Nice Photos

I wish I had taken some of them. :-)

Welcome to Greece

It will take a while to work through all of these.

More Movies, of course

I really need to cut down on how many movies I see a week, just so my friends can have a chance to see one with me that I haven't already seen.

Matchpoint: When I see a movie for which I have not seen the trailers or heard any reviews, I never know if I am going to be pleasantly surprised or very disappointed, but, no matter what, I do not go in with any preconceived expectations. Honestly, all I had heard was that the movie had something to do with tennis (yep there was some reference to tennis), and that it was a love story. Well, I suppose it was a tragic sort of love story--the "gone wrong" kind. While there was nothing really wrong with the movie, I didn't think there was anything all that terrific about the first two thirds either. I knew something was being set up, but what I had no idea. And when the action in the last third of the movie hit, and the one obvious bit of foreshadowing from the beginning clicked into place (there was more foreshadowing, it just wasn't as obvious), I was completely taken by surprise, and at least for a moment, no longer getting very close to bored. The ending was also unexpected, a bit unsatisying, and left me hanging feeling like something was incomplete. Would I see it again? On my own, probably not, but I do have a friend who would like to see the movie. And, sometimes, on second viewing I pick up on details that I didn't the first time through, which often makes the movie all that much more enjoyable.

The New World: The life of Pocohontis from the time she met John Smith up to her death. The scenery was beautiful, the story was slow. It's not that the movie was bad, it was perhaps just a little bit too long and felt every minute of its 2+ hour length. And yet I am not certain how the story could have been portrayed differently. The romance with John Smith from its innocent beginnings up to its heartbreaking conclusion was done well, but after that the movie seemed to fizzle--not that it ever actually sparked. Ok, now that being said, I do have to add the disclaimer that I was ill the evening that I saw this movie, and becoming rapidly more so as the movie progressed, though the movie, itself, had nothing to so with that. However, my illness may have affected my judgement of the movie, though I still think it was just a tad too long.

Finally a Decision

Yep, I can make them, well, occassionally.

I know where I would like to travel to, if I am just going site seeing and not hiking.

The top choices for now--Paris and Greece. Greece is no surprise. I've always wanted to go there. It's been on my list the entire time. Ok, France has too, though way down at the bottom, just above England. And the reasons that I have always kept France, and especially Paris so low on the list are completely and utterly silly and stupid. Who cares if I have to put up with some teasing (and yep, probably a few hurt feelings) from my friends for having chosen what is supposed to be a romantic destination. Yes, I'm female, I'm single and I'm a little bit of a romantic, but that's not the reason I would choose to vacation in Paris. For me Paris is not the "I've always dreamed of going there, ever since I was a little girl" cliche. I'd select it for it's history, the museums and the fact that I have never been there. Plus, it is a place that I could probably get around all by myself without having to rely on a tour group all the time.

Now, if I decide to take a hiking tour, the decision becomes a bit more difficult. My top choices would be the Anaperna or Everest base camp treks. But, I know that I am not in good enough physical condition for either of those at the moment. So, I need to do some more research and pick a few less strenuous tours to take in turn until I have built myself up to the point of being able to handle my ultimate choices. And this is ok too, because the goal here is to see more of what I have not seen--just me, my camera, and my journal.

And, someday, if I'm very lucky, maybe one of my friends will join me too.

What is the choice at the absolute top of my list--the ultimate choice? My "I've always dreamed of going there, ever since I was a little girl" cliche? Space. And in solid form, the Moon.

Photos from

Quantum Dots and Programmable Matter can be found at here.

Am I in any of them? Yes, but I ain't tellin'which of these intelligent people is me.

BloodRayne--the movie?

Well, what can I say? It wasn't great. Lot's of blood, not all that interesting nudity and sex, and just a hint of a glimmer of a plot. Probably destined for bad movie night at your local sf/f/h club. Bring lots of popcorn.

What I learned from this movie:: horses always travel from left to right across the screen, usually up hill. Useful information, I guess. :-)

Las Vegas Anyone?

If you're planning on being in Las Vegas this weekend and are looking for something to do besides the usual casino run, consider stopping by and visiting Wil McCarthy and my friend David at



For more information, Quantum Dots & Programmable Matter.

I know I would be there, if I could :-) .

Whoever would have thought

that you could actually spend an entire day learning about diffraction gratings? Definitely not me. But today I have the privelage of being one of four people who have been chosen for advanced training on diffraction gratings. It makes sense, I suppose, since I work with optics on a daily basis, and the company I work for has owned Richardson Gratings for nearly two years now.

I actually had a homework assignment to complete before the training. I did it last night--I should have done it over the weekend, but I forgot. Hey, it's been ten years since my the last time I had homework. Ok, maybe it's been a little longer than that :-).

The good news is that this means a light stress day and no one at work will be able to find me to add to my work load. The bad news, tomorrow I will pay for it with double the normal stress and work. Ah well, at least I know what's coming my way. I'll be prepared for it.

Casanova

The movie that is.

Fun, enjoyable, and just maybe with a tiny bit of romance thrown in.

That's all I'm going to say.

Suggestion 1

A walking tour on Ireland.

These tours only cover a small area, and there are so many more sites that I would like to see, but you can't see it all.

The first tour to catch my eye was http://www.irishtourism.com/walking-tours-ireland/west_cork.htm. It sounded like fun, and the scenery should be lovely.

Highly Recommended

Munich:: Intense. Very intense. I would have been disappointed if it wasn’t. It is a movie that reminds us of a tragic event in history, but this one single event is not the main story. It is what happened afterward that Munich is concerned with. I couldn’t help but wonder, as I watched the story unfold, would I have had the loyalty, courage, conviction and determination required of the main character if I were faced with the same circumstances? And would I have been able to deal with the consequences of my actions? Would my conscience have been able to handle what I had done?

I highly recommend this movie.

Where to go?

Believe it or not, there's a Starbuck's opening up for the day about a mile down the street. I could go there. If I walk, I get in a small amount of exercise before I sit down to my usual mint tea and water. Ok, it's usually peppermint hot chocolate, on the venti side, with a zuchinni nut muffin or a piece of banana nut bread, but I have a New Year's resolution to keep. So now my usual hot drink of choice must be unsweetened herbal tea. That, for me, will almost always be mint. Which means not only am I calorie deprived but caffeine as well.

Ah well, but that wasn't the point of this post. As in many of my entries, I am trying to think things through as I write. Clear my brain.

So the question of the day--given that I will probably be traveling alone, am female and transportation handicapped (I don't drive), where should I take my next vacation?

The first answer that popped into my head was Ireland. Not because I have always desperately wanted to visit, but because I know the language and there are tours I can take that are small--no more than a dozen people. Plus, depending on the tour I choose, knowing me it would be a walking tour, I don't need to be able to drive to get around. Basically, it's a good starter trip, even if the exchange rate is not in my favour.

I am open to other suggestions.

Would I prefer the company of a friend? Oh, heck, yes. In fact I'd prefer to be planning a trip to just about anywhere with a friend, rather than knowing that my camera was going to be my only companion.

Decisions, Decisions

Ok, so here I sit calculating what my accrued vacation time will add up to at the end of the year, after subtracting days required for such things as, LACon, Westercon, and other such scifi cons, and what do I discover but that I will still have my full years allotment come December 31. And, if I don't use any vacation between then and the end of June 2007, I will have accrued the maximum amount I'm allowed before I start loosing it. Well, that's if nothing comes up between now and then to force me to use more than a day or two. I've never been in this position before--that of too much vacation time and nowhere to spend it.

So, what's a girl to do?

Well, I could make a few 3 day weekends into 4 day weekends and visit friends--I do get 2/20 off for Presidents Day, and, of course, there is Memorial Day. I could even turn a few normal weekends into 3 day weekends. Honestly though, the few friends that I have probably wouldn't put up with me visiting every few weeks for long. I can be a real trial on nerves, patience and tempers. Besides, it would only use up a handful of days, and I would just find myself facing the same problem a few weeks later than originally predicted.

Ok, I thought--yep, contrary to popular belief, I can think when I really want to :-) --what is it that I have always wanted to do more than anything else? Well, I mean, besides winning the Nobel prize in physics, becoming a best selling author, be an astronaut, become a well known musician/vocalist, be a National Geographic photographer, or a well known artist--I have a tendency to set my sites high, ok, very high. Oh, the musician and artist thing, well absolutely no talent, but a girl must have her dreams.

I know there's something else. What is it...what is it? Ah, that's it! I've always wanted to travel. Inside the states, outside the states, anywhere in the world, anywhere in the Universe. It didn't really matter where, because I just wanted to see everything. Some people don't understand why anyone would want to ever be more than a few miles from their home. I know, I have friends like this. They think I'm nuts. Of course, these same friends also told me I was abnormal and quite possibly insane simply because I do, and always have, get up somewhere around 3am in the morning.

Then there are others who, like me, have the travelling bug, but have definite destinations in mind--places they must see before they die. These friends have difficulty understanding why I don't. It's not that I don't, not really, it's just that for me the destinations, all but one, have always been driven by a whim. Each book I read, each movie I see, each song I hear can send me looking down another road, my curiosity sharpened and looking for yet another adventure to add to my ever growing list.

When I was very young, the importance of my heritage was drilled into me. Nothing new there. It happens in many families. I'm of German descent, so along with all the tales I was taught to believe that someday the wall would fall. Now, at the time, I had no idea what the wall was, or what it stood for, or even where it was. I was so young that my only concept of a wall that might fall was the one that Humpty Dumpty sat on. But still all the history and pride that my grandfather, parents and aunts drilled into me stayed, and with it grew a strong desire, a promise to myself that if I ever had the chance to travel outside the US the first place I would go would be Germany.

That chance came while I was in grad school. Would you believe I almost didn't go? I had teaching responsibilities that I couldn't leave unattended, and there is no such thing as a substitute teacher in grad school. Well, ok there is, but that would be the professor's grad student, which was me. I got lucky though. A couple of my professors offered to take my classes for me. I guess they really liked me given the lectures I received about not missing out on the opportunity. They practically packed my bags for me. On the other hand, maybe they were just hoping to get rid of me.

So off I went to see the sites of Germany for two entire weeks. And see them I did, though not as many as I might have if I hadn't had to spend time huddled in my hotel room working on my thesis as well. I didn't make it all the way north to Ahaus to visit my cousins, but I did have the shock of seeing my father's face beneath a Roman helmet--ancient graffiti etched into the walls of a gate in Trier. And I was there when the wall began to fall. An event I thought I would never see in my life time. I'm still sorry my grandfather didn't live long enough to see it.

Nothing in my life will ever be able to top that one short trip, so well timed by the fates. And yet, I have not lost the desire to traverse the globe.

Last year I went to Scotland. After being idle for so long, Interaction (Worldcon 2005) gave me a handy excuse. I tried to skip across the water to Ireland too, but didn't quite make it. And now the bug has been reinforced--it's not one you can build up an immunity to. So here I sit trying to hone down an endless list of possible destinations for my next vacation. Where will I go? What will I do? Will I be alone, or will I be graced with the company of a friend?

Yet another movie

Memoirs of a Geisha:: Powerful and a little sad, with a satisfying ending. I have no idea how well it compares to the novel. I haven't had a chance to read the book yet, it's still sitting on the top of my to be read stack.

Happy New Year To All!!!

May this new year bring life's over flowing cup of wonders and blessings to each of you.