Wondering what all this Orb stuff is orbout?*
* = None of this section actually matters
Exhibit O
The earth is an orb. The moon is also, you guessed it, an orb. The moon draws a circle (in effect a two-dimensional orb) around the earth. The earth in turn draws a wide circle around the sun (orbology does not recognize ellipses). The moon orbits the earth as the earth orbits the sun, creating a spiraling circular pattern.
Our solar system is made up of planets (each one a big, cool orb) spinning around on vast circular paths carved out invisibly by their mass and their mass’s relationship with the exploding orb in the center. Some may call it the sun. Most planets have smaller orbs dancing that same orbular dance around them.
Taking it one step further, we are on one arm of a spiral galaxy (a spiral is just an orb that has taken drugs), orbiting almost forever around a supermassive black hole – a supremely dense point (or micro-orb) in space so powerful that light cannot survive contact with it. An orb made of darkness.
In short, the moon orbits around the earth which orbits around the sun which orbits around a supermassive black hole.
What time is better spent than time spent participating in that pattern? We can draw a circle by running or walking, the same way the orbs around us draw circles through space. Another spiral knit into the pattern we ride through every day. In this way, we can be like an orb. Who can become the most orbular? That’s what Orbtober is all about.
Exhibit R
A three-dimensional shape casts a two-dimensional shadow; light’s absence cannot render depth. However, it can stretch itself two-dimensionally, like a thin cloth draped over a three-dimensional form. But a shadow cannot have depth. If you give the sun (3-D) an orb (3-D), it will give you a circle (2-D). Recent advances in orbology has revealed that the sun is an orb itself, so it follows that two orbs are capable of producing one circle, if one of them is opaque (a ball) and the other produces light (the sun).
Could the Park Circle circle actually be the shadow cast by an orb hanging over it that we cannot see? We do not yet have an answer to this vexing question.
Exhibit B
A four-dimensional sphere (or orb) is called a hypersphere (or hyperorb). The same way that a 3-D orb is defined by its 2-D surface, a 4-D hyperorb would be defined by a surface that is 3-D. Thus a hyperorb would cast a three-dimensional shadow if lit by our sun — a shadow orb.
What if our sun were a 4-D hyperorb? What if its 4-D light shone on a 2-D object? Mathematics (borrowing heavily from orbology) tells us that this would still produce a 3-D object (a shadow orb). So a solar hyperorb shining light from its 3-D “surface” would create a 3-D shadow orb beyond the 2-D circle causing the shadow.
Could a 4-D hyperorb that we do not have the faculties to see with our 3-D eyeballs (which are themselves a form of orb) be casting light through the Park Circle circle, creating a 3-D shadow somewhere? This is an exciting question to ponder as you excitedly circumambulate the circle.
Okay but what is actually the deal with Orb?
You’re risking killing the joke but orb is just a funny word, and its geometrically related to the Park Circle circle. The word orb is easy to remember, fun to say, and a little mysterious. I wanted to make a fundraiser that had some goofiness, absurdity, and mystery to it. That is not to say LCFB’s mission is goofy; clearly it’s not. But that doesn’t mean we can’t have fun while we’re raising money for them. It feels like it fits the vibe of Park Circle.