More's on the way

Sorry for disappearing so rudely like that.  I'll blame work and the beginning of my freshman year in college, and as things wind down and get into a routine, I promise some new posts are on the way.  I'm thinking a post about the awesomeness of jellyfish (and their relatives) is needed in the near future...

Dracula, First Name Vlad

Portrait of Vlad III Dracula – The Ambras Castle Portrait

Most of us in touch with the Western world are familiar with the fictional character Dracula, the king/father of all/only/oldest/alpha vampire.  What I find most compelling about the literature surrounding this "Dracula" is the man who inspired it all, a man called Vlad and nicknamed "The Impaler" posthumously (or Wladislaus Dragwlya, vaivoda partium Transalpinarum formally).  Put simply, Vlad was one bad dude; he was a man who inspired fear and obedience; he was the godfather of medieval horror stories; and he was the paragon of icy ruthlessness.

The Power of the Wind – A Brief Historical and Political Musing

Above: A wind farm at sea – utilizing ocean space for alternative energy development with minimal environmental impact

Humankind owes much to the wind.  Without the raw power of the wind, our historical progress would have been severely decelerated.  Beyond its biologically necessary environmental roles, the wind has fueled exploration and commerce and opened up to the human race greater means, and thereby greater accomplishments.  Humankind has managed, over time, to use the force generated by the movement of air from areas of high pressure to areas of low pressure to push ships across the seas and to turn windmills to performs tasks from grinding crop to generating electricity.

Neptune (and Jupiter)

Neptune

So I was sitting, watching TV and enjoying my day off work, when I flipped over to the Science Channel.  The show "How the Universe Works" was being broadcast and I found the information fascinating, and thought I'd make an impromptu post (please forgive the lack of professionalism herein) about Neptune (with an interesting fact about Jupiter, to which, apparently, we all owe our lives).

Happy Fourth Everyone, but before the Fireworks...

John Hancock portrait by John Singleton Copley

Today being the Fourth of July, and I being an American citizen, I thought it might be fitting to make a post related to the American revolution, and so I present you with a brief historical profile of John Hancock.

My First Real Post (A Shout into the Void)

What to write about first in a blog about everything?  That's a hard question for me to confront, and realizing that I'm approaching this question entirely unprepared, I'll just fall back on an essay I wrote a couple of years ago for my Language class. It's a short and simple essay that argues in favor of a self-evident truth, so no ground will be shattered here; however, I nevertheless believe this essay makes for an appropriate first real post as it describes the foundation of my thinking: skepticism.

My First Post

Greetings,

My initial intention in creating this blog is simply to create a space for myself to describe and discuss whatever interests me at whatever time I happen to be sitting in front of my computer, and, hopefully, to start some spirited debates.  I hope to enlighten and to be enlightened.  There are not many activities I enjoy more than an intelligent conversation concerning an interesting (and occasionally even dry and esoteric) topic; and so I invite you to explore, to laugh, to experience righteous indignation, and to become a little more enlightened with me on my life's little journey chronicled in this blog centered around whatever happens to be bouncing around in my head; however, as this is the beginning of my experiment with a blog, and you know next to nothing about me (should you be reading this post prior to any subsequent posts of mine), let me make clear now that I am, at this time, a liberal atheist soon to enter pre-med who is interested in biology, history, current events, literature, economics, philosophy, and politics – and so my blog should primarily become concerned with those subjects. 

So please enjoy, contribute, and be forever a student.

Sincerely and Simply Signed,

John

(beginning blogger and amateur thinker)