weary as water

every time i blink i have a tiny dream

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Mom’s visit + Nashville things

IMAG1018Mom came for a short visit last weekend. We had already planned to go up to Nashville for our anniversary (4 years since exchanging vows) – so when Mom said she would be in town we invited her along. (See how awesome my wife is? She is superb.)

First stop was the Opryland Hotel, which was decorated for Christmas. It was completely over the top (as you might imagine) – the Opryland Hotel isn’t exactly known for its subtly. The most impressive thing was the light net over all of the trees.

Second stop was the Renaissance Hotel downtown, which was pretty nice. It was overrun with Marines (the Marine Ball was next door) and hockey fans (Nashville has a hockey team!) and I think there was a show at the Ryman as well. The view from the room was pretty nice, and it was a short walk down to Broadway street. If I have another free night credit, we’ll stay there again. :)

Next we went to the Bluebird Cafe – one of my favorite “listening rooms” in the Nashville area. (The other is the Station Inn – but they had some conference on the night we were there). It’s known for being the place where some country singers got their start – Taylor Swift and Garth Brooks were both signed after playing there – but we went to a “round table” with 4 singer songwriters. They were all pretty good and we had a really good time listening.

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We got stuck in two traffic jams while trying to get into valet parking at the hotel (two! within half a mile of each other!) and I ended up taking advantage of a portalet that was conveniently located on the sidewalk. (As I exited – a drunk hockey fan said ‘that’s a god damned GIRL’ like girls can’t use portalets. Poor guy.) We got back to the hotel around 10, and Mom was pretty tired so Emily and I went out to Broadway without her. The place was packed – all of the downtown events were over – but we managed to find a friendly bartender and two empty seats at Layla’s, so there we stayed. We did manage to make “friends” with a guy with a grenade tattooed on his neck and an old drunk guy who thought he was hot shit (and who had an, ahem, hole in the crotch of his jeans.) They weren’t very good friends, though, because they got lost shortly after I refused to let them buy me a drink. (Here’s a life tip: never let an asshole buy you a drink).

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The next morning we went to the Pancake Pantry for brunch (chocolate chip pancakes FTW) and then went to the Cheekwood Botanical Gardens & Art Museum, where they were having an exhibit on the “wild west”. It was pretty cool – they had some Charlie Russell paintings, and a L.A. Huffman photograph of an Indian woman that was taken at Fort Keogh (super close to where I grew up in southeastern Montana). Wrapped it all up with a trip to the Loveless cafe (their pork chops are the bomb), and then drove back home.

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Other things: We had Phoebe & John over for dinner (caramelized baby turnips, roast beef with roasted potatoes and gravy, salad, baked brie with apricot preserves in a puff pastry). Went to a craft show in Gardendale. Mom showed me how to make a pie crust from flour, butter, and water. Then I made a delicious four cheese spinach quiche. Made a last minute trip out to the outlet mall (they have a La Creuset store!), and afterwards I drove 20 minutes the wrong way before realizing I was heading to Atlanta and not back to Birmingham. Oops! Then early the next morning I dropped Mom off at the airport for the long flight home. I had a really super time with her – she’s one of my best friends – and even though we spent a majority of the time sitting around reading books and drinking tea I had a fantastic time. I miss her already.

In other news, I’m playing a new health game called SuperBetter. Want to play it with me? Drop me a line for an invitation code my email is thenameofthiswebsite (without the .com)@gmail.com

Boston: What We Came For

Jeff Mangum was amazing live – I never expected to see him live, so it was an honest to god dream come true. He played a full set, came back out for one encore, and then even though we gave him another standing ovation the house lights came up and the background music came up over the PA. We kept clapping & yelling & stomping & banging, and about 8 minutes of this went by and he finally came back on stage to play one more song. (I mean, we waited 10 years to see him, what is 10 minutes of standing?)

There’s a nice writeup here.

And if you’d like to know what I felt like at 7:10pm on Saturday night, after waiting at the bus stop for over 45 minutes with no bus in sight and the start to the show 50 minutes away, well, it was pretty much like this, except with cursing.



Boston. So Far.

We arrived in Boston on a drizzly Thursday afternoon, made our way to our fabulous airbnb room (the bathroom itself is worth the visit), and then headed out to davis square for something to eat. We ended up at redbones (a rib place) – the pulled pork was pretty good and the vinegar sauce made it amazing. Emily had the brisket which was a little dry but pretty good. I had a 15th Anniversary Escondidian Imperial Black IPA to drink – super excellent. We walked and walked and walked – around Davis square, then to Harvard and around Harvard Yard. Emily says:

“Harvard is just as surreal as one would imagine…students waxing philosophical on the greens, students playing classical flute and violin out of their dorm windows, girls practicing ballet in high studio windows, at least one over extended asperger student stuttering complex formulas aloud in repetitive fashion, and an exorbitant number of blond boys in khakis and silk striped ties looking like they owned the place. It was both frightening and strangely comforting…”

We headed back to Davis square for a nightcap (Harpoon Belgian Pale Ale on cask & Shipyard’s Smashed Pumpkin – meh) – then tried to sneak back into the house without waking the other guests. No go – Roberto’s very friendly & enthusiastic rottweiler/doberman mix barked for ten minutes after we arrived.

Friday morning we headed to the Isabella Gardner Museum – a place highly recommended by one of Emily’s coworkers, metafilter, and our gracious host Roberto.

Boston. Fenway Court. Court. View from the entrance
Boston. Fenway Court. View from the entrance by Boston Public Library, on Flickr

The Isabella Gardner museum is a fabulous place, curated by Isabella from the ground up as a gallery. Everything in the museum is exactly as it was on the day she died, and a stipulation of her will is that the collection must remain that way or the entire collection must be sold. She combined art from different countries and eras – she loved tapestries and sculpture and portraits – and it is a truly magical place.

After a few hours there we went to have lunch at the Buddhist Cultural Center – turnip cakes & veggies & tofu & tea. Super delicious. We walked from the Central T stop down to MIT. Walked along the Charles River, watched the sailboats turn and dip in tandem. Walked across Longfellow Bridge, through Beacon Hill, to the Boston Commons. Walked all around there, too, and through the Gardens where we watched the ducks and swans. A guy was playing a weird instrument – part guitar, part accordion, part wind up box – it was cool to watch but annoying to listen to. Ended up at the Intermission Bar in the theatre district, drank more beer (Sam Adams Brick Red) and had some deep fried pita bread w/ red pepper hummus. Met an interesting artist from St. Augustine who convinced us to go to Cuba. We did not get to try the pineapple vodka (the bartender advised waiting: “it’s not good until the pineapple looks nasty”). Stumbled back to the house around midnight.

STS134 Launch: Space Shuttle Endeavour (Part 2 of 2)

This is part 2 of my STS134 Launch experience. If you haven’t read part 1, go do that now. I’ll wait.

I returned to work on Monday, and much to my surprise the picture of me in a spacesuit had been printed onto legal sized paper and hung up next to the coffeepot. I thought this was hilarious. And awesome. Mostly awesome.

It should be noted that I pretty much have the best partner ever. The question was never “am I going to get to go back for the shuttle launch?” – the question was if she was going to get to go with me. Fortunately we were both able to get off work and make the trek down again. We flew down Friday night and spent Saturday at Universal Orlando & the Islands of Adventure (the Harry Potter ride was definitely worth every penny). Sunday we drove to Kennedy Space Center to watch the Rotating Service Structure (RSS) retraction. It was absolutely amazing to be 600 yards from the launchpad – especially since we weren’t able to see the retraction on the first try.


Start.
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Finish. It only took about 20 minutes, and the end result gave me goosebumps.
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We took a group photo. (Photo courtesy of NASAHQPhoto)
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Then we got back on the bus, which slowed down at the entrance to the launchpad so we could snap a few photos.
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We checked into our hotel and went to sleep around 6pm. Sounds crazy, but we had a 3am wakeup call!


We got to the media site around 4am and set up the tripod in the dark by the side of the lagoon. I was just hoping the alligators were still asleep.
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We were inside the press room learning about the STORRM rendezvous & docking system when the sun started to rise, but made it outside in time to watch daylight spread.
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It was spectacular.
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So were the vast array of cameras…
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But not as spectacular as when Endeavour started to rise from the launchpad.
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I stood by my camera, holding down the shutter button but watching the launch. It was SUPER LOUD. Body shaking loud. The kind of loud I’ve never experienced before.
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I kept pressing the shutter…
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It sounds obvious, but the shuttle was really fast.
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There was quite a bit of cloud cover, so we didn’t get to see the entire shuttle arc. But it made for some neat effects.
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And then it was over. After the launch we stuck around for a few minutes, but left pretty quickly as our flight was supposed to leave Orlando at 5pm. It was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. [Some] humans are extraordinarily smart. After all, humans aren’t supposed to be in space. We’re supposed to be stuck on this little bluegreen speck of a planet. But did that stop this humongous device from leaving earth’s gravity? NO.


NASA research has contributed to so many things we take for granted: cell phones, microchips, memory foam, scratchproof lenses, velcro, and freeze-dried ice cream (among others). My interest in science (and subsequent careers as a basic science researcher & computer nerd) can be directly attributed to my 4th and 5th grade teachers, who allowed a small town girl to dream of going up into space. Manned spaceflight has captured the imagination of generations, and the lessons we have learned from the space program are many. It’s a real shame that NASA’s funding is in limbo.


On the way back, I spied this.
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I returned to work on Tuesday, and found my legal sized picture of me in a spacesuit had been upgraded to a larger model.
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Now that my dream of seeing a space shuttle launch has been fulfilled, I must win the lottery so that I can afford private space travel!

Thoughts About Japan

It was an absolutely beautiful time of year to visit Japan. The cherry blossoms are absolutely stunning, and I’m really glad I got to see them in full bloom. Strolling through the Japanese gardens in the middle of Tokyo was incredibly relaxing, and one of my favorite parts of the trip.

Hiroshima was unbelievable to me. I felt like such a guilt loving white liberal, but I just wanted to give everyone who looked over 65 a hug and say I’m sorry…

Japan seems to be a dichotomy between a technologically advanced society and it’s ancient religious context. In the West, Buddhism isn’t really thought of as a religion – more of a philosophy, but in Japan both Shintoism and Buddhism are most definitely religions with deep rooted traditions.

The Japanese people are either very friendly, or very polite & well-mannered. Even when we were the only foreigners in the “authentic” temples (ie, used for worship), I didn’t feel uncomfortable. The only time I felt uncomfortable was in Yokosuka – the Japanese are very resistant to having a nuclear powered aircraft carrier (or even, a navy base) in their cities. The official military talk is that the US provides a defense for Japan against North Korea & China, but I don’t really believe that is anything but PR.

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Seeing all the Buddhism stuff was really neat, too. I didn’t do zazen in any official capacity while I was there, but I just felt centered having spent so much time in the shrines & temples. (Although Hiroshima felt just as spiritual as anyplace else we went.)

One thing that really surprised me was how touristy the shrines & temples were. Almost all of the shrines & temples had a small entrance fee (approx $1-4), and there were places to buy postcards and trinkets at each temple & shrine we stopped at. Several even had food vendors on the premises. It seems kinda of weird, but on the other hand I guess money is what has allowed these places to stay open and kept up for literally thousands of years. (Also, I’m not familiar with the concept of tithing being present in Buddhism or Shintoism).

I would definitely like to visit again (with Emily this time!), and stay for a longer period of time. There is so much to see and do, and we barely got started!

Japan Day 6, Yokosuka (PM)

Yokosuka was an interesting place, but not one I’d like to visit again. As soon as we left the train station (backpacks in tow; we couldn’t find a locker big enough to put them in) we noticed a definite change in the attitude of the Japanese. All over the rest of Japan, we were perceived as tourists and the people had been very friendly and accommodating. In Yokosuka, we were perceived as Americans; only visiting this place because of the American war machine. I can’t blame them – I would be resentful too. Yokosuka was definitely a much dirtier, grimier town than anywhere else we’d been in Japan, and the Americans were responsible for stationing a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier in this town, approximately 825 km from where the Americans were responsible for devastating the city of Hiroshima with a nuclear bomb.

David met us at the entryway to the Naval Base and got us hooked up with visitor passes. (The little guard guys were not at all excited about the size of our backpacks). We left our backpacks in David’s car, and then went on a tour of the USS George Washington. It is certainly an impressive war machine and kinda cool to visit (although I wouldn’t want to live there).

on the flight deck
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Japan Day 6, Kyoto (AM)

We woke up relatively early & went to Fushimi Inari Taisha – an Inari shrine with thousands of torii lining paths to the inner shrine. The gates are painted every ten years, and are sponsored by businesses who write prayers for good fortune on the gates. (It is also the only shrine we went to that did not charge an entry fee). It wasn’t completely crowded with tourists, and I think it was my favorite spot in Kyoto.
the torii…
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prayers…
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Japan Day 5, Kyoto

By now I have no idea what day it is or what time it is anywhere other than the place that I am at. I did laundry in the morning, and drank 5 cups of coffee before breakfast. (The laundry room had two coffee vending machines – one for hot coffee, the other for cold coffee). We had breakfast at McDonalds (I know, I know. I feel bad about it but we were hungry!). I did not eat the breakfast “McHotDog Classic” (a hotdog with ketchup & scrambled eggs) but I did try the potato, bacon, and cheese pie (tasted like deep fried potato soup).

We set off for a walking trail that someone at the Kyoto tourism center told us about. We first ended up at the Myoshin-ji Buddhist temple complex. We wandered through the complex and came upon a service in progress – lots of chanting and incense. We didn’t go in but stood a ways away and watched for a little while.
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Japan Day 4, Kyoto (PM)

Took the train to Kyoto. Whitney & I were staying two nights, but David had 5 hours to tour Kyoto before leaving for Yokosuka, so we took a whirlwind tour of some of the highlights. (First, though, we stuffed all of our backpacks into the lockers at the train station. A feat!)

The first place we stopped as Kiyomiza Temple (Kiyomizu-dera) – a very pretty Buddhist temple with lots of cherry blossoms and PEOPLE EVERYWHERE and incense and things for sale and great views of Kyoto.
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One of the busiest places in the temple was a waterfall where three channels of water fall into a pond. There was a long line of people in queue for a chance to catch the water in a metal ladle and drink it. I had no idea what the significance of this was until I looked it up, but it is said that drinking from the three channels of water will confer health, wisdom, and/or longevity.
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