Hometown Happiness: Blue Angels Homecoming Air Show

On November 12, 2011, Dad and I took Kaleb to the Blue Angels Homecoming Air Show at Naval Air Station Pensacola.  I had seen the Blues in the air practicing plenty of times, having grown up here in Pensacola, but it was only the second time I had attended an official performance.

At last year's show Kaleb managed to take a 45-minute nap on the ground (see photo, left)—surrounded by thousands of strangers, 50 feet from a crazy-loud speaker tower, in the bright sunlight, with the roar of various aircraft directly overhead.  It was amazing, and baffling, to discover that anyone could sleep in such a noisy, chaotic environment.  We all had fun, though, and Kaleb still remembered last year's show vividly when I began talking about attending the show again this year.  In fact, he spent plenty of time over the past two weeks talking about the Blue Angels to anyone who would listen.  It was clear he has been excited.

This year, I was afraid there would be no nap happening at the show, and I hoped that Kaleb would stay interested.  We had thought ahead and had remembered to bring along a blanket to sit on this time, and the weather was much warmer than last year.  After a bit of walking and looking a some of the static aircraft displays, we picked out a patch of grass, spread out our blanket and sat down to watch the early acts.

It was a very sunny day, and I was glad that we had all sunblocked before leaving the house.  I had brought along Kaleb's hat, but hadn't considered how I would handle the bright sunlight myself.  As someone who neither owns nor wears sunglasses and hats, this just isn't something that often comes to mind for me.  During the course of the show, we ended up having to buy a hat for me, just so that I could keep my eyes open long enough to see the show!

Jazzing Up Presidential Debates

Did you think the Presidential and Vice-Presidential debates were just boring?  Lots of folks do.  Well, here are some videos created by a couple of guys who wanted to add some musical style to the debates.  Check them out, and let me know what you think in the comments section!

First Presidential Debate


Vice-Presidential Debate

Lots of fun!  Can't wait to see what these guys come up with for the next Presidential debate next week!

2 Neat Google Features Most People Don't Know About

Most of us know that Google can do hundreds of really neat things thought the many applications integrated into the Google website.  Recently, though, I have discovered 2 Google features I had never heard of and plan to make good use of for the benefit of this blog.

Google Alerts

is a Google feature that allows you to receive notification from Google when they discover new content on the internet that meets your set criteria.  Want to know when someone writes a new article about the Wizard of Oz?  No, you probably don't.  But if you did, you could set up an alert for it, and Google would let you know any time it came across new websites or webpages with Wizard of Oz subject matter.  Better yet, you could set Google to let you know any time it comes across your name online....but beware of that if your name is John Brown or any other common name!

Google & LIFE

(the magazine) have partnered and Google now hosts the entire photo archive of LIFE, including hundreds (thousands?) of photos that were never published in the magazine.  These photos are available to everyone through Google for personal use....you know, like blogs!

Go check out these really awesome features!

P52, Somewhat: Week 13, "Accessory"

This week's post almost had me stumped.  We have been given the topic "Accessory."

Let's face it: I'm totally not a girly-girl.  I don't wear make-up, I don't usually have the most trendy jewelry, and I don't really accessorize much at all.  I do own many little items that would qualify as accessories, but none of them were things that I felt were really all that important to me or things I thought would make a good photograph.  So when I hit that brick wall mental block, I did what any natural lexophile would do: I turned to the dictionary for ideas.

Here is what the dictionary told me:

That single definition lit up many areas of my mind, but it was this part that stood out the most: "Contributing to or aiding an activity or process."

I knew immediately what to photograph for this post.

The Evolution of Red!'s Name

In life, things change over time.  They grow, they mature, and they evolve.  This blog has been no different.  Over the years since I first began writing here, the tone and nature of my posts have changed.  The site has grown to accommodate more and newer features.  The site "grew up" and adopted a domain name of its very own.  The site has grown and changed in conjunction with the growth and changes that have taken place in my own life.

Something I have learned while developing this blog has been how to use my blog's statistics to help direct posts and features toward my audience, to help raise my visibility in search engines, and to help attract new visitors to my site.  While looking over the search terms which have brought people to my site within the past 30 days, I noticed that some people are still searching for my blog using various incarnations of past names from this site.

I've decided to use this post to share a brief history of the evolution of Red!'s name and page banner, like a quick stroll down memory lane.

The first post was published here in November of 2008.  At the time, I hadn't done anything to personalize or customize the look and feel of the blog's pages.  Back then, the title would have been whatever Blogger's software had used as a default.  My first attempt at a custom title/header came along with the May 2009 post:

Sure, it wasn't anything spectacular, but it was a good first start—something other than the bland blue & white default settings.  I had a silly notion that this font was "edgy."  What was I thinking?

It's Pi Day!

Happy Pi Day, Friends & Readers!

Today, March 14th, is Pi Day....also known as π Day.  Why?  Because pi is an enormously long number, so is shortened to "3.14" for more practical use in teaching the concept to students.  3.14.  March 14.  Yep.

At school today, we are doing lots of fun Pi-related activities to reinforce this concept with our students: eating pi-e (apple and cherry) in homeroom, handing out pencils stamped with the first 60 digits of π, and watching videos schoolwide at the start of each class period—each with a song, poem, story, or historical fact about π.  Since these activities will be filling most of my day, I fear I won't have much time left for blogging.  So, today, I'm going to share with my readers some of the same information we'll be sharing with our students at school today.

A Brief History of Pi (π).

[Quoted from Exploratorium.com]

Pi has been known for almost 4000 years—but even if we calculated the number of seconds in those 4000 years and calculated pi to that number of places, we would still only be approximating its actual value. Here’s a brief history of finding pi:

The ancient Babylonians calculated the area of a circle by taking 3 times the square of its radius, which gave a value of pi = 3. One Babylonian tablet (ca. 1900–1680 BC) indicates a value of 3.125 for pi, which is a closer approximation.

Rhind Papyrus (ca.1650 BC), there is evidence that the Egyptians calculated the area of a circle by a formula that gave the approximate value of 3.1605 for pi.

Workplace Email

I have a co-worker who doesn't seem to know the difference between a public post on Facebook and a mass email sent out to every person at our place of work.  It occurs to me that, perhaps, the etiquette of workplace emailing is not common knowledge, so I have decided to share it here in hopes that someone may be enlightened and cease bothering their co-workers with inane emails.

Do:

• Be professional with the type of language and vocabulary you use when sending workplace emails.
• Use workplace email to send specifically work-related emails to bosses, co-workers, and clients.
• Use workplace email to reply to work-related emails from bosses, co-workers, and clients.
• Use workplace email to correspond with other business contacts concerning specifically work-related matters.
• Only send out bulk emails when the subject matter contains work-related information which is relevant to everyone at your workplace.
• Use workplace email to send occasional work-appropriate emails to co-workers with whom you are also friends, even if those emails are not work-related.
• Use workplace email to share your personal email address with your work friends so that you may share personal emails with them outside of the workplace email system.
• Remember that, at most companies, workplace emails can be read by the bosses or other management any time they deem appropriate.

Don't:.....

Simple Facebook Feature to Protect Your Account

In the blue bar at the top of most any Facebook page, select Account > Account Settings. Scroll down to account security and click "change." Then select "yes" to be notified by email every time your account is accessed from a new computer or device. Each time you log on for the first time from a device, you'll name the device...."phone" or "work" or whatever you choose, and then you'll recognize that device's name when you receive an email. If anyone else logs on from any other device or location (or even a different browser in some cases), you'll receive a notification email. If you receive a notification email, and you know you haven't been logged on to a new device, you'll know someone else is accessing your account.

This is a fast, easy way to monitor your account security, so there's no reason not to use it!

Internet Manners: An Oxymoron

Why is it that so many people seem to think that they can turn their manners OFF when they turn their computers ON? I don't understand. People online will say a million things to others that they'd never say in person!

On numerous online social sites, a man will say the wildest things to a woman: "Hey, I'd love to see you naked" or "Hey, do you like to suck kok?" or even "I'll pay you $xx.xx to let me watch you (on webcam)." In most cases, if the same man were in a real bar with the same woman, and made the same crude comments, the woman would likely slap the shit out of him or have him hauled out by the bar's security.

Why is it different online? Why are you allowed to hide behind the relative anonymity of the internet while you run around like a dog in heat e-humping every woman in sight?

Well, to all those of you who are unmannered bafoons, I say I've had enough! I expect the same here online that I would expect in the real world. If you say something to me online that, in the real world would cause me to slap you, I will simply block you instead and not look back. You can then go on to pester and insult the other women who choose to tolerate you, while I focus my time and attentions on people with some manners and a little class!

Guidelines for Leaving Photo Comments Online

Ok, so when looking through photos, you may find that you like some of them...maybe even so much that you wish to pass on a compliment. Great! BUT, keep in mind that some things are nearly impossible to say in type and still seem genuine. And, the more vague your comment, the less genuine it will seem. Some things just seem like canned compliments, lacking any modicum of originality. Examples may include the following:

• You're sexy!
• Sexy pics!
• Those pics are hot!

Other types of comments, unless you have had prior conversation with the person, will do nothing but make you look like a total perv.

• Love your @ss!
• I'd like to get some of that!
• Maybe I should make a trip to visit you.
• I'd lick that all over! (This, by the way, is disgusting.)

Some comments can make you seem overly eager, and can give off a creepy stalker vibe.

• I'm local, let's meet now!
• Can I come over?
• Let's do it!

Above all else, don't ASK to see anyone's private photos. If they wanted you to see them, they'd give you access. If you don't have access, there's not much chance that ASKING for access is going to get you there. It WILL, however, make you look like a shallow pic-collecting perv.

So, what can be done?

You want to compliment without sounding creepy or cliché? Let me help!

Compliment something small and specific...and unless you know the person, don't aim that comment at a private body part. Try some of these:

• I love your smile.
• Your hair is an awesome color.
• Green/blue/brown eyes are my favorite!
• You should wear that color more often.

Genuine and sincere compliments will start the conversation, and give you time to get to know someone. Once you've gotten to know them, it may happen that, over time, the exchanged comments will get more and more steamy and seductive. If so, hurray for you! But, don't rush things, and take your cues from the other person. Increase the interest you show as they increase their shown interest in you. And, before you know it, you'll be gaining access to all the "money shot" pics you could want. (Although I'm not sure what the fascination with them is.)

One final note: Many people online will do their best to not have to be offensive to anyone. If you are giving one compliment after another and getting nothing in return, there are a few possible reasons:

• You're going to fast and creeping the person out a bit.
• They're busy and not devoting their full attention to something or someone else.
• They're totally not into you, and trying to be polite about it.
• They just don't want to talk about looks.  (This is me.)

A simple, genuine compliment is always nice, and I'll respond with genuine thanks. But, after that, the conversation should move on to something else. I am well acquainted with my appearance...so you describing my looks to me is both pointless and boring. I can't speak for all the women online, but I would rather be liked for my sense of humor or my intellect than my looks.

Unfortunately, many men never take the time to talk to me, and so will never know anything about me BUT my looks.

Oh, well. Your loss. :-)