Sunday, February 27, 2005

Nail Grinding and Polishing

About a week ago, I chanced upon a nail filing and buffing device at home. It was a simple piece of kit, consisting of a stiff plastic base, with abrasive surfaces bonded to the plastic base. To improve grinding and polishing performance, the abrasive surfaces were mounted on a thin layer of foam, such that the abrasive surface is allowed to deform to constantly fit the nail’s curvature. The first and most abrasive of the grinding surfaces was emery. Subsequent stages were unceremoniously labelled 1, 2 and 3.

“Interesting…” I thought to myself. I decided to try it on my left thumb. After some strokes of rubbing using emery, my thumbnail had been removed of all grains. The nail surface itself took on a powdery texture with a diffuse pinkish white colour. After stage 1, the powdery texture had disappeared, and resembled the colour and feel of a natural nail. At the end of stage 2, a marked degree of reflectivity had appeared. One wonders what stage 3 polishing will bring…

Several strokes of polishing using stage 3 resulted in an unnatural lustre. The nail’s surface was smoother than brand new PVC bottles’ finish. One could catch well defined reflections from bright windows on the nail. A natural nail would show some light as an indefinite smear of reflection while a polished nail will show a great amount of detail, including large grilles and the straight edges of the window frame.

“This is fun. I’ll do it to the index finger as well.”

About 5 to 7 minutes later, I had a second polished nail.

This led me to a new set of problems. Previously, the grains in the nail surface were large scale, and any additional scratches and aberrations on the nail went unnoticed. However, as the surface got more and more polished, smaller and smaller scratches and irregularities will become visible. As a close analogy, compare similarly sized cracks in a brick wall and in a smooth plaster wall.

To preserve my hard earned polish, I either had to take care when working with my fingers to prevent scratches (which was dumb), or to give it a stage 2 and 3 polish every day (which was just as dumb). Thus, the obvious solution was not to have polished nails.

However, this solution led me to another array of problems. I was unwilling to let go of the smooth finish that polishing will impart upon my nails. Clearly, I’m going down a path of many unnecessary problems. By attaching myself to impermanent characteristics, I’m bound to be disappointed when the characteristic in question decays. Hence I strive to maintain the status quo. Unfortunately, the status quo takes a lot of effort to maintain, as mentioned previously.

Sadly, I don’t learn easily. I was on holiday, and time was on my side. One night, I did the remaining 3 nails on my left hand. Now, half of my fingernails are shinier than new PVC bottles. I imagine that it would be extremely time consuming to do all 10 fingers in one sitting. Imagine, 5 to 7 minutes each finger comes up to a staggering 50 to 70 minutes. I randomly queried a few people (all of them girls), and not surprisingly, they do not buff their nails.

Despite the fact that giving my 5 nails a daily polish is exceeding time consuming and pointless, I still went on with it. It was not because it was pretty to have shiny nails. The objective was not good looking nails, but shiny nails. Even if they are so shiny that it becomes ugly, I will probably continue at polishing, because the goal is smoothness, not aesthetics. It was developing into a disorder, an obsession. It is possible that eating disorders stem from people losing sight of their objective (a trim figure) and switching to a different objective (light weight).

The owner of the nail buffing device offered to let me take it with me to Melbourne. “Definitely not,” I replied. I’ll be better off without it.





As a side note, I'll not be experimenting with lipstick and eyeshadow. Just to reassure you that I'm not mad.

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Sunday, February 20, 2005

Milestones and such

Not nessecarily the most entertaining reading material, but these are my markers.



9/6/06 A series of screenplays, in Chinese: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5

18/5/06 Stuff of (impermanant) dreams: Part 1, Part 2

12/3/06 The JFE 8555 problem revisited- digital roots

23/1/06 The little one

9/12/05 A general hand-waving guide to digital photography: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

7/12/05 What I found in the letter box this afternoon

21/10/05 I made it into the Master List of Stupid Things (again)!

23/6/05 Silly Pranks 1

26/4/05 Attachments

27/2/05 Nail grinding and polishing

中文文章

[This list was last updated on 18 September]


4/9/06 无聊文章

7/8/06 不礼貌之客

29/7/06 剧本,第五部 [with English translation]

9/7/06 描写文:乘电车记

28/6/06 切辣椒记 [with English translation]

21/6/06 [无题]

10/6/06 Digital macro pencil calligraphy [with English translation]

9/6/06 剧本,第四部

8/6/06 书法 [with English translation]

31/5/06 I'll stop writing in Chinese for the time being [with English translation]

24/5/06 小费乐园

15/5/06 华文 or English? [with English translation]

12/5/06 剧本,第三部

30/4/06 Screenplay, part 2 [with English translation]

19/4/06 购买衣记

16/4/06 Experimental formatting- Chinese screenplay [with English translation]

13/10/05 The Autobiography of a Pencil [with English translation]

10/10/05 How I started writing; how I am restarting [written in English ]

7/10/05 [无题]

Interesting reads

[This list was last updated on 18 September]


18/9/06 "Good Writing Guide" by HarperCollins

11/9/06 A pointless composition

9/9/06 Here's a little puzzle

30/8/06 Tagged

28/8/06 The closed loop

25/8/06 Women are NOT abalone

17/8/06 Floor cleaning algorithms

15/8/06 Shopping therapy is a real phenomenon; photographs of a Tokina 28-105mm f/4.0 Pentax K mount zoom lens

7/8/06 Warning: very long, multi-section entry

2/8/06 APD

31/7/06 My first (mostly) gay party

29/7/06 Screenplay, part 5

26/7/06 Midnight Camwhore

22/7/06 Frightful memories of our art teacher, Mrs Lim

14/7/06 Melbourne bloggers' meet report

12/7/06 Celebrity physicists

10/7/06 Chocolate truffles; absurd food photography; preposterous macro photography

8/7/06 Tactless colleague; a camera that can see details 7 microns across

2/7/06 Dream job?

1/7/06 Lao Chen's chilli oil recipe, version 1.0

28/6/06 切辣椒记 [with English translation]

22/6/06 You know what youd be fun? To go lepak somewhere [...]

16/6/06 Encounter with an idiot

14/6/06 Some questions do not have answers

10/6/06 Digital macro pencil calligraphy

5/6/06 Thumbelina: secret admirer or stalker?

2/6/06 [untitled]

31/5/06 I'll stop writing in Chinese for the time being

29/5/06 3-in-1 film review: Autumn Sonata, Animal Farm, Bulletproof Monk, and suggestions on ways to find a good film.

23/5/06 Updates

18/5/06 Stuff of (impermanant) dreams

15/5/06 华文 or English?

11/5/06 Video of stuff (mushrooms) getting sliced rapidly

7/5/06 Deft- that's how I like to think of my knife handling

6/5/06 Lin Dynasty- Chapter 27

30/4/06 Screenplay, part 2

29/4/06 The mechanical arm

26/4/06 Untitled

23/4/06 Crap updates: absolutely nothing important here

21/4/06 Stuff of (impermanant) dreams

19/4/06 购买衣记

16/4/06 Experimental formatting: Chinese screenplay

12/4/06 Ice-cream, yoghurt, banana and peaches

10/4/06 So, how long is this eternity?

9/4/06 A discussion with the Flying Spaghetti Monster

8/4/06 Intake Horns- an excerpt from the draft of 'Automotive Engines'

7/4/06 Rainy Day

4/4/06 Another guided composition

2/4/06 End of the Age of Oil, part 4

29/3/06 More exciting word games

28/3/06 WordyWord meme by Yvy

27/3/06 Microsoft products do not reflect Australian daylight saving time changes for the year 2006

26/3/06 Adventures at the Commonwealth Games- cycling

24/3/06 Topless portraits with fruits, and other images

24/3/06 I usually take care of my books

18/3/06 My very own piece of Formula 1

13/3/06 Diffuse lighting conversion kit

8/3/06 Damn dams (alliteration alert!)

8/3/06 Talk to the eyebrow

6/3/06 Found: cheap, used optics for sale in Melbourne

5/3/06 Thumbelina: With the Godfather's aid

2/3/06 Thumbelina: Thumbelina's departure

1/3/06 Journey of love

24/2/06 "Yer! You look like a pondan"

16/2/06 A fun way to use unwanted Cds

15/2/06 Valentine's meme

14/2/06 My Porsche 911 GT1 and Ferrari F40 scale models

14/2/06 A new camera

12/2/06 A nice HK$100 packet

8/2/06 St. Valentines with a twist- a meme

3/2/06 I'm back

26/1/06 An open letter to whom it may concern

24/1/06 Thumbelina: the fish and Freyja

23/1/06 The little one

18/1/06 Updates

16/1/06 The prompted essay meme

14/1/06 Thumbelina: Vladmir the wanker

13/1/06 Hoorah for Boobies!

10/1/06 Tagged

9/1/06 Thumbelina is nothing more than sexist drivel

9/1/06 I am back, with photos

1/1/06 New Year's eve and other things

31/12/05 Cliched title: the end is near

28/12/05 A list of the cars I've driven

10/12/05 Painting with words

7/12/05 What I found in the letter box this afternoon

5/12/05 Updates

2/12/05 Yee Wei attacks McCartney over fur statements

1/12/05 Ugly girls? No

18/11/05 My pilgrimage to an F1 GP circuit

24/11/05 The fly killer

20/11/05 Itchy fingers; martial arts; utopia

15/11/05 QED

12/11/05 miscellaneous stuff

6/11/05 German Sex Education

3/11/05 What is an island?

1/11/05 What a hot day it is

30/10/05 The contents of my wallet at this moment

25/10/05 The end is near

23/10/05 Oral ulcers are no fun

21/10/05 I made it into the Master List of Stupid Things (again) !

18/10/05 From the disturbing diaries of Yee Wei

17/10/05 PMS-ish rant about F1 coverage in Australia

17/10/05 Dramatic silence explained

14/10/05 Fifth Gear is back!

13/10/05 The Autobiography of a Pencil

10/10/05 How I started writing; how I am restarting

8/10/05 Another tag

7/10/05 [ My first Chinese entry, untitled ]

1/10/05 The connection between Mathematics and Street Fighter

30/9/05 Some of the notable reading material in my life

28/9/05 Please Judge a Book by its Cover

26/9/05 Food food food

23/9/05 The Chord of 88 Notes

15/9/05 Bang! You're tagged

14/9/05 The power struggle

10/9/05 Whose house is it anyway?

5/9/05 Who am I? Why am I here? Where am I going?

31/8/05 Kongkek faraj...BM saya menyedut

30/8/05 Blogging in Malay, because everyone else is doing it

29/8/05 How I got owned in a sparring match

27/8/05 Daft engineer jokes

20/8/05 Taekwondo videos

17/8/05 Yet another orange story

16/8/05 The orange eater

13/8/05 A failing cable; a collapsing relationship

13/8/05 The anatomy of an eye

11/8/05 Minum?

10/8/05 Portrait of a sulking girl

10/8/05 Kitchen accident results in loss of blood

8/8/05 Its sleep paralysis, not a ghost

3/8/05 Postcard

31/7/05 Melbourne Bloggers Meet

30/7/05 The slap analyst

30/7/05 My first exposure to sex

28/7/05 Oops

25/7/05 Subject selection confusion

22/7/05 I'm in deep shit

20/7/05 I don't like flossing

20/7/05 Does my bottom look big in this?

15/7/05 Harh? ICQ?

30/6/05 My experiences with knife sharpening

29/6/05 Yuck, its "fat free"

23/6/05 Silly Pranks 1

12/6/05 End of the Age of Oil, part 3

8/6/05 Mental incapacity

2/6/05 The Kiss (v1.1)

1/6/05 Plasma Soup for Your Wavefunction

26/5/05 End of the Age of Oil, part 2

21/5/05 A partial list of my favourite books

14/5/05 End of the Age of Oil, part 1

6/5/05 How I take my coffee at home

5/5/05 Buzz Buzz Buzz!

28/4/05 Attachments

17/4/05 Book? What book?

6/4/05 Postcard counter in the wrong matrix

23/3/05 What a horrid mess!

27/2/05 Nail grinding and polishing

Photographs

[This list was last updated on 18 September]


18/9/06 Long exposures

15/9/06 Manipulated sunset

7/9/06 Small scale calligraphy

4/9/06 [untitled]

2/9/06 A mixed bag of photographs

28/8/06 The closed loop

19/8/06 Photographs: microphotography of sugar crystals, a banknote and a sewing needle

15/8/06 Photographs of a Tokina 28-105mm f/4.0 Pentax K mount zoom lens

7/8/06 Ss. Peter and Paul Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral

4/8/06 Photographs: Webb Bridge at sunset

28/7/06 My camera has turned into a microscope

24/7/06 Photographs- sunset in the park

18/7/06 Still life photographs and night skyline

15/7/06 Night panoramic photography in Melbourne

10/7/06 Chocolate truffles; absurd food photography; preposterous macro photography

6/7/06 Photography theme: Transport and Telecommunication Infrastructure

3/7/06 Macro photography of splashing liquids

29/6/06 Photography theme of the day: green, microprinted banknotes and documents

27/6/06 Experimental results on the Panasonic DMC-FZ30’s macro focal distance and magnification factor throughout its zoom range

25/6/06 Photography: tea, milk and coffee

19/6/06 Stained mug and iris macros

18/6/06 Disgusting photograph

14/6/06 Photography: Lindt Chocolates

5/6/06 Life or Death

4/6/06 Grass from a culvert is just as green

1/6/06 Library photography

26/5/06 More sunset photographs

21/5/06 Photographs

17/5/06 Untitled

12/5/06 A simple takedown technique

10/5/06 Melbourne sunset photographs

4/5/06 An Ordinary Day by the Kitchen Sink

3/5/06 More photographs

1/5/06 Photographs

4/4/06 The view from the top- Melbourne cityscape at night

31/3/06 Recent photographs

27/3/06 Photographs from the Melbourne Commonwealth Games- cycling

25/3/06 Photographs from the Melbourne Commonwealth Games- boxing

24/3/06 Topless portraits with fruits, and other images

23/3/06 Photographs from the Great Ocean Road

19/3/06 Photographs from the Melbourne Commonwealth Games- marathon

19/3/06 The hibiscus and the Time Keeper

17/3/06 Photographs from the Melbourne Commonwealth Games- rugby

15/3/06 Macro images of boiling water

11/3/06 The moon, for Lai

10/3/06 Industrial Sunset

6/3/06 Found: cheap used optics in Melbourne

24/2/06 A polarizing filter for the camera

23/2/06 Sony SS-V150 speakers

20/2/06 Penang photographs

16/2/06 A fun way to use unwanted Cds

14/2/06 My Porsche 911 GT1 and Ferrari F40 scale models

14/2/06 A new camera

7/2/06 Macro photography of a sparrow chick

27/1/06 Camera suggestions?

27/1/06 Mixed photographs from recent days

13/1/06 Macro photography of hair strands

9/1/06 I am back, with photos

5/1/06 Melbourne city night scenes

31/12/05 Photography of rose petals

26/12/05 Photographs from Sydney

18/12/05 Photos from Brisbane

17/12/05 Test driven: Nikon FM2 SLR

9/12/05 A general, handwaving guide to digital photography- part 3

5/12/05 A general, handwaving guide to digital photography- part 2

5/12/05 A general, handwaving guide to digital photography- part 1

1/12/05 Macro photography of ice-cream

29/11/05 Photography in Frankston

28/11/05 My pilgrimage to an F1 GP circuit

31/10/05 Asparagus, Lemon and Tomato

26/10/05 Lost in Space-time

11/10/05 (s)he was buried in sand

9/10/05 Children doing their thing - a series of portraits

5/10/05 Time Machine

10/9/05 Whose house is it anyway?

5/9/05 Who am I? Why am I here? Where am I going?

3/9/05 Sunset in a Parallel Universe

27/8/05 The Red Army Through Snow

21/8/05 Why is there an orange in my coffee press?

11/8/05 Minum?

8/8/05 Macro photography of green stuff

5/8/05 Happy birthday

15/7/05 Images, images and images

13/7/05 Food we had when on holiday

29/6/05 The moon problem

28/6/05 My first nighttime cityscape photographs

27/6/05 Me acting funny at billboards

20/6/05 Through a glass, darkly

19/6/05 Wet Mercedes

10/6/05 Nude pictures of compass, pencil & ruler threesome

9/6/05 Some wierd-arsed nocturnal activities

22/5/05 Autumn sunset photographs

10/5/05 Sunsets of Melbourne

29/3/05 Chocolate Fondue

21/3/05 This week, and 7 years ago

Mathematics & Applied Sciences

[This list was last updated on 18 September]

13/9/06 Solution to Saturday's puzzle

9/9/06 Here's a little puzzle

17/8/06 Floor cleaning algorithms

11/8/06 An alternative interpretation of the measurement problem found in quantum mechanics

12/7/06 Celebrity physicists

27/6/06 Experimental results on the Panasonic DMC-FZ30’s macro focal distance and magnification factor throughout its zoom range

7/6/06 Let me show off some mathematical creativity...

26/5/06 An interesting difference between the human eye and a still camera

19/5/06 Dimensional Analysis and unit conversion methods

30/4/06 Wonders of the human eye

24/4/06 Hotel Infinity; some infinities are larger than others

18/4/06 Is this philosophy of mathematics, or is this bullshit?

8/4/06 Intake Horns- an excerpt from the draft of 'Automotive Engines'

4/4/06 10's compliment: an algorithm to fast subtraction

1/4/06 A step-by-step logical guide to improving the basic punch

28/3/06 So, what is this Skewe's Number?

14/3/06 A brief explanation of the Taylor Series via the Mean Value Theorem

12/3/06 The JFE 8555 problem revisited- digital roots

21/2/06 A brief introduction to tidal forces

12/2/06 Length scales of the known universe

4/1/06 A comparison between Newtonian and Relativistic models of simple oscillating systems

30/12/05 To shoehorn an infinite sum of functions into the exponential function

29/12/05 Evil little puzzles

9/11/05 The derivative of the natural logarithm

8/11/05 The convergence and divergence of a series

1/11/05 David Berlinski's "A Tour of the Calculus"

28/10/05 Finding the value of e

17/10/05 Dramatic silence explained

15/10/05 Geometric proof of Pythagoras' Theorem

4/10/05 The number of elementary operations to calculate the determinant of a real k-by-k matrix

1/10/05 The connection between Mathematics and Street Fighter

16/9/05 The elegance of mathematics

29/8/05 The infinite geometric series and inflation

25/8/05 The JFE 8555 problem explained

24/8/05 The JFE 8555 problem

19/8/05 Here's a puzzle

18/8/05 The thermodynamics of waste

9/8/05 From another point of view...

6/8/05 The apparent ease of divisibility of numbers using different bases: a graphical approach

30/7/05 The slap analyst

29/7/05 Matlab Butterfly

28/7/05 Wind Tunnel Succubus

25/7/05 The apparent ease of divisibility of numbers using different bases

21/7/05 Estimating square roots to several significant figures using arithmetic operations

2/7/05 What on earth is a 'gnomon'?

29/6/05 The moon problem

25/6/05 Calibrating a rice cooker

17/6/05 On the fuel efficiency of engines

12/6/05 Question answered

10/6/05 Physics very hard meh?

5/6/05 Karatsuba Multiplication

19/5/05 Constructing rational numbers using zeroes, ones, and prime numbers

16/5/05 Star Wars Episode II and trigonometry

17/4/05 Book? What book?

13/3/05 A bit of maths, and computing frustrations