- 7:00 a.m.: Third exam in International Relations. There were several "what year did this happen?" questions, but it wasn't too hard.
- US History. I can see that the girl sitting two chairs over has this picture as her desktop wallpaper. Made my day.
- During break in Geography, found somebody's touchscreen phone in the restroom. Decided to come back later to turn it in, if it were still there after class (highly possible, given the time of day). Amazingly, class ends 1 1/2 hrs early (unprecedented). I go to the library to find a computer and look up where the Lost & Found is. Come back, and the phone is still there. Turned it in to the security people, and hopefully its owner has got it back by now.
- Lasagna. Maybe the ultimate comfort food.
- We finished The Virginian S2...noooo! Now waiting (impatiently) for S5 from the library. We're not watching it in chronological order, but fortunately it doesn't matter.
- Another article: Sherlock Holmes fan wins the Spelling Bee!
Thursday, 31 May 2012
Wednesday, 30 May 2012
The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: but the Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory.
Thy sun shall no more go down; neither shall thy moon withdraw itself: for the Lord shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended.
Isaiah 60:19-20
Monday, 28 May 2012
{Reichenbach SPOILER ALERT}
Wow.
Everything came full circle--almost. Except now Watson believes Sherlock is who he says he is. I didn't want it to end. It was heartbreaking, though. . .he didn't die the hero's death of the book. Well, he did, but nobody knew (maybe Mycroft? Molly?) and only Watson believed. But the rest of society thinks Sherlock dies a psycho serial killer and everything else Moriarty was. The part where Sherlock shouts "You're insane"--one of the few moments when he sounds like a real person, when he sees where cunning can go too far. He has admitted to fighting on the side of good and now he knows the fundamental differences between Moriarty and himself.
I'm still confused about Moriarty though--was there really no code? I must say, it always sounded very unlikely. If so, however, then Moriarty becomes no greater than the cabbie in A Study in Pink--just someone wanting to prove they're smarter than Sherlock Holmes. (Moriarty is probably the biggest disappointment of this new Sherlock series--he lacks the gravitas of being a respectable math professor and comes across more as a whining, cringing Gollum instead.)
And, it would mean that one of Sherlock's weaknesses is taking things too seriously. But I would say it can also be his strength. If he really considered every crime to be just a puzzle, he wouldn't care a bit about the people involved, as I think he does, deep down. He wouldn't do what he did in the end if lives didn't matter to him.
Now, of course, there's the opposing argument--what if he were going to die? What if he wasn't going to fake his death? Would he still have followed through with it? That's one thing the book left no doubts about--Holmes himself believed it was the end, and he had no backup plans. I guess in this case you just have to decide whether you're John or Sally. Is Sherlock a hero? Is he what he appears to be, or is he only what you believe him to be? Can you know for sure, either way? (Excuse me if I'm getting too analytical here, but I love agonizing over ambiguous storylines and characters).
So. "Totally erroneous conclusions" or not--I pretty much subscribe to the idea that the body is a cadaver from the hospital, placed on the sidewalk by Molly, and I'm inclined agree with some other viewers that Holmes fell into a moving vehicle. I do think he actually fell a certain distance--it's possible it was a mannequin, but there wasn't anywhere on the hospital rooftop to store one, unless it was inflatable. O_o Besides, I don't think that would be very convincing. Most probably, there's some psychological factor involved--Watson was expecting to see what he thought was going to happen, so as long as he saw Sherlock falling, he didn't need to actually see Sherlock hit the pavement. In other words, I think it's the moment where Sherlock is halfway down that the substitution is made--Watson's mind fills in the blanks, and a few seconds later, there's a body on the ground.
Thoughts?
P. S. It was pretty awesome to hear Sherlock playing Bach's G minor Adagio while waiting for Moriarty.
Wow.
Everything came full circle--almost. Except now Watson believes Sherlock is who he says he is. I didn't want it to end. It was heartbreaking, though. . .he didn't die the hero's death of the book. Well, he did, but nobody knew (maybe Mycroft? Molly?) and only Watson believed. But the rest of society thinks Sherlock dies a psycho serial killer and everything else Moriarty was. The part where Sherlock shouts "You're insane"--one of the few moments when he sounds like a real person, when he sees where cunning can go too far. He has admitted to fighting on the side of good and now he knows the fundamental differences between Moriarty and himself.
I'm still confused about Moriarty though--was there really no code? I must say, it always sounded very unlikely. If so, however, then Moriarty becomes no greater than the cabbie in A Study in Pink--just someone wanting to prove they're smarter than Sherlock Holmes. (Moriarty is probably the biggest disappointment of this new Sherlock series--he lacks the gravitas of being a respectable math professor and comes across more as a whining, cringing Gollum instead.)
And, it would mean that one of Sherlock's weaknesses is taking things too seriously. But I would say it can also be his strength. If he really considered every crime to be just a puzzle, he wouldn't care a bit about the people involved, as I think he does, deep down. He wouldn't do what he did in the end if lives didn't matter to him.
Now, of course, there's the opposing argument--what if he were going to die? What if he wasn't going to fake his death? Would he still have followed through with it? That's one thing the book left no doubts about--Holmes himself believed it was the end, and he had no backup plans. I guess in this case you just have to decide whether you're John or Sally. Is Sherlock a hero? Is he what he appears to be, or is he only what you believe him to be? Can you know for sure, either way? (Excuse me if I'm getting too analytical here, but I love agonizing over ambiguous storylines and characters).
So. "Totally erroneous conclusions" or not--I pretty much subscribe to the idea that the body is a cadaver from the hospital, placed on the sidewalk by Molly, and I'm inclined agree with some other viewers that Holmes fell into a moving vehicle. I do think he actually fell a certain distance--it's possible it was a mannequin, but there wasn't anywhere on the hospital rooftop to store one, unless it was inflatable. O_o Besides, I don't think that would be very convincing. Most probably, there's some psychological factor involved--Watson was expecting to see what he thought was going to happen, so as long as he saw Sherlock falling, he didn't need to actually see Sherlock hit the pavement. In other words, I think it's the moment where Sherlock is halfway down that the substitution is made--Watson's mind fills in the blanks, and a few seconds later, there's a body on the ground.
Thoughts?
P. S. It was pretty awesome to hear Sherlock playing Bach's G minor Adagio while waiting for Moriarty.
- REICHENBACH FALL TONIGHT. YES.
- I got a letter of acceptance from the IT--I'm officially a pre-computer-science major this fall. Gratitude and mixed feelings.
- Spring quarter ends in 2 1/2 weeks. Another dose of mixed feelings.
- Field trip to Mt Rainier in 1 1/2 weeks.
- It's almost time to get down to the nitty-gritty of publishing my poetry book. O_O You know, if I can tolerate the agonies of applying for university, I can most certainly do as much for my
book. Ah, the dread...
Wednesday, 23 May 2012
Read here: 'Lucky to be alive,' teen hails rescuers. Thank God this guy is all right!
The story has been in the papers a few days, but this new article brings two things to mind:
The story has been in the papers a few days, but this new article brings two things to mind:
- Reading fantasy books is not altogether useless or un-educational. (I never thought it was!)
- Doing your research is always important. An author, of course, isn't completely responsible for a reader's reaction, but whatever an author does, they should never needlessly portray misleading information that a reader might easily interpret as factual/sensible/a good idea.
Monday, 21 May 2012
Sufficiently creepy!
Not altogether what I expected, but a great improvement (yes, I said that) on the Baskerville story. I love how it kept you guessing until the end. And it was sci-fi! We need more sci-fi.
The little pieces of original-story references and Victorian dialogue were fun. "How on earth did you know that?"
Overall, this episode felt WAY TOO SHORT. Looking forward to The Reichenbach Fall--sort of. It looks like a real tearjerker. :(
Not altogether what I expected, but a great improvement (yes, I said that) on the Baskerville story. I love how it kept you guessing until the end. And it was sci-fi! We need more sci-fi.
The little pieces of original-story references and Victorian dialogue were fun. "How on earth did you know that?"
Overall, this episode felt WAY TOO SHORT. Looking forward to The Reichenbach Fall--sort of. It looks like a real tearjerker. :(
Studying. Imperialism & Colonialism, the Great Depression, Biomes (forest/desert/etc), and Earth Materials/Plate Tectonics. My favorite part about physical geography are the maps that show climate & biomes across the world--it's fascinating to match the different regions that have the same features. I always thought that our corner of the Pacific Northwest matched England--and it does, for climate. But for biome,
Reading. The Mystery of Cloomber, by Doyle; South, by Shackleton, and a few other books (kinda sorta).
Writing. More poems! I'm THIS close to getting my poems published. Indeedy, I did say that a few months ago, but after a brief hiatus, I've added eleven more poems to the book and will potentially add a few more. In any case, there will be 3 sets of poems in the book, with two or three very long poems. SO KEYED UP.
Watching. Good Mythical Morning, The Virginian S2 (addicted to this show, can you tell), and Star Trek: TNG S3 (so-so). Also watched most of The Big Country (let me tell you, I don't like watching Charlton Heston play the bad guy--it's just WRONG).
Listening. Hvorostovsky singing Verdi. He will be performing in Don Carlo next Feb/Mar at the Met--I am SO going to see it if they play it in movie theaters (as has been the case recently). Alas, NYC is a bit far to travel for a concert.
Weather-watching. The rain is so nice. ^_^
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