We are in the hospital tonight so I will light our menorah “virtually” and re-publish these photos from last year.
The top photo is my menorah, the bottom photo shows Éva after lighting the simple menorah that is enjoying its third generation in our family.
I never get tired of watching these animations of cellular processes. I’ve linked to an earlier animation several years ago (music version; narrated version), and as amazing as that was, it just keeps getting better.
To see a really nice quality of this animation, go here.
Working in the Farmyard (scooping poop!)
The Scoop on Snake Poop. I wrote this while I was volunteering, before I started officially working part-time with the Museum.
I’m still playing with my iPhone 3GS and macro photography. I have had some success using a small Bausch & Lomb 20x Hastings lens held directly to the camera lens on the phone body. My main frustration is with the curved back of the iPhone 3GS. I am very much looking forward to next year when we can trade up to the flat-backed iPhone 4.
In the meantime, I’ll keep experimenting. Here is one recent project.
This leaf was found on the Explore the Wild trail at the NC Museum of Life and Science in May 2010. I was attracted to the delicate structure of the vascular system of the leaf.
Reference Shot of Decayed Leaf
Leaf structure magnified
I dug this post up from my previous blog because Mark and I have recently been re-inspired to tell the stories of our adventures together. Mark has especially been bitten by the storytelling bug of late. He recounted a particularly painful crush he had in high school at The Monti StorySlam in Durham earlier this month. You can see it on his blog. Now he is planning to podcast some of his brand of story (this is quite appropriate since his father was a radio DJ starting in the 50’s and 60’s and was able to spin quite a few yarns of his own on the air).
Last week one of our friends at grad school was surprised to find that an old high school picture had found its way onto the cover of the weekly student news bulletin. In an effort to console him, I brought some of our old wedding photos in to show him that our “old pictures” were more embarrassing than his.
As a result of showing the photos, Mark started to tell some of the stories about our wedding (e.g. day-glo blue icing on the wedding cake). As I listened, it occurred to me that some of the stories were probably not even known by our daughters. How unfortunate! So, to remedy that situation, and to encourage others to “tell the stories” to those around them, here’s one snippet…
When we were engaged, we were living in the inner-city of St. Louis, working with a group that often took homeless people in for emergency housing. Each person working at the organization had a bedroom with a room-mate from the organization team and also some extra beds. Those extra beds were used for the “housing guests.” You never knew who you might have sleeping in the room with you. For a period of time Mark was host to an Native American guy whom we all really enjoyed getting to know. One day he up and left… leaving no note, address, or sign of himself except his boots. We were disappointed that he had left so suddenly, but Mark was glad to inherit his boots. They were a really nice pair of boots, and, hey! we were dirt poor! So they became his trademark shoes. In fact, he wore them at our wedding.
But, the really interesting part of the story is that not long after our friend left, the FBI showed up asking about his whereabouts. Turns out that he was wanted by the FBI for being involved in the 1973 Wounded Knee uprising. Yikes! Nevertheless, undaunted by the shady (and potentially criminal) past of their previous owner, Mark continued to proudly wear those boots. We even had to have them re-soled a few times. Unfortunately, somewhere along the adventure of our life we have lost track of those boots (probably in a garage sale some time ago). But we got to keep the story!
So, in honor of those boots, we share some of our wedding photos with you (for those of you trying to guess… 1977).
You might get the impression from my Tweets and blog posts that I only pay attention to the bears at the NC Museum of Life and Science. While it’s true that the bears hold a special place in my heart, we are non-discriminatory when it comes to giving attention to all the critters at the museum. To prove this, I present two pieces of supporting evidence for my claim.
First, not all the excitement is with the animals that move around a lot. This little frog was sitting quietly on the path and was hoping we would ignore it. I only wish I had a macro lens with me to try and get a better shot of his eye. Such interesting patterns!
Second, as we were leaving today, we walked past the barnyard and saw Lightning (the donkey) kicking up quite a storm. Check out these ball handling skillz!!
I’ve just got to figure out a way to take photos like this (another beauty from the Nikon Small World contest previous winners).
Peter Parks, Atlanta peronii (gastropod mollusk) (170X)
Yesterday we arrived at the NC Museum of Life and Science in Durham just in time to watch one of the animal keepers (Erin) providing the bears with some enrichment activity. She filled some balls with syrup and then tossed them into the exhibit for Yona, Gus, and Mimi to retrieve, play with, and snack on. Ursula and Virginia (the other two bears in the exhibit) must have been taking a nap somewhere.
We’ve lived in Durham, NC, for a full year. While we were somewhat prepared to endure the hot and humid summers, we had no idea what we were in for with pollen. But we have learned quickly. We are fortunate because we don’t have allergies to deal with. But we still had to learn to keep our windows closed (even when tempted by the delightful warm temperatures and soft blowing breezes) to shut out the fine particles that infiltrate the smallest cracks and tolerate the ubiquitous yellow powder that coats everything outdoors. Still, without pollen, we would be in a dreadful state. Each grain so full of potential. So necessary for the cycle of life to continue. But, so many complaints are lodged during this time of the year against pollen, that I felt I should stick up for the minuscule yellow guys (just a little).
In honor of pollen, a haiku:
Promiscuous plants
Propelling plumes of pollen
Promised potential
That last line was suggested via by new friend on Twitter, @amfulay… thx! Other suggestions were “Perturbed Proboscis” from @stalwartEd and “Pale Powdery Paint” by @binghypo. Leave your own suggestions in the comments.
I know, I know, some of our friends elsewhere in the world are saying that they have allergies and pollen too, surely our NC event can’t be that bad. Ha! Here are some pictures to show a typical day during pollen season.
The wetlands of the NC Museum of Life and Science had a thick coating of pollen floating on the surface. With a little help from the wind and the ducks, beautiful swirls of pale yellow began to appear on the watery canvas.
Not snow, nor volcanic ash, but pollen deep enough to reveal the paths of those who visited the lemurs.
A neighborhood car with its daily (!) coating of powdery pollen.
I was inspired today when I viewed this blog: Where I Write: Fantasy & Science Fiction Authors in their creative spaces. I started to wonder what the things you keep around your office say about you, your work, your inspiration. Then I decided to get brave. I took some photos of my own office space… without any tidying up first. This is a major breakthrough for me! As I looked at the images, I saw many things that I didn’t realize were in the room and other things that brought back a flood of memories. Mostly I wanted to share with you images of the “little things” that I love so much. All of the bits and pieces from all over the world that have come home in my pockets, my collecting bags, etc. I realized that each piece of ephemera has a special tale to tell. I have resolved to photograph some of these and tell their stories. But for now, I’ll just let you take a peek into the place where I spend more time than not (and please do not judge me for the mess!).
After you take a look, tell me about your own office space. What makes it “yours”?
