Bradbury on Mars

Curiosity's landing site now has a name: Bradbury Landing!

I Do. Do You?

I did something simple yet profound today and, as always, it brought tears to my eyes.

I voted.

Each time I vote, each time the machine swallows my ballot, each time the precinct official says, "Thank you for voting" my eyes fill up as I think of how privileged I am to be able to perform that simple yet important task and how wrong it is that others haven't.

I don't know whether it's the thought that millions of people on this planet aren't allowed to vote, if it's that millions of women can't, even if the men around them can, or if it's the millions who can, who have the right and responsibility to vote, who reap the benefits of a system that protects their right to excercise their opinion by voting...and yet, they just don't.

I'm not going to win "Citizen of the Year" any time soon:  I don't volunteer, I give to charity rarely, and I certainly don't follow politics closely.  But I do vote.  And I hope that if you can, you do, too.

Librarian Talents

Librarians organize.  Librarians search.  Librarians teach.  And Librarians find... all sorts of things...

Curiosity ON Mars!

CONGRATULATIONS!!!   Wile E. Coyote finally wins!


Go, Curiosity, Go!  Have fun exploring!

Updated with news links:

JPL Press Release

Love Wil's comments under the picture

Curiosity to Mars

NASA has gone all science-fictiony again - way past the Looney Tunes idea of bouncy ball airbags.

Check out this 5-minute video explaining how the Curiosity rover will get to the red planet (teaser: it involves a sky crane!).  The video is two minutes shorter than the time span of terror that NASA scientists and engineers will experience this weekend as they wait to find out if the newest Mars rover touched down safe and sound.

It's a safe bet that I'll be glued to my NASA app for this...

Taken 2

Somehow Taken slipped in and out of theatres without me noticing and I've had to be content with the DVD. This will not happen with Taken 2 - October 5 is already highlighted on my calendar.

Henri, with More Ennui

Poor Henri goes to the vet...

Avengers Meets Firefly

There are days when I LOVE the Internet:  "The Avengers" Intro: Firefly Style

Avengers

Joss Whedon has proved yet again that he is a genius.  The Avengers had all the right stuff: dialogue, pacing, framing.  UPDATE:  And music - how could I have missed the music?

Those of you who are tempted to leave right as the credits start:  you really shouldn't.  Truly, have some patience for a change.

Henri's Ennui

I can't decide if I prefer watching these with or without sound - the French is mildly distracting, although the clear resignation in his tone is perfect.

Henri
Henri 2, Paw de Deux

Promo Commercial

Only occasionally do I miss television - fortunately I have a good friend who makes sure I don't miss gems like this.  The more I watch it, the more perfect it gets - the way RDJ looks at the camera at 0:16 and NF's look of smug satisfaction at the veeeery end are pure gold in my book.

Tax ReFUNd

Thanks to being able to declare Mom as my dependent last year, I received nice-sized tax refunds from both the feds and the state.  I spent most of the money responsibly - I even bought a new vacuum cleaner! - and was preparing to squirrel the rest into savings when a little voice piped up about how since the new iPad4 had just been released, the older iPad2 was probably on sale. 

"Ridiculous," I told the voice firmly, "I don't need an iPad.  Serenity still goes everywhere* with me and I have my netbook connected to a monitor at home for doing homework."

But the little voice was remarkably persistent, pointing out how my work email doesn't get along with Serenity (although Yahoo! mail works just fine) and how long it takes to power up the netbook and then wait for the desktop and then wait for the browser and enter passwords, and wait.... 

The voice and I argued for several days, but in the end, I decided that it wouldn't hurt to try an iPad, would it?  I could always return it...

I did feel guilty for a few days - it was quite a bit more expensive than I had anticipated -  but the guilt is gone now.  Checking work email** now is a push, swipe, tap and no waiting.  And since I still don't have TV, it's nice to have a device that plays Netflix streaming without the pixelation that my netbook thinks is necessary.

Of course, the new tech needed a name.  Since part of my guilt came from the fact that I already have a perfectly wonderful iPod Touch and a netbook so why did I need another device, I named him JACK - Just Another Cool Know-it-all***.  Another Jack in my life - just what I needed!


* Literally - the only time Serenity's farther than arm's length is when I'm in the pool and she's safely secured in the locker.  There are worse things to be severely attached to...

** I'm not compulsive about checking work email - I only scan the subject lines - but with my wonky schedule, it's good to see if an early meeting has been cancelled or if a last-minute meeting has been
scheduled.

*** For those as geeky as me, yes, I stole the idea from Jarvis.  For those not as geeky as me, the name of Tony Stark's A.I. in the Iron Man movies is Jarvis, or Just A Rather Very Intelligent System.

New Calendar

Although I'm not sure about their Universal Time concept, I'm intrigued* by the Hanke-Henry Permanent Calendar that is "simple, religiously unobjectionable, business-friendly and identical year-to-year."

CNN has a more succinct version of the story.

* not just because my birthday will always fall on a Saturday.

Funny Cat Video

Maybe I just really needed a laugh, but this video of various cats cracks me up.  You must be patient - the first 40 seconds are deceptively placid (and several segments are cringe-inducing) but overall it makes me laugh so hard I can't watch it when there are others - people or cats - in the same room.

Climate Change

To anyone who says our climate isn't changing:  April used to be warmer than February.

How Many Moons Does Earth Have?

This short piece from NPR reports some research from one of the astronomers where I used to work:  Earth Has Just One Moon, Right? Think Again

I love this line:  "Mostly these {asteroids} go whizzing by, not even slowing down to wave."

The Long, Twisted Path To Mercury video is interesting, too - what a crazy concept, what a wild ride.

Nerd Alert

You already knew I was a nerd, but did you know this?

Pool Time Update

It's been two months and most weeks I've made it to the pool 3 times a week.  Not every week, but I'm satisfied that this new exercise regimen has taken hold.  The most difficult thing is forcing myself to get out of the pool to take a shower and get to work on time! 

I'm also gradually changing the way I eat - a major hurdle - to accommodate the exercise since I can't jog on an empty stomach - nor on a full one - so I'm experimenting with small, nutritious, safe-to-eat-while-driving snacks.

My first goal is the stamina to stand all day at WDW at the end of the year.  So far, I'm usually able to feel satisfied with my progress as a good start after years of not doing anything, although I sometimes vacillate between "this is a good start" and "I'm not progressing fast enough."  Only time will tell.

Reality

Another quote of the day from my Mutts comic email:

"The moon is one, but on agitated water it produces many reflections.

Similarly ultimate reality is one, yet it appears to be many in a mind agitated by thoughts."

~ ~ Maharamayana

Carbon Map

I didn't need another reason to feel bloated, but here it is.  The Carbon Map seeks to make "sense of climate change responsibility and vulnerability."  The short intro video is worth a watch (and watching the U.S. will explain the bloated reference).