Friday, November 30, 2007

Uranium

Monday, November 26, 2007

I had a paper due at five o'clock

But I couldn't seem to write anything.

So, what is the best management practice in this situation?

Plagiarize yourself.

Saturday, November 24, 2007

Ignatious = Luke

Here are two of my favorite quotes from A Confederacy of Dunces.

-Part of a journal entry. It's the second sentence that I particularly like.-

In spite of all to which they have been subjected, Negroes are nonetheless a rather pleasant folk for the most part. I really have had little to do with them, for I mingle with my peers or no one, and since I have no peers, I mingle with no one.

-This is a letter written by the main character to one of his history professors. The first line is my favorite because he gets right to the point.-

Your total ignorance of that which you profess to teach merits the death penalty. I doubt whether you would know that St. Cassian of Imola was stabbed to death by his students with their styli. His death, a martyr's honorable one, made him a patron saint of teachers.

Pray to him, you deluded fool, you "anyone for tennis?" golf-playing, cocktail quaffing pseudo-pedant, for you indeed need a heavenly patron.

Although your days are numbered, you will not die as a martyr--for you further no holy cause--but as the total ass which you really are.

ZORRO

Thursday, November 22, 2007

Thanksgiving Multimedia Message


It kind of makes me proud to know that I'm friends with someone who smokes and drinks and wears a turkey costume on Thanksgiving.


Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Suckas

I was going to write about how, on Monday, I went to the beach because it was above 70 degrees in CO/WY/NE.

Visual proof:


But now, I'm sitting in the Denver Airport crossing my fingers my flight isn't really delayed (like the sign boards are saying) because it's been snowing all night. This followed a frigid Monday of visiting Panorama Point, the highest point in Nebraska, climbing some fences, and briefly touring Cheyenne (Okay, so I spent most of my time in Cheyenne at a thrift store, but I got a sweet pair of jeans, a t-shirt with Mr. Rogers on it, some postcards*, and
A Confederacy of Dunces). I ate dinner at an empty Chinese restaurant in downtown Cheyenne and because it had already started to snow I decided to drive on to Denver. Because I'm mostly a cheapskate I decided that I would go directly to the airport and spend the night there. And in doing this I realized how important a decision stopping at the thrift store had been, because A Confederacy of Dunces kept me awake and entertained most of the night.




Being clever by holding an aerial photograph of the site while taking a picture of the physical site:


And then my camera died:




*Not of Cheyenne.

Saturday, November 17, 2007

Ignition, or I should explain this trip I'm on

So this trip is the site visit for my thesis project. I am driving around northeastern Colorado, western Nebraska, and southeastern Wyoming looking at missile silos. The missile silos are four Minuteman III missiles, part of the United States' TRIAD of defense.

They look like this:



I flew into Denver this morning from Indianapolis and drove straight to Sterling where I stocked up on food, water, and mini DV tapes. From there I quickly entered the, approximate, middle of nowhere. Once there I spent the day driving from missile silo to missile silo and documenting the process.

Approximate middle of nowhere:




Late this afternoon I ended up at Pawnee Buttes, in the Pawnee National grassland and after having a mostly cloudy day with sprinkles the sun came out along with some rainbows. Now I'm in Sidney, Nebraska mostly exhausted and totally happy.

Me, totally happy:



The buttes of which I speak and of which my head is blocking in the last picture:

Friday, November 16, 2007

1st Stage

I'm leaving for CO/WY/NE tomorrow.

Sunday, November 11, 2007

He was owning it and she was selling it

Monday, November 05, 2007

Groma Building

I'm building a Roman surveying tool called a groma. After building the groma I'm going to use it to survey straight lines and 90 degree angles. I'm also learning how to solder with a small blow torch and just how hot copper pipe gets when a lit small blow torch is applied.