Mahalo.ne.Trash

I don't know about other astronomers, but when I'm up at 14,000 feet observing for 10-12 hours straight, the only thing that I want more than oxygen is cigarette smoke! And who wears a tie to the observatory?

Metal Heart from Keith Loutit on Vimeo . More here .

Marcus continues his impossible rate of growth, here pictured with his outfit from Auntie's Liz and Lindsay, which they purchased during their recent trip to France. Pretty swank, eh? Marcus is all, merci ! Also, here's a video of Owen giving his little brother some "juicy kisses." At our dinner table, no shoes, no shirt? No problem.

at long last i captured the latest moves. you'll note that marcus (AKA mar-mar, masher, or mj) has become quite a chatterbox lately and produces copious amounts of drool. we probably change outifits 4 times a day as a result!

brace yourself for some cuteness....

As you may have seen in the news , two explanet research teams have taken the first pictures of planets orbiting other stars. The astronomy community is buzzin' right now--this is absolutely huge ! Up until now, we've only sensed the presence of planets by detecting their gravitational influence on their parent stars, or seeing the planet eclipse its star as viewed from Earth. The difficulty with taking pictures of planets is that the little guys are so much fainter than their host stars. It's analogous to seeing someone hold a candle next to a light house in Hawaii...as viewed from California! Now we actually have portraits of two exoplanetary systems: Fomalhaut b, and HR8799 b, c and d . My former Berkeley classmate, Mike Fitzgerald, is 3rd author on the Fomalhaut b paper. Nice work Mike! In the picture above , you can see the Fomalhaut planet orbiting just inside of a massive "debris disk" that is a lot like our solar system's Kuiper belt (where Pluto l...

today owen informed me that emily elizabeth, co-star of clifford stories, wants to be a doctor when she grows up. i asked, "what would you like to be when you grow up?". owen said, "president". i have to say that this is quite a step up from his last declaration that he plans to drive the big green garbage truck! in other news, marcus has is growing like a champ. he's rolling over pretty consistently (from tummy to back) and has really strong neck control when he's held upright. he's starting to giggle and loves to see and talk to his big brother, especially in the morning. owen often finds marcus chillin' in his swing when i'm getting my coffee ready in the morning. he's taken to doing voice-overs in what he imagines marcus' voice to be. this seems to be the 6:35 AM script in our household: "good morning marcus!" "hi owen!" (in teeny-tiny high pitch) "guess who's awake, it's owen!" "yay!...

Owen's first school photo.

Erin just finished dinner and my dad called to say that VA went to Obama. While we were on the phone, CNN called it for Obama. The long night is over. We can see the sun rising, even though it's 6 in the evening. Owen chants "Obama, Obama, Obama!" MSNBC live online is showing Chigago's south side going nuts. I'm crying. BLTs and tomato soup for dinner. Unbelievable. We have a black president. I honestly didn't think it would ever happen. Fireworks in Honolulu! I can't believe it. President Obama!

COWABUNGA!!!! woah. i just had my first ever surf lesson in waikiki and am still reeling from it! the waves weren't that big (although to this novice, a 3 ft. wave felt gigantic!), but the 12 ft board i surfed on made it possible to catch anything. here's some photos from the big event!

From left: Kai'poi (yellow mask on the floor), Weston (Maverick), Kalena, Kaila, Ms. Fake, Nicolas, Olivia, Kanani, Owen, and Juaquin.

Here's a video of Owen watching one of his favorite DVDs, Corduroy , and Erin trying to convince Marcus that he's tired (sorry about the low light levels). Marcus disagreed, and instead only smiled and babbled in response. A few minutes later: Mommy's always right!

Last year we spent Halloween at Kahala Mall because of the rain. This year the weather cooperated and we made use of inside information regarding the trick-o-treating hot-spot that is the Faculty Housing complex, right near the IfA. Erin brought the boys over after work, and we met up with Marsha, Adam (my new office mate) and Scarlett. After dinner at the nearby noodle house, we set off on our adventure. "Giddy-up horsey, yeeee haw!" Whoa, horsey! Owen went about his trick-or-treating like it was a job. He had his spiel down pat. A "trick or treat!" when we arrived at a new house, followed by a "Thank you!" and a "Happy Halloween!" when he got his candy. He was ON! Just like last year, it was the Owen and Scarlett show :) Mommy carved a jack-o-lantern to Owen's specifications: Square eyes, a square nose and two square teeth (one tooth broke off).