Personal – Page 28 – Uncertain Principles Archive

Hall of Fame

My plaque in the Whitney Point Central School District Hall of Fame.

This past weekend was more complicated than it might’ve been. On Friday night, we drove to Whitney Point to my parents’ house, then on Sunday morning very early we drove back to Niskayuna so I could make it to Union’s graduation on Sunday (I arrived just in time to hear Civil Rights icon John Lewis… Continue reading Hall of Fame

Preschool Science

The Pip (top) and SteelyKid at the Ithaca Sciencenter.

Kate’s off at Wiscon this weekend, so I came down to my parents’ with the kids, rather than be outnumbered at home. We packed everybody into the car Saturday and drove to Ithaca to go to the

Nature or Nurture?

SteelyKid and The Pip, both reading.

During our weekly trip to the Schenectady Greenmarket, we took refuge from the rain in the Open door bookstore, where a short while later I saw the following scenes at opposite ends of the kids-book aisle (also the “Featured Image” for this post, but I’ll reproduce it to save the RSS folks from having to… Continue reading Nature or Nurture?

Mobility on 2+2 Wheels

SteelyKid has a new prize possession: a training-wheel bike! You can’t quite hear what she says at the end of this, when she stops the bike, but it’s “That should be a full video!” She knows her fan base. On the way back, she wiped out (the first bad crash on the new bike) and… Continue reading Mobility on 2+2 Wheels

Best. Arbitrary Four-Year Window. EVER!

WRFC B-side, having defeated amherst to win those black shirts, spring 1991.

My 20-year college reunion is coming up at the start of next month (at the end of the week of DAMOP in Quebec– I’m going to be completely wiped out…), so I’ve been thinking a bit about nostalgia. A little while back, the subject of reunions came up on an email list, and somebody trotted… Continue reading Best. Arbitrary Four-Year Window. EVER!

Rocketships Don’t Have Hands

An astute observation from SteelyKid, as part of her jumping game: With bonus photobombing by The Pip toward the end.

Preschool Science

SteelyKid's worksheet from computer class.

SteelyKid takes a bunch of enrichment classes at her day care, none of which are explicitly science. I was, however, thrilled to discover that they were doing actual science in her computer class though. The “Featured Image” at the top of this post (sorry, RSS readers, you’ll need to click through) is a cell-phone picture… Continue reading Preschool Science

Playground Physics

The playground outside SteedlyKid’s day care, amazingly in this litigious age, has a merry-go-round, a rotating disc with a really good bearing. The kids can really get the thing flying, which is kind of terrifying at times. But on the bright side, it’s an excellent venue for the physics of angular momentum: In the embedded… Continue reading Playground Physics

Strong World-Saving Ninja Girl

In the car, on the way from day care to campus to watch a softball game DADDY: So, what did you do at school today? STEELYKID: Daddy, I’m a superhero. They call me Strong Ninja Girl. Strong World-Saving Ninja Girl. DADDY: Because you save the world? STEELYKID: Right. And M____ is World-Saving Rainbow Girl. And… Continue reading Strong World-Saving Ninja Girl

Sunday Morning, Chateau Steelypips

A typical Sunday morning in Chateau Steelypips: SteelyKid playing with emmy, and The Pip doing some light reading.

The Pip is getting really into books these days, and SteelyKid has been into them for a good while now (she’s four-and-a-half, after all…). At some point last week, she asked about my writing, so I got down a copy of How to Teach Relativity to Your Dog and showed her her name in the… Continue reading Sunday Morning, Chateau Steelypips