Cheyenne Mountain today

By the time I got the picture the fog/cloud thing was retreating already, but it was very beautiful. It hasn't got to 60 degrees yet today - and I love it! (Click the picture for a bigger view.)

Nova: Kings of Camouflage (Cuttlefish)

Saw this on TV today (although it is a rerun). Cuttlefish are very very cool.



The show is much better than the preview, but it doesn't seem to be be fully online right now. However, the show page has some good clips and information.

Leadville, CO

Today we went up to Leadville. It is the highest incorporated city in the United States at about 10,200 feet. You can feel it - many people will experience a bit of dizziness, light-headedness, tingling fingers/gums etc., at that altitude. The main reason for the 3-hour-each-way-drive-not-including-stops was to see if my great-grandfather (Millard Ernest Allison aka Ernie)'s home/shop up there is still standing. He was a shoe cobbler in Leadville, but also in other places, like Fairplay - he moved around. I think the last time he was in Leadville was in the 60's around the time he died. The place is still standing, but is empty and run down.

So here it is: 108 W 6th St - just off of Harrison Ave. (the main drag) in Leadville. I'm trying to found out the asking price (just curious) and will let you know if I do.



We also went to a few museums up there. The National Mining Hall of Fame and Museum is very nice and worth seeing. It had nice exhibits, stuff for kids, art, a not-overpriced gift shop, etc. My favorite part was a part of the museum that was set up like you were actually in a mine going through the tunnels.




Food (and most other things as well) is expensive and hard to find in Leadville - so if you go, plan to eat elsewhere.

What's Your Sign?

I remember when I learned in school that the zodiac dates are all off, I knew that astrology as it is commonly known had to be a farce. There are 13 actual zodiac signs. Ophiuchus is the 13th. You are said to be born under a sign if on the date of your birth the sun in the sky has that constellation as its direct background (making that constellation invisible, of course, as it is "out" during day, right behind the sun). But when you look at the dates in the newspaper horoscopes, they're all wrong - they were sort of right maybe a few thousand years ago.

The dates are more like this now: http://www.geocities.com/astrologyzodiacs/realsolarzodiac.htm So what's your REAL sign? I'm 'really' a Virgo, but I'm supposedly a Libra. Poor Ophiuchus folks - there isn't even any horoscope for them to read....

unɟ ɹoɟ - spɹɐʍʞɔɐq puɐ uʍop ǝpısdn

ɯʇɥ˙sɹǝʇʇǝןuʍopǝpısdn/ʎɐןd/ɯoɔ˙sǝɹıʍuǝʌǝs˙ʍʍʍ//:dʇʇɥ :ǝɹǝɥ oƃ 'ʎɐןd oʇ ʇuɐʍ noʎ ɟı ˙(ǝʌıʇɔǝdsɹǝd ʎɯ ɯoɹɟ ʇsɐǝן ʇɐ 'ʎןןɐǝɹ pǝʇɐʇoɹ) pǝddıןɟ ʇxǝʇ ɹnoʎ ǝʌɐɥ puɐ ǝdʎʇ uɐɔ noʎ ʍou ¡unɟ sı ʇı ʇı ʎɹʇ - (ǝʇɐɹıd)ɥsıןƃuǝ oʇ sƃuıʇʇǝs ǝƃɐnƃuɐן ʞooqǝɔɐɟ ɹnoʎ ƃuıƃuɐɥɔ ǝʞıן ɟo puıʞ 'sǝʇnuıɯ ʍǝɟ ɐ ɹoɟ noʎ ǝsnɯɐ oʇ ƃuıɥʇǝɯos

Fireworks Video

I have a little Kodak digital camera - it is for still pictures, not video, but it does have a video feature I've never played with before. I didn't even realize it recorded sound as well as image. On the 3rd of July I took some video of us setting off fireworks - this is one of them. My mom is hilarious!

Imam Ali (as) Wiladat Mubarak

The story of his birth.

One suggestion of what someone could do to celebrate: gather up a few bags of groceries from your pantry/freezer/fridge, and post on your local Freecycle.org - feed someone in your neighborhood in need!

Fireworks

Here in Colorado Springs, fireworks are a big deal twice a year.

Here's someone's video of the "other" date: