In Other Words

When I was little and made lots of origami pieces, I believed that if I threw them away completed or whole, they would lie in the trash and feel sad and abandoned as they gazed out from the rubbish bin and on through every trash heap they would encounter from then on.  So I always tore origami up before tossing it out so that at least it would return to being lifeless paper first.

My hobby in class:

Staring at fellow classmates and imagining them in alternative genders.

It would be interesting to make a 3D topographical economic map.  Economically strong countries would be peaks, economically weak would be sunken.  I think visually this would be intriguing to look at.  Unfortunately I have insufficient graphical tech know-how to execute this…

M. C. Escher’s “Relativity” in paper

“Relativity” is a work by the spectacular Dutch artist M. C. Escher.  In the last few years, a artist named Bryan Peele took that work and reproduced it in paper.  Not just in any old way…. but cut and folded solely out of a single, connected piece of standard 8.5x11” printer-sized paper.  No glue and fasteners, except the paper itself.

Remarkably enough, Bryan Peele is also nice enough to provide his original diagram freely on the web for others to use to build their own little Relativity.

So that’s what I spent this Saturday afternoon doing…

Except mine may be a little more wonky-looking.

But that’s okay.  And here’s a picture of it in progress.  Before I found out just how hellishly horrible the stairs in the back corner were.

And yes, the template is in that link above if you’re curious to try it.  But gooood luck.  Afterwards there’s a good chance you’ll hate paper somewhere from a few hours to a few weeks later.  It was fun, though.

Today I got an advertisement in the mail for a circus coming into town.

There are only two possible reactions I have towards advertisements for circuses:

1) “Cirque du Soleil?? Fantastic!!”
- Promptly search flyer for ticket info

2) “Huh, look, a circ— …these slimy bastards use animals.”
- Promptly chuck flyer in recycling bin

My hair looks fabulous today.

Naturally, I happen to have no occasion to leave the house.

99

1) Put your iTunes on shuffle. Give me the first 6 songs that pop up.

1. “Scarborough Faire/Canticle” - Simon & Garfunkel

2. “I Would Do Anything For You” - Foster the People

3. “Walking on a Dream” - Empire of the Sun

4. “Que Sera” - Wax Tailor

5. “Porcelain” - Moby

6. “Guyamas Sonora” - Beirut

Mostly you get very large samples of classical music, though…

2) If you could meet anyone on this earth, who would it be?

Eddie Izzard.  Or David Attenborough.  Or Bobby McFerrin.  Or RuPaul.  Clearly I can’t decide.

3) Grab the book nearest to you, turn to page 23, give me line 17.

Cognitive neuroscience (see Abadzi (2006) and OECD (2207b) for introductions) shows that early childhood…

4) What do you think about most?

Beautiful things.

5) What does your latest facebook message from someone else say?

“He passed this morning.” … :-(

6) Do you sleep with or without a blanket on?

With.

7) What’s your strangest talent?

I can “hear” televisions that are on mute if they’re close by?

8) Girls…. (finish the sentence); Boys…. (finish the sentence)

Girls wish they could be this fierce.

Boys wish they could be this fabulous.

9) Ever had a poem or song written about you?

I swear this one is. ;) (“Ich und Elaine” - 2raumwohnung)

10) When is the last time you played the air guitar?

Probably last week.

11) Do you have any strange phobias?

I’m terrified of swimming in murky natural waters.  Also I have a fear of large party crowds to the point of crying if I find myself in the middle of one for too long.  Also I really, really, really don’t like touching gastropods (even though I think they’re cool).

12) Ever stuck a foreign object up your nose?

Who hasn’t?

13) What’s your religion?

Murphy’s Law.

14) If you are outside, what are you most likely doing?

Juggling/spinning poi/isolation juggling/unicycling/dancing

15) Do you prefer to be behind the camera or in front of it?

Both, but conditionally.  Mostly I like to be behind it, but if I have a good idea for a cool photograph that involves human posing, I like trying it myself.

16) Simple but extremely complex.  Favorite band?

I can’t decide that based on single points in time.

17) What was the last lie you told?

“No.”

18) Do you believe in karma?

I think Lady Gaga said something to the extent of, Karma has everyone’s address and a f***ing stamp.  Haha.

19) What does your screen name mean?

It’s just an amalgamation of certain words.  Or, my tumblr “andersgesagt” means “inotherwords” in German.

20) What is your greatest weakness; your greatest strength?

Weakness:  Procrastination, indecisiveness
Strength:  Drive to avoid stagnancy, eagerness to learn new things

21) Who is your celebrity crush?

Hahaha, Raja/Sutan Amrull

22) Have you ever gone skinny dipping?

Yes and it was nice.

23) How do you vent your anger?

If I ever really get to the point of being furious, I go outside very quietly and then let out one single, drawn-out scream like a murderous banshee.  Usually people in the next state turn to each other and ask, Did you hear that too.  Then I may sit for a short while or go back inside eventually.

Dancing and the right music also help in milder cases.

24) Do you have a collection of anything?

Pressed souvenir pennies, and Freaking Way Too Many papercraft creations that I keep making.

25) Do you prefer talking on the phone or video chatting online?

Depends.  Lately they equate to the same thing for me.

26) Are you happy with the person you’ve become?

Pretty much, but I know I’m not finished yet.

27) What’s a sound you hate; sound you love?

Hate:  People in anguish
Love:  The Perfect song at that Perfect moment.  And well-tuned wind chimes (which I may have at every outdoor corner of my house when I’m older).

28) What’s your biggest “what if”?

What If I had stayed in my home town and actually gone to med school.  Not that I’m unhappy that things went the way they did now and not that I have any desire to stay in my home town and go to med school.

29) Do you believe in ghosts? How about aliens?

Getting in touch is just a logistical problem.

30) Stick your right arm out; what do you touch first? Do the same with your left arm.

Right arm:  almonds.

Left arm:  my mouse.

31) Smell the air. What do you smell?

I smell virtually nothing in particular, which must mean I smell like this area around my bed now.

32) What’s the worst place you have ever been to?

Washington, D.C.  It’s probably not the worst, I just didn’t like the city and it’s the first I thought of.  (But the Smithsonian was cool).

33) Choose: East Coast or West Coast?

Of what country?

34) Most attractive singer of your opposite gender?

Mika. :P  Because he vomits pure Fabulous.

35) To you, what is the meaning of life?

Can you really expect me to answer anything except 42?

36) Define- Art.

Human expression.

37) Do you believe in luck?

I’m certainly extremely lucky.

38) What’s the weather like right now?

About 12°C, a slight chill, but mild.

39) What time is it?

I keep filling parts of this in at different times, but currently it’s 21:32 .

40) Do you drive? If so, have you ever crashed?

I do but don’t like driving much.  I have been hit before.

41) What was the last book you read?

Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides.  One of the best books I think I’ve read yet.

42) Do you like the smell of gasoline?

Not for long periods of time.

43) Do you have any nicknames?

Gertrude.  lol.

44) What was the last movie you saw?

Does the Reptiles episode of BBC Life count?  Oh, I did watch Megamind recently.  Was unexpectedly quite good.

45) What’s the worst injury you’ve ever had?

I don’t recall a worse one off the top of my head right now, but I did skin my knee pretty badly about a year ago.  Oh, and my collarbones are uneven from what we suspect was an injury in the hospital when I was a week old, but we were never really sure.

46) Have you ever caught a butterfly?

Yes.  I let them all go.

47) Do you have any obsessions right now?

Learning a certain kind of dance style.  I also kind of have an ongoing obsession with paper…

48) What’s your ?

Huh?  Okay, I’ll just tell you a random thing about me.  Umm, I can tie cherry stems in my mouth.

(Edit: Ah, clearly someone before didn’t want to answer this, but I just found the original question here from spotting this on another Tumblr, so:)

48a) What’s your sexual orientation?

Yes.

49) Ever had a rumor spread about you?

Probably.

50) Do you believe in magic?

At Hogwarts I guess…

51) Do you tend to hold grudges against people who have done you wrong?

Depends on the nature of the offense, but if a grudge happens, yes, it will usually stay.

52) What is your astrological sign?

Leo.

53) Do you save money or spend it?

Save.

54) What’s the last thing you purchased?

Dark chocolate, tomatoes, yogurt, almonds, bread.

55)  Love or lust?

I think it’s all a mixture of both.

56) In a relationship?

Oui.  And I’ll try not to start spontaneously smiling stupidly at this point.

57) Are you a virgin?

No, I’m extra-virgin :P .

58) Can you touch your nose with your tongue?

Nein.

59) Where were you yesterday?

Geneva, Switzerland…

60) Is there anything pink within 10 feet of you?

There’s this UNESCO publication with some pink on the cover.

61) Are you wearing socks right now?

Yes.  They are blue.

62) What’s your favorite animal?

Aghh, I can’t decide!  I really quite love octopodes (esp. the mimic octopus), whale sharks, chameleons, and sloths.  And a lot of other things.

63) What is your secret weapon to get someone to like you?

Blinding charisma.

64) Where is your best friend?

I’ll tell you if I find out who it is.

67) What were you doing last night at 12 AM?

ZZZZZZZ.

68) What do you think is Satan’s last name?

I always thought of him as one of those artists that likes to just go by one name.  You know.  Björk.  Madonna.  Prince.  Satan.

69) Be honest. Ever gotten yourself off?

And on.

70) Are you the kind of friend you would want to have as a friend?

I like to think I’d be a pretty cool friend.  Like that kind of odd one you go to when you need to talk about or ask something a little unconventional and most of your other friends are cool but are a bit too familiar with just the ordinary so you figure this one, of all the people you know who might know, would know.

71) You are walking down the street on your way to work. There is a dog drowning in the canal on the side of the street. Your boss has told you if you are late one more time you get fired. What do you do?

If it was in my capability to save the dog, I’d try to save the dog.  I don’t know if I could see it and then just walk on and do nothing.  Okay, maybe I would really hesitate if the dog was rabid…

72) You are at the doctor’s office and she has just informed you that you have approximately one month to live. a) Do you tell anyone/everyone you are going to die? b) What do you do with your remaining days? c) Would you be afraid?

a) Would tell a very few special people as soon as possible.  Some I would tell closer to the end of that month, maybe two weeks in, if it came up in conversation.  Beyond that I probably wouldn’t bother telling anyone else about it.

b) I feel like this answer would change at different points in my life.  But if it happened now, I guess I would travel as long as my health could hold through it.  And I would travel with someone special, of course.  Once my health failed, I would create, create anything, so long as I still could.  I would ask for paper, and when I couldn’t physically fold or cut it any more, I would arrange it in patterns on the bed or table.  Mostly, though, it’s about being with those who are terribly important to you while you and they are still in earthly bodies on the same planet.

c) Yes, there would be some apprehension.  But I think there would be more worry about the people that I leave behind who will care and who will miss me, who don’t want me to go and who will be feeling the real pain.  Death is its own adventure and you’ll have to come to it eventually.  So that’s the worst I’d be going through.

d) Also, please bury me in a simple, easily decomposable vessel and plant some cool-looking plants on top.  Or a big tree or something.  Or whatever vegetation is going to look best in that local area.

73) You can only have one of these things: trust or love.

Trust.

74) What’s a song that always makes you happy when you hear it?

“On Melancholy Hill” by The Gorillaz.  When I’m happy, I listen to it and feel happy, and when I’m sad, I listen to it and feel happier.

75) What are the last four digits in your cell phone number?

8208

76) In your opinion, what makes a great relationship?

Chemistry and healthy communication.

77) How can I win your heart?

1. Fascinate me.

2. Make me laugh.

3. Think pragmatically.

4. Be mature and take responsibility for yourself.

5. Treat me well.  Then treat everyone else well, too.  Everyone.

6. Be chill, reasonable, and level-headed about things, even when they aren’t at their best.

7. Cook with me.

8. Don’t embarrass me.  If I am embarrassed, reassure me.

9. You don’t need to love doing the things I do, but you need to love that I love doing them.

10. Be there as that other part who can make things feel whole again when parts of me feel empty.

11. and bonus…: Language learning!

78) Can insanity bring on more creativity?

Certainly.  Not always, but it can.

79) What is the single best decision you have made in your life so far?

Don’t have a single, life-defining one, but quitting music as a major definitely did a world of good for me.  I still play music and I still love it, but deciding to quit it as a major or career was hands-down one of the best things I did for my musicality and musical growth.

80) What size do you wear?

Of what, in what country?

81) What would you want to be written on your tombstone?

I don’t want a tombstone, I want a tree.  And no, I don’t want anything carved in it.

82) What is your favorite word?

Hm… I really like “clarion,” “cerulean,” and especially “serein.”  And I like “creature” when I say it a lot and shed its usual outer linguistic shell.  Also I love “petrichor” for its meaning.

83) Give me the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word: heart.

Mind.

84) What is a saying you say a lot?

“Fair enough.”

85) What’s the last song you listened to?

“Ave Maria” - Libera

86) Basic question: what’s your favorite color/colors?

So I really like ALLL colors, particularly in vibrant hues.  I’m slightly partial to deep and/or greenish blues, but only in the tiniest bit more than other colors.  If a palette of colors go well and they are vibrant, there is likely appeal.  But similar contrast levels of pink and orange should never go next to each other alone.  And you should never wear two different kinds of black fabric.

87) What is your current desktop picture?

Something like this.  (No really, I may have just typed in wallpaper but it came up with ambient-looking things like I usually have anyway.)

88) If you could press a button and make anyone in the world instantaneously explode, who would it be?

That seems rather cruel and uncalled-for… and messy.

89) What would be a question you’d be afraid to tell the truth on?

“So how much do you really know and understand about the field you work in?”

90) One night you wake up because you heard a noise. You turn on the light to find that you are surrounded by MUMMIES. The mummies aren’t really doing anything, they’re just standing around your bed. What do you do?

Scream like there is no m#therf###ing tomorrow and drench the bed in the sweat and pee of sheer, unadulterated terror.

91) You accidentally eat some radioactive vegetables. They were good, and what’s even cooler is that they endow you with the super-power of your choice! What is that power?

OMG, MAGIC?!

Okay, I guess if I really had to pick one thing, telekinesis.  Telepathy may be tied for first, though…

92) You can re-live any point of time in your life. The time-span can only be a half-hour, though. What half-hour of your past would you like to experience again?

There are a few half-hours of elation I wouldn’t mind re-living.  They’re not necessarily thrilling or exciting.  But I was in bliss.

93) You can erase any horrible experience from your past. What will it be?

Viewing Two Girls and a Cup… (>__<)

94) You have the opportunity to sleep with the music-celebrity of your choice.  Who would it be?

No, I don’t want to…  Stranger sex is strange.

95) You just got a free plane ticket to anywhere. You have to depart right now. Where are you gonna go?

Holycow,ummmmm Indonesia will be fine!

96) Do you have any relatives in jail?

No.

97) Have you ever thrown up in the car?

Yes, but we kept it contained.

98) Ever been on a plane?

No, I swam to Switzerland.

99) If the whole world were listening to you right now, what would you say?

Wow, hi everyone!  Gosh, this thing is kind of loud— hey, wait, can you all hear me?  Is this on?  Konnt ihr mich klar hören?  Da jia ting de jian ba?  BONJOUR, TOUT LE MONDE.  Gosh, I love how literal that is now!