Archive for February, 2013

Wine charts

February 14th, 2013 | Category: Uncategorized

This one appeals to my electrical engineering experience. This one appeals to my software design experience. But I think that this one – redolent of biology – is my favorite.

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News Article About IBuoy

February 13th, 2013 | Category: Arctic,JHUAPL,Travel

DisneyLand

February 12th, 2013 | Category: Travel

Since it is nearby, there’s no excuse for not going… and it was Rachel’s 40th!  We had a special dinner at the exclusive Napa Rose restaurant, which is everything it’s cracked up to be.  Rachel is looking mighty fine, no?

I am a Disney skeptic.  I’ve read all kinds of terrible things about Disney corp, how they treat their employees, and their business practices.  I didn’t grow up idolizing the disney movies, and I’m not a huge fan of mediated entertainment of this order.  I kind of expected the sign over the gate to read “Arbeit macht frei” (It actually reads: “Here you leave the world of today and enter the world of yesterday, tomorrow and fantasy” ).

I have to admit, the place is much more tasteful than I expected.  The rides are fun/inventive and the grounds beautiful. We had a good time! There are enough pictures of the place on-line that I’m not going to post very many, but I recommend going (when the weather is cool, if possible).  It’s an American institution, after all.

The California screamer roller coaster is the only “serious” ride, I think, in terms of high g-force.  There is a new coaster themed after the movie “Cars” that is pretty exciting, as well. There are some smaller coasters that are also fun – magic mountain, of course, and a kiddie roller coaster themed after Donald Duck which was also fun.  Not all of the most fun rides are scary – the big Ferris wheel is great, as is the gentle jellyfish ride, probably classified as “wild but mild.”  I lkied seeing Rachel enjoy the place and I liked all of the cute kids who were apoplectic with excitement (let’s not talk about the screaming ones with glazed doughnut faces who were having meltdowns).

 

 

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The Secular Ten Commandments

February 08th, 2013 | Category: Uncategorized

Alain de Botton’s ‘list for life’

Resilience: Keeping going even when things are looking dark.

Empathy: The capacity to connect imaginatively with the sufferings and unique experiences of another person.

Patience: We should grow calmer and more forgiving by being more realistic about how things actually happen.

Sacrifice: We won’t ever manage to raise a family, love someone else or save the planet if we don’t keep up with the art of sacrifice.

Politeness: Politeness is closely linked to tolerance, -the capacity to live alongside people whom one will never agree with, but at the same time, cannot avoid.

Humour: Like anger, humour springs from disappointment, but it is disappointment optimally channelled.

Self-awareness: To know oneself is to try not to blame others for one’s troubles and moods; to have a sense of what’s going on inside oneself, and what actually belongs to the world.

Forgiveness: It’s recognising that living with others is not possible without excusing errors.

Hope: Pessimism is not necessarily deep, nor optimism shallow.

Confidence: Confidence is not arrogance – rather, it is based on a constant awareness of how short life is and how little we will ultimately lose from risking everything.

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