I desperately wanted to call this version Saturnine, but unfortunately I’m not “dark-featured” and I’m not really “mysterious”. “Moody” however, I’ve got covered… (though I’m working to grind off that particular facet of myself.) The masthead for version 20 is Saturn; the full image features an electrical storm photographed by Cassini, shown in exaggerated color.
I’ve [...]

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I was delighted to discover this weekend that the tiny, illustrated Golden Guide books I spent so many childhood hours examining — books which my mother examined during her childhood — were reprinted (and selectively revised) in 2001. At $6.95 you really can’t say no! I picked up my two favorites (shown above), half [...]

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Got a neat email last week from an amateur astronomer in the Bay Area, whose organization is scouting out new locations with lots of dark sky (hi Tony!) While Lake Shastina isn’t perhaps the best place, I’m sure there’s somewhere out here that would suffice. We have amazing seeing in Siskiyou County — if you [...]

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First of all, a fellow IconBuffet cohort created a great pin/badge site called Modest Messages, sporting emotes, favorite typefaces, interesting art and miscellaneous geekery. I requested the Georgia button, as well as the ^^; sweatdrop button, both of which he has printed. Everyone needs a sweatdrop emote button, do they not??
I’ve been all over [...]

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“Plutoed” chosen 2006 word of the year by dialect society:
To “pluto” is “to demote or devalue someone or something” much like what happened to the former planet last year when the General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union decided Pluto didn’t meet its definition of a planet.

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Ann Druyan gives a moving, personal tribute to her late husband, in honor of the tenth anniversary of his death. I grew up on Cosmos — I still have the original, dog-eared copy of the book my parents owned. I used to draw Saturn V rockets and Ganymede from that book, when I was little. [...]

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If only these had come out a month earlier..!! (I could have had professionally-printed space holiday cards, wah.) They’d go so nicely with the galaxy-adorned address stamp Johan had made yesterday. ;_;
We went to Medford and finished our holiday shopping, bought a Christmas tree, some clothing and groceries. Had a nice day, despite running around [...]

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