Joe Murphy

I am not keyed into the details, but it sounds like Joe Murphy, podcaster, friend, and cool human being, is not doing well. Which, is of course an understatement.

Cancer is horrible. I have been listening to Joe for over a year as part of the Slice Of SciFi and Wingin'It Podcasts. I met Joe last year at Dragon*Con. He was a great guy to talk to and to play games with. (Even if it was only Killer Bunnies) At that time, none of us knew Joe was sick.

Not much later, Joe found out he had cancer, a very bad inoperable cancer. On a positive note, Joe is surrounded by a world of support, literally. Listeners and friends from around the world have been sending Joe whatever support they can: thoughts, prayers, money, food, visits, a home, a family and more.

This touches on something that I have been thinking about with regards to podcasting. These thoughts are still forming, and I can't do them justice just yet. But, here are is a hint. I feel that, despite its infancy, podcasting has a chance to change the world beyond the internet alone. There is something about the human voice that makes us feel closer than reading words on a computer screen. With the freedom of creation and the intimacy of experience, worldwide communities are building up around podcasts. The thing is that the relationship is not one-sided. There are many ways to make the experience interactive.

What does this mean? It means that the world is a smaller place. It means that close friendships will be made around the world. It means that the mental health of an individual will be improved by someone they have never met. It means that the world is rooting for Joe Murphy.

Please consider him in your thoughts and prayers. If you can, donate some money. You can find the link in the upper right of the page you will find a PayPal link for the Joe Fund.

We love you Joe.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Happy St. Patrick's Day. There are many things I would love to write about (and do), but instead, I will be writing about Organizational Management, Change Management and Managing Innovation all weekend. My hope is to be all caught up after this weekend. Wish me luck.

Happy Pi Day

March 14... 3/14 Get it? I'm a geek and numbers can be fun. I couldn't resist.

Happy Pluto Planet Day

Despite the rulings of the International Astronomical Union, the New Mexico State Legislature has declared today, March 13, as Pluto Planet Day!

Support your marginalized planets today!

New Mexico has a lot of ties to astronomy and aerospace, so there is a history as to why they have taken this move. You can read more details here.

RIP Sweet Bumpy

We lost our original goldfish, Bumpy, today. We had him for three years now, and he was at least 4 years old. This picture (taken with my cell-phone) is a couple of years old, taken before he developed a tumor on his dorsal fin. He was also a bit dim-witted, even for a goldfish. He once got himself stuck in his castle such that we had to replace it with something else. Rest in Peace Bumpy

300

We saw the movie 300 Friday night, and WOW, that was an amazing movie. This is a really odd thing for me to say since this movie is full of blood, violence, war... things I am usually not fans of in movies. (Although the blood was more like comic book blood than movie blood.) Just so you are aware, there is also sex and nudity.

Yet, this movie is a beautiful piece of art. I haven't read the original comic book, but it seems to me that they kept the comic book in mind as they crafted the movie. Not only the comic, but ancient art as well. Many times during the movie I felt as if I was looking at a piece of Spartan pottery brought to life. The actors were excellent, and well formed for their parts. For both the ladies and the gentlemen, but especially the ladies, there is a lot of eye-candy in this movie.

The Spartans view of war was like an art... almost a religion. This is how it was portrayed in the movie. This was not a movie about brutal, chaotic fighting. The battle scenes were like dances. The hand to hand military tactics were intelligent and fantastic to watch. Beyond the battles, there are a lot of deeper themes in this movie, themes of freedom. Freedom from oppression and freedom from mysticism. If you won't be put off by the violence, go and see this movie. I plan on seeing it again in the theaters.

Man vs. Child

A Big Goodbye from Serena
Originally uploaded by TeeMonster.

My good friend Tee Morris, science fiction / fantasy author, podcaster and hitchhiker to Dragon*Con, got together with fellow podcaster Paul Fisher to create this FANTASTIC video, Man vs. Child. This mockumentary shows us the plight of fathers left at home with small children. Following the style of the Discovery Channel's Man vs. Wild we see what happens to Tee when Natalie leaves him at home, alone, with Serena. Please follow this link to see what happens.

RavenCon Schedule

Once again this year John and I will be a science panelists at RavenCon. From April 20-22, 2007 we will be in Richmond Virginia having a blast.

I am doing two panels and a Koffe Klatch. I'll be on my own for the two panels, but John and I will be doing the Koffe Klatch together.... kind of a sit around and chat with the science panelists thing. John has one panel.

Here is our schedules:

Laura Burns
Striking A Balance 11:00 AM - 11:50 AM Saturday
- Government versus Private Exploration of Space

Space News 12:01 PM - 12:50 PM Sunday
- Some cool things going on with NASA and beyond

John Cmar
The Once and Flu-ture 2:00 PM - 2:50 PM Saturday
- Something about whether or not we will have a Flu Pandemic

Koffee Klatch 1:00 PM - 1:50 PM Sunday

BaltiCon

Poppet and Pins 2
Originally uploaded by Sci-Fi Laura.

BaltiCon is going to be crazy. So many people I know and love are going to be there, some coming from as far away as Arizona and California. Most recently, I just found out from Lisa Snellings-Clark's blog that she will be coming back again this year. I love Lisa's work and am very very excited. Of course, a small part of that is the sleep deprivation.

Stumbling

If you know me, you know that I often have a procrastination and perfectionist problem. Those two factors are frequently related. Acknowledging that, I have never felt this way before. I enjoy all of the classes I am currently taking, but I am seriously considering dropping one of them.

I have a mid-term tomorrow. I have a pile of back assignments. The classes are great. The work is not hard. I just have no motivation to complete the work. Throughout all of the highs and lows of my life, I have never felt so much like quitting. This is odd timing as I am excited about many other things. This is probably coursework burnout.

I think one factor is the number of assignments they give us in this class. It is almost 2 assignments a week. For every reading assignment, there is an associated essay. While it is important to make sure that we understand the readings, this is a graduate class. They shouldn't have to force us to prove it.

Sorry this posting is a bit mundane. I do have much more exciting things going on, but this is what is weighing on me at the moment.

Going to CHINA!

I just got the e-mail, I have officially been accepted to the ISU Summer Session Program. This summer the program will be held in Beijing, China from June 23 to August 24. The program is expensive, and I am a bit confused about the financial situation, but I think that is manageable. More details as I get them in coming days and weeks. Next step, secure a visa for the trip.

Whoot.

This is one of the main reasons why I started this blog. I am hoping that I will have enough internet access in China to regularly update this and Flickr about my adventures and experiences in China.

Next step... do I get to go to Ireland too?

Down and Out in California

Greetings from California.

I am out here for business, but I have lots of friends out on this coast. Unfortunately, I am holed up in my hotel room trying to get things done. I have work, homework, and NASA Academy work, all which needs to be done ASAP.

I am here until Wednesday night, at which point I am taking the red-eye back to the East Coast to participate in an all-day NASA Academy meeting.

I can't wait until things slow down, so I can breathe and have some fun and relax.

On the 24 February, we have made a commitment to go to our favorite game store, the Family Game Store in Savage Mill, Savage, MD. They have open gaming every Saturday night. Everyone is welcome, drop me a line if you can come, the more the merrier. If you can't... play a game in our honor.

Happy Valentine's Day

Classic John
Originally uploaded by Sci-Fi Laura.

Happy Valentine's Day everyone. This is a picture of my Valentine.... see there are even hearts over his head.

Unfortunately, due to the weather, he is stuck out of town and I am here at home. There is ice everywhere. That is fine, because every day is Valentine's with my sweetie.

This really helps me though. I think I can get all my homework done today and make some progress on the NASA Academy work. Wish me luck.

Poppet and Pins 1

Poppet and Pins 1
Originally uploaded by Sci-Fi Laura.

Life is full of beautiful colorful things, but far too often, they have sharp pointy undersides. If you are not careful, you can find yourself surrounded by color and pain.

This is a picture I took with a poppet. Poppets are created by Lisa Snellings-Clark. Lisa creates them, and then they wander off to explore the world and the universe. They tend to look at things in a slightly different way.

Progress

I've made some progress, but I wasn't able to extinguish that darn torch. I hope I don't go up in flames by the end of the week!

Captured in Stone

Cherub Fountain, originally uploaded by Sci-Fi Laura.

To cheer myself up a bit, I decided to share one of my favorite photos. I find this photo beautiful and spooky all at the same time. I can't decide if the look is one of innocence, questioning, or knowing. The broken neck and weathered face implies worldly experience in one so small.

The picture may be cropped a bit in your viewer, click on it to see the larger version.

Form damaging Function damaging Form

I have been working very hard on juggling quite a few flaming torches recently. I am planning on extinguishing one this weekend, but instead of working on that, I spend the whole day (at least 8 hours) working on something else.

Sorry for the vague description, but those who know, know what I am talking about. Those who don't, the concept is more important than the details.

Time sensitive thing B has become excessively complicated in the last week. It is politically charged and sucking my time away. The problem is that a couple days ago, the process to do B was changed, with out any consultation with the group who will implement B.

The change itself has its positives and negatives. I don't like it, but I don't completely disagree with it. The biggest problem is that the motivation behind the change is being perceived as a lack of trust in the volunteers who do B. The problem is exacerbated by the very short notice and lack of regard for the reaction of aforementioned volunteers.

Because I believe that B is needed, I agreed to help with the notification and convincing of the volunteers. Before I could do that, my words were vetted past several committees (once without my knowledge, agreement or participation) to the point that I questioned signing my name to the final e-mail. I did anyway.

Now, I am questioning if I should have stayed involved. I am stuck defending a decision I don't believe in and words I didn't write. Worst for me, I think that this might have damaged my reputation with this group. At this point, there isn't really a way for me to back out, at least not one that I am comfortable with.

In the last week so many things have been temporarily dropped so I could help out this one group. It is a problem.

Tomorrow... Rather, the rest of today... thing B is definitely going on the back burner. I must finish thing A before Monday.

My MOM has a Blog

I will forgo the personal update, since it is just about how crazy things are right now. Instead, I will point you to the new Blog in the verse, the one created by my Mom.

Kudos to my Mom for her blog, but I have to say I was speechless when I first saw the e-mail. I mean, she is my Mom. She is not tech-phobic, but no expert either. She is not the standard demographic. Way cool to go outside the box, Mom.

So, where is this blog? Right there -> Babka Liz's Blog

Quick Update

Sorry for the lack of updates, but I have been a bit flooded recently. The NASA Academy selection process is well underway, and I am busy coordinating over 50 people across the country along with several other time sensitive projects.

The news on my friend Joe isn't great. Please send him your prayers and good thoughts. He has a very difficult fight ahead of him.

As may be evidenced by the fact that I am talking about my workload, my health has been improving. With the new medicine, my coughing is much better... but it got worse before it got better. Very early Saturday morning I almost ended up in the hospital. We avoided the trip when I finally drifted off to sleep after coughing for about 4 hours incessantly. With all that coughing, I now have a pulled muscles in my sides.

Last night I was having a bit of trouble sleeping so I finished "The Bonesetter's Daughter" by Amy Tan. I really liked it. In some ways, it was two different stories, but weaved together well.

This weekend will be spent getting caught up on all the homework that has been languishing since I have been sick.

Stay warm, and if you are somewhere where there is snow... throw a snowball at someone you love.

Struggles

Today is a rough day.

This morning, my Uncle Edward passed away peacefully. He is now with his dear wife Marge. Rest in Peace Uncle Edward. My deepest sympathies go out to the whole Knasel clan both in the US and England (where he lived).

Currently, my friend Joe Murphy is going into surgery to remove a large malignant tumor from his abdomen. Updates on Joe's progress can be found at the Wingin' It site.

On a personal note, the coughing is really bad and the cold weather is making it worse. My sides hurt. The chest X-Ray came out clear. The doctors now think it may be related to asthma exacerbated by the recent bronchitis (or pneumonia) from earlier in the month... so I get some new meds.