Kronka

The world is too much with us…

Mon

May 24 2010

Quoth

  • Mike: is there an nba restaurant?
    let’s eat there!
  • Barney: i don’t think so…
  • Henry: … i am not eating at an nba restaurant…
    what would they even serve!?
  • Mike: uh.
    kobe beef burgers.

Sun

May 9 2010

Picture

A lazy Sunday.

A lazy Sunday.

Nothing like burning some delicious, delicious carcinogens into meat.

Link

Tue

Apr 20 2010

Link

Musing

Ashes to ashes.

In the past, our lovely little Icelandic volcano has erupted for months at a time—albeit at subdued levels, likely not to produce airplane-grounding levels of atmospheric ash.

Unpronounceable Icelandic volcano.

Which makes me wonder.

We’re lucky that our planet doesn’t normally spew enormous amounts of particulate matter into the air. I mean, in the grand scheme of things, Earth is pretty stable. We take for granted the fact that we can just fly anywhere, anytime.

What if, however, this wasn’t the case? What if, for example, every so often a volcano would pop up and render a region inaccessible by plane, perhaps for months? Southeast Asia this fall, North America next winter. How different our perception of travel would be. How would our global culture have developed differently? (Ignoring, say, long-term health effects and possible technological solutions—e.g. do turboprop planes work in ash? and the airships of yesteryear?)

Alternatively, what if the current volcano was a lasting thing? (On the scale of, say, decades.) Would the economy and culture of Europe (or whatever poor region) be thoroughly decimated without the convenience and power of flight? How dependent, really, are we, on air travel?

What a bizarre world that would be.

Photo credit: NASA.

Thu

Apr 15 2010

Picture

Seafood

Seafood

Tuna tartare on guacamole, citrus marinated salmon on sweet potato blini.

Review

Where the Wild Things Are (2009)

It makes you wonder. Does Max have such fantastical adventures often? Does he revisit this world and its inhabitants? And for someone so young, that is a lot of drama, sadness, and conflict to exist entirely in one’s imagination.

All this on account of not getting supper.

Thu

Apr 1 2010

Quoth

The burial of the dead.

April is the cruellest month, breeding
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
Memory and desire, stirring
Dull roots with spring rain.

The Waste Land, T. S. Eliot.

The first stanza of this poem is possibly my favorite eighteen lines of written word, ever.

Fri

Mar 5 2010

Review

The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell

I’m getting a little tired of Gladwell.

This book is about the little things that make situations, phenomena, and epidemics “tip”. Apparently, they involve: the right people, the right ideas, and the right contexts. Quel surprise.

Perhaps I’m merely living in a post-Gladwell world, where his previously radical thinking is just assumed truth.

Sun

Feb 21 2010

Quoth

There is no limit to what a man can do or how far he can go if he doesn’t mind who gets the credit.

Robert Woodruff

About kronka

This is the floating abode of Henry Li (that’s me!), a biomedical engineer by name and an intractable dilettante by trade.

Pick a style: subtle blue or tarnished copper

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The site is, admittedly, a little unfurnished. But parts arrive slowly and steadily. So check back often and follow the RSS.

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