Scholar's Retreat 365

Rally to Restore Sanity

Run to the beat — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 04:45:46 +0000

On October 30 I spent a lovely fall day in Washington DC with a large number of reasonable people at the Rally to Restore Sanity (and/or Fear). The spirit of the event is best captured in the variety of signs that broadly but (usually) gently and subtly mocked the fearmongers in the news and the fire-breathing partisans left and right.

Oh, yes, and the Stewart-directed programming. In a word, fun! Yusuf and Ozzy (Peace Train/Crazy Train: awesome!) and Tony Bennett stood out particularly among the musical performers. (Definitely not Kid Rock/Sheryl Crow.) And, of course, the incomparable Jon Stewart.

A highlight of the actual programmed part of the rally was the Mythbusters team doing various tests of group dynamics, including the wave (whole, men only, women only, and then starting simultaneously from the front and back), seismometer tests of the rally jumping simultaneously, and having the audience switch between different noises at 3-5 second intervals (laugh politely, cry, quiet, laugh like a mad scientist).

Above: the wave approaching. Below, as the wave passes.

191/365: Sleep aids

Run to the beat — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 01:08:05 +0000

A late night preparing for 10 days overseas, an early wakeup, an intense day of work, and a 4:30 p.m. redeye flight to Europe = very, very, very close to a missed Project 365 photo. I sleep beautifully on redeye flights. My magic formula: 2 beers, 2 benadryls, eye mask, and sunglasses. Yes, I look ridiculous, but it’s dark and I am typically knocked out from takeoff to landing. The 2 beer, 2 benadryl formula has been extensively tested and is highly optimized. No more, no less!

190/365: Preparation

Run to the beat — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 04:05:25 +0000

Preparation for a flight the next afternoon to Vienna (for work)

189/365: Summer reading

Run to the beat — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 04:32:12 +0000

At McPherson Square, Washington, DC

It was a lovely day for my work to end early in DC!

188/365: Backlit

Run to the beat — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 04:13:12 +0000

Backlit by the oncoming DC Metro train

187/365: Don’t Call

Run to the beat — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 04:59:42 +0000

186/365: Sunny fields

Run to the beat — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 04:00:51 +0000

From a sunset hike

185/365: Fourth of July

Run to the beat — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 04:46:44 +0000

Fourth of July: sangria, BBQ ribs, and fireworks!

184/365: Posted

Run to the beat — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 04:30:34 +0000

183/365: In vino…

Run to the beat — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 04:30:51 +0000

Veritas! (And, um, yeah, that vino is related to today’s photo being an iPhone photo.)

182/365: Fireflies

Run to the beat — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 04:26:33 +0000

I tried very hard to get a cool photo of fireflies tonight. And I completely failed. Alas.

A moon in a cloudy sky was the only sort-of salvageable photo:

181/365: Wheel in the Sky

Run to the beat — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 04:16:17 +0000

Oh, and that sky tonight:

In other news: I made it halfway through the year on Project 365! (In even more other news, there are three more days in the second half of the year than the first. Oh, the things I’m learning from P365!)