5 Planets

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

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?

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.

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

Peanut Butter and Jelly

Peanut Butter and Jelly have been surgically separated. I don't know what else to say...

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!

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.

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.

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...

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.

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.

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...

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.

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.

Science teaming with Science Fiction

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