Drabble Geeks

Geeks…Being Total Geeks.

Category: All Posts

How Does It Hold Up: The Lost World: Jurassic Park II

Drabble Geek's avatar by Leave a comment

I’m back after watching another part of a series movie that was a core memory of some people’s childhood. I did watch movies with dinosaurs in them, they just never included humans. I may have just been busy watching cop shows. (Let’s be honest, it was definitely the cop shows.) Either way, I have made my way through the second Jurassic Park movie soon after watching the first, and I have some notes. While I did somewhat enjoy this movie, I didn’t love it as much as I enjoyed the first; it did have a low-key feel to it. Before going into the specifics of the movie, I do love when sequels are able to get the kid actors again, even if it’s just for a short cameo.

Firstly, there was a logical reason for having another movie, which I immediately questioned at the end of the first. With science fiction movies, for me at least, there needs to be a very good reason for having a sequel. There was probably some help since this movie was based on a book to help with the grounding, but I won’t know that until I read it. (Hint, hint.) I also enjoyed that there was some growth within the characters. One, not willingly letting children around dinosaurs? Check. Two, not necessarily profiting off of animals for the sole purpose of entertainment? Check. It was good. I’m now scared about how and why there are more movies. Why? It was a perfect ending. It is very much a “what now, humanity” as it included the very real conversation of how can we preserve animals and leave them in a somewhat natural habitat. Perfect ending in my opinion. The only thing that would have made it better is a way to actually see most of the movie. One or two more flashlights here and there would have helped.

Now, there is one more movie to finish the series. I did watch Jurassic World, and I was meh before, but I’m definitely not a fan of the new movies. I now get some of the easter eggs, but I really don’t care. I’m really hoping the third movie doesn’t disappoint me. I’m crossing my fingers.

I Hope You Get Better

Drabble Geek's avatar by Leave a comment

As a scientist, I think that the more we try to understand the world, the better, no matter what other things someone may believe. I am also a strong believer in understanding history so that it hopefully doesn’t rhyme. Diseases are interesting to me, not just as someone who is currently studying cancer, but as someone who always seemed to get three colds a year. Taking my getting colds every year to the next level gives you plagues, which then of course led me to reading the book Get Well Soon: History’s Worst Plagues and the Heroes Who Fought Them by Jennifer Wright.

Prefacing this with being just four years after the initial shutdown after the COVID-19 outbreak in the United States, and as someone who did everything the CDC told me to do, it was such an interesting read. Over and over again, we saw people doing everything they could while others discounted those efforts, some for good and some for bad reasons. Post-COVID, I was just face-palming and trying to hide my face with my hands in second-hand embarrassment. I completely agree with the author and that there are key takeaways we should take from these ancient diseases in order to protect ourselves in the future. Even the little things we can do on a personal level can significantly affect our health. Because let’s face it, there is going to be another plague someday. I would hate for history to continue rhyming.

One Crazy Week in New York

Drabble Geek's avatar by Leave a comment

I’m back to reading more of the classics, because I want, not because I’m being forced to for some high school class. I don’t know why, but I hated every single book I was forced to read for school. Now that I’m reading some of these “perfect high school reading material,” I feel like maybe I would have been slightly wrong about my hatred. Maybe it’s not trying to find every single little hidden meaning or being able to take my time. Mainly, for this one book, I would not have been able to keep up with whatever schedule my teacher would have decided. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger would have been one of my nightmare books.

Don’t get me wrong, it was a good book, and I enjoyed reading it. I’m usually not a fan of stream-of-consciousness writing, but I think it really works in this case. Instead of the thoroughly laid-out endeavors of a protagonist, we have the dirty ramblings of a teenage boy. I did have to put the book down a couple of times from the intense secondhand embarrassment. I feel that every page had the hair standing up from my neck, me constantly thinking, “Yeah, I can definitely see a teenage boy stupidly doing all of this if they had the time and money.” Cringe aside, it was a very intriguing read that kept me involved with the story and coming back to it. I enjoyed how the conscious stream altered over the course of the book. Don’t think someone who have taken this short amount of time to have the transformation held within, but who knows with teenagers. I could change my mind at the drop of a hat when I was our protagonist’s age. But, feel free to dive into the mind of a teenager again. I really hope that I won’t have to for a while longer.

Wars on Nouns

Drabble Geek's avatar by Leave a comment

If you are anything like me, as in born within five or so years of me, you probably do not remember a world where the United States is not at what with… something. For example, I have no memory of a pre-9/11 world. My parents did a decent job of not really shining a light on the subject. I just knew that airport security is very serious.

(Story time: On my most recent plane trip, one the the TSA agents yelled to the entire line, paraphrasing, “Guys, y’all know you can’t have water bottles and get through security. Don’t act like you don’t know. This has been a rule for like 13 years.” I almost died laughing in line. There is always that one person. Alright, story time over.)

Anyway, like lots of people nowadays, I do have an almost morbid curiosity for what you could call true crime content and wanting to understand the thinking behind people doing the things they do. Now, when I came across a book discussing the United States’ role in the Middle East for the last twenty years, I was very interested since there have been conflicting views on the topic since I remember. In this century’s version of the Pentagon Papers, we have The Afghanistan Papers by Craig Whitlock of The Washington Post.

If you are interested in political history but do not care for much discussion of military strategy, I think you will enjoy this book. Rather than discussing the nitty-gritty of planning operations, we are able to see the big picture overview of how the American government was selling the “war” to its citizens versus what was actually said behind the scenes. One of the most interesting things to me was how Whitlock discusses how he genuinely believes that we would not have been in the Middle East as long as we were, and maybe still are, if there wasn’t what seems to be the intentional disregard for the culture of the area. Given the evidence laid out, I have to agree. From my admittingly lack of information on some of these procedures, there seemed to be a better way.

If you are interested, like I was, to see what we have been doing for the last twenty years as a country, I believe that you will like this book. Even if you do not agree with the takeaways Whitlock makes, I still think it is important to see how the information the general public was told was very different from what was being said behind closed doors. If nothing else, you can see how these continuous wars on nouns, don’t work and leave society wanting.

New Year, New Me!!!

Drabble Geek's avatar by Leave a comment

All jokes aside, last year sucked for me. Nothing outradious happened. I hope I don’t worry anyone too much. I am fully on track with completing my degree. It was just as I was getting to the last few months that I realized I wasn’t participating in the things that I like to do. I love reading and writing. Do I have evidence of that from the last year? No. Have I completed a couple of art projects that I like to do each year? No.

Keeping that in mind, my goals for this year is to do and complete projects that I like to do. This year, I am putting more effort into doing the things that I enjoy and not fall into the trap of going to school, going home, falling alseep, and then waking up to only go back to school. It might not seem like much, but looking back on my 2023, I barely had fun. For 2024, even though I will have some more responsibilities in some aspects, I will be saying no more to the things that I don’t need to do, so I can say yes to the things I actually want to do. This may not seem like much, but I am a people-pleaser. It’s going to be hard, but I am adamant that this happens.

A Very Hard Watch

Drabble Geek's avatar by Leave a comment

There has been a documentary series that was being talked about all over the internet. Ironically, I thought I would watch it myself instead of taking someone else’s word for it. The documentary I’m talking about is “Shiny Happy People.” To begin, this documentary is tough to sit through. It is not something to watch or read about if you are not in the right headspace to even think about this.

The documentary is centered around the Duggar family for those not in the know. For those who don’t know who they are, they are the family from the TLC show “19 Kids and Counting.” I never watched the show because I wasn’t interested in learning about a family that had 19 children, but at the same time, I could see the appeal. I watch people in what I would deem bad situations to understand or make myself feel smarter. Moving on from that, the Duggar family was part of what I would call a Christian fundamentalist cult known as the Institute of Basic Life Principles or IBLP.

This documentary is important since it discusses some of the dangers of Christian fundamentalism that have been creeping through the country and the world, in some cases. I will note that I do not care about your religious or spiritual beliefs if you do not hurt someone or yourself. The teaching of this group has led to the hurt and suffering of many people. Many survivors have spoken up to present their stories, which I was very glad were a part of the documentary series, instead of focusing only on the Duggars. Now, if you are in the right place, I would recommend watching. It is a tough watch, but a necessary one.

Triggers: sexual abuse, child abuse, child sexual abuse

What I’m doing now

Drabble Geek's avatar by Leave a comment

I figured that with the post; I would do something a little different. It seems that I am always working, either in the lab, writing a paper, or planning thousands of things. Because of that, I have to keep my mind somehow focused. My primary way of doing so is to listen to several podcasts or music. Also, I will give you a hint of a couple of things I am currently doing.

What I am listening too

So, since I am doing several things, having a podcasts to listen to is the perfect way to listen to something while doing something else. I use Spotify, so you can use everything there.

Daily News:

  • Up First
  • What A Day
  • Morning Announcements

Comedy and storytelling:

  • Distractable
  • Dungeons and Daddies
  • The Glass Cannon Podcast
  • Thanks, We Hate It

Horror and thriller:

  • Redwood Bureau
  • Spooky Boo’s Creepypasta and Scary Stories
  • Canadian True Crime
  • Freaky Folklore

Personal finance:

  • The Money Guy Show
  • You Need A Budget

Lifestyle:

  • Grad School Femtoring
  • Sounds Fake But Okay
  • A Productive Conversation
  • The Minimalists Podcast

What I am reading

When I am not working, I am reading. At least, I’m trying to get back into reading if you remember my previous post.

  • The Afghanistan Papers: a Secret History of the War by Craig Whitlock

I heard this book was good and I was interested, so I’m reading

  • The Nancy Drew series

For whatever reason, I decided I needed; to read this book series, all 300 books. I don’t know why, I just did. I’m making good progress through.

For a more up-to-date list of the books I’m reading, follow me on Goodreads under Drabble Geek with “DG” as the profile photo. I’ll friend everyone who asks.

What I’m doing

I’m a busy person. First and foremost, I am a Ph.D. student. It’s hard and grueling work sometimes, but it’s what I’ve chosen to do with my life. Secondly, I have a mission to encourage geekiness and nerdiness. Doing what I can to help people do what they want with the resources they have, is essential to me. Anyway, I can help people do that, and I want to. One way is to have this blog that I update as I can. Another way is by opening my services tab. It is still very much a work in progress to get it to the point I want, but check it out. I’ll help everyone I can in a first come, first serve manner. There are also other things that I am working on that are very much a work in progress, but you can also check that out in my “Projects” tab.

I hope everyone is having a great week and a fantastic Pride Month. I’ll hopefully come out with new content next week.

Semester 6 Grad School Reflection

Drabble Geek's avatar by Leave a comment

So… I’m back after disappearing for about a semester. Looking through my posts, I only wrote two posts between the last grad school reflection and this one. I haven’t even read a book in a while, which is disappointing, but this is just a wake-up call to get back on track with my yearly goal. I try my best to read at least 50 books a year, and I was about 15 books behind.

I think that this semester I had just burned out. I just didn’t want to do anything. I would go to school, do as much work as I could mentally manage, and then go home and lay around. I didn’t read, I didn’t write, and I did not take part in any of my hobbies. It utterly sucked, but there were some wins for the semester. I completed my preliminary exam, meaning I am now a Ph.D. candidate. Two, I am done with my classes. This means that I can put my full attention onto research and I don’t have to spend hours studying for classes. I’m hoping this lessens my mental burden on myself, but I’m not too sure, especially since I would like to graduate in two more years. In one way, I’m excited to start my life, but in another, I don’t want to do more adulting. Later this year, I’m getting dropped off my parent’s insurance, which terrifies me. Does this mean I will no longer have help making doctor’s appointments? I hate talking to people on the phone.

I took a month off from the semester’s end, hoping to regain some of my sanity. As of writing this, the semester ended a month ago, but I just didn’t feel like doing anything until now. I am mentally doing a lot better, which is a sign that I need to pace myself for the next two years. Let’s just see what happens in another half year.

The Invisible Cost

Drabble Geek's avatar by Leave a comment

Book two of the nonfiction grind includes more information that I feel like I should innately know. This week, I will discussing Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men by Caroline Criado Pérez. This book discusses the many different ways in which women are not accounted for, whether it be everyday living, work, and gaming. There were many aspects of which I had never even thought. Ever thought thought about how you are always cold in the work place? Well, women’s metabolic rate may have something to do with that. Ever thought about motion sickness? Well, there many be differences there as well. Again, is just these things that you never thought about, as well as things that are common, such as the unpaid labor that is often put onto women. Yes, I did know that, but I did not realize some of the downstream effects having the burden of much of the unpaid labor has on women. It was a fascinating read, for those who are interested, but also brought up was in which I personally could close the gap, because these were also things I never thought about. It’s definitely something to think about.

From the Lower Rung

Drabble Geek's avatar by Leave a comment

I’ve been on a slight nonfiction kick, so be prepared to learn for a bit. While I entered this book knowing I would most likely learn something, I never expected to learn as much as I did. Sure, I read the summary and synopsis, but that did not prepare me for the brain blasts I had multiple times and the profound effect this would have more me. The most recent book to add to my list was Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson.

For those who don’t feel like reading the summary, this experience argues, quite effectively, I might add, that America was built on a caste system. It does this by comparing the historically well-known and long-lasting caste system found in India, as well as the short-lived one that is the Nazi occupation of Germany, by bringing up the eight pillars: divine will, heritability, endogamy, purity, occupation hierarchy, dehumanization, terror as enforcement, and inherent superiority. This book discusses many historical facts that I had never heard about but is both surprising to never hear about and not surprising that it was covered up. One surprising fact was that the dehumanization of people in Europe during the Nazi occupation was based on the horrendous Jim Crowe laws that proliferated through society after the American Civil War, but then again, why not copy a system that has been shown to work.

Yes, there are some antidotes directly from the author, but I agree that this is necessary since history is built on the human experience. As another African American female, I felt many of the antidotes on a spiritual level, as I have felt many similar feelings in similar experiences. On top of hearing this compelling argument, it also speaks to my experiences, which probably made it a more profound experience for me. There are also other perspectives that should be heard from this book. That is why I would recommend anyone interested in the systemic racial structuring of the United States to read this book. It is a perspective that I never thought of before, and it completely made sense to me.