I’ve moved back to my parent’s house in Laurel, MD… which is exceptionally close to Columbia, MD.  I’ve moved into my parents house in an attempt to save some money, I want to clean it and restore it, while putting my would-be rent money into the property taxes here.

The move wasn’t difficult in and of itself, but tied with the work that needed (and still needs) to be done at the house, it has been quite an undertaking.  I have so much to do it’s quite overwhelming.

All of that mess aside, I am looking forward to getting back to study.

Right now I’m…

Sitting on my bed reading the Fannie Farmer Cookbook (my favorite) on how to bake a 9.25lb ham.  Page 201. Remembering how I tell everyone they can’t take it into the kitchen, because I don’t want it getting dirty.

Thinking about how I need a roasting pan, which I should have grabbed when I was in Laurel, picking up my new camera lens from UPS. Thinking about how I waited 45 minutes for it, when I probably should have had it re-delivered.  Also thinking that the roasting pan may be too large for my oven here.

Listening to George Crumb’s Ancient Voices of Children.  Wishing it drowned out more of “The Shield,” the program my roommates are watching/listening to.  Thinking how much I like Ancient Voices of Children, despite how weird some of the sounds are.

Finished taking a few play photos with the new lens. Posted them to flickr.  Wondering if every good lens makes it this easy, which should I purchase next?  Thinking I made a good choice to start.

Wondering if I will have any clean sock pairs left for me to wear to work tomorrow.

Resisting falling asleep, so I can formally get ready for sleep instead.

for( int j=0; j<checked.length; j++)

Ahh, C comes back to you at the oddest times.

This is how I usually feel. There are so many things in the world that I want to do/know about, and yet they all take time to do/learn. I don’t have any big to-dos that eat large chunks of my time either… I work, I have my orchestra, I eat, and I relax. I try to use relaxation time for learning/discovery (when I can, of course). It is just very hard. I haven’t taken an analytical approach to the problem yet, but I think I should sometime soon (of course, that may take a while to get to.)

I don’t often rely on calendars, I may have to start. I don’t feel like people ‘rob’ me of time, but I think I should pay attention to that. And of course, I am always trying to make my learning/doing time more efficient (that’s the only thing I have down pat).

Ok, enough rant. Now just a little tip-of-the-hat to what I’ve missed recently… the FringeDC Meeting, the Refresh DC Happy Hour, the first Refresh Baltimore Meeting AND planning group, as well as my books, especially the Web Navigation, RESTful Services, Graph Theory, and Discrete Math books!  (This is not to mention the projects I’d like to get started!)

Maybe I’ll just win the lottery. That may buy me some more time.

United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, Belgium, Austria, Indonesia, France, Italy, Singapore, Brazil, Romania, India, Finland, Japan, Portugal, Poland, South Korea, Spain, China, Malaysia, Peru, Pakistan, Latvia, Lithuania, Iceland, Morocco, Serbia and Montenegro, Myanmar, Ukraine, Turkey, Thailand, Mexico, Slovenia.

2) I’m glad to hear that David Letterman and his group pulled off a deal with the Writers Guild. Not only do I like his humor more than others, but he impresses me as a substantial human being. Way to go Dave… the beard, however, is kinda weird.

3) My friends are onto the fact that I have a blog. They really don’t need any more ammunition for calling me a nerd. Be that as it may, I am going to try to be more social, in the wake of my father’s passing.

4) One of the books that was recommended as “beautiful” in #1 was a book on Processing. I have been putting off looking into it (so I can relearn my Graph Theory, learn Python for the first time, among other things). But when I found that it included techniques for data visualization, I added it near the top of my to-do list. If only I can find enough free time to finish with Graph Theory or Python!

5) The Giants looked better against the Patriots than I had expected. Their downfall was similar to that of the Ravens and Eagles; not being aggressive enough in the second half of the game. I’m not sure what teams do during halftime, but they came out flat, and tight. It would be nice, however, if they could use this game as a springboard for their playoff game next week.

6) I hadn’t realized that there was a book created to be a sequel to Strunk & White. I’ve had Style: Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace on my wishlist for a while, but it just shot up near the top. Liz, the interviewer, has written a few posts that have turned me on to a number of Information Architecture books. And now this. I know she plays the cello… I think her brain works A-D-G-C just like mine.

7) I’ve been hard at work designing a new version of My NCBI, while thinking in terms of designing a base application class for all NCBI applications (using the new system inheritance feature). I haven’t had to deal with large-scale OOP for a while, and feel a bit rusty. I’m thrilled to be working through the rust. That, and the new spending bill should make sure that I am working on this for a long time. Exiting times.

And #8:  January 1: My birthday.

Friday, December 14, 2007; Page B07

Jean Edward Welker – NASA Physicist

Jean Edward Welker, 72, who spent 50 years as a physicist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, died Dec. 5 of heart disease at Washington Hospital Center. He lived in Laurel.

Mr. Welker was a specialist in examining climate patterns in Russia and Eastern Europe. He worked at NASA until his death.

He was born in Mineola, N.Y., and received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in physics from Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y. He received a doctorate in history from the University of Maryland in the early 1990s.

He was a member of St. Louis Catholic Church in Clarksville and sang in the choir. He had also sung in the University of Maryland choir.

His wife of 23 years, Joan M. Welker, died in 2000.

Survivors include three children, Edward Welker of Kensington, Catherine Welker of Washington and Tania Welker of New York; one sister, Nancy Frenze of Philadelphia; and three brothers, Paul Welker of Providence, R.I., Robert Welker of Arlington and Kenneth Welker of Oslo.

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Jean Edward Welker

72, died at Washington Hospital Center on December 5, 2007 from heart failure. Beloved husband of the late Joan Mary (Minko), he is survived by his three children Edward, Catherine, and Tania. Dr. Welker, who spent 50 years working for the government, was a physicist for NASA in Greenbelt, MD. He received his doctorate in history from the University of Maryland. All are invited to graveside services Mon., December 10th at 10:30 am at Glenwood Cemetery, Great Rd. (Rte 111), Maynard, MA. Martin & Doran Funeral Home.

Published in the Boston Globe on 12/9/2007.

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Jean E. Welker,
NASA Technical Reports Server