October 2005 – Page 3

First Greek Exam

“I looked upon the words under the cage door…and understood them.”

Last week was a downhill week for me in Greek. I like to think I have a great mind for words, be they English or any other language, but my mind has a very peculiar way of learning. Learning by rote is very very hard for me, whereas any kind of learning in context is ridiculously easy. For instance, in fourth grade I was supposed to memorize the multiplication tables, but I just couldn’t do it. I was the last person in my class to get it down, and if I remember right, It wasn’t until the school year was completely over. I finally ended up assigning personalities to each number in such a way that, when each was multiplied with another, it resulted in some kind of metaphysical combination of the two prior personalities. Suddenly, memorization was a zip.

So, ideally for me, learning a language involves handing me a stack of progressively more difficult children’s books, a lexicon, and a few simple grammar charts. Wait two weeks. Serve chilled. Continue reading “First Greek Exam”

Goofiness

I’m sure by now you know that Bush has selected Harriet Miers for appointment to the Supreme Court to replace Sandra Day O’Connor. And I’m sure you’ve heard the disquiet that Harriet Miers has never served as a Judge. My understanding is that this is not that unusual, since Rehnquist also had never served as a Judge before being appointed to the SCOTUS. But that the consternation comes from not knowing hardly anything about her. William Dyer at [Beldar’s Blog](http://beldar.blogs.com/beldarblog/) has some [good arguments](http://www.beldar.org/beldarblog/2005/10/the_miers_nomin.html) for why we can still be reasonably confident Bush knows what he’s doing.

Nevertheless, to the rest of us, Miers is a bit of an enigma. So I was pleased to look over Valerie’s shoulder this morning and read that [Miers is an Evangelical](http://www.theconservativevoice.com/articles/article.html?id=8727). Continue reading “Goofiness”

Moving up

Since I still haven’t time to say anything meaningful now, I thought I would inform you of a few blogs that are moving up from the “Surveilance” category to bona-fide blogs I endorse. Criteria? I keep skipping over other people to read them when I’m short on time.

All of these are way overdue, but since I don’t have time to give a full review to each of them, you’ll have to make due with a description and my full assurance that they’re worth the read.

* [BatesLine](http://batesline.com/) is the premier blog for all things Tulsa. Always nice to hear more about what’s going on in my home town than I ever knew when I lived there.
* [Brandywine Books](http://brandywinebooks.blogspot.com/) is a very nice Christian lit blog, named after a certain river in a certain book. More information about the Norwegian life than you could get from a full year of Prarie Home Companion.
* [Mere Comments](http://merecomments.typepad.com/merecomments/) functions as a kind of editorial page for [Touchstone Magazine.](http://www.touchstonemag.com/index.html) I”ve mentioned them before.
* [Dangerous Idea](http://dangerousidea.blogspot.com/) is the weblog of Christian philosopher Victor Reppert. Very good, except when he slips into chess. 🙂

As I said, these are all long overdue. And three out of four are getting moved under “Religion.” Go fig.

Wow

Do you know what a hypercube is? It’s a cube with four dimensions. Or, if it’s easier to bend your head around it this way, a hypercube is to a cube what a cube is to a square.

We can’t perceive in four dimensions, yet physicists tell us there must be more than the normal three dimensions of space for their calculations to work. Whatever. The important thing today is that somebody figured out how to draw a four-dimensional object. If you can draw a 3-dimensional object on a 2-D surface, what’s to stop you from drawing a 4-D object?

They could have stopped there. Any sane person would. But somebody had to go and design a [rubick’s](http://www.rubiks.com/) hypercube. I hate those things. I once solved one by taking off all the stickers and carefully rearranging them. But this…! I don’t know if there is a word against this kind of crime.

You can download your own hypercube [here](http://www.superliminal.com/cube/cube.htm), or you can play with a javascript version on your web browser [here](http://www.plunk.org/~hatch/MagicCube4dApplet/). My friend Stephen Herr can solve a Rubick’s Cube in about a minute and a half. Can somebody please issue a challenge to him to have a look at one of *these*?

(via my lovely friends at the Schlock Mercenary [Nightstar forums](http://zoo.nightstar.net/viewtopic.php?p=284717#284717).)

I’m just ducky.

You Are A: Duckling!

The cutest of the cute, these baby ducks are often spotted in the spring following closely behind their mother. As a duckling you will grow up quickly, becoming one of the adult ducks seen commonly in ponds and streams. Playful and timid, charming and vulnerable, ducklings are nature’s very definition of innocence.

You were almost a: Lamb or a Monkey
You are least like a: Turtle or a Bear Cub What Cute Animal Are You?