A response to We Pray With Her pages 3-4
Master,
As impulses have drawn me to Reverend Paige's book, and as I've heard Your voice calling me back to daily devotions, bless my reading of We Pray With Her. Open my heart to Your will and message. Open my eyes to Your people around me, and show me how to open my schedule to listen.
Master, time and again, You've called me to leadership: CIT camp, two of Case's retreats, Camp Allegheny, my wind tunnel test, facility management, Women in STEM Leadership Development. It's been a long road, but as much as I've attested no interest, I've seen You equip me for this call. I know You have a plan, but I don't know what it is.
Master, what do You want me to do? Where should I set my sights next? If I'm to be a leader, who will I lead? Engineers at work? Coworkers? Readers (of my books or my blog or at conventions)?
Faithful Master, as You call me again to lead through my art, I find that I'm remiss in dedicating my new project. You made more of the first book than I dared to dream, and I know it is making an impression on people. God, use those planted seeds for Your will. Touch the people who need a light in dark times and those who need a wake up call to love their neighbors and themselves.
Holy Spirit, guide my ideas and word choices and themes in this second book. Make it an instrument of Your love and grace, so that others may find peace and joy.
Friday, November 09, 2018
Friday, October 19, 2012
Library
It's the silliest thing, my fascination with libraries and stockpiles of books: I adore them. The smell of well-aged pages cuts through any gloom to my heart like hot chocolate after a walk in the chilly Cleveland rain. I love hunting the shelves for the gems I've already discovered, for the obscure favorites no one else treasures. On lucky days, I'll find a couple.
Libraries thrum with the promise of knowledge, of adventure, of new ideas to explore barefoot on thick grass or old ruminations to ponder reclined in a pine forest. The air of libraries with the sympathetic beat of fond memories and the introduction of possibilities.
For all their quiet power, my library cards lie lost, forgotten, unused. My explorations of bookshelves new and old remain bounded by the strict limits of my overexercised wallet. My bookshelves remain stunted and dusty.
The irreparable damage books have done to my reading habits is the inspiration that I might produce the same and the birth of characters whose lives are not yet bonded to the page.
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Response to the "Words Matter" poll:
The words we use convey the amount of respect we have for each other. It is entirely possible to convey a lack of respect for someone specifically and eloquently without the use of generic derogatory terms. The use of these generic derogatory terms--including stereotype labels, demeaning and overused metaphors, and English words that have had their definitions bastardized--not only limits (and reveals the limits of) the speaker's command of language but often fails to specifically communicate the speaker's meaning.
Such speech patterns can often limn a lack of understanding of the topic at hand, especially in the case of stereotypes; the very terms the speaker uses to comment may not even apply to the subject at hand. The thinking required to avoid the use of derogatory and unspecific language--the search for more accurate diction--is the first step in assuring that the language we use is accurate and that it really does apply in the way we intended. Truthful words can hurt, and sometimes we need that as humans to grow into better individuals, but false words can not only hurt but also sow lies and hard feelings, even hate, throughout a community. The use of poor language to propagate hatred is inexcusable.
The words we use convey the amount of respect we have for each other. It is entirely possible to convey a lack of respect for someone specifically and eloquently without the use of generic derogatory terms. The use of these generic derogatory terms--including stereotype labels, demeaning and overused metaphors, and English words that have had their definitions bastardized--not only limits (and reveals the limits of) the speaker's command of language but often fails to specifically communicate the speaker's meaning.
Such speech patterns can often limn a lack of understanding of the topic at hand, especially in the case of stereotypes; the very terms the speaker uses to comment may not even apply to the subject at hand. The thinking required to avoid the use of derogatory and unspecific language--the search for more accurate diction--is the first step in assuring that the language we use is accurate and that it really does apply in the way we intended. Truthful words can hurt, and sometimes we need that as humans to grow into better individuals, but false words can not only hurt but also sow lies and hard feelings, even hate, throughout a community. The use of poor language to propagate hatred is inexcusable.
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
I thank God for mental walls.
When the world feels like it's crashing and I turn a bad mood into thoughtless actions, once forgiveness is sought and granted, there's one barrier left before I can return to God: myself. How can I forgive myself when my actions scream that I'm a selfish idiot? How do you dissipate a guilty, despairing mood?
The God we serve is a God of love, of forgiveness, and most importantly at the moment, of new beginnings.
Is there anything to gain by me persisting in my foul self-loathing? Not if I've already sought forgiveness from those who I've hurt.
Then there's nothing left but to praise God for new beginnings and put the past (and mood) behind.
When the world feels like it's crashing and I turn a bad mood into thoughtless actions, once forgiveness is sought and granted, there's one barrier left before I can return to God: myself. How can I forgive myself when my actions scream that I'm a selfish idiot? How do you dissipate a guilty, despairing mood?
The God we serve is a God of love, of forgiveness, and most importantly at the moment, of new beginnings.
Is there anything to gain by me persisting in my foul self-loathing? Not if I've already sought forgiveness from those who I've hurt.
Then there's nothing left but to praise God for new beginnings and put the past (and mood) behind.
Tuesday, August 03, 2010
Need to type up some notes so I can throw some paper out.
The smell of bradford pears and goose droppings...
Each idea with which we bind ourselves, each rule we design, each law we obey, is a construct. Our world, with its ideas of ownership, of money, of equal trade of money and worth, of companies, of stocks, of financial foul play; is a world of constructs built upon constructs, a Coruscant of ideas. To reach the ground, we must determine what is real and what is based upon it.
The smell of bradford pears and goose droppings...
Each idea with which we bind ourselves, each rule we design, each law we obey, is a construct. Our world, with its ideas of ownership, of money, of equal trade of money and worth, of companies, of stocks, of financial foul play; is a world of constructs built upon constructs, a Coruscant of ideas. To reach the ground, we must determine what is real and what is based upon it.
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Dear readers,
I have revamped this old blog to better showcase the Black Book series. The Iechnor Base site is a little too cumbersome to update to keep up with the series. I realize this blog is syndicated on Facebook, so if the posts start getting irritating, leave a comment, and I'll break the link. On the other hand, it makes me look like I'm getting on Facebook, so maybe it's not such a bad thing.
Where Black Book stands:
Book 1: Project Black Book (Currently a very disjointed novel; probably heading toward a collection of short stories/short novel.)
Book 2: Laws Among Friends (Currently a complete rough draft)
Book 3: The Announcement (Currently a handful of conceptual scenes)
Book 4: Under the Radar (Currently a short story)
Book 5: Best Left Dead (Currently.... *ahem*)
Book 6: Out of Enemies (Currently a concept and a very bad title)
Book 7: Rebellion Reborn (Currently a dark concept)
Book 8: Chain of Command (Currently an amusing concept)
For the past eight years, whenever I finished a book, I started a new one. Sometimes, I didn't even wait until I finished. This time, I'm going to try this editing thing. LAF is a good novel with a majority of the scenes being exciting, amusing, or interesting. But it can be more. I need to revise to fix some little details (like characters whose names changed halfway through or characters whose names should be a better differentiated from each other); and to fix some larger details (like a mounting conflict and the developing attitudes between Jenn and Chryson).
Project Black Book... Has some really good plot threads, good characters, flat characters, and characters that are introduced too late, as well as a really irritating pronoun problem, according to Ann Cecil. (Being the author, I know who 99% of the pronouns are referring to, just from context, so I'm rather blind to that.) I was going to give up on this completely, but it's still a great and fairly thorough introduction to the relevant part of the universe. Unfortunately, the relevant part of the universe is a little too spread out to make for a coherent novel. It needs work.
In light of all that, here's the plan:
- Make sketches (or find pictures) for most of the settings, in order that the setting can really come to life in revisions.
- Sketch most of the characters' outfits, so that the physical appearance of characters is a little more vivid and so that other characters address them more logically/appropriately given their assumptions based on clothes.
- Read through Ella's and Ann's comments, make suggested line edits, and list major changes/inconsistencies to address.
- Read through LAF and list the major changes I want to address.
- REVISE!
Any help, especially on the artistic end of things, would be greatly appreciated.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
How many times have we been told to thank a soldier?
I never really believed in it. I don't like politics. If pressed, I won't tell you whether I agree or disagree with America's recent military actions. Whether a war is right or not usually isn't why the soldier went there. They had their reasons, and their reasons had nothing to do with me.
But then I start thinking.
About Stargate. The brave men and women who literally ran into dangerous situations and put their lives at stake for their countrymen.
About NCIS. The fictional marines who lost friends in the line of duty. The soldiers who were never the same after returning from war.
About a man I work with, a Vietnam veteran who speaks very vaguely about his time in "sunny, southeast Asia," who wouldn't advise another to repeat his experiences but who would have done it again if the situation arose.
About my neighbor, who left his wife and three children to fly several tours in Afghanistan. Who, even when he came home, made time to help his son with math over the summer, sitting beside him all day long.
I start thinking about how hard it must have been for them, so far from home, doing the jobs they were told to do. About all the discipline they must exercise to keep at it day in and day out and all the lip they might take from war protesters who see them as the hand of the government and not admirable human beings who learned fathoms of self-control, only to put it to use in some of the most grueling situations on earth.
When the man in Army BDUs passed my car at the gas station, I didn't know what I wanted to say.
I don't think I could do what he does. Whether I can, sure don't want to try.
I'm not going to argue that we need to be at war or that it's going to gain us anything. But that's not why most of those individuals are there. They're there, because they were asked to join and were told to go. They're there, because they've committed themselves to one of the hardest, most disciplined jobs in our country.
And that's admirable.
Soldiers don't walk through America in BDU's very often. I'm not going to tell you to compulsively thank every uniformed man you come across.
But think about it. Even if you don't like war, how can you object to the service and the duty that so pervades their lives? Could you do what they do?
When the man came back out and I was closing up my gas log, I unlocked the door and pushed it open.
"Hey." He turns to face me, returning the same smile I'd sent him on his way in. "Thank you for your service."
His smile broadens. "Thank you."
I hope we both drove away feeling a little bit lighter.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Hulu - House: Broken - Watch the full episode now.
Hulu - House: Broken - Watch the full episode now.
What's so important about fiction?
From an engineering standpoint, it doesn't seem to do anything. It doesn't exert any force (F=ma), accomplish any work (W=F*d), generate power (P = dW/dt). Storytelling just seems to waste time. Creative writing isn't a real major. You don't earn money until you're a professional, one of the best, as opposed to engineering, where you just need a degree and a job.
But engineering doesn't feed the soul. There's no mathematical formula for hope. On the surface, fiction can make us laugh, release endorphins, space the day out so one isn't doing civil engineering assignments from sun-up to sun-down. Fiction also gives us examples, lessons from others' lives. Non-fiction can do that, too, and so can communities, but fiction can do it succintly.
Take this episode of House. Who doesn't secretly admire House's attitude and his courage in confronting others? We know it's not practical, but it's fun to imagine. This is an episode of consequences and of hope. No, most of us aren't on the same jerk level as House. We don't manipulate people like he does, but it doesn't mean we're any less broken. I love what the psychiatrist says at one point:
"Why do you value failures more than your successes?"
...
"Sucesses only last until someone screws them up. Failures are forever."
"So you accept that fact. You accept that there's nothing you can do."
"Okay, I accept the fact that there's nothing I can do. Now, what can I do?"
"You acknowledge failure, and you move past it. You apologize."
"Wow, powerful things, these apologies. You get someone to jump off a building. You say two little words and move on with your life. Hardly seems fair."
"Is that the issue?... You caused him pain. If the world is just, you have to suffer equally? ... You're not God, House. You're just another screwed up human being who needs to move on. ... Apologize to him, let yourself feel better. Then you can keep feeling better."
On a social level, too, this episode is important. I think, in general, people in the US are afraid of admitting they need help, and there seems to be a huge amount of disgrace associated with getting help. It's as though we are expected to do it all on our own, to be self-sufficient, to have everything in our lives under control, but in reality, we can't. If you're smart enough to handle everything life throws at you, you're not only a genius but also an abnormality. Use it to help the rest of us. The best feature of this episode is that it follows House's perceptions. It starts out with a load of resentment against the institution that builds and builds and builds as he sees more and as he fumes against it, but once he learns he can't always win, once he starts seeking for himself to find an answer, the people around him, the doctors and psychiatrists and even the other patients become real people, people he can care about and work with. The episode gets lighter, and I think his life does, too. That's something I think the viewers really needed to see.
What's so important about fiction?
From an engineering standpoint, it doesn't seem to do anything. It doesn't exert any force (F=ma), accomplish any work (W=F*d), generate power (P = dW/dt). Storytelling just seems to waste time. Creative writing isn't a real major. You don't earn money until you're a professional, one of the best, as opposed to engineering, where you just need a degree and a job.
But engineering doesn't feed the soul. There's no mathematical formula for hope. On the surface, fiction can make us laugh, release endorphins, space the day out so one isn't doing civil engineering assignments from sun-up to sun-down. Fiction also gives us examples, lessons from others' lives. Non-fiction can do that, too, and so can communities, but fiction can do it succintly.
Take this episode of House. Who doesn't secretly admire House's attitude and his courage in confronting others? We know it's not practical, but it's fun to imagine. This is an episode of consequences and of hope. No, most of us aren't on the same jerk level as House. We don't manipulate people like he does, but it doesn't mean we're any less broken. I love what the psychiatrist says at one point:
"Why do you value failures more than your successes?"
...
"Sucesses only last until someone screws them up. Failures are forever."
"So you accept that fact. You accept that there's nothing you can do."
"Okay, I accept the fact that there's nothing I can do. Now, what can I do?"
"You acknowledge failure, and you move past it. You apologize."
"Wow, powerful things, these apologies. You get someone to jump off a building. You say two little words and move on with your life. Hardly seems fair."
"Is that the issue?... You caused him pain. If the world is just, you have to suffer equally? ... You're not God, House. You're just another screwed up human being who needs to move on. ... Apologize to him, let yourself feel better. Then you can keep feeling better."
On a social level, too, this episode is important. I think, in general, people in the US are afraid of admitting they need help, and there seems to be a huge amount of disgrace associated with getting help. It's as though we are expected to do it all on our own, to be self-sufficient, to have everything in our lives under control, but in reality, we can't. If you're smart enough to handle everything life throws at you, you're not only a genius but also an abnormality. Use it to help the rest of us. The best feature of this episode is that it follows House's perceptions. It starts out with a load of resentment against the institution that builds and builds and builds as he sees more and as he fumes against it, but once he learns he can't always win, once he starts seeking for himself to find an answer, the people around him, the doctors and psychiatrists and even the other patients become real people, people he can care about and work with. The episode gets lighter, and I think his life does, too. That's something I think the viewers really needed to see.
Friday, September 25, 2009
political news for engineers - Google Search
political news for engineers - Google Search
One of the most irritating things about hearing the news, whether from a paper, from the television (or YouTube), or from the internet is the lack of information. These sources aim at a third or fourth grade vocabulary level, do they not? I argue that they also aim at a fourth grade level of understanding. A typical political article quotes what a politician says and what other politicians say about it. Through it all, scientific hypothesis that have arguable merit are tauted as fact. Global warming, for example, may not even exist; even if it does, there can be no conclusive proof that it is caused by humans. The use of fossil fuels as opposed to alternative energy is still quite arguable. And still, President Obama undertakes massive projects, committing the country to change that may not even be possible, let alone preferable. What if the world changes and there's nothing we can do about it? Why can't we seek to adapt rather than stop it?
I urge all those who can to go to databases for your news. Find the issues in the news media. Research them in academia. Even that may not be objective, but it's ten logarithmic steps up from the news.
And if you're an entrepreneur starting a new news source, do the world a favor: don't just get quotes from the experts. Present the expert's findings--in detail--to your audience. Maybe only a small percentage of the population has both the initiative to read what you say and the education to interpret it, but with a strategic marketing plan, you can find them. After all, your job is to keep them informed to the best of your abilities. If you don't understand what the issues boil down to, hire someone who does. If you need an engineer versed in comp sci or fluid flow or aerodynamics or efficiency--whatever--I know where you can find one.
Research, guys. Our world's getting awfully lax with its future.
(Me, most of all.)
One of the most irritating things about hearing the news, whether from a paper, from the television (or YouTube), or from the internet is the lack of information. These sources aim at a third or fourth grade vocabulary level, do they not? I argue that they also aim at a fourth grade level of understanding. A typical political article quotes what a politician says and what other politicians say about it. Through it all, scientific hypothesis that have arguable merit are tauted as fact. Global warming, for example, may not even exist; even if it does, there can be no conclusive proof that it is caused by humans. The use of fossil fuels as opposed to alternative energy is still quite arguable. And still, President Obama undertakes massive projects, committing the country to change that may not even be possible, let alone preferable. What if the world changes and there's nothing we can do about it? Why can't we seek to adapt rather than stop it?
I urge all those who can to go to databases for your news. Find the issues in the news media. Research them in academia. Even that may not be objective, but it's ten logarithmic steps up from the news.
And if you're an entrepreneur starting a new news source, do the world a favor: don't just get quotes from the experts. Present the expert's findings--in detail--to your audience. Maybe only a small percentage of the population has both the initiative to read what you say and the education to interpret it, but with a strategic marketing plan, you can find them. After all, your job is to keep them informed to the best of your abilities. If you don't understand what the issues boil down to, hire someone who does. If you need an engineer versed in comp sci or fluid flow or aerodynamics or efficiency--whatever--I know where you can find one.
Research, guys. Our world's getting awfully lax with its future.
(Me, most of all.)
Monday, April 20, 2009
Next USG symposium: How to defend Case in the event of a zombie attack.
Seriously, it is a common topic on campus (and hub-chat, apparently). Nominated defensible buildings include the Interfaith Center (ironically, but it does have enough concrete to block out wifi signals), Olin (has Project Club and the Formula SAE labs, among others), Clarke Tower (brick/concrete building with great "arrow-slits"), and, for some reason, Clark Hall.
In other news, the second quote of the year: "The issue 'X's computer finally bit the dust' has been resolved."
Seriously, it is a common topic on campus (and hub-chat, apparently). Nominated defensible buildings include the Interfaith Center (ironically, but it does have enough concrete to block out wifi signals), Olin (has Project Club and the Formula SAE labs, among others), Clarke Tower (brick/concrete building with great "arrow-slits"), and, for some reason, Clark Hall.
In other news, the second quote of the year: "The issue 'X's computer finally bit the dust' has been resolved."
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Time Travel
Do you listen to Stargate or Quantum Leap?
Not really the question here, but let's play with it for a minute. According to both, if you change the past, it changes the future. According to Stargate, the changes pop into/out of existance, maybe in a puff of blue smoke. According to Quantum Leap, history changes and no one really notices.
I've got a new theory.
According to the scifi laymen's terms of Multiverse Theory, every decision every person makes splits the universe into parallel universes: one for each choice (or rather, one for each plausible choice, given the psychology of the people involved, weather, etc., that influence decision-making). If you base your history-changing in such a multiverse, then changing something in the past should never affect the present. All you're doing is retroactively branching a particular set of universes. It's like adding a canal upriver. Some of the water goes into the canal, sure, but that doesn't necessarily mean the river dries up. It just means there's less water coming toward the natural downstream.
If you're assuming that there's only enough water for one track and the canal is deeper than that part of the river, well, sure you've got a problem. But if you assume an infinite mass flow rate, problem solved. All channels are full: the deepest along with the shallowest. Maybe time doesn't work like that, but maybe it does. As for the "mass flow rate" of time... Well, we have precious little data on how time works. Not enough information.
Do you listen to Stargate or Quantum Leap?
Not really the question here, but let's play with it for a minute. According to both, if you change the past, it changes the future. According to Stargate, the changes pop into/out of existance, maybe in a puff of blue smoke. According to Quantum Leap, history changes and no one really notices.
I've got a new theory.
According to the scifi laymen's terms of Multiverse Theory, every decision every person makes splits the universe into parallel universes: one for each choice (or rather, one for each plausible choice, given the psychology of the people involved, weather, etc., that influence decision-making). If you base your history-changing in such a multiverse, then changing something in the past should never affect the present. All you're doing is retroactively branching a particular set of universes. It's like adding a canal upriver. Some of the water goes into the canal, sure, but that doesn't necessarily mean the river dries up. It just means there's less water coming toward the natural downstream.
If you're assuming that there's only enough water for one track and the canal is deeper than that part of the river, well, sure you've got a problem. But if you assume an infinite mass flow rate, problem solved. All channels are full: the deepest along with the shallowest. Maybe time doesn't work like that, but maybe it does. As for the "mass flow rate" of time... Well, we have precious little data on how time works. Not enough information.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Quote of the year:
"It's a second order differential equation..." "...of deliciousness!"
"It's a second order differential equation..." "...of deliciousness!"
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
I feel accomplished with computers today.
Even though CHRYSON isn't working any better than it was when I took it to PerceptIS, I did make great headway with VINNET. Yesterday, M. helped me install XP and showed me how to investigate inside. Today was a voyage into Project Club to look for more RAM. Unfortunately, I didn't find it, but I did find a way to update my network card so my slow computer could at least use the gigabit internet here. I was quite proud of myself when I finished installing the network card. Well, my attempts at password-protected sharing didn't turn out so well, but I did manage to get a background from CHRYSON to VINNET via the network...
Now if only VINNET would stop acting up...
Even though CHRYSON isn't working any better than it was when I took it to PerceptIS, I did make great headway with VINNET. Yesterday, M. helped me install XP and showed me how to investigate inside. Today was a voyage into Project Club to look for more RAM. Unfortunately, I didn't find it, but I did find a way to update my network card so my slow computer could at least use the gigabit internet here. I was quite proud of myself when I finished installing the network card. Well, my attempts at password-protected sharing didn't turn out so well, but I did manage to get a background from CHRYSON to VINNET via the network...
Now if only VINNET would stop acting up...
Friday, December 19, 2008
Douglas MacArthur - "We are not retreating - we are advancing in another direction."
I like quotes. :D Could totally do a short story based on this! Or at least a scene... Those are short stories, right? Or short shorts...
I like quotes. :D Could totally do a short story based on this! Or at least a scene... Those are short stories, right? Or short shorts...
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Sark - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Quote of the day:
Sark - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: "In August 1990 an unemployed French nuclear physicist named André Gardes attempted a singlehanded invasion of Sark, armed with a semi-automatic weapon. The night Gardes arrived he put up signs declaring his intention to take over the island the following day at noon. He was arrested by the island's volunteer Constable, while sitting on a bench, changing the gun's magazine and waiting for noon to arrive."
So what if now I'd rather visit Sark over anywhere in France? I'm amused. It looks like a bizzarre little island, rather akin to the forgotten little planets in Star Wars. Cool, though.
Sark - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: "In August 1990 an unemployed French nuclear physicist named André Gardes attempted a singlehanded invasion of Sark, armed with a semi-automatic weapon. The night Gardes arrived he put up signs declaring his intention to take over the island the following day at noon. He was arrested by the island's volunteer Constable, while sitting on a bench, changing the gun's magazine and waiting for noon to arrive."
So what if now I'd rather visit Sark over anywhere in France? I'm amused. It looks like a bizzarre little island, rather akin to the forgotten little planets in Star Wars. Cool, though.
Tuesday, December 09, 2008
Quote of the day: "If you don't see people coming, you can't get out of the way." -my roommate
The first of two finals today start in an hour and fifteen minutes, and I feel much better about them than I did last night. Yay for getting perspective and for sleeping! Yay for worship music, too! I really like the stuff from right around 2000; it has more substance than the popular stuff lately. Or it's just more meaningful to me. Maybe that's it.
Anyway. I studied for manufacturing this morning, and I need a 55% to get an A in the class. That's pretty happy and stable. As for calc... I would very much like to get the 89% that keeps me at an A. I think I can do it, but stupid mistakes have cost me 15% on two of the three midterm exams (I got 99.5% on the other). Even so, I'd have to fail it to get a C in the class, so not too much pressure there. (Except that I really want the A. I've enjoyed that class too much to settle for a B.)
Then I can relax tonight and study my eyes out tomorrow for numerical methods on Thursday. All in all, it can't be that bad. I only need a 68% to keep my B in the class, but if I keep up with my consistent 84% in the class, it'll probably become an A with the curve.
Welcome to college reasoning: if I keep doing what I've been doing, it should curve to an A. Go figure. Still going to study my eyes out anyway. I'd be very proud of myself if I got an A in that class!
The first of two finals today start in an hour and fifteen minutes, and I feel much better about them than I did last night. Yay for getting perspective and for sleeping! Yay for worship music, too! I really like the stuff from right around 2000; it has more substance than the popular stuff lately. Or it's just more meaningful to me. Maybe that's it.
Anyway. I studied for manufacturing this morning, and I need a 55% to get an A in the class. That's pretty happy and stable. As for calc... I would very much like to get the 89% that keeps me at an A. I think I can do it, but stupid mistakes have cost me 15% on two of the three midterm exams (I got 99.5% on the other). Even so, I'd have to fail it to get a C in the class, so not too much pressure there. (Except that I really want the A. I've enjoyed that class too much to settle for a B.)
Then I can relax tonight and study my eyes out tomorrow for numerical methods on Thursday. All in all, it can't be that bad. I only need a 68% to keep my B in the class, but if I keep up with my consistent 84% in the class, it'll probably become an A with the curve.
Welcome to college reasoning: if I keep doing what I've been doing, it should curve to an A. Go figure. Still going to study my eyes out anyway. I'd be very proud of myself if I got an A in that class!
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Quote of the day:
Concerning chocolate-filled marshmallows:
Suitemate 1: "Why would you ruin good marshmallows like that?"
Suitemate 2: "Why would you ruin good chocolate like that?"
Suitemate 3: "Why would you ruin good chocolate with peanut butter?"
Concerning chocolate-filled marshmallows:
Suitemate 1: "Why would you ruin good marshmallows like that?"
Suitemate 2: "Why would you ruin good chocolate like that?"
Suitemate 3: "Why would you ruin good chocolate with peanut butter?"
Saturday, November 15, 2008
It's been a Nubbins week. Last's Friday's episode of Sanctuary kicked it all off with the new creature-of-the-week: Nubbins, the breeding and attractiveness of Tribbles crossed with the open faces and male-aversions of Furbies crossed with the ears and viciousness of Gremlins (I'm assuming; I've never seen).
Episode two: Manufacturing, of all things. Our lab mostly finished the hammer handles. The last step was to cut off the last seven-eighths of an inch of turned steel, a bit approximately the six of a 9mm bullet that makes a wonderful nail file. "Anyone want their nub?" the prof. called at the end. I poke my friend and whisper, "Nubbins." He groans.
Finale: Oryx and Crake. After genetically engineering the perfect chicken-meat-producing ... blob... called a ChickieNob, a fast-food franchise springs up around it offering what may have made an interesting solution to the Sanctuary's problems: Buckets O'Nubbins.
A Nubbin week indeed. Happy word-mongering!
Episode two: Manufacturing, of all things. Our lab mostly finished the hammer handles. The last step was to cut off the last seven-eighths of an inch of turned steel, a bit approximately the six of a 9mm bullet that makes a wonderful nail file. "Anyone want their nub?" the prof. called at the end. I poke my friend and whisper, "Nubbins." He groans.
Finale: Oryx and Crake. After genetically engineering the perfect chicken-meat-producing ... blob... called a ChickieNob, a fast-food franchise springs up around it offering what may have made an interesting solution to the Sanctuary's problems: Buckets O'Nubbins.
A Nubbin week indeed. Happy word-mongering!
Monday, October 06, 2008
I've not taken a single midterm and already my brain is fried. I'll manage somehow. Fortunately, they say sophomore year is the hardest. Once I get through this I should be all right. Theoretically.
At least calc is going well. Calc is amazing. I could probably do calc all day. Of course, I'm biased. Right now, we're "learning" stuff I already needed for other classes, so that makes it particularly easy--and fun. AND... We learned today in calc some vital information I need for my numerical methods midterm tomorrow. Woot. Assuming that's on it... and assuming I learn everything else I need. I'm so lost in that class until they sit me in front of a computer. It could be worse, I suppose.
As soon as my brain reboots. Three cheers for the wonders of hot chocolate, just as soon as I get back to the Tower.
Unfortunately, as I sit here and gaze sightlessly out into the empty column of Nord, my creative brain has rebooted, leaving the important (and/or applicable) portions to wallow in an organic BSOD.
I wish calc counted for more. It comes so easily and makes so much sense. I wish I could look at the people who are waiting for me to accomplish something and show them how easily calc comes, how complicated it looks but it doesn't have to be. Vector calc, anyway, so far as I've seen. The beautiful nature of two-variable functions and level-set diagrams, of gradients and mixed derivatives and the chain rule in a three-variable function. So beautiful. And comprehensible. And then there's numerical methods: the application of said beauty before it's learned. Woot. I can kind of see why Mike dropped it last semester, why he swore not to take it until after he finished calc. Not that it'll help. It's not really understanding the math that's the problem: it's distinguishing the nine nearly-identical processes of finding roots to systems of equations and why you've done it wrong if you start with an identity matrix instead of ending with it, even if you get the right answers each time. Miff. I'm not good with subtle differences, especially if arbitrary (non-descriptive) names are applied to each.
Off to study and then to my favorite class: scifi!
At least calc is going well. Calc is amazing. I could probably do calc all day. Of course, I'm biased. Right now, we're "learning" stuff I already needed for other classes, so that makes it particularly easy--and fun. AND... We learned today in calc some vital information I need for my numerical methods midterm tomorrow. Woot. Assuming that's on it... and assuming I learn everything else I need. I'm so lost in that class until they sit me in front of a computer. It could be worse, I suppose.
As soon as my brain reboots. Three cheers for the wonders of hot chocolate, just as soon as I get back to the Tower.
Unfortunately, as I sit here and gaze sightlessly out into the empty column of Nord, my creative brain has rebooted, leaving the important (and/or applicable) portions to wallow in an organic BSOD.
I wish calc counted for more. It comes so easily and makes so much sense. I wish I could look at the people who are waiting for me to accomplish something and show them how easily calc comes, how complicated it looks but it doesn't have to be. Vector calc, anyway, so far as I've seen. The beautiful nature of two-variable functions and level-set diagrams, of gradients and mixed derivatives and the chain rule in a three-variable function. So beautiful. And comprehensible. And then there's numerical methods: the application of said beauty before it's learned. Woot. I can kind of see why Mike dropped it last semester, why he swore not to take it until after he finished calc. Not that it'll help. It's not really understanding the math that's the problem: it's distinguishing the nine nearly-identical processes of finding roots to systems of equations and why you've done it wrong if you start with an identity matrix instead of ending with it, even if you get the right answers each time. Miff. I'm not good with subtle differences, especially if arbitrary (non-descriptive) names are applied to each.
Off to study and then to my favorite class: scifi!
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
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