March 29, 2008
Garden Hulks
Construction of the serendipitous beds of Earth for the GX-1134 Urban Garden was done this day. COMPLETE GX-1134 GALLERY HERE
Laborious. How does one muster the troops so early when they’re weakened by the appetite and lack of sleep? They are stricken with a painful twitch that hungers for breakfast. I know breakfast. Nothing feeds the pre-manual labor body like a plate of homemade biscuits and gravy.
Then we worked...
March 28, 2008
March 27, 2008
rad harmonica jam
RAD HARMONICA JAM Right click and "Save Target As"
The exotic spice
I am on vacation and exotic adventure waits. The spice of life. The spice must flow.
A rock-hunting trip perhaps? I’ve always wanted to see the K/T boundary. Loosing oneself in the old maps at the Western History Collection in the Denver Public Library? Walking tours of historic Denver? Disco Mountain concert? Or a journey to the Rockies in the west for early spring fishing? A pleasant visit to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science? My book! My book! I must finish my book! And my short Lunar story shall be edited soon.
And gardening. Work will continue on the Great eXperiment GX-1134 Urban Garden. Plans upon plans upon drawings upon blueprints upon lumber trek complete, a plot of ground will be forged this Saturday. From the depths of sterile nothingness shall come new-fangled soil to till; fresh surface for the seed plant; the nutritious Earth edged in redwood and built by the fuel of biscuits and gravy and Venti Chai tea with 7 pumps of sugar free cinnamon dolce syrup, soy milk, extra foam, misto and 7 packets of Splenda brand sweetener. Serendipity! The tools of the strange garden realm will be commanded.
I need 16 cubic feet of soil: garden soil, organic soil, enriched planting mushroom compost, steer manure, peat and sheep and those horticultural polymers. Those magnificent horticultural polymers. I lord-master the nature. My thumbs have a green stain.
The mission patch … what will it be? What could it be? What grandeur can be made to compare to those images of times past?
Life aplenty to be had. So much to do. How does one sleep when there is so much to experience?
March 26, 2008
EXCLUSIVE AUDIO!
(right click and "Save Target As" to save this mp3.)
slim jibbidy
by MELT RAD
orally interpreted by RAD
what is this a photo blog?!
NO!
Hollow by RAD
Walking confidently on Earth
Filled with knowledge
Brimming with life
Inhaling the healing atmosphere
The fruits of existence surround all sides
An explorer seeking adventure
Overflowing with the capacity for good
Eager to lend a helping hand
One who shares
Who makes a difference
But hollow inside
A void in heart and soul
Blood pumping just to support life
Going through the motions of existence
Everything a blur
Lost
searching for meaning and guidance
acceptance and understanding
rummaging around the splinters of a spirit in formation
False smiles often hide pain
in the darkness kept to oneself
a singular point of diamond density
shielded from light
but cracked thank goodness
Walking confidently on Earth
incomplete somehow
stumbling in the search
for balance
to merge all knowledge with that of the ache
moving forward through the thorns
across the stream of fire
gasping for breath in the vacuum
to emerge on the other side
On Earth
Skipping this time
Brimming with life
Wiping away the tears
The fruits of existence surround all sides
An explorer seeking adventure
Strength gained
Unstoppable.
Das Ende
--
I'm on vacation.
March 24, 2008
undocked
It's time for Endeavour and her crew of STS-123 to come home. Landing is scheduled at Kennedy Space Center, Fla., Wednesday.
March 23, 2008
March 21, 2008
Tulips, Reggie the Robin and Seeds
Seed Stash
Reggie the Robin guards the garlic and potato
Tulips
Spring
Now that spring has come, sun tea, radish and wildflower planting are the call of the times.
Icicle Radish, white, long radish.
Pink Beauty Radish, pastel pink, round radish.
Cherriette Radish, smooth, bright red radish.
Multicolor mix Easter Egg Radish, mix of red, purple and white round radishes.
A custom STS-13L Wildflower Gauge was installed in a pot.
by RAD
O’ Spring,
rebirth and renewal
a cog in the hoop of all things
replace the splendor of the winter
bringing color and warmth
thy dirt is mine friend
Das Ende
March 19, 2008
Dale Family Mexican Easter Fiesta
Sunday is the traditional Dale Family Mexican Easter Fiesta!
I am making my patented Chili Con Queso.
The Dale Family Mexican Easter Fiesta is tradition dating back as far as I can remember. Instead of ham, lamb, duck, eggs, potatoes, rolls, green beans, asparagus, strawberry pie and all the other traditional Easter feast items, my family gathers for a massive Mexican food potluck.
We wallow in burritos, enchiladas, corn chips, salsa, tortillas, green chili, spicy casseroles, Mexican rice, nasty guacamole, refried and black beans, chicken fajitas, chile rellenos, a myriad of delicious desserts, iced tea, soders, freshly brewed coffee, sour creams, cheeses, fresh lettuce, tostadas and many other Mexican cuisines. One hasn't celebrated Easter until they shove refried beans and flour tortillas into their mouths. I find this family tradition to be a wonderful, blessed thing. Don't you wish you were a member of my family? Many do.
March 18, 2008
Radish Festival in a Months Time
I am planting a gaggle of radishes Thursday, the first day of Spring. I will plant them in waves to provide a steady crop of radishy goodness.
Here is the rundown of what I will plant:
Pink Beauty Radish: a pastel pink, round radish with delicious uniform roots and medium tops. These pink beauties have a nice, tender, crisp texture and taste. There are whispers that this is an eye-catching, top-quality radish. I cannot wait to taste these in salads or straight from the Earth.
Cherriette Radish: smooth with bright red roots; dense and crisp with a sweet/hot taste.
Easter Egg Mix Radish: a multicolor mix making beautiful bunches with a mix of red, purple and white round radishes. They stay crisp and mild even when large.
Some of last year’s STS-13L radishes:
Also, in other gardening news, well woes really, my jalapeno pepper sproutlings, all five of them, were eaten by a wormy looking caterpillar insect which I dispatched in anger by flushing the bastard down the toilet into the sewer systems beyond my realm.
March 16, 2008
March 15, 2008
March 13, 2008
RETURN TO LUNA: A Short Story Science Fiction Contest
I am submitting a story or two: RETURN TO LUNA: A Short Story Science Fiction Contest
The National Space Society (NSS) and Hadley Rille Books are looking for Science Fiction stories that show the adventure of lunar settlement. They want to feel the romance of life there, the wonder of the lunar frontier, of its magnificent desolation. They prefer near future (50 to 150 years from now), realistic stories about human lunar settlement. They want good characterization and well-written, tight prose. They want to feel what it's like to live on the Moon.
All winning stories will be published in the anthology RETURN TO LUNA with a potential readership of thousands; the book will be submitted to well-known science fiction editors to consider each of the stories for inclusion in their "best of the year" anthologies, and the book will be sent out for review. All winning authors will be eligible for royalties and will receive free membership to the NATIONAL SPACE SOCIETY for one year. GRAND PRIZE WINNER will also have a review of his or her winning short story featured in NSS's magazine AD ASTRA, and on the NSS and Hadley Rille Books websites.
I can do that. I am doing that. I'm already 1000+ words into my first submission. Excelsior!
March 12, 2008
Meet Hern Mojito
Blueberry Mojito - A very refreshing mix of mint leaves, key limes, blueberries and Nicaraguan rum.
Arctic Dairy Queen Sub Zero Blizzard Run
You can't go wrong with an arctic Dairy Queen sub zero blizzard run.
March 11, 2008
STS-123
Endeavour launch
ENDEAVOUR/ISS CREW HATCH OPENING AND WELCOME CEREMONY
Thursday March 13, 2008 01:08 AM Eastern
EVA # 1 begins
Thursday March 13, 2008 09:23 PM Eastern
EVA # 2 begins
Saturday March 15, 2008 08:23 PM Eastern
EVA # 3 begins
Monday March 17, 2008 07:23 PM Eastern
EVA # 4 begins
Thursday March 20, 2008 06:28 PM Eastern
EVA # 5 beings
Saturday March 22, 2008 05:23 PM Eastern
Deorbit burn
Wednesday March 26, 2008 07:31 PM Eastern
Farming
Farming runs in the family. It’s in my blood.
My 4th great grandfather William Colwill was a farmer in England. His daughter married my 3rd great grandfather John Rutledge Bailey and moved the family to America from Devonshire (Devon) England after 1842. They settled in Jefferson Township, Knox County, Ohio.
Another 3rd great grandfather, Ebeneezer Jennings Whitney, was a farmer and a mechanic near Hartford, Vermont until October 1837 when he and his family moved to Knox County, Ohio.
Ebenezer Jennings Whitney and Sarah Amanda Boardman
Eben’s ancestor Eustace De Whitney, born in 1080, dates the Whitney family back 22 generations in England. The Whitney family emigrated from London to America aboard the "Elizabeth and Ann" in April 1635, settling in Watertown, Massachusetts.
My 2nd great grandfather Elias Dale was a farmer and a preacher who couldn’t read or write in Kansas. The family used the "Diehl" spelling until the late 1700's. Then they used the "Deal" spelling until about 1850. The "Dale" spelling is currently in use.
Elias Dale
Another 2nd great grandfather’s family came from County Tyrone, Ireland. Charles Matthew Culbertson, a twin who had 2 sets of twins himself, was a farmer who in 1891, having grown moderately prosperous raising strawberries in Indiana, looked for greener pastures and moved to Pratt County Kansas. He was known as “The Strawberry King.” Even when he became almost blind he continued to farm strawberries, sweet potatoes and onion sets.
My great grandfather Whitney John Bailey was a wheat farmer in Pratt, Kansas where his family lived in the early 1900s.
Whitney John Bailey and Dora Emma Culbertson
Both my grandfathers escaped the Kansas farming life. Grandpa Louis Leroy Bailey always had a nice garden in Pueblo, Colorado.
My father Richard Charles Dale had a grand urban garden in Aurora, Colorado.
Hundreds of years of farmers reside in my family. I am no different.
As I Walk with Beauty
As I walk, as I walk
The universe is walking with me
In beauty it walks before me
In beauty it walks behind me
In beauty it walks below me
In beauty it walks above me
Beauty is on every side
As I walk, I walk with Beauty.
-Traditional Navajo Prayer
there will be ... ...
There will be peppers:
There will be tomatoes:
There will be goodness:
And more. So much more.
It hurts when you love
I wasn’t going to publish this at first. But I decided that since I wrote it, I might as well publish it. I’m not known for self-censorship… –rad
Have you ever had intense feelings for someone who didn’t return the feelings?
I have.
Could it have been love? I have not a clue. What is love? All I know is that something struck me like lightning one day. It was out of the blue; it caught me off guard as I was conducting my normal, everyday life. It wasn’t something I was actively searching for. It was a feeling I had never felt before - and no it wasn’t a heart attack. But similar perhaps?
It was a yearning; a higher purpose calling almost; a desire to do more for someone else than myself; to pursue; to learn all I could about her; to channel all efforts into that relationship, to proclaim and sing and shout and dance and leap. It was a connection beyond space and time; a strange epiphany that scrambled the brain, prevented coherent thought, heightened my alertness, produced sweating and shallow breathing. It was painful butterflies in the stomach. It was hours upon hours of trying to sleep with the mind reeling, constantly thinking and sizing up and evaluating and thinking; an unvarying image always on the mind. A waking dream. A vision with trumpets and chorus. A painful twinge just out of soothing reach.
All those feelings and emotions occurred in a breath. A heartbeat. In the tick of a nanosecond. It encompassed an eternity and continued with each passing moment.
Dream on Russ. A dream indeed.
Sure I’ve had little crushes on the ladies here and there in the past, but nothing like that. I’ve hardly dated anyone in my lifetime because I am so particular when it comes to whom I spend time with, whom I open up to and whom I show my true self. Time is precious. If you believe in something you make the time. You make time for your friends. You make time for your family. You endeavor to make time. There is no room for “second-rate” friendships or friendships of convenience in the modern world. The masks we all wear need to be taken off sometime. The masks should merge into one true face.
At what point does one come clean and say something, profess the truth and feelings, when one already knows the ultimate outcome, the inevitable answer, in their heart? Does one profess that truth when it is painfully obvious by demeanor and the words exchanged between? Should silence be the ultimate profession? Such revelations tend to complicate things more, often resulting in separation forever to prevent uncomfortable silences and the like. That.Is.Horrible. But a fact of life. It’s happened to me. It’s happened to many people.
I told a girl long ago that I liked her and she went silent and never talked to me again. If fact, most of the people I have asked out on dates in the past quit talking with me within a few days, maybe weeks. They moved on. Upon seeking advice about my pain, a girl friend of mine told me: “Sometimes girls drag guys on … so that you will still be friends with them. As soon as you tell a guy you just want to be friends they back off.” Hmmm. I can see how that happens. If you mention to a lady that you want to be more than friends they either:
1.) Are flattered and honored and want to be just friends.
2.) Say ‘no’ then break off all contact and/or distance themselves forever.
3.) Never answer the question.
4.) Accept
Can men be friends with women? Not all men are on the prowl for sex and sex and even more sex, with maybe a little bestial dirt coitus on the side. There is more to a relationship than just a physical relationship. So much more. Is sex going to keep the relationship going when one is pushing 80 or 90 years of age? Maybe. Maybe not. My grandparents Dale were married over 65 years! One of my guy acquaintances said that only gay men could truly be friends with women.
“Just friends…”
…you hear that term a lot nowadays. The relationship rejection factor makes one wonder many things: “What have I done?” “What can I do?” “Is it me?” “Is it my personality?” “My appearance?” “Do I not make enough money?” “Is my profession not very glamorous?” “My clothes?” “My skin color?” “My smile?” “My baldness?” “My success or lack-of success in life?” “My passions?” “Me?”
“There are plenty of fish in the sea” is a term I have heard and been pounded in the head with all my adult life. It is true. There are. I sometimes wonder if my life mate was alive 200 years ago, or has yet to be born.
What is vital to human interaction? Trust is important to relationships. Communication. Loyalty. Safety. Comfort. Love. Fun. Understanding. Respect. I could ramble on and on about my “perverse” sense of human relationships. Call me old fashioned if you want. Maybe that is my failing. I don’t shy away from courtly love and chivalry.
Ultimately, on the journey of life, one must muster up the courage to move forward and pick up the pieces of a heart shattered or disappointed. To move on. It is a stark human experience in a world that is more complicated now than it has ever been in the history of humankind. Men and women are so different. Women have ventured out of the “traditional” homemaker roles into roles of success and power and liberation and they create individual goals and dreams. I think this is great. I’m all for strong women. Many of the characters in my novel are strong women. They are enormous role models in society. The strongest woman I know, who busted her butt to provide for 4 children single-handedly, raised me.
I suppose we all look for guidance and acceptance by those around us. To make a connection or impact in life that is a true mark of friendship or love. Some turn to a higher power for help. Some turn to friends and family. Some turn to their peers. Some turn inside themselves. Some block out their pain altogether. Some turn to all of these.
But one should never deny love, even if it is a hopeless kind of love. It is, after all, what being human is all about. We think. We feel. We experience. We analyze. We live day-to-day, minute-to-minute and second-to-second…always moving forward to the unknown an exciting future.
We love.
If we deny love that is given to us or refuse to give love because we fear pain or loss, then our lives will be empty. And our loss greater.
March 9, 2008
STS-666 STS13L Weather tests
Mission Patch all-weather testing day 252 side by side comparison. Scan by Pumpkin Lord James.
brakes
I got my hands dirty and learned to do my own brakes. Call me grease monkey!
Today there is a posse coming over and there will be farming done.
March 8, 2008
March 7, 2008
Endeavour is "go"
STS-123 is set for launch is 2:28 a.m. EDT on Tuesday March 11.
Endeavour will deliver the first section of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Kibo laboratory and the Canadian Space Agency's two-armed robotic system, Dextre.
Dextre can perform dexterous tasks by sensing various forces and moments on the payload. In response, it can automatically compensate its movements to ensure the payload is manipulated smoothly.
March 6, 2008
March 5, 2008
March 4, 2008
Possible Config
A possible configuration for the Urban Garden this year. There will be more room for vegetables of the consuming kind.
