chaoticutopia | April 12, 2007
Shalini at Scientia Natura has bestowed upon me the Thinking Blogger Award. I'm honored. I've always thought I probably think too much, so it's nice to receive some accolades for it. (Normally, I see it more as a curse.) Fortunately or unfortunately, this 'award' looks suspiciously like a meme:
1. If, and only if, you get tagged, write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think.
2. Link to this post so that people can easily find the exact origin of the meme.
3. Optional: Proudly display the 'Thinking Blogger Award' with a link to the post that you wrote (here is an alternative…
chaoticutopia | April 10, 2007Now that the horrid allergies of spring have passed, I am confronted with the season's other beast: Spring Cleaning. I used to think that was sort of awkward and cliche, perhaps better representing a time long past when housekeeping was designated by misogynistic roles. That, and I was really quite lazy.
Then, in the late 1990s, my perspective on cleaning changed, when I took a job with a professional house cleaning service. I quickly learned that cleaning had nothing to do with gender roles (actually, the best cleaner in our company was male, as were some of our most fastidious customers) or…
chaoticutopia | April 9, 2007What is sprouting this spring on the Denver art scene? This past month, the botanical illustrations of Susan Rubin were on display at the Spark Gallery, in the Santa Fe art district. This area, along one of the oldest stretches of road in the west, recently experienced urban renewal and has grown to become one of Denver's hippest new cultural scenes. The gallery, one of the oldest installations in the area, is the perfect fusion of classic southwest and contemporary art. Outside, the stucco walls have been painted a deep grey, while the indoor space is light, open and airy. The setting was a…
chaoticutopia | April 6, 2007While here in Colorado, freezing rain and snow is drizzling from the skies, spring is sweeping across the northern hemisphere. In celebration, I designed this petal-like Julia set and laid it on top a wavy Mandelbrot set, creating this arousing union. (What can I say? It's spring!)
In creating the fractal, I used the colors from this native Colorado wildflower, which will be blooming here, very shortly:
Bell's Twinpod (Physaria bellii)
These pretty little blooms are only found in Colorado, and even then only in certain areas. Specifically, the plant grows in sandstone or shale formations (…
chaoticutopia | April 6, 2007A colleague of Janet, over at Adventures in Ethics and Science, recently asked ScienceBlogs if certain chemical compounds in new carpeting could increase the risk of allergies for her young child. My father has been working in environmental safety for most of my lifetime. When I first brought my son home, I pestered him endlessly with questions about making my home a safe environment. Usually I was overreacting, but it was always reassuring to have that expert opinion at hand. Unfortunately, not everyone is lucky enough to have a chemist for a father. So, in hopes of reassuring Janet's friend…
chaoticutopia | April 5, 2007A while back, I asked for your input for a paper I was writing, concerning practical solutions for adapting to climate change. The paper was for a contest, which, unfortunately, I did not win. I'm sure others were more prepared to offer innovative solutions. I felt my paper made a good point, however, so I'm taking the opportunity to publish it here.
America, Adapt!
Leading our Country towards Sustainable Solutions
By Karmen Lee Franklin
Climate change is inevitable; this is obvious to anyone taking the time to examine the
multitude of evidence at hand. These changes, regardless of the…
chaoticutopia | March 30, 2007"It is what it is." This phrase has been bothering me lately, though I couldn't quite put my finger on the reason. It was enough that I was reluctant to post this fractal last week. Being an optical illusion, it contradicts the whole idea of "it is what it is". Of course, the more I thought about the phrase, the more I noticed people saying it. (Apparently, it was even voted the #1 cliche of 2004 by USA Today.) The more I heard it from people, the more I started thinking they might be wrong. "It is what it is" seems to deny the complex and dynamic aspects of nature. "Maybe it is something…
chaoticutopia | March 30, 2007Which is a stranger place to find an interesting shape: on the north pole of Saturn or in 248 dimensions? In either case, without 21st century technology, we wouldn't be seeing anything at all.
In the first case, astronomers knew about this strange sight since the 1980s, but didn't get a clear view until Cassini hit the right angle:
A hexagonal form surrounding the north pole of Saturn.
This image reveals atmospheric activity on Saturn at a wavelength typically invisible to the human eye. Here's NASA's description:
In this image, the blue color shows high-altitude emissions from atmospheric…
chaoticutopia | March 26, 2007I suppose I can't lurk on my own blog forever. As you know, I've been trying to hide from the pollen unsuccessfully--and antihistamines can only do so much. Then, while preparing last Friday's fractal, I hit sort of an existential wall. The fractal was fine (I'm still saving it) but my interpretation wasn't going well. Eventually, I decided to leave it until next week, and try to work it out in the meantime. I might seek other opinions, perhaps start an open thread aimed at the question.
Aside from that, I have a pile of less-ambiguous miscellany to share--nature photos, art reviews, game…
chaoticutopia | March 23, 2007Are you curious about the future of energy use? Will you also be in Colorado this weekend? If so, this is one meeting you won't want to miss:
The Colorado New Energy Summit of 2007 is being held this weekend at the Wells Fargo Theatre in the Colorado Convention Center in downtown Denver.
Join business, scientific and government leaders and members of Colorado's energy community for an update on developments in renewable energy, emerging technologies, state and national energy policies and opportunities for tax incentives and financing options for residences and businesses.
The Colorado New…
chaoticutopia | March 22, 2007This is supposed to be my favorite time of year. Things are blooming, memories of winter are fading, waterfalls are melting, and the trees are turning green. It's that last one that always gets me... I've always considered it to be a magical moment when the trees change in spring. Not the gradual show of colors we see in the fall, spring brings an abrupt explosion of color. Not only are the greens striking and vivid after months of winter grey, but the white and pink blossoms on the apple and cherry trees are a crowning touch. I've been anxiously eyeing the tall maple tree (Acer rubrum) in my…
chaoticutopia | March 20, 2007Looking at the rhythmic repetition of forms in nature, it is easy to imagine the influence of some creator, a poet who fixes each line with exact meter and measure. Yet, upon closer examination, we can see how these forms are self-creating, born from simplicity. Nature writes its own poetry.
Take, for instance, the tendency of water to form branching veins.
We begin with an aspen leaf, which landed on a bed of new fallen snow. Weeks of gentle sun warmed the dark leaf and melted the surrounding snow. In that tiny pool of water, the softer parts of the leaf began to decay, revealing an…
chaoticutopia | March 17, 2007You've probably noticed that people are running around drinking green beer, pinching and kissing one another. Yes, it is St. Patrick's Day. But, the other day was Pi Day. So, this week's Friday Fractal was due to be sandwiched between two contrasting holidays, one objective and arbitrary, one colorful and subjective. It seemed to me that a fractal would be the perfect opportunity to combine these two contrasting worlds, and explore the fuzzy edge between.
I began with the usual Julia set, and threw in a slice of pi. Usually, in this Julia set, "z" represents a pixel. We tell the computer that…
chaoticutopia | March 12, 2007
Chris over at Mixing Memory has encouraged us to pick a list of ten of our favorite songs, so that we could try to see what these songs say about our personalities. I have no idea what exactly the songs I've picked out will say about me, but it was at least fun to look up old videos. Here's my list (in no paticular order) along with the link to music videos on YouTube.
More by The Sisters of MercySuzanne by Judy Collins & Leonard CohenBlister in the Sun by the Violent Femmes Johnny B. Goode by Chuck BerryHuman Fly by The CrampsGoodnight Moon by ShivareeGreen Onions by Booker T. &…
chaoticutopia | March 11, 2007So many wonderful books! I was surprised. As much as I love science fiction, I've only read about a quarter of books on this "most significant science fiction" list that's been floating around. No bother, though... that's just more that I get to read at some later date. Here's the list, with ones I've read in bold:
The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien
The Foundation Trilogy, Isaac Asimov
Dune, Frank HerbertStranger in a Strange Land, Robert A. Heinlein
A Wizard of Earthsea, Ursula K. Le GuinNeuromancer, William GibsonChildhood's End, Arthur C. Clarke
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?,…
chaoticutopia | March 11, 2007 Have you ever wondered if it is appropriate to wink at a west-coast squid? Or, perhaps, which of his tentacles is used for deep tissue massage? If you would like to know the answers to these questions, and more, but don't have time to slip through the looking glass and ask the Walrus (who likely wouldn't give an honest answer, anyways,) then this is the book for you. Animals of the Ocean, in Particular the Giant Squid is the latest installment in the How Book Series of the Haggis-on-Whey World of Unbelievable Brilliance, following such informative delights as Giraffes? Giraffes!
Dr. and Mr.…
chaoticutopia | March 9, 2007Today's tentacle fractal (with a bonus haiku) is dedicated to PZ Myers of Pharyngula:
Happy 50th Birthday, PZ!
Nova fractal created by the author using ChaosPro.
chaoticutopia | March 8, 2007Sticking to this week's theme of the surreal and subjective, here's a poem that I wrote, late last night:
Too Many Breaths
Burning through too much stuff
Organizing too many projects
Too many ideas floating in my head
Yet
I breathe
Working too much of the time
Commuting too many miles
Too many people in this land
Yet
I breathe
Using too much of the oil
Cutting down too many mountains
Too much consumption to keep on
Yet
I breathe
Learning too much to remember
Finding too many possibilities
Too much knowledge for one poem
Yet
I breathe
Understanding we're too insignificant
Seeing too many…
chaoticutopia | March 6, 2007Since we're on the subject of weirdness this week, I thought I'd share this somewhat surreal photograph:
In Colorado, March (like most months) means temperature fluctuations. Snow, melt, warm, repeat. Lately, in between the snowstorms, it has been warming up enough for algae to grow in sunny shallows. However, the snow still hasn't fully melted in the shady spots. This is actually a drainage gutter running along the greenbelt near my home. The gutter is blooming... not the grove of trees. (It has a month or so to go.) This becomes a little more clear when the picture is turned right side up…
chaoticutopia | March 6, 2007As if being obsessed with chaos is not enough, I'm being prodded to list weird things about myself. The "10 Weird Things" meme* is floating around ScienceBlogs right now. I thought of taking an odd approach, but that would probably require listing "10 Normal Things" about myself... and I'm just not sure that's possible. So here we go. Just off the top of my head:
1. I'm a woman of many hats. I have more than a dozen, at last count.
2. When I'm in the mood for trashy romance novels, I read Tolstoy. That Anna Karenina... what a bimbo.
3. I got carpel tunnel syndrome from a severe SimCity habit…