"When the sun goes down tonight, step outside and look west. Do you see a pair of lights beaming through the rosy glow of sunset? That would be Venus and Jupiter: the two bright planets are converging for a beautiful close encounter. They'll be side-by-side for the next few days."

Spaceweather.com

*sigh* It will probaley rain by the time the sun sets...

Yesterday, my sister and her boyfriend helped me move the rest of my furniture and other miscellaneous items up to Bellingham. As we were speeding our way up I-5, my little car in lead, my inner voice mused on the possibility of a cop nearby. Just as I let my foot off the gas, which was barely past that large rock with all the graffiti, there he was! Johnny Law, off to the side of the road with his radar gun pointed right at me. I'm not sure if I dropped to the appropriate speed when I passed him, but to my relief, he did not pursue.

It's not the first time I've had these flash spells of foreknowledge. I've avoided many tickets the exact same way. An aftereffect, maybe, from being pulled over and handed my first and only speeding ticket several years ago. Maybe its just one of those red flags or maybe its something else...

I like the idea of a "collective unconscious." Not so much Carl Jung's Collective Unconscious, but something else, like a psychic human network. I don't want to come off as new-agey and regretfully the word "psychic" rolls off that way. I am thinking more of some vague sensitivity to another persons inner feelings and reactions similar to a mother's intuition, good/bad vibrations, ect. Perhaps when I got that feeling that there was a speed trap up the road, I was simply receiving the surprise and alarm of the driver or drivers ahead of me. That doesn't seem unreasonable, does it?

Vincent is so badass.

In other news....

CURSE YOU, SQUARE ENIX!!!!

Bleh. Looks like I'll have to settle for a Hong Kong special after all.

This gentlemen came into my office today.

In a previous post, I wondered how mankind will survive the inevitable merging of the Milkyway and the Andromeda Galaxy. Kris, my fellow sci-fi guru, said this:

"I would like to think in 5 billion years whatever the human race has become will have the ability to jump over to stable systems. Probably in a rag tag armada of ships running from an invincible alien armada while searching for a place to call home, but the human race will live on!"

I hope we would not be fleeing from a hostile alien race and in 5 billion years I imagine we would come up with the means of escape, but there are other things to worry about. Before our sun goes supernova, it will become 40% brigher, too hot for life on Earth. Our only chance to survive is to either abandon the planet (perhaps Mars will be nice and tropical by then) or move it!

Some people think it's possible. All we need is a couple space ships to help us hitch a ride with the next really large comet heading our way. "It's not any pie-in-the-sky kind of thing," Says one expert. "All you have to do is just drive out to the edge of the solar system."

See? Not too complicated at all, but I really like this bit:

"It does require some precise planning and execution, and there are some possible side effects.

For one, we might inadvertently lose our Moon. And Mars might eventually have to move over, too, in order to make room for our escape."

Maybe in 3 billion years we'll have the technology that will let the moon tag along too.

Aside from yesterday's spat of reluctance, my move to Bellingham went very well. Odin was such a little trooper, not minding the roadtrip at all. When he wasn't hopping around in the back of my car, he was on my lap doing what he does best and that is chewing on my hand. He seems to like our new home well enough and by the time I was ready to hit the sack, he was a stoned heap of fur next to his mouse toy. He hit the catnip pretty hard.

I feel incredibly silly for my post yesterday. After dinner with Kris, I spent the evening cheerfully hanging up my clothes, setting up my computer and rummaging through the rest of my belongings. I was pretty happy and today, still am. I really am an odd case!

My dog, Bailey, has been extra lovable as of late. Every so often as I go about the house or pause from my routine, I catch her looking at me, her expression solemn. All the packing I've been doing is not lost on her, she knows I am moving out and even now, as I type this, she is watching me from the living room. It is so sad. Yesterday as I loaded up my car with bags and boxes, she did this little dance in the driveway before leaping to the passenger side seat. She wanted so badly to come along, but there was no room for her and all my stuff and I had to ask her to get out. Poor girl, I felt so terrible. She has been such a good dog to me.

I really hope that this decision to live in Bellingham and go to school there is the right one. I am thankful that I'll be living in such close proximity to Bryn and Ash who are as dear to me as family, but I will miss this hippy hobbit castle with its tower, woodstove, and it's round, beveled doorways. I will miss my bedroom, which I spent countless hours shutup inside reading, playing my PS2 or daydreaming. Most of all, I will miss living with my Sister.

I am such an odd case! Why am I no longer excited to move? Today marks the beginning of a much needed change, why all of a sudden, am I overwhelmed with so much doubt and regret?

I always thought our sun would collapse on us, but it looks like Milkyway is on a crash course to Andromeda. I like this quote:

"Our saving grace is that we have about 5 billion years left before we get swallowed up by Andromeda. Nevertheless, it's amazing to see so far in advance how planet Earth and our own galaxy will ultimately end. Glad to say I won't be around when the fireball happens."

And what of those who will be around?

If we are not gobbled up by flesh eating nanobots, killed off by a rabidly spreading virus or enslaved by an artificial intelligence, mankind may very well achieve immortality (The book I'm reading makes a very convincing case). What then, will be done about this eventual galatic pile up?

I swear, this cloud was so much cooler in person. My photography skills are lacking.

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways... Gmail. Web. Gmail. Images. News. Gmail. Maps. Google Earth and now Google Talk.

Which is uh, very, uh simple. There are no emoticons (and no winks, thank God), avatars or skins, but the message sequencing is nicely organized and there are no banner ads. I cannot be disappointed with the lack of goodies, because everything we love in instant messenging shall be included in GT in the near future. Ah, I have been waiting for this day. It means that I will be able to rid myself of MSN Messenger very soon.

I want more Google software, like a Google Operatating System, Google Office and the Google Grid. I also want the Google Earth with a Google History plugin for my holographic projector, which I have full intention of owning in the years ahead. Yes, that would so rule.

*sigh* Google owns me... even if they're no longer the media darlings they once were.

R.I.P. Microsoft.

This arrived in my email today:

"Big sunspot 798 exploded twice yesterday, August 22nd, and hurled a pair of coronal mass ejections apparently toward Earth. Geomagnetic storms are possible when the clouds arrive. Sky watchers should be alert for auroras during the nights of August 23rd and 24th. High latitudes are favored: e.g., Canada, Alaska and northern-tier US states from Washington to Maine."

- Spaceweather.com

I only hope the evening forecast is right.

Also...

"Sunspot 798 reminds us why astronauts can never breath easy far from the safety of their habitat or spaceship: The sun can change from quiet to active in a surprisingly short time. On August 18th, sunspot 798 didn't exist. Then, in less than 24 hours, it materialized and grew into a planet-sized behemoth."

Scary.

My hope of one day leaving the planet lies soley with companies like Virgin Galactic, who will eventually construct SpaceShip Three. What will they do about space weather, I wonder?

A strange thing happened to me a few days ago. I was driving home from work, taking the same peaceful route I have for the past five years. That is Xavier to Goose road to Clay lake. A very pleasant 35 mph cruise through farmland and pasture. After completing the first S curve I pushed the button to roll down the window.

"But I don't have automatic windows." I thought to myself and then, for a split second I was no longer driving Lucy, my dusty beat-up Neon. I was in a mud splatterd Ford Probe, my old car. I wasn't driving home to my hobbit castle either, but to a tiny cabin in the hills.

Wish I could say it was ordinary deja vu. Brr!

I am such a slacker. I was supposed to be packing for my big move all week, but I've made little progress. A break through was made tonight. I managed to box up my books, half of which will go to the used bookstore...no use keeping around things I can't see myself re-reading. As for the rest of my stuff, I don't have much, it can wait until next week. The weekend is spoken for! Tomorrow: work and Bellingham. Sunday: swimming.

The rest of my evening was spent with my favorite bottle of redwine, the recently discovered Rat Patrol Radio and my ceiling. I love staring at the ceiling. It was a luxury I didn't have less than a year ago and when I moved in with Sister last October, plopping down on the bed and spacing off was my favorite pastime. Even my beloved books were a distant second to my personal fantasies and philosophies. Oh, to lay on my futon and think about whatever I wanted, without having to worry about making someone's goddamn dinner or listen to someone's "rough" day was heaven. The freedom to let the mind roll... I still revel in it and I think the earlier deprivation has left me, in some ways, handicapped. Once in a while, I feel that I'm the female variant of Don Quixote.

Don Quixote. Hah! Not bad at all, but pay me no mind... the red wine speaks for me tonight.

Odin, no piece of flesh is safe from him. My right hand is so scratched, I have to pester him with my left now so they'll match. Sister calls him "satan incarnate" and I think she's right. The little punk was chewing on my book last night. Sacrilege!

Personality tests. A great way to waste time.

"You kill Aliens. That's what you do. You don't do anything else. Even when you try to stop killing Aliens, they find you and you have to kill them. You will never, ever, EVER stop killing Aliens. -- Shit, you fucking DIED and god-damn scientists RESURRECTED you just so you could kill some more Aliens. Seriously .. Aliens suck."

Damn straight.

What Film Action Hero Are You?

Last night, I spent some time flipping through my dreamjournal, regretting that I have neglected it so badly. The events written there are well recorded, but the entries are few and far between. How sad. Somewhere I read that the average person dreams at least four times a night, but I'm lucky if I can remember one a week. At this rate, I'll never achieve frequent dream awareness like some people I know.

I do have one dream to share. This time, I was being cornered by a large black bull and several red heifers that seemed intent on goring me to death. Incredibly, a horse intervened. He hailed the cattle, "Top of the morning to you!" And on my behalf, took charge saying "My good people, allow me to escort the intruder off our lands." Grateful and unfazed at the concept of a talking horse, I walked beside him out of the pasture and as soon as we passed the gate he asked "If you could go any where in the world, where would you go?"

"I'd sooner go to other worlds." I replied. "Like Narnia. I don't suppose you're from there?"

To my slight disappointment, the horse would not say and soon we were trekking the Cascades on an errand for Mr. Hanson, owner of my bovine agitators. I could not ask for a better companion. The horse was jovial, wise and considerate, even complimenting me on my riding skills. "Soft hands." He noted. "Of course." said I. "My Father taught me well."

Our journey back did not end well. As we struggled through snow, my companion fell down a ravine and could not climb his way up. I hurried back to the Hanson property, but no one was there to help me. I returned with rope and found that the horse had managed to pull himself out after all. He expressed surprise that I came back for him. If it wasn't for my alarm, I would have lectured him about friendship.

From today on, I shall never be harrassed by wisdom teeth again. I arrived at the Evergreen Care Center at eight o'clock and was out by nine. No anaesthesia or gas, just some numbing agent, a drill, some fancy pliers and BAM! The bastard teeth are out forever and I'm very happy even if I am an incoherent, drooling mess right now.

I think I speak for us all when I say that we'd love nothing more than to be flung around by a giant robotic arm.

Life extension and 401k at the Speculist. A blog that all of my fellow geeks should read.

GRIN Technologies (Genetics, Robotics, Information technology and Nanotechnology). Singularity. Moore's Law. Grey Goo. Artificial Intelligence. Cyborgs. Transhumanism and much much more. The book is on the way.

Far fetched science fiction? Maybe, but taken seriously enough that the National Geographic is interested.

Last week, Mike wrote:

I believe that it is time that NASA created it's own "kick-ass ride" like the ones in Armageddon...something state-of-the-art, that is more cost effective to launch, can withstand more dents and dings, and is more equipped to take the NASA of today into its visions of tomorrow.

Behold!

Because that's a New York Times article, membership login is required. Of course, we know what to do about that.

Redesign or no, I hope to see alot more from the private space industry. This article is pretty slick. My favorite quote:

"I predict that within about three years of private human orbital flights...you'll have the first private teams of people stockpiling fuel on orbit and making a bee-line for the Moon."

I can only hope. The eventual outcome may likely give the Russians some healthy competition.

Just what is so wise about Wisdom Teeth? As my pain gets worse and worse, I'm finding the name to be pretty insulting. My bottom-right 3rd molar is as misguided as it gets. Not only is it crowding my other teeth and ruining all the progress made by three years of braces (and other terrible hardware), it is causing severe migraines that ibuprofen laced with codeine cannot help. Instead of waiting until next week for extraction, I'm mighty tempted to remove the tooth with pliers and like Matt, chase away the grief with Whiskey... or Scotch.

Last night as I huddled underneath my covers, I was given some brief respite so I could sleep. Before, I knew only the pain of tooth and temple and my own desperate wishes for it all to stop. After a moment or two of glorious relief, I was aware other things. Voices... a replay of a conversation with co-workers, my own musings on miscellaneous topics and the resurface of a song that was stuck in my head earlier. The return of normal brain activity it seemed, but all I could think before plunging gladly into sleep was "Wow, that's a lot of line noise."

My current bedroom has a door to the outside world with a crack at the bottom corner large enough for all kinds of small creatues to crawl through. When I came home last night there was a dead spider in Odin's water dish, a centipede or something similar inching across my ceiling and a large ant on my nightstand. God knows what else is lurking in the closet and underneath my bed and all the various nooks and cranies throughout the house. I'm quite sure I'll come across a surprise or two when I start packing in a couple weeks. My distant affection for spideys aside, I've never had much love for bugs and I'm looking forward to seeing less of them when I relocate in a month. At least I do not have mice.

There is such thing as Hell and it is called Tech Support. As of today, I feel nothing but intense loathing towards any computer that does not have Windows XP. Especially Macs... I wish my employeer would let me get away with antagonizing a few of today's callers like these guys.