“So, that’s the science show with space pictures. What did you think of it, honey?” “Science. Space pictures. Awesome!” Our umpteenth winter storm of the season delayed school two hours this morning, which is kind of the worst of all possible worlds from a parenting perspective– when the schools are closed, there’s (usually) a snow-day… Continue reading The Most Important Cosmos Review You’ll Read This Week
Category: Personal
Idle Physics Query: Whistling Bombs
Not that long ago, SteelyKid was doing something violent with toys (she’s very tough, as you can see from the featured image above), and in the process made the canonical falling-bomb whistle noise. And it occurred to me to wonder, why that sound? I mean, I’ve seen footage of falling bombs and the canonical sound… Continue reading Idle Physics Query: Whistling Bombs
Struggling With Sincerity
In October 1988, I trashed my parents’ basement in order to get into college. OK, the causal connection is a little indirect, but it’s there. I was applying to college that fall, and needed to write an essay to go with my application. I’ve always been able to write stuff with very little effort, so… Continue reading Struggling With Sincerity
Shave and a Haircut
Kate has been cutting The Pip’s hair a little bit at a time, and this morning he demanded a trim. This is a somewhat fraught process, as he’s two, and thus tends not to hold still very well. While Kate was trying to get him arranged, SteelyKid came bouncing into the bathroom to “watch,” which… Continue reading Shave and a Haircut
Friday Miscellany
I got book edits this week, gave an exam on Thursday, and pre-registration for our spring term classes is just beginning, so I have a parade of students begging to get into this course or that one to deal with. So I have no more time for detailed blogging, but will do a bit of… Continue reading Friday Miscellany
Super Pip!
SteelyKid’s gotten a bunch of press here recently, so it’s time to give her brother his due. So here’s a cute picture of The Pip from this afternoon (as the “featured image”– if you read via RSS, you’ll have to click through). He’s wearing a “superhero cape” made from a fuzzy blanket, because SteelyKid was… Continue reading Super Pip!
SteelyKid and the Big Telescope
SteelyKid’s class at her after-school day care has been learning about space for the last month or two (the program is very flexible– the teachers ask the kids what they want to learn about, and then they spend however long on that topic the kids like), so we’ve been getting a lot of tidbits about… Continue reading SteelyKid and the Big Telescope
Work. Finish. Publish.
A couple of days ago, John Scalzi posted a writing advice open thread, asking people to share the best advice they’d gotten on the craft of writing. There’s a lot of good stuff in there, much of it fairly specific to fiction writing– stuff about plotting, the use of synonyms for “said,” how to keep… Continue reading Work. Finish. Publish.
Video Editing Software?
Both SteelyKid’s kindergarten and the snow-day day-care program that the kids go to were closed today, which kind of threw a wrench in things. But it’s also kind of fun, as I got to spend some time playing outside with SteelyKid on her play set in the snow. The “featured image” above is a cell-phone… Continue reading Video Editing Software?
Basketball at High Altitude
SteelyKid is one of the biggest fans of Union’s women’s basketball games. Not necessarily the team, just going to the games– she rampages all around the lobby, and as the crowd is generally pretty sparse, everybody is cool with that. The Pip has started coming along this year, and the two of them chase each… Continue reading Basketball at High Altitude