1) i coulda been a contender. i heard from aaron today. he, mike, steve, and bree all passed their quals at stanford. in my other life, i would have been there trying to make the group five-for-five. i feel a little weird about that. a little pang of regret. just a little pang, but it’s there.
2) the sky is falling. i got up at 3:30 a.m. this morning and met up with a bunch of people to go watch the leonids. we drove about 5 miles west to get away from the bigger, brighter lights of clear lake and stopped by the side of a road. there were clouds on the horizon and the moon was too darn bright, but we still saw enough bright meteors to make the early morning wake-up time worthwhile. around 5:15 a.m. when the shower was really slowing down, 8 of us headed to breakfast at waffle house. buzz had never been to a waffle before…what a poor, neglected child! she loved it. 😉
3) and 12 times 9 is… i went to stewart elementary over in kemah today to start tutoring. i’ll be working with diego, a 9-year-old 4th grader, for the rest of the school year, every tuesday morning. today we worked on a multiplication word problem worksheet his teacher had given him, and he did an excellent job. he did, however, make the mistake of telling me that what he really has trouble with are his twelves, so when he finished his worksheet and we still had 15 minutes left, i helped him solve 12×5, 12×8, 12×3, etc. he was getting the hang of it at the end, i think.
tutoring was fun; i’m looking forward to continuing the rest of the year. every time i interact with kids, i remember why my mom loves teaching so much, even with all the crap she has to put up with. there’s something immensely rewarding about teaching a kid.
4) the shuttle as a black hole. becca saw this cartoon in the economist this morning. sad, but true. for the accompanying article, click here. it is a very turbulent time at nasa right now, as the agency tries to figure out what their (our) direction should be. as an employee, it raises my hopes…but also makes me nervous. and frustrated. i could say a lot more, but i won’t.
5) the little digital shutterbug… i almost forgot. i posted new pictures the other day. six flags, halloween, and camping.
