Ozymandias

[Ozymandias]

In case any of you were wondering about my screen name "Ozymandias" (Ozzy-man-di-as). Here's where it's from. It’s a long, confusing story but bare with me. In one of the rare instances when I was paying attention in my senior English class, we read a poem by Percy Bysshe Shelley, titled “Ozymandias”. Shelley wrote the poem for a writing contest. In the contest, poets had fifteen minutes to write a poem about Egypt. My teacher also mentioned that Ozymandias, Latin for “King of Air”, was the nickname of Pharaoh Ramses II. I thought to myself “That would be a great name for a rocket!” The rocket I ended up building and naming Ozymandias was the product of my 2004 NAACP ACT-SO gold medal winning, physics project “Design & Performance Optimization of Small, Sounding Rockets.” I also thought it would be funny to stump the LCO with the pronunciation. After using the rocket for my project, I used it for my successful Level 2 cert flight. Here’s the poem. I really liked it. We had to memorize and recite it on our final exam. On the morning of the exam, I memorized it while driving to school. I got an A too! I was on a roll that week.

“Ozymandias” by Percy Shelley:

I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: "Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown
And wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed.
And on the pedestal these words appear:
`My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!'
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away.

So that’s the story. It was probably way more information that you ever wanted to know. Well... It must've meant something if you've read this far.

David Roy:
NPR Listener (I'll subcribe soon. I promise!),
Poetry Admirer,
Rocket Builder.

 

[Ryan S.]

Originally posted by Ozymandias


NPR Listener (I'll subcribe soon. I promise!),
.

*shaking head*

 

[daveyfire]

Good story, David... I wondered where you got that name! Hey, the first time I saw it I was stumped too. Ya got any pics of its flight on the K1100T? That was really awesome.

 

[cls]

if I recall correctly, you didn't stump the LCO. cool name, cool poem though. I remember getting an F- when I had to memorize and recite something in 8th grade.

 

[Stymye]

interesting story. heh
I originally thought ,mabey you were an Ozzy fan!

 

[Elapid]

in college...

i love irony.

 

[DynaSoar]

Originally posted by Ozymandias
So that’s the story. It was probably way more information that you ever wanted to know. Well... It must've meant something if you've read this far.

I knew that. I did. But then I've spent just over half my life in school, and I'll be 50 in a few weeks. I wanted to try to break Story Musgrave's record: 7 college degrees. But, I got tired after 4, and my student loans went over 6 figures.

I *have* managed to disprove the hypothesis put forth by "The Far Side": one's brain may very well get tired, but it will not "get full".

Oh, and it is NOT allowed to retire as a "professional student". You still have to pay back the loans.

 

[Ozymandias]

Originally posted by daveyfire
Good story, David... I wondered where you got that name! Hey, the first time I saw it I was stumped too. Ya got any pics of its flight on the K1100T? That was really awesome.

No. It was hauling *** too bad.