The Pacific Science Center

I hadn't been here since probably Junior High. I'd forgotten how cool it is. We saw the Lucy exhibit, which was excellent. Unfortunately, Lucy's been loosing the Center money, what with the economy and all. It was supposed to travel around the country, educating people and raising money for Ethiopia. Unfortunately, two other cities that were slated to host have pulled out and no others have stepped up. So, Lovely Lucy will probably return to Ethiopia and never leave again. Also, butterflies.

quick upload

Thing's've been busy lately, but nothing particularly interesting. I'm behind, though, so thought I'd just post some pictures of the last month.

Christmas at Dad and Dorothy's.

Christmas dinner: MREs cooked on the kitchen floor



Gingerbread houses and reading by the Christmas tree:




Christian, Dennis and Tarn playing Jenga. Tarn rocked and Christian lost:








Viewing public art on a drizzly day in Seattle:






Beaches in Olympia:

My soapbox

Yeah, I sometimes feel like a broken record.

I've got TV while I'm here in TX and have been watching CNN for the first time in my life. This is the Real News? I've seen 15 minute stories on the new pre-teen vampire flick, in depth reports on OJ Simpson's trial and whole shows about Brad Pitt/Anjelena Jolie. In the meantime? In the meantime... Last week Venezuela had a voter turnout of more than 60% (in a non-presidential election year!) utilizing sane and reliable electronic voting booths. Nigeria held elections which were followed by riots that killed over 400 people. The U.S. again refused to sign a cluster bomb treaty, endangering the lives of hundreds of thousands of civilians (cluster bombs victims are 98% civilian, most often children).

How did I get this news? From the Christian Science Monitor, the BBC and Al Jazeera. How does the American public get this news? Mostly, they don't. How can we expect citizens to be involved in their world and their community when they don't even know what's going on?

December, Texas

It was cold this morning, when I went out for a run. Not just Texas cold, but actually cold- 33 degrees at 7 am. It was hard to go out in that, especially since I didn't pack for near-freezing runs and had to wear shorts and a long sleeved t-shirt. It made me wonder why I keep doing this. After 20 years of running, I'm still slow but have logged a lot of miles. I've run in all seasons, in all weather); I've spooked moose and seen Northern Lights, I've run with a succession of dogs and with various friends. It's who I am now and I don't know what I'd do if I had to give it up. So, I put on my shorts and went out this morning, just like I always do.

It warmed up by the afternoon, and I went to see an outdoor show. The Ft Sam ceremonial horse drill team was there. I didn't get any good pictures of them performing (I was too far for the camera to get a good shot) but I watched them practice. I got cool video, but can't post it.






Some old cars. Yes, it's December and it's almost 70 at this point.

Logistics

I've been listening to history lessons on my iPod while I run in the mornings (yes, I'm a bit of a dork, but you should all know that by now). They started in Ancient Greece and we're up to the 1800's. I heard a good one on Washington the other day and I've been thinking a lot about him since. His ragtag group of paid militia were getting ready to head home on the 31st. He had one week. It was dark and snowing and he had to ferry 2,400 troops across the river, which took about 12 hours- until 3am. How do you keep 2400 people in place for 12 hours on a cold, dark Christmas eve? Especially ones who were low on morale (1,700 of their comrades were sick or injured and they'd suffered a series of defeats) and wanting to go home to their families?

For some reason, Washington has fallen out of vogue these days as Lincoln's star is (deservedly) rising. Still, Washington was a great man with a strong moral compass. He had little formal schooling, but had a wisdom and intellect that made up for time in a classroom. The little story about the cherry tree may or may not be true, but it illustrates his lifelong integrity well. He did not want to lead the war against the British (he had been a soldier in the British army himself), and later on he did not want to be president. All he wanted was to live in Mt Vernon with his beloved wife and farm his land. However, he recognized his duty and simply did it.

Washington's public farewell address warned against foreign influence in domestic affairs and American meddling in foreign affairs. He counseled friendship and commerce with all nations, but warned against involvement in foreign wars and entering into long-term "entangling" alliances. We could do worse than to revisit his ideals of freedom, personal integrity and diplomacy.

But, mainly, this post is just an excuse to put up that picture. It made me chuckle.

A long time coming

Wow. I don't know who wrote this speech, but it actually made tears come to my eyes.

The Alamo

They've got a rifle and a leather vest that belonged to Davey Crockett. Not much else.



Beautiful San Antonio Riverwalk.




A duck with no head!