Geek of the Week: Eratosthenes

As we make our way across Africa, we take a moment of silence for the lost Library of Alexandria. This Egyptian library was one of the greatest muggle libraries of antiquity and burned to the ground, taking with it any number of cultural texts which may never be recovered.

One of the library's Head Librarians (an enviable job for any Ravenclaw) was Eratosthenes, a Greek scholar. In this role, Eratosthenes expanded the holdings of the library to stave off any competitors, duplicating every book in Alexandria. His duties also included tutoring the children of the Pharoah Ptolemy.

Beyond his work with the library, Eratosthenes was an incredibly well-rounded scholar, making him a true Ravenclaw in spirit. Mathematics, Geography, Poetry, Astronomy, and Music Theory were all areas of interest, earning him the nickname "Beta" because he was talented at many things, but never considered the best. 

That nickname is ill-suited, however, because we now consider Eratosthenes to be the father of geography. He invented the geographical terminology that we use today and was the first person to calculate the circumference of the Earth. The field that Eratosthenes founded will prove useful on our road trip this summer, and his scholarly pursuits make him a worthy Geek of the Week.

Learn more about Eratosthenes on Wikipedia.

Firstie* Friday: Meet Jinxsa and Hrvdmnky!

*and Transfer!

Today, we are beginning our biographies of this term's newest Ravenclaws.  First up, Big Eagle Bigsnakes introduces her Little Eagle, Transfer student Jinxsa.

Jinxsa, otherwise known as Debbie to the local Muggles, lives in Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada. If you are a fan of hockey, you may know this town as home to Trevor Linden of the Vancouver Canucks and Red Wings goalie Christopher Osgood.

It is also home to Richard Edward Taylor, 1990 winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics for his pioneering investigation of deep inelastic scattering of electrons on protons and bound neutrons, which has been of essential importance for the development of the quark model in particle physics. But, I digress.

I don’t know how Jinxsa found HPKCHC but I suspect that it might have something to do with her RL BFF TheEvilPretty1 and/or her deep abiding love of imaginary internet points. Either way, she has been a virtual fixture in the House Cup for the better part of the last five calendar years making her an M3 student. So, it causes me to blush a little, as a Fourth Year student, to introduce her to you all as my “Little Eagle”. =)

I find Jinxsa's categories of crafting plans most interesting. They are: 1) Comic Con, 2) Stampede (like County Fair) and, of course 3) Holiday knitting. She is also interested in cross stitch and has already turned in a super cool Quidditch WIP project for her Husbeast (best pet name EVER!!!).

(Editor's note: OM is extememely envious of Spike Spiegel's autograph on that piece!)

I love that she characterizes herself as a “well rounded geek”. She is into more fandoms that I can count (in all fairness, my math skills are pretty paltry)… my favorite being X-Men. I mean, honestly, who couldn’t use a little more Wolverine in their life?! Jinxsa is also a huge NFL fan, likes to play video games and is a budding otaku (her new fave thing/fandom is anime and manga). She loves to read and the top thing on her crafting bucket list is Hedgerow.

I am also a big fan of Jinxsa’s “About Me” summary on her Rav home page. It goes a little something like this, “I’m a knitter. Not a progress knitter, not a process knitter. I cast on a billion things and finish a few. I am constantly breaking up with projects. And you know what… I’m ok with that. I have gauge issues that swatching might help but not entirely convinced it’s worth the risk.” 

I have had a chance to ogle Jinxsa projects and they AMAZING. Here are a few of my favorites…

Oh, and shawls. She makes a lot of shawls. =)

And, she is making Southern Skies for her Spring OWL, which impresses me beyond belief.

Jinxsa has five fur babies, a tiny mummy and her favorite color is plaid. Need I say more?!

Our next introduction is Firstie Hrvdmnky, courtesy of her Big Eagle TwistedSticherFGE

Hey Claws! Let me introduce you to my Little Eagle, Hrvdmnky! She’s a first term cupper who goes by Theresa in the muggle world and hails from Issaquah, WA, where she is lucky enough to share a knitting group with a couple other fabulous Claws (I’m lookin’ at you gwenschweitzer!). Through those knit night interactions she was introduced to the House Cup and (at Gwen’s urging) discovered her inner-Ravenclaw! A competitive spirit coupled with the draw of internet points pulled her in, but I’m hoping the fantastic spirit of our house keeps her here! So far, we’re doing well because she already reports a love of the camaraderie and organization of Tower life as a great fit. Her Claw style and mine seem a great pairing as she’s already working on an OWL, is set to cast on an Order of the Phoenix Mission and is hard at work at some sizeable class turn ins!

When asked about her craziest knitting moment, she confessed to the insanity of the Swallowtail shawl she turned into a baby blanket knit for her best friend’s bundle of joy a few years back. She altered the pattern to produce a square blanket instead of a triangular shawl and knit through an astounding 1000+ yards in the process! That is one lucky baby!

 And it tells me I need to spend a bit more time wandering through Hrvdmnky’s project pages to see what other craziness she’s gotten up to! I’ve already been more than a little inspired by the fantastic pops of color I’ve seen and I’m looking forward to watching her homework turn ins as May draws to a close as she’s got a lot of great (big) things on the needles!

And since we’re all fans of Harry Potter, I asked T for a few of her favorite aspects of the series itself. She reports in as a fan of Book 7 thanks to the Snape story arc’s conclusion (an excellent call if I do say so myself!) Favorite characters from the series include the Weasley Twins and Sirius but she sees herself most in Hermione. As a Hogwarts student she thinks the study of Potions would be her favorite subject with Herbology and Care of Magical Creatures coming in on the bottom of the list (no offense to the fabulous Hagrid or Professor Sprout, Hrvdmnky just isn’t much of an outdoorsy witch!).

Please feel free to swing by the First Year’s Dorm to give a shout out to Theresa!

Thanks Big Eagles and Welcome to the Tower, Jinxsa and Hrvdmnky!

  

Advanced Studies Stats: May Recap

We all know that Ravenclaw seriously shines as an Advanced Studies house, and this term is looking to hold up that tradition nicely! Even though the Spring terms generally have a little lower AS participation, a total of 208 proposals with the Ravenclaw crest have crossed the desks of NEWT examiners, OWL examiners, and Order Chiefs this term! 

We have 96 OWLs, 99 Agents and, of course, our 13 NEWTlings this term! Sixty-six ‘Claws are hunting the elusive PhOWL, and nine of our NEWT students are seeking a Flaming Salamander (and studiously ignoring the shadow of the Mallet O’Sanity looming nearby, one presumes). 

The most popular Mission for ‘Claws this term seems to be deceiving Deatheaters, with over a quarter of our Agents making that particular attempt. Exploring the nursery also seems to be a natural extension of our curious natures. 

As noted by our HoH earlier this week, we do still seem stuck on our sciences here in the Tower. Eighteen ‘Claws chose to study the heavens for their Astronomy OWLs, making it the most popular subject this term, with Potions experiments a close second. (If you’re studying CoMC or Divination and would like to know who your study partners are, you can see a member of the AS team.)

Looks like we are preparing to fly high as always! Soar Ravenclaw!

Upcoming Important Dates

29 May – Missions GO!

31 May – Last day to turn in NEWT 50%