Geek Habitat

Today’s Twitter.com chatter w/pics from our Sea World trip (more to come; only cameraphone pics are in my Twitter feed) -> http://twitter.com/ageekgal

Those wishing to dive straight to the photos (there aren’t really that many; no Shamu, etc.) can also check the usual place -> my Flickr.com feed

I will post a proper entry about Sara’s first trip to Sea World of Texas, and my first visit there in over 10 years, soon. In the meantime, read my tweets on Twitter.com including the one with the GPS ground track of our 5+ mile walk around the park today. Thanks to Justin’s employer (and my former employer) for hosting a free day for families in his department; we bought season passes at a reduced rate and will return.

Both of these are from Twitter, with thanks to soultravelers3:

Dewitt Jones, a former National Geographic photographer, on why we should “celebrate what’s right in the world.”

And an inspiring travelblogue (travelogue + blog; did that as a typo but leaving it because it fits!) from a couple who retired early and are now traveling the world with their young daughter. They’re presently in Spain on their 20th month of a multi-year trip — http://www.soultravelers3.com/

I’ve found that as my time gets stretched in more directions, it’s far easier to post short (maximum 140 characters) “tweets” on Twitter.com and avoid blogging altogether. I’m not saying it’s a good thing, but it is what it is. I’m making some great contacts, not just professionally but other moms and fellow geek gals or outdoors enthusiasts, folks trying to lose weight, etc. Twitter was even fun on our camping trip, even when Sara and Justin had to leave I had folks tweeting to me that they had enjoyed the camping pics thus far, or that we looked like we were having a terrific time (we were, up until 3 AM!)

Justin and I tent camped a lot when we were dating as well as the first several years of our marriage, before we got busy. Before Sara was born, we resolved that Sara would grow up exposed to camping and the outdoors from the start. So we’ve gradually been easing her into camping, first a cabin “camping” trip to Buescher State Park near Austin, and this weekend, her first tent camping trip to Guadalupe River State Park.

Hug your parents close, if they are still living, or call them just to chat. Got an email: “I’m now an orphan. He passed 20 minutes ago.”

The email was from a friend (Bill) who works with Justin; the friend’s dad just passed away with Parkinsons & Alzheimers, and he lost his mom a couple years ago.

Cities mark Earth Hour today from 8 to 9 PM local time– a single hour of energy conservation.
Sydney, Australia, was among world’s first city to “go dark”:
First cities go dark for Earth Hour - CNN.com

Google’s home page is black to mark the event, today, as well.
Google - Earth Hour

Anyone can do this… turn off all your lights from 8 to 9 PM. Light up some candles — pretend it’s a power outage! — turn on the camp lantern, play some scrabble or Monopoly, look at the stars (if it’s not cloudy) or make up stories about the people that lived where you are, thousands of years ago, etc.