-
Voyager 1
If there is one bit of engineering that continues to inspire wonder in me, it is this. Just the very thought of this solitary human-made probe hurtling through space farther and farther away for over 46 years now, 15 billion miles and counting. The James Webb, Hubble and other space telescopes have their own place…
-
federal lab commuter
After a nearly 2.5 year delay, I’ve made it to the lab. The one of nuclear lore, the one of the overly hyped movie. The desert expands in all directions, my first time in a regional airport in this country. A refreshing change from the usual circus of an airport – you exit a small…
-
barber
Some environments are uniquely the same, no matter where. I’ve been to the barber across three continents now, from Boston to Bangalore, and Kiruna to Kathmandu. Everywhere, an hour for relaxed chatter that one doesn’t have often in other settings. In denser, diverse neighbourhoods, a glimpse of distinct slices of life being lived through the…
-
biriyani
something of a canon kitchen event recently. Probably the third time in the culinary life that I’ve leveled up.
-
strings
We now have a growing set of instruments at home, accumulated over the past year or two. The veena is in disrepair, and needs an expert’s touch. A cheap rundown acoustic bought off someone at a coffee shop, a Gretsch I’d coveted for a while, and L’s old untouched solid top spruce that she brought…
-
spring anew
Back to an empty campus. End of year vacation is prime time for construction work – roads are blocked and landscaping vehicles abound. Enjoying the last of an empty library, before mayhem commences next week. With apologies to all the profs at the receiving end of my “syllabus please?” emails in this new year.
-
marsh trails
Finished up that major climate conference earlier in December and hung back to spend the rest of the year with the in-laws and friends. A slower lifestyle after a ruckus of a week in downtown San Francisco. Coming here has become something of a routine since I’ve moved to this country a bit over 2…
-
a lesson
In academia, you will always be behind. There’s always something else you could work on. So choose to be behind with a life outside of work and good sleep, rather than behind and miserable. from the interwebs
-
early sunsets
Coming alive like nothing else in the winter, through a week of cold weather and high winds. I look forward to this nearly every winter – the hustle of the city slows down, there are fewer people on the streets, the park is emptier, the leaves have touched the ground, the festive lights for year’s…
-
ebbs and flows
I can still sense the energy crackling from the field season, now nearly a dozen weeks since. Like the beginnings of something new, a brief glimpse into what the future could hold. This past summer was surreal – what do you call an experience where you work on nearly a dozen glaciers within the span…