Transitions [alternately: Mind spewings]

School is done, and half of my undergraduate life is complete. Perhaps not complete, but completed. There are things I have not done, people I have not met and methods I have not learned...leading me to the conclusion that I am human. I miss the floor, camaraderie, tricking and being. Those men are my family. I will see some again, but for now they are missed.

I must have time for two families, perhaps three, and summer is for those who birthed and developed me. For them I give thanks. I give thanks as I wait for my marks, worrying about the half results I have received and wondering, what errors may I have made. I enjoy them while I can, before another semester of learning draws nigh. Time spent with family is never lost and each moment must be welcomed at whatever cost.

A third thing I ponder as summer approaches, much less consequential or maybe far more. I see couples cavorting, enjoying themselves (a friend now engaged!?!). I have no one to empty myself to, to tell all my secrets. To comfort, to hold and know all is well. Mayhaps she will come (mayhaps is no word), mayhaps I was not meant to find such a girl. Mayhaps my mutterings on this wired journal are my only consolation. This I doubt though, I will have to make time, for I feel that there is one out there for even me.

For now I put these thoughts to rest and will soon venture out. The lawn must be mowed, and there is work to be done. And tonight, my brother and I will...jog.

Hello net trolls [Read: human race]

Whenever I am feeling inadequate or particularly lame, I go online and read the comments section following most any article. The emotional distance between the people that comment and between the commenters and author is so incredibly large that everyone feels free to be a pompous @$$hole. Unfortunately, a side effect of this self-medication is a loss of faith in the human race as a collective. The internet needs more Youtube-like voice playback features. Or fewer humans.

today

mellifluous. is full of sunshine. conversations(questionable). hella tight. engr 204. laconic phrases. living our faith together. epic mario kart. jokes. organic chem. kinderen. irresponsible. sang real. consecutivas noches de futbol. her. idiosyncratic symbolism. soccer. played freebird almost :). ridiculous good friends. eat the rice at your own risk. talk. to. you...save it for later!

The Importance of Wind Power

Image via Wikipedia

I just arrived back from a seminar that Calvin held, by Dr. Imad Mahawili, the Executive Director of the Michigan Alternative and Renewable Energy Center. This man is taking an approach to renewable energy and resources that is one of the best that I can think of. The main sources of energy he is looking at are biomass and wind energy. Our lakes are some of the best places to harvest energy from in terms of size and potential. If we build wind-farms offshore far enough, they don't have to be an "eye-sore", which is what some claim. To be honest with you though, there are few man-made structures more beautiful than the windmill to me. Birds die from flying into windmills, this is a fact, but if the structures are far enough from land, the bird problem won't be an issue, as apparently they require food, which they largely get on land. Also, Dr. Mahawili brought up the statistic that cats eat on the order of ten times more birds than turbines can kill.
In Germany, there is an abundance of windmills. This comes from their commitment to losing no German lives in the pursuit of resources through war or other strife. If we invest sufficiently in turbines for our waters, not only would we reduce our emissions, but the amount of energy that we have to import from other states and countries. When we import as a state and country, we not only lose money, but we lose the jobs that the money funds elsewhere.
Biomass is another component that is worth investment. It does more than convert manure into fuel and energy. The sulfur is removed by bacteria, the residual water with essential nutrients is re-introduced to the fields with 90% of the E. Coli bacteria killed off, the leftover solids are not left in the fields to emit methane, but are re-processed and sold as fertilizer or bedding for cattle, so the process is very sustainable. This is a very real thing. In fact, Mahawili designed a plant that does this in West Michigan, which has been operational for almost two years now. The problem is that the company that built it is now working in Texas, doing this, which is great for Texas, but not Michigan.
The policy is not there yet, we need to work at it with the politicians, but it will take time. Dr. Imad Mahawili believes that an entrepreneurial approach is a sure and resourceful way around this, and so do I.

Things

...are going well, not amazing, but well. I got the research fellowship for this summer that I wanted, which is awesome. I'll be looking at ethanol extraction from an invasive woody shrub. Maybe more later on how that goes. I'm home now for Good Friday, and I get to hear one of my friends give the sermon tonight. Also, right now I'm going to play tennis with one of my favorite people. It's a good day, I hope yours is too.

Research Fellowship

Well, I got a research fellowship at Calvin this summer. I'll either be looking into recycling technologies, or the possibility of using buck thorn, an fast-growing invasive species, as an alternative to corn for the generation of fuel ethanol, similar to how switchgrass is being used in warmer climates. I would prefer the ethanol research, but it's very up in the air at this point.

Winter Camping

Got back from Mackinaw City last night (I prefer the French, Mackinac though). It was cold, but not as cold as last year. The birthday gifts I received this year (Mummy bag, socks and boots) really came in handy, and made this trip a much warmer one than last year. My cousin Nathan went again this year, as well as my friend Sungmin. We did a little bit of skiing, much of the snow had already melted, on a trail that we skied last year. Turns out there were some geocaches on it that I didn't know about before. Speaking of geocaching, we did quite a few, both in the city, and in Wilderness State Park. The water and ice was amazing to see this year though. It was not thick enough that we could confidently walk far onto the lake unfortunately. We did find a great view of the Mackinac Bridge from the Lake Michigan side however...and saw some amazing houses on the shore. These dwellings must have cost a fortune, but are probably worth it due to the amazing view. There is one in particular just east of the park by the Bridge that is just immense. It might be the biggest house that I've ever seen, and in the best location that I can think of. I think that it's been under construction for at least 8 years now, but when it's done it will be epic. Maybe by the time it's finished I will have achieved my dream of owning the beautiful lake-front, bridge-view lot next to TeePee, or some property east of town...who knows? I can dream...yes, I can dream.

Special thanks to the Cooleys for letting us stay at TeePee for free again this year.

Disintermediate Strategic Vortals

Image via Wikipedia

Found a cool economic word generator site today. There are tons of them, but this one seemed immediately useful considering the economic climate we are in. I had just read an article in Wired about David X. Li's Gaussian copula function, and its incredible mis-use by the securities industry. It made me wonder, if someone threw my ridiculous, made-up term into conversation how many financial experts would claim to know what it means.

In other news, I just checked my feed reader, and the BBC just posted: The world's youngest billionaires lose one-third of their wealth. How sad.

Settled a bit

Image by tbutanol via Flickr

This week is so much better than last. I won't bore with the details, but I'm happy it's over. Last week and this week have also confirmed how much I have had it up to the gills with EE classes and am entirely sick of them. To all you 'lectrical's out there, "You do good work, but I would hate your job." ChE I'm finding is definitely the way to go for me. Not only is the lab setting better, but there are no integrated circuits to deal with, or diagrams to pore over. I cannot wait until this semester is over...hopefully by then I will have landed an internship...hopefully.

Rangeela 2009

I went this year to the cultural celebration that is put on by Calvin students. Needless to say, it was EPIC! The acts came from across the world: Hawai'i, Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Mexico, South Korea, Africa, China, Europe (ha), India and Japan. The audio for the opening sequence was Jai Ho, Oscar winner this year, it gave me chills up and down my spine for its entirety. Diverse and impressive, each was a treat for the eyes and ears. Jin Ha Kim opened with "We Are One in the Spirit" and was joined by a small choir and the house band. Excellent beginning.

The first act was from Hawai'i. They did traditional dances, first with solely hand movements. The second set used sticks to create rhythms and follow the beat, then a second group came out with gourds and did a dance. The movements were incredibly fluid and beautiful.

Next came a Filipino mock war dance (Maglalatik). The performers beat on their chests and backs with coconut parts. It was a very powerful performance. The version that was performed actually represented coconut gatherers joyfully working int the fields.

The dance from Vietnam followed. The performers did a fan and umbrella dance. It is done to celebrate the lunar new year in Vietnam. The fan motions and umbrella wielding resulted in a masterful and resplendent rendition. This was probably my favorite part of the evening because two of my friends were in it, An and Tu, they were so good!

Indonesia arrived next with "Angklung", played with traditional instruments made from bamboo. The arrangement reminded me of Western handbells. It was far more than that though. Chanting and an extremely intricate set of hand clapping and synchronized movements combined to form an inspiring performance...it was rly good.

A Hispanic performance of the Guelaguetza was next. This is a partner dance, that is similar to the square dance in the structural element. The dance tells a continual love story between the dancers of each couple. A friend was in this one two, very cool dance.

South Korea finished the first set with two dances: Traditional ladies dance and modern guys dance. The ladies were in traditional dresses and danced with So-Go drums (hand drums). It was very elegant and flowed exquisitely. The men (and one woman) did a more modern dance with large trash cans (very effective for making beats). It was great, they had a couple of guys lay down the powerful main beat by pounding the cans on stage, and the others beat on them with sticks. Some friends in this one too, a very powerful performance.

After intermission came the African dance. It was done historically in the gold mines of South Africa and used as a means of communication. A percussion oriented piece using body parts and their boots.

A love story from China followed this. The moon goddess falls in love with a palace guard, but is challenged by a high official. The women dance first, the official chases them away, then the palace guard does a martial art themed dance (suh-weet!). The two lovers finally dance, the official enters and kills the leader of the guard...oh no! Well, they find each other in heaven and all is well.

The European act was next and better than I thought it would be. It featured a study in contrast between Spanish and German dance. The performers were very proficient...very. Strict tradition met fun and informal Spanish pride...excellence was emitted.

From India came the "Aaja Nachle" (let's dance). The first dance was effeminate and very pleasing to the eyes ;). The performers hands and bodies moved gracefully and effortlessly. The next two songs both involved men, who did exceptional jobs as well. The final song was traditional Tamil, in which the man admires his lover's beauty. Much was to be admired.

The final performance was from Japan. The dances were full of energy imparted from the rhythm of the drums and lofty melody of flutes. The dances were elegant yet powerful, and displayed vibrant colors on beautiful clothing (kimonos for the women and vest-like wear for the men).

I don't think I could be more impressed right now. The mood was charged, and the performances were seemingly flawless. I will likely be attending next year as well, it had been several years since I had been there. It meant a lot more to actually know some of the students involved this time though. To all of my friends involved, none of whom read this, you did an excellent job! So good, so good. It makes me want to be from a culture that involves more dances than those with wooden shoes and rigidity. Sublime. Mellifluous. Pulchritudinous. Rangeela 2009!

Fry and Laurie

I came across this tidbit through a tweet by @stephenfry today. He is the Fry of Fry and Laurie, incidentally is an avid twitterer, and is absolutely hilarious. I think I might have to peruse more of their content on youtube. Also, I like the juxtaposition of seeing Hugh Laurie on House, and his comedies of yesteryear. It's very refreshing.

Twitterdrama

There have been murmurings of fake followers on Twitter. I would like to know who cares, and why. Does it make you cooler to have more followers that don't contribute? I have far more respect for those that contribute valuable information, or even simply tweet about their lives. Two outstanding examples of this are @stephenfry, an Englishman who writes about his life very convincingly and in interesting fashion, and @zaibatsu, a maven of social media as his profile proclaims. People like these two bring so much to Twitter and are followed because of this. If Twitter has turned into a follower competition, maybe users are missing the point. It seems to me that people should be more worried about getting real eyes to their feed, if that's their thing, than worrying about "fake" eyes that really don't contribute to "prestige" or add content.

Also, ev, Twitter's CEO has replied convincingly to these rumors, so I'm inclined even less to worry about this non-issue. I'm only writing about this because of the ridiculous amounts of posts I've been seeing referring to it. Tweet on.

Remembering Marquis, Marquisha

Image via Wikipedia

I remembered something that Marquis and Marquisha's grandmother said to me in Cincinnati. When we were there, the political campaigning season was in full sway. She said, "F--- McCain, Obama, Clinton...none of them ain't done s--- for me...only thing I can do is look out for myself and my kids." It's so true, especially when I think about where all that bailout money is going. You can be sure it's not going to them. I can't stop thinking about them and the place where they live. Are the walls cascading with trash, and frigid to the touch. Is their home cold, or have they gotten electricity money for the bills? Are they growing and learning? I think I'm going to have to e-mail Pastor Pam. God be with them.

Sadiversary

It's been a year now. We hope, we pray and we pray some more. Things are beginning to look up, but the job market just isn't what is used to be. Everyone knows this. Our family's is just another unfortunate story of the millions that are being lived and told. We'll see what this year has in store. Perhaps faint glimmerings will become realities soon.

Another week bites the dust

Well, here we are at the end of another week. They always seem to go so fast. Tonight I'll probably do the normal routine that most awesome bachelors do. Homework while watching a movie. I realize that this is incredibly lame, but I really don't care. I kind of enjoy staying in and just doing whatever. I'm kind of working through a movie list right now, and my homework needs doing. Might as well be productive right? It might not seem enjoyable, but the stillness is nice, and tomorrow I get to see my family.

On an unrelated note, I managed to add a decent reader, configure Tweetdeck and Thunderbird to my liking. Hopefully this will minimize my online time to the necessary things and increase my homework time.

Because I Can

I decided to post, for no other reason than that I can, and that Zemanta is fun to use. Well, I guess it is noteworthy to say that I added a translator to the old blog today. Now my vast audiences from around the globe that number in the zero can access this delicate prose in their native tongues. This does bring me to the Blogger template. I don't want to move to a layout version. Give me my HTML. Do I want to have a nice little UI that I can use to pull boxes all over the place with? No. Steve wants to be able to make things as wide and skinny, tall and short as he so pleases. Also, I decided to use all the links Zemanta provides from now on, even if they do not fit. Take UI for example, interesting, but not so relevant. Maybe next time.

Joy

Image by laffy4k via Flickr

Lately I've been feeling kind of constrained and backed into a corner with homework and responsibilities; pretty normal for a college student. Yesterday though, I felt more at peace than I have in a long time. It might have been the spring-like weather, or seeing my extended family, but something changed. At L.O.F.T. last night, I was filled with overwhelming joy, and I could not stop smiling. I think I even laughed aloud during a song we were singing. I hope this lasts; it feels good.

Thanks much

By the way, thanks to Alex for relaying the good word about Zemanta. It's really a great blogging tool, it recommends tags and offers to insert links for you to Wikipedia pages. I'm impressed.

Aha

So in middle school and high school, I was involved in Science Olympiad in region 12 doing a variety of powder and chemical analysis events. I never really understood the chemistry of it until now. In O-Chem lab, we started integrating chemical analysis of substances with the normal IR, GC and NMR methods that we usually use, and it's all coming together. It's kind of sad that it took me until my second year of undergrad to understand why the things I did in 8th-12th grade worked, but let's not dwell on that. Kudos to David VanDyke for instructing middle schoolers in identification chemistry.

60 ton angel

The album In Absentia is the most beautiful collection of music I've ever heard.
I got wiring loose inside my head
It has an mellifluous quality to it that is just amazing.
I got books that I never ever read
The rhythms flow and writhe.
I got secrets in my garden shed
Bass echoes from the bottom of my soul, urging it to sing.
I got a scar where all my urges bled
The lyrics are compelling and peaceful, yet passionate.
I got people underneath my bed
Reminds me of a time and place, not long ago, that I dearly miss.
I got a place where all my dreams are dead
Yet I'm left hopeful of what is and has yet to come.
Swim with me into your blackest eyes