Pattern Recognition

Man I love randomness. Part of the Universe, in all its uncaring glory.

A great meme I steal without guilt from Aunt Twisty at I Blame The Patriarchy:

Pick up the nearest book, go to page 123 and reproduce the sixth through eight sentences.

Depending on what direction I turn, that would either be The Wisconsin Enrolled Commercial Code

720.3.1.4 Airspaces and cells filled with loose-fill material. The equivalent thickness of completely filled hollow concrete masonry is the actual thickness of the unit when loose-fill materials are: sand, pea gravel, crushed stone or slag that meet ASTM C 33 requirements; pumice, scoria, expanded slag, expanded fly ash, or cinders that comply with ASTM C 331; or perlite or vermiculite meeting the requirements of ASTM C 549 and C 516, respectively.

720.3.2 Concrete masonry walls.

Wasn't that great? Makes you want to pound your head against a... well, a hollow concrete masonry wall filled with.... you get the idea. Dull and meaningless, perhaps, but such is my life.

Turning another, possibly more fulfilling direction, we come across The Celebration Chronicles by Andrew Ross, a report on his year spent in Disney's model town (I drove thru Celebration while in Orlando; further reports anon):

The flame flexes into a loopy vortex and funnels upward, arching hopefully toward the top of the chicken wire that encloses the experiment. No one has said a word for twenty minutes. I have never seen this group of students in a more attentive mood, with the exception of Sex Ed classes, and even then they cut their questions with bittersweet cool: “How many calories do you burn during sex?” (Answer 65-70 cals) “Why do old people still do it?” (Answer: Sheer pleasure).

More interesting and lively, certainly, but just as meaningless without context. A useful metaphor for the universe, grasshopper, upon which you may dwell for the next several weeks. When you reach enlightenment, you will understand why Shemp is not funny.