Blessings...

One of the fun things about digging through old boxes in the basement is that we occasionally come across something worth keeping, like really, really old books.

The book in this photo is an edition of Ivanhoe published in 1888. I believe I got it from my grandmother.

You probably can't read the writing on the front cover. It's a quote by Thomas Carlyle which says "May blessings be upon the head of Cadmus, the Phoenicians, or whoever it was that invented books."

Here's a closeup:
Blessings indeed!

Parking Fail

Some buddies and I were out at a Turkish restaurant last week (YUM!) and saw this message on the parking meter. Obviously, we all had to whip our our handy-dandy cellphone cameras and capture the moment, in order to submit it to the Fail Blog.

The sun was so bright I wasn't sure I successfully captured the Parking Fail photo, but it turns out I did (plus, the word Fail was blinking, so the timing was kinda tricky).

Anyway, there it is. :)

Slumdog Millionaire

Went to see Slumdog Millionaire on Valentine's Day, and all I can say is wow.

You probably already knew it was a remarkable movie. It's getting tons of critical praise and is lined up to win a million awards. So any praise from me is just a drop in the ocean, I know. So let me just say I really enjoyed it.

One last comment: Best ending credits ever (and I'm including all the Jackie Chan blooper reels, which I LOVE).

The Escalator

This video just made me laugh.

Not Clever!

Can I just say that monkeying around with President Obama's name is not particularly clever? 

Seriously, calling him Obama Bin Laden, or Barak HUSSEIN Obama, or referring to an "Obamanation" or "Obamunism" - it's just not as clever as some people seem to think it is. Honestly, it's not clever.

I think Mark Twain once said something along the lines of "Never make fun of a man's name. He's heard it a hundred times before, and each time was funnier than the time you did it." (I paraphrase).

Make fun of the way. he. talks. Or laugh at him for bumping his head on Marine One (hyuk, the President sure is tall! hyuk hyuk). Or, go ahead, make fun of his name - just don't spend too much time complimenting yourself on how clever that is.

New Field Notes Book

I carry around a little notebook everywhere I go... including just going downstairs (I use Fields Note Brand, if you're curious). I use them to capture everything from ideas for books and articles to lists of things to do. OK, they're mostly full of ideas for books and articles.

Anyway, these little notebooks last me about a month before they're filled up and I need to get a new one. There's always a sense of loss when I have to retire a full notebook, although it's tempered by the excitement and sense of new possibilities in a new, blank notebook.

So, it's new Field Notes time... a day of mixed feelings to be sure.

Economic Stimulus Package

Thought I'd make a few comments about the Economic Stimulus Package ('cause I'm sure everyone wants to know what I think...). Frankly, I'm not entirely sure what to think, for the simple reason that it's difficult to find a clear, fair and balanced description of the thing, much less a cogent assessment of the thing's merits. With all due respect to Senator McCain, I don't care if the bill is bi-partisan or not. I'm more concerned with whether or not it will help.

So, when President Obama describes the part about investing money to make government buildings more energy efficient and weatherize homes, I say Yay! That sounds like it would create jobs now, save money in the long run and reduce our dependence on foreign oil. Yay! And when he says there are no earmarks in the bill, again I say Yay!

But making government buildings more fuel efficient is not the whole package (oh no!). What else is in there? Plenty. Is it too much or too little? I don't claim to know.

And when the President talks about economists agreeing with each other, um, I get pretty skeptical. In fact, I was sceptical even before the Cato institute ran this ad, which was signed by like a million economists.

My conclusion? Nobody knows if the bill will work or not. Anyone who is certain about the bill's impact or outcome (positive or negative) is on shaky ground.

We may philosophically like this bill or we may distrust it. We may see it as a confirmation or a repudiation of our beliefs. We may criticize it for being too partisan or not partisan enough. But I'm pretty sure we don't really even know what's in it, let alone whether it'll help or not.

My bottom line - I like some parts, and distrust some other parts. But the people who seem most opposed to it are generally the people whose ideas led to the situation we're in now. So I'm interested to see how President Obama's approach works out...

Barriers To Innovation

A friend of mine just hooked me up with a video about bureaucracy at NASA - all I can say is "Yup."

The movie gave me chills, because it reminded me so much of my own experience as a young engineer with the Air Force. I've been that guy who keeps getting asked "Why are you doing that? Don't you know it's not your job? Why don't you just keep your head down and color in the lines?" 

And when the young engineer's boss gets asked "Are you supporting her?" (with the clear implication that the answer had better be a solid No)... well, it reminded me of meetings that were held to discuss yours truly.

Interestingly, the NASA process diagram (at the 4:00 mark) is basically identical to the one the military uses. I bet we could switch diagrams and nobody would notice.

So, watch the movie - it's worth the time. Laugh because it's funny, and cry because it's true.

My first thought was to check out the OpenNASA.com blog and see if that crew was involved - sure enough, there it was!

Just for fun, here's the DoD's equivalent process diagram (any questions?):

Thesis 1.0

Well, I submitted the first complete draft of my thesis to my advisor. Now I get to wait and see what kind of changes he's going to suggest (and I'll continue tinkering with it, of course).

It's hard to believe how soon my little sabbatical in academia is coming to an end! Graduation is less than 7 weeks away (and thesis defense is only 3 weeks from now!)