The series of dramas with budgets and appropriations has got me thinking about how to prepare for however its going to end. It's clear by this point that it isn't going to be pretty ( Read more... )

Bought myself a Christmas present:


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Had a rather nice time yesterday afternoon, hanging out in various neighbors' yards. The weather was beautiful, and one of the things I really like about ranch life is the existence of a lower-commitment form of socializing, happening outdoors, that doesn't imply invitation inside someone's home. It can be lots of fun, with kids, campfires, dogs, ( Read more... )

Went to pick up Zelda, a friend of my aunt and uncle from way back. I was gobsmacked when she showed me an orchid plant, a modest little pleurothallis, that I had given her twenty five years ago. At a time when I am deeply rethinking my whole past, it was an amazing thing to see. I used to have quite a few, and was always interested in cloud forest ( Read more... )

One of my favorite things about snowboarding is those fleeting moments of beauty in the mountains, when the light is just so.

Mt. Washington, Vancouver Island, BC.


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I cannot believe how much flap there has been over twenty murders in a country that experiences more than a thousand times that many every year. All because they were clustered in one place, with one perpetrator. All else being equal, is it not prereferable to have twenty children murdered by one madman, than twenty children murdered by twenty ( Read more... )

OK, so a whole lot of flashy science announcements are kind of silly and gimmicky, but this is in my area of expertise and it definitely is not. When I saw this article, I confess my first thought was "oh, what now". It looked kind of fluffy and pompous. (Sorry, full text not available online for free.) But it turns out that DNA is a distinctive ( Read more... )

Sigh... Internet is out again at home. The recent storm, I think, has damaged our wireless antenna, so the guy that does the networking for the ranch is coming out on Thursday to try out a new one. Hopefully I can install a higher-gain antenna so that it will be more reliable in the long run. In the meanwhile, there is a handy-dandy but somewhat ( Read more... )

John is away for a bit in Davis, doing his mad-scientist thing while the particle accelerator is (otherwise) idle for the long weekend. I took the occasion to watch what I knew would be a teary and sentimental film.


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Glad that's over ( Read more... )