This Does Not Bode Well

It's not a good sign when your differential equations professor accidentally leaves a typo in the first quiz of the semester and causes the whole class to fail question #2.


I don't even know whether to write down what he puts on the board because he cannot do basic arithmetic and doesn't seem to have grasped the difference between a plus sign and a minus sign.


Help.


In Pace Christi,


Elyse

"It's something with a lot of x's."


- my differential equations professor, trying to define a differential equation


Told you this man would be a goldmine of quotes.

Peter Kreeft on Faith

The Faith is not selling well.


Faith is selling well – extremely well: faith in general, faith as an attitude, faith as positive thinking, faith in faith. Also selling well are many strange new faiths: faith in cults, faith in UFO’s, faith in ICBM’s, faith in the Force, faith in ancient astronauts, faith in astrology – faith in almost anything. We are an incredibly credulous age.


The reason for this is probably that "nature abhors a vacuum" spiritually as well as physically. Our modern Western civilization is ready to believe in almost anything to fill the vacuum left by the de-Christianization of the last four centuries.


- Peter Kreeft, Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Heaven, p. 193


This reminds me so very much of Hogfather, from the Discworld series of novels by Terry Pratchett, where people ceasing to believe in the Hogfather (Discworld's analogy for Santa Claus) leaves a lot of 'extra belief' sloshing around. As a consequence, anthromorphic personifications like the Verruca Gnome, the oh God of Hangovers, and the God of Indigestion are created out of all that spare belief. I can't help but wonder what sorts of things we have created with our spare belief when our society turned away from Christianity...


Slenderman, maybe.


O.o.


Then again, we may deserve it for everything we've done.


In Pace Christi,


Elyse

Death is clothed in the darkness of night because his true face is too bright for us to look upon.


Is he Death? Or is he Life? Does he come to kill the body with his cold hand, or does he come with the fire of Life on his fingertips, burning away all that is not Life?


Death is but the gateway. Death within the heart is lasting and Decay. Life-in-Death is Sacrifice and lives eternal.

Well.

Blogger won't even let me upload videos from YouTube onto here. Google is indeed retarded.


Anyway, I just found the song "Frozen Heart" from Frozen in Norwegian and have listened to it approximately 30 times by now (no exaggeration). I don't know what it is about songs in a foreign language that move me so, but they do. Gah.


GO LOOK IT UP. NOW.


In Pace Christi,


Elyse

"How do we usually test stuff?"


"Usually we ask for student volunteers," said the Dean.


"What happens if we don't get any?"


"We give it to them anyway."


"Isn't that a bit unethical?"


"Not if we don't tell them, Archchancellor."


"Ah, good point."


-- Hogfather, by Terry Pratchett


--


...I will admit to thinking of this exchange while in lab this week... O.o


In Pace Christi,


Elyse

I hereby declare that, as we have a mob of crows, a herd of cows, and a pod of dolphins, any collection of annelids must be known as...




a squirm of worms.


*insert picture of earthworm here*


In Pace Christi,


Elyse

Choose the life that is the most useful, and habit will make it the most agreeable.


- Francis Bacon

I have a magical gift. I can make the sun come out on any overcast day.


All I have to do is get in the car without my sunglasses.

NORTH AND SOUTH HAS GONE TO MY BRAIN

So the other night my sister and I sat down (consumption of donuts may have been involved) and watched all four hours of BBC North and South, which we were able to find on YouTube. Much silliness ensued. Much squeeing also ensued, but - hey, it's Richard Armitage. A little squeeing is requisite.






A few observations:






(1) Jealous Henry in the train is the funniest thing ever.






(2) Margaret must be hard of hearing because Thornton's like, "I love you!" and she's like, "You're just saying that because you pity my family's poorness," and he's like, "No, I love you!" and then she's like, "You just want to marry me to save my honor," and he's like, "No, I want to marry you because I love you!"




Dunno. In Pride and Prejudice, I'm all, "You go, Lizzy! You tell Mr. Darcy all about his bad manners!" when she rejects him. In North and South, I'm more... "Um, Margaret? Have you listened to a word he's said?"




(3) Mrs. Thornton is amazing. All the mothers in Jane Austen novels are dead or silly. Mrs. Thornton, on the other hand, is a sensible woman who dearly cares for her son (and if she doesn't care as much about Fanny we can all see why and agree with her...). She resolves to be offended for her son when Margaret turns him down and pretty much snaps at her later on, "You do not know what sort of man you rejected." (To her credit, Margaret agrees.) Just... she has personality. She's protective of her son. She tries giving advice to Margaret even when she loathes Margaret's guts.




Go, Mrs. Thornton!




(4) Why was the water purple when Boucher drowned himself???? The closest thing my sister and I can figure out was that it must be due to chemical pollutants from the mills. Dyes? Tanning acids? I have no clue.




(5) Why is Margaret always walking through a graveyard? I guess it is the only green place in Milton, but even so...




(6) It only takes a line or two to completely ruin my concentration: "Look back. Look back at me." or "He was her brother." or "Coming home with me?"




ARRRRRRRGH.




In consequence, guess what I had a dream about that night?




Margaret and Thornton. AS VAMPIRE HUNTERS.



You do NOT know how satisfying it is to watch Richard Armitage kill Edward Cullen. Just sayin'. XD


My mind is a weird place. I wouldn't wish it on anyone. A lot of weirdness and silliness comes from it, and yet, at other times... a lot of awesomeness comes from it, too.


In Pace Christi,


Elyse

It's falling because that's what things do.


-- my differential equations professor


Expect more quotes from this man as the semester progresses. He bids fair to be an unintentional goldmine of funny lines.


For context, he was talking about an object in free fall. Also, he couldn't remember the gravitational constant (9.8 m/s^2 or 32 f/s^2). The class reminded him.


In Pace Christi,


Elyse

We're Enantiomers

'Enantiomer' is my go-to chemical simile when I'm trying to describe two things that are alike and yet opposite. If you've taken organic, you know why. If you haven't, don't worry.


My latest comparison to enantiomers is atheists versus Christians. We're both human, and yet our outlooks are totally different. As evidence, I submit this thing I found on either Catholic Memes, Catholic Anime, or Catholic Gag (I can't remember which). I'm retyping it here since Google is still broken as far as posting pictures goes.

An Atheist's View on Life

I will live my life according to these beliefs

God does not exist

It is just foolish to think

That there is a God with a cosmic plan

That an all-powerful God brings redemption and healing to the pain and suffering of the world

Is a comforting thought, however

It

Is only wishful thinking

People can do as they please without eternal consequences

The idea that

I am deserving of Hell

Because of sin

Is a lie meant to make me a slave to those in power

"The more you have, the happier you will be"

Our existence has no grand meaning or purpose

In a world with no God

There is freedom to be who I want to be

But with God

Everything is fine

It is ridiculous to think

I am lost and in need of saving

A Christian's View of Life

(read this bottom to top)

In Pace Christi,

Elyse

OF COURSE!!!

I just realized why Blogger won't let me upload any more pictures. The last pictures I uploaded consisted of (and I quote) 'mindless RA spam'.


Obviously, the majestic awesomeness that is everything Richard Armitage broke Google and they're having to pick up the pieces.


It makes perfect sense! XD


In Pace Christi,


Elyse

Google Is Just Retarded

All right, so Blogger has been complaining for the past few weeks that the browser I use (Internet Explorer - yes, go ahead and laugh at me) is outdated and won't work properly. The past couple of days, my university email system has been saying the same thing.




Frustrated, I click on the link to download the newest version of Internet Explorer. This leads me to a Microsoft website that happily states: "You've got our latest browser. Thank you for using Internet Explorer!"


*insert Bilbo Eyeroll gif here*


(Blogger is still not letting me load any sort of visual medium.)


I mean, on the one hand, I do feel sort of vindicated that I was right that my browser couldn't possibly be outdated. On the other hand, Blogger and my university email system are still refusing to work properly for me. So... what next?


Should I download Mozilla Firefox or, heavens forbid, Google Chrome? Yes, let's help Google continue its relentless march to rule the world. It's like General Sherman marching to the sea, burning everything in its path. A bit like Disney, come to think of it.


Anyway.


This is why I hate technology.


In Pace Christi,


Elyse

A Simple Explanation of Governments, Using Cows

It is imperative upon me to post this thing I have seen several times on Tumblr. It is too funny (and too accurate) not to reblog. Without further ado:

• Socialism: You have 2 cows and you give one to your neighbor.
• Communism: You have 2 cows; the government takes both and gives you some milk.
• Fascism: You have 2 cows; the government takes both and sells you some milk.
• Nazism: You have 2 cows; the government takes both and shoots you.
• Bureaucratism: You have 2 cows; the government takes both, shoots one, milks the other, and throws the milk away.
• Traditional Capitalism: You have 2 cows. You sell one and buy a bull. Your herd multiplies, and the economy grows. You sell them and retire on the income.
• An American Corporation: You have 2 cows. You sell one and force the other to produce the milk of four cows. Later, you hire a consultant to analyze why the cow dropped dead.
• A French Corporation: You have 2 cows. You go on strike because you want 3 cows.
• A Japanese Corporation: You have 2 cows. You redesign them so they are one-tenth the size of an ordinary cow and produce twenty times the milk. You then created a clever cow cartoon image called Cowkimon and market them worldwide.
• An Italian Corporation: You have 2 cows, but you don't know where they are. You break for lunch.
• A Swiss Corporation: You have 5000 cows. None belong to you. You charge others for storing them.
• A Chinese Corporation: You have 2 cows. You have 300 people milking them. You claim full employment, high bovine productivity, and arrest the newsman who reported the numbers.
• An Iraqi Corporation: Everyone thinks you have lots of cows. You tell them you have none. No one believes you and they bomb you. You still have no cows, but at least now you are part of a democracy.
• Counter Culture: "Wow, dig it, like there's these 2 cows, man, grazing in the hemp field. You gotta have some of this milk!"
• Surrealism: You have 2 giraffes. The government requires you to take harmonica lessons.
• Apathyologism: You have 2 cows. You do not care.
• Fatalism: You have 2 doomed cows.
• Atheism: You have 2 cows. There is no God.
• A West-Country Corporation: You have 2 cows. That one on the left is kinda cute.
• A Brazilian Corporation: You have 2 cows. You pay taxes for 6 cows. You have to sell one cow in order to pay the taxes. Your remaining cow gets sick and dies while waiting for availability in the public vet hospital.
• PETA: You  have 2 cows. You kill them both. You then use naked women to convince other people that killing cows is wrong.
• Moffat: You have 2 cows. Both of them are your daughters time-traveling from the past where they had a brief love affair with Leonardo da Vinci, making you the rightful Queen of England. As you assume the throne, you throw them off a building.
• Romney: You have 2 cows. You are still not the President of the United States.
• An Irish Corporation: You have a million cows because they're everywhere.
• Tumblr: You have 2 cows. You ship them together and make GIF posts screaming about how much you love your cows, but they should stop existing because they are so perfect.
• Also Tumblr: I give you a hamburger.
• Cows: The things you go through.
• This post: Started off as a post that explained different governments but then everything changed when the fire nation attacked.
• The Fire Nation: You have 2 cows. One banishes the other and sends it to go regain its honor.

The only thing that could possibly improve this post is a reference to Thud!:

• Discworld: THAT! IS!! NOT!!! MY!!!! COW!!!!!

There. Now it is perfect. XD


In Pace Christi,


Elyse

Mindless RA Spam

I found a collection of gifs of Richard Armitage from Spooks. I feel like I should label them: #so cute #why are you so adorable #staaaaahp.

Just sayin'.

Not at all sorry. XD

In Pace Christi,

Elyse

To Geneva

Thrice Welcome!

My apologies, but I do not know how to respond to a comment in any other way than by just posting. I'm not too technologically savvy myself, so I wasn't sure how to comment on your WordPress account with my Google account. I'm sure there's a way, but I haven't figured it out. Rest assured that I am convinced you are not a bearded creeper. :)

But I want to kill Google on a regular basis, so that's nothing new.

Following/subscribing to my blog probably requires a Google account as well, unless WordPress and Google are compatible. As I said, I don't know. However, I'd try clicking the 'Join This Site' button and seeing what happens from there.

As far as having things in common, if you aren't anti-Catholic and you like the writings of J. R. R. Tolkien, we should probably get along famously. :) A look at your blog indicates that you definitely aren't the former, so I think it'll be fine. Do you like The Lord of the Rings?

Bonus points for other fandoms. 'Kirk out' seems to indicate some Star Trek knowledge - am I right? I have a working knowledge of both the reboot and the original series, but am less informed on the other Trek incarnations.

(I strive to be fandom literate. XD)

Also, congratulations (or is it too early for congratulations to be in order?) on realizing you have a vocation and having the courage to respond to such a grace and follow it! I can only be in awe of such a gift.

In Pace Christi,

Elyse

Unsure Whether To Giggle Uncontrollably or Go 'Awwwww'

So my sister and I have taken to watching BBC North and South online.

I blame you all. I blame you all for the addiction that is Richard Armitage's face. Just so you know.

Although we also had a fun time imagining the bow ties on Thorin and also making fun of that jealous guy in the train car (Henry? I think his name was Henry). Because snarking at a movie, even at a movie you love, makes it even funnier.

I'm not carried away by Margaret, though. She just seemed so unhappy and whispered everything. Ah, well, I'm not here for Margaret in the first place.

I normally avoid the kissy stuff, but I think I'll have to make an exception for this. *insert smiley face with horns here*

Okay, so I may be blogging this just to taunt my sister. But whatever. It's a perfectly valid reason to blog something!

I just now noticed her hair in the last gif. That's pretty. Was it like that all the time and I didn't notice?

Was kissing the guy's hand the preferred way to accept a marriage proposal back then? Because it happens in the most recent Pride and Prejudice as well. I don't know. I'm just wild mass guessing here.

*goes back to giggling*

In Pace Christi,

Elyse

All That Is Gold - Hobbit Edition

The one poem that no Tolkien fan will ever be tired of reciting, applied to The Hobbit and in particular to our majesty would-be King under the Mountain.

All that is gold is not good, either. Saw DOS again yesterday... It hurt when I noticed that Thorin looks at the gold just before Bilbo comes skidding into view.

TABA is going to hurt so much.

In Pace Christi,

Elyse

The Pity of Bilbo

Tolkien, your Catholicism is showing.

I always find it so incredibly moving that it's not killing an army of aliens or slaughtering oliphaunts that saves Middle-earth. What saves Middle-earth is Bilbo choosing not to kill Gollum, not striking without need, and then later Frodo keeping Gollum alive despite his many opportunities (handing him over to Faramir, for instance).

They saved a life. Not just any life, either - no. They saved the life of someone who had murdered, lied, stolen. They saved the life of someone who intended to kill them and eat them. They saved the life of someone who had (not entirely willingly) alerted Sauron to their presence. They saved the life of someone who could have ratted them out to the orcs, drowned them in the Dead Marshes, and revealed them at the Black Gates. They saved the life of someone who tried to feed them to a giant demigoddess spider.

And yet Bilbo did not kill Gollum. Frodo did not kill Gollum. On the slopes of Mount Doom, even Sam did not kill Gollum.

They saved Middle-earth.

How's that for Catholic?

That's part of the reason why I think The Avengers is so good - they defeat the Chitauri because Tony Stark is willing to sacrifice his life to stop the aliens. It's that sacrifice play that does the job.

In Pace Christi,

Elyse

Happy Birthday, Professor Tolkien!

The Professor was born on January 3rd, 1892, so he would have been 121 today. Not as old as Bilbo Baggins yet (give it another 10 years), but still very respectable in Hobbit standards.

Thank you a thousandfold for creating your wonderful world of Middle-earth and its inhabitants and sharing it so generously for all of us. You have been my role model in so many ways as I set about writing fiction and world-building in my little corner of Arda. Your writings have moved my heart and soul and given me a much greater desire for light, truth, beauty, order, and goodness. The fact that you lived has changed my life for the better, and all I can do to pay you back is to continue the ripple effect in the world around me.

Thank you.

Requiscas in pace.

Elyse