Check it. There’s a really cool comic strip out there called PhD, Piled Higher and Deeper and I’m hooked (like–I’ve got the RSS feed into my Google homepage–hooked). It’s geeky student commentary at its sad but funny best! The books of the complete series would make awesome birthday / holiday / I-need-something-to-cover-my-coffee-table-with gifts (wink, wink). Yeah, like I really need more things to do to waste time.
Proceed through the archives at your own risk.
After a many-years-long debate, it’s been decided that Pluto is to be classified as a dwarf planet, as it will no longer be considered a major planet in our Solar System. The International Astronomical Union in Prague voted in favor of the reclassification, citing Pluto’s funky orbit around the sun as the main reason. To be classified as a major planet, one of the qualifications is, a body’s orbit must be clear of other objects. Not to mention it’s small size and steep incline when compared to other orbits in our System, Pluto’s orbit crosses Neptune’s once every couple hundred years or so (but with an almost negligible chance of ever colliding). Also, given recent discoveries, Pluto seems to mimic much more closely the behavior of several other bodies known as Trans Neptune Objects (TNO’s), which are found in the nearby Kuiper Belt. Other known objects, such as the icy 2003 UB313 in the Kuiper Belt, the huge asteriod Ceres, and Pluto’s own moon, Charon, have fallen into the new dwarf planet classification as well.
I’ll admit, I’m a bit sorry to see the little guy go, but, such is the way of scientific progess. Sorry to all the students out there–it’s all new text books next year!
Tomorrow is the first day of the semester. My registration seems to be in order; I’m still waiting to hear if I’ve been funded through a grant I applied for, however. Otherwise, all I have to do is show up. Wish me luck!
I went white water rafting this morning! It was SO much fun, the kind of thing I would love to do again. The technical difficulty of the river we (three other friends and I) traversed was Class I or II, I’m sure, but it was my first time, so I had a blast. Between the forward strokes, back strokes, and yells to get “High side left!” it was quite a workout! And somehow I ended up in the very front, so I got soaking wet (all the better!). The really cool thing was the swimming hole we stopped to swim in towards the end. We each took turns being carried by the river current and that was really fun. According to our guide, there’s a big Class V competition happening this weekend, and the winner qualifies for a spot in a competition in Spain. The weather was perfect, so was the company. It was a great end to a long, hot summer. I will definitely do this again next season.
I looked at the front page of the local newspaper on Sunday, and the headline read “Students Burdened By Debt”. This article comes at a time when university tuition rates have increased again (up 4% from the previous school year for a total of 55% since 2003), and federal aid for students has remained low. To add another shoe to the backs of some, the state, to compensate for some of its losses, has also announced policy changes that will shift chunks of money traditionally given to graduate research programs over to undergraduate students. This will seriously affect the quality of research at the university level, not to mention the incentive for many students to continue study beyond the undergraduate level. Often, the most important factor in a student’s choice of graduate school is the level of funding offered.
I find patronizing the rhetoric that comes from analysts and policy makers, who say that, in an international comparison, our country is sliding down the academic ladder; that our students don’t try hard enough; and that they are less educated and less equipped to succeed professionally as a result. My response to their accusations is this: show us, the students, where your priorities lie! Yes, I believe that education is a value best taken to its fullest potential, but when will those with the means to accelerate the learning process in this country stop making excuses, stop witholding their resources, and start putting their money (or their policies, or their curricula) where their mouths are? We live in a country where the “dream” has turned into the belief that every person is an island unto themselves. In light of this, how can it be fair to judge students as a collective body, when there is a poor collective effort on our behalf? Quite the opposite is what we see. Higher education is once again becoming a luxury that fewer can afford and fewer are content with having chosen to pursue. Who will step up and say enough is enough?
I’m really looking forward to a relaxing weekend. The week had been a bit overwhelming, but ended on a good note Friday night. Nonetheless, a lot of my energy went into submitting a project for my job, which required new and amazing skills on Google’s SketchUp software. I love it. Google thinks of everything, then makes it available to the world. Wonderful.
As far as plans go, I think I’ll stay in for the evening and catch up on some TV and veg-like behavior.
I have fallen in love with my cello. My very first cello. It’s been mine for about 4 hours now (I brought it home from the luthier’s shop today) and I can’t stop looking at it. And picking it up. And wiping away the dust that accumulates on it every few minutes. It’s a Knilling 4/4 solid wood, with a beautiful, deep walnut-brown finish. The sound is amazing and I love playing on it, which totally makes up for the fact that I can’t grow long fingernails anymore. Ha ha!
Last night, I saw Central City Opera’s production of The Coronation of Poppea (written by Italian composer Claudio Monteverdi in 1642, directed by Ken Cazan). It was very good! This was my first visit to the House, and I was really pleased by the size and sound of the place. It’s small, and therefore intimate and fun. The company players were fantastic, as the production was presented more as a play than a standard opera. The acting (facial expressions, body language) was good, and the voices even better. The leading male voices (Amore, Nerone, Ottone) were written in the castrati style, and it was really interesting to hear. The political and social dynamics of power, usually associated with masculinity and deep, thunderous voices, are turned upside down by the high, feminine sound of the castrati voice. The irony goes deeper, even, when one considers that all the power of Rome was handed to one woman, Poppea, because of Nero’s unyielding lust for her. It is very clear that Love (Amore) is ruler of the day. Ultimately, to make room for Poppea as his new bride, Nero exiles his wife, Octavia (Ottavia), who in an especially powerful scene sings farewell to her family, her friends, and her country. “A-A-A-Addio…” she laments from a broken and defeated heart.
During opera notes before the show, I learned that this opera is one of the earliest written in the Italian Baroque era, within about 50 years of opera’s first appearance in Italy. The orchestra (conducted by Nicholas Kraemer) featured period instruments, such as the lute and, of particular interest to me, the viola de gamba, or “viol of the leg”, which looks like the cello. The name “viol of the leg” was given to distinguish these instruments from the aesthetically similar, but distantly related, viola da braccia family, or “viol of the arm”, which we know today as the violin group of instruments (violin, viola, cello and double bass). The gamba instruments come in various sizes, just like members of the violin family, but are all played while being held upright and typically have six or seven strings.
Overall this performance experience was a delight (two thumbs up)! Cheers to Central City Opera for putting on a great show.
So cliche! But yes, hello world. My name is Kim and I come in peace…oh wait, wrong speech. Hold on a sec… Hello world. My name is Kim and I am new to the whole blog thing. It took me hours just to choose this page design, but now I think it’s cool. I’m a college student, so naturally I am in constant search of new and interesting distractions. Like the opera. Tomorrow, I’m going to the opera. Or playing the cello, which I’ve just begun taking lessons on. I also LOVE to dance and watch sci-fi movies. Well, not at the same time, of course. And don’t get me started on wine. I bottled a case of the homemade variety for the first time last weekend. Fantastic. Anyways, there are a lot of things to do and see from where I’m standing. So, here we go!
