NFL's best logos

Friends, enemies, people I've never met:

Sorry for the hiatus!  I had a conference in Georgia that sort of threw off my whole rhythm.  My last post was really serious (in some sense of the word), and so I thought we should explore something fun.  Since it's NFL season and my Steelers are looking good, I thought we could talk about football.  But since many of you might be "uninterested in the actual game of football" (read: "girls"), I thought we could talk about pretty shapes and colors.

And so, I announce the 5 best team logos in the NFL.  And then a raging, passionate debate can ensue.


Number 5: Carolina Panthers

I saw some article online that ranked this, like, 27th in the NFL.  The reason they gave is that it looks like the panther is "yawning".  Yeah, either yawning or in the process of biting your face off.  Not to mention that black and blue is a b.a. color combination.


Number 4: Tennessee Titans alternate logo

I don't even know if other teams have alternate logos.  I think this one appears on the sleeve of the Titans' jerseys.  It's cooler than their main logo because the T-shaped object is more obviously a sword.  And swords are cool.

[Editor's note: Several other teams have alternate logos.  They're pretty lame.]


Number 3: St. Louis Rams

Yes, a ram is technically a sheep.  So theoretically, not very intimidating.  But look at this logo.  Just gaze at it, and notice the rising combination of awe, terror, and aesthetic joy in your soul.  The colors, the horns... it's a big win for sheep.


Number 2: Denver Broncos 

Ok, so I clearly like logos of violent-looking mammals with their heads pointing to the right.  Two things set the Bronco ahead of his peers: his tiny, evil orange eye and the fact that his two colors -- orange and navy blue -- look fantastic together and make for the best uniforms in the NFL.


Number 1: Houston Texans

I can't really explain this.  But I'll try: it's unique.  The colors make for great uniforms.  It overcomes an impossible team nickname like "Texans" with a cool intimidating cattle head with a star for an eye.  And amazingly, it's really simple.  If you're not artistically gifted, good luck drawing any of the other animal heads above.  But a small child could draw this accurately with shis eyes closed.  And yet it still looks awesome.


Worst logos: Giants, Saints, Vikings, Dolphins, Browns (no logo)


Tell me who got snubbed, or try to defend one of these basement-dwellers.  Let me know what you think!

Jon

To infinity and beyond

The nerd inside me was clamoring for a chance to write.  And while we'll certainly be flying over Nerd Mountain, I'll try to keep us at a safe enough distance that everyone can understand the topic and take part in a hopefully fun discussion.

Infinity in mathematics

This will be the trickiest part to talk about in a way that can hold the attention of the moderately cool person.  I'll do my best.

The concept of infinity is so intuitive that I don't think I need to say anything about it.  It's actually kind of hard to give it a good definition without specifiying what type of thing we're calling infinite (i.e., an infinitely long span of time and infinitely many Blu-Rays of LOST season 6 are two different beasts -- though related, since the show is so addicting you could probably watch it for eternity).  So I'm just going to assume that when I say "infinity," you roughly know what I'm talking about.

But I will point out that in mathematics, the concept of infinity is extremely important.  In grad school, we literally talked about infinity every single day in class.  It played many different roles -- the limit of a function, the number of elements (e.g. numbers) in a set, etc.  I sense I'm losing most of you, so just suffice it to say that literally every day as a math grad student, you use infinite things to understand mathematics.

A few examples of infinity:

• The set of all natural (or "counting") numbers is infinite in size: {0, 1, 2, 3,...}
• The set of all real numbers is infinite in size, and in fact is more infinite.  I won't go into this, but it's really interesting to you if you're legendary in your nerdiness.
• One of the first proofs you learn as an undergrad math major is how to show that there are infinitely many prime numbers.
• The limit of the graph of f(x)=1/x as x approaches 0 from the right is positive infinity:

Infinity in our imaginations

Furthermore, as I mentioned before, we have this intuition about infinite things.  The author of Tuck Everlasting didn't have to explain what eternal life is -- we can all imagine living forever.  Most of us naturally assume the universe is infinitely large, that space just "goes on forever."  Science fiction (and many an actual scientist) posits that there are infinitely many universes.

But the crazy thing is -- and this will serve as our punchline --

We haven't discovered anything infinite in nature.

Yeah, that's right. 

The number of atoms in the universe:  less than 4 x 10^81

The age of the universe:  less than 14 billion years

The number of mudslinging Senator commercials:  somehow less than 70% of all Senate commercials, which is itself (surprisingly) a finite number

The three things you would most naturally guess to be infinite turn out to be finite.  Part of the reason we don't find actual infinites anywhere is that it would be impossible to measure one.  Think about it: if something had infinite weight, it would exceed the capacity of any scale we could build.  We'd just keep building bigger scales, and it would break every one.  And the same is true for length, age, etc. -- our ability to observe/measure will always be finite, so we could never conclusively say that anything is actually infinite.

But it's more than just a measurement problem.  We know the age of the universe and number of total atoms are finite. 

There are two possibilities for infinitude in our natural universe, I think -- black holes' density and the overall volume of the universe.  The latter is still an "open question" in cosmology, and we don't know yet the overall structure or size of the universe.  And the thing about density is that it's sort of a pretend quality -- you take two measurable things (mass and volume) and divide them.  So a black hole gets its infinite density since its volume is zero, and when you divide by zero you (sort of) get infinity.  If the only way to get an infinite thing in reality is to divide by zero, I think the point still stands.

Why is this true?

Recap: we all intuitively understand and can easily call upon the idea of infinity, and yet we don't know of any actual instances of infinity in the natural world.

Why?  What does this tell us about the world?  About ourselves?

I don't know.  That's why it's written in question form.  Please tell me what you think.

I'll give you my one initial thought on this mystery -- we're a bunch of beings who are finite in every way, surrounded by finitely many things that are each finitely sized and finitely old, and yet we think and dream of infinity.  To me, it seems like it could be an innate comprehension of and yearning for something or someone infinite, outside our universe and its finiteness.

Abraham Lincoln thought the same thing: “Surely God would not have created such a being as man, with an ability to grasp the infinite, to exist only for a day! No, no, man was made for immortality.”

Sorry this was so long.  But imagine if it had been infinitely long...

Please feel free to take a stab at the above questions or any other thoughts, comments, questions, or ideas you have.  Thanks!

Jon

Singleness Manifesto

Preamble

I'm not sure this will qualify as a manifesto.  But ever since learning about "manifest destiny" in fifth grade, I've attempted to use "manifest" and all its variations as much as possible in conversation and writing.

Some of you may wonder why singleness would need a defense/justification/encouragement.  Can't we all just be content with our lot in life, enjoying whatever season we're in and patiently waiting for whatever's next?  No.  If you're wondering that, I'm guessing you got married when you were 20-22 or have never come up to breathe between relationships.   Patience and contentment are possible in theory, but when you're alone on a Friday night eating ice cream and watching a Golden Girls marathon, they seem just a little out of reach.

And so, it is with the memories of many nights spent watching Blanche and Rose, and with a strong desire to sleep peacefully at night, that I present to you the 5 Pillars of Singleness.

Pillar 1: Self-actualization

We each have so many passions.  Maybe you're cool and want to make rock 'n roll music, or play in a sports league, or learn to dance or cook.  Maybe you're less cool and want to analyze Lord of the Rings, or study beekeeping, or master a dice-rolling baseball board game.  There are things out there that you love -- some of them that you've never tried.  The time you have being single (that you wouldn't have if you were married or in a "serious relationship") is calling out to be used for these things.

But that time has even better uses possible than interests and hobbies.  There are deep, important questions to answer about why you're here on Earth and what will make your life meaningful to you.  There is no time like... single time?... to investigate, answer, and pursue these mysteries.

For instance, one of the hallmarks of my life is a desire to bring honor to God.  I figured this out in the context of personal study and prayer, not on a date with a woman.  And what style of life best lends itself to bringing God honor?  In general, it's a lifestyle of singleness; as the apostle Paul said, "One who is unmarried is concerned about the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord; but the one who is married is concerned about the things of the world, how he may please his wife, and his interests are divided."

The above principle obviously doesn't just apply to my particular bent toward pleasing God; once you've found a mission, goal, or calling that brings your life meaning, being single lends a single-mindedness to your efforts in that area.

Pillar 2: Availability to others

Here is a grand mystery -- most of my friends are married/engaged/etc. (e.g. my closest 9 guy friends of the last 7 years of my life are ALL in this broad category), and yet I spend time socially much more with the few single friends I have.

But it's not really that mysterious.  When you're serious with someone, you spend a serious amount of time with shim (I refuse to say "them" or "him or her").  When you're not, you have a serious amount of time to spend with whomever.  It's strange that "serious" can mean "considerable in consequence", as in its uses above, in addition to "without humor," which sadly is probably true of this paragraph.

Pillar 3: Finding real self-value

One of the reasons we pine for romantic relationships, I think, is that while in them we feel more valuable.  And of course we do, because the person values us and goes to lengths to express that.

And yet, I'm pretty sure our worth is entirely God-given (if you prefer, read: intrinsic).  But we're so messed up that we sometimes require feeling valued in order to believe that we have value.  If you've ever fallen into this rut, then stretches of datelessness can be rough because you feel pretty worthless. 

But singleness is the only real context in which you can remedy this correctly.  When you're in a relationship, the lightbulb of your true worth (apart from any other person's opinion) is probably not going to go off for the first time.

Pillar 4: Struggle is good

The difficult times shape who we are.  They bring resolve, perseverance, and maturity.  So, stretches of loneliness and relationship envy -- when fought through with faith, hope, and love -- make us better people.

Pillar 5: Setting the stage for a good Decision

I think I wrote about this in my old Xanga days.  My position hasn't changed much.  When the time comes to decide if you want to spend the rest of your life with a specific person, I think you want to enter into that decision with wisdom and experience.  Part of that experience will be past relationships and what you learned from them (what you want in a spouse, what you don't want, how you relate to different types of people).  Part of it will be what you've learned about yourself.

My experience has been that I learn the most about myself when I'm single... when I'm single I spend more time with myself.

Plus, if you're single now, that means you'll make that Decision when you're older than you are now.  Odds are that Future You will be wiser and a better decision-maker than You are.

Epilogue

"And this is not to say
there never comes a day
I'll take my chances and start again.

And when I look behind
on all my younger times,
I'll have to thank the wrongs
that led me to a love so strong."

--John Mayer, from "Perfectly Lonely"


Keep fighting, singletons.

Jon