June 8, 2010
Storm Chasing - May 21-24, 2010
Last month, Giselle and I took a 4 day road trip through New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, South Dakota, Nebraska and Kansas. We were treated to some gorgeous storms, a funnel cloud on our first day, and an incredible series of tornadoes on our second day out. The whole story, photos and video are here at my other site: The Cerulean Arc.
Posted by Jeremy at 11:00 PM
February 25, 2010
For Whom the Cell Tolls
Cell phones are like cockroaches where I work. For every one you see glued to somebody's ear or hip, there are bound to be a bunch more lying around inconspicuously, just waiting to make themselves known. I wish I knew the mental chemistry behind it, but when an abandoned cell phone starts ringing, adrenaline and grumpiness-molecules start flooding into my system. My subconscious just gets geared-up for somebody to either answer it or shut it off. The Marco needs a Polo. And we all know that nobody calls an abandoned cell phone just once, right? They've got to hammer that baby like they're pinging out a torpedo lock on an enemy sub. Infinitely repeating encores of your special theme music for everyone to relish--over and over and over.
I hate being cranky, so I usually try to channel my grouch-dorphines into a little bit of lame-but-playful passive aggressiveness. My current M.O. is to plant a CD spindle cover on top of the musical cell phone. If it's particularly loud, I'll wad up some tissue and chuck it in there for extra baffling. It muffles the annoying sound a bit, but mainly, it turns my frown upside down. When the cell phone owner returns to find their glossy little pet barking from inside it's cylindrical plastic prison...well, they usually aren't as amused as I am. The reaction is a little like what happens when somebody breaks wind and you comment on it--they're embarrassed, but they're also irritated that you called them out and made them feel embarrassed.
On the one hand, I feel a little giddy and self-satisfied about my self-appointed role as the Abandoned Cell-phone Sheriff. On the other hand, I'm a little worried about how I'm setting myself up to get called out for all my crummy idiosyncracies: "Hey Perez! How 'bout a mint, wouldya?? Sheesh!"
Posted by Jeremy at 6:03 PM
December 23, 2009
Skids
I reached the point of tears last night as Amanda was giving pre-laundry spray stain-treatment instructions to the kids:
"Use it on ALL the underwear."
"GROANNNN"
"You know what I'm talking about"
"MOMMM"
"Streaks, stains, splits, splats...all of it"
"AAUUGGHHH" ...
And overnight, we had a nice, manageable snow--about five inches on average in various drifts and dips. Shoveling was not a grueling mess, and only took about a half hour to get in hand. The candy & cookies keep flooding in at work. My pants are starting to hurt again...not as bad as last year, but still.
Posted by Jeremy at 10:59 AM
December 8, 2009
Flagstaff Blizzard, December 7/8, 2009
We had a great snowstorm yesterday and last night when we were under a blizzard warning. It dropped about 17 inches at our house by the time I got home from work. Overnight, the wind got scary. I could hear stuff falling over in the carport, and then came the power flashes. I thought it was lightning at first, but when the overall brightness of the sky outside my window went down and the clocks turned off, I could tell it was the power lines getting messed up. That kind of wind does nasty stuff to the snow, and shoveling was horrible the next morning. The overall beauty of it made up for the pain in my arms and back.
The drive to work was pretty nice. The roads were mostly deserted, but nicely plowed. I-40 was a vacant wonderland. I shot some photos at home and on the way to work:
As the sun rose, it sported a golden pillar over the snow covered neighborhood.
The fruits of my digging. Our neighbor across the street graciously used his snowblower to plow out my driveway.
I couldn't stop smiling at how aggravated the cat was at having all his prowling spots buried.
The neighborhood field where the kids will be sledding and acting out other snow sports today.
The roads outside our neighborhood were plowed, but the wind made viewing the terrain a little fuzzy.
My journey along an almost deserted interstate.
Posted by Jeremy at 1:56 PM
December 3, 2009
Moments in the Life of a Child
...as heard from the other room:
"Harrison!! Don't make me destroy you."
--RUCKUS RUCKUS--
--pause--
--KER-THUD!!--
"My spleen!"
Posted by Jeremy at 11:03 AM
October 29, 2009
Seeking the Sietch
It took me an hour to get home from work last night. The first mean ice of the season put all the newbies into unfamiliar territory as their bad bossy driving-too-fast 4WDs slid sideways like everybody else when something unexpected happens in front of them. All the major east-west arteries were blockaded. Ugh. I hate having to signal my way across three lanes of cranky traffic at 1 mph to complete a full blown detour. I'd almost rather pull off onto the sidewalk and car-camp for the night. Also, I STILL want a periscope on my car so I can see what's going on 4 blocks ahead.
Gloria and Michaela were at the house when I got home, and Michaela was advising Giselle on anger management. I like the good influences, and this is an area of concern. Meanwhile, Harrison was halfway finished with a rather convincing drawing of hairy legs. After dinner, I read chapter 2 of Dune to the kids, wherein we are introduced to Baron Harkonin. Due to the fact that he is an exceedingly repulsive character, I had to edit a couple lines. It's complex reading, but among other things, I want the kids to appreciate what I mean when I walk in their rooms and gasp that it smells like a Fremen sietch. I must take care though that Giselle does not attempt the Gom Jabbar on Harrison. The boy is fairly susceptible to nerve induction...
Posted by Jeremy at 7:40 AM
October 26, 2009
Weekend Recap
After going out in the ministry Saturday morning (in which Harrison doused himself with half a bottle of orange juice at the Coffee Beanery) the kids & I went to see Astro Boy at the theater. I was a little surprised at the rather sudden weepy-pangs it gave me in places. I got buttons, and they knew how to push them apparently. Maybe some day I'll have to explore my Father-Son issues and do some sort of wretched emotional cleansing. We went to Chili's for really late lunch afterward, and before we got to the table, Harrison reached into his pocket, encountered a stowed pencil (point up), and stabbed himself under the fingernail. Yargh. Washing his hands didn't do much to distract the pain & he cried softly until the chips & salsa arrived. My poor little buddy is about as coordinated as I am.
I headed out to Sunset Crater last night at 12:30 am to work up a wide Milky Way sketch for the January AN issue. I sketched the star field from Canis Major to Auriga to the Pleiades and back down to Lepus from about 1:00 am to 3:30 am, and then spent the next hour working on the Milky Way itself. It was a beautiful night and the meteors were going mad--maybe 40-50 per hour. I'm not happy with the Milky Way part of the drawing though. I'm going to have to sneak another session in on Friday or Saturday morning between moonset and twilight. On such a broad scale, it was interesting to see how the dome of the sky didn't translate well to flat paper. Practicing cartographic projections in a sketch is pretty ridiculous, but that's apparently what you'd have to do if you wanted everything to come out according to plan on a sketch that covers 60 degrees of the sky.
So, 4 hours sleep, and I'm getting the familiar and disquieting buzzy feeling in my head. I just had a pretty hefty brain-spark a few minutes ago. Time for a little sleep catchup.
Posted by Jeremy at 5:56 PM