Cosmic Ballet

So what do you get when the Earth travels through the debris trail of the Tempel-Tuttle comet? A light show of cosmic proportions! Last night was the prime time to watch this year's Leonid meteor shower, and I didn't let the freezing weather stop me from enjoying the show. I guess I should consider myself fortunate that I don't live in a big city (some say I live out in the boonies), and coupled with the fact that my development banned street lights, the perks of no light pollution became apparent.

I dunno why, but the stars seemed to shine extra bright last night. I couldn't help but mentally recite the conversation between Simba, Timon, and Pumbaa about whether or not I was looking at dead kings of the past, fireflies, or burning balls of gas. And as I stood outside, bundled up in sweats, with my head cocked back at a 90 degree angle, it dawned on my just how tiny we really are in comparison to the universe. Everything seemed so far away and disconnected. It was a very humbling and lonely feeling, that is, until the cosmic ballet intervened.

I was on the phone scanning the dark sky when all of a sudden there was a big bright streak across the sky. Perhaps it was because I was alone in my backyard but I started thinking that I was the only one who witnessed that meteoroid at that very moment. But as I'm sure you've figured out by now, I wasn't. Our excitement was apparent over the phone. I think it's pretty cool when two people witness the same shooting star at the same time, from two very different locations, only to have the same shared sentiment of pure and utter amazement. The moment made me smile because I knew that somewhere out there, we were wishing on the same bright star.

LHC

I'm sure most of you know or at least have heard a teeny bit about the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) by now. But for those of you who have not, the LHC is a ginormous particle accelerator created to test high energy physics and try to prove the existence of the Higgs boson. What a boson is, I have no idea, nor do I know who Higgs is. All I know is that the LHC is the supposed Doomsday device that will bring forth the end of the world as we know it.

Conspiracy theorists say that the LHC will create mini black holes that will implode the Earth, or that we'll stumble upon antimatter and things will simply be obliterated in a burst of high energy gamma rays. Sounds cool right? One minute you're sitting on the couch and the next minute you're staring face to antiface with the antiyou that is antisitting on the anticouch. And the instance you two touch, you both vanish and everything around you becomes doused in gamma rays (not to mention that everything will most likely turn lovely shades of green ala Bruce Banner).

But what's holding back our Hulk-like rampages? The fact that the stupid machine keeps breaking down. First it was a violent failure in the circuitry connections which lead to a liquid helium leak. And now it's a freakin bread crumb dropped by a bird leading to overheating in the superconducting magnets. Epic FAIL. How the hell does something like this happen? Yes I know the machine is super complex, but come on. If I were building a machine that costs several billion dollars, I'd make sure it had some sort of screen to protect it's vital parts from falling bread crumbs.

Despite its apparent vulnerability to pastries, the LHC is scheduled to start up again in a couple of weeks. Or is it? Some say that the recent hiccups that the LHC has endured isn't simply a case of bad luck, but rather a divine intervention. Could it be that the LHC is being sabotaged by its own future? Could the Higgs boson be so catastrophic to mankind, nay, the very fabric of space and time that something/someone is actively trying to prevent us from unleashing said catastrophe? Is there some divine presence denying us the knowledge of the beginnings of our universe, much like God denied Adam and Eve the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge? Apparently the LHC is 17-mile long serpent and the Higgs boson is the forbidden fruit. I believe Dr. Ian Malcolm said it best, "Scientists are so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think whether or not they should." Someone should have mentioned that to the creators of this. Whiskey. Tango. Foxtrot.

Casualty of War

I have a feeling that this will be worse than Bejeweled Blitz. So long productivity and/or social life!

NaNoFAILMo

I have given up on trying to write a 50K word novel in only a month. Who am I kidding, I'm not even motivated enough to blog about random things - let alone write a novel from scratch. Despite the quantity over quality nature of the challenge and the slogan of "No Plot? No Problem!" - I am a mild perfectionist at heart and will constantly edit and re-edit my work while it is still in progress. Case in point: within 5 minutes of starting this post, I've already started editing sentences and checking the fluidity. Damn. This is why I'd never make it to fifty thousand words. Shit, I didn't even make it to 100 words. But I promised y'all I'd keep you in the loop of my novel endeavors, so without further ado, the first 95 words of my failed novel. Enjoy!

Aeschylus once said, "In war, truth is the first casualty." I'll bet he's damned proud to know that after 4000 years, he's still right. The histories will declare that this war is the War of all wars; how easily they forgot all the other "war of all wars" that we've endured. To some, war is the single greatest human invention, one that is simultaneously the source of our greatest advancements - and our greatest declines. To me, war is just another paycheck waiting to be cashed. My name is Kathryn Tegav, and this is my story.

Forgotten things

So here are some things that I wanted to post previously, but never got around to it. And unfortunately, now they're a bit dated, so I'll keep my views brief.

Balloon boy

Okay seriously, what the hell is wrong with the world today. Who in their right mind would even think to suggest a balloon hoax that involves their 6 year old child? Teaching your kids to lie in an attempt to have your 15 minutes of fame is shameful. I feel sorry for the kid, and the craptastic amount of time he’ll no doubt have to spend in therapy.

Recycle your plastic

***** WARNING – Disturbing photos ahead! *****

I saw this random photo blog one day and was completely taken aback. If you click on the gallery “Midway – Message from the Gyre” you’ll see what I’m talking about. In a nutshell, all the plastic garbage in the Pacific gets concentrated in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. The pictures were taken on the Midway atoll and birds that nest on the Midway islands end up ingesting the floating plastic and feeding it to their young. The birds end up dying and the plastic that they ate remain in their dead carcasses. It’s a disturbing picture of how man’s influence on life and death can reach out thousands of miles away. If you weren’t into recycling before, perhaps after these photos, you’ll think twice before throwing away any more plastic.

NaNoWriMo Challenge?

November is here and for some, it's synonymous with the National Novel Writing Month challenge. The challenge is simple (in the not-so-simple kind of way) in that amateur writers attempt to write a 50,000 word novel in one month. I've grown a bit fond of blog challenges - but this is definitely a daunting task. In order to meet this goal, I'd have to write ~1,667 words/day, which would be fine if I didn't have a little thing called work to keep most of my time occupied. But challenges are called challenges for a reason, and I'll do my best. I'm going to try and work off an old science fiction plot line I had thought about when I was in high school, and will do my best to update this blog with my progression. Hell, maybe I'll even write my novel here for everyone to enjoy. All 2 of you loyal readers =P