Nickolas Rudolph
Bio
Speculative Fiction and Commentary. Family, learning, investigating, music, and edgeworks are his passions.
Stories (9/0)
Most Common
Arjun sat at the breakfast nook in his kitchen. To call it just a kitchen is an understatement and doesn’t do the size nor capabilities justice. This room was the culinary equivalent to the chemistry lab Arjun worked in. One thing Arjun enjoyed more than working in a molecular research lab and occasionally for a forensics lab, was cooking. During his many years of school, obtaining a doctorate in Chemistry and a bachelors in Physics; working as an assistant to the Baltimore Medical Examiner's’ Office; and teaching Chemistry to high school students as substitute teacher, Arjun learned to cook.
By Nickolas Rudolph2 years ago in Humans
Days of Pasts Future
Honesty as much as a person can be with themselves was my journey this past year. And the year before and so on. It seems every year is that journey and every new year marks the arbitrary moment when our futures might have it’s goals or destination mapped out. Perhaps we should come up with a better analogy for life than a journey. That was my first thought. But maybe I should not concern myself with new or better analogies and just start the journey. I think I’ll do that.
By Nickolas Rudolph3 years ago in Motivation
The Father, the Son, and the Holy Grail
Rain. Rain is not odd. Rain is merely the cooling of water vapor into the lower atmosphere and when that cooled water vapor condenses into droplets, one of the four fundamental forces brings in back to earth. And at this moment gravity is pulling quite a lot of the sky oasis down on this desert valley. The only odd thing about it is the perception of the inhabitants of this valley, notably rain falling in the Valley of the Sun, or the greater Phoenix metro area to those from elsewhere. Also it’s been aptly called Hell City by some of the more pessimistic lot of the city and hence names of tattoo conventions, motorcycle rallies, car shows, and lady bruisers of the Hell City Rollers, the current roller derby champions.
By Nickolas Rudolph4 years ago in Humans
Harlan Affects
There are not too many other locations in my life that induce a wave of comfort, wonderment, joy, and being, as when I am within the stacks of a bookstore, library, or comic book shop. It’s as if I am traveling close to a large gravity well which slows down my relative time and continues normally for everyone else. When someone asks me what my plans are for a Saturday or any other day off I would say, “I’m going to a bookstore” or “I’m going to the library.” Of course I can only do this a few times a month as to not spend all my time in one of these black holes and maintain some kind of social life.
By Nickolas Rudolph7 years ago in Futurism
Closure
Mary sat at the table in the quiet room. The room was a medium sized square with sound absorbing material lining the ceiling and the walls. So quiet, so calm she thought she could feel the hum from the earth’s spin. The door she came through was over her right shoulder. Mary glanced back to ensure it was there. Realizing she was looking at her way out made her turn her head quickly to the door where he would be coming in. She needed to appear strong. His door was to the left across the room. It had a small window in it so a guard could observe the interview. She was nervous, very nervous, so she kept her hands below the table. She wore a baker’s pink jump suit with a pocket full of tissues. She knew she would need them and she knew they would also act as an object to hold tightly in her hand in lieu of a stress ball or her own flesh.
By Nickolas Rudolph7 years ago in Futurism
Anticipation Killed the Cat
If you are like me, you have a stream of information coming at you from all your social media accounts, mostly about things you have liked and are interested in. Like sucking down a mint chocolate chip milkshake too fast and getting that brain freeze, we continue to do it because it fills that instant void. When is too much of a good thing too much? I’ll use the example of the upcoming movie Ghost in the Shell as the example.
By Nickolas Rudolph7 years ago in Futurism
The Open Road Calls to Us
The news of the discovery of a solar system with possibly several exoplanets within the habitable-zone was just announced. For many of us in the scientific community that study biology, chemistry, astrobiology, etc, this is Wonderland. Thoughts and questions are added and manipulated in our brains like ingredients of a gourmet stew. And we are ready to eat.
By Nickolas Rudolph7 years ago in Futurism
Military in Science Fiction
Military in Science Fiction Wrong uniform, wrong rank, wrong weapons, wrong movements, wrong wrong wrong. Common thoughts while reading or watching most fictional stories with military involved and specifically Science Fiction. Most modern western military (remember I said most) don’t use fully automatic assault rifles as a main weapon, it wastes too many rounds too quickly. Nobody refers to special operations units or missions as “Spec Ops”, nobody. And can you please stop making all military personnel two dimensional war fiends.
By Nickolas Rudolph7 years ago in Futurism
Artifacts
Artifacts A common trait that many Science Fiction, Sci-Fi, and Fantasy aficionados seem to share is the love of things. Figurines, statues, props, and day to day objects adorn with our obsessions. They clutter our shelves, walls, table tops, and really any surface that can hang, hold, or display these things. This is not an uncommon behavior for fans of any genre or domain. Sports fans have their stashes of trinkets and garb displaying their colors and love of the game. However, the proverbial geeks of Science Fiction, Sci-Fi, and Fantasy seem to take this to an extraordinary measure.
By Nickolas Rudolph7 years ago in Futurism