I have a modest home... big enough for myself and my daughter and not really a hike from one end to the other... but a coworker of mine found this today, the Habitat for the Un-Tamed Spirit. These spheres are suspended from trees and the largest is 10.5 ft in diameter. I can see the advantages.. if the neighborhood gets too rowdy with racoons, bears, etc.. then just move to some new trees. But I have to think living in one of these would be difficult... especially having to climb out of the tree in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom! I guess for a couple of squirrels it would be rather luxurious. :-)

When the Voyager spacecraft were launched in 1977, they each took a golden record that contained information about earth. Music, greetings in different languages, images of life on this planet. NASA has started a blog for suggestions to cover the last 30 years.
http://blogs.nasa.gov/cm/blog/voyager-goldenrecord/posts/post_1187299526389.html
What would you suggest? How would you like another civilization to perceive us? Based on the 80's videos on VH1... an alien race will think we all have big hair!

David Letterman has his "brushes with greatness" where people tell their stories of meeting someone famous, usually with a funny embellishment added.

When I was 11 in England, Queen Elizabeth II came to visit our school. We were all paraded out in our clean uniforms to greet her. As she came down the long line of kids, I wondered if she would stop to talk to me? We had all been "briefed" on proper behavior around the queen, and I was getting a little nervous. As she approached me, she stopped and turned... and asked the boy next to me his name and shook his hand. Darn.. all I can say now is that I almost met the Queen of England!

Also, many years later, I met Walter Koenig (Chekov from Star Trek) and no it was not at a convention, it was at an overload gate during bad weather at the Cincinnati airport.. can't remember what I said to him.. but I got a smile... then realized who he was!

Care to share your brushes with greatness?

One more week before my daughter goes back to school. The supplies have been bought, still some shopping to do, but we are currently working on the adjustment to earlier bedtimes and wake up times. I know that first Monday will be a shock to her system, probably mine as well! I am looking forward to the start of the school year and getting back to a more normal schedule.

The last few cool evenings and the school year starting have me thinking of the fall, my favorite season of the year. It has been a wonderful summer, with a lot of great things to look back upon. And for the first time, I can go back and look through my blog and recall all the wonderful things that have happened to me this summer. Thanks for inspiring me to start this AM, you really are a Cool Girlfriend (among all your other titles). :-)

It was a great weekend. Based on my experiences over the past few days, I have been inspired to:

1. Build a very short rocket in the basement (I don't have a barn)
2. Learn how to play the piano.
3. Relax and read by the pool more often.
4. Buy a new car (a hybrid perhaps)
5. Never work in a cubicle or a place called Chotchkie's
6. Spend as much time as possible with my girlfriend, she makes everything more enjoyable.

It was a wonderful time, we saw Jeff Lorber at Ram's Head in Annapolis on Saturday... not sure how many people actually know who he is... but I first saw him in the 80's and it was a good show. At Ram's Head it was a smaller band, but fun just the same. Got to enjoy time with kids, family and friends, celebrate my dad's birthday, and toast the anniversary of our first three months together. Another memorable weekend... I am a lucky fellow.

Phew! 102 degrees today.. at least that is what the weather.com thing said on my computer. I know I endured this kind of heat and humidity as a child, but now I wonder how people survive without air conditioning in this part of the U.S.

When I lived in Baltimore City, we had window units and would avoid the parts of the house not being cooled.. but I have to think of the people who lived in that house in the 1900's (it was a very old house)... maybe it was more rural then, with breezes? Perhaps they were just "used to it"?

I remember when we lived in Florida, my parents used to keep the house at 70 degrees... brrr!.. and with 90+ degrees and 100 percent humidity outside, it was quite a shock to my system. But, the worst temperature contrast was when I worked in a beer and wine drive-through in Ohio. It was 115 degrees around the cars, 40 degrees in the coolers... and all the time we had to ask people if they wanted a soft pretzel! It was easily my least favorite summer job!

What were some of your least favorite summer jobs?

Learned something new about my grandfather today when I got this photo in an e-mail from my mom. He passed away when I was very young, so do not have any of my own memories of him, but found out he was the commander of a calvary unit in the 1920's and loved his horses. Maybe it skipped a few generations to get to my daughter?