melannen: Commander Valentine of Alpha Squad Seven, a red-haired female Nick Fury in space, smoking contemplatively (Default)
melannen ([personal profile] melannen) wrote2005-03-08 10:53 am

back off, irish vampires

You know that thing I said where I was talking about Spring?

Yeah, spoke too soon. It's bloody snowing.

It literally went from pouring rain to a half-inch accumulation during the two hours I was in class. Freak.

On a totally unconnected note, the more time I spend in Raghu's earth systems classes, the more I realize that all the environmental stuff they scared us with as kids was *wrong*. He covered thermohaline circulation yesterday, and the theory that's been gaining credence that if global warming continues, thermohaline circulation will start to slow down, and once it starts positive feedback will keep it going, and that if it slows down enough we *will* go back into a glacial period. And while I'd been aware of the theory for years (heck, I'd come up with it independently at the age of nine after reading a particularly scare-tactical issue of Kids Discover Magazine), I'd never really seen it presented in an objectively convincing way with graphs and computer models and maps and equations and things. So, here's to Europe being covered in ice by the time I'm old enough to retire!

Not that the interglacial ending is that much less disastrous than goining back to the dinosaurs' Earth of balmy swamps and shallow tropical seas, but it's just so much more fun. I've been rooting for an ice age for ten years. So yes, I'm now officially predicting that global warming will bring on an ice age. And we all know that my unfounded scientific predictions always come true, the way I'd alway believed that Hobbits were real and the way I predicted last month that yousendit would get abbreviated to YSI.

Oh, speaking of YSI, since I stuck this up for somebody else yesterday, here's a YSI link to the extended mix of The Timelords - Doctorin' the Tardis.mp3, in case anyone's interested.

Oh, and speaking of H. floresiensis, I've been taking so many upperclass courses that I'd forgotten the utter *joy* of overview classes, when you so obviously know more than both entire class and the teachers that you just want to bang your head on the table. Especially when somebody, with that tone in his voice that implies he thinks he's really smart for knowing this, asks "Isn't it true that they've recently been theorizing that actually the cerebellum is more about, like, body fuctions and stuff, and real thinking happens in the cerebral cortex?" and the prof waffles on about how, yes, he thinks he might have read that somewhere, that's actually very interesting...and you just want to scream out yes! Yes! I've known that since I read Charlie Brown's Cyclopedia when I was *six*!!! The same kid also trotted out that old bit of stupidity about 'only using ten percent of the brain', and the professor didn't know enough to debunk it. Arrghh. He doesn't to very well with questions from the audience in general, though. And he's working on his PhD in anthropology, and he looks way too much like a slender fanon version of Blair Sandburg.

It might also be partly that I've been a lot more awake in my classes lately. This "just quit even trying for a normal sleep schedule" thing is working out pretty well-- I've settled down over the past week to sleeping about 6pm to 2 am, which means basically I come home from class, eat a meal, check lj, and go to sleep around sundown, and I can sleep *until I wake up naturally*, have six hours to do homework before class, and get to enjoy the sunrise and the morning light. I don't think I've ever in my life spent this long both getting enough sleep and seeing the morning... it's making me frightfully cheery.

Edit: Oh, and the Half-Blood Prince cover? Harry *grew up*. And has *floppy hair*. Since when is Harry *cute*? q:

[identity profile] fluffyllama.livejournal.com 2005-03-08 08:46 am (UTC)(link)
Awww, isn't he allowed to be cute now?
ext_193: (hp)

[identity profile] melannen.livejournal.com 2005-03-08 09:03 am (UTC)(link)
Oh, I'm not *complaining*! It just came as a bit of a shock. He was noticeably unattractive on the OotP cover.

[identity profile] maboo.livejournal.com 2005-03-08 09:59 am (UTC)(link)
He was ON the OOTP cover? Oh, you mean the US edition? Y'know, I've never even SEEN the US edition of that - or of almost any of the other books. Reseach is required.

Funny thing about the new British cover is, Harry looks startlingly like a young, non-curly version of my chap.

That's a VERY cute icon, btw - it looks familar somehow. Is it possibly from one of the children's picture book illustrations about the Irish girl called Katie Morag or something like that? (I suspect I'm wrong.)
ext_193: (hp)

[identity profile] melannen.livejournal.com 2005-03-08 10:33 am (UTC)(link)
Yep! The US cover. He had a red nose and beady eyes, among other less-than-lovely features. But beyond that, I've always liked Mary GrandPré's artwork, the soft pastelly style appeals to me more than the caricaturey art on the British covers.

The icon is from a picture I drew of Luna that I posted here a few weeks back. q: Although it was *highly* influenced by a series of kids' books I can't remember very well about a little witch, I don't think she was Irish.
ext_1512: (poot!)

[identity profile] stellar-dust.livejournal.com 2005-03-08 12:20 pm (UTC)(link)
o.O The OotP cover is all blue. And black and white. Unless I'm insane.

Something else reminded me of that little witch not long ago, and I tried to remember her name, and failed utterly. Sigh.

Also, we have to activate the other 90% of our brains via giant poot so we can communicate with everyone on Earth at the same time and take our rightful place among the peaceful citizens of the galaxy!!

sleeping about 6pm to 2 am,

Hmm. I really, really should do that. Can I do that? *ponders*

Harry's adorable. He looks just like his dad. (http://www.livejournal.com/community/shoebox_project/5863.html) ;D (How far did you get in that in Spanish, btw?)

And most of this should have been a comment to the whole post, but I'm lazy.

14 degrees and sunny.
ext_193: (Default)

[identity profile] melannen.livejournal.com 2005-03-08 12:57 pm (UTC)(link)
That just made the blusher and red nose stand out more. (http://www.hogwarts-gallery.org/picture.php?cat=169&image_id=415&expand=169") Although it's a lot more obvious on my copy than any scans I've found.

Good! The little witch with striped stockings does exist, then, it's not just my imagination?

yeah. That.. icon.

You should! Except if you have like friends or something that want you do to do stuff in the evenings. I started it after an all-nighter caused by insomnia. You should totally try.

I got... basically nowhere at all. q: It's still on my list though! (And somebody just e-mailed me about translating one of my fics into Russian-- how cool is *that*?

It stopped snowing and the sun came out. But the wind's wuthering about the garrets like *mad*.

[identity profile] siegeofangels.livejournal.com 2005-03-08 11:41 am (UTC)(link)
Are you involved in [livejournal.com profile] dead_earth? Cross-fandom apocalypse-writing. Ice age. Pink Death. Et cetera.
ext_193: (Default)

[identity profile] melannen.livejournal.com 2005-03-08 01:00 pm (UTC)(link)
Nope, although you've pimped it to me before, and I've read a few of the stories. I tend to get more post-apocalypse than actual-apocapalypse bunnies. Although I've been following the *excruciatingly slow* end of the world over at [livejournal.com profile] xf_journals with glee.

[identity profile] necreavit.livejournal.com 2005-03-08 03:02 pm (UTC)(link)
What??

I thought you guys *wanted* more fangirls!
ext_1512: (Default)

[identity profile] stellar-dust.livejournal.com 2005-03-09 12:19 pm (UTC)(link)
What? Yay fangirls!

Um. *still has no time*

[identity profile] siegeofangels.livejournal.com 2005-03-08 06:27 pm (UTC)(link)
Nope, although you've pimped it to me before

Sorry, I . . . tend to do that. I'm not trying to pester, just forgetful. If [livejournal.com profile] dead_earth ever picks up, it'll be great and eventually (I feel) turn into [livejournal.com profile] ithurtsmybrain.

Very interesting mp3. I can safely say that it sounds like nothing else I have.

[identity profile] frey-at-last.livejournal.com 2005-03-08 06:42 pm (UTC)(link)
Harry has been cute since GoF! Well, at least he was cute *on* GoF, since I'm inclined to agree that on OotP he reverted to his sickly-looking SS coloring. But still!