didionville

a kid … i say that because he is, like, 24 (???) or certainly not much older … has an amazing, amazing, amazing blog … (click on image) …

he’s an nyu law student and — as we found out on facebook — a rice alum (go owls) … his intelligence and analytical skills and writing style are all impressive … grandpas jer and chuck, i think, will really appreciate ames‘ writing. apparently, he just started the blog — seriously, like in late april — and already he is tackling the big philosophical, political, and legal issues that mainstream media won’t dare blink at …

i only hope he is able to keep up with the blog. i can’t imagine he doesn’t have a lot on his plate. in fact, i’ll be surprised if we don’t see a lot more of him in the future in non-blog arenas … he has “going places” written all over him.

Last weekend, I bought some new seed for the bird feeder. (It was a long winter’s drought for the poor birds.) Since spring arrived, though, we have seen quite an array of birds around the neighborhood: robins, cardinals, mourning doves, various finches, starlings. Ergo, it was time to fill the feeders. All weekend, I watched. And waited. And watched some more … And nothing. Zip. Nary a bird in sight. Then tonight, Didion and I saw a cardinal couple eating and scaring off the other birds. (Cardinals are not as friendly as gold finches.) We managed to get this picture from inside the house:

We decided we needed some better shots, so we sat on the porch, but, sadly, the birds deserted us. I did manage to get this excellent shot of Didion:

And now for some photos worth looking at….

An ingenious astronaut figured out how to build a camera that could take sharp nighttime photos from the International Space Station — a mean feat considering the long exposure times required, the speed the space station travels, and the fact that he supposedly did this from “spare parts” he found lying around the station. The story, some great photos, and a neat video are here. Seriously, read the article; watch the video. The guy controls the camera’s movement with a cordless drill (!!!).

Something telling: The Las Vegas Strip is the brightest spot on earth. Says a lot about what is important.