Wednesday, February 18, 2004
(nothing terribly interesting biographically to report today, although V-Day was tons of fun).
I was just doing my honors chemistry homework, and as always happens with me and my science textbooks I begin flipping through the pages not assigned for that night and get lost in the pictures and their captions, looking for something more interesting than the unit I'm currently supposed to pay attention to. This is much easier in the biology textbooks, mind you , as there were chapters on fascinating subjects such as animal behavior and human evolution, but in the chemistry books I usually just settle with a page with glowing lights or something like that and read the lame explanation.
However, during my normal flipping through process, I discovered a section we skipped ahead of which was talking all about entropy. Entropy? That mysterious force I barely grasp, which my brother claims to understand (dubiously), which is the subject of an MC Hawking song, and the same force that is said to disprove creationism and will end up this universe in which we live? 'Wow', I thought to mysefl, and read on.
Although I did not read it thoroughly as I was baragged by constants and abbreviations I did not fully understand the signifigance of, I picked up what I think is the gist. Entropy is basically increased through exothermic reactions- ones that release heat- and is only decreased by endothermic ones, reactions which absorb heat. Also entropy is defined as the disorder of a system, one example the book gives of entropy increasing is a neat room becoming messy, another is marbles in a hand being scattered on the floor.
It just blew my mind away, for some reason.
"You mean all the times heat is produced- whether by me creating friction on the ground by walking or flicking a match into a flame- is increasing the disorder of the system that is the universe? EVERY LITTLE EVENT is contributing to the eventual DESTRUCTION OF THE UNIVERSE bit by bit, in immeasurably subtle ways?
Wow. We're fucked, earth.
(Although I admittedly don't fully grasp the implications of entropy in reality...)
Music: "Don't worry, be happy."
Mood: Astounded.
I was just doing my honors chemistry homework, and as always happens with me and my science textbooks I begin flipping through the pages not assigned for that night and get lost in the pictures and their captions, looking for something more interesting than the unit I'm currently supposed to pay attention to. This is much easier in the biology textbooks, mind you , as there were chapters on fascinating subjects such as animal behavior and human evolution, but in the chemistry books I usually just settle with a page with glowing lights or something like that and read the lame explanation.
However, during my normal flipping through process, I discovered a section we skipped ahead of which was talking all about entropy. Entropy? That mysterious force I barely grasp, which my brother claims to understand (dubiously), which is the subject of an MC Hawking song, and the same force that is said to disprove creationism and will end up this universe in which we live? 'Wow', I thought to mysefl, and read on.
Although I did not read it thoroughly as I was baragged by constants and abbreviations I did not fully understand the signifigance of, I picked up what I think is the gist. Entropy is basically increased through exothermic reactions- ones that release heat- and is only decreased by endothermic ones, reactions which absorb heat. Also entropy is defined as the disorder of a system, one example the book gives of entropy increasing is a neat room becoming messy, another is marbles in a hand being scattered on the floor.
It just blew my mind away, for some reason.
"You mean all the times heat is produced- whether by me creating friction on the ground by walking or flicking a match into a flame- is increasing the disorder of the system that is the universe? EVERY LITTLE EVENT is contributing to the eventual DESTRUCTION OF THE UNIVERSE bit by bit, in immeasurably subtle ways?
Wow. We're fucked, earth.
(Although I admittedly don't fully grasp the implications of entropy in reality...)
Music: "Don't worry, be happy."
Mood: Astounded.
Tuesday, February 10, 2004
I can't wait until Saturday. Chris is coming over and I am looking forward to it so much....
That just reminded me. I ought to make a useful, non-autibiographical blog. I mean, quite frankly, who the hell wants to read about my personal life and bitchings and moanings? the only hard thing is to think of a subject I can cover with oppurtunites to update regularly. Hmm. . . . politics? Music? My hometown? A fictional character? Science? Can't think of anything...hmm...
If you are actually rading this, I'd like to know. Drop me a line at sylkates@hotmail.com. I'm not suprised if nobody actually reads this, however . . . my fault for making such a boring, unoriginal purely autobiographical blog. This technology can be used for something much more substantial.
That just reminded me. I ought to make a useful, non-autibiographical blog. I mean, quite frankly, who the hell wants to read about my personal life and bitchings and moanings? the only hard thing is to think of a subject I can cover with oppurtunites to update regularly. Hmm. . . . politics? Music? My hometown? A fictional character? Science? Can't think of anything...hmm...
If you are actually rading this, I'd like to know. Drop me a line at sylkates@hotmail.com. I'm not suprised if nobody actually reads this, however . . . my fault for making such a boring, unoriginal purely autobiographical blog. This technology can be used for something much more substantial.
Saturday, February 07, 2004
God that week went slowly.
Just a rather boring week socially and scholasticaly. Nothing much to report scholasticaly aside from the fact we started our english research project. This is going to be fun, although it will require an incredible amount of work.
We had to choose a topic relevant to our school and it's students. Most people do things like the effects parental pressure have on grades, body image, and drug usage in our school. We have to give out a survey amongst our high school classmates to collect raw data, interpret it, and write a looong report on it complete with graphics.
My topic was individualism, or social rebeliousness, or nonconformity, or the attempts at being different, and the effects this has on high school and middle school students' socialness, athleticism and academic succeses.
Yay. Research projects. Woop de frikkin doo.
In the non school universe, I have been working away on comics recently. I have been trying to make a high-school based 4 panel gag comic. This is not an assignment, but rather a personal project for the sake of experience with the format, and for college bragging rights.
Making a gag strip is harder than it seems! Humor is so subjective. Now I really understand why the comics page in the newspaper usually sucks so badly. I mean, these people have to come up with a funny idea EVERY DAY. I have only come up with two, and it's been a week. And neither of them have been tested on the average high schooler's humor glands, only my weirdo friends have seen them, and I have no idea what the reaction from the general high school populous will be. I will print a warning on the top saying 'There's a chance you will not find the following comic funny. But humor is very hard to achieve, especially for an audience with a wide range of interests like a high school. If YOU think you can do better, I invite you to! Submit your 3 x 5 inch comics to me, and if they are even vaguely humorous, I will pass them onto the newpaper editor and she will print it instead of mine if she thinks it is funnier.' See? Good idea? Bad idea? I don't know. Maybe this will guarantee I never get more than one strip published (would that be ironic? Or just bad luck...?)
What has been happening socially...not much activity in tha area, actually, as I could not go to the planned movie trip last night. I am however planning on going to the mall Sunday.(ick- my anticonsumerism radar is going off right there. However, I do feel the need to get something for Chris more physical than a drawing or a poem. Maybe I am just a blind consumer whore who cares more for physical things than emotional love. And maybe I feel uneasy when my boyfriend buys me something really sweet and I buy no physical objects for him. I feel like I'm a cheapskate, or worse yet, I do not care for him as much as he cares for me. So off to the bleeding mall it is.) Also it will be a trip with friends, so I have more than just a buy stuff goal in mind.
BTW I'm sick now. Which really sucks. Hard. Considering I want to see my boyfriend Chris next weekend, and I don't want to pass on whatever the hell it is I have onto him. Not to mention the debate tournament in less than a month, I hope it is not a long term illness. *gulp* ow. My throat...
Ta ta for now.
Current mood: sore throat blues mixed with weekend happies
Current music: Beatle's Red Album (w00t 40 years today they landed in the US)
Just a rather boring week socially and scholasticaly. Nothing much to report scholasticaly aside from the fact we started our english research project. This is going to be fun, although it will require an incredible amount of work.
We had to choose a topic relevant to our school and it's students. Most people do things like the effects parental pressure have on grades, body image, and drug usage in our school. We have to give out a survey amongst our high school classmates to collect raw data, interpret it, and write a looong report on it complete with graphics.
My topic was individualism, or social rebeliousness, or nonconformity, or the attempts at being different, and the effects this has on high school and middle school students' socialness, athleticism and academic succeses.
Yay. Research projects. Woop de frikkin doo.
In the non school universe, I have been working away on comics recently. I have been trying to make a high-school based 4 panel gag comic. This is not an assignment, but rather a personal project for the sake of experience with the format, and for college bragging rights.
Making a gag strip is harder than it seems! Humor is so subjective. Now I really understand why the comics page in the newspaper usually sucks so badly. I mean, these people have to come up with a funny idea EVERY DAY. I have only come up with two, and it's been a week. And neither of them have been tested on the average high schooler's humor glands, only my weirdo friends have seen them, and I have no idea what the reaction from the general high school populous will be. I will print a warning on the top saying 'There's a chance you will not find the following comic funny. But humor is very hard to achieve, especially for an audience with a wide range of interests like a high school. If YOU think you can do better, I invite you to! Submit your 3 x 5 inch comics to me, and if they are even vaguely humorous, I will pass them onto the newpaper editor and she will print it instead of mine if she thinks it is funnier.' See? Good idea? Bad idea? I don't know. Maybe this will guarantee I never get more than one strip published (would that be ironic? Or just bad luck...?)
What has been happening socially...not much activity in tha area, actually, as I could not go to the planned movie trip last night. I am however planning on going to the mall Sunday.(ick- my anticonsumerism radar is going off right there. However, I do feel the need to get something for Chris more physical than a drawing or a poem. Maybe I am just a blind consumer whore who cares more for physical things than emotional love. And maybe I feel uneasy when my boyfriend buys me something really sweet and I buy no physical objects for him. I feel like I'm a cheapskate, or worse yet, I do not care for him as much as he cares for me. So off to the bleeding mall it is.) Also it will be a trip with friends, so I have more than just a buy stuff goal in mind.
BTW I'm sick now. Which really sucks. Hard. Considering I want to see my boyfriend Chris next weekend, and I don't want to pass on whatever the hell it is I have onto him. Not to mention the debate tournament in less than a month, I hope it is not a long term illness. *gulp* ow. My throat...
Ta ta for now.
Current mood: sore throat blues mixed with weekend happies
Current music: Beatle's Red Album (w00t 40 years today they landed in the US)
Sunday, February 01, 2004
I don't believe this. ALL OF THE POLICY DEBATE TEAM FOR CHAGRIN FALLS HIGH SCHOOL IS GOING TO STATES. This is astounding. Espceially considering 5 of those going are first-yearers.
All of Friday afternoon and night was spent at debate. All of Saturday was spent at debate. We had so much time in between the rounds that we watched Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and played PS2 games on the TV screen Barnse brought.
During rounds, things were as stressful as ever. I went two man for the very first time, and my partner was Dylan for the first time ever, and I went as 2nd neg for the first time ever. We went neg for 2 rounds friday, both of which were pretty easy. The more memorable case was one in which the affirmative team claimed that using wheels smaller than 8 inches wide for bottom trawling (going along the bottom of the sea floor with a machine with nets attached in order to catch fish) was safe, but any machines with wheels larger than 8 inches diameter was detrimental to the environment. They wanted to ban larger that 8 inch wheels and somehow hope people would comply and get rid of the big wheels and replace them with wheels smaller than 8 inches in diameter. Their case was very squirrely, it had no enforcement, and very little to no inherent barriers. Their own cards said that there was already a standard to have wheels smaller than 8 inches in diameter, meaning their plan was already in effect. Needless to say, both of the judges gave us a win on that one.
Although we had 2 boring aff rounds Saturday, we had a tiebreaker neg round afterwards. This was a very difficult round, but thanks to Brent's advice on how to beat the case they knew our opposing team would run with logic and common sense, we won. That round may very well be why we get to states. Thanks, Brent! And Barnes too!!
I wanted to forfit once on Friday, the other team was so intimidatangly experienced. Dylan just didn't care how we did. So extreme pessimism and true indifference paid off at the end! Isn't that the complete opposite of what you hear in motivational speeches? That's debate for you, I guess. Yay! Dylan rocked the house with his experience! And now we get to go to states ^_________^
And so does Anya, Kelly, Sarah, Chuck, Barnes, Knauff, Brent and Kurt.
Baulk (our unofficial retired coach and official judge) says this is the best the Chagrin debate team has ever done in the thirty two years of his participation. We want the cheerleaders to paint a sign saying 'good luck chagrin master debaters' so as we can snicker at it and feel gloaty.
This also means two pairs of sibling are going ( if you count the judges), and at least one romantic couple. This is bound to be interesting. To say the least!
*so happy*
*best week ever*
All of Friday afternoon and night was spent at debate. All of Saturday was spent at debate. We had so much time in between the rounds that we watched Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and played PS2 games on the TV screen Barnse brought.
During rounds, things were as stressful as ever. I went two man for the very first time, and my partner was Dylan for the first time ever, and I went as 2nd neg for the first time ever. We went neg for 2 rounds friday, both of which were pretty easy. The more memorable case was one in which the affirmative team claimed that using wheels smaller than 8 inches wide for bottom trawling (going along the bottom of the sea floor with a machine with nets attached in order to catch fish) was safe, but any machines with wheels larger than 8 inches diameter was detrimental to the environment. They wanted to ban larger that 8 inch wheels and somehow hope people would comply and get rid of the big wheels and replace them with wheels smaller than 8 inches in diameter. Their case was very squirrely, it had no enforcement, and very little to no inherent barriers. Their own cards said that there was already a standard to have wheels smaller than 8 inches in diameter, meaning their plan was already in effect. Needless to say, both of the judges gave us a win on that one.
Although we had 2 boring aff rounds Saturday, we had a tiebreaker neg round afterwards. This was a very difficult round, but thanks to Brent's advice on how to beat the case they knew our opposing team would run with logic and common sense, we won. That round may very well be why we get to states. Thanks, Brent! And Barnes too!!
I wanted to forfit once on Friday, the other team was so intimidatangly experienced. Dylan just didn't care how we did. So extreme pessimism and true indifference paid off at the end! Isn't that the complete opposite of what you hear in motivational speeches? That's debate for you, I guess. Yay! Dylan rocked the house with his experience! And now we get to go to states ^_________^
And so does Anya, Kelly, Sarah, Chuck, Barnes, Knauff, Brent and Kurt.
Baulk (our unofficial retired coach and official judge) says this is the best the Chagrin debate team has ever done in the thirty two years of his participation. We want the cheerleaders to paint a sign saying 'good luck chagrin master debaters' so as we can snicker at it and feel gloaty.
This also means two pairs of sibling are going ( if you count the judges), and at least one romantic couple. This is bound to be interesting. To say the least!
*so happy*
*best week ever*
