Ohm’s Allegory

In science a “law” is a lesser concept than a “theory”. Theories include an explanation of why something works the way it does. For example: the theory of relativity, evolutionary theory, quantum theory, etc. But when we posit a law, all that’s required is to formalize observations of some type of effect.

Regression To The Mean

Seems like a wet year. Maybe it is, I haven’t been able to find a really good site for monthly totals for the past few years. But part of why it seems so wet is that the last few years have been so dry. Really dry. Exceptional drought dry. So now, even if we get an average year it will seem pretty wet.

By the Numbers

It’s another new year. So I guess it’s time to tally up my score for last year. And I think I did pretty well. As a writer I need to track where I submit things to and what the outcome is. I keep a database which makes it easy to count up some of my important statistics.

Resting on Laurels

Back on December 1^st California’s Poet Laureate visited Bakersfield. For those that don’t know, that’s a position given to someone that does a lot to represent poetry. In particular, California’s Poet Laureate, Dana Gioia (JOY-yah), has made it his goal to present poetry in every California County. Which, given the population of some of our counties, means he’ll be talking to some pretty empty rooms.

“Birds” Watching

So recently I spent some time in the small towns of Bodega and Bodega Bay. The weather was rainy due to a small storm sliding down California, so there weren't a lot of outdoor activities that could really be enjoyed. I did some photography of the waves crashing into the beach. (Even a small storm can make some pretty dramatic waves.) And I did a little bird watching.

Historical

I've been getting exposed to history that I was never taught in school. I'm learning quite a bit from a podcast (which is an internet audio “lecture” or “discussion”) called “Stuff You Missed In History Class”. That podcast covers all manner of topics, from the tasty (a history of cheese) to the silly (the West Point Eggnog Riot of 1826) to the horrific (the Tulsa Race Riot). But there are many things that just don't show up in history classes. Partly due to time, there just isn't enough time to cover everything. And partly due to a certain kind of censorship, people just don't want to talk about certain things.

Time to Celebrate

It's almost May and Summer is around the corner. The end of April has been very busy for me so I hadn't really thought of anything that I could write about. But I discovered the National Day Calendar (http://www.nationaldaycalendar.com/calendar-at-a-glance/). And if you're needing a reason to celebrate they've got you covered.

Getting Animated

Due to getting access to YouTube on my TV I've been watching more stuff on YouTube than I used to. There seems to be something for everyone on there. I've found cooking videos for people who are Revolutionary War reenactors and others for how to take apart your computer.

Burning Daylight

So, it's just around the corner. Yet again. Daylight Saving Time. Another year with the horrible weeks of adjusting to a new timezone without even moving. Now I can sort of theoretically understand that there are people that like it.

Wavy Gravity

Physics was making big news again just recently. When Albert Einstein created his general theory of relativity it suggested that gravity was actually warping space. And that's the model that people have been using since many of it's predictions have been verified. Like gravity bending light, and slight differences in the flow of time between the Earth's surface and out in space (which has to be accounted for to make your GPS work). 

Lunar-C

Time is a strange dimension. Mathematically we can move all around in space, but with time all we can do is follow along as time keeps moving “forward”. We can look back in time through memory, history and scientific methods, but when we go forward we have to make predictions. These can be as good as predicting a solar eclipse years in advance. Or as poor as guessing who's going to be president next year.

Out in the Cold

I don't always know where my projects are inspired. But this time I'm pretty sure that my interest in cold smoking came from how expensive smoked salmon is. Cold smoking is like barbecue in that food is flavored by smoke of long periods of time, but since it's “cold” the food doesn't get cooked.

Cal-Earth

Not too long ago we were watching PBS (it happens) and saw a short segment on a group here in California building structures out of EARTH (don't call it “dirt”). They had gracefully curved buildings that would remind a person of a hobbit home. Cozy.

Legacy

I recently went to a breakfast meeting in Bakersfield which presented information about John Muir, the founder of the Sierra Club and the man that helped convince Teddy Roosevelt to start the National Parks. In 1976 California historians named him the greatest Californian. (I'm sure that he'd still be near the top today.) But despite being an important Californian, he wasn't born here. He was born in Scotland.

Leap Second

On June 30th we had a leap second added to the year. A leap second? That's right, a second. We're all familiar with the leap day we add to the year every 4 years (next year will be one). That day is added to keep our calendars aligned with the stars. When someone asks how many days in a year, we automatically say 365. And that's pretty close.

Fortune Cookie

A couple weeks ago I was having Chinese food down in Bakersfield and opened up my fortune cookie. It said that I was to receive a “great honor”. It's not that I put any store in what a cookie thinks, but I did try to think of anything that I might be in line for that could be considered an “honor”. And I came up with two. And they both came true.

Animals on Wheels

Just the other day I was flipping channels since I couldn't find anything on and stumbled across the PBS show Nature reshowing the episode “My Bionic Pet”. This concerned the lives of several animals using prostheses. There were dogs with three (or two) legs, a pig with a wheel chair, and even an alligator with a prosthetic tail.

Building Books

Getting a book published can be difficult. It took years before J.K. Rowling found a publisher for her Harry Potter books. And many other authors have told stories of wallpapering rooms with their rejection slips. Down in Bakersfield the Writers of Kern writing group regularly starts meeting by asking who's been rejected since the last meeting. And I'm a member of “The Failure Club” on Facebook. This isn't to rub noses in our failures but to celebrate our attempts.

Twin Studies

When scientists want to understand something they will often use an experimental “unit” and a control “unit”. And when studying something if you have a second copy around then you can control for more kinds of factors. And when it comes to people identical twins are the closest you can get to a second copy.

Getting There

A few weeks ago I took part in an outing that took the MetroLink from Lancaster down into Downtown Los Angeles. On the weekend you can ride unlimited for $10. This includes not just MetroLink, but the other rail lines in the L.A. area. (It also includes some of the bus lines down there as well.) So you could ride from Lancaster to Oceanside then back again all for $10.