I got to see Saturn last weekend! Family & I were camping with our Boy Scout troop and there was an observatory area at the campground, with four first-class telescopes set up- I saw Saturn through a 16" refracting Mead, awesome sight- like a tiny, perfect painting of Saturn, with very distinct rings and 3 moons! Also saw the M13 star cluster, which was like seeing ten times the number of stars we have in our night sky, compressed into a circle about 1 inch across.
We here on Earth are extremely small, relative to the extremely big rest-of-it-all!
Click on Saturn to see the Prairie Grass Observatory--->
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Friday, April 24, 2009
Best Collection Ever
http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/wayoflife/04/24/collector.art.exhibit/index.html
Don't miss the link about halfway down the article titled "The Lab: Andrew Novick's list of stuff"
Don't miss the link about halfway down the article titled "The Lab: Andrew Novick's list of stuff"
Saturday, April 18, 2009
The garden is coming along well- last year it was too far from the house, with trees between it and us, and the deer and rabbits decimated it. Actually, decimated only meant 10%, and it was more like they ate all the peas and most of the cucumber shoots. So anyway. This year we started to put raised beds with homemade soil along the sunny part of the driveway, but quickly decided it was too windy. Now it's in the front yard, which is the best idea yet. We have new plants in the garage under glow lights (the DEA would think we're growing pot if they flew over with their infrared cameras) and about 120 square feet of dirt ready for planting. I'm glad I won't have to pick weeds this year, although last year it was more like constantly lamenting the presence of weeds I didn't have the gumption to pick. So in a few months we will be eating tomatoes, watermellon, conteloupe, lettuce, cucumbers, onions, potatoes, leeks, chard, radishes, whoknowswhatthefuckelse, and all fresh and free (kinda) and yummy. And Bear (the golden retriever) will keep the deer, rabbits, squirrels, woodpeckers, robins, moles, chipmunks, lizards, ghosts, bums, low-flying aircraft and llamas away from the tender vegetables. Have a nice day.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Trippy
Instructions for seeing the back of your own head:
1. Find a simple stick about a foot long.
2. Push it a bit into the ground so it stands on its own.
3. Study the stick from a standing position.
4. Lay down next to the stick and put your eye as close to it as you can, still facing up.
5. Study the stick from this new position.
This process is the same as stopping and letting your self take another step forward, so that you see the back of your own head (which is impossible).
This is what happens when I take metaphor a step beyond the normal literary or comparative application. It means doing something out of the ordinary, something no one would do on purpose (except me, I guess) in order to develop a metaphor for something that's hard to think about, like looking at the back of your own head (in real life, not in a mirror), or infinity, or enlightenment. There are things going on all around me I was never aware of before I started hanging out with all you other stoners- I mean, Zen practitioners, and this is my way of packaging them so I can examine them and poke them with a stick.
I was at work a few hours ago, doing maintenance on my machine. I was doing the Samu part, which involved solvent and rags and sweaty rubber gloves. I knew that when I finished, I could go home a couple hours early and dash to the computer to talk to the people in my head (that's you) so I was working along at a good clip, being all efficient and cleaning every part in the same order, not really thinking about anything- you know, absorbed in my work. Then I realized, with a bit of bewilderment, that there was a conversation going on in my head between an elderly Nazi prison camp guard and a tribunal judge. You may have heard about this guy almost getting deported to Germany from America a day or so ago. Well, he was pleading his case in court, IN MY HEAD, and I wasn't in charge of the dialogue.
WTF?
Of course, the same thing happens in dreams, no big deal. But it took me a minute to put that together. What stuck with me was the fact that there was thinking going on while I was awake, to which I became consciously privy after it was already going on for a while. That still weirds me out a bit when I think about it too hard.
I know this is normal, but I have never picked it apart (or poked it with a stick) before, and being Buddhist kinda shines a new light on it.
The point is, while mindlessly (mindfully?) doing my work, I walked up behind myself and looked at the back of my own head. It still freaks me out.
1. Find a simple stick about a foot long.
2. Push it a bit into the ground so it stands on its own.
3. Study the stick from a standing position.
4. Lay down next to the stick and put your eye as close to it as you can, still facing up.
5. Study the stick from this new position.
This process is the same as stopping and letting your self take another step forward, so that you see the back of your own head (which is impossible).
This is what happens when I take metaphor a step beyond the normal literary or comparative application. It means doing something out of the ordinary, something no one would do on purpose (except me, I guess) in order to develop a metaphor for something that's hard to think about, like looking at the back of your own head (in real life, not in a mirror), or infinity, or enlightenment. There are things going on all around me I was never aware of before I started hanging out with all you other stoners- I mean, Zen practitioners, and this is my way of packaging them so I can examine them and poke them with a stick.
I was at work a few hours ago, doing maintenance on my machine. I was doing the Samu part, which involved solvent and rags and sweaty rubber gloves. I knew that when I finished, I could go home a couple hours early and dash to the computer to talk to the people in my head (that's you) so I was working along at a good clip, being all efficient and cleaning every part in the same order, not really thinking about anything- you know, absorbed in my work. Then I realized, with a bit of bewilderment, that there was a conversation going on in my head between an elderly Nazi prison camp guard and a tribunal judge. You may have heard about this guy almost getting deported to Germany from America a day or so ago. Well, he was pleading his case in court, IN MY HEAD, and I wasn't in charge of the dialogue.
WTF?
Of course, the same thing happens in dreams, no big deal. But it took me a minute to put that together. What stuck with me was the fact that there was thinking going on while I was awake, to which I became consciously privy after it was already going on for a while. That still weirds me out a bit when I think about it too hard.
I know this is normal, but I have never picked it apart (or poked it with a stick) before, and being Buddhist kinda shines a new light on it.
The point is, while mindlessly (mindfully?) doing my work, I walked up behind myself and looked at the back of my own head. It still freaks me out.
Just Kidding...
I was just kidding about wanting a burger. Who wants a burger? Not me, for sure. Burgers are boring. I'd rather have some asparagus or rice or dirt or something. Burgers are for stupid.
Or ground-up glass. I could have some of that with soy sauce and garlic. But a burger? No thanks.
Or ground-up glass. I could have some of that with soy sauce and garlic. But a burger? No thanks.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Vegetables Suck
Hint of the Day:
When you're trying to be a vegetarian, don't watch Emeril cooking on TV.
I want gumbo.
I want a fucking cheeseburger.
When you're trying to be a vegetarian, don't watch Emeril cooking on TV.
I want gumbo.
I want a fucking cheeseburger.
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