One week until my Michigan trip. Getting excited.

Went shopping yesterday for a nice dress to wear to the wedding, and we ended up at a wedding dress store.

"It is a wedding, right? That means I'm supposed to show up in a wedding dress?"

Then, my favorite quote of the day:
"I don't care what anyone says, I'm showing up to my wedding in a wedding dress."
"Trufax, Jayson. It's your wedding and you're the princess."

You granted my wishes, and so much more.

Happy Tau Day!

http://tauday.com/

In what at first seemed to be a joke, or a simple amusement to occupy several seconds of my time, turned into me reading this page from beginning to end, utterly fascinated by the time I was finished.

In plain language: pi is wrong!

For anyone who has ever done trig, or engineering, or physics, this article explains with crystal clarity why we should use "tau" instead of "pi" to define any relations that involve the circle ratio... and how much clearer everything becomes when you do.

This time will be different: I'm stronger now. I will be just fine.. and it's all thanks to you.

It's not often that I get spoiled, but this gift managed to bring out the girl in me. Thanks for making me feel like a princess Jayson :)

Here's to a new life. And a great one it will be. Eyes and mind open, unafraid. To whatever end may come.

"If you're scientifically literate, the world looks very different to you.. and that understanding empowers you."


When people ask me what I do for a living, it's always a struggle to answer. Do I say I'm a student? A Ph.D candidate? A mechanical engineer? A climate scientist?

All are true. But which answer I give can drastically change someone's opinion of me. Emotions and preconceptions factor greatly into how people react to my answer. For example, I tell older men that I'm a student, because saying I'm a mechanical engineer usually ends the conversation abruptly.

And I've never, ever told someone I just met that I'm a climate scientist. Why? Because so many emotions and preconceptions are tied to such a politically divided topic as climate change that I'm certain the reaction will be negative.

Even talking to good friends about climate science can surface some pretty strong emotions. People are so resistant to hearing something that conflicts with their view of the world. And when their sense of reality is challenged, they react with fear, even anger.

I'm proud to be a scientist. I'm proud of what insight of the world a scientific state of mind affords me. I'm not expecting everyone else to be a scientist too.. I just ask that people keep an open mind and listen to logic before their emotions.

You turned out to be just what I need, just when I needed it.

Posting from an airport kiosk! My internet cravings are bad enough that I was willing to pay the $5 for 20 minutes.. sad, huh?

My trip was amazing. Stories, pics, and random oddities will be posted here once I get back.

To the friends I made: much love.

To the friends I have missed for the last week: I'm almost home. :)

Thunderstorms!!!!! *happy squeal*
I'm getting excited about my Colorado trip tomorrow. It's helping take my mind off everything else, at least for now..

On a lighter note..

Yesterday I got news that left me stunned. I am in complete shock. Short term damage is already apparent; long term has yet to be determined.

I feel like my whole world has come crashing down.

Having a lovely lady in town for a few days. Probably won't be around much, I'll miss you guys <3

lololol

Carl Sagan's Cosmos, edited for rednecks

The music flows, because it longs
For the heart I once had.

Thankfully you won't read this, lest you see my weakness unveiled.

It's supposed to get easier, not harder..

Ashamed and humbled I stand. I blink through hot tears as I move my eyes from one object to the next, straining to distinguish shapes around me. At last I give up; the world seems devoid of life, of color. Every breath is shallow. Every day is hollow. I take no comfort in the company of friends, try as they might to lift my spirits.

Without you here to fan the flames, the fire within me has gone out.

How am I doing, people ask. I'm fine. Really. Life goes on, and go on it shall.

State of mind is everything.

Hello, June in Arizona. What I wouldn't give for some gorgeous June gloom like we had near the coast in home sweet home southern Cali...

Fun fact! Today's high says 100, but it's already 105 at 1:45 pm. It will probably hit 110 by sunset (yay?)!

What. The. Flux.

Kinect, the newest motion-based controller-free gaming platform, sounds pretty cool. Some of their ideas are awesome. Like martial arts training in your living room, in which the motion sensors detect the quality of your poses and movements, and push you to improve and work your body in the form of a game. Imagine a world in which gamers are required to jump, attack, and swing swords, just like their game characters do, in order to interact with the game. Sounds like a damn good exercise.

Some of their ideas, though, are just disturbing..

I'll admit, when I first saw Kinectimals, I may have 'squee'd and 'AWWW'd profusely. I mean, your own pet tiger or lion that you can train and use motion sensors to cuddle and pet and interact with. Sounds pretty damn awesome, right?

Then, I looked at Lilu. And I felt kinda sick.

For people who can't take care of or afford a pet, maybe Kinectimals is an awesome idea. But for all the virtual love and attention you're giving those pixels, there's an actual pet out there that would die to have your real love and attention. Sure, Lilu may not be a tiger, but she's real....

Instead of nightmares, I had an awesome dream last night, for a change..

I dreamed that I traveled through time in a room, and I used it to communicate with animals. The room was sealed on all sides except for one, and on that side was a clear wall, almost like a membrane, through which I could interact with the animals. The coolest part of the dream was traveling to the deep ocean and talking to the whales, who would push through the wall membrane until their heads were inside the room, and they could remain half suspended in air and water on the other side, and carry on conversations with me. At one point I accidentally traveled to the future, and I found future versions of myself and my companions, still in the room carrying out our task.
What we had to gain by traveling through time in our oversized diorama and communicating with animals is beyond me. If only I could remember what the whales said..