Zen and the Art of Aircraft Maintenance

This week I went to my first flying club event, where I was introduced to the wonderful world of aircraft maintenance. It was enjoyable in the same way that cooking is - it makes one feel grounded (insert your own joke here), and a welcome contrast to my otherwise cerebral working life. My contributions to the process were to fill up the tires, use dentistry tools (donated by a pilot/dentist) to winkle carbon deposits out of spark plugs, and engage in long discussions about which screwdriver to use for which job. Good times.

Once the plane was ready to go, I tagged along on a ferry mission, delivering a plane to a nearby airport to be looked at by a real mechanic. It was a night flight, which is new for me, and we got slightly lost, so I got to fly the plane for a while as the pilot tried to sort out which flashing light on the ground was the airport beacon. I learned something interesting, which is that Wal-Mart, while a generally evil force in the world, is most helpful in nighttime navigation because their buildings have a distinctive skylight pattern. Light shines out of the skylights like a flashlight through a cheese-grater, so if you know where the Wal-Marts are on the map, they serve as excellent landmarks.

Monkey Business

The fancy-pants Georgia Tech athletic centre is equipped with a rock-climbing wall. Last week my friend invited me to an intro to rock climbing session for GT women. For three bucks you get climbing lessons followed by snacks, so I was in. I made it up about half way before I started to get too tired, and spent the rest of the time trying to launch myself onto the bouldering wall, where the idea is to move sideways rather than vertically. The hardest part is to remember to lift with your legs, since your inclination is to climb with your arms, which is a) difficult for women, and b) difficult for non-monkeys. I enjoyed it, but clutching crevices in the wall was hard on my nails, so I may stick with aviation for my vertical thrills.

Booze Studies

Yesterday I went to a reception hosted by the publisher of our textbooks. I greatly enjoyed the snacks, cocktails and the free books that I can sell on the internet. While enjoying my sidecar, I came up with the brilliant idea of a course in technical communication based around alcohol - it could include everything from home brew instructions to cocktail etiquette. I ran it by a colleague who said it would be fine as long as I don't mind having 100 students trying to get into my class. No, I don't mind - I understand that booze can make a girl popular.

More great moments in rhetoric

A couple of gems from student papers:

Gem #1
In reference to the movie Contact, where Jodie Foster's character (Arroway) receives a message from aliens and then travels across the galaxy to meet them:

"...despite her being an atheist, Arroway is the only one to actually make contact with superhuman species in any way."

I am curious about this kid's understanding of theology.

Gem #2
I call this one "our troubled youth":

"In the movie poster for Cloverfield the pose (sic) is very basic and serene. The main focal point of the poster is the Statue of Liberty in flames with its head torn off."

Nothing says "serenity" like a mutilated Statue of Liberty. One wonders about what it would take to make this guy anxious.

Synonymns R Us

I have been grading my students' papers, and one of my favourite sentences thus far explains how the poster for the movie Alien uses fluorescent green to show "the out-of-this-world qualities of extra-terrestrial life." Yes, indeed.

eBlame

I've been using eHarmony for a few months, and I've met a few nice people. The system is by no means perfect, but the process does allow one to filter out most of the ne'er do wells. One of the questions that you answer when you're filling out your profile is "What are you grateful for?" This seems a good question to ask to determine a person's values. One guy listed the following:

1. Knowing that my partner will always forgive me.
2. Knowing that my spouse is usually to blame.

I guess I can't fault him for honesty. I am curious about how he distinguishes "partner" from "spouse" - does he mean that he's married to someone who is blameworthy, and he's grateful to have a mistress who never holds him accountable for his actions? Sounds like he has his hands full already, so I'm not sure what he's doing on eHarmony. I don't think I'll be sending him my "Must Haves and Can't Stands", since my list of "Can't Stands" includes "Married, has a mistress and shuns responsibility".

Purple Boots

My students are in the midst of a project where they will do an analysis of a film poster, then create their own poster for the same movie, but emphasizing a different theme. I had a look at their poster drafts today, and one in particular caught my eye. It features, among other things, a female character wearing a pink dress and purple boots. I commented to the poster's creator that I appreciated his fashion choices. He replied "the purple boots are in honor of you." See, on the first day of class I had worn my purple boots, along with jeans, a purple and gold shirt, my lime green ultra-suede jacket and big hair -- I feel that it's only fair to let my students know who they are dealing with from day one. Anyway, it seems that I made an impression.

I wonder if there are other references to me embedded in students' work. It's like being in The Da Vinci Code.