(houston) only in texas

once upon a time, there was a
really stupid guy, who was racing down the fast lane of I-45 toward Houston on his back tire. he was followed by about 10 more stupid guys on bikes packed into a tight wad not more than 15 feet behind him and not more than 5 feet from each other.

(vancouver -> houston) cough cough

forfeited connecting leg to DC. staying in houston for a week. mucho packingo to do.

(vancouver) duh

"I'd just got back to Thai Binh, where I'm originally from, to visit my brothers. They threw a welcoming dinner where we had our favourite dish, 'tiet canh', which is made with chopped congealed raw duck blood and herbs."

...

When it comes to his food, Hung admits he no longer eats those "tricky delicacies" he used to love.

"We have also stopped eating chicken, duck, and poultry in general. Maybe it is too cautious but we cannot risk our health."

- bird flu survivor

(dc->houston->vancouver) step 1

they say the first step is admitting you have a problem.

admission: i have a problem with overcommitment.

as a solution to this problem, i will be going into hibernation for one or two months (or as long as it takes) as soon as i return from vancouver. here is what i will be working on finishing (simultaneously - equal priority):

CD Projects:
------------

* Devon Gundry - Top of My Lungs - acoustic solo gtr rock EP - Baha'i devotions
- Mixing
- production
* Devon Gundry - (no title yet) - full production rock CD
- recording
- mixing
- production
* Bosch Baha'i Bluegrass Band - (no title yet) - bluegrass Baha'i devotions
- recording (almost finished)
- mixing
- production
* Just Kat - (no title yet) - Rock/alt folk/jazz Baha'i devotions
- recording (almost finished)
- performing (almost finished)
- mixing
- production
* Andy Sperandeo - (no title yet) - rock/jazz original songs
- recording (finished, i hope)
- mixing (almost finished, i hope)
- production (almost finished, i hope)
* Ruhi Book 2 CD project - (no title yet) - compilation rock/jazz/folk Baha'i devotions
- recording
- mixing
- producing
- managing
* The Trophymen - (title?) - rock (Duncan's band)
- recording (they're mostly recording it themselves in my studio)
- mixing (will just be helping them mix)
- tiny bit of production, but they're mostly doing production themselves too
* The Angry Taints - (title?) - punk
- recording (finished)
- mixing
- production
* Baha'i Youth Congress 2005 - Washington DC
- live sound

Music Production coursework at Berklee
----------
* Desktop Music Production (using Logic and Reason)
* Producing using Protools (where is the link to this? weird...)

Work projects
-------------
* paper: "Improved infrared optical properties of dust suspended in the Mars atmosphere" (results of Ph.D. work using Mariner 9 IRIS data - short Geophysical Research Letters paper)
* paper: publishing new optical constants from MGS TES data
* paper: analysis of aerosol properties using combined Odyssey THEMIS, TES, and Mars Exploration Rover mini-TES data
* new work: getting involved with MRO's CRISM
* science co-investigator: Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter's Diviner experiment
* skills: refresh FORTRAN, IDL, learn new in-house plotting programs and data archiving systems

Life
----
* spiritual discipline: personal music and prayer/meditation
* flexibility and strength: yoga
* minimize travel

(dc) the trophymen suffer my entropy

tonight when i got home, there was evidence that the trophymen had been here to record. i felt really bad because a) my phone is broken and i haven't been able to communicate with anyone (i don't know anyone's number - phone wasn't synced) - duncan probably tried to text me, but i have no way of getting my text messages, b) the number i left on my outgoing message explaining my phone was broken was the wrong number (oops), so if he tried to call, he would have reached a dead number when trying to call my back-up phone (which is now out of minutes), and c) i left my house/studio in a hurry this morning and it was really a mess - i feel bad that they had to see it in such a state. these guys are a really great band with awesome songs and lots of fun to record with, but i've been gone so much (and so busy since i've been back), i've hardly gotten to enjoy them. they're almost done tracking, and i missed out. hopefully, i can help more with the mixing in the next month or so, if they want me to. their songs are interesting and unique and will be superfun to mix.

(DC) pixel revolt

john vanderslice and his band (Ian Bjornstad: Wurlitzer, Moog Source, Dave Douglas: Drums, Keyboards, David Broecker: Bass, Vocals, Keyboards, Dan Brennan: Live Sound) were great last night. it would be hard to say enough nice things about their performance. Dan's live sound was masterful.

after the show, i hung out for a minute with the band and with eric and joseph from the dismemberment plan and their girlfriends. turns out joseph is studying aerospace engineering next door at UMD. then i got to chatting with chad from inner ear studio and the band beauty pill (dischord records). he told me stories as he walked me around the corner and through the alley to my door.

i like living so close to the black cat.

(dc) the american way

today we piled 7 people in what used to be my vw bug and drove down to the mall, ostensibly to look at the solar houses (go colorado!) and throw around a frisbee. turns out that the mall was the place for both solar power and black power, as we saw louis farrakhan's motorcade storm by. starting at the west end, we walked through the solar houses, ending up in line for the rhode island design school's entry. the poor team leader had to shout at the top of his lungs as he described the unique design elements of their house to compete with the neighboring loudspeakers blasting black power from the capitol end of the mall. in the end, i was drawn out of line and onto the lawn to watch farrakhan's daughter introduce her father. eventually the others joined me and we sat and listened (all so very conscious of our non-blackness and perpetrator status) for a half hour or 45 minutes.

eventually we got thirsty and wandered over to the food and merch booths, where i bought a burrito.

the best part of the day for me was trying to find a place to discard my used alumnimum foil and empty soda can as we waited for george to retrieve the car from the garage under the reagan building. i'd been carrying them for blocks looking for a garbage can. i walked over to the two guards next to the garage entrance. i asked one of them where i might find a bin. he looked puzzled and then said, "i dunno - maybe down on the corner?" i said, "no, there's not one there, i looked." he said, "well, just look for a grassy area and toss them there." i gave him this look, like "huh? you're joking, right?" and he shrugged and said, "everybody else does it." he wasn't joking. i decided to keep looking, and found a garbage can about 50 feet from where the guards were standing. as i turned to walk back to the group, i noticed the sign above the door of the building: "Environmental Protection Agency."

god bless america. solar power, black power, and the american way (just toss your garbage in the grassy area over there).

(dc) PSA

thank goodness someone did something about this problem.



props to seang.

(dc) tough competition

apparently, "beedogs.com is the premier online repository for pictures of dogs in bee costumes." if this is true, i'm rather relieved to have just stumbled upon it, because how else would i sift through the multitude of repositories for pictures of dogs in bee costumes to find the premier one? who knows how much time i've saved?! and now i pass these savings onto you, dear reader.

(dc) what's a snook?

well, i knew it was a fish, but, according to my sister's new blog:

"5 entries found for snook.

snook2 P Pronunciation Key (snk, snk)
n.
A gesture of derision or defiance.

Idiom:
cock a snook/snoot Chiefly British
To thumb one's nose: “ [The clock] is set wrong and hung crooked, as if to cock a snook at the importance of time” (Kevin Crossley-Holland).

[Origin unknown.]"

(greenbelt) nasa podcasts

nasa podcasts sponsors several , spreading wonderment and awe far and wide.

(*dc) trends

as we move into fy06, i'm feeling like a recap of current trends, in no particular order.
i meant to do this self-assessment on my birthday...but ...better late than never. i'm doing this because i imagine i will find it interesting sometime in the future. i often wish i'd done this regularly in the past.

key:
^ = high/up/good
v = low/down/.not.good
* = neither up nor down

p = position
s = slope
a = acceleration

p s a Life Element
---------------------
v * * Spiritual centeredness
v ^ * contentment
^ ^ * integrity
^ ^ ^ music productivity
v ^ * weight control
^ * * physical health
v * * physical flexibilty and strength
^ ^ ^ job satisfaction
^ * * income
* * * debt control
^ ^ * savings
v v * emotional fulfillment
* * * friendship
^ v v travel
^ ^ ^ family connectedness
* v * hope
v v v social tendencies
v ^ * discipline
* ^ * credit rating
v ^ * prevention of overcommitment
^ ^ * overall mood
^ ^ * optimism
v ^ * overall sense of effectiveness
v v * relatedness
* * * happiness
* ^ ^ Obedience
v ^ * sense of accomplishment
v ^ ^ creativity
^ ^ ^ sense of purpose
* ^ * sense of being on track
* ^ * time management
* ^ * coping with sense of urgency
v ^ ^ timely project completion
v ^ ^ inspiration
v ^ * service
* ^ ^ level of organization
v ^ * simplicity
v * * style
* ^ * getting enough sleep
^ ^ ^ learning
v ^ ^ thoughtfulness

(*dc) ow.

that hurts. quit.

this reminds me of one of my favorite memories from my recent iceland trip. it was about midway through the trip and the morning was going all wrong. i kept misplacing things, dropping things, hurting myself, etc. i had just spent an hour trying to let of the idea of retrieving my favorite pants that (i had just determined) lay on the ground next to a glacier 3 hous from reyk. my stuff was insanely big and heavy and poorly packed in what is surely the worst designed suitcase ever (note to self: even in moments of desperation, never, EVER, resort to buying luggage at walmart again). right after the herculean deposit of the suitcase into the microscopic toyota yiaris, i realized i had forgotten to put on deodorant. i pulled the suitcase out halfway and started digging through the bag. this, incidentally, is precisely the same way that the pants were lost - fishing something out of the suitcase on the back bumper of the car.

after fishing for what seemed like 10 minutes, i suddenly got unbearably frustrated and angry, and i threw the funniest fit ever. i yanked the suitcase out of the car and onto the ground (in this busy reykjavik street) and dramatically began emptying out the contents of my suitcase onto the asphalt, swearing at the suitcase each time i slammed a new item on the ground. all this to find a stick of deodorant which, by this time, i was starting to need prematurely. this scene would have been even better had it been raining, but it was the first sunny day, and this was putting even more pressure on the situation...must not waste the precious icelandic sunshine. despite this, i was on a MISSION to find that (*)&@)(*@ deodorant. i finally did. it was lodged between the bar and the cloth underneath the liner. you really can't imagine how much i hated this suitcase at this moment. i don't think i've ever been filled with a more seething hatred for a travel accessory in my life. and i've hated many travel accessories.

i wish i had more than just this mental image of the moment.

(dc) r&r

the interpreter for my talk at nur university gave me the gift of a cold, which i brought home with me and nurtured all week. by friday, i couldn't get out of bed. i'm feeling much better today, finally resting and catching up with life. getting ready for a mixing blitz on andy sperandeo's record.

(lima -> houston -> dc -> greenbelt) mmmmmmm

sweet sweet DC. o how i missed thee.

flew midnight -> 6:30 to houston then 7:30 - noon to DCA, taxi home, shower, and straight to first day on new job at goddard space flight center in the solar system exploration division.

turns out the new job is going to be a permanent transfer.

(lima) stranded

2 hour delay on Lloyd Aero Boliviano means i missed my flight to houston.
arrived 1am monday morning,
haggled in broken english and spanish with the lone LAB representative for 3 hours,
then found hotel room with the help of a similarly stranded american biologist and japanese girl.
the american biologist decided to stick it out in the aeropuerto.
the japanese girl and i shared a taxi and a room, and a nice monday afternoon in downtown lima.
an assignment from justin kept us occupied,
and then we went to the airport to haggle some more.
$100 in date-change fees bought us a free pass to the VIP lounge,
where we gorged ourselves on minisandwiches and herbal tea.
and then caught our midnight flights to texas.

(bolivia -> Lima) happy demurrage

This is quite possibly the sweetest letter i have ever received:

***
(Universidad Nur letterhead)

Santa Cruz, September 30 2005


Mrs.
Dr. Kelly Snook
Present

Ref. : Gratefulness for conference
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Distinguished Dr. Snook

Receive a cordial greeting.

By means of the present I would like to transmit our most sincere gratefulness, in name of the Mr. Rector Engineer Foad Shodjai, authorities, students, and mine own, for the deference you had giving us the conference "THE MYSTERY OF THE SPACE AND THE HUMANITY" yesterday's day, Thursday 29 of September. We make him arrive our deep gratefulness excessively for the great gracefulness that had when accepting to impart in a conference their knowledge, of interesting and important.

On time of wishing you a happy demurrage in our country and in particular in the city of Santa Cruz de la Sierra, I say goodbye to you with my highest considerations.

Respectfully,

(signed)

Atty. Edgar Del Villar Rodriguez
Director
Institutional promotion

***

this was, of course, accompanied by its older sister, the spanish version:

***
Santa Cruz, 30 de septiembre de 2005

Señora
Dra. Kelly Snook
Presente

Ref. : Agradecimiento por conferencia
---------------------------------------------

Distinguida Dra. Snook:

Reciba un cordial saludo.

A nombre del Sr. Rector ing. Foad Shodjai, autoridades, estudiantes y el mio propio, le hacemos llegar nuestro profundo agradecimiento por la gran gentileza que tuvo al aceptar impartir en una conferencia sus conocimeientos, por demás de interesantes e importante.

A tiempo de desearle una feliz estadía en nuestro país y en particular en Santa Cruz de la Sierra, hacemos propicia la oportunidad para hacerle llegar nuestras más altas consideraciones.

Respetuosamente,


Lic. Edgar Del Villar Rodríguez
Director
Promocion Institucional
***