Short post today explaining the situation over the past, present and future....
Anathema: Mine, completely mine. That's why I haven't been posting regularly over November, even though I have about five half-ideas.
Homework: Why today's post is only short. Philosophy presentation tomorrow, Italian presentation Thursday, and Music assignment due Friday. And we're meant to be slowing down?
Reimaging: Why I won't be posting over the next month-and-a-bit. I have to hand my tablet in for reimaging (whatever that is), so I won't get it back until some time when we go back to school in February.
So goodbye for now, fair readers!
Tuesday, 3 December 2013
Sunday, 17 November 2013
The Swing of Things
Getting back into them, I mean.
It's hard. Exams are over, and the new school year has started for us (getting a head start on next year's curriculum). We're easing back into it all, and I've got most of my results back. I'm happy with those that I've got, but one of the two I have yet to get is Lit, and we all know how I feel about that now, don't we? Seriously, I like Lit as a subject, but I really don't like and am not great at writing essays. So I've got this buildup of fear and panic like a five metre long worm in my stomach. Errh. Depending on what I get, and whether I have the time and inclination to post, I may or may not put my result up. Maybe. Or maybe I won't. The suspense!
Ahhh. The house situation is going pretty well, actually. We haven't moved in yet (cue: Awwww), but the floor guy has been, the plasterer is done as well and the door guy has finished too. The painter is half done and we still need the tiler to come in, but apart from that...
Hopefully, we should be moving in around mid-December, if not a little sooner. I'll let you know (probably with a lot of exclamation marks) when we move.
I don't know what else to say, really. There's not much else of interest going on in my life at the moment (which explains why it's taken me about two hours to write this - I can't think of anything interesting to say). But rest assured, I shall inform you if something happens.
Farewell dear readers, and I bid you adieu until the next time!
It's hard. Exams are over, and the new school year has started for us (getting a head start on next year's curriculum). We're easing back into it all, and I've got most of my results back. I'm happy with those that I've got, but one of the two I have yet to get is Lit, and we all know how I feel about that now, don't we? Seriously, I like Lit as a subject, but I really don't like and am not great at writing essays. So I've got this buildup of fear and panic like a five metre long worm in my stomach. Errh. Depending on what I get, and whether I have the time and inclination to post, I may or may not put my result up. Maybe. Or maybe I won't. The suspense!
Ahhh. The house situation is going pretty well, actually. We haven't moved in yet (cue: Awwww), but the floor guy has been, the plasterer is done as well and the door guy has finished too. The painter is half done and we still need the tiler to come in, but apart from that...
Hopefully, we should be moving in around mid-December, if not a little sooner. I'll let you know (probably with a lot of exclamation marks) when we move.
I don't know what else to say, really. There's not much else of interest going on in my life at the moment (which explains why it's taken me about two hours to write this - I can't think of anything interesting to say). But rest assured, I shall inform you if something happens.
Farewell dear readers, and I bid you adieu until the next time!
Monday, 4 November 2013
Apologies Inc.
And here I go with the apology post I've been meaning to put up for a while...
Right, O readers, I haven't forgotten about my blog, promise. And I'll keep updating on a (fairly) regular time frame of, ooh, once a week? More if I have more news. Also promise. But just lately, I've been having exams and stuff, and my personal life has been eaten by exammyness. I'll get back into my semiregular posting after exams have finished (for me, end of this week).
Noooo no no no no, I don't want to talk about it. I can't think about exams after I've done them, because then I get really really stressed. I'm halfway through, though, which is good. I'm really looking forward to finishing.
Aaaand hopefully so are you, dear readers, because you can have more meaningless updates on the happenings of my life!
Write it in your diaries, for this weekend I returneth to the blogosphere!
Right, O readers, I haven't forgotten about my blog, promise. And I'll keep updating on a (fairly) regular time frame of, ooh, once a week? More if I have more news. Also promise. But just lately, I've been having exams and stuff, and my personal life has been eaten by exammyness. I'll get back into my semiregular posting after exams have finished (for me, end of this week).
Noooo no no no no, I don't want to talk about it. I can't think about exams after I've done them, because then I get really really stressed. I'm halfway through, though, which is good. I'm really looking forward to finishing.
Aaaand hopefully so are you, dear readers, because you can have more meaningless updates on the happenings of my life!
Write it in your diaries, for this weekend I returneth to the blogosphere!
Thursday, 3 October 2013
And then there's me, making noises like a ferret
...Referring to my soccer semi and grand final.
The Sunday we were due to have our soccer semifinal was wet and miserable. And of course, the pitch that we were playing at, because it had to be unrelated to either team, was a 45 minute drive away.
When we got there, it was bucketing down with rain. My team started warming up, in the rain, and we walked over to look at the pitch we'd be playing at. And because Football West is such a sexist organisation, all the boys teams got the good pitches while we were left with only one pitch that was so waterlogged that the water could be brushed off the pitch with a broom, as I saw some people doing. Seriously, the grass went squish as we walked on it.
We weren't allowed to play, of course. Everyone said that if we played on that pitch someone would slip and break something, or get a foot stuck in the mud and twist an ankle. In fact, we heard that one of the people on the team that *did* play on that pitch afterwards had to be stretchered off, so it was lucky we didn't play.
90 minutes of driving for nothing. The game was postponed to later in the week.
Thursday night was the time of the actual game, again out in Yonder Bognie, but my goodness, the pitch was amazing. It was professional quality. There was even a grandstand for the spectators. (And a fence surrounding the pitch which I got stuck on climbing over it, but let's not go there...)
And wow was it intense! That's the only word for it. Nil-all until half-time, and there were some great tries from both teams, and some truly spectacular saves from our goalie. It was only halfway into the second half when we got a goal, and there was much relieved screaming and hugging etc. from the people (including me) on the sidelines. Talk about a release of tension!
The final score was 1-0 to us.
And that's when the ferret noise comes in.
I was off for a bit before and after half-time, and it was that intense - if something happened that might have let the opposition get a goal, or if we missed a shot or something, I was really really trying not to swear, and so making like "fufufufufufufufufufufufu" - which is the noise made by an angry ferret. Everyone else is screaming - I'm going "fufufufufufufufufufufufufu". Like a ferret.
It is also the noise made by a tiger, I think, but really, in my case I think a ferret is more appropriate.
And so we got into the grand final. Another rainy day, as always. The same girl who got the goal in our semi got a goal in the first couple of minutes of the game. We then spent the rest of the first half and most of the second trying to get another - when the other team scored. Mass panic - it might have had to go penalties, which noone wanted. But I reckon the minute after that (it was an insanely short time, in any case) we got a goal - and not just a goal. Our girl got it in from a header!
Best goal of the season, I think. Nobody I know has ever got a header goal before.
2-1 to us. WE WON!
We got medals and a trophy. Yeah!
So, 'til the next season! It's going to be great!
The Sunday we were due to have our soccer semifinal was wet and miserable. And of course, the pitch that we were playing at, because it had to be unrelated to either team, was a 45 minute drive away.
When we got there, it was bucketing down with rain. My team started warming up, in the rain, and we walked over to look at the pitch we'd be playing at. And because Football West is such a sexist organisation, all the boys teams got the good pitches while we were left with only one pitch that was so waterlogged that the water could be brushed off the pitch with a broom, as I saw some people doing. Seriously, the grass went squish as we walked on it.
We weren't allowed to play, of course. Everyone said that if we played on that pitch someone would slip and break something, or get a foot stuck in the mud and twist an ankle. In fact, we heard that one of the people on the team that *did* play on that pitch afterwards had to be stretchered off, so it was lucky we didn't play.
90 minutes of driving for nothing. The game was postponed to later in the week.
Thursday night was the time of the actual game, again out in Yonder Bognie, but my goodness, the pitch was amazing. It was professional quality. There was even a grandstand for the spectators. (And a fence surrounding the pitch which I got stuck on climbing over it, but let's not go there...)
And wow was it intense! That's the only word for it. Nil-all until half-time, and there were some great tries from both teams, and some truly spectacular saves from our goalie. It was only halfway into the second half when we got a goal, and there was much relieved screaming and hugging etc. from the people (including me) on the sidelines. Talk about a release of tension!
The final score was 1-0 to us.
And that's when the ferret noise comes in.
I was off for a bit before and after half-time, and it was that intense - if something happened that might have let the opposition get a goal, or if we missed a shot or something, I was really really trying not to swear, and so making like "fufufufufufufufufufufufu" - which is the noise made by an angry ferret. Everyone else is screaming - I'm going "fufufufufufufufufufufufufu". Like a ferret.
It is also the noise made by a tiger, I think, but really, in my case I think a ferret is more appropriate.
And so we got into the grand final. Another rainy day, as always. The same girl who got the goal in our semi got a goal in the first couple of minutes of the game. We then spent the rest of the first half and most of the second trying to get another - when the other team scored. Mass panic - it might have had to go penalties, which noone wanted. But I reckon the minute after that (it was an insanely short time, in any case) we got a goal - and not just a goal. Our girl got it in from a header!
Best goal of the season, I think. Nobody I know has ever got a header goal before.
2-1 to us. WE WON!
We got medals and a trophy. Yeah!
So, 'til the next season! It's going to be great!
Monday, 23 September 2013
Friends
Looking through some old posts, I have found that it's quite awkward and unwieldy to keep using "my friend", "my other friend" and other such terms when recounting tales in which they feature. However, I can't use their names without getting red-flagged by my paranoia.
The only solution: codenames.
In no particular order, my friends now are:
Fuzzy, Gingernut, Fangirl, Slytherin, Techie, Ostrich, Alien, Lily and Median.
These are just my main friends in my year.
If you guys think you know who you are, please *don't* put anything on here, because - because paranoid. Please please please talk to me in real life. Thanks!
That's all for tonight - I have Literature to study for.
(Note: Lit essay was compromised by the teachers' strike; therefore it is tomorrow. Oh joy. But I did have extra time to study, so.... Fingers crossed, anyway.)
Farewell, dear readers, until we meet again!
The only solution: codenames.
In no particular order, my friends now are:
Fuzzy, Gingernut, Fangirl, Slytherin, Techie, Ostrich, Alien, Lily and Median.
These are just my main friends in my year.
If you guys think you know who you are, please *don't* put anything on here, because - because paranoid. Please please please talk to me in real life. Thanks!
That's all for tonight - I have Literature to study for.
(Note: Lit essay was compromised by the teachers' strike; therefore it is tomorrow. Oh joy. But I did have extra time to study, so.... Fingers crossed, anyway.)
Farewell, dear readers, until we meet again!
Tuesday, 17 September 2013
Chemystery and the Colin crisis
A couple of things today, one from my Chemistry lesson (again! Though on my part, not that of my teachers) and one from life in general.
I had a classic "what the-?" moment in Chemistry today. We were doing a practical today - reactions with acids, so acid-base, acid-carbonate, acid-metal oxide reactions and the like. When it came to the acid-metal oxide part, I had to add hydrochloric acid to copper (II) oxide. The data sheet tells me that "when the black solid is added to the colourless solution, the solid dissolves and the solution turns blue". But did this happen? Nooooo.
What actually happened was that the copper oxide was rusty red (suspect some contamination here), and a chalky grey-white precipitate formed, settling under a *green* solution. That's right, a green one. What?
I took it up to my teacher to ask what the hell was going on, and she had a look, gave it a shake, agitated the precipitate, gave it back to me and, by the time I'd walked back to my bench, the solution had turned blue like it was meant to. Whaaat?
This was a complete chemystery. I suspect there was some contamination of the copper oxide with iron oxide (that's rusty red and produces a green solution), but I have no idea what caused the precipitation reaction. My teacher suspects it is the lab techs taking the piss...
I'll keep you posted if I find out what was going on!
The second thing is that there will be a teacher strike on Thursday morning. From 8.30 to 11.30, most, if not all, of the teachers at the school (and at every other state school, I think) are going on strike to protest about the cuts that are being made to the education department by His Nibs the Premier, the titular Colin (of course, my paranoia prevents me from saying his last name, though you probably could work it out). Honestly, His Nibs is so damn tight that I reckon if you stuck a piece of coal up his backside, in a matter of weeks, if not days, you'd get a diamond. He is also an arrogant, condescending pig of a man with a face the colour of raspberry ripple icecream and tiny little teeth that are the wrong size for his face.
Ahem.
But the strike is going ahead and, as such, we all get the morning off, huzzah huzzah. We can go to school if we must, but there won't be any classes and we'll just have private study in the library. I think I'll stay home and privately study there, to be honest. Unfortunately, my Lit essay isn't compromised by the strike - it's in the period from 11.25 to 12.45, of course. Oh well. I know what I'll be spending my Thursday morning doing!
That's all for tonight, fair readers. Au revoir!
I had a classic "what the-?" moment in Chemistry today. We were doing a practical today - reactions with acids, so acid-base, acid-carbonate, acid-metal oxide reactions and the like. When it came to the acid-metal oxide part, I had to add hydrochloric acid to copper (II) oxide. The data sheet tells me that "when the black solid is added to the colourless solution, the solid dissolves and the solution turns blue". But did this happen? Nooooo.
What actually happened was that the copper oxide was rusty red (suspect some contamination here), and a chalky grey-white precipitate formed, settling under a *green* solution. That's right, a green one. What?
I took it up to my teacher to ask what the hell was going on, and she had a look, gave it a shake, agitated the precipitate, gave it back to me and, by the time I'd walked back to my bench, the solution had turned blue like it was meant to. Whaaat?
This was a complete chemystery. I suspect there was some contamination of the copper oxide with iron oxide (that's rusty red and produces a green solution), but I have no idea what caused the precipitation reaction. My teacher suspects it is the lab techs taking the piss...
I'll keep you posted if I find out what was going on!
The second thing is that there will be a teacher strike on Thursday morning. From 8.30 to 11.30, most, if not all, of the teachers at the school (and at every other state school, I think) are going on strike to protest about the cuts that are being made to the education department by His Nibs the Premier, the titular Colin (of course, my paranoia prevents me from saying his last name, though you probably could work it out). Honestly, His Nibs is so damn tight that I reckon if you stuck a piece of coal up his backside, in a matter of weeks, if not days, you'd get a diamond. He is also an arrogant, condescending pig of a man with a face the colour of raspberry ripple icecream and tiny little teeth that are the wrong size for his face.
Ahem.
But the strike is going ahead and, as such, we all get the morning off, huzzah huzzah. We can go to school if we must, but there won't be any classes and we'll just have private study in the library. I think I'll stay home and privately study there, to be honest. Unfortunately, my Lit essay isn't compromised by the strike - it's in the period from 11.25 to 12.45, of course. Oh well. I know what I'll be spending my Thursday morning doing!
That's all for tonight, fair readers. Au revoir!
Friday, 13 September 2013
More Chemistry shenanigans
I've just realised that a fair percentage of posts on this blog have to do with Chemistry. It's a great subject, but it's not my life - it's my teachers who are all wonderful blog-fodder (a wonderful word). And in saying that, I have another fantastic few stories from my Chemistry lesson today.
Number the firstestmostest. We got the results of the practical tests that we did the week before. Mine was pretty good, except for a stupid mistake in an ionic equation that got me two (!) marks off, but overall there were some VERY common errors, again in the ionic equations section, that really shouldn't have been made. Writing "bubbles" in the observations instead of "a colourless, odourless gas" was far too common, even after my teacher drumming it into our skulls from day one. She was getting rather steamed up because of this. Also, quite a few people were obviously not checking their data sheets, because she was getting annoyed at people who didn't write the correct colour of precipitates, and the like.
She was very irritated with us.
"We'll try and trick you with the observations," she was saying. "You have to check your data sheet, because something will be coloured, or something will be different to what you are expecting. We will try and trick you!" Getting more heated, climaxing with: "We don't WANT you to succeed!"
Unbeknownst to her, a tour group with a whole lot of potential newbies was passing by just in time to hear her say, loudly, "We don't WANT you to succeed!" Oops.
Someone told her this a few minutes later. In her words, she told me she's now "up shit creek", but I know nothing more. I'll have to report back if there is any more news. But we were all cracking up, and I told her that that was definitely going on the blog (i.e. here). I'll probably send her the link to this.
The secondestmostest point. My Chemistry teacher has a number of classes in the lower years (just for general science), and was marking the topic test for one of these classes after she finished going off at us. The test was on human biology, by the sounds of things, and the extended answer question, for 10 marks, was: Adam ate a cheeseburger. Explain how the three essential nutrients, protein, carbohydrates and lipids get to Adam's circulatory system via his digestive system. The kid wrote:
Adam eats the cheeseburger. The proteins are digested and give him the amino acids that his body cannot produce. These go to his thighs, because his legs need to support and move his big body around.
The thing on carbohydrates was nothing memorable. On lipids, however, the kid wrote:
The lipids Adam eats are used for insulation. Adam needs this insulation, as he used his mother's money to pay for the cheeseburger, so it is very likely that he will be sleeping outside tonight.
I can't believe the kid wrote this! He was obviously deadly serious, which is the sad thing...
He finished his test with "Tags: osmosis, diffusion". My teacher then wrote #wrong.
The kid ended up getting 1 mark out of 10 for this extended response (he got a single thing right). Wow.
The lastestmostest point. I was doing a worksheet on ionic equations yesterday (prompted no doubt by what we didn't do in the practical), and finished said worksheet in today's lesson. One question was "write the species involved, ionic equation and observations when solutions of hydrochloric and acetic acid are mixed". The answer, for all you interested parties, as I got it, was H+, Cl-, and CH3COO- (Google blogs has no superscript, so I can't put the charges correctly). The guy behind me then put up his hand, and asked the teacher for help. When my teacher came over to work it out with him, I heard him say midway through the discussion "Is acetic acid an acid or a base?"
Oh my.
My friend and I looked at each other with identical 'is this guy for real?' expressions on our faces. Doesn't the 'acid' bit in 'acetic acid' kinda sorta give it away?
We'll see how he does in the next test (ironically, on acids and bases). This is the same guy who famously misspelt his last name, Ng, as Mg on one of his previous Chemistry tests, and when the teacher picked him up on it (read: teased him in front of the class - we were all laughing, including him), even more famously retorted "Well, at least I know what mercury is!"
Dear me.
Well, that's all for tonight, methinks. This, again, was meant to be posted last night, but I'm glad I didn't as I got the chance to put that last story in.
I'll try and put some more stories from my other subjects up soon!
Number the firstestmostest. We got the results of the practical tests that we did the week before. Mine was pretty good, except for a stupid mistake in an ionic equation that got me two (!) marks off, but overall there were some VERY common errors, again in the ionic equations section, that really shouldn't have been made. Writing "bubbles" in the observations instead of "a colourless, odourless gas" was far too common, even after my teacher drumming it into our skulls from day one. She was getting rather steamed up because of this. Also, quite a few people were obviously not checking their data sheets, because she was getting annoyed at people who didn't write the correct colour of precipitates, and the like.
She was very irritated with us.
"We'll try and trick you with the observations," she was saying. "You have to check your data sheet, because something will be coloured, or something will be different to what you are expecting. We will try and trick you!" Getting more heated, climaxing with: "We don't WANT you to succeed!"
Unbeknownst to her, a tour group with a whole lot of potential newbies was passing by just in time to hear her say, loudly, "We don't WANT you to succeed!" Oops.
Someone told her this a few minutes later. In her words, she told me she's now "up shit creek", but I know nothing more. I'll have to report back if there is any more news. But we were all cracking up, and I told her that that was definitely going on the blog (i.e. here). I'll probably send her the link to this.
The secondestmostest point. My Chemistry teacher has a number of classes in the lower years (just for general science), and was marking the topic test for one of these classes after she finished going off at us. The test was on human biology, by the sounds of things, and the extended answer question, for 10 marks, was: Adam ate a cheeseburger. Explain how the three essential nutrients, protein, carbohydrates and lipids get to Adam's circulatory system via his digestive system. The kid wrote:
Adam eats the cheeseburger. The proteins are digested and give him the amino acids that his body cannot produce. These go to his thighs, because his legs need to support and move his big body around.
The thing on carbohydrates was nothing memorable. On lipids, however, the kid wrote:
The lipids Adam eats are used for insulation. Adam needs this insulation, as he used his mother's money to pay for the cheeseburger, so it is very likely that he will be sleeping outside tonight.
I can't believe the kid wrote this! He was obviously deadly serious, which is the sad thing...
He finished his test with "Tags: osmosis, diffusion". My teacher then wrote #wrong.
The kid ended up getting 1 mark out of 10 for this extended response (he got a single thing right). Wow.
The lastestmostest point. I was doing a worksheet on ionic equations yesterday (prompted no doubt by what we didn't do in the practical), and finished said worksheet in today's lesson. One question was "write the species involved, ionic equation and observations when solutions of hydrochloric and acetic acid are mixed". The answer, for all you interested parties, as I got it, was H+, Cl-, and CH3COO- (Google blogs has no superscript, so I can't put the charges correctly). The guy behind me then put up his hand, and asked the teacher for help. When my teacher came over to work it out with him, I heard him say midway through the discussion "Is acetic acid an acid or a base?"
Oh my.
My friend and I looked at each other with identical 'is this guy for real?' expressions on our faces. Doesn't the 'acid' bit in 'acetic acid' kinda sorta give it away?
We'll see how he does in the next test (ironically, on acids and bases). This is the same guy who famously misspelt his last name, Ng, as Mg on one of his previous Chemistry tests, and when the teacher picked him up on it (read: teased him in front of the class - we were all laughing, including him), even more famously retorted "Well, at least I know what mercury is!"
Dear me.
Well, that's all for tonight, methinks. This, again, was meant to be posted last night, but I'm glad I didn't as I got the chance to put that last story in.
I'll try and put some more stories from my other subjects up soon!
Thursday, 12 September 2013
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
WE HAVE THE KEYS WE HAVE THE KEYS WE HAVE THE KEYS WE HAVE THE KEYS WE HAVE THE KEYS WE HAVE THE KEYS WE HAVE THE KEYS WE HAVE THE KEYS WE HAVE THE KEYS WE HAVE THE KEYS WE HAVE THE KEYS WE HAVE THE KEYS WE HAVE THE KEYS WE HAVE THE KEYS WE HAVE THE KEYS WE HAVE THE KEYS WE HAVE THE KEYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(Here are the details: http://themelancholyofpetrichor.blogspot.com.au/2013/08/news-with-capital-n-sort-of-news.html)
(It's to do with the house - we officially own it!)
(The euphoria is still here!)
(I won't be able to get the grin off my face for a week!)
WE HAVE THE KEYS WE HAVE THE KEYS WE HAVE THE KEYS WE HAVE THE KEYS WE HAVE THE KEYS WE HAVE THE KEYS WE HAVE THE KEYS WE HAVE THE KEYS WE HAVE THE KEYS WE HAVE THE KEYS WE HAVE THE KEYS WE HAVE THE KEYS WE HAVE THE KEYS WE HAVE THE KEYS WE HAVE THE KEYS WE HAVE THE KEYS WE HAVE THE KEYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(Here are the details: http://themelancholyofpetrichor.blogspot.com.au/2013/08/news-with-capital-n-sort-of-news.html)
(It's to do with the house - we officially own it!)
(The euphoria is still here!)
(I won't be able to get the grin off my face for a week!)
When I'm old...
...If I can't retain all my faculties, I'm going to be as senile an old bat as ever you'll see. I'll have fun, and at least I'll afford the people around me some amusement.
Last night, I went out to a Thai restaurant with my family, and we were sitting at a table next to three old chooks and a bloke (ladies and a man to be more formal, but this is my personal blog, so...), and the women were talking constantly. The poor old fella couldn't get a word in edgeways - I don't think 'henpecked' is the right word, but it came close.
There are different classes of old people, I think. You have your 'nice grandparental old person', your 'razor-sharp wise old person' and, the best fun to listen to, the 'gossipy, ripping into others' type old person.
The lot on the table next to us were of the third kind. Hoo yes.
They were discussing politics, and getting stuck into Party 1's leader and Party 2's leader, our current PM, until one of them says "Actually, you know who I voted for?" and lowers her voice like she's telling some dirty secret. "Palmer," she says.
To give the uninitiated a bit of news, Palmer, first name Clive, apart from being the man who runs our canteen, is a billionaire eccentric whose party, the Palmer United Party, ran for parliament in the federal election. Eccentric is the crucial word. Some of his great theories and ideas include:
Building a replica of the Titanic, down to the last little detail
Making a theme park with animatronic dinosaurs, like Jurassic Park
Accusing Rupert Murdoch's estranged wife, Wendi Deng, of being a Chinese spy
Thinking Greenpeace is sent by the CIA to shut down our nation's coal mining sector.
In my opinion, he has too much money and not enough things to do. But that's just me.
He seems the perfect candidate for the old folks on that table.
They were great teatime entertainment. My family and I almost didn't talk to each other, busy as we were eavesdropping and trying to stifle laughter. If you are reading this, Dot, Marlene, Trish (I think) and Unmentioned Old Guy, thank you very much for the amazing conversations you had and your wonderful division skills. You gave us a lot of entertainment, and I aspire to be like you when I am your age.
(Meant to post this last night, so I think I'll double post tonight because of exciting news!)
Last night, I went out to a Thai restaurant with my family, and we were sitting at a table next to three old chooks and a bloke (ladies and a man to be more formal, but this is my personal blog, so...), and the women were talking constantly. The poor old fella couldn't get a word in edgeways - I don't think 'henpecked' is the right word, but it came close.
There are different classes of old people, I think. You have your 'nice grandparental old person', your 'razor-sharp wise old person' and, the best fun to listen to, the 'gossipy, ripping into others' type old person.
The lot on the table next to us were of the third kind. Hoo yes.
They were discussing politics, and getting stuck into Party 1's leader and Party 2's leader, our current PM, until one of them says "Actually, you know who I voted for?" and lowers her voice like she's telling some dirty secret. "Palmer," she says.
To give the uninitiated a bit of news, Palmer, first name Clive, apart from being the man who runs our canteen, is a billionaire eccentric whose party, the Palmer United Party, ran for parliament in the federal election. Eccentric is the crucial word. Some of his great theories and ideas include:
Building a replica of the Titanic, down to the last little detail
Making a theme park with animatronic dinosaurs, like Jurassic Park
Accusing Rupert Murdoch's estranged wife, Wendi Deng, of being a Chinese spy
Thinking Greenpeace is sent by the CIA to shut down our nation's coal mining sector.
In my opinion, he has too much money and not enough things to do. But that's just me.
He seems the perfect candidate for the old folks on that table.
They were great teatime entertainment. My family and I almost didn't talk to each other, busy as we were eavesdropping and trying to stifle laughter. If you are reading this, Dot, Marlene, Trish (I think) and Unmentioned Old Guy, thank you very much for the amazing conversations you had and your wonderful division skills. You gave us a lot of entertainment, and I aspire to be like you when I am your age.
(Meant to post this last night, so I think I'll double post tonight because of exciting news!)
Tuesday, 10 September 2013
They're all scumbags, really
Politicians, I mean. We had the federal election last weekend, and it was a really tough call who to vote for. Not because the parties were both good, I mean, but because they are both amazingly screwed up. It's meant to be between right and left wingers, but it really ended up between right and righter. Liberals, Tories, Democrats - different words for the same lot of people and political ideas, and now the people who are meant to be on the left are migrating over to be more conservative.
I'll give you a quick run down on the two major parties we had to choose from:
Party One
Backstabbers and traitors. Have been through multiple leaders over the past few years. Used to be liberal, but are now rather conservative.
Party Two
Extremely negative. Stop the boats, stop the taxes, stop the anything you care to name, really. Wholly and solely conservative from the beginning.
Party Two won.
Thank God the Senate is shaping up to be more interesting, with members for the Palmer United Party (led by an eccentric billionaire with a taste for conspiracy theories), the Motoring Enthusiasts Party, the Sport Party, and, while running, I don't think they got in, but the HEMP Party (Help End Marijuana Prohibition Party) and the No Greens Party (staunchly opposing, I think, the Greens party, who did indeed get in).
God help us all. We're in for another three years of truly awful government.
Thankyou all for bearing with me while I rant.
Fare-thee-well!
I'll give you a quick run down on the two major parties we had to choose from:
Party One
Backstabbers and traitors. Have been through multiple leaders over the past few years. Used to be liberal, but are now rather conservative.
Party Two
Extremely negative. Stop the boats, stop the taxes, stop the anything you care to name, really. Wholly and solely conservative from the beginning.
Party Two won.
Thank God the Senate is shaping up to be more interesting, with members for the Palmer United Party (led by an eccentric billionaire with a taste for conspiracy theories), the Motoring Enthusiasts Party, the Sport Party, and, while running, I don't think they got in, but the HEMP Party (Help End Marijuana Prohibition Party) and the No Greens Party (staunchly opposing, I think, the Greens party, who did indeed get in).
God help us all. We're in for another three years of truly awful government.
Thankyou all for bearing with me while I rant.
Fare-thee-well!
Readers? Holy [censored]!
Things to say today:
First of all. I have readers? I track pageviews (who doesn't?) and I have found that people in the US read my blog...
Hi, Americanians! I hope you like my blog!
But yeah, if anyone out there does read my blog, please leave a comment. I am a desperate, angsty person. I like to know I'm somewhat appreciated.
Secondmostestly. I self-censor. Really really. I cuss like a sailor in the privacy of my own head. For example, I had Tim Minchin's The Pope Song stuck in my head this evening (on loop, no less), but when it comes to swearing, I just... don't. I don't know why.
Fun things to know about me, I guess.
That is all for this post. I think in about a minute I'll put up a post complaining about politics, but I don't want to sully this post.
Goodnight all, and 'til the next time!
First of all. I have readers? I track pageviews (who doesn't?) and I have found that people in the US read my blog...
Hi, Americanians! I hope you like my blog!
But yeah, if anyone out there does read my blog, please leave a comment. I am a desperate, angsty person. I like to know I'm somewhat appreciated.
Secondmostestly. I self-censor. Really really. I cuss like a sailor in the privacy of my own head. For example, I had Tim Minchin's The Pope Song stuck in my head this evening (on loop, no less), but when it comes to swearing, I just... don't. I don't know why.
Fun things to know about me, I guess.
That is all for this post. I think in about a minute I'll put up a post complaining about politics, but I don't want to sully this post.
Goodnight all, and 'til the next time!
Sunday, 1 September 2013
Sprung
In that spring has, for all us Southern-hemisphereans. I can't think of any suitable puns for autumn, however, so you Northen-hemisphereans will have to excuse my lack of creativity, I'm afraid.
I want to tell you an amazing funny story about my life. But I can't. Not today. Aforementioned lack of creativity has got in the way.
But.
There's a thing. A little thing. You may have heard of it. It's like a sausage machine sort of thing, you know, you put stuff in and you get stuff out. But it's like a magnifying glass as well. Whatever you put in, you get out a thousand times over. If you put in good stuff, your output is amazing.
This thing is small, but big. It is what you make it.
It's called life.
Make it the best thing you can, because you only get one.
I want to tell you an amazing funny story about my life. But I can't. Not today. Aforementioned lack of creativity has got in the way.
But.
There's a thing. A little thing. You may have heard of it. It's like a sausage machine sort of thing, you know, you put stuff in and you get stuff out. But it's like a magnifying glass as well. Whatever you put in, you get out a thousand times over. If you put in good stuff, your output is amazing.
This thing is small, but big. It is what you make it.
It's called life.
Make it the best thing you can, because you only get one.
Thursday, 29 August 2013
Sides have three triangles
The title of this post is from something my friend and I were looking at in Philosophy. We're looking at language, explanation and interpretation, and it's really pretty cool.
But.
The example in the textbook was that statements can be:
True - e.g. Triangles have three sides
False - e.g. Triangles have four sides
Nonsensical - e.g. Sides have three triangles
So of course my friend drew this in the margins of her workbook:
Oh yes.
That is a square, with each side having three triangles.
By the way, if you see any other posts with SH3T (sides have three triangles - changed from SHTT for obvious reasons) in the subject heading it contains the best of the quotes out of context that I have heard that day, analysed in a literary fashion. It should be... interesting.
Absurdity. It is a three-triangled way of thinking, I believe.
But.
The example in the textbook was that statements can be:
True - e.g. Triangles have three sides
False - e.g. Triangles have four sides
Nonsensical - e.g. Sides have three triangles
So of course my friend drew this in the margins of her workbook:
That is a square, with each side having three triangles.
By the way, if you see any other posts with SH3T (sides have three triangles - changed from SHTT for obvious reasons) in the subject heading it contains the best of the quotes out of context that I have heard that day, analysed in a literary fashion. It should be... interesting.
Absurdity. It is a three-triangled way of thinking, I believe.
Tuesday, 20 August 2013
The Jacaranda Tree Appreciation Society
I'm thinking of writing a collection of short stories called The Jacaranda Tree Appreciation Society. It's going to be about seven people living on the same street that meet up regularly to drink tea, share stories and appreciate the beauty of the world they live in.
The seven people are:
Laurel Gainsborough, 67
Moira Walters, 32
Daniel McCoy, 27
Jaclyn Taylor, 26
Will Hutchinson, 41
Jacob Carter, 59
Emma Morgan, 46
They each have a story to tell, and a distinct personality.
I'm trying to do this as a creative writing exercise - I'll write a short story a day and won't edit them (unless something is really bad). I might put the end products up on the blog, if you'd like. Please comment if you'd like to see my story project!
Also, I found out today that an even happened over the weekend that was enough to shatter anyone's dignity - even that of our favourite Ghostbuster. Hoo yess.
My Chemistry teacher tells me that he was going to the bank when he got bombed by a bird. It was freakin' huge, apparently - it went all over his glasses and quite a bit on his face. Eee-yergh. I don't think even the formidable reputation of the Ghostbuster can remain undented by such a blow.
And on that delightful note, I must bid you all adieu - I have tests to study for and assignments that are due. Au revoir!
The seven people are:
Laurel Gainsborough, 67
Moira Walters, 32
Daniel McCoy, 27
Jaclyn Taylor, 26
Will Hutchinson, 41
Jacob Carter, 59
Emma Morgan, 46
They each have a story to tell, and a distinct personality.
I'm trying to do this as a creative writing exercise - I'll write a short story a day and won't edit them (unless something is really bad). I might put the end products up on the blog, if you'd like. Please comment if you'd like to see my story project!
Also, I found out today that an even happened over the weekend that was enough to shatter anyone's dignity - even that of our favourite Ghostbuster. Hoo yess.
My Chemistry teacher tells me that he was going to the bank when he got bombed by a bird. It was freakin' huge, apparently - it went all over his glasses and quite a bit on his face. Eee-yergh. I don't think even the formidable reputation of the Ghostbuster can remain undented by such a blow.
And on that delightful note, I must bid you all adieu - I have tests to study for and assignments that are due. Au revoir!
Friday, 16 August 2013
Theatre of the Absurd, Hamlet and fandoms
Does anyone out there know of a play called Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, by Tom Stoppard? It is an interesting and amusing play based "in the wings of Hamlet", following two of the minor characters from Hamlet - the titular Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. They die. Sorry, was the title too much of a spoiler for you?
The play is a prime example of the Theatre of the Absurd and metatheatre, artistic movements from circa the 1960s, showing the absurdity of life through the strangeness of the plays.
It also makes my head hurt.
It is amazingly complex and confusing. The characters don't talk to one another, they talk sort of side by side about different topics. I had to analyse a speech in it, for Lit homework, and I started, feeling fine, but by the end, I had a major headache. This is a literal headache, not a metaphorical oh-I'm-so-frustrated sort of headache.
But the play itself is funny and I do like it. I think I'm just weird enough for it.
Because of this, we watched the Kenneth Branagh version of Hamlet in Lit, which brings me to my point the secondmost: the British Library internet filter wouldn't let someone access Hamlet. Wow. And when he went to query the matter at the information desk, he had to spell out "Shakespeare". Ess, Aitch, Ay, Kay etcetera. You can read his post on the matter here.
And Hamlet brings me to my point the lastestmostest: the sheer weirdness of some of the shippings and fandoms out there. For instance: Drapple. In the Harry Potter fandom, people ship the craziest things. In Prisoner of Azkaban and Half-Blood Prince (the movies - this is not book canon), there are a couple of scenes in which Draco is seen holding a Granny Smith apple. Of course, some people have pounced on the opportunity, and, logically, have shipped the two together. It's the most logical thing in the world, isn't it? To some minds it is, obviously. My friend introduced me to this ship and plugged it in to Google images (and I heartily suggest you do the same - there's no porn, trust me!) and I saw a picture that I immediately misquoth Hamlet on. If you Google images "drapple", you'll find the pic I mean. I emailed the picture to my friend with the caption: "Alas, poor apple! I knew her, Horatio". She promptly emailed me back with "Get thee to a nunnery", to which I replied "Those fandoms thou hast, and their adoption tried; Drapple them unto your soul with hoops of steel".
The ball's in her court now, and she hasn't replied for days. I therefore am pleading you, my readers, to think of some Hamlet she could paraphrase to fit this situation. If you have any ideas, please leave a comment!
As just an aside, "thou" was originally the singular of "you" (you being the plural), but because monarchs used the royal we (instead of I), they demanded the same form of address from their subjects: you, not thou. This became a form of respect, but then fell into how it is used today. How 'bout that?
Well, I must be off.
Fare thee well!
The play is a prime example of the Theatre of the Absurd and metatheatre, artistic movements from circa the 1960s, showing the absurdity of life through the strangeness of the plays.
It also makes my head hurt.
It is amazingly complex and confusing. The characters don't talk to one another, they talk sort of side by side about different topics. I had to analyse a speech in it, for Lit homework, and I started, feeling fine, but by the end, I had a major headache. This is a literal headache, not a metaphorical oh-I'm-so-frustrated sort of headache.
But the play itself is funny and I do like it. I think I'm just weird enough for it.
Because of this, we watched the Kenneth Branagh version of Hamlet in Lit, which brings me to my point the secondmost: the British Library internet filter wouldn't let someone access Hamlet. Wow. And when he went to query the matter at the information desk, he had to spell out "Shakespeare". Ess, Aitch, Ay, Kay etcetera. You can read his post on the matter here.
And Hamlet brings me to my point the lastestmostest: the sheer weirdness of some of the shippings and fandoms out there. For instance: Drapple. In the Harry Potter fandom, people ship the craziest things. In Prisoner of Azkaban and Half-Blood Prince (the movies - this is not book canon), there are a couple of scenes in which Draco is seen holding a Granny Smith apple. Of course, some people have pounced on the opportunity, and, logically, have shipped the two together. It's the most logical thing in the world, isn't it? To some minds it is, obviously. My friend introduced me to this ship and plugged it in to Google images (and I heartily suggest you do the same - there's no porn, trust me!) and I saw a picture that I immediately misquoth Hamlet on. If you Google images "drapple", you'll find the pic I mean. I emailed the picture to my friend with the caption: "Alas, poor apple! I knew her, Horatio". She promptly emailed me back with "Get thee to a nunnery", to which I replied "Those fandoms thou hast, and their adoption tried; Drapple them unto your soul with hoops of steel".
The ball's in her court now, and she hasn't replied for days. I therefore am pleading you, my readers, to think of some Hamlet she could paraphrase to fit this situation. If you have any ideas, please leave a comment!
As just an aside, "thou" was originally the singular of "you" (you being the plural), but because monarchs used the royal we (instead of I), they demanded the same form of address from their subjects: you, not thou. This became a form of respect, but then fell into how it is used today. How 'bout that?
Well, I must be off.
Fare thee well!
News-with-a-capital-N sort of News
Well, my blog has been going on longer than I thought it would. I don't think anyone reads it, but I shan't wallow in my self-pity today, because I have News!
Yes, that's right - not news, but News-with-a-capital-N sort of News!
Drumroll please...
I HAVE A HOUSE!
We've been living at my grandparents' place for a few months now after we sold our old place earlier in the year, and we are all rather desperate to get out and have our own space. We have had a house for two weeks now, and of course, when I first heard the News, I happy-danced all around the kitchen. Then I got over it.
Mostly.
Well, sort of.
Well, maybe.
Well, not at all.
It just hits me now and then that ASDIGHWIEWIH ARRHHH MY GOD WE HAVE A HOUSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I literally stop what I am doing to be happy that we actually have somewhere to live that is 100% totally completely our own. It really does warrant 14 exclamation marks (count them!).
Ahhh.
It feels so good to let the world (pffft ha ha ha - nobody reads this) know that ASDIGHWIEWIH ARRHHH MY GOD WE HAVE A HOUSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ahem.
But I really do feel so happy!
Be glad for me, too - please don't judge me. I honestly feel like a three-year-old with a new toy right now, only it's not a toy, it's a HOUSE!
I feel positively euphoric!
Sunday, 11 August 2013
"Older posts"
Posted within minutes of my last post
I have just noticed that I have posted enough posts to warrant an "older posts" link! Look! There it is, down the bottom of the page!
I'm so proud of myself! Really I am!
Oh, I never expected this. I expected to give up the blog within a week. But I didn't! And now I have an "older posts" link!
Huzzah!
That's all, methinks.
Time to sign off! Fare-thee-well!
I have just noticed that I have posted enough posts to warrant an "older posts" link! Look! There it is, down the bottom of the page!
I'm so proud of myself! Really I am!
Oh, I never expected this. I expected to give up the blog within a week. But I didn't! And now I have an "older posts" link!
Huzzah!
That's all, methinks.
Time to sign off! Fare-thee-well!
ABODA
Do I have any band geeks in readership? Do I have anyone in readership? I'll assume that I do, but I won't assume you know what the titular acronym stands for, so I'll enlighten you. (Country starting with A that I'm too paranoid about) Band and Orchestra Directors' Association.
I am a band person and an orchestra person (flute, in case anyone was interested), and the Orchestra Festival was on today. The results were up on the web within minutes of our performance (we finished the whole thing), and we got an Outstanding! (That is, the highest achievement. It's not a competition. (We tell ourselves, and compete with the other orchestras and bands for the number of Outstandings a group gets.))
Another highlight was the muck-up photo, the theme for this year being "royal baby", in honour of young Prince George. Ahhh.
We had: many, many Will and Kate masks, party hats, blow-out streamer things, IT'S A BOY banners, teddies, people being morning-sick into the tuba, and our conductor holding a baby doll. It was great. And I kept my blow-out streamer thing to annoy people with! Mwaha! But then my friend confiscated it (I was annoying him, so it was fair, I guess - and he had my flute, so we had to trade), so I couldn't continue with my plans for evil. Oh well - there's always next time!
One down, one to go. Wish me luck in the band festival next week!
I am a band person and an orchestra person (flute, in case anyone was interested), and the Orchestra Festival was on today. The results were up on the web within minutes of our performance (we finished the whole thing), and we got an Outstanding! (That is, the highest achievement. It's not a competition. (We tell ourselves, and compete with the other orchestras and bands for the number of Outstandings a group gets.))
Another highlight was the muck-up photo, the theme for this year being "royal baby", in honour of young Prince George. Ahhh.
We had: many, many Will and Kate masks, party hats, blow-out streamer things, IT'S A BOY banners, teddies, people being morning-sick into the tuba, and our conductor holding a baby doll. It was great. And I kept my blow-out streamer thing to annoy people with! Mwaha! But then my friend confiscated it (I was annoying him, so it was fair, I guess - and he had my flute, so we had to trade), so I couldn't continue with my plans for evil. Oh well - there's always next time!
One down, one to go. Wish me luck in the band festival next week!
Tuesday, 6 August 2013
Anticlimax
No ghostbuster. It was all a lie!
Well, I guess my teacher had no control over the relief teacher we had. Oh wells.
Nothing new today, so no news, as such.
Such is life.
Farewell!
Well, I guess my teacher had no control over the relief teacher we had. Oh wells.
Nothing new today, so no news, as such.
Such is life.
Farewell!
Monday, 5 August 2013
Exposition
I have written music!
50 bars of an exposition of a sonatina (using Classical techniques) for flute and piano, with
1. A slow introduction
2. A first theme
3. A bridging passage
4. A second theme
5. A short codetta
I'm so proud of myself! I was the only one in the class to have written a piano part, and let me tell you, it was *not* easy. Take it from me. Harmonisation SUCKS.
(No offence if you like harmonisation. But get off my blog, you weirdo! :) )
So that's that.
Oh, in other news, I think I'll have the Ghostbuster relief-ing for Chemistry tomorrow. I'll keep you posted!
See you anon!
Sunday, 4 August 2013
Bleh
It's weird. I don't have any tests, I've finished my essays, and I don;t have much homework, but I'm still astonishingly pressed for time. Oh well. So there's nothing really today, just some links and quotes:
Link the Firstest: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOlDewpCfZQ&list=PLB5D4364384A31264
A very, very cool video by the Axis of Awesome.
Link the Secondest: http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0001.html
The first page of a webcomic I like, the Order of the Stick. It starts slowly, but it gets really good. Read it!
Link the Thirdest: http://xkcd.com/1201/
I'm doing calculus in Maths at the moment, so I GET THIS! (If you don't, sorry, but you're really not enough of a nerd for this blog.)
And a quote to finish from one of my literary heroes, Terry Pratchett:
Build a man a fire and he'll be warm for a day.
Set a man on fire and he'll be warm for the rest of his life.
Very Pratchett, don't you agree?
Oh well. Time to sign off.
Link the Firstest: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOlDewpCfZQ&list=PLB5D4364384A31264
A very, very cool video by the Axis of Awesome.
Link the Secondest: http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0001.html
The first page of a webcomic I like, the Order of the Stick. It starts slowly, but it gets really good. Read it!
Link the Thirdest: http://xkcd.com/1201/
I'm doing calculus in Maths at the moment, so I GET THIS! (If you don't, sorry, but you're really not enough of a nerd for this blog.)
And a quote to finish from one of my literary heroes, Terry Pratchett:
Build a man a fire and he'll be warm for a day.
Set a man on fire and he'll be warm for the rest of his life.
Very Pratchett, don't you agree?
Oh well. Time to sign off.
Sunday, 28 July 2013
Ammonia
Ammonia, or NH3, to give it it's chemical formula, is a weak electrolyte and a covalent molecular compound, and I would draw an electron dot diagram save for the fact that Google Blogs does not allow me to do this.
Ah, what a nerd I am.
I have two reasons for dedicating a post to ammonia.
Reason Number the First: It STINKS. It reeks to high Heaven, truly it does. You know when you have a cold, and you go to breathe in through your clogged-up nose, and there's a weird feeling/smell thing right at the tail-end of your breath in? That's what ammonia is like. It's not a very pleasant smell, and you get it right at the end of your breath in. It is also toxic, in that if you breathe too much of it, it displaces all the air in your lungs.
Nice.
The reason I know that it reeketh is because we were housesitting for my grandparents for six weeks while they travelled all over Europe, and as we currently do not own a house, this was a great opportunity. However, on the last week of our staying there, we noticed an odd smell coming from the laundry. I thought nothing of it, save that I might have had a cold, or a blocked nose, and that's what it was. My father thought it was a problem with him, too. My mother was the one who opened the cupboard in which a bottle of cloudy ammonia, used for cleaning stains, previously was, to be hit in the face by the overpowering stench of ammonia. When I say the bottle previously was in the cupboard, I mean that it was in bottle-shaped form. Because it was SO DAMN COLD in that house over the past few weeks, the plastic bottle had shrunk, cracked, and perished, spilling ammonia everywhere. Needless to say we opened the house up, then, as we were running severely late for something we were hosting, closed it back up again, then left for the fresh air, feeling slightly headachey and out-of-breath.
The ammonia dissipated, and we're all fine, having breathed it all out and got some good clean air.
Reason Number the Second: It's very cool, in a nerdish way. It is a covalent compound that is also a weak electrolyte, a rare occurrence. This means it ionises partly when dissolved in water, making some ions and some bits remaining neutral NH3 molecules. But what ions does it make? N and H ions? That would be odd. So what does happen?
Here's the nerdishly cool bit.
It rips apart the water molecules to make NH4+ ions and OH- ions. This is the only thing I know of that actually rips apart the damn water, as opposed to itself being dissolved by the water. This is very very awesome to a chemistry nerd like myself. Because it Rips. Apart. The Water.
How cool is that?
So I think I'll wind up my monologue on ammonia. Got any ammonia tales yourself? Leave a comment! (Although I don't actually expect this to happen - no-freakin'-body gives a damn about this blog and probably never will.)
Also, the smell of ammonia is nothing at all like the scent of petrichor.
Which, by the way, was on the list of the 100 most beautiful words. Yeah. (But "melancholy" wasn't, which surprised me - I have a fondness for that word, and think it is deserving of a place.)
Anyway.
Fare thee well!
Ah, what a nerd I am.
I have two reasons for dedicating a post to ammonia.
Reason Number the First: It STINKS. It reeks to high Heaven, truly it does. You know when you have a cold, and you go to breathe in through your clogged-up nose, and there's a weird feeling/smell thing right at the tail-end of your breath in? That's what ammonia is like. It's not a very pleasant smell, and you get it right at the end of your breath in. It is also toxic, in that if you breathe too much of it, it displaces all the air in your lungs.
Nice.
The reason I know that it reeketh is because we were housesitting for my grandparents for six weeks while they travelled all over Europe, and as we currently do not own a house, this was a great opportunity. However, on the last week of our staying there, we noticed an odd smell coming from the laundry. I thought nothing of it, save that I might have had a cold, or a blocked nose, and that's what it was. My father thought it was a problem with him, too. My mother was the one who opened the cupboard in which a bottle of cloudy ammonia, used for cleaning stains, previously was, to be hit in the face by the overpowering stench of ammonia. When I say the bottle previously was in the cupboard, I mean that it was in bottle-shaped form. Because it was SO DAMN COLD in that house over the past few weeks, the plastic bottle had shrunk, cracked, and perished, spilling ammonia everywhere. Needless to say we opened the house up, then, as we were running severely late for something we were hosting, closed it back up again, then left for the fresh air, feeling slightly headachey and out-of-breath.
The ammonia dissipated, and we're all fine, having breathed it all out and got some good clean air.
Reason Number the Second: It's very cool, in a nerdish way. It is a covalent compound that is also a weak electrolyte, a rare occurrence. This means it ionises partly when dissolved in water, making some ions and some bits remaining neutral NH3 molecules. But what ions does it make? N and H ions? That would be odd. So what does happen?
Here's the nerdishly cool bit.
It rips apart the water molecules to make NH4+ ions and OH- ions. This is the only thing I know of that actually rips apart the damn water, as opposed to itself being dissolved by the water. This is very very awesome to a chemistry nerd like myself. Because it Rips. Apart. The Water.
How cool is that?
So I think I'll wind up my monologue on ammonia. Got any ammonia tales yourself? Leave a comment! (Although I don't actually expect this to happen - no-freakin'-body gives a damn about this blog and probably never will.)
Also, the smell of ammonia is nothing at all like the scent of petrichor.
Which, by the way, was on the list of the 100 most beautiful words. Yeah. (But "melancholy" wasn't, which surprised me - I have a fondness for that word, and think it is deserving of a place.)
Anyway.
Fare thee well!
Letteratura
Also known as Literature, Lit, or just Err yuck not essays again.
Honestly, it's enough to drive a sane (relatively) person bonkers (or even more so). I have an essay due on Friday about Frankenstein (note how I underline this, Lit teachers! Look, look!), and the trouble with this is that there are so many readings that you can interpret this text as being about. Usually, I have trouble with the reverse, but not this time! Oh no, my problem is that I have to narrow it down. Oh well.
So I'm an introduction, a paragraph, and two more topic sentences in, 446 words through a 1500 (at least) word essay.
Actually, I have spent more time reading the Inky Fool blog by the amazing Mark Forsyth, author of The Etymologicon and The Horologicon, two utterly fantastic books for any bibliophile. The blog can be found here. Incidentally, I found that there is a Sanskrit word, "ayoni", which means - actually, I won't give this away. Use this as an incentive to look through the blog. It is a... rather interesting word. Points to the person who uses it in casual conversation and can tell me exactly how they used it.
On another note, it has been raining quite heavily this afternoon, and as such I have experienced the melancholy of petrichor up close.
Honestly, it's enough to drive a sane (relatively) person bonkers (or even more so). I have an essay due on Friday about Frankenstein (note how I underline this, Lit teachers! Look, look!), and the trouble with this is that there are so many readings that you can interpret this text as being about. Usually, I have trouble with the reverse, but not this time! Oh no, my problem is that I have to narrow it down. Oh well.
So I'm an introduction, a paragraph, and two more topic sentences in, 446 words through a 1500 (at least) word essay.
Actually, I have spent more time reading the Inky Fool blog by the amazing Mark Forsyth, author of The Etymologicon and The Horologicon, two utterly fantastic books for any bibliophile. The blog can be found here. Incidentally, I found that there is a Sanskrit word, "ayoni", which means - actually, I won't give this away. Use this as an incentive to look through the blog. It is a... rather interesting word. Points to the person who uses it in casual conversation and can tell me exactly how they used it.
On another note, it has been raining quite heavily this afternoon, and as such I have experienced the melancholy of petrichor up close.
Saturday, 27 July 2013
Ghostbusters 101
There is a Ghostbuster at my school.
(A real one!)
(Probably)
And he shall be the topic of my first drabble.
He's a retired science teacher who still does relief work, is the chief locker guy, and generally lurks around. He was my Chemistry teacher's teacher, and according to her looks the same now as he did back then.
But that isn't why he's a Ghostbuster.
He is a Ghostbuster because:
* He goes hunting. True fact.
* He uses night-vision goggles while hunting. Also true.
* He tests said night-vision goggles...............
In. The. Cemetery.
NO LIE.
This final piece of proof sent my friend (who came up with the idea) into spasms of shocked laughter. We have made it our personal mission now to, whenever we see him, talk about Ghostbusters so he knows we know. Really. We chased him to his car once just about yelling "Ghostbusters!" "Yeah, Ghostbusters!" "Definitely Ghostbusters!"
But.
The main topic of this drabble is what happened in Chemistry on Tuesday. Now, my Chem teacher is a great teacher, and an amazing person, but she's not that strict, and so people talk a lot, and make jokes, and class is generally really really loud. To the point where my teacher opened the windows on a freezing cold day to apply the Kinetic Theory. (If you don't get this, you're not enough of a nerd for this blog. And I won't tell you, either.)
But on Tuesday we had said Ghostbuster, while my teacher was doing a course in Sydney. And we had the quietest Chemistry lesson for the entire year. Why? Because of something this teacher had said early on during the lesson. To the best of my memory, I quote:
"I was killing stuff all holidays."
Pause.
"Except for the occasional coffee."
Pause.
Pause.
"And I don't think I'm done yet."
Time to wrap this up, methinks.
Remember to keep a place in your lives for the melancholy of petrichor.
(A real one!)
(Probably)
And he shall be the topic of my first drabble.
He's a retired science teacher who still does relief work, is the chief locker guy, and generally lurks around. He was my Chemistry teacher's teacher, and according to her looks the same now as he did back then.
But that isn't why he's a Ghostbuster.
He is a Ghostbuster because:
* He goes hunting. True fact.
* He uses night-vision goggles while hunting. Also true.
* He tests said night-vision goggles...............
In. The. Cemetery.
NO LIE.
This final piece of proof sent my friend (who came up with the idea) into spasms of shocked laughter. We have made it our personal mission now to, whenever we see him, talk about Ghostbusters so he knows we know. Really. We chased him to his car once just about yelling "Ghostbusters!" "Yeah, Ghostbusters!" "Definitely Ghostbusters!"
But.
The main topic of this drabble is what happened in Chemistry on Tuesday. Now, my Chem teacher is a great teacher, and an amazing person, but she's not that strict, and so people talk a lot, and make jokes, and class is generally really really loud. To the point where my teacher opened the windows on a freezing cold day to apply the Kinetic Theory. (If you don't get this, you're not enough of a nerd for this blog. And I won't tell you, either.)
But on Tuesday we had said Ghostbuster, while my teacher was doing a course in Sydney. And we had the quietest Chemistry lesson for the entire year. Why? Because of something this teacher had said early on during the lesson. To the best of my memory, I quote:
"I was killing stuff all holidays."
Pause.
"Except for the occasional coffee."
Pause.
Pause.
"And I don't think I'm done yet."
Time to wrap this up, methinks.
Remember to keep a place in your lives for the melancholy of petrichor.
Test Post
Test, test, test
We all tend to drabble a bit, don't we? Words, thoughts, ideas - things that enter our minds and are lost almost instantaneously.
That's why I'm blogging.
Not for followers, not for hits, but for a way to stream-of-consciousness my life as it happens, drabble before it gets lost. In all honesty, I'll probably tire of this within a week. But. I am doing it now.
To retain the melancholy of petrichor.
Because what is life, if not dust after rain?
We all tend to drabble a bit, don't we? Words, thoughts, ideas - things that enter our minds and are lost almost instantaneously.
That's why I'm blogging.
Not for followers, not for hits, but for a way to stream-of-consciousness my life as it happens, drabble before it gets lost. In all honesty, I'll probably tire of this within a week. But. I am doing it now.
To retain the melancholy of petrichor.
Because what is life, if not dust after rain?
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