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Monday, 17 July 2006
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The Advantage of Synonyms
English is an entertaining language. Take, for instance, how synonyms work: the context defines the meaning. The word spleen can mean the lymphoid organ of the body that filters blood, produces lymphocytes, and distintegrates old blood cells, or it can mean chagrin, disgruntlement, and frustration. The expression venting one's spleen achieves an entirely new level of innuendo after finding that out, doesn't it? So I've been contemplating paying for next year's tuition, buying next semester's books, and therefore possibly selling my spleen on the black market so I don't have to dissolve my savings account. After comparing cost of living with income, I'm positive I've got enough chagrin to spare. Saving for a car was a nice idea while it lasted...
Today's Quote:
"Money is better than poverty, if only for financial reasons." --Woody Allen
Sunday, 25 June 2006
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Funnies
Below is a copy of an email that my dad sent me. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!
After every flight, pilots fill out a form called a gripe sheet, which conveys to the mechanics problems encountered with the aircraft during the flight that need repair or correction. The mechanics read and correct the problem, and then respond in writing on the lower half of the form what remedial action was taken, and the pilot reviews the gripe sheet before the next flight. Never let it be said that ground crews and engineers lack a sense of humor. Here are some actual logged maintenaince complaints and problems as submitted by Quantas pilots and the solution recorded by the maintenance engineers. By the way, Quantas is the only major airline that has never had an accident.
(P = The problem logged by the pilot)
(S = The solution and action taken by the engineers)
P: Left inside main tire almost needs replacement.
S: Almost replaced left inside main tire.
P: Test flight OK, except auto-land very rough.
S: Auto-land not installed on this aircraft.
P: Something loose in cockpit.
S: Something tightened in cockpit.
P: Dead bugs on windshield.
S: Live bugs on back order.
P: Auto pilot in altitude-hold mode produces a 200-feet-per-minute descent.
S: Cannot reproduce problem on ground.
P: Evidence of leak on right main landing gear.
S: Evidence removed.
P: DME volume unbelievably loud.
S: DME volume set to more believable level.
P: Friction locks cause throttle levers to stick.
S: That's what they're there for.
P: IFF inoperative.
S: IFF always inoperative in OFF mode.
P: Suspected crack in windshield.
S: Suspect you're right.
P: Number 3 engine missing.
S: Engine found on right wing after brief search.
P: Aircraft handles funny.
S: Aircraft warned to straighten up, flight right, and be serious.
P: Target radar hums.
S: Reprogrammed target radar with lyrics.
P: Mouse in cockpit.
S: Cat installed.
P: Noise coming from under the intrument panel. Sounds like a midget pounding on something with a hammer.
S: Took hammer away from midget.
Quote for the day:
"All I need to make comedy is a park, a policeman, and a pretty girl." --Charlie Chaplin
Saturday, 24 June 2006
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"I See, Therefore I Am"
This past Friday marked the halfway point of my second summer class--Art History. Despite the intensity of having to grasp 5000 years of artistic expression and philosophy within a one-month period of time, it's been a pleasure discovering and rediscovering what has always been a great passion of mine. I'm not an artist, by any means, but I derive a great deal of satisfaction from other people's talent. Take the pleasure of studying the great masters of painting, sculpture, and architecture and inject it with the entertainment value of historical contexts, and the result is me being one very happy camper for a month! (Actually, I'm a pretty happy camper on general principles...just FYI. Maybe a better phrase would be "entranced student.") The instructor is 'listenable' too, which is nice.
Have you ever thought about how art has been used in the past, and how it is used today? I was fascinated by the art found in French Rococo Period, because I could relate to it in a way that I couldn't with art in other time periods. First of all, the language that's used to describe the French Rococo style is incredibly revealing: decadent, confectionary, intimate (as opposed to the grand manner of Baroque styles). 'Decadent' in this sense is used to mean "not in cadence," or in other words, "out of step." Art during this time was patronized almost exclusively by the aristocracy, and the primary subject matter was predictably, the rich at play. The pieces that were produced during this time period reflect a condition that affected the upper classes of society and which ultimately led the French Revolution: a pervading lack of awareness of how the other half lived. Jean-Honore Fragonard, a popular painter of the time, was commissioned by Madame du Barry (Louis XV's mistress) to paint a series of fourteen canvasses entitled The Progress of Love (one of which is featured above). The results are truly some of the most sickeningly sweet pieces of art in the history of the world--you get cavities after two or three. The reason that they are so fascinating, however, is not because of what Fragonard included but because of what he left out of the picture: millions of starving peasants who could've cared less whether the love-struck boy featured in the series ever got his girl or not. Thus, the use of the term 'decadent' to describe the art of the time was absolutely correct: it was out of step with reality.
The same label could be tacked onto many of our art forms today. As a society, we're guilty of living in a bubble, oblivious to the neediness around us. Selfish and self-absorbed, we hoard our wealth instead of looking for ways to make the world better. We're insulated away from wars, famines, and disease, and are unable to empathize with the want in the world--there's no discomfort, but also no awareness.
To balance out my diatribe against society, I've also included one of my favorite works of art from roughly the same period (although not from the same country): Jan Vermeer's Woman Holding a Balance. It illustrates a technique called tenebrism, which is basically spotlighting an image that the artist desires to emphasize. Vermeer painted mostly Dutch genre works, and many of his paintings contain symbolic elements (such as the balance the woman is holding and the painting of the Last Judgment on the wall behind her, which you probably can't see here because I didn't have the space to put a big enough image in my post). The element of balance is obviously very important to the painting, but the inclusion of the Last Judgment gives the scales a religious allusion as well. (Reminds me a little of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, for those of you who saw the movie.)
"To become different from what we are, we must have some awareness of what we are." --Eric Hoffer
Monday, 29 May 2006
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It isn't possible, I tell myself. It is just not possible that I can be so over-the-moon about homework. Of all the crazy things . . . But I am. What I'm doing now feels so right. Being here--at this place in my life, where I do what I love and what I'm good at--is like realizing where home is for the first time. When I think about all the people who go to work because they have to, I just feel so grateful to be preparing for a career that I'll be happy with. Life is too short to make concessions about things that are this important, which is why I'm so happy to be where I am, doing what I'm doing, which is finishing up my degree in English. After countless misses, it feels incredible to finally have hit something worth sticking with. So far the summer has given me a great chance to sit back and take a breather after a very busy year--while taking some classes and working a little, just so I don't turn into a complete bum.
Time of year: late spring/early summer, also known as 'wedding season'. Love is in the air (Or is it stress?--I keep mixing those two up. Yes, I do know how cynical I sound; but the whole business has failed to make me a convert, I'm afraid.), and in a couple weeks I'm going up to Wisconsin for my cousin's wedding. Joe and I are doing some of the music--Joe mostly. In general, I tend to be a bit skeptical of relationships; but despite being incredibly over-advertised and misconstrued, they do ensure the future of the human race (along with keeping us all in perpetual therapy, but what would North America be without its psychiatric institutions). Actually, when it happens for people I care about, I am a big fan of love, so congratulations to the happy couple. May they live long and prosper.
So far, I've covered life, and I've covered love. Now for the mystery: Where will the Valentes be living at the close of the summer? Joe's moving down with his baby grand (which is WONDERFUL), so we must move from our cozy little apartment right across the street from the mall (that, on the other hand, is a real bugger, as they say in Britain). Mom and I have been looking at places that will give us more space and will allow Joe to practice without making enemies of our neighbors (It's not Joe's playing that's the problem--he's a genius--but even if Rachmaninoff played scales for 5 hours at a stretch, he'd probably irritate the people living above and below him.). Stay tuned for the rest of the story . . .
Quote for the day:
O life is a glorious cycle of song,
A medley of extemporanea;
And love is a thing that can never go wrong;
And I am Marie of Romania.
--Dorothy Parker
Saturday, 08 April 2006
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I am moving my blog to the following address:
http://earthangel83.blogspot.com/
I'm keeping my xanga site because I have so many friends who keep in touch that way, but two separate blog entries gets to be a little crazy, so for the most part I'll be posting at the new one. You can click on the above link to visit me sometime!
Angela_Valente
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- Name: Angela
- Country: United States
- State: Tennessee
- Metro: Chattanooga
- Birthday: 3/29/1983
- Gender: Female
- Member Since: 10/13/2005
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About Me
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Ahhh....I'm better at sprints than marathons; like strawberries but not watermelon; have a cat not a dog; have a thing for cemeteries but not for dying; enjoy beaches but not sun, and snow but not cold; like learning but not homework; love books but not reading; and finally....I stay the same while constantly changing. Who am I?
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