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Thursday, 29 September 2011

Blogging from school, ep. 2

Posted on 10:49 by simmo
Imagine a mountain facing the sun, with its shadowy back towards you and layers of fog trailing down like a cloak.  Rich, golden-purple fog sunken low in the valley, with the hazy-grey tops of fir trees brushing the horizon.  The car floats down a hill, seemingly headed for the mountain, and the golden fog, and the furiously pale sky.

But it never gets there...it just crawls into the school parking lot.  The sun throws the fog out and we have good weather.  And here I am.

They impounded the window-desks in the library and replaced them with green chairs and ottomans.  Ottomans, by the way, are threatening to take over the campus; good old-fashioned chairs are headed for extinction.  But the absence of the window-desk--the wonderful little desk with the awning over the top--this is a more serious thing.  The narrator has been deprived of her study-space with a view...the sky, the red trees, the lawn, and the people migrating into the Science Building.

They would have to change perfection, wouldn't they?

Speaking of study, my homework today consists of writing our first official essay.  We have written others--ones where you have to race against the clock-on-the-wall-behind-you and writhe in pathetic agony over a blank page with blue lines.  I suppose it is a useful exercise, but better for developing quick thinking than good writing.

To quote one of Abby's characters, I either 'over-think or I don't think at all.'

I'm trying to reach a middle ground, somehow.  In my steampunk book, for example, I have a rough outline and a smattering of ideas, but I don't 'engrave them in stone.'  It's a drawing in the sand, rather--a wave or two of new ideas could brush another out.  I think this style works better for me.  I've tried detailed outlines and spontaneous books, but writing with a rough guide seems more flexible and focused.        

I'd love to work on the steampunk book today...I just have to finish that essay first.  :P

On a similar note, I've been posting on Tulgeywood more regularly, so check it out and please follow if you like.  :)  And I'm currently reading The Winter Queen, by Boris Akunin.  It's kind of like Sherlock Holmes set in 19th-century Moscow.  The English translation is exceptionally well-written, and so far, the story's pretty good.  I'm so used to quirky detectives, though, that Erast Fandorin is a bit boring...none of the 'little grey cells' speeches for him, lol.

Off to Russian history lecture now....
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Posted in school | No comments

Tuesday, 27 September 2011

And they all lived...

Posted on 17:27 by simmo

Earth Prelude / Einaudi

Theme song for the ending of my steampunk book.  If you were watching this in a theater, the screen would go blank and the credits would show up at about 3:27.  ;)
 
P.S.  If anybody knows where I may legally purchase and download this song, do let me know...I've already checked iTunes and Amazon, and they don't have it.  





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Posted in music, piano, somewhat random, video, writing | No comments

Friday, 23 September 2011

Neutrinos, faster than light?

Posted on 17:42 by simmo
Check it out:  Tiny Neutrinos May Have Broken Cosmic Speed Limit
Neutrinos are among the weirdest denizens of the weird quantum subatomic world. Once thought to be massless and to travel at the speed of light, they can sail through walls and planets like wind through a screen door. Moreover, they come in three varieties and can morph from one form to another as they travel along, an effect that the Opera experiment was designed to detect by comparing 10-microsecond pulses of protons on one end with pulses of neutrinos at the other.
Emphasis added.  Utterly mind-boggling, even if they don't turn out to be faster than light.

Credit to my history professor for mentioning this in class!
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Posted in randomosities, school | No comments

Thursday, 22 September 2011

Blogging from school

Posted on 10:19 by simmo
It rained today...a delicious, autumn-y, evergreen kind of rain.  The sun hit the sky in a shock of yellow, but the sky itself was purplish pink.  I'd post a photo, but it's at home, on my camera.

English class is rather entertaining.  Surprisingly, the professor hasn't lectured us on grammar, or threatened us with humiliation, or anything unpleasant like that.  Not only that, but the longest paper we have to write is only 5 pages (yes!).  So far we've mostly done a bit of reading, group discussion, and joking around...nothing sinister yet.  Today we talked about the narrative essay and thesis, along with references to dead fish and Theseus in the Labyrinth...

Music class today consisted only of a short, ungraded assessment test.  The only thing I forgot was the definition of a tonic.  I had to guess...luckily it was the correct answer!

Russian history looks to be a great class with an excellent professor, so I'm sure I'll enjoy it.  The professor uses a pointer-stick and considers English to be a "beautiful" and "rich" language, which made me incredibly happy (so tired of people bashing English).

Now I'm going to finish re-reading "The Murders in the Rue Morgue."  I just love Dupin.  He talks a lot like Holmes (or vice-versa, I should say).  Not quite as quirky, and much more gloomy, though.
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Posted in school | No comments

Tuesday, 20 September 2011

Awe-struck

Posted on 08:40 by simmo
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Posted in art, video | No comments

Monday, 19 September 2011

Yet shall not melt

Posted on 13:48 by simmo
A dreamer may dwell so long among fantasies that the things without him will seem as unreal as those within.
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Sometimes, too, the Past comes back, and finds me here, and in her train come faces which were gladsome when I knew them, yet seem not gladsome now.
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And when, at noontide, I tread the crowded streets, the influence of this day will still be felt; so that I shall walk among men kindly and as a brother, with affection and sympathy, but yet shall not melt into the indistinguishable mass of humankind.  I shall think my own thoughts and feel my own emotions and possess my individuality unviolated.
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In our brief summer I do not think, but only exist in the vague enjoyment of a dream.

all quotes from "Foot-prints on the Sea-shore", Nathaniel Hawthorne
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Posted in photos, quotes, summer | No comments

Friday, 16 September 2011

Writing contest at The Inkpen Authoress!

Posted on 08:56 by simmo
Click here to learn more:  The Merry Auld England Writing Challenge


I don't know yet if I'll be entering it, but it looks fun!  The deadline has been moved to the 23rd.
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Posted in announcement, writing | No comments

Wednesday, 14 September 2011

School and scribbling

Posted on 18:16 by simmo
School starts next week.  Daily routine, more or less, will be thus:

Mon - Fri. 
Morning.  Wake up, pretend to be a morning person.  Attend English, music theory, and Russian history lectures.  
Noon and onwards.  Homework.  Blogging, if my brain permits and if there's anything interesting to say.
Weekends.  Real life, homework. 
Rinse and repeat.

I'm muchly looking forward to Russian history.  Music theory should be interesting, too.  English...well, it should be ok, though I don't care for essay-writing.  The splendid thing is, history is my last class; so by the time I'm fully awake, I'll be in (presumably) my favorite class.  ;)
Not alone in Spring's armorial bearing,
  And in Summer's green-emblazoned field,
But in arms of brave old Autumn's wearing,
  In the centre of his brazen shield;

{Longfellow}

Hopefully, I'll find time to work on my steampunk novel, too.  Writing it has been as slow as molasses circumnavigating the globe, but I like how it's turning out, so far.  I'm kind of regretting not writing it in first person, though.  Instinctively, I write books in third person; but first is, in some ways, easier.

Which do you think is easier to write, and which do you tend to use?
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Posted in school, summertime ramblings | No comments

Tuesday, 13 September 2011

Canadian Rockies: Sheep, Bears, Gondola

Posted on 11:34 by simmo
Our next major animal sightings were a herd of bighorn sheep, and two baby bears:  Sheep, Bears, and Banff

I thought we might see the mama bear, too, but we didn't...  From what I've heard, they can be pretty scary, so probably it was a good thing.  :)  As for the bighorn sheep, that was super exciting because we'd never seen them before, and there were so many (more than in the pictures)!

There's also a picture I took in Banff...nice town with lovely mountain views, though very touristy.

We took the nearby gondola ride, which was amazing:  Gondola Ride

The views were well worth it--360 degrees of epic mountains, valleys, and lakes; and on several levels, because once you get to the top, there's a boardwalk you can take up to a "cosmic ray" tower (looks like a Gondorian beacon to me).  The large, castle-like building in the valley is the Banff Springs Hotel.

Next installment: glacier rides, elk, and creepy canyons...
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Posted in Canadian Rockies 2011, photos | No comments

Monday, 12 September 2011

Poetry without words

Posted on 21:14 by simmo


I never listened to Debussy, until earlier this year.  But I found his was just the music to listen to, when homework got unpleasant (i.e. often).  In fact, if I had a theme song, I would say it's a tie between this Arabesque and Brahm's Rain Sonata (mvt 1).  My other Debussy favorites are Valse Romantique, the violin sonata (mvt 1), and Reverie.
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Posted in debussy, piano, poetry, school, video | No comments

Wednesday, 7 September 2011

SHERLOCK 2...Hounds of the Baskerville!

Posted on 15:00 by simmo
First Footage from Sherlock Season 2

"Oh, they're probably paw prints.  Could be anything there, or nothing."  <3

I have a feeling I'll be re-watching this a billion times.  Until the next trailer...  
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Posted in announcement, geekery, sherlock holmes, video | No comments

Saturday, 3 September 2011

Canadian Rockies: Ghost Town, Trees, Lake Louise

Posted on 16:52 by simmo
IT. RHYMES.

Here's our next slideshow:  3 Valley Gap Heritage Ghost Town

The first photo is the roof of the 3 Valley Gap resort.  The others are of the ghost town, which is comprised of original and imported buildings from the late 1800s, and retro/vintage collectibles.  They also had an antique vehicle & train collection, which was pretty cool.

We were really heading into the Rockies, by this time.  We started to see mountains, rivers, & aspen trees, and we also saw Lakes Louise and Moraine.  Another of our stops, much lesser known, was a boardwalk through a cedar wood--a really lovely trail!  You can see photos here:  Trees, Lake Louise

The last lake photo--the *really* blue one--is Lake Moraine.  Louise is nearly as blue in real-life, but it didn't show up on the camera...

Again, let me know if the slideshows don't work--I can re-post them here, if so.  :)
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Posted in Canadian Rockies 2011, photos | No comments

Canadian Rockies: Minter Gardens

Posted on 09:53 by simmo
On the map, driving from Washington to Banff, Alberta, looks like a piece of cake.  But our first day involved an estimated 400 miles of driving, and that was just to Kelowna, B.C.

Our main stop was one of our favorite B.C. places: Minter Gardens.  The weather was unusually warm and sunny, and there were still lots of flowers.  And since flora is my favoritest thing to photograph, click here:  Minter Gardens slideshow
{Let me know if the slideshow doesn't work}

That eccentric building in the last two photos is a new feature...not sure what it's supposed to be.  I call it the 'home of the mad scientist'.  ;)

As we continued on to Kelowna, the landscape changed, ever so gradually.  I'd seen two types of forest-mountains so far--Mt Rainier and Yellowstone--and this was something different yet.  The trees stand very close and dry.  Some of them suffer from some kind of bug or disease, and all that's left is a grey husk.  The mountains make ours look like miniatures; and the green, dusky undergrowth crawls right up to the stream's edge, by which the road seems to be always running, in a very winding kind of way.

I muchly enjoyed this scenic route, myself.  :)

Coming soon, Day 2--ghost town, cedars, and Aspenglow...
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Posted in Canadian Rockies 2011, photos | No comments
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      • Blogging from school, ep. 2
      • And they all lived...
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      • Yet shall not melt
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