sarahcanary

Yeah I had to look it up and now recall learning about the theory! Funny what a brain forgets. My brain at least.

Well wow, your book experience here is incredibly profound! Mine doesn't quite compare in intensity, but did rewire my brain a bit.

I am doing a re-read of Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness for a book club. I read this book years ago in college in a Gothic Lit class, reading it in the context of gothic genre traits: self vs other, familiar vs strange, civilization vs savage- and the inevitable dread accompanying the dissolution of the 'vs' and realization that civiliity is mere patina on monstrosity etc.

I still had my old college copy, but sadly it was filled with underlines and highlights (I can't believe I was so terrible!) so I got a clean copy, a Norton Critical edition. Omg. The amount of extra material included was vast. Essays on the history of the Congo, on Imperialism, letters to Belgium's King Leopold, notes from Conrad's own journey as a Congo steamboat captain, critical essays on the book itself.

As ridiculous as it sounds, I had NO IDEA this book was a critique of Imperialism. None. Zero. Reading this in college I thought it was purely a fictional dark gothic fantasy. I didn't know about the actual atrocities in the Congo and that Conrad had witnessed them first hand. I didn't know public sentiment turned against King Leopold after this was published, because they too didn't really understand what was happening there. I even read in one of the essays that American kids were being taught this book as a 'journey to the center of self' and devoid of any mention of imperialism. Yes, yes we were! That spoke directly to my experience.

All of this suddenly coming into focus felt both enlightening and awful. How was this taught without context?? And how am I only realizing this now? I'm still reading through the essays, grateful I found them before reading the novella again.

The guy lived on the moon for a bit so... bound to be a little off. The whole show is a little helter skelter but I think that's what makes it so great. Creative and unexpected with pinch of time travel, yum.

Great show.

Right, so... Do gravitational waves theoretically travel at the speed of light? I studied physics way back in the 90s, I recall the universal gravitational constant, I don't think gravity waves were a thing yet. I'm just trying to get an idea of the wavelength.

Edit: Yes, they are theorized to be light speed waves with a potential wavelength spanning the entire universe.

Shit like this makes me regret changing majors. I miss thinking about the fundamental nature of reality in mathematical terms.

This article says these particular gravitational waves have a frequency of perhaps a decade? Am I reading this right?

Well, I get your general point though tipping at a restaurant doesn't quite work like that. You don't get crappy service as a result of not tipping; you tip at the end of the service.

I tip 20% no matter how dismal the service, which is not the norm here. People have bad days and I don't want to financially penalize them on top of it. It just feels shitty.

Yes, it does make you the asshole, especially because you know that's what we do here and why we do it. Until living wage laws are passed, it's not going to change.

I was wondering the same thing, especially because TOS is my favorite!! It's only 3 seasons long, and for me each episode is an absolute gem.

Totally agree on Star Trek II being the best movie. TOS S1E22 explores the backstory of the film's villain.

My membership card stays firmly tucked away in my wallet. I've tried to explain the premise, but getting past the 'S' word proves insurmountable.

Being an atheist in a rural area is not easy. One of the first questions someone asks is -what church do you go to? People look horrified when you mention atheism. My employer says Christian prayers over employee meals, with the head of HR clasping her hands, lowering her head, and praying right along. Constantly awkward. Religion has an iron grip out here.

This is cool, I've never seen it before. There's lots of interesting rock art in Australia. Some in Northern Territory are like 30,000 years old. I think some of the oldest in the world.