Is It Time To Geoengineer? Find Out More At Harvard Tomorrow

February 11, 2013Leave a comment

Does geoengineering/climate engineering (in the form of altering our atmosphere on a global scale) hold the promise of successfully mitigating climate change?

When I first heard about geoengineering a few years ago via Technology Review, I dismissed it as outlandish and dangerous. After all, we have a bad track record of altering our world on large scales in detrimental ways. Then a few months ago, I attended a talk by David Keith that completely changed my mind. Given the current and future extent of climate change, putting sulfur compounds into the atmosphere to reflect sunlight may be viable and even desirable.

Tomorrow, Alan Robock of Rutgers University shares some views on taking on climate change with climate change during his talk at Harvard entitled “Smoke and Mirrors: Is Geoengineering a Solution to Global Warming?” Whether geoengineering ends up providing a solution that we implement or not, it’s great that we’re exploring and discussing the possibilities it offers.

Currently Jogging With: Race You by Elizabeth and the Catapult

February 8, 2013February 8, 2013Leave a comment

After hearing it in the Google ad Healthy Habits (video below), I can’t stop listening to and jogging with Race You by Elizabeth and the Catapult (admittedly, I ran the Shazam app on the ad to find out what that perky BGM was). Love the energy of this song and the nostalgia for childhood it evokes.

I’ve racked up a play count of over 90 in the two weeks since I bought song.

Diabolically Simple, Fiendishly Unforgiving: Super Hexagon

February 6, 2013February 6, 2013Leave a comment

I’ve spent a sizable chunk of time over the past few days fatiguing my neurons with the iPad/iPhone game Super Hexagon. After finding it in the Impossible Games section of the iTunes Store with a high rating, I decided to spend the $2.99 and go go for it. Impossible indeed. For the first several attempts, I didn’t last more than 3 seconds; the little triangle I was ~~trying~~ struggling to keep from colliding into the lines closing in, that small shape near the center of the screen quickly crashed into the converging stripes as I dizzily fumbled with the controls. Since then, I’ve managed to make it through about 30 seconds of the game.

I love how the game’s concept is so simple, yet the gameplay is unrelentingly challenging. That along with the high-energy, retro-video-game soundtrack keep me coming back for more—and pleasantly getting a little more each time. I didn’t think I’d be able to make it to 30 seconds so soon. Just hope that progress keeps up.

The video below shows what successful gameplay looks like. I can’t believe someone can do that. Then again, it’s pretty amazing what we can train our brains to do.

Love, with a little help from Google

January 23, 2013January 23, 2013Leave a comment

It’s been a while since I saw this TV ad in a showcase of award-winning commercials, but I still find it amazing how it tells a story with just Google searches, music and background sounds in under a minute. An interesting take on how our relationship with technology can be (and often is) interwoven with our relationships with each other. Starting the commercial with a blank search bar reminds me of just how much information and how many possibilities we can now come into contact with.

Other stories in this SearchStories channel are quite good too. “Graduation” is nicely done.

Currently Reading: Jake and Lily

January 18, 2013Leave a comment

After being engrossed by Love, Stargirl, it was only a matter of time before I read another. That time has elapsed.

What I love about Jake and Lily is how the book is page to page and sometime line to line, a dialogue between these two twins which then also becomes a conversation with the reader. This storytelling style of alternating voices and points of view building a picture of these siblings’ lives really brings deeply me into their world, especially one aspect of it: the mysterious, wondrous goombla they share. It’s fantastic how Jerry Spinelli crafts these voices to capture a quintessetial feeling of childhood, reminiscent of Stargirl and Love, Stargirl.

I’m only about 70 pages into the hardcover edition, and so far, it’s excellent; each day I look forward to spending time with Jake and Lily.

Protracted Adolescence—Currently Watching: Liberal Arts

January 11, 2013January 12, 2013Leave a comment

I’m about 20 minutes away from finishing what promises to be another emotionally satisfying film, Liberal Arts.

Being a long-time academic, I find many facets of the film resonating strongly with my perspectives, and what I love about it so far is its take on the place college has in our lives, as students, faculty, alumni, etc. Whatever kind of place it might be to each of us. Also, as much as it’s a film about people in love with each other, it’s just as much about people being in love with ideas—great works of art, learning and exploration, the possibilities offered by college and the world…

The characters are endearing and intriguing, but I can’t help but find that this is to some degree another older-guy-younger-girl story. How different would it be with the ages swapped? How come there are so few films like that?

Just read: Heft by Liz Moore

January 5, 2013January 7, 2013Leave a comment

Fantastic ending. Leaves me in a sort of contented expectancy.

Following yet another NPR recommendation, I got a copy of Heft by Liz Moore and was quickly drawn in by the flow of the prose and the characters it revealed. The sentences have a deliberate and adept succinctness that confers upon the events in Heft a measure of realism and upon the thoughts of the characters a quintessential tenderness. With this language, the first-person narratives excellently convey a sense of the convergences and divergences people’s lives can take on, and how tenuous relationships can be while the circumstances and emotions (like loneliness and sorrow) have at times an unrelenting grip.

Here’s a little bit from the beginning of the book…

She said noting in class. She gazed at me steadily from halfway down out seminar table, blinking occasionally through her large glasses, observing her classmates respectfully. Only once during the entire semester did she ever speak, and it was to volunteer an answer that was incorrect. I didn’t have the heart to correct her myself, so I turned to the class and allowed them to, and after that she returned to her silence. But she came to visit me in my office several times… p. 23 Continue reading →

Just Watched: Safety Not Guaranteed

December 26, 2012December 26, 2012Leave a comment

Wow. I haven’t seen a film this good for a while.
For me, the quirky story is made ever so engrossing by the characters, each of whom is convincingly realistic and uniquely endearing—I found myself surprisingly relating to them all. Continue reading →

Graphic Novel Mini-Binge

December 16, 2012December 16, 2012Leave a comment

During my last trip to the Harvard Bookstore, I had a hard time pulling myself away from the graphic novels section, especially after reading The Crackle of the Frost, following an NPR recommendation. I ended up leaving with The Nao of Brown and Tune: Book 1, Vanishing Point, though I would have preferred to buy a bunch more had my budget allowed. Each of these have a compelling stories told with voices that when complemented by the excellent artwork really pull you into the world of the characters circumstances and thoughts.

It’s a great time for graphic novels. This genre/medium is actively expanding an already fantastic range of styles and subject matter. I can’t wait to see what new titles come out in 2013!

A Contemplative Compilation

a digital scrapbook with short stories and various musings

Category: appreciation