Watching the world turn

Turning, turning, turning through the years.

Minutes into hours and the hours into years.

Nothing changes. Nothing ever can.

Round about the roundabout and back where you began.

Round and round and back where you began.

From the song "Turning" from Les Misérables, the musical

A sunset (or Earth-turning)
seen from St. Vincent

There is something special about watching the Earth turn. It can be beautiful, mesmerizing, peaceful and awe-inspiring all at the same time. Sunrise is an almost magical time. The first rays of the sun hitting the land, watching the sunshine chase the night away, it's peaceful and pulse-quickening at the same time. Sunset is equally fulfilling to watch, colourful and amazing, but softly fading into night. Here are some more sunsets from the Caribbean. It feels so big but at the same time so ordinary being in those moments when I have the time set aside to watch the sunrise or the sunset. It's like the thoughts I have are coloured by the colours in the sky - stress becomes nothing, and all thoughts mellow out. Now that winter is coming and the days are shorter, I can more often see the sunrise and sunset - if I just remember to look out of the window. Maybe I should make that a priority, to enjoy some tranquil moments during my otherwise slightly stressful days.

The progress of the sun across the sky is something I rarely observe except during the summer, so watching the sun move sluggishly across the sky is something that reminds me of hot summer days with nothing to do but to relax with a good book. Carefree and relaxing days, just watching the world turing and going for the ride.

Focault's pendulum

At university, I find myself drawn to another thing that marks the passage of time and the turning of the Earth - Focault's pendulum. The basic idea is that the pendulum moves in the same direction all the time, but because of the rotation of the Earth, its direction appears to be changing. The one here has metal pins set up around it, and these are knocked down about every 8 to 10 minutes (yes, I have timed it).

It is mesmerizing watching it rotate, knowing that when the next pin is knocked down, the world will have changed. Ever so slightly, but changed nonetheless. The Earth turns and we go with it, however unwilling we are to go at that pace. We are turning around and around, but never back again, even though it an feel that way. We are all time-travellers, travelling forwards in time at a speed of one second per second. Those second become hours and days, which become months and years.

Sometimes, watching the Earth spin, I feel so small, stuck down here on this pale blue dot. But then I think of how beautiful this blue ball is, with its teeming life and small everyday miracles like snowflakes and dew drops. It is humbling and awe-inspiring as well as peaceful to witness the turning of the Earth and the passage of time. Happy time travelling, remember to enjoy watching the world turn.

Hardcastlevideo and hexaflexagons

My hardcastlevideo is finally here! But let's start at the beginning. Over a year ago, the name of John Green's new book, The Fault in Our Stars, was announced, and the preordering for the book began. As thanks for getting the book to number one on amazon.com and barnes & noble the first couple of days, he decided to sign every preordered copy (effectively the whole first printing). Not very long after this, Hank Green's new album Ellen Hardcastle came out. And sort of to top his brother John, he decided to let everyone who bought a physical copy of his album in the first week make him say whatever they wanted in a video - to send him a 10 word script that he would make into a short video (check out the announcement video here). I ordered within the set time, spent a lot of time trying to decide what to send in (see my blogpost containing the ones that got scrapped), sent it in, and now, finally, it is here! I must say I had a little fangirl moment when I found out - the people I watch on the internet always seem so distant, but here was one of the people I look up to saying words that I had written! So here it is, my hardcastlevideo:

Now onto the newest recreational mathematics fad - hexaflexagons! Loads of flexy fun to be had from a strip of paper! Hmmm....I don't exactly know how to explain what they are...hexagons with three sides? Flexible hexagons? I think I'll just let ViHart explain.

My own collection of hexaflexagons,
for of course I had to make some!

It this tickles your fancy - watch the other parts, and make some hexaflexagons of your own! Happy flexing!

But beware - you might experience confusion, mind-blown syndrome or even hexaflexamexicanfood cravings from too much heaxaflexing. Be sure to follow the guidelines laid out in the video below to avoid decapitated snakes and people being eaten by velociraptors. Happy, safe flexing!

Culinary delights and late-night crafting

Last Saturday, I finally started reading The Casual Vacancy by J. K. Rowling. It came in the mail on Wednesday or Thursday last week, much earlier than what I was expecting, which was a wonderful surprise. I decided to finish the Pern book I was reading, and then I dived into The Casual Vacancy. It is realistic and gritty, and the writing style is wonderful. The pictures that are painted in my mind are very realistic and recognisable. It is captivating, but not a book that I would want to rush through - I want to savour the experience, enjoy the writing, and imagine all the scenes fully. It is so captivating, actually, that I forgot to get off the bus at my stop today. That is the first time I've done that since I moved here more than a year ago. I guess that is saying something.

My copy of The Casual Vacancy in its protective cover.

The book is, of course, a hardback. I have removed the dust jacket, as I do for all hardbacks while I am reading them. But I worried that the book was having a rough time in my rucksack and on the floor beside my bed, so I was toying with the idea of somehow getting a protective cover for it while I am reading. Last night, past midnight, actually, I decided to try to make one. So I unearthed some material that was cut off from my curtains, found a needle and some thread, and set to work. I was very out of practice with sewing, but I think it turned out okay. It took me about an hour and a half, and I was quite proud when I finished at about 2 AM. Far too late for a school night but I didn't care - I had made something that worked, served its purpose and didn't look half bad. I went to bed smiling to myself.

Now onto something else. I have recently started making more vegetarian food, and it has been quite successful, actually. I really liked the beetroot with lentils and feta cheese I made on Monday, and the beans and rice I made today was really good (and I have enough left over for three more dinners). I'm sorry I don't have any pictures of the food, but there are some good ones in the videos I was inspired by. The beetroot dish was taken from the topmost video, and the beans and rice was inspired by the second one.