Oh my. It is 3:13 am. I have class tomorrow and yet my mind is till inundated with all this stuff I need to put down on writing or digital inkless paper.
Today (technically yesterday) was a good day. I lived in the day. I met new people instead of just finding security in my current friends. I discovered new ideas about old ideas. All in all, I grew a little – hopefully.
I am fascinated by these kinds of days. Well, being the self-serving bastard that I am, I want more of them.
This brings me to the literary translations of the feelings I get during these days: two of the best being Lost in Translation (the movie with Bill Murray and Scarlett Johanson) and Kundera’s The Unbearable Lightness of Being.
Please jump only if really interested – there’s a shitload of nonsense ahead.
Now, like a good student, I took my Physics … for Presidents. (awesome class, just awesome). When it comes to things like nuclear capability, I have at least a baseline understanding. There is a big difference between a nuclear power plant and a nuclear weapon. Unlike the cartoons, a nuclear plant cannot explode. Nope, sorry. The uranium enrichment in a bomb has to be a lot higher and the technology needed is like comparing a abacus to a computer. This is because the nuclear reaction can only occur after a certain amount of U-235 is obtained. This is the popular “critical mass.” Only with such a mass or more can the U-235 really set off the chain reactions. In a nuclear power plant, radioactive rods (yes, like in the Simpsons) are used to absorb some of these atoms and therefore the core is FAR from critical mass. In addition, the Uranium in a plant is also not as enriched. Nuclear power plants have a controlled reaction.
The only real danger from nuclear plants is that plutonium can be produced in which then can be used to create plutonium bombs. Plutonium bombs are even harder to create though, requiring PRECISE smaller explosions to start it off an implosion. (I believe). Plutonium bombs can be likened to quantum computers in our nice little analogy.
Now, let me apologize for my massacre of physics, but that is what I remember from my class. Please take this with a grain of salt.
So, now we’re here at the Iran situation.
Full story after the jump
孝顺. (xiao shun). The best western translation would be “filial piety” which is not really that great of a translation as it loses the more important aspects of the Confucian model. Chinese people talk about it with a reciprocal attribute; this is not just blind loyalty to one’s parents, but rather a virtuous relationship filled with respect. We understand that the parent’s role is not easy nor automatic. Parents understand that the respect they receive is without question out of love.
Take the jump – it’s worth it this time.
So today started off wonderfully which then translated to terrible. Now, rain is great when it comes to making that pitter-patter sound when you’re asleep in a nice warm bed, but once you’re outside and the wind begins to scheme with the rain, then you just hate it all. I get outside in my extremely absorbent hoody and the wind holds me down as the rain soaks into it with a nice little smirk. My umbrella was stolen when our car got broken into in Japantown. I hope whoever has it at least enjoys its auto-closing feature and ability to sustain hurricane level winds without trouble.
Don’t hit the jump if you hate the Lion King, my day, or Chinese food.
I have an assignment in one of my classes (IAS 45) to be aware of the news using the New York Times or the Wall Street Journal. Even though I do read the NYT, this Daily Inkless comes from TIME magazine. I will do a news article a day just to make sure I am keeping up and to inform all of you other peoples out there.
Today will be a brief article about the two warring sects in Iraq, the Sunnis and the Shi’ites. The information thereafter is directly from the article.
Full story after the jump.
The world of blogging has erupted into the Web 2.0 scene. The technology is bustling and you’re a part of it RIGHT NOW. However, blogs have also become a type of anti-social movement in a very paradoxical sense. They are both social expressions as well as security barriers. We don’t have to look someone in their cold, dark eyes when we blog. We just look at this nice white box and type our lives away. Neat huh?
More (a lot more) after the jump.
Ok, so, this is Tobias – one of the most hilarious people in the world and my “heterosexual lifemate”, as he puts it. This is Monterey Bay aquarium, which he insists on remembering as Mandalay Bay cause he’s a Vegas-aholic.
So here’s the deal. If he is able to lose 30 lbs and stop smoking by sometime in May, I’ll go to this crazy fanime convention with him and his friends. On my part, this is a crazy sacrifice since this is a convention where hundreds of people dress up as japanese cartoon characters and engage in all kinds of tomfoolery.
In addition, I said he could pick my costume, which is like giving a blind terrorist a nuclear weapon.
I really just want and end to all this second-hand and for my friend to be able to live to see the democrats take the executive branch.
Oh, Toby, I saw this in TIME and I know how you like cherry flavored crap:
Its a lose, lose-less situation for me. So it better to get my friend off the cigs or have my dignity crushed by a band of giggling anime nerds? Oh, the choices.
EDIT: To be fair, I can definitely say I have anime-nerd blood.
Ok so i just started this blog with every intention of writing everyday. I think I’m one of those people who just needs to write about things to get them through my head. Otherwise, I tend to go a tiny bit insane. That banner took a long time. I would like to thank the creator of the theme so have so nicely used black and white instead of some offset pastel colors that seem to be all the rage these days.
Black and white, yep.
Welcome.
