Penelope

                                                   May 31, 2011 – December 12, 2012

          Yesterday I had to make a tough decision...I was given the role of "God". My cat Penelope, the P-tard, Special-P, and ms. Penelope Priss, had found some antifreeze in the garage from a recent car fixing. The sweet, translucent neon liquid made her to where she could not walk, and sometime later on in the night she began to sieze. She had a total of 7 seizures which we know of. I was at the kitty doctors at eight a.m. sharp (when they open) and delivered my emergency into their good graces. Unfortunately after I took my chemistry final, I received a call stating that she had severe liver damage, and that only 1 out of 100 cats with the damage she had would survive. On the other hand, I was also told that there is an expensive dialysis treatment, for four days/nights, with no guarantee–1:100–for saving her life...which would also induce my cat with more pain.
          I did not take the latter, instead I made a tough decision to end her life before she experienced anymore suffering. Morally was I in the right? To play "God"? For a dumb-ass human error–leaving antifreeze[poison] out. I hope so, for if I was ever hooked up to a machine, I would rather have the plug pulled...end it. Yes, I can make a Wit comparison here, but I will not. My emotions have gotten the better of me today. Hey, at least my P-tard is out of pain...I will truly miss her and I am glad that I can give her my last blog posting for humanities 101.

Escheresque

Alex Grey "Net of Being" (2002-2007)

My eyes have always been drawn to paintings, pictures, sculptures et that have symmetry. Most of all though, I am drawn to the Escheresque techniques various artists incorporate in their works. The mathematical beauty of shapes and tessellation I sought after as a child, still awes me as an adult today. (Maybe because I enjoy math...That I find it to be a big puzzle in itself?–Don't know). The artist Alex Grey in no doubt has some masterpieces of art–some[most] of his art is a bit bizarre though–and of course Grey's eye candy for me are his bright tessellation pieces. But Escher, he truly holds the key to my heart...or last jig to my saw. Just look at that brilliance below, and these lovelies are carved on wood :)  

M.C. Escher "Butterflies" (1950)

Snow, snow, SNOW

                     

         Tis the season to rejoice in the white fluffy stuff–SNOW! Natures artistry at its finest, that is if you have a microscope. Snowflakes appear literally out of thin air, and like yesterday, can blanket the outside. They are born high above us within the dim, grey winter clouds. A simple act of freezing (>32 degrees Fahrenheit) turns formless water vapor into visually striking crystalline ice sculptures. Snowflakes mature as they drift slowly to Earth, where artists and scientists intercept their fall and use microphotography to capture the fleeting works of natures art.

          Dr. Kenneth Libbrecht’s, a pioneer in the art of the snowflake states, “Photographing snowflakes is always enjoyable because there are so many different types, with no two exactly alike. Each new snowfall is another world to explore, and I still often find novel specimens. The snow may seem rather unvaried to the naked eye, but the microscope reveals an amazing menagerie of beautiful crystalline forms.” (A change in major might be upon me soon...what a cool job...art, snow, nature, skiing[?]). 

Welcome to my Dreams

                                                                           Rob Gonsalves

"The Sun Sets Sail"

   

"Written Worlds" 

"Deluge" 

          I love when I find an artist, whose expression on paper resemble my subconscious, my dreams. The artist above, Rob Gonsalves, I fell in love with at Hastings three years ago. Yes, Hastings. I was purchasing a new novel and on my way to check out, walked past the yearly calendar display. Amused, I started thumbing through, and what I found was a calendar by this artist. All of his special thoughts and skill into a 12 months spectacular of visual pleasure. Every year since, I purchase a new calendar from Rob Gonsalves, and my walls are that much happier.
          When I look at the world, his artistry correlates my perception. When I close my eyes, his representations are mirror images of my dreams.                        

Even Elements are Artists

Noble Gas Spectra

                                        Top to bottom: helium, neon, argon, krypton, xenon.

          Every element in the periodic table is unique: from shells, orbitals, photons, neutrons and electrons... Each element has its own eccentricity. And when I had the opportunity last week to see just how special elements are, I was in awe, for my chemistry class was assigned to do a lab on the atomic spectrum of hydrogen. Basically take a gaseous element and seal it into a glass tube (discharge tube), and hook it up to high voltage (image below). What you see through this device, the spectrometer, are unique rainbows, distinct for each element.

                               Spectroscope (right), prism (middle) and a discharge tube (far left).

          Each of the colorful, pretty lines represents electron transitions within the atom. And through mathematical interpretation, using Bohr's theory, we can establish the energy levels and wavelengths, which determine the actual levels that are associated with each wavelength. Fascinating. However, the science jargon was not what first caught my attention, it was natures inherent beauty–NATURES ART, elements in the visual line spectrum. Awesome. Needless to say that I did very well on this lab, for nature had me at hello...I'm a rainbow.

Creative or Logical?

The Spinning Dancer, also known as the silhouette illusion

         This 2-D, rotating image was designed by the Japanese web designer Nobuyuki Kayahara in 2003. Thought at first to be a test of right or left brain dominance in the psychology world; that if you see the lady spinning counter-clockwise then you are more of a left-brained person, that is logical. Or if you see her spinning clockwise then you are right-brain dominant and more creative (artistic). And, if you can see her spin both directions then your have pure genius. However, this theory of left vs right brain dominance in the scientific world is nonsense. Just as the subconscious works together with the conscious, the left hemisphere of the brain works together with the right hemisphere. They are buddies. The Silhouette Illusion is a very creative piece of art work, though not a brain test as previously thought. Instead, this entertaining discussion piece is simply an optical illusion called a reversible, or ambiguous image. These types of images are scientifically studied to learn more about how vision works.  
         “What’s happening here to cause the flip is something happening entirely within the visual system,” said Thomas C. Toppino, chair of the department of psychology at Villanova University. “If we can understand why it is these figures reverse then we’re in a position to understand something pretty fundamental to how the visual system contributes to the conscious experience.”
         I stick to my guns, believing that everyone is an artist, or holds the capacity to be one if they merely reflect on their possibilities or the world around them. So don't believe for one second that if you see this lady only spinning left that you are not creative. You are. Everyone is. But, can you see her spinning both directions?...it's fun, give it a try. 

Miracles or Science?

 

ICP–"Miracles"

          The music video above is quite possibly the most idiotic, asinine, closed-minded lyrics ever written. But funny as hell if you listen carefully. Basically, this video–for me–represents the ignorant masses who praise an unknown entity and denounce scientific fact–Nietzsches' nihilism. The video and lyrics speak for themselves. I honestly did not think that this video could be made fun of any more than the video itself, but alas, Saturday Night Live conquered: 

SNL Parody on "Miracles"

(Apologize for the quality, SNL must have removed the original video from YouTube)

*"F@*$ing magnets, how do they work?" - ICP.   Mwhwahahahha.