was disappointed they chose
royal jordanian airlines instead of air jordan.
visited curtis in santa barbara.
earning a phd in physics, i think he's decided on his dissertation topic.
learned about
kepler's law. apparently, a high-velocity pitching machine could launch a baseball a few feet above the surface of the moon that would orbit at that height forever like a satellite does around earth; our atmosphere's air resistance prevents low-altitude orbit from occurring here. nasa: this idea beats
go-karting and
golf, think about it.
made $2.74 playing music on the corner. also recorded the
bossa nova, a
major swing, and a
minor something.
climbed trees, picked avocados.
played one-on-one full court basketball.
drove the
royal road connecting the old spanish missions.
tasted wine with garlic-stuffed olives.
indulged in
dutch country.
surveyed cactus damage from
the fires.
toured
xanadu, with...
neptune's pool
pharoh's cats
and neptune's indoor pool.
sampled ethnic cuisines, including daily breakfast burritos.
invented spock's live long and prosper emoticon: \\//~
don't think there's a market for vending machine wine.
previewed
the allosphere, ucsb's interactive sound and visualization studio. here's a trip through brain mri data.
saw enough pelicans to lift a giant peach.
...as the governor says, "i'll be back."
considered changing my name to
hormigahony.
wrapped up
our kind by
marvin harris...
'when electrodes implanted in their brain are connected to switches that the animals themselves can operate, they compulsively stimulate themselves for hours on end. given a choice between pressing the button for a pleasure center or a button for food and water, the animals continue to stimulate themselves until they die of starvation.'
'prevention of incest is essential, not because of the danger of having physically impaired offspring, but because groups risk extinction if they do not establish peaceful and cooperative relations with their neighbors.'
'infanticide was so prevalent in premodern japan that it became the custom not to congratulate a family on the birth of a child until it was learned whether or not the child was to be raised.'
'in rural bangladesh, male children begin to produce more than they consume by age twelve.'
'warfare leads to higher rates of direct and indirect female infanticide...boys outnumbered girls 127 to 100 before warfare was repressed by colonial powers. after war was repressed, the sex ratio fell to 104 to 100.'
'reciprocity is a small society's bank'
'in conspicuous consumption our kind culturally reinvented the brightly colored feathers, loud roars, gyrating dances, flashing teeth, and ponderous antlers...it pays to advertise your strength to your rivals, otherwise you will waste much in the process of affirming it.'
'the followers of the new faiths turned out to be a cut above the average soldiers, for they went into battle convinced that their souls would be rewarded if they died in combat.'
6/18/09
