Late in May, astronomers rushed to their telescopes after the Swift satellite spotted what looked like a huge explosion called a gamma-ray burst in the galaxy next door to ours, known as M31 or Andromeda. It turned out to be a false alarm (fortunately for any living creatures in large parts of Andromeda). But Andromeda is still a beautiful galaxy and well worth looking at. What’s more, someday all of those stars will be even closer neighbors: Andromeda and our own Milky Way galaxy are rushing toward each other and will merge into one galaxy in a couple of billion years.
First post!
*braces for pieing*
Woah. It’s June. Heh.
I hardly paid any attention to the passage of time last night, as I was at a party all afternoon. I don’t like parties, but my dad’s band was playing, so I went along because I hadn’t seen them play in months.
And…. the first hour of the party was very, very awkward for me. Because, there was someone there who looked just like someone I’m a really, really huge fan of. It couldn’t have been him, because he lives on, like, the other side of the country. But the guy was like, the very image. And, I couldn’t stop glancing at him every now and then. I knew he knew I was looking at him, because he glanced at me a few times, too.
I was actually pretty glad the dude left after a while, so I could get on with my life….
Oh man that happened to me a couple years back where there was this guy who I was *convinced* was the thirteen year old clone of David Tennant except he sat next to me in band class and if you look back far enough on my comment history on this website you will find all my posts where I deteriorated into a big mess of being obsessed with him and it was really embarrassing
But the good news is we’re actually close friends now and still sit together in band, so awkwardness is not the end of the world, trust me.
Just got home from Florida this weekend!! Best way to start the summer, if you ask me.
Yesterday I had Middle College orientation and then went to my first ever rock concert which was AWESOME, it was the Battle of the Bands final and some of my friends were playing and their bands got first and second place!! And i got to hang out with friends and cool people and it was generally a successful night. Although at one point there was a band whose lead singer sounded like a dying, bleating goat, and they did a cover of a song that I actually /like/ and it was painful.. my crush and I ended up being miserable together for those four minutes, because I was just SO DONE and he was like “…I’m confused what’s going on” so we ended up hugging half-jokingly half-serious/sympathetically and he was patting my shoulder and it was nice.
Ugh, cute boys, why.
Then there was a mosh pit, and my friend Cheese dislocated her shoulder, which was actually a lot funnier than you might expect, seems she was dumb enough to tackle The Hulk, whose strength is immeasurable and “jokingly” tackled her back sending her flying, and she fell so hard that her shoulder dislocated. But then she popped it back in and went back to moshing. Now she’s wearing a sling and she still thinks it’s hilarious.
(My Dad, reading the title of the book I’m reading) “Amelia Earhart’s Shoes. Did they really find her shoes?”
Me: “They thought they did, but there’s nothing conclusive.” *Explains details*
Dad: “Why do they always talk about looking for signs of Amelia Earhart and not the other guy she was with? I mean, he died, too, right?”
Interesting concept to bring up.
So my sister is being awesome and going through the floppys back home in search of the game I mentioned on the May thread. She really liked this game as a kid, as well.
So she found a floppy that’s a back up of assorted text documents from our Mac IIsi pre 1994 (because that may have been the last time dad backed it up *sigh*). She sent me a screenshot of the following story that I (presumably) dictated to her or a parent, given that I (stubbornly) refused to learn to read until my parents forced me to the summer before kindergarten, and the story was dated in January 1993, so a couple months before my 3rd birthday.
“Barney by [full name]. A dinosaur eat grass. He like grass. He like corn. He like hot dog. He like fish stick. My dinosaur like a Happy Meal.”
Clearly I was anthropomorphizing Barney and supplanting my likes onto him. Given I know I loved Happy Meals as a kid (and apparently even as a 2 year old), and fish sticks. And corn. And apparently I use to like hot dogs (I don’t care for them much now for like 10+ years). And presumably I must therefore have liked grass as well. I was clearly a bizarre 2 almost 3 year old.
Then again, when I was around 5 I had a phase where I though I was a cat (I would even lick my hand and pretend to groom myself like a cat does and crawl around on all fours meowing), so…..Yeah.
Hey, that’s normal for kids to want to act like cats. I remember I used to pretend I was a
humancat for a long time. With all the actions you have described. I also ate off of the floor in a dish.So I’d say most of us would think of 2013 as “around now” and 1970 as “a long time ago”. Where is the divide that you have? What year stops feeling present and starts feeling a long time ago? Is it a year before you were born? After?
I wouldn’t think of 1970 as “a long time ago” if we’re thinking historically – to me the divide between present era / past is probably WWII? If we’re thinking in terms of personal time – “oh yeah I wore that a long time ago” – though, “a long time ago” is probably pre-college – so like 2008 or so.
Mm. I was thinking of personal time but I’m also curious about impressions of the other.
I bet Jade would have an interesting perspective on this as a geologist. The geology classes I’ve taken use a very different definition of “long ago.”
Personally, I constantly have to remind myself that 2009 was five years ago – not for my own sake, I can remember just fine, almost every major life event that can happen has happened to me between then and now (okay, exaggerating; I haven’t graduated yet), but the people I interact with at work are pretty much all older than me and it’s nice to keep in mind exactly how long it’s been. (To be fair, some of the people I work with have children older than me.)
Pre-2000 probably counts as “a /long/ time ago,” on a personal scale. I was born in late 1993 and I have very few recollections of things that happened before 2000, give or take a couple years.
Personally– honestly anything before 2010 feels like a long time ago; I’ve changed a lot since then. But in the sense of present/before the present? I was born in ’97. I think when I think about “history” I think the eighties are when things start being a long time ago? I’m not certain why, but the eighties do feel like history to me in a way the nineties don’t. (& I’m not convinced the seventies happened.)
History starts with WWII for me, too–maybe because that’s the last point at which history books feel like they really gel. After that tends to be increasingly within the authors’ own memories, and harder for them to transmogrify from reality to history. My own reality starts in the late nineties, I seldom question the existence of 1950-1979, but 1980-1995 is like a narwhal: I know it exists, but it seems too weird.
Same here, actually. The 1960s and 1970s feel well-defined in my mind because I can think “oh, hippies, space, Vietnam, Cold War”. Then, after 1995, my consciousness slowly dawns. But, as you say, 1980-1995 is a relative gap in my historical consciousness, because I don’t personally know anything about it and there isn’t very much in the history books about it, yet.
I also have trouble with the end of the Cold War. That was definitely “a long time ago” in my historical sense, but it happened in 1991, barely before I was born.
Yeah, I suppose all my memories of 1990-1995 are personal ones. (Well, from 1993-1995. While I was alive in 1990, I don’t exactly remember being a baby.) I know some of the history from school, though.
Relatedly, what is the first election you remember? I remember the US presidential election of 2000 pretty well but not really any before that.
The first election I remember is 2008. I was in the fifth grade, and my teacher got really into it.
I vaguely remember the 2000 election. I also remember my dad yelling at President Clinton on TV for being “a moron” an unknown number of years before that. 2008 is the first election I really paid attention to and followed, though.
2008 is the first election I voted in but I remember caring about (and being disappointed by) the outcome of the 2000 and 2004 elections as well.
The 2000 presidential election is the first one I remember, I went with my parents to vote in local elections before that, but I don’t remember anything about those except the cool curtain the voting booth had.
I was six during the 2000 election, and I remember going with my mom to vote–someone took my picture and it was in the newspaper. The 2004 election I was pretty aware of, but didn’t follow. In 2008 I was in high school and I remember watching election results on TV. I voted for the first time in 2012.
The first real “world event” I remember was 9/11, since I had a personal connection to it. I’d visited the towers a few months earlier, and my godfather worked for a company that had an office in one of the towers, which panicked my mom until she finally got through to some relatives on the phone. That and the Euro being introduced in 2002.
As for elections, I remember my dad and grandmother voting in an Austrian presidential* election in 2004: I remember thinking that Fischer (one candidate) looked a lot like John D. Rockerduck and his main rival, Waldner, looking a little like Scrooge McDuck in her red pantsuit. ((The presidency is more of a symbolic position, so it was a showdown between the two main political parties, mainly as to who was handling the newly EU affected economy better)). I also remember being sad when Fischer won- Waldner would’ve been the first female president and my mom was really pulling for her.
The first US election I remember is 2008, though I think I remember seeing the first Bush inauguration on tv in a laundromat somewhere once- or at least a televised political event in early 2001 that involved Bush and a parade in Washington DC. I mostly remember asking my mom who Bush was and her strong disapproval of him.
Anyhow, it’s funny how much the world has changed in such a short time- a friend of mine who was born in 1990 still remembers getting his allowance in Deutsche Mark, along with their pre-inflation prices. That and getting his first cell phone at fifteen- I was nine when I got one, so that I could call my parents when I walked home alone from school.
Oh, and I remember the early dollar/euro exchange rates being totally different- they were almost the same when I was a kid, then suddenly the dollar started taking a dive.
That was actually the first raise I negotiated for my allowance: I originally got about Shillings from the tooth fairy, then a Euro a week. I also got a dollar a week when we went to the States, until my dad explained exchange rates to me, at which point I tried to argue that it wasn’t fair that I should get shorted 30c/week whenever my parents decided they wanted to live on a different continent. ((It worked))
Heh. I got my first cellphone at 18. Then again, before that there was one I technically shared with my brother but that mostly meant he hogged it and I never had it.
I was 18, as well, before anyone in my immediate family got cell phones–and that was only because when dad crunched the numbers, he determined that purchasing a family plan and getting myself, my sister, and my mom cell phones would be cheaper than paying the fee to have a usable land line in my dorm room when I started college. My sister did not have a cell phone her first 2 years of college, b/c there was no extra cost to her having a land line in her dorm.
To be honest, I’m not even sure if my school makes landlines available anymore.
*searches* Okay, as of 2012-2013, students without a cell phone could request a landline. It says that you’d have to use a calling card for long-distance calls, though.
I could see that being useful if it were free, even if you had a cell phone, since service just isn’t good inside the old, cinderblock dorms.
At my college my dorm had a landline for free in every dorm room. You had to supply your own phone, though. My roommate one year was French, and her French friends occasionally called on it so apparently they even got international calls! The club I was in was in one “tower” of a dorm that had four floors and if someone in first floor had, say, baked a cake they’d use the first floor lounge phone to call the third floor one, etc.
My first cellphone was in 6th grade, I think. My family was exclusively using nokias that were passed on to my dad from his coworker. I got the huge one with an extendable antenna and a battery like a brick that lasted 10 minutes. The procedure was: Take phone to school while off. Turn it on at end of school to call parents to pick me up. Proceed to let it die. Charge at home. Repeat.
Then in 7th grade my parents upgraded the plan so we all got new phones, to my great relief. I got a flip phone.
Then in first year of college I accidentally left the flip phone in the back of an airport shuttle and convinced my mom to get me a new one (instead of looking for the old one) on the grounds that I needed a qwerty keyboard to text more efficiently. Since everyone was texting to communicate, maybe I’d actually be able to make friends if I could text. Surprisingly I got a new phone.
Just last week my mom brought up the idea of getting me a smartphone, since it seems to be integrating itself into a necessary tool for a college student/young person. I was pleasantly surprised that she was the one to bring it up. I don’t think I would use it any more often than I use my phone now, but there has been many a frustrating situation where I’ve had to say that I don’t have a smartphone with those newfangled “apps” everyone’s talking about.
Follow-up: My dad got all those nokias so early on the cell phone adoption curve because he needs to travel a lot to rural areas for his work, and it’s’ good to be able to get calls while on the road (and to have an emergency communication device). He had a car phone before then, but it was stolen when I was in 2nd grade. Maybe shortly after that was when he started using cell phones.
Related poll: How many of you have used a pay phone?
*raises hand for own poll*
Me! Not commonly, I think it was really only the summer I spent a week at camp, and that was the only way to get in contact with our family while we were gone (b/c apparently a week was too long to go without having us kids–I was about 9–call home and say hi to parents?)
I didn’t have to feed it any money, though. I was calling collect.
I remember standing with my mom in a phone booth in London, while she called the hotel on a pay phone to try and help get us *un*lost after our walk to the London Eye. ((London is a very scary place after dark, when you are 14 years old and you and your mom are lost and wandering down mostly deserted streets, and you’re anxiety is getting fed by her anxiety))
I don’t think I ever have.
I did when I was a kid a couple times.
I have, but not for a while.
We had them at high school. If you stayed late for sports practice, say, and didn’t have a cellphone they were useful to call your parents to get a ride home.
we didn’t have pay phones, we had speaker phones
I don’t know that I’ve ever even seen one.
Where do you live?
Ah, a fair point. Haiti, where I’m not sure we ever did have pay phones. But the tattered remains of my point do still stand, as I spend my summers in the States.
Wow, I never knew you lived in Haiti!
Yeah, me neither!
I didn’t get a cell phone until last year. I tried to use the pay phone at school once but it had been broken for a long time and nobody had tried to use it.
You compared candidates to Disney Ducks. That is just so awesome.
I used to read the Disney Duck comic books with my dad when I was little- they’re rather popular here, even though I think most of them don’t even exist in English- I know the stories are credited to a German writer (mostly) and the illustrations are done in Europe too. A lot of the jokes I remember wouldn’t work well for someone not familiar with the culture, and their idiomatic speech probably wouldn’t translate well either.
However, a 1999 edition I found only has prices for Franken/Schilling on back, so maybe they had different Austrian/German editions?
I’ve read some of Don Rosa’s ones, which are English-language original as far as I know, and I wanted to go meet him at Boston Comic Con last year before it got moved from April to August. I don’t think they’re as popular in the US, but they are certainly available, mostly as collected paperbacks.
I distinctly remember voting for Kerry in my 4th grade mock-election in 2004. 2008 was the first election I followed all the way from the beginning, even the primaries. Hillary Clinton and Michelle Obama were both here on the same day at one point, and my mom took my brother and I out of school to try to see one of them (I believe Clinton). Sadly, the lines were too long already. I watched the election results on TV.
I remember voting for Kerry in a mock election too! Perks of an American school… think I was in 3rd grade. Of course it wasn’t an informed choice at all, I knew next to nothing about the candidates. I probably thought Kerry’s name sounded nicer.
Haha, I was in middle school for the 2004 election and we didn’t have a mock election. My friend group didn’t follow events very closely (what middle schooler would?), but I had a vague impression from my parents that Bush was bad, and my Mormon friend had a vague impression from her parents that Kerry was bad.
In 2000 my 2nd-grade class had a “mock election” but it was just us “voting” for a candidate and then the “winner” was drawn out of a hat, which is an incredibly bizarre way of doing a mock election, even for elementary school. My best friend at the time voted for Gore because that’s who her parents were voting for, and I voted for Bush because I liked the color red better than blue.
I followed the elections when I was in junior high! I don’t know how old middle school is compared to Junior High, though, but in Jr. High most of my friends and I had strong opinions on the 2004 election. Though I suppose by the election itself I was in high school. I was in 8th grade in early 2004 and 9th grade in later 2004. And I suppose I didn’t follow much of the 2000 election all the way through, though I also had strong opinions about that. I would have been in 5th grade at the time. I definitely wasn’t aware of the 1996 elections. We didn’t have first grade mock elections.
In 2008, I was ten. I had no idea who was the “right” candidate to vote for in the mock election. I ended up casting my vote for Bob Barr, the Libertarian. Politics are not as straightforward as I once hoped they would be.
I remember that year my baby brother (about five, then) looked at a newspaper and saw photos of Obama and McCain, and decided that he supported Obama because McCain was smiling. My brother thought that if he really took the country’s problems seriously he wouldn’t be smiling.
In my junior year mock-election (2012), I deliberately voted for Jill Stein of the Green Party. The district must just have forgotten to include my vote on the district-wide summary of the election results. *sigh*
They also didn’t include the Washington State gay marriage or marijuana referendums on our “ballots”, even though they were both up for a vote at that time. It was too bad, since those are the issues that would make high school students say “hey, politics is relevant!”. Though I completely understand why they did that.
2000. I remember staying up to watch the results come in, and then going to bed really frustrated that we didn’t know who had won.
Hmmm… I guess I would I see things before the end of WWII as “history” but not necessarily “a long time ago”. I think my cutoff for “a long time ago” is 100 years.
I’m not sure where my historical/not historical divide is. It sort of depends on what context. For me personally 2008 is the first year of college, first year living away from home. I was alive for all but a month or two of the nineties, so those exist. The eighties exist too since half my friends were born then. The mid seventies is probably when things start seeming a bit wobbly but I do know they existed. I have some friends born in the late seventies too. Though “when my friends were born” probably covers all the way until the early fifties but as far as the friends that feel “my age” 1980 is about the limit.
I’d say 1969 is the start of the modern era.
The Moon Landing, the breakup of the Beatles, and Scooby Doo.
The Beatles broke up in 1970.
I don’t know if I agree, but I think this is one of the finest posts ever made on MB.
Fiber optic dresses exist. Mind blown. Summer project planned.
I’m seventeen??? good lord, this is terrifying. Although– although I’m genuinely happier and (mentally) healthier now than I was this time last year: I feel truly good about myself and satisfied with the way my life is going. So there’s that.
Happy birthday! I’m glad you’re doing well.
Birthday pies to you!
Happy birthday!
Happy birthday! I’m happy to hear that things are going well for you!
Happy birthday! I’m glad you’re feeling good about yourself and your life; you deserve to.
(On a personal note, since I haven’t had my birthday yet, it is really weird to realize that people approximately one year older than me are seventeen).
It’s weird for me to realize that I’m not seventeen anymore. Actually, I’m nineteen now. Eps.
Happy Birthday, ZNZ!
Happy birthday!
Happy birthday!
@$&(/%Â¥ GRE…
Whenever I look stuff up about Amelia Earhart, I cannot get over how much George Putnam looked like Stephen Colbert.
I was babysitting last night, and I found a copy of The Witches in a closet and started reading it to one of the kids as a bedtime story. We got through a good two-thirds of it before I realized I was probably supposed to stop and let her go to sleep.
I had forgotten what an utter joy Roald Dahl’s books are. Even better when you get to read them out loud and do all the voices.
He’s fantastic. Have you read any of his work for adults? The one that starts with “Switch” (a collection of four stories) is dark, funny, and definitely not for kids.
I am very, very angry and upset with the UK visa office (in New York) and the fact that absolutely no part of the visa application process has gone smoothly for me.
waking up at 7 tomorrow to try to deal with what will hopefully be the last round of horrible phone calls and arguments so my documents can get sent to my correct address this time.
I’m at JFK now, and if all goes well, I’ll be leaving for my first dig tonight!
Have a great time!
Why did the chicken cross the Moebius strip?
To get to the other… uh….
(Sorry, the guy in the next office just told me that, and I couldn’t wait to post it on MB.)
It is cool. I saw it and immediately shared it else-net.
Nice one, Robert.
Sorry for the accidental squid: that’s genius!
Heh.
What’s the difference between a normal bear and a polar bear? A polar bear is just a Cartesian bear after a change of coordinates.
Quite so. Specifically, a polar bear is (r-sub-bear, theta-sub-bear), where r-sub-bear equals the square root of (x-sub-bear squared plus y-sub-bear squared), and theta-sub-bear equals the arctangent of (y-sub-bear over x-sub-bear).
Converting polar bears to Cartesian bears is sometimes challenging, but r-sub-bear*cos(theta) and r-sub-bear*sin(theta) will yield X-sub-bear and Y-sub-bear. This may be useful when you wish to view a complex bear in as straightforward a manner as possible.
I love you all.
I wonder what color fur Cartesian bears have?
Hello friends! Greetings from the Tibetan Plateau. Another two weeks (and two cities) until I’m back in North America.
How’s Tibet? I’d love to hear how your trip has been once you get back!
Oh, it just leaves me breathless (ha ha, please send oxygen). The weather is very nice – cool and dry, which is a break from humid and rainy China! Today we’re seeing Potala, then Norbu Ling Palace. Tomorrow there’s an 8 hour round trip car ride to get to Namtso, where we ride a yack, climb up a hill for a view of the lake, and drink tea in a yurt. I heard back from US Fish and Wildlife today, saying it is a-okay for me to bring a yak skull back. Just have to check with Canada before I get one. After this it’s Beijing and Hong Kong!
Hola from Menorca!
my passport and visa are finally in my possession
lies facedown on the floor in exhaustion
I wrote this 5 hours ago and forgot to post till now
My car is in the shop and I’m currently waiting for the call telling me what is up with it. I hope whatever it is is easy to fix and cheap. I think I’m probably overly worried about it but I keep getting really nervous. I’ve never done this before.
Visited a Talyotic megalithic site today, really impressive!
Nice!
Happy National Doughnut Day, everybody! If you look around a little, you can probably find free food (unless you’re in the Balearic Islands).
Oh, there were doughnuts in the hotel breakfast room today, packaged Italian ones made by Bimbo.
Oh, the rigors of field work.
Changed my cosplay plans for Nerd HQ. The Nightmare Stag is too hard so I’m going to be Cecil Palmer from Night Vale. I’m going to pin up my hair short and wear headphones, a button-up shirt and purple tie, and a Night Vale Community Radio name tag. I’ll try and send pictures if I can!
See if your school’s computer folks have any old/broken headphones they were going to throw out that you can use. That’s how I found the ones for my NASA flight controller Halloween costume a few years back. (Which coincidentally looked rather similar.)
My friend and her girlfriend went as Cecil and Carlos from WTNV for the con. Night Vale is the best.
AAAHHHH
I reeeeaallllyyyy want to cosplay Cecil sometime! And we need pictures!
I might be getting a puppy, soon.
Cool, have you given any thought to names?
Much. I want to name him something mythological. Like Raido or Fenrar.
Maera?
I believe that is a female name, and my dog is male. Pretty name, anyway.
And I also believe that Sumaka is his final name. He’s still young enough to change it, though if a name comes along that fits better.
That’s a nice name.
I saw a 22-degree halo for the first time today (a faint-ish rainbow circle around the sun), with what I think was a circumhorizontal arc below it (a fainter rainbow arc further from the sun but oriented with the same curve.) I’d seen photos of these kind of phenomena in meteorology books for years, but I never saw them myself before! (I may have seen circumhorizontals or rainbow sundogs at home a few times, but those were much fainter and not in a big halo display like this.)
We were exploring this quarry down by the sea and it had been sort of hazy and simultaneously partly cloudy all morning, and I guess the cloud conditions were just right for these phenomena to occur… It was magnificent.
Wonder what caused the false alarm on gamma rays.
hi hello
I am in Cambridge now (the england one)
I am gonna be doing science here for the next 7 weeks! did I tell you guys about that? I kind of meant to but then I was too busy moping around the house all day while dealing with visa delays. and then I was too busy packing. and avoiding packing. yeah no this one’s on me.
cambridge is beautiful and I am exhausted. did not sleep on the plane despite my best efforts. goal is to make it to 8pm before collapsing (so another… 50 minutes… maybe this will happen but probably not)
anyway now to shower the airplane away in an effort to keep a bit awake
OH ALSO I used a pay phone at the airport this morning, so TAKE THAT
(don’t ask me who is taking what, or from whom. actually the whom is probably me in that sentence. oh dead. oh where am I I’m so confused. 20 minutes till I can sleep)
GOODNIGHT
Sleep well.
Enjoy Cambridge! Sadly it’s a bit far from where I am. Have fun science-ing!
Just realized that Bill Watterson, who drew Calvin and Hobbes, lives like ten minutes from me.
squeeeee
Did you see the three strips he did for Pearls Before Swine this week?
I was just about to post about that, it’s so great. And he is literally Bigfoot.
yeah, that’s why I looked it up – the article I read about it mentioned him being Cleveland-area
Grant O., too, originally.
he’s still here! and, possibly unlike watterson, he has a really nice lake house.
Prank his house!
…
It’s what I would do.
Cool, maybe you’ll run into him at the grocery store or something!
I don’t think I would recognize him if I did, though.
trying to pack for nine weeks, the first three in 50-60 degree rainy weather, the last six in the 80s, on opposite sides of the country / Canada. adssadfdsfasdfsdg
Two suitcases. It’s the only way.
Or a Tardis. A Tardis would help.
bunny vandalism https://musefanpage.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/pinkblog.jpg
The Tony awards! So good! I really want to see Gentleman’s Guide and Violet now. Idina’s performance of Always Starting Over was good, although I have some mixed feelings about If/Then that I’ll try to write about at some point. Also, I loved when Lena Hall got her award, she seemed so bowled over and happy
Yes, the show was great! I’m looking forward to seeing some of the musicals when they get to national tours. Book of Mormon is just finally coming through here this summer, so I could have a while to wait.
Wow. It has been a while, hasn’t it. Just remembered this while procrastinating for finals — nice to know you guys didn’t forget my birthday!
(I hope I’m remembering correctly that the blog accepts HTML in comments.)
Anyway. Hi. Again.
haha wow I just looked back at old threads to see what I said when I was 11 never do that to yourself; friends, I sincerely apologize
Yeah, I know what that feels like–it feels weird for me to think about the fact that some of you guys knew me when I was way younger and liked me at the time. I really don’t like my younger self. I’m pretty sure it’s a common thing.
Kokonilly! How are you, m’dear?
Hello! I am doing well. My last final of the year is tomorrow morning (yay for procrastination), and then I’ll be done with
my childhoodsophomore year of college! Scary to think about.Yeep! Good luck!
Hey, Kokonilly, nice to see you around again!
Kai! Nice to see you too. I’m surprised, honestly — I didn’t think I’d still know everyone here; I thought there would be more new people. Why is almost everyone here an MB vet?
We’ve been un-Googleable for a few years now, so neophytes have had a hard time finding us. There are some every now and then – Ethan is the newest, I believe! – but mostly it’s vets, now.
I highly recommend reading this thread with the conversation we had about this back in January: https://musefanpage.com/blog/?p=13472 The most immediately salient detail is that the R&R and R&P threads are now only visible to logged-in users. I’m guessing you have a chess/paleo account already, but if not, the GAPAs can set you up with one. Lots of veteran MuseBloggers also have thread-creating powers, now.
Actually, the result of that thread that I noticed was an immediate rise in the rate of comments. I think that’s a true trend and not just me noticing more because I’m myself posting more rather than just reading. Things feel a lot more active again, though.
Oh, hm, I see. Interesting; I’m glad there was a discussion about that, because I would hate to see this die. And yeah, I’ve had a paleo account for a long time now, but I highly doubt I remember the password… we’ll see. I probably won’t have time to post very often this summer (see my comment below about my summer schedule), but maybe I’ll drop by once in a while.
Also GAPAs, I will be 18 in like two weeks — judging by the fact that very few people are using their real names (in fact, from what I can tell, no one has switched from their pseudonym to their real name), may I keep using this pseudonym as well?
Of course!
Oh my, this reminds me, I’m turning 18 in a few weeks as well! May I keep my pseudo?
(I’m turning 18? Already?!)
Funny thing though, that number doesn’t strike me as quite so old anymore. I used to think it was ancient.
Ditto!
Nilly! Hi!
Hallo! Aww, people still remember me
Kokonilly, hello! How has life been treating you?
[insert greeting here] Life has been treating me fairly well, I would say. This was a pretty rough year, academically and personally speaking (never fear, friends, I am well and happy), but the school year is over (or will be after midnight), I didn’t fail any of my classes, and I have a super exciting summer planned! Can’t complain.
What will you be doing in your super exciting summer?
Such a fast response! I’m leaving on Tuesday to see my family (haven’t seen them since spring break, 10 weeks ago), and then we are all going on a family vacation to the Mediterranean! Spain, France, and Italy. I’ve never been to Spain or France so I’m really excited — plus I’ll have a chance to try out my Spanish in real life.
After that, I’m coming back to the Bay Area to turn 18 (!) and work at a bio research lab on campus for about 8-9 weeks. At the end of summer, I’m doing an overseas seminar study abroad thing in Ghana! I’ll be there for three weeks working on a project about the culture [intentionally vague because actually I have no idea what the project will be about; we decide when we go there]. I’ve only been to Africa once before, so I’m REALLY looking forward to (if a bit anxious for) that. And then I spend a week back at home, and school begins September 20th or something.
WOW! That sounds like so much fun!
Where in Spain will you be going? I’m doing an archaeological field school in Menorca right now.
I’ll be in Barcelona for just a weekend. The trip is a 10-day cruise, so it’s pretty fast-paced.
When?
June 20-22. It’ll be the only weekend we as a family will be in Spain, though, so I’m guessing we’ll be really, really busy those days.
I don’t think I could be there then, but have fun nonetheless!
Kokonilly, hi! Welcome back. Haven’t seen you around for awhile. I hope your finals go well!!
Yeah, I think the last time I was here was maybe 2012? It’s definitely been a while. Weird to think that I’ve been here for – what – over 7 years? o.O And thanks, my last one ended about an hour and a half ago but I still have a massive final project due at midnight that I’ve barely started. On to read a stack of scientific papers…
May 29, 2012.
Thanks! Also, we totally beat Berkeley at Big Game. Turns out Cal’s not that great at football, haha.
NILLY!! You have returned to us!
Hello, Kokonilly! I am not sure if I was here the last time you were, or if you remember me at all.
Anyway, either way, welcome back!
Okay, E3 conspiracies time: During the Nintendo presentation, Reggie throws fireballs at (and later lasers) a guy who’s complaining about no Mother 3 and Starfox. But there actually is a Starfox game at E3!
…So maybe a Mother 3 port? Or something?
I’m just glad it got a mention. It keeps the hope alive.
Things I learned today:
You can play the snake game on youtube videos.
Just start a video, hold down the left arrow until the youtube buffering circle of doom appears, then press the up arrow, and the buffering circle of doom becomes a snake, and you move it around chasing after a very hard to see little flashing white dot (and you can watch your video simultaneously).
The other thing I learned: USPS is very very very very very slow at delivering mail. As in, Last week, I received a bill from when I had an oil change done on my car last December when it was in the shop getting repaired after nearly being totalled in my car accident. While checking my records, because I was quite sure I had been billed for that when I picked my car up, when I went to look at the envelop to see when last week about I got it (because I shoved it in my purse and forgot about it), I saw it had been postmarked by USPS on December 21, 2013. Six months ago. It took USPS six months to deliver the bill. This does not bode well for the father’s day cards I have yet to mail.
Oof, just got done with the most nerve-wracking interview of my life. Twenty minutes in a room with four priests who may control the rest of my life. It didn’t help that the most important of the four is German and was silently frowning the entire time. I got back to my room and just burst out laughing. I don’t even know why.
Aaah, scary! I hope it turns out the way you hope!
I’m sure you did well! It was probably nervous laughter, or maybe just GERMANS because let’s be real, Germans and their constant grumpiness are pretty funny.
That’s actually more of a good sign! Germans/Austrians generally only smile when it’s appropriate (as a response to a joke, a compliment, kindness, flirting,…), not as a default (unless they work in tourism and hope you’ll tip generously). As an important priest, he’s also (culturally) expected to be solemn. On top of that, he’s conducting an interview with you, so he’s supposed to look serious, which can often translate to frowning.
If he had smiled, it would’ve meant that he wasn’t taking the interview seriously, which would be a sign of disrespect towards you. An interview like that falls under the manners for professional environments, which is a lot more formal- informality (like random smiling) would translate to condescension.
I mean, he still could’ve been displeased, but frowning alone doesn’t indicate that.
I’ve learned that apparently he’s originally Swiss but he’s spent a lot of years in Germany. Really, I think they try to run the interviews so that every applicant feels like he’s the worst and least suitable person there, so with that in mind (barring the fact that the Stern Swiss is the rector of the seminary and so is the one making the final decision) I think they just have him there for intimidation purposes.
I meant to add: this has mainly been a silent retreat, but after breakfast today we were allowed to talk, and of course everyone was asking each other how their interviews went. The answer was pretty universal: “…I don’t really know.”
I ran into one of the priests as I was leaving the seminary today and I thanked him, etc., and said I hoped I’d be hearing from him next week. He said, “The real question is, when will we be hearing from you?”
I think that’s a good sign. They know I know Latin and Greek, speak Spanish, play the organ and sing, and have professional food preparation experience. What more could they ask for?
I couldn’t imagine. A big slab of peach pie and a pot of Hare & Hedgepig oolong?
That can be arranged. I know a guy.
Seems like a great sign – my fingers are crossed for you!
Digging 8-4:30 is hard work, but I really enjoy it and our site is beautiful.
Field work is pretty exhausting, but it’s so exciting! What kind of site are you working on? What things are you finding?
I’ve realized lately that I miss archaeology more than I thought I would. I’m completely happy where I am, but I keep wondering what’s happening at the site I worked on last summer. (But I get to go back to working in the lab in the fall, so that’s going to be fun!)
Exam tomorrow, it’s 3 am and I absolutely cannot fall asleep. I have the worst natural sleep cycle…
I don’t know to do. I need to sleep dammit!
Minecraft keeps crashing when it’s modded.
This is my reward for two days of digging into files and downloading and installing and uninstalling and installing and Google searching and Wikia searching and breaking my keyboard!
Ah, Friday…
Time for a little life update! I don’t believe I’ve mentioned this before on MuseBlog, I kept it pretty quiet even IRL (aside from select friends/teachers) because it was quite possible nothing would come of it.
Anyway, back in March I auditioned for a music conservatory in Switzerland, and I found out this morning that I’ve been accepted to study there, even better to study under the professor I wanted!
So, from September I will be living and going to university in Geneva. Everyone is welcome to visit!
Congratulations, Selenium! Conservatory aside, it’s such a pretty place to be. I hope you get lots of visitors.
Thank you! I absolutely adore the city, yes, and I’m really happy that I’ll be able to see more often some close friends who live nearby. Re visitors, if you get the chance, I hope you might be one yourself sometime in the future!
Oh my goodness congratulations my dear!! If you mean the conservatory I think you mean then WOW that is super impressive and even if it’s a different one still WOW because that region of Europe is super competitive and elitist in terms of classical music, or so I have heard. Just don’t forget us when you’re famous, you hear?
That’s fantastic! I’m so excited for you!
Awesome! Congrats, Sel!
I say, well done, old thing!
I went to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival again this year and five days and seven plays later oh man I’m tired. Saw some pretty great stuff though, including a Comedy of Errors set in 1920s Harlem and A Wrinkle in Time (which was my favorite book for a long span of my childhood).
But tonight I finally get a decent night’s sleep so hey.
Sounds great! A Comedy of Errors is always a hoot.
I went in not expecting to be able to follow the plot at all but they did it so well it was actually one of the easier-to-understand Shakespeare plays I’ve seen? Who knows.
Speaking of funny plays, the Importance of Being Earnest is hilarious, if anyone is looking for a good read or good show.
Yes, seconded! I love that play. Oscar Wilde was a brilliant man.
Oh yes, it’s very funny. It messed me up expecting everything from Wilde to be light and funny and then reading “The Picture of Dorian Gray”.
Hey, I’m going in August! One of my college friends lives not far away and we’re trying to get a group together to visit him (by train and by bus) and see at least a play or two. Most of the cheap tickets were already gone, but my friend and I got two to see Two Gentlemen of Verona. Did you see that one? We might also see Into The Woods. I wish I could see The Tempest since we read it in high school and I got the sense that it’s a play that should really be seen as a play rather than read.
I’m glad to hear you had so much fun!
I saw all three of those actually
I liked Two Gentlemen on principle because all-female cast, and the ending was kinda abrupt but it was fun otherwise. And I may be biased because I just did Tempest, but. Theirs was absolutely stunning visually and most of the actors were great but Prospero was just not emoting. At all. The ending monologue was actually painful to listen to. His Ariel was also speaking in a style that felt really over-the-top and kinda goofy to me, but YMMV on that one.
It was really pretty though so I can forgive it some. And I absolutely loved Into the Woods.
I’m looking forward to them all, then.
Even if we don’t have very good seats, I didn’t want to go that near to the OSF without seeing anything!
The Tempest is my favorite Shakespeare play. (I think I’ve said this on MB before.)
Greetings from Banff, Canada – I’ve been here a week for a chamber music residency with my quartet. It’s stunningly beautiful here, and the mountains look different every time you look at them. They also have incredible coffee and food. So far I’ve had coachings with some of my favorite musicians (from Brentano and Juilliard quartets), gone hiking, done yoga, eaten way too much, and taken a picture with Sasquatch (available upon request).
I’ll request that picture!
http :// i.imgur . com/WmLnjin . jpg
Updates from the laundromat:
I’m doing boat laundry this morning before we head out on another 5-day voyage. I sometimes wonder if anyone appreciates what a funny sight sailors off a boat are. I drove here in my shipmate’s car, which has its remaining bumper pieces held together by purple duct tape, and I’m washing bagfuls of really groaty towels, while wearing a knife on my belt.
I got my acceptance letter to the seminary today. I don’t feel very excited or happy or anything. Hurm.
Congrats!
Do you feel calm?
So I had the vague germ of an idea for a Captain America/Monuments Men fan fic and decided to look up which date Cap actually disappeared on to get an idea of when to set it, when I discovered something I’d forgotten. Before he tried to enlist, Steve Rogers was an art student. Clearly this was meant to happen.
And also, the Brooklyn Museum was around at the time!
Terrifying thought. In less than a year, I will be not only be graduated from college (and participating in my first ever graduation ceremony, since I was homeschooled and didn’t complete my undergraduate degree) but I will be a fully licensed (and able to practice) veterinarian.
Meanwhile. Why is figuring out all the forms/paperwork/people I need to contact to take the NAVLE (veterinary boards) so darn complicated? The person I need to get in touch with to get permission through State of Alaska to sit the boards won’t answer my emails and I just called her and got a message machine, and thus begins a fun game of phone tag. Which will likely be compounded by time zone differences. At least the fact that there’s a 3 hour difference means there’s more likely to be overlap between my evening hours and when they’re still open, but Grrrrrrrr. So frustrating. Also. Oh my god boards in November so terrifying because what if i don’t pass.
I keep forgetting: has anyone here with abundant free time and helpfullness taken college-level (mathematical) Topology courses? Dodeca? I’ve been trying to help a friend hand in some work for extra credit and there’s this bit about Baire-spaces that’s stumping me. ((And google, in German, English and French- at some point, sleep >>pride)) Baring that, does anyone know a website with more in-depth coverage of Baire spaces?
Bookgirl, as-yet-unmoderated:
Sorry, I’ve never taken a topology course, and it’s looking like I won’t anytime soon, much as I think it would be interesting. It looked like Wolfram Alpha had a little bit of information, and it linked to Wolfram Math World, which had wiki-style links to definitions of the parts of the definition of a Baire space. I also searched for it + Mathematical Association of America, but didn’t see much there either. And there’s also Wikipedia, which appears to be more verbose than the MathWorld article, and links to a site called “Encyclopedia of Math.”
If I had the time, I’d love to try to teach myself enough that I understood what you were asking, but unfortunately I’m both working full time (40 hours) and taking a summer class (~5 hours per week of work, why am I doing this), so I can’t help too much. Good luck!
Thanks anyway!
A-levels finished!! I’m more than ready for an amazing summer holiday. Freedom feels good!
Enjoy it!
Er….
A few nights ago, I was reading late-night creepypasta, as usual, and I was reading this one called “Cardboard House”. I thought it was pretty good, so I was “narrating” the story to my cat out loud.
And I had just gotten to the part where it mentioned “red lights [eyes] coming from the little house” and “something was watching me out of that house!” when I just stopped, and I got a sudden rush of fear. Like you get when you’re a little kid and your mother mentions “vaccinations”.
And I looked at the clock, and it read 11:11.
the reason I mentioned it now is, I had a dream last night about these creatures with behavior I could only compare to Weeping Angels, and they had red eyes, like red car headlights, and also as described in the aforementioned pasta. And they hovered around. I found a lady in Victorian dress, dead, with those red lights hovering around.
So, if I suddenly stop posting on Museblog, you’ll know why.
Sounds like you could turn your dream into a horror story of your own if you wanted.
(Re: the “behavior” description– I’d be interested in seeing how far back that concept dates in horror, I know I had nightmares about it [one even with an angel statue] before those characters debuted, and the SCP Foundation has a similar monster who also predates their creation. “Confusion over whether something is living or nonliving” is one of the elements of “The Uncanny” Freud discussed in his essay on that subject…)
So this weekend is the SPARCS conference – the Society for the Promotion of Academic Research in Canine Science. It’s 8:30-6:30 EST today, and 9-7:30 Saturday and Sunday. It’s live-streaming online! If you have any interest in dogs, or animal behaviour in general, it is definitely worth checking out.
Today’s topic is “personality and temperament” and there are 8 speakers presenting today! It’s free and educational!
I have a convention tomorrow but as always I’m really nervous. I haven’t read many comics and this one is more superhero oriented rather than the anime one I recently went to and I feel like I won’t fit in? And I’m cosplaying Homestuck which gets a bad rap at cons for some reason (and I’m going the whole nine yards, grey paint etc) and I’m just really nervous but I couldn’t sleep and I have to be up early tomorrow so wish me luck, I guess
Find some other Homestucks to hang out with!
I think the main reason Homestuck cosplayers have a bad rap is because the paint gets everywhere. Considerate trolls don’t paint their arms and wear armsocks instead.
That and, I went to a comics arts festival last year that explicitly said on the website that cosplay was not appropriate and the only cosplayers I saw were Homestucks (and there were several).
Good luck!
I’m at my grandma’s house in upstate New York, and I love it here. My brother and I stay in the attic room which is full of old toys and books from when my mom and her brother or even my grandparents were kids. It’s a treasure trove. Today more family arrived – tomorrow is a “celebration of life” for my grandpa, who passed away in Febuary. We barbecued his chicken recipe and ate outside in their vast backyard (green expanses by the bouse with blueberry bushes and trees, with old probably-now-unsafe treehouses, in the back). My brother and I ran around playing baseball and badminton and we played a big family game of croquet. We also spent a good amount of time lying around in the grass. Then we came inside, and some people worked on scanning family photos for a slideshow tomorrow, and my brother and I played Uno and War. In the latter, we managed to hit a dynamic equilibrium where we alternated taking cards for dozens of plays without changing the sizes of our decks at all. We finally shuffled to break that, but even so, we decided to put off finishing it until tomorrow. I think this is the life.
Mission: Accomplished.
Remember that game, Hazardous, that I said I use to play all the time as a kid on our old Mac IIsi and was hoping to track down and couldn’t? Managed to find it. It’s specifically called Hazardous 1.2. Finding it was the easy part. Managing to get my computer to play a “classic” application which Apple no longer supports and doesn’t run on anything more advanced than Tiger? Not so easy. Finally accomplished it. So I can now play it. The “fast” speed version glitches and wont’ work, but medium is reasonable. Slow is painfully slow.
So yeah. I have now stayed up far later than I planned tonight (I was actually considering bed 2 and a half hours ago). Hopefully I don’t get called in in the AM before I wake up (I’m on emergency all day/night tomorrow). 8am saturday-8am sunday
I’m so glad that young people get game nostalgia too.
A very happy first day of summer to everyone!!!
(Although, if your weather is anything like how mine’s been, it’s probably felt like summer for a long time.)
Surprisingly for England, it has!
Happy solstice to you as well! Around here it kind of jumped straight from winter to summer without giving spring a turn, but it’s still nice to officialize the transition.
Happy solstice!
I had a great time at the Lesbians Who Tech summit this past weekend! Now I have a mountain of things to do, like homework for my online class and laundry and responding to all the people whose business cards I got.
Glad you had fun, and good luck with catching up.
Wow, we had a rainstorm last night, and I think there was thunder, too! Menorca has strong precipitation seasonality (that is, a distinct dry and wet season), so that’s really rare in the summer like this.
Well… it has been a long time.
I doubt that many of you remember me, but I do lurk around here every once in awhile and used to post quite frequently (I think back in 2010-2012). I haven’t posted recently (perhaps because there are a lot of unfamiliar names now, and I suppose I feel like I’ve changed so much over the past few years that it would be strange to start back up again so suddenly/I wouldn’t know where to begin) but hi, all!
I still think of MuseBlog fondly, even if you’re not nearly as prevalent as you used to be in my day to day life.
Hey! Good to see you. I remember you.
Welcome back, starr! We haven’t seen you here since August 11, 2012.
(By the way, I think starr first posted as Dancergirl13 on April 7, 2007.)
Oh wow! That is.. interesting.
I just scrolled through several Dancergirl13 posts on that thread (Cringing, mostly..) because while I am pretty sure I posted under a different name before soccerstarr/starr, after looking through several posts I am mostly perplexed. My memory could be failing me, but I don’t recall having such a passion for being a vegetarian, and I don’t know what kiwanos are.. Then again, who knows. Maybe I was more into the Food Network when I was 10 then I could have ever remembered, ha ha.
Do you know what? I was mistaken: you weren’t Dancergirl after all. You were the “crazy reader101” who posted (for the first time, she said) on May 25, 2009.
Ahhh, that makes a lot more sense. I was starting to worry that Dancergirl really didn’t sound like me at all, but I was definitely obsessed with Percy Jackson.. crazy reader 101 it is!
Sorry! It was a long time ago, and even Ents get muddled sometimes.
Hi, Starr, glad to see you again!
Hello, starr! Of course I remember you! You’ve been missed; welcome back.
How are you? 
I’m doing well, how are you?!
I’ll be a senior in high school in the fall, so I’m currently gearing up for what will hopefully be a busy but productive and enjoyable summer. I’m excited to be working at two internships, running and reading quite a bit, and working on college apps… Maybe not as excited about the last part.
I’m very well thank you! That sounds like an incredibly busy summer! What kind of internships are you doing?
I too am about to embark on my summer holidays. I finished my final exams last week, and I’m leaving my boarding school (for good!) tomorrow and flying home to Hong Kong. I’m excited for my summer, I’m doing a fair bit of travelling in Europe (Croatia, France, Switzerland), before starting university in September.
Hello again, starr!
Welcome back, Starr! I remember you!
What are you reading this summer?
Sorry for the late reply!
Right now I’m reading Ragtime by E.L. Doctorow. For my AP Lit class I have to tackle Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky) and White Noise (Don DeLillo) this summer, along with one or two others I’m forgetting at the moment. I’ve also got Behind the Beautiful Forevers (Katherine Boo) and Eleanor and Park (Rainbow Rowell) on my summer to-read list. I’ll gladly take any other book suggestions!
STARRRRRRRRR I MISSED YOU!! YOU CAME BACK!! YAY!!!!!
Missed you too!!!
Welcome back! Reticence is unnecessary. Please dive in.
YOU’RE ALSO BACK!
Welcome back!! I just realized I never actually said that yet, and figured it was about a week overdue to rectify that.
And of course people here remember you. I remember you. And I remember you use to have soccer in your name at one point.
It’s nice to see “old” faces around here again.
Greetings from Michigan! I’ll be at a fine arts camp for the next ten days and out of cell phone access. See you all later!
~casually slouching outside a Starbucks, trying to look like I’m not piggybacking on their internet~
Ohmygod I have been walking for nine hours straight. Washington, D.C. is amazing! It’s a history geek’s paradise; in one day, I’ve seen all the memorials on the Washington Mall and been to the Air and Space museum, which is every bit as good as they say it is. I’ve also been to the Capitol building, and an hour ago, I saw a huge motorcade containing Shimon Peres!
Anyway. I’m think I’m going to go jogging around the same route that Captain America does, because I’m classy like that.
It is a fascinating place to live, there are jobs here, and we’ve got pie (I see to that). I think all college-graduate MBers should seriously consider moving to the D.C. area. Have I mentioned that we have pie?
CO – If you see this in time, LGBTTech is doing an announcement today in DC about some new research. I think you can find out more on their twitter or website.
Robert – I’d love to live in DC, but it doesn’t really have a big startup scene or anything, unlike NYC and SF. The main tech jobs there, so far as I can tell, are working for the government (either directly or indirectly). From my perspective that means there’s a lot of small-cog-in-the-machine work, which I can get closer to home, and a not unsubstantial amount of interesting work that goes against my moral code (the NSA, for example).
On the other hand, pie… hm.
a postscript- Have I mentioned that I am starting to reconsider my pro-large-company stance? Some of the more established startups seem stable enough, and I am beginning to think that a) I want to work a job where I can make a bigger difference, both from a visibility perspective and a working-on-things-people-use perspective and b) I want to do this while I am still under my parents’ health insurance, so within the next five years. If I was a big idea person, or had any business sense, I might consider starting a company myself, but I still kind of want to keep my head down and write good code, and I don’t mind working for someone else. We’ll see.
Dodecahedron,
We do have startups, though not a big scene like the other ones you mention. But you’re an exceptional case: You’re focused and specialized, and you know where the jobs in your field are and are willing to go there. For people floundering around looking for something to do, buying a one-way ticket to Washington, D.C., could be a smart move.
Heh. I may very well end up there someday. You do have large numbers of museums.
Also libraries, and an excellent library-science graduate program at the University of Maryland.
I would love to live in DC, if I could live right where the BU dorm is at Woodley Park Station, I would be very happy indeed.
It’s a shame I couldn’t go to NASM with you, I love sharing it with people (as Pan and Fiddler can attest), and I haven’t been since the new Time and Navigation gallery opened.
Hi, everyone! You’ll never guess where I am (actually, I’m not sure either; I got lost a lot on the way here). Robert’s office! He’s shown me around Science, which is lovely and very nicely designed, and I’ve gotten to see a preview of the next issue. Trying not to geek out too much. Here he is!
It’s wonderful to meet CO at last. I’m not sure she’s exactly what I expected, because I wasn’t expecting anything in particular — except an intelligent and charming person, which she certainly is.
Choklit Orange has departed, leaving behind memories of a very pleasant conversation as well as an apt and most welcome 100-gram bar of Lindt Excellence Intense Orange Dark Chocolate. I’ll try to post photos tonight after my tai chi class.
There’s WiFi on this train!
I had a wonderful time yesterday. Oxlin wasn’t exaggerating: meeting Robert was fantastic and a true honor, and Science‘s headquarters are indeed really nice. It was a reminder of how very fond I am of all of you, and of this community. ♥
Everyone should get to meet Robert. Totally worth a bit of sprinting around in the heat of downtown Washington, DC. Robert, I apologize for having probably been very sweaty and gross by the time I got to your office. On the upside, I think I saw the President’s limousine on the way there!
The honor and privilege were entirely mine, I assure you.
Photos are visible to logged-in old-timers.
? Photos of what? Are there photos in particular that are around somewhere? I’m logged in and don’t see anything.
Edit: I can see photos in the Media tab but they aren’t attached to anything. Is that what you meant?
There’s a thread/post called “Choklit Orange Sighting!”
Oh, whoops. I tend to look at the blog via the comments page because it aggregates all the comments. The problem being I don’t notice new threads until someone comments on them.
Does anyone here know how to locate a fire ant mound? I searched around outside and there are no trails of ants leading anywhere, or any signs of ants in general.
The reason I ask is because a bunch of them were crawling around on my pillow, and I didn’t realize until it was too late and I got stung when trying to take a nap. I’ve been all over Google for the past hour looking up sting treatments and how to get rid of them (the ants), but I just can’t find where they’re coming from.
When I lived in California, one summer I had hordes of ants living inside the walls of my house. Basically, the house was made of ants. That’s one possibility.
FOR HUMMINGBIRD’S SAKE I HOPE THAT THAT IS NOT THE ONLY POSSIBILITY
Oh, gosh. Dealing with that must’ve been fun.
There was nothing to be done. It was the ants’ house; I was an intruder. Fortunately, I was just renting it while I wrote my thesis.
It was a very nice place in other respects: a quiet backyard cottage at the end of a driveway, with fennel growing by the door and squadrons of hummingbirds swooping around outside my window.
Now that actually does sound fun! I’d love to live in a place with hummingbirds. But alas, we have none; just big, sassy flying roaches that strut around the house like they own the place.
Fire ants are evil and they have reached where I live which terrifies me because when I moved here from further down south I was assured that this region has no fire ants but now we do?!? And one time when I was a kid I got attacked by a swarm of fire ants and then I was allergic to them or something and it was bad.
KILL THEM WITH FIRE
Quick poll: How many MBers are also Nerdfighters? Just curious.
Once I briefly dated a self-identified nerdfighter who was convinced that I should be one too. I’ve since heard that the trouble I had with that particular person is in no way related to the quality of the videos by the brothers Green, but I don’t really have time to sit around watching videos online anyway right now.
I haven’t heard the term “nerdfighter” in a while, actually. Not sure if that’s coincidence, or because I don’t live on a college campus anymore, or if it stopped being so much of a thing after John Green became a bestselling author.
I have been known to watch John and Hank Green videos when I remember they exist but not on any consistent basis, nor do I consider myself a nerdfighter. I have in no way seen all, or even most, of the videos. I’ve met Emily Graslie, and most of my thoughts on her are “I would love to have a job like hers.” (Really. She has the best job.)
I liked their NASA videos and my brothers watch their educational ones, so I respect them a lot, but I don’t purposefully seek out their videos to watch or know very much about them personally.
I’ve watched one or two videos- they’re okay, I guess. My old book club read most of his books (and, by extension, forced me to read them too), and I hated Looking for Alaska, couldn’t even finish An Abundance of Katherines due to an abundance of mind-numbing boredom, found Paper Towns to be a passable combination of the previous two books (albeit with less of the stuff I didn’t like so that’s a plus) and loved The Fault in our Stars. So yeah, comes to a total of “meh”.
I don’t think very highly of John Green, so I’m another “nope”.
Same. I used to consider myself a nerdfighter and watched a lot of his videos and loved them (originally only stopped because I got busy), and I liked the books of his that I read as well, but more recently I’ve been seeing some things that he said that seem pretty bad, and at first I was ignoring it because no one is perfect but it just got too much–the point for me when I realized I was definitely no longer a fan of his was finding a tweet from this year where someone who’d admitted to being a rapist came back to twitter (I don’t know from what) and John Green said it was good to see him again and then he (the rapist) starting vlogging again. That combined with other stuff made me not want to be a part of their movement.
I watch Vlogbrothers and SciShow videos whenever I remember them. Sometimes it’s just to watch whatever new video they have, sometimes I watch a bunch for an hour.
But I don’t think I have many Nerdfighter-ish qualities, other than wanting to decrease WorldSuck. *whispers* Ihaven’tevenfinishedTheFaultInOurStars.
I like John Green’s mental_floss facts videos, but I haven’t seen any of his others. Of his books I’ve only read Fault in our Stars. I thought the idea of going to find your favorite author to ask how the story ends was interesting, and the writing was good, but both Hazel and Augustus were annoying, bland characters. Then again, I don’t really care for realistic teen romance novels, so it could be a personal preference. John Green seems like an okay guy if not someone I’m a devoted fan of.
I’m not. I watched the first few months of their vlogs at one point and remember them being good but I stopped at some point. I also haven’t read any of John Green’s books. From what I know, though, I identify with some of the things that Nerdfighters do. I just never became part of that community.
I’m a Nerdfighter, but more because of Hank Green than John. While John Green is an excellent author he often say or does questionable things that I do not entirely approve of; Hank, however, is an adorable enthusiastic nerd who genuinely understands people and wants to make the world better.
I started watching the vlogbrothers in 2010, maybe? I know I definitely considered myself a Nerdfighter when I first heard the term, but I no longer really do so, although to be fair it rarely comes up in conversation. I really like the Project for Awesome and all of the charitable projects John and Hank have been involved in, but there are definitely some sentiments I’ve felt from Nerdfighteria I’d rather not associate myself with.
Nowadays I’ll watch the vlogbrother videos only on occasion and I enjoy some of their other channels from time to time – Crash Course, SciShow, and Sexplanations are a few favorites.
I used to watch their videos more regularly — maybe in 2010/2011? But of course I got busy. I’ve read all of John’s independently authored books, and I adored TFiOS (even pre-ordered a copy), and I like both of them. I don’t follow Youtube community drama so looking through these comments, I realize that my perspective on Nerdfighteria is based only on the vlogbrothers’ statements themselves. I dunno. They seem pretty chill [excuse my NorCal slang]. I wouldn’t say I’m a diehard fan, but honestly the culture there seems pretty similar to what I remember MB culture as being like, just on a much larger scale. I could be wrong though.
Hm… Maybe if Rebecca and Rosanne and Paul and I had made videos, there would now be millions of MuseBloggeria.
I used to be one. I still have some affection for the Greens, but I’m rather disenchanted with their — whatever it is they have. Not my thing anymore!
Question: What was the first movie you watched on your own? As in, movie in theatres that either you or a friend chose to watch and not your parents or their parents. I clearly remember going to see Chicago (2002) and feeling grown-up for getting there on my own. Getting their on your own is not necessary for this question as my area had a theatre within walking distance and that is rare now.
I suppose more than anything I’m looking for the movie that made you think “This is new! I haven’t seen anything like it!” Chicago wasn’t necessarily that unique of a movie, but at that point I /hadn’t/ seen anything like it. Most of the movies I’d seen were things like The Princess Bride and Lord of the Rings.
Hmm, a couple movies that felt new to me were, funnily enough, The Princess Bride (not seen in a theater!), because I’d never watched a movie without musical numbers in it before–I was probably seven. Seen in a theater: The Artist, because of the way it played with the silent film format.
Oh, and the first movie I ever saw in a theater was The Tigger Movie, if that’s of any interest.
Bonus Oxlin movie memories: When my friend said “Hey, come see this Pirates of the Carribean movie!” to me. (This was 2003. It was the first one. I saw it with her in theatres.) I also saw each Lord of the Rings movie in theatres.
I really wanted to see the first Harry Potter movie when I was in first grade: I think I ended up going with my mom though. If that doesn’t count, probably the fifth Harry Potter movie with a friend when I was *checks* twelve. I should probably mention that I avoided movie theaters as a kid because the volume was always way too loud for me.
I dunno, I guess I was just more sensitive as a kid and it slowly wore away- I also remember refusing to wear skirts in the winter because all tights were too scratchy, hating the blow-dryer because it made me feel like my scalp was burning, and, when I was really little, cartoons on tv being too bright. My mom would threaten to punish me if I didn’t act normal in public, so I avoided things like loud noises if I could. Anyhow, it all pretty much went away by junior high, though things like the kitchen machine still drive me to distraction (but aren’t physically painful like they used to be).
Yeah the going to see Harry Potter movie in first grade totally counts! I’m mostly thinking of movies you wanted to see of your own accord, not because someone else took you.
Edit: To clarify further, though your mom provided the transport, you had no way to get there on your own but it was your idea. And that is what I want to know! What movies were people’s early own ideas.
Pirates of the Caribbean at quartet camp freshman year of high school (it had been released a few years earlier though I think). Really it was the first post-1930s non-Beatles movie I’d ever seen/enjoyed – I had a bad experience with Pocohontas in 2nd grade and stopped watching movies after that as basically everything gave me nightmares.
I don’t remember at all–I know that when I was really little, my dad would take me to the movie theater every Saturday, so if there was a movie at any point that I wanted to see of my own accord, it would have been really easy. I don’t remember which movies were my idea and which weren’t. I am pretty sure that if it wasn’t my parents’ idea for me to see Ella Enchanted (which I’m not sure about), I would have suggested it anyway if I heard about it because I loved the book.
Does anybody know a good software for a writer wishing to use something other than Microsoft Word?
Google Docs?
openoffice
The document things on FanFiction and FictionPress are good if you have those.
I use Scrivener, but if you’re looking for something free Google Docs are great.
Ooh, I loved that book! That and the Princesses of Barmarre.
I need to reread that one. I remember I loved it at least as much when I read it, but I don’t own it, so I haven’t read it since elementary school.
Wonderful things that are happening in my life: During the month of July (starting on Monday) I will be acting in and assistant costuming a Norse mythology-themed production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
And then in August I’ll be performing as a pirate in a Renaissance Faire with a stunt group and several of my friends
Lordy Lou, hey MuseBlog. What’s the word?
I actually got to hang out with Vendaval on Thursday and Choklit Orange earlier today, both of whom were awesome beyond awesome as per usual (well, Chok as per usual, I’d not met Vendaval before but I’m assuming he’s awesome on a general basis.) So I thought of you guys, and how are you all? Chok met Robert? Jeesh, I’m jealous.
It’s been, uh, some week.
I hung out with a couple of beautiful tattooed international human rights lawyers, accidentally went to an anarchists’ meeting in Chinatown, and got to interview two women who are making a documentary about the Nicaraguan Revolution, both of whom definitely did not realize I was a college student. And now they’re sort of expecting me to write an article about their work, and I definitely don’t have a place to publish it, and, well, this is awkward. (They’re such incredibly cool ladies, though. I feel super guilty about it.)
Since the last time I posted I’ve also switched from the polisci/journalism major to a Media, Culture, and Communications major– yeah, yeah, but it’s basically the same thing, only I don’t have to go out and interview anybody. I’m really excited!
And also activism, lots of activism, god, a lot of activism. It’s all Internet stuff– net neutrality, mass surveillance, la la la– and the people I’m working with are so so so cool and I’m so so so happy.
I’m in New York right now for an editorial internship– at Random House!!– but I go back to the Bay in late July. God, what else am I doing? I’m working on a novel, which I have high hopes for, and I’m reading at a ridiculous rate– currently in the middle of The Goldfinch, moving onto a reread of the Silmarillion soon, after that the latest Song of Ice and Fire book. New York is a sauna in summer. It’s got fireflies. I’m in love.
You got to hang out with Chok AND Vendy?!? Lucky!! /emanates jealous vibes/
But hOW did you manage to accidentally go to an anarchists’ meeting?!?
Aaah, good to see you! Got a super-interesting life going there, m’dear.
Sounds like a blast, I’m glad you got to Kokon and interview those women. And yes, New York’s fireflies are a treat.
Hi, Cat’s Eye! I’m glad to hear your life is so full and exciting! I’m reading The Silmarillion right now and starting A Game of Thrones next (with perhaps some Guide in the middle until my library hold comes through), so I thoroughly approve of your reading choices.
Ate breakfast with Dawn Upshaw this morning. It was kind of stressful because she kept asking questions about my quartet and what we were playing and where we were going next and I was just like “GUH YOU’RE AMAZING NEED COFFEE NOW”
I’m in London???? I’ve never been in London before, and yet, here I am on family vacation. I didn’t sleep much on the overnight plane flight, so forgive me if I don’t make much sense. Obviously now, on three hours of sleep, is the best time to do written homework for my online class, so I’m acting accordingly.
So far all we’ve done is check in to the hotel and eat breakfast. The place we went to juiced an apple for us with some fancy machine when my boyfriend ordered apple juice – it tasted exactly like eating an apple, so of course he didn’t care for it. I loved it though.
Maybe we will explore later. Once I do some more homework, I will probably take a nap.
Enjoy London!
Thank you! I am less jetlagged now, I hope. The juicing machines seem to be fairly common here and I keep ordering juice and it is always great. Today we went to the Victoria and Albert Museum and the nearby Science Museum. I ended up liking the science museum a lot more than expected – they had a Cray supercomputer and a Difference Engine on display there. The Victoria and Albert museum unfortunately didn’t allow pictures in the historical fashion exhibits – I wish they had, since I am taking a course on the history of Western fashion and I’m required to cite online pictures. I may have taken one with my phone before I realized that, though.
Does anyone have recommendations for good magical realism books? And short stories. I’m particularly interested in short stories.
“The Snow Child” isn’t exactly magical realism–it’s realism with one significant magical-ish element that not all the characters believe is magical–but it’s a wonderful book that I’d strongly recommend.
Was that the one that had an excerpt published in Cricket years ago?
Isn’t that kind of restraint what distinguishes magic(al) realism from genre fantasy fiction?
Generally speaking, yes, but I’m not sure about this one–the role it plays is pretty quiet and virtually everything except this one character’s presence is realistic. So–I guess? I don’t know.
Kai–I doubt it, this only came out in 2012. Something by the same title, maybe?
If you’ve not read the Firebird Anthologies yet I would definitely reccomend them; short story collections from some of the best fantasy writers. The second one (Firebird Rising), especially, has some REALLY excellent magical realism shorts. Diana Wynne Jones’ Unexpected Magic collection is excellent as well if you haven’t already read that one. The Ribbajack by Brian Jacques is a nice little collection of spooky mind-bending Halloweenish stories, and right now the only full-length book that comes to mind is Michael Chabon’s Summerland (which I’m actually planning to re-read soon seems it’s one of those bizarrely fascinating books that get caught up in your own imagination until you’re not quite sure if what you think you remember is actually from the book or not).
So I finished reading “Master and Commander”, which a teacher lent me because it’s set in part here in Menorca, and while the Age of Sail isn’t really my thing, I did like it well enough.
The Mediterranean was so freaking awesome you guys I love Barcelona
Hi guys! I’ve been out of town. Wyoming, specifically. Northern Wyoming, more specifically. A Carmelite monastery in northern Wyoming, more specifically yet. Long story short, y’know that whole “life’s purpose” sort of thing? Yeah, well, that. I’ll be going back (for good, I hope) as soon as possible. Probably in the September-October range, but maybe a little later depending on how things work out. Gosh, it’s beautiful there. Every bit of it. Once the reality of having to wait for several months to enter sets in (should take a couple days), I’ll explain everything in a less bizarre way. Just know that I love all of you enormously.
Will we get a special deal on Mystic Monk coffee?