F3 Ship Design

            Flynn pored over the ship’s schematics, trying to figure them out. The Mozart’s refit was going well, but trying to marry thirty year-old systems and designs with cutting-edge technology wasn’t always easy. The second generation jump drive would make the ship relevant again as a combat vessel instead of the support role she had been relegated to, but trying to get everything up to the new design specs was a headache.

New Experiment

            I said last week that M# was a success. I am thinking about doing a new one for Wednesdays, a Webdev Wonder Wednesday. However, this particular feature will be intermittent at best. I simply don’t know enough code to make it a regular feature. Moreover, a lot of what this will encompass will be linking to places where others explain their bits of web code to enhance websites, but I will put my own spin on things.

            Mostly, this won’t be a regular feature because I simply don’t have enough interest to constantly find out new tricks to put up. I want to put up material that’s useful, especially to authors making their own sites and blogs. I don’t want to paste up code just to paste up code.

            So we’ll try this out a little at a time, posting whenever I feel the urge or when I discover some interesting little trick.

M3 Flood Myth: Hindu: Manu and the Fish

            Manu and the Fish is a very short myth about Manu, who finds and takes care of a fish. The fish warns him of some terrible things that the fish will help him avoid in exchange for this treatment. Manu feeds the fish, which grows and grows and grows. Manu has to transfer it to successively larger jars until fully grown and returned to the ocean. When the floods come, the fish pulls Manu to safety in a boat.

F3 Mail Call

            Flynn pored over the proposed navigational data in his quarters. The convoy wanted to take the direct route to Pericles, but that would take them into Tethys, which was controlled by a rival guild. It was likely that the guild would exact a heavy tax on anything trying to move through their territory.

            Tax. They try and make it sound romantic. It’s still piracy.

Last Year's Experiment

            Last Year I experimented with the M³ posts. I have to say, I like them. I had been struggling to come up with content that was interesting on Mondays, so I think that this is a permanent feature, now. After an entire year’s worth of posts I’ve also realized that I have just barely scratched the surface. I have years’ worth of material when it comes to mythology, and it will give me ample time to delve even further into the subject. So M³ will live on!

M3 Norse Creation

            Right away, the Norse creation begins with conflict. Ice and fire mingle together from the realms of Nifleheim and Muspell. A river forms, and the ice melts to reveal Ymir and a cow. Yes, a cow. The cow (by name of Audhumla) licked at the ice until it uncovered three brothers: Vili, Ve, and Odin. The three of them killed Ymir, and then . . . recycled him. It’s common in ancient cultures not to let anything go to waste, especially in a creation myth. The three needed to create the world, and, well, Ymir’s body was there, so they used it. This is similar to how the Chinese myth used the giant Pangu to create the world (though these cultures had no connection in ancient times to influence one another).

F3 Sound FX.

            “Chief,” Flynn whispered by the communications station. “We’re receiving an open broadcast on all channels. The computer has flagged it with a code of FX, but that’s not a standard operation code.”

            “First time on the Hierarchy frontier, right?” Chief Petty Officer Hargrave whispered back.

            “Yes,” Flynn said slowly.

Fresh Start

            So, in reflecting on the past year, I have to say the first part was really bad. A lot got thrown my way that made life extra difficult, and I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to make it. Emergency after emergency kept sucking up funds, and my job just wasn’t going that well. But by May things had begun to turn themselves around. I still had a financially-challenging summer because of teaching, but another turnaround in the form of teaching at a new campus helped tremendously by the time the fall semester started.

M3 Greek Creation I (Olympian).

            The first thing I need to say is that the Greeks have multiple creation myths, and they are not variations on a theme. They have completely different characters and plotlines to the story. I will be tackling all of them, but not rapid-fire. The Olympian myth is generally regarded as the predominant myth, and makes the most sense in terms of the body of Greek mythology.

            I have to also warn that this myth is one of the reasons I put a sex disclaimer in my class syllabus. So, do not proceed unless you’re prepared to deal with sex, some disturbing kinds of it, too.

F3 Get Stuffed

            Get Stuffed was the newest rage around University Square. They billed themselves out as a “fusion bakery” whatever that meant. But the reality was good enough. Jen had been the one to discover it, and then promptly gotten Jessie and I hooked by bringing some to the office. Now we made it a habit of eating their food once a week, usually in the form of takeout brought in by Jen.

M3 Japanese Creation

            I enjoy the Japanese creation myth. There’s an innocence to it that makes it endearing. Whereas many creation myths are visceral, even violent (especially when it comes to sex) the Japanese myths adopts a childlike purity. Izanagi (the male god) and Izanami the (female goddess) approach sex in its simplest (almost mechanical) form with innocent curiosity. The observe the differences between their two bodies, and wonder what would happen if they joined together.

F3 Changes

            I didn’t mingle at the party. Inside, revelers waiting for the ball to drop sipped their Champagne, ate hors d’oeuvres, and laughed. They didn’t laugh at anything in particular, they just laughed. It wasn’t my scene, so I stood on the balcony, looking down.