Seeing the Light

BAY WATCH: Rumor had it that today was going to be a beauty. Upon upping, we found out the rumors were true! We had lots to get done today, but decided Job 1 was getting a walk in along the waterfront.

We parked near the Louis Dreyfus terminal. The Port Star was docked. 

We saw lots of shore birds wishing they could get at the young salmon under the protected nets (to the right).

A trio of seals was keenly interested, as well. The one shown below paralleled us along the shoreline for a mile each way.

Down in the Olympic Sculpture Park, we always stop by "Echo" and say hello to her.

The sculpture is named for a mountain nymph of Greek mythology. Echo offended the goddess Hera by being too chatty, preventing her from spying on one of Zeus’s amours. To punish Echo, Hera literally left the nymph of speechless - except for the ability to repeat the last words of another.

Artist Jaume Plensa reportedly modeled the work after a young girl he knows.

On our way back north, we stopped at "Pocket Beach," where the kids threw rocks in the sound and the dogs worried that their humans were in Great Peril. Fortunately, CJ and Annabelle survived the rock skipping shenanigans. 

THE LIGHT STUFF:  The kids received a great ScienceWiz kit called "Light" for Christmas. Recently, we finally dug into it. It includes 25 activities, such as splitting light into a cascade of rainbows, making a kaleidoscope, bouncing, bending and blending light and more. 

Annabelle will tell you a bit more about her initial experience with it. ...

There are three primary colors of light: Red, blue, and green; not yellow. If you mix red and green, you will get yellow; red and blue, you will get magenta; and green and blue will give you teal. If you use the full rainbow, you will get white! The experiment we performed to test this was we;
1.       Colored a disk in rainbow colors.
2.       Connected the disk to a high-speed motor.
3.       Connected the motor to a battery.
When the motor spun, the colors blended together into a peachy color! (the book said it’s only close to white if the colors are perfectly balanced, which they rarely are)  Then we tried a disk that was half red and half green, and it was a mustard-yellow color! We even tried this disk with a cool pattern. When we colored the shapes red and green, we got a little peach ring! It was really fun.
The other experiments we did were making a prism work and making a kaleidoscope. We took a rectangle of Mylar and folded it into a triangle. Then when you put it up to your eye and move something in front of it, it will look like there are dozens of it! The kit is really cool, and that’s not all it has! I’m excited to try the rest!

Interestingly, my cell phone camera wouldn't capture the disc as a blended color (which it definitely was to our naked eyes). But this looks pretty cool!

Using a Mylar-covered piece of card stock, the kids constructed a kaleidoscope. 

They used it to look at everything from their own fingers to colored markers and commercial displays. 

We couldn't help but think of the cover of Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon" while using a triangular prism to make a rainbow (not very visible in this photo, but believe me, it's there!).

Foliomania

DOWNTOWN WITH WILL: Monday morning, just after rush hour cleared, we headed downtown to the biggest branch of Seattle Public Libraries for a special opportunity to see rare, antiquated books containing Shakespeare's works.

Traffic was uncharacteristically easy, and we found The Best Parking Spot Ever, right outside the library door, remarkably. That meant we had some time to kill though, so we headed to a nearby drugstore and perused their offerings, which included super realistic masks of some of our favorite Seahawks. 

We eventually wandered back to the library and waited outside. I would estimate 90 percent of the 50 or so people waiting for the library to open were homeless individuals, looking for a warm place to spend the day. We made our way in with them, and watched as they each headed to what very well might be their regular daytime spots. Most headed immediately to computer workstations, plugged in headphones and settled in. A few others bolted for chairs or cubbyholes in remote parts of the 10-story, hive like library. If I were homeless in Seattle, I absolutely would consider calling the lovely Central branch of the library my home. It's gorgeous and inviting. 

We made our way to the eighth floor where the special Shakespeare folios were on display.

I'll let CJ tell you a bit more about them. ... 

The Seattle Public Library is holding an event to showcase a copy of "Mr. William Shakespeare's Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies," better known as the First Folio. The First Folio is a collection of several plays written by William Shakespeare, an iconic playwright and actor from the 16th and early 17th centuries. The First Folio was published in 1623, seven years after Shakespeare's death, and was written by 2 of his partners in his acting company.

According to the Seattle Public Library's website, the Folio contains 36 plays, 18 of which were never published prior to the Folio, and may have been lost otherwise. The 18 plays published beforehand were only seen in books known as "quarto". According to the Seattle Public Library, scholars estimate that up to 750 copies of the First Folio were printed in 1623, with 233 known to exist today. In the exhibit at the Seattle Public Library, there were two folios present. One was a copy of the First Folio, opened to the iconic "to be or not to be" speech in Hamlet, and the other was the Third Folio, published approximately 40 years after Shakespeare's death. The Third Folio is rarer and more sought-after by collectors than the Second or Fourth folios, due to a large number of copies being destroyed in the great fire of London in 1666.

Personally, I noticed that in both of them, the lettering was difficult to read, due to the different nature of English 400 years ago. I also noticed that the paper in the copy of the Third Folio was seemingly subpar in quality, possibly due to the great fire.

On the wall in the room with the folios, there was other interesting information about Shakespeare and his plays, like the fact that we use several phrases and idioms heard in his plays today, like "foregone conclusion". I also learned that the famous "to be or not to be" speech from Hamlet has been read and performed by thousands of different actors and actresses, from on stage, to the radio, and on TV. Sources:http://www.spl.org/library-collection/first-foliohttp://internetshakespeare.uvic.ca/Library/facsimile/overview/book/F3.html

Below is a photo of the first folio.   

Can you find the famous quote? 

Hint: Look for "Enter Hamlet."

The Third Folio was open to "As You Like It."

Can you find the most famous line from that play? It's on page 194, about a quarter of the way down.

Interesting the old Ss look like Fs. ... 

On our way out of the exhibit, CJ had us all repeatedly go up and down the escalators on the fourth floor so that he could see an art installation over and over. 

Called "Braincast," the dynamic work is by artist Tony Oursler. A series of three video 'sculptures' projected onto ovoid objects is accompanied by a soundtrack of spoken words you can hear as you pass by. 

It's a little bit creepy, but in a hauntingly good way, to our eyes and ears.

Special Saturday

ONE AND ONLY: Saturday afternoon we winged our way to The Museum of Flight for a very special presentation. The star attraction was Soyeon Yi, South Korea's first - and only - astronaut.

Needless to say, Yi was proud to represent her birth country, but she is also one of the most humble people you'd ever care to meet.  Her mission to the International Space Station spanned 11 days in 2008.

Soyeon Yi's return to Earth in a Soyuz capsule didn't go as planned. The trajectory of descent a was much steeper than normal, subjecting the crew to gravitational forces of up to 10 times those on Earth. The capsule landed late and some 260-miles off target.

 Yi said the moon doesn't look much different from the ISS than it does on Earth.

She loves to sing, and shared a clip of herself singing her favorite song, "Fly Me to the Moon" while on board the International Space Station. 

Here's what CJ had to say about his astronaut encounter: 

Yi So-Yeon is a biotechnologisty and South Korea's first and only astronaut. Recently, she gave a speech at the Museum of Flight, about being an astronaut, and some of the things she went through while becoming an astronaut. Yo So-Yeon beat 32,000 other Koreans to become the one and only Korean astronaut so far. The South Korean government paid equivalent to twenty million dollars to give her a seat on the Soyuz TMA-12 mission, making her the 49th astronaut that was a woman. Yi So-Yeon has a PHD in biotechnology, but her grandmother and mother were not as fortunate. So-Yeon's mother wasn't able to go to high school, and her grandmother wasn't able to get an education at all!One of the barriers that made it difficult for So-Yeon to become an astronaut out of 32,000 other Koreans was the fact that she was a single, young woman. Many people in Korea and Russia thought that single, young women were mentally unstable. Yi So-Yeon said on stage that singing was one of her favorite things, and proceeded to show us a video of her singing "Take Me to the Moon" on the ISS. Near the end of the presentation, she let the audience ask some questions. My sister asked if, and how often she was told that she couldn't do it, and So-Yeon said that she was told "no" *a lot* while becoming an astronaut.

And here are Annabelle's thoughts ... 

Soyeon Yi is the first, and only, South Korean astronaut. She was chosen out of a pool of tens of thousands of people, and it’s a miracle she was picked because back then, young single women were thought of as “unstable” both mentally and physically in her culture.

When she did get up to space, she was working almost 24/7, with the exception of her required sleeping time. She even got a call from the president of her country! It was like a primitive version of Skype, with the president (and anyone watching tv!) being able to see her but not vice versa. She let her hair loose and it went everywhere. She could hear the president’s reaction, but couldn’t see him. So she started doing flips to show everyone down on Earth what it’s like in zero gravity. The thing about talking with the president was that you had a script you had to follow, so you would be in trouble if you said something wrong. But up in space, you only had a short window of time where the signal could reach and they couldn’t call you to ask why you did that. The president said he was happy to fund the space program, but Soyeon went against the script and said that she wanted to make sure he would.  It went something like: “Are you sure? You’re inviting me to The Blue House? I’m going to record this.” Her friends were surprised she was making sure the president wasn’t lying, but they were proud of her because of when she went off the script in space. 

Fast forward to when she’s leaving space. She sang at the farewell party (singing was her hobby and until then, because she had so much work he had just hummed) and she came home. She made a point at the end of her presentation that you should be very glad you were born with the circumstances you had, and you shouldn’t give up because other people might not be as fortunate.

Soyeon was very generous with her time, and made a special point to connect with the kids in attendance.

We didn't see anyone recording Soyeon's presentation on Saturday, but she has given an identically titled talk before, which you can check out here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDPiX9rBjp0

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You can see an interview with her about the selection process and her landing here: https://youtu.be/mc5GT9lmbz4 <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/mc5GT9lmbz4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

PONY PREMIERE: Our Saturday morning started with a little pony party. Specifically, a My Little Pony party, as it was time for the Season 6 premiere of "My Little Pony Friendship is Magic."

Annabelle printed out special cereal box covers for the occasion, and invited a whole lot of ponies to the party. 

HERE WE GO A CAUCUSING: At 9:30 we headed over the hill to a local elementary school to participate in the Democratic caucus.  On our way in we passed the staging ground of the community Easter egg hunt. Guess Democrats had to choose between participating in the caucus and taking their kids to the egg hunt. Unfortunate timing on planners' parts. 

 Above, all the white dots are eggs. On our way out, the field had been wiped clean.

Once inside the caucus space, it became clear people had a choice between two candidates.

Though they're not old enough to vote, CJ and Annabelle got in on the introductory part of the process. 

UPWARD SPIRAL: There was an estate sale in the neighborhood today. There were the usual items (Christmas ornaments, kitchenware, and garden tools), none of which we needed. But stacked on a shelf in the living room we discovered a gem - a "new" Spirograph. Incredibly the 50 year old set was complete, right down to original papers and pens. 

The kids test drove it straightaway once they got it home.  No surprise, the ink in the half century old pens was dried up. However, the rest of it was good to go.

 The kids started with some of the simpler designs. 

It took a bit to get into the groove (literally) of the art tool. Playing with it sure brought back fond memories for me!

YOU SAY POTATO: A few weeks back, Bee planted her Martian (yes, really, in a way) potato. In this BREAKING NEWS announcement, the Earthbound potato is growing. The signs of life above the surface are about the size of a dime. 

Stay tuned for further developments.

BACK TO THE BARD:  Come Monday, we'll be checking out Shakespeare's First Folio at Seattle Public Libraries' Main Branch. Given that, we brushed up a bit more on the Bard today by watching a couple of videos. 

We started with good ol' BrainPOP, which the kids always love. https://youtu.be/uxPVVEq0E5I

We also checked out a video, "Draw His Life," posted as part of a school project by ErikHFilms on YouTube.

https://youtu.be/WK1YVRlOowE

PAROLED: Looks like an airport gate waiting area, doesn't it? In my case, it ended up being a ticket to nowhere - "it" being the juror pool holding bunker at the King County Courthouse.

I call it a bunker because it's completely devoid of any windows, skylights or natural daylight of any kind. And it's full of bad carpet and upholstery and 'inspirational' posters.

I spent hours and hours here this week, along with hundreds of other fellow citizens. During that time, only 20 were called to potentially be jurors. The experience (which paid a whopping $10 a day, which is ridiculous) left me wondering how long it's been since anyone did the math regarding how potential juror pools are summoned. 

Anyway, we did our part and won't have to go back again for another year, at the least. Happy to serve, truly, but not happy with the process, whatsoever.

Summoned

DOING THE DUTY:  Today was not normal. It was not normal in the sense that I spent it encased in an unfamiliar building, in a room with ugly carpet and no windows, surrounded by a 100 plus strangers and doing NOTHING.

Welcome to jury duty.

I've actually kind of always wanted to be called to serve. But today changed my mind about that, LOL. 

I knew it wouldn't be the courtroom drama one sees on TV, but I was hoping for something more than, well nothing. Out of the enormous pool of dozens upon dozens of potential jurors, not a single person was actually called to potentially serve on a panel. 

I explained my experience to the kids and Annabelle recreated it in this sketch.

I purposely sat in a far off corner of the room. My nearest seat neighbor was about 20 some years my elder and he was also purposely sitting in a remote corner of the room, I'd guess. About every 28 minutes he'd mutter something under his breath to no one in particular, and it would always be peppered with profanity.

When the Person in Charge of the jurors' pool announced we were released for the day, the gentleman turned to me and said, "I missed my bridge lesson for this?!"

I commiserated with him and he went on to mumble that he was too old to learn bridge anyway. At that, I actually disagreed with him, and said science has proven that games like bridge are very good for the brain. I had my "I Heart NASA" bag over my shoulder, so hopefully that gave me some kind of scientific street cred.

Can't wait to go back tomorrow!

In other news, random shot of pretty tree against cool main branch of Seattle Public Libraries.

While I was doing NOTHING, Christian and the kids did the daily something at MPA. I trust their day was more entertaining than mine.

Artsy Adventures

SATURDAY SONGS: On Saturday afternoon, we headed to the heart of the city, destination Town Hall. Our reason for going was to see a concert by Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter-illustrator Morgan Taylor, creator of Gustafer Yellowgold, an intriguing character who immigrated to Earth from the sun. 

We were a little early thanks to uncharacteristically light traffic and no trouble finding parking, so we checked out a park across from the venue for a few moments. It was our first visit there.

Surrounded by skyscrapers, it's a good-sized urban oasis. We bet it's full of office people on break during the work week.

Eventually, we wandered back across the street to the concert venue. 

Taylor was standing near the merch table and recognized the kids as soon as we walked in. CJ and Annabelle were fortunate enough to spend a week last summer in a songwriting workshop with him.

Taylor told Annabelle he still has the Gustafer Yellowgold art she made him (a melted Perler bead project) as a thank you for the workshop. In fact, the gift is on his fridge! How high an honor is that? Having your artwork on an artist's fridge - that's the big time! :)

We talked to Taylor for awhile, including about a book project CJ and Annabelle just finished. During the show, he shared that his third grade report card complained that Morgan is often in the back of the class, drawing and singing to himself. I'd say that turned out OK. ... 

The concert was fantastic, as always.
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ART DEPARTMENT: As always, our days have been filled with arts and crafts as of late.

CJ is a campaign manager/strategist for a local school girl running for class president, so he worked on some promotional materials.

 Annabelle worked on posters, too, but also created some original characters, just for fun. At one point she needed just the right brown, but had none in her supply bag. She asked me if perhaps I had something that would work.

Lucky for her, I like brown lipstick. ...

 It worked just great for Tuffy the Teddy Bear.

 She also created a character that embodied trepidation.

 I love this illustration.