Spring is here!

Hello again.

I just wanted to share with you my Sunflower plant. I got some free seeds from the flower farm and a free pot from the owner and now can grow sunflower seeds.

Good thing they're edible cause this being unemployed thing makes me hungry. And with my sunflower seeds maybe I can find sunflower recipes and post them on the recipe site.

In U.S. Navy news, I was supposed to leave for OCS this weekend, but I've been delayed until August. Hopefully the U.S. Census Bureau will hire me to be an enumerator and walk about ym neighborhood counting the citizens.

Nice job if you can get it: serving the country, getting some exercise, and making some extra income (or just income at all).

I hope to upload photos of the plant as it continues to grow.

Thanks for reading and best regards,

Alya

Phonetic Alphabet

Hello everyone. Sorry I haven't posted in a while I've been preparing to go to OCS.

In my studying before leaving I have to learn the Phonetic Alphabet. You know, A-Alpha, B-Bravo, C-Charlie, etc. In doing so I discovered that in the phonetic alphabet only Q and X are not phonetically represented by their own letter. The words begin with that letter (Quebec, X-ray), but the pronunciation does not (kay-bek, ecks-ray). Does this mean these letters are completely superfluous seeing as how other letters or letter combinations could replace them? Many languages remove the letters they find useless. Or, as in French, reserve letters for special sounds (the C replaces the hard K sound or is used with H for a CH sound, and the K is almost never used).

Your thoughts are welcome, which is what makes this blog so interactive.

Thanks for reading and best regards,
Alya

Snow

Third snowstorm of the year, just wanted to share how beautiful it is here with all of you.

Isn't it just lovely.

Thanks for reading and best regards,
Alya

U. S. Navy

I have FINALLY heard a reply from the U.S. Navy, and have been professionally recommended to attend Officer Candidate School in Newport, Rhode Island. Luckily I reran my fitness test and did it in 13 minutes! That is so exciting for me you really have no idea. In high school I did a mile in 14:30 and NOW I can run a mile and a half in 13 minutes.

YAY! Serious sense of accomplishment there.

More photos from my trip to the beach. This one is what I've had as my desktop background for a while.

Also, I'm going to NYC this weekend, and hopefully going to find some time to visit the U.S.S. Intrepid Air Sea and Space Museum. I know, you're all super jealous.

;)

Thanks for reading and best regards,
Alya

The Waiting Game

Sorry! Haven't updated in a while. I've been busy looking for jobs and learning how to drive and writing and making up recipes. And taking photographs. This photograph is of ICE!

Additionally, for all those who wonder, I still haven't heard from the U.S. Navy in regards to my officer candidate status. This is not a big deal because I was told it would take some time.

HOWEVER, I did apply to be a U.S. Census Enumerator in the off chance that either #1 I don't get into the Navy, or #2 There's more waiting in between now and OCS. It's a great way to serve my country and carry out the constitution, really. Article 1, Section 2 clearly defines the rules of the U.S. Census and I would be honored to be a part of that. Wouldn't you?

For anyone who wants some extra cash, the U.S. Census and the Department of Commerce are hiring people from all neighborhoods at $16-24 an hour, to help track down those people who haven't filled out their census cards. Don't worry if you haven't because they haven't been sent out yet. The job would be mostly evening hours and weekends when people are at home. All you have to do is complete a test (get 10/28 questions correct and you pass... for some reason).

So wish me luck in all these job ventures!

Thanks for reading and best regards,
Alya

Food, WHAT?

My friend let me watch his netflix. This was a mistake for two reasons. #1 because I got to see all the movies he likes and now have a crush on him. And #2 I watched Food, Inc.

Now, I tried to stop watching after I saw the part about the chickens... but I figured the worst was over cause we already saw the chickens, right? And then we learned about how all the ingredients you can't pronounce on ingredient labels are probably corn byproducts. Asorbic acid and Xanthan gum and D-glycerine... Yeah all corn! Cool, and fatty. You enjoy your processed food, I'm out. The politics behind corn is a little too ridiculous for me to explain here, but the summary is: D.C. paid people to make wayyyyyy more corn than we needed and then they had to find uses for it. And that is why we are fat.

About 2 minutes later I was looking at something I didn't understand really... And you should click that link to see what I'm talking about.

And if after clicking on that link, you and I are still friends, you can read that I won't ever eat a pig again... or a cow... or a chicken that isn't raised on an organic farm with little happy rainbows. I mean I probably will, but it will be a while. A long while.

I can't even type my normal goodbye because that movie made me feel so sick about going food shopping later.

Wow... so sick. I feel so sick.

Alya

More List Making

I was recently asked what things I would spend excess income on if I had any, and I've come up with a few things:

1. A series of antique maps of East and Central Africa from the 1600-1800s.

2. Zoe Keating's CDs. All of them. Yesss quantum cello.

3. New clothes, because I have lost a lot of weight and now I'm wearing my sister's clothes and I want my own clothes, kthanks.

4. Stock in Apple. Because everyone should own stock in Apple.

I think that's it. Nothing outrageous. Nothing extravagant like a wii or a car or anything.

And now I just need to the income to pay my Sallie Mae and rent so I can have the aforementioned items. Still waiting to hear from the Navy. I don't know what is taking to long. Maybe they actually read the essays...

Thanks for reading and best regards,
Alya

More from my Beach Day

Since I had such a lovely day at the beach on Saturday I thought I would post about that again. Mostly because there isn't much else going on with me. Just some reading and writing and exercising. The other stuff that is going on is not at all interesting. I'm waiting for my Navy application results, which should be in by the first week in February. I'm thinking about a possible job in CA. A little cooking... Oh, I'm going night running tomorrow with FERP, which should be fun. And that's really it.

So, the beach was just a wonderful break from mundane for me. I thought I would share a moment with you all from when I was looking at the waves. It reminded me of a recent Radio Lab episode called Numbers.


In this episode the last story (beginning at 43:55) is about a student and his math teacher. They discuss that the calculation of waves is done by using infinity. But to calculate the creation of waves that don't repeat, that die out or that grow, you need a kind of infinity that sits in the space between two numbers; a kind of infinity that isn't just the adding and adding of numbers, but a higher kind of infinity. And when I look at the ocean and I look at waves and the seeming forever-ness that is the sea, I really enjoy the thought that there isn't just infinitesimal space, but that there are infinities which I haven't even imagined yet. Infinities that are so advanced and complex that my mind cannot image them.

ANYWAY, I took a few of the photos from Saturday and entered them in National Geographic's Your Shot contest, which they have every month. They may not win because my camera isn't good enough and because i refuse to digitally enhance my photos, but you never know.

Oh and today I learned something excellent. Platypuses have venom. True story.

Stay safe, don't touch platypuses. And be one with your own infinity.

Thanks for reading and best regards,
Alya