Single Entity

Things that I think about late at night:

1) So, plate tectonics. They're totally awesome. (I really wanted to use the word "rad." What era slang is that?) But! That means that continents move (up to 10 cm/yr, which means the Atlantic Ocean could grow a meter every five years. A meter!). But latitude and longitude are based on the orientation of the pole around which the earth rotates, which doesn't move. (Well, the whole damn planet wobbles, but the axis stays the same). So...over time, are those coordinates no longer accurate? Because the land mass has moved? And so, should I bury my life's savings at some location, and leave the coordinates with my heirs to be opened in 1000 years, would they be able to find it? Probably -- that's only 100 meters off. But still, the concept of the thing! That the continents move underneath the arbitrary grid we laid on them! And how does it affect longitude, if Greenwich, England moves? 'Cause that one's completely arbitrary. It's crazy shit.

2) Universe expansion. So, everything is contained, right? The earth is in the solar system, the solar system is in the galaxy, the galaxy is in the universe, the universe....the universe isn't in anything! But! But it's expanding. Only, if it's expanding, doesn't it have to be expanding into something? Explain that one to me. But then! It's expanding faster in one direction than the others! So, either something out there is having some kind of gravitational pull, or something on the other side is pushing back and slowing one side down. Except conservation of mass, people! Scientists already had to create antimatter to explain what they were observing, so what about this? It's craziness! What could just be out there hauling on the universe? Is it some kind of giant black hole thing? Do we really need to care? Is that heaven? It's just wacked.

3) ...shit, there was something else. I'm working on it.... Yes! Earthquakes. Specifically, there are these really cool places on the San Andreas Fault that don't have earthquakes. Or, they have a really predicable, really minor earthquake. We're talking about the region that has city-destroying, overpass-crushing, major earthquakes due to plates sliding past each other, but on the same fault are places that just slip on past. There's clear evidence that the land is moving, it's just sliding right on by -- no trouble. Apparently, the ground there is really full of talc, that uber-slippery stone-powder-stuff. Isn't that cool?!? The theory is that the talc just lets the plates slide past each other!

yeah, those are my awesome topics of the day. woohoo!

I am recently obsessed with Doctor Who. I love it. It's thought provoking, funny, and it's made me cry. Those of you who know me personally (and that's most of you) know that me crying...is not common. Particularly from things meant for entertainment. (Fact: The only book to ever make me cry is All Creatures Great and Small.)

I think what I really like is that there are constsant moral dilemnas. Life isn't morally clear, and neither is this show. Even better, The Doctor's set of morals are completely different from the human characters', which makes sense, as he is an alien. It's really about people, and how they relate to each other.

I also really like that there are things that carry through the whole season, trends that lead up to the season finale. The first season, they point this out. The second season, I think I've found it. Also, there are episodes that are just epic. Like, I have already watched some of them more than once because of the sheer epic awesomeness.

In some ways, it reminds me of Firefly. Like, this is how Firefly should have gone -- four seasons in and a dedicated fanbase. (Granted, Doctor Who is the longest running sci-fi series on television, if not the longest running series all around. 1963-89, and then 2005-now.)

So, that's my babble. Sorry for the long break between posts; spending Thanksgiving break with no computer access does that. Hope y'all had a good holiday!

Yes, I’m alive and still have things to say. Last week was kind of crazy with the papers and the ridiculous Latin poetry. But this weekend, I got to relax and cook medieval food with friends! Pictures (by Carolyn) and recipes:

First, a picture of me with glasses, which most people have not seen before, since I don’t wear them regularly. My eyes are getting worse, though, so I figure I should start, you know…actually using them. Carolyn says I look "matronly" in them. Do I really?


This is my medieval cookbook with…almonds in it? Don’t ask me why there are almonds. I wasn’t responsible for those. Note the Middle English text above the modern English interpretation of the recipe. Awesome, no?


The mushroom and leek soup was very good. To make: chop 1 lb. mushrooms and 3 leeks and combine with 1 cup beef broth, a pinch of saffron, ¼ tsp. ground ginger, ½ tsp. ground cinnamon, ¼ tsp. ground white pepper, and ½ tsp. ground cloves. Simmer for about 10 minutes.


Rastons! This is a stuffed bread loaf that is very, very good. It makes an excellent appetizer, even for non-medieval meals. To make: get a bread loaf (the recipe says a round loaf, but as you can see, ours was not round and it worked perfectly well), cut off the top third of the loaf and tear out the soft bread on the inside. Tear the soft bread into pieces, toss with two tablespoons of melted butter and dried herbs (we used rosemary and basil; at the Bors Head, they used poppy seeds. Both were good.), and place back in the loaf. Bake for about ten minutes at 350°.


Chicken in rose sauce (note the awesome garnish, handiwork of moi). This was our masterpiece, and it turned out better than I expected. It did taste like roses! It had some very interesting flavors: it’s made with almonds, sugar and rose petals, so it was a very sweet dish, which is unexpected for an entrée, but good. It actually went really well with the buttered greens, surprisingly. The sweetness and the butteriness were quite tasty together. Wifey even had two servings of the vegetables, and she never eats vegetables!