pour l'amour de mots

thebluthcompany: Illustrated Arrested Development Valentine’s...

Thu, 14 Feb 2013 21:07:50 -0800

Illustrated Arrested Development Valentine’s Day Cards

jtotheizzoe: How the Star Wars Kessel Run Turns Han Solo Into a...

Wed, 13 Feb 2013 21:55:23 -0800

How the Star Wars Kessel Run Turns Han Solo Into a Time-Traveler

In what may be my favorite Star Wars-themed science article ever written (and that’s saying a lot), Kyle Hill analyzes Han Solo’s oft-criticized description of completing the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs … and discovers he was probably a time-traveler.

The problem arises because a parsec is a unit of distance, not time. So Han’s statement implies that he found a Kessel Run shortcut. In the Star Wars universe, this famous smugglers’ route skirts dangerously close to some black holes. So if the Millennium Falcon can keep from being sucked in, it must be really fast.

And that’s where it gets cool:

So for the purposes of calculating the Kessel Run, let’s say the Millennium Falcon is the fastest ship ever. Somehow able to withstand the forces involved (perhaps it has something to do with that sweet tractor-beam tech), we can calculate what happens when Han and his baby go 99.9999999 percent the speed of light, or 0.999999999c.

Funny things happen to time when you start traveling close to the speed of light. Time runs normally for you, but everyone else moves forward at an increased rate, covering years while you only experience minutes. What does this time dilation mean for Han?

Because the shortened Kessel Run spans 12 parsecs (39.6 light-years), a ship traveling nearly light-speed would take a little more than 39.6 years to get there. Factoring in time dilation, anyone watching the Kessel Run would see Solo speeding along for almost 40 years, but Solo himself would experience only a little more than half a day.

If you haven’t picked out the potential pitfall for the Star Wars timeline I’ll spell it out: In the time it takes Han to complete just one Kessel Run, the rest of the galaxy battles, negotiates, and force-chokes its way through almost 40 years — and pushes the date of Solo’s birth 40 years further into the past.

It gets better. Go read the rest at Wired.com.

"I’ll try anything once, twice if I like it, three times to make sure."

Tue, 23 Aug 2011 22:55:48 -0700

““I’ll try anything once, twice if I like it, three times to make sure.””

- Mae West

Photo

Tue, 23 Aug 2011 21:45:42 -0700

We must be hatched or go bad. ~C.S. Lewis

Tue, 23 Aug 2011 21:23:00 -0700

I have absolutely zero clue what the fuck I’m doing. For all of the time I spend telling everyone else that “it’s all going to be okay”, I’m panicking on the inside. I know what I want. Whether I’m going to get it is an insane fucking mystery. I don’t even know where to start. The last time I tried putting one foot in front of the other, I fell down the stairs. “It’s normal to experience some confusion.” That’s what they tell you when you hit your head. 6-8 weeks, they say. Somehow, I have a feeling it will go on for a lot longer than that.

"It’s true love because if he said quit drinking martinis but I kept on drinking them and the..."

Mon, 22 Aug 2011 20:44:17 -0700

““It’s true love because if he said quit drinking martinis but I kept on drinking them and the next morning I couldn’t get out of bed, he wouldn’t tell me he told me.””

- Viorst, Judith

Goddammit!

Sun, 21 Aug 2011 17:34:30 -0700

Signs and symptoms of a concussion may include:

Headache or a feeling of pressure in the head
Temporary loss of consciousness
Confusion or feeling as if in a fog
Amnesia surrounding the traumatic event
Dizziness or “seeing stars”
Ringing in the ears
Nausea or vomiting
Slurred speech
Fatigue

Some symptoms of concussions may be immediate or delayed in onset by hours or days after injury:

Concentration and memory complaints
Irritability and other personality changes
Sensitivity to light and noise
Sleep disturbances
Psychological adjustment problems and depression
Disorders of taste and smell

"There is no friend as loyal as a book."

Fri, 12 Aug 2011 14:29:55 -0700

“There is no friend as loyal as a book.”

- Hemingway (via re-volt)

Photo

Mon, 08 Aug 2011 17:35:38 -0700

Photo

Wed, 03 Aug 2011 20:53:12 -0700

Photo

Fri, 29 Jul 2011 16:09:25 -0700

re-volt: (via tattooedcupcake, baphometjayne)

Fri, 29 Jul 2011 05:20:37 -0700

re-volt:

(via tattooedcupcake, baphometjayne)

"Unless it’s mad, passionate, extraordinary love, it’s a waste of time. There are too many mediocre..."

Fri, 29 Jul 2011 05:19:54 -0700

“Unless it’s mad, passionate, extraordinary love, it’s a waste of time. There are too many mediocre things in life. Love should not be one of them.”

- Meet Joe Black (via missmeliimel) (via misterlookthefuckup) (via obscureallure) (via canadiansugar) (via tattooedcupcake) (via re-volt)

Thinking I should rename the blog. "Neither interesting nor eloquent"...

Thu, 28 Jul 2011 23:20:00 -0700

Has a pretty righteous ring to it.

It’s funny the things that being sequestered with a post-op toddler for five days will cause you to ruminate on. And it’s even funnier the things that come spilling out with a simple suggestion and an hour to kill. It makes sense. The whole thing started with a decision to be myself again. And there really isn’t a whole lot more to me than great hair and a predilection toward verbosity.

I was asked the other night what I was writing. So I shared. The character in question responded with: “So you’re writing about us.” Charmed, I’m sure. I love the level of self-centeredness that was required to make such an assumption. Pomposity makes me twitch. Even when it’s unintentional. I was writing about me. I’m ALWAYS writing about me. I was taught at a very early stage of development that that is the only thing one should ever write about. I don’t know shit about shit. But I know me. I know that I can’t currently determine when the wrong thing becomes the right thing, or how. I know that I recently found something I needed, and that I’m going to have to give it up. I know that I’m completely fucking sick of ambiguity, and that I can’t be trusted to be alone with my thoughts. I know that what makes me happy also makes me sad, and that I’m losing a battle that I wasn’t even prepared to be fighting. I know a lot of things. But they’re all about me. I don’t honestly believe that you can ever really know another person. Everybody hides. Life teaches us all the hard way that it isn’t safe to wear your heart on your sleeve. I still do it anyway, sometimes. I don’t know that I really have anything to lose anymore. Broken, whole, whatever I am, I’m still just Amy. The least I can do is be honest. It may not come out in my favor, but at least I can say I tried. I’m trying. I’m taking my chances and I’m writing them down. I should have been doing it all along.

One man's feelings are another man's drinking companions...

Thu, 28 Jul 2011 20:01:00 -0700

I fucking *hate* feelings. Not as in, “I’m afraid to feel, so I’m going to collapse in on myself and die a lonely old emotional cripple”. I don’t mind my own feelings. I know how to identify them, place them in neat little manageable categories, understand what they mean to me, and move on. It’s part of what makes me so fucking awesome. I don’t experience moments of abstract rage, where I blow up like a fucking water buffalo. I walk through life with what ought not to be referred to as poise, so much as perhaps apathy. I just don’t care. People *HATE* it when you say that. “I don’t care”. They fucking. Hate it. Because the world is used to crazy passive-aggressive bitches who say it all of the time, but NEVER really mean it. I mean it. Where should we eat? Don’t care. What time do you want to see that movie? Doesn’t matter. Which pair of shoes should you buy? I. Don’t. Give. A. Fuck. And it maybe isn’t so much that I don’t care, as it is that I have other things to care about. Important things. REAL things. And we’re all different. If that shit matters enough to you to take up a perfectly good hour of your life, that’s okay too. But leave me out of it. And when I tell you that I don’t care, don’t look for what’s underneath it all. I’m probably just busy thinking about Batman. We don’t need to talk about my feelings. Just go have a beer and deal with your own.

Things Fall Apart

Wed, 27 Jul 2011 17:47:39 -0700

This is a phrase that routinely crosses my mind during periods of change. It never sets itself off to alarm bells. It’s always been more of a statement of fact. Things fall apart. It happens all of the time. But I think what separates my perspective from others is that it doesn’t frighten me. Fracture doesn’t equate to failure. Dissolution doesn’t mean devastation. Transition isn’t always pretty. It happens anyway. I’m not certain whether I’m okay with it because it’s in my DNA to remain calm, or because I have enough common sense to look at the future with some optimism, even when I can’t figure out what it is I’m looking forward to. Today I do know what I’m looking forward to. It’s novel, and altered, and completely foreign. It’s also brilliant, and comfortable, and fits me like an old slipper. It’s finding happiness in places I never thought to look, and finding life outside the places I’ve always been. It took me a long time to realize that no matter how much goes right, there’s just one thing that can’t be missing. So now I’m tearing down the walls to find it. It’s out there. It’s waiting for me. Life isn’t about doing what’s easy. It’s about doing what’s terrifying to find your way home. And things fall apart.

Oh Kanye, you're such a rascal!

Sat, 20 Nov 2010 15:28:47 -0800

http://www.cracked.com/blog/what-if-kanye-west-is-retarded/

Sophie magic.

Sat, 20 Nov 2010 14:48:36 -0800

Sophie magic.

Mmmmm.....

Sat, 20 Nov 2010 14:44:39 -0800

What's The Difference Between Regular and Decaf Coffee?

Sat, 20 Nov 2010 14:40:05 -0800

fakescience: