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Thy cheek begins to redden thro' the gloom,
Thy sweet eyes brighten slowly close to mine,
Ere yet they blind the stars, and the wild team
Which love thee, yearning for thy yoke, arise,
And shake the darkness from their loosen'd manes,
And beat the twilight into flakes of fire.
Lo! ever thus thou growest beautiful
In silence, then before thine answer given
Departest, and thy tears are on my cheek." - Alfred Lord Tennyson

L'éléphant Cramoisi

So today was my first day of winemaking.

-What's that you say?? You're winemaking?


-Why yes computer. I'm making muscadine wine.


-Like in that song?


-Yes computer.


-Wow. Nice. *cough 'redneck!'*


-It's gonna be really good. You'll see. I've got a enough to make probably 20 bottles. Although it takes 2-4 years to fully mature.


-Geek. I guess that's cool though. Have you named it?


-What?


-You know. Like Boone's Farm, or Sutter Home.


-A**hole.


-But no seriously, have you named it?


-Yes computer. I'm calling it L'éléphant Cramoisi.


-Lell uh font cramsy?


-L'éléphant Cramoisi.


-What the hell does that mean?


-It means "the crimson elephant" in French. Don't you know how to translate hundreds of languages computer?


-Not when I'm set to understand only one, jerk!


-Oh. My bad.


-So anyways, its called the crimson elephant. Any other details??


-Sure. I used a recipe from this super old website, semi combined with two or three others I found online. But I'm mostly sticking with the first site.


-Wow...talk about your web 1.0. That's some low tech stuff.


-Yeah...but it seems legit. And my readings coincide with it!


-Readings? What are you reading? I'd recommend The Little Prince or A Perfect Day for Bananafish.


-No the wine readings! Chemical stuff. Duh.


-Ohhhh. That's another problem you get when your brain sees everything as definition number 1.


-It's ok computer.


-So what were the readings??


-Well, I guess I'll just go ahead and put them out factually.
Vinification:
Friday, September 11, 2009. 3-6pm (approx) and into primary fermentor.
No yeast added yet.
So far, must has 14lbs (approx) muscadines (13.5±0.5lbs scuppernongs.)
6 quarts of water.
5.8±0.2lbs of Sugar
0.05±0.1lbs of Raw Honey
2.1 tsp of yeast nutrient
2 crushed Campden tablets

Must Temperature (at 6:32pm CST): approx. 80°F.
Humidity (outside, 35401 zip code): 85%
Weather: Cloudy, 75°F (previously cooler and raining)
Pressure: 30.03
Dewpoint: 70°F

First Wine Readings:
pH= 3.3±0.1
SG= 1.112 (approx)
PA= 14%
Balling: 25

At approx 6am I will add pectic enzyme if I can find any.

At 6pm the yeast will be added and fermentation will actually begin.

Wine currently in: primary.

..................................

-Ba bo ba bo beep beep bo bap bo beep. Wow. That's a lot of information.....Wezley. (skip to 6:05 if you wanna see what I'm talking about.)


-I know computer. I don't even think it's that important. But it's nice to have.


-I guess....... Sure. It's great to have! I love information!!


-Suck up. You just don't wanna be replaced!


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Gandhi: "'Black and Tan'! High five, racial pride!"
George Washington Carver: "I don't like those movies, Mahatma. They're full of bad dialogue, contrived plot twists and they perpetuate racial stereotypes."
[throws a ball of paper towards the garbage, misses]

Limpia, fija y da Esplendor.

So here I sit.

11:47pm CST at
[N 33.20226°]
[W 87.54724°]


Taking a break from studying calculus because I literally have a headache. And I'm probably gonna be up all night which means I still have about 12 hours before I have to start panicking. I'm not sure why I hate this calculus class so much, or why I'm having such a difficult time with it. I understand all the concepts fairly well, but understanding how to work out each problem just seems to escape me. And this is hardly the hardest class I'm going to have in the next 6 years. I think I have such an aversion to this class because
1) It's a summer class. Who want's to spend 5 hours a week staring at a 65 year old woman writing out formulas?
2)I've been partially clinically diagnosed with ADHD. Which I've put off (ironically) seeing a psychologist about, to get drugs or at least therapy.
3)It's math!
4)It's math that feels mostly irrelevant! (I loved learning about radiometric dating, because it's practical. Most everything else hasn't been.)
5)I'm technically not even supposed to be in the class (I've managed to loophole the pre-req system it seems, by taking it at Shelton.)

I know. I'm whining, and procrastinating at the same time, which is going to make me hate the class even more, when I have to drop out because otherwise I'm going to fail.

I just wanted to issue my list of grievances. I'm like a colonist making my foray into the brave new world of art students deciding they want to be doctors. Not that I'm the first...but you get the metaphor. Tyrant King Science doesn't like me very much, but I will have my revolution. Oh I will. Give me an MD or give me death! We will overcome! I have a dream! Viva la revolution!


NOTE: I had an Albert Einstein quote below until I read this one. It (obviously) is quite similar to Benjamin Button, which I didn't really care for, but in a much happier, more profound way. Maybe we do have it all wrong?

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“The most unfair thing about life is the way it ends. I mean, life is tough. It takes up a lot of your time. What do you get at the end of it? A Death! What's that, a bonus? I think the life cycle is all backwards. You should die first, get it out of the way. Then you live in an old age home. You get kicked out when you're too young, you get a gold watch, you go to work. You work forty years until you're young enough to enjoy your retirement. You do drugs, alcohol, you party, you get ready for high school. You go to grade school, you become a kid, you play, you have no responsibilities, you become a little baby, you go back into the womb, you spend your last nine months floating...





...and you finish off as an orgasm.” - George Carlin

SCARY.

Chicken McNuggets®:
White boneless chicken, water, food starch-modified, salt, seasoning (autolyzed yeast extract, salt, wheat starch, natural flavoring (botanical source), safflower oil, dextrose, citric acid, rosemary), sodium phosphates, seasoning (canola oil, mono- and diglycerides, extractives of rosemary). Battered and breaded with: water, enriched flour (bleached wheat flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamin mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), yellow corn flour, food starch-modified, salt, leavening (baking soda, sodium acid pyrophosphate, sodium aluminum phosphate, monocalcium phosphate, calcium lactate), spices, wheat starch, whey, corn starch. Prepared in vegetable oil ((may contain one of the following: Canola oil, corn oil, soybean oil, hydrogenated soybean oil with TBHQ and citric acid added to preserve freshness), dimethylpolysiloxane added as an antifoaming agent). ¹

Depending on how you count, that's 38-43 ingredients. In nugget form.


¹ http://nutrition.mcdonalds.com/nutritionexchange/nutrition_ingredients.html#2

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"Never eat more than you can lift." - Miss Piggy

I'm a little disapponted in certain things. Does that make me a pansy?

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"Let us go then, you and I,
When the evening is spread out against the sky
Like a patient etherised upon a table;
Let us go, through certain half-deserted streets,
The muttering retreats         
Of restless nights in one-night cheap hotels
And sawdust restaurants with oyster-shells:
Streets that follow like a tedious argument
Of insidious intent
To lead you to an overwhelming question …         
Oh, do not ask, “What is it?”
Let us go and make our visit.
 
In the room the women come and go
Talking of Michelangelo.
 
The yellow fog that rubs its back upon the window-panes,         
The yellow smoke that rubs its muzzle on the window-panes
Licked its tongue into the corners of the evening,
Lingered upon the pools that stand in drains,
Let fall upon its back the soot that falls from chimneys,
Slipped by the terrace, made a sudden leap,         
And seeing that it was a soft October night,
Curled once about the house, and fell asleep.
 
And indeed there will be time
For the yellow smoke that slides along the street,
Rubbing its back upon the window-panes;         
There will be time, there will be time
To prepare a face to meet the faces that you meet;
There will be time to murder and create,
And time for all the works and days of hands
That lift and drop a question on your plate;         
Time for you and time for me,
And time yet for a hundred indecisions,
And for a hundred visions and revisions,
Before the taking of a toast and tea.
 
In the room the women come and go         
Talking of Michelangelo.
 
And indeed there will be time
To wonder, “Do I dare?” and, “Do I dare?”
Time to turn back and descend the stair,
With a bald spot in the middle of my hair—         
[They will say: “How his hair is growing thin!”]
My morning coat, my collar mounting firmly to the chin,
My necktie rich and modest, but asserted by a simple pin—
[They will say: “But how his arms and legs are thin!”]
Do I dare         
Disturb the universe?
In a minute there is time
For decisions and revisions which a minute will reverse.
 
For I have known them all already, known them all:—
Have known the evenings, mornings, afternoons,         
I have measured out my life with coffee spoons;
I know the voices dying with a dying fall
Beneath the music from a farther room.
  So how should I presume?
 
And I have known the eyes already, known them all—         
The eyes that fix you in a formulated phrase,
And when I am formulated, sprawling on a pin,
When I am pinned and wriggling on the wall,
Then how should I begin
To spit out all the butt-ends of my days and ways?         
  And how should I presume?
 
And I have known the arms already, known them all—
Arms that are braceleted and white and bare
[But in the lamplight, downed with light brown hair!]
It is perfume from a dress         
That makes me so digress?
Arms that lie along a table, or wrap about a shawl.
  And should I then presume?
  And how should I begin?
      .      .      .      .      .
Shall I say, I have gone at dusk through narrow streets         
And watched the smoke that rises from the pipes
Of lonely men in shirt-sleeves, leaning out of windows?…
 
I should have been a pair of ragged claws
Scuttling across the floors of silent seas.
      .      .      .      .      .
And the afternoon, the evening, sleeps so peacefully!         
Smoothed by long fingers,
Asleep … tired … or it malingers,
Stretched on the floor, here beside you and me.
Should I, after tea and cakes and ices,
Have the strength to force the moment to its crisis?         
But though I have wept and fasted, wept and prayed,
Though I have seen my head [grown slightly bald] brought in upon a platter,
I am no prophet—and here’s no great matter;
I have seen the moment of my greatness flicker,
And I have seen the eternal Footman hold my coat, and snicker,         
And in short, I was afraid.
 
And would it have been worth it, after all,
After the cups, the marmalade, the tea,
Among the porcelain, among some talk of you and me,
Would it have been worth while,         
To have bitten off the matter with a smile,
To have squeezed the universe into a ball
To roll it toward some overwhelming question,
To say: “I am Lazarus, come from the dead,
Come back to tell you all, I shall tell you all”—         
If one, settling a pillow by her head,
  Should say: “That is not what I meant at all.
  That is not it, at all.”
 
And would it have been worth it, after all,
Would it have been worth while,         
After the sunsets and the dooryards and the sprinkled streets,
After the novels, after the teacups, after the skirts that trail along the floor—
And this, and so much more?—
It is impossible to say just what I mean!
But as if a magic lantern threw the nerves in patterns on a screen:         
Would it have been worth while
If one, settling a pillow or throwing off a shawl,
And turning toward the window, should say:
  “That is not it at all,
  That is not what I meant, at all.”
      .      .      .      .      .         
No! I am not Prince Hamlet, nor was meant to be;
Am an attendant lord, one that will do
To swell a progress, start a scene or two,
Advise the prince; no doubt, an easy tool,
Deferential, glad to be of use,         
Politic, cautious, and meticulous;
Full of high sentence, but a bit obtuse;
At times, indeed, almost ridiculous—
Almost, at times, the Fool.
 
I grow old … I grow old …        
I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled.
 
Shall I part my hair behind? Do I dare to eat a peach?
I shall wear white flannel trousers, and walk upon the beach.
I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each.
 
I do not think that they will sing to me.        
 
I have seen them riding seaward on the waves
Combing the white hair of the waves blown back
When the wind blows the water white and black.
 
We have lingered in the chambers of the sea
By sea-girls wreathed with seaweed red and brown         
Till human voices wake us, and we drown."

St. Christoper is Coming Home

So I'm bored...and I was looking at the lovely variation of regions that I have listed in my Facebook. For my 409 friends which have regions listed (of 836), There are 81 cities represented, 28 states, and 19 countries.

It made me feel pretty cool, because that means I probably actually have friends in 30-35 states, 100-150 cities, and probably 22-24 countries.

So now go do this or go here...and you can be just like me!**


^{**Actual results my vary. Walt Harris was not a recipient of any compensation for this blog. The opinions contain within are actually those of the writer, and do not represent the opinion of Blogger™, or any of its affiliates or subsidiaries.}

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"To travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive." -Robert Louis Stevenson

Conquistador

I'm just feeling like writing.

Maybe because I feel like I should stay up late since I can?

I dunno. I'm not really sure if anyone really reads this stuff anyways.

I'm such a rambler. The Allman Brothers would have loved me.

I really like Keane. They're uniquely British, a little crazy...which is one of my favorite qualities in people [I was going to insert a collage of my favuorite people (who are all a little crazy), but decided not to, just so people that didn't end up in the collage wouldn't feel left out].

So yeah, I should probably go to bed. I ordered a graphing calculator yesterday (today), and it was $170 dollars. How Nickelback is that? I was kinda pissed. The song Perfect Symmetry is REALLY pretty.

I'm going to leave you with this...I've completely decided, as idealistic, cheesy, a effing crazy as it sounds, love really is the answer. I hate myself so much for writing that, and furthermore for believing it because it makes me sound so tacky. And I don't like tackiness. I'm too cool for tackiness. But I'm striving honestly to make it the way I live my life, even though I'm so judgmental and harsh sometimes. The thing that's nice about love is, with it, you lose the obligations for everything else. People are so concerned with getting other people to agree with their worldviews, on religion (especially religion), politics, what aspects of culture are good and bad, etc. But if everybody just was, and loved, we would eliminate these needs. People would believe whatever they believed, and most likely the ideas that people were trying to force on others would just be accepted, because the ideas would no longer be forced. It's not surprisingly the way that I feel Christ lived. He hung out with all sorts of people that He knew were going to Hell, but He loved them just the same. They weren't condemned, they were just loved...and the ones that did believe, believed of their own free will, because they saw the way He lived and loved. People are so damn judgmental these days (including me), that we ruin our chances of making people ever want to be like us, and I'm kind of sick of it. The one thing that Europe taught me more than anything else is to just be accepting. Everyone, and I mean that absolutely, everyone on this entire earth, wants to be loved and accepted. So stop staring.

Sorry if everything I just wrote reeks of tackiness and pretense. Seriously though guys, love thy freaking neighbor.

^{i'm kind of ready to fall in love.}

That's the end.

Now.

THE END.

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Et il y en a un second qui lui est semblable: Tu aimeras ton prochain comme toi-même. -Matthieu 22:39 (La Bible du Semeur)

Je veux un chaton.

So I haven't posted in a while....

I've been in Millbrook...which has been really nice. But I've kind of been having the Zach Braff 'my house is not a home' feeling lately. Like, I've always lived here, and I'm more comfortable in my house than I am most other places, but I just itch to be somewhere else a lot of the time. Don't get me wrong, I love my parents and I feel like I get along with them better than a lot of people I know do with theirs, but I just am not sure if I belong here anymore. I don't like the fact that I'm most likely gonna be in Alabama for at least another 6 years. (2 more at UA/4 at UAB) I've been looking to find a med school possibly outside of the south that I would feel comfortable at. But since UAB is 29th in the nation, and I already love it and the people there, I'm going to have to find a pretty kick ass place to be good enough to move for.

Anyways, speaking of Zach Braff, I think the fact that ABC has renewed Scrubs for a 9th season is really Everybody Loves Raymond. (PS. I despise everybody loves Raymond, which means you should click the link because its not ELR) I've been working on not calling things gay lately...because even though my gay friends say it, I could see someone else finding it pretty offensive and Florida Gators. Yep, did it again.

But yeah, so ABC has renewed for a 9th season and Zach Braff/Sarah Chalke (who were both supposed to be quitting) are signed on for the first 6 or so episodes to 'tie up loose ends.'¹ The reason this really bothers me is that season 7 was supposed to be the last season. Then NBC did a BS series finale because of the stupid writers strike. So ABC bought Scrubs, since it was already being filmed in their studios anyways, and picked up the 8th season, which saved the shows integrity and did a nice job of bringing Scrubs somewhat back to its roots (Seasons 1-4'esque). The finale was absolutely wonderful and did a great job of wrapping, if being a little too JD focused. I feel like everything Scrubs has tried to say has been said. And since it will be returning with an incomplete cast, it's ruining the integrity of the show. Why couldn't they just do a spin-off? Anyways, it's probably ridiculous to y'all that I'm ranting about a moderately-rated TV sitcom, but this show has a lot of importance to me for a million reasons that it would take to long to mention. I'm going to stop ranting though.

In other news, summer classes start next week. Calculus and Am. Hist. to 1850. Woo! Go Bucs! (Can't you tell I'm super stoked?)

Additionally, I went to my doctor today because I thought I was having an allergic reaction to the Wildflower Wind paint that I had used to paint a bedroom in our house with. I have shingles. I know y'all might think it gross and weird that I'm giving you a bit of my medical history, but you can suck it, because it's not like I did something stupid to get it. It happens. Plus I get fun pain pills!



The pills are to help avoid nerve damage that can recur for the rest of your life. Hopefully (dear Jesus) that won't happen.


Anyways...I need to paint some trim.

I'm back in Tuscaloosa this weekend, and although it will probably be boring too, I kinda can't wait.


¹ http://www.reuters.com/article/televisionNews/idUSTRE54E0VM20090515

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"The art of medicine consists in amusing the patient while nature cures the disease." ~Voltaire

Nouvel et Amélioré

Can something really be new and improved??

That doesn't make any sense to me, because the whole point of being new is originality...if its already been done before than its not new. But improved suggests its something old that has just been changed around to be better. The only way it can really make sense is if you're talking about something like a physical recipe for something [bike tires, lemonade, whatev.] Cause then the recipe is physically new, but an improved version of the old one.

Anyways...just thought I'd share.

I'm not a mad man. I was just kidding.

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"In the ancient recipe, the three antidotes for dullness or boredom are sleep, drink, and travel. It is rather feeble. From sleep you wake up, from drink you become sober, and from travel you come home again. And then where are you? No, the two sovereign remedies for dullness are love or a crusade." - D. H. Lawrence

Le Livre d'Amour

So I just watched the last three episodes of Scrubs. Ever. (At least in mine and Bill Lawrence's mind¹.)

It was amazing.

The the two before the finale (ep. 17 and part 1 of ep. 18) we're only vaguely better than normal episodes, but Part 2 of the season finale was beautiful.

For some reason Scrubs really resonates with me, even though I never liked it until I moved to Scotland. I'm so glad it's over though, and that they finished strong. I'm one of those really crazy fans that hates it when they destroy the integrity of a show. It needed to end, and now it's over.

So is the semester, almost!

This semester has been a bit rough, and I kind of wish that I had done better and done more, but that's that I guess. I've met some wonderful people that I really hope stay in my life though, at least for a while, and that's at least as important as a good grade. Summer will be weird though. Thankfully I have quite a few people that are sticking around for it.

I've got to come up with more interesting things to write. My first post kicked ass, and they've been deteriorating ever since. I think I might just call it a day...but I have a surprise for you:

You can watch the finale of Scrubs on ABC.com! Just click here!

Now aren't you glad you stuck around for that?

¹http://www.premiumhollywood.com/2009/05/06/a-chat-with-bill-lawrence-the-scrubs-exit-interview/

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"I would Turkleton but I only play Pac-Man and that carjack game...there's nothing like scoring a Caddie and mowing down street hoes!" - Bob Kelso

Dimanche

So I'm trying this whole text-post thing to see how well it works.

Sitting on the couch waiting on clothes to wash and I'm bored out of my mind, and I've had such a boring weekend...people I was supposed to hang out with never responded to texts and the people I wanted to talk to didn't either, so I've felt kinda bummed.

Did you know the some of the first commercial space flights are scheduled to start mid-2010? For a measly $90,000 to $200,000 you can spend 4-6 minutes in complete weightlessness, up to 68 miles in the atmosphere. Virgin has one and there's another company(which I can't remember) that actually is cheaper ($92,000?) and in flight it's just you and the pilot...so you get a very 1 on 1 experience. Woot.

Not sure how much more I can text at once, so let's see what happens!
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"How could drops of water know themselves to be a river? Yet the river flows on." - Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Le Jour Deux

So...day two.

Not as much to write today...I'm sleepy and need to shave.

I just ordered pizza though, which is exciting, and means something to those who truly know me.

I feel pressure to write something more meaningful today, since my rant on swine flu was much more motivated.

It's going to be a boring weekend. Courtney, Candace, and Jon are all out of town, and they're probably 90% of the people that I hang out with on the weekend. But I'm going to job hunt (and hopefully update my real website) so it'll be okay.

--Intermission--

I just watched Forgetting Sarah Marshall...and it was 'effin awesome. The perfect mix of satire and seriousness; and who doesn't love Mila Kunis. Seriously?

Hmmm...I guess that's it. I'll try to find something more interesting to write tomorrow.

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“Don't worry about the world coming to an end today. It is already tomorrow in Australia.” - Charles Schulz

Ad Astra Per Alia Porci

Here goes number two, a little bit more bloggish?

So...this swine flu stuff. I kinda think people are freaking out too much.

As Colbert warned: "Swine flu feeds on your fear."

But seriously, let me point out that only 236 cases of swine flu have been reported [and confirmed].ª That's 0.00000295% of the population. Two probable cases were reported in Madison County today, and due to that the school is getting closed down for 7 days. Yes...a week off of school because two kids have something that is almost as treatable as the typical flu.

So far there have been 159 deaths in Mexico, which is a big deal, considering this is an emerging pandemic that little is known about...BUT the Mexican Health Care System spends approximately $675 per capita on health care(adjusted for PPP), which is about one quarter of the OECD average, and only 11% of what the US spends ($6,102). Although I will point out that our healthcare system ranks 22^nd out of 23 industrialized countries in our healthy life expectancy and per person medical expenditures, only ahead of the Czech Republic.^b

But that's another story for another day.

My point is, only one person has died inside the US so far from a confirmed case, and that was a boy visiting from Mexico. As much as I hate to bash their health system, it is not nearly as strong as ours and additionally, only 79% of the population has access to proper sanitation.^c

Besides, swine flu is relatively treatable with Oseltamivir and Zanamivir (Tamiflu and Relenza)...although it is resistant to amantadine and rimantadine, and unaffected by typical flu vaccinations.^d Also, 250,000-500,000 people die each year from the normal influenza virus.

So chill out folks...wash your hands, order a big crate of fresh Egyptian bacon, and just be careful.

And yes, I do realize that I totally geeked out with my citations. Health policy rocks.

ªhttp://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/04/30/swine.flu.outbreak/index.html
^bwww.who.int/whr/2003/annex_4_en.xls
^chttp://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/profiles/Mexico.pdf
^dhttp://www.cdc.gov/swineflu/antiviral_swine.htm
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America's health care system is second only to Japan... Canada, Sweden, Great Britain, ... well all of Europe. But you can thank your lucky stars we don't live in Paraguay! - Dan Castellaneta

Le Première Un

So I decided to create a blog.

I'm not sure why...but I think it's a combination of boredom, narcissism, and procrastination (I should be studying for a bio lab final that's in 4.5 hours.)

But yeah, I figured...if I have all these ramblings in my head, maybe I should get somewhere to put them out. Maybe I'll talk less. Maybe I can share all the fun geeky things that my brain/wikipedia can conjure up.

But anyways, mostly this post is just to see how everything looks...and hopefully you enjoy.

I'm also gonna try to put a quote at the end of each post. Assuming I do regularly post.

Assuming.



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"Shyness has a strange element of narcissism, a belief that how we look, how we perform, is truly important to other people." - Andre Dubs