A Day at Worlds of Fun

Worlds of Fun serves as a sort of litmus test of that moment when the line representing the child’s urge to repeat peak experiences crosses the line representing the adult’s growing sense of restraint. The crossing of these lines occurred for me several years ago. I found that despite being a free agent in the park, I could not fulfill my dream of riding multiple roller coasters in rapid succession. To put it better, I could, but I no longer cared to do so. It tasted of both wisdom and disappointment. Such is life.

My wife, who has perhaps a greater lust for life than me in some aspects, has also found that her lines have crossed. Maureen expressed to me on several occasions her intentions to ride the “Patriot” coaster as many times as possible. Please consult the list of our rides in order ridden below to see what actually occured.

Patriot
Patriot
Boomerang
Mamba
Zulu
Spinning Dragons
Fury of the Nile
Skyliner

Between “Spinning Dragons” and the Fury, I rode the “Fjord Fjairlane” with my sister. It is so relaxing as to be considered a negative ride in terms of nausea. I nearly talked Maureen into “Le Taxitour” at one point. We noted that neither of us actually like driving. The “Boomerang” took a lot out of both Maureen and I.

If you are young and there is an amusement park that you wish you had one low-attendance day to exploit, I recommend you do it. Go with one friend who shares your interest. Go without the restraints of your youth group or parents. Go before your lines cross. Go in October.

Gilding the Lily

I recently read “Anathem” by Neal Stephenson. In this fiction, a society of cloistered mathematicians live in isolated communities with only occasional contact with the surrounding world. Upon contact with the outside world, the mathematicians often express surprise that humanity at large is still iterating designs on objects and methods that have existed for milennia. One example in the book is a gas stove. The hero of the book is flummoxed that although the outer society has been heating food through all of recorded human history, the basic gas stove is still failure prone, dangerous, and generally poor. The few objects that the mathematicians rely on are of frozen designs so highly perfected that they seem almost magical to outsiders.

Every time I have to replace a toothbrush, the toothbrush I just finished with is no longer available at any of my local stores. There are hundreds of shapes and configurations of toothbrush available to me, but none are the one that just satisfactorily cleaned my teeth for 3 months. This has always confounded me. Surely, by now, there ought to be One Toothbrush. Maybe 3 or 4 are needed to account for the variations in the human mouth.

Likewise the sedan type automobile should have converged on one exterior shape almost a hundred years ago. This shape has been known since very early in the existince of the car.

So often, what I hear referred to as “design” is really just figuring out a new shape for an object. It is a zero sum game in which a new appearance is considered a success. A new appearance for a mass produced object is wildly expensive to implement. It is indefensible from the perspective of the function of the object. Take for example, the recent debacle with the malfunctioning antenna of the iphone 4. Macintosh computers, considered a champion of “design”, sold an expensive product that had a significant failure in the backbone of it’s core function. But it was pretty.

In the worst cases, the visual design iteration will actually hamper the function or integrity of an object. This problem is currently rampant in the world of bicycles. “Concept” bicycles, amost without exception these days, feature some kind of hubless wheel. Even if this were readily achievable for a reasonable cost, which it isn’t, it would actually make a bicycle worse in a number of ways.

What is it about us that fails to recognize when something is as good as it is going to get? Why can’t we stick with what works?

I much enjoyed the book and highly recommend it.

FRC 2011 Greater Kansas City Regional

Tomorrow is the first day of the 2011 Greater Kansas City Regional of the First Robotics Competition. If you have any interest in attending, more information can be found at:

kcfirst.org

An agenda in PDF is available here.

I’m also going to try to keep a stream of photos coming out of the pits to my flickr account.

This One

Kenyans are not given to the ooey gooey in their affections. Their dignity is simply too great.

There is an expression I learned in Kenya that has really stayed with me. When introducing or speaking of a person you care for, especially while they are present, you refer to them as “this one.” It is said in a way that is indefinably charming. There is something between a smile and smirk that accompanies the phrase, and it signifies love.

For example, I might ask Fred Kitanga how long he has been a married man. His reply, if his wife Rose were anywhere around, would almost certainly be, “It was in 1969 that I found this one.” The smallest, most gentle gesture of his hand toward her would likely be seen.

Maybe what I like about this expression is that it seems to imply a sense of pride on the part of the speaker.

A moment I deeply relished in my relationship with my wife was when I was able to introduce her to my Kenyan host family, the Malukis. “I have brought you…this one,” I said.

Maybe what I like about it is that it holds up this person as something worthy of serious attention. In my mind, it elevates the target person to a nearly illicit degree of grandiosity. Upon sight of the person no further explanation is necessary. The excellence is patently obvious. Take a moment to consider this one…if you dare.

It is one year now that I have been the husband of my wife, Maureen. For the moment, in this blog, all that I will say is that I am so very glad I found this one:

Marriage Side Effect #1

I have adopted Maureen’s habit of referring to a cheeseburger as a “cheeseburg.” Perhaps this word is meant to draw a similarity between a cheeseburger and an iceberg. Could it be that the taste of a cheeseburger is the tip of the iceberg that is the way you feel after consuming one?

Or maybe the “burg” suffix refers to a town? You are now entering Burg of Cheese, population: delicious.