• Who am I?

    I am Qrystal, a physics grad student who enjoys writing: for herself, or to help other people learn things. When I am done my degree, I'll finally be able to allow myself to start following my desire to write and tutor and spread my joy of understanding physics.


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    and while this may be an affiliate link, that doesn't change the fact that this company has consistently treated Qrystal very well, has been exceptionally reliable, and has always had great transparency in all their information on their website.

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  • Classic Blunders of Western Civilization

    Posted by Qrystal on March 18, 2010 at 17:42.
    Category: Miscellany. Tags: .

    Getting involved in a land war in Asia.
    Going against a Sicilian when death is on the line.
    Holding an important meeting the day after St. Patrick’s Day.

    via meetingboy
    :)

    No Comments »

    Winter Tanka

    Posted by Qrystal on January 5, 2010 at 18:02.
    Category: Poetry. Tags: poetry, tanka, winter.

    | Ambient white light
    | reflects from snow-crusted ground;
    | such brightness, outdoors,
    | contrasts the darkness indoors,
    | requires drawn shades to see.

    - by Qrystal

    No Comments »

    Resolving to Overcome My Stuckness

    Posted by Qrystal on January 4, 2010 at 17:35.
    Category: Life. Tags: determination, myself, procrastination, thesis.

    A new year is beginning.  It’s a time that inspires people (myself included) to change some things about their lives.  In the past, I had always gotten stuck on coming up with something specific enough to be measurable, and so it was never actually attainable; in fact, the exact [...] Continue Reading…

    No Comments »

    Challenge level versus skill level

    Posted by Qrystal on November 24, 2009 at 13:00.
    Category: Concepts. Tags: .

    This is a diagram of mental states, as developed by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, showing how challenge level and skill level contribute to various mental states.  I found it when looking up Anxiety, something I am trying to understand in myself.

    No Comments »

    Twitter’s New Retweets: a proposal for change

    Posted by Qrystal on November 19, 2009 at 21:36.
    Category: Miscellany. Tags: .

    Here is the feedback I just sent to twitter about their new retweet feature:
    The new retweet feature has a lot of potential, but it’s being overshadowed by the fact that it isn’t the same as the organic retweeting that emerged from how we use twitter.  It seems the main [...] Continue Reading…

    No Comments »

    Dreaming of a Droid

    Posted by Qrystal on November 14, 2009 at 14:58.
    Category: Life. Tags: .

    Oh xkcd, you make me laugh so often, but it’s especially potent when the content is so timely.  Boo iphone, yay androids!

    Currently trying to resist, with all my might, going out and getting myself an htc hero. However, I can’t quite pin down why I’m resisting so much.  Am I afraid [...] Continue Reading…

    No Comments »

    For the Love of Writing

    Posted by Qrystal on November 12, 2009 at 11:15.
    Category: Life. Tags: nanowrimo, thesis, writing.

    It may not be obvious from this blog yet, because I don’t post nearly as often as I would like, but I really truly love writing.  I just keep trying to restrain myself from doing it, especially recreationally, because I know I should be writing my thesis instead.  Somehow, [...] Continue Reading…

    2 Comments »

    Mental Battlefield

    Posted by Qrystal on September 24, 2009 at 13:51.
    Category: Life. Tags: .

    So. It is down to me, and it is down to me*. Me versus me, as it seems: my tendency to avoid That Which Must Be Done**, versus the desire to get finished That Which Must Be Done.

    For the longest time, I was not alone on this battlefield. Two [...] Continue Reading…

    No Comments »

    A Limerick Haiku

    Posted by Qrystal on September 11, 2009 at 17:42.
    Category: Poetry. Tags: humour, limerick.

    Oh wow, a limerick haiku!
    I thought ‘twas too tricky to do!
    But then I found this,
    and I’d be remiss,
    if I didn’t share it with you!

    –a limerick by Qrystal, to introduce the following clever way of meshing limerick and haiku styles:


    There was an old man
    From Peru, whose lim’ricks all
    Look’d like haiku. [...] Continue Reading…

    No Comments »

    Date and Time Notation

    Posted by Qrystal on July 8, 2009 at 19:10.
    Category: Concepts. Tags: date, geek, notation, time.

    Please consider the 12h time to be a relic from the dark ages when Roman numerals were used, the number zero had not yet been invented and analog clocks were the only known form of displaying a time. Please avoid using it today, especially in technical applications!
    I took a [...] Continue Reading…

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