Martha and Amelia are coming up on ten months of age now. They’re huge compared to when we first got them, and still growing, but cuddly and adorable as always. Pictures follow:
Some light reading on Christianity and homosexuality
Two sets of detailed, probing questions from Alastair Roberts on Christians and homosexuality: for those opposed, and for those who affirm.
Mark Sandlin on the standard go-to bible verses used against homosexuals.
Fred Clark on Peter’s vision of the sheet of unclean animals.
Pretty much anything Jim Somerville has said about the matter.
Chincoteague Again
I stayed on Chincoteague Island back in April for the NASA Social Antares launch event, but didn’t really get to see as much of the scenery as I’d have liked. This summer Amy and I hopped back over to get the full summer beach-and-pony experience for a few days — and break in the new car with a nice trip to the shore.
New Work, New Car
Been about four months now since I left US News, but it hasn’t been all unemployment; I’ve been fortunate enough to work with Tac and Keith on Survos, plus a few other small projects on the side to help make ends meet through the job search.
This week, however, I return to fulltime work with Valador, Inc., doing front end web design for federal government agencies, mostly NASA. I’m passionate about both web design and space, so the professional mix is a dream come true. Also, the office has a classic Doctor Who pinball machine.
Recent Reading
The Prophets of Oak Ridge: three peace activists infiltrate a heavily guarded nuclear weapons facility. (by Dan Zak)
1 billion year old water tastes terrible.
US infrastructure is ill-suited to meeting the needs of an isolated, aging population.
Coffeehouses were the social media of the 1600s.
Saving Superman’s Jewish immigrant creators, Siegel and Shuster.
Open office layouts aren’t great.
Lessons learned from volunteering in prison.
Fourth of July at Southside Park
For the Fourth of July we commemorated our country’s 237th anniversary by going to Southside Park, eating Little League hotdogs, and watching fireworks.
Alexandria and National Harbor
Amy dropped off a couple of paintings at Torpedo Factory in Old Town Alexandria yesterday and we made a day trip of it, checking out Founders Park and Principle Gallery, and hopping on a Water Taxi to see National Harbor.
Principle Gallery has a dog named Asher, and he has his own hashtag, #AsherAtPG.
National Harbor is a mostly bland, artificial environment of chain shops and restaurants, but the pizza at Fiorelli is pretty good, and the water taxi ride across the Potomac has some interesting views of Alexandria and the Woodrow Wilson Bridge.
Plus, we got to see The Awakening in its new location. I personally wish it had stayed in Hains Point, but the sculpture seems to be doing okay here.
Zoo Day
Went to the National Zoo on Sunday after church and an Indian buffet meal at Rajaji. Bit hot out so we spent more time inside the air conditioned indoor habitats. I’ve always liked the Invertebrates. Baby anemones and sea urchins!
Outside the Invertebrate House, a stray deer had wandered onto the zoo grounds from Rock Creek Park.
We also checked on the reptiles, tigers, orangutans, and pandas.
And the small-clawed otters were quite playful and fun to watch, as always.
We didn’t linger as it was just far too hot in the summer sun, so we’ll probably go back some other time in the Fall to stay longer. Full photoset from our zoo day here.
Smithsonian Folklife Festival 2013
The 2013 Smithsonian Folklife Festival focuses on Hungary, endangered languages, and African American Dress and Body Art. We dropped by for a warm Saturday afternoon to browse the pavilions. Photos follow:
ISS and Supermoon
The moon is at perigee, so it’s closer in its orbit and a bit bigger in the sky — a phenomenon popularly called “Supermoon.” Some nice ISS flyovers were lined up for the nights the moon was fullest, so I was able to set up the camera on the roof for a couple of 30 second exposures of the ISS streaking by the supermoon. First night was a closer pass, with the station fading to darkness as it entered Earth’s shadow:
Second night was cloudier, with the ISS passing farther from the moon, but I was able to expose the shot a bit better:
And if you want to see just the full moon or just the ISS (with Ursa Major to the side), I got those too:
These have been my best ISS long exposures thus far, but I need more practice with adjusting exposure for our specific night sky, especially as light pollution increases with local development. More of my previous ISS long-exposure attempts here.