The Myth & The Majesty

I had nerdy glasses waaaaay before it was cool. They were even held together with tape for a time. I am a nerd and I am proud of it. Like most, however, I am a certain kind of nerd. I geek out over water systems and can (usually) draw a caffeine molecule. I can recite squared numbers and calculate exchange rates. Get me on the right topic and I can give you details you never thought you needed to know, from the full cast of a movie from the early nineties to the history of a building I thought was cool. I am not a computer nerd. In fact, I have never been a computer nerd. Computers baffle me, and I've always been around people who could help me out with them. (Heck, in college it was a trade -- chemistry tutoring for computer fixes.) There's never been a need for me to know much more than the basics and for many years, I got by just fine. However. When I was working in Tea, I fell into the techie role simply because I was the only one there who had any experience,

This past weekend, I turned 29. Since I spent the week before with family and friends, it was a perfect time for a couple of me-days.   As it happened, there was an art walk ... thing going on in Hill City, which meant some fantastic people-watching and shopping. And I may have gotten myself flowers.   Hmmm. Blurry.   After that was some wine-tasting, where I had a fabulous chat with some people from Louisiana visiting a family member in Rapid.     I got carded four times while there. Flattering, but ... excessive.   And then, of course, there was plenty of hiking.   This was the view from my lunch perch on Sunday.     That tree actually does sit at that angle. Even "flat" out here is at an angle. Just one of those things.   Have I mentioned that I love it here?   And there was some time on good ol' #50 . Hopefully next week I can finally through-hike that one. Thankfully, the 90-degree weather (egads) held of

All right. If for some reason you haven't seen this yet ... it's highly recommended. This is Chris Hadfield, the Canadian astronaut that just (safely) returned from the International Space Station. And yes ... that's him singing. And playing. From the space station. For further amusement, this week's What If is related.

April really messed with the foliage around here. The trees aren't leafing out yet and it took several extra weeks before we saw the first crocus here. Similarly, it took until yesterday before I saw any pasque. At last, it's starting to look like spring.

I was four years old when I started growing out my hair. For the next two decades, it was nearly miraculous if I was willing to let anyone near it with a pair of scissors. Sure, it got trimmed on a regular basis, and here and there the trims were maybe four full inches, but the bottom line was that I had long hair. I was obsessive about it, downright vain, and that was just the way it was. It was alternately a crutch or a point of pride ... but more completely, it was part of my identity. One of the more fun Google Image searches I've made today. And for a very, very long time, I looked ... very much the same. Other things changed (glasses to contacts, crooked teeth to braces to straight teeth, eventually hitting 5'3" and staying there) but my hair? Not so much. It wasn't until I graduated college and moved to Wisconsin that I even considered anything else. I don't know whether it was boredom, a new location, or the suddenness of feeling like an adul

1. Clarence went to a new home today, one that has fewer vehicles and children in and out. It was sad but good. 2. I turn 29 soon and I don't know what I think of that. 3. It's a crazy weekend. Guests, a work day, and an open house. 4. My baby brother graduates from college tomorrow. 5. That's just weird.