Magnetic Poetry - The Profound

Until the creativity in the apartment has been revived (which usually tends to happen around finals time as we search for ways to procrastinate), this will be the last post in this series. I always save the best for last, whether they be long or short or smart or tart. There are certainly good ones in the other posts, but these, in addition to being the best, are also misfits that didn't really work under the other categories.

A desperate plea. I'm not sure whether it is asking for world peace or inner peace, but who wouldn't want either?

You have to open your mind to new experiences, or you will never grow from the person you are.
 

 This was my epic (by magnetic poetry standards) poem. I'm quite proud of it, though I found it puzzling that the word "would" was nowhere to be found.


And finally, a bit of advice: Become a person you can be proud of, regardless of how anyone else feels.

Magnetic Poetry - An Advisory

Sometimes we felt like being funny. Sometimes we had to spit out those pithy little sayings that sound great but are hard to actually apply to life. Then again, within the limitations of these words, there was only so much advice we could give.

Don't just back off, please. Let us know what's going on.

This was written for our summer roommate, who was having a little trouble letting go of an old flame.

 For the rest of us, this is probably the best advice. After all:

Although food and water probably should have made it onto that list. Eh, maybe they fall under luck.

But if those aren't enough for you, then you should come ask us in person:

Magnetic Poetry - The Bio Episode

When 3 roommates (plus one boyfriend who is here quite often) majoring in various areas of biology collide with a green/nature-themed magnetic poetry set, the result is not the Higgs boson, but still pretty nerdy. The fridge has seen its fair share of these geeky sentences.

They put the words in our mouths...err, hands. I mean seriously, why else would you give people photo + synthesis in a green-themed set?
 

Yes, I would certainly hope so. Or we wouldn't have much left.

Oh no, all that classification stuff...it's like Bio 1B all over again.

While this one is not as directly true, you can make it so by eating the cheese (but not my Brie!).


And finally, they gave us the words for all the others, but you have to be really nerdy to make your own bio terms...

Thank you G. for bringing us back to the molecular and cell side of biology. I like meiosis more than botany.

A Confidence About Confidence

Invictus

by William Ernest Henley

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.
 

I ran across this poem for the first time in a while today (thanks Maura Kelly!). The last time I read it, I was not as self confident as I am today. I thought, 'Well of course I determine my own fate. I make the choices, after all.'

Magnetic Poetry - The First Steps

The Scientist in the Yellow Hat, now with new and improved features! Or a singular feature, anyway:
I've decided I will post some magnetic pearls of wisdom from our refrigerator each week for the next couple weeks (and then wait until I build up a large pile of pictures again, lather, rinse, repeat).

At the beginning of last summer, my roommate and I went to Games of Berkeley - the game store in downtown Berkeley. While there, we decided to get a magnetic poetry kit for our plain, boring fridge. Now, most of the kits also have plain white word magnets, but there were a few color-themed sets.

We immediately ruled out pink, which left green and blue. My favorite color is blue, while hers is green, so after asking the store clerk which color he liked (green) and taking into consideration the color of the furniture (blue), we flipped a coin. She won. Ah well. I guess I like green too.

Here are some of our original creations from that first month. We'll start with the slightly more poetic (yes, my camera's phone is myopic and cannot focus well close up):

The life story of a were-cookie?

Teiresias, the Blind Seer

Boring through the deep blue sea,
His eyeless gaze next turned on me.
"Your future," said he wond'ringly,
"Will not be carved by destiny.

"Your choices come from your own will,
'Tis you who must do good or ill.
Most do not possess this skill,
But you shall make the world stand still.

“It all depends on your desire –
Turn vicious war into cease-fire?
Finish quick, relax, retire?”
“I think my path is to inspire.”