tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88723892937495598152024-03-05T01:19:05.137-08:00Becky the Ferreirabeckyferreirahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12009383775826033862noreply@blogger.comBlogger148125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8872389293749559815.post-39391639783415039512011-01-25T06:31:00.000-08:002011-01-25T06:36:20.283-08:00Popular Science and Bust!Hey peeps! Right now I have a cover story in both <i>Popular Science</i> (February) and <i>Bust</i> (Feb/March) magazines! Check out pages 48 and 50 of <i>Popular Science </i>and page 60 of <i>Bust</i>. Also, I used my famous raptor head picture as my author photo in the latter, and that might be my proudest accomplishment of the New Year.beckyferreirahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12009383775826033862noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8872389293749559815.post-41656075314005600112011-01-16T15:22:00.000-08:002011-01-16T15:37:47.802-08:00Bears Naked<div>A frequent hobby of mine is to scroll through National Geographic's online archive of nature photography. Although I typically use this as a method of procrastination, it works better than Facebook, Youtube, blah blah social media stuff, because basking in the glory of nature is a pretty legitimate time-passer. I may not get my newest assignment done, but that's okay, I rejoiced about being born on this amazing planet, in which every fold, nook and curve reveals wonder, life and beauty! It wasn't as if I was watching dick jokes on College Humor! Oh, how I struggle for my own legitimacy.<div><br /></div><div>Anyway, today I found two unique photos of bears, that to me seemed to be telling a very romantic story. Part one: boy bear meets girl bear, boy bear likes girl bear, they hold hands. Part two: Boy bear now a man bear, girl bear now a woman bear, each bear knows the other is their soul mate, man bear proposes to woman bear.</div></div><div><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFfq2B6ls-sgTvlUKiWa1FnXNAK_N5YHVCNIeW_4sfUdRv5f6WO8hJ947ZnA6K1ysoj5obH5Mv-jZ6gntTLl-M_cDxwqQZwCz79LmzGxlkE4-CIrVf_aLsLURc8-knyZxrH-b5EJ6YiAg/s1600/grizzly-bear-cubs_3600_990x742.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFfq2B6ls-sgTvlUKiWa1FnXNAK_N5YHVCNIeW_4sfUdRv5f6WO8hJ947ZnA6K1ysoj5obH5Mv-jZ6gntTLl-M_cDxwqQZwCz79LmzGxlkE4-CIrVf_aLsLURc8-knyZxrH-b5EJ6YiAg/s400/grizzly-bear-cubs_3600_990x742.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5562931444128759538" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfh1fz1PC9PJ7wqrYqBICO0QWleXL75PSEJp8VmQUAMjmjcnY3QkNigDswa4qmeP2PWpWB6gsw-5m6bd0WKWjcrdGRDttQM0UZGGj1BqGQtI0oKH4UF-i1m-9aZj6L4xIy7Rv98atnVnQ/s1600/brown-bears-melford_3713_990x742.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfh1fz1PC9PJ7wqrYqBICO0QWleXL75PSEJp8VmQUAMjmjcnY3QkNigDswa4qmeP2PWpWB6gsw-5m6bd0WKWjcrdGRDttQM0UZGGj1BqGQtI0oKH4UF-i1m-9aZj6L4xIy7Rv98atnVnQ/s400/brown-bears-melford_3713_990x742.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5562931336298066498" /></a><div><br /></div><div>Pretty adorable, right? Just let me anthropomorphize this once.</div>beckyferreirahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12009383775826033862noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8872389293749559815.post-14750831931273495322010-12-19T08:49:00.001-08:002010-12-19T09:10:42.636-08:00Come to TOLD tomorrow!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEithx-LaTml7cxu7CJogKEjG3BExjTvgoB7MWkJEMPuC7QUNrQnZK1yizwW7MVDnXQyabUHAP4wJd3myo4W93LRAHP_J7utIqjhKtpBiJLFsnZ6iQmGTbTjQhyphenhyphenGIff-ikLa5EVXzQBQu4w/s1600/K980785+-+tintagel.jpg" style="text-decoration: none;"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 293px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEithx-LaTml7cxu7CJogKEjG3BExjTvgoB7MWkJEMPuC7QUNrQnZK1yizwW7MVDnXQyabUHAP4wJd3myo4W93LRAHP_J7utIqjhKtpBiJLFsnZ6iQmGTbTjQhyphenhyphenGIff-ikLa5EVXzQBQu4w/s400/K980785+-+tintagel.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552441057701355922" /></a><div><br /></div><div>These are the remains of Tintagel Castle, a fortress built in the 12th Century. The site itself, however, is believed to have been a Roman stronghold since the 5th Century. It's most famous for being the supposed birthplace of the legendary King Arthur. </div><div><br /></div><div>Tomorrow at Seth Lind's awesome story-telling show TOLD: Magic edition, I will tell the story of the vision-quest that led me to this castle when I was 17. I kinda thought we were all supposed to have vision-quests before moving away from our hometowns, but some of my peers were smart and stable enough to dispense with the formalities of confronting maturity and they just bravely went ahead and tucked in to adulthood like it was no big deal.</div><div><br /></div><div>I have not dispensed with any formalities associated with maturity. I pretty much need a vision-quest for everything.</div><div><br /></div><div>Tintagel Castle was said to be impenetrable to any army. The fortress is built on a craggy cliffside, and any soldiers who dared attack it risked falling to a bloody death on the rocks below. It was also said to be a place of powerful dark magic, and the notoriously spooky Merlin's Cave gapes ominously below the castle walls. These were considerations FOOLISHLY IGNORED when I broke into it at around 3am on that fateful night in the summer of 2002 and achieved the pinnacle moment of the vision-quest, in all its terrifying, wonderful splendour. </div><div><br /></div><div>COME HEAR THE FULL STORY TOMORROW - MONDAY, DECEMBER 20TH - ALONG WITH MAGICAL STORIES FROM VETERAN STORYTELLERS!!! There will also be magic tricks! Oh la la. 7pm at Under St. Marks Theatre at 94 St. Marks Place in the East Village. Facebook invite is here! http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=176369429054554&index=1</div><div><br /></div><div>I will also be revealing one of the surefire sentences to get into my pants during this show. May or may not have to do with navigating Sherwood Forest.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>beckyferreirahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12009383775826033862noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8872389293749559815.post-29759974585291108442010-10-28T19:30:00.000-07:002010-12-19T08:47:46.637-08:00Retrofuturism Redux<div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI23jif6dY6kw3ChyphenhyphenKnLpuvxPAMo5-IX6pGmt99wNnNxzFlxpgK1MS5cLvOzU18fotR7Lknt02p3WEg0Nrc53-C3NUX8POQuyf3zrK-mNw8w0CIQ0L9h7rtxhATZclgcKknuokn4Wi628/s1600/robida-maison-tournante-arienne-crop-scale-gray-1024x1671.jpg" style="text-decoration: none;"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 245px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI23jif6dY6kw3ChyphenhyphenKnLpuvxPAMo5-IX6pGmt99wNnNxzFlxpgK1MS5cLvOzU18fotR7Lknt02p3WEg0Nrc53-C3NUX8POQuyf3zrK-mNw8w0CIQ0L9h7rtxhATZclgcKknuokn4Wi628/s400/robida-maison-tournante-arienne-crop-scale-gray-1024x1671.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5552435673510187234" /><br /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'Lucida Grande', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: -webkit-xxx-large; white-space: pre;"></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'Lucida Grande', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: -webkit-xxx-large; white-space: pre;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Georgia, serif;font-size:130%;color:#0000EE;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; white-space: normal;">Albert Robida is a retrofuturist's wet dream. Stay tuned for more about him.<br /></span></span></span></span><br /></div>beckyferreirahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12009383775826033862noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8872389293749559815.post-83220682292157932282010-09-22T17:03:00.000-07:002010-09-22T17:24:39.546-07:00Some Dead Darlings<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV-e0ELGNZ_7vbA_rEXLxEyVamU6stGKqRRUTU-zQBZiJphVAE3dAAM84wsy9IiGYqm3JgCGVZSXWcLB4mGWAPL6RafghAvEw3gxS0dq6PI43cG45XEAOnp60v43WEMrqIcRX5Ktudujc/s1600/nowak_lisa_1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 268px; height: 331px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV-e0ELGNZ_7vbA_rEXLxEyVamU6stGKqRRUTU-zQBZiJphVAE3dAAM84wsy9IiGYqm3JgCGVZSXWcLB4mGWAPL6RafghAvEw3gxS0dq6PI43cG45XEAOnp60v43WEMrqIcRX5Ktudujc/s400/nowak_lisa_1.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5519895544496283698" /></a><div><i>Bust</i> magazine is planning to publish an article I wrote in their December/January issue, and I am so excited. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic; ">Bust</span> is one of my favourite magazines ever, so come on, pleeeease pick it up when it comes out. I'll be watching all of you that month just as Santa will be.</div><div><br /></div><div>Since we heard so much about men cheating on their wives this year, the article is a list of the top ten adulteresses of all time. It's getting edits right now; <i>Bust</i> wanted only super-strong, positive women in there, of which I had eight. The two cuts were a pair of sad sacks and a crazy astronaut, and I'm sharing those entries with you below because the main reason I am proud of the article is the space puns. I really went the extra parsec on those. </div><div><br /></div><div>The edits I got were really good, and this article will now have two new fantastic and fascinating women in addition to the eight that were already hanging out in it. But please say a prayer for my now killed darlings, who were not tough enough to hang around the in-crowd:</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Anna Karenina/Madame Bovary</b><span style="font-weight:normal">: Anna and Emma are conflated here because it’s the same basic story: if you’re married to a nice guy but you have a taste for bad boys, you’re probably going to end up under a train or filled with arsenic. Or at least you will if you’re created by a 19<sup>th</sup> century moralizing male novelist. Most of the women on this list <i>own</i></span> their infidelities, but these two let their infidelities own them. I hate to say it, but if you’re going to model yourself after a fictional adulteress, you would do better to be a ditzy, amoral farthead like Daisy Buchanan than either of these two sad sacks. At least then you’re not the one dead by your own hand at the end – your lover is. Much happier ending, right? F. Scott Fitzgerald = Pollyanna. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>Lisa Nowak</b><span style="font-weight:normal">: Astronauts have to endure an insanely rigorous training program in order to become indestructible physically and mentally. Yet NASA somehow neglected to prepare their astronauts for the toughest challenge of all: a broken heart. In 2007, Captain Nowak, an astronaut and flight engineer married to fellow NASA employee Richard Nowak, embarked on a solo mission with the objective of attacking and kidnapping Captain Colleen Shipman, the new girlfriend of her ex-lover Commander William Oefelein. She just wasn’t sensing that same buzz (Aldrin) with Oefelein so she really had no choice but to get (Neil) armstrong with his new girl. Oh yeah, she was also wearing diapers and was armed with a BB gun, pepper spray, rubber tubing, a 2-pound drilling hammer and a 8-inch folding knife, so it’s clear that she was seriously moonstruck. The silver astro-lining? It’s a fair bet that men actually are from Mars, given how desperately Nowak has always wanted to go there.</span></div>beckyferreirahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12009383775826033862noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8872389293749559815.post-51456104768492094522010-08-19T11:34:00.000-07:002010-08-19T11:39:03.143-07:00Rocket Summer Rules<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijam279LxEFAB9qtpoVjdcDwhjID5bsAB4sX3ugQQZlxMG8dJ_2KYxFDmTxiXkhAb-LxT7ZZNNghJu_xsZe6YShrtSKuuGJjGEOTly2MvS2EB5fQOVg-dD5kElMO0jJ8va5DNHj_DsFc0/s1600/tumblr_l791fnhtNy1qc47nno1_500.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijam279LxEFAB9qtpoVjdcDwhjID5bsAB4sX3ugQQZlxMG8dJ_2KYxFDmTxiXkhAb-LxT7ZZNNghJu_xsZe6YShrtSKuuGJjGEOTly2MvS2EB5fQOVg-dD5kElMO0jJ8va5DNHj_DsFc0/s400/tumblr_l791fnhtNy1qc47nno1_500.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5507191576323699762" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://summerrules.tumblr.com/">Summer Rules</a> is an awesome tumblr run by my equally awesome friend Lee. This is my all time favourite pic yet, made my belly all warm and such.<br /><br />Also, it's EXTREMELY unlikely you haven't seen this, but here's an amazing music video called <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1IxOS4VzKM">"Fuck Me, Ray Bradbury"</a> by Rachel Bloom that was pumped by Neil Gaiman, Wired, and countless others. I am briefly in it wearing a hell of a sweatervest.beckyferreirahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12009383775826033862noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8872389293749559815.post-63810320933095605472010-07-27T08:06:00.000-07:002010-07-27T08:09:11.911-07:00Jason Shebiro is a Doosher<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6FMYG2M5JoAjqlqlb3YCX4EnMII4Ll8OjrF-6-HkgcSlaraF-9Rd6Bx4oQxtljoRguMjuusTNZiZun8-tkrZdhYxF7ARBZaU2RDkrJeyEekz0hl8MCbamklWz8_HrNGU4FiKmj3J6MwA/s1600/jason.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 242px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6FMYG2M5JoAjqlqlb3YCX4EnMII4Ll8OjrF-6-HkgcSlaraF-9Rd6Bx4oQxtljoRguMjuusTNZiZun8-tkrZdhYxF7ARBZaU2RDkrJeyEekz0hl8MCbamklWz8_HrNGU4FiKmj3J6MwA/s400/jason.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5498603148457044450" border="0" /></a><span style="display: block; padding-left: 6em;"><span><span style="font-weight: bold;">Jason</span>: oh man</span></span><div><span style="display: block; float: left; color: rgb(136, 136, 136);"> </span><span style="display: block; padding-left: 6em;"><span>gross of me</span></span></div><div><span style="display: block; float: left; color: rgb(136, 136, 136);"> </span><span style="display: block; padding-left: 6em;"><span>dont tell anyone im a doosher</span></span></div><div id=":1iz" dir="ltr" class="kl"><br />I'M NOT A TRUSTWORTHY GCHATTER, JASON!!!<br /></div>beckyferreirahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12009383775826033862noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8872389293749559815.post-8721814887739755882010-07-23T07:36:00.000-07:002010-07-23T07:53:25.453-07:00Hey. It's Me.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXV1BoBIUnuiKZfXCxo79eZJJVJNHWBjSb-MOO07mZZbGeg4E4_6vkO0AJTtCPTSHoz-AHWNbY0D5foEFBViyw-M7upyPNr3L1f8Gl8ws-87t0OLpPECLHEF4119S05WmvGMzt_qBo6AE/s1600/starwars-2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 360px; height: 243px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXV1BoBIUnuiKZfXCxo79eZJJVJNHWBjSb-MOO07mZZbGeg4E4_6vkO0AJTtCPTSHoz-AHWNbY0D5foEFBViyw-M7upyPNr3L1f8Gl8ws-87t0OLpPECLHEF4119S05WmvGMzt_qBo6AE/s400/starwars-2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5497111914562129154" border="0" /></a><br />I recently learned through <a href="http://nicolemarietherese.tumblr.com/">Nicole </a>that I'm not the only one who often hears Admiral Ackbar's "It's a trap" line echo in my head (my head's generally pretty cavernous and empty, thus the echoing) about a whole ton of stuff in my life. I guess that means I'm really, really not the only who hears "I have a bad feeling about this" all the time.<br /><br />Yet, I'm never reminded of upbeat <span style="font-style: italic;">Star Wars</span> lines when good stuff happens to me; it's generally cautionary. I'm gonna make this pledge to you, world - I'll try to change that. More C3PO lines like "I never knew I had it in me," more Lando lines like "Here goes nothing," more Leia lines like "Count me in," and a fuckton more cocky Han Solo lines <span style="font-style: italic;">for sure</span>, starting with "It's your imagination, kid. Come on. Let's keep a little optimism here."<br /><br />You may notice that all those positive lines come from <span style="font-style: italic;">Return of the Jedi</span>. That's cuz, well, don't know if you noticed, but the other two be deeeeprreeeeesssinggggg.<br /><br />PS. <span style="font-style: italic;">FUTURAMA </span>LAST NIGHT WAS GOOD AGAIN, OMG OMG OMG YAY!beckyferreirahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12009383775826033862noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8872389293749559815.post-80588189460335792772010-07-20T06:59:00.000-07:002010-07-20T07:00:40.037-07:00ROCKET TALK AND ANNETTE FUNICELLO'S BEACH PARTY!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWJLffZbnYPGE9rZQ2ekCSQ6vIYfA2eKKcWdyrHQSG3-PToy_GKmK9usodvP54yk3HDqOC11mujs4-xEdhQW5rV9tAPeHuNHxcrL8rTM1JgTWeZ0fDryqB5jzGUcSb5faCX3op8moFv_c/s1600/July.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 309px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWJLffZbnYPGE9rZQ2ekCSQ6vIYfA2eKKcWdyrHQSG3-PToy_GKmK9usodvP54yk3HDqOC11mujs4-xEdhQW5rV9tAPeHuNHxcrL8rTM1JgTWeZ0fDryqB5jzGUcSb5faCX3op8moFv_c/s400/July.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5495987997440113778" border="0" /></a>This is happening next Monday! BE THERE, DUMMIES!beckyferreirahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12009383775826033862noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8872389293749559815.post-13005730430302318262010-07-09T10:24:00.001-07:002010-07-09T10:32:54.626-07:00Books that Actually Exist<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAYSYZfgVLBL55u6dufT_yAp4ip7RWtWl6aWiWWVTtWCMhVd8aC7RaWNjPaak5ktWP_AxjYLHVM9jivXA3TQfoQdgAXS5VbKocvpFWT8KhY1Y6zUkiNNeVgu18GNkcuRlXyhTBy0-jIEk/s1600/MICROWAVE.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 291px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAYSYZfgVLBL55u6dufT_yAp4ip7RWtWl6aWiWWVTtWCMhVd8aC7RaWNjPaak5ktWP_AxjYLHVM9jivXA3TQfoQdgAXS5VbKocvpFWT8KhY1Y6zUkiNNeVgu18GNkcuRlXyhTBy0-jIEk/s400/MICROWAVE.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5491959653351653266" border="0" /></a>Microwave your wine! And your loneliness :( :( :( :( :( :( :( :(<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_NVzKn9Ix8lq54VzUq0CV_YnDqpI5_bScgNUdIUO6hQjjyES5nhbADq_Yj1YXaPWFdfeb8b_BDSjBcqRFvRIVjMlcCd01GRwYJtaZrWUyQLh-geSki1hUgYI6J9RIkdrgZxV9Oyu9Hqs/s1600/COOL.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 291px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_NVzKn9Ix8lq54VzUq0CV_YnDqpI5_bScgNUdIUO6hQjjyES5nhbADq_Yj1YXaPWFdfeb8b_BDSjBcqRFvRIVjMlcCd01GRwYJtaZrWUyQLh-geSki1hUgYI6J9RIkdrgZxV9Oyu9Hqs/s400/COOL.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5491959558780350786" border="0" /></a>This is actually an amazing book title, so it's too bad the "Devotionals for Teens" label will probably make "awesome" highly synonymous with "JESUS-JESUS-JESUS-LOVE-YOU-JESUS!"<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdtehBHSK0d1iOWk7BJ7T4syPEOP79a20rx-I-j-Qa-BKMR8oFY8wn9fLEXKBz129OoA5adFY1q2q6GRARoQj0GyLwLxuwZVFDnz_qtk0RrK9Q5WBal6GWBpSr7vQHcgx9Wy3MLKP9r5k/s1600/cats.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 291px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdtehBHSK0d1iOWk7BJ7T4syPEOP79a20rx-I-j-Qa-BKMR8oFY8wn9fLEXKBz129OoA5adFY1q2q6GRARoQj0GyLwLxuwZVFDnz_qtk0RrK9Q5WBal6GWBpSr7vQHcgx9Wy3MLKP9r5k/s400/cats.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5491959167407561618" border="0" /></a>A whole book on this. A whole book.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib-XeIcAlhwJn_23h-31AAVBeeGrOV_vT4neCNn5jWue4e3bqvdUw_LGSjhEDXp_vC62i2UtKeSH_SWd4SCmfsWMbJVNKiE-FGpiH2HPIAQp-37dfvvwppBSL56oHzTsk9tn_rzZwhz0s/s1600/ships.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 291px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib-XeIcAlhwJn_23h-31AAVBeeGrOV_vT4neCNn5jWue4e3bqvdUw_LGSjhEDXp_vC62i2UtKeSH_SWd4SCmfsWMbJVNKiE-FGpiH2HPIAQp-37dfvvwppBSL56oHzTsk9tn_rzZwhz0s/s400/ships.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5491958827790516338" border="0" /></a>Covering what the first edition missed about not being in the way of a huge ship.beckyferreirahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12009383775826033862noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8872389293749559815.post-52465871773737231332010-07-07T08:04:00.000-07:002010-07-07T08:15:58.215-07:00A FELLOW EDMONTONIANOn a big ol' Kids in the Hall kick right now. I love all of Bruce McCulloch's monologues so much but "<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhHvmrEJICs">Sandwich People</a>" and "Open Letters" (<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m68-oWBh9Ow">Part 1</a> and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvPXI95hgnA">Part 2</a>) are my favourite. ENJOY THEM NOW!beckyferreirahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12009383775826033862noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8872389293749559815.post-47787093892802820722010-07-01T09:20:00.001-07:002010-07-01T09:21:03.021-07:00141 Years Young, True North!!!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4I8XupnPElfue5XRe1ilicgnxAZei9be5V8LHUk8GGbGiXJogpRG7zlzM3sSI00fzfIN738T2r2RnXT7Z8rcWKLXZzHOZoOxh_pWiskBHOxf36nnuxEc7B2xh5Yh-Ax_YaGUwA060AyA/s1600/CaptainCanuck.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 271px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4I8XupnPElfue5XRe1ilicgnxAZei9be5V8LHUk8GGbGiXJogpRG7zlzM3sSI00fzfIN738T2r2RnXT7Z8rcWKLXZzHOZoOxh_pWiskBHOxf36nnuxEc7B2xh5Yh-Ax_YaGUwA060AyA/s400/CaptainCanuck.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5488973595121696834" border="0" /></a>beckyferreirahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12009383775826033862noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8872389293749559815.post-59525169712546174392010-06-30T06:58:00.000-07:002010-06-30T07:02:23.287-07:00BACK...TO THE FUTURAMA!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnSwBoQ5C8z1APImW1gTBn_t5NVni5vs156qH0iGgz0e0SCantBPkImqYKxBk5e08SnET8Z-uUbAj1v8RIz1oFXPhjS1Wkl76s2nWLO8xplAID03SD7GH6NE_-5_5Xd8slupW7_ShNN-U/s1600/futurama.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 225px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnSwBoQ5C8z1APImW1gTBn_t5NVni5vs156qH0iGgz0e0SCantBPkImqYKxBk5e08SnET8Z-uUbAj1v8RIz1oFXPhjS1Wkl76s2nWLO8xplAID03SD7GH6NE_-5_5Xd8slupW7_ShNN-U/s400/futurama.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5488566568903851522" border="0" /></a>That subject line is probably the best thing I've come up with in 2010. Read more on the return of Futurama from myself and the inimitable Miles Klee, <a href="http://www.theawl.com/2010/06/futurama-returns-now-more-than-whenever">here</a>.beckyferreirahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12009383775826033862noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8872389293749559815.post-70743096822192373722010-06-23T06:28:00.001-07:002010-06-23T06:32:21.973-07:00THIS IS HAPPENING NEXT MONDAY, JUNE 28TH AND I'M SO EXCITED 'BOUT IT!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcLjNdQSmLoblaJYEOCXjkIksPuvuZRk-vUZsyAtLEAdJwUxlUDS2yr-bAMnWPHaoecbZ_-IY3tnrCz9suV-A2yggEZPtA7zTa1fyx-k26zOvZtdkIqpi7NvgFtcHLhjxHUeJ2SST65qA/s1600/anette+rocket.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 309px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcLjNdQSmLoblaJYEOCXjkIksPuvuZRk-vUZsyAtLEAdJwUxlUDS2yr-bAMnWPHaoecbZ_-IY3tnrCz9suV-A2yggEZPtA7zTa1fyx-k26zOvZtdkIqpi7NvgFtcHLhjxHUeJ2SST65qA/s400/anette+rocket.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5485960597055895234" border="0" /></a>beckyferreirahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12009383775826033862noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8872389293749559815.post-82056735013131200372010-06-20T18:38:00.000-07:002010-06-20T20:10:57.999-07:00Forgot about Gary<div style="text-align: left;">I have been meaning to post pictures from the day Chris and I visited Gary, Indiana for almost a full year. It seems like the rest of the world, I just can't help but forget about Gary.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div>Here's some of our fabled pictures:</div><div><br /></div><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmpE8g-7OjemLTUDJBAvynaibB8EC9IDoOsj7yeuTsnuC8NW_ZPHjoznjdemzGgmlgrOh6Xo1OgHesF9-AJCAQOrTj_bPWgPlSvtvgpZ-PML7u5ElBIscfM1y0pjdfLFS5qxonoDTjADQ/s400/IMG_2994.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5485037173324478802" /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">We couldn't figure out how to get off the train when we got to Gary. Seriously. It was confusing. So we ended up overshooting our trip, and spending an hour in Miller, Indiana. This is what Miller looks like:</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD73edD5p9vihhwWkstJiK13chkWaRTA255kxJq7iFZ83RZ1et4YbKjRM06bwg_MfNUpJTXerKOBs0soen9hSY-N7dU_BTy7zAKysMNvyZonfNP4uSNuCiQNr1e3pOR4nl2JYxtsQ9TKM/s400/IMG_2999.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5485037922997620258" /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Then we got to Gary and watched a baseball game. There was a Bennigan's in the ballpark that seemed to be getting at least as much attention as the Gary South Shore Railcats. Nobody at the park was from Gary proper, apparently, because once the game was over, they all got in cars and drove to other parts of Indiana/Illinois/other blank places. Chris and I walked over to downtown Gary. It was completely deserted on a summer Sunday afternoon. We saw about two other people during the hour and a half we explored, and they were unsettled by our presence as we were by theirs.</div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4PaXxDIF0XI7B-zVAQDPW7pSmuYUqVBpCB9j1FHS_MPloDYQdQ0lQVn-RM14CYT_2AR-DNgTeCojcnqK6tY9MRTJXe6_Btnf97paXhNnm9nf7_3mO62nUt291asCQ7wt2c8_tVmKbQss/s400/IMG_3005.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5485049112181133586" /></div><div><br /></div><div>Here's a garbage can I found to be really horrendously poignant. "City of the Century." Of course, that refers to the 20th Century. Even Gary's slogan acknowledges that its best days are over. How heartbreaking is that? Answer: a billion heartbreaks. Also, the town logo is the entire earth being coated in steel. We're happy Gary's proud of its resources but they do say that there can be too much of a good thing. And smothering our planet with steel crosses the "too much" line.</div><div><br /></div><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwA6POwv1PO4AwUui2LvPaNxYjgUNMVO3WrJbMmShisQRMKcjhQpw217VNsKAM4DfgeNuyet0LtVaI5p1HLeKK0qlVoaSxbi8VFMyuyYRRpcZsyFE8mSl28tm6x1S_raK_hISf_d87Qik/s400/IMG_3007.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5485049784444014514" /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><div style="text-align: left;">STEEL-MINERS STATUE.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhN4Z_WKcpQxZNnWYL_Dspq1wPDg9csie7er23exVKEiD4tdnntw9rvEcDen-UhPg9qM16G97dUT2cII_w2oT8ND_32cT-ahlQJbah-8eMc2ZtBT77Y6PraGXrZHkEH1QeRIpWUD-sHP4/s400/IMG_3013.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5485050040566679522" /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;">We couldn't figure this pavilion out. There was no explanation. It was just celebrating 1998, I guess. And why not? The Lunar Prospector was launched that year AND <i>Hello Nasty</i> came out. There's a reason they call it 199-Great. They being me, and probably some other cool peeps.</div></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5SQQWocHNZ4XRmeQX6TwlpQxFwGIVV3e5IfHnL64eCHm2ixcrsPe9qugZIuWAfsoNJNXxl0ooR8QW6R5wmT5Jz-BnYZAGz0zrJFDTCG7WSSffg6oWSCc4QVpK1ehAshdGQhU3-TXxjyY/s400/IMG_3021.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5485051229317751394" /><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: left;">We found some weird lifeform near the train station. Likely just a fungus, but could've been an alien. We poked it with a stick: no change.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-iUSROLw9gjjS65D4n-Nc9UnoSMl1EYcnKQRhyGWPO_fsdEs4c3qkO2c553KAFl68R6uHKFWONS-5fKJo478JxbXmf8Kxf_grA7Jqb7WoP57i-TRXpxviF0a_IaRtytDab8Gtnf2Qce4/s400/IMG_3025.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5485051545790887554" /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div>This is the first house built in Gary, and is allegedly a museum, though it was so dilapidated, unprotected and generally sad-looking that even two Canadians could've easily broken in. We didn't though. We're Canadians.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div>And finally this. This. This was the coup de grace:</div><div><br /></div><div><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH7BPqID3L61FcOn8Cm3cMgveW_VEFVrImhxjes05ZfwxPY4jP8OEdHImhqbR25_RQ2yHEJM8qq094deDDJ6q5oS4nLXgYdXwo2bLivW1fjpamempKx34PZJeNCR-fYKhl5KrWQQ8EPtM/s400/IMG_3028.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5485051733741807314" /></div><div>It reads: "To the man who works, the man who sweats, the man who pounds and rolls the iron, who plows the fields, and sows and reaps the golden harvest, the clerk, the student, the schoolteacher, the mechanic, the laborer, in fact to the millions of toiling men and women of the earth, who hope to rest their weary bodies in the great afternoon of life on something better than blasted hopes and vain regrets this wall is dedicated."</div><div><br /></div><div>That should hit you where it counts no matter how or where you read it. But if you read it in an American town that boomed, then busted, and currently seems to just be aching for something else to happen before it's reclaimed by nature, and if the poem's presentation itself is painfully emblematic of the city's own historic arc, barely legible due to decades of neglect but clearly once spectacular and widely admired, and if the energy and optimism encased in the words are desperately at odds with the fatigue and hopelessness of the city it's supposed to represent - if you see it like that, you're allowed to tear up a little, or you are if you are me.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>beckyferreirahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12009383775826033862noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8872389293749559815.post-40427382136256647112010-06-13T20:27:00.000-07:002010-06-13T20:41:33.872-07:00Colour Me Bacchanalian<div style="text-align: left;">When it comes to Greek gods (and with me, it often does come to Greek gods), I usually like to think of myself as kind of an Artemis tomboy/a female Hermes. Recently, due to some kind of reverse seasonal affective disorder which is nudging me into becoming a kind of gross, hedonist slob, I'm channeling Dionysus in a bigger way.</div><div><br /></div><div>I really like Googling Image-searching Artemis and Hermes; they are both super-sexy deities. Identifying with them makes me feel like I could also be swift and lean and foxy and you know, able to fly a moon-chariot/shoot around the world on wing-sandals - these are mere variations of my ever-waxing rockets-in-my-buttcheeks motif.</div><div><br /></div><div>However, I had never Google Image searched Dionysus before tonight, and I think the fact that this picture was the first hit is a sign I should really try to crawl back to archer-goddess/messenger god territory instead of plunging headfirst into the arms of the wine god.</div><div><br /></div><div>Seriously, Dionysus. You are one drunk, sad baby and chances are you'll be sleeping in that piss. Get it together.</div><div><br /></div><div><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 308px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnr5llf_1bV1CAJBIthSJO40cYnsnkoZUf-4YK-S4T5O3qwkPuX1xbPGyppGd9LfKcRbX3R09d-93Pp5_9n_EQys8JJYrBYfhzzkeAXgrOt9Mya_KVOrBwyh1v4GDXY2OsDBknK5ryPRM/s400/907.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5482467687210170674" /></div>beckyferreirahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12009383775826033862noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8872389293749559815.post-69484318966671426382010-06-10T14:25:00.000-07:002010-06-10T14:29:29.253-07:00Krokodyl!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQev9YXxhnBL84PSN114W4KTQ1XjKu51T7QWEJdDPW-6oP947ro26et6U_EN9899QGGgMCvT3wqxtPLzL6uN_WvlH3NP-Th0q2qHWJQmzBpHitnSVdirVaQWOk81UhpDHGwhl8nbqPVQE/s1600/23775.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 296px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQev9YXxhnBL84PSN114W4KTQ1XjKu51T7QWEJdDPW-6oP947ro26et6U_EN9899QGGgMCvT3wqxtPLzL6uN_WvlH3NP-Th0q2qHWJQmzBpHitnSVdirVaQWOk81UhpDHGwhl8nbqPVQE/s400/23775.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5481259980104193234" border="0" /></a><br />This is a Polish edition of Crocodile Dundee, and I don't think you need any more information than that.beckyferreirahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12009383775826033862noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8872389293749559815.post-4095470928602749352010-06-09T10:37:00.000-07:002010-06-09T10:39:15.028-07:00Daily Han<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6irMefqS6k4RIWOXoofCA5J-LuAXzprW5uvHvRZRsU5weiwBheTQIVUem836P_VaDHMwcKGBbCMqI4xbexAfF9_hvAvdrgKNBVF0JeTLe0rGbgPZj8QX9zftvI-uFLjj08oUBCFhO34g/s1600/tumblr_l2lvfinpGx1qzf5gfo1_400.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 291px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6irMefqS6k4RIWOXoofCA5J-LuAXzprW5uvHvRZRsU5weiwBheTQIVUem836P_VaDHMwcKGBbCMqI4xbexAfF9_hvAvdrgKNBVF0JeTLe0rGbgPZj8QX9zftvI-uFLjj08oUBCFhO34g/s400/tumblr_l2lvfinpGx1qzf5gfo1_400.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5480829883014562402" border="0" /></a>beckyferreirahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12009383775826033862noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8872389293749559815.post-21080665969514773482010-06-03T11:40:00.000-07:002010-06-03T12:13:36.179-07:00Get off your high tauntaun, Tim SiedellI really hate this <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tim-siedell/a-review-of-emsex-and-the_b_593554.html">article. </a>HATE IT. I know I've written about <span style="font-style: italic;">Sex and the City</span> too much before. Maybe ignoring it instead of actively hating it would be better. But I can't. This is my duty. THIS WILL NOT STAND. Get off your fucking high tauntaun, Tim Siedell.<br /><br />Listen dickbomb, it is not even remotely acceptable to imply that women like <span style="font-style: italic;">Sex and the City</span>. No. It's not women. Women aren't the audience. It's lame-tards who like it. Lame-tards who happen to have a double X all up in their helix. The Venn diagram between lame-tards and women, I hope, has a small overlap. I don't know, but I hope. I do know that everything within that overlap is a <span style="font-style: italic;">Sex and the City</span> fan. And the rest of us aren't. Don't you even THINK of insulting us with your lazy, worthless observations. And if you wrote it based on your own experience with women, then I'm really sorry for you. Don't get me wrong: I'm sorry for you in absolutely the most condescending way possible. No sympathy here. Just harsh pity.<br /><br />By the way, <span style="font-style: italic;">SATC </span>is not our <span style="font-style: italic;">Star Wars</span>. You want to know what our <span style="font-style: italic;">Star Wars</span> is? Motherfucking <span style="font-style: italic;">Star Wars</span>, asshole.<br /><br />Don't you dare make having a dick a requirement for good taste.beckyferreirahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12009383775826033862noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8872389293749559815.post-52316496538782334512010-05-20T06:15:00.001-07:002010-05-20T10:02:01.952-07:001%<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf8gv4a2N5gEjGixOxrTwGAJVjPRuurvE7ojGDR3OCx78AnayaQxSyGbcxCWZARYSrw8E0wQuPi9nZqhqlqSxpC4CP4m3fwkl4ZDo9Fl6MBw69W5MulBCjvKlBnXeSinCYSW5k5LzvN8w/s1600/BigBang.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 225px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf8gv4a2N5gEjGixOxrTwGAJVjPRuurvE7ojGDR3OCx78AnayaQxSyGbcxCWZARYSrw8E0wQuPi9nZqhqlqSxpC4CP4m3fwkl4ZDo9Fl6MBw69W5MulBCjvKlBnXeSinCYSW5k5LzvN8w/s400/BigBang.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5473348086837650866" border="0" /></a>There are lots of things that are stupid about being human, but one thing that's great is what happens when our big ol' brains and our big ol' hearts are simultaneously thrilled. When I saw this breakthrough<a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/20100518/sc_space/whyweexistmatterwinsbattleoverantimatter"> </a><a href="http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/59368/title/Matter_beats_out_antimatter_in_experimental_echo_of_creation">discovery </a>about how matter beat out antimatter right after the Big Bang, I got that warm fuzzy feeling both in my brain and in my gut. For the former, let's reflect once more on how fucking cool it is that we've even devised a way to test this. There are people in the world that 1) observed that matter and antimatter particles always destroy each on contact, 2) wondered how matter has managed to be prevalent if that's the case, 3) figured out that they needed a particle accelerator to test this, and 4) <span style="font-style: italic;">built a particle accelerator</span>. Seriously fellow humans: when we're good, we're <span style="font-style: italic;">great</span>.<br /><br />That's on the brain level. On the gut level, there are so many narratives that reflect this dynamic, in which the solid, honest and brave characters win out over the evil, deceptive and (at heart at least) cowardly characters, even if it's just at the same 1% rate that matter survives clashes with antimatter. That 1% made our entire universe, guys, and that 1% also made Luke Skywalker.<br /><br />In fact, is it fair to say that the human race's central narrative is good wins over evil, even if it's only by a margin of 1%? I mean, minus Ragnarok, obviously.<br /><br />We're kind of suspended between robot and animal, with an advanced mechanical intelligence in the first instance and a deeply instinctual emotional core in the second (and don't you even start with me about whether or not animals are emotional, you species-ist jerkface). When there's say, a giant oil spill, it sucks, because you can feel our failure intellectually and emotionally. But when we make a discovery about how our universe was conceived, and that discovery weirdly echoes the mythologies we already surround ourselves with, I mean...well done, humanity! Sometimes, the stories that we tell are beautiful and poignant in exactly the same way as the stories telling us.<br /><br />PS. If you think that sentiment is corny, you have no place reading this blog. Get <span style="font-style: italic;">OUT</span>!beckyferreirahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12009383775826033862noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8872389293749559815.post-90958002108107316922010-05-18T13:26:00.001-07:002010-05-18T13:31:29.792-07:00Chorus-saurus<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi00nhMNpRIVFGHwX3TMTOljo5CO3sTg-OcwuryIMoD5FBJNMc_csqMDKiEDiGAJxUD0AkQacqwzmJqfP7WdqpEQWIEGCtL5MPBMO-hpWtuwJUT8TkT8MMrLwKnOJOuIx8ngYpu6qnU7Co/s1600/800px-Largesttheropods.svg.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 146px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi00nhMNpRIVFGHwX3TMTOljo5CO3sTg-OcwuryIMoD5FBJNMc_csqMDKiEDiGAJxUD0AkQacqwzmJqfP7WdqpEQWIEGCtL5MPBMO-hpWtuwJUT8TkT8MMrLwKnOJOuIx8ngYpu6qnU7Co/s400/800px-Largesttheropods.svg.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5472709296918686642" border="0" /></a>These theropods all have jazz hands.<br /><br />Seriously, giant lizards. Out of character.beckyferreirahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12009383775826033862noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8872389293749559815.post-20348752628000556432010-05-13T13:29:00.000-07:002010-05-13T13:50:59.774-07:00I'm Having a...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9TQP7_eTc9zAQkr8OFRQEnoY9tdLk1XXplAtIubVnbCitxbJT-R66HmsMW2CT-NzzZMaHWE8hoLMXZgOdpmRa8TmtXzgJpnSFxUgETXAe7ZrUmynuFzWaBkU_Hk9VzG8TskVd1Aq8waY/s1600/220px-Vertex_correction.svg.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 220px; height: 232px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9TQP7_eTc9zAQkr8OFRQEnoY9tdLk1XXplAtIubVnbCitxbJT-R66HmsMW2CT-NzzZMaHWE8hoLMXZgOdpmRa8TmtXzgJpnSFxUgETXAe7ZrUmynuFzWaBkU_Hk9VzG8TskVd1Aq8waY/s400/220px-Vertex_correction.svg.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5470859671380259218" border="0" /></a><br />Today, my Wikipedia noodlings led me to a thing called an "<span id=":12o">anomalous magnetic dipole moment." It's something about Feynman diagrams and loops and a g-factor. But given that it ends with "moment," this just makes me think of people saying "I'm having a senior moment" or "I'm having a diva moment" or whatever.<br /><br />I really want to be in a situation where I can say, "Jeez guys, I'm so sorry, I'm really having an anomalous magnetic dipole moment."<br /><br />Let's make it happen, world.<br /><br /></span>beckyferreirahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12009383775826033862noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8872389293749559815.post-68893896240439776422010-05-13T13:22:00.000-07:002010-05-13T13:24:12.774-07:00A Story Begun. A Story Completed.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmIHomq16zZMdYczHxuQftK4IwPwS4pRdsmmW1JW9vDmZ1FEObpN7DXwlQcuaZV9BSyN8PyZeKemJF7ZaUPmrZwHC3_AGQfxqnRrGYNs-OlymjA0BV6LFKTOHBzKqJLBjv5oKmhcW8j0Y/s1600/tumblr_l27qikgb3R1qznrwro1_500.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 291px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmIHomq16zZMdYczHxuQftK4IwPwS4pRdsmmW1JW9vDmZ1FEObpN7DXwlQcuaZV9BSyN8PyZeKemJF7ZaUPmrZwHC3_AGQfxqnRrGYNs-OlymjA0BV6LFKTOHBzKqJLBjv5oKmhcW8j0Y/s400/tumblr_l27qikgb3R1qznrwro1_500.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5470852839303438194" border="0" /></a>beckyferreirahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12009383775826033862noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8872389293749559815.post-77002683583264711222010-05-12T06:45:00.000-07:002010-05-12T07:10:34.660-07:00Chanson of A Bitch - Mostly Galle and GainsbourgHey pals! I have a new <a href="http://chansonofabitch.tumblr.com/">tumblr </a>with an extremely simple but important goal: to provide a few French songs (chansons) a week. If you are looking for a raison d'être<i><b> </b></i>or a <span lang="fr" lang="fr">cause célèbre</span> or just <a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cause_c%C3%A9l%C3%A8bre" title="Cause célèbre"><span lang="fr" lang="fr"></span></a>some of that plain ol' je-ne-sais-quoi, don't commit a faux pas by ignoring ma petit cherie: ChansonOfaBitch.tumblr.com. <br /><br />Oh la la!beckyferreirahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12009383775826033862noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8872389293749559815.post-5663360649266994412010-05-11T14:10:00.000-07:002010-05-11T14:56:08.913-07:00Bradbury Locks it Down<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPKhgcdTbMuVr7ETU4cA36S6yUI2AWNNGLbWe2SJ7Fwh6TL9flsiwg29-zMMFnBsSRRSvaTI_2G7SSdDt9LSELvVMnLyzOrL2GyqfV-RiXwKdx9fBJEytpiMJ59jtRyg_sQ57lxnSAvLc/s1600/Liftoff.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 268px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPKhgcdTbMuVr7ETU4cA36S6yUI2AWNNGLbWe2SJ7Fwh6TL9flsiwg29-zMMFnBsSRRSvaTI_2G7SSdDt9LSELvVMnLyzOrL2GyqfV-RiXwKdx9fBJEytpiMJ59jtRyg_sQ57lxnSAvLc/s400/Liftoff.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5470133849286511042" border="0" /></a>There's an aggressively inscrutable scene in <span style="font-style: italic;">Donnie Darko </span>where Drew Barrymore's character recounts this idea that "cellar door" is the most phonoaesthetically pleasing phrase in the English language. You can almost hear Richard Kelly jerking off behind the camera, whispering "What're they gonna think of <span style="font-style: italic;">this </span>new allusion?"<br /><br />Anyway, it's a weird old idea, and I never understood it, not only because I don't think "cellar door" is a particularly attractive pair of words but because I think it's weird to declare two words winners of anything. The English language is not a beauty contest. There is no Miss Latin-Derived Noun or Miss Etymology-Unknown Verb (though if there was, the latter, as a linguistic orphan, would obviously win. Big inner beauty points for that one are assured, compared to words with detailed pedigrees).<br /><br />I thought this until I discovered the actual most phonoaesthetically pleasing phrase in the English language, courtesy of Ray Bradbury (and co-opted as a band name thereafter).<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Rocket Summer.</span><br /><br />Yeah, I get that part of the "cellar door" appeal was that it was supposed to be beautiful even when isolated from its semantic meaning. There's no question that "rocket summer" is enhanced by its meaning; they're two fantastic nouns apart and they're the hottest couple you've ever seen when they're together. They're Brangelina if Brangelina was fun and quirky (by the way, how do you conjugate verbs with these celebrity portmanteaus - is it as if they are a couple or one entity? <span style="font-style: italic;">Us Weekly </span>writers would know...).<br /><br />But who cares about the details, you linguist purists? Just say "rocket summer" aloud. Do you have tingly little sparkles in your mouth after? I do.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />.....or does that mean I'm having a stroke?beckyferreirahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12009383775826033862noreply@blogger.com2