Science and Scent

Scientific American recently ran an item about the fragrance industry in its humor column. They reported a new men's cologne called "Driven," which has New York Yankee baseball star Derek Jeter as its inspiration (it's the scent that says "I'm not stopping at second base"). The article goes on to speculate about what kinds of colognes scientists would inspire:

Isaac Newton's "Gravitas"
Ingredients: Fresh-cut grass, royal mint and, of course, apple spice.
Slogan: For the man who likes his heavenly bodies as far away as possible.

Alessandro Volta's "Charge"
Ingredients: Cat hair, amber, balloons.
Slogan: Make sparks fly.

Socrates' "Philosophy"
Ingredients: Olive oil, feta cheese, traces of hemlock.
Slogan: You fill me with... questions.

Albert Einstein's "Continuum" (undoubtedly to be renamed "Relativity" after disappointing early sales)
Ingredients: Thyme
Slogan: The faster you go, the shorter you get

Stephen Hawking's "Universe"
Ingredients: Everything
Slogan: You don't have to understand it.

Isaiah

Our scripture study group looked at Isaiah 48-49 last night. We talked about east and west, symbols and likening. We tried to help each other get the prophet's thoughts straight. Wouldn't you know I woke up with two versions of the same poem in my head this morning. The Isaiah curse. Below are the two versions - the first came seamless before dawn. The second is the haiku, an eastern spin on the same thought. There is something satisfying about haiku: the numbered syllables, counted and tamed thoughts. Still, I like the first raw poem best. Why?

Isaiah

rushing waters wash
asymmetric
around
blue boulders
fluid fingers rolling
sharp facets
smooth
peace like a river

righteous waves
wake day
dancing
cradled
deep
embracing my ark
in emerald arms
pitched
against full tide



Haiku Isaiah

Rushing waters wash
Asymmetrical around
Selfish blue boulders.

Fluid fingers roll
Sharp facets smooth to round rock
Peace like a river.

Righteous waves wake day
Embracing my ark in arms
pitched against full tide.


What do you think? Which do you like best?

First Witter

Inspired by my nieces' blogs, I thought I might join the age of blog and put my witterings on the web. There will be the occasional poem or photo, but mostly just witterings of an old woman. As I become more skilled at navigating the site perhaps I will add links to other blogs of interest.
Although Wittering is officially the name of a place in Cambridgeshire, I take the name in its more colloqial usage, meaning odd rants of useless information, common nattering, or, according to one dictionary, "to talk at length about nothing." In short, "wittering" seems a much more appropriate name than "blog."
With that in mind, here are a few random stats to ponder:
1. It takes approximately one minute of cocoa picking to make a treat-sized Hershey cocolate bar.
Treat-sized? How many man hours does my chocolate consumption generate per year? And that is just the picking of the beans - how long does it take to process? Perhaps if I worked as hard as those who produce the chocolate I could afford the calories. While we are on the subject of exercise:
2. The Alaska Zoo paid $150,000 to build a treadmill for its 8,000-pound elephant last year.
So far, the elephant has not used the treadmill. Does this mean the zoo needs to shell out more money for a personal trainer? Who will make the elephant run? And is this a good thing? I'm just saying....
3. It is estimated that tourism will add $26,000,000 to Rwanda's economy net year.
This is a remarkable number, but I wonder how it compares with other tourist destinations. Surely the tourism profits from popular U.S. sites are tremendous. Who exactly vacations in Rwanda? Is it a more popular destination since the filming of the movie, "Hotel Rwanda"? Or less popular?