here’s the truth: I take it all back (essay of sorts)

‘anti-statement’ (in which I natter on about deletion/nothingness/poetic stuff) is now online at Angel House Press. It’s part of an essay series published by AHP on a fairly regular basis. The ‘anti-statement’ was written in response to a prompt for a writing group, many moons ago. There’s a real range of styles and content in these essays, all of which are well worth looking at.

Link to all the essays: http://www.angelhousepress.com/essays.php

Link to my essay (pdf): http://www.angelhousepress.com/essays/christine%20mcnair%20antistatement.pdf

complete

stellar evolution (life/death)

small stars
The helium core runs out, and the outer layers drift away from the core as a gaseous shell, called a planetary nebula. The remaining core (80% of the original star) is now in its final stages. The core becomes a white dwarf that eventually cools and dims. When it stops shining, the now dead star is called a black dwarf.

massive stars
The core collapses in less than a second, causing an explosion called a supernova, in which a shockwave blows off the outer layers of the star. (The actual supernova shines brighter than the entire galaxy for a short time).

Sometimes the core survives the explosion. If the surviving core is between 1.5 – 3 solar masses it contracts to become a tiny, dense, neutron star. If the core is much greater than 3 solar masses, the core contracts to become a black hole.

http://www.astro.keele.ac.uk/workx/starlife/StarpageS_26M.html

ring around the (variance)

Ring-a-ring-a-roses,
A pocket full of posies;
Hush! hush! hush! hush!
We’re all tumbled down.

Ring a ring a Rosie,
A bottle full of posie,
All the girls in our town
Ring for little Josie.

Ring a-ring o’ roses,
A pocketful of posies.
a-tishoo!, a-tishoo!.
We all fall down.

Ringelringelreihen,
Wir sind der Kinder dreien,
sitzen unter’m Hollerbusch
Und machen alle Huschhuschhusch!

Ring around the rosey,
A pocketful of posies.
ashes, ashes.
We all fall down.

Ring around a rosey,
A pocket full of posey
Husha, husha
We all fall down!.

Ring a ring a rosie
A pocketful of posies
a-tishoo!, a-tishoo!
We all fall down.

Ring-a Ring-a roses,
Pocket full of poses.
Husha, Busha.
We all fall down.

Kolo kolo mlýnský
Za čtyři rýnský,
Kolo se nám polámalo,
Mnoho škody nadělalo,
Udělalo bác!

Ring around the rosey,
Pocket full of posies.
Upstairs, downstairs.
We all fall down.

Picking up the roses,
picking up the roses,
Atishoo!, Atishoo!
We all jump up.

The bird up on the steeple,
Sits high above the people.
ah-tishoo, ah-tishoo.
We all fall down. 

バラの花輪だ　手をつなごうよ,
ポケットに　花束さして,
ハックション！　ハックション！ 
みんな　ころぼ。

Cows in the meadow,
eating buttercups.
thunder, lightning
We all stand up!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ring_a_Ring_o’_Roses

no, not that ferris, the other ferris

George Washington Ferris built the first Ferris wheel for the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition  in Chicago. The organizers wanted a monument to surpass the Eiffel Tower, built for the 1889 Paris International Exposition. The first Ferris wheel carried 1-1/2 million visitors, each paying 50 cents for a 20-minute ride.

George Washington Ferris spent the next two years in litigation with the fair’s organizers for his portion of the profits. He died in 1896 when he was only 37 years old. On May 11, 1906, the wheel was dynamited and scrapped.

He is sometimes confused with another George Ferris: http://nsla.nevadaculture.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=675&Itemid=95

the wheel of fortune

“The Wheel of Fortune, or Rota Fortunae, is a concept in medieval and ancient philosophy referring to the capricious nature of Fate. The wheel belongs to the goddess Fortuna, who spins it at random, changing the positions of those on the wheel – some suffer great misfortune, others gain windfalls. Fortune appears on all paintings as a woman, sometimes blindfolded, ‘puppeteering’ a wheel.”

Fortune rota volvitur;
descendo minoratus;
alter in altum tollitur;
nimis exaltatus
rex sedet in vertice
caveat ruinam!
nam sub axe legimus
Hecubam reginam.
— Carmina Burana codex

a wheel is a

A wheel is a circular device that is capable of rotating on its axis, facilitating movement or transportation whilst supporting a load or performing labor in machines. Source: Government Printing Office The Official Gazette of the United States Patent Office (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1895).

saint catherine and the broken wheel

YÁÑEZ DE LA ALMEDINA, Fernando, 1505-10, Oil on canvas, 212 x 112 cm, Museo del Prado, Madrid.

cartwheel galaxy

 

http://chandra.harvard.edu/photo/2006/cartwheel/

the catherine wheel