Phenomemological

Say it three times fast.

Mont St. Michel

There was born a glorious plan
To bring angel’s favor down upon man

To build a church in St. Michel’s name
So grand the world would know its fame

Bricks tirelessly carted, hand by hand
Brought with care over dangerous quicksand

Tool carefully carried past receding waves
Feeling the way with stout wooden staves

Men gently crafted both tower and spire
So as not to attract St. Michel’s ire

Out from all far corners of the land
Many come and brave the deep sand

Wishing to pray atop island rock
Never heeding how others might mock

Surpassing sand and violent tide
A mighty feat of holy pride

Peril matters not on this holy quest
For without this journey, souls shall not rest

They gather to pray through night and day
For between the worlds St. Michel holds sway

They hope to melt angel’s heart of ice
So he will open the gate to paradise

Time

Slipping away faster than the eye can see

Crawling more slowly than the slowest continent

Never the same speed twice

Ghost

Sticky

It's a lot hotter in Michigan compared to Minnesota. and it's really humid. Really, really humid. Very sticky.

Ethereal Slushy

Whatever might be an ethereal slushy

A sodden spirit

A soggy specter

A soaked ancestor of your second cousin

Or perhaps

An inconsequential snowcone

A wispy snowball

The ghost of a slush cup that perished one hot day in the park, forever haunting the bench of its demise.

Cool.

New computer, but it's as if nothing has changed. Mac's are amazing.

Random words: rupture, gulf, dire, off, salt

World thrown off kilter, tossed aside by the hand of the angel

Faced with the yawning gulf, the possibility of infinity, or an infinitesimal future

Ruptured time strew across the room to collect in pools under the furniture

“How many minutes before they get here?” she asked

As dire need floated on air and tension played havoc amongst the flowers

Yet, “Time is of no consequence.” So observed the grain of salt, sitting unnoticed, left behind where even the broom could not find it

Packed Identity

they came one day and
packed my life away

took it somewhere I did not see
somewhere I could never be

now I can do naught be sigh and
always wonder, who am I?

Question:

Why do we need to sleep? It seems strange. It seems that we shouldn't've evolved with 8 hours of complete defenselessness/unconsciousness built into our system.

rainshine continued

Now there are puddles dripping over the sidewalk like little rivers and the steam of evaporating raindrops rising from the road. Bright sun and Thunder. I love storms.

rainshine

Sunny and raining at the same time. Thunder rolls continuously while raindrops sparkle under blue skies. It's pretty outside.

I love the library

The library ordered a whole series of books just for me. I feel very special.

Slow down waiting

When time slows down late at night, I wonder why? Where is it all going? And why does it take me ten minutes to write one sentence? It's like the darkness stole the seconds away, let them slip unnoticed into the void while I waited for something to happen.

endoplasmic reticulum

Devil's Visitation

On that day, of all days, the devil came to town. And I was in no mood to welcome him.

“Go. Away.” Fists propped on my hips, I glared at him as he stood on my doorstep.

“Mrs. Albert,” it does not surprise me he knows my name, “I have come for my due.”

“I know full well that you’ve come for my son, but you may not have him.” Glass broke in the house behind me, a child wailed. The devil listened to the sounds of discord and smiled.

“Ma! I need another beer!” his voice drifted from the depths of the house.

“Later, Johnathan,” I called back, my eyes never leaving the devil.

He smiled at me, a greasy, oily smile. “I have come for my due,” he repeated. “Surely your son can be nothing but a burden for you. Give him to me.”

“No.”

Surprise crossed the devil’s face at the iron in my voice. But he hid it quickly and snapped on another slippery smile. “Mrs. Albert, your son is on the run from his gang. He will bring you nothing but trouble.”

“He is my son. You may not have him.” I glared at the devil as the sound of the crying child grew closer and footsteps scuffed on the ground behind me.

“Ma, he won’t shut up.”

I kept myself between the devil and my family, but half turned to look back into the house. My son stood in the hall, stubbled face, rumpled shirt, a squalling child on his hip.

“He won’t shut up, Ma, and I need another beer.”

“He is your son, Johnathan. Rock him, walk with him, do not hit him, and get yourself a beer. I am busy.” I turn back to block the doorway, but not fast enough. Johnathan catches sight of the devil over my shoulder.

“Who are you?” he demands, striding forward. “What do you want with my Ma?”

“I am the devil and I have come for you, Johnathan Washington Albert, former henchman of Logan Williams.” The devil stretched his mouth in a terrible smile and held out a hand.

Johnathan went pale. His bluster vanished. He gave the devil a terrified look and fled into the house. I breathed a sigh of relief as he disappeared from view. The devil laughed softly.

“What a good son he is, leaving his mother to face the devil alone. Surely, Mrs. Albert, you will let me take him.”

“No.” I crossed my arms and glared at the devil.

He stared back at me, the laughter fading from his face. “What do you gain from harboring him?” he demanded. “He is a slob, lazy, a drunk, on the run from a powerful gang, and he loves neither his child nor you. Why do you protect him?”

“He is my son.” I plant myself in the doorway, feet anchored, chest out, head thrown back. “That is reason enough. You may never have him.”

bleh

lawnmowers smell quite awful

Webby!!!

The wheels on the bus go round and round, round and round, round and round . . .

Metro Transit

‘Hello?’
‘Wasup?’
‘What?! Are you serious?!’

He’s behind me, the boy on his cell phone. The bus growls, drowning out his voice. I wonder what he’s talking about.

‘No! Don’t ever say that again.’ Whoa, that’s some vehemence. ‘Don’t ever say that again.’

Rumble, rumble goes the bus. Grumbling, growling his words fade away under the noise. I can hear his voice mixing with the bus’s belches but I can’t catch his words. Who is he speaking to? What’s going on? What must they never say again?

Mumble, mumble, ‘ . . . to say goodbye.’

Uh-oh, that doesn’t sound good. Maybe his grandpa died. Did I hear the word break in that mumbling? Perhaps his girlfriend broke up with him. Or boyfriend. Or maybe my imagination is just too active.

‘Ok . . . ’ rumble roar. ‘I’ll . . . ’ why do buses have to be so loud? And yes I know, I’m a shameless eavesdropper. ‘ . . . ever say that again . . . ’ breaks groan ‘ . . . hold on.’

The bus stops and he gets off, still talking into the cell phone, skateboard in hand, newspaper tucked under his arm. Leaving me to wonder, who is he? And what will become of him?

melting

90 degrees is way, way, way too hot

running

is fun once I get myself to start. Starting is the hard part.

fiddling

feet can't stop tapping

feet hurt

too much walking around with horses

Ninja Chickens!

Don't ask. It's actually not what you think it is.

Waiting

decision derision

twice, three times, forever until infinity

is there a limit on the times one can second guess one's self?

is there a cap on the number of times i can decide only to decide i decided wrong?

should there be a limit, i'd like to reach it, i'd like to know

a magic turning point would be nice, a time when i suddenly will know what to do

i don't think life works that way

instead i wonder, doubt, waver

surrounded by 'what if' plagued by 'but'

i want to see the future but i know that won't help

nothing will

there's only me, my future, my mind, my doubts, my decision

i knew that. i've always known that

the question is: what should i do?

Wolfram|Alpha

Awesome. Just awesome.

http://www.wolframalpha.com/index.html

Cloudy

Really isn't that bad. I though it would be freezing out but it's not. It's just gray, but that's actually nice.

Choice

I lived in a safe house, a garden sheltered from the wind

the roof crumbled, the walls fell

I live in a world full of wind, in the agony of change, with the power of choice

Dragon making again

<3

I love thunderstorms.

Our little red car

Blowing out the head gasket is bad.

Uncoiling by Pat Mora

I like it. It seems strange that I like it since I read it during the MCA testing. But I do.

The Euro

Seems a lot easier to handle than the dollar. Everything is by tens and hundreds instead of the sixty cent thing. Wait, what sixty cent thing? It's sixty seconds. But time is money you know?

hiccups

Warm

I love spring.

The secret to success in life is a high elbow.

Amur Leopard

Image from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amur_Leopard

Last time we went to the zoo I was watching the Amur leopards. One in particular was lying on a rock and looking very haughty. I tried to imagine what it was thinking.

I am bored. Truly I am. I simply do not have the words to express how dreadfully bored I am.

Fractals

(click on image to view larger)

Now that's a rather interesting sight to see, in the morning, right after I got up, and just as I opened my browser.

Backwards

Turning the computer screen negative looks very cool. Yup. Very cool.

Yes!

St. Paul Public Library system finally ordered a copy of Deathwish by Rob Thurman. The library rocks!!!

Different View

Conics

This is really cool! Circles, ellipses, parabola, hyperbola can all be taken out of a double cone. Observe the link:

http://mathworld.wolfram.com/ConicSection.html

Quoted:

If you look you can see
If you see you can be curious
If you are curious you can learn
The world is always there
Do you remember to look?

-Ruby

Onomatopoeia

Writing to the prompt, "A walrus in a golf cart going through Wales."

A walrus in a golf cart going through Wales.

What possessed me to be come a greens manager?

Oh right, I remember.

My loving taste for adventure.

My boredom with the mundane.

I was tired of a desk job, I wanted a life.

The sky is so clean. Pure, crystal and blue.

Golfers are weird people.

They spend their lives hunched over, holding metal rods, swinging at tiny white balls.

Manipulating their bodies into uncomfortable poses, walking up and down up and down.

They all carry nets. Ready to fish their balls out of the resident duck pond.

What a brilliant way to see some amusing sights.

The perfect way to get outside, earn some money and see some excitement.

A walrus in a golf cart going through Wales.

Mine eyes do not lie.

I had them checked only a fortnight ago.

I am sober. Alcohol turns my stomach.

I think I might’ve picked my job too well.

Spring is coming!!! (sooner rather than later I hope)

Thoughts on a fallen angel

What does a messenger say about his master, a fallen angel doomed to haunt earth in eternal boredom?

"He was banished from Heaven and kicked out of Hell because he was having too much fun. So now he just sits between the worlds, thinking up dreams and watching what happens when he sends me out to stick them in little human brains."

PSEO

Deadline for applying to the U of M, April 1st. Today's date March 16th. My thoughts? HELP!!!

Taxes

Are probably one of the most annoying forms to fill out ever created. You'd think that if the government wanted you to pay them money they'd make it easy, but no.

Whom ever thought up the idea of making the first book was a genius.

The WEIRD story I wrote at 1am in the morning after reading a New York Times Science article about bipolar disorder and health issues

You’d think it was depressing enough to be in a hospital in the first place. Then the doctor comes to your room and informs you that you have a 35 to 200% greater chance of dying than the guy in the next room with the exact same illness. And all because of a couple little mood swings! Seriously, it’s ridiculous. These people have no sense of the proper bedside manner. If I’m gonna kick the bucket in the next day or two, the last thing I wanna hear before I die is defiantly not a prediction that, “yes, you’re probably gonna die soon”. Yeesh, these people went through that expensive med school didn’t they? You’d think they’d know how to treat a guy about to conk out. Not that I’m about to die mind you! No, that’s the furthest thing from my mind. Well, maybe not the furthest, but pretty far I can tell you. I have no intention of dying anytime soon. None. Zero. Zip.
“Well, that’s pretty ambitious of you,” you think, “seeing as you’re in a hospital.”
Pfff. No problem. I only had a little fainting spell, then my overprotective parents panic and send me off to the emergency room. I guess I must’ve fainted again there, or done something, ‘cause the next thing I know, I’m waking up in a hospital bed and the white coated docs are telling me I haven’t got long to live. Utter nonsense if I’ve ever heard any. I’ll show them.

I’ve heard the doctors say I’m extremely lucky to be alive. Not many people survive the kind of trauma I’ve put my heart through. But I’m not expected to live much longer. I’ve heard the statistics, I know the numbers. My chances? Pigs might fly before I walk out of this hospital alive. The doctors don’t know I’m awake. I guess it looks like I’m sleeping, but really I’m not. I’m contemplating my fate. Honestly, I don’t care. It’s not like my life was all that great to begin with; stuffed full of drugs at every moment of the day, ridiculed by the ‘cool’ kids. Yeah, if the grim reaper comes knocking, I’m not gonna fight. If it’s my time, I’m gonna go.

The doctors were here again. “Please be responsive,” they say. “Don’t pretend to sleep,” beg my parents. Ha. What do they know. I’m not pretending to sleep. I’m plotting. I’m plotting my escape from this cesspit. Being in a hospital is no fun; nothing to do but watch bad TV, nothing to eat except tasteless mush. Yeah, I’m getting out of here and I’m doing it soon.
It would help if I could move. But that’s only a minor setback!!! Besides a lack of certain motor functions I feel great! True, I’m a little woozy from all the meds the doctors have been dripping into my veins, but nothing hurts and my thinking couldn’t be clearer. Actually, I think I’m thinking more clearly now than I’ve been for a good long time. Usually I’m pretty drugged up, but now I’m clean except for the I-don’t-know-what the doctors are dripping into me, and those don’t really count because I don’t control them. They’re like a force of nature, outside influence. Like a tornado or something. Out of my control, not my problem. I can always blame it on the doctors if something goes wrong. Not that anything will! I’ve got a handle on things here.

Why am I still alive? Honestly, I have no idea. I don’t think the doctors know why either. I ‘overheard’ one of them talking with my parents. They’re surprised I’m still hanging in. I’m surprised too. I was ready. I’m still ready. But the end just won’t come. I don’t even know if I’m breathing by myself now. I’ve got so many machines stuck onto my skin I can’t even count them anymore. Or I couldn’t count them even if I could see. Am I too repulsive even for death to want? Now that’s a depressing thought. So horrible that death doesn’t want me, won’t take me. I’ll live in a vegetative state for years and years and years, hooked up to a humming machine that breaths, eats, and lives for me. I’ll just ‘exist’ until I’ve got gray hairs and death finally gives in and shuffles me quickly into the tiniest corner of the underworld. What a life. What a death.

Coma? That’s a word for old, half dead people. Not a word for me. No way no how no nothing. My fate will be different. I’m sure of it. I’m me. And everything will work out just fine.

A mixolydian scale is just like a major scale only with a flat seventh. For example, D mixolydian: D, E, F#, G, A, B, C(natural!), D.

I wanna go shoot!

When did race become "who were your ancestors?" rather than "I win if I get to that tree before you do"?

Snowballs fell from the sky last night.

Isle Royale

|EOC|
(EdVisions Off Campus)
A school field trip to Isle Royale years ago. It would be fun to go back.

TV commercial

"Ask not what your crust can do for you, but . . . " I couldn't hear the rest....

It was some TV commercial about pizza.

Change

Change is: The absence of familiarity. The heart stopping, death defying plunge into the unknown.

Change is: The dawning of a new day. A new sunrise. Unfamiliar skies. Longitude, latitude, slide on a grid.

Change is: The vanishing path. Rebuilt as your own. To take you wherever you want to go.

Change is: The future, not set in stone. Drawn in pencil. Erasable.

Change is: The choice. To do, or not to do. Choose who you will be, what you will be, what you are.

Change is: Not bad, nor good. Different. Uncomfortable. New. Unpredictable. Exciting. Whatever you choose to make it.

Change is: The jump. The leap. The drive to find a new life. The will to make a new future. The heart to weather life’s storms, come what may, through joy or sorrow.

Adaption, evolution, the formation of a new species: This is change.

Happy Friday the 13th

Try to avoid falling ladders, black cats, getting run over by trucks, etc.

“Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the the universe.”

-Albert Einstein

second line
time spins on a dime
fast slow, maybe so
second, to hour, to day
in the sea of time

It's WARM!!!!! Puddles!!! Melting, dripping, water!!! Spring!!!

And then it will go back to 10 degrees for the next month.

But after that is the real spring!!! I can't wait!!!!!!

"To be fearless would mean to be headless and that would be no good thing"
-Ruby

What will you do?

What will you do when the world starts to crumble?

Crumbles, crumbling, will crumble, crumbled

What will you do when the seas dry?

Dried, drying, will dry

What will you do when the sun bursts?

Bursts, bursting, will burst, busted

What will you do when the earth rocks?

Rocked, rocking, will rock

What will you do when the sky falls?

Falls, falling, will fall, fallen

What will you do when the very universe begins to die?

Died, dying, will die

You/we/I/us/me/all will survive

Will survive, survives, survived, surviving

Staying up till 2:30 to finish book = baaaad

Don't look back

Reading a book that is all in present tense is strange. No past tense at all. Everything moves forwards. "He ran down the hall" doesn't exist, "He is running down the hall" replaces it. It's strange. Usually books have past tense in them. But not the one I just . . . see? How do I say that without past tense? I don't know. It's strange, always looking forward, never looking back.

20 minute poem

I wander the silent house at night
my feet cold upon the floor
the darkness presses against my sight
I come to an old wood door

What secrets do you hold?
do I really want to know?
will I really be so bold?
yes, I will, please do show

I wander the silent house at night
the only door my imagination
against desire will I fight?
no, I yield to temptation

I open the door

I step forth

To a new world

A friend did a sketch of me. I like it.

I wanna slackline

Presidential Lunch

The chairs that the selected guests of the Inaugural luncheon look really uncomfortable.

But apple spongecake sounds really tasty!

Isn't it rather uncomfortable to be watched by the media while you're trying to eat lunch?

(couple minutes later)

Well the news guys just said that they were asked to turn off their cameras during the lunch. He was like, "of course they have the right to a private lunch." But he didn't sound happy about it.

It's me :)

I was looking around at the Circus Juventas website for pictures for my other blog when I can across some old pictures of myself. It was pretty amusing. I can't post em, cause it's on a site where you have to buy the pictures. But here's the link. In case you couldn't tell, I'm jumping rope :)

Taiko Ninja

(click to view larger)

It's my gmail theme.

Flying cars!

Cars can fly!!!! At least this one can. Not totally unassisted, because it still needs a sort of wing attachment, but it gets off the ground.

(Image from CNN)

Not sure I would call this a real flying car, but it's a step closer than anything I've seen before.

It's COLD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sleep Deprivation

The Knight and Rogue novels by Hilari Bell are very, very good. They are also responsible for me staying up till 2:30 two nights in a row, but I consider the lost sleep well worth it. Well, now I do. When I just woke up I wasn't so sure. But seriously, those books are definitely worth the time.

Weekends

Whoever decided on the weekends? Why is it Saturday and Sunday? I get wanting to take a break, but who got to pick?

Pop, soda, coke, tonic, fizzing-carbonated-stuff-that's-bad-for-teeth

I was researching umbrellas (long story) when I came upon the word "colloquially". I googled it and got to the wikipedia page about colloquialism. There I found this really interesting picture.
It shows where people tend to refer to soft drinks as pop, soda, or whatever.

(click on picture to view larger)

Math at MacPhail

Every Thursday I do math from the MacPhail Center for Music. It's interesting to work on math problems and listen to trumpets warming up in the background. Currently, I'm listening to a piano player practicing the Suzuki song "Lightly Row".

(That was a while ago. Because MacPhail is a school, they've got some sort of filter on their wireless so I couldn't post while I was there. Now I'm home, it's late, I just fenced my first high school meet, and my knee hurts)

Tree Octopi!!

Don't actually exist. :( Wouldn't it be cool if there were octopi that could climb trees! However there is this really detailed HOAX site about the Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus. I was quite surprised. There was quite a lot of effort put into this site by the looks of it. I even thought it was true, until the bit about the main predator of the octopus is the Sasquatch.

Insanity

You really shouldn't take me seriously

My grip on sanity is labeled 'precariously'

I'm not referring to myself. It's just an interesting line Ruby thought up a while ago. Wouldn't it be interesting to make a poem based around it?

Hm. . .

Would you ever want to play football? Other members of my family have, but I don't think I would like to try.

Nicolas Apple

Did you know that with refrigeration Fuji apples can last 5 to 6 months?? That's sort of scary. I mean, how did they breed those things to last so long? I really like Fuji apples though. They're most tasty.

O_o

Bananagrams is a spelling exercise mixed with a puzzle, disguised as a game.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!