Friday, November 12, 2004

Vacation

I won't be posting for about a month, which means I'll miss the first anniversary of this weblog. The dearth of postings lately has been an anomaly and not a trend -- I've actually really enjoyed this blog and am looking forward to continuing it.

In anticipation of Thanksgiving, here's this year's list of things I'm thankful for:
Family, especially Mom -- without her, you'd have to visit me in a little padded cell...
Friends -- I'm blessed with some real gems...
My cats -- furry, purry, and still such a joy...
My wonderful new house -- still a rental, but so much better than the last place...
Clear night skies
Puanani is moving to Hilo

And, as always:
Disney
Books, Music, Movies
Laughter
Chocolate
Christmas is coming...

Disaster Planning

I know it's silly, but I feel an odd twinge every time I think of the Manoa flood and the fact that, less than one week before, I gave a talk at the Hawaii Library Association Conference titled "Disaster Planning for Libraries." Now I know that the timing was just coincidental, but I still feel a little bit funny....

On a more positive note, one of the attendees has asked me to give my talk to his organization :)

Monday, November 08, 2004

UH Manoa Flood Information

The University of Hawaii at Manoa suffered unbelievable damage from flood waters on October 30th. Most of the damage was to the basement of the main library and to several research buildings (the world famous mouse cloning team had offices in one). Extremely fast moving water and mud reached 6 - 8 feet high in some places. Mom said she was having flashbacks to Corning in 1972...

General UH Flood Information

General Flood Relief Contributions

Library Specific Flood Relief Contributions

LIS Program Specific Flood Relief Contributions

Honolulu Advertiser stories: one -- Yes, those are cars that were pushed by water into the trees! -- and two.

Library Photos by Susan Murata: This is a slideshow that takes a moment to load, but I think it does the best job of showing the effects of the disaster that has destroyed one of my favorite places. Yes, those metal shelving units loaded with books were toppled by water.

The basement of Hamilton Library housed the Library School, Government Documents, Maps, Collections, Acquisitions, and the library computer servers. Basically, everything down there was completely and utterly destroyed. Unsalvageable. Lost. Talk about a heavy heart...

Friday, October 01, 2004

In Hilo

We've all arrived in Hilo and are (mostly) doing fine. I'm a little worried about Ashe -- he's living under the bed -- but I think he'll gradually come out once he realizes his world isn't moving around as much as it has in the past month.

Will post more details on the move later. Mom and I unloaded the container and everything is in the house. Most of the furniture is even in position -- including the love seat, hope chest, and 3 six-foot bookshelves in the loft!

No word on the job yet and it's starting to worry me, but otherwise, I'm fine.

And whatever the bozos at airport security try to tell you, you do NOT have to take the cats out of their carriers!!

Thursday, September 16, 2004

Quick Update

I have only sporadic Internet/email access. Please forgive me if I don't respond right away. Updates will be scarce until I find out what kind (and how much $$$) Internet access is going to be at the new place.

Moving companies were outrageously $$$, so Mom and I have packed everything ourselves and will be loading it into a U-Haul on Monday, September 20 and then taking it out of the U-Haul on Tuesday and loading it into a 20' cargo container. The container sails on Wednesday and arrives in Hilo on Friday, but I won't have access until Monday.

Don't be on the Aloha Airlines flight that leaves Honolulu at 8:10 a.m. on Monday, September 27 -- Mom, Noreen, and I will each have one carry-on of one cat. Gotta remember to talk to the vet's about tranqs....

On Monday the 27th and Tuesday and 'til noon on Wednesday, Mom and I will get to take everything out of the cargo container and load it back into a U-Haul, truck it :) to my new apartment (description later -- it's way cool) and heave it up the stairs and into place.

Looks like the final box count for the books is 46.

Two of the things I hate most are moving and looking for a new job (no news yet) -- and at the moment I'm doing both at the same time!

Gotta run, but I'm still alive and doing okay...

Thursday, August 19, 2004

To Hilo

It's been a busy month and it's not over yet...

Tomorrow is a state holiday -- Yeah!

I'm off to Hilo on Monday where K. and I will be hosting an ALOHA meeting Monday morning and then working in the IfA Hilo Library on Monday afternoon and all day Tuesday.

Mom is joining me in Hilo Tuesday nite to assist in my search for housing on Wednesday and Thursday. If you know of a place to rent in Hilo, please let me know!

Sometime next week I will be having a phone interview with the University of Hawaii at Hilo Edwin H. Mookini Library for a Librarian position that I'm really excited about.

Friday nite the 27th K. and I are hosting an SLA event at IfA Manoa.

Saturday nite, N. and S. and I are going to try to get into The Cheesecake Factory in Waikiki.

Tuesday the 31st is my last day at IfA Manoa.

In the meantime, I continue to pack my books. I'm only on box 8, so obviously, I've got quite a ways to go...

Laptops in Classrooms

This topic is alternately depressing and infuriating. It's easy for me to get really worked up and fuming and I have to consciously take deep breaths to settle myself.

Repeat after me: EVERYTHING IS NOT, NOT, NOT ON THE INTERNET!!!

I agree that technology has done some good things and has some great possibilities, especially for long-distance learning. But the Internet should be only a complement to, not a substitute for, textbooks.

Here's the most depressing excerpt from the latest mistake:

“Next August, Tucson's Vail Unified School District will open a new high school without textbooks. Each of the 250 to 300 freshmen and sophomores will be handed a laptop computer instead.

"If we can rely on almost limitless information available on the Internet, why do we need a textbook?" Vail Superintendent Calvin Baker said.”

Fortunately, the NYT has published a cautionary tale about laptops in the classroom. As always, the answer lies in dedicated, creative teachers...

Wednesday, August 18, 2004

Astronomy in Hawaii

Honolulu Advertiser article about the benefits of Hawaii's location and weather conditions to the study of astronomy, and also about the benefits that the astronomical community provides to this state.

Friday, July 30, 2004

Blue Moon... Or Not?

It doesn't mean what you think. It's apparently the result of an error that has taken on a life of it's own. Here's the real scoop from Sky and Telescope where the problem began...

Radio

Now that I'm moving to the Big Island (in September), Honolulu has finally gotten a radio station worth listening to: KHUI "99.5 Bob FM."

Okay, first off, you've gotta love the name :-)

Now, don't get me wrong: The Big Kahuna's Classic Rock is a good station, but they play too much of the same stuff.

The Bob FM format is mostly 80's and 90's popular rock. It's actually much more diverse than that, but I can't be any more specific with actual titles and artists -- I've just got no memory lately. It's not always stuff I want to listen to (they play too much Tom Petty for my taste), but they are:

a) playing songs that aren't being played on every other radio station in town

b) not playing the same songs over and over and over (like every other station in town)

c) playing stuff that I haven't heard in many, many, many years.

Their tag line, though ("Music from the 80's, 90's and Whenever!") really stinks. If only they could get Darah to do their advertising...

Tuesday, July 20, 2004

Misc. Thoughts

Once again, others have said perfectly what I want to say, only this time they're friends. There's Lori's summation of fundamentalism and Puanani's review of Spiderman 2 and Stargate SG-1. I would add only that I was impressed by the makeup for Tobey Maguire's eyes when Peter Parker was so tired all the time -- for some reason that really struck me.

I don't know if it's because I'm new to blogging or what, but I was especially tickled a few weeks back when somebody I don't know mentioned my weblog.

Lastly, I finally got to see the version of Sense and Sensibility with Emma Thompson, Hugh Grant, Alan Rickman... It was so refreshing to see a movie where an entire scene is one shot, not micro-edits of many different takes. And, yes, my heart broke when Colonel Brandon (Alan) is waiting outside Marianne's sick room and says to Elinor "Give me an occupation, Miss Dashwood, or I shall run mad." Rewind, watch again, rewind, watch again....

Wednesday, July 14, 2004

Writing Exercise

My friend P. told me about this and it's a lot of fun! The next time you're bored, try this:

Write something where every line starts with the next letter of the alphabet. It can be a letter, a poem, a story, a song, or dialogue between two people, like this:

Alright, have you seen my llama?
But why do you ask?
'Cause I can't find the bloody creature!
Don't you swear at me!
Every time he goes missing, he runs to you.

and so on... I finished this one (my first) in about 5 minutes. It just really flowed.

No, sorry, you don't get to know why it's a llama, which is a shame, 'cause it's a great story...

Measuring Day

I'll be getting measured at Curves again tonight, but this morning I got an opinion that I really appreciated.

Mom dropped me off at work 'cause she needed to use my car (hers is temporarily out of commission). As I got out of the car, she said, "Hey, your butt's getting smaller." I laughed, crawled right back into the car, gave her a big hug, and told her I loved her.

It's a slow process, but apparently worth it...

Thursday, July 01, 2004

Tech Toy Note

Some clarification about checking library holdings from online bookstores:

The check is being done by ISBN, so a bookmarklet can be created for any site (not just Amazon and B&N) that uses the ISBN as part of the URL for the record (e.g., one of my fave places BookCloseouts.com).

BUT, this means that if the library has the book in a different format (hardcover instead of paperback), and therefore a different ISBN, the record may not show. Of course, you can always click on "Other Editions" and check from those pages.

I still think this is way cool...

Wednesday, June 30, 2004

New Technology Toy!

I'm so tickled about this that I just can't stop grinning:

With one click and drag of the mouse, you can have a new tool, called a bookmarklet, that will allow you to check a library system for any book that you find on Amazon.com or BarnesandNoble.com

The example below is for the University of Hawaii Library system, but this page lists several different library systems that bookmarklets are available for.

Bear with me now, because this is exciting!

From this page, click-and-drag the "USA - Hawaii - Honolulu - University of Hawaii at Manoa" link up to your browser's link toolbar. The links are listed alphabetically, so you have to go about halfway down the page.

Now, the next time you find a book on Amazon.com or BarnesandNoble.com that looks interesting, but you aren't sure that you want to buy it, this tool will allow you to check if it's available in the library so you can preview it.

Say you are looking at the Amazon.com page for The Most Beautiful Libraries in the World. Just click on the bookmarklet on your toolbar, and a new window pops up that shows you the UH record for that title.

Increasing the coolness factor is that each subsequent check will re-use the same window.

I'm off to try to create one of these for the Hawaii State Library's iPac system...

Thursday, May 27, 2004

Measuring My Curves

Well, I've had another measurement at Curves. No, don't go searching the Archives, thinking you missed something. I didn't post about the last one. And don't look for any specific numbers. You don't get those (yet).

When you sign up at Curves you get measured, and then each month on your anniversary date, you're reminded when you check in to get measured again (so I've had three measurements so far). The nice thing is, you don't have to get measured on that exact date (if you're feeling bloated or something).

Anyway, I want lots of measurements before I'm going to get really excited about them, especially since each time a different person has measured me. It is nice that I've weighed less each time (!) although I know that many different things can affect your weight, so weight loss has never been one of my goals. It's still nice, though.

And my chart shows that I have been losing inches (hips, thighs, arms, etc.). I'll be more excited about that when the trend continues for 6 or 8 months (or the measurer remains constant for 3 or 4). The thought that I'm losing inches is nice, too, but I'm not throwing a party just yet….

But then there's the body fat measurement. They have a machine that they program (age? height? weight? I'm not sure -- if anybody's curious, I'll find out more details) and you hold onto this little machine for a moment and it supposedly measures the percentage and pounds of fat in your body.

Which is the reason why I'm not going straight home to my very lonely cats, the Netflix movies that are waiting, the new bookcase that is longing to be integrated into my library, or the stack of books that I'm behind in reading. Instead, I'm going to exercise. And enjoy it. Why?

Because every month that little machine says that I'm losing body fat!

And that I will get excited about!!

Wednesday, May 19, 2004

WW2

West Wing Season 2 marathon begins tonight!! Thanks, Poppy!!

Friday, May 14, 2004

Spelling suggestions

For email at work, I use a program called Eudora. As I was typing an email today, I missed the 'i' in library. Just out of curiosity, I used the spell-check and it suggested the following for my misspelled word lbrary:

February
already
bad
back
bank
breath
stay
black
bring
sorry
always
chair
great
treat
trial

Now I know we all hate the big M, but at least MWord's only suggestion was library...

Monday, May 10, 2004

Links

Well, I've finally started to add some links over there on the right. I'm looking into BlogRolling (thanx, Lori!), so hopefully more will crop up soon. For now, here's a quick rundown of what's there as of today.

IfA Weblog is the blog I started to keep Institute for Astronomy researchers updated on what's happening in the space (pun intended) where the information world and their research collide. Probably very boring for anyone not conducting astronomical research, but hopefully useful for those who are.

APOD is the Astronomical Picture of the Day. To quote the site: "Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer." Be sure to read the descriptions to fully appreciate the images. Stuff like "NGC 4565 is only about 30 million light-years distant, but over 100,000 light-years in diameter" is just so mind-blowing…

virtuallori.com is my friend Lori's place in cyberspace. What can I say about Lori? She's smart, funny, and interesting … and she has the best recipes for three of life's essentials: baked mac & cheese, brownies, and margaritas. I miss her like crazy since she moved back East.

neilgaiman.com is the website of the brilliant mind behind the Sandman graphic novels. If you've ever wondered why I always wear an ankh, Sandman is your answer (it's a little more complicated than that, but then, most things are). Neil is another person whose writing I am in awe and envy of. So often, he phrases something exactly the way I would have if I could have, but didn't, so I'm glad he did. His views on animals is one example of this. The piece he wrote for SimCity 2000 is also an example of his ability to implant thoughts (in this case, the last two sentences) that can cause me to sleep with the lights on for a few nights.

WWdN is the online home of Wil Wheaton. Yes, the same Wil who played Wesley Crusher on Star Trek: The Next Generation. Now, before you roll your eyes and dismiss this as just one of my sci-fi induced delusions, try reading some of his entries (starting with this introduction) and remember to separate the actor from the character. I'm going to repeat that, 'cuz it's important: Remember to separate the actor from the character! I happen to know personally that one of the most popular leading male heartthrobs from the 70's and 80's is homosexual. So, separate the actor from the character and go read some stuff from the self-described "very happy husband, step-father, and writer" and I would add "cat lover."

Kiefer Rocks is a good example of what a fan site should be: timely news updates, articles, photos, even audio clips. I have to admit that I keep a browser window open on this home page and periodically throughout the day I'll hit the replay button, just to hear the opening audio. "I want your complete attention…" I'm trying to figure out just the right adjective for his voice: I don't think it's butter, nor whisky. I'm thinking it's caramel, but more research is required. If you have any suggestions, let me know…

Thursday, April 22, 2004

24

Well, last night I finished watching the second season of 24 (except for the bonus disc which I'll watch tonight) and I just gotta say, are they finished filming the third season, yet? Is it on DVD, yet? Well, is it? Is it?

Yes, rhetorical questions, but patience has never been one of my virtues. Don't ask what my virtues are, I'm on another track right now.

I had forgotten what an incredibly sexy voice Kiefer Sutherland has (probably because I haven't seen much of his work). Athos was always my fave in The Three Musketeers, partly because of that voice. To those who know me well, this will come as no surprise. Yes, I still fall asleep to Liam Neeson's narration of How the Irish Saved Civilization, and yes, I still have no idea how they did it, because I can't concentrate enough to actually process what he's saying. Other voices that make me weak? Kenny Chesney, John Spencer, Johnny Depp, Alan Rickman. Voice, smile, eyes, hair...

Sorry, where was I?

Oh, yes, 24. I can't watch the third season because I don't have access to TV stations, just my DVD collection, Netflix loans, and some old VCR tapes (although the machine has been acting up lately). Aside from CMT, Headline News, Stargate SG-1, West Wing, MacGyver, and Alton Brown, I don't miss cable (and some of those programs have seriously degraded lately). Besides, I don't think I could watch 24 as a weekly program. I'm too impatient -- as soon as I finish one episode, I can't wait to start the next one. I was seriously ticked when I realized that the post office hadn't delivered disc 4. I finished disc 3 and grabbed the next one, only to find that it was disc 5. Said some very unladylike things.

Okay, so I'm not very ladylike most of the time, but you get the idea. I was very upset at the delay...

Back on track: I'm thoroughly enjoying 24. At first I thought I wouldn't need to own them, but I'm reconsidering since I've had quite a few moments of "Oh, wow, I had forgotten that even happened!" Besides, there's that voice....

Minor Spoilers:





A few miscellaneous thoughts: Sad as it was, killing Teri was the right thing to do; disturbing as they were, the scenes of Jack being tortured were necessary. That's my two cents' worth.

To Kiefer and crew: Keep up the good work!

Library Strip Club

Yes, you read that right. The Library Strip Club, where "cocktail waitresses dress like librarians." Now why couldn't I have found out about this before I went to Vegas?

Thursday, April 15, 2004

Thought for the Day

A good friend will come and bail you out of jail.

A true friend will be sitting next to you saying, "Wow, that was fun!"


I hope that you have a true friend or two in your life. I know I do!

Tuesday, April 06, 2004

Seriously?

This CNN story is one of those things that part of me doesn't believe is serious: solar booty? snagging the capsule in mid-air? The most believable part for me, Stargate SG-1 fan that I am, is that Hollywood stunt pilots and an active-duty Air Force test pilot will be working together to make this happen.

Tuesday, March 23, 2004

5 Planets

Don't forget if you have clear skies to check out Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn sharing the evening sky.

Wednesday, March 17, 2004

Exercise

I joined Curves for Women last week and it is awesome!

I've only had two workouts, but I'm hooked. You alternate between aerobic exercise and 12 different resistance machines. The aerobics is done on these little shock-absorbent squares. Most people, me included, just jog in place, although some add arm movements or a little twisting action. I'm lucky I can stay upright. The resistance machines alternate between legs and arms and I can usually get in 12-15 reps before changing stations.

It's fast-paced, the constant movement between stations means I don't get bored, and they've got CDs of upbeat music playing. The workout is over before I even know it and I'm sweating enough to create my own river.

Safety First: There is always a monitor in the room who has been trained to watch everyone and make sure you are using the machines properly. And once per circuit you are prompted to check your heartrate and compare it to a chart on the wall.

It's only $30/month, I can go as often as I want, and the monthly price is locked for 3 years!

This is going to be a very good thing....

IMLS Grants to Libraries

The Institute of Museum and Library Services has awarded over $157 Million to State Libraries.

Some of my favorite quotes from the press release:

"Libraries will use federal funds to create and sustain a nation of learners."

"Libraries...connect people to knowledge and ideas and enhance their ability to learn throughout life, adapt to change readily, and evaluate information critically."

"{These}...funds help state library agencies make library resources and services, which can be prohibitively expensive to the individual, readily available to an entire community."

Can we please have a round of applause for our libraries?

Friday, March 05, 2004

Space Sounds

I am VERY excited about this site!

Let the intro page of SpaceSounds.com run for a few minutes and you'll hear a short history of humanity's steps into space. The actual site (click on SpaceSounds logo) contains both natural and manmade sounds.

I've only been able to listen to some of the sounds available from this amazing site. The download times are long, but more than worth it....

Some sounds include:
Black Hole
Two pulsars that rotate at different speeds
Sputnik
Communications from Gemini, Mercury, Apollo, and Shuttle missions

Tell your friends, especially the teachers!

Weblog Found

Today I discovered the answer to the question "Is anyone outside of IfA aware of the IfA Library Weblog?" (That's the one I maintain for work. There's a link to it over there on the right.)

I haven't sent the URL to anyone not connected with IfA (except personal friends), but today through Steven Cohen's Library Stuff, I was led to the Blog Without a Library site and found IfA listed on the right under "libraries doing good things with blogs." Hooray!!

Now I need to find out if anyone at IfA is paying attention to it....

This has also led me to wonder who reads this personal weblog. If you do, please drop me a quick note. The address can be found by going to Amy's Bookshelf (link on the right). I'd put my email address here, but I'm trying to cut down on spam (nasty, unhealthy stuff....). I promise to try to remember to list some of the blogs I read since some of them are really, really good.

Tuesday, March 02, 2004

Meet the Nasalnaut

This is one of those things that you never think about, but that makes complete sense when you're confronted with it: There are folks at NASA whose job it is to smell everything that's going on the Shuttle or to the Space Station. If I were ever on "Inside the Actors Studio" I think this would have to be my job that I wouldn't want to try!

When Ed Lu was here last month, he did talk about the lack of odors on the ISS and how powerful that first whiff of Earth was when they popped the hatch. He likened it to that wonderful moment after the flight from the mainland when they open the airplane door at Honolulu International and you catch that mix of ocean and flowers and moist tropical air....

More books equal better brains

This Miami Herald article explains that students who attend schools with better media centers (the 21st century version of libraries) perform better on tests: "Even as education officials put more importance on high-stakes testing, studies show they frequently forget about one room on campus that can make a difference in student achievement."

Anyone surprised?

Anyone got any brilliant ideas for finally getting this notion the attention that it deserves? Librarians have been extoling the virtues of our organizations for decades, but we're still ignored. Except when they're taking more money away from us....

Water on Mars!

NASA story
CNN story

Mars Exploration Rover Mission Home Page

Thursday, February 26, 2004

Thursday, February 19, 2004

IfA Open House

Come one, come all to the IfA Open House on Sunday 18 April. Have lots of fun, enrich your mind, then be sure to fill out a survey, since yours truly designed it... Mahalo!

Wednesday, February 18, 2004

Transit of Venus

This summer's Transit of Venus won't be visible from Hawaii, darn it. For the rest of you, this rare astronomical event is explained at transitofvenus.org.

Friday, February 13, 2004

Interesting Reading

Science's Essays on Science and Society is a monthly feature of "the views of individuals from inside or outside the scientific community as they explore the interface between science and the wider society."

Although the main page has links only to the full text in HTML, a pdf version can be downloaded from the full text page, as well as from the summary page.

Thursday, February 05, 2004

Site Feed

This blog now includes a feed for use by an aggregator (I use Bloglines). Click on the "Site Feed" link over there on the right, then use that URL to subscribe.

If you want to know more about rss feeds, aggregators, site syndication, etc., email me. I don't know a whole lot, but I can fill you in on the basics and point you in the right direction.

What's my email address, you ask? Follow the link to Amy's Bookshelf...

Wednesday, February 04, 2004

Mahalo, Kenny!

I don't normally go in for first-day stuff. I don't like crowds and I'm usually too cheap to pay full price (which is why I'm so grateful that S. is willing to get DVDs for me at Costco).

Of course, there are exceptions: I buy Laurie King hardcovers on the laydown date; I'll go see Harry Potter #3 opening night; and I buy Kenny Chesney's CDs on the release date, which is what I did yesterday. I took it home, popped it into the player, and it gave me the momentum to get 3 hours of housework done -- Thanks, Kenny!

I'm thrilled about the three live tracks -- I keep hoping he'll release a live album. "Please Come to Boston" was a nice surprise (what fitting lyrics). I'm especially happy that one of the live versions is "What I Need to Do" since that's the song that got me hooked on Kenny. It wasn't the first song of his that I heard, but it was the one that made me want to hear everything. And it's even better live -- the way he sings the last "And on..." in the chorus just makes me melt....

While it is a good album (found myself dancin' quite a bit), my fave KC CDs (not including Greatest Hits) are:
1. No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problem
2. In My Wildest Dreams
3. Everywhere We Go

I sure would love to go to one (or more) of his concerts someday...

P.S. For those who read the liner notes, Key West is not the "southern most point in America." In the contiguous 48, yes, but the Big Island touches 19 degrees latitude while KW sits way up at 24. We can't claim to be farthest west (even with Kure Atoll), since Alaska gets to claim the Aleutians, but we've definitely got claim over the south.

Tuesday, February 03, 2004

New link

I've created a link to the weblog I maintain for work (over there on the right). Most of it will be uninteresting as it is focused on the information needs of the astronomers, but occasionally I do post general interest items there that I don't post here.

Meaning of Life

Adventure or Inquiry? Two Visions of Cosmic Destiny -- a wonderfully written NYT essay.

Thursday, January 29, 2004

NASA Day of Remembrance

NASA has set aside the last Thursday in January as a day to remember those who have lost their lives while serving the US space program.

CNN story

While not a complete list, below are the names of those who died in the most tragic incidents:

Apollo I
Roger Chaffee
Virgil "Gus" Grissom
Edward White II

Challenger
Gregory Jarvis
Christa McAuliffe
Ronald McNair
Ellison Onizuka
Judith Resnik
Michael Smith
Dick Scobee

Columbia
Michael Anderson
David Brown
Kalpana Chawla
Laurel Clark
Rick Husband
William McCool
Ilan Ramon

Let us never forget...

Friday, January 16, 2004

It's Friday again

I know that I haven't been keeping this up lately, but that's because there's not much going on.

My aunt and cousins are here through the 24th. Tomorrow we are going to the Swap Meet and Monday we are going to the Big Island to wander around the Volcano area. It's going to be a very long day (we have a 7 am flight and don't get back until 9 pm), but any trip to the Big Island is not to be missed. This time I'll be able to show Mom the IfA Hilo building and Library.

What else has been going on? Not much, really. I've been watching and re-watching too much West Wing (my new obsession). I keep borrowing more and more books from the libraries and just stacking them up on the coffee table, because I don't have time to read them.

I am proud of the fact that I've gone walking almost every day recently and I am eating less. Although I'm not seeing any tangible results, my motivation to keep up both of these tasks is pretty high.

Nothing else from sunny Honolulu right now. Have a good, long weekend.

Friday, January 09, 2004

Movie Times

Why, oh why, are movie times still presented in minutes?! Does anyone really think in minutes after 60? I don't think 80 minutes, I think an hour and 20 minutes. I don't want to know that a movie is 150 minutes long, I want to know that it's going to take 2 and a half hours without having to calculate in my head!

Okay, that's my rant for today. Have a good weekend.

Tuesday, January 06, 2004

Science teaming with Science Fiction

Science and Sci-Fi are not incompatible:
http://www.itsf.org/index.php?PAGE=project%2Findex.html. Thanks, N.!

Science

Go to any news source and celebrate another successful Mars landing.

Monday, January 05, 2004

Weather Update

I feel it only fair since I groused about the weather the other day to let you know that Saturday, Sunday, and today have been absolutely beautiful: bright, sunny (but not too warm), and dry.

Friday, January 02, 2004

Spam Irony

Do you think spammers see the irony of sending out spam that advertises a way to get rid of spam?

And the rain, rain, rain...

...came down, down, down.

And down, and down, and down....

But we really do need it, so I'm not complaining. My complaint is that I can't spend this dark, gray day the way it should be spent. Mom and I call this a "bed, book, and cat" day since it is only suitable for lounging in bed with cats, alternating dozing and reading. My ideal menu for such a day: oatmeal for breakfast, soup or saimin and a grilled cheese sandwich for lunch, and pancakes, eggs, and bacon for dinner.

So, how is your new year so far?