Blog
The new Aston Labs site just went live. It of course uses Drupal. I’m really starting to get comfortable with the system, and I’m excited to see what I can do with it in the future. For anyone curious, here’s my personal page.
I know I’ve been on a video kick lately, but this was too cool not to post…
This is a video of Ruby’s nightly bedtime routine. I’m going to try to post videos from time to time now that I know an efficient way. Sorry to those with slow connections.
She loves her mobile.
Usually, this is Mike’s deal, and he enjoys congratulating his family on the blog. Since he is away this week, I thought I’d fill in for him. I know he’d be doing this, if he had access.
Blessings and wishes for another great year to you guys. We love you very much, and we count it all joy to have you in our lives.
I hope the rest of your week continues to be a celebration! Happy Anniversary!
- If you paid attention to Mike’s last post, you read a phrase that said something to the tune of “leaving Ruby and Lindsay for five days.” Yep…Cranky Baby and I are on our OWN. Lord, help me. We’ve done alright this afternoon and tonight. Unfortunately, I’m pretty sure that we’ve got a sewer problem. Yep…wouldn’t you know that would happen right after Mike leaves?? So. I’ll be calling a plumber or someone like Roto-Rooter to come out tomorrow. Ruby has her four-month pediatrician’s appointment tomorrow. We’ll let you know how it goes! ( :
- This week I will be attending the annual meeting of the American Society of Mass Spectrometry. It’s a huge event that is luckily in Indianapolis this year. I don’t enjoy leaving Ruby and Lindsay for five days, but I think that it will be a valuable learning/connecting experience for me. On Wednesday Wen-Ping and I are presenting a poster (not a big deal…there’s literally hundreds of people doing the same thing). If anyone is curious, this is what it’s about.
- I’ve seen two cool new technologies in the last 24 hours…just thought I’d share: Microsoft Surface: As much as they get ripped on for not being as cool as Apple, I think this is pretty stinkin’ sweet. It’s basically a really huge touch screen that can be used as tabletops at home, restaurants, kiosks, etc. The site has some pretty cool videos. I’ll be interested to see how popular this becomes and how quickly it can be mainstreamed. Google Maps Street View: If you’ve never used Google Maps or Google Earth, you’re missing out. They’re pretty cool and useful. Yesterday Google Maps got even cooler by adding a “street view” to their maps. With this feature you can actually see what street corners, intersections, etc. look like from the ground (at least in five major cities). Hopefully they can broaden this feature to many more cities in the future. If you want to see it in action go to maps.google.com; then go to New York, NY. Then click “Street View” in the top right corner of the map. You’ll have to zoom in, but there will be a little stick figure that you can drag around. Depending where you drag him and what direction he’s facing you will get actual ground images of the location he’s at….pretty cool!
I’ve really been trying to learn how to use the open source 3d animation program Blender for use at our church (Elston Family Church). Here’s my latest creation. I wanted it to be a short, simple video that starts and stops with all black slides so that it can be a little intro/outro video for anything we need at church. I think it’s pretty cool.
The last few weeks have been pretty uneventful for us, relative to the last few months. Ruby is now almost four months old; it’s amazing how fast time goes by. I included a picture above (you can find many more in our photo galleries). Lindsay had her first mother’s day a few weeks back, and I really dropped the ball on it. I’ve tried to make it up to her, but I guess I’ll have to try harder next year (and on birthdays, anniversaries, etc.). My work is going well. Wen-Ping, the guy I’ve been working with, is actually headed back to Taiwan for a faculty position. He’s been here about a year, and we’ve made really good progress in building our “soft landing” instrument (which I may post more about at a later date). Even thought he’s leaving, I believe that another post-doc is coming to help me out with completing our instrument. I’m also done with classes now, but I have a big obstacle coming in the very late fall…my OP. This is a huge project that takes months of preparation and tons of reading. I think that I’ll do fine, but I’m still a little nervous about it. It will definitely better prepare me for the pressures that will come with a doctoral position later in life.
Now, more day-to-day things. Last weekend we went to Indianapolis to visit my family. It was nice to see them all. I led worship at Sunnyside Road that night; they’re trying to incorporate some more modern songs in, and Dad thought it would be nice for me to come lead….pastor John seemed to really appreciate it. This Friday and Saturday we babysat Emma and Avry Townsend from church. They were excellent, although it stretched our house to its limits ( : This weekend we went to Terre Haute to visit with the Burkes for Memorial Day. We had a cookout or two, and everyone of course fawned over Ruby ( : Ruby’s been sleeping better at night, but had a few setbacks the last few days. Hopefully she’ll get back on the ball soon for mommy!
Next week I will be in Indianapolis almost all week. The American Society of Mass Spectrometry is having its annual meeting at the Convention Center, and I will be attending. It’s my first time to go, and I don’t want to leave my family for that long. However, it’s something that will be a valuable experience for me in the future. There’s a IMSA meeting on Tuesday night where many Indiana business owners will be; this should be a great opportunity to get to know some future employers.
That’s all for now. I just wanted you to all know that we haven’t given up on the blog…we’ve just been extremely busy with the baby and all.
Do you like us? Well? Do ya? Do ya?
Love Mercy
Random Photo
