Corinne R. Cooley
Who is she and what is she doing here, anyway? We're all still wondering about that (and about each other). It's all a process of exploration... like science. :) It's been a time of it figuring it out- as much as can be figured out, that is.
Various thoughts upon the subject- day by day-
*Take note that a 'day' in our little escapade did not necessarily comprise of 24 hours, or even a span of morning to evening. Basically it was from whenever I got up to whenever I went back to bed, naps and such things not included. Some days were about eight hours long, and others 23. It works, really, it does.
...the first of us have met now- Thank goodness Holly had her button on (I lost mine :( ) Ewen and Owen both also made it; but not much talk with them yet. Both seem rather shy. (Later note: Owen shy?! Proof that first impressions can be misleading) But then, I can be too- so we'll see. I just envy them being used to high temperatures. I'm going to just wilt, I think. It's hot already. If they'd ever get this plane off the ground that is... gah. I want to get to Albuquerque (alby-quirky!!) already! I'm so sick of planes....
...Started off at the Bradbury Museum- stuff on all that Los Alamos does. More than I thought, really, all fields. Don talked a bit about odds and ends (oh yeah, we got badges first- I need a driver's licencse, for the umpteenth time......!) then a fellow did a slide show- history, etc. Lots I didn't know..... Later, more- CCD camera, Mira, etc. Interesting. Notes make more sense than I would... Lecture by Ed Fenimore- shredding science myths... "Know your field- then comes enlightenment..." "Science is not like a tree, but a maze..." Interesting. Shredded some preconceptions I didn't know I had.
People are getting more comfortable with each other now- more talk, socializing. Neat to see. Rooming with Ewen- she's cute. :) And she showed me a good way to draw anime eyes!
What an insane burst of activity... let's see if I can coherently recall. Things of Tuesdayness I can remember.... The day is eluding me. Oh! Yes, we went to Santa Fe... A Little Chance to look around... everything adobe, neat look- cathedrals, vendors, a quiet bustle- spanish/indian atmosphere. Need to remember my camera next time I'm there- hard to write the look. We went to a planetarium show afterlunch... show was 'The Search for New Worlds'... nearly slept... dark, and comfy chairs :). But I remember her talking about looking for planets... finding them through the 'wobbles' caused to the stars by the planetary mass. Said they had found mostly Jupiter sized planets... and closer than the model they like allows.... the model that would result in our solar system. But when they say then that we might be unque... wouldn't large, close planets have a greater and therefore easier to detect affect? Also, oddly, no numbers on success rates- how many out of how many had these? Don't know... maybe it's wishful thnking... it seems so cold to be alone in this world- one wants to believe. We'll see.
After that... quick dinner... then Ed Fenimore from last night on his passion, Gamma Ray Bursts (GRBs). Notes here... wild stuff.Weird to think they might no longer be happening.... even the universe is mortal...After that, finally, up to Fenton Hill. There's a little trailor, warmth, food, water, etc... computers :):)
This is all on the site of the Hot Dry Rock project- attempt to use earth heat for energy. Nice pond with toxi leftovers nearby... yum. Concrete pad with scopes. Big Celestron in a dome- with computers and Mira. Meade 7" and other (Japanese brand) 10" outside on the pad.... electronic, learned to find stars in them. Touchy. Also! Learned 'arc to Arcturus, spiral to Spika'- summer triangle of Vega, Deneb, and Altaire with Cygnus at the bottom- Cassiopeia between the big dipper and Cygnus, Cepheu above her. Very neat. I've never been good at finding these- but suddenly I'm seeing them, and it's really exciting... I could get this.
The ops building here also, with the scary transient mice... ooh. Don gave a lecture on letescopes, but by the nI was so wiped out that I understood about 15% of it- Cory had to kick me awake (Cathy said later my nodding off was 'cute' :P)... stayed until about 2:30, but we couldn't go to bed yet- 21st was Galen's 50th birthday. :) He lives in White Rock and there is a big white rock in town there.... so of course we had to paint it for him! (ala the Bellingham Rock) Then we made signs after graffiti fun- had Owen and Jake go stealth-ops into Galen's yard- they lived and we made a quick and incoherantly rambling getaway. Sleeeeeeeeeeep....
Oh yeah... stupid G.E.T. testing....
"Curiousity is not a need to know"
"In case of fire, evacuation is encouraged"
Easy test. :P
Day 4- Man on the Moon, a Silver Spiderweb, and How We Nearly Relit The Cerro Grande Fire
21st.... first to talk by Harrison Shmitt.... last man on the moon. Geologist later turned politician.... his actual talk was okay- photos, about moon etc. but we got a private session with him... and it lead quickly into his business idea- mining Helium 3 on the moon.
So much... he wants people to go live there to do it (Helium 3 is fusion fuel)- live there . Stay. Cut the ties to earth, as he said. What a crazy, crazy thought. Would I do it? I want to go out there.... what an adventure. Historical, exciting, never done. But to give up earth... all the beauty, all I haven't done here. Don't know... and it's basically strip mining the moon... seems wrong somehow....
But his 15-20 year estimate seems rather optomistic... I doubt it'll be so. They don't even have a practical scale prototype. So....
But still...
After that we went to Galen's for dinner-tacos :). Lots of instruments... played chess and lost to Steve- oh well. I got cocky. My own fault. No big deal....
Galen's cake and candles had an amusing meltdown.... Galen is neat, and I like his family. Wife in Celtic music.... Andy and Ellie are cute, and his da complimented my piano playing. All in all, it was fun.
Then up to FHO... long night. Got _much_ better with the scopes in the first half- played around, got pretty decent hang of them. Looked at several binary stars.... Then scanned the sky alone... Trying to find Antares. Stumbled over a great silver spiderweb in my search... beautiful tangle of stars. Don identified it as M-4, right by Antares (finally). Got it at last- more yellow than red, but rewarding nonetheless....
Also saw the Milky Way clearly... amazing. I see where the 'backbone of the night' legend comes from. Need to study my star charts....
Random star-hopped a bit... but started to lose energy- restocked on sugar and took a break, but when I went back out lasted only as long as the starbursts I had pilfered. Ended up napping on the concrete pad (in my coat) BAD idea, woke up freezing. Cathy finally told me I should go sleep in the van- but I don't really want to be out for he count. She took me to the trailor and told me to nap half an hour... turns out tere are transient mice in there but oh well. :P Anyhoo- we left when Cathy woke me up- I conked out all the way home... so so tired, and cold.
'Course when we got back, I didn't got to sleep like a smart person would... I had a 'spiritual pringles experience' inhaling Ewen's entire Pringles canister, finshed Ender's Game, and _finally_ went to sleep at 5 AM.
Day 5- You Mean We Get to Rest On This Trip?
Now it's the 22nd. Had a long time to catch up the journal, do webpage, etc. we had a not-so lovely lecture- fellow talking about 'the exploration of mars', he was really into it, but I couldn't muster much thrill... he didn't have enough substance to his talk. Lots of pictures, including the 'happy face crater'.... which was the best part. :/ We got very hung up on the press release about water up there.... intersting subject but we stayed there far too long.
However, as he sneered at the canals seen by folks of old... I saw plenty of what could pass as them in the pictures... Lady also talked after, representative of the Mars Society. Interesting.... all that stuff is exciting. I want to be a part... we'll see. Someday perhaps...
Messed up the darned alarm _again_- oops. At least we sorta woke up in time.... after we decided on Ewen's Wheat Thins for breakfast (nutritious!!), we headed down to go to a tour of the Tsankawi ruins. Lots of pictures- very cool... reds, edges, terrain like I've never seen- drastic and harsh yet beautiful, in a scorched, ragged sort of way. How those folk lived there though... I actually found some pottery shards in the midden (not hard). Obsidian... saw a cactus, with a flower. Desert rose makes much more sense now.... Cacti are strange things. Like some people. Prickly on the outside, but with something more under the spines. Galen says they are related to roses....
Saw glyphs as well- men with *cough* _feathers_ on their heads, spirals, crosses... path was very worn into the rock in places, tall as we were- then there were the caves- some quite large.
Lunch at the LANL cafeteria. Nhammy. :)
Then for Galen's talk. Wow. Started off iffy- galaxies, comparing ours to others, and so on. But then into what really gets my blood burning... the origins of it all. Big bang, and such.... what it's about, what's weird in it, what's wrong with it. I love it... it makes glorious nonsense. A puzzle... a space where the rules we play by break down. What happened? Is there all a logical explanation? Or will we always be stuck? Extra dimensions, relativity, nothing to something... I don't know. But it piques me. Perhaps, if there is a god, that is when he created things... a strange and wonderful world, a creation with it's own beautiful logic. Where, then, is he, as we expand faster and faster, charging at but never overtaking the brink of infinity? Will we someday be left an utterly random, empty universe.... expanding forever... or does some other fate await us? One cannot but wonder...
FHO later, but first was ROTSE, which was somewhat nifty- the robitic telescope. Two fellows came and gave a talk first- some GRB stuff we already knew, and then how we had seen a GRB and it's optical afterglow (mostly lucky!)- sky patrols the rest of the time.. ROTSE I and II.... Then we drove out there to see them (past lovely piles of radioactive cement blocks). We all got to do some stuff with ROTSE, though it was misbehaving. Eventually got an image, with flat and dark applied... fun. :)
THEN FHO- we got up later and Ewen and I had a terrible time aligning the Meade- about four tries. :( And right when we did then the Moon came up! Argh! Looked at the first fifteen Messiers... then broke. After a bit I came back and did some easy cruising with the star catalogues... a bit with the Celestron- and then a look at Jupiter. Then we headed down. Not too tired this time, but after Ewen and I did laundry I _did_ crash. WHEE, 23 hours without sleep!! O celebration.
Day 7- Spontaneous Acts of Beauty; or, We Like Music; or, Pretty Noise (and Contact)
Happy sleep 'till later- Don's lecture wasn't until 2- radio astronomy. Then to Galen's! Swimming (fun fun fun!) and water basketball- then back, food, fun badminton. :) Then the coolest thing- improv music. Cathy and Susan (Galen's wife) started- it grew from there. I was keyboard and then the gorgeous pedal harp of Galen's- Piu Jesu and all sorts of things. A very cool experience.
Contact after that- very good movie... lovely evening. Mercifully brief day after yesterday's marathon :)
Day 8- Frijoles Canyon- 'It's _green!_' and 'Don't eat us!'- Picnics, and LINEAR
Went to Bandelier, Frijoles Canyon and whatnot... actual green! And actual running water too, though the Frijoles 'River' doesn't beat out Silver Creek for size. (better than the Sante Fe river with no water at _all_) We all saw a (semi-goofy) film on the area, then on to the trail. The others mostly rushed ahead but Cathy and Donna and I ended up staying with the ranger. Passed big Kiva (very big) and such... Tyounyi (choo oh ni) ruins, this huge round pueblo village/apartment complex. Around there met up with Cathy's boss for her image analysis gig- nice guy, Aussie. :) Fun, sounded ike Cathy had mentioned me before.
Went up along the cliff dwellings- this is where the Anasazi lived. Climbing into the caves... neat experience. Sad to see how people have graffitied the black (plaster or smoke?) roofs. People have no respect....
We ended up at the ceremonial cave... Nice long climb up, and I smartly forgot a) New Mexico air is much thinner than ours and b) it's much drier, too. Fun :/ but Cathy lent me water when I ran out, so, it was all good. Great outlook, and a ladder went down into the nice cool cave a bit. Picture fun. :)
Back down- through happy woods (Cathy described it as 'woods-elfy') and since we both like our lovely trees... heh. Her boss said he was afraid we'd both go skipping off. He was nice... lots of good talk.
After that, and avoiding a rather annoyed mother bear (rangers screaming at her treed and probably very upset cubs), we all headed back, and went up to FHO for a picnic (Donna somehow thought that meant eating in the Ops Center, but we overruled _that_) and then observing. Got good double star seeing measures- through first 21 Messiers, then into the dome. There we took pictures- Daryl was doing the Triffid when we came in (M20) and then Jim took over. Then we (Ewen and Steve there as well) tried for the comet- but first Jim wanted a big star to practice joysticking with. And when we went to Deneb's coordinates- what shows up but this freaky blur! Comet like or something.... we tried to center it... got another shot, it was still there.... we didn't know if it was glare from Deneb, but then we came back again.... and it was gone. Weird... what was it?
Anyhow, onto comet... when 'it' was gone, found the comet, took some neat shots. I did lots of buttoning during it. Eventually.... a good time. :)
Day 9- Tired (*gasp* brevity!)
Not much to say. Lectures. Made phone calls. Slept.
Day 10- Video Didn't Get These Radio Stars, (perhaps puns ARE the lowest form of humor) and MILAGRO
We were supposed to go on a geology tour, but our lady became ill (hospital ill!! :( ) so we ditched that and went up to FHO to do radio stuff. We did some background monitoring (band 150.05-151.05) and found not much until the rain forced us inside- after it stopped, back out. Little antenna had to be diagnosed, big one had to be raised (Iwojima style) and phased array marked off (pole bending and snakes)
MILAGRO tour- nice fellow lead us. Big pond (very big...) to catch X-ray showers. Under funded (hmm- seems common enough :( ) but functional. Cherenkov (spelling?) radiation, photo tubes, divers... all interesting (though the work sounds awful)
Then back for another lecture- Lodestar. More interesting ideas, though business isn't so much my thing.
Note on coming back from FHO- fire damage. Its very bad in places.... so much lost. Looks like the fringes of hell came through...
Day 11- Pretty Blasted Huge Array, Indeed
VLA!
Up early for aeons of driving and reading... that was good at least. :) The VLA itself... very very VERY cool (in sophisticated terms.) Excellent tour by a nice enough fellow. First showed a dish in for repair- aiya! 235 tons, and _very_ high! We toured/crawled all over the thing... power was iffy, due to storms (how exciting) but still.... rotates laterally and vertically, 40 degrees a minute- pretty good. Got to climb all the way up on the dish- so _high!_ Fun. :)
Then Egyptian Ratscrew and Yuckers (Ewen, Cathy, and JW)waiting for the other group, followed by a run through the control areas- all sorts of electronics. They need to get fiber to replace the wave conduits though.... but... budget! :P Even so- I almost want any idea so I could write a proposal to use it :) Neat gig. Lots of electronics. Summer interships! There _are_ opportunities...
I don't know if radio astronomy is my 'thing' or not, but there are so many possibilities. I just wish all beaurucrats could be done away with (in body bags?)
Much Contact mentioning- unrealistic elements :) but it's still a good movie....
VLA... possibilities!
Long ride home, but the amusement factor was highly increased by Owen tying the napping JW to his seat with string :) (a lengthy and very delicate procedure.) Heh. Dinner at Socorro- it's nice to see Cathy again. We'll have to go back to the funky bookstore there someday. :)
Sleep :)
Day 12- Overlook; "Neutrinos, neutrinos..." The Sky is Alive, with the... nevermind
...and more sleep. Ewen and I seem o have issues with snooze buttons... Went down somewhat early for a picnic at the overlook. Beautiful, in a desolate way- like much of this state. You can climb a good way out on the rocks, and forever goes the mountains and the narly scrub, with the Rio Grande a sluggish ribbon of sparkling brown, threading through it all. The feeling of wind- it must be one of my favorites. Seems like you could catch a breeze and fly away.
After clambering around a bit, it was back to the people and meet the elusive Todd Haines.
Nice guy- seemed nifty. Nice picnic... back for Todd's lecture on neutrinos. Interesting, WEIRD stuff... neutrinos... muons, taus, eee.... lepton family... oscillations... the notes speak best.
After this some time to work for our Friday presentation- meep, as Adam would say. Doesn't scare me too much, but there's a bit of edge. :P We're going to be weird...gamma ray boy... big bang... Christine and her little ditties...
Living Sky lecture- astroarchaelogy. Some seems a bit of a stretch, but lots makes sense. Notes. Intriguing talk. Wonder how our descendants will analyze us.
Presentation tomorrow- and Shakespeare!
Started with an interesting breakfast talk with Christine, Holly, and Ewen. Christine says if she learned one thing, it was that science and religion could go together. Which I thought was wonderful.... though now she's ready to go back and scientifically argue against the big bang. :) Initially a disconcerting thought, but y'know, it's her right to know, and use it! And in the end, isn't it best to let everyone look at all the evidence, at their own beliefs, and strike the balance for themselves? It's something we can really only come to grips with in ourselves. Kind of gives a new slant to the debate back home. Eey-opening little train of thought. We can't say the theory is perfect, after all. :) I just pity her physics teacher... Heheh. Go get him, Christine. :)
After that, we finished our preparations (and heard some of Ewen's cool anime music!! Must get!) and went to the moon room to perform (as it were.) Christine began with her lovely song- they were scattered throughout (and marvelously funny :) ). I can see her a Christian singer some day... She has real talent, and Holly sang lovely harmony, with JW on percussion. :) Then the interactive big bang re-enactment and radio astronomy..... gamma ray boy behind! (gutsy Owen- I can't believe I thought he was shy at first!) CCD... binaries (whoo!) and Messiers, last the comet, and an AWESOME song from Christine once more, the end of the universe, and success!
After this, Sante Fe. Only one hour to shop, ACK! Lots of cool flowy clothes- got this spiffy outfit at least, very pretty... Cathy and Donna and I shopped until the last second.
Then to Shakespeare, garbed anew. Wonderful Ren Faire ambiance. Wandering musicians while we ate on the grass. Cathy longs for lib-artsyness, oi I do too.... I wish it was practical.
After dinner on the grass,down to claim our seats- but it's cool, these folks allow free seating on the grass. Let everyone see the bard!
'Measure for Measure' was the show- outdoor theatre is amazing. Great set- 2 levels and very impressive looking great acting- Vincentio (wuss though he was as a character), Angelo (though you HATE the guy!), Isabella (though a little snot), Lucio (heheheheh) and so on... very good. Fun deal, and very enjoyable. And when the lightning and thunder came up on the hills as Isabella condemned Angelo, and leaves whispering the softest and most melancholy of rustles as she turns down the Duke's suit.... oooh. _Shivers._ Very well done. And I liked how they ended it, with her declining and then leaving the convent as well....
Lovely day. Hard to believe this is almost over, though....
Day 14- Whiskey Five Papa Delta Oscar; Last Night Out
Special event radio station today- but first, _Don's_ special event, the 40th birthday of his 1960 T-Bird. :) We had cupcakes and celebrated for it, though we had to jumpstart the thing to get on our way. That done, we headed to FHO for the last time... (how _strange..._) for the radio station. Pretty fun- lots of contacts, mostly from the east. We were W5PDO- I scribed for a while. Also signed the cards...
It was all pretty good. Don's QSL card collection is amazing- all over the world.
Drove away (again... last time... sad!) and went down to go rollerblading, which was enjoyable. I got better at going backwards :) and going low under poles... whoo. Then all of us to the Blue Window Bistro, for a last (yummy!) dinner together. Sat with Galen, his wife, father, Cathy, and JW. Nice... nostalgic...
Late talking, out until 11. Then Ewen and I kept on about all sorts of things in our room... somewhat hazy talk, but kinda neat. Ahh... last night to talk in our own semi-coherant way. It is sad. Home tomorrow...
Well, here I am. Homeward bound. What a trip... in numerous senses of the word.
Up early this morning- checking out and saying farewell to the happy hotel room (and the sacred Pringles canister!!). Off to a last breakfast together in Sante Fe- as one of our meals, this one was rather subdued, as we signed journals... a last creamer construction, but...
On to Albequerque- the ride there, we sang. First, just Owen doing Mr. Roboto for Ewen's tape (finally :) ), then Blink 182, but then Queen came on the radio... we all ended up singing 'We Are the Champions' together (after a rousing 'We Will Rock You') :) *sigh*.....
Airport. Checking in and getting to the gate, then the first set of goodbyes. Steve, Jake, Christine and JW... :( and Cathy too... and our scientists, lovely lovely people!! Donna, Ellie... everybody but us four west coasters. Then to Phoenix. Owen and I were together... and we actually talked some, really for the first time. Which was good. Maybe we'll end up back there again.
At Phoenix, Holly, Ewen, and Owen came with me to my gate- waited with me and then said goodbye... Holly started the hugs, and all followed. So hard to believe it has been just two weeks since I first saw Holly cross-legged on the terminal floor, reading her briefing, and first shyly sighted Ewen and Owen.... first thought Owen was SHY- first everything, and now last everything. So quickly.
So here I sit amongst strangers again, and I can see the faces that are flying away, out from our common place, and back to our lives.