Ai Pioppi

Prerequisite: physics, algebra 2/geometry

The Bicycle of Death. I bet it sounds more menacing in Italian. It is one of the many human-powered rides at Ai Pioppi.

This ride just about sums up my second quarter of AP Physics but I am not supposed to go into that, am I? The Blue Giraffe is protesting now. But I must comment on how much energy goes to friction and moving the hardware itself! While it is tough work for two men, two children would be dealing with even greater percentages of their body masses. It is almost a fancy workout equipment.

But then that is the power of machines, pedalling a greater arc length for moving a shorter arc length along the track.

I see there is also an extension from the carriage, through the center of the circle, to the other side. It may contribute as a counter mass of the carriage to facilitate riding towards the top, and as an inertial mass to uhh, keep people hanging up there.

F = Ia here refers to the weight of this counter mass (the acceleration should have been called g tangent).

I have not quite labelled everything thoroughly, missing a couple tangent subscripts here and there, but whatever. And I put zero at the top. And I should be using degrees in physics. Meh. Point is, gravity does some of the work.

It is also interesting to note the carriage's gradual accumulation of height. This ride makes a visual for the net accumulation of energy, of human input and friction output. And each time the carriage passes through ground level, it does so at a higher speed.

The place has come a long way from welding seesaws and roundabouts for little kids..

Seismic Wave

Prerequisite: earth science

Car crashed about a month ago. "Crash" is an overstatement. "Bump" more like. Yet the impulse was enough to crush the little Toyota. It was a young car too, with a red number plate and not yet one week in possession.

The cracks are almost like the impact frozen in time. Most likely not many cracks are due to material foliation since glass is an amorphous solid. From what I heard, the car hood actually sprung up and smashed itself. Maybe the epicenter of the impact can be pinpointed with these rough circles, or that the effect of P and S waves are distinguishable?

What I am really driving at is that glass smashing might be something worth investigating. Not that I have the means of doing so. But where patterns are concerned, numbers can be introduced~

If you feel inspired to smash some glass, please feel free to do so. Be sure to tell me about it.

As of now we got the headlights repaired. But the spiderweb on the windshield is still there, held by tape.

1 Corinthians 13:7

"Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things".

Most people are familiar with verses four to six, but it is seven that strikes me the hardest. The last phrase in particular. The Chinese translation is the best: "love never ceases". 愛是永不止息. It is much easier said than done because love never ceases - unconditionally. No requital, no acknowledgement, no nothing.

One of the many tough things love must endure, is nothingness. Especially with being a conversationally inert person, I deal with nothingness every day. I am just a minor character that barely stirs a thing in anyone's life. I should be a master at facing nothingness by now. Or so I thought.

There is one such person that I cared for dearly over the past year or two. For once I felt understood by someone, and that in return I could be more than a human backdrop. I was so moved. Now that I have had a taste of emotional attachment, I do not know how to live without it. This friend is extremely significant to me, although I am maybe not equally significant. A moon can revolve around the Earth, but the Earth still revolves around the sun..

Added on top of the nothingness are the flaws and not so innocent aspects I learned of this friend. Rather than turning away in disgust, it makes me even more determined to hold on. I cannot let go until I have steered my friend away from sin. From hell. If I cannot manage to be of help, I will have failed miserably. The prospect of hell.. will haunt me forever. It is unbearable. I starve hungerlessly and worry sleeplessly.

All that, and unable to communicate.

It is not like I am being ignored, but most people interpret my cursed unresponsiveness as a leave-me-alone. If only I were not so subdued in nature, I could quite simply mend this silence. But no. I am very subdued. I cause a lot of drama for myself and drown in anxiety instead.

What usually happens was my psychological ego defence mechanism steps in. Too much stress. Specifically, reaction formation, inverting an anxiety-inducing belief to its opposite. When it gets tough caring about someone.. I stop caring. And suddenly there is only a meager handful of people left that I care about. My love died. I am such a moron for giving up on people. Presently, I am faced with nothingness from this very dear friend of mine. Do I let this love die too?

Love endures all things. Love never ceases.

Why should it matter that I am lesser in someone's life? Why should I stop praying? Why should I stop caring? If I really cared then I would see it through. We still have six months left, and I am determined to make things right. Sow some seeds at least. Then I will be able to part ways confidently.

But until then, I must wade through the nothingness. It will hurt. It will drive me crazy. But if this truly is love then it will endure.