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When you focus upon a star…

Monday, 14 May 2012 - 12:19am by splicer
Potrero Hill, San Francisco, CA

I took the binoculars out into the yard tonight for some planetary observation. Following my father's advice, I focused the binoculars on a star before looking at Venus and despite the difficulty getting the image to stay still I could make out the crescent shape. It looks like Venus is getting much closer to its transit of the Sun. I think that Venus will start getting less bright in the sky as the crescent gets thinner. Of course it will also get harder to observe as its setting time comes closer to sunset. …go on, keep reading about When you focus upon a star…

splicer's tweets
@sparrow 1.6 looks great! (Didn't know anyone still used POP.) REALLY need ability to edit existing account. Deleting & rebuilding gets old. — 10 hours 24 min ago
New post on Monochromatic Outlook: What's the price of a signature? http://t.co/UTPAywV3 — 1 week 1 day ago
If "job creators" really wanted to help the country, they'd find nice private-sector jobs for both Obama and Romney. — 1 week 1 day ago
RT @JulieBorowski You know what ruins the sanctity of marriage? Government issued marriage licenses. — 1 week 1 day ago
Or maybe it's not depression-turned-to-anger that's so sweet: it's the anger turned into bags full of crushed aluminum cans in recycling. — 1 week 1 day ago
Ah, AC/DC. Helping transform depression into outward-faced anger since 1975. Thank you. — 1 week 1 day ago
Nothing says old-fashioned DIY roadside repair like reading the service manual on an iPad. Ummm… … http://t.co/bm3DP0xT — 1 month 13 hours ago

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Story

What's the price of a signature?

Wednesday, 9 May 2012 - 11:21am by splicer
Potrero Hill, San Francisco, CA

Last night I made a late night run to the grocery store and was surprised to see a woman with a clipboard by the front entrance asking people coming in and out to sign some form of petition. It's not uncommon to see this at Safeway; the entrance is a bottleneck for all traffic in and out and a favorite spot for pollsters and panhandlers alike. What was odd was that there would be someone collecting signatures at nearly midnight.

After scouring the aisles for the sale items so that I could have a decent meal with the six bucks I had in my pocket, I came out to find her still at it. Close up, she looked as though she might have been panhandling in the same spot if it were a different night. It wasn't her missing teeth that gave me that impression. Instead it was the sad combination of her desperate body language and the dead look in her eyes. …go on, keep reading about What's the price of a signature?

Topics: 
City of Saint Francis
Liberty

Most recent run/walk

Nighttime at the Wharf

Submitted by splicer on Wed, 11/09/2011 - 22:48
Distance: 
8.06Km
Time: 
01:01:01
Shoe: 
Saucony Kinvara
map

Wharf at NightThis is one of my old routes from before my motorcycle accident in 2007. This was before I had a GPS so I measured out distances using my bicycle and then stuck to routes I'd measured. I measured enough segments to give myself a reasonable amount of variety when running, but it still felt very modular: if I want to add a half mile, go to the end of the Municipal Pier and back. …go on, keep reading about Nighttime at the Wharf

Story

Venerean phases

Tuesday, 8 May 2012 - 2:38pm by splicer
Potrero Hill, San Francisco, CA

Venus has been very bright in the evening sky lately, as you may have already noticed. A friend of mine was playing with an astronomy program on his iPod Touch while we were walking the other evening and asked what «that bright star» was. I said that an object in the sky as bright as the one we were looking at could only be Venus (correct) and I speculated that Venus might be brighter when farther from us, because we'd be seeing more of the bright side (not correct. Sorry!)

…go on, keep reading about Venerean phases

Lexical geekery

Greed

Excessive desire for more.

Note the word «excessive» in the definition above.

This word has been coming up frequently these days with the Occupy Wall Street protests happening. It comes up in two contexts. First, on cardboard signs, t-shirts, and website manifestos, usually paired with the word, «corporate.»

…go on, keep reading about Greed

Older lexical geekery

Story

Getting things started

Monday, 5 March 2012 - 1:34pm by splicer
Potrero Hill, San Francisco, CA

For years I've been a fan of the first suggested practice in Julia Cameron's Artist's Way program: morning pages. The suggestion is to do three pages of automatic writing (writing without stopping to think) the very first thing every morning. I've gone through periods where I've done the morning pages faithfully, and months on end where I haven't done them at all. Faced with the litany of things I usually feel I have to do, it is a challenge to keep this practice. When I am focused and don't let the pen lift from the paper I can finish in twenty minutes. When I am scattered or distracted it can be more than forty. …go on, keep reading about Getting things started

Story

Where to live

Friday, 24 February 2012 - 2:52pm by splicer
Fisherman's Wharf, San Francisco

Here's my recommended where-to-live list from http://www.FindYourSpot.com's quiz. Some surprises, others not surprising at all. The questionnaire was thorough without being tedious. My compliments to the developers of the site. I'm very curious about the business model, but that's beside the point. …go on, keep reading about Where to live

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The four cornerstones of character on which the structure of this nation was built are: Initiative, Imagination, Individuality and Independence.

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