I’M NOT SOUTHERN, BUT I LOVE FRIED TURKEY. My father-in-law (and hence the wife), turned me onto this many years ago, and now we typically fry up at least 3 turkeys every fall and winter. I took the instruction that Jim gave me in this art, refined it over the years, and have put it all down in writing so that I can pass it on. Fried is better than any roasted turkey I’ve had, and we’ve brined a few and roasted them. And it is not hard to do it safely, as long as you follow some basic procedures. Several folks have asked about it this year, so I’m reposting my original LiveJournal post here. Read on…
Tabled Ideas - Putting it all on the table
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SITTING IN STARBUCKS, I’M COMPELLED TO DISCUSS WHY. I mean, it’s the middle of the work day, and I “should” be at my desk, but there are some things that I can’t do as effectively there as I can when I remove myself from work (and home) environments, such as writing or really being creative in any way. One of the vice presidents at work likes to tease me about how much time I spend over at Starbucks, but he knows as well as anyone the amount of work I get done. I call it my remote office, but others call it a third place and I wish all offices were as flexible as mine is when it comes to letting people be their most effective. Read on…
I GREW UP WITH THE SPACE SHUTTLE PROGRAM. Tomorrow morning, at 5:56 AM, that program comes to an end. I have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, as I posted previously, it is time to move on to the next thing. On the other, there are a lot of people, both at NASA and at contractors, who have been losing their jobs, and that is going to significantly accelerate tomorrow morning at wheel stop. Read on…
SOMETHING ABOUT SMART PEOPLE INSPIRES INNVOATION AROUND THEM. Since I’ve started spending more time in the space community online, and among some really creative and intelligent people, I find that I’m coming up with more ideas for “stuff to do” than ever before. Or maybe it’s just that I’m more motivated to do something about those ideas because of the energy of the people around me. Either way, I’m suffering from an overload of creative ideas right now with not enough space to track them or execute on them. So what’s the logical solution? Another idea! Read on…
BIG IDEAS MAKE THE WORLD GO AROUND. Everything in this world starts with a little thought, even the grandest ideas. But the problem with a grand idea is that at some point it needs to be reduced to a practical reality if it’s to be anything but a thought in someone’s head. And therein lies the difficulty. How do you take the idea and make it real without losing the grand part in the process? Read on…
GALILEO WAS AN AMAZING SPACECRAFT. Launched in 1989, it arrived at Jupiter just under 6 years later and orbited for 7 years. Over 20 years after sending Galileo, we are about to launch his younger sister, Juno, on her way to Jupiter on August 5, and I get to be at Kennedy Space Center to send her on her way. Read on…
THE SPACE SHUTTLE PROGRAM HAS ENDED. Some say this represents an end: an end to US human spaceflight, an end to a 30 year legacy. I prefer to see it as a beginning: the start of low earth orbit as commonplace, the start of the commercial era of space. For over 50 years now, space has been the provenance of governments. Now it’s time for private entities to show us that it is easy, and for NASA to move into the next era. Read on…
I TOOK A PHOTOGRAPHY CLASS LAST WEEK. While I consider myself pretty adept at handling a camera from a technical point of view, I know I have serious gaps in how I compose pictures. I was pleasantly surprised that the Digital Days Photo class that I took taught me a few things and I believe I came away from it taking better pictures. Read on…
I LOVE THE SPACE ENTHUSIAST COMMUNITY. NASA has done an amazing job of adopting social media as a method of outreach, and it certainly shows in the community that they have helped build online. I always liked the idea of space exploration, but until I got involved with a NASA Tweetup at Goddard Space Flight Center, I never knew what the community was really about. It is just overflowing with interesting and smart people from all walks of life, and some of them came up with an idea that I find intriguing. Read on…
THERE IS A LINK BETWEEN WRITING AND THINKING. When you write something, you remember it better. Done properly, it can also remove the idea from your head to a place where it can be more easily managed. Even knowing this, it is sometimes amazing what writing down just a couple words can do for you. Read on…
