Thursday, 15 March 2012

I Friggin Love Swings

I love swings. I love them in the entirely immature way in that they are awesome. You can sit on them on a quiet and chaotic day and watch the world tilt around you. They are both innocent and badass. You can hog it and swing alone and challenge yourself to kick the leaves just out of reach. But sometimes you can't do it. You need a push. Some days you're lucky and you have someone there to give you momentum. But some days you try too hard all alone and you lose a shoe, possibly against someone's forehead. And you don't give a shit because you have another shoe and you're not afraid to use it. No one can touch you. You're on a swing.


You want to be cheesy and have one of those loveseat swings on your porch? They're pretty great if you're on the same pace. If not, it's a mess of weird twisting and just awkward. Do you change your rhythm to match... or do you kick the other person off? Or maybe you're lucky and the other person just matches you and everything is peaceful and smooth. Or maybe you're sitting on a swing with one of your many cats and they don't screw everything up because their feet can't touch the ground and you just like taking them on the swing to watch their freaked out expressions. Either way, the chains get worn and start to creak and it becomes the perfect vantage point to kick children off your lawn.

With this nice weather we've been having here, all I want is to sit and swing. Be carefree for a little bit and let the wind ruin my hair. I'll make sure to tie my shoes on tight. I promise.

Monday, 12 March 2012

Explorations

So. I'm sitting here on campus waiting for an event to start. I have been 'voluntold' to assist for the entire duration of the event and decided it would be too mean to say no (even though I only signed up for 2 out of 4 hours).

This event is called 'Engineering Explorations'. It's a pretty cool thing where the university gives tours to high school and middle school students (and their parents, of course). As a former tour guide I can say you get to see some pretty interesting stuff, and I may add that I made a pretty damn hilarious tour guide. My job was to basically show off our new concrete walls that the university poured millions into, tell the parents that no, it doesn't cost that much (lies! It's tens of thousands at the least) and tell the kids that no, engineering doesn't really suck out your soul (just your social life and general sanity). But it is a lot of fun!

But this year I'm not a guide anymore, now I'm guiding the guides and basically hoping no one gets lost. Which seems much less fun. And they make me wear a hardhat. Sigh.

The funny thing is I had a few hours to kill on campus and convinced myself that I'd be productive. More lies. A couple days ago Pagani put up a documentary on the new Huayra (hwy-rah, if you're wondering)... and there goes 15 minutes of my life. Well spent, I must say. If you're remotely interested in cars you must check this out. It's simply beautiful. Maybe it's just the nerd in me that loves it... but I like to think anyone can appreciate the precision put into this machine. I don't even know if I can call it a machine. It's just so... pretty (probably the girl in me saying that). The sound is honestly the best part. The engineer in me appreciates the efficiency of the engine and exhaust system. Being German I'm a little biased, but the hand-made Mercedes-AMG V12 twin-turbo sounds gorgeous. And the four panels that make it aerodynamically neutral? Genius. Pure genius.
Yes, the mirrors are odd. Designed to look like a woman's eye, though... does that make it prettier?
I've killed another 10 minutes watching videos of the interior and engine... oh dear. Sadly the interior looks a little too space-y for me. But the leather is customizable and kind of interesting. Aaaannd that concludes my gearhead rant for the day. I must run off now and try to earn enough money to earn this work of art. Only going on sale in 2012 for about $1.2 million USD. So... that's going to take a while. Either until I'm 80 or marry an 80 year-old sugar daddy. One can dream, right?

P.S. - Life lesson? Don't spend the weekend running around in 4 inch heels then spend 8 hours standing on the Monday. Hurts a shitload - I'm aching just lying here. The Explorations event was crazy, but we pulled it off well. Now I must sleep.