Or: Middlebury, Cal, Bates, Reed, American, MIT—A Tale of Six Colleges
Monday, December 12, 2011
Oh, the Weather Outside is Frightful
So finals are this week. I've got an exam on Tuesday and one on Wednesday, and I've got twenty-something pages two this weekend. Fun fun, fun in the sun. Or rather, fun in Vermont. Mutually exclusive events.
On Wednesday night we had a little snowfall, so come Thursday I took a couple of pictures.
From my dorm window. Hey smart kids, which direction am I facing here?
Mead Chapel. Don't try to tell me which direction I'm facing, because A) you can't see the sun, and B) I already know anyway.
After the sun set, I became one acquainted with the night, and by that I mean I went sledding with a couple of friends. Typical freshmen, I know. Whatever.
Frank Winkler: Renaissance Man Extraordinaire.
While we're on the topic of Robert Frost, I ought to mention that during his last lecture of the semester, Winkler recited this poem from memory, which I put in last week's post, but I'll put it in here again 'cause now it's relevant. He also quoted Carl Sagan, which I did last week as well. I'm starting to think he may have just read my blog post and taken inspiration from it. That is a lie. Also, "Duel of the Fates" just came on my iTunes. In other words, I feel like fighting people in slow motion or something like that. I dunno. Don't mind me.
A quick note. The Ducks have not played as poorly as they are doing now since 2001. Be sad, damn you.
So it's not that funny. Get over it.
Earlier tonight Professor Yarbrough (my seminar teacher) had the whole class over to his house for dinner. He lives with his longtime wife in a log cabin in the middle of the woods. Reminds me a little bit of my late Grandpa's house in Big Bear. The food was good. Yum yum food food.
I saw a funny(ish?) sign on the door of a bio lab room. Okay, so it's not that funny. Pretend it is. Or don't.
Wow, the quality of my posts really has plummeted. This is about all I've got for you. Very sad. I'll leave you with a video that I consider to be awesome on high. I suggest watching the whole thing, but if you don't, at least watch from 7:33 to 8:45.
I'll be in Newport on the night of December 26th. See you sometime between then and the end of time. Or at least that's the plan.
You are facing east? I really hope because I've gotten all of your previous questions right. It's hard to tell because if the sun was setting then you'd be facing west but it seems too bright to be setting, I dunno.
You're missing Christmas at home? Oh, because you're going somewhere with your family. That's okay.
Well, you were right about it rising instead of setting, and for that I commend you, but alas there is more to it than that. Because I am A) at 44˚N, and B) nearly at the Winter Solstice, the tilt of the Earth makes it look as though the sun is really far south, which means the only time during winter at this latitude that I can look east and see the sun is within ten minutes of it rising. Because it's so far south, the sun appears to rise diagonally from here, so even though it's not very high in the picture, it's still high enough to have moved south. Long story short, I'm facing almost directly south. The sun just flat out doesn't get very high up here. So it's really more of a trick question than I made it out to be. If any of that doesn't make sense, I can try to explain it better, but I think it makes sense.
Yes, I am spending Christmas with my family. I'm not sure if we've spent Christmas Day in Newport since the twentieth century, to be honest.
Derek, your breadth and depth of knowledge makes me happy to be your friend because I know that during some sort of apocalypse if I find you, I will SURVIVE. Also, you're nice to have around.
You are facing east? I really hope because I've gotten all of your previous questions right. It's hard to tell because if the sun was setting then you'd be facing west but it seems too bright to be setting, I dunno.
ReplyDeleteYou're missing Christmas at home? Oh, because you're going somewhere with your family. That's okay.
Well, you were right about it rising instead of setting, and for that I commend you, but alas there is more to it than that. Because I am A) at 44˚N, and B) nearly at the Winter Solstice, the tilt of the Earth makes it look as though the sun is really far south, which means the only time during winter at this latitude that I can look east and see the sun is within ten minutes of it rising. Because it's so far south, the sun appears to rise diagonally from here, so even though it's not very high in the picture, it's still high enough to have moved south. Long story short, I'm facing almost directly south. The sun just flat out doesn't get very high up here. So it's really more of a trick question than I made it out to be. If any of that doesn't make sense, I can try to explain it better, but I think it makes sense.
ReplyDeleteYes, I am spending Christmas with my family. I'm not sure if we've spent Christmas Day in Newport since the twentieth century, to be honest.
How can you possibly know that?
ReplyDeleteDerek, your breadth and depth of knowledge makes me happy to be your friend because I know that during some sort of apocalypse if I find you, I will SURVIVE. Also, you're nice to have around.
ReplyDeleteYeah, you are nice to have around. *winkwinknudgenudge*
ReplyDelete