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sqrt(cos(x))*cos(200 x)+sqrt(abs(x))-0.7)*(4-x*x)^0.01, sqrt(9-x^2), -sqrt(9-x^2) from -4.5 to 4.5

Works best in Firefox.

Once upon a time, I could actually graph this by hand.  On real graph paper.  I knew by looking at it vaguely what shape, which cheered me up when I was right :)

Hockey Misadventures

(from two different games)

At the singing of the National Anthem:
Hiking Buddy:  Why are we booing?
Me:  Home of the Blues!!!!!


Me:  You're going to be happy no matter who wins aren't you?
Sister:  Pretty much.

Sister:  OOOO refillable popcorn
Me:  You want?
Sister:  Can I still have Dippin Dots?

Lady next to us:  You are in our seats.
Us:  Just keepin' them warm...

The lady next to us brought a Nook.  During the first period, she actually started reading it.  I know the period was a little on the boring side but seriously...  Best part?  She yelled at my sister for blocking her view of the game.

I Hate This Song

...with an unbridled passion.

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I had managed to avoid hearing this song since Spring of 1994.  This was my class song.

I heard this song on the radio yesterday and have been grumpy ever since.  I knew at 17 that this song was a lie.  That we were essentially kidding ourselves that we would be friends with people we knew at 15 forever.  I'm not the same person I was at 15 or 17.  Heck I'm not even the same person I was 5 years ago.  It's foolish to think that relationships don't change or evolve.

I think most of all, I hate this song because of the sadness that it evokes in me.  None of my high school friendships, such as they were, lasted more than 2-3 years out of high school.  I didn't have close friends in high school.

I'm thinking now of my high school classmates.  I'm "friends" with many of them on Facebook and the shallowness of the relationships continue.  I've lost contact with whom others would have considered my best friend.  I know she's married, as I saw the marriage banns in the Church bulletin.

I don't know.  All I know is that this song managed to bring forth deep wells of cynicism within me.  And I'm cranky for it.

The Feminine Arts (pt 2)

And here I thought that the feminine arts referred to quilting, knitting, sewing, cooking, etc.  After a quick google search, I have discovered that the feminine arts refer to seduction and ensnaring a man. See here and here for examples.  The first site made me throw up a little.  The second site was more intriguing but disturbing.  Apparently I feel unloved, incompetent and unattractive because I don't know the feminine arts (or what she calls them).  I thought I was unloved because I have a highly dysfunctional family.  I was incompetent because I was a grad student working on a PhD and that is just the nature of the beast.  I don't know any grad students who feel competent for more than 10 minutes.  Meeting with an advisor is the fastest way to destroy all feelings of love and competency.  I feel unattractive because well...I've had a few too many oreos.   I don't have these feelings because I'm not girly.

According to this woman:
The Feminine Arts help a woman to turn situations to her advantage:  using the feminine arts  well makes her prettier, better liked, wealthier, happier, and better able to get her way.


Wait.  What???!!!  Better able to get her way?  I'm supposed to be able to bat my eyes and get my way???  Isn't that uhm...wrong?  Manipulative?  I didn't think being feminine meant being a manipulative kiniving old hag...but maybe I'm wrong....


I don't want to be a vapid airhead spoiled girl.  I want to be a woman who is respected because I'm well-educated and thoughtful.  


So this site has a year-long course in the feminine arts.  I see she only got to Day 12.  I've flipped through the days and I don't see anything that is glaringly feminine.  I see basic good manners, good posture and a dash of common sense. 


Huh.  Interesting.  I'm looking through the philosophy of charm.  Apparently charming feminine women bring sick or sad friends food.   I bring Hiking Buddy food all the time.  I have to practice my cooking skills and my family doesn't enjoy being my taste testers for some strange reason....  I have yet to make anything Hiking Buddy won't eat.  I don't bring Hiking Buddy food because I'm trying to seduce him or get my way with him.  I bring him food because I like to cook and he likes to eat.  I'm also Catholic.  It's a Corporal Work of Mercy (a good thing) to feed the hungry.  I do it because it is the right thing to do.  


Ugh.  Apparently I'm supposed to be sweet too.  That's never been an ambition of mine....


I'm going to go practice walking gracefully and grandly... (A line from A League of Their Own)

The Feminine Arts (pt 1)

I eschew dressing very feminine for the most part.  I don't wear dresses except for incredibly important and special occasions (my graduation, my future wedding,.....).  I have some skirts, but they rarely see the light of day, except when I go to Mass Buddy's more traditional church.  Makeup?  Does Blistex Lip Med  count?  Purse?  Why?  I have pockets!  Anything else I want/need to carry I need a backpack for.... Imagine the horror when I discovered the one skirt didn't have pockets.  Then I realized my coat did and we were all good.

In light of this, I think it is rather amusing I'm interested in things that are considered feminine, like quilting and needle arts.  I know how to do basic sewing.  I know how to do some embroidery stitches and I know how to do counted cross-stitch.  I've signed up for knitting classes!  I know how to make simple jewelry.

I'm also interested in cooking, which was traditionally considered a girl pursuit, unless of course you were going to be a *chef* then it was ok for boys.

The only feminine art I'm not into is ironing.

I've been pondering this all day.  I suppose I'm interested in these things for two primary reasons:  I was exposed to these things at a young age and they are a way of being independent.  Perhaps if there were more men in my family and I had been exposed  to more masculine pursuits, I would be interested in them.  But there aren't any boys in my family around my age.  My mom exposed to me to a great many of the needle arts.  I never necessarily saw them as girlie, but rather as something to do while watching TV.  

I became interested in quilting after watching and later reading "How to Make an American Quilt"  Yeah.  It's not the greatest movie.  But it inspired me to learn how to quilt.  Kind of like how Midnight in Paris is inspiring me to read Hemingway.

More than anything, I've always wanted to be a self-reliant, independent woman.  Knowing the feminine arts helps me be independent.  I can cook for myself, repair most of my clothes (I don't know how to darn), make my own clothes if necessary and if worse comes to worse, I could possibly sell the quilts I've made.  (Which I've actually done and if my dog keeps racking up the vet bills it looks like a distinct possibility in the future).

I don't know.  It is something to ponder.

Star Window

I love this window.  I'm not usually a fan of chunky glass and modern designs, but I really like this one.  I love the bright colors and the straight forward design.  I love the star.

I'm not sure what exactly this window represents in the Church I found it in.

Wastebook and Other "Misuses" of Government Money

On Tuesday, the bloggers at Scientific American were up in arms about a Senator who published a Wastebook that lists 100 or so federally funded projects that he believes are a waste of money.  Mostly because the good Senator picked on quails.  Some of the projects look like they were victims of organizational lack of planning, such as building a wind farm where there is no wind.  Having been employed on soft money for the last 6 years, I have some thoughts about this which I will share.

1.  The majority of the projects in this list are small potatoes compared to the Federal Budget.  Cutting programs/projects that cost less than $500,000 aren't really going to make a difference in a federal budget that runs into the trillions.  I know that every penny counts but really...

2.  Pancakes for Yuppies...I'm guessing yuppies don't need their pancakes subsidized.  However, I'm thinking the yuppies that are served at this pancake house aren't being served by other yuppies.  In fact, they are most likely being served by low-skilled minimum wage workers.  The blurb in Wastebook says that it was to serve an "underserved community"  I'm guessing the unemployed people who are know employed or the workers kept off of unemployment qualify as an underserved community.

3.  I agree on paying dead people is wasteful.  But government programs are so inefficient or understaffed. it is impossible to get dead people off any of the lists in a reasonable amount of time.  It took forever to get my grandmother off the list and mail still occasionally shows up for her and she's been dead at least 5 years.  The same thing is happening with my uncle.

4.  We probably shouldn't be giving aid to China either...

5.  There's a video game museum??? COOOOOOOLLLLLL!!!!!  I want to go.  Oh wait.  We are talking about video game conservation being wasteful.  Why doesn't the good Senator talk to the Library of Congress about how much fun they are conserving early audio recordings.  Like how there are some tin tapes of President Truman's speeches that can't be played because there are no more players.  Or how long did it take them to be able to play Alexander Grahm Bell's (or was it Edison?) first recordings?  And given that I just did a dissertation about video games...  The last line of the blurb says that the museum costs $13 for adults.  Yeah, so?  Universities get federal money by the bucket and you still have to pay to go.  What is your point?  The funds are to be used to prepare to conserve the collection.  So they can write another grant to actually conserve the collection...

6.  A Pakistani Sesame Street?  Cool.  I'm not sure what the problem is with a Pakistani Sesame Street but I'm all for early childhood education.  And there's puppet shows.  Peace through puppets. ;)

7.  There's a magic museum! wow.

8.  OOO a Wisconsin Cheese Trail.  YUM!

9.  Oh heres' something.  $4.38 billion in War waste and fraud....  Cut that and leave my video games alone....

10.  The study on how information, especially political information, spreads through the Web might actually be a benefit to you dear Senator.  Considering the amount of misleading and false information found on the Web....and if someone were to say, start some kind of rumor about you...

11.  I agree that duplicate programs should be combined.  However, are you sure they are duplicate programs?

I agree that some of the things on the list seem somewhat silly and perhaps wasteful in the new austerity era that we should be having.  However, many of these projects provide jobs or support jobs that are already in existence.  For example, how much did it cost you to put this book together dear Senator?  I'm sure you didn't do the research or the writing yourself.  Had to hire someone I'm sure.

What I don't see is what the Senator proposes to do about this wasteful government spending.  What is his solution to this?  What does he propose to do?  Let me guess.  A study.  Which will cost money.

Scenes from Video Game Playing

Last night, Hiking Buddy became Gamer Buddy (GB) and we Wii'd for nearly 6 hours.  Some scenes:

GB:  You pushed me off the ledge!  Why did you push me off the ledge?
Me:  I thought you were the enemy....

GB:  Oh man I went from 3rd place to 8th place.  At least I'm ahead of you.
Me:  That's cold dude.

GB:  Stay away from me ok?
Me:  I don't want to sit on the other side of the room...
GB:  In the game!
Me:  Oh.  You're the one that's following me...

GB:  Why'd you run me over?
Me:  oops.

Day 4 and

No Wii playing.
I received a Wii for Christmas.  I've wanted one for months.  I had to wait until I finished my dissertation though.  I've finished my dissertation.  It's time to play!

Except I keep finding things to do.  I made a quiche last night instead.

Why is this?

Developing Artistic Vision

Before Hiking Buddy became Hiking Buddy, he was Photo Buddy.  It's because of him I have a real dSLR instead of a point and shoot (see he won't share his camera....).  Hiking Buddy and I go out and take lots of pictures at lots of different places.  We generally have a good time.

Anyway, Hiking Buddy insists I have a good eye.  I'm like I wear glasses, how can I have a good eye?  He just sighs and rolls his eyes.  What he means is that I'm able to see things that might be interesting or would make a good composition or what have you.

I was thinking about this yesterday while at Mass.  The stained glass windows were making interesting patterns and I thought it was very artistic.

Here's attempt #1:

I like the overexposure on the windows and how I've managed to get some diffraction spikes.  Overall, I think this image sucks.  The perspective is off.  It's too dark in the center.  It feels clunky.  It would have been cooler had the colored light landed on St. Anne or Mary.  This is one of my great ideas that didn't pan out photographically.

Attempt #2

This window is on the other side of the Church.  Even though this is underexposed (not bright enough) I like how it turned out.  There's colored light on the wall and on the floor.  I think the corner of the pew give it a nice touch.  This photo seems more balanced than the above picture.  

As I look at these photos, I'm trying to remember how I decided what to take a picture of and what not to include.  They just seemed to look right.

I've noticed that on many of my photos.  Yesterday I went to Hawn State Park and took lots of artistic photos.  I'm not happy with any of them.  Well, I'm happy with the pictures of my dog.  Mostly.  Some doggie wasn't cooperating.  I'm not exactly sure what happens.  I just know that sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't work.  I also know that sometimes photoshop can salvage what would be a bad technical shot.  But no amount of photoshopping in the world will fix an artistically bad photo.  

I'm not sure how to fix this problem other than reading more photography books and taking more pictures.  But the pictures need to be critiqued.  I've taken 38,500 pictures with my Rebel; very few have been critiqued.  I think even if I do the critique it might make my photography better.

So I'm thinking of doing photo critiques of my pictures too.

Adventures of 12/26

I had the day off!  YAY! Days off call for adventure!  Hiking Buddy, Jake and I piled into the Vibe and drove a total of 230 miles around Missouri.

Starting from South St. Louis City:
St. Stephens in Richwood (It was locked)
Cedar Hill Park
Brown's Ford
Sand Creek Winery
Hawn State Park (the whole point of the trip)
The Cave Winery
Ste. Genevieve Winery
Magnolia Hollow Conservation Area
Chick-Fil-A

We were at Sand Creek when Hiking Buddy said to look up.  I had already had a couple sips and I look up and nearly fall over as it looks like an airplane propeller is headed straight for me.  It's a ceiling fan and a ceiling painted like the sky.  More reasons I should not drink.

Another thing we discovered was that some wineries are charging for tastings.  I can understand why.  I know people (whistles innocently) who go, taste a bunch of wine and don't buy anything.  However, if you actually buy wine as a result of the tasting, perhaps they could wave the tasting fee or discount the bottle.

I have lots of pictures which I need to process and will post to my photo blog.

Much, much fun!  and cheese!

Midnight in Paris

After a full day of fun with our families, I took Hiking Buddy his Christmas presents.  We then decided to drink said Christmas present and watch movies.  We watched Midnight in Paris.

Before watching this movie, I had no desire to read Hemingway or Fitzgerald.  I knew I should read them because a well-educated person should have read them.  But I never have.

I'm watching this movie and I'm just enthralled with Hemingway.  I want to know more about him.  And his lines in the movie, are they for real?  They are so awesome.  Here's one

 All men fear death. It's a natural fear that consumes us all. We fear death because we feel that we haven't loved well enough or loved at all, which ultimately are one and the same. However, when you make love with a truly great woman, one that deserves the utmost respect in this world and one that makes you feel truly powerful, that fear of death completely disappears. Because when you are sharing your body and heart with a great woman the world fades away. You two are the only ones in the entire universe. You conquer what most lesser men have never conquered before, you have conquered a great woman's heart, the most vulnerable thing she can offer to another. Death no longer lingers in the mind. Fear no longer clouds your heart. Only passion for living, and for loving, become your sole reality. This is no easy task for it takes insurmountable courage. But remember this, for that moment when you are making love with a woman of true greatness you will feel immortal.


Overall, I thought the movie was cute and light-hearted and not something I would likely watch again.  But in another way, this movie was truly great because it has inspired me to read literature.  I'm not sure which one to start with.  I'm not even familiar with the works of Hemingway and Fitzgerald so I guess it's off to Wikipedia to find out what books they wrote.  Then it is off to iBook or iKindle to see which one is free ;)

There's a Tact Fairy???

There's a tact fairy?  When she going to visit me?
Apparently instead of a wand/pixie dust, she carries a 2x4....

On being a girl

Apparently I'm a girl.  Shocking to those who know me (or maybe not).  The Ph.D did have me burst into tears at random times for the most bizarrest of reasons, which was pretty girly of me.

Some of the bloggers I follow are all into this authentic woman-ness and real feminity and all that stuff.  I'm intrigued and I wonder if they are onto something.  I mean I dress in jeans and t-shirts and the men are just falling all over me (oh I sooo lie) that maybe if I you know looked girly...  The inner feminist in me is screaming traitor!! while some part of me (probably the biological girl part that wants a mate) is like I can get all girly and get a husband and everything will be awesome.  Needless to say this is quite the inner struggle.  It helps/hurts that I only own 3 skirts.  None of which I can wear to work.

In a fit of madness, I bought candy cane shower gel.  Cause girls use perfume-y shower gel.  Ok.  I was hungry.  I have showered with said candy cane shower gel.  I don't smell like a candy cane.  I'm rather disappointed.  Or maybe not.  I might have started to gnaw on myself.

I do not know what to think.  Both views seem equally valid.

Come on and Ride

...on a fantastic voyage.

I have recently graduated with a Ph.D.  I keep getting asked what I'm going to do now.  People don't seem amused when I stare at them blankly or collapse into tears.

So let's figure it out.