Gamblin' Thew

Gamblin' Thew.

Here's a picture of me, circa 1991, that my dad just scanned and sent to me.

Poplar Forest and the Declaration of Independence

Poplar Forest

One of the places I visited on my recent trip to Virginia to visit Nancy Drew of ReallyTopDrawer fame was Poplar Forest, the retreat home of Thomas Jefferson. He designed the building and grounds to be completely symetrical, with the octagonal structure designed to offer eight vistas instead of the usual four.

Our adorable and elderly tour guide shared with us the fact that Thomas Jefferson died $100,000 in debt and was too poor to provide a wedding present to one of his granddaughters so he gave her the desk upon which he wrote the Declaration of Independence. Appropriately, copies of the Declaration were available in the gift shop. Maybe it was the historical and somewhat patriotic mood of the setting, but it made me think about what an important document the Declaration is and how inspiring it can be to actually read it.

I didn't buy the copy they had available at the store, but I did just order a copy that comes with the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution in one volume. I can't wait for it to come.

Cruisin' by New London Light

Sailor Thew

I was inspired to get out my camera this morning by the beautiful sunrise-reflected glow coming off the snow-frosted flatirons. I finished up a roll of film that had been in my camera forever and took it to get processed today. This is one of the discoveries I made from the roll. This picture was taken while transiting back to the ship after a long day of survey work in Long Island Sound. In the background is New London Ledge Light, marking the entrance to the channel to get into the harbor of New London, Connecticut. That's my official NOAA Corps float coat I'm wearing -- something that doesn't see the light of day much now that I live in Colorado. You can see a few other pictures from my first sea tour over at my flickr page.

Let us then be up and doing...

I've recently renewed a friendshind with an old college friend of mine, Cathia, and even more recently discovered that she keeps a blog over at livejournal, called "Let us then be up and doing..." I added a link to it over on the sidebar, as well. She tells her story better than I possibly could over on her blog, but let me just say that she was a wicked and ruthless sparring partner back when we took fencing at good ol' K college.

Sunshine Canyon Animal Tally #2

Rode my bike up Sunshine Canyon just now.

Horses: 1
Deer: 8
Dead Deer: 1
Crows Feasting on Dead Deer: 1
Bears: 0

The most delicious thing in the world ever invented by the hands of man

For at least a couple years I was thinking in the back of my mind that a cool, refreshing peppermint drink would be about the best thing ever, but I never did anything about it. I mean, sure, there's peppermint tea, but turning it into iced tea seemed a little strange, and wasn't exactly what I was looking for. Time passed, and I became addicted to the bottled Arizona brand green tea in various flavors, like green tea sweetened with honey or with plum. This is good, I thought to myself, but it would be so much better if it was sorta a green tea/peppermint blend. Thus a brilliant idea was born.

Thew's Most Delicious Thing Man Has Ever Known

In a 2 quart pitcher, brew four teabags of your favorite variety of green tea (I use the basic Celestial Seasonings green tea) and four teabags of peppermint tea. Sweeten to taste. I use about 1/3 to 1/2 cup of sugar for each 2 quart pitcher. Chill or pour over ice, and enjoy!


This is such a cool, refreshing drink that now that spring has sprung and I've begun to get out on my bike again I've been brewing this stuff like a madman. So good. You should make some, but everytime you drink it or serve it for others you must refer to it as The Most Delicious Thing Man Has Ever Known.

Sunshine Canyon Animal Tally

Deer: 1
Dead Grasshopper: 1
Live Grasshopper: 1


Explanation: Whenever I ride up sunshine canyon, like I just did, I ALWAYS see animals, usually deer. One time I even saw a bear.

Ozomatli

Ozomatli - Coming Up

Ozomatli became one of my favorite bands back in the day, prolly circa 2000. They continue to be on heavy rotation in my car's cd player, and nary an mp3 mix gets made without a track from my beloved. Their music is best descibed as latino middle-eastern hip-hop party funk. I loved it from the first horn blast and I continue to love it to this day. I highly recommend checking out their self-titled debut album and the more recent "Street Signs". You can skip their sophomore slump "Embrace the Chaos."

But recently I've been seriously digging their Austalian Exclusive Tour EP "Coming UP". Best known as a hyper-energy live act, they somehow manage to distill that energy into its essence and fill an EP with their happiness. Released in 2003, I recently discovered it and have been listening to little else since.

Sea_Pea_Tea

I just received an email from my cousin saying that he was inspired to start a blog based in part on my blog and my sister's blog. Check out his burgeoning blog, sea_pea_tea. I also added a link to it at left. My cousin was at least partially responsible for me taking up drums way back when. He was the older, cooler cousin and he had a drum set in his basement!

Another Austin Pic

Largest Urban Bat Colony in the World?

Austin is home to the largest urban bat colony in either North America or The World, depending on who you ask. Here's a picture of the bats leaving their roost, the Congress St. Bridge spanning the Colorado River just south of downtown proper in Austin, TX. The bats are Mexican Free-Tailed, and the ones that migrate to Austin for the summer are pregnant females. This photo is taken from on top of the bridge. Notice the head boats down in the river on bat-watching detail.

Thomas Jefferson

John F. Kennedy apparently said this at a White House dinner for Nobel Prize winners:

I think this is the most extraordinary collection of talent, of human knowledge, that has ever been gathered together at the White House, with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone.

Austin

yo-yoing at Enchanted Rock

Just got back from Austin yesterday where I had a most amazing trip. I'll write more about it later, but for now I just wanted to share this one pic.

I never used to get emails like this in Michigan...

The following warning was in my inbox:

An employee found a small rattlesnake by Building 8 this
morning. Please be careful when hiking or walking around the site. Thank you

Dating Eval Form

My friend over at ReallyTopDrawer came up with a Date Evaluation Form. I wish I was that clever and funny and generally all around witty.

Real life is better than sitcoms.

An actual exchange that took place tuesday night:

Me: You climb? Do you have your own stuff?

Female Friend #1: I have shoes.

Me: And a harness?

FF#1: No harness, just shoes.

Female Friend #2: I have harness, but no shoes.

FF#1: Well, together we're still a naked person with a harness and shoes.

Female Friend #3: I'm uncomfortable.

Me: I'm excited.

FF#3: I'm more uncomfortable.

Old News

This is pretty old news by now, but I think worth posting anyway. This is a blog entry by one the law students at Georgetown who protested Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' speech defending the president's illegal wiretapping directive. The blog entry is obviously from the point of view of someone who disagrees with the current administration, but he does a good job of linking to media coverage of the event by the likes of CNN and Fox News. I recommend reading the blog entry yourselves, but the upshot is that members of the audience, during Mr. Gonzales' speech, stood up and silently turned their backs to him, while some were holding a banner paraphrasing a Benjamin Franklin quote as "Those who would sacrifice liberty for security deserve neither." This is protest at its finest. No shouting. No violence. Just a simple and very effective way to get across a message.

By the way, the blog does have the full Benjamin Franklin qoute; "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."

McSweeney's Exhibit D

Fine, check this out, you philistines.

In case you're wondering

the reason I haven't kept up with my updates is because I've been sick. Last week it was the flu, now it's strep throat. Hopefully I'll be better soon.

There is justice in this world...

From an article in slate:

Embattled Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., badly trailing in his re-election race, has decided to call in Bush to campaign for him in Pennsylvania. Problem is, Bush is one of the few politicians more unpopular in the state than Santorum. The senator, according to a recent Pennsylvania poll, has the approval of just 42 percent of Pennsylvanians and trails Democratic challenger Bob Casey by 14 points. The president, by contrast, enjoys the approval of 35 percent of Pennsylvanians.

Pants Are Vetoed

I was invited to be a contributor to Pants Are Vetoed, a community blog started up by some cool and creative friends of mine. Check it out.