Paved with Good Intentions

I stepped out early this afternoon, intending to catch a bus to the Metro station. I was going to ride into DC and go see the Hokusai exhibition at the Freer-Sackler Gallery. But either I misread the bus schedule or just missed the bus, because I sat around for half an hour before I decided to chuck it an go to the library. Not a bad thing - the exhibit continues into next month, and libraries are always good. I went and geeked out a little, read a few books. On my way home I took a few photos of the neighborhood. I think I should get cell phone with a camera in it, since I seem to find something new every time I walk around.

Tomorrow is for errands, so maybe I'll see the exhibit on my way back from trying to catch the Volvo Ocean Race boats in Baltimore next weekend.

More sidewalk tags; Rotary phones, phonographs... what's next? I predict an old-fashioned vacuum tube radio

I like the 'tombstone' window on the front gable

A house for sale around the corner. Take a guess how much they are asking?

Here's the flyer. $665K! That's 1400 sqft, 4 bed 3 bath, no central A/C, on 7150 sqft of property.

There are a few like this in the area; Rowhouses with no rows. They look very out of place to my eye. Also, the chimney is ugly

This house struck me as odd. The partial stone facade makes it look like it has a skin condition. And the single double-hung window on the right gives that side a weird cycloptic appearance.

Filed in: Del_Ray Architecture Books

Forgive and Forget

I dropped the ball last night. We had a SNAME meeting, the Student Paper presentations and dinner. We had an executive meeting beforehand, so I had to go straight there from work and get down to business. It was a good set of presentations, the students were very impressive.

Now, I had made plans for afterwards to meet a friend who I hadn't seen in a few weeks. I wanted to catch up, get some Mint Oreo custard - nothing earth-shattering, but I was looking forward to it. But the presentations went long, and I ended up being too late. I was going to call once the meeting was over and meet up at the custard shop, but my friend had been waiting there for some time instead. Then went ahead and had some custard and went home, since she was tired.

I feel like a jerk. I didn't even think to call once the meeting started running over - I assumed we weren't heading out until I called. So now I'm looking for ways to redeem myself a little.

I've always thought the ideas of penance and atonement were very interesting. That you could work off your sins, or even pay them off. The topic would have been more germaine during Lent, Ramadan, or Yom Kippur. But I think it's fascinating that there are so many different traditions and methods to recognize that we've done wrong, and can try to make things right. And even then, we haven't covered all our bases. There's an interesting line regarding Yom Kippur:

The Day of Atonement absolves from sins against God, but not from sins against a fellow man unless the pardon of the offended person be secured. (Mishnah tractate Yoma 8:9)

Being good is so damn hard.

Filed in: Life

Women's Corps

I recently saw this site, a photo-essay on the conscription of women in the Israeli Defense Forces. Further reading informed me that while there are many women who receive waivers, the majority serve. This fascinates me, for some reason. In fact, my first reaction to the images was "there is a great story here." And a very cinematic one, at that. I'm sure many of you have seen, or at least are familiar with, Full Metal Jacket, Biloxi Blues, Stripes, etc. I can only think of one example of a "boot camp" movie that explores it from a female perspective, Private Benjamin. And I don't remember it being especially good. But I look at those pictures and I want to learn more.

Filed in: History Movies World

The Past Didn't Go Anywhere

I slipped out of work a little early on Friday so I could drive south to Blacksburg. I made it just in time to catch Tyson's masters thesis defense in Randolph Hall, my old stomping ground. It was an excellent presentation, and a strong thesis. It's on human factors concept design for naval ships - good material. If he wasn't already dialed in with the Coast Guard, it's the kind of work that would get him a job in no time.

After the presentation, I got to see some of my old professors and caught up a little. Then we picked up Tyson's wife Michelle and their daughter Anna and went out for pizza. Once the sitter came over, the grown-ups were able to head out to celebrate a little. We went to Sharkey's, which moved into the corner spot that used to be Preston's. The old Sharkey's is all closed up. And that's just the beginning - Blacksburg has changed a lot since my time there. More and more of the open plots on campus are filled up: new dorms, new offices, new academic halls & research facilities. And the growth of the town is keeping up - a number of buildings in downtown were completely new to me.

Anna and Dan

After Sharkey's, we went to Champs. Both were pretty typical college drinking halls, though I did hear them play the Blues Explosion at Sharkey's, which was surprising. We were joined by some of Tyson's fellow grad students, including a CGA 01'er named Brook, who I had been in a few musicals with. All were doing well.

Being in Blacksburg again was a bit odd. I never especially liked it there - nothing really with it, I just never felt any real attachment to the place. All the grey HokieStone buildings were depressing in winter, it felt like Castle Greyskull. Returning, it just seemed like the place was overrun with kids trying to act like adults, wearing their poser clothes just so, listening to crappy music and drinking more than they can handle. I do not miss college.

On Saturday, after running some errands and taking Anna to see Franklin the Turtle (?) and the Easter Bunny, Tyson, Anna and I went to Lane Stadium for the spring intrasquad football game. Free admission, nice weather - it was good. And actually the first time I've been inside Lane - I never went to a game when I was a student.


Lane Stadium

More of Lane, including the expanded luxury boxes that tower over the campus

Had a little cookout on Saturday night, and then dyed easter eggs, which were hidden after Anna went to bed. Got up early today, found those eggs, ate some candy, and headed back to DC. It was nice to have a change of scenery for a few days. And Michelle made me a plate of food from the easter dinner I missed. Ham, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, pineapple stuffing, etc. It was delicious.

Michelle, Tyson, and Anna dressed up for Easter services

Filed in: Travel Holiday

Awake

Tuesday night, I turned in at my usual hour, after a normal day of work and play. But for no apparent reason, I could. Not. Sleep. I tossed and turned for hours, and I don't know why. I started to fidget.

I ended up making a big mug of hot chocolate with milk, hoping it would help me drift off. It didn't help much. I ended up getting about 4 hours of sleep that night. And it happened again last night. Yesterday at work was awful - I couldn't focus, I was squirming and fidgeting with nervous energy. My mind was alert, but couldn't focus. I had that awful feeling of tiredness, behind the eyes. I couldn't stop tapping my legs at my desk; I had to get up and pace the halls a number of times. Today has been a little better, but not as much as I hoped. At least I've been able to focus on the project I want to get finished before the weekend. Any ideas on how to stop this from recurring would be great.

On a more positive note, Tyson & Michelle have invited me to visit them in Christiansburg. Tyson is giving his thesis defense for his masters on Friday - hopefully I'll be able to catch it. It should be fun, and I'm glad I can catch them before they move on to Tyson's next billet. In Alaska. I'm looking forward to slipping out of town for the weekend - it's been a while.

Filed in: Work Science

Some Assembly Required

I found this via BLDGBLOG, a great site for oddities of architecture, landscaping, and geology. (Thanks to Matt for letting me know about it). They're highlighting the work of Dr. Ron Blakely at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff. He's a geologist, and has put together some beautiful maps of North America as it appeared over the past 600 million years. The image is for 75 million years ago, in the "Late Cretaceous." More images, as well as the science behind them, are available here.

If you're interested in geology, make sure to check out In Suspect Terrain, Rising from the Plains, Basin and Range, and Assembling California, all by John McPhee. Or, pick up all four plus additional material (Crossing the Craton) collected together in Annals of the Former World. Make a voyage down to your local public library - it's all in books.

Filed in: Science Books

Tintinnabulation

Those of you who work in large offices probably know that much like at schools, the building engineers must occasionally test the fire alarms. Normally, they post warnings informing us worker drones that they will be testing, listing a date and approximate time. And when they do test, it takes just a few minutes.

Well, they did not post this time. And the damned bell has been ringing for 15 minutes, and it's way too damn early for this. Also, while the alarm is on, the HVAC system is automatically secured. Stuffy and noisy. Since there was no advanced notice, the few of us who are in this early set out for the rally point out front, and got turned back by the engineer heading for the door with the warning notices in his hand. What good does it do to post them now?

I hope they secure soon. I don't think it's going to be a very productive morning.

Ding!

Filed in: Work