For all of the technology and advances over the years, there's something missing that people even a bit younger than me can't grasp. The end of the last Space Shuttle mission this week brought that home for me. When I was a kid, the dreams were bigger, or at least that's how it seems to me.
We were actively pushing to go to the stars. We were pushing hard. Whatever our differences, in this country and around the world, we could stop every now and then and marvel at what humanity--and America in particular--was accomplishing. These were such proud moments. Of course, those younger than me know the Shuttle, but they know it for routine missions, occasional problems (like tiles falling off as the old workhorses aged) and the occasional terrible disaster. But what they don't know is the thrill of it being new. The thrill of it being our next step into space. The amazement at what looked like a plane, but it could go to orbit and then land like a plane. The wonder, fear and nervousness as we watched the test flights, the first launch and the first landing.
I was three years old when man first walked on the Moon. My Mom loved to tell the story of how I, at three years of age, watched the astronauts taking off from the Moon's surface to come back to Earth and said, "why are they going up?; they're supposed to be coming down!" Hey, it was a decent observation for a three-year-old! :)
But let's stick to the Shuttle. For anyone who is too young to remember it (I was 15 when this happened), just imagine it. There's this amazing new machine, but what if something goes wrong? Brave people are risking their lives. They took the Enterprise (yes, named for the starship--but appropriately so, as they both carried our hopes and dreams for the future) up on the back of a 747, released it and landed it in tests. But then it was time for the Space Shuttle Columbia, may she and her last crew rest in peace, to go up for the first real flight. Up to orbit on columns of flame, and at the end of the mission back on a fiery re-entry before coming in for that nerve-wracking landing.
So imagine it. You're watching the Shuttle come in. She has chase planes with her as she glides in. And she does glide, but she really drops like a rock with wings. As they track her in and you see her approaching the runway, you can't imagine that it's safe to be coming in that fast. And as she gets closer, it's not like a jetliner with its gear out for miles as it lines up for its approach. No, it's seconds away from landing and there's no gear down. Twenty seconds before she's going to touch the ground, the gear start to come down. Twenty seconds. And in she comes. Here, watch...
And remember, we were sitting there, biting our nails and hoping nothing would go wrong. "She's going awfully fast!" "They're almost there. Where's her gear? Why isn't the gear down?!" And then down they came with seconds to spare. And then it went so perfectly, and she made her picture-perfect landing...
There's no Super Bowl, no World Series, nothing that is like the triumph of that moment. That amazing accomplishment of mankind. That fulfillment of a dream and the promise of so much more to come.
We need more of that. We need those dreams and those big things to reach for. That's missing today, as far as I can see, but I hope it's not missing from our future. It will be a better future if we can chase those big dreams! Not everything is dollars and cents. Some things we do to learn, and, at the same time, to dream and grow bigger as a species. We need that!
And while we're at it, imagine the first launch. Would this even work. We all watched it live...
And we were all thinking--or yelling--go, baby, go!
Dream big, everyone! Look at what we can do!
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Sunday, July 17, 2011
All a matter of perspective
Yesterday was a fun day. We went to hang out with some friends for "lobsterfest." Our friend Rob, with the help of his wife, Laura, cooked a huge bunch of lobsters, along with ribs he slow-cooked in a smoker in his back yard, some clams and various other delights, capped off with a fabulous cake Marc had made.
At the same time, we were learning some terrible news. Remember when I posted something a few days ago, referring to it as a good day? Well, that's where the perspective comes in. From our perspective, it seemed to be. But from the perspective of our friend Jase, as we only found out yesterday, it was probably the worst day of his life. You see, the night before, his mom was murdered by a stalker.
We sent him a card, and we'll certainly watch for the arrangements, so we can go support him. We'll also do anything we can to be there for him after the formalities are done, when the weight of it all really hits. But Marc and I are both at such a loss. One or the other of us will stop during the day and just say, "I still can't believe what happened" or words to that effect.
I've lost a number of loved ones, including my parents. Marc has lost his dad and other loved ones, too. Losing a parent is crushing. Still, there's something about such a sudden, senseless loss that is beyond most of us. The killer went on to kill himself, so at least Jase and his family won't have to endure a trial and looking at the evil man who did this, but I can't even imagine... I hope he's finding some solace somehow. We're certainly sending our best thoughts his way and our hearts are pained for our friend's terrible loss.
Our hearts go out to you, Jase. We love you, and we're so very sorry for your loss!
At the same time, we were learning some terrible news. Remember when I posted something a few days ago, referring to it as a good day? Well, that's where the perspective comes in. From our perspective, it seemed to be. But from the perspective of our friend Jase, as we only found out yesterday, it was probably the worst day of his life. You see, the night before, his mom was murdered by a stalker.
We sent him a card, and we'll certainly watch for the arrangements, so we can go support him. We'll also do anything we can to be there for him after the formalities are done, when the weight of it all really hits. But Marc and I are both at such a loss. One or the other of us will stop during the day and just say, "I still can't believe what happened" or words to that effect.
I've lost a number of loved ones, including my parents. Marc has lost his dad and other loved ones, too. Losing a parent is crushing. Still, there's something about such a sudden, senseless loss that is beyond most of us. The killer went on to kill himself, so at least Jase and his family won't have to endure a trial and looking at the evil man who did this, but I can't even imagine... I hope he's finding some solace somehow. We're certainly sending our best thoughts his way and our hearts are pained for our friend's terrible loss.
Our hearts go out to you, Jase. We love you, and we're so very sorry for your loss!
Thursday, July 14, 2011
A good day, and the world's a better place
I was hoping we'd wrap up negotiations with one of our unions today. We've been negotiating for months, and I was hoping it would reach an end. Alas, that wasn't to be. Not the end of the world. These things can take a long time until the sides find the right little patch of middle ground.
While that was a disappointment, it freed me up to join Marc for a program at the Long Island Gay & Lesbian Youth Center. Initially, I thought today's union negotiations would go into the night, as they often do when negotiations appear to be reaching their final sessions. But when they didn't, that freed me up to go to LIGALY's PEP (Pride Empowerment Project) Career Forum.
Marc and I, along with several other professionals from a variety of organizations, were able to share tips with teenagers in the PEP program on how to search for a job, prepare for an interview, dress for an interview, etc. We fielded a variety of questions, and I think it was a fruitful night for the attendees.
The best part came at the end. A transgender kid we knew from prior LIGALY events asked about a problem few people have to face. She looks more like the he she'll eventually be, and she likes to go by a male name but legally still must use her legal, female name on applications. She wanted to know how to deal with telling people she really goes by a male name. We were able to share what I think was sound advice, but that's not the really good part.
The good part came afterwards. She mentioned that it's a catch-22, because this situation makes it harder to find work (already tough for a 19-year-old in this economy), but she needs to find work to afford to pay for the court filings, etc., necessary to make a legal name change. With court filings, legal notices she'll have to put in those tiny listings in local papers, etc., we're talking probably a few hundred dollars. Maybe $500 at most. So Marc and I agreed with a guy from a staffing agency who was on the panel for the event that we'd all split the cost so she could get the name change done and move forward with her (soon to be his) life. Also, one of the LIGALY people will reach out to a law firm that has been a supporter of the organization and get them to do the court filings (we know them... they'll do it). There's even a shot at the staffing agency finding her work at the same time, so that was a bonus.
This sweet young person was pretty overwhelmed (if you're wondering, her family has refused to help her), and she had to give us all hugs. We told her that when she's our age this amount of money won't be so hard to come by and then she'll be able to help others like we are, and she'll know what a joy it is to be able to help. We're so happy to have been able to offer help that her own family has denied her. And tonight the world is just a tiny bit better place. :)
While that was a disappointment, it freed me up to join Marc for a program at the Long Island Gay & Lesbian Youth Center. Initially, I thought today's union negotiations would go into the night, as they often do when negotiations appear to be reaching their final sessions. But when they didn't, that freed me up to go to LIGALY's PEP (Pride Empowerment Project) Career Forum.
Marc and I, along with several other professionals from a variety of organizations, were able to share tips with teenagers in the PEP program on how to search for a job, prepare for an interview, dress for an interview, etc. We fielded a variety of questions, and I think it was a fruitful night for the attendees.
The best part came at the end. A transgender kid we knew from prior LIGALY events asked about a problem few people have to face. She looks more like the he she'll eventually be, and she likes to go by a male name but legally still must use her legal, female name on applications. She wanted to know how to deal with telling people she really goes by a male name. We were able to share what I think was sound advice, but that's not the really good part.
The good part came afterwards. She mentioned that it's a catch-22, because this situation makes it harder to find work (already tough for a 19-year-old in this economy), but she needs to find work to afford to pay for the court filings, etc., necessary to make a legal name change. With court filings, legal notices she'll have to put in those tiny listings in local papers, etc., we're talking probably a few hundred dollars. Maybe $500 at most. So Marc and I agreed with a guy from a staffing agency who was on the panel for the event that we'd all split the cost so she could get the name change done and move forward with her (soon to be his) life. Also, one of the LIGALY people will reach out to a law firm that has been a supporter of the organization and get them to do the court filings (we know them... they'll do it). There's even a shot at the staffing agency finding her work at the same time, so that was a bonus.
This sweet young person was pretty overwhelmed (if you're wondering, her family has refused to help her), and she had to give us all hugs. We told her that when she's our age this amount of money won't be so hard to come by and then she'll be able to help others like we are, and she'll know what a joy it is to be able to help. We're so happy to have been able to offer help that her own family has denied her. And tonight the world is just a tiny bit better place. :)
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Blogging beats Facebook
Okay, so I use Facebook regularly, and I've been very bad about keeping my blog updated. I'll try to do better!
A reminder of the value of blogging came tonight when Marc asked when we'd first met a fellow blogger face-to-face. I was able to search my blog and find a record of that meeting and what we did on the weekend when we met him.
That's the thing. Facebook is an online social medium, but blogging is, at its heart, an online version of a diary. It's a log of one's life (or the parts one wishes to record) maintained on the web, as you all know. That's where the name comes from.
I have photos to share, since I never finished posting from last year's France trip and I haven't even started on this year's trip photos (including a photo of hot Parisian firemen with Marc). Of course, there are rugby photos to share, too, as well as bits of stuff from our lives. So I will endeavor to do better. Blogging is so much richer than Facebook, and I'm sorry I haven't done more of it!
By the way, the blogger mentioned above is our dear friend Greg. Amazingly, our "in real life" friendship with Greg appears to be a bit shy of three years in length. Funny, but it seems like we know him a lot longer. Yes, we know him online for longer, but it really feels like we met him much further back than not-quite-three years ago.
A reminder of the value of blogging came tonight when Marc asked when we'd first met a fellow blogger face-to-face. I was able to search my blog and find a record of that meeting and what we did on the weekend when we met him.
That's the thing. Facebook is an online social medium, but blogging is, at its heart, an online version of a diary. It's a log of one's life (or the parts one wishes to record) maintained on the web, as you all know. That's where the name comes from.
I have photos to share, since I never finished posting from last year's France trip and I haven't even started on this year's trip photos (including a photo of hot Parisian firemen with Marc). Of course, there are rugby photos to share, too, as well as bits of stuff from our lives. So I will endeavor to do better. Blogging is so much richer than Facebook, and I'm sorry I haven't done more of it!
By the way, the blogger mentioned above is our dear friend Greg. Amazingly, our "in real life" friendship with Greg appears to be a bit shy of three years in length. Funny, but it seems like we know him a lot longer. Yes, we know him online for longer, but it really feels like we met him much further back than not-quite-three years ago.
Saturday, April 02, 2011
Nice is nice!
After the flower market, we walked back to our hotel. It wasn't too close by, but any walk through old Nice is lovely. Here are some shots along the way:
Lots and lots of mopeds in the south of France!
Click on this to check out the sign in the back window! That made me chuckle.
I could have grabbed a book and sat in front of one of Nice's fountains all day!
There are several (seven, I think) of these statues on poles around the square. They light up at night (but I don't have a shot of that--sorry!).
These guys were kind of part Native American, part Yanni on the pan flute. Whatever they were going for, they made a pleasant sound that carried a long way in the stone-covered squares.
Those tracks (you can see them in one of the above shots, too) are for a light rail system that runs through the area. Like much of Europe, the transport options are far better than ours!
I think you could walk along these streets, eat at a different place every day and never run out!
Check out the coloring on that building on the left!
Next up: Lyon!
Lots and lots of mopeds in the south of France!
Click on this to check out the sign in the back window! That made me chuckle.
I could have grabbed a book and sat in front of one of Nice's fountains all day!
There are several (seven, I think) of these statues on poles around the square. They light up at night (but I don't have a shot of that--sorry!).
These guys were kind of part Native American, part Yanni on the pan flute. Whatever they were going for, they made a pleasant sound that carried a long way in the stone-covered squares.
Those tracks (you can see them in one of the above shots, too) are for a light rail system that runs through the area. Like much of Europe, the transport options are far better than ours!
I think you could walk along these streets, eat at a different place every day and never run out!
Check out the coloring on that building on the left!
Next up: Lyon!
Monday, March 28, 2011
We interrupt our France trip (yes, again)...
We'll get back to France. But first, a few local photos. Why local photos? Because we just got a new camera. No, not a new SLR. Instead, it's time for a new "point & shoot" camera. I did a lot of research, shared what I learned with Marc, and we chose the Canon PowerShot S95...
We got the camera yesterday, and then we went to Huntington to get haircuts, followed by lunch. We grabbed lunch at a Greek restaurant, and it was great. More importantly, the light in the restaurant was pretty crappy for photos, so it gave us a good chance to see how the new camera really performs.
The restaurant
My date
He got the camera away from me
I got a hummus appetizer--forgot to take a shot before most was gone!
Silly Marc got a salad! :-)
Marc got chicken souvlaki for his entree, and I got a beef gyro. Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures before it was too late...
For dessert, health food! (Well, chocolate's good for you!)
Check out the color in that last shot (click on it for a better view; and even that is a reduced size, as full-size is quite large, the camera being 10 megapixel). If you're into photography, you know how difficult lighting is in a setting like this. Harsh overhead fluorescents, the lights in the case... nothing here says "good photo," but it looks great! So far, I'm very pleased with this camera. No camera like this can be like an SLR, but it really does a great job and will be great for those times when we want to be able to take some photos but don't want to lug a big, heavy SLR.
We got the camera yesterday, and then we went to Huntington to get haircuts, followed by lunch. We grabbed lunch at a Greek restaurant, and it was great. More importantly, the light in the restaurant was pretty crappy for photos, so it gave us a good chance to see how the new camera really performs.
The restaurant
My date
He got the camera away from me
I got a hummus appetizer--forgot to take a shot before most was gone!
Silly Marc got a salad! :-)
Marc got chicken souvlaki for his entree, and I got a beef gyro. Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures before it was too late...
For dessert, health food! (Well, chocolate's good for you!)
Check out the color in that last shot (click on it for a better view; and even that is a reduced size, as full-size is quite large, the camera being 10 megapixel). If you're into photography, you know how difficult lighting is in a setting like this. Harsh overhead fluorescents, the lights in the case... nothing here says "good photo," but it looks great! So far, I'm very pleased with this camera. No camera like this can be like an SLR, but it really does a great job and will be great for those times when we want to be able to take some photos but don't want to lug a big, heavy SLR.
Friday, March 18, 2011
Back to France
I'm such a bad blogger these days. But I love my blog. So let's get back to the flower market in Nice!
I look at this and imagine living there and doing my food shopping in this market.
Yummy tomatoes!
Check out these beautiful avocados!
Just looking at these makes my mouth water!
The famous Socca stand
Famous? Well, so it seems. Every travel show we watched while preparing for the trip showed this stand.
So how was it? Dunno. We didn't have any. Maybe another time. :)
I look at this and imagine living there and doing my food shopping in this market.
Yummy tomatoes!
Check out these beautiful avocados!
Just looking at these makes my mouth water!
The famous Socca stand
Famous? Well, so it seems. Every travel show we watched while preparing for the trip showed this stand.
So how was it? Dunno. We didn't have any. Maybe another time. :)
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Okay, one more non-France post
I'm watching SyFy (although I still don't know what was wrong with calling the channel Sci-Fi). There's a Star Trek movie on; granted, the crappy first one, but it's nice background while I do other things around the house. By the way, did you know that the woman who played Lt. Ilia (the bald hottie--for you pervy boys who like girls--in the movie) died in the late 1990s at the ripe old age of 47? Sad. Way too young to die!
But this isn't supposed to be a sad post. This post is about a commercial that has been running during breaks in the movie. It's for a show on SyFy called Merlin. More specifically, the post is about the guy who plays Arthur, because he is what got my attention. He's a British actor named Bradley James, and any time you want to get a present for Marc and me, feel free to tie a bow around this young man (or some part of him) and leave him here at the house, preferably in the bedroom, although "in front of the fireplace" wouldn't be a bad location either...
With his boyfriend? Okay, maybe not.
But this isn't supposed to be a sad post. This post is about a commercial that has been running during breaks in the movie. It's for a show on SyFy called Merlin. More specifically, the post is about the guy who plays Arthur, because he is what got my attention. He's a British actor named Bradley James, and any time you want to get a present for Marc and me, feel free to tie a bow around this young man (or some part of him) and leave him here at the house, preferably in the bedroom, although "in front of the fireplace" wouldn't be a bad location either...
With his boyfriend? Okay, maybe not.
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Some snowstorm photos
I'm taking a break from the France photos to share a few shots I took after one of our recent snowstorms. For this late January storm, I got up early and was out with the snowblower a little after 6am. I cleared our walks and the walks of our neighbors on either side. I also started our cars, so they'd warm up and the windows would be easier to clear. Then I went back in and got the camera as Marc came out to clear the piles of snow off of the cars. Here are a few of the photos I shot:
You can see how deep the snow had gotten
Here, you can see my path continued out to the corner--and I also went up to the steps of the neighbor's house
And off towards the neighbor on the other side
And my favorite photo is the last one. Not because it's Marc cleaning off the cars, but because of the mood and lighting...
I really think this one's worth clicking on!
Okay, back to the nice, warm south of France for the next post! :)
You can see how deep the snow had gotten
Here, you can see my path continued out to the corner--and I also went up to the steps of the neighbor's house
And off towards the neighbor on the other side
And my favorite photo is the last one. Not because it's Marc cleaning off the cars, but because of the mood and lighting...
I really think this one's worth clicking on!
Okay, back to the nice, warm south of France for the next post! :)
Wednesday, February 09, 2011
A good book
Okay, I'll admit that I was leaning more towards 4 stars instead of 5, but it is a very good book. I went with 5 after thinking about this book as compared to others of this genre. (Okay, plus I know Alex and helped edit the final version of the book. There, I admitted it!) :-)
The Secret Soldier by Alex Berenson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Alex Berenson keeps getting better as an author (and I already liked his work)! In a genre not known for its subtlety, Alex Berenson brings us an introspective but still very tough leading man, a tough-as-nails hero who can see his own flaws. There's nuance and subtlety in his story, and that's what makes this book special. It's not the simplistic good guy-bad guy story that usually dominates this genre; instead, we feel the complexity of the real world and the difficulty of truly deadly situations. The good guys don't always come out on top, and the heroes aren't perfect, but there's plenty to cheer for in this terrific book!
View all my reviews
The Secret Soldier by Alex BerensonMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Alex Berenson keeps getting better as an author (and I already liked his work)! In a genre not known for its subtlety, Alex Berenson brings us an introspective but still very tough leading man, a tough-as-nails hero who can see his own flaws. There's nuance and subtlety in his story, and that's what makes this book special. It's not the simplistic good guy-bad guy story that usually dominates this genre; instead, we feel the complexity of the real world and the difficulty of truly deadly situations. The good guys don't always come out on top, and the heroes aren't perfect, but there's plenty to cheer for in this terrific book!
View all my reviews
Saturday, February 05, 2011
The Sunday Flower Market in Nice
One of the delights of our stay in Nice was the Sunday Flower Market. It was half a mile or so from our hotel to the flower market, so we set out by foot, determined to visit the market before leaving for our next stop (Lyon) which was scheduled for that day. Had I planned around the flower market, I might have made the Nice-Lyon trip a day later.
Anyhow, in a trip that I've already milked for months of blog posts, I'll be splitting up the photos from this one market into at least two, so this post isn't too long.
I could add comments to these photos, but I think most of them speak for themselves. The one thing you may not get is how big this market is. It's huge, running for blocks, and it's wonderful. Anyhow, let's take a look at some photos.
Before we went to the flower market, we'd already decided that we loved Nice. This market just cemented that feeling. We've since discussed the idea of someday renting an apartment in town for a month (this would be well in the future when we can take such amounts of time), and it really is such a nice thought. Sometimes I imagine how great it would be, taking day trips from Nice and making meals from items we bought at the Sunday market. One day!
Anyhow, in a trip that I've already milked for months of blog posts, I'll be splitting up the photos from this one market into at least two, so this post isn't too long.
I could add comments to these photos, but I think most of them speak for themselves. The one thing you may not get is how big this market is. It's huge, running for blocks, and it's wonderful. Anyhow, let's take a look at some photos.
Before we went to the flower market, we'd already decided that we loved Nice. This market just cemented that feeling. We've since discussed the idea of someday renting an apartment in town for a month (this would be well in the future when we can take such amounts of time), and it really is such a nice thought. Sometimes I imagine how great it would be, taking day trips from Nice and making meals from items we bought at the Sunday market. One day!
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