Theory of Creativity

I would like to promulgate the following theory, proposed by myself about the relationship between real life and one's private fantasies:

Creativity is directly proportional to the amount of caffeine and sugar consumed and indirectly proportional to the amount of time available.

In mathematical terms, this would come out to:

C = k_1(a_c + a_s)/k_2t

where C stands for the amount of creativity, k_1 and k_2 are arbitrary constants of proportionality, a_c stands for the amount of caffeine consumed and a_2 for the amount of sugar consumed, and t stands for the amount of time available. 

I do not know what units C will have, but right now it's looking something like grams/seconds. However, it is hard to define a mental/spiritual quality in physical terms, so this attempt to define it is doomed.

I still think this should be published in a research journal somewhere.

In Pace Christi,

Elyse

More Of My Nerd Problems

I did a couple more:

Although today it turned out one of the people in the class didn't know Disney had bought Lucasfilms and that two more Star Wars films were on their way. Where exactly has he been for the past year?

I swear, when I saw that rock in the glass case in the science building with the placard "sillimanite", the first thing I thought was, "Silmaril." And if there's anything I've learned from The Silmarillion, it's that the Silmarils are Magnets Of Doom. Do not touch.

In Pace Christi,

Elyse

Smaug, Sherlock, & Pterosaurs

So, guess who got a DVD copy of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug yesterday.

So I decided to continue my "Nerd Problems" series in honor of Smaug.

Confession time: I did not actually think those exact words when I first saw Smaug. Actually, I thought this: "Oh my gosh! He looks like an azhdarchid pterosaur! AWESOME!!!"

The better-informed nerd paleontologist afficiandoes on TVTropes, however, have stated that Smaug's body design is more reminiscent of an ornithocheiroid pterosaur, so I will follow their lead. Nevertheless, 'azhdarchid' is an infinitely cooler word than 'ornithocheiroid'. The Persian word for 'dragon' beats the Greek for 'bird hand' any day. Also, Quetzalcoatlus northropi is an azhdarchid, which makes that genus 20% more awesome.

Also, I found this highly amusing picture while looking up large pterosaurs:

That's right. Some artist seriously took the time to compare Arambourgiania philadelphiae to Sherlock. Sherlock Holmes, of Sherlock, played by Benedict Cumberbatch. Seriously. They even drew his purple scarf! I could hardly believe my eyes when I saw it. "Surely not," I thought. "They wouldn't actually put Sherlock in a pterosaur diagram."

Nevertheless, I clicked on the image to enlarge it. Sure enough, it was Sherlock. I immediately knew I had to blog it. (Don't believe me? Go to the Wikipedia article.)

Since I've seen so many fanart of Smaug wearing Sherlock's purple scarf, it seemed only appropriate that these pictures should end up in the same post together.

Also, they are not 'pterodactyls'. That refers only to the members of one specific type of pterosaur. The name for all prehistoric flying reptiles is pterosaur - Greek for 'winged reptile'. Get your facts straight, people.

Yes, it bothers me every time I see 'pterodactyl' misused now.

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.

LOTR x Organic Chemistry - The Sequel

I have LOTR problems, y'all.

In Pace Christi,

Elyse

What Do You Get When You Cross a Ringer and Organic Chemistry?

True story, y'all.

This will make sense to anyone who has read both The Lord of the Rings and passed through the first semester of organic chemistry. Trust me.

Now, to find something LOTR that sounds like the word 'enantiomer'... hmm... Ents could work...

Aww. Now I feel compelled go do to an enantiomer version. I hate it when I give myself ideas.

In Pace Christi,

Elyse

No one wants to believe in evil, really, and above all not in an evil being, an evil spirit. Everyone wants to abolish the idea. To admit the existence of evil means a responsibility, and no one wants that responsibility. That is the opening through which the evil spirit crawls, stilling all suspicions, making everything seem normal and natural.

- Pope Benedict XVI

In semi-related news, I finally looked up the German for something I've been meaning to for a while now:

"What is this new devilry?"

I now need an opportunity to say this. I have already used, "Das hat dir der Teufel gesagt!" once or twice, to general incomprehension. It was mostly for the lolz, though; I would never really mean something like that. The lolz comes from the fact that I found the quote in a German version of Rumpelstiltskin.

...You know, I'm not actually sure how you do spell 'Rumpelstiltskin'. Weird. O.o

In Pace Christi,

Elyse

Reepicheep Speaks The Truth!

I finally did it! Now I can use it in a great variety of situations. Primarily those directed towards silly fangirls who write terrible, terrible Mary Sue fanfics.

It was really hard trying to get a good screencap of Reepicheep, though. Could definitely tell the CGI was a few years old. I guess they didn't mocap him, did they?

Ah, well, WETA is a wizard no matter how you look at it. I think they have a Narnia book... I should look into that...

In Pace Christi,

Elyse

I Made Some Stuff Again

I recognize, of course, that they are not memes, as they have not become memetic. It has lately come to my attention that such screencaps with captions may, in fact, be known as macros. I am not certain on this, so please do not quote me.

However, I have been playing around with Paint and some screencaps (The Lord of the Rings Image Library is a wonderful, wonderful website) and have devised the following:

That picture just screamed for that caption. In fact, I think I found it with the caption of something like: "I dunno. You're the wise Elf, you tell me." So it was only natural I label it.

I also played around with a new font, in case you didn't notice. I felt something more informal would be appropriate, and so came up with Kristen something or other. I've been using Lucinda Calligraphy and Lucinda Bright mostly until now.

I'm not happy with this one. I still don't know how to place the words in a way that I like, while retaining the emphases upon 'all', 'luck', and 'world'. I'm happy with the placement and italics of I really do, but it's the first sentence that gets me. Hmm. I don't like straight lines of text, but I can't curve them or slant them in Paint.

Sounds like I need a better picture manipulating program...

I love Bofur so much, y'all. I have the same fool's hope, the same faith in everything turning out eventually for the best. If only I had his willingness to befriend people, as well. Sadly, I'm not used to being around people in a positive way. Not that I have many negative encounters with people, though. They're mostly just neutral. You sit next to them in class, pass them on the sidewalk. It's not much.

And now I'm describing people like subatomic particles. Gah. *headbang*

I need a new macro, one that says, "THIS IS WHY I LIKE SCIENCE MORE THAN PEOPLE."

It would be very applicable to my life at a great many points.

Maybe I just don't know the right people...

This one will be very handy for ordering people around. XD

This is quoted very often around our house.

Legolas's face here was also just screaming for thisi caption. So I obliged. XD

Now, this Bofur one I am happy with.

In Pace Christi,

Elyse

Why You Should Never Have Gollum Over For Dinner

This one should be self-explanatory.

(1) He refuses to use utensils. He has nine teeth left, and he will use them and his handses if he has to, yes, precious.

(2) He will eat your pets. Dogs, cats, rabbits, birds - they're all fair game. You have been warned.

(3) He may eat you as well, if he finds the meal unsatisfactory.

(4) He may challenge you to a game of riddles. If he does, you're doomed. If you lose, he will eat you. If you win, he will then attack you and try to eat you anyway. Be sure and have an Elven sword with you or a Ring of Power to buy yourself a little time.

(5) He will run off with a bottle of your Old Winywards without so much as a 'please' or 'thank you'. Chasing him with a broom is optional, but recommended.

(6) He will most likely refuse any food you offer anyway, as it is likely to be 'burned' and thus spoiled. "Keep your nasty chips!" he will cry, pushing away all normal Hobbit foods like bread, pretzels, cherries, apples, and carrots.

(7) He will then plunder your chicken house for a nice plump hen, and take a dive in your decorative fish pond for his seafood entree. Did you think he would ever settle for food that was not raw and wriggling?

Why did you even invite him over in the first place?

XD

In Pace Christi,

Elyse

More Fun With LEGOs And A Camera

"You're late."

"A wizard is never late. Nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to."

"Good morning!"

"What do you mean? Do you mean to wish me a good morning, or do you mean that it is a good morning, whether I want it or not? Or do you mean to say that you feel good on this particular morning, or are you simply stating that this is a morning to be good on?"

"...All of them at once, I suppose."

--

Gandalf is the king of witty comebacks, is he not? XD

In Pace Christi,

Elyse

Fun With LEGOs And A Camera

As we all know, Thorin Oakenshield has no sense of direction. He lost his way in the Shire - twice. And while he will admit this fact, he will absolutely refuse, like any good man, to ask for directions.

 

Having accepted this fact, Balin and Bilbo, who are heartily sick and tired of wandering around the edges of Mirkwood, have prevailed upon Thorin to finally take a look at that map that Gandalf gave him. Thorin is not much better at reading maps, but he gives it his best shot. Bilbo and Balin are there to assist.

 

Meanwhile, that leaves Dwalin to babysit Fili and Kili. Dwalin is not amused by this. Fili and Kili were a handful when they were small, and they remain a handful now that they are grown.

Currently, they are climbing on some rocks. At least, Fili is courteous enough to help his little brother up. Dwalin looks on, prepared to gently bonk some sense into their heads with his warhammer if he feels they need some sense bonked into their heads.

Balin and Bilbo make no progress with Thorin. They cannot make heads nor tails of the map, for that matter. They decide that desperate times call for desperate measures, and wander off to ask - gasp! - the Elves for directions.

The Elves are also not amused by this.

Needless to say, it doesn't end well.

The Elves take issue with thirteen Dwarves and one Hobbit wandering around in their woods. They quickly capture the Dwarves, but miss Bilbo in all the confusion. Marching the Dwarves back to their underground stronghold, they lock the Dwarves in prison.

All is not lost, however. The Elves are quite happy with their success and go off to do what they do in Thranduil's realm the best: party. Before long, the Elf guards are thoroughly drunk.

Having reached the stage where they would most certainly be ticketed with a DUI by the Elven Police if they took Thranduil's Irish Elk out on a joyride, the Elf guards pass out. Safely invisible, thanks to the Ring, Bilbo leaves them snoring on the floor, snatches the key to the cells, and frees the Dwarves. Hooray!

And off they go on the next stage of their grand adventure!

XD I had a lot of fun with this. A camera, a bunch of LEGO's, and a couple of hours - priceless.

In Pace Christi,

Elyse

Random Arts Post

So I did some other stuff while I was reformatting my Bofur Optimism and Dori Pessimism memes. Behold:

The aftermath of the Battle of Azanulbizar (Dimrill Dale in Westron, Nanduhirion in Sindarin). Thrain, not missing in the books, although blind in one eye and halt from a wound on the leg, stood up before the surviving Dwarves (1/2 of the Dwarves fell that cloudy winter day) and claimed victory.

They responded: "If this is victory, our hands are too small to hold it."

:(

...sniff. Now I'm going to make myself cry again.

By the way, Thorin's younger brother died that day, also. My belief is that, both book and movie, Frerin died fighting Azog. After all, Azog beheaded his grandfather; Frerin could have just as easily targeted Azog in the books as in the movie, and since it doesn't say how he died, just that he died, I'm free to speculate.

I also believe that Kili looks like Frerin. Stew on that for a bit.

And, finally, the award that I just had to make up for myself in honor of an escapade last week:

And I managed to do it on the same road. Sigh. I shall probably remember forever which road is which now. Which is, I suppose, the one benefit that comes from getting lost - you are usually guaranteed to remember how you got lost from then on out!

Of course, I could have made the award fancier... added a border and gold stars or something. However, there is a limit to what you can do with Paint. Sadly.

I had to explain the 'Thorin Oakenshield Award' joke to my dad. :( It's like the, "You're as useless as a shoe shop in the Shire." If you don't get it... you obviously are not of the fandom.

Fandoms: "We might not have been here at the beginning, but we will be here until the end."

In Pace Christi,

Elyse

Dori Pessimism Master Post

As promised, here are the (much fewer in number) Dori Pessimism memes, brand spanking new, to accompany the longer-established Bofur Optimism meme.

What's that, you say? Which am I - Bofur or Dori? It depends on the situation. Generally, I try to be Bofur. However, there is a certain threshold over which I get grumpy. Also, I tend to be more cynical of people (if only in my head) and more positive about life and circumstances in general. A bit paradoxical, yes, but then I see great value in paradoxes. XD

All I can say is, if you haven't seen Veggietales' The Lord of the Beans, you seriously need to watch it. LOL.

Only 7, and the last was sort of a repeat of the first. More generic, and suitable for widespread distribution in light of the benighted masses who are ignorant of Veggietales. XD

In Pace Christi,

Elyse

Bofur Optimism Master Post

So I pulled out my TH: AUJ DVD again today and took screencaps. I also watched Goblintown frame by frame, and still cannot figure out where the Dwarves get split up. It also happens twice, unless some shots are out of order. Dunno.

I also find it frustrating that Fili is constantly next to Thorin, Kili, and/or Gandalf, and yet the camera never focuses on him. The next time someone on TheOneRing.net asks, "What would you like to see in AUJ EE?" I will answer, "More Fili." And then I will pause and add, "Bombur, to be fair."

Anyway, this post marks the return of my very own Bofur Optimism meme, newly reformatted. It will also be accompanied by the Dori Pessimism meme, and a few others that are not really memes (actually, mine cannot be memes, as they have not undergone memetic mutation, but what else should I call them?).

Without further ado:

 

 

 

 

*Whew*! I had no idea I had 22 of them. Goondess. What I am doing in my spare time...

Enjoy, or something.

In Pace Christi,

Elyse