TBA a.k.a. "Photo Dump 14"

I spent several hours perusing my unused photos and found 22 x 5 that didn't really fit under a theme. (Not quite sure why I'm so obsessed with themes -- an affliction of the English major, I suppose -- but I am and you'll just have to get over it.) So here I am, trying to string together five dissimilar elements. At the end of the post, we'll determine just how tenuous the string is between these photos. But for now, I'm just going to jump into it.

(Oh, in case you're curious, the tunes tonight are from my "Sexy" Spotify playlist.)

First up, a tee from the Georgia Science and Engineering Fair 2007. (Brace yourself for nerdisms.)



According to the shirt, the "key elements to success (!)" are Lithium (Li), Determined (De), Sodium (Na), Potassium (K), Explore (Er), Imagine (Im), Responsible (Rb), and Diligent (Di). First of all...

Balance this equation:

Li + Na + K + De + Er + Im + Rb + Di --> Success 

• Only 3 of 8 "keys" are nouns. 

• Lithium, Sodium, and Potassium are the only real elements that made it into this chemical equation for success. It seems that bananas and salty food are leading "successful" scientists and engineers to mental instability, necessitating mood-stabilizing drugs. Seems legit (though I doubt the necessity of the cause, given the effect).

• There appears to be a column missing between IIA and IVA. Shame on you, "Science". 

• Let's suppose that the new elements are simply revised names for actual elements. Based on their placement to the right of the Alkali Metals, the De-Er-Im column becomes Be-Mg-Ca. This means that while Beryllium is "Determined", Magnesium just wants to "Explore" and Calcium would rather "Imagine". (What does this mean for Milk's future ad campaigns?) Meanwhile, Scandium becomes Responsible and Titanium is a stand-in for Diligent.

• The chemical symbol "Explore" suggests indecision. (Then again, what is a hypothesis if not indecision epitomized?)

• "Responsible" is a IIA element. Elements in this group (Alkaline Earth) are "silvery-gray metals which are...relatively soft" that can be drawn into a wire. Additionally, they are reducing agents (electron donors). I'm not sure that "Responsible" is as malleable as the t-shirt suggests. I also question its identification as a reducing agent, as it seems much more likely to pick up others' slack and gain electrons. If we label this Georgian periodic table properly (I will not cave to the temptation of insulting the southerners' intelligence; surely skipping from IIA to IVA was an oversight), "Responsible" becomes...rather unpredictable.

• "Diligent" is a IVA element. Not a whole lot of common ground in this column of the periodic table, so this "key" could be as versatile as Carbon, as pivotal as Silicon, or as common as Lead. I concede that diligence is a pretty important quality with some serious sustaining power, so I suppose it's a combination of all of these things. I could go all deep on you here (giggity) but I've got four more photos to go so I'll let you discuss these ideas on your own.

Before I finish this massive nergasm, I would like to push up my glasses and point you here. Have fun learning something.