I am one week away from the end of a 5 week intensive Chemistry class that I needed to take now since it was a pre-req for another class I needed to take this fall. It's been a rollercoaster.
It meets 4 days a week for 4-5 hours a day. Mondays and Wednesdays are 4-5 hours of lecture, usually going over 2 whole chapters of information (which is a LOT to take in at once) and Tuesdays and Thursdays are 4-5 hours of lab. Somehow I have an A average so far since I have been kicking ass in lab (partially due to my 2 lab partners and how well we work together and are able to sit and talk out difficult problems until things click). I received a 100 on the big Nuclear Chem test which had my jaw on the floor since I was almost in tears studying for it and was convinced I was too stupid to continue the class. Go figure.
The class has just been so draining on so many levels. Since it is only 5 weeks long, we have a test every Monday and I usually am so strung out from stress on Monday mornings that the relief felt by turning in the test when I am done is massive. The concepts are very, very complex especially for someone like myself who hasn't looked at any sort of Chemistry since I had it in 9th grade which was 13 years ago! This next test tomorrow is on gas laws (using almost all Stoichiometry - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stoichiometric#Gas_stoichiometry) and it's sending me into minor panic mode. The really funny thing is all the math in Chemistry (and it's like 85% math!) usually uses Dimensional Analysis which is pretty cool. The issue really is remembering the conversion factors you need to use for any given problem and all the super vague, nonsensical rules and laws governing whatever you are working with.
I will be very happy after July 9th when I take the final and can breathe calmly again. I will still need to take Organic Chemistry but honestly after reading through information regarding O-Chem and seeing the topics I had to swallow in this Chem class, O-Chem almost (almost) looks more bearable.
This journal is roughly 90% Friend's Only at this point. If you were previously on my Friend's List and are not anymore, I wish you only the best and assure you that it is not you, it is me.
I will continue to post interesting art/tidbits/morsels publicly albeit rarely but the majority of my personal ramblings will be Friend's locked.
Twin Musical Tesla Coils Playing The Original Mario Bros. Theme Song
Twin Solid State Musical Tesla coils playing Mario Bros theme song at the 2007 Lightning on the Lawn Teslathon sponsored by DC Cox (Resonance Research Corp) in Baraboo WI. The music that you hear is coming from the sparks that these two identical high power solid state Tesla coils are generating. There are no speakers involved. The Tesla coils stand 7 feet tall and are each capable of putting out over 12 foot of spark. They are spaced about 18 feet apart. The coils are controlled over a fiber optic link by a single laptop computer. Each coil is assigned to a midi channel which it responds to by playing notes that are programed into the computer software.
5:26 pm - I never wear hats though....maybe I should start?
Hussein Chalayan Spring Summer 2007 Collection
Looking to the future to express how fashion changes throughout history, Hussein Chalayan created six mechanical dresses that would transform from one era to another, using embedded technology and smart wires, for his runway show at the Paris Fashion Week. The robotic dresses, which took six months to create with the help of the film special effects wizards of 2D3D, are not part of his new collection, but Hussein expressed that he wanted to collaborate with a technology company to make such transformations a reality.
The girl walked in and stood stock-still, dressed in a long, high-necked corseted Victorian gown. Then her clothes began to twitch, move, and reconfigure of their own accord. The mono-bosom top opened, the jacket retreated, the hemline started to rise, and—finally, amazingly—there she was, wearing a crystal-beaded flapper dress: a woman propelled through fashion history from 1895 to the twenties in the space of a minute. This was one of six incredible feats of technology and conceptual commentary at the heart of Hussein Chalayan's show. The others also moved through decades—one from the hourglass Dior New Look to the Paco Rabanne metal-link shift.
Hussein Chalayan closed his Spring/Summer 2007 collection with a dress of white shear fabric, that wound itself up into a hat, leaving the model wearing nothing but a heels and a smile. -ozoux.com
-Old news yes, but awesome. Whole show and review here. Hussein's site found here.
1:38 pm - Proof that all kitties no matter what size love chin scratches
The other day I came across a bunch of photos of this guy playing around with lionesses, lions and hyenas and I really thought they were photoshopped but it turns out that they aren't!!
His name is Kevin Richardson (no, not the Backstreet boy) and he is an animal behaviorist who works with lions and other wild animals without the use of force and he becomes members of their prides and they have all this trust in him, enough to even play with him, groom him and let him near their cubs.
I don't have words for his. You have to see it to understand how much my jaw dropped.
I highly recommend this! I haven't been this gaga over this type of fare since Akira and Ninja Scroll. I am very glad S dragged me to this at midnight last night after some fun adventures. Now playing at The Angelika.
4:44 pm - You won't find a girl in this damn world that will compare with me....
PJ Harvey & Nick Cave - Henry Lee
She leaned herself against a fence Just for a kiss or two And with a little pen-knife held in her hand She plugged him through and through...
~~~
Lie there, lie there, little Henry Lee Till the flesh drops from your bones For the girl you have in that merry green land Can wait forever for you to come home And the wind did howl and the wind did moan....
Back to making music again (with S no less! who constantly surprises me).
Sonar Home Studio 4XL has been awesome and I dream frequently about Absynth 4 and Cameleon 5000 which we have been trying out. Mmm, synths and molding sounds. It has been years and it feels so good, sooo good to be back doing this.
10:41 am - I drink 1000 shipwrecks, tonight I'll steal your paychecks...
Last weekend when the weather broke for a little while (it has been rainy for weeks now it seems), S and I decided to take the bus down to the South Street Seaport Museum since we had both never been there. The seaport was crowded since it was Labor Day weekend and most people seemed to be standing in line for the Bodies exhibit so the museum and ships were fairly empty which was pretty sweet.
After a much needed meal at Acme (I cannot get enough of their cornbread), we headed to IFC to see This Film is Not Yet Rated which I highly recommend. A documentary about the ratings system in the US, it was pretty shocking. I don't want to give too much away but it was well done and very eye opening. IFC is also very re-vamped and sexy now which I don't think we were expecting. Hooray for fabulous independent theaters with swank (and free short films before every film to boot)!
Back to work. Is this week over yet?
Current Mood: Gingerbread coffee in the veins Current Music: Zentriert ins Antlitz - Prozium
The day that S and I went to the Met and ended up seeing the exhibit that I posted about earlier this week here, we had a goal of seeing anything but paintings there since we both have been to the Met more times than we can remember and wanted to spend time appreciating art of the non-painting variety.
