Poetry should be great & unobtrusive, a thing which enters into one’s soul, and does not startle it or amaze it with itself but with its subject. - How beautiful are the retired flowers! how would they lose their beauty were they to throng into the highway crying out, “admire me I am a violet! dote upon me I am a primrose!” - John Keats in a letter to J. H. Reynolds, dated 3 February 1818
A band of us got together for a viewing of the Lynchburg College Theater performance of Into The Woods based on the book by James Lapine. We got together last night, found out that it was sold out, purchased tickets for today’s matinee, and got together again for the matinee. It was certainly worth the wait.
From a cast dominated by sophomores and freshmen, I was very impressed. The story revolves around the intertwining of many famous fairy tales and uses their individual moral creeds to garner together a wonderful theme; showing that personal ambition is typically harmful to others if we do not consider the ramifications of our (sometimes) greedy aims. Plus! it was a musical. Everything is better in tune.. it’s true, and you can’t deny it. What would The Sound of Music have been like should you snatch away the music? The Sound? Hmm? Well, at least I enjoy the addition of talented vocalists to a play performance.
Anyways, I had a great time and was pleased to know there is such talent amidst Lynchburg; hopefully, I’ll have chances to see more of it soon.
This was my response to a good day. It’s simple, without tempo, and certainly a nice portrait of my current serenity.
And it’s almost 5MB 
The weather was chilled, but the sun was brilliant. Color saturation was abundant. I knew what had to be done - I grabbed my camera, hopped in the car, and drove off for some local photography.
Mind you, I made the required stops at Lynchburg Music Center (to check up on my order) and at Given’s Book Store (picking out the best of their used selection and grabbing some soup). But the true meaning and “meat” of this trip was to get good pictures. And let’s just say that it was a festival of photos.
I had no idea that a program of mine could output those Quicktime VR files that you commonly see on a few tourist info websites. This is what much of Forest looks out onto. The file is about 2MB so be patient. Also I have not figured out how to make it auto-play, so it must be downloaded and then opened in quicktime for viewing (option+click for Mac users; right click then “save file as” or “download link as” or “whatever else as” for Windows users). Sorry for the extra steps; I’ll optimize it soon enough.
In just the first week on the job, I was warned about the “possessed” environmental chamber. At times, it has been known to suddenly change temperatures without the screen showing the corresponding temperature increases or decreases; one instance involved a general negative 40 degree test that abruptly dropped to less than negative 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Odd.
However, I hadn’t experienced such strange quirks with the chamber, at least until today. I walked back to the test lab, where all of the chambers reside, to check on a test that is in prep, when I noticed this mentioned chamber doing something very strange. As a brief explanation, to heat things up there are massive furnaces always on tap, and for freezing chills we use liquid nitrogen. When I walked into the lab, this chamber was spewing out gaseous condensation (the stuff your breath becomes in colder weather).
I didn’t recall anyone doing any major freeze testing, so I checked the electronic keypad for the information available. It declared that the test inside was at a toasty 300 degrees Fahrenheit (a typical heat-aging temperature for our products) and was running just fine. Being the only one around, I made the quick decision to turn the machine off, but just in case I wasn’t losing it, I looked at the hard data stream that records the true temperature non-digitally on the back of the chamber. As soon as I saw the value, I shut the machine down instantly and moved away. It stated that the temperature inside the chamber was negative 223 degrees Fahrenheit.
Once Charlie (test lab manager) returned, I told him what had happened (even still, the chamber was still launching condensation everywhere). He told me to stand back and he carefully opened the chamber door. In an instant, the whole lab was full of freezing, condensing air, as if God himself sighed with great emphasis into the room. The lab temperature dropped about 7 degrees in just a minute or so due to this psychotic environmental chamber.
So, that’s how I had fun today at work.
And tonight, Rianna and I chatted, as is becoming usual of Wednesday nights. Once I get an espresso machine, she promised to teach me the ways of the latte world. I love having insider resources
I had a “Valentine’s evening” as some would call it. No, I didn’t participate in a romantic dinner for two (or, since it has been claimed that I am in love with myself, dinner for one) but I did hang out with Allison. We watched That Thing You Do, the chosen “chick-flick”.
Returning from her place, I was warned to watch out for the fog. I watched. Watched for the moment at which I would see the road in front of me. In my years of driving, I have never been so consummately careful with my driving I passed a Pontiac (could tell from the headlights as it passed) on a long, straight stretch of road; I only saw it in my rear-view mirror for perhaps a moment before it’s back lights entirely disappeared. Approaching it was scary enough, clear sailing at first and then WOAH.. ! CAR! I had to stop at JF to take some pictures of the madness. Taking pictures of madness is a must. Although, should I have truly followed such a routine, I would have showed up at a florist’s shop today to take photos of the countless streams of forgetful men desperate enough to shell out $100 or more for a simple, delivered, dozen roses.
However, my night was very pleasant. I was invited to attend the JF prom this year, by Allison with Allison. Absolutely! Now, I don’t have to wait until my 10 year class anniversary to redeem my high school years - I can just dance the night away with all of the vigor and youthfulness I wish I encompassed back then. I say, lots of excitement to come.