Pictures from November

I also added some pictures from my Mom's collection from the trip Mom and Dad made out to San Francisco in November.

Visiting Grandma

Last night I flew into Lambert-St. Louis International Airport at about 12:50 AM CST. Today Mom, Rachel, Nora, Madeline, and I drove up to Eureka, IL to visit my Grandma Belsley. We had a delicious lunch and spent the afternoon in her condo. It was a good family trip. Madeline was very hungry by the time we got back to STL for dinner. Nora is getting bigger, and the amount of hair she has continues to amaze me.

Baptism

For those of you who don't know, my baptism is this next weekend (Sunday, January 28) at the St. Louis Apostolic Christian Church. If you want more information please contact me.

Holocaust

Last weekend I visited the Museum of Tolerance in Las Angeles. Their main exhibit is a Holocaust tour that progress each tour group through a series of exhibits that teach the history and tell the story of what the holocaust was. The whole tour is very well done, and had a deep impact on me. About half way through I almost started weeping, and it has been years since I really broke down crying.

When I was much younger my family took a trip through Europe and visited one of the concentration camps. It is one of my most vivid memories from that trip, even though at the time I don't think I fully understood what the implications were. One thing that the Museum of Tolerance tour kept stressing was the fact that the supporters of Nazi Germany were regular people, average citizens. And yet they participated in some of the wost evil the world has ever seen. The Nazi hate was so strong that they sacrificed many military resources to attempt the elimination of the Jews, even when losing the war they kept up the "Final Solution".

It reminds me of just how dark the heart of man is, and that without hope, all is lost.

So, you want to deatroy the Earth?

Just be warned, as the page says "This is a guide for those who do not want the Earth to be there anymore."

The page has detailed instructions on methods, equipment, and results on any plans to destroy the earth. For example if you want to pulverize the earth with a blunt instrument it has the equipment section: "You will need: a big heavy rock, something with a bit of a swing to it... perhaps Mars." I find the whole page a pretty good.

And you can relax: "Number of times the Earth has been destroyed: 0". No one is on the scoreboard yet.

Your Eyes Can Deceive You

I like optical illusions, and here is a page with a good number. I think my favorite illusion in the one at the top of this page. I would be tempted to buy a large poster that had that pattern across it. The "Rotating Snakes" image is amazing in that it appears to move so much.

Christmas 2006

I finally got the pictures uploaded from the family trip this Christmas. I didn't take many pictures, because several people along was taking lots of pictures. Perhaps I will get access to some of those and add them to the gallery.

I did end up getting a little bit sick, but only felt bad for about one and a half days. Almost everyone else in the family was hit though.

On the 23rd I flew to St. Louis with Nathan, Kathy, and Arthur. We spent a few days at Mom and Dad's house. On the 25th we drove up to Eureka, IL for the Belsley family Christmas and had the traditional Belsley Christmas dinner (which consists mostly of homemade pizza). We drove back down to STL to fly out the next day for Pittsburgh, PA. There we met Rachel, Josh, Madeline, and Norah. It was a long drive, over six hours, down to Williamsburg, VA where we were spending the week. Peter and Liz had flown into a closer airport and met us there. Our first day there we opened up family presents and relaxed at the hotel for most of the day. We did head over to Colonial Williamsburg in the evening to see a drum and fife presentation. Some of the group went on a night tour of the town and herd some of the local ghost legends. Our guide was pretty good, but spoke with her eyes closed. I was expecting her to vanish in a puff of smoke at the end. I would recommend the tour to others.

The next few days we saw more of Williamsburg and headed over to see the archeology site at Jamestown. I am glad that I had just read "John Adams" and the family had listened to a few hours of "1776" before we had flown out. I had never heard of Williamsburg before Mom planned this family trip, and it is a great place to explore colonial US history.

On Saturday we attended the wedding of one of my cousins in Richmond, VA. Mom, Dad, and I headed up to Washington D.C. for church on Sunday. On Sunday afternoon we met up with Nathan and Kathy to see just a few sites in D.C. I had only been to Washington once before when I was a senior in high school. It was a school trip and I didn't get to spend a great deal of time seeing everything I wanted to. This visit was just a few hours, but I really enjoyed it. We had a fabulous New Years Eve dinner at the Old Ebbit Grill across from the treasury building. We did not make it to see Gerald Ford lying in state. Sometime I will get back to spend some time seeing many of the things I want to. I am sure I will not see everything I want to, there is just so much there off the mall.

Then it was up to spend the night at Rachel and Josh's in Quakertown, PA before flying home to San Francisco.

Legacy Systems

I came across this little story of how long one design decision can last, and how far reaching the effects are. Who knew the romans helped with planning the space shuttle boosters.

Still on the Road

I am just back in St. Louis for a few hours and the plane is heading back to SFO soon. I just had lunch with a friend who's grandfather lives next door to my parents. It was quite the family trip, with ups and downs. Sickness at the end of a long trip is disheartening. About half of my family is sick, but I am not. I will do a big update, hopefully tonight or tomorrow with the details of the trip and a few pictures. Our family did get to Williamsburg and Jamestown, VA. We attended my cousin's wedding in Richmond. Spent an afternoon in the nation's capitol, and a night with my Sister and Brother-in-Law in Quakerstown, PA.