Guess that depression wasn't as "lifted" as I thought. Haven't felt like writing lately — or much of anything else. But some great things have come along that raise my spirits, depression or not.

Here are some of the things that have been helping me climb my way out of a deep, dark hole:

Nurse Jackie

Came across this when cruising NetFlix. Remember reading good things about it several years ago, plus the subject matter—nurses—is a favorite, so I checked it out. Wow! Hooked after episode 2. Stars Edie Falco (of Sopranos fame) and has 80 episodes!

I think I've always had an attraction to nurses. My best friends are nurses—except the husband of my best friend later became my BFF. (They are the couple in Arizona to whom I refer so often. My friend KM has the skills of Nurse Jackie but the bubbly personality of Nurse Zoe.) Somebody else suggested that my positive feelings toward nurses was due to their overall nature. For the most part I find nurses are smart, compassionate, kind, caring, knowledgable, have a sense of humor and are efficient. What's not to like? Not all traits are found in all nurses of course but I consider my generalizations pretty accurate. (The nature of their work pretty much demands those qualities.)

Fascinating

Incredible article in the February issue of National Geographic magazine titled: Seeing The Light by Ed Yong. Well written feature about eyes. Really fascinating material examining the history, structure, evolution of and use of said organs. Schools should use this article in appropriate classes. I think everybody should read it. (If some sections—like the discussion of the significance of opsin proteins—get a little complex or boring, just skip them.) The pictures illustrating the article are as informative as the text. I particularly like it when they show how a human sees something compared to various animals.

One itsy, bitsy item from the whole article, a photo caption, in fact: The mantis shrimp has a bewildering abundance of color receptors—twelve to our three. The eyes also move and perceive depth independently of each other, and can see infrared and ultraviolet light. Think about that. Two eyes, each perceiving depth (we use both our eyes to perceive depth) on its own and it can look in two different directions simultaneously: straight ahead, and whatever is above, for instance. PLUS ... one eye can be looking out for those bodily fluid stains all over the CSI programs; the other could be looking in the dark for the heat output of prey or predator. Pretty handy eyes, I'd say. Anyway, page after page of such information. If you can, read it. (Maybe there's a way of finding it on the Net.)

Texas Again

As I've mentioned in the past, I've admired Texas since childhood. From the Westerns of my youth to my drive-throughs (only through the section that pokes up into Oklahoma) I've respected the way they thrive in inhospitable terrain. I'm in awe of the size. Hundreds of miles of sheer "straightness."

But I've had the feeling of late that something has changed in that great state. I've mentioned in the past my distain for many of its politicians (Cruz, Gomert, the governor, attorney general). I think I've also mentioned my concern for the type of policing Texas exhibits as well. I hate that it now has so much influence in what non-Texan children find in their school books. The state and its elected officials often allow the influence of religion in what should be secular/citizen concerns.

Anyway, today it's a report called America's Preparedness Report Card (statesatrisk.org). Poor Texas, 49th of our 50 states. (Arkansas is last.) In effect, no precautionary steps being taken relative to the climate threats it is expected to face. You don't have to believe in climate change to recognize ongoing catastrophe like the drought its been experiencing. No groups to forecast into the future, no concrete building effort to counteract adverse conditions. Plenty of jobs to be had and put to good use.

Sticky Notes

Thought I’d scour my Sticky Notes to see what I’ve been hanging onto for future consideration. So here they are (in no particular order).

Gun Deaths

As of January 6 of this year, there have already been 157 deaths by gun violence –10 of them children under the age of 11 — in the U.S. By the time you read this, that number will have grown.

Extreme Weather Wiped Out a Tenth of the World's Cereal Production

By Michael Casey

January 7, 2016 | 2:55 pm

The fragile state of the world's food supplies has become increasingly apparent in recent years, as extreme weather events have been linked to spikes in commodity prices and food riots, bringing into sharp focus the threat of climate change. Now, researchers say they have a much better quantitative understanding of the role of extreme weather in disruptions in food supply — and their conclusions are raising eyebrows. Looking at cereals such as wheat, rice, maize, and barley between 1964 and 2007, researchers from the University of British Columbia (UBC), University of Sussex, and McGill University found that droughts and heat waves reduced global production up to 10 percent. In contrast, the researchers found little or no impact on production from either cold weather spells or floods. The worst effects of these weather disasters were in the developed world with the hardest hit regions in Australia, North America, and Europe. Production levels in North America, Europe, and the islands of Australia, New Zealand, and New Guinea dropped by an average of 19.9 percent because of droughts — roughly double the global average. "We have always known that extreme weather causes crop production losses," said UBC's Navin Ramankutty. "But until now we did not know exactly how much global production was lost to such extreme weather events, and how they varied by different regions of the world.

Overfishing causing global catches to fall three times faster than estimated

(From The Guardian in England) Landmark new study that includes small-scale, subsistence and illegal fishing shows a strong decline in catches as more fisheries are exhausted. Global fish catches are falling three times faster than official UN figures suggest, according to a landmark new study, with overfishing to blame. Seafood is the critical source of protein for more than 2.5 billion people, but over-exploitation is cutting the catch by more than 1m tonnes a year.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Things are changing rapidly and it’s going to get ugly. I’m thinking it’s already started.

Not Sure Where This Is From

All religions are nothing more than man-made contrivances of domination and submission, exploited by humans for mundane ends, and accoutered with sundry superstitious rituals meant to ensure tribal loyalty and generate animosity toward outsiders.

Had a particularly good day today. Got to have lunch with daughter and ex (whose birthday is tomorrow). After spending an enjoyable afternoon of food and mental time travel, I came home to find that SpaceX failed for a second (third?) time to land a returning rocket on a large floating barge. That they can do this at all is near miraculous.

There's a fascinating article by Geoffrey Mohan in the Los Angeles Times that chronicles SpaceX's experiences with landings at sea.

Here's a great sentence from that story: "The full round trip has been compared to vaulting a pencil over the Empire State building, then getting it to come back and land on its eraser atop a floating target smaller than a shoe box, and not tip over."
Boom!!!!!
There goes my head. 
Ready for another? That damn pencil is 14 stories tall!!! (I tried to find out weight but gave up. It's gotta be humungous.)

I asked the guys in Meland who like this stuff what they thought. This is what they returned:

Make surface area of landing platform larger to stabilize. Construct three, vertical structures capable of generating large, powerful, individual  magnetic fields. The weight of said structures should also help stabilize floating platform. Object becomes to land returning rocket into the magnetic well which is much larger than the end of a narrow rocket. As rocket descends to platform, magnets exert equal force and dampen vertical instability. (Being able to vary the strength of each field would be even cooler.) Big magnets, like at CERN.

(I'm pretty sure Elon Musk thinks at levels dwarfing my poor guys so we recognize the arrogance of even piping in on an unknown blog.)

I so want these guys to succeed. There's a shit storm brewing and I truly believe having the ability to get off this planet is a good thing. Even if we screw up everything we touch as a species, there's SO MUCH ROOM! We better learn how to master that space if we are to thrive. 

Go Team, Go!

The Music of the Spheres was particularly sharp today.

After taking care of my Saturday morning chores, I ran out to my Ex's store where my daughter also works. I try to drop in every Saturday to say hi and drop off magazines I've collected through the week. I also try to bring some kind of "treat" if I can. Today it was an assortment of chocolates for KL. I had some fancy Bridgewaters, a couple of Godivas, and a small sample bar of Vosges.

The Bridgewater candy came from my sister-in-law and the Godiva I picked up at the Godiva store in a mall. The sample bar of Vosges was one of 12 that came in a sampler pack of the chocolatier's offerings. (Larger, full versions of these bars are around $7.50 each.) I had gotten the stack of bars from my BFFs out in Arizona for Christmas, and, being mostly dark chocolate, were spectacular. (A couple of flavors, for instance: Dark Chocolate Bacon; Coconut Caramel with Tart Cherry.) 

The bar I gave KL was one of the caramel types (maybe Pink Himalayan Crystal Salt Caramel Bar). Anyway, I had given her the chocolates, went outside to go back to  my car, and returned.

I got back and daughter KL steps up and says, "Dude! Do you know what that bar on top was, a Vosges, candy crack!" I explained that I had already had several flavors. She smiled and said, "My favorite is a strange flavor ... "

We then shouted out simultaneously, "Coconut Ash & Banana!" At an exact moment, an exact candy! And a most unusual one at that: Sri Lankan coconut charcoal ash, Hawaiian banana, super dark chocolate. How the hell does that particular combination of ingredients come into someone's mind?

At this moment, however, all I can say is that it was my favorite of all I surveyed. I can't say specifically why. I remember that every bite was a surprise. Each bite brought a new complexity to the overall impact. I will have to get one of the larger bars to remember exactly.

Good day today because it was so common. Ran a few errands, cleaned the house, paid bills.

Cooked chicken for Buddy Tip Toe and discovered that he loved it! Might be just that it's a change f rom the usual canned variety but no matter. One more thing he likes. I think I'm going to try hamburger too.

I've been conscientiously trying to avoid spending too much time on news sites. In early afternoon I played with the Arduino again. This time I learned to make a small motor turn on and off. The components are often very small and I'm having trouble reading part identifiers, for instance, to say nothing of the microscopic manual. I purchased a headband magnifiers with dual lenses, a loop lens and adjustable LED lamp. Sure made completing the circuit easier.

But I also checked out the news. Can't help it. I'm an info junkie.

From that fast scan earlier what remains in my head includes:

Terrific. Another heavily armed group (some Pacific Northwest Militia) showed up at the bird sanctuary in Oregon. The first group (the original Bundy crowd) doesn't want the second group there or involved. So now the second group is staying off the actual sanctuary but is surrounding the first group and providing "security." Can't see how this doesn't get more interesting.

Meanwhile, I got the latest issues of Science News Magazine and Food Network magazine.

I was rubbing Buddy the cat's belly when I first became aware of a faint murmur.

Aside:  Turns out that Buddy had a name before coming to me with the name Kitty. I found out that the little girl who first had Buddy called him Tip Toe. She's not little anymore and off away at college which it seems is why I wound up with Buddy. Buddy seems to respond to his new name. He comes when called, for instance. But I like his first name so his official name will now be Buddy Tip Toe.

I heard what? Disjointed voices? Talking between whisperers? I muted the TV and could still hear faint talking?

For a moment, I even had the bizarre idea that perhaps I was beginning to experience the onset of schizophrenia.

It wasn't until I decided to call it a day that I discovered what was going on. It was iTunes playing music with the sound turned almost off. When the iTunes window opened, it was smaller than my viewing window so I didn't realize it was there. Buddy Tip Toe must have stepped on the right key when he walked around on my keyboard.

It's late. I'm tired.

Long Day 1

Woke at 3 a.m. after going to bed at 9:30 p.m. Arose at 4 and came downstairs to face a new year.

Turned out to be an excellent start to the new year. The excellence of the day stems from a couple of what would be considered minor events by most. The first thing was the result of playing with the Arduino pretty much all day; the second was the discovery of a previously unknown molecule floating in space.

Of the two, the second is by far the more important, so here is a small piece of an article written by Clara Moskowitz of Scientific American then republished by Salon on the Net: Astrochemists have discovered compounds in the cosmos that cannot exist on Earth.

"Many of the molecules lurking in stars and nebulae are foreign in the extreme. To ask what they would look or feel like if you could hold them in your hand is nonsensical, because you could never hold them—they would react immediately. If you did manage to make contact with them, they would almost certainly prove toxic and carcinogenic. Oddly, however, scientists have a rough idea of what some alien molecules would smell like: Many detected so far belong to a class of compounds called aromatics, which are derived from benzene (C6H6) and were originally named for their strong odors.

CREDIT: ESO/APEX (MPIFR/ESO/OSO)/A. HACAR ET AL./
DIGITIZED SKY SURVEY 2. ACKNOWLEDGMENT: DAVIDE DE MARTIN

Some new compounds reveal surprising atomic structures and share charge between atoms in unforeseen ways. Sometimes they challenge current theories of molecular bonding. A recent example is the molecule SiCSi, discovered in 2015 in a dying star, which is made of two silicon atoms and one carbon atom that are bonded in an unexpected way. The resulting molecule is somewhat floppy and produces a spectrum different from what simple theoretical models predict."

The thing that excites me most is that people have just really started looking for the molecules floating around in deep space. Now that we're developing telescopes capable of analyzing the spectra they see, scientists will start taking an inventory of molecular gases drifting in the emptiness. (Head scientist at Meland is already theorizing that scientists will find we (the whole planet) are embedded in a virtual sea of molecules aggregated into vast pockets.) PLUS, finding molecules whose bonding has been previously unknown make us re-question our understanding of molecular physics. Double Plus: ANY definitive findings advances what man knows about his universe. New paths lead to new places. 

I, Robot

I am discovering how much fun it is playing with the electronic circuit board. The first project is considered simple: make an LED light blink. I am amazed to find how much one has to know in order to do that basic feat: physical items like microprocessors, circuits, electronic components like LEDs and resistors, transistors, diodes, breadboards, cabling, etc.  There is also the software aspects of using this kit which enables you to program the microprocessor with instructions. In the very first experiment you have to learn how to build a circuit that supports a working LED (meaning it can light), then learn what one has to do to program the processor to make the LED blink at your command.

The first project took a while to accomplish given the stuff I had to learn. Working on my behalf was a knowledge of programming in the very language the Arduino understands. I've had experience programming in C++ for years—but it has been many since I last used it. The language is coming back pretty fast thanks to my previous exposure. Still, it took a long while to use the tiny physical components to actually build a working electronic circuit. Then program it on the laptop, then pass it to the circuit board, then get it to work. I was perhaps childish in my glee when I got it to work and mastered the ability to make it flicker at my command.

Today I disassembled Experiment 1 and moved on to Project Two: make a row of LEDs blink in sequence. This is scaling up the last project by five times circuit-wise and programming a lot more sophisticated routine to accomplish the requirement. It took hours to assemble the circuit because of small parts, big fingers and bad eyes. Then I typed in a program to make a line of LEDs blink back and forth in sequence—giving a rippling effect in the process—from one of the books I'm using to learn. Compiled the program, uploaded it to the Arduino. Couldn't believe my eyes; it worked the very first time! But the rate of light blink seemed slow so I altered the program and made the lights go faster. When my lighting effect reminded me of the lights on that Kitt car in that cheesy 1982 TV show Knight Rider, I quit tinkering with the timing of the program.

Sitting back to admire my success, I noticed that something about the rippling LEDs wasn't right. It took a minute to realize that the discontinuity was due to the starting LED blinking twice—once as the start of one sequence, a second time as the last light of the returning sequence—instead of the once that would make the ripple seamless. (This where knowing C really came to help.) After reviewing the program in its current state, I  modified one of the parameters of the second "for loop," compiled, uploaded and ... BANG! First time!!

All my programming experience in the past has involved the manipulation of data: sometimes pure numbers, sometimes conceptual "things"; sometimes spreadsheets, other times databases of inventory or student population. What intrigues me most about this small computer board is that this is the first time I have completely controlled a physical machine and what it does (in a far more involved way than printing or scanning something). Looks as though this will be a lot of fun. There is all kinds of stuff ahead like buttons, and motors, and other cool stuff.

"So what?" you may demand. "Why the hell should I care that you are learning this Arduino thing? Why would anyone care?"

I will tell you why: because just these two small experiments illustrate in the most profound way the level to which our civilization has advanced. We can take electronic components invented by man (transistors, resistors, wire, etc.), and assemble them into a "kit" that allows us to construct working "machines" that bend fundamental forces of nature to our wills. This just-recently-magical ability is passed on to me from the knowledge of hundreds of people through hundreds of years, from fire to electrical energy. And yet experts can now explain the whole process of mastery to an everyday dude so well that LEDs ripple still on my desk; little green light running back and forth. (Show yourself electricity. Do what I tell you.)