I just watched 2:31 of a youtube video depicting the epic
(their description, not mine) travels of a slinky, on a treadmill... set to the
soundtrack of Lord of the Rings (or some other musical score that should have been). Yes, for you logical ones, it was tilted
downhill. I kind of thought this was cool. Then I thought it was kind of lame
that I thought it was cool, but got distracted by wondering which way the
ripples and patched parts of the treadmill would guide the slinky next (lateral
movement), and continued watching (SQUIRREL!!!) .
I almost closed the tab, but
then started concentrating on exactly how far up or down the slinky was on the
ramp in relation to objects next to it, and considered that the longitudinal
speed of the slinky varied due to the lateral movement caused by the
aforementioned defects of the treadmill belt, because the slinky
"steps" were of the same length, so more lateral movement lead to a
negative longitudinal acceleration but less lateral movement led to a positive
one. The general consideration of the physics involved led me to think of a book
currently on my bedside table that goes over physical proofs for mathematical
concepts, which led me to simultaneously think of how there is probably a
professor somewhere using this video to illustrate concepts to a Physics 101
class, and if there isn't there should be, and of another book, given me by my
mother at about eleven years of age (me, not my mother) titled "The Way Things Work".
In this book, mammoth power is employed to describe basic
mechanical concepts, like wedges and gears and how lock cylinders work, and
wondering if there is an elementary school science teacher somewhere using that
text to enrapture their students with science, and if there isn't there should
be. In addition to that, I realized while writing this that no one ever uses
the terms "lame" or "cool" to describe things anymore, and
how usage of that particular slang belongs to an older generation now, and how
that must make me part of that "older" generation. Upon which I realized I am spending my Friday
night watching lame ass Youtube videos of stupid, stupid things, it’s after 11
PM and I should really be going to sleep, which is probably why the above diarrhea
of the brain occurred.
At this point, I distract myself from that (I don’t WANNA go
to bed yet! And, I’m all grown up so I don’t HAVE to! (No work tomorrow, J ) By realizing this is entirely too long for
a facebook post, and I should probably make a blog post out of it, and
realizing I’ve mentioned two books that really should be reviewed for my OTHER,
sadly neglected book review blog, and reminded me that I REALLY should add more
posts to the OTHER other blog I started on cussing, because I recently
acquired some terms that deserve to be shared. I just LOVE expanding my vocabulary, don’t you?
Also in there, I realized that one should never end a
sentence with “should be” or use the phrase "kind of", or "mis-use" quotation marks, but feel somewhat vindicated by the idea that
English is a living language and we should not be so caught up in proper
grammar to express ideas, as long as those ideas are expressed clearly, a la
Stephen Fry.
With that, I am going to bed. Alternatively, I can continue feeding my information addiction through Youtube, Stumbleupon, Facebook, et al., ad nauseam. Good night!
