Tuesday, November 10, 2026

Today's Holiday

Today has significance in history.

World War I ("the Great War") ended at 11:00 a.m. on the eleventh day of the eleventh month in 1918 (11/11/18). WWI was a horrible experience: 14 million died, many in agony from wounds inflicted by new, terrible weapons (e.g., mustard gas).

The following year U.S. President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed November 11th "Armistice Day" to honor the end of that War and the soldiers who served in it. Later, in 1954 our Congress changed the holiday to "Veterans Day" to honor all military veterans. Unlike Memorial Day which remembers veterans who died in service, Veterans Day honors everyone who served whether they survived or not.

My dad fought in Korea (early 1950s) and got accelerated naturalized citizenship as a reward.







Monday, November 9, 2026

Perspective

Echoing ideas from many philosophers and some other scientists, NASA astrophysicist Natalie Batalha recently said that we, sentient beings endowed with consciousness, are “the universe itself becoming aware.” 

I've heard this notion several times from minds like Alan Watts and ancient Taoists. It's worth considering seriously as a starting point for contemplation.

Friday, November 6, 2026

Prom Photos

Almost two decades ago when I was in my early-50s I started blogging. First on LiveJournal, then here. The goal of those blogs was to explore my femininity and share female experiences with friends. I felt a profoundly deep urge to do this and remedy a painful absence of such experiences in my earlier life.

The effort was a success. I discovered many important things and made many new friends. I'm proud of the first ten years of my blog. Even though those posts are still accessible today, nobody ever reads them except me. 

One of my ideas back then was to create new experiences to replace ones I and others never had. Talking to people I asked about teenage proms and frequently heard regret -- sadness that people didn't have a magical prom experience. Since I too hadn't had a prom experience, I suggested re-creating proms in adulthood to make up for lost ones of youth. The idea seemed a healthy, positive way of dealing with regret.

The result was "The Prom Project", a major post of Herculean effort. In 2011 I bought two prom dresses, created two pretty outfits and mounted a massive photoshoot in a friend's backyard. Unlike all my other posts where I photographed myself while simultaneously modeling, this post was photographed by a friend, enabling us to create nicer pictures.

The post still stands (here) but, for unknown reason, the Internet removed images in many posts for about a year. Fortunately I have offline copies of the prom photos which I want to now re-post. Here are the pictures from 15 years ago. Remember that I was 53 back then, younger than I am today but decades older than a typical prom-goer. I did the best I could to re-create a prom experience and these photos are the manifestation of that.




















Thursday, November 5, 2026

Birthday Gifts

Robin and I have a deal. For our birthdays we tell each other what we want and don't make the other person guess when selecting gifts. This ensures receiving items that are desired and not wasteful.

I just got two wonderful presents. Not expensive but precisely what I want: a bold casual watch and a well-designed film camera.

The watch (Movado Bold Verso S) fills a hole in my life. I have fancier watches for special occasions but need a timepiece for normal life. I like this watch's vibrant blue color and sporty style.

The camera (Kodak Snapic A1) is a *new* device that uses film and is made by the historic company. (Remember Kodak from your youth?) Well-designed, the camera is easy to use and does what I want it to. My other film cameras are over 30 years old so having a newly manufactured product is good for reliability. I recommend this item for anyone interested in exploring film photography. Try it!



Tuesday, November 3, 2026

Wednesday, October 28, 2026

The Winning Streak

After last night's victory over Dallas, we're up to five wins. Five wins with the bun!