The call of the birder

• April 7, 2012

Mom loved travel. She loved meeting people in her travels. I’m much more shy than her, she’d be openly stepping forward, saying hello, talking about shared interests and being her gregarious self. I really liked Costa Rica and the people I travelled with were all incredible. I feel a little strange since my daughter and I tended to sit by ourselves more than I would have chosen in retrospect. One of my best social moments of the trip was when we were riding up the escalator in Houston about to go through screening and some of the kids from our tour spotted us and waved goodbye furiously. Read More

Ralph Bucks 2, sequels suck.

• April 5, 2012

Start thinking about it now. List off all the movie sequels that don’t suck. Top of my list is The Godfather: Part II. Except I have a problem. I’m not a “mob movie” kinda guy. I went on a date to see Goodfellas in the theatre and my date had to scrape me out from under the chair. I told her somebody behind us spilled their pop, but I think she really knew the truth all along. Read More

Unconscionable.

• April 5, 2012

Honestly, when it came up I had no idea what anyone was talking about. I had to look it up. Other than a rather unfortunate name-calling incident while I was growing up, I’ve never been mistaken as gay. Yes, I have gay friends, but really doesn’t everyone these days? I can’t really imagine the topic coming up very often with me. Anyone’s relationship status is pretty much right at the bottom of my criteria over whether you’re my friend. Read More

Sentimental Journey

• April 4, 2012

Goona take a sentimental journey Goona set my heart at ease. Goona make a sentimental journey To renew old memories. Doris Day, eh? I honestly didn’t know that. I actually hear my mom singing it in my mind. In some respects, Mom and I are very opposite people. She loved travel, I’d much rather stay at home. I love science and technology, she tolerated as little as was required to get what she wanted done. Read More

Government at Cross Purposes?

• April 4, 2012

While on vacation in Costa Rica, our tour guide was quite candid while talking about government in his country. There were many things I found myself admiring as he spoke. I was also shocked with some of the problems he described they were having. If my understanding is correct (all errors my own), they have a court that’s akin to our Supreme Court. When legislation is passed, affected people lodge complaints which are heard by this court. Read More

Stoked

• April 3, 2012

She told me on her own it was the best day of the trip. That was worth everything to me. Lauren and Rebekk It was our free day at the JW Marriot. We swam in the pool in the morning. We went back to the room and watched the Cartoon Network in Spanish. We headed to the Restaurant for lunch at 1:00. I skipped out on free drinks. We boarded the bus and began the journey to Tamarindo Beach at 2:00. Read More

Stars above San Jose

• April 3, 2012

I have a whole lot of blog entries to write. Some of them are funny. Some of them are thoughtful. Some of them are written. Some have yet to be formed into meaningful sentences. Many are political. Some are astronomical. I will try hard to use proper hashtags so you know what to expect in advance. This one is about astronomy on a different spot on the globe. It was originally written March 24 in San Jose, Costa Rica. Read More

I can see that....

• March 10, 2012

Okay, it’s time for the exciting part. We’ve talked about the packing, the shots, the odds and sods along the way. Now I get to show off the cool stuff. Every once in a while I get asked about which telescope I’d recommend for a budding astronomer. Generally people know that I love looking at the sky, I’m a geek, and therefore I have a lot of knowledge of the tools of the trade. Read More

Renewal in another place.

• March 2, 2012

I’m really burnt out. I can feel the restlessness. The lack of clarity and concentration. The short temper and intolerance for other people’s stupidity. I’m really, really burnt out. Yeah, you’ve sent me an email lately and I haven’t responded. I’ve got somewhere around 600 emails piled up right now, about half of which I actually WANT to read and maybe a third I want to scan through. Of the half I want to read, I’ve probably got about a third of those I want to reply to. Read More

Love you, Mom.

• February 11, 2012

I’ve had a year’s worth of blog entries to write in the last month alone. Only I couldn’t write any of them out of respect. Tonight I can say anything I want and only want solitude in my thoughts and for my children to feel loved and comforted. My mother passed away tonight. She was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer just after New Year’s. Bowel cancer apparently can go without symptoms for a while. Read More