Two days before Christmas, and you expect me to blog? Well, okay, but don't expect anything profound. Instead, I'm taking the easy way out and following the lead of a few other science bloggers in listing the first sentence from the first blog post of every month in 2006, starting with my very first post in February, opening with the immortal lines: "Greetings, salutations, and a raised glass of your beverage of choice!" Thus began my quest to instill chronic alcoholism in young minds everywhere. So long as they pick up a bit of science what's the harm? (We jest: Jen-Luc favors soda -- or "pop", depending on your geographical region -- much more frequently than any alcoholic beverage.) Here's the rest of the rundown:
March:
Richard Feynman was one of the "big personalities" of physics: brilliant, colorful, passionate, creative, outspoken, and larger than life (despite a modest physical stature), with an equally intense sex drive to match. [Kicking off a post about sex and physicists, in response to an article in SEED.]
April:
One of my favorite scenes in the film My Best Friend's Wedding is the heart-to-heart conversation between bride-to-be Kimmi (Cameron Diaz) and Julia Roberts' would-be groom stealer, right after the groom has called off the wedding because of a misunderstanding (orchestrated, it must be noted, by a now-repentant Roberts). [Believe it or not, this introduced the topic of the physics of Jell-O and other amorphous solids.]
May:
Jen-Luc Piquant and I meant to post earlier this week, but a little thing called jury duty intervened. [Hands-down the worst opening line of all the listed posts. I hereby resolve to try really, really hard not to begin posts with a lame excuse. This led into a discussion of small-scale plasma astrophysics in the lab.]
June:
Imagine the following scenario: a promising young physics graduate student discovers a novel solution to an important problem posed by his advisor. [Lead-in to discussion of scientific ethics and a new set of guidelines for professional conduct.]
July:
Just when you thought certain members of Congress couldn't stoop any lower in their ambivalence -- when it's not downright antagonism -- towards science, someone manages to plunge just that much deeper into the sea of willful ignorance. [Chastising Senator Ted Stevens for his ridiculous "the Internet is a series of tubes" comment.]
August:
Washington, DC, is currently a sweltering cesspool, thanks to a heat wave ripping through much of the Northeast. [A seemingly unrelated lede that segues into a discussion of beach pollution, so there's a bit of a tangential tie-in.]
September:
Over the past few months, I've become completely addicted to Nature's Path Flax-Plus brand of pumpkin/flax granola. [Lead-in to a discussion of the physics of Rice Krispies, segueing into the physics or glass. Really, they're connected!]
October:
Big Blue is back! [The science of "The Tick," in honor of the Season 1 DVD release.]
November:
Phase transitions are quite possibly one of the most fascinating areas of physics: different substances behave differently at various temperature and pressure points -- sometimes in very remarkable ways. [Probably my most direct lead-in; it really was all about phase transitions.]
December:
I am a member of the personal music player generation, moving over the years from the positively primitive Walkman to my cutting-edge 60 GB video iPod. [All about conversing in a crowded room, with little to do with my own hearing woes, but hey -- we like to add that personal touch.]
Ironically, this seemingly lazy exercise in blog posting has proven quite instructive from a writer's standpoint. It's inspired me to work a bit harder on how I choose to lead off blog posts in the coming year -- although like most New Year's resolutions, one's resolve tends to fade after the first few weeks.
And now adieu for the next few days. We are off to Philadelphia for a quintessential family celebration, filled with food, football, and the traditional viewing of Blackadder's Christmas Carol. Perhaps there will be a game of charades, or a re-telling of the Christmas story, with the shepherds, the wise men, and the "two silly bulls." (The fatted calf, Blackadder fans will recall, was quite a sensible animal.) Happy holidays!
Merry Christmas and best wishes in the New (wedding?) Year! I hope for all the happiness of "My Best Friend's Wedding" without the stealing. That was a great movie.,
Posted by: Louise | December 23, 2006 at 02:04 PM
Okay, I'm new to reading this blog, but have been thoroughly enjoying it. But particularly since I'm new, I feel rude pointing this out .. but since I'm a natural-born smart-ass and somehow the blog world makes me feel like I already know everyone who puts their words out there .. please forgive me.
I just can't resist the urge to point out your first line: "Two days before Christmas, and you expect me to blog?"
And a later line: "[Hands-down the worst opening line of all the listed posts. I hereby resolve to try really, really hard not to begin posts with a lame excuse. ..."
I really do enjoy the blog!
Posted by: 22209 | December 25, 2006 at 03:19 PM
Hey, it was a New Year's resolution. I still have a few days of lame-excuse lead=offs to go!
Posted by: Jennifer Ouellette | December 25, 2006 at 05:38 PM
Ah, okay :)
Posted by: 22209 | December 26, 2006 at 06:47 AM
very interesting.
i'm adding in RSS Reader
Posted by: music | January 06, 2008 at 06:19 PM