Two Hundred and Forty-One Years Ago...

A great was born*.

Happy Beethoven's birthday!

* According to Wikipedia: "There is no authentic record of the date of his birth; however, the registry of his baptism ... on 17 December, 1770, survives. As children of that era were traditionally baptised the day after birth ... and it is known that Beethoven's family ... celebrated his birthday on 16 December, most scholars accept 16 December, 1770 as Beethoven's date of birth." I, for one, should think his family ought to know; therefore Beethoven most likely spent the day rolling in his grave as I "celebrated" by playing Sonata Op. 49 No. 2.

Why Can't I Come Up With Good Titles Lately?

Olivia, shamefully, has really not felt much like blogging lately. In fact, she was going to skip Geeky Friday this week. But then she felt guilty, and decided to at least throw something at you.

Also, she today discovered iTunes U, which is really kind of cool. There are tons of free lectures!

I Have Sat Here For Several Minutes Pondering Titles. So Here's One.

A. My. It's Friday and I haven't posted since Tuesday, when I left you with promises of many posts to come?

But knowing me, that's really not surprising.

B. Blogger. Is. Driving. Me. Insane. I try to respond to your comments, and it eats me! So. This is what I tried to write in response to the comments on my last post.

Mercy--It's a masterpiece! That's what!
Specifically, a scrap of fabric folded in half and sewn in straight lines over and over and over.
Thomas--Thing. Only thing.
What is it called, anyway? I guess I'd know if I actually looked at the thing.
There I go again. Thing. Thing, thing, thing, thing.

Of course, I couldn't leave you wondering what I'd say in response, because everything I write is so profound.

Like thing. Bask in awe of the poeticness.

C. I had a lovely afternoon admiring the underbelly of a tree. I picnicked in the woods in my backyard and did a bit of schoolwork. (The many wonderful things about homeschooling!)  Littlest Horsie nibbled on my blanket. Squirrels chattered at me. Fire ants found their way up my pants.

From the outside, luckily.

D. The first time I wrote this paragraph, I made such a horrible error I fear I shall never forgive myself. I don't trust myself grammatically to go on at this hour. But it's Friday, and I have a duty to provide geekiness to my readers... although most won't see it earlier than Saturday.

E. I'm stalling.

F. The longer I keep you waiting, the more time I have to find something for Geeky Friday. 'Cause I forgot to plan ahead this week.

G. Why is it that I forget the many other things I have to do when I am idle, and suddenly they come back to me when I'm in the middle of something?

H. When I pause, I have to sing through the alphabet again to remember what letter comes next.

I. I've always found it amusing that the alphabet spells "Hi!".

J. Perhaps I should actually go look for something to post now.

K. Aha!

L. Khan Academy is awesome.

M. I could easily spend all day watching his videos.

N. In fact, I might spend the rest of the night doing that.

O. It's Friday night, after all.

P. The night of nerdiness.

Q. Now I feel obligated to finished the alphabet, even though I really have nothing left to say.

R. Waking to Bach is a lovely thing. I've set my alarm to play his organ music at seven-thirty each morning. (I'd set it earlier if I managed to get to bed at a human hour.) If ever you need a boost in the mornings, I prescribe Bach. 

S. I have no idea what movie my father is watching right now, but it looks... really rather horrible.

T. I'm rather tired tonight, so it will be amusing tomorrow to see what typos I didn't catch before posting.

Translation: Please don't burn me at the stake if you find an error, because I'll do it myself.

U. It's a strange letter.

V. I need to read. Eh. You know something's wrong when I'm not looking forward to reading.

W. This information is all quite useless and nothing you were really interested in knowing, save for K.

X. Xylophones.

Y. Yaks.

Z. Zebras!

Next time won't you sing with me?

Our *Dear* Mr. Blogger is Videoist

Mother Dearest sent this to me for this week's Geeky Friday.

Only, you will never know what this is because Blogger doesn't let me insert non-YouTube videos that aren't on my computer. How rude, and exclusive, and discriminating, and inconvenient!

Blogger has been bothering me lately for lots of reasons. Like--ahem--NOT BEING ABLE TO COMMENT ON MY OWN BLOG. First, whenever I tried to comment with my Google Account it told me I was not authorized to access the page (...eh?), so I've had to post for a while now with a name and URL. But this morning it wouldn't even let me do that. And poor, dear Birdi's comments get all eaten up too, and possibly other commenters' that I don't know about because they can't comment!

Blogger's probably mad at me because I mentioned considering switching to Wordpress. But I considered switching to Wordpress because Blogger is possessed. So Blogger started it.

Anyway, back to Geeky Friday.

I am afraid I can only provide a link, thanks to Blogger's... videoism.

Linkage provided.

It's about asteroids, for the curious.

Geeky Friday: Wear Your Geekiness on Your Sleeves

The other night, good bloggist that I am and always thinking ahead (*coughnotcoughthiswasaveryrareoccurrencecoughcough*), I asked my mother for ideas to post on Friday. While searching for "geeky site" or something of that nature, she came across thinkgeek.com, and looked at the apparel. While a number of the jokes were lost on me (mostly the sci-fi and tech references, for those are not my geek niche), the rest... the rest! They were so geeky! I was so giddy reading them!

These are some of the best.

This shirt is rather nerdy.

But not as nerdy as this one.

I breathe geek.

Just add photons.

No, I did not just fall. I was obeying the law.

Now these are some metal groups I can enjoy.

I find this amusing, even though the very odor of bacon makes me quite nauseated.

This, my friends, is a caffeine molecule.

This is so not tr

I feel like such a geek for getting this.

This... is very true.

But don't stop there! How about an anatomically correct heart?

P.S. This post was posted on the very first minute of autumn.

P.P.S. Blogger is driving me batty.

The Woes of Mathematics

As a warning, I am tired and quite incapable of thinking clearly at the moment. This post is going to be a jumbled mess. I am going to regret posting this at such a late hour. I am going to wish I had never posted this when I am in such a state of mind. But it's Geeky Friday, and I must post something.

It may seem quite shocking that I would write a whole post all about the dreaded math.

On the other hand, it's quite shocking that I don't like it. After all, all life is biology*, all biology is physiology, all physiology is chemistry, all chemistry is physics, and all physics is math (or however the saying goes). And I'm all about learning how and why things work.

For while I didn't know why I disliked math, other than that I did. But I think I've finally pinned down my main objections to it.

Force. I was a nerd from the very start, and avidly pursued my studies beyond what was required. But all the other subjects were so interesting and exciting to me, math tended to get neglected. My mother, therefore, had to make me sit down and do my addition and subtraction.

That brought my enthusiasm to a screeching halt.

I have the unfortunate tendency to despise anything that I feel forced to do. This is, in fact, likely the primary reason I don't drive: I was forced behind the wheel a few years ago, and I think I'm about to be forced to get my permit. I have a natural response to resist pressure.

I suppose this makes me sound like a wayward, rebellious child, but I don't think this reaction is at its root necessarily a bad thing. This is the same reflex that causes me to resist societal influences.** It's just, perhaps, taken a bit too far here.

Still, coercion is an ineffective method of imparting knowledge. As Plato said, All learning which is acquired under compulsion has no hold upon the mind.

Method of problem solving. In most cases, I'd rather toil for hours until, by trial and error, I discover the solution on my very own, than read how to solve the problem their way step by step in boring detail. I skip over bits of the process, working it out in my head, and scribble out others. (This means when I am interrupted and look down at the paper again I have no idea what I was doing or how I got there.) I attempt to forge short cuts; many don't work, but some do.

This makes me wonder what people like Einstein or Stephen Hawking thought about their schooling. Not that I am anything like them, but I suspect I am better at math than standard teaching methods allow me to realize.

Of course, this is coming from someone who feels like a mathematical genius when she correctly adds two single-digit numbers on the first try. So then again, maybe not.

Lack of science. Math is fascinating as it applies to the world. But when all I'm doing is empty equations on the paper, and solving the problems brings about no scientific revelation, it feels like my time should be better spent. Math that does nothing is boring. It is intangible and pointless and dull and if ever I could find a program that taught it as it applies practically, to science, to something, oh, I would be so happy!

Lack of milkshakes. As I was pondering all this, I suddenly remembered a long-forgotten part of my life, a time in which math was a happy event. My father used to write two very large numbers (at least, they seemed impossibly long sums at the time) and ask me to add them. When I did several of these, he made me a milkshake. I had so much fun doing that. I don't remember why that stopped.


Can't someone out there write a curriculum that teaches math in a sensible way and that puts knowledge gained to use?

Anyway, what got me thinking about all of this was The Official SAT Question of the Day, which I suppose was the ultimate purpose of this post. So there you go. Have fun. Be nerdy. I really should go to bed.

*The very best subject ever.
**Besides, of course, the conscious realization that society has issues.

Three Things

'Cause such posts are easy to write when I'm tired or short of time (or lazy).

Thing I: It is rather unlikely I will have a chance to post again this week. I totally meant to schedule posts ahead of time... but I forgot. Bad Olivia.

Thing I I/II: (How do you do fractions in Roman numerals?) This means there will not be a Geeky Friday post this week. Instead, I encourage to do something nerdy on Friday (or any day) and, if you wish, report back here with what you did.

Thing II:  My sweet great-grandmother (who is, I think, almost ninety-six) recalled that I've been doing a deal of research on the First World War due to a novel in progress I'm working on set during that time. When I saw her at Easter she gave to me a postcard from her uncle (my great-great-great uncle, if my brain reasons properly at this hour) dated 1919. This week I got in the mail two photographs she copied of that same uncle. The first was taken when he enlisted; the second, after he was discharged. The change in him is remarkable. And saddening.

Thing III: Jesus is awesome. Just sayin'.

A Prompt for Your Next Sci-Fi Novel

Why is it that each Friday I am too tired to write a coherent post?

Basically, what I want to say is--
a) there is a planet made of diamond;
b) there is a PLANET made of DIAMOND;
c) said planet is 4,000 light years away;
d) it has slighly more mass than Jupiter but is twenty times as dense;
e) it orbits a pulsar star that is 12.4 miles in diameter;
f) if we lived on this planet, we would be very old. Its year is two hours and ten minutes long.
--just in a really brilliant, profound way. But oh well. You may read more about the diamond planet if you wish.

It's like something out of a sci-fi, isn't it? People trying to get to a diamond planet and mine it or something?

It's amazing all the gems stowed away in the universe.

Of Puppies and Geeks





This is the puppy my dad found on the side of the road.

Isn't that sheer adorableness?

He saw the vet today, and she said she didn't see any signs of trauma, and he tested negative for parvo*.

Still, something isn't right with him. He's lethargic to the extreme and just lies there. That isn't normal for a puppy in a strange place surrounded by strange people--or any dog, save maybe a senile, geriatric one.

Outside he perks up, though he still isn't as lively as it seems a puppy should be. Hopefully we'll get a call from his owners soon, if he has any.

Also, I hereby declare every Friday shall be Geeky Friday**. (Because, after all, we nerds having nothing better to do with ourselves on Friday nights than be nerdy!) I've wanted to declare it for several weeks now, but each Friday I'm too tired to write a post nerdy enough. And I'm still too tired, so I'm going to leave you with Fibonacci.

*Canine parvovirus type 2. According to Wikipedia the Omniscient, "It has two distinct presentations, a cardiac and intestinal form. The common signs of the intestinal form are severe vomiting and dysentery. The cardiac form causes respiratory or cardiovascular failure in young puppies."

**I was going to go with Nerdy Friday, but Geeky Friday is like a play on Freaky Friday... which was a movie I saw years and years ago and have almost no memory of... but I might end up changing it to Nerdy Friday... Your thoughts?