Earth
Notes: Written for The Great Planet Creation Competition.
After days of troubleshooting, I've finally gotten this programme to work. Please DO NOT MODIFY anything, or you will regret ever touching my computer.
Programming language: G--
Create Earth. Set shape spherical.
In Earth:
Create Sky. Set colour random, exclude Green, Purple, White, range Red10 to Red50.
Create Clouds. Set colour White01. Set shape random. Set movement random.
Create Land. Set colour Brown, Green, White. Set shape random. Set movement random.
Create Sea. Set colour random range Blue10 to Blue50. Set movement random.
Create Air. Set colour NIL. Set shape random. Set movement random. Percentage composition: 78.09% Nitrogen, 20.95% Oxygen, 0.93% Argon, 0.04% Carbon dioxide.
In Air:
Create Nitrogen. Set state gas at temperature -195.8 °C. Set state liquid at temperature -195.8 °C. Define temperature.
.
.
.
Notes:
Of course that's not it. Did you really think I would share the whole programme with you? Especially how I created the living beings?
Go create your own planet - you can name it Mars, Venus, whatever. I don't care. Just don't steal my idea.
I'm going to win this competition.
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Image credits: Taken from http://www.twitrcovers.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Programming-Code-l.jpg
Second Chance
A parallel universe to Earth
God created – he wasn’t pleased,
It was misshapen and lumpy
and the people weren’t in his image.
It was so lonely in the pin pricked night
with grating sounds and no purpose.
He decided to create another one
so he could say “it is good!”
The first universe was just practice
so he could improve his skills
It was dark and barren and foreboding
Now that he had honed his artistry,
he scattered humans in perilous midnight
and sprinkled crystal drops of water
rotating them until they covered earth,
cerulean blue, aqua, cobalt and turquoise,
saying, “As I take, I give back!”
He juggled the night with moon and stars,
occasionally dropping the earthen ball,
never giving up, got right back on the horse,
so that twilight metamorphosed into dawn,
bringing rays of sunlight to our world.
He shaped the light so we could witness
his creation as the emboldened dawn took care
of obscurity, leaving footprints on vapor trails.
Bolts of lightning became words to hapless souls.
Time begged to be born and it was so.
God’s fingers molded lumps of soft clay,
blood and bone coalesced to become flesh.
Fluttering souls awakened in deep shadows.
Joy of touch erupted in skin sensations.
God gave words to express feelings of
love and passion as we witnessed mosaics
of all creations cascading in sultry colors.
Inner peace and spiritual whispers flowed
on breezes as a leaf survives the wind on its tip.
Mist arose as intrigue surged through hungry hearts
but it was not enough – he gave us creativity -
so that our life would be laden full of promise.
He gave us touch and ability to express ourselves.
He filled the bowl of our world with fish and birds.
He placed animals – large and small – on our earth.
He shaped the wet pottery of man in his image
carefully molding him to create wonders of being.
Day and night became the never ending circle of life.
When he was through, he held his head in his hands
and praised what he had done, proclaiming with wonder,
“This is much better than the parallel universe I spawned first
“If at first, I didn’t succeed, I tried, tried, tried again!”
AND IT WAS GOOD!
Why I Write
My mind is like a prison.
It fills with inmates,
Getting too crowded.
The images and emotions often
Fight for space in the forefront
Of my brain, each hoping to be released.
Each hoping to be shared with the world.
Through writing, I
Free them for others to see,
Enjoy, and experience.
I write to free my
True self from it bonds.
Free.
Free!
FREE!!
With every word I write,
I inhale a breath of fresh air.
I hear the birds and brook sing.
I see the silk clad trees.
I feel the gentle breeze
And warm sun's rays.
When I write, no one,
Not Heaven nor Hell,
Can hold me down.
When I write, no one
can control me.
When I write I am
Ever so truly free.
Chatting About The Popol Vuh
In order for this post to make sense let me contextualize it. Yesterday I posted a rough summary of the very beginning of a Mayan (This is the one time I make a blanket assumption in this post because contrary to popular understanding the Mayan people are not 1 civilization but a term used to describe multiple Indigenous groups) epic myth about Hunahpu and Xbalanque the deities/heroes that would eventually become the Sun and Moon in our understanding of K'Iche' (which inadvertently leaks over into our understanding of Mayan mythology) mythology and cosmology. Where we learned about this myth and where it was stored in as permanent a state as writing can be considered (if you consider writing to be a permanent state, you're wrong but that's a conversation for another day) is a document named the Popol Vuh, which is a corpus (large and structured set of texts) containing mythical and historical narratives allowing foreigners to gain insight into how the K'Iche' viewed their own cultural history. It contains more than just the Sun and Moon Twins myth but that's my favorite part of it which is why I talk about that rather than focusing on other parts of it.
Popol Vuh means any of the following: "Book of the people" "Book of the community" and "Book of counsel". It was transcribed into its current form by a man known as Father Ximenez in 1701 in the town known as Chichicastenango (alternatively known as Santo Tomas Chichicastenango) which is contemporarily in the El Quiche department of Guatemala. Ximenez transcribed what was likely an oral retelling (that's my opinion and lots of historians believe that there was actually a text that Ximenez used to transcribe this, but I don't believe that because of a lack of such a manuscript ever being found) of these myths into Spanish and K'iche'. There was a bit of drama around it when it was in the process of becoming known commonly by historians which also made it a fun source to track down and read. I say "drama" but the chain of events that led to it eventually becoming a commonly known source isn't unique to the Popol Vuh, and is common for all sorts of codices from Latin America.
It can be found online in English by clicking the link at the bottom of this post (assuming I did this correctly). I'll probably talk more substantially about some other texts like this in the future. If you want to know about some ancient Indigenous documents (this shouldn't really qualify because it's current form isn't really ancient or particularly Indigenous in its origin) let me know! As a historian focused on Central America, this is a fun topic for me and I'd love to talk about it more on The Prose. We should talk more about history everywhere.
WWI Photos
What is it with us,
Interested only in what truly disgusts.
We look at photos of war,
The gurgling gassed man,
And his peeling bloody hands.
What is it with us,
Filled with chatter, superfluous.
We hate the battle,
but as it repels,
we see a fizzling bomb shell.
What is it with us,
As our legs forward thrust.
What whispers inside to take a look closer,
We look away,
But even still our curiosity urges us to stay.
Why do we run,
Why do we hide,
When will this darkness inside
Take away all that is good,
And thrust us behind another gas mask hood.