Today is the last day I'll be in New York. Well, that's not actually true right now, but it probably will be by the time I post this, because right now it's 11:12, New York time. So, I just got back from watching Hamilton. It was so good that I could not even. But I'm going to refrain from talking about that right now, because I have more to say.
I arrived by plane almost a week ago, on Wednesday, with my sister and my dad. We landed in Newark, and took a bus to Times Square, from which we walked to our hotel, Le Soleil, and met up with my mom. In summary: the penthouse floor is dumb because it has not much room and costs a lot more and the lighting is wired in an incredibly weird fashion. Still, it was enough to sleep in.
The next day was Thursday. I woke up in the hotel, and learned about our plans to go to the American Museum of Natural History. We walked through the heat and humidity to the subway, then took the B line uptown. We could immediately tell when we got to the right station because of all the tiled creatures lining the walls. We entered immediately through the 81st street entrance, and looked at space. Such space. After the space, we went upstairs to see more space. Specifically, we went to see a planetarium show by Neil deGrasse Tyson on cosmology and the big bang. It was very good at conveying information, without dumbing it down too much for the audience. We also got into the Dinosaurs Among Us exhibit, which is about dinosaurs evolving into birds. It's pretty sweet. We were there for over an hour. Then we went into the Hall of Biodiversity, which absolutely BLEW MADAME MIND. We spent the rest of the day between there and the Milstein Hall of Ocean Life. I had so much fun.
The next day was Friday, and, having learned my lesson, I tied up my hair to make it feel less hot, and we went out to the National Museum of Mathematics. Needless to say, it was radical. My favorite exhibit was a game in which two players had to add numbers to fifteen. Thing is, one of the players is presented the same information in a tic-tac-toe format, so they get a huge advantage. Then I got seventeen books and we left. After leaving the museum, we went to a "Japanese store" that Lucia wanted to visit. It was okay. I'm not as much of a japanophile (should that be capitalized?) as my sister is. Still, I got a book about trees. We went home, and my mom and I planned the next day.
Our plan was to move in a big square, walking west to the High Line (a park on an abandoned train track), then south to Chelsea (a mall), then east to The Strand (a book store), then north back to the apartment. We did, indeed, do that. The High Line was pretty. The Strand had only four places to sit, and we got all four. I bought two more math books. Now I have many books. Also, we saw a man with a snake.
On Sunday, we went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, better known as the Met. It was very fancy. The Arms and Armor exhibit was really cool, almost as cool as the fashion exhibit. We also saw modern art and classic European paintings by folks like Picasso and Monet.
Yesterday (or, the day before yesterday, now that it's 1:17) we went back to the museum to try to catch a bit more of it. First we went to like a space theater and went down a ramp or whatever. Then, we got into the temporary exhibit about crocodiles, which was very cool, and then slipped right into watching National Parks Adventure. I'd already seen it two times, but Lucia wanted to go again, and I didn't really mind. It does, after all, have the best music of any documentary I've ever seen. We tried to go see the dinosaurs, but we started in the wrong place, and then we were taking too long, and then we decided to come back the next day (today) (yesterday). After a quick trip to the Hall of Minerals (in which I was a bit too interested for my liking) and another trip to buy a shirt (but not a butterfly shirt, because that one was for girls apparently) we went back home.
Then, today. Or, yesterday. We went all the way through the fossils, from start to finish, following the path, going through all the branches, and reading all the things that were interesting. This was a lot. But it was worth it. I came out with an understanding of the history of life on Earth miles ahead of where I was before. That took most of the day. Afterwards, we went to Barnes & Noble to wait for Hamilton to start.
Hamilton was so great that it kind of hurts that I'm this tired, because I really want to say more about it, and I know I won't be able to get my ideas across as well in this state. Still, here I go: it was fantastic. It was incredibly fantastic. So much as to even be worth the price of admission. And that's saying something. My favorite songs were Right Hand Man, Satisfied, The Room Where It Happens, The Reynolds Pamphlet, and the ones where the folks die. Prior to today (yesterday), I hadn't heard any songs past Ten Duel Commandments, and I think that made it a better experience. The show is all songs, so you don't miss any audio if you get the iTunes. I cried. I cried a lot. It was good.
So, those were the highlights of New York. Tomorrow (today) is Wednesday. I'm going home.
Wednesday, August 17, 2016
Sunday, August 14, 2016
A scary story
I've become more and more fond of scary stories since Halloween of 2014. What with being all savvy with the tropes, I haven't been really scared in a long while. This here is the first story in the last few months which has genuinely made me scared of the dark. Enjoy.
https://www.reddit.com/r/shortscarystories/comments/4x7wgk/the_restaurant/
https://www.reddit.com/r/shortscarystories/comments/4x7wgk/the_restaurant/
Monday, August 8, 2016
The Late Post on the Museum
Saturday, almost a week ago, I had a really great day at the museum. I then promptly forgot to blog about it for six days straight. I don't know why, but I've become kinda reluctant to do this. I don't like writing as much as I used to.
When the day started, I didn't really want to go to the museum, because it was early, and I hadn't slept well, and I just kinda wanted to stay at home. But, I went anyways, because I'm like that. I don't remember much of the ride, or signing in, or the first hour of work, really. It was a slow day, and there were only like three families in the entire health exhibit. I do remember that one little boy asked me if the Perplexus was the museum. Presumably, he had just exited the topsy-turvy animal rooms. I informed him that it was not the museum.
Visitations didn't pick up until a group of kids with matching shirts came in. Well, I say "kids," but they were about my age. They were part of some sorta summer school thing, and they had a packet to fill out. It was through their questions, and my lack of answers, that I ascertained an important truth: even after ten years, I still didn't know all of the stuff in Expedition Health. Now, to be fair, part of the problem was that someone had removed the blood pressure station, and nobody had told me about it. But, still, I feel like I could have been more helpful.
So, with this new realization, what did I do? Did I resolve to better myself? To spend the next few weeks learning the ins and outs of Expedition Health, to the point where I could effortlessly answer any questions asked? No. Instead, I gave up. I decided that, if I had really stopped learning new things from Expedition Health, I should move on to new things. Like, for example, Prehistoric Journey. More commonly known as "the dinosaur exhibit," Prehistoric Journey is a tour from the beginning of the earth until now, focusing on the creatures that once lived there. That's where I decided to transfer to.
Eventually, the group left. Thirteen (or maybe fourteen) of them had me sign their packet, to prove that they had watched the little movie. That leaves eight (or seven) people who didn't have their books signed. I wish them the best.
Anyways, after they left, things started to pick up. I met all sorts of people, but one in particular stood out: a boy with a little cowboy hat, upon which were pinned three proud Junior Ranger badges. As a man who also has a hat adorned with flashy national park symbols, I was incredibly... something at seeing the kid like that. The feeling I had was part pride that my idea had caught on, part respect for the kid's adventures, part excitement at the adventures he had yet to have, part disappointment that I could not show him my corresponding hat, and part the feeling you get when a little kid does something awesome. There should be a word for that.
After our shift ended, my dad and I ate lunch, and then we went to check out the new temporary robot exhibit. It was really cool. There were all sorts of things to try out, and even robots to pilot. One robot that particularly confused me was a tic-tac-toe playing robot who could actually lose. That shouldn't be able to happen. Tic-tac-toe is a solved game. There are literally still images which will never lose at tic-tac-toe. I was then informed by a sign that the robot was just learning to play, presumably restarting every day.
Then, something even more amazing happened. The robot cheated. It essentially did what it did in this gif, placing it's X on top of someone's O. That is both amazing and terrifying. We gave it a challenge, asked it to learn, and it decided that the best way ti succeed was to not follow our rules. This id how the world will end.
On that cheery note, I think I'll stop now. Not much interesting happened for the rest of the evening. Nothing noteworthy, anyways. Also, it's 11:33, and I need to sleep. That's right, the "late" in the title has two meanings. Yes, I am very clever. Thank you. I'll sleep now.
 |
| This is not what the Hall of Life looks like. This is what it feels like. |
When the day started, I didn't really want to go to the museum, because it was early, and I hadn't slept well, and I just kinda wanted to stay at home. But, I went anyways, because I'm like that. I don't remember much of the ride, or signing in, or the first hour of work, really. It was a slow day, and there were only like three families in the entire health exhibit. I do remember that one little boy asked me if the Perplexus was the museum. Presumably, he had just exited the topsy-turvy animal rooms. I informed him that it was not the museum.
Visitations didn't pick up until a group of kids with matching shirts came in. Well, I say "kids," but they were about my age. They were part of some sorta summer school thing, and they had a packet to fill out. It was through their questions, and my lack of answers, that I ascertained an important truth: even after ten years, I still didn't know all of the stuff in Expedition Health. Now, to be fair, part of the problem was that someone had removed the blood pressure station, and nobody had told me about it. But, still, I feel like I could have been more helpful.
So, with this new realization, what did I do? Did I resolve to better myself? To spend the next few weeks learning the ins and outs of Expedition Health, to the point where I could effortlessly answer any questions asked? No. Instead, I gave up. I decided that, if I had really stopped learning new things from Expedition Health, I should move on to new things. Like, for example, Prehistoric Journey. More commonly known as "the dinosaur exhibit," Prehistoric Journey is a tour from the beginning of the earth until now, focusing on the creatures that once lived there. That's where I decided to transfer to.
Eventually, the group left. Thirteen (or maybe fourteen) of them had me sign their packet, to prove that they had watched the little movie. That leaves eight (or seven) people who didn't have their books signed. I wish them the best.
Anyways, after they left, things started to pick up. I met all sorts of people, but one in particular stood out: a boy with a little cowboy hat, upon which were pinned three proud Junior Ranger badges. As a man who also has a hat adorned with flashy national park symbols, I was incredibly... something at seeing the kid like that. The feeling I had was part pride that my idea had caught on, part respect for the kid's adventures, part excitement at the adventures he had yet to have, part disappointment that I could not show him my corresponding hat, and part the feeling you get when a little kid does something awesome. There should be a word for that.
After our shift ended, my dad and I ate lunch, and then we went to check out the new temporary robot exhibit. It was really cool. There were all sorts of things to try out, and even robots to pilot. One robot that particularly confused me was a tic-tac-toe playing robot who could actually lose. That shouldn't be able to happen. Tic-tac-toe is a solved game. There are literally still images which will never lose at tic-tac-toe. I was then informed by a sign that the robot was just learning to play, presumably restarting every day.
Then, something even more amazing happened. The robot cheated. It essentially did what it did in this gif, placing it's X on top of someone's O. That is both amazing and terrifying. We gave it a challenge, asked it to learn, and it decided that the best way ti succeed was to not follow our rules. This id how the world will end.
On that cheery note, I think I'll stop now. Not much interesting happened for the rest of the evening. Nothing noteworthy, anyways. Also, it's 11:33, and I need to sleep. That's right, the "late" in the title has two meanings. Yes, I am very clever. Thank you. I'll sleep now.
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