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| ...Then wait another 15 minutes." Actually, you only have to wait another 5 minutes. In the past week, I have encountered 3 thunderstorms where they just appear for a few moments and leave. And these aren't whimpy thunderstorms, either. These are some real thunderstorms. Hail, lightning, winds strong enough to blow open the front door, and flooding streets. But as soon as they come, they are gone. Weird stuff. Lately I haven't gone a day without visiting Digg. It's a wealth of humourous photos, serious news, and semi-witty banter in the comments section. I don't know how you possibly could've made it this far without at least hearing of digg at one point, but if you haven't, it's definitely worth a bookmark. Heck, you could even bookmark it to delicious if you're really feeling Web 2.0 savvy. Allow me to reiterate the fact that SCHOOL IS NEARLY OVER. Woot! Charge your NintendoDSes and set your Circadian rhythm to summer mode. | | |
| Waooow. School is winding down. I can't really believe it, but then again, I guess you never can. Really, this year has kind of dragged on, particularly the 2nd semester. I s'pose the first one was exciting and such, meeting so many new people at BTW. However, when the second one arrived it just sludged along. Not sure if sludged is actually a verb, but it's an apt description nonetheless. I am looking forward to summer - I plan on spending a great deal of time in Plano with Brian, Alec, and Chase. Hopefully I don't have too much planned, 'cause I really just want to catch up with the d00ds I left behind.
Eek, my birthday is near, too. Exciting, I know. I am getting a metal mouthpeice for my sax since I'm gon' be in the R&B ensemble next year. Yahoo. I also want some manga and some CDs. Hopefully old Uncle Duck 'n' Clemzor have one o' those covered. Friendly reminder: L'arc~en~ciel, Truth or Tierra! Subtle, right? I had an epiphany the other day concerning gifts and what I wanted for my birthday, but now the thought in question eludes me. The main birthday gift on my mind is next year's - Japan FTW!
Actually, I had another epiphany during the writing of this. As you may or may not know, I am fond of composing music. It may not be that great, but it's a lotta fun. So, I'd really like a cheap-o guitar to strum on so I can actually start using real instruments in said compositions. I have a real bass and a real saxophone - get a guitar and I can be my own band! I guess I'll have to nag a parent or grandparent about that one.
I am ready for school to be over and for lazy summer days to begin.
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| This blog is nearly 3 years old as of the 27th. I haven't dusted off this thing in a while. I am suprised i hasn't absorbed into the ground or anything by now.
Anyway, obviously there is quite a bit to catch up on. Heck, even if I had been updating regularly there would be a lot to catch up on. Our grand concert is monday at the Myerson. This really stinks, because I preordered Pokemon Diamond and Pearl, and it came out Sunday. Well, I wasn't able to get it then because of a soccer game, and now I won't be able to get it monday because of the darn grand concert. Maybe if I leave early, I'll be able to grab it! Thank god I preordered. It'd be loooong gone by now if I hadn't.
According to my mother, we may be going to Japan summer 08. If we do go, I am totally taking chase along. That'd be so cool. :3 I have really gotten into J-Rock lately; I'd LOVE to see a concert there. Omg. Seriously. I'm also going to try and teach myself the language over the course of the next year. I've looked at a few lessons on the 'net and I've downloaded several wordlists to my iPod so I can pound them into my brain on the fly. I've also converted my iPod to japanese so I am immersed. :P
I'd imagine speaking that language would be important there. xP
My Manga and Tamagotchi collections have grown some. I now have 8 tamagotchis - A Morino, a Mothra, two V3s, one V4, and 3 Special edition Pluses - one is a vodafone release, one is a rarity only obtainable from GLAY concerts (not a J-Rock band I'm wild about. :\, but hey, it's rare!) and the other is one that was an aniversary release. I love them so. In the Manga department I've collected all of the Full Metal Panic! volumes and have started getting into "Chun Rhang Yhur Jhun." I finally memorized the name, too! *w* It's a korean Manhwa actually, which is interesting. I like it.
Oh, I've also become a pretty active member at TamaTalk. Don't ask, please.
Did you guys hear the mayor of Nagasaki dying? [Link] I know that the VTECH massacre is the big thing in the news right now, but I think him dying is pretty sad. D: Apparently, there is rumour of a Yakuza connection.
Is the classic post wrap up cliché "Well, that's it for now" really suitable, here? I'd hardly call such a wall of text "that's it."
I'll certainly say Farewell for now, though. I might post again soon.
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| Oh man. I want an iPhone.
Watch the presentation concerning it here.
It's long, btw. And you gotta have quicktime. | | |
| Here's a funny little article on what to do if you find yourself falling from 30,000 + feet.
The original article can be found [here.]
Enjoy.
Unplanned Freefall? Some Survival Tips
By David Carkeet
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Admit it: You want to be the sole survivor of an airline disaster. You
aren't looking for a disaster to happen, but if it does, you see
yourself coming through it. I'm here to tell you that you're not out of
touch with reality—you can
do it. Sure, you'll take a few hits, and I'm not saying there won't be
some sweaty flashbacks later on, but you'll make it. You'll sit up in
your hospital bed and meet the press. Refreshingly, you will keep God
out of your public comments, knowing that it's unfair to sing His
praises when all of your dead fellow-passengers have no platform from
which to offer an alternative view.
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Let's say your jet blows apart at 35,000 feet. You exit the aircraft, and you begin to descend independently. Now what?
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| First of all, you're
starting off a full mile higher than Everest, so after a few gulps of
disappointing air you're going to black out. This is not a bad thing.
If you have ever tried to keep your head when all about you are losing
theirs, you know what I mean. This brief respite from the ambient fear
and chaos will come to an end when you wake up at about 15,000 feet.
Here begins the final phase of your descent, which will last about a
minute. It is a time of planning and preparation. Look around you. What
equipment is available? None? Are you sure? Look carefully. Perhaps a
shipment of folded parachutes was in the cargo hold, and the blast
opened the box and scattered them. One of these just might be within
reach. Grab it, put it on, and hit the silk. You're sitting pretty.
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| Other items can be
helpful as well. Let nature be your guide. See how yon maple seed
gently wafts to earth on gossamer wings. Look around for a
proportionate personal vehicle—some large, flat, aerodynamically
suitable piece of wreckage. Mount it and ride, cowboy! Remember:
molecules are your friends. You want a bunch of surface-area molecules
hitting a bunch of atmospheric molecules in order to reduce your rate
of acceleration.
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| As you fall, you're
going to realize that your previous visualization of this experience
has been off the mark. You have seen yourself as a loose, free body,
and you've imagined yourself in the belly-down, limbs-out position
(good: you remembered the molecules). But, pray tell, who unstrapped
your seat belt? You could very well be riding your seat (or it could be
riding you; if so, straighten up and fly right!); you might still be
connected to an entire row of seats or to a row and some of the
attached cabin structure.
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| If thus connected, you
have some questions to address. Is your new conveyance air-worthy? If
your entire row is intact and the seats are occupied, is the passenger
next to you now going to feel free to break the code of silence your
body language enjoined upon him at takeoff? If you choose to go it
alone, simply unclasp your seat belt and drift free. Resist the common
impulse to use the wreckage fragment as a "jumping-off point" to reduce
your plunge-rate, not because you will thereby worsen the chances of
those you leave behind (who are they kidding? they're goners!), but
just because the effect of your puny jump is so small compared with the
alarming Newtonian forces at work.
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| Just how fast are you
going? Imagine standing atop a train going 120 mph, and the train goes
through a tunnel but you do not. You hit the wall above the opening at
120 mph. That's how fast you will be going at the end of your fall.
Yes, it's discouraging, but proper planning requires that you know the
facts. You're used to seeing things fall more slowly. You're used to a
jump from a swing or a jungle gym, or a fall from a three-story
building on TV action news. Those folks are not going 120 mph. They
will not bounce. You
will bounce. Your body will be found some distance away from the dent
you make in the soil (or crack in the concrete). Make no mistake: you
will be motoring.
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| At this point you will
think: trees. It's a reasonable thought. The concept of "breaking the
fall" is powerful, as is the hopeful message implicit in the nursery
song "Rock-a-bye, Baby," which one must assume from the affect of the
average singer tells the story not of a baby's death but of its
survival. You will want a tall tree with an excurrent growth pattern—a
single, undivided trunk with lateral branches, delicate on top and
thicker as you cascade downward. A conifer is best. The redwood is
attractive for the way it rises to shorten your fall, but a word of
caution here: the redwood's lowest branches grow dangerously high from
the ground; having gone 35,000 feet, you don't want the last 50 feet to
ruin everything. The perfectly tiered Norfolk Island pine is a natural
safety net, so if you're near New Zealand, you're in luck, pilgrim.
When crunch time comes, elongate your body and hit the tree limbs at a
perfectly flat angle as close to the trunk as possible. Think!
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| Snow is good—soft,
deep, drifted snow. Snow is lovely. Remember that you are the pilot and
your body is the aircraft. By tilting forward and putting your hands at
your side, you can modify your pitch and make progress not just
vertically but horizontally as well. As you go down 15,000 feet, you
can also go sideways two-thirds of that distance—that's two miles!
Choose your landing zone. You be the boss.
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| If your search
discloses no trees or snow, the parachutist's "five-point landing" is
useful to remember even in the absence of a parachute. Meet the ground
with your feet together, and fall sideways in such a way that five
parts of your body successively absorb the shock, equally and in this
order: feet, calf, thigh, buttock, and shoulder. 120 divided by 5 = 24.
Not bad! 24 mph is only a bit faster than the speed at which
experienced parachutists land. There will be some bruising and breakage
but no loss of consciousness to delay your press conference. Just be
sure to apportion the 120-mph blow in equal fifths. Concentrate!
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| Much will depend on
your attitude. Don't let negative thinking ruin your descent. If you
find yourself dwelling morbidly on your discouraging starting point of
seven miles up, think of this: Thirty feet is the cutoff for fatality
in a fall. That is, most who fall from thirty feet or higher die.
Thirty feet! It's nothing! Pity the poor sod who falls from such a
"height." What kind of planning time does he have?
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| Think of the pluses in
your situation. For example, although you fall faster and faster for
the first fifteen seconds or so, you soon reach "terminal velocity"—the
point at which atmospheric drag resists gravity's acceleration in a
perfect standoff. Not only do you stop speeding up, but because the air
is thickening as you fall, you actually begin to slow down. With every
foot that you drop, you are going slower and slower.
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| There's more. When
parachutists focus on a landing zone, sometimes they become so
fascinated with it that they forget to pull the ripcord. Since you
probably have no ripcord, "target fixation" poses no danger. Count your
blessings.
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| Think of others who
have gone before you. Think of Vesna Vulovic, a flight attendant who in
1972 fell 33,000 feet in the tail of an exploded DC-9 jetliner; she
landed in snow and lived. Vesna knew about molecules.
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| Think of Joe Hermann
of the Royal Australian Air Force, blown out of his bomber in 1944
without a parachute. He found himself falling through the night sky
amid airplane debris and wildly grabbed a piece of it. It turned out to
be not debris at all, but rather a fellow flyer in the process of
pulling his ripcord. Joe hung on and, as a courtesy, hit the ground
first, breaking the fall of his savior and a mere two ribs of his own.
Joe was not a quitter. Don't you be.
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| Think of Nick
Alkemade, an RAF tailgunner who jumped from his flaming turret without
a parachute and fell 18,000 feet. When he came to and saw stars
overhead, he lit a cigarette. He would later describe the fall as "a
pleasant experience." Nick's trick: fir trees, underbrush, and snow.
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| But in one important
regard, Nick is a disappointment. He gave up. As he plummeted to
Germany, he concluded he was going to die and felt "a strange peace."
This is exactly the wrong kind of thinking. It will get you nowhere but
dead fast. You cannot give up and plan aggressively at the same time.
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To conclude, here are some words that might help you avoid such a collapse of resolve on your way down.
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- "Keep a-goin'." (Frank L. Stanton)
- "Failure is not an option." (Ed Harris, as the guy in Apollo 13 who says, "Failure is not an option")
- "'Hope' is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul
And sings the tune without the words
And never stops-at all." (Emily Dickinson)
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