outer-jessie's Diaryland Diary

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still have frownies for (nearly) everyone

68 readers, one response to the survey. >:|

Thanks, Apt-Get. Since you bothered to reply, I shall bother to post the answers, as far as I know them (which ought to be pretty far, but you never know).

* Does the Sun go around the Earth, or the Earth around the Sun?

The earth goes around the sun.

* What is a year?

The time it takes for the earth to go around the sun once.

* What is a day?

The time it takes for the earth to rotate on its axis once.

* What causes the phases of the moon?

The light part of the moon is the part that's facing the sun, and the dark part is the part that's not. We can see different portions of the light and dark sides as the moon moves around us.

* What causes the tides?

The moons gravity tugs on the earth and its oceans and causes a high tide on the side of earth closest to it and the side farthest away (by pulling the earth away from the ocean on that side) and low tides everywhere else (since we have a finite amount of ocean water).

* Why do we have seasons?

This is the one most people get wrong, but it's mostly a phrasing problem. The Earth has a tilt to its axis, so at times we (let's assume the Northern Hemisphere, because that's where I am) are pointing toward the Sun and times we're pointing away. People usually phrase this as being "closer to or further from" the Sun. In fact, as I mentioned in my non-essay, the Northern hemisphere is further from the sun, distance wise, in the summer than in the winter. So that's not the real reason -- even though, and I know this to be true at least in my education, that's how a lot of us learned it. The real reason is the "slant" of the sun's rays as it hits the surface of the earth: in summer, the rays hit directly; in winter, they come in at an angle. Overall, the amount of sunlight is constant, so if you get rays coming in at an angle, you get less of the energy. I know this doesn't make a lot of sense just to read, but imagine yourself in a room with just a bald lightbulb overhead. If you stand directly under the bulb and look straight up, a lot of light hits your eyes (probably too much). Move a couple feet away from the bulb and look straight up, you're still getting light in your eyes, but not nearly as much, because now the rays are coming in from an angle. That's the best way I can describe it.

* What is winter?

We already talked about it, it's when the earth is faced away from the sun and receiving indirect rays, making it colder.

I did manage to write a new essay and get the application out by the end of the day, but it was pretty stressful, and -- please sit down for this -- I skipped lunch to get it done. I never skip meals. It's not like I couldn't eat lunch, there was just too much on my plate...ha ha...to worry about it just then. The package should be arriving at the U of A by 3 o'clock Eastern time, noon there. It should probably really already be there by now, but come on, we're talking about the mail here. The same system that delivers me mail intended for my landlady "Bandana" (her real name is Bindu).

Tragedy struck yesterday in the form of a phone message, two really, from Katie Peek, my red-headed arroyo roommate bridesmaid. She regretfully, sorrowfully reported that my bridesmaid dresses have been discontinued. And she, and two of my other bridesmaids, had yet to get theirs. Good, three bridesmaids with dresses, three without! I called the shop to get the scoop, and it really wasn't as bad as Katie suspected. The dresses still exist, they just aren't being made anymore. This means she and the two other girls have to get the double-plus pronto. Katie's all set, she already knows her size and just has to call in her order. The other two girls, the two lazy, procrastinating, no-excuse having girls, have to get their asses into the store right away. And you know what made the night extra good? I had phone numbers for neither of them. One just moved to a new town, and the other's line was temporarily disconnected last night, o fateful night. I was calmly prepared to send heads rolling down that wedding aisle, but I got in touch with them both today so it wasn't necessary. I'm sure they'll both be very penitent, but whatever. Bridesmaids are supposed to help brides, not make more trouble for them. These chicks owe me. Owe me what exactly, I don't know, but I'm sure they're feeling mighty cool for having the dresses discontinued out from under them, after I told them to order them by the end of the summer, so their sheepishness is really payment enough.

Mwahahaha.

I woke up feeling great today. I wonder what that was all about. It didn't last.

That's all right. It'll be back.

12:08 p.m. - 2002-10-04

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