A little math puzzle

From A Tangled Tale by Lewis Carroll:

Two travellers left their hotel at 3:00 pm.  On level ground, they traveled at a speed of 4 mi/hr.  Going up a mountain, they traveled at a speed of 3 mi/hr.  Going down the mountain, they traveled at a speed of 6 mi/hr.  They expect to arrive back at their hotel by 9:00 pm.  Determine:

a)  At what time did they reach the top of the mountain?

b)  How many miles will they have traveled in all?

* * *

I stayed up until about 2:00 am last night trying to solve this puzzle.  And the harder I tried, the more impossible it seemed.  By the time I looked up the answer, I was too tired to understand it, except that it was vastly simpler than my "longer, more scenic route."  Classic.

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War Horse (2011) movie review

Cast, crew, rating, etc: War Horse on IMDB, Plugged In review
Overall rating: 5 out of 5 stars.

I'll skip the synopsis, since the trailer pretty much says it all. [And yes, that's "Sherlock" at 2:06!]

I was feeling slightly hesitant about going to this film for two reasons:  one, that it would be boring (and for 2 1/2 hours!); two, that it would be too scary (I'll admit I'm a bit squeamish).   Luckily, it did not meet those expectations.

If you're like me and you enjoy Disney live-action classics (i.e. Treasure Island and 20000 Leagues), and you wish they still made movies like that, then War Horse is for you.  I think the reason War Horse has been getting 3 stars and less-than-glowing reviews from some critics is because they were looking for a stellar horse film or a stellar WWI film.  To most people, it will be neither.  Perhaps the movie would be more popular if it focused more on either the horse or the war.  Frankly, though, had that been the case, only half of my family would have gone to see it...

War Horse isn't strictly about a "horse and his boy," or strictly about WWI.  Rather, it's about WWI, viewed through the eyes of a horse and the people who care for it.  It's a family film that ends happily-ever-after and ties up all the loose ends (or almost all of them).  And yet War Horse, unlike some family films, is also intelligent, well-written, and cleverly balanced between drama and humor.  There was one part ("Remarkable horse!") where I wanted to scream JULES VERNE, because it just felt like that era (Vernian-style).  And, contrary to what the trailer would tell you, there is no romantic subplot.  None. 

The cast, by the way, was excellent.  We recognized most of the British actors, from recent BBC dramas.  The script was pretty good.  John Williams's soundtrack was less than impressive. 
 
Altogether, while it's not on my list of favorites, War Horse is the kind of film that kept my interest and that I'll probably re-watch in the future.  Recommended if you're looking for a decent movie to watch, during Christmas break or any time of the year.  :)

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2012 goals and dreams

Fireflies © Juan Pablo Rodriguez

Reading:

The Aeneid - Read book I (Fitzgerald) last month...going to continue with a different translation.  Can't decide which, and I've heard good things about many of them.  I tend to prefer older translations, but newer ones are typically easier to understand.  Recommendations? 


✓ Beowulf - I think I read half of it and I feel bad for not finishing it. 


Lord Jim and/or Nostromo - I've never read any of Conrad's long novels, and I should. 


  

The Brothers Karamazov and/or War and Peace - I'd like to broaden my Russian lit "resume" and either of these would fit the bill.  And War and Peace isn't so intimidating now that I have my lecture notes on the Battle of Borodino and Alexander I! 

Sylvie and Bruno Concluded - Would've finished this already, but the (free) e-book had too many typos.  Still waiting for it from the library.

Paris in the 20th Century (re-read) and The Begum's Millions - Or anything Jules Verne.


The Hobbit (re-read) - Self explanatory!  ^_^

And that's about it, more or less.  My reading list is many leagues longer, but if I get those reads accomplished next year, I'll be happy. 

Writing:

Finish rewriting and publish my fantasy novella.  Maybe I'm just a dreamer.

Other:

 
Get a good grade in General Physics I, this spring (or summer).  I'm indescribably thankful that the physics class I'm taking is algebra-based and not calculus-based.  Much less stressful.  I've never taken physics, ever.  Some of it overlaps chemistry and math, though, so maybe it won't be too scary.  I got myself a textbook from the library, and if I'm a smart person, I'll read it in preparation.  (I'd like to think I'm that smart person, but in reality, I can be dreadfully lazy.)

Take as many history classes as possible.  We happen to have an amazing history/political-science professor, whose lectures are so good I'm even thinking of attending summer quarter. 

Try to be content with change.  I dislike transitions--it feels like no sooner do you get used to something then you have to give it up.  Some changes are good, so I know better than to hate change itself, but it's hard to adapt to new things, and once I do, I feel as if I'd be happier if it lasted longer.  Of course, only God knows what's best for me in the long run, so I'm glad I don't have to decide.  I rediscovered Ecclesiastes 12:13 this fall, and hope to remember it from now on:

Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.

Isn't that beautiful?

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Books, movies, and other highlights of 2011

Note:  I take no credit for this idea.  So many other bloggers are doing this right now, so I just thought I'd join in.  :)

January

Saw BBC's Sherlock and added Cumberbatch to my list of definitive Sherlock Holmes's.

March

Read Eugene Onegin, which became my favorite romantic classic and the #1 read of the year.

Saw Jane Eyre, an excellent adaptation.

April

Watched TV clips of the Royal Wedding.  Well, who didn't?  :)

May

Began the first draft of my quasi-steampunk novel.

June

Completed Calculus II and Spanish III and got my wisdom teeth removed.  Fun stuff.

Discovered Debussy.

Finished the 200-line poem I began writing in November 2010.

July

Discovered Alkan and rediscovered Ludovico Einaudi.

Read Under Western Eyes, an amazing, heartbreaking book.

Finished The Marble Faun, my not-so-light summer read.

August

Saw the Canadian Rockies for the first time.  <3

Discovered Star Trek TOS.  Fascinating.

Changed my major to computer science.

October

Discovered Yiruma.

December

Completed English 101.  And that after writing a (Star Trek-inspired) argumentative essay on the threat of androids and robots. *grins*

Finished The Idiot, my second Russian lit read.

* * *

Altogether, I wish I had read more books (these aren't all the books I read, but they're the ones that really stood out).  However, nearly all of the books I read this year I loved, so that's cool.  I also wrote a lot of poetry, so that was at least one (unexpected) accomplishment.  As far as movies go, I would probably say that Sherlock and Star Trek were my favorites.  :) 

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Writing contest!

...at The Penslayer and Scribbles and Ink Stains, Jan 1 - 31.  The theme is "First Impressions", and you can read the rest of the rules at their blogs. :)  Count me in!  I love analyzing people and comparing first impressions with my ultimate opinion.  It's interesting to see which first impressions are accurate and which aren't. 

And a little advice from Nathaniel Hawthorne:

This is the secret of all entertaining travellers. If you meet with any distinguished characters, give personal sketches of them. Begin to write always before the impression of novelty has worn off from your mind, else you will be apt to think that the peculiarities which at first attracted you are not worth recording; yet those slight peculiarities are the very things that make the most vivid impression upon the reader. Think nothing too trifling to write down, so it be in the smallest degree characteristic. You will be surprised to find on re-perusing your journal what an importance and graphic power these little particulars assume.

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Treasure Island trailer

A little disappointed that there's no Dr Livesey, but it looks like they combined his character with the Squire, so at least they did that.  Squire Trelawney, by the way, is played by Rupert Penry-Jones (also in Persuasion and 39 Steps).  Captain Smollett is played by Philip Glenister (also in Cranford and Hornblower)--perfect casting!!  Ben Gunn is played by Elijah Wood (hard to imagine, since I always pictured Ben Gunn as 70+ years old).  Long John Silver is quite a bit different than the book, but he may be just as impressive.  The costumes, if a bit POTC-influenced (eyeliner, anyone?), look fantastic, by the way.

And the sets in 0:19 - 0:27 are so Robert Louis Stevenson!  I am muchly excited about this adaptation--it's not my dream adaptation, but it looks pretty close.  What do you think?  :)

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Christmas & today & Tumblr woes

It seemed to happen so fast this year!  Last week, I actually sent out cards...a big accomplishment, for me.  Then Saturday evening was Lessons & Carols candlelight service at our church.  I sang so much I almost lost my voice.  :)  My sister and I also played some carols on violin & cello.  And yesterday we went to my uncle & aunt's house for dinner, which was fantastic as always.

My family (sorry, Santa) got me some lovely gifts, too: Jackie Evancho Heavenly Christmas CD, Three Tenors Christmas CD, Starbucks, iTunes, Sailing Ships calendar, pajamas, piano sheet music...  I've been having a blast with the sheet music--The Best of Ludovico Einaudi, 120+ pages of elegant, Einaudi epicness.  And though it stays true to the originals, it's the perfect combination of easy & challenging for me.  I played through all of "Password" this morning and had a thoroughly good time.  :)

Today I also got a Tumblr account, but I'm probably going to delete it.  I liked it at first--the layout & formatting is very nice.  But the more I use it, the less I like it.  Blogger is much more intuitive and less fast-paced.  Case in point:  I posted a picture about an hour ago, and within that time, it's received 2 likes and 3 reblogs.  And those numbers keep going up as I'm typing this post, literally.  And I only signed up this afternoon.  O_o

I find the reblog system irksome.  As far as I know, it cannot be turned off (let me know if I'm wrong!), and there isn't any filter for content or even similar interests.  So if somebody reblogs your post, your post automatically links to their blog.  This presents a problem for me, because I always try to avoid linking to any sites with offensive language, content, etc.  Tumblr makes that virtually impossible, unless I were to spend all day weeding through the reblogs.  Obviously, in "the real world," people use offensive language all the time.  But when I come home and log into my blog, I like to escape from the negative vibes (and keep my blog family-friendly).

Anyway, I think the reblog feature is cool--a great way to share artwork and pictures--but I don't like the way it works.  Ideally, it would be like YouTube where it says "3 likes" and leave it at that.  If it ever becomes customizable like that, I may start blogging at Tumblr again.  For now, though, I still have my "Tumblr-esque" blog: chaconne.

Update:  Certain Tumblr themes allow you to hide the notes/likes.  That helps, kind of.

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'What's December without Christmas Eve?'

Madonna and Child
 Merry Christmas!

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Writing what you know.

copyright: André Goerres
"But then no man ever does realize the true interest of the age in which he happens to live. All sense of proportion is lost, and the little thing hard-by obscures the great thing at a distance. It is easy in the dark to confuse the fire-fly and the star."

- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Everyone has heard the phrase Write what you know.  To which one might reply, Who cares what I know?  This is best answered by defining "Write what you know", and, while there must be many definitions, mine is as follows.

It is not, first of all, simply knowledge.  While one typically writes better if they expound upon their topic, their bank of knowledge alone doesn't make their novel an account of what they know.  When in doubt, there's always the question: do I know it, or did I learn it?  Because knowledge can hurt as well as help.  After historical inaccuracy, "info-dumping" is the number one reason why a historical novel would receive poor reviews. 

What about experience?  Doesn't that constitute "what you know"?  Again, to my mind, experience on its own is not synonymous with what you know.  A person may take a city tour of Boston and remain oblivious to the routes taken or the information they were supposed to learn.  Or, equally likely, they may remember every segment of the tour in detail without fully understanding what they saw.    

In the same vein, mere emotion does not equal "what you know".  While we associate emotion with experience and personal feeling, emotion can as easily be a fundamentally impersonal factor, tacked-on for effect or, worse yet, by seeming necessity.  Sometimes it is used to effect another maxim--"Show, don't tell".  As such, emotion becomes more of a tool than a genuine thought or the driving idea behind the story. 

I believe the only way to truly "write what you know" is to write with your own perspective.  Anybody can write about an experience, emotion, or piece of knowledge, but only you can depict it in the way that you see it.  Your life and thought processes are unique and uniquely yours, which will make your perspective unique, and thereby your story--the story of what you know--unique.

copyright: Fabrice Clerc

If this is so, it still brings us back to the question "Who gives a jot what I know?"  And I find this a relevant and difficult question, especially for a young, unpublished author.  I can name half-a-dozen people in my life who would (and should) make much better novelists than I.  Sometimes my writing career seems useless for this fact alone, and I ask myself, "why don't I give up?"

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was a man of contrasts.  In the quote above, he laments the fact that Sir Walter Scott wrote masterful historical fiction and yet did not write about his contemporaries, the soldiers of the Napoleonic Wars.  But after penning "The Final Problem", Doyle demoted his own contemporary masterpiece:

The best literary work is that which leaves the reader better for having read it.  Now, nobody can possibly be the better--in the high sense which I mean it--for reading Sherlock Holmes...It was not to my mind high work, and no detective work ever can be...

From the self-assured, arrogant graduate in A Study in Scarlet, to the retired crimefighter on the brink of WWI in "His Last Bow", Sherlock Holmes was always a contemporary character.  The Victorian-Edwardian setting--modern in its day--teaches 21st-century readers nearly as much as Sherlock Holmes himself does.  And yet Doyle considered it an inferior work to his medieval novels The White Company and Sir Nigel, which have made no long-term cultural impact. 

Had Doyle given up after A Study in Scarlet, or even after "The Final Problem", the world would have lost at least half of the Sherlock Holmes series.  There might never have been a Hound of the Baskervilles, and Doyle's work could have been largely forgotten, only remembered as obscure classic literature.  Instead, Conan Doyle is today recognised as one of the fathers of detective fiction, and his books are read all over the world.  Doyle wrote what he knew and Sherlock Holmes--like all good world literature--became a series for the ages.

Don't hesitate, then, to write what you know because you think nobody will care. Oftentimes we are not the best critics of our own work; we are prone to be too forgiving or, like Doyle, too disparaging.  The main thing is to be true to what you do know--your perspective--and let the truth speak for itself.

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First Hobbit. Now SHERLOCK!

NEW TRAILER:




+ a few more at Sherlockology's YouTube Channel.

It looks possibly even better than Season 1! 

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Hobbit Trailer ON NOW!!!

CLICK HERE:  http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/




LOVE Bilbo.  LOVE Thorin.  LOVE the singing.  LOVE the music.  Even Gollum is--GOLLUM!  SO EXCITED!!!!!

UPDATE:  1:58, a wizard fight?!   2:01, Mines of Moria "YOU SHALL NOT PASS" parallel?!!!

2ND BREAKFAST UPDATE:  Is it bad that I've already watched this about four times?   And I want to watch it again?

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Quick & easy Christmas cards

{Re-posted from my old (extinct) Christmas blog.} 

This is a quick and very simple tutorial for making homemade Christmas cards.  My mom and I came up with this idea a few years ago, and it's a great opportunity to "upcycle" used or leftover wrapping paper!

Supplies:

- Sheet of cardstock, whatever color you want the inside & back of the card to be.
- Christmas wrapping paper
- Glue stick
- Ruler
- X-Acto knife or a reasonably sharp pocket knife
- Scissors or a paper-cutter
- Piece of ribbon about 30-36 inches long, a color that matches your wrapping paper.

1. Fold the sheet of cardstock in half, after trimming it down to the right size (if necessary).

2. From the wrapping paper, cut out a piece that is the same size as the front of the card.


3. Glue this piece to the front of the card.


4. Open out the card and lay it down flat with the inside facing down. Using the ruler, mark the center, right on the fold (or close to it).



Then, with your handy pocket knife, make a cut (on the mark) that is a little longer than the width of the ribbon.


5. Lay the ribbon on the card, lengthwise.


Flip the card over, and even out the ribbon so that both ends are about the same length. Be sure that the ribbon is lying flat on the other side.


6. Twist the ribbon ends once, to the right, then lay them flat.  Insert the right end through the cut that you made in step 4.


7. Turn the card over and tie a bow with the ribbon.






Tutorial and images copyright © Marian.

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Exercises

Given: 
f '' (x) = Tree decorated 

Find f (x).

      
       It is intuitively obvious that f (x) = (Christmas break)!

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More thoughts on 'The Idiot'

I am getting very close to finishing this book, and so far, it has been both fascinating and (to my knowledge) truly original.  I have a feeling it's going to end badly--but then again, the plot has not been predictable.  It keeps shifting from scene to scene, focusing on specific characters and their problems, with no continuous plot except the day-to-day life of Prince Myshkin, a very noble character.

There is the common theme of searching: each character is looking for something, and no one has found it yet.  Rogozhin, the anti-hero, is trying to win the love of Nastasya, a mistreated and embittered woman.  She, in turn, is trying to escape from her past and find real happiness.  The middle-aged Yepanchin couple tries (unsuccessfully) to be conventional, and the youngest Yepanchin daughter is looking for independence.  Even Lebedev, a wannabe lawyer, makes it his business to hunt around for gossip. 


And Myshkin?  He searches for stability, peace, and, above all, goodness.  His unfailing, philanthropic love is the source of a lot of his misery, but he doesn't let that stop him.  He stands by his guiding principles and does what he can for others.

The irony of The Idiot is that, of all the characters in the book, Myshkin is the sanest, even though everyone calls him an "idiot."  They live in their own fantasy-worlds; perhaps he only seems different because he survives in his own reality.  He also tries to see the good side of people, but he's not naive.  He knows when a person hates him, and he grieves for them.  There's a powerful scene in which Myshkin goes to visit his would-be murderer, with an unabashed, courageous attitude of humility.  While he does not quite befriend his enemy (or rather, vice-versa), the result is "a soft answer turneth away wrath."  Whether he will again be in danger of losing his life is unknown, but for the time, he comes away a victor through his simple act of goodness.

All in all, I've been way more impressed by this book than by my attempted reading of Crime and Punishment.  Myshkin is 180 degrees different than Raskolnikov (main character in Crime and Punishment), but there is certainly a similar feeling behind both books: the sense of a disjointed, perverse society and how an alienated person reacts to it.  Raskolnikov may be the rule, but that doesn't mean one shouldn't try to be the exception, the Prince Myshkin, if you will.

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MONDAY.

Yes, I am excited about Monday.  It's the beginning of the end of fall quarter.  To the best of my knowledge, all my finals are on Wednesday, and it's actually been a good quarter. The first autumn in about four years that I haven't felt weighed down with homework, and I'm 100% grateful for that.

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