ununbium

Scientists have created a new element. Element 112 - ununbium. They've only made 4 atoms of it and it last for less than a second, but it's still science on the march.

What your choice of reading material says about you

Recently, I've been reading A Bright Shining Lie (sort of off and on. It's interesting, but not really a page turner, so I intersperse. Vietnam is a tidge on the dense side as far as reading goes.) I was on a plane last week, heading out for a family vacation in the lovely Mountain West, and on the leg of the journey between Denver and Salt Lake, the guy sitting next to me on the plane was reading the book by Glenn Beck. (It had a lot of pictures in it.) So I'm going to go out on a limb here, and say that simply based on the single books that we had each chosen to read on the plane, that guy and I have really different political views.

This plot seems familiar

Oh Star Trek and Star Wars, how you both toy with my affections.

Watch My Favorite Movie (Star Trek vs. Star Wars) on CollegeHumor

St Elizabeth Seton

Over the weekend, I went with my parents and grandmother out to see the shrine of St Elizabeth Seton, the first American born saint. The basillica was quite pretty. I'm not sure when it was built, because it doesn't appear to be 1960s/70s architecture, but she was only beatified in 1964 and canonized in 1972, I believe. I could be slightly off on the dates. But she was sanctified around the 1880s, so they may have started building then. We didn't actually go into the shrine, because the Mt St Mary's College choir and orchestra were having a concert in the basillica, which we went to instead. But it was a lovely afternoon drive out to picturesque Emmitsburg.




The picture is a little small, and crooked, but you can get the idea.

Orioles' Magic

I went to the baseball game on Saturday with S and my cousin (pre-season game between the O's and the Nats). The O's lost, as is their way, with the tying run on third and the go ahead run on first, but it was exciting to get back to the ballpark (even if it was the lame DC park, and not Camden Yards). That means summer is coming. Yay!

Kings

Recently, I started watching Kings. It's the biblical story of David updated to trashy soap opera. Which makes it awesome, by the way. The review in the Forward, however, did point out that while they remain relatively true to the source material (at least as far a story line is concerned), it can be a bit on the trite side. And, of course, since it's on broadcast, their ability to have sex and violence is limited. Which David did have both of, though on the show David is still the upstart under Saul (or Silas as he's called on the show), so no BatSheva and Uriah the Hittite. But still, it's certainly more engaging than a Cecil B DeMille biblical epic.

To brighten your day

Newborn leopard cubs. Need I say more...

Who knew saving endangered species could be so sweet.

A sad day

The Senator Theatre, one of only four movie theaters in Baltimore City and one of the great old fashioned movie houses, is closing. I have many fond childhood memories (as well as more recent memories) that involve going to see movies at the Senator - seeing 1939 movies there for the 50th anniversary of the theater, going to see all three Star Wars rereleases (including the wait on line each time to buy the tickets), and of course seeing all the Harry Potter movies there. People have said that they want to take it over, but it's unclear if that will happen. If and until that happens, though, the theater will be closed, and it is a loss to the world of cinema.

Adult education class

I'm taking an adult education class this winter/spring. We're reading War and Peace, which is actually quite interesting, though I would not recommend reading it alone. It's definitely the kind of thing that you need to discuss with people as you are going along. I am far and away the youngest person in the class (every one else is at least considering retirement if they aren't retired already). But, that being said, it's a nice way to read a book that you might not otherwise want to just sit down and read. If you have a free night a week, I recommend finding the continuing education classes at a local college. They have the good parts of college classes (the discussion), without having to worry about ever having a test or paper coming up.

Get out of Purgatory Free (or at least a little faster)

The Catholic Church has decided to reintroduce plenary indulgences as a way to get people to go to church, and specifically confession, more often. You can't buy them though. They're not going back that far. I suppose Martin Luther would be happy about that and the Church can avoid sparking another Protestant Reformation. But that does mean that you have to pray for your indulgence. So just FYI for those of you who are Catholic and concerned about the amount of time you will some day be spending in Purgatory.

I'm a very helpful rule

My sister sent me this quiz to determine which federal rule of civil procedure you are(ahh, to be a 1L again). Apparently, she and I are both rule 15, which means that "You're a very helpful rule! You allow the attorney to amend their complaint once as a matter of course at any time before the answer is filed, and also allow amendments in other cases. If a claim relates back to the original transaction or occurrence outlined in the complaint, you can amend the complaint, even though the statute of limitations has run. Like a good friend, you're always there to help out in a bind."

You have been forewarned

You know those signs on the highway - "Accident at exit 12 seek alternate route" type of things- which occasionally will tell you to expect delays because of a "stadium event" or something to that effect? Well, today they had the one on the Baltimore Beltway - Baltimore, mind you - warning drivers to expect delays on 95 and 495 (which is the Capital Beltway, B-more is 695) on January 20 for the inauguration. It's six days in advance and in another city. That's how many people they are expecting. That the back up could already be starting. It's going to be insane.

Mmm, squirrel

Apparently, because of the invading North American grey squirrel overpowering the native British red squirrel, there are people who are trying to get people to eat squirrel meat. So there was an article in the New York Times today about the movement, but there was also this wonderful vignette about buying and preparing squirrel meat. If you can stomach reading the article, it is beyond hilarious.

Puzzle update

Apparently, Southbury, CT is the place to go. S and I were driving home from A/A's house in Massachusetts after new year's and we needed gas (we thought we had enough gas to get back to New Jersey, but we wound up having to stop in Connecticut, where gas is $1.89, instead of $1.50 like in the Garden State. But don't worry, we only bought enough to get us to NJ where we could buy the cheap gas). Anyway, we had to go to the Borders to use the bathroom, and since we were there, we decided to check out the puzzle and game section. There was quite the variety. And now I am contented.