"Look over there!" she cried. "In the distance!"
She was right. The balloon was drifting back towards us, somehow disobeying the laws of physics and descending towards the secret clearing between the forest and the city.
She looked up at me with the clearest, bluest eyes that I'd ever seen and asked, "Why is it doing that?" Her freckles bounced at her dimples arrival.
"Must be some pressure change in the stratosphere," I remarked, shading my eyes at the blazing sun. Drowsily lying in the shade, I shook myself out of the afternoon stupor.
She frowned, pondering this logical chain of thought. Life couldn't be that easy, that logical. There had to be another explanation.
"Or maybe...it's a small bird wanting to fly higher and higher. I'd call her Amazon; she's probably from somewhere in South America. And she saw our balloon after hitching a lift from her eagle friend. Her name can be the Nile!" - she had just gone to the Tutankhamen Exhibit at the museum - "And then she wanted to fly that high by herself, instead of having to rely on Nile. Too bad her weight is dragging it down..." She trailed off, contemplating the sad fate of Amazon.
I laughed at her curiously random train of thought. She continued.
"What if the air in the balloon was sucked out by a ghost? Maybe the Air People are having wars, and shot out some of the air from the balloon! Or did the aliens in Outer Space shoot a warning shot at us?"
I brushed the air out of her eyes as she flopped down on the grass next to me, chattering away at the endless possibilities of this tiny balloon. I hugged her close and whispered to her,
"We'll just have to wait and see."
25 October, 2012
11 September, 2012
This is one of my favourite talks from TED. He may not be the best speaker, but his examples and execution are quite amazing. I enjoy the creativeness that I always think I've lost (but is probably lurking somewhere deep in the recesses of my subconscious).
In actual fact, in the last month that I haven't posted, a lot has been happening! Mostly university based, but there have been interesting things I've read and want to share, that I never get around to since they evaporate from my brain as soon as I want to type them out here! I'm going to work on that though :)
Ciao~
12 August, 2012
Recent weeks have given me hope for the STEM disciplines (science, technology, engineering and maths).
The Higgs Boson was found. A feat of engineering blended with theoretical physics to find the elusive 'God's particle'! Although it doesn't actually contribute to our understanding of the atom that much, it solidifies the fact that there IS a Higg's Boson, and it's not some random thing like a graviton or anything like that.
Mars Curiosity landed succesfully! Major happies right here as it proves that funding space programs leads to amazing endeavours. Too bad Spirit the rover had to be left over there :( But hopefully something good will come of this. I realize, economically, it might not seem like the most intelligent investment, but the technologies and discoveries we make on the way to Mars are definitely worth it.
And today, I found out, that you can literally 'print' a house:
The Higgs Boson was found. A feat of engineering blended with theoretical physics to find the elusive 'God's particle'! Although it doesn't actually contribute to our understanding of the atom that much, it solidifies the fact that there IS a Higg's Boson, and it's not some random thing like a graviton or anything like that.
Mars Curiosity landed succesfully! Major happies right here as it proves that funding space programs leads to amazing endeavours. Too bad Spirit the rover had to be left over there :( But hopefully something good will come of this. I realize, economically, it might not seem like the most intelligent investment, but the technologies and discoveries we make on the way to Mars are definitely worth it.
And today, I found out, that you can literally 'print' a house:
02 August, 2012
thankyou, dear reader, if you are actually reading this post. I've found most of my traffic goes to some post I had aaaaages ago that was just a bunch of tumblr pictures. loltumblr. and no updates = no regular traffic, but I don't mind, since this is really a blog of ramblings now; junk, you may say (hence the name of the blag)
I read a biography (the only one?) of Kurt Vonnegut in the last week. I'm thinking of studying some biographies of great men to help with my goal. He's the renowned author of Slaughterhouse-Five and Cat's Cradle (both of which are marvelous concepts, albeit written in a style that is alien to many readers). His life was one of hardship and adversity, which led to a life of loneliness while still having many children to care for. What I do enjoy about the book is that it shows the reality of life without needing to emphasise or highlight the high points of a person's life. Obituaries commonly do this, and our society has some sort of sanctity for people who have recently died.
What I realised is that much success is born from adversity. When you're able to overcome meaningful challenges in your life, or survive harrowing situations, you become more aware of, well, everything in life. It becomes more precious. (This is also a reason why I believe there is less "success" or "purpose" in life today and a reason for the aimlessness of adolesence; a lack of real, meaningful challenges)
Nobody who went through the World Wars would say they enjoyed it. Life was hard; as a soldier you could die at any minute, as a civilian you could get shelled and die, or starve and die. Things that we take for granted today would have been astonishing pleasures for those who lived in those times.
A mindset we should have is to be grateful for things we have in life. Sure, we can complain about our lot in life, but we need to realise that what we have are privileges, not rights, and that someone will always have it worse than you do. From this, one can learn humility, which is one thing that many men cannot attain; they have to uphold their pride and look better than someone else. Sometimes it is much better to accept your mistake, and take responsibility. That is a much stronger measure of a man.
Writing this has made me feel morose. Go and play now, child.
I read a biography (the only one?) of Kurt Vonnegut in the last week. I'm thinking of studying some biographies of great men to help with my goal. He's the renowned author of Slaughterhouse-Five and Cat's Cradle (both of which are marvelous concepts, albeit written in a style that is alien to many readers). His life was one of hardship and adversity, which led to a life of loneliness while still having many children to care for. What I do enjoy about the book is that it shows the reality of life without needing to emphasise or highlight the high points of a person's life. Obituaries commonly do this, and our society has some sort of sanctity for people who have recently died.
What I realised is that much success is born from adversity. When you're able to overcome meaningful challenges in your life, or survive harrowing situations, you become more aware of, well, everything in life. It becomes more precious. (This is also a reason why I believe there is less "success" or "purpose" in life today and a reason for the aimlessness of adolesence; a lack of real, meaningful challenges)
Nobody who went through the World Wars would say they enjoyed it. Life was hard; as a soldier you could die at any minute, as a civilian you could get shelled and die, or starve and die. Things that we take for granted today would have been astonishing pleasures for those who lived in those times.
A mindset we should have is to be grateful for things we have in life. Sure, we can complain about our lot in life, but we need to realise that what we have are privileges, not rights, and that someone will always have it worse than you do. From this, one can learn humility, which is one thing that many men cannot attain; they have to uphold their pride and look better than someone else. Sometimes it is much better to accept your mistake, and take responsibility. That is a much stronger measure of a man.
Writing this has made me feel morose. Go and play now, child.
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