Today is Remembrance Sunday here in the UK.

"In Flanders Fields" is probably the most commonly cited poem on this day, so here's a link to the "In Flanders Fields" Museum in Belgium.

Happy Sagan Day

Today would have been Carl Sagan's 75th birthday. In his honor, I present this, the "Symphony of Science." Enjoy!

Remember, remember...

...the, um, day after the 5th of November? No, that doesn't scan.

But we celebrated Guy Fawkes Day/Bonfire Night with some friends this evening. A HUGE bonfire was set up, but it had been raining all day long. Still, it got going pretty well, eventually. They only had to make one extra trip to the petrol station for more, um, accelerant.

Then there were the fireworks. Now, you hear these stories about the British "nanny state," and how they forbid damn near everything in the name of the all-encompassing "Health and Safety." But in this nation that forbids parents from playing with their own kids at the park, it's possible to buy huge loads of fireworks at the corner grocery. As an American, I find this ironic. I mean, every year we celebrate our independence from the "oppressive British government" by allowing our own government to tell us we can't pop a firecracker. And every year, the Brits celebrate the failure of a plot against that same government with days and days of fireworks.

I'm just sayin'...

A matter of perspective

My friend Will shared this cool size comparison widgety thing a while ago. I didn't really look at it until just now, and I thought it was cool enough to share here. Plus, it's a good way to fill up today's blog post. :) Slide the slider under the picture to zoom in.

Oh, and right next to the carbon atom, there should be a tiny dot marked "importance of blogging every day," right?

Oops.

Well, here we are, day 4, and already I've blown it. I think this year I'm just not as invested in the NaBloPoMo thing. I enjoyed it in the past, but this year... I dunno. Maybe it's because I was gone so long, I'm just enjoying spending time with Susie and the kids, and writing isn't a priority.

Still, I'll carry on, do that whole "if you fall off the horse" thing. Not that THIS post is anything special, but I'll find something good to write about soon. Probably.

This is it

No, that's not a Michael Jackson reference. It means "I went away for the day, and forgot to post, and here is the obligatory post before midnight so I make the deadline."

Oh, and about the "Happy Easter" title? It was a reference to once-a-year things. For me, it's NaBloPoMo; for others, it's church on Easter.

Heh.

Happy Easter! :)

Yep, it must be NaBloPoMo again. I'm going to try it again, but for some reason I don't know if it's gonna work this year. I'm two for two, but... we'll have to see, I guess. I'm also keen to try the NaNoWriMo this year, and I've even got one started, but since the month sort of crept up on me, I'm not really prepared to do however much I'm supposed to do, today. Again, we'll have to see.

For any other NaBloPoMo-ers, good luck!

Bad blogger, no cookie.

But that's a GOOD thing (the "no cookie" part) because Susie and I just clicked the "purchase" button on our first month of Medifast-y goodness.

Thanks, Will.

Quick and sandy

Well, I'm here, in the sandy place. Things have changed here, as I heard, but not all for the better. Can't go into that, but suffice to say there is plenty of bovine excrement left to go around...

We do have wi-fi now, provided by someone who doesn't limit net access to "work related only," so we have THAT going for us. We also got a new food court... which is a mixed blessing. Used to be, most people came here and spent the time eating right and getting fit (because those were pretty much the only options). Well, now we have Popeye's Chicken, Charley's Cheesesteaks, and Asia Wok (which, if you choose the "make your own stirfry" option, isn't TOOO bad). So people will now be sitting in an air-conditioned mall food court, playing World of Warcraft and eating fried chicken. Good thing it's not really close to where I'm staying...

That's all I've got for now, but I guess I'll be posting now and again from here.

And away I go...

Yep, I'm headed out again. Remember when I posted the photos of "one day I was here in the sand, the next in the snow"? Well, reverse that. Today, I'm in the snow, and by midweek I"ll be in the sand.

I hear things down there have gotten a lot nicer; more opportunities for net connectivity, better supply/shopping facilities, and stuff like that. We'll see.

The cool thing for us is, we have this new cell phone service ("mobile phones," they call them here), and the phone that comes with is this one (link is full of phone geekiness, but there's a picture too). It has GPRS data, which I think will work down there (and we have the "unlimited" option, but there may be international roaming charges). It has a QWERTY keyboard. Best of all, It has wi-fi capability, which makes the next feature best of all: we have a VOIP number in addition to our regular mobile number. Like SKYPE. And the number is a UK number. Which means, wherever I am in the world, if I can connect to the net by wi-fi, I can make and receive calls as if I were still at home. Same price, same everything. So I'm off in wherever, I pick up my phone, dial my home number (no area codes or international dialing, no sir!) and Susie and I chat. How cool is THAT?