In the Spirit of 'Postcards from Yo Momma'

File the following under: choice emails from my loco padre

Subject line: The usual number of sightings is 0

An unusual number of crawfish/crayfish sightings in the Princeton office parking lot and the Princeton Junction train station parking lot have a lot of people rubbing their eyes in disbelief. This one was spotted near the building last week. Suspiciously, the ones at the train station didn't seem to have any tickets or luggage.

Yes, mini-lobsters take over the Mathematica parking lot every evening, cavorting in their sea insect way.

When I asked, "But WHY??" he responded, "To dance and shake their shells? More likely the heavy thunderstorms caused some form of exoskeleton exodus. As in all things Mathematica, further study is required. Meanwhile, I’m not getting the shellfish in the cafeteria for a while. Apparently they are in all manner of ponds, pools, puddles, and the like. How again does one clarify butter?"

You're welcome, reader. Shall I suggest crustacean hypnosis? -MK

To Baltimore and Beyond!

Ahem. Blogosphere, it has come to my attention that my blog photos were ... not up to par. Never fear, fair reader! Birthday month, parental generosity, and a fortuitous trip to Baltimore have cleared some of that up for you.

I am now the proud owner of a spiffy, shiny, brand new camera. In case anyone was worried, this was *definitely* the best birthday yet. Stakes are high for next year, people! I now lay claim to three tremendous pieces of machinery. I can (Vita)mix, stitch, and shoot anything that comes my way.

I haven't yet given Rebel his due attention, so these are just some on-the-fly shots taken in automatic mode. Expect future clarity and composition. Note Avemore's underwater ally, patrolling the depths to keep us all safe.

I'm including this photo for two distinct reasons. First, it shows off the focusing prowess of my awesome new toy. Secondly, it's a public reminder to Matt to stop making that face intentionally whenever he is annoyed at having his photo taken. I have an entire collection of that look lurking in my archives... Public shaming, Matthew! Poor Ben, looking nicely at the camera, is out of focus, and you, Matthew, are gumming up the works with your "Gah!" look. Given his comment, I believe the shaming was successful, so I am now including a much nicer photo.

Anyway, let's just say life is pretty sweet, and if I didn't have this pesky job getting in my way, I'd have all the time in the world to play, play, play with all my happy new gems. Thanks, all, for a spectacular first annual 29th birthday!

Local art

I just saw a link to this neat 'crop art' from Somerset, just a few miles south of Montpelier.

How cool. Any ideas for creative and symbolic art crafted with our pots and pans garden on the porch? I'd love to shock those arial photographers somehow!

Warming Trends and Sticky Treats

If the weather outside is frightful, might I suggest acting like Doogie?

Notice the outside temperature reading from the shade on our deck one afternoon last week. The balmy 83 degree indoor temp had nothing on 113! I think that was the day noted as hottest on record; need we mention that we also lived through the snowiest winter on record? Plus, the depiction of rain was misleading -- our grass has been reduced to straw during this summer's mini-drought. Charlottesville, your adaptations to global warming are almost charming! At least at 113 degrees, we didn't experience any microbursts...

It hardly bears mentioning after previous announcements, but I hope you're all having a lovely Birthday Week and enjoying all the wonders of the lands. Yesterday's icing on the cake was really caramel on the nutrolls, just as requested. Aside from trick candle shenanigans, those nutrolls sure hit the celebratory spot! ;-) Thanks to official paparazzi guest blogger ShenandoahDon for the photographic evidence of dessert and to guest foodie ShenandoahSue for crafting my heart's desire.

Inalienable Nights

This Fourth of July weekend had some high points, as suggested by the patriotic beauty and leisure shown above.

Things got off to a good start at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.
Admittedly, Meg the Merciless let her intergalactic plasma-wielding powers get the best of her.
[MK: I felt like I'd just snuck past Lake McCormick and into the Princeton Plasma Physics Lab... muwwhahaha!]
Fortunately, this cosmic cool was balanced by the fluffy sweetness of an unexpected confection shop at the National Harbor. (BD, we thought you'd like this, too!)
As the Sun began to set, we were treated to a wonderful honey hue against the marble and columns erected in honor of Mr. Jefferson, as the kids around here call him.


Our evening tour of the sights continued well past dusk and into the darkness. Of course, once in a while you get shown the light in the strangest of places if you look at it right.

Not featured here in photo form are the memorials to George Washington and the Vietnam and Korean wars. All three may be united under the conceptual umbrella of the commander-in-chief, however, and we had the good fortune of being able to sneak a peek at his residence. (And who knew we could see what was on the TV upstairs?)

The next morning held some pleasant surprises for us. We took a walk along the water and wound our way through the Gaylord National Hotel. To clarify: we were not there as members of the Association of Nigerian Physicians in the Americas conference...but we did find a lonely piano that needed some cheering up and did the best we could, natch.


As many of you know, in addition to being a music enthusiast, Ben is also a novice Belgian-style Ale afficianado. Imagine our surprise when we learned that the hip and quietly luxurious restaurant where we grabbed our locally sourced organic lunch was, in fact, a chain based in Brussels? (It seems that, for all their pleasant hospitality and fresh sprigs of mint, the Belgians have yet to discover the Arnold Palmer.)


For those thirsting for more, fear not; this is but one version of recent events. Expect more photos and brilliant narrative in the days to come! :)

May the (July) Fourth by With You

In 1793, George Washington missed 4th of July celebrations in Philadelphia because he was home at boring old Mount Vernon. We're not going to let that happen to us this year -- instead of staying in Snoozeville, we're headed to our present federal city to see some sites and soak up some bustling civilization.

Happy holidays brought to you by Ben, in a modified tradition

Also, he cautions you to get out of hick states that allow the purchase of fireworks in grocery stores and beloved Targets. Nothing good will come of this...

We hope your celebrations are blissfully microburst-free,

And your tomatoes are thriving!

Happy Fourth!