Spin Cycle
I should not be laughing at this, but oh my god, I am.
I am a bad person. I hope she’s okay.
Under the Tucson Sun
This is a really well-done set of drone captures of Tucson. It’s got some neat transition effects in there that kind of set it apart from your typical time lapse/drone flyover.
Also, CHVRCHES song.
Skydive Arizona
Hey, so remember when I went skydiving like seven years ago? I finally found the DVD of the jump and decided to upload it to YouTube. Here ya go.
(Note: the video was originally some weird-ass file format, so I had to screen record it, haha).
*Someone’s* getting a raise…
So I just saw the laziest political slogan/catchphrase ever.
My mom and I were driving to go look at kitties this afternoon. One of the little political yard signs we passed was this:
“It’s time for a new sheriff.” Say it in your head just like that, not putting the natural emphasis on “new.”
My first reaction was, “well, yeah, technically. Since it’s election time and all…”
Then I laughed for about half an hour straight. It reminded me of that news story headline a couple years ago: “Plumbing Store’s Inventory Destroyed by Flooding.”
Life’s hilarious sometimes.
Parking Lot Adventures: Nature Edition!
I got owned by a dust devil this afternoon.
I left work around 1 PM today. Since it’s summer session at PCC and no one ever comes in on Friday anyway, I was lucky enough to park not only in the main lot but also in a nice shady spot under a tree.
So I’m walking across the parking lot and everything’s fine…it’s not windy at all (surprisingly) and even though it’s like 105 degrees, it felt good after sitting under a blasting air conditioner all morning.
I unlock the car and open up the back driver’s side door so I can throw my backpack back there. I’ve got the upper half of my body in the car (I was trying to bury my backpack under a bunch of stuff so my USBs/iPod/phone/etc. weren’t in the direct sun on the drive home) and my butt sticking out of the door.
As I’m screwing around back there I feel this fairly strong gust of wind hit my back. I didn’t want to stand up and mess up my hair in the wind (I’m vain like that), so I just kind of hung out in the back of the car for a second, bent over with my butt still sticking out.
Then this HUGE gust of wind just slams me in the back, KNOCKING ME INTO THE CAR along with a small forest’s equivalent of tree particulate, dust, and sand. The door slams behind me and I look up just in time to see the tail end of a dust devil go spinning wildly past the car. And all is calm once more.
So now the entire back seat of the car, the front passenger seat, the floor in the back, and all the stuff we had on the back seat (cloth grocery bags, my coat, miscellaneous journals and boxes and whatnot) are covered with tree debris. I got a good shot of it down the back of my shirt, too.
Haha, sorry if this blog seems obvious to you (“dust devils involve wind? DO TELL”) but that was my first up-close-and-personal experience with one. I think they look deceptively weak.
Mother nature: 1
Claudia: 0
Sometimes I like to pretend I matter
Have I mentioned I’m sick of moving?
I’m sick of moving.
This marks the FIFTH TIME THIS YEAR I’ve packed up my stuff and hauled it to some other place in North America.
Random side note:
If Soylent Green is people, why is it green? I wasn’t aware that people are projected to develop chlorophyll by 2022 (no, I haven’t seen the movie, I’ve just read a few brief summaries).
I guess “Soylent Fleshtone” was too on point. And disgusting-sounding.
Random side note version 2:
GOD I LOVE R. If I could write a program for it to make me have its babies, I would.
If I could write a program for it to make me have Leibniz’ babies, I would.
I can’t remember what else I was going to say today.
Robust and Toasty
HEY WE HAVE AN APARTMENT NOW WOO.
That badass loft bedroom upstairs? All mine, baby.
2011, you need to end
I swear the plane from Seattle to Tucson took a detour to Miami, ‘cause that was the longest flight EVER.
But now I’m here. It’s like 60 degrees. It’s really, really nice to see my mom again.
I’ll take some pics; they’ll be up soon.
Edit: PICS!
Until we meet again, Idaho
Okay, so barring anymore interference from Mother Nature, TODAY is my last day in Moscow.
Sorry for not scheduling a hang-out time with more of you sillies; things have been semi chaotic since I got back from London and I pretty much had to unpack my stuff rapidly and then just as rapidly repack it.
Also my brain has been alsfajfoijgavhaioewr for the past few months and I’ve been having weird and random panic attack thingies. Would rather not subject my awesome friends to that.
ANYWAY.
Moscow and I are pretty much opposite magnetic poles; I will be returning at some point. I’m actually not sure how long I’ll need to be in AZ anyway.
PEACE OUT, I’m going to go watch Boston Legal until I have to drive to Lewiston in a few hours.
More Boring News
Okay, now I’m 95% sure I won’t be in Moscow for much longer. Like I said before (I think), there’s a person down in AZ who seems imminently more qualified to help with the bag of craptastic crappery into which my life currently has fallen.
(Side note: nighttime panic attacks blow heavy metal chunks)
(Side note II: Big Compy has been making horrible grinding noises ever since they shipped him from London. Quite disconcerting)
Anyway. Just letting anyone who cares know.
In This Blog: Claudia Jumps Out of a Plane
Dudes…that was so amazing.
My mom, for a late birthday present to me, bought me a tandem jump at Skydive Arizona today.
Jumping out of an airplane at 13,000 feet is a lot more peaceful than people would generally imagine, I think.
For those of you who haven’t seen it, here is my Facebook album of related pictures. Added pics here, ’cause I wanted to!
If any of you ever get the opportunity to skydive, freaking do it.
Yay.
TWSB: Kitt Peak
So This Week’s Science Blog is going to be a little different. Why? Because my mom, Kurt, and I went up to the Kitt Peak National Observatory to stare at some badass stars and galaxies this evening.
So I shall tell you about that.
The KPNO is part of the National Optical Astronomy Observatory and has a total of (I think) 21 telescopes, including a badass sun telescope (seriously, HOW COOL?).
Anyway. Here is a picture of the sunset from up there. This is the only picture I took because, obviously, we were up there mainly during the nighttime.
First we saw Jupiter, and when I asked the guy there he said that it still wasn’t clear whether or not the southern equatorial band was reappearing yet. Through the telescope we could see the giant planet plus the Galilean Moons.
Then we got some star charts and went outside to try and find Orion, the Dippers, the Seven Sisters, and a bunch of the astrological constellations. I also found out that no matter how good the binoculars are, I still suck at using them.
We then hung out in one of the telescope rooms and stared at the Andromeda galaxy, some orbiting star pairs, a couple globular galaxies, and then the moon, which was ridiculously detailed in the telescope and pretty much blinded all of us.
If you’re ever in Arizona, get up to Kitt Peak and check out the firmament of awesomeness above us. And if you’re there during the day, for the love of GOD go check out the largest solar telescope on the planet.
Woo.
No timezone and no sleep make Claudia something something…
Blaaaaaaaaaah what day is it?
I like Arizona. The concept of “75+ degrees in February” is so ridiculously foreign to me, so this state, despite all its governmental issues, gets a plus from me so far.
My mom and Kurt live like 15 miles from anything, so we drove around a lot today.
It’s nice not being in Vancouver and/or doing school stuff for a change. I didn’t really get a break over Christmas, so I’m kind of doing that now.
Yeah.
Sorry these are all kinda short, I’m just chillin’.
Claudia’s Arizona Adventures: Day 1
Aaaaaand now I’m in Arizona.
I’ve spent like 10 hours on planes/in airports within the last 36 hours, which is more than I’ve slept in the same period of time.
I saw the stars tonight for the first time in like 4 weeks. I like it down here already.
I also apparently look about 16, as I was stopped three separate times today by people needing to “check if I was old enough” to do various things, including flying alone (I’m not kidding), getting a complimentary cocktail (for using my dad’s Horizon Gold Member miles, haha), and by another stewardess who, for whatever reason, decided it important to inquire about my age.
Fun day.
This Week’s Science Blog: Oh, the Humanity! Oh Wait, That was Hydrogen.
Firstly, I had no idea that there was a U.S. National Helium Reserve (and that it was in Arizona. At least that state’s good for something). Secondly, this reserve may not be around that much longer, as we’ve been squandering helium for so long that scientists (and helium reservoir researchers, assuming such people exist) fear that we may run out soon.
Yup. Like cheap crack, helium’s been being sold for way too cheap, causing it to be wasted. Which is kind of funny, considering the primary consumption of helium comes in the form of MRI scanners, rockets, and spacecraft, things that members of the general public usually don’t try to build in their backyard (unless I’m missing something). This means that the squandering must be occurring on a much higher level of business (damn you, NASA and party clowns!).
Anyway, helium on earth is formed from the decay of terrestrial rock and as a byproduct of nuclear fusion, though the latter is in such small quantities that it’s pointless to think of it as a helium source. So unless we plan on bringing the sun over for a visit any time soon, the stockpiles of this noble gas are going to be depleted. And I guess the U.S. still has the monopoly on helium (I say “still” because the same monopoly is why the Germans used hydrogen in the Hindenburg), so we’ll probably have to say goodbye to element #2 in the near future, seeing how the U.S. usually deals with these kinds of things.
Solution: stockpile those helium tanks used to fill party balloons. Or kill clowns. Or both.
Today’s song: Disgusting by Miranda Cosgrove
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