Love this sign

Too Funny!!!!

Tree and No Tree

Our House Now 12/20/08: We had the tree cut down. Expensive but I saw the base of the tree wrinkling and was worried if was rot in the middle we would have a tree falling on the house in the next storm)


Our House With Tree: (Taken last year)

View Larger Map

And what is left of the tree:

Our Snow Day

A beautiful picture Sarah took of Peninsula Park:

Here is a small slide show of our walk.

Our Taxidermy Class Field Trip

PSU Field Trip to look at skeletons:

An Orangotan skeleton:


An ant eater


The boys and the bear

Build a mason bee house

The next step towards sustainability
Build a mason bee house! Mason bees don't sting unless they are physically being squished. They pollinate more effectively than most bees, and they live in a solitary manner. With the directions on this page we can make bee houses for our gardens.

More information, good pictures
A wikibook on Mason Bees

Portable Bike Generator for Africa Youtube Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2z35QOcQas4
And this instructable is AWESOME

Squirrel Taxidermy

Taxidermy class:

How to mount a squirrel
Skinning a squirrel

Legorobotics Competition

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://home.earthlink.net/~xaos69/NXT/AlphaRex_Avoid_Obstacle/graphics/AR_Obstacle_Avoid.JPG&imgrefurl=http://dabuel247.googlepages.com/nxtbasicsbyortop.org&usg=__5vn8OaSmKBYqyP9ugpydsngX3KI=&h=521&w=1111&sz=78&hl=en&start=12&tbnid=h1fTXn-kaI1CIM:&tbnh=70&tbnw=150&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dlegorobotics%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DG

Lego Robotics competition is over, and sadly we did not win a thing. However if there is anything I want to adopt out of the First Lego League Value list is:

What you discover along the way is more important than if you win.

So we didn't take anything home. We competed well. And we were the only team that really took turns programming, building, etc.

Stationary Bikes converted to energy producing machines

Information about a fair where there was a show of 24 energy converting bikes on display.http://www.inhabitat.com/2007/08/09/bike-power-for-your-cell-phone/

Bike trainer (a stand which turns an outside bike into an inside bike): http://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/bik/904133919.html

someone who might be willing to get rid of her stationary bike: live_in_portland_oregon@yahoo.com

A web page that has "22 steps to building your own generator" http://www.scienceshareware.com/build-your-own-generator-bike-trainer-stand.htm

A virtual gym you can join, with videos of bike rides you can watch.http://www.los-gatos.ca.us/davidbu/pedgen/green_virtual_gym.html

School activities with a pedal to power bike: http://www.scienceshareware.com/bicycle-generator-faq.htm#popular

How to video:
http://video.aol.com/video-detail/free-diy-byo-plans-for-pedal-power-bicycle-generator/2039154462

Leek Soup

I made leek soup! I cut open this leek and it was the most amazing wierd curled thing.... beautiful. I took a picture with my cell phone... so it doesn't exactly get the point across:



It turns out cooking for vegan friends isn't that painful:
the recipe
http://www.vegan-food.net/recipe/1401/Leek-and-Potato-Soup/

Dog-Sitting

We had a lovely weekend dog-sitting. You can barely see it but Mt. St. Helens is in the horizon.

ugliness, just ain,t perty

Today the world was homophobic and ugly.

Norwegian Relatives

These are pictures of my ancestors from Norway who made it state side. I went to Norway this summer to find and connect with my Norwegian relatives:

Here is a picture of me and my Aunt Margit:







And here are pictures of my Great Grandfather Harry(Elias) , Uncle Dan, and Aunt Magda

Bridge Pedal

That's right, I am one of the sappy bridge pedaling sentimentalists out there. We had a fabulous ride, a great time, but was surprised at the lack of support. There were 17,000 riders this year. Only 2 ambulance rides (both will recover).

Graffiti and it's cost

Seemingly harmless, Graffiti cost the city of Portland over 2 million dollars in 2007. It costs the tax payer an average of 3 to 5 dollars a year. If I live to 85, having worked since I was 15. That is 300 dollars. EVERY citizen.


The "broken window theory", summed, one broken window if left unrepaired begets more. For example if a house falls into disrepair with broken windows, abandoned buildings are tagged with graffiti, and litter remains on the streets citizens who prefer orderly looking and crime free neighborhoods will abandon the area. Their house, for sale and left vacant will incur graffiti, or litter, and in the long run will be detriment to the neighborhood. A formerly well kept house with the leadership of these neighbors will be lost.

In my neighborhood, one piece of graffiti left on a public wall for one week was accompanied by three other pieces of graffiti within a month. One piece of graffiti begets more.



I encourage you to read more: broken windows theory, it reformed policing policies in the 80s. Instead of changing policing policies, consider it's impact on your yard. Your neighborhood. Clean up.

I had a minister once who would purposefully drop a pencil in a group of people. Waiting, looking to see who picks up the pencil as a sign of leadership. Show some leadership.

This is a site which lists resources around Beaverton. http://www.co.washington.or.us/sheriff/investig/grafhurt.htm

Portland Oregon Graffiti

Lovely neighborhood, ain't it?

North Portland is not the nicest of neighborhoods. No one has passed a law hat all contractors must bury their lines (power, phone, cable, etc.). There are no home owner's associations calling me concerned if my lawn grows to long, or browns. It is instead a "growing neighborhood." It is supposed to be an up and coming neighborhood. And you would think we would do something about graffiti if the city has involved themselves in writing a huge "North Interstate Corridor Improvement Plan". (http://www.portlandonline.com/planning/index.cfm?c=43260)

Graffiti is a HUGE problem, and there is virtually no response from the city. here is a sample of it:


August 1st, 2008. "NSF" graffiti at on the dumpster at an elementary school.

Thirteenth street )the ("X3") gang tag is a territorial tag... meant to compete with the Eighteenth street gang tag. This tag was is on the corner of Killingsworth and Minnesota.


This tag sits on the brick wall that is the I5 sound barrier. This particular tag can be seen from the intersection of Minnesota and Emerson.

This, or should I say these, tags are on the highway entry ramp to I5 south.

My buddy got "cripps" tagged on her car. ON HER CAR!!!!

So why would we not report the graffiti you ask? Oh but we do. There is an online forum to report. To send emails, take pictures, submit on the online forum and then wait... for absolutley no one to come repaint. Actually, at one point someone did come and repaint after 4 months, the wrong color. Brown paint over grey. Then I went to another park, Cathedral Park, and they've repainted graffiti with grey on a green wall. Why can't they use grey paint on grey wall? Is there no green paint in this city?

If you have graffiti problems in Portland contact the coordinator:
Marcia L. Dennis
Graffiti Abatement Coordinator
Office of Neighborhood Involvement
1221 SW 4th Avenue, Room 110
Portland, OR 97204
Ph: 503-823-5860
Fax: 503-823-3050
www.portlandonline.com/oni
mdennis@ci.portland.or.us

Aug. 1, Solar Eclipse, Canada, the Arctic, Siberia,

The above image is from, http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.hoydalsvik.net/astrofoto/eclipse2006/eclipse2006_multi_1.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.hoydalsvik.net/astrofoto/eclipse2006/eclipse_2006.html&h=640&w=950&sz=135&hl=en&start=7&um=1&tbnid=3b0qJdasLEYMcM:&tbnh=100&tbnw=148&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dtotal%2Bsolar%2Beclipse%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26sa%3DN

This image is of the 2006 eclipse. What is important, or my goal, for you to see is that the eclipse doesn't "BOOM!" be an eclipse, at first a little bit of the sun is blocked by the moon, then more, then more, etc.
A total solar eclipse is rare because it is only visible from certain "perspectives" certain locations on earth. Most the viewers of this eclipse will see a partial eclipse.

This is a lucky picture!

z

Partial Eclipses, and the point to which an eclipse is total, are dangerous for your eyes. Any time you stare straight into the sun it is dangerous. The reason is you are burning your retina!!!

read more: http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.transitofvenus.org/sarahviewers.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.transitofvenus.org/safety.htm&h=670&w=500&sz=32&hl=en&start=35&um=1&tbnid=AOcQjvCHk6JyTM:&tbnh=138&tbnw=103&prev=/images%3Fq%3Deye%2Bprotection%2Bsolar%2Beclipse%2Bretina%2Bdamage%26start%3D18%26ndsp%3D18%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26sa%3DN

If you are planning on viewing the eclipse, get protection. Buy level 11 welders glass, or order yourself some of these geeky things:

or better yet, make your own: http://www.exploratorium.edu/eclipse/how.html

Karate Dillemna, Injuries

Above: Myself sparring with Sensei Vince Nistico during my 2nd degree black belt exam.

Above, Kathleen Resburg during her last kyu exam. Here pictured with Sensei Tim Hanlon. Out of screen shot is other judges Sensei Cherry, Sensei Fitzpatrick, and Sensei Nishyama.

My right shoulder doesn't want to move. I can movie it, but I pay for it later. It's been injured for three months now. Almost getting better, I train, and reinjure it. What does the inner self discipline of karate tell us. Daily practice, conviction, perseverence. To continue training may injure it, to seek medical care might ground me completely.

So I've been looking up sports injury information, trying to find the right set of exercises to heal it, and I found great information about how to do karate right. This page has an excellent tutorial any karateka should watch:

http://www.newtonsapple.tv/video.php?id=1297

http://youtube.com/watch?v=iEwQoo4dIVg&feature=related

In the last link, a national geographic video about karate sport science shows a man kicking a crash test dummy and finding he has created impact scores literally lethal. The look on his face explains it all.

Anyway, Kathleen I hope you enjoy the picture.
Nina

Solar Power Show on Science Friday

Solar power is an intimidating topic from many, from listening to this presentation I certainly feel like I know more. I hope you will seek out the information yourselves, here or elsewhere. What is disconcerting is that folks don't realize how environmentally damaging the sequestering of the minerals for said solar panels is. However, this article is more about the politics and implementation of large scale solar projects:

"Energy prices remain high, with a barrel of crude oil selling for well over $130. But thousands of megawatts of solar generated power might not see the light of day if Congress doesn't act soon. This hour, Ira and guests look at the battle over the renewable investment tax credit, and why solar industry execs are biting their nails over the legislative snarl."

Listen by following this link:

http://www.sciencefriday.com/program/archives/200807181

Solar Power

Star Wars Meets Portland Dog Community

Dumpster Art

Dumpster Art in Norway

Flower Constellations

Flower constellations are constellations where every satellite covers a closed loop trajectory that is repeating, characterized by axial symmetric dynamics. The term flower constellation defines a set of constellations on which the reference fame for the closed loop trajectory is repeated, and if traced reveal a flower pattern, often with six petals, but not always. When the constellation axis of symmetry is chosen to be the planet's spin axis, and that coincides with a fixed reference frame, then these constellations show beautiful dynamics.

GEOMETRY? A Flower Constellation, which can be symmetric or asymmetric, is defined by
six independent parameters: the number of petals (Np), the number of sidereal
days to repeat the ground track (Nd), the number of satellites (Ns), the
argument of perigee (!), the orbit critical inclination (i), and the perigee
altitude (hp). Thus, in specific, we will refer to a particular constellation as
a Np-Nd-Ns-!-i-hp Flower Constellation but, in general, we will use simply
a Np-Nd Flower Constellation.