I am totally disregarding freewriting suggestions because I feel rebelious today. Instead I would like to talk about something random that I actually want to talk about. I have an email buddy in Germany! (No Avi, she's not a nazi.) She'll be coming to WHS in April, and she's staying for three weeks. She's friends with my mom on facebook. I should probably get a facebook.
Her name is Lisa, and we email eachother every other day. Learning about another culture has made me want some aspects of it to be transfered here. Free college, for example. Or lots of castles, or lots of language program choices that start early in school, or a steady economy, or more soccer and less football. Probably all of the above.
I have never been out of the US. However, I'm working on getting a passport right now so that my family can go skiing in Canada over spring break (in April). April is going to be culture shock month for me. The day after my family gets back from Canada, Lisa comes over for Easter, which is also when all of our relatives come over. In the middle of the three week long exchange program my dad is flying to Paris for a business meeting . I hope he brings back fancy hotel shampoos... and french magazines... and maybe even chocolate or tea.
My dad travels a lot. Every time he goes to a fancy hotel I get some of the fancy soaps/ shampoos that he brings back. I haven't been able to use them up fast enough and I have an entire shoebox full, even though I donated some of them when the box started to overflow. That was random. Anyway, my dad is the main reason that I chose to take German in high school, because he recommended it based on his experience in high school. In case you aren't in the class (if you are a girl you're probably not, I'm a rare exception) it is not about the world wars or Hitler.
We stereotype Germany based on stereotypes of Germany. I saw the new Cars movie and I was instantly scarred by the Colonel Klinck-ish monacle and dreadfully fake accent. And the german car was a rust bucket who loved gas. Two things are wrong with that: Germany is a land of BMW's, Audis, Opels, uber fast trains, and epic engineering. Secondly, Germany is a ridiculously green country. We Americans are the outdated clunkers who should feel like we're being passed by.
Getting a global perspective is refreshing. Each country has its flaws and its achievements. Every culture is worth exploring.
Monday, January 23, 2012
Saturday, January 14, 2012
A pep talk for a monster test?
I am so not the pep talk type, but here goes...
Class time makes you feel brilliant, test time makes you feel stupid. (uh, I'll try again)
Watching a mystery test coming closer is like watching an old horror movie where a pretty lady sees a scary shadow coming closer, but she just screams and doesn't run away. And then you yell at her that she needs to get the (beep) out of there. But she doesn't hear you, because she's a character in a movie, and so you watch her get eaten or pass out. (that wasn't helpful)
Your #2 pencils miss you. (that was cheesy)
At least you won't have to fake being sick before the test. (grrr)
Being stressed burns calories, so now you have an excuse to eat more cookies! (I want to smack myself)
Class time makes you feel brilliant, test time makes you feel stupid. (uh, I'll try again)
Watching a mystery test coming closer is like watching an old horror movie where a pretty lady sees a scary shadow coming closer, but she just screams and doesn't run away. And then you yell at her that she needs to get the (beep) out of there. But she doesn't hear you, because she's a character in a movie, and so you watch her get eaten or pass out. (that wasn't helpful)
Your #2 pencils miss you. (that was cheesy)
At least you won't have to fake being sick before the test. (grrr)
Being stressed burns calories, so now you have an excuse to eat more cookies! (I want to smack myself)
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Just because it's awesome...
My little brother got me the 20th anniversary edition of "the princess bride" for Christmas. I tried to hug him. He hates hugs. Anyway, I noticed something epic about the front cover...
Yeah, epic. It reminds me of the time in "pirates of the caribbean" when they flip the ship upside down and it ends up rightside up. Kudos to whoever designed the title.
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Visual Argument
Click for my visual argument on biomimicry.
claim: We should care about the relationship between nature and technology.
reason: Because nature offers inspiration to engineers wanting to improve their designs. Improved designs mean a higher standard of living.
warrant: Assuming "we" are interested in science and engineering.
1. I chose the pictures because they are successful examples of biomimicry, and they are more recent than, say, Da Vinci's sketch of a flying machine inspired by birds. My examples are of things that can be seen today, which makes them relatable to the audience. My target audience is modern, cares about the future, and is interested in both technology and nature. The pictures argue that the audience should care about the topic of biomimicry.
2.
shark skin and swim suit: The new olympic racing suits are made out of a material that reduces drag. It was inspired by the pattern of microscopic scales in shark skin.
leaf and solar panel: Solar panels absorb light for energy like a leaf absorbs light to indirectly produce energy.
kingfisher and train: The noses of fast trains were made into the elongated shape of a kingfisher's beak. The bird's beak allows it to smoothly dive from air into water. The train's new nose allows it to zoom from open air into a tunnel without making a big "splash".
whale flipper and wind turbine: Like the ridges on a whale flipper are hydrodynamic, ridges on a wind turbine are aerodynamic. The ridges make turbines quieter and more efficient.
termite mound and building: The design of a termite mound creates ventilation and a constant temperature naturally. An architect applied nature's design to a building and decreased heating and cooling costs by 90%.
burr and velcro: Velcro was inspired by burrs. In this case a natural inconvenience inspired a synthetic convenience. (Now if they could only get rid of the annoying sound...)
hummingbird and robot spy hummingbird: This is perhaps the most recent, expensive, and cool example out of all of my pictures. Rather than taking a single idea from nature, nature was painstakingly copied. This example functions as a sort of grand finale of awesomeness.
I included two birds, two fish, two plants, and one structure. The repetition of similar organisms for different uses is meant to show just how much there is to learn. A fish doesn't just teach us how to swim, and a bird doesn't just teach us how to fly. While all examples benefit people, the solar panel, wind turbine, and building also deal with clean energy and the conservation of it, which benefits nature. For many examples, I found an image that had both the creation and the inspiration on it. For the others I put the inspiration first and the creation following. Two separate image examples are put at the front to act as an intro, and one is put at the end to be a conclusion. The first image of the shark is unique because the bubbles show the real skin on the shark and the fake skin on the suit. If the skin had not been magnified, the audience wouldn't understand the connection between the shark and the suit.
3. This is one of the animoto songs. The lyrics go perfectly with the images. "Our world is beautiful" for the shark, "it moves my soul" for the train, and "I'd be nothing without you" repeated in a kind of fading echo. Unfortunately, the tinkling (I don't know how else to describe it) is really annoying. An instrumental might have been a better choice. My computer wouldn't let me put my own music on, did that happen to anyone else?
claim: We should care about the relationship between nature and technology.
reason: Because nature offers inspiration to engineers wanting to improve their designs. Improved designs mean a higher standard of living.
warrant: Assuming "we" are interested in science and engineering.
1. I chose the pictures because they are successful examples of biomimicry, and they are more recent than, say, Da Vinci's sketch of a flying machine inspired by birds. My examples are of things that can be seen today, which makes them relatable to the audience. My target audience is modern, cares about the future, and is interested in both technology and nature. The pictures argue that the audience should care about the topic of biomimicry.
2.
shark skin and swim suit: The new olympic racing suits are made out of a material that reduces drag. It was inspired by the pattern of microscopic scales in shark skin.
leaf and solar panel: Solar panels absorb light for energy like a leaf absorbs light to indirectly produce energy.
kingfisher and train: The noses of fast trains were made into the elongated shape of a kingfisher's beak. The bird's beak allows it to smoothly dive from air into water. The train's new nose allows it to zoom from open air into a tunnel without making a big "splash".
whale flipper and wind turbine: Like the ridges on a whale flipper are hydrodynamic, ridges on a wind turbine are aerodynamic. The ridges make turbines quieter and more efficient.
termite mound and building: The design of a termite mound creates ventilation and a constant temperature naturally. An architect applied nature's design to a building and decreased heating and cooling costs by 90%.
burr and velcro: Velcro was inspired by burrs. In this case a natural inconvenience inspired a synthetic convenience. (Now if they could only get rid of the annoying sound...)
hummingbird and robot spy hummingbird: This is perhaps the most recent, expensive, and cool example out of all of my pictures. Rather than taking a single idea from nature, nature was painstakingly copied. This example functions as a sort of grand finale of awesomeness.
I included two birds, two fish, two plants, and one structure. The repetition of similar organisms for different uses is meant to show just how much there is to learn. A fish doesn't just teach us how to swim, and a bird doesn't just teach us how to fly. While all examples benefit people, the solar panel, wind turbine, and building also deal with clean energy and the conservation of it, which benefits nature. For many examples, I found an image that had both the creation and the inspiration on it. For the others I put the inspiration first and the creation following. Two separate image examples are put at the front to act as an intro, and one is put at the end to be a conclusion. The first image of the shark is unique because the bubbles show the real skin on the shark and the fake skin on the suit. If the skin had not been magnified, the audience wouldn't understand the connection between the shark and the suit.
3. This is one of the animoto songs. The lyrics go perfectly with the images. "Our world is beautiful" for the shark, "it moves my soul" for the train, and "I'd be nothing without you" repeated in a kind of fading echo. Unfortunately, the tinkling (I don't know how else to describe it) is really annoying. An instrumental might have been a better choice. My computer wouldn't let me put my own music on, did that happen to anyone else?
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Open letter to the 1998 Ford Contour sitting in my driveway
Dear car,
Dad cleaned you, posted you on craigslist, then fell in love with you again because you were so clean. Someone wanted to buy you, but Dad turned down the money just to be with you. You are very special to him, and you are a sentimental part of the family, but I have to tell you how I feel about your place here.
You have competition. The Van goes on long trips, the Sonata goes on errands, and the new BMW goes to church and other fancy places. You sit in the driveway, often stubbornly blocking the other cars, and you rust.
You have to acknowledge this. You do have endearing qualities, but you need to be aware of your character when compared to the other cars. I am not trying to hurt you, I just want to prevent future heartbreak by blurting out the truth in advance.
You are valued by Dad because of the cat-like purr you sing when he drives you. You have been his loyal companion through the years, never breaking down completely, even in harsh conditions. You cooperate when Mom drives, but in all honesty we both know that you work better with Dad. I know that you'd rather not talk about our recent drives together, but I have to tell, or else we'll never get better.
I'm not used to a stick shift like you. Multitasking, watching the road, the rpm's, and the spedometer, while feeling the clutch and the right gear, does not come naturally to me. I apologize for the times when I drove you with the parking brake on. And the times when I killed your engine (not on purpose). And I apologize for the embarassment I caused you when the light turned green and my skills failed to get you up that little bump before the intersection. If you meet the cars that were waiting behind us, it would be o.k. if you blamed it on me.
While I recognize that I'm often at fault, you aren't exactly helpful. The rusty polka-dots on your roof are embarassing, your rusty door hinges sound like a dying duck when opened too far, and your non-aerodynamic figure is old fashioned.Even though black is a timeless color, it doesn't hide rust well. On the inside, your left turn blinker signal clicks unnaturally fast, and reminds me of a cartoon time-bomb. The little section of your ceiling that has the light and sunglasses holder is falling out. Your suspension might be described as non-existent. Your gas mileage might be average if you were drafting a semi (which Dad did, but with the Van, sorry to break it to you).
Your future at our house is not over, however! It is impossible not to overhear David as he begs Dad to surrender you into his service. Hauling around unicycles, ramps, and plywood is not what you are used to, but you will come to enjoy it in time. David hasn't even been through driver's ed yet, so you'll get to spend more time with Dad before you're handed down.
Wishing you the brightest future possible, Kaitlin
Dad cleaned you, posted you on craigslist, then fell in love with you again because you were so clean. Someone wanted to buy you, but Dad turned down the money just to be with you. You are very special to him, and you are a sentimental part of the family, but I have to tell you how I feel about your place here.
You have competition. The Van goes on long trips, the Sonata goes on errands, and the new BMW goes to church and other fancy places. You sit in the driveway, often stubbornly blocking the other cars, and you rust.
You have to acknowledge this. You do have endearing qualities, but you need to be aware of your character when compared to the other cars. I am not trying to hurt you, I just want to prevent future heartbreak by blurting out the truth in advance.
You are valued by Dad because of the cat-like purr you sing when he drives you. You have been his loyal companion through the years, never breaking down completely, even in harsh conditions. You cooperate when Mom drives, but in all honesty we both know that you work better with Dad. I know that you'd rather not talk about our recent drives together, but I have to tell, or else we'll never get better.
I'm not used to a stick shift like you. Multitasking, watching the road, the rpm's, and the spedometer, while feeling the clutch and the right gear, does not come naturally to me. I apologize for the times when I drove you with the parking brake on. And the times when I killed your engine (not on purpose). And I apologize for the embarassment I caused you when the light turned green and my skills failed to get you up that little bump before the intersection. If you meet the cars that were waiting behind us, it would be o.k. if you blamed it on me.
While I recognize that I'm often at fault, you aren't exactly helpful. The rusty polka-dots on your roof are embarassing, your rusty door hinges sound like a dying duck when opened too far, and your non-aerodynamic figure is old fashioned.Even though black is a timeless color, it doesn't hide rust well. On the inside, your left turn blinker signal clicks unnaturally fast, and reminds me of a cartoon time-bomb. The little section of your ceiling that has the light and sunglasses holder is falling out. Your suspension might be described as non-existent. Your gas mileage might be average if you were drafting a semi (which Dad did, but with the Van, sorry to break it to you).
Your future at our house is not over, however! It is impossible not to overhear David as he begs Dad to surrender you into his service. Hauling around unicycles, ramps, and plywood is not what you are used to, but you will come to enjoy it in time. David hasn't even been through driver's ed yet, so you'll get to spend more time with Dad before you're handed down.
Wishing you the brightest future possible, Kaitlin
Sunday, December 18, 2011
On being a writer (?)
Of course being a writer has made me look at the world differently! I am now comparing unicycles to lollipops, lollipops to model solar systems, and model solar systems to a game of marbles. What is wrong with me? I am also looking for logical fallacies and Orwellian terms in EVERY SPEECH THAT I LISTEN TO. (the pastor's sermon, the history presentation, Obama's interviews, etc.) I probably re-write things and over-think stuff way more than I used to, too.
I read differently, as well. I pay attention to parallelisms, word choice, and other rhetorical devices more than I used to.
I read differently, as well. I pay attention to parallelisms, word choice, and other rhetorical devices more than I used to.
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Thoughts on Santa, Religion, and surviving the Relatives...
It's almost Christmas. Almost for most people. I had one of my Christmases this weekend. It lasted from brunch well into the night, and I was totally burned out afterwards. Being an introvert, I lose energy when I am around large groups of people. Don't get me wrong, I love my relatives, but enough is enough. I also celebrated my mom's, grandma's, and mom's-cousin's (does that make him my uncle or my something cousin?) birthdays this weekend. From my recent experiences with I-hardly-ever-see-you-and-to-be-honest-I-don't-know-your-last-names kind of relatives, I have learned a few tips and tricks. 1. Have a generic game, like ping-pong or ice skating ready. 2. If you really don't want to talk to people, or you need a break, suggest watching a movie. 3. Volunteer to help with food. It scores you major points with the moms and it gives you something to do so that you aren't just standing around. 4. Don't shoot a Nerf gun at your brother unless you plan on starting a war.
Also, if you are around younger relatives, be gentle with the Santa topic. I have never believed that Santa existed, but many young'uns do. I find it sad and somewhat heartless that parents will lie to their children. What do they mean to accomplish? Do they do it for their own pleasure, to see their kids being adorably gullible? Do they do it so that their kids will not feel "left out" when they look back? I have never felt like I was missing anything. In fact, when I was younger and more outspoken, I crusaded against Santa. To my mother's horror, I told her best friend's kids that Santa wasn't real. Don't do that. Let the parents tell their kids the truth so that the parents can take all the resulting tantrums.
Santa and religion. Religion and santa. Regardless of what some people think, the two have nothing to do with one another. Christmas is a celebration of Christ's birth, not a commercialized holiday dedicated to shopping and brainwashing little children into believing that a fat guy dressed in red gives them presents. That's so creepy. I am grateful to my family for giving me happy holidays celebrating the arrival of the Savior on Earth. To me, three wise men traveling to Bethlehem is a much more romantic picture than one sleigh pulled through the sky by mutant reindeer.
Also, if you are around younger relatives, be gentle with the Santa topic. I have never believed that Santa existed, but many young'uns do. I find it sad and somewhat heartless that parents will lie to their children. What do they mean to accomplish? Do they do it for their own pleasure, to see their kids being adorably gullible? Do they do it so that their kids will not feel "left out" when they look back? I have never felt like I was missing anything. In fact, when I was younger and more outspoken, I crusaded against Santa. To my mother's horror, I told her best friend's kids that Santa wasn't real. Don't do that. Let the parents tell their kids the truth so that the parents can take all the resulting tantrums.
Santa and religion. Religion and santa. Regardless of what some people think, the two have nothing to do with one another. Christmas is a celebration of Christ's birth, not a commercialized holiday dedicated to shopping and brainwashing little children into believing that a fat guy dressed in red gives them presents. That's so creepy. I am grateful to my family for giving me happy holidays celebrating the arrival of the Savior on Earth. To me, three wise men traveling to Bethlehem is a much more romantic picture than one sleigh pulled through the sky by mutant reindeer.
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