Colton

Finally, I know what to call my favorite time of day!

"In photography, the golden hour (also known as magic hour) is the first and last hour of sunlight during the day when a specific photographic effect is achieved with the quality of the light during these hours.

Typically, lighting will be softer (more diffuse) and warmer in hue, and shadows will be quite pronounced as a result of the sun being so close to the horizon. The sunlight is traveling obliquely (through more of the atmosphere) and striking objects at an angle, instead of straight down. The golden hour is a mild version of alpenglow, as described by Galen Rowell.

During the golden hour, highlights are less likely to be overexposed, because the direct light of the sun is less intense compared to the diffuse light of the sky. In landscape photography, the warm color of the low sun is considered desirable to enhance the colours of the scene.

In the middle of the day, the bright overhead sun can create too-bright highlights and dark shadows. The degree to which overexposure will occur will vary as different types of film and digital cameras have varying dynamic ranges. This harsh lighting problem is particularly important in portrait photography, where a fill flash is often necessary to balance lighting across the subject's face or body, filling in strong shadows that are considered undesirable. However, during the golden hour, such shadows are less pronounced."
[Source]

Alice

Whoa! I need this car.

Alice

Impulse: JF∆t

My physics teacher is the coolest person ever.

Colton

Online Libraries

Also, check this out!
I have so much to say about this...

Colton

Blog of Awesome Pictures

Alice

I started my MCAT Holiday Hell course today and it's a safe bet that I won't be on here much until I take the MCAT, which will be the end of January. I suppose I've already been pretty absent. That's what happens when I come home. At home I have to go through a process to get online. But at home I can just get on. Oh home. Haha :)

I've been reading The Shack and in it, God is portrayed as a big black woman who sings and bakes. It's interesting to say the least. I guess I just never thought about God as anything other than a white male. But if humans are images of God, why would He be confined to one thing? That's how the book presents it and it makes sense to me. Does it to you?

My dad bought me two books as Christmas gifts...which was unusual. For so long, I've wanted things for Christmas: Anthropologie gifts, a dSLR camera, a trip to New York, blah blah blah. This year I got two books: The Tales of Beadle the Bard (Harry Potter!) and The Feast of Love. I'm very content with these. I haven't gotten anyone in my family or any friends gifts except for the three that I mailed the other day. Which by the way, I had no idea THAT many people mailed boxes of gifts for the holidays. I was at the post office for a crazy long time. I was going to make this amazing thing for Colton and get something wonderful for my mom but then my few days off kind of went to waste, which makes me sad and feel unproductive, but at least I got to spend time with the people I love. I hope that's enough.

On another note, it took me an hour to drive to Dallas for my class this morning because there was a car on fire. Cars catch on fire?! And then it took me an hour to get home for lunch because of the weather and a big sand truck stuck in two lanes on 635. Grrr I was upset. But now I get to be cheered up by doing hours of homework before going to class again at 7 tonight. Oh joy love joy, the season has begun.

Colton

Clouds are so awesome!!!

Colton

PEACE SYMBOL or NERO'S CROSS: A broken, upside-down cross. To Roman emperor Nero, who hated and persecuted the early Christians, it meant destruction of Christianity. Revived in the sixties by hippies and others who protested nuclear weapons, Western culture, and Christian values, it now symbolizes a utopian hope for a new age of global peace and earth-centered unity. But many of heavy metal rock fans would agree with Nero and use it to mock Christ and His followers.

ANKH: An Egyptian cross symbolizing a mythical eternal life, rebirth, and the life-giving power of the sun.



Ah, how my theories persist...[Source]

Colton

I've forgotten how much I like Connor Oberst's lyrics and music!

Colton

So I've been wanting to do this for a while...I hear songs and get these images, sometimes fractional, but sometimes I get entire plays and movies for songs...Think of it like Fantasia where the music actually tells a story and portrays movement and conflict etc... Here is what I see when I hear this song; close your eyes (well after reading along with the scenes I depict)!

Summary:

This song is about drama! The setting takes place at a formal ball (imagine it in black and white) held in a prince's castle. There are three main characters, the girl friend (Lizzy), the boyfriend (Isaac) and the prince (prince).

0:00-0:23
Imagine Lizzy putting on her earrings, looking at herself in the mirror; she if finishing up getting ready for Isaac to pick her up. (This opening theme belongs to and denotes the couple being in harmony. It's very appearance indicates one or both are present)

0:24-0:41
The theme is played again. Now you should be seeing Isaac standing in front of a mirror combing his hair, putting on his coat and getting ready to pick Lizzy up.

0:42-1:03
Isaac and Lizzy are in his carriage on the way to the ball. Notice the small developments in the theme as it is played this third time!

1:04-1:53
The couples theme is played one last time. They are at the ball, dancing, staring into each others eye's. Love is in the air, life is perfect...

1:54-2:01
You hear a motif as if some one is tapping Isaac on the shoulder. It is the prince, and he wishes to interrupt, taking Lizzy's hand they begin to dance...silence... Isaac shrinks away into another room while the others continue the dance.

2:02-2:20
Furiously Isaac paces back and forth in the room cursing the prince for inturupting their evening together! You can literally hear his feet going back and forth, back and forth as he shouts obscenities!

2:21-2:43
The left hand indicates Lizzy has finished dancing with the prince, has found Isaac, and is trying to cool him down as he shouts at her for dancing with him and continues to curse the prince. Around 2:37 he begins to calm down and listen to Lizzy as she explains it was nothing and would have been rude and insulting to deny the prince a dance.

2:44-2:52
You can hear the conversation going back and forth between the two. Something to the effect of
"Are you sure it meant nothing?
"Yes, do not worry, I love you."
"...I am sorry I acted like such a boob."
"It's alright, everything is ok..."

2:53-3:04
The couples theme comes back as stability is reached once more in the couples relationship. The theme, however, seems unsure (in Isaac's head), because Isaac still jealous of the prince.

3:05-3:31
This explains why there is a brief pause at 3:05 before the theme resumes once more, and as the couple are walking out the door preparing to go back to the main hall...they find the prince standing outside of the door apparently listening to their entire conversation. The tone of the theme changes for a while as the prince facetiously asks the couple if everything is alright.

3:32-3:40
Lizzy speaks before Isaac can say a word:
"Yes, everything is fine, we were just having a little talk"
In a provocative and patronizing way the prince says, "He's not jealous, is he?"

3:42-3:55
Isaac's gets hot, and Lizzy attempts to cool him quickly at 3:45, but it is no use!

3:56-4:02
Isaac draws his sword and bravely challenges the prince to a duel!!

4:03-4:30
Once more Lizzy attempts to stop the conflict by stepping in between Isaac's blade and the prince. The couple's theme returns; Lizzy is trying to soothe Isaac's wrath. It seems to have worked, Isaac sheaths his blade and the group begins to head back to the ball room until...

4:31-4:43
The prince very arrogantly calls Isaac a coward under his breath.
"Excuse me?!," says Isaac.
Very calmly the prince mocks the couples theme.

4:44-4:55
At this point Isaac can take it no more, draws his sword, and the battle ensues!

4:56-5:10
Back and forth, back and forth! Through the main hall, up the spiraling, narrow stair case, through the library, and outside onto the roof of the main tower! It is storming wildly outside, lighting striking everywhere!

5:11-5:16
Isaac holds on for dear life after he has been knocked down, lost his sword, and dangles from the roof of the tower! Begging for help as the prince looks down on him.

5:17-5:29
Pure suspense! Will the prince save Isaac or not?!

5:30-5:33
Isaac looses his grip, the prince walks back inside. You can hear Isaac falling, falling, falling...Just as he hits the ground the scene changes.

5:34-5:44
Bewildered, confused and dazed Lizzy is dancing furiously with the prince. He is wet, but still trying to pretend as if nothing has happened while Lizzy questions him.

5:45-6:18
Insistently she demands answers from the prince, but receives only a smirk! She slaps the prince, yells profanities and slaps him more. With all eyes on them she rushes out into the cold, stormy night calling Isaac's name, hoping to find him still alive.

6:19-6:39
She finds Isaac...He is still alive, however, mortally wounded on the rocks below. The theme returns one last time as she tries to convince Isaac that everything will be ok just as the life leaves his body.

Alice

I MADE AN A IN PHYSICS!

And Horton Hears A Who! is my new favorite movie :)

Colton

Gah...What a mess this country is in...
Example B:AIDS CURE! and type this patent number in: 5676977

What.
The.
Fuck.

Colton

Where Heaven and Earth Meet:

Now that classes are over and I have time to read, I picked up N. T. Wright's book "Simply Christian" in hopes of finishing it this week. With that said, I've come upon a section that...well, just read it:

Talking about the history of the Jewish Temple (A building devoted to the worship, or regarded as the dwelling place, of a god or other objects of religious reverence. I am not diminishing anyone's intelligence, I know you know what a temple is...just wait) being destroyed and rebuilt over the centuries and how it has somehow become understood that "part of the central task of the kind, should the TRUE king ever emerge, would not only be to establish justice in the world; it would also involve the proper reestablishment of the place where heaven and earth met. The deep human longing for spirituality, for access to God, would be answered at last." It's funny how when you have a little history things Jesus said start to make more sense. This can be taken a couple of different ways. The first and most obvious being found here:

"Destroy this temple and I will raise it up in three days."
-John 2:19

Jesus refers to him self as the temple (John 2:21), the new place where one is to come for forgiveness and praise. Meaning that one no longer need rely on clergymen, priests or saints for forgiveness and salvation!

"For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men,
the man Christ Jesus."
-1 Timothy 2:5

"I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the
Father except through Me."
-John 14:6


It seems pretty straight forward, Jesus is the mediator between God and us measly humans. What are we to make of the Holy Spirit now residing within us? Are we to suppose that we too can be a place where heaven and earth meet, or does this only happen when we pray to/through Jesus?

"Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit,
who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own."
-1 Corinthians 6:19

This is where some people have come to be led astray and believe that we humans are gods because of the Holy Spirit dwelling in us. A very presumptuous and utterly wrong outlook that is demeaning to the real god. I have heard the demands and standards required of a god by many humans and have yet to see more than one met by a single person (other than Jesus). While our bodies may be a temple, one does not worship the temple itself, rather what abides therein. I digress...With God's grace, we can become the middle ground upon which [pieces of] heaven can be found on earth once again, much like in the garden before our fall. We, too, are the place where heaven and earth can meet. God has given us access to the Holy Spirit. As a result, heaven and earth may interact much like crochet; God/Holy Spirit/Jesus being the crocheter, we being the needle and hook the world will become the cumulative result of weaved yarn. The result being peace and justice as is promised by God since the beginning.

Now, I seem to have worked myself into a corner. Jesus is the mediator between man and God, but we are in the middle of where heaven and earth meet. Contradictory? Possibly, but perhaps we should look deeper into what the life of Jesus meant. Is it possible that he was the symbol for a coming age where the human religious experience is no longer external and physical (i.e. the temple and all of the rituals therein)? In other words the religious experience comes to you, instead of you to it (yes). When Jesus is talking to his disciples he once says this:

"If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever..."
-John 14:15-16

So what it comes down to is that once Jesus lives, dies, then is resurrected He becomes a symbol that we must believe in for our own "rebirth" to begin, and for the Holy Spirit (another "Helper") to grow in us. Now if we think about who God is, who Jesus is, and who the Holy Spirit is the trinity implies that they are three in one, but all separate (quantum physics, y'all). This is extremely difficult to understand, and as a result even harder for me to explain what I am thinking in regards to the trinity and each one of the three's role in all of this. However, if one is in you then all three must be in you...in a sense, right? Perhaps when Jesus refers to believing in Him for salvation he means God, or Himself, or the Holy Spirit. Would believing in any one of the three solely be wrong if they are all one? Since Jesus died and was resurrected he fulfilled one of many prophecies which then led to the Holy Spirit being given to humans (the subsequent prophecy). Not just the Jews, but the pagans and heathens et al, as well, are available for salvation. Because Jesus died, we are given the spirit, thus through Jesus death we are saved. On the other hand, no one is saved without having the Holy Spirit enter. Think about it. "No one comes to the Father except through Me." Believe in the plan, God wants a relationship with you
, not with you through your preacher, your priest, your guru, or your saints. If you have a relationship with God/Jesus/Holy Spirit then you are bringing them into this world, and are consequently the place where heaven and earth meet; you are God's temple.
Deep...Amen

Alice

"Beauty is not in the face; beauty is a light in the heart"
- Khalil Gibran

What a pretty quote. Too bad neither are working for me this week. Boo.

I made a cheese souffle to go with my dinner today. My dinner of some kind of mash of Italian sausage and vegetables I need to eat up before I leave. It's pretty tasty considering the fact that I've eaten a variation of this exact same meal almost everyday this week. Oh to be home and eat real food.

I packed today. I'm so ready to go home. This has been a long semester and an even longer week. I've never worked so hard on a research paper and felt like a failure at the end of it. It makes way less sense now than it did when I began. Uh oh. But good news is that I've now finished 4 finals (1 final, 2 lab practicals, 1 term paper) and only have one more to go. Oh phee-zaks how i despise thee.

Colton

Not to ruin any ones holiday high, but here is a little history lesson. When I have more time I'll discuss this and all the other so-called "Christian"holidays...Source 2

Jeremiah 10:1-4:
"Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them. For the customs of the people [are] vain: for [one] cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not.”

Colton

What's better than testimonials? Testimonials with This Will Destroy You playing in the background...

I Am Second

Alice

I have a final in one hour. And will be done with finals and everything in T minus 42 hours. Military time is weird. That took me a while just now to count 42 hours. Is that even military time? I don't think it is actually. Oh boy finals week fries my brain...

update (9:13 pm): three down, two to go

Alice

According to the United Nations, about 25,000 people die each day from hunger or hunger-related causes, most of them children.

FreeRice.com

FreeRice has generated enough rice to feed more than two million people since it started in October 2007.

Please play.

Colton

All our problems should be solved this way!


Source

Alice

Romeo and Julienne!

Main entry: julienne
Function: transitive verb
Inflected Form(s): julienned; julien·ning
Date: circa 1930
: to slice into thin strips about the size of matchsticks

Colton

Procrastination Equation

Found this while I was "practicing" piano...ha

Alice

I wish for snow. And cabin fever.


And ice skating on a roof.


And a cozy tent indoors.

Alice

On another note, I miss this girl a lot.

Colton

Amazing...

Alice

Tandem bicycle


Tandem umbrella
How cute are these? I've been enthralled with tandem bicycles for a few months now but people only seem to rent them on vacation. No one actually rides around on one. Why not? They're so darn cute. And the tandem umbrella? That would save so many minutes of drying one's shoulder or back or shaking puddles off boots from squeezing in under one small umbrella. I need to find one of those.





Colton has the most random ideas sometimes :)

Alice

Colton

Better than Pandora.com because you can actually pick the songs you want. Yea, yea you won't stumble upon new bands that change the way you listen to music, but you won't stumble upon bad bands that do the same either. One big perk is, you actually get to hear the songs you want all the time instead of spending all your time thumbing down every other song.

Thanks to Stumble upon for this diamond in the ruff.

Alice

Haha? Ummm...

Colton

These are old and just from the surface of what is out there, the first couple videos I could find the fastest...

Pulse Generator:


H20 Car:


Kinetic Car:


H20 Car:



Never doubt any potentiality no matter how far-fetched! The human brain can accomplish any task with enough time, but it will be the doubt of the skeptics that prevent movement and progress. I imagine a world where we finally decide to REALLY explore renewable energy, not this pseudo attempt going on now in the so-called "green" movement. I imagine a world powered by movement (kinetic energy), think about it! When you type on your keyboard you slowly recharge it, or when you walk with your mp3 player on your arm or in your bag or pocket, you will be slowly charging it each time it jiggles. Lately we have made enormously substantial improvements on the amount of harness-ability of solar energy, now lets improve kinetic technology! And what about the video with the guy using HHO?!?!? Think about how silly the attempts being made now are compared to this! Changing your bulbs because they use too much energy and replacing them with Mercury laden ones?? Really? That's green? Sure you use less electricity, sure you save a little bit of money ($100 a year I believe...doesn't seem that effective or worth while with all the hassle one must deal with to dispose of those poison bulbs.) but what if you have kids? Surely they are going to break a couple of those things...scary idea. I do admit, however, that we are only at the beginning of this transcendental phase from eco. rape to self sustainability, but I don't think many are that committed to the labor intensive cause. As soon as it is no longer cool or convenient the mass majority of people will discontinue. Look to the Mayan's if you want to learn about true self sustainability (Ancient Maya: Rise and Fall of a Rain Forest Civilization - Arthur Demarest). I think we need a real paradigm alignment, and less of these scraps that these movements and politicians keep throwing out to us so we are satiated by the fact that "at least they are trying." I will now quote Yoda: "Do or do not, there is no try." Now I am dreaming...

Colton

To Alice:
Timing

Colton

There are 10 dimensions, in the 10th dimension every infinite possibility of every infinite possibility coexists. Unfortunately, we humans live in a miserly 3 dimensions where time is the greatest deceiver and thief. If only to be just one more level higher in the fourth dimension where one sees time linearly (like a mountain range) where there is a definite beginning and a definite ending that occur simultaneously with all moments in between. In the fourth dimension one could comprehensively understand that one neither dies, nor is born. However, when one did/does/will die he/she was/is/will be as old as the day he/she was/is/will be born: 0. Zero is very balanced, I like zero. It is the number of all things and for all things. It is the Alpha and the Omega. As a result, zero is what we all strive to become as humans (+ or - numbers) because of it's balance and purity. Zero adds nothing, zero takes nothing. Although, when multiplied by infinity, a number extremely, incomprehensibly, unfathomably grandiose, infinity decides to shed its narcissism to become like the zero. So, my question is why do I keep trying to add myself in the equation when there is nothing but zero? I would not be as naive as to suppose that one could become zero by simple addition. No, rather a form of complex subtraction. Who IS the mathematician, and if it is the zero then why does my number increase? These are questions I have no answer to. Similarly, these are questions I get no answer for. All I know for sure is that the world is an equation where every motion is calculable and every effect of every word is measurable. Our mysterious existence in this 3/10th dimension can be understood in any number of ways, this paragraph being a mere fraction of the equation.

Alice

Glamour magazine is ridiculous. But this is cute.
Colton and I are nerdy book lovers so I thought it fit.

Have you ever fallen for someone's bookcase?

Colton

Coffee!

Colton

Haha...Yes...

Alice

I love Google Books and Jstor.

1 1/2 weeks to go:
Today: Bio lab practical
Tomorrow : Physics lab practical, Korean oral final presentation
Friday: Internship project plan due
Wednesday: Korean final
Friday: Shakespeare term paper due
Saturday: Physics exam

Alice

Little break from studying. Aren't these beautiful?
Oh, the guy's look in the last picture. I love this feeling.

Photos by Lina Scheynius
(Warning: her site is explicit)

Colton

http://www.ukimagehost.com/uploads/34a03cc46b.jpg


Such a pathetic, fake world we live in...So sad...

Alice

Korean 3 skit.
Premise: news show with focus on accidents and how to avoid them.
I play a 10-year-old child.


Korean 2 skit.
Premise: 2 guys take 2 girls out to karaoke night.

Colton

"Whole ages have fled and their works decayed,
And nations have scattered been:
But the stout old Ivy shall never fade,
From its hale and hearty green.
The brave old plant in its lonely days,
Shall fatten upon the past:
For the stateliest building man can raise,
Is the Ivy's food at last.
Creeping on, where time has been,
A rare old plant is the Ivy green."

-Charles Dickens

Alice

Happy Thanksgiving!
I had lunch and spent the afternoon at my dad's house for Thanksgiving then had dinner and spent the evening at my mom's. Colton is back home in East Texas :(. My dad and I have an awkward relationship that usually consists of random phone calls every so often and meals and a movie when I come home. The last time I experienced the movie Tropic Thunder. Needless to say, I don't thoroughly enjoy those experiences. But today was nice. Just nice. We ate some Korean food for lunch and talked. Talked about the computer industry because I told him I wanted the new Mac OS X Leopard operating system. I am now educated on IBM with Bill Gates and Steve Jobs and his pre-environmental-friendly greediness. Don't get me wrong, I still love my macbook and the Apple company but it was interesting. We also talked about med school, as we always do. Nothing new there. Then we discussed politics. He voted for McCain and I voted for Obama and we argued about the war and healthcare and education. From it all, I still believe that Obama has the potential to change our country. I agree that the Democrats have Socialist tendencies and the universal healthcare plan will still not give people like my dad free healthcare but still. He hasn't gotten into office yet and hasn't had the chance to implement any policies. How are we to know if he will stick to his word? We can preliminarily shoot him down because he's a politician but what if he is the one politician to change the way we think about politicians? I don't agree 100% with him but he could be the one to bring the change we are all so desperately seeking. At least we can hope for it.

"But I don't want to go among mad people," Alice remarked.
"Oh, you can't help that," said the Cat.
"We're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad."
"How do you know I'm mad?" said Alice.
"You must be," said the Cat, "otherwise you wouldn't have come here."

I've been keeping up with LiveJournal for a while but it's private. This is my way of sharing a part of me with you. Colton's been thinking about starting a blog to record thoughts and philosophical tribulations, more or less. This is his way to share his musings.

Our journey will indeed be mad, but hopefully thoughtful and maybe inspiring. Colton inspires me and I'm sure he will do the same for you.