Well, my Internet is quirky as usual, and it finally got running agian yesterday. Very sorry for the long delay in writing. Anyway, I'll probably not write agian here. In about a week or so I'll delete the journal. I really don't have time for it anyway now that school is going again. Thanks for reading!
Oh, I may start another one up once I'm into the swing of things again. I don't know. I'll contact everyone I told before if I do. Only time'll tell. Ciao!
I've heard rumors that there will be a third Tomb Raider Movie to make it a trilogy. I'm pretty into Lady Croft. The games are pretty fun (I've only played Legend and Anniversary, though), and I think the movies are really good. Well I just made this new desktop background for myself. It was originally me in the London Museum, but I altered it just a bit using google, paint, and a little creativity...
I read a really interesting story in The Histories today. I thought the idea in it made a lot of sense:
"...Everyone without exception believes his own native customs, and the religion he was brought up in, to be the best; and that being so, it is unlikely that anyone but a madman would mock at such things. There is abundant evidence that this is the universal feeling about the ancient customs of one's country. One might recall, in particular, an account told of Darius. When he was king of Persia, he summoned the Greeks who happened to be present at his court, and asked them what they would take to eat the dead bodies of their fathers. They replied that they would not do it for any money in the world. Later, in the presence of the Greeks, and through an interpreter, he asked some Indians, of the tribe called Callatiae, who do in fact eat their parents' dead bodies, what they would take to burn them. They uttered a cry of horror and forbade him to mention such a dreadful thing. One can see by this what custom can do..."
I think that makes so much sense! I just thought it was an interesting little discussion topic...
Well since I finished my other book, I’m going to continue The Histories. I have it in Penguin Classic, like my Iliad and History of The Peloponnesian War. It bugs me, though because my copy of The Odyssey is a different style than The Iliad. I should’ve gotten it in Penguin Classic. It just bothers me that they’re different.
So anyway, it’s a pretty good book most of the time. It has some good stories. I think that the book was the result of a very worthy cause. It’s better said in the words of Herodotus himself though in the first paragraph:
“Herodotus of Halicarnassus here displays his inquiry, so that human achievement may not become forgotten in time, and great and marvelous deeds – some displayed by Greeks, some by barbarians – may not be without their glory…”
I don’t know about you, but that seems a very noble goal to me. However, there’s an amusing bit of fantasy mixed in with it. Herodotus is a bit prone to embellish fact, but most of it is good information.
I saw 300 last night! It was really good, but not very historically accurate. The whole story actually comes from The Histories, you know. They conveniently forget the 1,100 other Greeks who were there at Thermopylae alongside the 300 Spartans. The army of Xerxes was not in the millions (they got that fact from Herodotus, who gave a staggering count of 2,461,610), but instead between 200,000 and 300,000. So the Greeks still didn’t stand a chance anyway. So, yes, the Persians win, burn Athens, but then lose their entire fleet at the Battle of Salamis in 480 BC. So Xerxes returns to Persepolis and leaves his brother-in-law, Mardonis, in charge of his army. He loses a year later at Platea, which wasn’t the same place that Leonidas I defended. But it was a really good movie anyway! Oh, and Xerxes was assassinated by the captain of his palace guard a little while later, so he got what was coming to him. And Xerxes wasn’t so weird looking in real life either. I’ve got a picture of him below.
I finally finished Math and the Mona Lisa! I thought it was really good, but you have to be into the whole integration of math and art thing. It had my favorite poem excerpt in it too! It’s from “Auguries of Innocence” by William Blake, and is referred to as, “a timeless credo for the scientist, and so too for the artist”:
To see the world in a grain of sand,
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,
And eternity in an hour.
Yes, and if I was to read only one passage about Da Vinci for my whole life, this would be the one:
“Leonardo was an illegitimate son in a society that afforded little opportunity to such an individual. He was a vegetarian who found detestable the idea of becoming “a cage for dead animals,” and an animal rights activist who would purchase birds in the marketplace just to release them into the air. He was left-handed in a time when left-handedness was regarded as sinister. He may have been homosexual at a time when society, guided largely by the Church, regarded this as sinful. He seems to have had no adult involvement with women, and yet painted the most enigmatic and timeless portrait of a woman in all of Western art. In a time when dissecting human bodies was proscribed by law he spent endless hours studying cadavers. Under the intolerable conditions of fetid chambers he dissecting human bodies in carious states of decay, and created reams of anatomical drawings. He was a pacifist with an aversion to warfare who was employed as a military engineer, designing devices to fortify castles and machinery to breach them, shields to protect the bearer while striking fear into the enemy, and weapons as deadly as any conceived up to that time. As for that vexing curse – the reputation for failing to finish projects – was his mercurial focus and frenetic pace somehow connected to a higher form of attention deficiency hyperactive disorder? Or was it a case of too many ideas for a finite lifetime. Labels to oversimplify phenomena; in Leonardo’s case, they are beyond absurd…”
“… In the last hours before his death, Leonardo, with an air of forlorn resignation, remarked to an assistant, “Tell me, did anything get completed?…”
“… In Leonardo’s case there also resonates the tone of frustration at unfulfilled ideas and unfinished work. One cannot deny that the reasoning out of solutions, especially in art, and the creating of mental inventions, especially theories in science and technology, were more important for Leonardo than bringing them into actuality. Thus his chronic problem of darting from one beckoning source of curiosity to the next was real.”
I guess the people who've gotten their only impression from The Da Vinci of Leonardo really bug me because of this. They don't realize the entirety of his life and just try to make him out for some sort of conspiracy magnet just because they've got issues and they decide to take it out on him by clouding his good name.
The other day I read that the next Robert Langdon novel was going to be called The Solomon Key. They didn't have a lot of information about it, just that it would be based in American, unlike the other two books before it. It was going to be about the Freemasons and the Skull and Bones Society as well. That's all I could find.
They're actually making the Percy and the Olympians series into movies, too. If you haven't read those, they are really good. And that's coming from the kid who reads history text books, ha, ha... so it's a pretty good fantasy.
The new Pendragon book is out as well, The Pilgrims of Rayne. I don't know how long it's been out, I still haven't read the one before this one, ha, ha... I just saw Jon get it at Borders. I got The Romans For Dummies, lol...
I finally got to reading Arcangel a few weeks ago. That was really good. If you haven't tried the Alex Rider series, I would if I were you.
Tags: Books
I was reading Math and the Mona Lisa (again), and I found a really cool quote by Galileo,
"I do not feel obliged to believe that the same god who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use."
Oh, ya, power to the people!
In my free time, if I'm really bored I actually draw the logarithmic spiral. The logarithmic spiral is based off Phi (1.618). The width of each spiral section is equal to the next by multiplying it by Phi. It's kind of cool to do if you're bored. You need a pencil, a calculator, a ruler, and at least one compass, but I find that a couple compasses of different sizes work best.
Firstly, you must create a baseline for your spiral by bisecting your paper. If you look down at my spiral you can see the pencil marks where my bisection occurred.
Secondly, make a dot in the middle of your baseline. Set a compass to an inch and make a semicircle keeping your compass on the dot you drew.
Next take your calculator and multiply the diameter of your semicircle (1 inch) by the rounded off Phi (1.62). (You should be able to do that in your head, too, LOL.) The answer of course is 1.62. That's the width of your next spiral section. I would dot where that is.
Now find the width of all the spiral so far (2.62). Divide that by two to find where you should put your compass. Measure that out, and dot it as well. Now place your compass on the new dot and draw another semicircle, continuing from the end of the last one.
Recall the width of this last spiral section (1.62) and multiply that by Phi rounded to the hundredths. The answer is 2.6244. I would round that off to the hundredths. That makes 2.62 the width for your next spiral section. Dot that on the opposite side of the middle semicircle.
Now measure the width of the whole spiral to find the new place to put your compass by dividing that by two. (2.62 + 2.62 = 5.24 ~ 5.25 / 2 = 2.125) Dot that, and put your compass there. Continue the spiral by drawing another semicircle from the tail of your last one.
You should now have three semicircles.
Continue the process of multiplying the last spiral section by rounded Phi, measuring it out on the bisection and dotting it, dividing the whole spiral by two, placing the dot to put your compass on, and drawing another semicircle. You can do this as long as you want until you get bored with it, run out of paper, or your compass(es) is too small to continue.
Below my drawing is also a picture of a chambered nautilus, which is one of natures many examples of the logarithmic spirals.
If you read "The Three Women", and weren't too interested in it, you'll probably-definitely like this anyway. But if you did like it, great, then you'll love this! OK, the Divine Proportion - Phi/1.618 - appears in nature all the time, blah, blah, blah... you heard all that stuff in the other one. But it also appears eerily in human anatomy (please grap a tap measure and calculator at this time). I don't mean to sound creepy or anything, but this actually works best with a lack of clothing. Just trust me, and if you don't read the rest and see what it is. It's not weird or anything.
1. Now that that's set - take the tape measure and record your height from the floor to the top of your head. Now divide that by distance from your belly button to the ground. It should equally roughly 1.618.
2. Try dividing the distance from your shoulder to your middle finger tip by the distance between your elbow and your middle finger tip.
3. Hip to floor divided by your knee to floor.
4. Finger joints to the next.
5. Toe joints to the next.
The smaller the distances, the farther away it seems, but some of them get pretty close! Isn't that so weird. When I read that I had to try that myself. If you liked this and didn't read "The Three Women", you might like that as well!
You can get dressed now, LOL.
Here's Pandaguy's schedule:
1st-Spanish
2nd-Algebra
3rd-Health, PE, Health, PE
4th-Band/choir
5th-Social Studies (Tigulis)
6th- FACS, Art, Keyboarding, Tech ED
7th-Accelerated English
8th-Science with Birkenbuel (No Rowland?!?! Yaya!!!!)
I'm always amazed whenever I hear anyone talk about the Pantheon (because naturally, that's a perfectly normal thing to do =]). You always hear about the hole at the top, blah, blah, blah... but recently I actually learned it was 27 feet wide in diameter! I thought that was awesome. I'd heard that in Europe, too, but an 18 day trip with almost as many countries does pose a little brain block after awhile. If you're bored, try measuring that out with a tape measure! I did, it's so freaky! It doesn't look that big when you see it from the ground. Here's a picture of it (mine from Europe wouldn't load - dumb dial-up...):
Tags: Scholarship
I was bored in the car on the way to registration today, and I was wondering if I still would've liked Harry Potter is he had had a different first name. Would you think, just as a first impression, that Gary Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone would be a good book? I don't think I would've. I bet J.K. had to think awhile to get the perfect name to make the best impression. Harry's pretty good I think. I wouldn't want a George Potter, or a Jason Potter. That would just be weird, but maybe that's just because I've heard it this way for so long.
On a more controversial note, what if Harry Potter was a girl? Like Elizabeth Potter or something, would you read that? Would that be as good of a story. I think eveyone has little prejudice inside of them, whether or not it shows a lot. I don't think I'm a racist or sexist. I get along with pretty much everyone. But I think J.K. Rowling made the best story by making Harry Potter male. It doesn't seem the same had he not been a he...
Here's Turtle's schedule:
1. s.s. with green
2. facs
3. choir
4. p.e. with herr
5. science with birkenbeul
6. spanish
7. acc. eng. with clinkenbeard
8.algebra with brickley
Here's my schedule!
1. Spanish 1 - Cashen
2. Social Studies - Green
3. Q1 World Cultures - Mrs. Etter, Q2 Project Business - Mr. Etter, Q3 Goals 8 - Hoot, Q4 General Music - Miller
4. Q1 Health - Bushee, Q2 P.E. - Hesterman, Q3 Health - Bushee, Q4 P.E. - Hesterman
5. Algebra 1 - Brickley
6. Acc. English 8 - Clinkenbeard
7. Q1 Art 8 - Shappell, Q2 F.A.C.S. 8 - Frye, Q3 Keyboarding 8 - Hoot, Q4 Tech Ed. 8 - Mr. Etter
8. Science 8 - Rowland
I'm so happy I got Green! Woot, woot! And I have MRS. ETTER instead of Mr. C. I'm so happy!
I was reading Math and the Mona Lisa last night, and found something that you guys might be interested in. Leonardo (Da Vinci) did three portraits of women in his lifetime: Ginevra de' Benci, Lady with The Ermine, and the Mona Lisa. In each one of them in you draw a Golden Rectangle (length by width ratio = phi/1.618) starting from the bodice to the top of their head, then draw a square in the upper portion, the size of the head defining the size of the square, and then draw the diagonals of the square your result is that the dominant eye will be crossed. If you aren't familiar with the science of the Phi, also known as the Divine Proportion or the Golden Ratio, it is considered the most beautiful number. No joke. In 1876 a poll revealed astonishing results as too the human affinity for the Golden Ratio, when people were asked to choose the most attractive quadrilateral:
Length/Width Ratio Percent Selected
1.00 3%
1.20 .2%
1.25 2%
1.33 2.5%
1.43 7.7%
1.50 20.6%
1.62 35%
1.77 20%
2.00 7.5%
2.50 1.5%
The greatest results were shown closest to the rounded off form of Phi. Cool? A lot of things in nature actually reflect the Golden Ratio like the chambered nautilus, the increasing number of tree branches, the helical spiral of cells in plant stalks, the number of queen bees to worker bees... the list goes on. The show to such an extent that Phi has been referred to as the number of God.
But the point is the Leonardo, may of purposely included these numbers into his paintings to make them more beautiful, considering that he helped right the book Da Porportione Divina, and his very famous quote "The wisest and noblest teacher is nature itself."
I just thought it was pretty cool. You can see the picture in the book below with Genevra de' Benci, the Lady with the Ermine, and the Mona Lisa from left to right respectively.
Mona's body is actually arranged according the plans of a golden triangle. I just thought this was something interesting you guys would like!
The other day I was watching Madagascar (again), and I was divinely inspired to go out and find the soundtrack, which I did! I wish I could upload "I Like to Move It", but it would probably take me until 3007. You know how the computer will tell you "2 minutes 34 seconds"? Well, no joke, it measured it in years when I tried to download some music! LOL. It's either my dial-up, or a really sadistic computer hacker. It's definitely the best entirely-animated movie on Earth - sorry Ice Age - you're good but you can't touch this! Mort rules!
Here's the second half:
7-26-06
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This morning we set out from Austria. We zipped through Brenner Pass in the Alps. That was stunning! The road is really way up in the air supported by concrete columns! They actually have people who bungee jump off of it, it’s so tall.
We had a coffee break where I tried true Italian Espresso. I got a half-inch of blackened caffeine at the bottom of a cup. It was disgusting, but I’m glad I tried it!
We reached Venice where the local tour guide showed us around the city. The highlight of this was St. Mark’s Cathedral and Square. The whole square was full of lion monuments (the symbol of St. Mark). After St. Mark’s we visited a glass factory that Venice is so famous for.
We had decided to take a Gondola Ride, so we changed out of our church clothes (there’s a dress code for St. Mark’s) into regular dress more suitable for 35 degree Celsius weather!
We went to the docks and serenaded down the beautiful streets. There wasn’t a lot of action, but we had some great picture moments.
After the gondola ride, we took a boat back to the Parking Island, and met up with Pino. He drove us back to the hotel where we had dinner and went to bed.
7-27-06
An early start this morning. We left from Venice and headed to Rome! We drove most of the day, but stopped for morning caffe and for lunch.
At morning coffee I had the brilliant idea of buying the Da Vinci Code… in Italian. I know the plot well enough from the English version, and am good enough with cognates that I can figure out what most of the words are. I bought an English-Italian dictionary for the words that I couldn’t reason out.
We drove to lunch, which was some of the best pizza I’ve ever had. We continued our drive through the Chianti vineyards.
When we arrived at Rome where I made a mad dash to the pool to cool off. I played tag with four of my friends from the trip in the free time.
After that we went to a nice restaurant where we were, as Maria says, “wined, dined, and serenaded”.
Then we drove to Trevi Fountain. It was great! I tossed in three coins as the legend goes. Your first coin will bring you back to Rome, your second to have a happy life, and your third to marry an Italian. We’ll see how that works out – ha, ha…
We drove through the Roman night pas the Coliseums, theForum, St. Peter’s Square and Basilica, and Sistine Chapel and Bridge.
7-28-06
The next morning we got up early to get in line to go into the Vatican. We waited for about an hour, but we got in an hour earlier than the public due to Maria’s connections. We saw the Swiss Guard, the galleries, and Sistine Chapel. Those were all great, but were put to shame by the square and basilica. The pope was in the palaces at the time, so we got pretty close to him, but didn’t see him in person.
After the Vatican we went off to the Coliseum. It was huge! We walked around it on the inside and saw how much was actually missing from it.
Then from the Coliseum we went to the Roman Forum. That was amazing as well.
After the morning tour we went back to the hotel for lunch and a swim.
After the afternoon break we went off on the optional excursion. We visited the Fountain of Four Rives in Piaza Navona, the Church of St. Agnes, and the Spanish Steps (which were built by the French).
Then we had another great dinner (all the dinners and lunches are good in Europe, but I’m not so sure about the breakfasts) .
7-29-06
This morning we departed from Rome. We drove. And drove. And drove…
Then we arrived in Florence, where we stopped at four ice cream (gelato) shops. Florentine gelato is my favorite food! But besides the ice cream, we visited the Cathedral of Mary of the Flower, the bell tower, and the baptistery with the most famous Gates of Paradise. We actually climbed up the bell tower and flew a paper airplane off the top. That was awesome.
We also visited the Art Gallery Academy and saw THE David and the prisoners! Both of which were great! I actually got a David Calendar and miniature statue of David. We went down to the square where the real David used to be. They now have a replacement there to protect it from the damaging environment.
After that we had free time, and I elected to go to Santa Croce (but Maria just refers to it as the Church of Famous Dead People). We saw the tombs of Michelangelo, Dante, Machiavelli, and Galileo.
Then we said ciao to Florence and drove an hour to our hotel where a welcoming dinner was waiting. It was great, especially after a long day of walking.
7-30-06
We woke up early to start our journey to Nice. We stopped for morning coffee at Pisa. At Pisa we saw their three famous buildings: the baptistery, the cathedral, and the Leaning Bell Tower. Our last stop in Italy was lunch.
After lunch we crossed the border into France. We looked over the cliffs of the French Alps and saw Monaco down below. You could almost smell the money radiating from the city…
After driving past Monaco we shortly arrived in Nice. It was very clean, and had a beautiful beach. Nice was definitely a highlight of our trip – very relaxing.
Then in the evening we drove back to Monaco. We visited Old Monaco and the royal palace.
Then we took a quick walk to Monte Carlo, famous for its casinos. I obviously couldn’t get in, but instead chose to sat on the terrace and chat with Maria. Then we went back to the hotel.
7-31-06
We slept in today (7:00)! We woke up and went swimming in the Mediterranean. Then breakfast and we left Nice.
Our lunch break was in Avignon. We walked along the Papal Palace wall, and saw their cathedral. We couldn’t resist more European ice cream there.
After Avignon we drove through the French countryside, and had a fairly quiet, steady drive. We arrived in Lyon in the evening where we had dinner and went to bed.
8-1-06
We woke up early this morning, had a quick breakfast, and started off to Paris! Morning coffee was a highway stop. We reviewed the trip on the road, and it was very sad to think that we would soon be returning to the house in Indiana. On a happier note, we finished the drive off and arrived in Paris!
We changed, showered, and prepared for what would be the best evening of the trip, and possibly my whole life. We wore our best clothes to the cabaret. THE cabaret. The Moulin Rouge.
Dinner was included, and because we were diners we had the best seats. It was spectacular. The lights, the colors, the excitement! It was like nothing I’d ever seen before, or even heard of for that matter. It was absolutely amazing. Everyone was in awe. Stepping out of it, was like leaving a dream.
8-2-06
Today there were no included tours, but there were three optional ones. I had to do all three!
Firstly, was the Palace of Versailles. We visited the King’s State Apartments and Chambers, the Queen’s State Apartments and Chambers, and the Hall of Mirriors among others. Then we went outside and strolled in the 250-acre garden. That was great!
Secondly was the Louvre Museum. No Paris trip could be complete without that! We did we most Parisians call the Louvre Express – The Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, and Winged Victory. I slipped off sometimes to go see some others such as Virgin of Rocks, The Wedding Feast at Cana, and more… I couldn’t bear leaving without paying them respects.
We returned to the hotel to freshen up for our last dinner together, which was our third excursion along with a drive through Paris by night.
We arrived at the restaurant and were “wined, dined, and serenaded”. It was a great meal, and concluded with photos with all my friends. Even Pino joined us for this meal, which wasn’t usual.
We drove fairly quietly, but tried to make the most of it. Most memorably was the road by Ritz Hotel where Princess Diana was killed in the car crash.
8-3-06
Today consisted of only giving our goodbye hugs to our friends, and boarding the plane back to Ft. Wayne. There were a lot of things I didn’t get to see that I really wanted to, but those can wait. I have no doubt that I will one day return to Europe. After all I didn’t throw those coins in Trevi Fountain for nothing.
Hope you enjoyed them!
I typed up my journals from Europe if anyone's ever interested in reading them when they are bored:
7-18-06
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I boarded a plan to Detroit, which was quick, smooth, and ultimately uneventful.
From Detroit I boarded a plane to London-Gatwick. This ride was a lot less confortable. That was stuffy, long, tiring, and loud. There was an obnoxious 5-year-old three seats away.
7-19-06
We arrived at London-Gatwick at about 10:30. A Globus Host drove us from the airport to the Novotel where we would spend the next two nights. And as our driver put it, “Good thing we aren’t driving during peak hours, the roads can get pretty testy.” Ha, ha…
We got to the hotel just in time to visit Windsor Castle; the royal family’s preferred home. It was very beautiful – very ornate. We couldn’t take any pictures, though…
That evening we took the “Taste of London” tour. It included our dinner, which ended with a traditional English cup of coffee.
After the meal we took a cruise down the River Thames and the saw the Tower of London, the Tower Bridge, Big Ben (we didn’t exactly “see” it, we just saw where it was in the tower), the Houses of Parliament, and the Millennium Bridge (Wibbly-Wobbly as it as known tothe Londoners).
7-20-06
We slept well, and had breakfast. The meats tasted funny. They do all the cooking so differently in Europe.
Then we left straight after for another view of most the building we saw yesterday on by road including the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben. New buildings we saw were Westminster Abbey, Prime Minister’s Downing Street, and Buckingham Palace. Oh, and J.K. Rowling’s home (she was vacationing in Scotland so we didn’t get to see her).
The highlight of the morning was St. Paul’s Cathedral. One of the world’s largest cathedrals, third I think. We visited the American Chapel, the Whispering Gallery, and the Crypt.
Another major event of the morning was the Changing of the Guard. That was really cool to watch – we got some good photos!
After that he returned to the hotel to have lunch. I couldn’t leave London without visiting the British Museum, so we left our group for that part of the afternoon and went on our own excursion to it. We saw the Rosetta Stone up close, which was definitely the best (and busiest) part of the building.
We got a cab back to the hotel and after a refreshing meal we went to bed.
7-21-06
We got a very early start this morning. We met our tour director for the trip and didn’t waste anytime getting to the Eurostar Station where we got on the train to take us through the Chunnel. It was a fast ride through there and the Belgian countryside.
We shortly arrived in Brussels. We couldn’t stay long. We had to meet up with our bus that we’d go through the rest of the trip with – and our little, Italian driver Pino.
We zoomed down the highway and stopped only to eat. After lunch we quickly arrived in Amersterdam.
We were greeted by our witty, local tour guide (we have one for the whole trip, Maria, but then meet local ones whenever we arrive at the city) Suzana. We took a canal cruise and saw the highlights of the city including the NEMO building. It’s an office, a museum, and on the roof is an artificial beach, because there aren’t any natural beaches in Netherlands.
We got back to the hotel, freshened up for dinner, ate, and then fell quickly asleep.
7-22-06
This morning, my parents fell asleep after their wake-up call. We called them just in time to make it to breakfast and the morning tour of a diamond store and the Rembrandt Museum. We enjoyed lunch at a French Deli. After that we watched a group of rioters claiming George W. Bush was a terrorist committing genocide against the Palestinian countries. He might be an idiot, but he’s no terrorist.
After lunch and the mob viewing we returned to the hotel before going on an excursion to Volendam.
Our first stop was at an old-time cheese dairy. They told us the steps to making cheese and all the variables you have to consider before making it.
In the same building we saw a cog cobbler, where we learned all the stages in clog making.
We moved on to an old mill (300 years old!). The miller taught us the uses of the mill, and all the different things he does to maintain it.
Our final stop was central Volendam. The all ways led to roads of old houses. They also had drawbridges over the canals so that boats could go under them. The canals are tiny, though, so maybe they could save the money and jump.
We moved back up to the main street to have dinner, which ended spectacularly with TRUE Dutch Apple Pie.
7-23-06
Early wake up this morning. We left Amersterdam and drove to the Netherlands-Germany border where we took our morning rest stop (with high-tech, self-cleaning toilet seats).
From there we drove to Cologne where we scaled to the top of the world’s tallest Gothic Cathedral. Then we jumped off the top. It didn’t hurt that bad, because we just jumped from the top stair down to the next one. But we did jump off the top after all – ha, ha…
From there we drove to a small city where we boarded a boat to cruise down the Rhine. On the trip we passed a lot of majestic looking castles on the cliff sides. Thirteen I think.
We departed the boat and made a short drive to Heidelberg, where we saw the famous Red-Walled Castle. They also had a bridge there nicknamed “The Monkey Bridge”, because at the end of World War II, when Germany surrendered. The Americans flying back to England decided it would be fun to blow up Heidelberg’s bridge out of spite.
Our next stop was the hotel in Rhineland, which we were very grateful for after a long day of traveling. We had dinner there, and went to bed.
7-24-06
We set our early from Rhineland and drove through the peaceful Black Forest countryside. The forest is so thick, and the trees so tall, that the forest floor is literally black.
We stopped at a modest store surrounded by the pines that the Black Forest is famous for. We looked at the cookoo clocks and grandfather clocks. The store also had a quaint bar that served Black Forest Cherry Cake. We had German “kaffee” to wash it down too.
We emerged from theforest in the bright daylight and saw the Rhine Falls. They’re very small for being Europe’s largest waterfall, but it was beautiful all the same.
Next stop, the German-Swiss border. Switzerland isn’t the E.U. and it doesn’t look like they’ll be joining anytime soon, so we had to get some franks and pull out our passports. We quickly passed through that.
After that we visited Mount Pilatus. It was beautiful! We wandered up to vantage points and through winding tunnels in the mountain where we encountered a mountain goat. He refused to move from his shady refuge. We got a ton of pictures with him. He didn’t seem frightened by the flash.
Eventually he did move. He stood up, hurried over to the cliff side, and calmly jumped off. No joke. The cliff was nearly a ninety degree slant but it wasn’t bothered at all, and even started to graze!
We had come up by cable car. That was terrific. You could see through the bottom. Then we came down on the world’s oldest cog-wheeled train, which was at a forty-eight degree incline!
After our mountain excursion we went to the hotel in Lucerne and enjoyed a wonderful dinner.
Then, after dinner, we went off on our own to go for a swim in Lake Lucerne. The mountain water should’ve been a lot colder than it was I thought. We had to avoid the swans that swam in it though. They can be pretty aggressive.
7-25-06
This morning we slept in a bit (6:45) and proceeded to breakfast.
Our first stop was the Lion Monument. It represented the two Swiss mercenary regiments hired to protect Louis XVI and the rest of the royal family. Only one survived the revolution.
Then we had some free time to stroll around and do some shopping in Lucerne. We saw the Jesuit Church, Chapel Bridge, and the ROLEX Center of Switzerland.
We boarded the bus and drove to Vaduz, Liechtenstein. There we saw the royal palaces, ate lunch, and enjoyed the modern art.
Then we headed for Innsbrook, Austria. We went through the Crystal Center, shopped a little, and visited their cathedral and townhall. We also saw Emperor Maximillion’s Golden Roof.
We had dinner and went to the Tyrolean Evening excursion, which was great! They had a traditional show with dancing and local instruments.
I cut it in half, because I'm limited to 25,000 characters and it wouldn't all fit!
Tags: Life, Travel, Scholarship, Family
Recently I've become aware of a society called Dagohir that's started doing some promoting in Fort Wayne. It's based in some churches in the area, and it's a society that gets together to do Medieval battle reanactments. They have these foam weapons and get dressed up and everything. I don't know much about it, but I've talked to a couple people who are a part of it. They do some different games with their weapons, and go to practices and stuff. It just seemed like kind of a quirky thing to put on the site. I don't know if any of you readers are interested in it, though. I thought it'd just be something fun and different to write about.
I haven't gotten to talk about my trip to Washington D.C., so I figured I might as well post it here.
7-22-07
We left on this morning and got there at about 6:00 that evening at the L'Enfant Plaza Hotel (there's a picture from google that I found of the front (west)). It had this cool glass pyramid like the one that's the entrance to the Louvre that I remember from my time in France. It looked really pretty at night. They had all these lights shine out from the inside of it like in the picture.
All the museums had closed by that time, so we didn't do a lot interesting today, but we did walk down to the waterfront for dinner. They had huge crates of the day's catches. We could just go down and choose from the crates what we wanted, and then they would cook it for us.
7-23-07
Today we first went to the National Museum of Natural History. It's part of the Smithonian Institution like most other museums in D.C., so it was well set up. We went through the Hall of Mammals, the Dinosaur Exhibit, and the Rocks and Gems Exhibit. the Hall of Mammals was by far the best. They had some really cute, exotic squirrel species. The Dinsosaurs were pretty good too. They had a giant sloth skeleton that was enormous. It's odd to think of the small sloths we have today as that size. In Rock and Gems the main thing was the Tiffany Diamond which was on temporary display. Luckily we planned our trip at the right time, so we got to see that. We went for lunch at the Department of Agriculture. They had some really nice cafes - so that's where our tax dollars go... In the afternoon we went to the National Air and Space Museum (another Smithonian member). That was the most crowded of all the museums. I personally didn't like it as well as the Natural History Museum, but I guess you kind of have to be into the World War thing. They had some flight simulators, but those had 45 minute waits, so we decided against that. We went swimming in the hotel pool when we got back.
7-24-07
Today was our earliest wake-up. We left in pairs this morning. Jon and Mom went to the Washington Monument to get tickets for that afternoon at 1:00. Dad and I went to the Bureau of Engraving to do the same for 10:00. We had some big lines. I think Dad and I arrived at the Bureau at about 8:00. So we did that tour at the Bureau, which was pretty cool. If you've ever seen $32 million sitting in front of you, you'll know what I mean! Lunch was at the Department of Agriculture again, which was OK with me, because it really was a spectacular cafeteria (or at least as spectacular as a cafeteria can get). We still had some time after lunch to do something before the Washington Monument tour, so we went back to the Natural History Museum. We liked the Hall of Mammals so much we decided to do it again. We also went to the IMAX theatre this time and saw "Lions". It was a great show! By now it was time to go to the Monument for our tour. That was one of favorites probably for the whole trip. Isn't funny how the world's tallest obelisk isn't in Egypt? Go figure. And then the whole idea of obelisk, one of the world's most blatant Pagan symbols, is the centerpiece of St. Peters Square in the Vatican, too. Go figure... So anyway, the top had eight windows, two on each of the fours sides you could look out. This was the closest we ever got to the White House. Something odd I learned was actually that the top is made of aluminum, because when it was being built aluminum's value rivaled that of silver. There was no cheap way to mine it at that time. After that we went back down we decided to take a "little" excursion to Chinatown. However, there are no longer any Asian people in Chinatown oddly enough. They've all started successful businesses and moved out of the ghetto. I put "little" in quotes, because we thought would be a little walk ended up being a lot larger than what we thought it would be. On the way back we split up. Jon and Dad went back to the hotel, and Mom and I went on to the National Postal Museum (you guessed it... another Smithsonian). It was mostly for her, because she collects stamps and is interested in that. Frankly, I'm not, but she needed someone to go along with her, so I volunteered. There wasn't really anything notable there, besides that being the place where I bought Math and the Mona Lisa. If you look at that cover again you can see the Smithsonian logo.
7-25-07
Today was our last day spent in D.C., because tomorrow would just be driving home. Today we first went to the National Zoo (Smithsonian). That was the absolute best part of the trip. Here are just some the animals we saw: Cheetahs, Red Pandas, Giant Pandas, Otters, Bengal Tigers, Lions, Golden Lion Tamarins, Lowland Gorillas, and then of course the best Reptile House and Mammal House I've ever been in. The next thing was the Library of Congress. That was a little disappointing, because from the balcony where you would normally look down and across the whole open library you could only see mostly curtains because they were doing some repair. You couldn't see more than 100 feet. The exhibits were pretty good, though still. Then we went to the National Archives and saw the Magna Carta, Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights, and U.S. Constitution. That was good, but a pretty long wait.
That was pretty much the whole trip. I thought it was good, but there have been better ones. I'm still not over Europe.
Today my family was supposed to have a cookout over at my grandma's, but when I look outside I don't think the weather'll permit it. Oh well... there's other stuff to do. I need to finish Math and the Mona Lisa, so that I can finally finish The Histories. I started that in April and still don't have it finished. Jalen gets so annoyed by that. Apparently he can't let a book sit if he hasn't finished it. May was school finals and I had to reread the whole Harry Potter series before the opening day of book seven. July was entirely rereading the Deathly Hallows over, and over, and over... So now I'll hopefully have those two finished before school starts (11 days!!!). That's OK, though. I haven't seen my friends in forever. Looks like the storm has pretty much blown over now. That's encouraging. I'm trying out the other options on this site, so I scanned my book cover and tried attached it to this entry.
You know what really bothers me? The Intelligence Quotient of our leaders. I was reading this book today called 1001 Dumbest Things Ever Said. I found some really good ones by our dear Commander in Chief:
~ I think we can agree. The past is over.
~ It's no exaggeration to say that the undecided could go one way or another.
~ The law I sign today directs new funds... to the task of collecting vital intellignece... on weapons of mass production.
~ It will take time to restore chaos and order.
~ They have miscalculated me as a leader.
~We need an energy bill that encourages consumption
(Yes Jalen, those were quotes, lol) Pretty sad. On Andy Rooney (yes, I actually get that channel) we informed us on a spat about President Bush that he said "nucular" twelve times during a single speech. He's allowed an accent, even a Texan one at that, but he could at least attempt to get close to the word. And if you're feeling negative about our leader, you aren't alone. President Bush is one percent away from being America's most disliked president for as long as these polls of approval have been taken (over a century).
I heard this awesome joke today! You'll love it! Even though it's a little long, it's definitely worth it!
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Fifty Years of Math 1957-2007
Last week I purchased a burger at Burger King for $1.58. The counter girl took my $2 and I was digging for my change when I pulled 8 cents from my pocket and gave it to her. She stood there, holding the nickel and three pennies, while looking at the screen on her register. I sensed her discomfort and tried to tell her to just give me two quarters, but she hailed the manager for help. While he tried to explain the transaction to her, she stood there and cried. Why do I tell you this?
Because of the evolution in teaching math since the 1950's:
Teaching Math in 1957
A logger sell a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of the production is 4/5 of the price. What is his profit?
Teaching Math in 1967
A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is 4/5. or $80. What is his profit?
Teaching Math in 1977
A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is $80. Did he make a profit?
Teaching Math in 1987
A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is $80. Did he make a profit?
Teaching Math in 1997
A logger cuts down a beautiful forest because he is selfish and inconsiderate and cares nothing for the habitat of animals or the preservation of our woodlands. He does this so he can make a profit of $20. What do you think of this way of making a living? Topic for class participation after answering the question: How did the birds and squirrels feel as the logger cut down their homes? (There are no wrong answers, and if you feel like crying, it's OK.)
Teaching Math in 2007
Un hachero vende una carretada de maderapara $100. El costo de la producciones es $80. Cuanto dinero ha hecho?
Hey! My name's David, and I'm a 14-year-old teen living in the "Corn Country" of Indiana. I'm just a regular farm boy trying to work his way through life, who discovered this journal option on his super-slow dial-up Internet. I can even brag a T.V. with five channels to match! My favorite color is definitely green. I love school, because of all my friends, and I have keen eye for learning too, so that always helps. I get all "A"s, so I guess I'm doing alright. I read a lot, mostly history (right now I'm reading Math and the Mona Lisa: The Art and Science of Leonardo Da Vinci), but I used to chug fantasy by the gallon. I still like Harry Potter, and I definitely had to go to a party until midnight, so I could get the book and finish it that same day (which I ended up doing). I like animals, and I have a 40-acre forest (I guess that comes from living on a farm) where I catch a lot of my pets. I usually own an assortment of snakes, frogs, salamanders, and F.W.C. (Furry, Woodland Creatures). Oddly for me, I only "own" a beautiful, female, calico cat by the name of Queen Hazel Marie (anyone who's ever had a cat knows that you never truly "own" them, it's the other way around). I'm currently single, but I've had a fair number of girlfriends since I was 11 when I was with my first. I've been rejected, and I have rejected so I know what it's like on both sides of life. I'm pretty well traveled. The countries I've visited (apart from U.S.) include: Venezuela, Mexico, Turks and Caicos, U.K., Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Austria, Italy, Vatican City, Monaco, and France. Someday I hope to become Chief Curator of the Louvre Museum in Paris. I participate in Tae Kwon Do, Boy Scouts, Academic Superbowl, Spell Bowl, and the SCRIPS Spelling Bee. The first two are yearlong and the last three are seasonal, so between those, school, and traveling - I'm a pretty busy kid. For religion, I am Lutheran, although my historical foundation makes me a little skeptical of the stereotypical, utopian Christian. Don't get me wrong, religion is a great thing, but it'd be illogical to say that Christians have been the wisest of people since the beginning of the time. My ultimate goal in life is to better the knowledge of the world, so that we can understand our pasts to prepare for the future. I love the concept of treasure too, and I can only help but dream, so I guess that's me - that's David in a nutshell. I'd love to hear some comments too, so if you read this, please don't be shy!
