how could i have forgotten?

this is a great article on an old passion. it's just not too neat to be on the receiving end.

how fun!

MYS sent some very interesting articles!

one is of a family living in the tippy-top of a pointed building in downtown seattle -- you HAVE to see this (complete with chihuly)!

and the other is of a woman living in a teeny-tiny studio -- very cool!

great tunes

you know, sometimes you just have to take an hour or so and check out Improv Everywhere.

it shows that life is good and so are people.

i was right!

this grand design book really is a curious and thought-provoking book. i remember one of my high school teacher's saying, just before the end of class one day, that the shortest distance between two points isn't always a straight line. i was floored. how can this be?

i was so taken by his statement that it's the only thing i remembered from ANY of my math classes from 9th grade on. i didn't care for math, having lost lots of ground when i moved in 7th grade and ended up with this HORRIBLE teacher who knew absolutely nothing about math and couldn't answer any of my questions. i was in tears because i knew it was the end of math and me.

but back to the straight line -- i always remembered his comment and one day back in about 1989 when we were hiking in the cascades, i finally realized i knew what his comment meant. we were following a trail along a mountainside (straight up on the left, straight down on the right) and i could see the trail we would be reaching shortly, across the valley on the right. our path was going to curve back around almost 180 degrees.

well, it was obvious! it was much shorter to continue on our drastically curving trail than to cut off to the right, in a straight line which just happened to go down and back up. it was so cool to KNOW that.

and here it is on page 101 of hawking's book -- "The geometry of curved spaces such as the earth's surface is not the Euclidean geometry we are familiar with." it goes on to show an intriguing diagram and then explains that if you took a route from new york to madrid on a flat map, it would be a straight line of 3,707 miles. but because the earth curves, the shortest distance is 3,605 miles and you go n.e. then e. and then s.e.

validation! by no less than hawking himself! yay!!!

water woes

 i thought this map was interesting (above). it shows estimations of drought conditions in 2030+.


the u.s. is going to be hard-hit, especially southern south dakota/northern nebraska and the california coastline.


Even though they're tiny and hard to see, you might be able to compare your area on the colored map to google's map below to see how your area will fare.

the article was worrisome, although i'm not sure what a person should do about it. move north and stake your claim, i guess.

we make our own jokes

at lunch today the husband and i were discussing going to mars and not coming back. we both thought it wasn't something we'd do. then he said if an alien came along and said he'd fly the husband to far-away worlds and he'd see things he couldn't even imagine, he'd be mighty tempted to take the offer.

we talked about what situations would make our names go down in history. then he commented that even if we made the history books people probably wouldn't remember our names for long. i mean, how many people landed on the moon and could we remember their names?

hmmm .... we thought about it a minute then i said, 'bob armstrong?' just teasing. and he said, 'yes, neil armstrong.' and i laughed and said that i really thought it was lance armstrong, and he said, 'yes, lance armstrong and buzz lightyear.'

the future is coming ....

want to see a machine made out of legos, build a house made out of legos? go here (background article here) ... and be sure to stay until the end.

hi-ho, hi-ho, it's off to mars we go ....

i read an article today about the idea of going to mars ..... and not returning.

they likened it to christopher columbus who sailed off, not at all sure of where he was going or what he'd find. to a certain extent i agree with that thought. new explorations are necessarily into the unknown, and there's a real likelihood you won't make it back.

still .... the idea of going to mars -- as tantalizing as it seems at first -- would almost have to be really, really depressing. i mean, no clouds, no trees, no buildings, no animals. so much sameness. maybe someone who grew up in the sahara could handle it, but i'm pretty sure i could not.

they mused about the possibility that the only people willing to go on that one-way trip would be oldsters, who didn't really have that much to lose with not returning to earth. being with a bunch of oldsters might, in itself, be depressing, and sooner or later someone would get stuck taking care of everyone else.

a number of possibilities and many things to think about. if they knock on your door and ask if you want to go along for the ride, what are you going to say?

overheard in ny

Hobo sitting against building: Hey! You!
Girl walking by: Yeah?
Hobo: Want to go jump in the East River with me?
Girl, stopping and looking at him: Not a bad idea. Maybe later.
-------
Subway employee: And what kind of cheese would you like on your turkey?
Woman: Tomato.
-------
Guy: You should've sat at my end of the counter. I'm rich and well hung.
Girl: You should've sat at my end. It doesn't turn people into assholes.
-------
Girl #1: You know my half birthday was yesterday?!
Girl #2: Yeah! So you're 18 and a quarter!
Girl #1: I'm 18 and two thirds!
-------
Redhead girl: No, I totally want you to meet him -- I just don't want him to meet you.
-------
Guy to friend: I went to the anarchists' meeting, but they turned out to just be a group of spoiled, white, middle-class kids.
-------
Girl #1: Ugh, the economy is so bad I don't know how I'm going to get through the recession.
Girl #2: Oh my god, I know! I mean, I lost my job and now my parents are only giving me $50 allowance a week!
Girl #1: Wow, that's crazy! Only $50?

let's see -- ignorant? misogynistic? insane?

did you read about the islamic cleric who said there's never rape in a marriage? i was disgusted and shook my head.

and now there's a headline in which an islamic court says it's okay for a man to beat his wife as long as he doesn't leave any marks.

it's dogma like that which leaves me not feeling very friendly toward these people. i remember reading back in  my college days where an ethnocentric person is one who feels his group or beliefs are superior to others. being ethnocentric was regarded as not being a good thing.

weeeeeelll, do any religions in america say it's okay to beat your wife or rape her? not that i know of. especially not in the mainstream.

if islam teachings run along these lines, then let's just say there aren't enough bytes to express my ethnocentricism about it. still .... gaaack!

clever old guy

the husband has a friend who's dying. he's lived a full life -- teacher and priest, among other things. he's never married but has been active in whatever community he's lived in and is well-read and well-spoken.

the husband enjoys speaking with this man and, since he's 84 or so, enjoys listening to him talk about various things. he has a wry sense of humor.

he hadn't been feeling well and was determined to keep out of hospitals, so he hadn't been crazy about seeing the doctor. he finally had the husband take him and found out his kidneys are failing. since the dr. knew he wasn't having any part of any type of medical care, he advised him to go home and reach out to hospice to get the process started.

he's been pretty comfortable with hospice, but a little curious about the questions they asked him when they first came out. he figured they were trying to find out if he was gay. they asked about him never having been married and finally he said, "I know I'm not gay. I know I'm straight, but I've never had a woman interested in me. So I guess I'm kinda in between straight and gay. I'm stray." ...wry sense of humor.

rod serling and me ...

i've always thought things were really out there when the subject of dimensions came up. i mean, three dimensions I understand, and the fourth, well sure, that makes sense, too. but then they go on about  6, 7, 8, and even 12 dimensions and i just back away. it's too much for me and scary, too. no matter how i try to understand what they're saying, i just can't wrap my mind around it.

oh, ho! but then i was playing chuzzle last night (not to be confused with guzzle, which i don't). if you've ever played that game, it is kinda fun and while it seems innocuous, it's tricky. and while the comparison is in no way close to the real thing, i realized that what i was doing was playing in a whole bunch of dimensions at once.

since we're lifting reality anyhow, you need to imagine the three dimensions as being played out on the screen. yes, it's two dimensions, but just pretend it's three. then we add time, which makes it four. then we add color (each little chuzzle is a different color with about five or so colors being the set), which influences how we play, which makes it five dimensions. then we add right-angled configurations, which makes it six. and i suppose if we're going to be technical about it we should add in the scoring since if you use a 'hint' it subtracts from your score which might influence how you play the game -- that's seven.

whew! and it can get hard to play in seven dimensions! your mind has to shift gears constantly and after awhile, it's tiring. still ... i thought it was curious that all the manipulating i was doing in my mind made me feel like i was dealing with multiple dimensions. very curious.

not high maintenance

i've started reading The Grand Design by Hawking and Mlodinow. i'm on page 40 and so far my eyes have glazed only three times. the book is interesting and i think i'm going to really like it when they get to the part about alternate realities, something that i view as a totally cool thought.

the book is actually not quite as spellbinding as some of the stuff i read -- murder mysteries *oh yeah!*, sci-fi stories *rad, dude!*, girl porn *i'm not dead yet*, or some combination thereof. like, the stephanie plum series keeps me in stitches and i totally love detective eve dallas.  and karen marie moning -- ohmygod, that girl can write! give me a funny book or an intriguing book and i'm happy. simple pleasures ...

up, up, and aw-- ... choo, choo ....

i ran across some interesting things this week --

apparently the airlines are planning on doing away with first-class. hmmm .... that will pretty much put the kabosh on any flying that i do. after our trip in august, which we took first-class for the first time, i decided that was the only way to go. the rest of it is just a cattle call or a chicken farm.

it's too bad greed has become such a pervasive part of our lives in this country. i can remember when things were built to last and companies took pride in delivering excellent service. but now ... not so much.

so if first class goes, i won't. it will be the train or the car for a leisurely trip.

out in nature

yesterday was a gorgeous day and today promises to be the same! there's nothing as pretty as a pretty day in this small town -- no traffic, blue skies, pretty shoreline, few people. it's really a lovely experience. if i had grown up here, i would have learned how to sail and do the boat thing. there's too much to learn, water-navigation-wise, at this late date so ... too bad. and besides -- no energy. but still, a pretty day here is totally satisfying.

partay!

we went to visit the grandkids last saturday to celebrate the grandaughter's birthday. she's three as of today. she's a beautiful, brilliant, smiling little sweetheart and it's hard to wait and see what she does with her life.

grandson is growing like crazy and it looks like he's going to give her a run for the money. it sort of seems like he's going to be the walk-softly-and-carry-a-big-stick type. and you ought to see his smile -- a sweet little piece of heaven.

be a boy scout

remember what i said about survival?  here's another guide.

it talks about survival, do-it-yourself medicine, making friends, keeping from getting killed, and the bible. i particularly liked the humor with the last one.

i suggest we go with plan b, r2 ....

this is a pretty cute article about survival, although it may not make much sense unless you watch a lot of movies.

why would they do this?

for whatever reason, i don't usually think of 'europe' as being against the u.s. boy, am i naive. read this.

medical humor

i don't know what the deal is with this group, but aren't they cute?!!!  i wonder if they sing to people when they're going under?

facebook, again

what is this service called scribd? i already do not like it since i read about the way it's getting people involved via facebook. honestly, this encroachment is bad and seems to have a life of its own. and i'm sure it will get worse.

back home

our little vacation was very nice and just the thing to relieve tension and stress. the 100-year old house we stayed in was decorated beautifully, but i was displeased by several things (soap container in downstairs bathroom was almost empty, overhead light in downstairs bedroom kept not working, there were no pans in the kitchen -- skillets, but no pans -- plus a few more things) so i would not recommend it; i mean after all, the owners in the multi-million dollar house next door weren't as giving and conscientious as the place we stayed last year or the year before, so phooey on them. the girlfriend didn't have the objections i did, but hey.

we spent time in anacortes and found a FABULOUS restaurant called ADRIFT. if you're ever in anacortes, for god's sake you need to stop there and eat. the place next door was also supposed to be very good -- gard-a-deli or something like that, but we didn't have a chance to stop there.

the library in anacortes is thriving and is open every day of the week. our library has truncated hours and isn't open in sundays, so i was jealous of the anacortes libray.

we drove down to oak harbor (kinky downtown area) and again found a good eating place -- seabolt's smokehouse seafood & deli. that's where i found the three micro-brewery beers, in cans (from colorado), that i brought back to the hubby. i don't drink but the husband offered me a sip and i thought the scotch ale was particularly tasty. we drove on south through coupeville and freeland, then headed back to the beach house.

we got there on monday and explored anacortes, stayed-in on tuesday and read all day since it was grey and dreary, went out and played in sunshine on wednesday, then packed up and played in sunshine on the way home on thursday.

we stopped at the coop in mt vernon where i transferred the girlfriend to her hubby. i also picked up some sticky rice and checked out the boobies of one of the checkers. she had tattooed landscapes from several beloved places she had lived as she was growing up. it was colorful but strange in the extreme and i was reluctant to stare and observe her statement, since i'm not a man (girlfriend's husband got the story).

we had gotten our flu shots, which we try to do when we're out in late september, a pretty good haul of used books, got caught up on family and problems, and ended up having a really great time! yay, girlfriends!!

oh yeah!

the girlfriend and i are heading off on our annual get-away today. we're heading over to a beach house and will spend four days talking, reading, eating, shopping, talking, exploring, walking on the beach, and talking. it will be fun!

i need an avatar

i went to see Avatar again this afternoon. this is only my second time. it was in 3-d like the first time and it was just as fabulous. there was sooooo much i'd forgotten, and the visuals were just as stunning as the first time. i want to go there and ride on one of those flying bird/dragon things.

i was looking at some of the trivia on imdb and it mentioned the huangshan mountain inspired some of the 'scapes. go to google images and type that in -- the pix are truly beautiful. except for the graffiti.

where's the ladder...

i forgot to mention this article i saw about the coolest way we can all help to fight global warming -- just paint your roof white. it's really interesting reading, and i can't understand why anyone would be against it. i mean, such a small thing could make a big difference.

soaring ever upward... for a little bit

MYS put this video on his blog and it is definitely good enough to repeat! enjoy!!  oh yes, and the music is good, too!

deadly quiet

if you were asked where the most toxic place in america was, what would you say? i would probably decide it was somewhere around niagra falls. or anyplace two or more republicans were meeting.

it appears the most toxic place is the state of my birth -- oklahoma! picher, oklahoma to be exact, way up in the northeastrn corner. and the toxicity is from mining lead and zinc, and the chat piles and dust that was left behind.

i went to google maps and was surprised to see white globs all around the town when i looked at the satellite version. and i was amazed to see that i could get right down on the streets with the little man. i mean ... picher. there are some bigger places that i can't use the little man on. wonders will never cease.

the article is an interesting mix of nostalgia, rebellion, and gumption. the bit about the BIA is disgusting, but that's par for the course. at any rate, i invite you to sit a spell and read.

oh yes!

i just saw a couple of interesting things.

1) if you're in san francisco, you really need to go to the california academy of sciences building. this video will tell you about the construction of the place, and this very-well-done web site is theirs. i would love to visit! and their wine-and-dine tour must be great!

2) i can't wait to see this movie . i mean, i know johnny depp can be really funny, but with angelina jolie? the trailer makes me want to see it!

where are those instruction?!

i remember several years back that i bought a walkman so i could listen to music while i walked.  when i took it out of its packaging, however, it seemed to be configured a little weird. i mean, i could get the whole thing put together, but when i put it on there was absolutely NO slack! it felt weird and i couldn't figure out what the deal was so i just said oh well and headed out for my walk. i began to feel really conspicuous though because the short lead meant i had to scrunch my shoulders and keep my head down. the walk definitely didn't last very long and i didn't use it again.

quite some time later the husband borrowed it. i didn't think he'd do well with it, but he got along fine. when i asked him about it and mentioned the problem i'd had, he couldn't help but laugh as he showed me the extra adjustment i had to make to lengthen the cord.  *sigh*

get your shots

there appear to be a number of young parents who do not belive in vaccinations. that's unfortunate. i've been vaccinated for just about everything i should be and it hasn't proven to be harmful. it looks like whooping cough (pertussis) is making a comeback in the number of victims it acquires. vaccinate your kids.

pahtooey

ahhhhh, facebook's revenge.

i have disliked facebook since the beginning, really, and once i found out they didn't care one single bit about privacy, i really disliked it. everytime i would read about changes being made and what a person should do to try to keep their stuff private, i would make those changes. the last changes i made must have pissed them off seeing as how there's no account for me on facebook anymore. at least not one i can access which is the same thing.

it just underscores how i feel about facebook -- immature, inconsiderate, greedy, disrespectful, and undoubtedly republican.

excellent music

i like a number of things Zero Cult has done and when i saw this video of theirs this morning, i just had to share it with you.  beautiful images, although there's no way i understood the math.  thank you low mercury on facebook (as much as i hate facebook).

old-fashioned values

MYS is going off to los alamos national lab, and there is so much secret stuff there the potential for abuse is large. i recently saw, in fact, where an ex-employee has been charged with narious deeds. i grew up believing in integrity and i've seen during my many years that a certain portion of the population does not. that is truly unfortunate. i feel blessed that our kids adhere to our values and believe in honor, integrity, kindness, and doing your best.

foot comfort

i love haflinger's shoes. they fit my foot perfectly, i can wear them all day, and they're beyond comfortable. the only drawback is that they're so hard to find online. zappos doesn't carry them and neither does planet shoes, both sites of which do carry brands i consider. the one fairly reliable source i've found is dodds shoe company in laramie wyoming. yeah, i know, who'd have thought. but they carry a number of sought-after brands and if you're searching through zappos and planet shoes, remember to also check out www.doddsshoe.com. especially if you're looking for haflinger!

a good example

MYS posted a video which is think is pretty great, especially since it's for a city government. it's for the city of toronto and whoever decided to do it like this, made an excellent decision! do any of our cities have something this entertaining and effective? probably not -- too afraid of some kind of lawsuit maybe. either that or absolutely no imagination.

oh yummy!

do you like peppermint candy? i prefer the kind which is soft and just sorta melts in your mouth. you can get a big jar of it here. it's actually the perfect peppermint stick and a jar of it can last you a long while if you can control your rapaciousness. not an easy task, especially with this stuff, but you can either have it all now or have a little bit for a loooooong while.

on schedule

the girlfriend and i are planning another get-away this year. in fact, we'll be getting away at the end of this month. we'll do a little shopping, a little exploring, a little walking along the beach, a little reading, and plenty of talking. it'll be fun!

be prepared

i bring you a public service message:  September is National Preparedness Month. go to Ready.gov  to see how to put together a plan in case of disaster.

glad i'm not rich

i occasionally get some catalogs which are for the upper crust. by that i mean the clothes are fairly expensive. i recently got a new catalog which i've never heard of -- maus&hoffman.

while i looked through the women's section (8 pages as opposed to 52 for the men), i saw some of the ugliest fashions i've ever seen. and they weren't cheap. there were some god-awful blouses for $150, other blouses for $298, a belt for $425, an ugly blazer for $528, a god-awful business jacket for $1,448, a short coat for $898, and a mini-scarf for $75. finally -- something i could afford. although, who'd want to?  ugly, ugly, ugly!

undecided

i just read where a woman had twin boys at age 60. i'm not sure how i feel about that.

friends

i saw a friend last week, or rather we (five of us from work and one ex-worker) saw a friend and her mother. my friend was one of my work-mates a couple of years ago until she got a job in north dakota in a different branch. she and her mom came out here to go on a cruise to alaska.  they really enjoyed it, and it sounded like a great trip.

i hadn't met her mom before and she seemed like a really nice gal, quiet and maybe a little shy. it was soooo good to see M once again. she looked excellent and was happy and i know she loves her present job. she talked about future possibilities, but for now it seems all is very good.

getting together now and then is good for the spirit!

groovin' right along

well, it's time once again to plug my favorite internet music station. it's GROOVERA.COM and i've loved it forever. it used to be called FrostByte Groove Lounge and then they decided to change their name. sad, but so it goes.

they have three types of chilled music for your enjoyment: Low Mercury (my fav) with laid-back sounds, Jet City Lounge which is more upbeat, and Audio Popsicle which has some vocals.

even though Low Mercury out-distances the others by miles and miles in my opinion, it does occasionally play some pieces I. Can. Not. Stand. for example, i hate cj weaver, cyberia, dj cam, fat jon the ample soul physician, j boogie's dubtronic science, kruder & dorfmeister, lemongrass, manoloco, miguel graca, patchworks, rithma, tripglitch, and visit venus. i mean, yuck! patooey! gawk! ohmygod, get them off this world!

on the other hand, i loooooove a lot of creators on this station: alexander chereshnev, all india radio, b-tribe, carmen rizzo, chilled c-quence, chris coco, conjure one, delerium, digital analog band, digital moodz, electrix, enrico riva, francis rimbert, george chatzis, gROUSe, houie d, ibizarre, indra, isan, jeff woodall, joey fehrenbach, jon hopkins, kaya project, kukan dub lagan, maneesh de moor, michael e, moshang, mo-shic, nalepa, n. bar, nexion-project, riot act, rue du soleil, side liner, suntwins, tones on tail, ulrich schnauss, urban myth club, vargo, ypey, and zero cult.

now, admittedly, this second group can have some stinkers, but by-and-large these people just touch my soul. i completely go into another world when one of their pieces is on.

but to get back to the subject, the next time you're online, plug into the best sounds on the web and for the ultimate experience, click on Low Mercury ..... heaven.

@#$!%^&*#$

"On the Internet, when I send my ones and zeros somewhere, they shouldn't have to wait in line behind the ones and zeros of wealthier people or corporations. That's the way the Net was designed, and it's central to a concept called "net neutrality," which ensures that Internet service providers can't pick favorites."

that's the beginning of an article i thought i better read. i totally agree that the 'net should be equal to all, regardless of the almighty dollar.

but as i read i could feel my stomach getting sick so i had to stop. big business bastards are going to fuck everything up for the little guys and i just couldn't read about it. (my passionate nature will be the end of me.) is that defeatist? probably. but i've lived long enough to know that repub, er, business interests can get almost anything they want and there's no sense in torturing myself as it's happening. oh, if only i were king.

the long and short of it

i've always known that older women either wear their hair cut short, or, if they have to leave it long, they braid it and wind it around on top of their head.

now i find out that hilary is starting a trend which does away with that old wisdom. she is showing that longer hair on older women is okay. the article says your cut should be based on your personality, no matter what age.

i've thought about going back to longer hair a couple of times in the last few years, but everytime i've tried letting it grow out a bit, it looks terrible. it pulls down my aura and is really depressing. so for me, shorter seems to be better. my hair has always been ultra fine and a little wavy; as i age it's getting finer but thinner, and a little wayward. the waves have given way to kinky straightness; it's just really hard to describe. and harder to subdue into a style.

oh, well. the aging process shows us all kinds of new mysteries, and fashion demands change. so be it.

remember the alamo! er ... uh ..

MYS headed south and had his final interviews for his new post. he expects to move down there mid-october or so.

oh man, i totally forgot to ask him if anyone had called him Dr. MYS! how could i have forgotten that??!!

anyhow, he's in love with the area and feels really positive about the place. now we need to focus on sending aimee lots of energy and memory cells so she can pass her final hurdle next week, i think it is. once she's done that, she'll be in a position to join MYS at the end of the year!

yay, aimee!!! go, kid, go!!! you can do it!!!

foggy bloggy

i went to my first blog, for the first time in many months, and could see that some changes had been made. i didn't see nearly as many ads as had been on there before (and having no control over the ads being displayed was one of the reasons i changed away from them). the whole thing had been cleaned up quite a bit.

almost makes me want to go back to it. first love, and all that ....

keeping the balls in the air

this from my washington post feed:

"The Commerce Department says new home sales fell 12.4 percent in July from a month earlier to a seasonally adjusted annual sales pace of 276,000, the slowest on record dating to 1963.

The numbers are the latest sign that the economic recovery is fading."

depending on which side of the fence you're on, that's either good or bad. but you know, since about 1973 or 1975 house prices have soared. and the rule is that whatever goes up, must come down. i'm just glad we aren't desparately needing to sell ours.

jumpstart the economy

since the computers were off, i was forced to read. while looking through the hammacher schlemmer catalog, i noticed you can now buy a two-person submarine. wow! cool! oh ... two million dollars.

ahem. well, if you don't want one of those, you can buy a pedal boat ... three thousand eight hundred.

or, you can get a cotton candy maker ... sixty-nine ninety-five.

816 ... 876? no, 816 ... what?

i'm not all that crazy about gene weingarten, but this was pretty good. and i have, actually, heard guys do that.

all across the country

particulars about our trip:
the radisson at seatac was an excellent place to stay and leave our car while we were gone -- highly recommended, especially since we just walked across the street and into the terminal.
the country inn & suites on east henrietta was a big disappointment -- not recommended.
u.s. airways (to philly) was an excellent experience -- i wonder if it was only because we were in first class. we enjoyed our breakfast and juice/pop. we particularly enjoyed it when the ticket taker turned back a young gal trying to board when they called first class. when she finally did board, she was at the tail-end. slacker.
the philly airport was not at the top of our list of pleasant airports; outside temps in the 90s.
u.s. air/republic (to rochester) was pleasant.
the rochester airport was hesitant to take my nexus card -- didn't see many of those, they said.
the american eagle flight (rochester to o'hare) was dumb -- they lost points.
american air (o'hare to seatac) wasn't a good as u.s. air, but they kept serving us food.
i think it's safe to say i don't ever want to fly anywhere again unless it's in first class.

then and now

oh man, the last three weeks have been something else. we moved into our new building, but there were all kinds of problems with that and i didn't have a functioning computer. but i got through that week.

then we flew to see MYS do his defense of his thesis. wow -- that was soooooo cool!! i had a link so you could look at his talk (slides) but i can't find it now. i'll keep looking. and yes, he now has his Ph.D.! the rest of the week was great -- drove through the countryside, visited places, it was all very excellent!

then we flew back home to two computers which didn't work. :( it took the rest of the week for the comcast tech to come out and tell us it was our modem which the husband tried to bring in earlier when he called and they told him no. despicable monopoly.

and the situation at work hadn't improved. everything still up in a heaval and i didn't get a working computer until late yesterday. good grief. hopefully things will start to smooth out. i find if i don't have any expectations, it works better (mentally).

i'll have to see if any of the pictures i took back east turned out decent. if so, i'll post.

new digs

i'm moving into a new office sometime this week, but i don't know my new phone number yet. if you need it, send me an e-mail and i'll reply when i have it.

a different kind of bad guy

telemarketers -- they take the cake.

well, it's this way. well, no, this way. well,

so how do you feel about bp? my thoughts can't be put out there, but i do want to share the tidbit i found this morning. pretty clever! and mst 3000 is right in there!

let's move

where should you raise your kids? there are always a number of factors to consider, but if health and well-being are number one with you, move to new hampshire.

yep, new hampshire is first, minnesota second and vermont third. nebraska is 9th, washington state 11th, south dakota 26th, okahoma 44th, and new mexico 46th.

how can kansas be 13th, texas be 34th, and oklahoma be 44th?

doesn't necessarily make sense, but interesting anyhow. and i always thought new hampshire looked like it'd be a neat place to live.

old world beauty

i love looking at this website at pictures of scotland. some of them are curious, some are artistic, some are beautiful (well, not the fly), and some are intriguing, but they almost always make me very very happy.

oh good grief

it's a beautiful day outside, the temps are in the low 70s, there's a 2 mph whisper of air drifting by.

in spite of all that goodness, i'm dismayed/disgusted/perturbed to read about the bad guys who lurk/pounce/attack any way they can. to wit:
1) be alert to older friends who seem to become dependent on someone they met online.
2) don't pay for charges on your credit card that you didn't make, even if it's only 20 cents, because someone somewhere is living high.
3) be careful about work-at-home online jobs.
4) pay your credit card bill completely every month and keep the late fees to yourself.
5) be careful about unsolicited phone calls.
6) know that revenge against you may be ignored.

bastards. all of them.

don't let the bed bugs b-.... ouch!

bed bugs, known to us all by the good-night ditty, apparently exist and are becoming more common. who thinks about bed bugs? i haven't ever thought about them and have never known anyone who's been bothered by them.

but they're becoming a real problem in this country, it seems. ohio and new york city sound like places to stay away from, as well as expensive hotels. if we didn't already have our plane tickets, i would be sorely tempted to stay home. no ... we're not staying in an expensive hotel, but still ...

bugs. yuck!

up, up, and away .... or down.

i've always been interested in airplanes, leading me to believe i must have been an angel in my former life.

or not.

at any rate, i usually like reading about airplanes. and since our upcoming trip is going to be the first time we've ever flown first class, i'm almost excited about the flight.

then i read this article. hmmmm, just about everyone in first class was killed.

it will be just my luck .....

and this article is actually pretty good at telling you how to be the best prepared you can be on a flight. for example, don't cross your ankles.

oh, look -- a wha ....

no, this picture isn't photoshopped. the whale took out the mast and swam away. the two boaters somehow limped back to shore and they were unharmed, but could have been killed if they'd been closer to the wrecked part of the boat. a near-by tourist took the pix. pretty amazing all around!

get out the ark

this is an interesting map -- it shows, or purports to show, the extent of rising water the world over. and it's curious how some places would get soaked and others wouldn't be much bothered. check out sacramento, for example. and at 14m, the olympics are on their way to becoming their own island. intriguing.

how many?

this is interesting, and i got the right answer, but i knew what was going to happen. is it realistic to think people are always going to notice everything?

commercials

funny

thoughtful

beautiful

best expression

light-hearted

silly

cool

dramatic

interesting

one of my all-time favs

Ph.D. time!

MYS has finally gotten a date to defend his thesis: august 10. i'm not real clear on the difference between a thesis and dissertation in his field; maybe it doesn't matter. regardless, he's nearing the end of the tunnel.

we'll be attending his defense and i'm excited to see if i can understand anything he says. i've been able to follow along, over the years, as he has explained things to me, but still, since neither physics nor astronomy were ever a big part of my education, it could be a little foggy.

regardless, one huge CONGRATULATIONS to him on seeing a payoff for all his hard work -- may i present the-soon-to-be Dr. Yirak!

crooks

remember -- if you get an urgent e-mail from a friend who says they need an immediate infusion of cash, talk with them and get the real story. i mean, after all, what friend is going to be asking you for money anyway?!

death

and now i understand that cremation has disadvantages. i suppose it's only a matter of time before any good concept falls into dispute. at least, that's how it seems to go.

at any rate, there are apparently alternatives to cremation, assuming you don't want the traditional burial. something called resomation is available in minnesota and florida, and maybe california before long.

and then there's cryogenic cremation -- which a company in england is trying to perfect.

seems like there's always something you need to think about ....

tough!

did you see the article about having some extra weight probably isn't a bad thing? and it reiterated what i've always known -- if i diet, my body thinks i'm dying and does everything it can to save me. and genetics plays a part -- i look like my grandmother and my aunts .... big-hipped women who lived well into their 80s and my grandmother (still living in her own home and taking care of herself) died when she was 92. i've finally decided as long as i make a reason attempt to eat the right foods (vegetables/fruit/cheese, grains with some meat) and get a reasonable amount of exercise, the industries who want to give me advice can go to hell.

status quo

our weather has been interesting the last 7 or 8 months. it's been mainly 57* that whole time. sure, there has been variation -- down to 31*, up to 72* -- but it's been surprising how much the temperature has stayed the same. i haven't minded it, although i like to have a couple of really cold days. the heat though, meh ... not so much.

if global warming is influencing our weather, does that mean it's going to get hotter farther north? or that it's going to start making everything cooler. i'm confused about that making-things-colder part.

waiting list

richard clarke is worried that this country isn't taking potential Cyber War seriously. it wouldn't surprise me if that were true; some of our leaders are beyond out of touch with reality. at any rate, i put myself on the list for his book at our local library. i'm number 13.

oh, the memories...

remember fireflies? i haven't seen fireflies in decades. i don't know if it's living in a certain part of the country, or not spending much time outside in the dark, or what.

so i am interested in this company called humble earth. they make fireflies. once we get our yard (or garden) landscaped, i might invest in some of these little things.

our landscaper calls her projects 'gardens'. i like her and i think she has wonderful ideas and lots of knowledge. but a really complete garden takes a lot of money. our budget is pretty small, so we have kind of a skeletal thing starting to happen, but i'm going to see what i can do to fill things out a bit.

regardless, once the garden is put in place, we may be spending a lot more time outside, hence the fireflies. we'll see.

how much is the bed?

did you read about hotels that are starting to nickle-and-dime you to pieces? apparently they're taking a page from the airline book.

a european hotel chain has started charging for maid service, a fresh towel, a tv. and american hotels are watching the situation to see if anyone blinks an eye.

i don't think i have a problem with charging a reasonable amount for goods and services, but if you just want to increase prices because you can, and it gives the ceo a 7-figure salary, screw you.

we can stay home. we can use a camp ground. we can sleep in the car. back in the 40s it wasn't unusual for traveling people to sleep on benches in the city parks.

read the article so you are at least aware you might be charged for something.

security?

back in the cold-war era it wasn't unusual for families to stock their basements with provisions or even dig a well-insulated bunker in case the bomb got dropped.

i just saw where a company in california is promising a place in a nuke-proof bunker in the mojave desert -- for a price. you better hurry if you want in, though. there are 132 spaces and half are already gone.

apparently $50,000 will get you a bunk in a 4-person room. whoa. pricey. but the company hasn't started getting the place ready yet. sounds almost like a shyster deal.

religion

i read a recent article about muslim culture which led to several thoughts. first i should say that i know very little about muslims and, with my very full life, don't have much time to devote to or interest in increasing my knowledge of them. i should also say i was brought up to be accepting of differences in cultures and religions.

that said, my first thought in reading the article was if france wants to ban the burqa and that bothers you, maybe you should live somewhere else.

my second thought was disgust about this statement, "when the taliban ruled in afghanistan, women were not allowed to wear high-heeled shoes since 'the sound of women's footsteps could excite men.'" ANY group that contrives rules because something a woman does might make men lose control is a very sick group lacking in responsibility and maturity.

it's like the whole adam and eve thing, where everything you can think of is all eve's fault. just grow up for pete's sake. honestly, there are so many problems with and because of religions.

a concern

i'm in future shock. apparently nowadays kids expect to be able to have cell phones at school. and to use them, even in the middle of class.

personally, i think that's disgusting and evidence of our society being on the decline, i.e. if something is taking the place of education, we are at risk as a nation.

there's a school in maryland that is having to fight to have cell phones banned from class. apparently parents "appreciate being able to contact their children during the day." to me those parents are disGUSTing! and it seems this is something which is happening across the country.

if i were a parent, i would be looking around to see which schools had high test scores, which ones had firm policies on cell phone use, and then if there were any jobs in the area. i wonder if it works any better (the old-fashioned way) in small-town america.

it's a dragon ... no, a boat ... no, a castle ...

do you like looking at clouds? i do, and i miss seeing some of the wonderful formations which are created in the midwest. check out this site, though, for some excellent shots of cloud formations seen from space. it's a neat way of looking at them.

all sorts of problems

today, class, we are going to discuss 'how to have sex in outer space.' this activity brings new challenges in space, so we'll start by opening our books to page 8. remember that lab practice is tomorrow morning at 9 a.m.

what about food poisoning?

today, class, we are going to talk about 'how to go to the bathroom in outer space.' this skill will require finesse and practice so be sure to follow our instructional video carefully.

different cultures

babies. there's a new movie, that i believe was just released, about babies. the film maker followed four babies from different parts of the world during their first year. i imagine there are some cute parts, and some icky parts, and some things which will make me wonder how humans have survived. i'd like to see it on the big screen.

culture shift

it's interesting how getting older not only gives me wrinkles, but it subtly affects my perception. i saw a headline this morning -- A 'Legit' Pirate Bay Makes Sense In Theory, If Not Practice.

i visualized a white-sand, turquoise-water, curved, private beach and wondered if someone was going to do a pirate-themed area with hotels, ship rides, walking-the-plank things, and so on. what a cute idea, i thought.

it's actually about peer-to-peer internet file sharing of music, movies, software, etc.

*sigh*

eat a little bit of everything

i'll bet most people do not realize how good cinnamon is for them. the husband showed me an article in aarp magazine which talks about a number of spices, but i like cinnamon and garlic so i'll go with them first.

> cinnamon helps you stay focused; eat a teaspoon on your oatmeal at breakfast.
> garlic is good for your heart but may also protect against brain cancer; put garlic in your tomato sauce.
> ginger helps keep migraines away; grate 3 teaspoons in a cup of boiling water, wait 10 minutes, strain and drink.
> saffron helps combat mild depression; add 1/2 teaspoon to the water when you cook 2 cups rice.
> turmeric might protect against alzheimer's; add curry powder to your chicken salad.

i still have an article the husband e-mailed me in 2006 which stressed the importance of eating a mixture of honey and cinnamon. the article makes simply outrageous claims, but whether they work or not, they're harmless. and as fast-food, tv dinners, and take-out has become so ubiquitous, a lot of old-fashioned eating-smart dogma has gone by the wayside. maybe it would be good to try some of the old ways.

pull up those bootstraps...

i've always thought one of things america does best is figuring out practical solutions. sometimes the little guy has an excellent solution, sometimes a cowboy, sometimes a bigwig, and sometimes great ideas never get heard and no one benefits.

i just read where the government is giving inventors and idea people a chance to show what they've got. Strategy for American Innovation encourages government agencies to use prizes and challenges for people to come up with excellent solutions. solutions though, not ideas as how to do something. the solution must work and it's up to you to design and create it and prove it can do what you say it can. apparently nasa has been using this approach and has had results.

it's an interesting article, whether you're an innovator or not. if you're good with ideas, read it.

gahkk!

everyone has been so taken with facebook. when it first started, i thought i'd give it a try. i didn't really see anything about it i thought was earth-shaking, and i did not like the fact you had to give your name and birthdate, but i stayed with it. since then soooooo many people have gotten on the train.

i don't spend time with facebook. i never got into it especially since the whole paradigm is so invasive. at my age, privacy is a core concept. and it seems like every time i turn around there's another news article about losing privacy in facebook.

the most recent thing i saw mentioned how facebook's ceo doesn't believe in privacy. wait ... what? i'm sitting here picturing a distinguished, grey-haired, tall, 65-yr old saying he doesn't believe in privacy. foolishness.

i finally saw a picture of mark zuckerberg. the kid is 26. no wonder he doesn't believe in privacy. he didn't grow up with all the concerns my generation had. and have you looked at a facebook page lately? i looked at mine for the first time in a long time -- no one cares about privacy. there's no concern. none. they're all ... i went here, and i like this, and i did that.

so what's keeping me from just closing down and pulling out? well, it's the only way i have to connect with or see what a number of people are currently doing. that proves one of the rationales for facebook, but still ....

just do it

it's interesting, the disparate information you can get in the news. for example california is worried about whether or not to insist men wear rubbers when performing in an adult movie. and now health experts have decided being outdoors can increase your mental health. at the same time, that huge mess down in the Gulf is noted as a 'grave scenario' (do they notice the play on words?).

disparate and yet .... no brainers. i mean, come on. use some common sense, get pro-active, and do what you need to do without fussing.

let's keep the focus

so .... a radical u.s. muslim group obliquely threatens to murder a couple of tv producers for making religious references the group doesn't like and the network backs off? cuts the 'offensive' material?

what country are we in, again? did they change something recently, like, you can have free speech as long as you don't insult muslims?

i don't watch this show and have always felt i would be offended by it. but a group saying the show should not say what it's going to say or they will come to a bad end? nah -- i can't go along with that. and the network caving in just gives them power. bad precedent.

a temper-tantrum is one thing, but threats of murder is terrorism. terrorism is unacceptable and if these people don't like the way we do things in this country, guess what.

just don't breathe ...

there seems to be a really bad fungus on the loose in oregon. in this section of the world, it appears to have started on vancouver island, then spread to washington and oregon. the recent strain has killed 25% of its victims. there's no vaccine for it and it can take years of treatment to cure you once you get it. people can get it as well as animals. the supposition is that global warming has contributed to its appearance. just yuck!

yes!!

oh. my. god. THIS is so cool! i'd like to have one or two or six, and the view i'd like to see is the northern lights!

we can't really know

mel gibson. i mean i've always enjoyed his films -- i haven't seen his recent ones though. but, really, what is he doing? he's catholic and had a sturdy relationship with his wife of x-years and they had seven kids, then he splits and holes up with a pianist and they have a child. you just have to wonder what people are thinking sometimes. and this picture, which makes him look tired and worn out, was taken when he was 54, i believe. i know, i know, a person shouldn't be judgemental, so okay, i won't say anymore.

surely the sky is falling ...

we're going to have ads on our cell phones? oh gees, tell me that's not true.

apparently we are going to be able to sign up for ads (ohmygod, how times have changed). and one of the tricks is to make the ads in such a way that they don't appear to be ads (clever bastards).

currently, the evil perpetrator of this scheme is alcatel lucent. their marketing director says, "On a global scale, our research showed that end users were interested in a service like this -- especially if it is based around their interests and they can edit their profiles, then they are willing to participate."

they've been successful in europe with this plan. but i just have to shake my head and wonder what the world is coming to. it's just sick. i mean, i can remember in the past there have been some cute ads, like ..... well, no i can't remember any, but i think there were some. but gees, to ask to voluntarily have ads come at you. makes me wonder if, at some point, we will become people incapable of original thought.

uh, oh ....

and speaking of tornadoes .... i had a dream a number of nights ago about tornadoes.

i was in the living room of a house against a hill, with a couple of people, and we heard a loud, long-lasting siren going off outside. i asked what it was and someone casually said it was a tornado alert. no one seemed concerned and i asked if we shouldn't take cover. they talked about going into various closets and i said i was probably going to go down in the basement. i decided to look outside and saw a HUGE rotating cloud, on the ground, just a little ways away. it was like a gigantic round barn and had to have been two miles across. i was fascinated and wondered where my camera was. then i remembered i could take a picture with my cell phone, even if i could never get the picture off the phone. so i opened the glass door of the glassed-in porch i was standing in and leaned out with my phone to take the pix. right about that time a house came flying out of the sky and slammed to the ground, sliding right down the street. i thought maybe it was time for me to take cover, so as i turned to close the glass door and get back into the room-with-three-walls-of-glass (which was standing by itself in a flat, quasi-business area), i saw a second tornado about 2 blocks away headed straight in my direction. fortunately for me, the fourth wall of the room had a closet with sliding doors, so i got in the closet, stopping only to pull the dresser against my side of the closet, and closed the door. then i scrunched down and woke up.

tornadoes

i read a little blurb about storm chasers, a subject i thought was entertainingly done in Twister. this blurb was entertaining, too, the paragraphs being entitled 'get in its path', 'unpimp your ride', and 'try not to die'. :)

heading on out ...

life just keeps bouncing right along. the grandson is four months old now. the grandaughter is two and a half years old. MYS is probably going to defend his thesis in july and we will be going to observe and cheer.MOS is going to start flying again, one of these days, for a job they're certifying. i just can't remember what state it's in. the husband keeps coming up with innovative and helpful ideas at his volunteer job (is he excellent or what). and my job continues to be challenging and full of new things.

no stasis here. and sometimes there's not much down-time. but keeping busy and active keeps your brain dusted and that's always a good thing.

wheeee

personal rapid transit -- that sounds like a great concept! and, in fact, it's an actuality in morgantown west virginia! and, in fact, it was put together in the 70's! that is so cool!

doesn't disneyland have this kind of thing, too? but not too many other places in the u.s. have put something like this together.

i wonder if seattle looked into it at any point along the way of spending millions of dollars on their transit woes.

indianapolis has an overhead rail system which goes from the medical center downtown at Purdue and connects to a hospital a mile or so away. i wanted to check it out when i was there last year, but i was sick the whole time. (!) if you look on google maps you can see there are a huge bunch of hospitals, cancer facilities, and medical centers within an eight square block area of the university. gees, if i get really sick, take me there!

but back to transit, this is the concept i really like -- small and personal. let's do it!!

blast-off! sometime.

i knew there was going to be a space port built down in southern new mexico, but i hadn't heard about the one by el paso. the Blue Origin people seem to want to keep everything a secret, too.

they have their home base in kent wa, but the space port is in texas. kinda far away, but then, it's not all that flat around seattle. i wonder why they didn't try to put something together in the middle of the state -- central and eastern wa is pretty darned flat.

maybe it's cheaper in texas. at any rate, it will be interesting to see things develop since nasa is having to downsize its dreams.

the people in kent are looking for young, enthusiastic, talented people, so if you feel the urge to look to the skies, send in your resume.

blast-off! sort of.

going to mars sound way cool, but it's not easy. it would take more than a year and a half to fly to mars, spend a month, then fly back.

could you do it? live in a tiny space without going outside for a walk, unable to open a window, not really able to get away from everyone else?

when you think about it, i'm not sure i could do it. i mean, i've always imagined myself the big adventurer, come on, let's find some aliens and take a ride, but .... if you have to be practical, i'm not sure i've got the right stuff.

six people are going to simulate that trip, to see what kinds of hardships show up. and americans don't seem to be invited. it will be russians, chinese, and europeans.

oh well. i guess my thought is they need to hang lots of mirrors to make the space seem expanded.

to be in nature...

doesn't this look like the northern black hills? that's what we thought too, but it's the jemez mountains in northern new mexico. i was shocked. it's pretty high altitude down there -- around 7,000 to 10,000 feet.

i found the picture on WunderPhotos and it was taken by srlee who does a nice job of taking pix.

the bad guys

*ahem* just in case there's the possibility you have not invested in computer protection, you may want to read this. we've had norton for x-years and have been real happy with the protection. renewing the yearly contract has been interesting at times, but i don't know any reason to discard norton for another.

the bad guys are getting more creative every day, so suit up and stay ahead of things the best you can.

i want one, but

have you seen the info about nissan's land glider? it's pretty interesting. check out both videos on that page. i was all set to see about ordering one when i read they aren't in production. and might never be. but they may be farther along than nissan's pivo 2 which i would order without hesitation.

and then there's the smart fort wo which is already ... what? oh. there's the smart for two which is already out. one of the guy's at work has one and i think they're totally cool.

still, that pivo 2 would be majorly cool. and the land glider? awwwwesome!

gongkk ... uhnook .... mmmiperff !

don't you always wonder about people from long ago? if i see a pretty sunset or if the weather is terrible or if there's something going on to trigger it, i start thinking about what the people were like back 5,000 years ago. and 10,000. and 30,000.

i don't have enough imagination to come up with any thoughts about life back then. were the people just as jolly, hateful, loving, greedy, curious, jealous, artistic, worrying, clever, or superstitious as they can be today? did they work together better? were old people taken care of? and how old was 'old'?

we have to assume from the findings we make, but all too often our suppositions need to be corrected or updated at a point on down the road, as this article shows. boy oh boy, i just wish i had that invisible bubble .....

the world at your fingertips

this study, that study .... it seems there's always some tidbit out there on the internet.

it's adviseable to eat a little bit of dark chocolate every day. we knew that.

it's adviseable to not kiss your kids on the mouth so you won't give them cavities. oh, the horror...

i've never been quite happy with facebook and i keep reading where they keep tweaking their stuff. i don't have time to check in again and again to make sure i've got my info safe-guarded, so i'm this close *ll* to just closing up shop. yes, it has allowed me to get e-mails from relatives and friends, but, no. i'm just not impressed with facebook. must be an age-related thing. and their options if you die? good grief!

i left my heart ....

this is amazing. it took years for this guy to make this toothpick sculpture. it is very cool!