Seven of One

At my last meeting with my advisor, I mentioned my obsession with Seven of Nine and the blog posts I made summarizing the episodes she appears in (obviously it's relevant), and she suggested that it might be relevant to contextualize the concept of cyborgs for our readings. She actually seemed surprised I hadn't made the connection already. So last night (why do it ahead of time if you can wait till the last minute?) while I was reading through my blogs and skimming through some Voyager episodes, I asked myself why I hadn't made the connection. Borgs are pretty much always on my mind, at least in the periphery, because Star Trek: Voyager is something I'm pretty passionate about. I think the reason is that I haven't been able to fully articulate why I find Seven of Nine and her struggle with her Borg and Human natures so compelling.

Program Evaluation

I am so frustrated with my program evaluation class right now. The element of competition is making people play dirty, which reminds me why people are horrible and selfish and capitalism is evil. I also feel like my group is not prepared to do much critical thinking, making it difficult for me to explore complexity and nuance with my peers.

The one group that really seems to have the eye of the teacher (so, he will probably give them all A's and the rest of us B's) is headed by a girl who appears to be willing to undermine her classmates in order to improve her own chances of winning. She spent the majority of our question time in class today asking a question that we didn't understand, then criticizing us for how "idealistic" our answer and model to her were. We spent the time defending a facet of our presentation we didn't choose to focus on. It was so frustrating.

Teens Rebel, Mosquito Repels

I recently read an article that made me think of my rhetoric studies. Apparently Howard Stapleton invented a device that emits a high frequency noise that is supposed to be inaudible to most people over 25. The purpose of this device is to repel teenagers and young people from being "unruly" in areas where they are not welcome. Many different outlets covered the story, but I liked the NPR story because it captured the reactions of the callers and had some intelligent comments in the comments sections. The main reason I share the NPR story, though, is that Stapleton mentioned that he has been attempting unsuccessfully to stop teens from using a Mosquito ringtone while they are in class so the teacher can't hear when they are texting their friends.*

Bubble Tea

Easy Bubble Tea/Sweet Chilled Milk Tea Recipe

I just made an amazing beverage, and because I would like to share this with people, I am putting it online. There are several recipes for bubble tea or milk tea floating around online, but this one can easily be made with stuff most people have in their kitchens. The addition of powdered sugar to the sugar sauce makes a decent substitute for the tapioca pearls that normally go in bubble tea, since powdered sugar has corn starch, a thickening agent similar to that in tapioca. Play around with the proportions of tea, milk, and sugar syrup to find a mix you'll love!

Bubble Tea Ingredients (makes a single serving):
2 teabags black tea
8 ounces water
4 ounces milk
Sugar Syrup to taste*

Directions:
bring 8 ounces of water to a boil
pour over two teabags black tea, steep until very strong
add desired amount of sugar syrup, stirring until dissolved
chill tea and sugar mixture
when chilled, combine tea and sugar mixture with milk in a blender
pulse on lowest setting quickly until bubbly
serve over ice!

*Sugar Syrup (makes about a single serving):
Sugar Syrup Ingredients:
2 teaspoons granulated sugar
2 teaspoon powdered sugar
4 teaspoons water

combine sugar, powdered sugar, and water in a small saucepan
Heat on medium heat until simmering
Either combine the sauce with the tea immediately or chill until needed (keeps about a month), adding to hot tea when ready

Belief

I cannot believe that God would be so cruel to create a world capable of such evil as can be seen and allow such sickness and injustice as has been suffered to permeate so much of the world while some few lucky people who do not deserve it live in health and wealth and happiness. I refuse to believe in that. I do believe that there is the possibility of good in all people, and if circumstances were right and people were good, the world would be a better place. So, my disbelief is actually a different kind of belief. I have a belief in something that I have some evidence for, but more than that, I have a need to believe it. I like to think that logic is the reason I don't believe in the traditional Christian god. But maybe it's because I have chosen to believe in something different. Does that make me better? I still like to think so. To believe in good seems better than to believe in god.