Steph's Birthday
Nicole, Dan, and I help Steph celebrate turning, err, 21...at the X-Lounge. Yep, 21. That's it.

Labor Day in K-town!
Bessie and I watch the UT vs. Cal football game with a pack of drunken undergrads...ohh yeah.

Labor Day in K-town!
Daine and I are physicisisists, honest!

Labor Day in K-town!
It's time for some Risky Business...

Labor Day in K-town!
Out at a bar, I proceed to completely not believe whatever Daine's trying to tell me.

Barboursville
Barboursville Winery...consistently both beautiful *and* delicious...how do you manage??

Barboursville
Jake, Paul, Dan, Jarron, Nicole, me, Rachel, and Craig in the "Octagon" Room...pricey wine not as good as the Nebbiolo!

Barboursville
The "Ruins", a governor's (?) mansion destroyed by fire in the 1800s.

Barboursville
Picnicking at the Ruins...while I contemplate my bellybutton?

Barboursville
They're either laughing at Jake with a purse or still arguing about Star Trek.

Hidden Rocks (Climbing)
Part of the pile o' gear that George and AJ lugged up with us.

Hidden Rocks (Climbing)
AJ belaying someone at the bottom.

Hidden Rocks (Climbing)
From the off to the side at the top, looking down at our little base.

Hidden Rocks (Climbing)
Hidden Rocks trail and...rocks...about an hour north of town. I think that's David about to rappel down.

Hidden Rocks (Climbing)
Nicole going up.

Hidden Rocks (Climbing)
Lisa May on a different climb.

Hidden Rocks (Climbing)
Me on my way up. Best tip I learned: when you need a break, pretend like you're just chalking your hands.

Hidden Rocks (Climbing)
David' girlfriend Leslie does more productive things with her time.

Hidden Rocks (Climbing)
The view from up top...so gorgeous.

Hidden Rocks (Climbing)


Hidden Rocks (Climbing)
I really needed a 180-degree panoramic camera...

Hidden Rocks (Climbing)
Looking down into the valley through a crevice.

Hidden Rocks (Climbing)
Nothing helps those newfound muscles like a nice, cold beer...

OH Wedding
Bill and Mandy (one of Dan's college roommates) celebrate their wedding.

OH Wedding
Our table: ...I don't remember names.

OH Wedding
Dan and I break it down :P.

OH Wedding
Oh yes, the ice swan.

Serpent Mound
Prehistoric effigy/burial mound in southern Ohio. We just stopped here on a whim because the weather was so nice!

Serpent Mound
Poster showing some of the various sketches/interpretations of the mound over the centuries.

Serpent Mound
Model of mounds building up through generations of burials.

Serpent Mound
I know they say people were shorter back then, but come on...

Fall Picnic
The 40" dome and station house with the moon rising.

Fall Picnic
I don't think first-year Abel is quite sure of us yet...

Fall Picnic
David enjoying the sunshine--much hotter than we thought it was going to be!

Fall Picnic
Genevieve in her handy dandy...cradle? Chair?

Fall Picnic
Threatened with a beer shower, oh noes!!

Fall Picnic
And the bi-annual volleyball extravaganza...

Fall Picnic
We even had clowns!! :P

Fall Picnic
Jess with the new RRRT (the Pirate 'Scope) in the background.

Fall Picnic
Dept head John...you can tell he's a professional astronomer by the black socks.

Fall Picnic
Lisa May and Dan, relaxing :).

Fall Picnic
People may have laughed, but it was more comfy in the shade, and Scrabble can be damn intense.

Fall Picnic
The next generation...Sophia and Gabe :).

EERK / Joleen's Birthday
The newly-warmed housemates!! Joleen, Genevieve, Megan, Kris.

EERK / Joleen's Birthday
Joleen loves Chili's rice, and it was her birthday, so... :P

EERK / Joleen's Birthday
Give that girl something shiny and watch her face light up!

EERK / Joleen's Birthday
Jake...neither of the hands on his chest are his.

EERK / Joleen's Birthday
Don't worry, Jake--they're still attached.

EERK / Joleen's Birthday
Now we're taking officemate photos?? Jake, Gen, and Marios...Room 2something ftw!!

EERK / Joleen's Birthday
Leave Paul alone, he's had his half beer already ;).

EERK / Joleen's Birthday
Nicole, Jess, and Gen on the stairs.

EERK / Joleen's Birthday
Ahahahaha...haha.

EERK / Joleen's Birthday
Aaand of course the kitchen's full...

EERK / Joleen's Birthday
The best part of the night...Joleen's and my dragon cake!!!

EERK / Joleen's Birthday
Candles?? We don't need no stinkin' candles!!

EERK / Joleen's Birthday
The sophisticated Brit celebrates with some manly cream liquors...yeah.

EERK / Joleen's Birthday
Rachel chatting it up with David and Amy (aka DNA).

EERK / Joleen's Birthday
Really cute picture of Steph and Jarron :).

Pick of the Piedmont
Wine Festival about an hour NE of C'ville...Paul, Dave, Jake, Dan's shoulder, and I enjoy the beautiful sun!

Pick of the Piedmont
Prof Craig and Beth relax at our VIP table (ooooh).

Pick of the Piedmont
Newly-engaged Dave and Joleen are too cute!!

Pick of the Piedmont
That is by far the laziest 'rock out' I have ever seen.

Pick of the Piedmont
Dichroic earrings--so pretty!

Pick of the Piedmont
Joleen, Nicole, and Paul (and I think Paul's hair deserves its own mention here).

Pick of the Piedmont
Jake's "kissed the devil"--i.e. taken a shot of Peaks of Otter Winery's crazy-spicy chili wine!

Pick of the Piedmont
Dave and Jake have a "hair-off"...needless to say, this was at the end of the day :).

Halloween!
Pile on the couch, let's see...Jake, Bender's arm, Nicole, Kris, Megan, Gen, and George down front.

Halloween!
Prof Craig as a wealthy lecher and his French maid girlfriend, Beth.

Halloween!
Postdoc Craig and fiancee Rachel as the Big Band Wolf and Little Red Riding Hoosier.

Halloween!
Bob Ross (err, David) and his lovely painting/wife Amy.

Halloween!
Dance like you look like a lunatic! Oh wait...

Halloween!
2nd-year George as a slick Greco-Roman fusion, while 1st-year George wows us with his ability to impersonate undergrads.

Halloween!
Nicole, jinglyjanglyhottie in her bellydance duds.

Halloween!
Ori as the Swedish Chef (bork bork bork!), while girlfriend Sarah (aka Dinner) is a little concerned.

Halloween!
Steph as a sultry Cleopatra, complete with asp bitemarks.

Halloween!
"You wan' I should whack da guy?" The shotgun's actually not part of his costume...

Halloween!
Ah, that's where the gun came from. Gen took time out from her action movie to stop by (roughly 3/4 of the way through)

Halloween!
Joleen is magnificently malevolent as Maleficent.

Halloween!
There's always the kids' version, if you find her too frightening...

Halloween!
The EERK girls taking a break...Megan, Gen, and Joleen.

Halloween!
Futurama ftw! Zapp (Matt), Leela (Nicole), ...David..., Bender (AJ)--so awesome!!

Halloween!
Ah, yes, the Halloween store clearance sale...I had signs and everything!

Halloween!
George and eerily-tempting Janet.

Halloween!
I'm going with Genevieve on this one...Mediterranean Armpits!!

Halloween!
Me, and Dan in his social-commentary costume. Ask me about it sometime.

Halloween!
David, George, German Boy Paul, and Nicole...hey wait, that's not George's hat!

Halloween!
Jake shows us the inner soul (and proper posture) of a mad scientist.

Halloween!
Sad but true. Oh, so true.

Halloween!
The scary beasts of the night. And George.

Halloween!
Prof Mark and Mary were actually in bed when they remembered about the party... :P

Halloween!
Pimp Kris and his, umm, associates...Megan and, for some international flair, Paul, apparently.

Halloween!
Who says white men can't dance??

Halloween!
Why are we all facing the same direction?

San Diego
View of one of the bays from the interstate.

San Diego
Fabulous tapas bar in the Gaslamp District. E->W flights = happy hour specials! :D

San Diego
Even better...real-life Ghirardelli ice cream bar in the Gaslamp District!

San Diego Zoo
Like any mature, responsible adults, our mandatory first stop on the west coast is...the Zoo!

San Diego Zoo
Flamingos! They would go on a periodic honking frenzy, audible all over the zoo.

San Diego Zoo
Flock o' pink.

San Diego Zoo
Cute monkey--I believe this one is a mangabey.

San Diego Zoo
Gorgeously-colored mandrill...didn't get a butt picture, sadly :P.

San Diego Zoo
Not the most comfortable position I could think of, but hey, whatever.

San Diego Zoo
Me on a hippo. 'Nuff said.

San Diego Zoo
From up above, I honestly thought these were boulders in the pool.

San Diego Zoo
Personalized statues of their gorilla family. Oh yeah, and Dan.

San Diego Zoo
Mama, baby, and grandmama.

San Diego Zoo
This little guy was so cute! He was *so* proud of his leafy twig!

San Diego Zoo
Mama and a baby (different baby).

San Diego Zoo
Can you tell I like baby gorillas?

San Diego Zoo
Ooh! They have plants, too! Pretty bird-of-paradise :).

San Diego Zoo
2 humps = Bactrian camel.

San Diego Zoo
A duiker chewing his cud at us defiantly.

San Diego Zoo
Cape Buffalo with...something...drooly?...hanging out of his mouth.

San Diego Zoo
Large rodent, oddly cute...a capybara.

San Diego Zoo
Ephelants!!

San Diego Zoo
Didn't see any real giraffes :(, but luckily they were there in topiary-spirit.

San Diego Zoo
This is the largest pigeon you will ever see. (Honestly, it's a variety of pigeon.)

San Diego Zoo
Not sure what this guy's all about, but hey...stone hippo!

San Diego Zoo
Whosa grumpy old man then?? "Damn kids and their rap music!"

San Diego Zoo
"Oh, no, I simply can't. No comment."

San Diego Zoo
Llama face!!!

San Diego Zoo
Aww, lookit the lovebirds... <3

San Diego Zoo
This lynx was utterly intent on mentally devouring this small dog being walked down the road.

San Diego Zoo
Meerkats!! They were so concerned about one of the group being checked out by one of the keepers.

San Diego Zoo
Monkey and otter chasing each other around...quite a sight!

San Diego Zoo
Baby monkey!! Aaah!

San Diego Zoo
"Now, son, if you can't see them, they can't see you..."

San Diego Zoo
Snake...turtle?

San Diego Zoo
Tree kangaroo (seriously). Pretty cute, but with enormous cahones.

San Diego Zoo
Pacing tiger was hungry hungry! (Warning: Mom, next picture contains a snake. A unique one, but a snake nonetheless.)

San Diego Zoo
A 2-headed snake. SDZ is explicitly committed to caring for animals with defects that would kill them in the wild.

San Diego Zoo
Warthog. It's...an animal.

San Diego Zoo
Beeeeg river otter!

San Diego Zoo
Big panda, *flop* sleeping in the tree.

San Diego Zoo
Baby-panda-cam!! We were there during the 2 hours a day she's awake, so we got to see her rolling around and cooing!

San Diego Zoo
Peacock strutting freely around the zoo.

San Diego Zoo
Polar bear gnawing on his...lettuce?...with the tower in Balboa Park in the background.

San Diego Zoo
Mmm, salad...nomnomnom.

San Diego Zoo
Yeah...Santa came before the salad, apparently.

San Diego Zoo
The reindeer were NOT being cooperative.

San Diego Zoo
Elephant topiary! Ok, now the day's complete :P.

San Diego Zoo


San Diego
Did TJ even know about this city? I don't think it hit 500 citizens until the 1820s...

San Diego
It's the San Diego Brewing Company, trust me. Good food, good beer, though the blueberry one was a bit weird :P.

San Diego
Balboa Park, largest cultural museum park in the country, or something like that.

San Diego
Botanical gardens in Balboa Park.

San Diego
Rose garden in Balboa Park.

San Diego
Science Center in Balboa Park...gah, we're dorks.

San Diego
Dan listening with deer ears.

San Diego
Me with headphones that reverse the direction of incoming sounds...extremely disorienting!!

San Diego
Random periscope on top of the building.

San Diego
And of course, the beach :). I got to see the sun rise over an eastern ocean and set over a western one in 6 months!

San Diego
The coast from a pier, and some absolutely insane, half-frozen surfers.

San Diego
:)

Christmas in K-town
Peter curling at a demo in Market Square.

Christmas in K-town
It was early in the morning, shh.

Christmas in K-town
The Z kids in front of PF Chang's, for Carole's early birthday dinner.

Christmas in K-town
We're classy, shut it. (Visiting Grandpa in the hospital.)

At UT
Randall and me in Circle Park, at our brick (we donated money when we graduated, wheee)

At UT
Terrible picture, but yay, we found the brick :).

UT Friendship Gardens
The plants are prettier in the summertime, but the statuary is always nice :).

UT Friendship Gardens
And the topiary.

Post Qual
The 2nd year boys (ok, all the 2nd years) celebrate after their PhD qual!!

Post Qual
Subdued party this year...girls on the couch: Janet, Nicole, Lisa May, and me.

Snow!
Charlottesville sees ~3" of snow in one morning. I had to walk into work, but it was a lovely walk :).

Snow!
Our picnic table, where we'd eaten lunch in the 70 degree weather a week earlier.

Wine-Tasting Party
Dan and I try to light the fireplace before everyone shows up.

Wine-Tasting Party
Just missed some awesome grooving :).

Wine-Tasting Party
Rachel, Nicole, and Dan confer at the reds table.

Wine-Tasting Party
David, Jake, Craig, Steph, and Paul dive into the whites.

Wine-Tasting Party
Paul, Jake, Megan, and Genevieve engage in some surely highbrow conversation...

Wine-Tasting Party
That's about a quarter of the wine bottles, there on the table.

Wine-Tasting Party
Now that's a pile o' cheese...and Jake is sampling liberally.

Wine-Tasting Party
George takes a tumble out of the chair, classic cartoon style :).

Wine-Tasting Party
She manages to get one of these apparently-incredibly-wasted shots at every single party...

Wine-Tasting Party
Nicole: "Oooh, I'm all innocent..." Rachel: "Bleargh!!"

Wine-Tasting Party
Me stealing Jarron's prize wine...and I'd've gotten away with it too, if not for Steph and her pesky camera!

Wine-Tasting Party
Even the profs get in on the fun. And by profs, I mean Craig.

Wine-Tasting Party
I call this piece "A lot of drunk people arguing about wine, rather unsuccessfully." :P

Wine-Tasting Party
I think Ori was being persuaded to take his clothes off?

Wintergreen
Megan, me, and Gen take MLK Jr. Day off to go skiing!

Wintergreen
Megan. It was a lot of effort to get these pictures!!

Wintergreen
Genevieve, as she captioned, "not falling down"!

Wintergreen
Me, also not falling down :D.

Wintergreen
Wheeeeeeee!

Wintergreen
Gen and Megan at the top of the bunny slope :).

Wintergreen
Ugh...tired, sweaty, flat-haired girlies!

Party at the Matts'
Twister...moments before Molly's butt knocked me over :P. (I got her back. )

DC
Jarron duct-tapes our hotel door to keep the monsters out.

DC
Entertained, Jake watches Jarron duct-tape the door shut.

DC
4 very sleepy astronomers trudge up to the Capitol very early in the morning.

DC
Looking down the Mall from the front steps of the Capitol building.

DC
Jake, Dan, and Jarron humor me by being in a picture :P.

DC
Got a little Congressman in you?

DC
Once they started, they just couldn't stop.

DC
This is a very large building. Many of the buildings in DC aren't tall, but they are very, very...massive.

DC
Statue of Freedom on top of the Capitol dome. We were told she's almost 20' tall.

DC
On the backside of the Capitol, the Senate wing.

DC
Inside the Capitol Rotunda. Our guide was so informative on the art and history of the place!

DC
The dome ceiling. The Statue of Liberty could fit inside the dome with room to spare!

DC
Obligatory photo of important painting of Declaration-signing.

DC
Obligatory TJ photo-op. :)

DC
Floor plaque indicating where Lincoln's desk was in the old House chamber.

DC
Statue of Gov. John Sevier, for the TN crowd :).

DC
King Kamehameha of Hawaii...definitely the shiniest statue in the place.

DC
The Sun in the Mall's solar system scale model...I'll spare you the rest, but I do have the pics :).

DC
Air & Space Museum...sadly, it needs some serious updating :-/.

DC
*Really* cool stained-glass display, showing atmospheric transmission. Explanation in the next image.

DC
Explanation of the previous stained-glass window.

DC
The back-up Hubble mirror, in all its flawed perfection...

DC
Scott Hamilton's legs, randomly, in a video featuring Eric Idle and "The Galaxy Song"

DC
Me in front of a LEM display.

DC
Full-scale test model of the Hubble Space Telescope. So big!! Yay for getting it fixed ;).

DC
The craft from the 1975 Apollo-Soyuz docking mission.

DC
Scaled-size models of the planets (and Pluto).

DC
SpaceShipOne, the first privately-funded successful spacecraft.

DC
The Museum of Natural History. Notice the perfect spring weather! :)

DC
Jarron refuses to work creatively with his photo co-star.

DC
I keep forgetting how big elephants really are...

DC
I had to push small children out of the way to get a look at the T-rex skull :P.

DC
Looking out over the dinosaur hall.

DC
Massive sheet of copper created naturally between layers of shale. So pretty!

DC
In the Minerals & Gems section, a gorgeous display highlighting the variety of natural colors that minerals come in.

DC
The boys are fascinated by a giant globe showing the world's tectonic plates.

DC
Enormous blue whale skeleton. Look at those jaws! Good thing they don't use 'em for biting...

DC
Skeletons in the Bones section. I realize this could be considered creepy, but it was actually pretty awesome.

DC
It showed the fundamental structural differences/similarities among so many types of animals. (Here, giraffes and cows)

DC
A giant leatherback turtle shell and skeleton.

DC
Swordfish...ok, this one is pretty damn creepy. Not sure why they felt the need to emphasize the giant eye sockets.

DC
Giant thinking...bunny? In the Smithsonian Statue Garden.

DC
National Archives Building, across the street from Starbucks #1 of 4 in a 2-block radius. :P

DC
Model of a museum, "MVSEVM", in the National Portrait Gallery--so very cool!

DC
And of course, Colbert's portrait in the Gallery bathroom...the ostensible reason for the whole trip ;).

DC
It was getting the most attention, by far, in the Gallery. But the whole place was really neat!

DC
Unfinished portrait of Washington, commissioned by Martha, that is the basis for the $1 bill image of George.

DC
Dan checks out that story.

DC
I really liked this picture of FDR, with the artist sketches of his hands below.

DC
Section on the Cold War presidents, and this very moving image of Kennedy.

DC
In the African-American portrait exhibit...just for Bessie :).

DC
The White House...the hell-like coloring is just from the camera night-mode and the reflected city lights...really...

DC
Lincoln Memorial, lit up by night.

DC
I love how Lincoln looks powerful yet comfortable. With his square-toed shoes.

DC
Gettysburg Address, on the left wall of the Memorial.

DC
Late at night, after LOTS of walking, 4 weary astronomers leave the bright lights (and the Demon Tower) for home...

Memorial Day
Nicole and Paul cooking a whole honkin' pile of meat on our back patio.

Vintage Virginia Wine Festival
Wine + crafts + music + hot summer day...

Vintage Virginia Wine Festival
Joleen and Jarron at one of the tents.

Vintage Virginia Wine Festival
Paul, Nicole, Dan, and Jake...just picture all of us doing this 15-20 times.

Vintage Virginia Wine Festival
Sufficiently tipsy and overheated? Time to find the campsite!!

Camping
Jake after an impromptu trip into the woods ;)...

Camping
Fire! Fire!!

Camping
It rained the next morning, big deal. Jarron, you're from Rochester. It should be weird when moisture *isn't* falling.

Camping
Some were less able to cope with the weather than others...

Camping
I think this picture in particular says it all ;).

Camping
Joleen joins us from the site across the road.

Camping
Nicole chills by the damp little fire.

VA Ren Faire
Crazy funny girl-on-girl Shakespeare action! (The Nickel Shakespeare Girls)

VA Ren Faire
Singing (?) with Minstrel, Interrupted...Dan didn't like me much after this :P.

VA Ren Faire
Horsey! Jousters showing off their madd apple-stabbing skillz.

Journey Down the Silk Road
Bellydance workshop...Nicole and Gen try their hands at a doumbek! (Or tupperware!)

Journey Down the Silk Road
Even the "manly men" get to shimmy it up :).

Journey Down the Silk Road
They're just too cute. That's all I got.

Journey Down the Silk Road
Voi!!! Scarf dance style developed by a local dancer...waaay too much freakin' fun.

Journey Down the Silk Road
Gen tries not to clobber herself (I definitely did, repeatedly).

Journey Down the Silk Road
Nicole swirlin' it up...it's taller than she is! :P

My Birthday! (Part I)
Pre-vacation celebration with the family...in a (where else?) hotel lobby...yay cookiecake!!

My Birthday! (Part I)
Celtic rock and casserole dishes, baby...

PA
Fans of Firefly, rejoice...it's everywhere :).

PA - Easton
Downtown Easton...cute :).

PA - Pez Museum
That's right, folks, a museum (more like a showroom) dedicated to the ancient folk tradition of Pez dispensing.

PA - Pez Museum
Scavenger hunt!

PA - Pez Museum
They seem kind of distorted. Is that just the drugs?

PA - Pez Museum
Haha, the one on the right looks like he has tree-hair.

PA - Pez Museum
ET!

PA - Pez Museum
The "scary" display. (It was actually dark with music playing.)

PA - Pez Museum
Creepy much??

PA - Pez Museum
Woohoo!

PA - Pez Museum
The patent for...umm...dispensing little candy blocks in a child-friendly format?

PA - Pez Museum
Sadly, no, they're not arranged in conferences.

PA - Pez Museum
"Thank goodness I have, like, W blue sky lives..."

PA - Pez Museum
Quiz: why was Marvin always trying to blow up the Earth?

PA - Pez Museum
The force...*gasp*...is strong with *choke* this one *hack hack*...

PA - Pez Museum
Just like boys. Fight and then best pals. Gilgamesh and Enkidu all over again...

PA - Pez Museum
Kids nowadays may not have ever seen the Smurfs. Does that make anyone else sad?

PA - Pez Museum
Inspired by the 1950s space race.

PA - Pez Museum


PA - Pez Museum
*Now* we're talking.

PA - Pez Museum
T-I-double 'G'-ER!

PA - Pez Museum
Parachute!

PA - Crayola Factory
In case you couldn't tell, Peter's getting a massage :P.

PA - Crayola Factory
Dad shows Carole how a real adult plays with crayons.

PA - Crayola Factory
Peter and I making an astronaut puppet, complete with lunchbox and pee hose.

PA - Crayola Factory
Carole and her "Arabian Knight"...yowza!

PA - Crayola Factory
I'm making...not sure at this point.

PA - Crayola Factory
The family that plays with ooshy gooshy modelling gunk together, stays together.

PA - Crayola Factory
Until one of them is eaten by a sapient pearwood piece of luggage, that is.

PA - Crayola Factory
This just amused me. I'm mature like that.

PA - Crayola Factory
This is why you shouldn't let nerds have permission to do graffiti.

PA - Crayola Factory
Further proof :P. (Though I appreciate the sentiment!)

PA - Crayola Factory
The world's largest crayon (royal blue), weighing in at 1500 lbs! That'd feed a family for, like, a week.

PA - Canal Museum
Interactive display of extracting silk from worms'...butts. I'm not even kidding here.

PA - Canal Museum
Real working model of a canal...quite possibly one of the most fun museum exhibits ever.

PA - Canal Museum
Go go go!! Get them boats up!

PA - Canal Museum
15 miles on the Erie Canal...I like my singing, thankyouverymuch! Bite me, Peter :P.

PA - Canal Museum
Carole being eaten by a horse. You'll see that us + inanimate statues is a bad idea.

PA - Canal Museum
This was so cool. Carole learning how to harness a mule!

PA - Canal Museum
So that bit goes here, and that buckle goes there, but now wait, that's supposed to be here...good thing he's not real!

PA - Canal Museum
That's his "chastised" face, which looks remarkably like his "emo" face...

PA - Canal Museum
Carole: "I love you!" Me: "You bastard! How could you?!" Guy: "I have rope!!"

PA - Canal Museum
Teeheehee.

PA - Canal Museum
Staying where small children aren't underfoot.

PA - Canal Museum
Out at the actual canal...which of course we didn't get any pictures of.

PA - Arrogant Worms!
Hard to take pics...Godfrey Daniels indie music bar: The Arrogant Worms! "I am cow, hear me moo..."

PA
Peter, trying to find a way to remember trump...

PA
Pretty clouds.

PA - Celtic Fling!
Mom and Shags walking into the faire...

PA - Celtic Fling!
Now that's what I'm talkin' about. The faire ground has its own brewery!!

PA - Celtic Fling!
Hunter McLeod rocking on the pub stage.

PA - Celtic Fling!
Carole and I get tatted up :). (And then glittered up, which was slightly stranger.)

PA - Celtic Fling!
Enter The Haggis!! "So fire up that fiddle, boy, and give me one last drink..."

PA - Celtic Fling!
I think this is Trevor?

PA - Celtic Fling!
Lots of people dancing on the chessboard!

PA - Celtic Fling!
Including this adorable little girl in a butterfly costume for no readily apparent reason.

PA - Celtic Fling!
Ohhh yeah ;).

PA - Celtic Fling!
Watching the Drum & Pipe Corps at the Globe stage.

PA - Celtic Fling!
It had to be in there somewhere. Never done it on mushrooms before, though! (Harharhar...)

PA - Celtic Fling!
The hammerthrow...big strong men throwing big heavy rocks.

PA - Celtic Fling!
Also, gigantic telephone poles. Yay caber toss!

PA - Celtic Fling!
Goal: To flip the end you're holding over the top and have it land pointing exactly 180_deg away from you.

PA - Celtic Fling!
This was just sweet--you pay for leather robes and a sword, and then go to town on your buddy.

PA - Celtic Fling!
*clang clang*...c'mere, little birdy, I'm just a windchime...

PA - Celtic Fling!
Can't be a Highland festival without a Bonny Legs contest!! Strut your stuff!

PA - Celtic Fling!
Pirate ship near the brewery.

PA - Celtic Fling!
Gigantic fish that Carole had a strange fascination for.

PA - Celtic Fling!
The sun begins to set as people enjoy music on the Chess Stage.

PA - Celtic Fling!


PA - Celtic Fling!
Go cry, emo kid.

PA - Celtic Fling!
Looking down one of the streets of shops. I think that's the dragon nursery on the left!

PA - Celtic Fling!
Peter and I pay homage to a very intriguing garden display...

PA - Hershey Gardens
Botanical gardens in Hershey...much less touristy than the "normal" attractions :).

PA - Hershey Gardens
Best plant ever.

PA - Hershey Gardens
Now *that* is an herb garden!

PA - Hershey Gardens
The 'culinary herbs' section.

PA - Hershey Gardens
Really pretty resting place under a willow tree.

PA - Hershey Gardens
Peter attempting to bring a stone cat back to life (a la Aslan)

PA - Hershey Gardens
Pretty butterfly in the Butterfly House. Unlike *someone*, I didn't get pics of the mating ones.

PA - Hershey Gardens
Very strange flower in the Butterfly House. So pretty, though!

PA - Hershey Gardens
Carole and I sitting on a cow in the Childrens' Garden. (Like ya do.)

PA - Hershey Gardens
Carole and this really awesome sundial-type thing in the Childrens' Garden. Yay scavenger hunt!

PA - Hershey Gardens
Tree with carved animals all over it. So neat!

PA - Hershey Gardens
Peter in his Pose.

PA - Watch/Clock Museum
Yes. We went to the National Watch and Clock Museum. Shh.

PA - Watch/Clock Museum
Walking up, we were very surprised by the size of the place.

PA - Watch/Clock Museum
Couldn't make this up.

PA - Watch/Clock Museum
Fun hands-on display showing the fundamentals of clock operation.

PA - Watch/Clock Museum
Hickory Dickory Dock! The location of the mouse tells the time.

PA - Watch/Clock Museum
Very pretty old Japanese clock--the pointer is stationary and the dial spins.

PA - Watch/Clock Museum
Chinese timekeeper--the incense burns through the threads and drops the balls, making chimes at regular intervals.

PA - Watch/Clock Museum
Wooden clock...this was in the Novelty section :). Kinda pretty, though.

PA - Watch/Clock Museum
The Engel clock...guy named Engel spent years building it in his barn. Dozens of figures act out scenes during an hour.

PA - Watch/Clock Museum
The Apostles file across the front (and the rooster crows!)

PA - Watch/Clock Museum
Death chimes out the hour by beating on a skull.

PA - Watch/Clock Museum
The darn thing even keeps track of the moon's position over the course of a month and the stars over a year.

PA - Watch/Clock Museum
Revolutionary War soldiers march around with Molly Pitcher.

PA - Watch/Clock Museum
I forget what the idea was here.

PA - Watch/Clock Museum
Atomic clocks...slightly more accurate than hourglasses :).

Reservoir Hike
Dan, Genevieve, and Jake on a hike around a nearby reservoir.

Reservoir Hike
Jarron and Kari

Reservoir Hike
Looking out across the water--it was really pretty!

Reservoir Hike
Clearly, this was before the big drought really took hold!

Reservoir Hike
So lush...

Reservoir Hike
I thought this partly-submerged tree looked really awesome!

Reservoir Hike
Landbridge stretching across the lake.

Reservoir Hike
On the bridge...just in case you weren't sure...

Atlantic Beach
View from the hotel balcony--the Atlantic Ocean

Atlantic Beach - NC Aquarium
Turtle! We got to watch them begging like puppies at feeding time...

Atlantic Beach - NC Aquarium
A nurse shark taking a siesta.

Atlantic Beach - NC Aquarium
The most massive lionfish I have ever seen.

Atlantic Beach - NC Aquarium
Terrifying yet strangely beautiful...

Luray Caverns
One of the larger underground cave systems in the eastern US.

Luray Caverns
One of my favoritest parts: the bottom half is a reflection of the top in the perfectly still water...

Luray Caverns
...it's a gigantic shallow lake, completely undisturbed by wind or currents.

Luray Caverns
Even knowing it was a reflection, it was hard to make my brain accept that it wasn't real!

Luray Caverns
Some of the stalactites look just like drapes of fabric.

Luray Caverns
This enormous formation is called "The Veil of Saracen." I think it's some 30' tall.

Luray Caverns
These pillars look like something out of a Dr. Seuss tale!

Luray Caverns
Keyboard controlling a few thousand tiny hammers set on carefully-selected formations...a cavern organ!

Luray Caverns
George and Janet in the organ chamber.

Luray Caverns
I know she's short to begin with :P, but these were some large rocks!

Luray Caverns
And one of the more elusive of the cave dwellers--a Joleen!

Luray Caverns
In keeping with the Dr. Seuss theme...rock eggs-and-ham!

Luray Caverns
The view of the Blue Ridge Mountains (I think) from the cavern entrance.

Stone Mountain Vineyards
What trip north of town is complete without a stop at a winery? Jake, Angela, Joleen, Dave, and Janet enjoy the view.

Stone Mountain Vineyards
The aforementioned view.

First Day of Classes
Pic for Nicole's mom, Nicole & Gail on the first day of school...sans uniforms ;).

Start-of-Everything Party
First year Ryan and his girlfriend Clarissa are far too cool for the rest of us.

Start-of-Everything Party
Jake, however, fits right in ;).

Start-of-Everything Party
Mary (yes, Mary!), me, Nicole, and Spiegel perform an intricate, time-honored traditional dance.

Start-of-Everything Party
Molly makes her entrance!

Start-of-Everything Party
Aaand the Jews ;).

Start-of-Everything Party
First year Paul breaks it down!

Start-of-Everything Party
Sarah and first-year George...it's okay, her boyfriend is the one holding the camera.

Mythbusters Night
Howard and Nicole (and Joleen!) the time we watched Mythbusters and made pizzas all night.

Mythbusters Night
We say it all the time, but seriously...an evening is not complete without some boy-snuggles.

Mythbusters Night
Jarron prepares to use excessive force on an English muffin. We don't believe his story that it was taunting him.

Mythbusters Night
Yes, that's a real keg...I'm enormous!!

KPNO
Our first view of Kitt Peak National Observatory...luckily we're "authorized" enough to drive around the sign :).

KPNO
Hooray for random pretty mountain!

KPNO
Kitt Peak from the back side of the mountain.

KPNO
The southwest ridge, with the 12m radio dish.

KPNO
Random view. Sorry, there's going to be a lot of these :).

KPNO
Several of the telescopes, seen from the catwalk of the Bok.

KPNO
The solar observatory...silly solar astronomers!

KPNO
Door out onto the Bok catwalk...yes, it's a genuine submarine door. I'm sure there's a good story there.

KPNO
Our dorm...which was viciously attacked by '60s decor and never fully recovered. Fully? I meant at all.

KPNO
My room...exciting, no? Nothing like pink sheets to make it all worth it.

KPNO
Our kitchen, containing the most random assortment of dishes, cutlery, and what astronomers deem edible "necessities".

KPNO
The Bok telescope (left) and the 4m Mayall at sunset. You can see people on the Bok catwalk.

KPNO
This one's for Mary--see, Americans keep *their* aloe vera under control!!

KPNO
Doors in the elevator shaft. Straight out of some horror movie, I swear.

KPNO
*Part* of the staircase between the 1st and 2nd floors in the Bok. That's Gen way up at the top :).

KPNO
Sunset on our 2nd night, from the Bok catwalk. That's Sells, AZ, on the ground and Jupiter on the left. GORGEOUS sky!!

KPNO
Structure of the 4-meter Mayall telescope.

KPNO
Gen and me on the side of the 4m telescope...we were being tourists!!

KPNO
Me...DS9 *and* IRAF...how lucky can one girl be??...

KPNO
Genevieve at the helm of the 90" (and everything else!)

KPNO
The 90" Bok telescope. And me. Being useful.

KPNO
I think in this one I'm changing the diffraction grating in the spectrograph...verrrry carrrrefully...

KPNO
Fine-tuning various knobs and controls at the base of the Bok.

KPNO
Genevieve and the bottom part of the Bok, minus the secondary mirror structure at the top.

KPNO
And the sky begins to lighten...

KPNO
Genevieve and the sunrise :).

KPNO
The pink clouds were *gorgeous*!!

KPNO
...the sun peeks over the mountains...

KPNO
I wanted to climb to the top of these...cursed cacti!!

KPNO
"Can we go to sleep now??"

Joleen
Don't complain about being cold in the office. It will not end well for you.

Cylon O'Lanterns
Jarron and Steph start carefully carving the exterior of our Cylon pumpkins.

Cylon O'Lanterns
Dan takes a slightly more aggressive approach :).

Cylon O'Lanterns
Meanwhile, the work of building the circuits begins...those pieces are tiny!

Cylon O'Lanterns
George works on a circuit board.

Cylon O'Lanterns
Paul and George confer on some important bit of electronics.

Cylon O'Lanterns
Greg and Nicole contribute by increasing the average cuteness in the room :).

Cylon O'Lanterns
Dan and Mike contribute by...well, they just played Halo.

Cylon O'Lanterns
Izzie takes out some aggression on a pumpkin.

Cylon O'Lanterns
Paul working on the circuitry.

Cylon O'Lanterns
Steph donating her own blood to make the pumpkins that much scarier.

Cylon O'Lanterns
Must be #8...

Cylon O'Lanterns
Just like toasters ;).

Halloween!
Nicole and Greg, err, Satine and Christian, being cuuuute!

Halloween!
Is it Howard? Or Tux??

Halloween!
I have absolutely no clue what Ed is dressed up as. Does anyone know?

Halloween!
Jake found it easier to play the part of a crazy Cards fan after they WON THE WORLD SERIES!!

Halloween!
Kelsey and Sophie...that girl's got good ambitions ;).

Halloween!
Spooky McCormick...if only they'd let us stuff that corpse dummy in the 26"...

Halloween!
He's a pea pod. Honestly, can you get any cuter?

Halloween!
Mummify-the-Professor. Totally unfair that my team got Ed :P.

Halloween!
(Victim of?) a "cereal" killer. Took me a while to get this one!

Halloween!
Uber-nerd and his home-built nerd-bot...and yes, I own dorkier t-shirts, he's wearing one of mine.

Halloween!
The LEDs actually lit up. Oh hells yes.

Halloween!
The creepy thing is, Craig and Molly didn't even plan this...

Halloween!
Greg, Howard, and Mark in their penguin suits :).

Halloween!
Nicole, give the children their toys back...

Halloween!
Costumes they "just threw together"...yeah right :P. (David/Shrek and Amy/Fiona)

Halloween!
Mark as 007 (at least he's really British!) and his adorable Bond girl Mary.

Halloween!
Jarron the Penguin Wrangler...don't ask me.

Halloween!
Alex and Marios as Dick Cheney and That Guy Cheney Shot :).

Halloween!
Cheney actually won Scariest Costume of the evening.

Halloween!
Pharoah Dude (he picked the name) and nerd-boy relax at the "adult" party.

Halloween!
Me and Mike, who kept acquiring bits of costume throughout the evening, possibly as a result of winning "worst costume".

Halloween!
Scary George...the two hats make him doubly scary...

Halloween!
...but not nearly as scary as this ;). You don't want to know where the rest of the red paint ended up...

Halloween!
Da boys. And a probably outraged penguin.

Halloween!
Ahh, "wrangling"? Is that what you kids are calling it these days?

Halloween!
Jason and Rob during their impromptu "Thriller-off"

Halloween!
You know, I don't think this made sense even at the time.

Halloween!
Nicole and Amy

Halloween!
Nicole and me (she's a picture ho, what can I say? :P)

Halloween!
Craig talking to some CS kids who showed up. (Yay cross-departmentalism!)

Halloween!
Not sure which face is more disturbing...

Halloween!
Mike seems oblivious to the fact he's being mauled by Viking kittens...

Halloween!
James Bond...shock horror!

Halloween!
And if you think *this* is hot, you should see what they wear to the larps!

Halloween!
Viking kittens and...Elvis? Jim Morrison? What?

Halloween!
Oh Danny...

Halloween!
Awww...

Halloween!
G and N taking a break.

Halloween!
I think he's being beheaded?

Halloween!
I think the funnier part of this picture is Shrek downing a beer in the background.

Halloween!
And now he's grooving with a penguin...Jarron isn't doing his job very well!

Halloween!
Rick and Giannina...considering that he's actually going to be a prof someday, this is slightly disturbing :P

Halloween!
George, Amy, Nicole, and me. Quite a night :).

Thanksgiving
Peter and his girl Brittany at Marshall, before I drag him to K-town.

Thanksgiving
Taking a much-longed-for nap with Zoe.

Thanksgiving
We got an actual (semi-) snowfall!! Which also happened to be Zoe's first snow :).

Thanksgiving
You'd think physicists and engineers wouldn't have a problem assembling for a simple picture...

Thanksgiving
...you'd be wrong, of course (this is 10 minutes later)...

Thanksgiving
...this is as good as we're going to get. Clifton, Sean, me, Daine, Seneca, and Seneca's tongue.

Thanksgiving
She really thinks she's a cat.

Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving dinner! Huzzah!

Thanksgiving
Ohh, Grandma and her self-flavored vodkas...

Thanksgiving
The Z's :).

Green Bank
Part of the Green Bank Radio Observatory (in WV). Yay for class field trips!!

Green Bank
We didn't get to climb this one...poo bad weather :(. This is the GBT...the largest steerable structure in the world.

Green Bank
100x110 meter dish. The winds were making it groan--very scary to be underneath!!

Green Bank
Amy, Scott, and one of the receivers that goes up on the arm.

Green Bank
The whole thing rotates on a track...each of the 16 wheels supports a million pounds of weight.

Green Bank
They're HUGE. But we weren't even allowed to put pennies on the track :P.

Green Bank
The home-built telescope that (crazy!) Grote Reber built and used to detect Milky Way radio emission.

Green Bank
The crank was straight out of a Model-T!

Green Bank
Us and a replica of Jansky's antenna that first detected extraterrestrial radio emission back in the '30s.

Green Bank
For Jake :).

Green Bank
Nicole and I on the old-school bikes used around the site...normal cars make too much radio interference!

Green Bank
The 140'--the largest equitorially-mounted telescope in the world. Can you tell it was built by a boat/sub company?

Green Bank
The whole thing actually runs on hydraulics and pressurized oil...it really was like being in a submarine.

Green Bank
The 17.5-FOOT STEEL BALL BEARING that turns the dish. Seriously, people. 17.5 feet. That's just nuts.

Green Bank
And oil. Lots of oil. Everywhere.

Green Bank
Up on the first deck, astronomer Glen shows us the RA ring. You can see it in the overall picture.

Green Bank
There's a reason they don't use that mount for telescopes that size...

Green Bank
Hooray early morning bike rides! *This* is telescope-climbing weather! Alas, they were busy doing "science"...

Green Bank
Jarron admires the view from the GBT control room.

Green Bank
The one microwave, heavily shielded because it gives off radio interference...gotta have the popcorn...

Green Bank
Beginning of the scale model of the solar system. Pluto's flag is at half-mast :P.

Green Bank
On our way to a nearby fossil bed! (Dawn, and Jarron in front)

Green Bank
Contrast isn't very good, but this was *covered* with shell fossils.

Green Bank
Very pretty stream. Would be nice in the summertime :).

Christmas Tree
The ittiest-bittiest tree, with Rudolph ornaments and M&Ms dressed in Star Wars costumes!

Christmas Tree
And all lit up!

Jarron's Birthday
Genevieve, Paul, and Izzie using the balls in a certainly-not-recommended manner...

Jarron's Birthday
The sad thing is, we weren't posing for this...those score screens are confusing!

Jarron's Birthday
The birthday boy and his woman :).

Christmas Party!
Party time!! Everyone at Steph's, getting gussied and champagned up...

Christmas Party!
Steph giving Izzie some makeup tips.

Christmas Party!
...apparently, they were very scary tips!

Christmas Party!
Me and Dan :).

Christmas Party!
Lookin' pretty...

Christmas Party!
It's chocolate. Give us a break.

Christmas Party!
Izzie and Gen being girly :).

Christmas Party!
Now that's a good girlfriend ;).

Christmas Party!
"Dan, get off of my boyfriend!"

Christmas Party!
Joleen, me, and Nicole...hawt!

Christmas Party!
Jarron and Steph...fancy shmancy!

Christmas Party!
Aww, Nicole and Greg--lookatthem!

Christmas Party!
Nicole, me, and Gen waiting for everyone else to finish up...

Post Christmas Party!
Following the formal party on the Lawn, everyone comes back to GIN to relax a bit...

Post Christmas Party!
...without burning the place down, of course ;).

Post Christmas Party!
Nicole, Jake, me, and Giannina rocking out.

Post Christmas Party!
She claims she was just posing for this picture, but we know better ;). (I kid, I kid...she was posing) (Yeah right!)

Post Christmas Party!
G and N antlering it up!

Post Christmas Party!
Bless her heart ;).

Post Christmas Party!
Here's to...Christmas? Whatever you want, Jake :).

Post Christmas Party!
Marios, Molly, Genevieve, Joleen, and me.

Post Christmas Party!
Megan looks unhappy about something :-/...

Post Christmas Party!
Hehehe...oh yes.

Post Christmas Party!
Even Woo stopped by!

Post Christmas Party!
Can you guess which is mine?

Tacky Holiday Sweater Party
Such a cute sweater vest...and her shirt is trying to eat her!

Tacky Holiday Sweater Party
That sweater vest was actually in the men's section of Goodwill o.O!

Tacky Holiday Sweater Party
Unfortunately, you can't see my kickass candycane turtleneck and red blazer...oh yes.

Tacky Holiday Sweater Party
Now there's a cute couple!

Tacky Holiday Sweater Party
Can you handle it? Can you??

Tacky Holiday Sweater Party
What can you do? ;)

Christmas in TN
Me, Grandpa, Dad, and Mom (where else?) around the table at my grandparents' house. We're so grown-up.

Christmas in TN
Grandma digging in her loot! Grandparent l00t ftw!

Christmas in TN
I stopped asking questions a long time ago. My brother makes me so proud.

Christmas in Buffalo
Even the McDonalds sign gets in on the holiday spirit!

Christmas in Buffalo
My uncle. Or a sea lion at the aquarium, I can never remember...

Christmas in Buffalo
Doing tricks I couldn't do in a million years!

Christmas in Buffalo
I love sea lions :).

Christmas in Buffalo
This...I...words just can't describe it. It's like a turtle got down and dirty with an anteater.

Christmas in Buffalo
Kinda cute, in its way...

Christmas in Buffalo
A spiny urchin. Guess what *someone's* getting in their stocking this year!

Christmas in Buffalo
"Niagara Falls!" "It does? Well, let it!"

Christmas in Buffalo
That water is very far away, and very very very cold. (I tell you, it was hard climbing back up those rocks!)

Christmas in Buffalo
Me and Mom, with the American Falls in the background.

Christmas in Buffalo
Looking down the Gorge. (That's Canada on the left, with the US and the American Falls on the right.)

Christmas in Buffalo
Old hydroelectric power plant in the Gorge walls.

Christmas in Buffalo
Someone stole the top of the Skylon tower! ("Where in the world is...Carmen Sandiego?")

Christmas in Buffalo
Red squirrel that was almost certainly all kinds of rabid but still really cute.

Christmas in Buffalo
"Hey kid, want some candy...err, flowers?" I guess you decorate with what you got... (outside Salvatore's restaurant)

Christmas in Buffalo
Sweet sweet plastic candy, tastiest of all the synthetic material faux edibles.

Christmas in Buffalo
"Oh no, it's a hideous monster! ...And a snowman, too." I'll say it before anyone else does ;).

Christmas in Buffalo
My cousins Nick, Erik, and Matt eating dinner (at least Matt's thinking about it real hard).

Christmas in Buffalo
Christmas Eve! Let the presents fly!

Christmas in Buffalo
The boys loved their new Sabres gear :).

Christmas in Buffalo
"Hey Matt...ooh, ahh, Sabres on the warpath!" You'll never live that down, I'm afraid.

Christmas in Buffalo
Obligatory family photo. I have the individual family ones if you're interested.

Christmas in Buffalo
Uncle Larry and everyone in my grandparents' house, doing what we do best...pour wine and get ready to eat!

Christmas in Buffalo
"The men" sit, digest, and listen to some game on the radio. Kinda takes you back to the '40s...

Christmas in Buffalo
Wild turkeys make their appearance, just in time for dinner!

Christmas in Buffalo
Luckily for them, we're still too full from breakfast to do anything about it.

Danny
The only evidence I have of Danny's Christmas...apparently he spent it selling himself out :P.

Carole's Birthday
Really, what birthday isn't complete without a family trip to the Anchor Bar, home of the original Buffalo wings?

Carole's Birthday
The birthday girl, with her first (ahem, legal) drink!

Carole's Birthday
You can't eat that many wings and NOT drink beer. I mean, really.

Carole's Birthday
Dad is Buffalo'd out.

Carole's Birthday
Peter gets into a chugging contest with Grandpa (haha, he wishes!).

Carole's Birthday
Hey there, stud...

Carole's Birthday
And back home for cake!

Carole's Birthday
Mmmm, chocolate fountain...

Carole's Birthday
I was the best birthday present ever...scared the bejeezes out of her. Oh, yeah, and she got a giftcard too :P.

Darth Alchie
*Someone* in Jake and Gen's office had a good holiday...

Post Quals!
Me, Nicole, Cheng-yu, Amy, and Jarron are DONE with all of our quals! ALL of them! FOREVER!

Post Quals!
First-year Paul joins me, Nicole, and Jarron in a celebratory shot at the department after the 2nd day of exams.

Post Quals!
While we're testing, the older kids decorate GIN for a party! (That we didn't have to plan!!)

Post Quals!
Balloons! Balloons balloons balloons!!

Post Quals Party
Everyone chilling at GIN that night.

Post Quals Party
Jake and Ori attempt to distinguish their right from their left.

Post Quals Party
I get my ass handed to me by the DDR mistress herself :P.

Post Quals Party
Left right left left front back back leftrightleftright noooooooooo!!

Post Quals Party
Even Rick and Greg can't resist the allure...

Post Quals Party
Dan and Jake...I can't even tell which one is making the goofy face!

Post Quals Party
Cute yet sexy Gen.

Post Quals Party
George is too cool to take his hat off inside.

Post Quals Party
Nicole and Greg :).

Post Quals Party
Who's ready to party? Joleen and Paul are ready to party!

Post Quals Party
Chocolate syrup, peppermint shnapps, and whipped cream...pour into the mouth and shake. It's not as easy as it sounds!

Post Quals Party
George takes it like a man.

Post Quals Party
I try very, very hard to not get whipped cream up Jarron's nose...ahh, that would have been great.

Post Quals Party
Joleen was so close to hanging on to it...

Post Quals Party
Yeah, Dan didn't even try :P.

Post Quals Party
David, Amy, Janet, and George chilling on the couch.

Post Quals Party
It was only a matter of time before Rick and Ori had a throwdown.

Post Quals Party
Greg and I battle it out on that Great Spotted Battlefield of Doom.

Post Quals Party
Yeah, I gotta agree with Nicole on this one...Astro Man-wich!!

Post Quals Party
Where's Waldo?

Post Quals Party
That beard has got to be itching Ori's ear right about now.

Post Quals Party
Just where *is* Ori's head?...

Post Quals Party
Dan looks like he's about pounce on something. Or someone.

Post Quals Party
Impressive ;).

Post Quals Party
Good thing we're all friends here!

Post Quals Party
Whose brilliant idea was it for "Face Up Twister"?

Post Quals Party
Wait for it...

Post Quals Party
...oh, and he's down! That's gonna hurt!

Post Quals Party
There was a butt and some money, that's about all I know.

Post Quals Party
We outlasted the decorations!

Attack Flamingo
My dear friend since 1st grade sent me a fearsome flamingo stapler and an appropriate warning sign...too funny.

Kovo!
Danny and I get dressed up for the annual department Kovalenko dinner! He looks awesome in my hat ;).

Kovo!
Steph, me, and Nicole...hott!

Kovo!
Our boys--Jarron, Greg, and Dan. They clean up pretty decent, don't they?

Kovo!
Steph and Jarron try to take a good picture, but *somebody* can't resist the lure of the camera...

Kovo!
Awww :).

Kovo!
Me and George.. NOT at the office!!

Kovo!
Greg and Nicole chilling at Ed's house after the dinner.

Kovo!
Mark explains something (probably bulge/disk ratios :P) to Ryan, Clarissa, and Andrew.

Kovo!
Jake and Angela, showing off that very, very lovely bit of bling ;)...

Kovo!
Me and Dan at GIN later, showing off a slightly nerdier bit of bling...yes, that's a Chandra Telescope tie tack.

Kovo!
Ahh, that's more comfy...GIN and the GIN-boys hanging out in the wee morning hours.

Kovo!
So cute :).

Kovo!
Izzie and Pieter scraping out jello shots with spoons!

Mark's Door
This is what happens when you don't tell your grad students you're getting married and they find out anyway...

Mark's Door
We even put a hole in the paper for his key. We're nothing if not thoughtful.

Manchester
They know how to build a library, that's for sure! (In Manchester working with advisor over spring break.)

Manchester
Not so sure about their statuary talents, though. On the U-Manchester campus...shrine to the licorice gods?

Manchester
The office that Dan and I used for work during the week. Part of the huge monstrosity that is Sackville St Building.

Manchester
Another weird statue on campus.

Jodrell Bank Observatory
The Lovell Telescope at the JBO.

Jodrell Bank Observatory
Mary and our good ol' friend Copernicus :).

Jodrell Bank Observatory
Whispering dishes at JBO. In a mudfield. Ahh, early spring in northern England...

Jodrell Bank Observatory
One of the views from the Arboretum on the JBO grounds. So pretty!

Jodrell Bank Observatory
The Mark II telescope at the JBO, part of the MERLIN and European VLBI networks.

Jodrell Bank Observatory
The pub we had lunch at in the nearby town of Goostrey. So awesome!!

Carlisle
3 hour layover (1-4am) while on an overnight bus to Scotland. No bus station = lots of walking around.

Carlisle
Otters!! Who knew? :P In the courtyard of a really cute shopping center.

Carlisle
I likes otters :). Also, it was COLD!

Carlisle
Dan just likes stealing their fish.

Ardrossan
The view from Ardrossan Harbour, catching the first ferry to the Isle of Arran.

Scotland and Arran
A map of Scotland and the Isle of Arran, with the places in the following pictures. Admire my madd Paint skillz!

Brodick
The ferry that runs between Ardrossan and Brodick, in Brodick Harbour.

Brodick
View of the mainland from Brodick Harbour.

Lochranza
Looking from the front door of the hostel north towards Claonaig on the Isle of Kintyre.

Lochranza
In front of the hostel, the finger of land called the Cock of Arran.

Machrie Moor
After a loooong morning...we find the entrance to Scotland! Or at least, a historic sheep pasture :).

Machrie Moor
A moor just chockful of Neolithic stone circles and other goodies :).

Machrie Moor
The stone circles, as far as they can tell, are burial sites alone (not calendars or so on). Still, very cool.

Machrie Moor
The first circle along the way.

Machrie Moor
Dan checking out a stone pillar.

Machrie Moor
Abandoned stone farmhouse called Moss Farm.

Machrie Moor
The interior of the house. I like plants indoors, but come on...

Machrie Moor
Moss Farm Stone Cairn, just past the farmhouse.

Machrie Moor
Small sign near a larger set of six circles, explaining about the Neolithic burial practices.

Machrie Moor
Sign showing the layout of the large circles.

Machrie Moor
Sandstone blocks, used to be a complete circle.

Machrie Moor
Beautiful against the background hills!

Machrie Moor
The sky wasn't really as ominous as it looks :).

Machrie Moor
Some of the circles are alternating (what's left) limestone and sandstone blocks.

Machrie Moor
One of the taller stones, ~18 feet high, if I remember correctly.

Machrie Moor
The farthest circle, one of the smallest. What an interesting place this must have been...

Machrie Moor
The two final circles.

Machrie Moor
Looking back at the hills.

Machrie Moor
Umm, me?

Machrie Moor
Rain, sun, and...hail? Wtf?

Machrie Moor


Machrie Moor
Sheep, probably wondering why the tourists don't just leave them alone.

Machrie Moor
Just to prove I wasn't lying about the hail :).

Machrie Moor
A pheasant! Probably boring to a north European, but utterly fascinating to us.

Lochranza
Yet another attempt to get a decent picture, foiled :P.

Lochranza
North Arran is home to rare red deer. We also saw seals!!!

Coire Fhionn Lochan
Oh yes, more sheep :). This was the start of our attempt to scale Beinn Bhreac and Beinn Bharrain.

Coire Fhionn Lochan
Hiking up the (I think 3rd) ridge. I don't know why I look confused...

Coire Fhionn Lochan
Part of Coire Fhionn Loch. It was so beautiful...and we saw a waterspout!

Coire Fhionn Lochan
The plan for the hike was to climb that ridge on the far side of the bowl. Yes, the part hidden in the clouds.

Coire Fhionn Lochan
Finally, a good picture of us!

Coire Fhionn Lochan
Looking from the loch back the way we came--that's the path off to the right.

Coire Fhionn Lochan
It was WINDY!! Like, the kind where you can just kind of lean over and not fall down.

Coire Fhionn Lochan
The back wall of the bowl around the loch.

Coire Fhionn Lochan
Up on the ridge, looking back at the loch. Can't see where we climbed up, but Kilbrannon Sound and Kintyre past it.

Coire Fhionn Lochan
This is where we decided we'd probably die if we actually tried to climb the mountains. Sadness :(.

Coire Fhionn Lochan
Looking northwards from the ridge above the loch.

Coire Fhionn Lochan
Mini-loch! :P

Coire Fhionn Lochan
Tuck and roll...

Thunderguy
On the beach of Kilbrannon Sound, waiting for the bus. Those bus drivers were scary!!

Thunderguy
Pretty rocks. And I found a starfish!

Lochranza Distillery
Whiskey distillery in Lochranza. There are golden eagles in them thar hills!

Lochranza Distillery
Inside the distillery, with the gigantic (2-story) wooden mixing vats.

Lochranza Distillery
Cute old Scottish tourguide explaining about the UK's crazy excise tax on alcohol.

Lochranza Distillery
The water used in the distillery comes straight from a loch on top of the tor above the area.

Lochranza Castle
Out of the northern tip of the island (by the hostel), with the castle on the lefthand side.

Lochranza Castle
Ooooh...spooky....

Lochranza Castle
The castle was a guardhouse and family home of the various lords of Arran since the 14th century.

Lochranza Castle
Apparently you can go inside if you get the key from the person at the post office (??), but they were closed by then.

Glasgow
St. Mungo's Cathedral, in typical Scottish weather.

Glasgow
Ahh, those cheery Presbyterians :P...

Glasgow
Saw this symbol a lot...symbol of Glasgow? No idea.

Glasgow
The really neat-looking cemetary behind St. Mungo's.

Glasgow
Statue of a Tibetan Bodhisattva in the St. Mungo's Religious Life Museum.

Glasgow
An artistic representation of part of the Qur'an, a large painted etching.

Glasgow
An absolutely gorgeous 8' statue of Shiva as Nataraja dancing on the demon of ignorance.

Glasgow
Coolest looking public maps ever.

Glasgow
These were all over the downtown and shopping areas. So neat!

Glasgow
Renfrew St., near our hotel.

Glasgow
U of Glasgow. Why don't we get spires??

Glasgow
Statue of Lord Kelvin himself. Yes, *the* Lord Kelvin.

Glasgow
Inside the university grounds, admiring the architecture...

Glasgow
Really awesome carved mural dedicated to science and engineering on the side of the engineering building.

Glasgow
View of Glasgow from the front of the university, with the Kelvingrove Museum in the foreground.

Glasgow
The front of the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum. Such a cool place!!

Glasgow
Back entrance to the museum.

Glasgow
Inside one of the life sciences halls. Awesome stuff! Overrun by small Scottish children on fieldtrips!

Glasgow
The Hall of Expression. Full of exhibits on the various ways cultures have expressed themselves.

Glasgow
Orrery--mechanical device showing the motion of the planets.

Glasgow
Buchanan Street--lots and lots of shopping!

Glasgow
And finally, a real life bagpiper!!

St. Patrick's Day
I agree with Nicole...it ain't St. Paddy's Day 'til Ori's in a skirt!

St. Patrick's Day
Andrew showed up with his whiskey-filled gnome. A gnome. Full of whiskey.

St. Patrick's Day
Andrew, David, Ori, and Sarah getting ready for some carbombs!

St. Patrick's Day
Me, Joleen, Jarron, and Nicole take our turn...someone forgot to bring enough shot glasses!

St. Patrick's Day
Dan and Paul do a...err...jig? Paul was in character ALL NIGHT.

St. Patrick's Day
Jakey and Danny on the couch...I gotta keep my eye on that boy ;).

St. Patrick's Day
Megan and Kris, being smoochycute as usual :).

St. Patrick's Day
The Sparkly Irish get down with their bad selves.

St. Patrick's Day
Once everyone has had sufficient alcohol, Ori and Paul regale us with vaguely Irish poetry and storytelling...

St. Patrick's Day
Ori and Sarah being cute, while Pluto looms ominously in the background. That thing is seriously scary.

Darth Frenchie
Awww, he missed Jake!!

Fan Mtn. Public Night
Sunset on the mountain.

Fan Mtn. Public Night
The C'ville Astronomical Society setting up their *awesome* telescopes for a night of great skies!

Fan Mtn. Public Night
Chan showing off the balance of the 31'.

Fan Mtn. Public Night
Ori showing off his madd IR instrumentation skillz.

Fan Mtn. Public Night
Way more fun than a camera should be.

Fan Mtn. Public Night
Way closer than housemates should be...

VSGC Fellows
Me, Rachael, Amy, David, and Jeff in Williamsburg to make the VSGC feel good about giving us money :).

Spring Picnic
Chilly but fun picnic...and stuffing our faces is by far the best part :).

Spring Picnic
Jake shows the camera some love.

Spring Picnic
Dan is...exploding, while Clarissa is mildly concerned and Ryan laughs.

Spring Picnic
David, being cool.

Spring Picnic
I can't tell if I'm confused or disgusted.

Spring Picnic
Genevieve corrals the kids into a semi-organized game of kickball.

Spring Picnic
Cayenne helps resident pyro Paul build a bonfire.

Spring Picnic
The aforementioned bonfire. It was actually rather impressive!

Spring Picnic
Jake was particularly fascinated... :P

Spring Picnic
I don't know what they are all so confused by, but I really wish I'd seen it!

Spring Picnic
Joleen's turn...what is it with these kids nowadays??

Spring Picnic
"Men" vs. Ponytails.

Spring Picnic
Joleen does something awesome during the volleyball game.

Spring Picnic
Astrobaby! Nate&Adrienne's new baby (the purple is medicine, she's not that trendy just yet!)

Spring Picnic
Looks like John and Remy have their hands full...

Spring Picnic
Kris: "No, seriously, check that out." Megan: "Yeah. Uh-uh. Whatever, dear."

Spring Picnic
Scott and doggy Loki :).

Cinco de Mayo
Happy Mexican Food Day! Marios, Ricardo, and Bary show what international brotherhood really looks like :).

Cinco de Mayo
Howard? "Don't push me. I WILL dump this cup down my shirt."

Cinco de Mayo
Adrienne and Nate, enjoying some much-needed pass-the-baby-to-other-people time!

Cinco de Mayo
Maybe we should leave...

Cinco de Mayo
Tequila shots, while I...ole? Just adding to the atmosphere.

Cinco de Mayo
I don't think Marios ever satisfactorily explained just why he wasn't wearing a shirt underneath that.

Cinco de Mayo
Nate and Alex

Cinco de Mayo
Host Sean gets us ready for s'more-making!

Cinco de Mayo
Nicole watches Tammy prance around. That kid...

Cinco de Mayo
I'd give a lot to know what Dawn just heard and/or saw...surely not Marta drinking...

Cinco de Mayo
Sri, with hosts Tia and Sean in the background. They have a gorgeous house!

Cinco de Mayo
Marta <3....remember those shots earlier?

Graduation!
Cheng-Yu, Nicole, and me--now Masters of the Universe!

Graduation!
Jarron was in France on this momentous day, bwahaha. (And Amy's just too cool for us :P)

Graduation!
Undergrad Nicole and first years Ryan and George will wear the robes next year!

Graduation!
Nicole talking to her mom before the ceremony, while Joleen tries to set someone on fire with her mind.

Graduation!
Virginia and Bob, so cute :).

Graduation!
We did it! They're actually going to give us degrees!

Graduation!
Greg is determined to get the PhD hooding right.

Graduation!
He even makes his advisor rehearse with him. (Good thing, too--they were the only ones who did it right!)

Graduation!
Genevieve said it all...everyone looks confused, but only Dan is confused enough to be scratching someone *else's* head!

Graduation!
Ego et mea familia (et Dan)

Graduation!
Me and the boy. He barely showed up for his own ceremony last year!

Graduation!
Greg and Nicole with the "New Yawkers"

Graduation!
All the astro grads: Jennifer, Peter, Cheng-Yu, Greg, David, me, Darth Leisenring, and Nicole.

Graduation!
They're starting 'em younger and younger... (Peter's son Xander)

Camping
Dan and Jake frolic gleefully, while Scot and Marios "supervise" the fire-building.

Camping
David and his madd football skillz.

Camping
Someone was too excited to even hold the camera steady! Nicole, Anina, Amy, David, Dan, Jake, me, Scot's arm.

Camping
Now *that* is one full lap! Dan, Jake, and Scot.

Camping
A true-color image, even!

Camping
Marios, Izzy's sister Anina, Joleen, and Megan around the fire.

Camping
Anina (aka Jim Morrison) and Scot debate something very impressive. You can tell it's impressive from the hands.

Camping
Greg, Nicole, and me. Behind us is our incredibly bear-proof food table!

Camping
Mike and Molly suffer the Great Chair Shortage.

Camping
Scot, putting my morning tea mug to good jack'n'coke use.

Camping
Scot, Molly, Greg, Nicole, and me. Yay campfire!

Camping
The next morning, feeling amazingly refreshed and energized...ahh, nature!

Camping
Getting ready to hike...workin' hard and hardly workin'...

Camping
Soaking up the sun...at least, I am. No idea what that kid's doing :P.

Camping
Nothing like bongo drums and a tambourine to get the blood racing...

Camping
David, Amy, and Molly try to make us pack lunches :).

Camping
Molly, Greg, Amy, and David at the summit of Blackrock Trail.

Camping
Nicole and Dan scout out the perfect lunch spots.

Camping
Lunchtime! Greg, me, Molly, David, and Amy eat at what feels like the top of the world.

Camping
Possibly my favorite scenery pic from the whole trip (credit to Nicole!)

Camping
Hi, Greg!

Camping
View from the summit...God, I miss the Smokies...

Camping
Two astro hotties + lots of big boulders = way too much fun!!

Camping
Yeah, they look heroic, but our rock was harder to get to ;).

Camping
Wheeeeeeeeee!!

Camping
Hooray for boulder-scrambling!

Camping
View from somewhere near the top of Riprap Trail.

Camping
Riprap Trail

Camping
Dancing like the wandering minstrel troupe that we were...complete with flute and drums!

Graduation
Jake gets all gussied up! :)

Graduation
The second years get their masters degrees!! (Neil's accidently cut out on the left, Dan, Jake, Genevieve, Joleen, Ori)

Jarron
See? This is what fun does to people!

The Ol' Graveyard
Old cemetery off the backroads near my house, so very peaceful. My high school girls know what I mean :).

The Ol' Graveyard
Cemetery gate, up the cowfield hill ;).

The Ol' Graveyard
Whatever that old building is on the hill.

The Ol' Graveyard
The French Broad River, from the cemetery wall. Remember when the barbed wire *wasn't* there??

Family
Just your typical euchre game, right??

Family
My dad and brother...I think this says it all.

Knoxville
We've been together a long time, guys :). Undy, Bessie, Amy1, Amy3, and me outside Tomato Head.

Knoxville
Market Square. I miss the Pres Pub blues nights!

Knoxville
Hey, sometimes you just need some random action...

Gliders!
Me attempting to convince a sugarglider that I am not in fact going to eat her.

Gliders!
They are sooo cute!!

Knoxville
Dan and Daine shooting pool at Barleys.

Knoxville
I told him it wasn't salt, but would he listen? Nooo...

Knoxville
Me and Little Chad at Barleys. Sorry I couldn't do GSS this year, and behave yourself--they're not legal yet! :P

Knoxville
Mary, one of the coolest girls ever. Roadtrip to Cambridge (the original one), anyone??

Knoxville
Part of World's Fair Park, from next to the art museum.

Knoxville
Fort Kid!

Knoxville
Sean and I...together we are 2/3 of all the people UT has sent into astronomy in the last 10 years...

Knoxville
So it's technically in Maryville, whatever...Greenbelt Park

Knoxville
Ducks at Greenbelt

Seymour
Seymour...we only need *2* cardinal directions in these heah parts!

SHS Graduation
My brother Peter, walking in through the teachers. Now if we could just get him to stand up straight...

SHS Graduation
He's there somewhere. The Arena is too big. Gov Palace, now, *there* was a good place to graduate ;).

SHS Graduation
The endless picture-taking and hug-giving...

SHS Graduation
Nothing like being hunted down and grilled by Sargeant D. herself...what a woman.

SHS Graduation
Peter and his twin. Guess which is which! (They even dressed alike for homecoming!)

SHS Graduation
Me and Kristin...yet another blast from the past.

SHS Graduation
All 3 of us through, and SHS is still standing... (Carole, I don't know why your eye looks weird.)

SHS Graduation
Pressies! Note the fire extinguisher. We take no responsibility for anything that happens from now on with it.

SHS Graduation
Me in a box. I'm sure there was a good reason at the time.

SHS Graduation
Too...heavy....seriously, y'all, she's, like, 15 whole pounds!

Hiking - Meigs' Creek
My brother Peter, before we set out. Notice how clean and dry he is...

Hiking - Meigs' Creek
Sean!

Hiking - Meigs' Creek
Aaand we're off! This is the flattest ground we saw all day.

Hiking - Meigs' Creek
Huge red fungus was everywhere. It was like War of the Worlds, I swear. (*rolls eyes*)

Hiking - Meigs' Creek
After a bit, we even stopped taking our shoes off :). Rock-hopping became an optional challenge, not practical anymore.

Hiking - Meigs' Creek
There were approximately 18 river crossings over the round trip. So pretty!!!

Hiking - Meigs' Creek
Tree growing on a rock. Not much else to say.

Hiking - Meigs' Creek
Anyone else think it looks like that stump is flipping us off?

Hiking - Meigs' Creek
More river-ness.

Hiking - Meigs' Creek
Sean and this guy we met on the trail, from Kansas, who hiked along with us.

Hiking - Meigs' Creek
It was fun to watch the river grow from small mossy spring to raging, "mature" torrent.

Hiking - Meigs' Creek
Waterfall! That water is COLD!

Hiking - Meigs' Creek
From the top of the waterfall.

Hiking - Meigs' Creek
Albino flowers? I used too much flash, but they're certainly not green.

Hiking - Meigs' Creek
Snail!

Hiking - Meigs' Creek
At the trailhead.

Redneck Beach
The Redneck Beach at the Y...(personally, I think it's kinda cute).

Family
Peter and I harrassing Dad. Yes, his T-rex arms are on purpose.

Schoolhouse
Old one-room schoolhouse along Boyds' Creek Highway in Seymour.

Rainbow
Gorgeous double rainbow over C'ville...didn't come out as brilliant as it really was :-/.

DC - Boilermakers
Boilermaker Jazz Band at a dance in DC, and us getting ready to hit the floor!

DC - Boilermakers
Our back corner :).

DC - Boilermakers
Joleen and Dave dancing...so glad he came!

DC - Boilermakers
Me and Jarron...it's been 2 years, but we finally got him back out there!

DC - Boilermakers
Lots of couples!

DC - Boilermakers
Being the lead requires a lot more forethought than I'm used to!

DC - Boilermakers
...So let's just boogey.

DC - Boilermakers
Steph and Greg having fun :).

DC - Boilermakers
Greg and Joleen

DC - Boilermakers
Twirly hair and skirt yay!

DC - Boilermakers
Resting...though Greg looks slightly dazed :).

DC - Boilermakers
Steph and Jarron

DC - Boilermakers
Except for the fact that he's about to eat her face, this is a good action pose :).

DC - Boilermakers
Molly and David had fun playing around :).

DC - Boilermakers
There was even a playground outside! Steph and me on the jungle gym :).

DC - Boilermakers
We manage to convince Joleen to join us...why were the people in heels the only ones climbing??

DC - Boilermakers
Greg and some random girl.

DC - Boilermakers
Steph and Dan, hepcatting it up!

DC - Boilermakers
Still Steph and Dan

DC - Boilermakers
Weary group at the end...Dan, David, me, Greg, Steph, Jarron, Joleen, Molly

DC - Boilermakers
Steph, me, and Joleen exhausted in the room later that night. Apparently we were entertaining ;).

Cinco de Junio!
We missed Cinco de Mayo due to finals, so...turkey tacos (and curry pork, for some reason) for everyone!

Nate and Adrienne's Wedding
Dey so cute...

Nate and Adrienne's Wedding
At the reception...Ciska (my advisor), Alex, Giannina, Marios, Andrew (Ciska's hubby)

Nate and Adrienne's Wedding
Me and Dan, outside in the swelteringly hot half of the reception.

Nate and Adrienne's Wedding
Izzy, in the *cute* new outfit, and Mike keepin' it cool.

Nate and Adrienne's Wedding
Jeff and Mary...wish I knew what he was trying to convince her of.

Nate and Adrienne's Wedding
Marta, Ricardo, and Tammy...awww!

Nate and Adrienne's Wedding
Steph and I take on Tammy the Tickle Monster..."I didn't do it!" :P

Nate and Adrienne's Wedding
Sarah and Ori, looking very summery :).

Boys' Housewarming Party
Da Boys...Ori, Dan, Jake, and Jarron regale us with an, umm, enchanting rendition of "We Didn't Start The Fire."

Boys' Housewarming Party
Alan and Cheng-yu, perhaps both a bit unnerved by, well, us. It happens.

Boys' Housewarming Party
I'm not entirely sure he's not just standing there like that.

Boys' Housewarming Party
This is what happens when you stick your face in the cake...you get Rick-slobber in your ear. Tragic, no?

Boys' Housewarming Party
Also, you get cupcake up your nose. Oy.

Boys' Housewarming Party
Cool kids on the couch!! Dan, Jake, me, Nicole, and Steph.

Boys' Housewarming Party
Me. Looking for ideas of who/what to photoshop into the righthand side of the pic...

Boys' Housewarming Party
Do NOT piss Greg off ;)...Greg, Dawn, Sarah, and whoever that kid is. Didn't catch his name.

Boys' Housewarming Party
Greg and me...why you gotta get a real job and leave, man??

Boys' Housewarming Party
Izzie trounces Dan...the thing is, it wasn't even that late in the evening yet...

Boys' Housewarming Party
"You all right, buddy?"

Boys' Housewarming Party
Me, Molly, and Dan. Bunny ears have never brought such joy.

Boys' Housewarming Party
Izzie and Mike. What is it about licking people?? Yes, rhetorical question.

Boys' Housewarming Party
More party on the "most uncomfortable ever" couch...I can't tell if Jenn wants to join in or hide under the bed.

Boys' Housewarming Party
"Jake, show us your shimmy!!"

Boys' Housewarming Party
My fav pic of the guys...Dan's afraid of the camera, Jake's trying to sleep with it, and Jarron's found his inner peace.

Boys' Housewarming Party
Not sure what bottle Jarron's holding...we know his heart is in the Midori...

Boys' Housewarming Party
Jenn and Nicole...oh yes, she's seducing.

Boys' Housewarming Party
This kitchen ain't big enough for the 16 of us!

Boys' Housewarming Party
Kris and Megan....awwwww!

Boys' Housewarming Party
Dude...chill out. The beer's just an attention hog. We still love you.

Boys' Housewarming Party
Speaking of love...Molly and her tequila and 'everyone take a shot during the song chorus' game...such childlike whimsy.

Boys' Housewarming Party
NiGail together again! If not for the stupid GBT ;), this would happen more often. And no, *I* didn't spill on me.

Boys' Housewarming Party
NiGail busting out the ol' bartending skills, while Jarron watches his Midori possessively :P.

Boys' Housewarming Party
"Yes ma'am"...Sarah telling Ori like it is.

Boys' Housewarming Party
Steph and Izzie supervising from the couch.

Jarron
Jarron showin' the pimp hand...

Nicole and Gail
Nicole: Yeah, isn't that great? Me: I totally don't believe you!

Dan's Birthday
Because *nothing* builds self-confidence like getting defeated by mini golf... ;) Mike, Dan, Izzie, and me held our own

Dan's Birthday
"Dude, how did you bury it *in* the sand?"

Dan's Birthday
Anyone else think it looks like Izzie's about to hit me with the club?

Dan's Birthday
Gen, Greg, Nicole, Jake, and Jarron put their souls into the game.

Dan's Birthday
Birthday boy!

Dan's Birthday
Greg!

Dan's Birthday
Genevieve, trying to qualify for that "Professional Putters Association"...

Dan's Birthday
Nicole examines the course intently, noting strengths and weaknesses, planning her attack...

Dan's Birthday
I don't know.

Dan's Birthday
NRAO summer student Destry, who joined us for dinner.

Dan's Birthday
Jake and Jarron, during dinner at Basil.

Dan's Birthday
Something about that kid and cake...this is not going to end well...

Dan's Birthday
Unless "well" = "covered in chocolate cake", which it might, so okay.

Dan's Birthday
You can't even see the mess on the other side of my face.

Wine/Music Festival
Nothing like a pair of random *gigantic* flowers to start things off right!

Wine/Music Festival
The...variety...of food was amusing :).

Wine/Music Festival
Gen, Dan, and I contemplate the delicate nuances of some wine...

Wine/Music Festival
Honest-to-God chili wine and Cheeze-whiz shots. I'm not even kidding.

Wine/Music Festival
If there is music, we will dance!

Wine/Music Festival
The festival's main stage.

Wine/Music Festival
Gen, Nicole, Dan, Greg, and me...sweating like pigs in the heat but loving it!

Wine/Music Festival
Ahh, shade...and (finally!) our cigars.

Wine/Music Festival
Dan enjoying his cigar and the shade and the not-walking-around.

Wine/Music Festival
Drained of all energy...

Wine/Music Festival
...well, maybe not :).

Wine/Music Festival
Greg and his mint water...ugggh. :P

Wine/Music Festival
*This* is bliss.

Wine/Music Festival
Ahhh....

Wine/Music Festival
A small push? Sure, why not....oh dear Lord!

Wine/Music Festival
This was a bad idea :P.

Wine/Music Festival
Nicole, me, Dan, and Gen.

Wine/Music Festival
Gen jumps out so Greg can jump in (literally!).

Wine/Music Festival
Trogdor, a la balloons!

Wine/Music Festival
Jamming in the car on the way home...aww, someone couldn't keep up with us... :P

4th of July
Dan and Nicole, already trading hats...not sure which one is getting the short end of the stick here...

4th of July
Of all the things Rick could have done here, this was the most boring :P.

4th of July
Didn't your mother ever tell you not to give pyrotechnics to astrophysicists?

4th of July
Let no man say she's an ankle-biter...

4th of July
Andrew and Genevieve with some of the girls' neighbors.

4th of July
Joleen, Rick, and Nicole...am I that scary, Nicole?

4th of July
Izzie, Mike, and me...we're scheming ;).

4th of July
Joleen and her friend Chris from karate.

4th of July
NiGail, plotting something devious, I'm sure...

4th of July
Izzie, Andrew, Nicole, Jake, Gen, Chris, at the park for the fireworks!

4th of July
Umm...everyone.

4th of July
Nicole being patriotic...or else she just likes the hat. Not sure.

4th of July
Everyone again. Note the fracas in the middle of the group ;).

Mandy...on a sadder note
Mandy, loyal pet (all right, queen of the house) for 12 years, died of cancer in mid-July. We'll always miss her!!

Mandy
After the (ultimately unsuccessful) surgery. Doesn't she look sporty?

Zoe
Apparently peace and quiet is too much to handle...this is Zoe, the newest addition to the family!

Zoe
As of this posting, I haven't seen her in person (in dog?) yet, but ain't she cute??

Peter's Defense Party
Izzie, the new Dr. Frinchaboy (!) and his wife, and Nicole on the couch

Peter's Defense Party
Greg and Jeff chilling

Peter's Defense Party
Dan and Jeff Bary, I'm sure discussing something insanely important.

Peter's Defense Party
Genevieve, being adorable as always :).

Peter's Defense Party
Gen and Andrew in the kitchen

Peter's Defense Party
George, that girl whose name I can't remember, Gen, and the back of Angela's head.

Peter's Defense Party
Me and Nicole on those chairs which we really may steal before Greg moves...

Peter's Defense Party
Dan and I

Moving Day!!
I reserved a simple 10' truck...this is what we got. But it has Hubble on the side!! We win!!

Moving Day!!
Greg, Woo, and Nicole load up stuff in the Grad Court parking lot.

Moving Day!!
Woo and Dan, being big strong boys.

Moving Day!!
Greg and Izzie scraping random foam tape off the hall floor (they used a razor, so technically they shaved the hallway).

Moving Day!!
Our new kitchen, pre-putting-things-away. Notice the impossibly high cabinets...

Moving Day!!
Living/dining room, taken from the front corner.

Moving Day!!
Living/dining room, from the front hallway. The unseen wall on the left is brick, with our fireplace!

Moving Day!!
Ohh, Greg...the boys worked *hard*!

GIN Housewarming Party
Let the festivities begin! Greg, Nicole (N), Claire, Izzie (I), and Mike in our living room!

GIN Housewarming Party
Normal lighters just weren't good enough for our gen-u-ine Cuban cigars (!!)...

GIN Housewarming Party
Me and Nicole in our backyard. Wow, that feels nice to say...

GIN Housewarming Party
Why do hilarious things happen just when you're trying to take a nice group picture?

GIN Housewarming Party
Me and Woo, one of the 5 male reasons we moved into our new place so efficiently!

GIN Housewarming Party
....Believe it or not, he's another one of the reasons.

GIN Housewarming Party
Greg and his two friends from waaay back, Dave and Mike...they got dragged along but seemed to have a good time :).

GIN Housewarming Party
Dan and I, sometime later in the evening.

GIN Housewarming Party
Nicole and Greg, so cute!

GIN Housewarming Party
Dance, boy, dance!!

GIN Housewarming Party
Jarron and Steph, cute-ing it up :).

GIN Housewarming Party
Rick, doing what I'm pretty sure is supposed to be a sexy lapdance...

Sugar Hollow
Sugar Hollow swimming hole...Joleen, Nicole, Greg, and I enjoying the perfect weather!

Sugar Hollow
Braving the rope swing...

Sugar Hollow
I swing! I fall! I splash!!

Sugar Hollow
Dan getting ready to swing.

Sugar Hollow
Pretty pond! So quiet and peaceful...notice Dan's legs coming in for a landing...

Sugar Hollow
George and Rick's brother Mike watch the high-flying acrobatics!

Sugar Hollow
Cheng-Yu and Joleen, enjoying a nice peaceful lunch...

Sugar Hollow
I got nothing. Too cute for words.

Sugar Hollow
The Sugar Hollow swimmin' hole!

Sugar Hollow
Nicole, being sly :P.

Sugar Hollow
Nicole, Dan, me, and Joleen lounging on the rocks.

Sugar Hollow
It's a bird! It's a plane! It's a Rick!

Sugar Hollow
No matter how fun it looks, you *cannot* slide down here. Trust us.

Sugar Hollow
George, Greg, and Dan packing up to get back on the trail!

Whitehall Winery
First stop on the winery tour...Whitehall! Rick, Mike, Joleen, George, Nicole, me (I promise I'm there), and Dan.

Whitehall Winery
Nicole, me, Dan (don't ask, I don't know) with Cheng-yu in the background at Whitehall.

Stone Mountain Winery
Ridiculous drive up a mountain to get here...but totally worth it.

Stone Mountain Winery
The interior...sooo gorgeous! I want a house like this someday!

Stone Mountain Winery
Pretty pretty!

Stone Mountain Winery
Dan and I admiring the view off the back porch.

Stone Mountain Winery
Joleen and Greg!

Stone Mountain Winery
Nicole and Greg, awwww! :P

Neyland Stadium
Rocky Top, you'll always be, home sweet home to me! Good ol' Rocky Top, WOOOOOOO!!!

Neyland Stadium
Smokey!!

Freshman Year
A (young! holy crap!) Mary and I play with my hair...ahh, Morrell Hall...

Freshman Year
Mary, Kiel, Mike, and Jessica on the way to Fairbanks! (The original one!!)

Freshman Year
Alex, Amy3, me, and Jay on the other side of the trolley. Ahh, Fairbanks until 2, then footsoaks and DP Dough's...

Freshman Year
Bernard the Duck! Alas, I have no digital copies yet of all the holiday costumes we made for him...

Freshman Year
Boo. It's an indifference-hate relationship. But he was important to the experience :).

Freshman Year
Big Eric! Let's give it up for nerd dancers!!

Freshman Year
Jay and me, reeeeally early on. I miss my wall poetry!!

Freshman Year
Mike doing girly things to her hair, almost certainly before a Fairbanks night :).

Freshman Year
The high school girls after our first semester of college (New Years)...Kristin and Amy3, me, Undy, Jamie, and Bessie!

Freshman Year
Kiel, me, Jay, Randall, and Bennett posing with Smokey in, well, Smokeys in the UC.

Freshman Year
Part of our *massive* Christmas wall decoration... "Hello, I'm from Oak Ridge, and yes, I glow in the dark."

Freshman Year
Sharon!

Bed of Nails
Ahh, intro physics...the most mathematical way to perform death-defying stunts...

Halloween 2002
April, Sheena, me, and Jay at the party in Mike's apartment (...or was it Mike's party in Will's apartment?)

Halloween 2002
Dan, is that a giant demon nipple?

Halloween 2002
Elizabeth, me, April (why does she always look shocked?) and Mike.

Halloween 2002
Some girl, Mike, Elizabeth, Alex, and Sharon.

Sophie
Longtime friend Andrea (and her husband Adam) welcomed their firstborn into the world in January 2003 :). Hi Sophie!!

Sophie
Isn't she precious??

Physics REU
Before/after my summer in Europe, I worked for the high-energy physics group at UT...ahh, precision-timing electronics..

TECOP
Dan and I show high schoolers how to use an oscilloscope...thanks for filling in the front of my shirt, buddy :).

TECOP
Olga helps the kids grind down the contacts of their lightguides.

Physics Dept Christmas Dinner
Dr. P, me, Soren, Olga, Brandon, Dr. B, Steve, Joey, Richard, Chad, Anton, Stacey, Sean, Dan, Dr. T...Christmas 2003 :).

Winter 2004 AAPT Meeting
Olga and I, UT's proud reps...it's late at night, and we're slightly damp from a quick dip in the ocean :).

Winter 2004 AAPT Meeting
Really, what's a physics meeting without some beach time?

Winter 2004 AAPT Meeting
All right, fine, yes I did some real work. Proudly bragging on our *awesome* TECOP program!

Winter 2004 AAPT Meeting
Olga and I (slightly sunburnt), Dr. B, and her boyo Roy, enjoying dinner and watching the transies in Miami Beach.

Dan
Late night Bed Bath & Beyond run...I don't know what else you expected.

Spring Break 2004
Really, a last minute thing...me, Kiel, Kiel's friend Erin, and Beth hit up the beach in Tampa!

Spring Break 2004
Soaking up some much-needed sunshine...

Spring Break 2004
At the end of a pier somewhere, I think. Evenings were cool and breezy, perfect.

Spring Break 2004
Pretty pretty surf...

Spring Break 2004
Pretty pretty sunset... (somewhere in Clearwater)

Atom Trapping!
Olga and I in the modern lab, fine-tuning our atom-trapping setup...damn secondary pumping laser...

U-grad Research Exhibition
Or, as Catharine dubbed us, the Shameless Exhibitionists...Jim, Scott, me, Dan, Jesse, Olga, and Anton :).

U-grad Research Exhibition
Dan, me, and Olga by our well-traveled TECOP brag poster. "Cosmic rays are like NASCAR.", says the Great Dane...

U-grad Research Exhibition
Me and Dan :).

Iaido Demo
Wes and Taylor demonstrating kickass iaido stuff at a local school.

Rochester REU
Susannah and I display the inner reserve and quiet dignity inherent to physicists.

Rochester REU
Woo and I at the Rochester airport (this pic was actually taken later, but I met him for the first time that summer)

UT SPS
Physics kids = eating and drinking! (?, Chad, John, Olga, Jesse, me, Kevin at O'Charleys)

SPS - Homecoming 2004
Now there's a good idea....Jesse harnesses the power of the sun to pop a balloon held in his mouth.

SPS - Homecoming 2004
Ah crap, we forgot the lighter fluid...let's burn fundamentalist pamphlets to start the grill! (Daine, Jesse, John)

SPS - Homecoming 2004
Failing that, let's use Goo-Gone and a butane torch! Mmm, chemi-burgers!! (Brad, Stoney, Dan, Daine, John)

SPS - Homecoming 2004
We had front-row seats, among all the Greeks...Physics respresent! Daine, Dan, me, Big Chad, Bill, Jesse, and Steve

Gail and Olga
Olga and I at some random party in Atlanta. I think this was the weekend she, Jay, and I went to the monastery?

Garfield!
Rescued from a drainpipe, this little orange furball utterly and completely stole our hearts.

Garfield!
Mmm, desk...tastiest of the office furniture...

Halloween 2004
The girls!! Kristen, me, Sheena, and April at our crazy Halloween party.

Halloween 2004
Proposing under the influence--err, rehearsing for our play! I'm Romeo, Mary's Juliet..."Ay me, thad hours theem long!"

Andrew
Andrew "Sir Fluffy" Lufkin and The Hat

Gail and Wesley
Coooooookie!!!

Sheena and Wesley
I'm serious about that cookie, y'all. It was apparently amazing.

Skiing on Beech Mountain
That grayness in the air is pure icy sleet. Stinging, WET, but really really fun day! (Bill, Allen, Chad, and me)

Skiing on Beech Mountain
Chowing down afterwards...can't remember the other girl's name :-/, but me, Bill, Chad, and Allen.

Spring 2005 APS Meeting
Dinner in Tampa...John, Jarron, Olga, Ken, Thad, Pamela, me, Bill, and Dan.

Spring 2005 APS Meeting
John, Dan, Bill, and me between talks.

Spring 2005 APS Meeting
I want a bar in my basement just so I can put something like this behind it.

Spring 2005 APS Meeting
UT's contingent, plus a Rochester ambassador...Jarron,Olga, Dan, Bill, and myself get ready for the beach!

Spring 2005 APS Meeting
Luckily there was a day with no particularly interesting talks...Dan, Olga, Jarron, me, Bill, and John enjoy the sun :).

Spring 2005 APS Meeting
Apparently I wasn't getting in the water fast enough. Either that, or he's trying to de-evolve me.

Spring 2005 APS Meeting
Don't think he isn't soaked too.

Spring 2005 APS Meeting
Have rocks, will climb them! John, Jarron, me, Dan, and Bill.

Spring 2005 APS Meeting
The boys playing in the sand...Dan's sculpture is a nuclear reactor dome, by the way.

Spring 2005 APS Meeting
Birds-eye view of physicists eating free snackfood.

Spring 2005 APS Meeting
My stomach serving as the theatre for Dan's shadow puppets.

Spring 2005 APS Meeting
Beautiful picture of Olga by the Gulf.

Spring 2005 APS Meeting
"I claim this playground in the name of astrophysics!" Jarron, the intrepid explorer :P.

Spring 2005 APS Meeting
Playgrounds are so much more fun at night.

Tea Party!
Me, April, and Sheena after one of Mary's wonderful tea parties :D.

Too Far
Andrew, me, and Mary in the beloved Too Far basement (gotta find my *high school* pics from there!)

Too Far
Me and Wes. I don't even want to know what he's trying to suggest to the person behind the camera :P.

Too Far
"You want me to do *what*??"

Andrew
Beware the Bowling Ninja!

Garfield!
I hope he's having safe, responsible dreams...

S'mores on the Torchbearer 2005
Our favorite year-end tradition...s'mores on the eternal flame of the university symbol of justice and self-sacrifice.

S'mores on the Torchbearer 2005
Dan (who is not Canadian :P) enjoying a s'more.

S'mores on the Torchbearer 2005
It wouldn't be a s'more night unless someone felt up the Torchbearer. It just wouldn't.

S'mores on the Torchbearer 2005
And after the chocolate runs out... (This is actually the 7th of Dan's failed attempts to get a nice picture of us 3.)

Graduation
Olga and I, marveling that they're actually going to give us degrees in physics! (Why does that still make me chuckle?)

Graduation Party
Me, Kristen, Sheena, and April...I love you guys!!

NYC - May 2005
Roadtrip to NYC...Sean, Bill, Daine, me, and Bessie in (where else?) a brewery in Manhattan :).

NYC - May 2005
Playing on the beach on Long Island...northern water is *cold* in May!

NYC - May 2005
Me on the beach.

NYC - May 2005
You want beach bunnies? Fine :P.

NYC - May 2005
Taking the car across the ferry at the end of the Island.

NYC - May 2005
Bessie and me at the very very tip of Montauk Point...nothing but ocean behind us, all the way to Europe!

NYC - May 2005
Sean and his enormous...caber?

NYC - May 2005
North Fork winery tour...lovely! (The morning after a rather full evening of drinking games...not the best idea ever :P)

NYC - May 2005
We decided not to stand the 3 hours in line...so this is as close as we got :).

NYC - May 2005
Central Park...a bit of nature in the midst of steel and concrete.

NYC - May 2005
Chilling in Central Park...lots and lots of walking!!

NYC - May 2005
Lower Manhattan from the top of the ESB. Our apartment building is in there somewhere.

NYC - May 2005
Rather than boring views of the city...The Pigeon That Ate New York!!

NYC - May 2005
Ground Zero. This was hard.

NYC - May 2005
Sean, Daine, me, and Bill...we're dorks, shut up.

NYC - May 2005
Part of the DELICIOUS seafood feast back at the house in Bridgehampton. So so so good...

NYC - May 2005
Hey, if it's there, we'll use it. (That's Sean's birthday tiramisu that Bill's flaming!)

NYC - May 2005
And the birthday boy himself :).

NYC - May 2005
Daine, Bessie, and Sean chilling in the kitchen....I want that kitchen...

Summer 2005
Bessie and me at the Preservation Pub...Monday nights out on the town ;).

Summer 2005
Mary, looking bee-yootiful as always :).

Summer 2005
Seneca and Daine upstairs at Barley's, a wee bit too close for comfort!

Summer 2005
Mary and Daine...I really don't know what he did, but I'm pretty sure he deserves this ;).

Summer 2005
Me and Mary at the Downtown...that flower is hi-larious, let me tell you what...

Summer 2005
Bessie, Daine, and Mary at the Pub

Summer 2005
Daine and Mary, pondering the imponderables of life...like, what beer should we have next?

Summer 2005
Me and Bill at the Pub...guess he didn't have anyone cooler to hang out with that night ;).

Z Fam goes to Florida
All ready for the first real family vacation in a while...Dad, Peter, Carole, Mom, and me.

Z Fam goes to Florida
Cape Canaveral...real pieces of the ISS under construction!!

Z Fam goes to Florida
The Vehicle Assembly Building...from so far away. This thing is seriously huge.

Z Fam goes to Florida
The shuttle Discovery on the lauchpad, a couple of days before takeoff.

Z Fam goes to Florida
Fuel nearby...does this make anyone else nervous???

Z Fam goes to Florida
Me, Dad, and the Saturn V rocket...wow.

Z Fam goes to Florida
Peter and my parents, playing around in the Rocket Garden.

Z Fam goes to Florida
We claim this flag in the name of...err...

Z Fam goes to Florida
Outside the Space Mission ride at Disney (sensing a pattern yet?)

Z Fam goes to Florida
I want a shrubbery (a shrubbery!) like this.

Z Fam goes to Florida
If I had a dime for every picture of my family in this pose...

Z Fam goes to Florida
In the Italy section of Epcot.

Z Fam goes to Florida
Off Kilter!! Such a fun band :).

Z Fam goes to Florida


Z Fam goes to Florida
Ahahaha we're so funny...

Z Fam goes to Florida
Lemons in the shape of Mickey Mouse...glad those hydroponic research labs are going to good use...

Z Fam goes to Florida
Rawwr!!

Z Fam goes to Florida
Ain't he adORable??! :P

Z Fam goes to Florida
Mom and Peter, frolicking in the waves...

Z Fam goes to Florida
Da kids :).

Z Fam goes to Florida
So there was this hurricane chasing us out of Ft Walton...end result, this is the AL Shakespeare Festival theatre...wow.

Z Fam goes to Florida
The outdoor bathrooms at said theatre...holy crap they were awesome :).

Z Fam goes to Florida
Peter and his new friends...? (On the grounds of the theatre)

Z Fam goes to Florida
Me, Dad, and Billy Shakes himself.

Z Fam goes to Florida
I found a new boy on the trip too...nicely cut and bronzed, yes?

Fan Mtn
Forget villages and children...it takes an entire class to get reasonable data!

Fan Mtn
Going to the observatory on Fan Mountain...Dan and David throwin' down the signs (or trying to), and Coolio...

Fan Mtn
Joleen and I in the control room at Fan, masterfully in command...

Fan Mtn
That control room isn't quite big enough for the whole class, but we did it. There were nachos and beers involved too.

Fan Mtn
Or perhaps we should try dancing... (imagine the room being lit only by the screens and the beloved fiber optic tree)

Fan Mtn
The tower will never be the same.

Fan Mtn
Moonrise over the 31" telescope.

Fan Mtn
Joleen and I, on the catwalk at the top of the 40" dome. Cold but oh so pretty!

Fan Mtn
Sunsets are so gorgeous up there.

Fan Mtn
That road may look flat, but try driving it in the dead of night with no headlights.

Random
Dance dance dance...yep, that's me ;). One of them, anyway.

Random
Nicole and Jake boogey boogey!

Random
Megan, Joleen, and Nicole, breaking hearts left and right.

Random
Jake and Angela at Court Square...cute!

Random
Dance for me, little man! Dance!

Random
Jarron's either a superhero or some demon from the evil nightlands...

Random
Mike and Isabelle at Court Square, playing for some dangerously high stakes...

Random
How many astrophysicists does it take to tie a shoelace?

Random
Grooving at Greg's. (R-L: Kris, Ali, Molly (behind Jarron), Jarron, Greg, Dan, Nicole)

'I Love 1986' Party
Nate's workin' that clock!

'I Love 1986' Party
Oh yes. I am so glad that decade is over :P. (And it is, no matter what the fashion industry is trying to tell us!)

Orbitz
Pool at Orbitz. We have no idea who that guy was, but he stayed there long enough to get a picture. Creeepy...

Orbitz
Jarron looks pissed, Jake is confused, and Jason just realized he has ears!

IR Lab
Our lovely aluminum bar experiment. We did all the wiring ourselves :).

IR Lab
Checking pin connections...fun fun, let me tell you...

IR Lab
Liquid nitrogen makes everything better, yes?

IR Lab
Flash-frozen water makes for fun!

Dance Showcase
Most of the swing troupe :)...Nina, Meghan, Katie, Mike, me. We danced to 'Americano'...wheee fast!

Clock Restoration
My partner Min and I...the only picture that isn't incredibly blurry :).

St. Patrick's Day
Boys' carbombs... (Ori, Mike, Jarron, Dan)

St. Patrick's Day
The girls' turn! (Kari, me, Isabelle, Joleen)

St. Patrick's Day
Mike: Blah blah blah blah. Dan: Uh-huh, uh-huh, sure!

St. Patrick's Day
Mike: He totally bought everything. Dan: WTF??

St. Patrick's Day
Wouldn't have been as funny if Mike had been paying the slightest bit of attention ;).

St. Patrick's Day
Hmm, I don't remember getting scolded.

St. Patrick's Day
Why is everyone on the floor??

St. Patrick's Day
Teeheehee!

St. Patrick's Day
If you know Greg, this is hi-larious.

St. Patrick's Day
Rick, Gen, and Joleen. Also, if you squint, it kinda looks like Rick's punching Kari in the head.

St. Patrick's Day
Bro and sis...aren't they cute? :P

St. Patrick's Day
Dude, no, we *cannot* both wear these beads! Even if they are +5 against Ori's butt.

Jake and Gail
Jake and I discuss very important matters in the lounge.

Jarron and Nicole
Jarron and Nicole...way to TA, guys!

Clock Restoration
A beautiful 1907 Gilbert clock movement, slightly the worse for wear...a perfect project for an astronomy class, right?

Clock Restoration
So many gears! There was the pointy bit one, the bloodstained one, the no-temple one, the weird-toothed one...

Clock Restoration
Jarron: "Oh Lord, what have we gotten ourselves into?..."

Clock Restoration
Nicole expresses what we all felt. Nah, I'm just kidding--we had total confidence!!......

Clock Restoration
First, some Brasso to shine it up a tick. Ori is, umm, *supervising*. Silly boys...

Clock Restoration
There was an amazing amount of crud. I think the Kaylee description is accurate ;).

Clock Restoration
Supersonic cleaning ftw! (No more of this cleaning at the speed of sound, pfft, weak.)

Clock Restoration
Did You Know...? Supersonic cleaning leaves a lovely purple residue on brass. To the lava soap and steel wool!

Clock Restoration
Jarron bit the bullet and reassembled the thing...'cause we poor little girls can't do it all by our lonesome selves...

Genevieve's Birthday
Genevieve's birthday party! (Jake, Nicole, Jarron, Amy, David, Ms. Feet, Kris, Dan, me)

Genevieve's Birthday
Jake, Nicole, Joleen, Dave, and me around the chocolate fountain.

Genevieve's Birthday
Nicole, me, Molly...but you missed the ear-sniffing :).

Genevieve's Birthday
Jake with an incredibly fruity drink...anyone else think the strawberry looks like a beak?

Genevieve's Birthday
Jake's drink was also incredibly strong, thanks to this kid ;).

Genevieve's Birthday
Our lovely hostesses (Megan, Joleen, Genevieve)

Genevieve's Birthday
It's better straight from the source!!

Genevieve's Birthday
Obligatory kitchen gathering :) (Joleen, Jarron, Jake, Ori, Steph, Gianinna, and half of Prof Steve)

Genevieve's Birthday
Dan certainly looks intimidated (and midget-like), but that's just 'cause he can't see the giant sticker on Mike's face.

Genevieve's Birthday
He tried very hard to convince us it wasn't a penis, but we weren't having any of it. :P

Genevieve's Birthday
And the obligatory pile o' boys...Ori, Dan, and Dave all get some Jake-snuggles.

Spring Picnic 2006
See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil... Teeheehee, snicker snicker.

Spring Picnic 2006
Dan and Beer. It's good love.

Spring Picnic 2006
Cheng-yu and "the monster"...or is it just Mark?

Spring Picnic 2006
Genevieve!

Spring Picnic 2006
Peter and Xander!

Spring Picnic 2006
Fun in the sun!! Department picnic on the top of Fan Mountain :).

Spring Picnic 2006
Jake and Gen get all lathered up...eeep...

Spring Picnic 2006
Nicole in the sun

Spring Picnic 2006
Molly!!

Spring Picnic 2006
Jarron, with the 40" dome and part of the station house in the background.

Spring Picnic 2006
Soccer on the croquet...field?

Easter 2006
The "Z Fam", as we've been dubbed :).

Easter 2006
Uncle Tim, Aunt Bonnie, Nick, Matt, and Erik. Such hams!

Easter 2006
All the kids :).

Easter 2006
So cute!

Easter 2006
Mandy listening intently to Peter and Erik's impromptu concert...never knew she was such a music connoisseur!

Observing
Dan and Sri around the pier of the 31" telescope, the night we took data for our final 512 project.

Observing
How many astrophysicists DOES it take to set up a projection screen?

Observing
Me changing the infrared camera's filters on the back of the telescope. It's a very precise science, I tell you!

Observing
Good thing they could play around on Google to offset the occasional spot of real work... :P (Ori, Dan, Jarron)

Observing
Dan presses a button. It's a complicated task--I'll spare you the technical details. Nicole is emotional support.

Observing
Nicole's turn to change filters!

Observing
Our TA (hehehe) takes a 3 AM siesta.

Observing
Positioning the telescope by hand...old school, baby. (Sri, Jarron, me, Dan)

MAD Dinner
I talk to thin air, Joleen laughs at someone off-camera, Dan grooves to the music in his head, and Greg seems to too :).

MAD Dinner
I don't know what Rick was saying, but it must've been pretty crazy...

MAD Dinner
The outside table :). CW: Me, Jarron, Rick, Susan, Jake, David, Amy, Dan.

MAD Dinner
The grown-ups table ;).

MAD Dinner
And the kids table...

MAD Dinner
Dave and Joleen....aww, lookatthem! :P

MAD Dinner
This is what happens when you don't put grad-student-proof locks on the toybox...

MAD Dinner
Good thing we're too mature to keep it up...err...

MAD Dinner
Jake fulfills his lifelong fantasy of telekinetically choking someone.

MAD Dinner
Maybe you're better with it, but I've got two of them!

MAD Dinner
Yours truly. Sexy, no?

MAD Dinner
Come on, what man *wouldn't* dream it like this?? :P

MAD Dinner
Xander looks amazingly guilty for some reason...

MAD Dinner
Annual group picture. Shutterfly won't give me the space to list them all!

Li
Dr. Li throws down the magnetohydrodynamic *law*, yo!

Mark
Prof Mark chowing down

Rick
Rick...doing his thing...

Astro 551
We're his favorites! :) All the first and second years, plus some really smart undergrads.

Kovo Night
(Mostly) Astro kids! R-L: Jarron, Joleen, Nicole, Jake, Greg, Jason, Dan, me, Mike (front)

Kovo Night
Gimme an X! Gimme a Y! Dan and Jarron vehemently affirm their masculinity.

Kovo Night
I don't know.

Kovo Night
*sniff* I love ya, man!

Kovo Night
Awww...astrolove!

Kovo Night
Is it just me, or do they look guilty?

Kovo Night
Hurry, hurry, put the clothes back on before everyone else in the room notices...

Kovo Night
Doin' that groove thang...

Kovo Night
I realize I am in the way of some serious astro-boy-bonding.

Kovo Night
So no, you don't get more sane the older you get ;).

Kovo Night
I've seen many an odd picture of Dan, but this one may take the cake. That's Nicole's bf who's about to be ravished.

Kovo Night
Dey be *so* cute!

Kovo Night
The married kids, living it up!

Kovo Night
Ohhh yes...I be workin' those. Not what I wore to the actual dinner, of course. More's the pity :P.

Kovo Night
Umm...*hophop eats lettuce?*

Kovo Night
Nicole's pimpin' it, I'm happy with life, and Dan is off in byebyedreamyland.

Kovo Night
Hmm, yes, *seriousmutter seriousmutter*...I know her ass is hot, Jason! :P

Kovo Night
Oooh! Now you take a picture of me taking a picture of you taking a picture of me...this is the song that never ends...

Kovo Night
Totally as hot as the boots, yes?

Kovo Night
Astro girlies! Genevieve, me, Nicole early on.

Kovo Night
I'm going to have to go with Nicole on this one...they're either posing for GQ, or Dan's about to hurl. Perhaps both?

Kovo Night
Shh, this is as artsy as we get ;).

Kovo Night
Woo!

Kovo Night
Jarron is concentrating, Nicole is being cute, and Dan's listening to the voices between his ears...

Kovo Night
I moonlight as a Frightful Shade and Demonic Familiar...*blearghargh!*

Kovo Night
Jason: Shall we dance? Dan: Jolly good, don't mind if we do.

Kovo Night
Lovin's? Or something?

Kovo Night
Proof! The boy dances! Keep it up, Jason! :D

Kovo Night
Greg's just praying he won't have to clean up blood'n'guts before the end of the night.

Kovo Night
Legses!

Kovo Night
Aww, lookatthem!! Cutesy wutesy!

Kovo Night
You could make a complete album of the weird faces of Dan.

Kovo Night
Peter, Dan, Jake, Jason. I rest my case.

Kovo Night
Wait...can there be....two identical beers? What??

Kovo Night
Rick and Giannina, aww.

Kovo Night
Stagekissing's not that complicated, I promise.

Kovo Night
There are thumbs! Talented camera angling, however :P.

Kovo Night
No idea.

Kovo Night
Throwing Rick around. Poor Giannina almost had a heart attack.

DSCF0112.JPG
A square in Amsterdam...note the obligatory obelisk...

DSCF0113.JPG
Amsterdam

DSCF0114.JPG
Amsterdam street

DSCF0115.JPG
Amsterdam church tower

DSCF0116.JPG
Amsterdam canal

DSCF0117.JPG
Amsterdam obstakel!!

DSCF0123.JPG
Amsterdam Centraal station

DSCF0126.JPG
St. Peter's Basilica and the plaza...err, San Pietro Basilica e Piazza...and obelisk...

DSCF0127.JPG
St. Peter's Basilica

DSCF0128.JPG
Obelisk in St. Peter's Piazza. *Love* that sky!

DSCF0129.JPG
A pope. Had been crowned with a seagull just a second before.

DSCF0131.JPG
Columns around the piazza. They're *huge*.

DSCF0132.JPG
Swiss Guards. Ain't they cute? On their off days, they perform in the Vatican City Marching Band.

DSCF0134.JPG
The Basilica again. The stage and everything is for the Lenten Masses.

DSCF0136.JPG
Dragon, dragon! Not lizard!

DSCF0138.JPG
Detail on a door...not sure I want to know, really.

DSCF0139.JPG
Interior of the Basilica

DSCF0140.JPG
"Ooh, look, that's an interesting statue...wait, that's *him*, actually." Yes, actually. One of the Pope Innocents.

DSCF0141.JPG
St. Peter of the Smooth Foot.

DSCF0142.JPG
Altar over St. Peter's tomb

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Really kickass carving of Death. Too bad you can't see his face from this angle.

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The Shroud of Turin.

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The face on the Shroud. (No really!)

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Pictures can't do it justice.

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'Christoi' in the mosaic running about 3/4 the way up the walls.

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Beautiful altar and painting. I've forgotten what the scene is.

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Oh, those Vatican postmen...I wonder if God gets a discount on postage?

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Yet another view of St. Peter's, with the Vatican museum buildings on the side.

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Did I mention the columns were huge? And numerous?

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First encounter with a platoon of Soul-Eating Aloe Vera (SEAVers). Now we know where the Elder Gods got their looks.

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Cutesy Italian garden by some dirtsy railroad tracks.

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Pyramid that from the inscriptions had something to do with city defenses. No idea.

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The Via Appia. *nerdswoon* Also, it's not advisable to walk long distances down it. Wish someone had told us...

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Sheep. Either weird landscaping, or very tall stilts.

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Park area around some churches.

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I love the random bits of Roman masonry just hanging out.

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Them's some big pine trees.

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Catacombs (cata-coombas!) of San Sebastian.

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Front of the Church of San Sebastian.

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The marble used in the sanctuary floor has snail fossils in it...sooo pretty.

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Altar of St. Sebastian, directly over the catacomb holding his mortal remains. *goggle*

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The slab of rock on the bottom shelf has the legendary footprints of Jesus in it. (The 'Quo vadis, Domine?' legend)

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Is that...a priceless historical ruin? Being used as a bench?

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I think it's a farm. Possibly the one who puts their sheep on stilts.

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Church gardens. We have no idea why the statue feet are under the bench.

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Sooo pretty.

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Pathway out to where there was hopefully a bus stop. 5 near-death experiences on the Via Appia are too many.

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Neat building behind St. John Lateran (oldest cathedral in Rome)

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Obelisk behind St. John Lateran...luckily, I can read the Latin story around the base, and Amy could read the Egyptian!

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Coliseum by night. Trust me, this is a better picture than in "Night" mode. Spoooky....

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Eerie Basilica of Constantine...or rather, the 3 remaining huge vaults.

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Maps on an outer Forum wall showing Roman expansion...oddly enough, the maps cease when they start losing...

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Remnants of one of the small fora behind the Curia in the Forum...can't figure out which one >:|.

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Arch of Septimus Severus (can ya tell we went at night?)

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Heh...more action than that boy's seen in a while... (front of the Capitoline)

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Side view of the Vittoria looming over a ruin on the Capitoline. I love the juxtaposition here.

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The alley (excuse me, *street*) that our hostel in Naples was on. It was such a cute place.

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Dante Piazza (and our metro stop!) (Naples)

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Griffin in Naples' archaeology museum

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Mummified crocodile booga booga!

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A baby croc, mummified.

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Mosaic'd niche in the archaeology museum. (I'll try to keep random museum pics within reason :))

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Maybe from an ancient seafood restaurant? (The mosaic, not Amy's head)

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Not sure why, but I loved this statue. The veined stone, the hesitancy of the youth, the satyr's slyness...moving.

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I just like how the little guy's so proud of something that probably got broken off back in 79 AD...

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Piggy piggy whee!!

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Roman...ballet? What?

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Hermes (Mercury, whoever) *swoon*

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Roman dreads!

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Boats in the Bay of Naples by night

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Across the Bay of Naples

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Mary and Amy at the last twist to the hostel (Naples)...it was a *long* 3 flights!

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Chilly, rainy Naples

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Church on the way to the bus station...love those domes!

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A SEAVer, laying its cruel traps for children...

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Porta Marina entrance into Pompeii

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Scaryhuge mutant lemons for sale! Scaryhuge mutant lemons for sale!

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Road into Pompeii from Porta Marina. The Basilica is on the right.

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Pompeiian shopfront.

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Basilica of Pompeii. Center of justice and administration.

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Temple of Apollo. The platform once held a closed building containing the shrine.

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Sundial outside Temple of Apollo, I *think* dedicated by Augustus.

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Back of the main forum, where the main administrative offices were.

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Mosaic'd entrance hall and atrium of a great house. Why can't we have floors like that nowadays?

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Sidewalk remnants.

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The ancient bedroom closet (no, really) where we could stay dry and eat lunch.

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Columns around the (used-to-be-paved-in-marble) Triangular Forum

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The Large Theatre

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Gladiator barracks!

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Overlooking the Large Theatre and the city

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2000-year-old wall paintings in a house. (There are a lot of these, brace yourself. I didn't even post all of them.)

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Mural depicting a hunt scene. Very popular theme.

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Wall painting. Today's walls look so very boring in comparison, don't they?

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Scene of people hanging out, maybe even intended to be in Pompeii itself.

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Mural near the ceiling, depicting a small temple and some of those skinny pine trees. (House of the Swan?)

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Slightly better preserved. Look at that floor! And those reds on the wall!!

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And they said Vesuvius destroyed the city...volcanic activity was just a red herring.

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Pompeiian street and cobblestones. No wonder they all had painful joints.

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One of many public fountains. We didn't see any two with the same face!

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The frigidarium (cold bath) of one of the larger bathhouses. Wall niches were to sit and chat in.

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Hypocaust pilings! *nerdswoon* (You laugh, but how many of *you* have heated floors?)

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One of the many thousands who didn't make it out :(.

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He looks fairly peaceful--many of the others are forever preserved in obvious agony.

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Columns around the courtyard of a bathhouse. Even back then, they'd make 'em cheap as they could get away with... ;)

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Doorframe of a brothel. Yes, that's what it looks like. And yes, those are what you think they can't possibly be.

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Other doorframe of same brothel. Just in case you missed the other side. The inside art is in the museum in Naples ;).

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Oh go on, Mary...you know you want to.

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We actually went crawling around in this one. So strange...it used to be someone's home...

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They all used to be someone's home. (Notice the gorgeous umbrella pine in the distance ;))

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A baker's oven. Not sure if this is the one they found loaves of bread still in, but the same idea, at least.

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Still in the bakery...the cone things are what they used to grind the flour.

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What beautiful blues...and to have lasted all these centuries, buried in ash...poor fat little cherubs...

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Front hall of House of the Faun. Love the mini housefront :).

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Why it's called the House of the Faun. Though I still don't think he's hairy enough for a proper faun.

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The back garden of the House of the Faun. I love that they've replicated the landscaping :).

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Birds and jewelry box, from House of the Faun. For Mary :).

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Priapus, god of fertility and good luck and warding off thieves, seriously. (If you must know, yes, he's weighing it.)

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Ceiling of Stabian Baths changing room. The wall niches were for storing your clothes.

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Fountain in the Stabian Baths. We were overwhelmed by an army of Japanese tourists shortly afterwards.

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It says 'Beware of the Dog'...it's a 'Beware of the Dog' sign from almost 2000 years ago!!! *GASPFAINT*

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Neptune astride a fountain in Naples.

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I love this statue, so sad...Laocoon and sons getting the smackdown from Athena's snakes. (Naples' Museo metro station)

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Mysterious Amy al'Secret, on the train back to Rome.

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Looong, wet, cold day. Bless her heart :P.

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...I got nothing. On the front desk of the hostel in Rome.

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SEAVer madness! If you can't beat 'em, join 'em! They're here for your soouuuuls!

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Mary da Pimp. That face can't be anything but.

Post Qual Festivities
The first years celebrate finishing our masters qual...good thing the ROTC guys gave us these beer cups...

Post Qual Festivities
Jarron and I with our cigars :).

Post Qual Festivities
Movies and fondue! (Alas, the second years were studying for next day's PhD qual.)

Post Qual Festivities
Astro kids/groupies chill with breakfast and champagne after the PhD qual. (Ori, Joleen, Izzie, Gen, Jeff, Jake, Dan)

Post Qual Festivities
It really doesn't take much, does it? ;) (Amy, Gen, Jeff, Dan, Neil, Ka-wah)

Post Qual Festivities
We told our profs we weren't showing up Monday and headed for a cabin in the hills...playing cards :).

Post Qual Festivities
Ahh, the boyos...Dan, Jake, and Jarron get snuggly.

Post Qual
Pity this one's so dark...pity my laziness to fix it. Me, Joleen, and Megan :).

Post Qual Festivities
Dan, David, and Jake get down with their, umm, bad white selves. Giggity giggity!

Post Qual Festivities
Girlie pile on the couch! Joleen, me, Gen, Megan, Nicole.

Post Qual Festivities
The boys...dancing? Maybe? Dan looks a little distracted by the shiny object on the ceiling.

Post Qual Festivities
Megan, Jake, Dan, Jarron, Nicole, and I...yay for cutting loose!

Post Qual Festivities
Dan, Nicole, Jarron, and The Hat. Not sure what (or who) Jarron's eyeing so intently...

Post Qual Festivities
Jake and Jarron try to show each other who's the real man!

Post Qual Festivities
Jake and Gen...that bandanna really made the rounds, didn't it?

Post Qual Festivities
Aww, we wore her out...but ain't she cute?

Post Qual Festivities
The married kids. Aww....

Post Qual Festivities
Time to lose the jacket, this euchre game's gonna get serious!

Post Qual Festivities
Me and Izzie :).

Post Qual Festivities
Breakfast time!

Post Qual Festivities
Baaacon! Bacon bacon bacon bacon!

Post Qual Festivities
Atop a mountain, shrouded in fog...