Why would they laugh?

Last night, a student waited until all the other students left to ask me a question. He wanted to know what one had to do to become an astronaut. He said he waited til his classmates left because he was afraid they'd laugh at him. Is it just me, or does that make you sad, too?

Little ups

I am a content person. I don't experience many lows, but neither do I experience many highs. My emotional state is mellow, almost all of the time. So I was caught off guard on Wednesday when I had an unusually giddy day. Why? Because I treated myself to a hot chocolate after getting out of bed early to run an errand, and my drink was served in this:

Yes, I was rendered completely happily silly by a Starbucks holiday cup. Plus it was foggy! And I was wearing a stripey sweater! I guess it's good that I'm so easily amused. Methinks I'll have to enjoy many red cups of happiness this season.

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Another thing that makes me happy - getting the Sports Guy's autograph tonight. I'm looking forward to reading The Book of Basketball!

Taste of Youth

I spent the past weekend visiting with family in Sacramento. I had a good time hanging out with the folks, but they TIRED me out! My voice is still rough from all the yelling to be heard over the familial cacophony. Still, even though I need a weekend to recover from my weekend, it was good to go home. I don't go home enough, as my mother is sure to tell you. ;)

One of the highlights of my trip home was indulging in my first Lou's jumbo cheeseburger in over two decades. The place has been there for about 50 years, and it was a favorite family treat. I grew up only a few blocks away. A few months ago, I was overcome by a huge craving for this burger of my youth, the one my mother would bring me to tempt me to eat while I was sick.

The place looked the same:

It smelled the same. It tasted the same.

It's been too long. I'll be back soon.

Mars Art

I've been remiss in my posting of pretty pictures of space. Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day shows the beauty created by dust devils swirling over the surface of Mars. I've been enchanted by this photo since I first saw it last week. Enjoy!

A few links

This article by Malcolm Gladwell in The New Yorker demonstrates why I feel guilty about loving football so much: http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/10/19/091019fa_fact_gladwell

I saw this video mentioned on several sites this week and finally succumbed to the temptation to watch it. It's worth the first few goofy seconds, I promise.

Desert Behavior

Greg and I ventured up to Indian Wells to watch a preseason NBA game between the Suns and Warriors. The Suns were the host team, and the crowd was definitely a Phoenix crowd. I've missed going to Suns' games since we moved away from Phoenix, so seeing our team again was definitely a treat. It was a festive atmosphere and a lovely way to spend an evening outdoors in the cool desert air. I was reminded of how frenetic people can get while diving for free t-shirts. Gee, 50ish man, enjoy your victory over the nine-year old much? But still, it was a great evening.

From Fall 2009

We also enjoyed the trip up to Indian Wells, going through parts of Southern California we hadn't seen before:

View Larger Map

Rocky, shrubby, a little piney, and mostly empty of people. Intriguing little roadside stands for us to investigate in the future. Several places advertising "Beer to Go". Fun hairpin turns! On the way back today, we stuck to the main roads and saw freakier things like conspiracy theory billboards. The whole Palm Springs area makes me want to floor the accelerator every time. Sixteen hours there to see the Suns was worth it, though!

Ugly Truth

Paul Krugman discusses the danger to education during these rough economic times, with a paragraph devoted to California's community college system:

For example, the Chronicle of Higher Education recently reported on the plight of California’s community college students. For generations, talented students from less affluent families have used those colleges as a stepping stone to the state’s public universities. But in the face of the state’s budget crisis those universities have been forced to slam the door on this year’s potential transfer students. One result, almost surely, will be lifetime damage to many students’ prospects — and a large, gratuitous waste of human potential.

I'm grateful that someone is willing to state the ugly truth... that the cuts to education now will have lifelong ramifications to our students. Those of us in the classrooms are trying our best, but I had to turn away a few dozen students from my classes because I just couldn't add anymore. Those who claim the recession is coming to an end are ignoring how much of state budget allocations were backfilled by federal stimulus money. No furloughs or layoffs in my district yet, but we're expecting the worse for next year, which means worse will come for students who are already struggling to obtain the level of education they need to compete for a still-dwindling supply of jobs.

Brief catch-up

Busy with work, exhilarated by NIN concert, disconsolate over last NIN concert, sick with allergies, visited with Carl, missing Greg, winging well-wishes northwesterly, giddy with Greg, awed by Saturn:

from Cassini

Strange, but true

I have had photographs published in magazines.

That is a true statement, although I bet most of you find it surprising. Me, too, quite frankly. On a few occasions, Greg needed to submit an author photo and chose ones that I took. So strange as it might sound, my photographic work has been published.

I guess all of us have strange, but true, aspects. That's one of mine. Yours?

Too close

The Station Fire has come very close to the Mt. Wilson Observatory. Wish luck to the observatory, its people, and the firefighters defending it, please. It's going to be a rough night there.

View from the solar telescope, looking west at 8:00 pm PDT:

Back to school

The first week of classes is over for me. The classrooms are bursting, and I hate turning away folks. The sad truth is that our budget doesn't allow us to take more students. They ask me, "Don't you want our money?" A perfectly valid question. Here's the answer: the student fees don't pay all of our bills. Despite the fact that the cost of the community colleges in California went up by 30% this semester, it means they're still only paying $26 per credit. It's the best deal in higher education. However, it doesn't generate enough revenue to pay for salaries and utilities and facilities and equipment and so on. That's where the State comes in, but they haven't been so good about paying recently. In addition, the State puts a cap on how many students they will fund. If we go over that cap, we actually LOSE money.

At the start of the week, in our three-college district, there were 11,000 people on waitlists.

In other years, I would allow more people into my classes, but we're in danger of not being able to afford to offer summer classes at this point, because the State LOWERED the cap this year while enrollments are growing. We have already cut about 10% of our course offerings. The good news is that enrollment is also UP about 10%... the courses we are offering are full. It's a good feeling to know that we are serving more students, but it's an awful feeling to know that we aren't serving ALL who want an education.

Most students have been handling the stress well, but there have been some incidents of frustration that required police involvement. Nothing in my department, though... hopefully that trend will hold through next week, as next Friday is the last day that students can add classes. But think about that, will you? People desperate for an education being turned away. Go celebrate that you got Cash for your Clunker... the rest of us are dealing with a very sad reality that will have repercussions extending far into the future.

Summer recap

My summer unpaid-voluntary-leave-of-absence is coming to an end. (Saying "vacation" would make it sound like I got paid, doesn't it?) I can't believe classes start tomorrow. I spent this weekend in coffee houses prepping my courses, but I'm still not emotionally prepared for summer to be over. What did I do with my summer?:

• Visited a handful of museums in Balboa Park.
• Went on one trip, a very nice visit to old haunts in Arizona.
• Read 15 books.
• Spent a lot of time in meetings with architects designing a new science building for the college.
• Steadily worked on curriculum for the upcoming academic year.
• Wrote many letters to state legislators about the budget situation.
• Visited a Congressional office to discuss NASA and NSF funding and relationship to education.
• Became a tourist attraction for the evening that I performed the planetarium shows at the R.H. Fleet Center in Balboa Park.
• Fan-girled all over Comic-Con.
• Saw a musical.
• Discovered new beaches.
• Ate at many new restaurants.
• Finally found chocolate cream pie.
• Hosted Greg's folks for a weekend.
• Participated in Laurie Halse Andersen's "Write For Fifteen Minutes A Day"-challenge.

I make this list because I always feel like I don't accomplish enough over the summer. Looking at this list, there are glaring absences, goals that just didn't get done. Hopefully, I won't wait til next summer!

Today

After a nice summer, it's back to work for me. Classes start one week from today, and I am not prepared. The first of many meetings occurred today, none related to getting ready for next Monday. I was stressed and bemoaning the end of summer, but tonight we went to eat seafood and walk along the bay. We walked on the jetty and saw where the bay meets the sea, which makes me want to jump on a ship and sail the world. Living in my neighborhood isn't so bad, eh?

From Summer 2009

Yet more pretty

Our space program just keeps providing the pretty this week. Victoria Crater on Mars, from MRO/HiRISE:

Looking up

A few astro notes:

The Perseid meteor shower is peaking tonight and tomorrow:

Also, Saturn is at its equinox, and the Cassini spacecraft is sending back some lovely images. Here's a raw image I just pulled:

And here's an image from a few days ago, seemingly showing an object plowing through the rings:

Enjoy!

Big Toy

Today I did yet another thing I've never done before: I presented the planetarium show at the R. H. Fleet Science Center in Balboa Park. I was honored to have the opportunity to geek out over the night sky with such appreciative audiences. I've done public talks before, but these were certainly the largest - the planetarium seats three hundred! The planetarium staff was wonderful to work with, and did I mention I got to play with a planetarium?!?! Toy!

I was impressed tonight, as always, with the quantity and quality of questions I received. Young and old alike, nary a bad question in the bunch. I'm reminded that I need to do more public outreach, because the public really does want to be reached.

A new thing

I did something today that I'd never done before. Earlier this year, the American Astronomical Society called upon its members to volunteer to visit their local Congressional offices to advocate for space research. So today I met with a staffer, doing just that. I focused on the contributions that NASA makes to education, research, and inspiring people to pursue STEM careers. I don't know if I did any good, but I don't think I did any harm, and at least I did something!

Highlights

I had a lot of fun at Comic-Con. I'm already looking forward to next year. Two Battlestar Galactica highlights:

• Attending a Music of Battlestar Galactica concert. Absolutely amazing. I'm a huge fan of the music, and I'm so impressed at how well Bear McCreary has translated his scores for the smaller, very talented, ensemble. It was also fun to see members of the BSG cast, and Katee Sackhoff was adorable playing the piano for, well, you know.
• Just as K and I were looking at James Callis, he gave us a "oh yeah, the chicks dig Gaius" look. He instantly switched into the character and sent us into giggles. So much so that we bolted, not believing we'd been reduced to such behavior. I still giggle when thinking about it.

Other highlights involved hanging out with friends, seeing Robots in Orbit shirts on everyone, sighting random celebrities, and meeting Eoin Colfer. My feet are happy it's over, but I wish the next one wasn't a year off.

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One of my goals for 2009 was "to do something I've never done before". The upcoming several days will present two opportunities towards achieving that goal. Wish me luck!

Looking back at Apollo 11

They aren't superheroes. They are intelligent, determined, disciplined, and immensely competent men who went to the Moon with a legion of brilliant and dedicated people behind them. That's worthy of being remembered today, 40 years later, and every day.

Apollo 11 crew with Chris Kraft:

Apollo 11 crew with President Obama:

(All images from www.nasa.gov)

Moonshot

I wasn't even alive for the Apollo 11 Moon landing. In fact, I was not yet 2 years old when we last left the Moon. That's a long time ago. I've often thought that the people of Apollo (and Mercury and Gemini) deserved better from us. Where is our Moonbase? When is our Mars Expedition? Why are we still here? The legacy of Apollo is a great one, but what will our legacy be? As our new NASA administrator Charles Bolden pointed out, he used to go to schools and the students wanted to be astronauts. Now, he says, they want to go into business. Really? Instead of spaceships and exploration, our children dream of MBAs? Not if I have anything to do with it.

There are many commemorations of this 40th anniversary of the first Moon landing.

• For the uber-geeky amongst you, I recommend the January 30, 1970 issue of Science, containing the first science articles from the mission.
• NASA has released some newly restored videos from the Apollo 11 mission.
• And then, there is http://wechoosethemoon.org, which is broadcasting the Apollo 11 mission "live" as it happened 40 years ago. Take a few moments to listen to it, will you? The back-and-forth between CapCom and the astronauts sounds like an epic poem. Even the static whispers promises of adventures and knowledge and grandeur just within our reach, if we try.