Category Archives: Personal history

Hike to Parker Mesa Overlook

Posted on Sunday 4 May 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

Today’s hike, a longer one, about two hours round trip: Parker Mesa Overlook. http://www.hikespeak.com/trails/parker-mesa-overlook-in-the-santa-monica-mountains/ Same area as the Los Liones hike we did a few weeks ago, starting near the western end of Sunset Blvd near Pacific Coast Highway (PCH), … Continue reading →

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Amateur Astronomy and Cultural Mythology

Posted on Saturday 3 May 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

Since my post the other day about the my trigger to amateur astronomy in my youth, a grade-school textbook called A Dipper Full of Stars, I picked up the copy of that book I bought for a few dollars over … Continue reading →

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Cosmos and My Amateur Astronomy

Posted on Thursday 1 May 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

I liked last Sunday’s episode of Cosmos for a couple reasons. The second reason is what the bulk of the show explored: the process of scientific data collection and analysis, the way simple classification can give way to insight about … Continue reading →

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Diversity in Science Fiction, Two Examples

Posted on Friday 11 April 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

I’ve noted here and on Facebook that science fiction generally aligns with progressive values; science fiction is typically about speculating how things might be different, celebrating discoveries of what is new and celebrating conceptual breakthroughs of understanding, rather than reflexively … Continue reading →

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The Water’s Clear and Innocent

Posted on Monday 7 April 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

Today’s favorite song: Codex, by Radiohead, from their 2011 album The King of Limbs. It’s a beautiful, desolate song, possibly about the temptation of suicide, probably about something more subtle. Ever since I first heard it, I think of Convict … Continue reading →

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Same-sex marriage, Context, and the Pursuit of Happiness

Posted on Tuesday 18 March 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

Some comments tonight about gay marriage, prompted, as most of my posts are, by online articles and debates. For the past couple of weeks there have been back and forth articles on Slate, The Atlantic, and the New York Times, … Continue reading →

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Cosmos and Beyond

Posted on Monday 3 March 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

Looking forward to the new Cosmos TV series, with Neil deGrasse Tyson. The original series, with Carl Sagan, was not so much an influential event in my life as a realization and visualization and confirmation of what I’d learned to … Continue reading →

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Families

Posted on Tuesday 26 November 2013 by Mark R. Kelly

Today’s New York Times’ Science section is entirely devoted to ‘Families’, with articles about changing trends and also profiles of several nontraditional families, including one about a gay couple — in their 50s and 60s — who have adopted 6 … Continue reading →

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Frederik Pohl

Posted on Tuesday 3 September 2013 by Mark R. Kelly

I’m not sure it’s generally appreciated the extent to which Frederik Pohl underwent a sea change in the mid-70s, much as Silverberg had done a decade before [partly under Pohl’s editorship]. Pohl had been a significant writer in the ’50s, … Continue reading →

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Endeavour

Posted on Sunday 1 September 2013 by Mark R. Kelly

Both boys are in town this holiday weekend, so the four of us headed (via lunch at a Korean BBQ place in a dicey part of town) to the California Science Center — one of a cluster of museums just … Continue reading →

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