was getting ready to go downstairs to class as per usual when my roommate came up and basically said “we need you in class NOW” which was weird because class didn’t start for like five minutes. Anyway I went down and THERE WERE PIES! Five of them! That my mother MAILED TO THE MCLENNAN CENTER after STALKERISHLY FINDING THE STREET ADDRESS because the college hasn’t gotten around to setting up a proper mailing system so she couldn’t send them to me.
WHAT IS MY LIFE.
And by “stalkerish” I mean apparently she bugged the office of off-campus study until they told her.
Went to Staten Island again yesterday. Spent the day volunteering for Occupy and VFW. Obama landed in Marine One less than half a mile from where I was working to check out the damage, we arrived just as the helicopter was landing. Got a couple not-too-horrible pictures of it if anyone is interested.
We brought two new people with us this time, and we’re taking even more in a second car next Tuesday for our third trip down.
Traffic down there is terrible because the Battery Tunnel is flooded still, so everyone has to slowly snake down the highway through Brooklyn just to get into Manhattan, so it took us 5 hours to complete what should have been a two hour drive.
Well! Things have a way of working themselves out. I’ve been struggling for a couple weeks to figure out my schedule for next semester. A Spanish class I wanted to take filled up before I could register for it, and so I was left with fewer registered hours than I wanted. I’d considered talking to the head of the department and seeing if I could join the class anyway, but I didn’t have high hopes for that. I’ve also been unsure how to satisfy the honors program requirements for this year. But out of the blue I got an email saying that some of the honors 395 seminars (usually reserved for seniors) had some open spots left. One of them fit my schedule pretty well, a course called “London and Her Environs”, exploring the use of the city in literature. So I ran down to the honors advising office and got a permission code. Voila! Everything’s figured out.
…Part of the reason I chose that seminar, I admit, is that in May there’s a ten-day trip to London involved. I haven’t conferred with my parents at all, so I now have a specific motivation to apply for every job I see. I’m not sure how I’m going to bring it up with the parentals, but I guess I’ll cross that bridge when I’ve stalled for as long as I possibly can. Hopefully I’ll be employed before that conversation comes up.
Bibliophile is now technically on Thanksgiving break, but she has so much homework that it isn’t much of one. Despite this, she is foolish enough to make plans to spend several hours volunteering that the local nature preserve this Saturday. Oops.
The benefits and drawbacks of attending my school are becoming clearer and clearer. I wouldn’t have even been able to volunteer there at all otherwise, and the homework is interesting (except in geometry–I’ve had so much homework that I haven’t even started testing out of it yet), but free time is almost nonexistent, and my mom is getting annoyed at how often I’ve stayed up late recently working on an essay. Sleep is just not something I’m getting to do very often, like reading and checking emails and TV tropes (I refuse to give it up, but although I can’t make myself leave once I go there, I’m not having trouble avoiding it altogether on the days when I have too much work–which has been pretty much every day, lately) and scientific journals and blogs and observing nature and gah. And I got a D on a test recently for the first time ever because I didn’t have time to study, and this was one of those times when I actually needed to (and I knew it; I was just so busy with the English project). I can’t wait until winter break, but I’m afraid: What if they assign homework even then, too?
Of course this is all worth it by far. I love it here, and I’m grateful for the amazing opportunity, and so on. But this is time-consuming.
Yeah, it can definitely be hard moving to a school where suddenly you have a lot of work and you have to try on it instead of just coasting by. Even if the stuff you’re learning is interesting, it can be hard to make the switch sometimes. I’m sure you will, though! Sounds like you’re already getting used to not sleeping much x_x
You can do it! And yay nature preserves!
…now, back to that lab report that’s due today…
It was the best of tests, it was the worst of tests. I think I probably passed, I certainly hope so. Anyway, I suppose I’ll be less scared of the next ones now. It just sucks that this stupid test is going to be my entire grade on the lecture… on the other hand, if I failed, I’ll have to re-take it anyway. Eh. I just hope it’s a C.
Well, I’m glad you got through it!
Went to a schools’ debating competition last night organised by the Cambridge Union, which was my first experience of such an event, but lots of fun! My school sent two teams of two; my team came first in the prepared debate.
In the end the judge had to make a decision about the team from our room who would be sent through to the regional round – unfortunately, he chose another school, and our team is the reserve team. This was frankly very surprising to both me and my debate partner, because the team they sent through – not to be unkind – were not strong speakers, and either ignored or missed the point of all our questions (we actually thought they stood the least chance out of all four teams in the room.)
So yes, we’re hoping something will come up that will mean we get to go to the next round – but even if we don’t, this was a really good experience. And considering it was my first time at a competition, debating in the British Parliamentary style, I think we did very well!
I did really enjoy the unprepared motion – ‘This House would introduce quotas for state school students in British universities.’
Both of us were quite pleased about being an opposition team for this debate (having been assigned proposition for the first one) and it was interesting, as our room was a mix of teams from independent (e.g. us) and state schools
Also, I’ve just watched, for the first time, an episode of Young Apprentice, and my word! some people are idiots.
Im Irish
Should we kiss you?
An interesting snippet to find in the Recent Comments bar.
It was a joke on those “Kiss me, I’m Irish” t-shirts.
Me too! In fact, I’ll be spending January through May in Ireland
My grandmother’s family is from Ireland, so I guess I have Irish blood as well. My real name actually is of Irish origin and means “peace.”
Ooh, Irish! I am one quarter Irish.
Today there was a funeral at my church. There was a man playing bagpipes. Actually, I don’t know whether bagpipes are Irish or Scottish. *googles* Apparently there are different types of bagpipes, some Irish and some Scottish.
This didn’t mean to be a random factoid post but
~THE MORE YOU KNOW
Cloud Atlas Cloud Atlas Cloud Atlas; everything is reading Cloud Atlas and nothing hurts. Think there may have been classes today; not entirely sure, as I was reading Cloud Atlas the entire time. I haven’t enjoyed a book so much in years.
Also started watching The Hour! (It’s a British show set in the 1950s about a television news program and the Cold War and gender politics and spies, and it’s got Ben Whishaw.) Not very far in, but it’s very good and I’m very excited.
Very glad it’s Thanksgiving Break. I needed this breather. Which isn’t much of a breather, really, since UC applications are taking up the whole of my life, but I’ll take what I can get.
DID YOU KNOW
Doctor Seuss was the first person to coin the word “nerd”, in his book “If I Ran the Zoo,” published in 1950. However, he did not provide a description for the term nor is he believed to be the one to start using it as a descriptor.
This has been your daily factoid from Jade.
~ THE MORE YOU KNOW ~
This is a good game. I like this game.
DID YOU KNOW
The astronomer, Tycho Brahe, wasn’t poisoned. Latest analysis of bits of his remains says that his mercury levels were no higher than anyone else’s, and there’s no trace of any other suspicious substances. So it looks like kidney failure., which lets his student, Johannes Kepler, off the hook. That’s nice, because we wouldn’t like to think “brilliant astronomer, but murdered his boss”.
~ THE MORE YOU KNOW ~
(You forgot ‘~ THE MORE YOU KNOW ~’. :lol:)
I did. Thank you. Amended.
‘No clean knives…spreads butter with a spoon #boardingschoolproblems‘
(I have never done this but it has come close.)
Like having ten thousand spoons when all you need is a knife…
(It may not be ironic, but it sure is annoying.)
This reminds me of the time one of my friends left her and her sister alone for a week before her A-levels and her sisters last college exam, figuring they could somehow fend for themselves at 18 and 21… two weeks later, they were eating nutella out of the jar using tuc crackers because there was no other food in the house and they couldn’t find the utensils under all the other dirty dishes..
I wrote a (hopefully) humorous time travel story that I would like to post in one of the writing threads here. The only problem is that it’s very nerdy and Reference Overdosed (with regards to the history of near-space ballooning, the 1950s flying saucer craze, and other miscellaneous history and science stuff), and I don’t know how much, if any, of it would be comprehensible to non-hardcore-space-nerds.
So, if I post it, should I:
1) Trust that everyone here is intelligent (we’re Musers, after all!) and able to look up things they don’t understand.
2) Explain the references in double parentheses or something similar where they appear in the text.
3) Explain the references at the end of the story or the end of each section, possibly with footnotes.
Footnotes sound like a good compromise.
I agree with Robert. Extra points if you compose them in a marginally in-universe style, a la JS&MN.
Oh, I can, and it will be a great opportunity to bring back Agent Sphaera of the Inter-Timeline Agency…
Ooh! I look forward to reading it.
Just for reference, so I know how much background to give, how much do people know about the historical context of the Stratos jump? (The circumstances under which the previous record was set, etc.?)
Er… I don’t know what it is. *hides*
Currently reading Thief of Time. I still love Susan and Death. Jeremy is adorable but he should really take his medicine. …
DID YOU KNOW
That cranberry sauce is really delicious and easy to make on your own, and if you have only ever eaten the stuff from cans (I never even knew that sort EXISTED until last year and let me tell you it is vastly inferior) you should give making your own a try this thanksgiving!
Here is the SECRET FAMILY RECIPE
MY MOM GOT FROM THE NEWSPAPER ONCE A COUPLE YEARS AGOI use and it is awesome, take it from a cranberry expert:– 12 oz. cranberries (one package, usually)
– 1 cup apple cider (apple or orange juice can be subsituted)
– 3/4 cup maple syrup
– one large apple, chopped (1/4 of an inch chunks)
Combine juice/cranberries/syrup in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, and reduce to a simmer. Let simmer for 15 min. or until all cranberries have burst and the mixture has congealed slightly (it will congeal more upon cooling, but not a *ton* more, which can be helpful to keep in mind). You’re looking for a texture somewhere around mushed-up jello or fruit pie filling. Taste as you go, adding more maple syrup (or a bit of white sugar) if you want it sweeter (I like it pretty tart, but it’s up to you!).
Once cooked, move off of the flame and onto a counter/empty burner. Stir in apple chunks. Let it cool for a bit, then move it into the fridge to cool more. Can sit for up to 3 days before serving.
It is also good on pretty much anything you can think to put it on–toast, bagels, ice cream–or you can eat it with turkey/thanksgiving type foods, or just have at it with a spoon. OM.
This has been your daily factoid from Jade, who had a wonderful mini-thanksgiving with good friends tonight, and made cranberry sauce for it yesterday. And now has a large bowl in the fridge to eat in the next few days yuuummmm.
~ THE MORE YOU KNOW ~
You don’t even need the apples, really. Just cranberries + sugar is delicious.
Sounds delish!
I just woke up from the most wonderful dream. I was at marching band practice when suddenly some sort of ceremony started. The ceremony was to honor the arrival of the four Great And Powerful Administrators. And everyone gave speeches. And then everyone in the marching band was a MuseBlogger and I was at the Biggest Kokon Ever.
I hope we got to wear our Muse Academy robes. “Resplendent” doesn’t begin to do us justice when we’re all decked out.
I trust my speech was suitably unintelligible?
I just opened all my presents! My grandma went the safe route and got me food, but my parents heeded my asking for Doctor Who items perhaps a bit too enthusiastically.
By far was the Doctor Who Magazine from Dec 1993–although my parents say it’s the first one after my birthday, further research yields that the Nov 1993 one was published on 24 Nov, but whatever. The Dec one is better anyway because it’s the 30th Anniversary magazine! It was really funny looking at this in context. The 30th anniversary had drawn attention back to the dead series, and apparently Steven Spielberg was halfway-sortof interested in making a movie. Except David Hasselhoff would perhaps have been the Doctor! What. Some quotes:
“Is nothing sacred? Next it will be Shrelock Holmes–played by Eddie Murphy.”
“Doctor Who is quintessentially of this realm…The cultural theft has got to stop.”
“Widespread horror–both from fans and the media–has greeted persistent rumors that American legend Steven Spielberg is showing an interest in producing his own version of Doctor Who in the United States.”
THANK GOODNESS THAT DIDN’T HAPPEN. Having an American as the Doctor would have been horrible. Although it’s kind of funny looking back and saying “It’ll be all right. I promise. The show will come back. You’ll get a not-so-good made-for-TV movie first, but it’ll come back.”
Also, apparently there was this huge convention with Jon Pertwee, Tom Baker, Peter Davidson (surprise guest!), Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy, and a bunch of companions. SUPERCONVENTION ACTIVATE
I also got a TARDIS towel, and a couple of necklaces because I also asked for jewelry. And then I opened a large, flat, square box and beheld a cardboard cutout of David Tennant. Parents. No. No. I quickly shoved it under the bed. I mean, what am I going to do with that, just have it in my room? I have a roommate! I can’t randomly have David Tennant hanging around!
I’ll see if I can take him home at Christmas; then I’ll actually be able to stand him up.
Last performance of Cinderella was today! Part of me feels quite sad at this, but most of me just feels relieved. I have the whole thing memorized, seriously. I had a lot of fun being in it, despite costume annoyances and other bothers. Also, there’s this boy in the musical who I finally talked to (one sentence, still) today…and that made me really happy…
I feel like I haven’t been on here in weeks. I wonder what it’s going to feel like to have free time again? (Probably like finishing NaNo.) How’s everyone doing?!
Congrats Mika! i love preforming. wish i could have been there to see it.
I’m assuming everyone has heard about the recent eruption of conflict in Gaza between Israel and Hamas? I think it’s both terrifying and absolutely terrible. As a member of the international community I feel completely helpless to act. It’s been going on for so long, yet it remains so difficult for the UN/other organisations to broker a solution that leads to even a fragile sort of peace. :/
Why do people have to hate each other and think it’s necessary to throw things at each other. It’s so sad.
Yes. My friend, who live in southern Israel, went to stay with family in the north, which is relatively safe- but there are so many people on both sides of the conflict who are stuck and in a lot of danger. And there is enough conflicting information that I don’t know what to think… It seems like anything either side does just makes it worse.
Y’know… no one would think that an 11 year old girl will be absorbed with Muse magazine (Getting Subscwibed Fo Chwistmas!!!!) like, when i first came here everyone was kinda suprised i was THAT YOUNG.
just wanted to get that off of my feathers.
AAAND, i want to make my room all Native amercan themed (like on the door have a mural on it that looks like when you open the door you are stepping into a land of Totem-Poles and broken slabs with ancient writings on it! (Got an awesome Kokopelli Placemat from my grandmother XD) and maybe around the door have flat-ish rocks with writing on them kinda on the floor. and when you go in i want rock wall-siding with a deer-skin rug and a fake fireplace.) anyone have any more ideas?
Hey, I started reading Muse when I was 11! I think… Wait, I totally figured this out once. *researches* Yeah, I’m certain now. I started getting the magazine January 2004 (The issue after the LoTR issue
), so I was 9. Actually, I’m pretty certain most everyone on here began getting the magazine at similar ages. That’s the age group it’s aimed toward, after all!
Consider researching actual Native American traditions instead of appropriating a mix of cultural stereotypes?
I think plenty of people your age (and younger!) love Muse, if the letters and contest entries are anything to go by. For some reason, though, most people here are older than the average Muse reader. I think it might be because people came here five years ago at about your age and just never left, and then the people who came and stayed later were close(ish) in age. We vary a lot in age, though. Oxlin was reading Muse literally before I was born (I’m 14).
As for your room, go to Kokopelli dot com. It has some pretty awesome things.
What Lizzie said– you should chose a specific Native culture to take inspiration from instead of just wildly mixing and matching from different ones. If you like Kokopellis, I’d recommend looking at the Pueblo cultures– each individual group has a very unique style of pottery, and some of the patterns could look great as wall decorations.
Would you explain why? Many of us might not be familiar with the implications of cultural appropriation.
I was nine when I started getting Muse. I was obsessed with it right from the start.
That’s an awesome room idea, though! I don’t really have any ideas but that would be awesome!
I started reading Muse at 11 too! July 2007. I think it’s more unusual to come to MuseBlog at that age – I was 12.
I was 11 when I first posted on MuseBlog! I was much older when I actually stuck around.
I think it’s great when 11-year-olds are reading Muse, and you contribute a lot to MuseBlog as well.
I was twenty-one years when I wrote this song; I’m twenty-two now but I won’t be for long…
I’m that age and it feels so weird. Maybe I’ll take this summer off from music and just go on a long-distance hike or something.
Huh. I’m that age too. Weird.
Imagine how weird Paul Simon must feel!
I was listening to that song the other day and realized that I’m half a year shy of 21, and suddenly felt unprepared to be an adult. I feel like I’ve done so little thus far.
DID YOU KNOW
That the natural crystal shape of a garnet is a dodecahedron? The largest garnets ever discovered have come from a mine in the Adirondacks of New York, where garnets up to the size of soccer balls were extracted.
This has been your aaily factoid from Jade, who gathered her own garnets of considerably smaller size from an abandoned mine on the other side of a ridge from the aforementioned one.
~~ THE MORE YOU KNOW ~~
I APPROVE OF THIS FACTOID
I THOUGHT YOU MIGHT
yes.
me and dad learned that the other day in Homeschool work
Cool! I had a garnet bracelet when I was younger, I really like the way they look. Maybe I should go visit that area!
DID YOU KNOW
In Livingston, Louisiana, there are two 4km long vacuum tubes.They’re part of LIGO, an experiment to detect gravitational waves. The idea is that very sensitive laser detectors continually measure the length of the tubes. If a gravitational wave passes through the earth, the tubes should change length fractionally, but not at exactly the same time, and the detectors should pick up the difference. They’re looking for a variance of about 10^−18 metres. That’s about a thousandth of the diameter of a proton. What puzzles me is how they eliminate noise from distant earthquakes, traffic, gusts of wind, etc.
~~ THE MORE YOU KNOW ~~
I know they have problems with traffic and planes flying overhead at Brookhaven Lab for some of the sensitive nanomaterial experiments.
Whenever I am thinking about something completely unrelated, I get “The Sound of Drums” or “The Doctor is Dying” (two songs by The Chameleon Circuit) stuck in my head.
Whenever I am thinking about The Doctor, I get “My Friend, the Doctor” (a song in the original Doctor Doolittle movie) stuck in my head.
“My friend the doctor says
the moon is made of apple pie
and once a month gets eaten by the sun.”
Etc. Etc.
I’m seriously considering cosplaying as Hilda from Pokemon this year as my first cosplay. It doesn’t seem like it would take a whole lot of effort to pull her off… The new Doctor Who companion, Clara, is also an option. I wouldn’t want to wear SPOILERS FOR DOCTOR WHO CHRISTMAS SPECIAL SETTING Victorian-style clothes END SPOILERS FOR DOCTOR WHO CHRISTMAS SPECIAL SETTING, so hopefully she changes her style once she enters the TARDIS.
I’m
being
published
and paid for it???
I submitted a short story to a writing anthology for alumni of my old arts camp (do y’all remember that arts camp? I was there in summer of 2010, and it was one of the best experiences of my life). I didn’t expect in a million years they’d accept it– this arts camp has alumni like James Franco and the head writers of Pixar, for God’s sake– and they did! And I’m being published! And I’m being paid for it!
I can’t believe it.
I can! You’re a wonderful writer. Congratulations, Cat. You deserve this.
This is so EXCITING! My god, Cat, you are brilliant.
I’m so happy for you! Although, knowing how great of a writer you are, I’m not surprised
Wow, congratulations! You and your writing deserve this recognition! Is there a chance that we may be able to read it at some point?
I know I’m not allowed to post the story on the Internet, since the anthology has First Publication rights for the next twelve months. The anthology is supposed to come out this spring; I’ll be 18 on May 4, so GAPAs, is there any chance that once May 4 is past I’ll be allowed to tell MB what the name of the anthology is?
I thought something like that might be the case! I hope to get a chance sometime, anyways.
That sounds reasonable.
Congratulations, Cat’s Eye! I am sure no one will disagree that it is a thoroughly well-deserved accomplishment.
Wow, you rock!
Congratulations Cat! You really deserve.
TICKETS PURCHASED.
I’m going to visit PB&J for winter break.
I AM SO EXCITED I CAN’T EVEN.
That is the greatest thing. Have fun!
Have fun! When will you be here?
Dec. 25 to January 19th. Can we kokon?!
We’re skiing in France for Christmas but school starts on the 8th so I’ll be back in England then! Where will you be visiting?
Flammy! Have fun.
DID YOU KNOW
According to greek mythology, there were three “Moirai” (Fates) who control the “thread” of every mortal from birth to death. One was Clotho, the spinner of the thread; one was Lachesis, the allotter of the thread, and the last Atropos, who cut the thread when she determined it was the end of the mortal’s life.
Their Roman counterparts are the “Parcae” or “Fatas”.
Their equivalents in Norse mythology are the Norns, although there were other norns besides the three who wove the lives of mortals.
This has been your daily factoid from Jade, who is leading a discussion in her Sandman exco tomorrow on “The Kindly Ones” and will be focussing for at least part of the time on the mythology used in the volume.
~ ~ THE MORE YOU KNOW ~ ~
I knew about the fates, but I didn’t know they had equivalents in Norse mythology. So I did still learn something!
(And I just wanted to let you know that I love reading your factoids. They are so interesting and they help introduce me to subjects I would have never thought about reading.)
If I may add a bit about the Norse Fates here (being a passive mythology nut):
The Norse Fates were arguably more powerful than the Greek Fates, since the Norse gods, unlike the Greek ones, were not immortal and as such had to follow the dictates of the Fates just like everybody else.
I love the way mythology is used in the entirety of Sandman, it’s been incredibly influential in my writing. I read somewhere that there’s a subtle implication in Sandman that every time you see three women, they’re implied to be incarnations of the Fates, and that they’re associated with all trios that come up in stories (such as Maiden, Mother, Crone; Youth, Adulthood, Old Age; Creation, Preservation, Destruction; Past, Present, Future; et cetera).
Today is the Transgender Day of Remembrance. Please take a moment to think about the people we’ve lost to trans* hatred-borne violence, and to educate yourself on trans* issues. (I believe it would be frowned upon to post links, but in the age of Google, there’s really no good excuse to be uninformed.)
My roommates are all gone, so I’m alone in the suite tonight. It’s so quiet.
I vacuumed my room, cleaned the bathroom, and did laundry (which still needs to be folded). So productive. Then I hitched a ride to the grocery store with some friends who happened to be passing and bought SO MUCH FOOD. I may be spending Thanksgiving by myself (unless someone comes over, which I hope happens but I’m not counting on), but by koko I will make good food for it. I got potatoes, an onion (I have another one, too), broccoli, kale, I have a squash, and two blocks of tofu, as well as two things of dried mushrooms (they were 2/$5, so I HAD to, obviously), and a bag of cranberries and an orange.
I might be more excited about cooking than about eating it.
I seem to never get that hungry when I’m alone. I usually forget to eat. *sigh*
I WILL HAVE INTERNET THANKSGIVING WITH YOU IF YOU DON’T GO ANYWHERE ♥
I’ll just be in Oberlin too, roommate went home on saturday and other friends are mostly all going home/have plans
you should come here, I’m all by myself…
I am also alone.
A Kokonspirator is never alone.
August Rush.
There are no words.
I just auditioned for a Grownup Orchestra and got in!
Pies to you!
You did? Squee! You’re amazing, Chok!
Congratulations! That is so pie-worthy.
DID YOU KNOW
That the precious gemstone “tiger’s eye” is created by replacing some of the minerals in riebeckite (“blue asbestos”, regarded as the most dangerous form of asbestos) with silica. The fibrous form of riebeckite is what creates the shiny, banded patterns in tiger’s eye.
If you find tiger’s eye stones with patches of blue in them, it is probably this type of asbestos, though as long as you’re not swallowing the rocks it will most likely not harm you in any way.
However, not all minerals classified as “asbestos” are as dangerous as others. While you should probably avoid riebeckite, the classifications for asbestos have gotten to the point where pencils or pieces of chalk could count because they have the right dimensions/aspect ratios.
This has been your daily factoid from Jade, who is pretty much finally done with her Independent Data Analysis for mineralogy.
~ ~ THE MORE YOU KNOW ~ ~
ALTHOUGH
what if
I rewrite my IDA
Which is “a narrative about how you determined what each of the 4 minerals in this sample were, using optics”
as a narrative as in a story instead of just explaining my procedure
I’m thinking a gritty mystery novel about a private eye who has to identify the names/location of the four minerals, full of suspense and intrigue
“The second mysterious grains caught my eye right away–distinct cleavage in at least one plane, and thin crystals that went on for miles” (wollastonite)
“The first mineral was tight-lipped. Even in crossed polarized light, he revealed nothing, remaining extinct no matter which way I turned the plate”
“It was the last mineral I needed to identify, and interference colors were running high. No matter what I tried, I couldn’t get a figure off this grain. I was going to have to resort to alternative methods.”
*second example (first mineral) is garnet, third example (last mineral) is diopside
the one I didn’t give in example for will REMAIN A MYSTERY FOR NOW
Oh my cake please do this.
Sounds like it could be fun.
Let me guess:
“She was shimmering, iridescent, like a butterfly’s wing, only tough and hard. Her extinction angle was just high enough to pique my interest, but not enough to give herself away. Everything about her spoke of heat, but it was a cool heat. I could tell that she came from a dark, dark place. I’d seen her type before. She was a plagioclase, part of the albite-anorthite gang — labradorite, or I wasn’t a mineralogist.”
I LOVE YOU
I just started. About to get into the actual details of the procedure now. I’ll leave this here for now, and when I finish the rest I’ll post it on the writing thread or something.
“I walked into the lab Sunday afternoon, after a long week of late nights and bad coffee. But the agency had said they were forwarding me a case—and I needed the work. I sat down at my desk, where the thick file already sat.
I opened it up and read the boss’ handwritten note. “Something big has been going on, but we’ve only scratched the surface of it. So far we’ve managed to round up the suspected ringleaders of the operation, but they’re not talking—we don’t even know their names. We need you to figure out who these four are and where their headquarters is, and fast.â€
A glass vial was taped to the end of the page, and I picked it up to look inside. The agency always made the smallest cases sound serious, but this one did seem like a big one. I could see why they needed my help—there aren’t many Private Optics left in the business. Mineralogical mysteries are harder to find these days.”
Oh, please do!
Robert, Jade, I love you both.
Me too.
scratched the surface
Ha! Ha! I get it!
Oh, this is so good.
it’s the EYE OF THE TIGER…
and yes, that would be an amazing narrative!
AMSTERDAM!!!! *flails*
It’s an overnight flight, but we’re leaving in half an hour so we can have dinner before boarding. I have been told our hotel has WiFi, so I’ll check in when I can.
See you on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean!
Travel safe!
Ooh, I am envious. You must tell us everything!
Welcome to this side of the pond!
Adventures in non-vegan land!
I ate an egg for my dinner-ish snackmeal just now.
I don’t usually do that.
normally if any sort of egg particles enter my body it’s because they were in cookies or pie or fried rice or something.
Because, y’know, I’m mostly vegan.
But I’m house/dog/chicken sitting and just collected eggs, and there was one more than spaces available in the fridge and I didn’t feel like getting out another carton just for ONE egg, and they’re totally happy chickens (I made friends with them. They’re nice.) and I’m not really vegan (or even mostly vegan) for OMG ANIMAL PRODUCTS ARE OF THE DEVIL reasons, I just don’t eat them unless it’s nigh unavoidable, because I was raised that way.
But anyway, I had this one egg, so I figured I might as well try to make it edible, and I’ve seen eggs in a basket (when you cut a hole in bread and fry the egg in it), and that looks cool and fairly easy (I mean, it’s two ingredients, three if you count butter, so how hard could it be?). So I tried it.
This is why I need to stay vegan.
Eggs are caking hard to crack gracefully.
And harder to pour into a small hole of bread.
And then they start cooking and get all jiggly.
What even is that?!
Anyway. I ended up with fried toast in egg slop, but whatever.
It was ok.
I’m going to a play soon, but I’ll probably just steam some kale when I get back or something.
OKAY GUYS I NEED YOUR HELP
what are some lines that might commonly appear in a mystery novel? I’ve been using words like “dame” and already did a “Legs that go on for miles” reference and “knows how to keep a secret” sorta thing
and I am running out. I just haven’t read enough of that type of story >.<
Hmmm… people getting “whacked” and “rubbed out”… basically everything Calvin says in the “Tracer Bullet” stories in Calvin and Hobbes…
Taking cases you don’t like because you need the money. Drinking, often in seedy bars. Deserted streets, piers, and other threatening locations, late at night. Getting shot at, beaten up, or knocked out by a blow to the head, usually delivered from behind by an unseen assailant. Women in distress who turn out to be less innocent than they seem.
Asking for clues or background information from shady acquaintances who owe you a favor — or from ex-convicts whom you “sent to the Big House” long ago but who have subsequently been released and don’t hold it against you because they consider you a “straight shooter.”
Yes to drinking. Especially liquor, like gin, scotch, and vodka. I can’t imagine a private eye drinking a beer.
There should probably be talk of red lipstick? A slinky dress?
I have no idea.
I don’t really read those books, either.
You three have been MUCH HELPFUL
I was definitely missing the red satin dress and the whiskey and the not-so-innocent line
I think I have finished it now!! Rereading to make sure everything’s all right and then going to post it
Hyperbole.
Exams finished today! *relief* I still have school-related things to do and worry about, and I procrastinated on studying way too much, but I think I’ve done well in my most important subjects. I don’t feel totally relaxed yet- parent issues, friendship problems, lack-of-R&R problems, that undefined nagging feeling there are things I should be doing. *sigh* Less external pressure gives me time to actually be productive, right?
Having been inspired by Jadestone’s factoids, and having just stumbled across this factoid while searching for The Truth About It, here is one for you.
From me.
The US Board on Geographic Names, which is the part of the government that has also been called “The Thing That Decides What Places Are Officially Named”, recently said this of Hawaii.
The name of the state as a whole is Hawaii, which was made official when it became a state, which cannot be changed by the Board of Geographic Names.
The island chain itself is the Hawai’ian island chain, which was changed in 2001 from “Hawaiian Islands”.
The main island is known as the island of Hawai’i, which was called Hawaii from 1914 until 1999.
The leeward islands are called the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.
And now you know the truth about something that has confused the cake out of me for years.
I DID IT, IT IS DONE: A MINERALOGICAL MYSTERY
GO READ IT
TELL ME YOUR THOUGHTS AND THINGS
https://musefanpage.com/blog/?p=10974#comment-467578
As of now, four people whom I know from school/grew up with are getting married. What a strange world.
DID YOU KNOW
Some minerals diffract the rays of light that pass through them due to their crystal structure–that is, they separate one ray into two different rays. For example if you place calcite on a white sheet of paper with a black dot in the middle, when you turn the calcite one direction, you will see one dot. When you turn it another, you will see two dots.
This has been your daily factoid from Jade who is sorry about all the geology lately, I will try to mix things up a bit from now on.
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Just happen to have a piece of calcite right here…yes!
I think we did that with newspapers in 8th grade Earth Science.
Happy Thanksgiving, MuseBlog! I’m thankful to have all of you as friends!
New director-general of the BBC appointed today! (Who just happens to be the husband of our Headmistress..)
In other news, our Politics class was in London (I love that city) today to attend a politics conference, which was both incredibly fun and informative. Speakers included Nigel Farage, leader of UKIP (who was an impressive speaker if not a bit blunt), Lord Norton, and Vernon Bogdanor, one of David Cameron’s professors at Oxford. Had the chance to ask two questions, which was great, and managed to have a nice chat with Prof Bogdanor at the end, which was very helpful.
OHAI GUISE.
Well, survived the first day. Today was a lot of walking. We walked to a secret Catholic Church, we walked to Dam Square, we walked to the residence of these Beguine women who swear single-ness, we walked through a few markets, and we walked to a grocery store. In fact, I think the only times we got to sit down were at lunch and during a cool canal boat tour.
Today’s weather was uncommonly nice, so my mother wanted to get all the outdoor stuff done today. Tomorrow we are going to NEMO, a science museum that’s supposed to be really interactive and neat. We’re also doing the Amsterdam Museum and walk/shop in the Jordaan neighborhood.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING MUSEBLOGGERS!
this is how you say “Happy Thanksgiving” in Gibberishian,
HUPPY THAKSGIVN MUZBLOGERZ!
today for dinner i had,
-Turkey (Duh it’s Thanksgiving)
-Green Bean Casarolle (how do you spell that?)
-Potatoes And Gravy (gotta love that gravy)
-Cranberry Jell-o (Jell-o? or Sauce?)
-Raspberry Pie (Wonder why “Raspberry has a P?)
-Pumpkin Pie (We saved the leftovers of the halloween pumpkin in the freezer and made pie with it. it was good acctually)
-And a half-gallon of Whipped Cream.
to tell you the truth bloggers. i have always wanted to learn Karate.
and i like cats
aaaand i love IRISH!!!!
watched a show earlier that an irish guy said “Only ‘n that could whop dem indians, is dem irish. (Owned Koko)
lots of you might think that this post was a bit redundant (Wow first time i had to spell it i got it right) so i will see you later
hopefully you wont object to my name being so long now
‘Casserole’ is spelled, well, the way I just spelled it. And that’s a good question about ‘raspberry’! I’ll have to look that up. *does so*
DID YOU KNOW
The word ‘raspberry’ was first recorded in 1623. Before that, people used the term ‘raspis berry,’ in which the ‘P’ was almost certainly pronounced. I assume that when people started saying ‘raspberry,’ they still pronounced the ‘P’, but it gradually faded out. This older term was first used in 1548 and comes “possibly from raspise “a sweet rose-colored wine” (c.1460), from Anglo-L[atin?] vinum raspeys, origin uncertain, as is the connection between this and [Old French] raspe, [Medieval Latin? Middle Latin? Could someone help me out?] raspecia, raspeium, also meaning “raspberry.” One suggestion is via Old Walloon raspoie “thicket,” of [Germanic] origin.”
THE MORE YOU KNOW
DID YOU KNOW
Every (probably) banana you have eaten is triploid! That means it has 3 copies of its genetic code. “But,” you say, “if that’s true, how can it reproduce?”
It can’t!
That’s why the bananas we eat don’t have seeds. They’re propogated asexually by humans, usually via splicing root tissue from banana trees onto parts of other plants.
Also all domesticated bananas come from two species, either pure or crossbred–Musa acuminata and Musa balbisiana.
Aha–Musa. The genus of bananas and plantains. Probably the closest genus name to “Muse.” Well, there’s Mus too I guess, which is rodents. Hmm.
Anyway, this has been your daily factoid(-and-a-half) from Jade, who actually isn’t all that fond of bananas, except in banana bread.
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I was just eating banana bread when I read this. We’re also going over genetics/biology in Science right now. Good to know!
I don’t like bananas except in banana bread, too! My favorite banana bread has chocolate chips in it.
I am also learning about genetics in my Biology class!
Am i the only one who is learning electronics instead of genetics?
I just finished genetics. Now we are doing evolution.
We’re not in the same grades, so we’re taking different science classes. The Agents and I are in 9th grade and taking biology specifically, so we won’t discuss electronics except possibly as tools of study in biology. I’m not learning about genetics right now, though; I’m learning about ecology. I did population genetics ages ago, and I haven’t gotten to Mendelian or other genetics yet. I’m on a weird schedule, though, because my biology class is for dual credit.
I’m taking Astronomy, but then, I’m in college.
I like bananas. And banana bread (I’d probably like chocolate chip banana bread, though I’ve never had it), banana muffins, banana smoothies, banana pudding, a lot of fake-banana-flavoured things…
Interesting post as always! Genetics is fascinating.
Isn’t this also why seedless watermelon don’t have any seeds? I remember I asked that question a really long time ago on the ‘blog, and it got published in the magazine!
Ah, Musa. You know why it’s so similar to “Muse”? ‘Cause Muse (and the blog) is also good!
But, Mus… Hmm. Well, at least rabbits aren’t rodents. Maybe there’s a particularly Muserly rodent of some kind?
In the “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” series, the most intelligent creatures on Earth turned out to be…?
Benjy <3
Oh, of course! I don’t know how that slipped my mind.
Are they in the genus Mus, though? There are lots of rodent genera.
Most laboratory mice are Mus-es.
Perfect.
Trillian had pet Mus-es?
YES.
Mus-es are the most intelligent beings on the planet Earth.
I just got chased by a rottweiler while trying to go jogging. On my driveway.
Okay, just a little freaked out.
Eek… at least you’re all right?
That sounds scary.
Oh dear… :O
It reminds me of the time I was at a friend’s house. My mom was standing in the doorway and the (large) dog of a random dogwalker just ran in and dashed through the house nonstop. The owner didn’t even do anything about the matter…
Happy belated Thanksgiving, MuseBlog! I’m so very thankful for all of you! I’ll post more when NaNo is over!
In other news, I can’t wait for Supporting Local Businesses Saturday! I’m going to buy reeds from a local music store.
And as a closing thought I’ve decided that I want to learn guitar.
Locking myself in the geology lab with the mineral drawer (50 hand samples, most with grain samples too–have to identify all of them using techniques we’ve learned) and the extended editions of all the Lord of the RIngs movies. Also have juice, cranberry sauce, nuttella, and grahm crackers. For dinner the geo building is right next to the dining hall so I’ll go there and right back.
I WILL MAKE SIGNIFICANT HEADWAY ON THIS PROJECT TODAY
I’m beginning to wonder if I’m the only person in the world who loves mint ice cream, but vastly prefers it sans chocolate chips. (Other forms of chocolate are usually fine, but I hate solid chunks of chocolate in ice cream.)
But the chocolate bits make the unique deliciousness what it is, man…
Chocolate is delicious, but to call the little brown pellets you find in ice cream “chocolate” is practically lying. They freeze so solid you can’t taste them, so you either have to wait for them to melt in your mouth, by which point the ice cream is gone and since it’s so sweet all you can really make out of the chocolate itself is the bitterness, or eat them with the ice cream and to fast to taste them, thus rendering them nothing more than a highly unpleasant textural element.
Mint ice cream is delicious. There’s no need to add little solid pieces of tasteless/bitter brown substance trying to masquerade as candy.
SFTDP. That should be “too fast to taste them” sorry.
Dryer’s thin mint ice cream.
That’s one of my favorites.
Actually I’m with you on the chocolate chips thing. Though I don’t like mint ice cream (or mint-flavored thigns, really). But chocolate chips in any sort of ice cream makes me sad, THE EXCEPTION BEING when they’re weirdly chewy/not affected by being frozen. I don’t know how this is acomplished but there’s one kind of ice cream my dad buys (don’t remember the brand) that had chocolates with caramel in them in the ice cream and they are chewable and delicious.
Man now I really want ice cream. Or sorbet. Or both. In a waffle cone. Yeah…
Yeah, I’ve found one or two ice cream flavors -though I can’t remember the brand(s)- that had chewable chocolate. I didn’t count that as chocolate chips. You’re right in that the flavor of the ice cream doesn’t matter; it just seems to me that mint is the one most often associated with chocolate chips.
Mmm, waffle cone…
Hm, I know what you mean, but I guess the way I’ve always eaten it is eating the chocolate chunks and making them the main focus of my eating and then getting the delicious dose of mint chip on the side. I’m not sure how much sense that makes. I’ve seen versions of mint chip ice cream that have chocolate syrup in them but that’s nowhere near as good as normal chocolate in terms of chocolate quality.
OKAY gone through the first 25 minerals and wrote down all their physical/hand sample data (color/luster/form/twinning/cleavage/magnetic/hardness/streak/HCl/association(I DON’T EVEN KNOW WHAT THAT ONE MEANS)/Other)
I got a few of them (12 or so), but I’ll need to do optics on most of them to make sure still
Aaaaaand 25 more to go. About an hour left in The Two Towers, and then Return of the King is like 4 hours long so I will hopefully be able to do the second half in that time…
I think I just finished my grad school applications.
Congratulations!
Congratulations! Where to, if you don’t mind sharing?
CIM Colburn Juilliard Manhattan NEC
Wow, good luck!
DID YOU KNOW
The ages of the characters in The Lord of the Rings are ABOUT as follows (relying on internet help here):
Frodo: 51
Sam: 36
Merry: 37
Pippin: 29
Aragorn: 88
Legolas: 500-800
Gimli: 140
Boromir: 41
Buuuut excepting Boromir, all of them were of races that were longer-lived than us, of course.
This has been your daily factoid from Jade who is on the actual last epilouge (there are like 5) in the extended edition of Return of the King, and about to leave the geology lab after this 11-hour marathon.
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*apparently figuring out the age of Legolas is pretty hard so this is based off some guy who wrote an article’s best bet
I LIED it was the second to last ending wow there are like 6 of these
Well, that makes a lot of the pairings, canon and fanon, awkward. Or does it make them less awkward since if they all have large age gaps it’s normal? *fangirls anyway*
I’m impressed with your mineral marathon, as well.
Sam is five years younger than Frodo? Wat?! *mind blown* Iunno, somehow I must have missed that part…
Fifteen years younger!
And I never really paid attention to their ages, so…
Hobbits typically only leave home at around 30, if I recall correctly. So I think they don’t just live longer, but their life cycles are structured differently as well.
Yes, they come of age at thirty, don’t they? Pippin, at twenty-nine, would still be considered in his ‘tweens,’ if memory serves.
Thirty-three, I think.
I just tried a new (to me) snack – a fruit roll up made of hawthorn fruits. Since I was curious about the stuff, I did a little research and discovered hawthorn has medical and magical qualities! How nice! The best part is that hawthorn trees are portals to the fairy realm. The fruit roll ups are tasty too, so that’s nice. And the extract might be good for a bunch of heart problems, though the evidence is not clear cut about that.
Tastiness and admission to the fairy realm ought to be enough for most people.
DID YOU KNOW
If you look at very old window glass, you will notice that it is thicker at the bottom than the top. Glass can actually be considered a liquid! It has no first order phase transition as it cools, it just becomes exceedingly slow moving–hence glass that is thicker at the bottom in old windows, as it v e r y s l o w l y flows.
It is sometimes referred to as a “supercooled” liquid or an “amorphous solid.”
And as a professor of mine once said, “Glass is a liquid in drag.”
This has been your daily factoid from Jade.
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I thought that was an urban myth. The glass is actually thicker at the bottom because of the way it was made. Check out the “behavior of antique glass” section on the wikipedia glass page – it’s got references to a certain number of articles about it.
Google the “pitch drop experiment”.
Hey all, I haven’t been on the blog in what I think might be two years. I’ve been busy but I think I’ll try to post a little more often now.
Welcome back! I don’t think I ever got to know you (unsurprising, as I’ve only been here a year and a half), but it’s good to see you. Your name’s awesome; I love entomology. I’ve been busy, too (like, insanely busy), but I don’t really have a social life at all outside here, so I’m not in much danger of disappearing.
Hi, Beetles! *glomps*
Hi! Welcome back! I vaguely remember seeing some of your posts. Great to have you back: I hope to see you around!
Hello, Beetles! Welcome back!
Welcome back! I didn’t really know you but was definitely around at the time, so I’m glad to see you back.
Our avatars match now!
DID YOU KNOW
That beetles count for approximately 40% of all insect species and 25% of all known life? There are around 350,000-400,000 described species and we find more all the time.
There is a hard-to-attribute (but possibly belonging to B. S. Haldane) old quote on the subject–“The Creator, if there is one, has an inordinate fondness for beetles.”
This has been your daily factoid from Jade, and welcome back Beetles!
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A 77 and a 78 on two geometry tests was not what I wanted to see coming back to school.
On the other hand, a 98 on a biology test is a very pleasant surprise.
So yeah. I hope everyone had a good past couple weeks. I’ll try to be more consistent with posting.
DID YOU KNOW
That muselover has had one of the most eventful months of his life?
Let’s see, since I was last on, I…
• finished up Sweeney Todd
• tried out for The Glass Menagerie but was not cast (HOORAY MY PARENTS CAN SEE ME AGAIN)
• called off my first relationship ever after two weeks (many factors contributed to this)
• went to see glorious, glorious Lincoln
• dealt with fallout of aforementioned breakup
• saw family for Thanksgiving
• funded The Polyphonic Spree’s new Kickstarter and so am getting a LIVE CD and a STUDIO CD and a CONCERT DVD and a T-SHIRT (GO FUND IT RIGHT NOW)
• did other stuff that I cannot remember right now
So yeah. I keep saying I’m back for real this time and end up leaving for a month, so I won’t say that. But I am back for this moment. And that’s all that matters.
THE MORE YOU KNOW
YAAAY!
Hello there! I’m happy for you with the happifying things, and hope the rest have/will turn out fine.
tonight just as i type this my dad traded our current car for a pontiac van.
and the guy that bought ours brought his son with him.
and all the while i was wondering “Is he from museblog? could he be someone like MidnightFiddler or Kai-Yves? is he from museblog?” he probably isn’t but just wondering…
DE AWKWARD DOT DOT DOT!!! • • •
Both Midnight Fiddler and KaiYves are female.
I see your point, but we MuseBloggers are an elite group, and statistically it’s unlikely that we’ll meet without prior planning.
True enough. Depending on which population you decide to draw from, every MBer may literally be one in a million.
Hmm, now I’m curious. The population of my greater metropolitan area is around 600,000 according to Wikipedia. When IBCF, Cinnamoon, and I are all here, we are each one in 200,000. I’ve always assumed that we had one of the highest concentrations of MuseBloggers here (I think there’s a lot more of you in some parts of California or the East Coast, but i imagine are more total people, too), so one in a million seems very plausible. If you narrow it to MB-aged people, your chances get better – about 24.8% of people in this area are under the age of 18, although I don’t think anybody on MuseBlog is under 8 or 9. (My sincere apologies if I’m not thinking of someone!) Of course, since there are many places in the United States and the world from which we don’t have any MuseBloggers, incorporating those populations into our numbers would mean we’re a lot closer to one in a million.
Regardless, you’re all one in a million to me!
We do have a strangely high concentration of bloggers. (When we’re all there, that is.) I wonder why that is? Our area isn’t exactly known for culture, intelligence, and refinement. How strange. Must be something in the water.
I was probably raised on California water (fluoride and all) more than Washington water, or else that would be a real possibility. Have you ever lived anywhere else?
I think there are several MuseBloggers in the western part of the state as well. It is interesting.
I think that Selenium and I* will probably raise that number even further- I think we’re the only two active MBers in Europe at this point.
*I hope that was an “and I” instead an “and me”- I always get those two confused.
Do you have the same problem in German?
Nein… I never really studied English grammar, I just go with what sounds right. In German (which I did
sleep throughstudy), you can tell if something’s off because the whole sentence sounds wrong if you mix the cases up.Could you take your cues from German, then? Ich –> I, mich –> me? Or does German handle compound subjects differently from English? (For example, in Russian you wouldn’t say “Selenium and I live in Europe”; you’d say “We with Selenium live in Europe,” even if you don’t, in fact, live together.)
German handles compound subjects the same as in English. I checked with my husband (who is German, which Robert knows, but some of you others might not), and he confirms.
Now on to other important questions of German grammar such as whether Nutella is masculine, feminine or neuter!
So I can just basically think of it in German? For once, grammar is being kind.
Ah, the time-old nutella question. We had a very long debate with my german teacher about that one, which basically boiled down to him telling us it should be neuter, and us telling him it had to be feminine because it a) sounded right and b) consists of chocolate (feminine) and hazelnuts (also feminine). For some reason, we never really considered masculine…
In English you can just subtract the other person and use the pronoun that sounds right in that sentence – I think that I will probably raise etc
United in diversity, as the EU motto goes.
Unless someone who hasn’t revealed ens state also happens to live in Texas, Errata and I are the only ones here. Since the population in our state is about 25,674,681 (I say about because people are bound to have been born and died since whatever census that’s from was taken), that makes us each one in 12,837,340.5. I feel special.
Also, there’ve been MuseBloggers under ten in the past, but I’m pretty sure there aren’t any at the moment. They all either left or got older (like Pie Girl and Muselover). So ‘MB-aged’ would be about 10 through… Is anyone here over 22? Oxlin, maybe? I don’t remember. I think groundhog and Luna are older, but I haven’t seen them in a while–or does groundhog still post on the BA thread, which I don’t keep track of?
I grew up in Texas and still go back there occasionally. Dunno if I’d say I live there though.
I’m one in 5,344,861, according to a 2011 adjustment to the 2010 census. Doe anyone else live in the Minnesota area-ish?
I think wee trend toward certain activities or groups, as well. Maybe there’s a higher likelyhood of finding a MuseBlogger in a marching band than in, say, a school’s Fashion Club.
*we. Perhaps there is a wee trend.
My school has neither a marching band nor a Fashion Club, which is very sad because I would happily join both.
Could you start one or both of these?
I could start a Fashion Club, but I don’t have the time or energy to. Marching band would be difficult as I don’t remember how to play an instrument and, again, don’t have the time or energy. Really it was more an offhand comment than something I’m actually passionate about; maybe someday some enthusiastic high schooler will start one of them.
Come to my school, we need people who can actually write…Then again, by way of blog rules, you’re only allowed to say exactly where you’re from if there’s a million or more people there–so, to know where someone is from, the very least they can be is one in a million. That doesn’t take into account other musebloggers from the same city, though, which could substantially lower it.
lol i am stupid…
I am not that guy’s son, since I’m a gal.
If you don’t mind my asking, what made you think he would be Kai or me, as opposed to any other Muser?
i heard someone call you a “HE” once and i soupouse…
and i… bejifactorRRABLAAARGHE! man, why am i dumb
or… Muselover or Agent Hippie (i apolagize if you are both girls as well)
I’m a girl, but it’s okay because I’m not what you would call a stereotypical “girly” girl. I am known to wear clothing that you would find in the boy’s section of most clothing stores.
That’s where the best t-shirts are, sometimes.
That’s exactly why I look there!
I believe that Muselover is male, but I know that Agent Hippie is female. Oh well, one out of two, right?
(It is best sometimes to ask if you do not know before making assumptions. Otherwise, oh well, now you know!
You can often find out from ♂ and ♀ symbols on the “Who’s Here” lists.
thank you museblog. along with the learning that protons and electrons are opposites so they react with each other stuff and the confuseation of everyone’s gender you have successfully completed in BLOWING MY MIND!!!!!!!! give yourselves all of the “BLOWING CATWING’S MIND” awards you want. and here’s an extra ribbon to Agent Hippie, Midnight Fiddler and Kai-Yves for successfully confusing me to heck. YAAAY!
JK
bluuuh
So I got my laptop back before break… and they had not fixed it properly (the screen was not properly bonded to the glass so there was this big glowey splotch in the middle of the screen).
So I gave it back today so they can fix it properly because that is what I paid for.
And I went and got a loaner computer from the tech store… and it is the same windows frustration machine I had to check out last time, because both times it was the only one left and they were out of macs.
How do I know it is the same? It runs just as horribly slowly and also Museblog’s address autofilled (even though I deleted all browser history/cookies before I returned it, sigh) and I don’t know any (active) MBers who go here.
And now I don’t want to do any of my work because it’s a weird computer and not mine and it was horrible enough learning one version of Excel, I don’t think I have it in me to spend hours figuring out where all the buttons are in another. Seriously that program is the LEAST INTUITIVE THING I HAVE EVER ENCOUNTERED, uhg.
Sorry, Jade.
DID YOU KNOW
The first mention we know of cupcakes dates back to 1796, as “a cake baked in small cups” in American Cookery by Amelia Simmons. The term “cupcake” itself first makes an appearance in the cook book Receipts by Eliza Leslie in 1828.
This has been your daily factoid from Jade.
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DID YOU KNOW that the word “receipt” was used where we now commonly use “recipe”? I can’t find when it fell out of use, but in my brief snooping about the online OED, it looks like sometime in the mid-1800s. I have several reprint/replicas of cookbooks from the 18th century, and they all have titles along the lines of “receipt-book” or “a collection of receipts.”
THE MORE YOU KNOW.
Also, I saw a video on youtube that’s been floating around the interwebs recently about the Globe theatre doing productions in Original Pronunciation (as opposed to modern received pronunciation). It’s super cool, and you should look it up.
Last night was the first cast meeting for The Tempest, and it was a read-through. I don’t have a speaking part, but I had to be there anyway, and it just made me think about how much I love historical language and miss reading it.
Funnily enough, the German word for recipe (Rezept) sounds an awful lot like receipt.
German’s a lot similar to English.
Erschreck mich! Ich spreche Deutsch!
(The German teacher gets one of his classes to teach as many people as people as possible to say that. For anyone who doesn’t feel like heading over to Google Translate, which matches up with what the German teacher told me, it’s “Scare me, I speak German.” I think “Angst mich, Ich spreche Deutsch” would be more accurate, because “angst” means “fear”. Which I did not know.)
Google Translate is actually pretty bad at German, as my attempts to read Stratos articles from Austrian sources have proven.
Perhaps, but Angst is only a noun in German, not a verb (though it crops up in the combination “Angst haben”- “to be afraid”, more literally “to have fear”).
SFTDP:
Anyway, more German on the blog = yayness!
“Receipt” didn’t completely die out in the 19th century — I can remember some of my older southern relatives using the term when I was growing up.
My grandmother did that, too. But she was a re-enactor and probably used the word self-consciously.
It’s 5:30 in the morning, I’ve been drinking iced tea all night, and it’s time to go to bed so I can do it all again tomorrow. But I’ll have a nap, so it’s semi-okay.
And I guess I won’t have to stay up as late because we had a math problem session where he did practically half the problem set for us.
Just realized that I’ve missed my blogiversary for what I’m pretty sure is the third year in a row. Oh well.
Regardless, y’all are one of the best things that have ever happened to me, and I love all of you more than I can say. The last four years have been the most interesting four years of my life, and I’m glad I had you guys to share it with me. Here’s to another four.
First concert of the year is tonight.
I’m not nervous at all. In middle school, our band director stressed out over concerts. He would have a countdown going, and would constantly repeat what we needed to do. Our high school band director is much more relaxed. It was pretty much, “Oh yeah, the concert is next week, don’t forget, now let’s play music,” last Monday.
Hopefully these will be better than middle school concerts…
Haha yes, I should hope so. Middle school concerts were fun, but the director stressed us way too much about them. ‘Twas not fun. Of course, now our bands are separated by skill level and not grade, so now we don’t have to yell at the trumpets as much. Plus, in high school we’re trusted to be more responsible, whereas in middle school he had to shout at us fifty times for us to do anything. (“I don’t trust everyone to be on time to the Christmas parade. So let’s make the call time two hours beforehand and have everyone stand there in t shirts, IN THE SNOW.”)
Basically: I agree with everything you just said.
Man, I love high school band…
The Curiosity Rover was nominated for TIME’s Person of the Year (although if she won, she’d probably be Machine of the Year, like the computer was in 1983), and she’s currently in 7th place in the voting… she’d better beat out Psy, at least…
Well, I should hope that an awesomesause rover that was lowered onto another planet by a skycrane would beat out the brains behind “Gangham Style”.
I don’t really think they would make Psy Person of the Year, because that would be too silly, but I do want Curiosity to get more votes than him.
I’m rooting for Malala Yousafzai.
Maybe she’ll also get next year’s Nobel Peace Prize.
I’ll be okay if she wins, or Aung San Suu Kyi, or the Higgs Boson, but Curiosity MUST beat Psy.
Also, although this may be a surprise, I don’t see the logic of including Felix Baumgartner on the list of nominees when Chuck Yeager wasn’t in 1947. Yeager went faster than sound when it was believed to be impossible to do so at all and if that wasn’t enough to be Man of the Year, doing it without a plane shouldn’t be enough, either. (I suppose Joe Kittinger was included in “US Scientists” in 1960, though.)
(Of course, the editors will decide who wins, independently of the voting, which is good, because Stephen Colbert’s fans always vote for him en mass in things like this.)
The January 2010 Muse I was trying to find finally came in the mail! Victory!
Oh, I remember that one! Unfortunately, when I was trying to rip out the order forms inside, the staples came loose and the cover came off.
But it was still a great issue, and one of my favorite cover designs.
Hey, I don’t know if any of you remember this, but someone put a link to free Twinings tea samples here, like, two months ago or something. My tea arrived today…so, it wasn’t precisely a speedy sampler, but it finally got here, eh? And hey, free tea. Just thought I’d let you guys know.
Hm, I ordered mine a few months ago and got an email about six weeks ago saying it would arrive “soon.”
Waiting for stuff you’ve ordered (and REALLY WANT. NOW.) to come in the mail is like having your fingernails slowly pulled off. It’s expecially bad when it’s clothes, because I keep thinking “OH I WANT TO WEAR THAT TODAY JUST KIDDING I DON’T ACTUALLY HAVE IT YET MY LIFE IS RUINED.” (As you can see, I believe in proportional responses.)
IN OTHER NEWS.
Finished the Tempest read-through tonight, talked about the play as a cast, some really good points came up (maybe I can actually not hate this play so much anymore), and then we had a talk between musicians and the director to talk about what we’re all seeing as far as the show’s music goes, and it’s starting to get exciting.
I think it’ll be good. I hope it’s good.
Aaaaaand I don’t want to do homework and it’s suddenly late, whaaaaaat.
167 (Mika)~ Oh, yeah I remember that. I signed up for it, and then sometime after got an email that they were sending it, but haven’t actually seen my three teabags.
MAYBE THERE’S STILL HOPE. In the meantime, I need to remember to clean out a travel mug so I can bring delicious beverages with me and not feel guilty about using paper cups and having my roommate punch me in the face because she works in recycling.
Actually, I wonder where that travel mug went…huh. I should sleuth for it.
DID YOU KNOW
The potato was first domesticated around or before 5000 BCE, in southern Peru/northern Bolivia.
This has been your daily factoid from Jade.
~ * ~ * ~ THE MORE YOU KNOW ~ * ~ * ~
I had a small moment of triumph when on my Civics worksheet, I crossed out all the gender-related pronouns,and replaced them with en. We probably should stop making so many assumptions.
*Hint Hint*
wait… WHAT?
grr… (see post 159 to 159.3.2.2)
DID YOU KNOW
Approximately 80,000,000 sharks are killed every year, mostly for their fins for the purpose of making “shark fin soup.” This is a mostly served in asian countries/restaurants as a mark of status, and shark fins are in high demand.
Sharks are often not defended because they are a “threat” to people and might otherwise harm humans.
5 humans are killed by sharks every year, mostly because they are mistaken for seals. Sharks will almost always swim away after their initial bite when they realize they do not have the right prey.
That’s 80 million sharks (almost certainly even more–this is from a study not counting ones caught by illegal means) dead every year, in order to make a tasteless dish.
This has been your daily factoid from Jade who really likes sharks and is pretty upset about this fact. If you are interested there are many petitions online to stop shark finning, and if you’d take the time to sign them as you come across them it is something that would make me happy.
* ~ * ~ * ~ THE MORE YOU KNOW ~ * ~ * ~ *
awwww! poor sharkies
TO THOSE PEOPLE WHO THINK SHARKS ARE HAZERDOUS TO HUMANS AND HAVE BLOODTHIRSTY VEINS!
I’ve been organizing impromptu “boycotts” of any and all restaurants that serve shark in any form (shark isn’t just made into shark fin soup) among friends and relatives since I first found out about this at the age of six or seven. The problem was, most of those restaurants were so expensive that nobody I knew ate there anyway, so it didn’t have any real impact. I considered myself too young to sign petitions, of course.
I did something similar when I found out that all of this yummy instant ramen that Mom’s been buying contains cuttlefish.
WHY!?
DID YOU KNOW
that many(almost certainly most, and POSSIBLY ALL) dinosaurs had feathers? That’s right, feathers, not scales. Although they may seem to resemble the body structure of our friends the lizards, in fact the closest thing related to them is birds. More and more fossils are showing where you can see the feathery outlines around their skin/limbs.
There is even some research that has been done on what colors these feathers might have been, although that is pretty new!
Researchers and palentologists also suspect that the “grasping” motion therapods (think raptors or t-rex) used with their forelimbs when attacking prey is the origin of the flapping motion that allows flight in birds.
This has been your daily factoid from Jade, who thinks dinosaurs are really rad.
* ~ * ~ * ~ THE MORE YOU KNOW ~ * ~ * ~ *
How do they research color from fossils?
Feathers get their colors in two ways: from granules of pigments inside the feathers, and from structures that reflect or refract light. Both the granules and the structures can leave traces in fossils, which paleontologists can detect with ultra-amazing modern imaging techniques.
So we actually could find out what color some dinosaurs were?
Yes, to some extent and with some degree of uncertainty. For example, researchers have recently concluded that at least some of the feathers on Archaeopteryx and Microraptor were iridescent black, but that doesn’t mean that all of them were.
Oh man, science is great! I remember every dinosaur book I had when I was little talking about how we had absolutely no idea what color dinosaurs were and how illustrators could only guess…
(Just two-legged dinosaurs — not the big sauropods.)
whoops yeah, I meant to say “therapods” in that first sentence.
*shakes head to delete mental imagine of a brightly feathered T-rex*
*attempts to stop laughing*
*moderate success on both accounts*
There’s no direct evidence that adult Tyrannosaurus rex had feathers, but they might have. It’s also possible that T. rex chicks were covered with downy fuzz that they lost as they matured.
For some reason, this blows my mind completely.
That’s what we’re here for.
For supplementary mind blowing, do a Google search for “Yutyrannus.” That’s a relative of Tyrannosaurus found in China a few years ago. It was big, mean, and feathery.
I am Lady Capulet in my English class’s production of Romeo and Juliet, which will be performed in front of lots of people in the auditorium in a week’s time. Also, as the only brass player in the whole class, I am also going to play a trombone fanfare every time the Prince walks in. XD This will be interesting.
Break a leg, thou oddly brassy actress.
SFTDP, but I just realized that xkcd’s “What If” is in the “Other essential links” column. Hm.
I approve greatly. In fact, your comment reminded me I hadn’t checked it for a while, so I read the last 6 entries. Cue physics fangirling.
I also got my Twinnings tea in the mail!! Arrived today or yesterday. Yum!