Tuesday, December 24, 2013

2013 science breakthrough of the year...

2013 science breakthrough of the year...

Where are y'all from?

Where are y'all from?  The New York Times has a fascinating feature online right now: a 25 question quiz about vocabulary and pronunciation.  Once you answer the questions, software generates a heat map showing where (in the U.S.) you're likely from.  The map at right is from my answers, and given that I grew up in central New Jersey I'd say it was pretty much right on.  Debbie answered the questions and got a map centered a bit away from where she grew up (in eastern Indiana – but there was a red blob right on Union County, where her home was.  Pretty darned good for just 25 self-answered questions!

Christmas with the family...

Christmas with the family...  Oh, my.  This is not what our Christmas will be like – nor were our Christmases ever like this!

Pater: a Christmas eve memory...

Pater: a Christmas eve memory...  My dad overlooking Garrapata State Park in April 2006...
A Christmas eve memory...

This is a very brief one, as I can really only remember one little thing.  I know it was Christmas eve, and that I was quite young.  In my memory, my brother Scott and sister Holly were just barely toddlers, and I'm only a couple of years older than them.  Let's guess that I was 5 or 6 years old.  My dad was sitting on our living room sofa, I was sitting next to him; Scott and Holly were on the floor below us.  My dad was asking me, in a teasing way, what I wanted for Christmas. 

I don't remember what I told him I wanted, but I do remember asking him what he wanted Santa to bring for him.  His answer: “I already got my Christmas presents!”, and he gave me a big hug, then gathered up Scott and Holly and gave them a big hug, too.  Then he started tickling us (something he loved to do, to make us giggle).  My mom was watching all of us, a huge happy smile on her face, through the serving window that connected our living room to the kitchen (where, no doubt, she was busy cooking)...

That's one of those warm, sugary, happy, safe, secure moments that I wish I could just bottle up somehow, to have available for a swig when I need it...

Fifty years of space exploration...

Fifty years of space exploration...  on one map!  Full resolution version here, source (National Geographic) here...

Just talk...

Just talk...  Ramirez nails it again...

California leads the way...

California leads the way...  toward a permanent progressive, socialist state, a la Hugo Chavez...

The TSA's 12 banned items of Christmas...

The TSA's 12 banned items of Christmas... 

It's not just me...

It's not just me...  Jonathan Adler also noticed the bogus study purporting to show that conservative groups were spending a half billion dollars a year fighting AGW warmists.  I wrote about this a few days ago...