penn

We Love Lucy

Two videos of playing with Lucy. She's a bit over a year old and still really energetic and fun. She enriches our lives, as corny as that sounds. The second video is her playing with a toddler friend of ours. She plays really well with kids but will often hide when it becomes too much for her. Better than clawing and biting, which she thankfully does not do.

Almost Full Moon - October 12 2008

Almost Full Moon - October 12 2008
Originally uploaded by Michael G. Baron

I hopped on over to the observatory tonight for a little viewing. I'm in Astronomy 101, and the instructor offers a chance at some extra points if one visits the observatory. I don't need the points, but it is still nice to treat myself to some beautiful sights. After I finished my evening physics test, I walked over and enjoyed the brisk air.

The moon is a waxing gibbous, and it is almost full. It will be full on Saturday. It looks even better than this photo shows; I'm not sure pictures can do the moon justice.

I also saw the Andromeda Galaxy, several binary stars, and a few start clusters. I can also reliably find several constellations now; I'm almost down with my 101 things goal of being able to identify 5. I've got Cassiopeia, Lyra, Cygnus, and Draco in the bag. I do know a few others, of course (namely, the dippers), but I knew those before my list and as such are not counting them. One of these days here soon, I will learn one more constellation and be able to cross that goal off.

If you can, take some time to stare at the moon this week. And, tell me, what is your favorite constellation?

Research is for sissies.

Some days, the above scenario is super tempting. Suffice to say that school keeps me busy. I'm getting a little burned out, honestly, and it's not quite halfway through the semester. We just finished week 7 of 15. It's 9 pm, and I'm still at school. And the Twins lost, again, tonight. Sigh.

On the bright side, tomorrow is Friday! Also, in my education classes, instead of taking two classes all semester we take each one for half a semester. Next week is the last week of our first class. I'm sad for it to be done, but I am also looking forward to a tiny bit of a breather from homework for one weekend. Maybe. I'm hoping we don't get a big stack of reading next week. I could use a break. At least the weather is supposed to be really nice tomorrow and Saturday.