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[Aug. 18th, 2007|09:00 pm] |
Almost two months ago it was requested (nay "demanded - wot wot") by a dear friend that I post more often. But I get very skittish about live journal. Still, demands are demands and wots are wots, so I shall try.
Only one thing comes to mind, at present. I haven't seen Order of the Phoenix or read Deathly Hallows yet, but I've been thinking about why certain characters get to be the main heroes and others don't. In the case of the Potter franchise, I think it's because, if Hermione Granger had been the chosen one, Voldomort would be dead by book 2. |
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| In case anyone needs to get in touch with me... |
[Jun. 22nd, 2007|07:34 pm] |
From Monday June 25th through Sunday July 1st I will have limited or no cell phone reception. I believe I shall have access to my email, however, so in the event that vital information needs to be exchanged, that's probably the best way to go about it.
Thanks! |
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| (no subject) |
[Apr. 15th, 2007|07:36 pm] |
A brief update: I've moved away from home yet again, and am currently residing in Medford, MA, near Winter Hill.
Today is very wet, and, perhaps a bit more subjectively, very slow.
I've done a few semi-productive things, but the most concrete of them has been to change a light bulb.
Which makes me wonder if my life is a joke.
Well, today, anyway. |
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| Can't Stop the Serenity |
[Feb. 27th, 2007|08:45 pm] |
Okay... I haven't been on LJ much, and I'm out of all sorts of loops, so maybe this has already been discussed here, but I just heard about it after a phone call with a friend...
http://www.cantstoptheserenity.com/
Lately, I've been questioning the value of "fandom"... you know, letting something that isn't real become that important. How good a thing can that be? But when you've got shows uniting people around ideas and even principles, rather than just pleasing fictions, well... I guess there's my answer. One of the screenings is going to be in Boston. I'm gonna pencil in the date... |
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| This is Absolutely Uncanny... |
[Dec. 22nd, 2006|10:30 pm] |
Amazing. Absolutely amazing. I have no idea how their system, provided with only my first name and my gender, was able to deduce that I, indeed, am the Sage of Bow under Bumpstead (or "SBUBs", as my closest friends are wont to call me). The internet is truly wonderful. Pass the custard. |
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| All you Sword Folk wanna look at this... |
[Dec. 3rd, 2006|12:47 am] |
In the Science Section of Last Tuesday's N.Y. Times
Observatory
Henry Foutnain
Antique Nanotubes
All hail the great 17th-century nanotechnologist Assad Ullah!
Actually, he was swordmaker, one in a long line of smiths who forged the legendary weapons known as Damascus sabers. They were strong yet flexible and supremely sharp, which European warriors first discovred, much to their misfortune, at the hands of Muslims during the Crusades.
The recipe for making Damascus steel was lost at the end of the 18th century, so no one knew the reasons for its remarkable qualities. But an analysis by 21st-century researchers in Germany provides a clue: Damascus sabers, they report in Nature, contain carbon nanotubes.
Using a transmission electron microscope, Peter Paufler of the Technical University of Dresden and colleagues looked at a very thin sample of steel from a saber made by Assad Ullah, who worked in what is now Iran. What they saw seemed for all the world like carbon nanotubes, cylindrical arrangements of carbon atoms first discovered in 1991 and now made in laboratories all over the world. Further analysis confirmed that that was what they were.
"If you look at the spacing of the atomic layers in these nanotubes," Dr. Paufler said, "the spacing is the same as reported by others studying mass-produced nanotubes."
The steel also contains nanoscale wires of cementite, an extremely hard carbon-iron compound, that were probably formed inside the nanotubes, like the filling in a cannoli. These nanowires give Damascus sabers another distinctive characteristic: a moiré pattern of banding on the steel.
Swordmakers used special high-carbon steel cakes, called wootz, which were made in India from iron ore that contained vanadium and other impurities. Wootz also had a high percentage of carbon, which was introduced by incorporating wood and other organic matter during fabrication. Dr. Paufler said the vanadium and other impurities could have acted as catalysts to turn some of the carbon atoms in the steel into nanotubes during the heating and reheating of forging.
Of course, Assad Ullah and other swordsmiths would have had no idea that they were creating carbon nanotubes. "They just did tremendous empirical work," Dr. Paufler said. "They optimized the procedure over centuries in order to get the most strengh." |
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| Taken from sairisse who took it from empheliath, I believe |
[Dec. 2nd, 2006|07:32 pm] |
Comment and I'll give you a letter; then you have to list 10 things you love that begin with that letter. Then post this in your journal and give out some letters of your own. Let me know if you want a letter.
1. Pasta
2. Peaches
3. Poetry (moreso recently)
4. Plaid Flannel Shirts (though I don't own any myself at the moment)
5. Plays (depends, obviously, but seen some great ones this year)
6. Penguins (in a totally uninformed sort of way)
7. Parenthetical thoughts (see above)
8. Peace
9. Pretending
10.Preparing sandwiches |
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| (no subject) |
[Nov. 24th, 2006|01:02 am] |
We all know that Thanksgiving, as a day of celebration, was built on some pretty shaky ground. That said, I enjoyed mine quite a lot this year. Now, at the day's close, I find myself reflecting (not too heavily, mind you) on the nature of "gratitude."
It's not an altogether pleasant feeling, is it?
I mean, obviously, it has it's moments. At it's best, it's probably one of the most beautiful and pure states of being that we can ever achieve. But the same can be said of "humility," can't it? And humility is rarely a walk in the park for most of us. Or am I speaking out of turn?
Either way, both of these virtues are usually accompanied by "a sense of perspective." And I find perspective to be like a healthy breakfast - incredibly good for me, but rarely a lot of fun.
If I take the whole of humanity into consideration, I'm guessing the vast majority of it would consider me a sinfully lucky bastard. I find myself rather relieved at this moment that most of humanity doesn't know I exist.
I have a huge amount to be grateful for. Absolutely enormous. I also have a quite a freakin' lot to be humble about. Like truckloads streching all the way to Colorado, probably.
I've got a feeling I'm going to die in a quite a lot of debt.
But maybe, if I work at it, a little less debt than I'm in right now. |
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| Well, gee, I guess I do... |
[Nov. 1st, 2006|03:34 pm] |
Thanks to ayelle for the link!
| What American accent do you have? Your Result: Boston You definitely have a Boston accent, even if you think you don't. Of course, that doesn't mean you are from the Boston area, you may also be from New Hampshire or Maine. | | The Midland | | | The West | | | North Central | | | The Northeast | | | Philadelphia | | | The Inland North | | | The South | | | What American accent do you have? |
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| MaggieGhost |
[Oct. 16th, 2006|09:24 am] |
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Just a note to everyone involved in T@F and The Margaret Ghost who reads my journal: Congratulations! That was a lovely show. I can't believe that script hasn't been performed in over 20 years. Kudos/mad props/three cheers/what-have-you to Elizabeth for reviving it. I enjoyed myself (or rather, the show) very much! |
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| Lessons From Experience University |
[Oct. 11th, 2006|02:28 pm] |
A little tale I'd been meaning to relate...
The other day, approaching the stairs which lead out of Salem Depot, I saw, at the top, three high school boys. One of them was straddling a rather old and tired looking bicycle that seemed way too small for him. His two friends were chanting "Do - it! Do - it!", roughly in unison.
Something told me that perhaps I should delay my ascent for a moment or two.
In deference to his buddies' request, the boy flew down two flights of stairs on his bike. Once his journey was over, he dismounted his feeble steed and his hands went immediately to his even feebler naughty bits.
"Man!" he said between gasps of what sounded like intense pain coupled with a few self-conscious chuckles. "That'll teach me to ride a peace-of-shit bike down two flights of stairs!"
Indeed it will, son. Indeed it will. |
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| Since Brevity is the Soul of Wit... You Will Obey Me |
[Sep. 23rd, 2006|07:34 pm] |
This weekend, Wellesley College hosted a (free) production of Hamlet by a British touring company called Actors From The London Stage. My mom and I went. It was a good production. We enjoyed ourselves a lot.
But the *really* cool thing was that Polonius was played by Geoffrey Beevers. Beevers, you see, played the Master for one story only in the classic series of Doctor Who (I won't say which story for those who haven't seen it, because it is someting of a surprise). Beevers was okay as the Master, but he rocked as Polonius - very funny and very sweet, while not shying away from the character's selfishness. If you want an idea of his performance, picture "Whose Line Is It Anway"'s Colin Mochrie in the role. My mom and I were both independantly reminded of him - Beevers even wore a silk, purple shirt (as Mochrie sometimes has). |
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| (no subject) |
[Aug. 30th, 2006|02:03 am] |
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Testing... Testing... One... Two... Three... Sibalance... |
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cristoforou's journal
