Astrovelo

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Nov 15, 2024: That stupid worm had just one job. It failed and now this….

Nov 14, 2024: The bark of Atlantic white cedar is so interesting with all these patterns and textures.

Nov 14, 2024: Almost said “didn’t know today was wear your pajamas to work day” to a coworker. Maybe, I just don’t get fashion.

Nov 9, 2024: Tonight’s Moon

Nov 9, 2024: Today’s Sun with a long line of Sunspots across the disc.

Nov 9, 2024: The double cluster from Perseus: A pair of open clusters 7000 light years away and consisting of hot blue-white young stars only about 14 million …

Nov 7, 2024: Iris nebula (NGC 7023): The dark nebulous gobs are more interesting than the blue reflection nebula around the star cluster. This image is a stack of …

Nov 7, 2024: Andromeda Galaxy (M31) - the closest neighboring galaxy at 2.5 million light years away. This image is a stack of 60 two-minute exposures taken with …

Nov 7, 2024: I am definitely disappointed and not happy with the results of the election. But, now with that anxiety of not knowing the result is gone and I …

Nov 6, 2024: fuck

Nov 5, 2024: Wife is switching TV channels and websites to find better results. Maybe it is time to go to bed.

Nov 5, 2024: WTF! Is the blue wall turning into red wall?

Nov 5, 2024: “Touch of grey” by Grateful Dead is the perfect song for today! I will get by 🎶 I will survive 🎶

Nov 5, 2024: My prediction for today’s election: With some help from younger voters, women will save this country from 🍊💩.

Nov 4, 2024: Can we just press fast forward and get to Wednesday morning already? Don’t want to go through the next 48 hours.

Nov 4, 2024: Over the last couple of weeks, there are reports of hundreds of wildfires in Connecticut including a couple of them in my town. As far as I remember, …

Nov 3, 2024: Went hiking in the woods for almost two hours. Only sign of human activity I encountered during this time was the sound of shots fired at a nearby …

Nov 3, 2024: LFG!!!

Oct 30, 2024: Going to the best of places for a conference - Newark airport Marriott. Can’t waitt to hear from the organizers about the reasons for this super …

Oct 29, 2024: Following our kids’ lead, went in for early voting today and fulfilled our civic duty. 🗳️ Please go and vote to keep the fascist out of the White …

Oct 28, 2024: Rogers and Jets are 2-6. What a loser! Maybe he should have taken the vaccine.

Oct 27, 2024: Saw a big billboard on I-77 going to Charlotte airport “North Carolina Chinese Americans for Trump” Really?!??! Couldn’t take a photo as I was …

Oct 27, 2024: Star trails and Aurora; Sep 9, 2024; Hella, Iceland.

Oct 26, 2024: Both my kids voted already last week as in-person early voting was available to them in Maine and North Carolina. We are planning to do the same in …

Oct 26, 2024: Goodbye, Washington Post!

Oct 21, 2024: The Essex steam train.

Oct 16, 2024: Truth matters. Integrity matters. Accountability matters. Every vote matters and counts. There is no acceptable excuse for not voting.

Oct 15, 2024: On agenda today at work: Put on music and sway to it for 39 minutes.

Oct 14, 2024: It was supposed to be cloudy but it cleared up right after sunset and comet Tsushibchan-ATLAS made a surprising visit. Also found out that I can see …

Oct 14, 2024: Iceland 2024 After coming back from a 2-week long vacation, work got really busy. It took me a long time to connect my daily notes from the trip with photos to …

Oct 13, 2024: A couple more photos of Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS from last night. Tonight it will be farther away from the horizon but we are expecting rain. 😒

Oct 12, 2024: Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS making an appearance in the evening sky after going around the Sun.

Oct 12, 2024: Wordle 1,211 2/6* 🟨⬛⬛🟨⬛ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Oct 10, 2024: Just another night with Aurora borealis blazing in the sky!!!

Oct 7, 2024: My daughter and her roommate went to Acadia National Park on their Fall break. I am very happy for her and also a little sad. We have been to Acadia …

Oct 7, 2024: Finished reading: Reykjavík by Ragnar Jónasson 📚 After the trip to Iceland, I wanted to read a story that is based in Iceland. This mystery was a …

Oct 6, 2024: Seeing some faint northern lights from my front yard. This year has been just insane for me to view this. It is going to go on for another year before …

Oct 6, 2024: Ending the weekend with an hourlong ride. Now, Strava is using a new AI tool to provide commentary on the ride and my effort. It will be interesting …

Oct 6, 2024: Today’s Wordle was my 1000th!!!!

Oct 5, 2024: I am not the kind of person who puts up political campaign signs in the front yard. But, if my neighbor puts up a trump sign, I’ll have to rush …

Oct 5, 2024: Saw Paula Poundstone’s show last night. She had some set pieces but I like how she talks with the audience and continues to tell stories and make …

Oct 4, 2024: If you missed seeing Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS, don’t worry. It is just going around the Sun and will become an evening sky object next week. If …

Oct 4, 2024: Wife was planning to buy a $30 lunch box. Then, we just happened to be at Costco yesterday and found 2 lunchboxes (same brand but different model) for …

Oct 3, 2024: Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS this morning in Niantic, CT. I could spot it easily through binoculars but couldn’t see it with naked eye. A little bit of …

Sep 30, 2024: Sad to see the news that Kris Kristofferson passed away yesterday. Along with many other hits, he wrote one of my most favorite songs - “me and …

Sep 28, 2024: Watching Nebraska vs Purdue football game and both the teams are incredibly bad.

Sep 27, 2024: It is astonishing to see how many articles are popping up all over the internet about the temporary second moon. They are just clickbaits. Don’t …

Sep 26, 2024: One thing that I truly and sorely miss is listening to Cartalk on Saturday mornings. Feels like Tom and Ray Magliozzi were my good friends and I miss …

Sep 23, 2024: For the Fall semester of her senior year, my daughter is taking these classes: Ecology Natural History of Maine Beethoven and the Invention of …

Sep 23, 2024: After two weeks of vacation, I was away again last week for work. Finding it hard to get back to my social media routine. Maybe, it is not a bad …

Sep 21, 2024: Mezcal Negronis for this weekend.

Sep 19, 2024: Today, I got Covid and flu vaccines. Looking forward to being healthy during this Fall and Winter season!

Sep 16, 2024: Back from a two week vacation in Iceland. It was fabulous and was all about volcanoes, glaciers and Aurora!!! I am not good at posting stuff while on …

Sep 13, 2024: Iceland - Day 12 - Inside the Volcano and Northern Lights Inside the Volcano - After walking on the rims of a couple of craters so far on this trip, it was time to go inside a crater. For a typical volcano, …

Sep 12, 2024: Iceland - Day 11 - The Golden Circle The Golden Circle is what tourists visit along with the South Coast when they have limited time in Iceland. These places are nearby from Reykjavik …

Sep 11, 2024: Iceland - Day 10 - Trip to Westman Islands, Aurora in Selfoss Took the 10:45 ferry from Landeyjahöfn to Vestmannaeyjar. The ferry terminal was about a 45-minute drive from Hotel Vos. We made it there after a …

Sep 10, 2024: Iceland - Day 9 - Vik, waterfalls and northern lights Fjaðrárgljúfur Gorge was the first stop on this windy and cold day. Walked about half a mile from the parking lot to viewpoint number 2. This is an …

Sep 9, 2024: Iceland - Day 8 - Glacier kayaking and the lagoon Glacier kayak - V was unsure about how this would go but we had a good time. The guides gave a safety talk and suited us up in a dry suit at the …

Sep 8, 2024: Iceland - Day 7 - Drive through East fjords Morning in Seyðisfjörður - Decided to take it easy and start late. While Vaishali was getting ready I went for a walk. Found a nice waterfall on the …

Sep 8, 2024: After seeing an erupting volcano, saw northern lights last night. Two big items on Iceland list checked off.

Sep 7, 2024: Iceland - Day 6 - Dettifoss, Sellfoss, Studlagil canyon, Seydisfjordur Started driving on route 1 towards Egilsstaðir. Turned off to go towards Dettifoss. A short 20 km drive takes you to the parking lot and the falls are …

Sep 6, 2024: Iceland - Day 5 - Myvatn lake area The first activity of the day was to visit the Dimmuborgir lava fields. Very strange-looking formations and arches and windows in the lava flows. …

Sep 5, 2024: Iceland - Day 4 - Siglufjordur, Akureyri, Goðafoss and Lake Myvatn It was super windy today as we started from Kolkuos guesthouse after a nice breakfast. Drove through Hofsos up to Siglufjordur. Passed the …

Sep 4, 2024: Iceland - Day 3 - Drive to Northern Iceland through rain. Started out from Hellnar in the rain. Stopped at Bjarnarfoss by the side of the road but could only see half the fall. The top half was in clouds. …

Sep 3, 2024: Iceland - Day 2 - Snæfellsness peninsula We started our trip by driving out to Snæfellsness peninsula. It is supposed to be a mini Iceland with its own volcanic crater, a glacier, waterfalls, …

Sep 3, 2024: Congratulations to all my coauthors for this new publication!!! Structural basis for CCR6 modulation by allosteric antagonists

Sep 2, 2024: Iceland - Day 1 - Reykjavík The flight was on time and we reached Iceland at around 9:30 am. After a quick walk through immigration and a few minutes to pick up our bags, we were …

Sep 2, 2024: The first thing we did after landing in Iceland was to go view this volcano spewing lava. I can’t believe that I actually got to see this from such …

Aug 31, 2024: Both kids are back at their respective colleges and we are back to being empty nesters! ☹️🙁😕🫤😐😬🙂✌🏼

Aug 30, 2024: Last day before vacation is always super busy and stressful.

Aug 27, 2024: Today is day 2 of sophomore year for my son. As always, I am amazed by the diversity of classes he is taking this Fall semester: Music in western …

Aug 26, 2024: Started on our 750 mile drive back home. We are not even 20 miles in and now stuck on the highway with an accident ahead of us. Have turned off the …

Aug 24, 2024: Outer banks day 2 On the second day in Kill Devil Hills we went for a bike ride along the beach road. As it went along the beach, it was pancake flat and riding the …

Aug 22, 2024: Outer banks NC day 1 First full day at Kill Devil Hills on outer banks, NC. The weather was just beautiful! Partly sunny and 75 F. We spent many hours on the beach without …

Aug 21, 2024: “Freedom is just another word for nothing left to do Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose” Kris Kristofferson.

Aug 21, 2024: Drove all the way to outer banks region of North Carolina. Getting through New York area was tough but it was a pleasant drive after that. Going …

Aug 21, 2024: OMG! Bill Clinton seems really old. I remember his first campaign for president in 1992. He was so charming and charismatic.

Aug 20, 2024: The Obamas really fired up the DNC tonight. 🔥

Aug 20, 2024: Watching the weather for the last few days as we will be going to North Carolina for dropping off my son at his college. Atlantic ocean seems calm all …

Aug 20, 2024: Last day for my daughter as a summer intern at my work and last day of carpooling with her. Can’t believe 10 weeks just zoomed by but, I am glad …

Aug 16, 2024: It was 33 years ago when I first came to US from India. That means 12 more years in US than in India. That is 60% of my life in US. What a long, …

Aug 16, 2024: 50th outdoor bike ride of this year as I commuted to work this morning. I like to do more outdoors riding but, this Spring/Summer has been so wet and …

Aug 15, 2024: Mars and Jupiter conjunction seen this morning (aug 15). They were less than half a degree apart - less than the size of full Moon in the sky. Three …

Aug 14, 2024: As always, I was successful in capturing decent looking startrails while trying for Perseid meteors.

Aug 14, 2024: Having 2 college-going kids at home for Summer has been so nice. I haven’t gone grocery shopping since end of May. I add stuff to a shared list …

Aug 13, 2024: It was a pleasant night to be out looking for northern lights. Didn’t spot any but it was such a clear night, the Milky Way was shining brightly.

Aug 12, 2024: Recently, there has been a record number of sunspots as we are getting close to peak solar activity in its 11 year cycle. August 1, 1024 August 11, …

Aug 9, 2024: Cocktail of this weekend is mezcal negroni.

Aug 9, 2024: Yesterday, there was a poster session for all the Summer interns at work. This year we had a bumper crop of interns and it was fun to chat with them …

Aug 7, 2024: First it was the IPL then T20 world cup, the Giro d’Italia followed by Tour de France and now Olympics!!! I have been watching so much sports on …

Aug 6, 2024: Love the symmetry of this structure and hate those ladders for breaking it.

Aug 6, 2024: Went over Pequot (Thames) river on my commute to work this morning.

Aug 6, 2024: Did not know much about president Franklin Pierce but after reading this newsletter from Heather Cox Richardson, it is clear that he was a horrible …

Aug 3, 2024: Remco Evenepoel of Belgium won the Olympic road race today and added another gold medal to the one from last weekend’s time trial. This great …

Aug 1, 2024: Congratulations to Liam Corrigan (Gold in rowing) and Fred Richard (Bronze in gymnastics team) for winning the Olympic medals!!! Both have parents who …

Jul 30, 2024: Saw this on my [commute](https://www.strava.com/activities/12018293900) this morning. This pier in New London is the staging area for the off-shore …

Jul 29, 2024: 100 days to election. I sincerely hope that we only have to endure the orange convict for these 100 days. This is our chance to get back our lives …

Jul 27, 2024: Watched a replay of the Olympics opening ceremony this morning. I liked how it was different from the ceremonies of the past. Great music and loved …

Jul 24, 2024: Black eyed Susan in my garden.

Jul 23, 2024: OMG! The orange blob does not know the difference between mental asylum and refugees seeking asylum at the border. No wonder he always keeps talking …

Jul 22, 2024: I always wanted to do a bike ride on every day of Tour de France. My plan always got foiled because of travel or having guests visiting or some other …

Jul 22, 2024: 22 degree halo around the Sun, thanks to all the ice crystals in the atmosphere.

Jul 21, 2024: Tour de France stage 21: Congratulations on the sixth stage victory and overall win for Pogacar. What an utterly dominating performance by him! It’s …

Jul 20, 2024: Tour de France stage 20: so unbelievable that Pogacar won his fifth stage of this tour and 16th so far. At this rate he’ll definitely break …

Jul 19, 2024: Tour de France stage 19: Tadej Pogacar just dominateted the race today and showed everyone who is the best and the strongest rider in the world. He …

Jul 19, 2024: OMG! I just noticed that there is a “like” button for email messages in Outlook. There is an option to choose different emojis. How stupid is …

Jul 18, 2024: Tour de France stage 18: First stage win for Victor Campenaerts on this hilly stage. He said in the interview that he was eyeing this stage since last …

Jul 18, 2024: Oui oui oui!!!

Jul 17, 2024: Tour de France stage 17: Finally a fantastic stage win for Richard Carapaz. He joins the selected group of riders that have stage wins in all three …

Jul 16, 2024: Tour de France stage 16: Third stage win for Jasper Philipsen on the last flat day of the tour. Girmay crashed with 2 kms to go but still holds a slim …

Jul 15, 2024: It feels like I am getting a whiplash from constantly switching from “Oh yeah everything is OK” to “Oh no we are fucked” and …

Jul 14, 2024: Tour de France stage 15: Another dominating win for Pogacar on a hard mountain stage in the Pyrenees. Jonas lost a minute to Tadej but gained a minute …

Jul 13, 2024: Tour de France stage 14: Tadej Pogacar again showed that he is the best and strongest rider winning today’s tough stage. Jonas and Remco switched …

Jul 12, 2024: Tour de France stage 13: Jasper Philipsen won his second sprint stage on a flat route today finishing in Pau. I think only one flat stage and chance …

Jul 11, 2024: Tour de France stage 12: Another flat stage with a couple of small bumps along the way. Girmay snatched his third stage win in a bunch sprint. Roglic …

Jul 10, 2024: Tour de France stage 11: A long (210 kms) and hard (4100m climbing) stage that tested the top 4 riders of this tour. During the 4 climbs in last 50 …

Jul 10, 2024: Underside of the Gold Star Memorial bridge over Pequot (aka Thames) river near New London, CT. Reminded me of this when I saw a photo posted by …

Jul 9, 2024: Tour de France stage 10: After the rest day, today’s stage was pancake flat. After many unsuccessful attempts last week, Jasper Philipsen finally won …

Jul 8, 2024: Someone whom I have known since she was 2 years old, graduated with a Ph.D. in Economics and starting off her career. Congratulations to her but this …

Jul 7, 2024: Tour de France stage 9: what an exciting day with so much action on the gravel sections of the route today! Tadej Pogacar tried to put his opponents …

Jul 6, 2024: Tour de France stage 8: Biniam Girmay won another sprint stage with a few little climbs on the way. Abrahamsen captured the maximum possible KOM …

Jul 5, 2024: Tour de France stage 7: on the first of two time trials, World Champion time trial it’s Remco Evenepoel handily beat everyone else and solidified his …

Jul 4, 2024: Tour de France stage 6: Another flat day without much action except the sprint at the finish line where Dylan Groenewegen beat out all the other …

Jul 3, 2024: Tour de France stage 5: OMG!!! Finally, Mark Cavendish got the 35th stage win that he was seeking for the last couple of years. Now, he holds the …

Jul 2, 2024: Tour de France stage 4: It was a short but hard stage in the mountains with lot of climbing. Tadej Pogacar showed everyone how good his fitness is. He …

Jul 2, 2024: A couple of days ago, I posted this photo that captured the star trails in the sky and firefly trails on the dark background of trees. It is not great …

Jul 2, 2024: Switched up my morning routine and did some strength training today. Now, arms and shoulders are hurting but feels good. Should plan to add more …

Jul 1, 2024: Tour de France stage 3: On this flat stage - made for sprinters - first stage win at TdF for Biniam Girmay from Eritrea. This is historic as Biniam is …

Jul 1, 2024: Tour de France stage 2: It was great to see Romain Bardet win the first stage and riding in the yellow jersey considering that he recently announced …

Jun 30, 2024: Enjoying this wonderful gin from Japan that wife brought from her trip last year. Low on juniper but high on citrus. Really nice with tonic water.

Jun 30, 2024: Star trails and firefly trails I always wanted to make images like this but never got around to it. This is a stack of about a hundred 8 second …

Jun 29, 2024: Tour de France stage 1: Mark Cavendish is in trouble on the first climb. There are five more to go. Hope he recovers on downhills and flat sections. …

Jun 27, 2024: Two head-to-head matchups worth watching tonight and they are scheduled to be at the same time: India-England in the World Cup T20 and Biden-trump in …

Jun 26, 2024: Only 3 more matches left in this T20 World Cup. Tour de France starts on the same day (Sat 6/29) as the World Cup final. It will be time for Wimbledon …

Jun 21, 2024: Happy Summer Solstice, folks in the northern hemisphere! Glad that it is the longest day and from tomorrow the days get shorter. Nice!

Jun 19, 2024: This was the hottest day of this year so far. I went bike riding and did a metric century on Farmington canal heritage trail.

Jun 18, 2024: This pink Dogwood is my second most favorite tree in my yard after the Eastern Redbud.

Jun 18, 2024: As the election season comes closer, I am looking to cut out even the 15 minutes of news that I get during my morning commute. Found a radio station …

Jun 17, 2024: Looking at the weather prediction for this upcoming week… it is nice to see that we are in that “place to be” sliver of …

Jun 16, 2024: Went bike riding on some new roads on this Father’s Day. Such a perfect day to ride!!! It was high 50s when I started and 70F when I ended around …

Jun 15, 2024: Today’s Sun: A new large sunspot AR3712 has appeared on the Sun over the last few days. Hope it has the firepower to generate some Auroras.

Jun 14, 2024: A really long bike ride is in the plans for Juneteenth holiday. Hopefully the weather will cooperate.

Jun 13, 2024: Found this in the mailbox yesterday. Thanks, @anirbanm@mastodon.social !!!

Jun 12, 2024: Hard to decide if I should support India or USA in the T20 World Cup.

Jun 11, 2024: Now with both the kids back home from college, we went for the first hike of this Summer. Forgot to take a photo on the trail but remembered to do it …

Jun 10, 2024: Flipped the switch this morning to connect our newly installed solar panels to the grid. Doing our small part to reduce our carbon footprint. Will set …

Jun 10, 2024: Daughter starting today as a Summer intern in a different department at my workplace. Looking forward to 10 weeks of carpooling.

Jun 9, 2024: Was at the company HQ in NYC for a couple of days during last week.

Jun 4, 2024: Oh No! Look where I am at. Hide my credit cards please.

Jun 3, 2024: Yesterday (June 2nd) Lyme Land Trust had organized their yearly fundraising event - Tour de Lyme. The weather was just fantastic with sunny bright …

May 30, 2024: GUILTY AF!

May 29, 2024: Sunspot AR3664 that created the fantastic display of Aurora went around the Sun over last 2 weeks and is back. It is reduced in intensity and can be …

May 29, 2024: My kids always correct me for using these terms improperly. Poison is a toxin that gets into the body by inhaling, swallowing, or absorption through …

May 27, 2024: This is one of my most favorite spots on today’s bikeride. I have ridden by here in every season and found that it is different yet beautiful every …

May 24, 2024: Just realized that today was Bob Dylan’s birthday. Happy Birthday, Robert!!! Thanks for so many great songs!

May 24, 2024: Went hiking with Ashwini at Ames open space in Old Lyme. After the heavy rain today, there were hundreds of newts out on the trail with many frogs and …

May 22, 2024: It has become a tradition that around my birthday I go on a bike ride for the same number of miles as my age. This year’s ride was delayed by …

May 20, 2024: Tadej Pogacar has been phenomenal in this year’s Giro d’Italia. In yesterday’s monstrous stage, he added 3 more minutes to his already huge lead over …

May 19, 2024: Pink Lady’s Slippers are blooming!!!

May 17, 2024: Today’s lock screen with a photo from last Friday.

May 14, 2024: Heard on the radio that it will be warm (~70F) this afternoon and I started dreaming about a bike ride but, then the weatherman said the pollen counts …

May 14, 2024: I was chatting with my daughter and we realized that we should express some serious gratitude to the Sun for creating two fantastic experiences within …

May 13, 2024: For people who are undecided about the US presidential election, life must be really really hard. If they can’t decide between a bowl of vanilla …

May 13, 2024: TIL : Jehovah’s witnesses only celebrate the birthday of Jesus. Celebrating personal birthdays is against their beliefs and is considered …

May 13, 2024: Only a little bit of Aurora was visible on Sunday night around 11 pm before the clouds moved in.

May 11, 2024: The cause…. And the effect….

May 11, 2024: This huge sunspot 3664 on the right is causing the beautiful northern lights show which will probably be visible on Saturday night as well. 15 earths …

May 10, 2024: This was the best birthday gift ever!!!

May 10, 2024: Thanks to the huge coronal mass ejections from the Sun, we could see northern lights from Connecticut. First time for me to see these. So beautiful!!!

May 10, 2024: Starting another revolution around the Sun, today!

May 8, 2024: It is so cloudy and rainy and dark this morning. Feels like being in Mumbai monsoon.

May 8, 2024: I have been doing a 10 minute morning meditation for a few months. The instructors say a lot of things but, there is one that I found very appealing. …

May 7, 2024: My 4 years old iPad still works perfectly for the things that I need it for. The new features are wasted on me… better display –> why? …

May 7, 2024: For me, Eastern redbud is the quintessential highlight of Spring blooming season.

May 4, 2024: Sign on the highway in Massachusetts: It is the way - Obey speed limit May the fourth be with you!

May 2, 2024: Back to work after 4 days in Mexico City and I have no idea about what I did here last week and what I am supposed to do today.

Apr 28, 2024: Sun rising over Mexico City.

Apr 27, 2024: First meal in Mexico City was excellent. Looking forward to many more.

Apr 26, 2024: Listening to the Dead after a long time. Feels so so good!!! music.apple.com/us/album/…

Apr 24, 2024: People usually say that as a young person, they were idealistic liberal and then turn into crabby old “get off my lawn” kind of …

Apr 23, 2024: The totality lasted only for 3 minutes and 33 seconds but the whole eclipse went on for about two and half hours. Fortunately, I was at a spot where I …

Apr 22, 2024: Blue and green stained glass windows from La Sagrada Familia - Antoni Gaudi’s famous church in Barcelona.

Apr 16, 2024: 🚴 Another 70F day and another afternoon bike ride.

Apr 15, 2024: What a glorious day for a bike ride. It was our first 70F day of this year.

Apr 15, 2024: Applying some newly learned processing techniques to bring out details in solar corona.

Apr 14, 2024: It’s mating time, y’all!

Apr 14, 2024: Not a good way to end my bike ride.

Apr 13, 2024: Wordle 1,029 2/6* ⬛🟨⬛⬛🟨 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Woohoo!

Apr 12, 2024: Both the kids have secured summer internships involving lab-based research. It will be good for them to figure out if they will want to do this kind …

Apr 12, 2024: We stayed with our friends in Albany and drove up to Plattsburgh, NY to view the eclipse. Took us just over 2 hours going up there and on the way back …

Apr 12, 2024: From all the photos taken during the total Solar eclipse on Monday, this one is my most favorite. It shows some corona but if you zoom in at the …

Apr 11, 2024: 📷 Day11 : A sky full of stars!

Apr 10, 2024: 📷 Day10 : Train - somewhere near Cumberland, MD

Apr 10, 2024: Today’s Lock Screen

Apr 9, 2024: A collage of eclipse progression and 2 photos taken during totality - one showing the corona and the other showing solar prominences and …

Apr 9, 2024: Three minutes and thirty three seconds of totality - an amazing experience! Here are three shots from beginning and end of totality. Will post more …

Apr 8, 2024: Halo around the Sun. Hope the clouds remain at this level all afternoon.

Apr 8, 2024: All set up! Ready to catch the Solar eclipse in Plattsburgh, NY. Hope the clouds won’t ruin the show in 3 hours.

Apr 3, 2024: Tonight’s entertainment!!!

Apr 2, 2024: 📷 Day02 : flowers (@davegullett)

Apr 1, 2024: 📷 Day01 : toy (@pcora)

Mar 31, 2024: Taxes for 2023 season are done and dusted. One more chore completed.

Mar 30, 2024: Absolutely gorgeous day for a bike ride. Was worried about my eclipse trip to enjoy it fully. A phone call at the end resolved that issue, …

Mar 29, 2024: A month ago, he was pushing sneakers. Last week, he was pushing bibles. When will he be pushing daisies?

Mar 26, 2024: Sun on Sunday, March 24. So many sunspots! I guess there is a higher chance of seeing northern lights due to with all this solar activity.

Mar 25, 2024: To prepare for the Solar eclipse next month, I have been taking test shots and playing with equipment almost every day when the Sun is out. Today, I …

Mar 24, 2024: New comet in the sky named 12P-Pons-Brooks. Getting brighter every day. It is possible that it will be visible during the total eclipse. That will be …

Mar 24, 2024: It is a clear night today. Hope to see and image the comet tonight.

Mar 24, 2024: We were planning to go watch ‘Dune2’ in a theater last night. But by the time my daughter came back from her conference it was late. Also it was …

Mar 23, 2024: Today, my daughter presented her research from last year’s Summer fellowship at Connecticut Land Conservation Conference at Wesleyan University …

Mar 20, 2024: Unilever to Cut 7,500 Jobs and Spin Off Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream Unit Cool! Doesn’t matter which company takes my money, as long as I keep …

Mar 20, 2024: Typical pretty Winter day in New England! Most of the time there is no snow. Even when there is snow, it is just water in the end, innit?

Mar 20, 2024: Heard on the radio yesterday: SYDNEY JORDAN: There are estimates that Americans consume, on average, one credit card worth of plastic every week. …

Mar 19, 2024: Halo around the moon tonight.

Mar 19, 2024: As I continue planning for the total Solar eclipse next month, I reserved a campsite at Buchanan dam near the centerline of the zone of totality. Here …

Mar 19, 2024: It is the Spring equinox today - first day of Spring. Did my bit of Spring cleaning and shaved off my Winter beard. That should make the missus happy.

Mar 18, 2024: Finished reading: An Abundance of Katherines by John Green 📚 ★★★ Seems like all John Green books are alike. My daughter was surprised that I read John …

Mar 15, 2024: Last night, started watching “Shogun”. Haven’t read the book so, didn’t know anything about it. Daughter left the room in …

Mar 14, 2024: Signs of Spring are sprouting!

Mar 13, 2024: On my walk yesterday evening, heard a lot of spring peepers at the pond. That means Spring is almost here. There wasn’t much of a Winter this …

Mar 13, 2024: Heard on the news this morning that trump was calling facebook, the enemy of the people. Maybe, it is time to go back to facebook after all these …

Mar 12, 2024: Did another community outreach program last night about the solar eclipse. I think I did the wear-eclipse-glasses-don’t-look-at-the-sun bit a …

Mar 11, 2024: East Bay Bike Path in Providence, RI I have been thinking about riding on this bike path in Providence for a while. Finally an opportunity presented itself. I had a free afternoon after …

Mar 8, 2024: Kids only have this weekend overlapping between their Spring breaks. They want to do something fun together. So, they are going to spend it in NYC …

Mar 7, 2024: Typical calm Connecticut beach on Long Island sound.

Mar 4, 2024: Yesterday, we had a public event to talk about the upcoming solar eclipse. A local amateur astronomer friend and I made an hour-long presentation …

Feb 28, 2024: Either the Christian nationalists are too stupid and trump is using them to grab power or they are super smart and using trump to push their …

Feb 26, 2024: These photos were taken about 24 hours apart. From the movement of the Sunspots we can appreciate the Sun’s rotation. This is the first time for me to …

Feb 25, 2024: Sun on Feb 25, 2024. The huge sunspot group AR3590 is as wide as 10 earths. It can be seen even with eclipse glasses. Check it out if you have them. …

Feb 25, 2024: “Wisdom comes from doing something too much to know how much is enough.”

Feb 23, 2024: Alrighty! Had enough of this week. Time to hang up the boots and step into the weekend. You all have a good one!

Feb 23, 2024: OMG! She will be 21 in 2 weeks. 🥰

Feb 21, 2024: My favorite constellation in the sky. Playing here with a diffuser filter to get that soft dreamy look.

Feb 21, 2024: I just hate dealing with insurance companies, especially when I have to file a claim and follow up. Going through the process to replace our destroyed …

Feb 20, 2024: “Prodigies can very quickly learn what other people have already figured out; geniuses discover that which no one has ever previously discovered. …

Feb 20, 2024: Contribution limits for retirement accounts for 2024 (source): 401K - $23000; for 50+ - $7500 catchup IRA - $7000; for 50+ - $1000 catchup Making a …

Feb 20, 2024: Two breads were baked over the last two days: Sandwich bread Sourdough loaf

Feb 20, 2024: I like John Green’s excellent writing. His novels are well written and are a good read including this one but, my favorite is his book …

Feb 20, 2024: Actually DNF. It started out very well but became too violent and I didn’t want to keep reading. Finished reading: Age of Vice by Deepti Kapoor 📚

Feb 19, 2024: “To be alive is to be missing.” — Turtles All the Way Down by John Green a.co/hDdwZZM

Feb 19, 2024: Started watching season 5 of “Fargo” over the weekend. Really liked the first two episodes. Acting, storytelling, pacing… …

Feb 19, 2024: Today’s lock screen. This picture is of a fort in western India, called Peth aka Kothaligad.

Feb 18, 2024: Bright blue skies on today’s hike. The spikes that I bought for my hiking shoes are working really well.

Feb 17, 2024: It was a cloudy day with light flurries but not too windy and cold. Perfect for a forest bathing session. Did not see a single person on the trail. I …

Feb 16, 2024: Today’s Lock Screen

Feb 14, 2024: During yesterday’s Nor’easter someone slid on the icy road and knocked down my mailbox. The granite post was broken in half, and the …

Feb 14, 2024: Happy Valentine’s Day!!! Heart nebula in Cassiopeia is an emission nebula located in the Perseus arm of Milky Way galaxy at ~7500 light years. This is …

Feb 14, 2024: This year’s presidential election in USA comes down to selecting a good, decent man over trump. Nothing else matters. It is not a difficult …

Feb 13, 2024: Big fat snow flakes coming down. Can’t wait to finish some work and go out for a walk in fresh untouched snow.

Feb 13, 2024: A nor’easter is barreling down upon us and everything is shut down - not only schools but even work!!! Perfect opportunity to go for snowshoeing …

Feb 11, 2024: Yeah baby yeah!!! Go Chiefs!!!

Feb 10, 2024: “We are about to live the American Dream, which is, of course, to benefit from someone else’s misfortune.”” — Turtles All the Way Down by John Green …

Feb 10, 2024: On the second ride of this weekend learned about some local history. The president of Connecticut women suffrage association lived in my neighboring …

Feb 9, 2024: Snagged the really warm day for my first outdoor ride of 2024. It was just beautiful! The forecast for the weekend is more of this. Look forward to 2 …

Feb 9, 2024: Last night, it started out as a Facetime call from my son to discuss some chemistry problems he was working on. Then, he added my daughter to the call …

Feb 8, 2024: Another attempt at capturing the horsehead and flame nebulae in Orion. This time, there was no narrowband filter attached to the camera like it was …

Feb 7, 2024: We visited Barcelona during the last holiday break. On the way back home, our flights were cancelled twice and we were stuck there for 2 extra days. …

Feb 6, 2024: Same object from Feb 2021 and Feb 2024. Finally, learning how to use all the equipment properly.

Feb 6, 2024: 2024 version of the Running Man (NGC1977) and Orion Nebula (M42). This star forming region in the sword of Orion is about 1350 light years away. The …

Feb 5, 2024: Excerpts from a chat with my son this morning. Made my day. 🥰🥰🥰

Feb 3, 2024: A pond in my neighborhood.

Feb 2, 2024: Yep! I am heading that way soon. You all have a good one!

Feb 2, 2024: Looked at the Weather app on Apple Watch this morning and noticed that it has improved a lot. There is so much more information and it is displayed so …

Jan 30, 2024: After some hemming and hawing, we finalized our plan for viewing the Total Solar Eclipse on April 8th, 2024. Initially, we were thinking of taking our …

Jan 30, 2024: Finally, after a lot of hemming and hawing for years, signed up to get solar panels installed on our roof. If everything goes by the plan, we will be …

Jan 30, 2024: Finally, after a lot of hemming and hawing for years, signed up to get my genome sequenced and get some ancestry information.

Jan 29, 2024: Listening to the new Green Day album. It is quite good. They have the same energy as they did 30 years ago. music.apple.com/us/album/…

Jan 28, 2024: 35F and rain is the absolutely worst kind of weather and that is what we have for this whole weekend.

Jan 26, 2024: 2023 was the first year since 2013 when I did not do a century ride. The longest bike ride for 2023 was 55 miles. Have to plan at least one century …

Jan 25, 2024: 28 years!!! Kudos to her for tolerating me and my nonsense for so long!

Jan 24, 2024: The first computers I used when I started grad school in 1991 were MacIntosh IIs and Silicon Graphics UNIX boxes. I think there was only a gap of …

Jan 24, 2024: Foggy evening for a walk

Jan 23, 2024: List of classes my daughter is taking in the Spring semester of her junior year: Perspectives in Environmental Science New Modes of Magic …

Jan 22, 2024: Today’s Lock Screen

Jan 22, 2024: Muted someone who continues to be obnoxious even after telling them about it politely.

Jan 22, 2024: A conversation with my kids today.

Jan 22, 2024: It is 22nd work anniversary for me today. Can’t believe that it has been so long. Time flies when you’re having fun and doing good …

Jan 21, 2024: After a break of about one month, we are back to empty-nesting! Not saying it is better or worse. It is what it is. This will last till first week of …

Jan 21, 2024: It was a cold and quiet day on campus yesterday when I dropped off my daughter in Maine.

Jan 19, 2024: Moss and ice (icicles, plates, crystals?!?) growing around it.

Jan 17, 2024: Today’s lock screen

Jan 16, 2024: My son starts the Spring semester of his freshman year at college today. Good to see that he is taking such diverse classes: Minimalism/postminimalism …

Jan 16, 2024: Happy to see some snow (~4 inches) here. With sub-freezing temps for next few days, it will stick around.

Jan 15, 2024: Our issues with airline travel continue. My son going back to college today was on a 9:15 am flight. I dropped him off at the airport at 7:15 am and …

Jan 14, 2024: It is going to be a candle-lit evening. Power company expects to restore electricity by 11 pm.

Jan 14, 2024: Looks like our whole town just lost power. It has been super windy all day. Must have brought down some trees. Hope this gets resolved quickly …

Jan 14, 2024: In 2023, I was fortunate to witness and photograph two extraordinary astronomical events: A supernova in Pinwheel galaxy (M101) seen in May Annular …

Jan 14, 2024: The story of Centralia, PA and its everlasting coal mine fire that has been going on for the last 60 years keeps coming back. It was in one of the …

Jan 14, 2024: On yesterday’s hike, the trail was blocked by a flooded stream so I decided to go off trail and bushwhacked. The woods consisted of mostly mountain …

Jan 13, 2024: Went on a hike on this foggy morning after a lot of rain overnight. The trails had turned into streams. Had to bushwhack about half a mile as the …

Jan 12, 2024: A look back at 2023 It is a little late but, want to get this post written. 2023 was a very busy and eventful year. It was a major shock for us when my father passed away …

Jan 12, 2024: Ahead of Monday’s caucuses, Republicans have spent $200+ millions on advertising in Iowa that has a population of ~3million. That is ~$70 per …

Jan 12, 2024: This morning, several fire engines rushed by when I was driving to work and I was wondering what could have happened. Turns out that there was a house …

Jan 11, 2024: Micro.blog is not like other social networks and doesn’t need a built-in ‘news’ feature. Here users have already paid their …

Jan 10, 2024: Needed to pick up my car from the shop after oil change. Instead of waiting for someone to give me a ride, decided to go for my first outdoor bike …

Jan 9, 2024: Fiery sunrise this morning as clouds gather in the sky ahead of an impending storm today.

Jan 9, 2024: The Horsehead and Flame nebulae from Orion. The bright star (Alnitak) between them is the leftmost star in the belt of Orion. Can’t take enough …

Jan 8, 2024: Rowing on Concept2 rower is so enjoyable and have been doing it for the last few months. All this while, I was doing intervals (500m or 1000m followed …

Jan 8, 2024: After the pandemic hiatus, my airline traveling picked up significantly during 2023. Went on 4 international and 3 local trips. While flying for these …

Jan 5, 2024: Made a college payment for my daughter’s Spring semester. This is her junior year and that means only 2 more payments left for her college …

Jan 5, 2024: Barcelona - Day 7 and 8 After spending 6 wonderful days in Barcelona, we were supposed to come back home on day 7 but, American Airlines had a different plan. Our scheduled …

Jan 5, 2024: Barcelona - Day 5 and 6 On the last two days we decided to take it easy. Planned only one activity per day in the afternoon leaving the mornings free. I used this free time …

Jan 5, 2024: Have been using Lillihub for a few days now and absolutely loving it. Wish the official Micro.blog app on iOS looks and works more like this.

Jan 3, 2024: At Barcelona airport for third day in a row. Hopefully, we will get out of here and reach home today. I won’t believe it until it actually happens. …

Jan 2, 2024: Barcelona is turning into Hotel California. Can’t get out of here. Not sure if I should laugh or cry. More airline problems. Now we will be traveling …

Jan 2, 2024: I think our household brings the average down. There is no way we waste $150 worth of food every month. Original article

Jan 1, 2024: Average number of steps increased significantly during the week of vacation.

Jan 1, 2024: Finally our long stretch of good luck with travel has come to an end. Our flight from Barcelona to back home is cancelled and we are stuck in a hotel …

Dec 31, 2023: Happy New Year!!! Wishing you all a great 2024!

Dec 31, 2023: My Strava stats for 2023. averaged more than one hour per day of exercise about 10 miles logged per day on average missed recording an exercise on …

Dec 31, 2023: Barcelona- Day4 This must have been the most touristy day of our trip. We started off with a visit to one of Antoni Gaudi designed houses - Casa Battlo. Our timed …

Dec 30, 2023: Barcelona - Day3 We went on a day trip to Montserrat. It was a guided tour that took us about an hour by bus to go to a monastery in the hilly areas called Montserrat …

Dec 29, 2023: Lit up streets of Barcelona

Dec 29, 2023: Unleashing an adult into the World. Can’t believe it is his 18th birthday.

Dec 27, 2023: Barcelona -Day2b In the afternoon, we visited the most famous landmark of Barcelona - La Sagrada familia cathedral - the masterpiece of architect Antoni Gaudi. The …

Dec 27, 2023: Barcelona - Day2a In the morning we went for a walk around the old city aka the Gothic quarter. This city has been around since the time of Roman empire. It used to be …

Dec 27, 2023:

Dec 27, 2023: Barcelona - Day 1 Arrived in Barcelona for the holiday break. Line for immigration was so long and it took forever to get through. This was the worst immigration line …

Dec 24, 2023: One of our neighbors paints these rocks and leaves them by everyone’s mailbox as a holiday gift.

Dec 21, 2023: Went hiking on George & Rosemary Moore trail and saw some pretty mosses and lichens.

Dec 21, 2023: Signed up for a challenge to row 100 kms on the rowing machine between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Completed it today with 3 days to spare.

Dec 18, 2023: Took the car in for 110K miles service. After hearing some horror stories here on micro.blog I was bracing for bad news but, the only recommendation …

Dec 16, 2023: Elephant’s Trunk nebula in constellation Cepheus is an emission nebula that is about 2400 light years away from us. It is an area of intense …

Dec 15, 2023: Watching season 3 of Fargo. Already done with 3 episodes and this story is not as gripping as the first 2 seasons.

Dec 14, 2023: Startrails from my front yard. No Geminids. Hope to catch some tonight.

Dec 13, 2023: California nebula (NGC1499) from the constellation Perseus. It is about 1000 light years away from us in the Orion arm of the Milky Way. This nebula …

Dec 13, 2023: Just now remembered that during yesterday’s walk, I took a photo of the sky after Sunset.

Dec 12, 2023: Fargo is so dark and depressing and scary but I can’t stop watching it.

Dec 11, 2023: Lake, river and woods from hike and bike ride over the weekend.

Dec 11, 2023: Tried these pickled radishes and turnips on day 8. They are so crunchy and delicious. It started out clear and the color is from the radishes. Putting …

Dec 9, 2023: I was finally able to upload my Twitter archive to my Micro.blog account. This was one of my first few tweets. eating chunky monkey 4/12/2007, 10:09 …

Dec 9, 2023: At the Garde Arts Center in New London to watch another performance of the Nutcracker. This has become an yearly tradition since early 2010s when my …

Dec 8, 2023: Portree harbor, Isle of Skye, Scotland

Dec 7, 2023: Photos from a hike up on Arthur’s seat in Edinburgh last month.

Dec 6, 2023: 80% Indian or 90% After resisting the urge for several years, I finally ordered a ‘23andme’ genome analysis kit on Monday. Then there was news on Tuesday …

Dec 5, 2023: While visiting Edinburgh, from whatever little Scottish history I learned, it is clear that the English honed their skill at brutality and …

Dec 4, 2023: Today’s Lock Screen.

Dec 3, 2023: Pickling some vegetables from the last CSA share of this year.

Dec 2, 2023: 20231202 hike Went for a hike this morning on Goodwin_trail and connecting smaller trails. LIstened to The Long View podcast. Mike Moran from Goldman Sachs talked …

Dec 2, 2023: I had forgotten that with Nikon SnapBridge app, photos taken on my camera can be transferred automatically to my phone - just like this one. It is …

Dec 2, 2023: Some photos from today’s hike in the woods. Mushrooms, mosses and a glacial erratic.

Dec 2, 2023: Over the last few years, we enjoyed advent calendars made up of whisky and wine. This year, we will take a break as wife will be away for a week due …

Dec 1, 2023: No surprises here…

Dec 1, 2023: Can’t believe the republicans in the house expelled George Santos for being the best of what they all strive to be.

Dec 1, 2023: It is December 1st and they have started piping Christmas music in the hallways at work. Now, I am humming it in my office.

Nov 29, 2023: Today, I am using a monitor that is not curved and it feels so weird.

Nov 28, 2023: When I saw the headline “All trapped Indian workers rescued” I thought the news article was about people going through the U.S. Green card …

Nov 28, 2023: As I am using and enjoying my rowing machine a lot this year, I decided to join a challenge to row more than 100kms between Thanksgiving and …

Nov 26, 2023: It was cold this morning; the lake is starting to freeze. The moss is still very green and alive.

Nov 24, 2023: It was a great Thanksgiving feast this year. We had an extra unexpected guest but it wasn’t a problem. There is always enough food. We were so …

Nov 21, 2023: Our Thanksgiving menu is set and have started prepping several dishes already. Looking forward to Thursday.

Nov 21, 2023: Picked up my son at the airport as he came back home for Thanksgiving. He was booked on a late evening flight but he went early to the airport and …

Nov 20, 2023: Went to get a haircut and asked the barber to trim my beard too. He made look like Bad Bunny. Not sure how wife is going to react to this. Mostly, …

Nov 18, 2023: Can’t believe that Thanksgiving is next week. As always we are hosting. Expecting about 20 people. Have to get out and get the groceries done before …

Nov 16, 2023: Worked from home today and went for a #bikeride during lunch as it was a beautiful warm and sunny day.

Nov 15, 2023: Some big changes were announced at work while I was on vacation. Learned about them when I got back to work yesterday. Still have my job but, …

Nov 13, 2023: Driving around Scottish highlands on almost empty roads was the highlight of this trip. Can’t imagine how busy it probably is in Summers. Glad we …

Nov 13, 2023: Having a gin and tonic with breakfast at the airport lounge in Edinburgh. Last bit of fun as this vacation winds down.

Nov 13, 2023: Had a great week traveling around in Scotland. It was good to meet our daughter and know that she is doing well with her semester abroad experience. …

Nov 10, 2023: Selfie under a double rainbow during the golden hour on isle of Skye.

Nov 9, 2023: Had a nice visit to Glenmorangie distillery today. Learned a lot about how single malt scotch whiskies are made. Tasted the two in the last photo. …

Nov 9, 2023: Listening to live Scottish music in a pub in Inverness.

Nov 9, 2023: This is our day 5 in Scotland and we have seen very little rain; that too only in the nights. The days have been sunny with bright blue skies. I guess …

Nov 9, 2023: Within one month, we have visited 2 monuments to lost battles. The Alamo in San Antonio and Culloden Battlefield near Inverness in Scotland. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

Nov 9, 2023: Driving from Edinburgh to Inverness was one of the most stressful driving experiences ever. It was pitch dark, raining at times and there were very …

Nov 9, 2023: Good morning from Inverness, Scotland.

Nov 6, 2023: Full Scottish breakfast this morning. Eating haggis and black pudding for the first time. I like it!

Nov 6, 2023: First day in Edinburgh turned out to be sunny and quite nice! Sunday roast for dinner at the Queen’s arms.

Oct 31, 2023: Fall… leaves…

Oct 31, 2023: The pier at my neighboring town of New London is the staging ground for off-shore wind turbines that are getting installed nearby off the shore of …

Oct 28, 2023: Went for a bike ride on Mohawk Hudson bikeway with Manoj adding to our streak of riding together by one more year.

Oct 27, 2023: Chased diminishing sunlight on the bike ride this evening. Had a shitty day at work and really needed this ride. It turned out to be a beautiful …

Oct 27, 2023: 🏏 What an exciting match between Pakistan and South Africa!!! Finally, a match going to the wire after 28 one-sided ones. Pakistan going home …

Oct 27, 2023: Annular solar eclipse 2023 - first empty nester trip When we watched the total solar eclipse in 2017, I knew the next one was going to be in April 2024 and was excited about it as it will be visible from …

Oct 27, 2023: Fall foliage in my neighborhood, captured during a walk last evening.

Oct 26, 2023: Another mass shooting The news about recent mass shootings in Lewiston, ME is really horrible and they haven’t captured the guy yet. Lewiston is home to Bates College …

Oct 25, 2023: Went to our favorite Japanese restaurant for dinner tonight. Waitress: I am new here. So, you’ll have to be patient with me today. Me: Don’t worry. …

Oct 25, 2023: Heard a story on NPR this morning about an organization called PinkAid. They provide compassionate support to women who are going through breast …

Oct 25, 2023: Over the last 6 weeks or so, we were getting used to our new life as empty nesters. Yesterday, our neighbor’s high schooler came to stay with us …

Oct 24, 2023: Excellent guide to forest bathing from NPR podcast, “Life kit”. Surprised to see the time recommendation - 2 to 6 hours. That seems quite …

Oct 24, 2023: On NPR, heard an interview with Republican congressman from South Dakota who blamed Democrats for joining the efforts of 8 rogue republicans in …

Oct 21, 2023: As a part of parent weekend, the music department at Davidson put on a great show. This photo is of the final performance by the choir and the …

Oct 21, 2023: At Davidson College for parent weekend.

Oct 19, 2023: Posting photo of new lock screen again, now that Apple Frames shortcut is working again for me.

Oct 19, 2023: Was at the Bushnell in Hartford to watch the taping of one of my favorite NPR shows, “Wait wait don’t tell me”. It was nice to be among my people - …

Oct 19, 2023: We were talking about the cost of meals and prices on the menus at the restaurants. It was quite noticeable that food was cheaper in San Antonio last …

Oct 17, 2023: New lock screen

Oct 17, 2023: Is there an updated version of “Apple Frames” shortcut for iPhone 15?

Oct 16, 2023: Made a quick video from the images taken around the time when ring of fire was seen during the annular eclipse on October 14. 2023.

Oct 15, 2023: A few different composites of the eclipse photos.

Oct 15, 2023: It was just amazing to experience an annular solar eclipse aka the “Ring of Fire”.

Oct 14, 2023: Some photos from today’s eclipse event. I was really bummed when it started out cloudy but it nicely cleared out so we could see the “ring of fire“. …

Oct 14, 2023: It was so nice to finally meet you in person, @pratik , after knowing you on the interwebs for about 20 years.

Oct 14, 2023: I hope the clouds clear out soon.

Oct 13, 2023: Quiet part of the Riverwalk in San Antonio.

Oct 13, 2023: Wonder how many birds crash into this building and die every day.

Oct 13, 2023: Back to Texas after 20+ years. Last visit was in the Summer of 2000.

Oct 13, 2023: Overheard at Hartford airport: “Going to Miami for the Dolphins game.” My thought was “What?!?! and why?!” If I told them I am …

Oct 11, 2023: Today’s #bikeride : Usual 20 mile ride Beautiful sunny Fall day. Felt so good to ride today. Listened to part1 of a podcast called The Big Dig that …

Oct 11, 2023: Received the updated COVID vaccine. Still remember all the excitement from the time when the first COVID vaccine became available.

Oct 10, 2023: At the time of ordering, my iPhone 15 Pro was supposed to be delivered in the week of 10/20-10/27. Received a surprise text this morning saying that …

Oct 10, 2023: Solid advice The true investor will do better if he forgets about the stock market and pays attention to his dividend returns and to the operating …

Oct 9, 2023: Today’s #bikeride : Commute to home It was a cool Fall day, cloudy and windy. Got a little chilly; wish the Sun was out. Listened to the New …

Oct 8, 2023: Checking out the equipment and making adjustments to get it ready for next week’s solar eclipse. Next challenge is to get all this safely packed in …

Oct 7, 2023: Some photos from today’s hike

Oct 7, 2023: Went on a hike this morning. It was a pretty Fall morning - cloudy and still. Saw a lot of mushrooms on the trail. Listened to: Season opener of …

Oct 5, 2023: Went for a run after a couple of months. Glad that I could go 5K without breaks. Listened to: The Long View podcast Was huffing and puffing so much, …

Oct 4, 2023: Interesting stuff!!! Three genes with possible role in vegetarianism. Genetics of vegetarianism: A genome-wide association study

Oct 4, 2023: Have to find time today to watch the final episode of season 3 of “Only murders”. Just saw a headline that the show is renewed for one …

Oct 2, 2023: Excellent news!!! Congratulations to Drs. Kariko and Weismann! Nobel Prize in medicine awarded to scientists who laid foundation for messenger RNA …

Oct 1, 2023: Today’s #bikeride : Strava link Cool and cloudy Fall day. Starting to see some Fall foliage making an appearance. Listened to: Foundation …

Sep 30, 2023: September 30: “treasure”

Sep 29, 2023: I have not closed any of my rings and I don’t care!

Sep 29, 2023: September 29: “contrast” The contrast of the dark nebulosity over the background of red emission nebula makes the Elephant trunk (IC1396) such a …

Sep 29, 2023: According to the actuarial tables used by Social Security Administration (link thanks to @miljko), at my age (53) I am expected to live for another …

Sep 28, 2023: Today’s #bikeride : Strava link Cool and sunny Fall day. Couldn’t have asked for better weather. Listened to: “Only murders in the …

Sep 28, 2023: September 28: “workout” Hiking on Franconia Ridge trail is a workout but the spectacular views are worth that effort.

Sep 28, 2023: Interesting!!! Spoiling vs overindulging a kid Unlike spoiling a kid, which is about catering to a child’s needs and wants for the sake of the …

Sep 26, 2023: September 26: “beverage” Akvavit in Stockholm

Sep 26, 2023: Some photos from weekend hike.

Sep 25, 2023: September 25: “flare” In May, we witnessed a Supernova flare up in the Pinwheel galaxy (M101). Can’t believe that I could capture …

Sep 24, 2023: September 24: “belt” That shimmering belt of stars, nebulae and dust is our Milky Way galaxy.

Sep 22, 2023: September 22: “road” Calle de la Fortaleza, Old San Juan, PR #mbsept

Sep 21, 2023: September 21: “fall” A small waterfall and hint of fall foliage

Sep 19, 2023: September 19: “edge” Rocket launched from over the edge of the world, seen from an airplane. #mbsept

Sep 18, 2023: Looking at upgrading to iPhone 15 Pro. If I get it from Apple, $250 trade-in value for my iPhone 11 Pro. If I go to AT&T, I’ll get the new …

Sep 17, 2023: September 17: “intense” Lagoon nebula (M8) is illuminated by a star that shines intensely with 23,000 times the brightness of our Sun in visible light …

Sep 16, 2023: September 16: “oof” The most beautiful season is almost upon us.

Sep 16, 2023: Wordle 819 2/6 🟩🟨⬛🟨🟨 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Third time in 6 days. Really should go out and buy a lottery ticket.

Sep 15, 2023: September 15: “red” Old San Juan, PR. #mbsept

Sep 14, 2023: September 14: “statue”

Sep 13, 2023: Watched first 2 episodes of “Drops of God”. Absolutely loved it! Can’t wait to watch the rest.

Sep 13, 2023: 139 Kms on the rowing machine in the last 2 months. This is more than my yearly totals in the years before. Really enjoying rowing machine as cross …

Sep 13, 2023: September 13: “glowing”

Sep 12, 2023: September 12: “panic” It will take a moment to realize the panic we felt as we got to the end of this 1500 piece jigsaw puzzle.

Sep 11, 2023: September 11: “retrospect” When we look up in the night sky we are looking in the past. This image of pinwheel galaxy I captured earlier …

Sep 11, 2023: Try hard but not that hard - I like this!!! The trick—be it in exercise, or anything—is to try for 85%. Aiming for perfection often makes us feel …

Sep 10, 2023: With all the showboating, the men’s tennis is just so boring to watch. Wish this match gets over quickly so we can move on with life.

Sep 10, 2023: 20230910 Bike ride Bike ride around East Lyme, Old Lyme and Lyme. Went down to the coastline and then up into the hills before returning home. This is one my favorite …

Sep 10, 2023: September 10: “Cycle” aka my trusty therapist

Sep 10, 2023: Dropped daughter off at the airport last evening. Woke up this morning to find that she made it safely to Edinburgh and getting settled in university …

Sep 8, 2023: September 8: “yonder” Oh boy! So many photos to choose from. Here is one of my favorites. Flame and Horsehead nebulae from Orion. #mbsept

Sep 7, 2023: A service engineer came in to fix one of the instruments at work and turns out that he is from same part of India as me. Interesting! This is one of …

Sep 7, 2023: September 7: “panorama” Haleakalā crater, Maui

Sep 6, 2023: Trifid nebula (M20) is one of my favorite objects. In one field, there is bright emission nebula, a reflection nebula (blue), dark nebulosity …

Sep 6, 2023: September 6: “well” done! #mbsept

Sep 6, 2023: Last night, we paid the bill at University of Edinburgh. Turns out that by going there for a semester, my daughter is saving about half the money she …

Sep 5, 2023: Rode my bike to work this morning. The pedestrian/cyclist lane on Gold Star bridge has been fixed so no need for a bus ride. It was a nice and easy …

Sep 5, 2023: September 5: “forest”

Sep 4, 2023: September 4: “orange”

Sep 3, 2023: September 3: “precious”

Sep 3, 2023: The Drop-off Last week, we dropped off our son at college. They made move-in really easy for everyone. As we pulled up in front of his dorm building at the …

Sep 2, 2023: September 2: “buildup”

Sep 2, 2023: Does anyone know if a livejournal blog can be imported to micro.blog? @help

Sep 1, 2023: September 1: “abstract”

Aug 31, 2023: Super Blue Moon It is just laughable to see all the hype in the news about SUPER BLUE MOON. It is a stupid astrological concept. Perhaps if we knew how to count a …

Aug 30, 2023: I want to know if Hurricane Idalia is headed to Mar-a-lago or not. Then I’ll know if I should show support and root for people of florida or for …

Aug 29, 2023: Calluses! They are called damned calluses. Wanted to text my brother that I have calluses from rowing but, my brain was stuck at scabs and scars. …

Aug 27, 2023: While in North Carolina, what we had as daily low temps are now our daily high temps as we are back home. What a relief!!! While going on this trip, …

Aug 24, 2023: Albert Camus “Go out for a walk. It doesn’t have to be a romantic walk in the park… It doesn’t have to be a walk during …

Aug 23, 2023: Oui oui oui

Aug 23, 2023: Argh! After last few days in North Carolina, it feels good to think that only one more month of Summer left before it is officially Fall. What a …

Aug 23, 2023: When you have 3-4 kids, it seems right to refer to the oldest and youngest of the flock. With only 2 kids, what is the correct way? Oldest and …

Aug 22, 2023: Another day of nice after ride coffee. I am going to miss this when I go back to riding in the area around my home.

Aug 22, 2023: One of the claims to fame for Davidson college before Steph Curry showed up!

Aug 22, 2023: Explored the lakeshore communities on today’s #bikeride - aka gawking at million dollar McMansions. Safer roads than yesterday. It was another hot day …

Aug 21, 2023: Went on a longish bike ride on the northern side of Charlotte, NC. It was so hot that I forgot to take many photos. Kept hoping for more wooded roads …

Aug 21, 2023: It is so nice to be in suburbs where I can get a decent cup of coffee when I decide to rest on the bike ride. There are many advantages of being in a …

Aug 20, 2023: Everything around you that you call life was made up by people that were no smarter than you, and you can change it, you can influence it, you can …

Aug 20, 2023: Various sculptures on Davidson College campus.

Aug 20, 2023: Found Mark Twain outside Cornelius public library during my first ever bike ride in the state of North Carolina.

Aug 19, 2023: Went for a 1.5 mile walk after driving 750 miles through 8 states during the day.

Aug 18, 2023: Grilled veggies, cheese, bread and lots of olive oil for dinner tonight. Oh yes, and rosé of course. Enjoying a beautiful cool evening.

Aug 18, 2023: Trifid nebula (M20) and Lagoon nebula (M8). Really like how the blue color of the reflection nebulosity in Trifid showed up. This is a stack of only …

Aug 18, 2023: So much rain and thunder on the way to work this morning. It was hard to see the road. I pulled off the road the road for a few minutes for it to …

Aug 17, 2023: New Home Screen.

Aug 17, 2023: The famous “Pillars of creation” captured from my front yard. It is an area of intense star forming activity at a distance of 7000 light years. …

Aug 16, 2023: Saw my backyard hummingbird catching an insect this morning. Interesting! I thought they only drank nectar from flowers.

Aug 15, 2023: Heading off to orientation trip at college. Traveling all by himself for the first time. We will see him again next week but this is a big step. He …

Aug 15, 2023: Getting some brunch at out favorite local diner before heading out to the airport.

Aug 15, 2023: Fedex has gotten so bad lately. At least half the packages that I receive are either delayed or diverted or not picked up on time or have some other …

Aug 15, 2023: I refuse to go near a place where this happens. Boy, 6, dies after being shot in head by 9-year-old, Florida police say

Aug 15, 2023: My friend came along to join me as I was having coffee this morning.

Aug 14, 2023: Had a busy weekend pushing my son to get his stuff together as he packed to leave for college. Finally, he cleaned out his room. Now he will spend the …

Aug 13, 2023: Strikethrough

Aug 13, 2023: 🚴‍♂️ Saw this blooming Crape myrtle on today’s #bikeride.

Aug 12, 2023: 🚴‍♂️ On this morning’s #bikeride , mixed up some old routes to create a new one for today. The weather was fantastic and it was another great day of …

Aug 12, 2023: Last night, it was one of the best Lyme Land Trust public Astronomy nights at Alan’s observatory. Clear skies, cool temps and very little glow. …

Aug 10, 2023: Came into work to find that our latest paper is now available online. Congratulations to all my co-authors. Small molecule branched-chain ketoacid …

Aug 9, 2023: Can’t believe Jerry Garcia was only 53 years old when he died in 1995 on this day. I am the same age now.

Aug 9, 2023: I haven’t been to a theater to watch a movie since Dec 2019 and I don’t feel like going to one anymore. It just feels onerous to take 3 …

Aug 8, 2023: Well done, Ohio voters!!!

Aug 8, 2023: 🚴‍♂️ Being there to take in this view is a good enough reason for riding 20 miles on the bicycle.

Aug 7, 2023: How is Scribe going to work? Looks good I like how easy formatting is. Thanks, @amit !

Aug 7, 2023: 📺 Finally, finished watching “Hijack” on Apple TV last night. It was a good thriller with good performances all around. If it was a book, …

Aug 7, 2023: 🚴‍♂️ It was great to see Mathieu Van der Poel winning the Elite men’s road race at the UCI world championships in Glasgow. He is a likeable guy …

Aug 6, 2023: Thanks to the flat tire on my bike, I am sitting here by this stream listening to birds and cicadas. This is in Devil’s Hopyard state park and there …

Aug 6, 2023: 🚴‍♂️ From today’s #bikeride that ended with a flat tire. Didn’t have a repair kit so ended up calling my daughter to get picked up.

Aug 5, 2023: M51 aka the Whirlpool galaxy along with its companion dwarf galaxy NGC5195. They are at about 24 million light years away and the spiral structure of …

Aug 5, 2023: Another satellite trail going right through the target I was shooting. I see at least 1 satellite in the frames every night I am out doing …

Aug 4, 2023: I am so happy with this morning’s bike ride that it doesn’t matter what happens during rest of the day. Not sure if it is the current condition of my …

Aug 3, 2023: “Hijack” on Apple TV is so good. Have to stop watching. Have to work tomorrow. Damn!

Aug 2, 2023: Pumped up the tires, lubed the chain and I was flying on today’s #bikeride . Not sure if it was the cooler temperature or just the urge to get away …

Aug 2, 2023: Finally some cooler weather in the mornings! Loving it.

Aug 1, 2023: TIL ‘Secret’ is something that you share with some people and keep from other people but ‘private’ is something that is only …

Aug 1, 2023: August Apple Fitness challenge for me is to complete 11 cycling workouts of 5 minutes or longer this month. WTF! I thought some AI chooses these …

Aug 1, 2023: Heard news on the radio about an ongoing trial of a school shooting in Oxford, MI. I don’t remember ever hearing about this shooting incident. …

Aug 1, 2023: “Take Five” by Dave Brubeck is one of my most favorite Jazz pieces. Here is a cover by a Pakistani group called Sachal Studios. The tabla …

Aug 1, 2023: Study abroad As our daughter is getting ready for her semester abroad, we have to control our urge to help her as much as we can. We even briefly considered going …

Jul 31, 2023: The Long View from Morningstar.com is one of the best financial podcasts about retirement planning. I highly recommend it to anyone who is interested …

Jul 31, 2023: Yesterday was such a beautiful day. Sunny, 77F and low humidity. After being stuck in a car in traffic all morning long, I was glad I could go for a …

Jul 31, 2023: Goldenrod and Queen Anne’s lace are blooming everywhere.

Jul 30, 2023: Found this huge and pretty caterpillar on today’s #bikeride . After some looking around, it is from giant silk moth family (probably Hyalophora …

Jul 29, 2023: Another weekend in West Windsor, NJ.

Jul 29, 2023: Queen Anne’s lace and clouds in the water.

Jul 28, 2023: All the heavy radioactive elements like Uranium and Plutonium are created in Supernovae where stars die and the times when neutron stars collide with …

Jul 28, 2023: It was a still windless morning - perfect for all these reflection photos on today’s #bikeride along a coastal route with intersecting rivers.

Jul 27, 2023: Duck river on yesterday’s #bikeride .

Jul 26, 2023: Have switched over to this for the pleasure of having a G&T on weeknights.

Jul 26, 2023: Seeing rave reviews for Barbie from everyone including my kids. Hope it comes to streaming soon so I can watch it at home. Not that I watched a lot of …

Jul 25, 2023: Hi everyone! The whole damned world is burning. Let’s stop pretending that everything is OK.

Jul 25, 2023: Evening #bikeride yesterday to find some peace after a busy Monday at work. Strava file.

Jul 25, 2023: Hey @pratik : Booked our tickets to San Antonio to watch the annular solar eclipse on October 14th. It will be fabulous if you and family will be able …

Jul 23, 2023: With a late start for Tour de France this morning, I had enough time to go for a longer #bikeride . Bonked at mile 21. Thankfully had a granola bar to …

Jul 22, 2023: “I see a red door and I want to paint it black”

Jul 22, 2023: Went for a quick #bikeride this morning as I didn’t want to miss much of today’s Tour de France stage coverage on TV.

Jul 22, 2023: After doing everything he could to help his team leader Vingegaard to become the race leader at Tour de France, Wout Van Aert left the race 4 days …

Jul 19, 2023: After absolutely smashing the time trial yesterday, Vingegaard took another 6 minute lead over Pogacar in today’s stage which was the toughest stage …

Jul 19, 2023: It has been a month since the official beginning of Summer. Can we please end it ASAP? Wanted to go bike-riding this morning but it was already 70+ …

Jul 19, 2023: With all the rainy weather, Canadian smoke and short Summer nights, there was no chance to do any astrophotography in last couple of months. Here is …

Jul 18, 2023: Loved this article about “The Dark Side of the Moon”.

Jul 18, 2023: Black eyed Susans are blooming in the garden currently.

Jul 17, 2023: Nothing to worry now @pratik . Everything will be alright.

Jul 17, 2023: After very little or no air travel over the last few years, we have several trips planned this year - work and some leisure for us and college-related …

Jul 16, 2023: We are under a Tornado watch since this morning! Where the heck am I? MF’ing Oklahoma?

Jul 15, 2023: Warm and sticky #bikeride on familiar roads in East Lyme, and Old Lyme. Love how green this whole area is and how empty these backroads are. Here is …

Jul 15, 2023: Fear of death is a waste of time. Death is a part of life. -Dalaï Lama

Jul 14, 2023: I don’t like Summer. The days are too long, making my bed time later and later. No matter when I sleep, I always wake up before 5:30 am. This …

Jul 14, 2023: Right now it is one of those times when there are problems all around in personal and work life with no (easy) solutions. Glad it is Friday and made …

Jul 12, 2023: On the bus with my bike to go over the Gold Star bridge (I-95). The pedestrian/bicycle path along the bridge was damaged in an accident and is still …

Jul 11, 2023: Today is July 11th - 219 years ago, on this day, Vice President Aaron Burr shot Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton in a duel. They should …

Jul 11, 2023: I don’t mind doing the work, I actually enjoy it. It is the structural hurdles that drains my motivation and energy.

Jul 11, 2023: Professional cyclists are just so incredibly strong and efficient at generating power. Vingegaard and Pogacar are putting out 6.8-7 watts/Kg for 20 …

Jul 9, 2023: Elton John announced his retirement from touring after 4000+ concerts over 50 years. That is just an amazing career! I had the opportunity to see him …

Jul 9, 2023: Trying something new. Posting my outdoor bike rides 🚴🏽 here for the month of July. This ride is my usual loop on Boston post road and Rt 156.

Jul 8, 2023: Hippocrates, the father of medicine believed that brain was a mucus secreting gland. #TIL

Jul 8, 2023: Hilly #bikeride on a warm and still morning. Had to ride my heavier bike to pick up our CSA share on the way.

Jul 6, 2023: We have made this house our home for the last 16 years. Moved here over the 4th of July weekend in 2007 and have really enjoyed living here. Our kids …

Jul 5, 2023: Currently reading: Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach 📚

Jul 5, 2023: I started working out on the rowing machine again after a long time. Finally, I have figured out how to pace myself properly and not just get carried …

Jul 3, 2023: If Francis Scott Key wrote something else instead of And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air would Americans still celebrate the …

Jul 3, 2023: Booked a flight for my son to travel to attend college orientation. This sh!t is getting real. Also, had to jump a couple of extra hoops so he can …

Jul 3, 2023: Rt 1 - Rt 156 #bikeride on July 3rd. It was steamy and cloudy.

Jul 2, 2023: Got back home from Bar Harbor. Another nice week at Acadia NP - 11th or 12th visit over the last 16 years; have lost count. This time it was foggy, …

Jun 30, 2023: Morning ride on foggy and misty Park Loop Rd. There were very few people out there only around Sand beach and Thunder Hole. Rest of the loop was …

Jun 29, 2023: New profile photo! Finally have a selfie that is halfway decent.

Jun 29, 2023: Water lily in Witch Hole pond and assorted mosses and lichens.

Jun 29, 2023: All that rain is making pretty waterfalls. Seen somewhere along a carriage road in Acadia NP.

Jun 29, 2023: This is just perfect, @wrenman

Jun 28, 2023: Flowers from my walk this morning.

Jun 27, 2023: After many many visits to Acadia National park over many years, I found one of those iconic granite bridges that I had not seen and photographed …

Jun 27, 2023: One of our favorite places to walk on - Jordan pond trail. It was great to be there in foggy and rainy weather. Had a little kerfuffle in the parking …

Jun 27, 2023: Last night we ate lobster poutine. I was a bit skeptical ordering it as I find regular poutine with gravy to be quite gross. This version of poutine …

Jun 27, 2023: Early morning walk along Eagle Lake in Acadia National Park. Found a couple of pink lady’s slippers. Another couple walking there noticed my Bowdoin …

Jun 26, 2023: “Me porto bonita” by Bad Bunny music.apple.com/us/album/…

Jun 26, 2023: Went hiking to areas of Acadia National park we had not covered before. We could climb up on Bald mtn and Parkman mtn before the rain caught us. Gave …

Jun 25, 2023: Today’s hike was up on Dorr mountain. Took the Ladder trail up and came down on Gorge path. It was supposed to be cold cloudy and rainy but turned out …

Jun 25, 2023: Bike ride partly on Park Loop Road and partly on Carriage roads in Acadia National Park. Back to my favorite vacation location.

Jun 24, 2023: Inspired by my daughter to make a playlist where one song is added every day. Starting off with one of my most favorite songs - Like a rolling stone …

Jun 24, 2023: Jenga!!!

Jun 23, 2023: Yearly goal writing and performance evaluation was bad enough. A couple of years ago they switched to having this exercise every 6 months. What a …

Jun 22, 2023: Fedex has really reached rock bottom. An overnight package (with protein samples on dry ice) sent to me from Cambridge, MA to Groton, CT came within 5 …

Jun 21, 2023: I hope I get to mark today’s Summer solstice with a hike or forest bathing this afternoon.

Jun 21, 2023: Went running this morning after more than a year. Will be on a lookout for aches and pains to set in later in the day.

Jun 21, 2023: Wordle 732 2/6 🟨⬛⬛🟩🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Jun 20, 2023: Why would I want to know anything about this? Stop trying to waste my time, Apple News.

Jun 18, 2023: Niantic river as it meets Long Island sound.

Jun 15, 2023: And…. We have a high school graduate! Off to bigger and better things this Fall. Stay tuned!

Jun 15, 2023: Today is high school graduation for my son! Crickey! We will be empty-nesters this September.

Jun 15, 2023: Duck river this morning in Old Lyme, CT.

Jun 14, 2023: Great episode of 99% Invisible podcast about the sounds of street vendors of Mexico City. I remember hearing interesting calls from street vendors …

Jun 14, 2023: The ocean and the river.

Jun 12, 2023: A famous quote from the poet, Robert Frost. In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: it goes on. Not surprised he said …

Jun 11, 2023: Such bright color on this Geranium!!!

Jun 11, 2023: This big guy was inside my compost bin. Not sure why it is called the dark fishing spider.

Jun 8, 2023: Mars in the Beehive Mars and the Beehive star cluster (M44) in Cancer, which is one of the closest star clusters to us (at about 600 light years) and it can be seen with …

Jun 8, 2023: Mars and the Beehive star cluster (M44) in Cancer, which is one of the closest star clusters to us (at about 600 light years) and it can be seen with …

Jun 7, 2023: Mountain laurel is in full bloom around here. It is the state flower of Connecticut and Pennsylvania. The buds are as pretty as the flowers. White and …

Jun 7, 2023: Indian team for the World Test Championship match includes Pujara and Rahane. Have they become so cocky that they want to play against Australia with …

Jun 6, 2023: I don’t see myself buying Apple vision pro right now but if I am to be alive in 20-30 years when the world is destroyed because of global warming, …

Jun 4, 2023: Tour de Lyme 2023 Today’s Tour de Lyme was the 10th anniversary version of the ride. I have missed only one instance over the years in 2022 when I was on a trip …

Jun 3, 2023: Needle galaxy and other distant galaxies The needle galaxy (NGC4565) - perfect edge-on view of a spiral galaxy that is at about 30 light years away. Captured a couple more galaxies in the …

Jun 2, 2023: While scanning the TV channels last night, there was Scripps National Spelling Bee and the preview of the first game of NBA finals at the same time. …

Jun 2, 2023: Painted the Adirondack chairs to add some Color to our deck.

May 30, 2023: Rhododendron and pink dogwood in the yard.

May 30, 2023: Snagged one year of Peacock premium subscription for only $15. They had a 50% off special on the website for first-time subscribers and American …

May 27, 2023: What a beautiful night. Have the fire pit going; made some s’mores; enjoying the clear cool night.

May 27, 2023: Voyager2 is the only spacecraft that has done a close flyby of Neptune. Look at this badass photo of Neptune and its moon Triton from 1989. What a …

May 26, 2023: Right now, there is so much talk about mental illness/wellness/health everywhere - in the news, at work, in podcast ads etc. I wonder many times if I …

May 26, 2023: During Spring and Summer, I often ride my bicycle to work that involves crossing a mile-long bridge on a pedestrian/cycle path on the side of I-95. …

May 25, 2023: These days when I have to dress up, I put on jeans.

May 24, 2023: Why? Don’t the people moving to Florida know that in 15-20 years, their houses will be turning into swimming pools? Florida home prices rising …

May 24, 2023: Supernova SN2023ixf Supernova SN2023ixf was spotted on May 19th and it continues to brighten. Took the top image on May 23rd and for comparison is an image from April …

May 24, 2023: Supernova SN2023ixf was spotted on May 19th and it continues to brighten. The top image is from May 23rd and an image from April 30th on the bottom. …

May 23, 2023: Sunspots seen just now. The big sunspot at center left can hold 4 earths. 😳

May 23, 2023: Planning a 3-day bike ride from Albany to NYC in coming weeks. This is going to be so much fun!

May 22, 2023: That was too much time spent in the car over 3 days. From Friday morning to Monday morning, I travelled between Maine and Washington DC area all along …

May 21, 2023: One minute of recording in Merlin app and found so many birds by sound ID in a meadow in West Windsor, NJ. There are a few more that didn’t fit on …

May 21, 2023: Saw this snapping turtle on a walk this morning.

May 21, 2023: A quick trip to Maryland in DC area today to celebrate 90th birthday of my wife’s uncle. It will be a nice family event.

May 20, 2023: Yesterday drove my daughter back home from Bowdoin college. Can’t believe that she already completed her sophomore year - halfway through her college …

May 19, 2023: It’s May 19th - time to look for pink lady’s slippers, one of the native orchids in northeast US. This lives only in certain habitats (bogs with …

May 19, 2023: Now with his final high school concert and all the AP tests done, my son has to show his face at school and chill for next 4 weeks. Only important …

May 18, 2023: Now that I am in my 50s, here are the topics I discuss with my peers: Back pain Aging and dying parents Kids' college Back pain Retirement plans …

May 18, 2023: It has been estimated that, thanks to the availability of Covid-19 vaccines in the U.S., from November 2020 until March 2022, 2,265,222 deaths were …

May 17, 2023: Sound ID works so well in Merlin Bird app. It was my first experience with it and am thoroughly impressed.

May 16, 2023: They say that married people start to look like each other. It hasn’t happened to my wife and me yet but, we have definitely started to think …

May 15, 2023: A face-on spiral galaxy, M101 aka the Pinwheel galaxy is at 21 million light years away in Ursa major and contains about 1 trillion stars. This image …

May 15, 2023: Wordle 695 2/6 🟨⬛🟨🟨🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

May 14, 2023: Four star evening! Taking away one star as it is a little chilly at 60F.

May 14, 2023: My boy is back. @wrenman

May 12, 2023: While watching the highlights of stage 7 of Giro d’Italia, noticed someone flying the confederate flag in Italy. WTF!?!?

May 12, 2023: This photo of Rosette nebula that I posted last week is featured on my company’s internal website as “Photo of the week” from …

May 12, 2023: I found out yesterday that Jerry Springer died two weeks ago. So sorry to hear that. He was a very interesting personality - going from being a …

May 11, 2023: Periwinkle and Cinquefoil growing in my yard.

May 11, 2023: In 17th and 18th century the supply of nails was strictly controlled by the British empire. For people in American colonies, moving from an old house …

May 11, 2023: Want to read: Nuts and Bolts by Roma Agrawal 📚

May 10, 2023: Completed another lap around the Sun, successfully! 🖖🏽 ✌🏽

May 9, 2023: Hey @mikehaynes : Loving your micro.blog theme “Outpost”. Thanks for sharing!

May 8, 2023: Went for my birthday ride a couple of days early. Started this tradition of riding the same number of miles as my age. Let’s see how many more years I …

May 8, 2023: I have planned a 2-day trip to Texas this Fall. I must make sure that before leaving, I have my will and all the other documents in order. Who knows …

May 8, 2023: Last night was the year-end concert of Connecticut Youth Symphony. It was one of the best concerts that I have ever attended. These high-schoolers …

May 6, 2023: Pretty young leaves all around me on this warm sunny spring day.

May 6, 2023: Watched a movie - “Bridesmaids”. My favorite was the cyber security lady. She was the funniest of all. I was quite certain that the main …

May 6, 2023: Wordle 686 2/6 🟩⬛⬛🟨🟨 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

May 4, 2023: For a long time, I used to bite my nails to a point where they started bleeding. About 12-13 years ago, I decided to stop doing that. Now, every week …

May 3, 2023: Rosette nebula - April 2023 The Rosette nebula from Monoceros constellation at ~5000 light years, is one of the brightest nebula in the sky. The cluster of young stars (~4million …

May 3, 2023: The Rosette nebula from Monoceros constellation at 5K light years is one of the brightest nebula in the sky. The cluster of young stars (~4mil yrs) in …

May 3, 2023: My son will be going off to college in North Carolina this Fall. We have a few months to wrap our heads around the fact that he will be going outside …

May 2, 2023: Love these Spring days.

May 1, 2023: May 1st is college decision day. It is final. This Fall, my son will be joining the class of 2027 at Davidson College in Davidson, NC. He is currently …

Apr 28, 2023: Anyone have Bluesky invite codes to share? Thanks in advance!

Apr 28, 2023: OMG! Just realized that my streak on Day One is longer than one year. Thanks for getting me started, @pratik !!!

Apr 28, 2023: This Eastern Redbud is absolutely the most favorite tree in our yard. I planted this as a little sapling more than 10 years ago. Happy to see it …

Apr 27, 2023: On grieving I grew up in a religious household but, in my current life, I am not religious and am a non-believer. We do celebrate Hindu festivals as a tradition …

Apr 27, 2023: What is there to explain? All washed up quarterbacks end their careers at the Jets.

Apr 26, 2023: One thing I like about Apple Music is that when you search for a song by its name, it finds all the covers as well. Currently, I am obsessed with Bob …

Apr 26, 2023: If you are planning to buy I-series savings bonds, do it today. You can still get 6.88% interest rate for the next 6 months. From May 1st, the …

Apr 25, 2023: “In 20 years, this country will be run by people who were homeschooled by day drinkers.” Saw this sign somewhere. Sad but true.

Apr 22, 2023: Ready for the last of the ceremonies to bid my dad a farewell.

Apr 14, 2023: Spotted this parrot during my walk this morning.

Apr 11, 2023: My dad passed away last night in his sleep, just a few months short of his 80th birthday. It was such a shocking news as he was doing OK and had no …

Apr 10, 2023: The number of pickup trucks outnumber cars on the road in all 50 states. I really wonder why! People complain so much about high fuel costs but they …

Apr 9, 2023: What a lovely day to be out today.

Apr 9, 2023: Mars and M35 Mars visiting Gemini on March 30, 2023. Open star cluster M35 at the bottom is at 2600 light years away and made up of young stars that are only 100 …

Apr 7, 2023: One of the Tennessee legislators that got expelled, Justin Pearson, is a Bowdoin graduate. My daughter is proud to be associated with him that way and …

Apr 5, 2023: Not sure if it is allergies or if I caught a cold, but it surely isn’t Covid. That is what the test said.

Apr 3, 2023: First admitted students day for my son at Bates College in Lewiston, ME. They have a full program to give students a flavor of the college life at …

Apr 1, 2023: Two planets together - bright Venus and Uranus (pointed with the arrow).

Apr 1, 2023: Mars visiting Gemini. Open star cluster M35 at the bottom is at 2600 light years away and made up of young stars that are only 100 million years old. …

Mar 31, 2023: Rhode Island capitol in Providence, RI.

Mar 31, 2023: Here is some proof that practice most definitely improves your skill. Also, better equipment helps. #mbmar

Mar 30, 2023: Heard a nice description for people in United States congress today… “these people who are born without any good intentions, who are …

Mar 30, 2023: Comet Neowise and its reflection in the mirror that is Lake Pattagansett. I love capturing reflections in bodies of water and have dozens (if not …

Mar 29, 2023: A little slice of our galaxy captured last night through my telescope. M42 aka the “Great Orion Nebula” that sits right at the center of the sword of …

Mar 28, 2023: The first time I heard about this story of engineers working on Graphing calculator even when they were let go by Apple was in this episode of This …

Mar 28, 2023: Spam on my cell phone is just getting out of hand. These days I never pick up if I don’t know the phone number. The latest string of spam calls …

Mar 28, 2023: Some daily prompts in Day One are good and others not so much. #mbmar

Mar 27, 2023: The support structure under the Gold Star Memorial bridge on Pequot (aka Thames) river. #mbmar

Mar 27, 2023: I always get confused between the flags of Puerto Rico and Texas.

Mar 26, 2023: This superconducting magnet is a part of NMR instrument that I routinely use to study molecules. #mbmar

Mar 25, 2023: Typical spice container in an Indian kitchen. #mbmar

Mar 24, 2023: Fortaleza street in front of the Governor’s residence and other colorful streets of Old San Juan, PR.

Mar 24, 2023: Windham courthouse in Willimantic, CT. #mbmar

Mar 23, 2023: Can someone please educate me about what user data on TikTok that everyone is so worried about? And how is it different from data on users of …

Mar 23, 2023: What is the chance of capturing an airplane transiting the Sun at the same time as planet Mercury (tiny dot at the center)? #mbmar

Mar 22, 2023: This praying mantis in my backyard is one of the coolest insect I have seen. #mbmar

Mar 21, 2023: Doors of Old San Juan, PR.

Mar 21, 2023: Galaxy M110 (bottom center) is tiny compared to its neighbor M31 aka Andromeda galaxy. #mbmar

Mar 20, 2023: My favorite Houseplant is orchid. #mbmar

Mar 19, 2023: Walking around in San Juan, PR.

Mar 19, 2023: Free analog books on a sidewalk in San Juan, PR. #mbmar

Mar 18, 2023: Portico at the Pantheon in Rome. Reminiscing about a great Spring break trip while on another Spring break trip. #mbmar

Mar 17, 2023: Saw a rocket launch from Cape Canaveral out of the plane window! 😳

Mar 17, 2023: Still remember those early days of COVID pandemic with home made cloth masks. #mbmar

Mar 17, 2023: Last night’s state championship meet for my high school senior was probably our last swim meet ever. No more poolside high humidity and …

Mar 16, 2023: Son passed his driving test today. People in Southeastern CT, watch out! Now, we have one more official, licensed driver in the household to go and …

Mar 16, 2023: This road is for everyone - some are fast but, others are not! #mbmar

Mar 15, 2023: Absolutely the worst decision (and the biggest regret) of my digital life –> shut down my blog and started using Facebook in its place, …

Mar 15, 2023: Takes a bit of patience to make a long exposure image showing the Earth’s rotation by combining hundreds of photos together. #mbmar

Mar 15, 2023: Looks like more problems with banks and a rough day ahead in global stock markets.

Mar 14, 2023: Daughter applied for a fellowship at her college to do Summer research at a land conservation trust here in CT. She got in touch with the …

Mar 14, 2023: So many horizon shots to choose from. Here are a couple of photos from my most favorite place - Acadia National Park. #mbmar

Mar 14, 2023: Made last-minute vacation plans. This must be the first time for us to book a vacation within 10 days of actual travel. Our first Spring break since …

Mar 13, 2023: Trying to find all the right connections. #mbmar

Mar 12, 2023: The biggest shiny object in the night sky. #mbmar

Mar 11, 2023: Gimcrack awards given out to kids that win their heat at swim meets. #mbmar

Mar 10, 2023: While setting up equipment for astrophotography, it is a ritual for me to check focus using a Bathinov mask. It makes this spiky pattern that can be …

Mar 10, 2023: A gentle reminder… “anyone can be an ally and everyone can use an ally”

Mar 9, 2023: So many things happening in the next couple of weeks for my son. State swim championships (2 days); Decisions about most of his college …

Mar 9, 2023: We traveled from different continents and got together when we turned 50. Most of us were in the same class from kindergarten through high school. …

Mar 8, 2023: Walking on Martian landscape on the rim of Haleakalā crater in Hawaii is an unforgettable experience. #mbmar

Mar 8, 2023: Test Made some changes in IFTTT format. Let’s see how this looks.

Mar 8, 2023: Testing IFTTT connection to DayOne…

Mar 7, 2023: Daughter turned 20 today! 😳🤯😍 Can’t believe how quickly the years went by. It seemed like yesterday when she was just a little baby.

Mar 7, 2023: There is this whole galaxy out there for us to explore. #mbmar

Mar 6, 2023: Lot of cool engineering in this astro imaging setup including the use of masking tape to attach the raspberry pi unit to the mount. #mbmar

Mar 6, 2023: Feedly or Feeder? Any recommendations for RSS reader?

Mar 5, 2023: Tiles of art made by my kids in elementary school about a decade ago still hangs on my wall. #mbmar

Mar 4, 2023: Ziplining in rain, foggy Costa Rican rainforest was such a blast. Want to do this again. #mbmar

Mar 4, 2023: At our last Eastern Connecticut Conference swim meet. Can’t believe this is the sixth year for us with 2 kids competing in high school swimming.

Mar 3, 2023: Sometimes solitude is therapeutic and is exactly what one needs. #mbmar

Mar 2, 2023: Venus Jupiter conjunction After missing the closest approach yesterday, I was relieved that I caught some break in the clouds to view the Venus and Jupiter conjunction. The …

Mar 2, 2023: Airplanes kept photobombing while I was shooting Venus and Jupiter.

Mar 2, 2023: After missing the closest approach yesterday, I was relieved that I caught some break in the clouds to view the Venus and Jupiter conjunction. The …

Mar 2, 2023: Caught Jupiter and Venus conjunction tonight through a break in cloudy weather. #mbmar March Photo Challenge

Mar 2, 2023: Wordle 621 2/6 🟩⬛🟩⬛🟩 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Yes!

Mar 1, 2023: I have been using Obsidian for about 6 months or so to keep track of my cycling, astrophotography and some financial information. With the use of …

Mar 1, 2023: Nothing… I mean nothing says secure better than duct tape. #mbmar

Mar 1, 2023: March is National Colorectal Cancer (CRC) Awareness Month. For those over 45, screening for colorectal cancer (colonoscopy) is a good idea.

Mar 1, 2023: As I am getting older, it seems like this whole idea of ‘mindful living’ or ‘living in the moment’ is getting easier. For one, …

Feb 27, 2023: Expecting more snow tonight into tomorrow. Looking forward to it. Want to use my snowshoes for a hike, for the first time this season.

Feb 26, 2023: Moon, Jupiter and Venus Moon, Jupiter and Venus in the western sky. Couldn’t catch them when they were closer to each other a couple of days ago. In the third photo, the …

Feb 26, 2023: Moon, Jupiter and Venus in the western sky. Couldn’t catch them when they were closer to each other a couple of days ago. In the third photo, the …

Feb 26, 2023: It was a cold and quiet morning for an enjoyable stroll in the forest. I like making bootprints on fresh snow. Someone else (fox, coyote or bobcat) …

Feb 25, 2023: Yeah!!! Finally some snow. Thank you, winter gods!

Feb 23, 2023: At San Diego airport on my way back home almost 2 hours before boarding starts. What should I do?

Feb 23, 2023: Thanks @pratik !!!

Feb 21, 2023: “The only people who can betray us are the ones that we trust.” Whoa! That is deep.

Feb 20, 2023: Dipped my toes/feet in the Pacific Ocean at Coronado beach today. Last time was maybe 15 years ago.

Feb 20, 2023: Took this photo of downtown San Diego from the ferry to Coronado island and Siri is telling me that this is Detroit. 🤔 So much for AI.

Feb 20, 2023: Skipped a couple of sessions at the conference and visiting Coronado Island.

Feb 20, 2023: Oh my!!!

Feb 19, 2023: Italian seafood stew - Cioppino. Very delicious!!!

Feb 18, 2023: Delicious poke bowl was had today.

Feb 18, 2023: What is going on in the red room?

Feb 18, 2023: Walking around downtown San Diego this morning.

Feb 17, 2023: First fish tacos of this San Diego trip. There will be many more.

Feb 17, 2023: Onwards to San Diego…

Feb 17, 2023: Flame and Horsehead nebulae shining brightly along with blinding Alnitak. So satisfying to see this with only forty minutes (20x2min) exposures. …

Feb 17, 2023: First time at the new Denver airport. It is so huge!!

Feb 17, 2023: United airlines is charging fees for checked-in bags and then they offered to check-in my carry-on bag at the gate for free. What kind of game is …

Feb 17, 2023: Going for a conference to San Diego after a long long time. Interestingly, the weather in San Diego is going to be the same as here in Connecticut.

Feb 16, 2023: Canvas print Got this photo of Elephant trunk nebula printed on canvas. It looks quite good considering its big size - 20x30 inches. Wasn’t sure how it will turn …

Feb 15, 2023: Jupiter and Venus are lighting up the western sky. They will come very close to each other in 2 weeks. #astro

Feb 15, 2023: Orion is looking pretty in the sky tonight. #astro

Feb 15, 2023: Got this photo of Elephant trunk nebula printed on canvas. It looks quite good considering its big size - 20x30 inches. Wasn’t sure how it will turn …

Feb 14, 2023: The inflation came down compared to last June but, that doesn’t mean prices will come down. The prices will stay the same or go higher in a …

Feb 14, 2023: The Pleiades The Pleiades (M45) aka The Seven Sisters aka Subaru is an open star cluster ~444 light years away. It is the nearest star cluster to us. The …

Feb 13, 2023: Check this out…. My photo of Elephant Trunk nebula was featured here.

Feb 13, 2023: The Pleiades (M45) aka The Seven Sisters aka Subaru is an open star cluster ~444 light years away. It is the nearest star cluster to us. The …

Feb 13, 2023: There weren’t any great commercials on SuperBowl broadcast last night. I thought the phone hold music beer commercial was the best. But, there …

Feb 12, 2023: At a USASWIMMING swim meet this morning - first in 3 years and most probably, the last ever. So many great swim meet memories over the years.

Feb 10, 2023: New lock screen for the phone.

Feb 10, 2023: Orion Nebula 2013: How it started…. 2023: How it’s going….

Feb 10, 2023: Orion Nebula 2013: How it started…. 2023: How it’s going….

Feb 10, 2023: Running man and Orion nebulae This must be my best effort at capturing the running man and Orion nebulae so far. This nebula is a region of massive star formation and is closest of …

Feb 10, 2023: This must be my best effort at capturing the running man and Orion nebulae so far. This nebula is a region of massive star formation and is closest of …

Feb 9, 2023: “I just don’t know what I’m gonna do I was alright ‘til I fell in love with you” 🎶🎶🎶

Feb 9, 2023: As I look at this picture again, it feels like I see an old friend there, whom I haven’t seen in a long time, is raising his arms for an …

Feb 9, 2023: The results came out this morning and my son was selected to play viola in Connecticut All-State music festival. Now, that is 3 for 3. He made it in …

Feb 7, 2023: When my kids were younger I tried to get them interested in Astronomy but, it seemed like it didn’t catch on. They’d quickly look through …

Feb 6, 2023: There was a time when our lives revolved around swimming. When kids were younger, they’d go for swim meets almost every other week in Fall and …

Feb 5, 2023: Green Comet and Capella The green comet is so close to a bright star, Capella right now. I’d be out taking pictures if there were no clouds covering it all up. ☹️☹️

Feb 5, 2023: The green comet is so close to a bright star, Capella right now. I’d be out taking pictures if there were no clouds covering it all up. ☹️☹️

Feb 5, 2023: A big Oak

Feb 5, 2023: I am so grateful to have these beautiful resources, land conservation trusts and town open spaces, around me for these quiet and peaceful hikes.

Feb 2, 2023: All through my working life, we have had employer-sponsored gold-plated cadillac healthcare plan. Over so many years, everything worked perfectly with …

Feb 1, 2023: Veil nebula print Got my Veil nebula photo printed. This is the first time for me to get an acrylic print. It was expensive but I see why that was so. It seems like the …

Feb 1, 2023: Green comet Comet C2022/E3 (ZTF) or the green comet as mentioned in the news was captured on the night of Friday (1/27) from my front yard. The relative movement …

Jan 31, 2023: Last week, our work on branched chain ketoacid dehydrogenase kinase inhibitors was published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry. Check it …

Jan 30, 2023: Comet C2022/E3 (ZTF) or the green comet as mentioned in the news was captured on the night of Friday (1/27) from my front yard. The relative movement …

Jan 28, 2023: Different processing to dim the startrails and bring out the dust tail of comet ZTF more clearly. Here is the photo with first round of processing.

Jan 28, 2023: Comet C/2022 E3(ZTF) This is a stack of 30 sec exposures over 24 minutes. It moves quite a bit with respect to the stars around it. The green colored …

Jan 28, 2023: Wish I could bottle up this day and sell it….

Jan 27, 2023: Capturing the green comet tonight.

Jan 26, 2023: Want to live to be 100+ years old? Hope you have good genes. If you do then make sure you live in a place away from pollution, stay physically active …

Jan 25, 2023: Got my Veil nebula photo printed. This is the first time for me to get an acrylic print. It was expensive but I see why that was so. It seems like the …

Jan 25, 2023: 27th anniversary today! Now, I have been married longer than I was single.

Jan 24, 2023: Completed 21 years with my current employer. Amazing how quickly the time flies by when you enjoy what you are doing. Also, surprisingly somehow …

Jan 24, 2023: On January 26th, the documentary series on “1619 project” will be available for streaming on Hulu. I am looking forward to watching it …

Jan 23, 2023: Next Sunday will be the AFC and NFC championship games. Dang! I completely missed this NFL season. I should try to watch at least the remaining last 3 …

Jan 22, 2023: My first outdoor bike ride of 2023. [Strava link]. The temperature was at freezing point but without any wind, it had no bite. The water in Niantic …

Jan 22, 2023: Had some home shucked local oysters last night. Bought them off the dock so almost zero carbon footprint. Also had Kerala-style fish curry made with …

Jan 20, 2023: Some changes are being announced at work. Some reorganization and some layoffs. A few people that I worked with over the years will lose their jobs. …

Jan 19, 2023: Sunrise seen from my exercise bike.

Jan 18, 2023: Comet C2022 E3 (ZTF) is still a little fuzzball through 70 mm camera lens. Hopefully it will get brighter in coming days.

Jan 18, 2023: This article just doesn’t seem right. Wonder if it was sponsored by the single use coffee pod industry. The surprising environmental benefits of …

Jan 18, 2023: Bonjour! Je m’appelle Parag. Je suis étudiant en français. J’aime Duolingo.

Jan 17, 2023: Test post from Obsidian Checking how posting to micro.blog works from obsidian.

Jan 16, 2023: Today’s New Yorker cartoon.

Jan 16, 2023: Last night, my son sent out his last two college applications. After a lot of blood, sweat, tears and pulling hair, we are finally done with this …

Jan 15, 2023: Watched Glass Onion. It was excellent! Loved it!

Jan 15, 2023: All the green moss on the ground grabbed my attention on today’s forest bathing hike. Such a stark contrast to the leafless barren trees.

Jan 13, 2023: At the first home meet for high school boys swim team. Has been almost one year since I officiated a meet. This is going to be a little stressful.

Jan 13, 2023: Elephant trunk nebula is one of my most favorite targets for astrophotography. This star forming region in Cepheus is about 3000 light years away. The …

Jan 13, 2023: Back in Sep2021, saw that Paypal was offering cryptos. Bought some with play money. In late 2021, it had gone up by more than 50%. Yesterday, I sold …

Jan 12, 2023: Roads - built for going quickly from place A to place B. Streets - places to go to for shops, restaurants etc. Stroads - the hellscape that is …

Jan 11, 2023: After hearing a feature on NPR this morning, I am again getting excited about the annular solar eclipse later this year. It will be great to travel …

Jan 11, 2023: My son wanted his baby picture for the school yearbook. After some digging around, I thought this was the best photo. Here is my seventeen year old, …

Jan 11, 2023: Watched a few minutes of “Golden Globes” last night where they announced 3 awards. I had not heard of a single movie title that was …

Jan 10, 2023: Lobster trap tree in Stonington, CT. The tree is made by stacking lobster traps and the ornaments are those buoys painted by artists and children. …

Jan 10, 2023: Listened to Nikole Hannah-Jones talk at a work event on diversity, equity and inclusion. She is an impressive, powerful speaker. Something I learned …

Jan 9, 2023: Orion the hunter is one of the most beautiful and recognizable constellation in the night sky. The brightest stars Betelgeuse and Rigel sit at the top …

Jan 8, 2023: Seventeen!!!! How did that happen so quickly? 🥲

Jan 8, 2023: Some photos of moss and mushrooms from New Year’s Day hike that I forgot to post earlier.

Jan 7, 2023: Only 1 in 4.3 billion of the Sun’s photons are intercepted by the eight planets of our Solar System – the rest escape into interstellar & …

Jan 6, 2023: Malcolm Gladwell or Barack Obama - excellent orators that can hypnotize you with their word wizardry and convince you even to eat your own shoes. Not …

Jan 6, 2023: This whole election of house speaker is so sad and disgusting. McCarthy lost the vote 11 times. When will he get that they don’t want him? Even …

Jan 5, 2023: FWIW – It has been 6 years since I stopped using Facebook and I don’t miss it at all. I have only sporadically used Twitter in last few …

Jan 5, 2023: 42 months. That is enough time to get an undergraduate degre. I wish he was awarded more to add a PhD on top of that.

Jan 4, 2023: During the holiday break, this article with me as a co-author was published in J.Med.Chem. Congrats to lead author Allyn Londregan and all the …

Jan 4, 2023: First day back to work since Dec 16th. It was such a nice break. Glad that I could log into my work computer after only a couple of tries and …

Jan 3, 2023: Finished watching season 3 of Jack Ryan. DO NOT watch this show. It was horrible. I’ve taken a bullet for you. Don’t waste your time. Very poor …

Jan 2, 2023: Keeping up with my usual start of the year —> To make up for all the gluttony of last month or so, no alcoholic beverages for the next 2-3 weeks.

Jan 2, 2023: reelgood.com Check out Slow Horses on Reelgood. See where it’s streaming and more!

Jan 1, 2023: Finished reading: What We Carry by Maya Shanbhag Lang 📚 What a fantastic memoir!!! A breathtaking journey through changing relationship between a …

Jan 1, 2023: A look back at 2022 Adit: now a senior in high school college visits, applications selected for New England music festival and Connecticut All State music festival …

Dec 31, 2022: ““Home is where you go when everything is closed. Like when Ben and Jerry’s is closed and the park is closed and the library is closed, you go home. …

Dec 31, 2022: Posting some of my favorite astrophotos of 2022 in this thread over next 2 days. #Paragastro2022 Link to previous post in this thread. Happy New Year …

Dec 31, 2022: Posting some of my favorite astrophotos of 2022 in this thread over next 2 days. #Paragastro2022 Link to previous post in this thread. One of our …

Dec 31, 2022: Posting some of my favorite astrophotos of 2022 in this thread over next 2 days. Link to previous post in this thread. Two views of Elephant trunk …

Dec 31, 2022: Posting some of my favorite astrophotos of 2022 in this thread over next 2 days. #Paragastro2022 Link to previous post in this thread. Two views of a …

Dec 31, 2022: Posting some of my favorite astrophotos of 2022 in this thread over next 2 days. #Paragastro2022 Link to previous post in this thread. A pair or large …

Dec 31, 2022: 2022 activities in numbers Strava does this year end summary of all the activities posted through the year. I like that I can get this summary without any effort to generate it …

Dec 31, 2022: Posting some of my favorite astrophotos of 2022 in this thread over next 2 days. #Paragastro2022 Link to previous post in this thread. Two wide angle …

Dec 30, 2022: Finished reading: First Person Singular by Haruki Murakami 📚

Dec 30, 2022: Currently reading: What We Carry by Maya Shanbhag Lang 📚

Dec 30, 2022: Posting some of my favorite astrophotos of 2022 in this thread over next 2 days. #Paragastro2022
Link to previous post in this thread. 5. Rosette …

Dec 30, 2022: Posting some of my favorite astrophotos of 2022 in this thread over next 2 days. #Paragastro2022 Link to previous post in this thread. 3. Bode’s …

Dec 30, 2022: Posting some of my favorite astrophotos of 2022 in this thread over next 2 days. #Paragastro2022
 The Great Orion Nebula (M42) 2. Flame and Horsehead …

Dec 28, 2022: Jupiter and Moon over the Empire State Building in NYC.

Dec 28, 2022: In downtown Manhattan waiting on some random street while our guests visit 9/11 memorial.

Dec 24, 2022: Went to 3 stores in search of Green Chartreuse and it is sold out. Don’t know what the popular cocktail of this season is but looks like it is one …

Dec 23, 2022: It is balmy 55F here this morning but as the storm moves through with high winds and cold rain, the temps are supposed to drop by 40 degrees by this …

Dec 22, 2022: Great Conjunction of 2020. Jupiter and Saturn close together in the sky on December 21, 2020.

Dec 22, 2022: Came across this huge oak on today’s hike. It must be at least 200 years old - probably even more. Have to visit it again in Summer when it is green.

Dec 22, 2022: Leaves under a sheet of ice in a frozen stream - spotted on today’s forest bathing session in Old Lyme, CT.

Dec 22, 2022: Tree decoration was finally completed last night.

Dec 21, 2022: Happy Winter solstice everyone! As of just about an hour ago, we are officially in Winter now. Hoping for a lot of snow to play in over then next 3 …

Dec 20, 2022: Day 2 of 2 week long break during which I am planning to stay away from any news. On a 2 hour walk in forest this morning, listened to a podcast …

Dec 20, 2022: Saw this interesting ice formation during my forest bathing outing this morning. Water in sandy soil making these long crystals. Initially, I thought …

Dec 19, 2022: “As a general rule, people, even the wicked, are much more naïve and simple-hearted than we suppose. And we ourselves are, too.” — The Brothers …

Dec 18, 2022: New Lock Screen on the phone using the latest image of Western Veil nebula.

Dec 18, 2022: Not sure if it my TV or Amazon Fire stick providing the closed captioning but it keeps calling Smriti Mandhana, Pretty Mandina. 😄

Dec 17, 2022: Western Veil nebula A part of the Veil nebula complex from Cygnus. This is Pickering’s triangle and Witch’s broom (NGC6960). This supernova remnant glows in Halpha and …

Dec 17, 2022: Pretty nice morning for forest bathing. Hiked almost 5 miles and came across only 1 person. Had the whole forest to myself for rest of the time.

Dec 17, 2022: Hey @pratik, let me share something more impressive - The Virgo Supercluster of galaxies. I have marked about 50 in there but I am sure I have missed …

Dec 17, 2022: A part of the Veil nebula complex from Cygnus. This is Pickering’s triangle and Witch’s broom (NGC6960). #astro

Dec 16, 2022: So, what was the MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT by trump yesterday? Was it the trading cards? I am just being lazy and don’t want to find out myself. It is …

Dec 16, 2022: I can’t change the website listed under my profile to my mastodon account (parag@astrodon.social). All Mastodon instances are considered …

Dec 15, 2022: Only 2 working days left for me in 2022. Half of today will be at a holiday party and tomorrow will be spent in shutting down everything before the …

Dec 14, 2022: The final for World Cup is set!!! France vs Argentina. It is going to be a cracker of a match.

Dec 14, 2022: Qatari administration is absolutely dog water. They keep showing again and again that they are as bad as saudi arabia. The Moroccan airlines had …

Dec 14, 2022: After hearing good reviews from @ani, @supremus and @cinemapaithiyam, decided to watch “Ponniyin Selvan”. It started off by showing …

Dec 13, 2022: Pac-Man nebula Pacman nebula (NGC 281) is in the constellation of Cassiopeia. This bright emission nebula is at 9200 light years away in the Perseus arm of the Milky …

Dec 13, 2022: There is a lot of wildlife in the wooded areas of my work campus. Just a few months ago, there was a den of coyotes. On my walks, I always notice a …

Dec 13, 2022: I never have to blur the background during my virtual meetings because I never turn on the camera.

Dec 13, 2022: A man said to the universe: “Sir, I exist!” “However,” replied the universe, “The fact has not created in me A sense of obligation.” BY STEPHEN CRANE

Dec 12, 2022: Nebulosity (IC 1318) seen around the star gamma Cygni (Sadr) at bottom right. This area is aka Butterfly nebula. They appear together but the nebula …

Dec 12, 2022: Last night’s performance of the Connecticut Youth Symphony was fantastic. It is exciting when there is a contemporary piece on the program. Comparing …

Dec 12, 2022: First proper and legit snowfall of this season. 💙💙💙

Dec 11, 2022: After my daughter’s concert on Wednesday, we head off to watch my son play viola at the Connecticut Youth Symphony’s end-of-the-semester …

Dec 11, 2022: Pacman nebula (NGC 281) in the constellation of Cassiopeia. This bright emission nebula is at 9200 light years away in the Perseus arm of the Milky …

Dec 9, 2022: What a beauty, Neymar!!!!!!!

Dec 9, 2022: Bowdoin college symphony orchestra had their concert on Wednesday. Impossible to travel midweek to watch my daughter play cello but, they had a …

Dec 8, 2022: Harry-Megan documentary Does anyone really care? I surely don’t.

Dec 8, 2022: It was cloudy last night when the Moon-Mars conjunction happened but then cleared out early in the morning. When I woke up Moon and Mars were shining …

Dec 7, 2022: Went to Cambridge for a work party in the afternoon/evening. Four hours of train ride for a two hour party. I was skeptical about going but it was …

Dec 5, 2022: Top 10 drugs based on projected sales for 2023. Interesting to see that small molecules are in a minority with mAbs and other biologics dominating the …

Dec 4, 2022: Which way is up?

Dec 4, 2022: A beautiful morning for forest bathing. Great start for this Sunday.

Dec 3, 2022: Watching season 2 of “Only Murders in the building”. Finished watching episode 3 and so glad that there are 7 more episodes to watch. I really like …

Dec 2, 2022: My current Lock Screen. Thanks, @gaby !!

Dec 2, 2022: It is the time of the year when I listen to Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite at least once a day.

Dec 2, 2022: Mozart’s music is universal. Even rats like it.

Dec 1, 2022: Day 1 of wine advent calendar!

Dec 1, 2022: This year, we are doing a wine advent calendar. Looking forward to opening the first compartment of the box this evening. So exciting!!!

Dec 1, 2022: It has been so warm and rainy here for the last few days that the forsythia plants are getting confused and have started to flower.

Nov 30, 2022: Sorry to see Mexico not make it to round of 16.

Nov 30, 2022: Yale law graduate - Stewart Rhodes Harvard law graduates - Ted Cruz, Ron Desantis, Josh Hawley These colleges should have walls of shame on their …

Nov 30, 2022: Sharing my favorite photo from last month again. Elephant trunk nebula is one of my favorite objects to shoot. I like all the details in the dark …

Nov 29, 2022: ⚽ Watching India vs Pakistan USA vs Iran World Cup match.

Nov 29, 2022: Done with my #givingtuesday donations. My employer is doing a double match (2:1) today instead of the regular 1:1 match. Making full use of that extra …

Nov 29, 2022: Wide angle long exposure photos Playing with long exposure (3 mins) photos with a 40 mm lens attached to Nikon Z6 on a SkyWatcher star tracker. Here is one that shows Andromeda …

Nov 29, 2022: Today is #givingtuesday. Please consider making a donation to any cause(s) you believe in. The causes I donate to are conservation, hunger, equality, …

Nov 28, 2022: Murakami is the best

Nov 28, 2022: Trying to get back into exercising on a rower using Apple Fitness. It is different than what I used to do before. Instead of rowing intervals with …

Nov 28, 2022: I am just sick and tired of seeing Musk in the news all the time. Is there a way to filter him out other than a complete imbargo on media consumption?

Nov 28, 2022: Thanksgiving weekend in 4 photos

Nov 28, 2022: Only 3 more work weeks left in this year. We have Christmas week off and I am taking the week before off to use up vacation time.

Nov 28, 2022: Now that the long weekend is over and guests are gone, I am back to checking my social apps. There was no time to do this while interacting with our …

Nov 23, 2022: Thanksgiving prep is going well. Looking forward to seeing friends tomorrow.

Nov 23, 2022: Today is our big cooking day for Thanksgiving. Have gotten started already. Daughter is on 4 am train from Maine to come home. Looking forward to …

Nov 21, 2022: Ron Desantis is a graduate from Yale and Harvard Law. These ivy league colleges should issue an apology for their failure in achieving their stated …

Nov 21, 2022: Another long exposure (3 min) photo showing Pleiades (bottom right), and ghostly reddish glow of California nebula (right of center). The bright star …

Nov 21, 2022: Playing with long exposure (3 mins) photos with a 40 mm lens. Here is one that shows Andromeda galaxy (M31), top right and Triangulum Galaxy (M33), …

Nov 19, 2022: The official start of Thanksgiving and Christmas season in our household means making homemade Chex mix.

Nov 19, 2022: Doing the first round of shopping for thanksgiving.

Nov 18, 2022: Damn! Only 6 weeks before this year ends!!!

Nov 18, 2022: There will be lunar occultation of Mars on Dec 7th, 2022. My location is just outside the area that will observe the occultation. I’ll be able …

Nov 18, 2022: ✔️ Shingles vaccine ✔️ Colonoscopy Done with all the voluntary unpleasantness in life for a long time to come. Ah! Spoke too soon. Time for …

Nov 17, 2022: Playing around with my astrophotos for iPhone lock screen. This one with Elephant trunk nebula looks quite nice. I like it a lot.

Nov 16, 2022: Got cancer screening procedure done today. No bad findings. Set for 10 years before I need to do this again.

Nov 16, 2022: Bubble nebula - Nov2022 The Bubble nebula (NGC 7635) and an open cluster M52 in the constellation Cassiopeia. They appear next to each other but the nebula is ~11000 LY away …

Nov 16, 2022: The Bubble nebula (NGC 7635) and open cluster M52 in Cassiopeia. They appear next to each other but the nebula is ~11000 LY away while M52 is closer …

Nov 15, 2022: A historic store in Northville, NY

Nov 15, 2022: November 15th!! It is going to be a busy day as some deadlines for my son’s college applications are today: - Early decision for his 1st choice …

Nov 15, 2022: We have reached the “8 billion humans on Earth” milestone today. Interestingly, 200 years ago, there were only 1 billion of us. This …

Nov 12, 2022: Hey @pratik look at what you made me do.

Nov 12, 2022: I really like this oak tree in the cemetery.

Nov 12, 2022: Another 70F day in mid November. Great for a bike ride.

Nov 11, 2022: Just heard Dr. Fauci on Science Friday promoting “structure based antigen design for vaccines”. I guess we are on the right track.

Nov 11, 2022: Holy Cow!!! 2million acres? The University of Texas' endowment has grown to $42.3 billion — and it can thank oil and natural gas royalties from the …

Nov 10, 2022: One of the last maples in the neighborhood not ready to give up its leaves.

Nov 10, 2022: Alex Jones has to pay additional money in the Sandy Hook trial. I’ll be happy when he loses everything and panhandling at traffic lights.

Nov 10, 2022: Does the stock market realize that inflation is lower but 7.7% is still a real and big number?

Nov 10, 2022: Future solar eclipses Looking at future dates of solar eclipses and dreaming about them. Have to make plans for these trips. October 14, 2023 - Albuquerque, NM - This will …

Nov 10, 2022: Looking at future dates of solar eclipse and dreaming about them. Have to plan these trips. October 14, 2023 - Albuquerque, NM - This will be an …

Nov 9, 2022: Lunar eclipse composites Here are attempts to put together the photos taken during the course of yesterday's total lunar eclipse - one as a composite image and other a …

Nov 9, 2022: Here is one last post about yesterday’s total lunar eclipse. Made a timelapse video from photos I took during the course of the eclipse.

Nov 8, 2022: Composite of this morning’s eclipse photos

Nov 8, 2022: Done with voting in the US midterm elections. In the past, I used to vote for people I knew in the community - local business owners or parents of …

Nov 8, 2022: Total lunar eclipse - Nov 8, 2022 It is hard to get excited about lunar eclipses. They are not as dramatic as the solar ones. The eclipse started at around 3 am local time and the sky …

Nov 8, 2022: Total lunar eclipse Nov 8, 2022.

Nov 8, 2022: About 30 minutes to totality.

Nov 8, 2022: It is happening.

Nov 8, 2022: Up already to view the eclipse.

Nov 7, 2022: It is hard to get excited about Lunar eclipse but, the sky is going to be clear tonight. With that excuse out of the way, I am planning to wake up at …

Nov 7, 2022: As of today, there are about 6500 artificial satellites in orbit around the Earth. Half of them were launched during the last 3 years. No wonder that …

Nov 6, 2022: This looks like a video of a photograph but it is a live video of the still landscape. Nothing is moving except me with the phone.

Nov 6, 2022: Great Sacandaga Lake loop ride Went bike riding around Great Sacandaga lake in upstate New York. Turned out to be an unusually warm November day. The route was mostly along the …

Nov 5, 2022: Went bike riding around Great Sacandaga lake in upstate New York. Turned out to be an unusually warm November day. The route was mostly along the …

Nov 4, 2022: Cygnus wall from the North American nebula (NGC7000). About 4 hours of total exposure with 5 minute subs. Optolong LeXtreme narrowband filter with …

Nov 3, 2022: Right now, there is a focus on disabilities at work with posters highlighting colleagues or their family members with disabilities. It is a good …

Nov 1, 2022: Senior pictures for school yearbook.

Nov 1, 2022: Although I like emojis, I am not fond of gifs. I hate them especially when people use them at work in Teams chats.

Nov 1, 2022: Today is the first deadline for “Early Action” college applications. Surprisingly, my son has already completed and sent in his …

Oct 31, 2022: Now that my kids have grown up, I don’t care much about Halloween.

Oct 31, 2022: Eagle nebula aka Star Queen nebula (M16) in constellation Serpens, at about 7000 light years is home to the "Pillars of Creation" made famous by …

Oct 31, 2022: Eagle nebula - Oct2022 Eagle nebula aka Star Queen nebula (M16) in constellation Serpens, at about 7000 light years is home to the "Pillars of Creation" made famous by …

Oct 28, 2022: Another technicolor Fall sunset

Oct 28, 2022: Only a 60s exposure of Eagle nebula from last night. Excited to see how the final image will turn out with an hour of exposure. Can’t wait to process …

Oct 28, 2022: Another fantastic Fall day. So happy to be alive!!!

Oct 27, 2022: Took these photos around sunset a couple of days ago but got busy and forgot to post them. Seeing a post from @miraz reminded me of them.

Oct 26, 2022: Fall colors around Pattagansett lake

Oct 26, 2022: Darn it! My MacBook Pro is from 2016 and Ventura is only available for MBPs that are 2017 or newer. Don’t tell me that this is a good enough …

Oct 26, 2022: Really enjoying the day.

Oct 26, 2022: Love these foggy, rainy Fall mornings!!!

Oct 24, 2022: Just found out that my aunt passed away from brain hemmorhage after a fall. During last 2 years, two of my aunts and one uncle passed away. It is hard …

Oct 23, 2022: Had a perfect brunch complete with mimosa and Bloody Mary at “Artisan” in West Hartford. The bread basket was warm and tasty. My eggs Benedict were …

Oct 23, 2022: Taking senior photos of my son on this cloudy Fall day. I like days like this to take pictures compared to bright sunny days.

Oct 22, 2022: Dorms at Colby college. One more college visit for our son.

Oct 21, 2022: This is parents weekend at my daughter‘s college. We spent the whole day on campus & are awed once again at the wide spectrum of facilities & …

Oct 21, 2022: I don’t mind staying in a cheaper hotel if I can get a nice fancy meal at a good restaurant.

Oct 20, 2022: Elephant trunk nebula - Oct 2022 Another attempt at capturing Elephant trunk nebula (IC1396) in Cepheus. This large cloud of gas and dust is a star forming region with many 'young' …

Oct 20, 2022: Another attempt (wide angle with Nikon Z6) at capturing Elephant trunk nebula (IC1396) in Cepheus that is ~2400 light years away. This large cloud of …

Oct 20, 2022: “The endowment at Harvard has grown to be larger than the GDP of Iceland.” — heard on NPR this morning.

Oct 19, 2022: Things I learn…. You can order wine on Amazon UK. This is not an option here in US; only non-alcoholic wine is available.

Oct 19, 2022: Hey @pratik could you please hook me up with the Arc browser that everyone is talking about?

Oct 18, 2022: Trifid nebula (M20) in Sagittarius shows a nice combination of a star cluster and emission, reflection and dark nebulae. This dense cloud of dust and …

Oct 17, 2022: Finished reading: Happy-Go-Lucky by David Sedaris 📚 In this collection, Sedaris is funny and compeling as always but, there is a darker edge to the …

Oct 17, 2022: the grass ain’t greener 🎶 the wine ain’t sweeter 🎶 on either side of the hill 🎶

Oct 16, 2022: I thought the drought from this Spring and Summer was going to be bad for Fall colors. Happy to report that I thought wrong. Right now, central …

Oct 16, 2022: Tom Petty’s music makes a great soundtrack for bike riding on an absolutely gorgeous Fall day.

Oct 15, 2022: Soul nebula Soul nebula in Cassiopeia at about 6500 light years from us. This large emission nebula is often photographed with its neighbor - Heart nebula. WO …

Oct 14, 2022: Soul nebula in Cassiopeia at about 6500 light years from us. This large emission nebula is often photographed with its neighbor - Heart nebula. WO ZS …

Oct 14, 2022: Four years ago when we were in the market for a car, we seriously considered a Tesla. It didn’t work out because they didn’t have a dealer …

Oct 14, 2022: Rain and wind are bringing down all the fall foliage.

Oct 14, 2022: “A day in the life photo challenge” - 7:15 am October 14, 2022 in East Lyme, CT.

Oct 12, 2022: Fall walks are just lovely.

Oct 10, 2022: The Lagoon nebula The Lagoon nebula (M8) is a large emission nebula in Sagittarius at about 5000 light years away. Its actual dimensions are about 100x50 light years. …

Oct 10, 2022: The Lagoon nebula (M8) is a large emission nebula in Sagittarius at about 5000 light years away. Its actual dimensions are about 100x50 light years. …

Oct 10, 2022: The evergreens are not supposed to change colors in the Fall but these white pines are turning yellow. The Summer drought has badly affected all the …

Oct 10, 2022: Our neighborhood trees are putting on their yearly colorful show.

Oct 8, 2022: This looks like endless lawn because that is what it is. It is a turf farm near Kingston, RI.

Oct 7, 2022: Wellness day ride turned into a metric century. Check out my ride on Strava. strava.app.link/4RYnNcwfWtb

Oct 7, 2022: Taking “wellness day” today. At mile 30 on this morning’s bike ride.

Oct 6, 2022: Viscid violet corts

Oct 6, 2022: Three of my favorite things: lichen - mushrooms - ferns

Oct 5, 2022: Remembering the wonderful kayak trips I did with my daughter in Damariscotta lake back in August. This picture is taken by her while sitting in the …

Oct 4, 2022: This report about higher excess death rates due to Covid for Republicans in Ohio and Florida is not really surprising. It was and still is astonishing …

Oct 4, 2022: I don’t need to read this. I drink both. I am an equal opportunity caffeine consumer. Coffee vs. tea smackdown …

Oct 3, 2022: After several cloudy and rainy days with high temperatures in 50s, it has dropped to 60F inside the house and will get colder tonight. Finally …

Oct 3, 2022: My son is applying for a job at our town swimming pool. As the aquatic center is part of the school complex, it is a job with the school district. …

Oct 3, 2022: Pfizer team that worked on Paxlovid received this American Chemical Society “Heroes of Chemistry” award. Congratulations!

Oct 2, 2022: Was watching Philadelphia Eagles game today and was surprised to find that Andy Reid is not coaching them anymore.

Oct 2, 2022: Mushrooms (amanita, bracket, golden trumpet and unidentified) seen on today’s hike at McCulloch family open space in Old Lyme, CT. …

Sep 29, 2022: Along the waterfront in New London, CT, they have these mini wind turbines and solar panels on the lampposts for making electricity. Nice!

Sep 29, 2022: Want to find some good news in this terrible tragedy unfolding in Florida. Is Mar-a-lago under water?

Sep 28, 2022: NGC 869, NGC 884 - Double Cluster in Perseus. These clusters consists of very young (3-5 million years old) blue-white stars with only a few older …

Sep 28, 2022: Dumbbell nebula (M27) is one of the brightest planetary nebula in the sky. It is made up of remains of an exploded star viewed from equatorial plane. …

Sep 27, 2022: Elephant Trunk nebula - Aug2022 Elephant Trunk nebula (IC1396) in Cepheus. This star forming area lies 3000 light years away. The elephant trunk structure that stretches from center …

Sep 27, 2022: As we approach end of September, we are only about a month away from some of the college application deadlines for my son. He is working on the …

Sep 26, 2022: Wow! We just rammed a spacecraft on an asteroid that is 160 meters across at 11.5 million kms away from Earth!!!

Sep 26, 2022: It has been chilly over the last 2-3 mornings with temps dipping into high 40’s. My son complained about it being cold in the house and wanted …

Sep 26, 2022: Reprocessed Elephant Trunk nebula (IC1396) in Cepheus. This star forming area lies 3000 light years away. The elephant trunk structure that stretches …

Sep 25, 2022: Andromeda galaxy - Sep2022 My best Andromeda galaxy image so far. It is only 30 minutes of total exposure but autoguiding makes a huge difference by making all the details clear …

Sep 25, 2022: My best Andromeda galaxy image so far. It is only 30 minutes of total exposure but autoguiding makes a huge difference by making all the details clear …

Sep 24, 2022: We received many little saplings over the years from Arbor Day foundation (@arborday) but, this Crepe Myrtle is the only one that survived and thrived …

Sep 22, 2022: Went for a 17.7 mile Ride this morning. The shifter cable on rear derailleur snapped and was stuck in high gear. Had to walk the last 0.2 miles home. …

Sep 21, 2022: Let’s not forget…. Anyone can be an ally and everyone can use an ally!!!

Sep 20, 2022: I’ll never buy any book written by news reporters with material that they should have reported as news when it was fresh and not rehashed into a …

Sep 20, 2022: End of September into October is the time when I am at my minimum bodyweight in the yearly cycle. This Summer had been very weird in terms of …

Sep 19, 2022: Don’t know why @NPR had to cancel @MorningEdition for the morbid coverage of the Queen’s funeral? Ruined my Monday morning commute. We …

Sep 18, 2022: As the next step of his driver’s training, took my son driving on an interstate highway (I-95). We were both a little anxious but, he did very well …

Sep 18, 2022: My bicycle rides over the last ~10 years. For comparison the circumference of the Earth is ~25000 miles.

Sep 17, 2022: New astrophoto posted.

Sep 17, 2022: Pelican nebula - Sep2022 Pelican nebula (IC 5070) is located in Cygnus constellation, right next to the North American nebula. This emission nebula is about 1800 light years …

Sep 16, 2022: Got a bivalent Covid booster and flu shot at Costco pharmacy. There was a lot of drama with understaffed pharmacy and a highly strung customer who was …

Sep 16, 2022: Was up till late last night capturing 3 hours of exposures of Pelican nebula. Had a tough time coming to work this morning because I just wanted to …

Sep 14, 2022: Ran a 5K after a long time - almost after one year. Happy that I could do it in 35 minutes. Hope to do some more runs when the weather is nice and …

Sep 14, 2022: Perseid meteor showers - Aug 2022 On the night of Aug 13th, set up my camera to capture Perseid meteor showers. Over 5 hours, caught 3 meteors and about 2 hours of continuous cloudless …

Sep 13, 2022: Challenge fatigue In 2021, I bicycled 4400 miles and decided set up the same target for 2022. I have closed the activity rings on my Apple Watch for more than 500 …

Sep 13, 2022: Here are all the winners from last night’s Emmy awards. Only show on this list that I have watched is “Ted Lasso” and it was good. …

Sep 13, 2022: Gas prices have come down even in Connecticut where the prices are always above National average. Even with this, the interest rates will be going up …

Sep 12, 2022: Heart nebula - Sep 2022 The Heart nebula (IC1805) lies about 7500 light years away in the Perseus arm of our galaxy. It is an emission nebula and gets this red color from all …

Sep 12, 2022: Yesterday was the first Connecticut Youth Symphony rehearsal for my son. After drop-off, we went for lunch at Mécha Noodle Bar in West Hartford. Loved …

Sep 9, 2022: A freezer at work needed to be defrosted. While cleaning it out, found some samples that were dated from 1994 - the time when I was still in grad …

Sep 7, 2022: Cropped photo of the Heart nebula that I had posted a couple of days ago. I really liked how all the detail in the dark nebula showed up here nicely.

Sep 7, 2022: Getting Shingles is just horrible as I have learnt from my brother-in-law’s experience. He was sick for many months. When my doctor recommended …

Sep 6, 2022: Because of the drought in this area, it seemed like many trees had given up on growing season and had gone into leaf shedding mode already. I hope …

Sep 5, 2022: Tried to watch a movie called “RRR”. In about 20 minutes, I was on the floor in a fetal position. Couldn’t take it any more.

Sep 4, 2022: The Heart nebula (IC1805) lies about 7500 light years away in the Perseus arm of our galaxy. It gets this red color from the radiation of the star …

Sep 2, 2022: This image of the Heart nebula In Cassiopeia is two hours of total exposure time. Collecting more subs tonight. Hope to add at least 2 more hours of …

Aug 31, 2022: FDA authorized the bivalent Covid shots targeting Omicron variant along with the original one. Get ready for this booster in coming weeks. …

Aug 30, 2022: Looking through several startrails photos that I have taken over the years and I think this is the best of the lot. The lights on the lake and the …

Aug 29, 2022: First day of senior year in high school for one and the other one is off to sophomore year in college. Changes happening over one weekend. Where did …

Aug 28, 2022: Dropped off daughter for her sophomore year at Bowdoin college. This summer went by too fast.

Aug 28, 2022: Had seen this house in the middle of Androscoggin river while driving on Route 1 many many times. Today I went walking on a trail that goes along the …

Aug 27, 2022: Sunset behind the clouds today was spectacular on Orr’s Island in Maine.

Aug 26, 2022: There are 5 justices on the Supreme court that were installed by Presidents who did not win the popular vote. These 5 + Thomas are making decisions …

Aug 25, 2022: Climate change led to dinosaurs' demise. Now, drought reveals more of their tracks Something positive coming from these droughts all over the country.

Aug 24, 2022: On the night of Aug 13th, set up my camera to capture Perseid meteor showers. Over 5 hours, caught 3 meteors and about 2 hours of continuous cloudless …

Aug 24, 2022: Currently reading: Happy-Go-Lucky by David Sedaris 📚

Aug 23, 2022: I like traveling on public transport. On the T today in Boston for work. I am sure I’ll hate it if I have to do it every day.

Aug 21, 2022: Witnessed this awesome event exactly five years ago from Nashville, TN. Those two minutes of totality was an extraordinary experience. Looking forward …

Aug 16, 2022: Elephant Trunk nebula (IC1396) in Cepheus. This star forming area lies 3000 light years away and is hundred light years across. I really like how the …

Aug 15, 2022: Very badly done composite to capture the whole Milky Way. 11 mm lens is not ideal for doing this anyway. I’ll have to use a 40 or 50 mm lens for a …

Aug 15, 2022: Best wishes to India on celebrating 75 years of independence from Britain. 🇮🇳🇮🇳🇮🇳 Democracy in India and in USA is under threat from nationalistic …

Aug 15, 2022: Set up for capturing perseid meteors on Saturday night. Caught 3 meteor flashes and a nice picture of star trails. One of the meteors can be seen left …

Aug 14, 2022: Quintessential Americana

Aug 12, 2022: All the excuses from trump apologists are about how the documents are not important or someone else did this too. No one is saying (or can say) that …

Aug 12, 2022: Changed CDC guidelines regarding COVID-19 put more responsibility on individuals. I wish that all the people in this country are capable of assuming …

Aug 11, 2022: Part of the Milky Way galaxy that goes over the zenith and to NorthEast horizon. The three brightest stars in the center of the image are Vega, Deneb …

Aug 10, 2022: Saw a sign for University of Connecticut that read “U Connecticut”. Reminded me of what @odd had said some time ago and this is how I read …

Aug 10, 2022: Milky Way galaxy captured in Maine. The bright area at the bottom of the picture is the galactic center in the constellation Sagittarius.

Aug 10, 2022: trump in the past: if you are innocent, why are you taking the fifth amendment? trump, today: I take the fifth amendment. Bottom line - he is guilty …

Aug 9, 2022: In Connecticut, I always see dead racoons and skunks by the roadside. In Maine, all the roadkill I came across were porcupines. They must be the …

Aug 8, 2022: Hope that people in Kentucky are realizing that their god is finally punishing them for electing McConnell and Paul for so many years.

Aug 8, 2022: Hope that people in Kentucky are realizing that god is finally punishing them for electing McConnell and Paul for so many years.

Aug 6, 2022: Back from vacation. Can’t say that I wanted to be back but, that is always the case. It was a good vacation with lot of fun activities. About 120 …

Aug 6, 2022: Pro-tip for bike rides: In a new unfamiliar area, it is always nice to ride on a road that has “old” in its name. It means that there is a newer and …

Aug 4, 2022: More kayaking today with my daughter but this time it was in a stream and not in the lake as the wind was making lake waters very choppy.

Aug 4, 2022: Time will tell who has failed and who’s been left behind; when you go your way and I’ll go mine

Aug 4, 2022: Fresh Oysters out of Damariscotta river! Learned how to open them last year and surprised that I still remember how to do that.

Aug 4, 2022: The scenery here in midcoast Maine is just fantastic!!!

Aug 4, 2022: This morning’s bike ride was the smoothest of all so far. Maybe, pumping up the tires and lubing the chain helped a little.

Aug 3, 2022: Perfect day to go kayaking with my daughter.

Aug 2, 2022: Maine ride 3 - around Damariscotta lake Ride no.3 in Maine was enjoyable. Started out cloudy but became sunny half way through. The route had many nice rollers with only a couple of big …

Aug 2, 2022: Ride no.3 in Maine was enjoyable. Started out cloudy but became sunny half way through. The route went around Damariscotta lake and had many nice …

Aug 1, 2022: Second ride in Maine was more eventful than the first one. Strava kept sending me to non-existent roads. After struggling on some unpaved roads ended …

Jul 31, 2022: Whenever I see a photo of trump or justice thomas in the news, without reading the words, my first reaction is “अरे वा! मेला वाटतं?” Is that bad?

Jul 31, 2022: Nice thing about this vacation rental is access to Damariscotta lake.

Jul 31, 2022: Don’t know what I did while playing around with the camera but formatted the memory card deleting all the photos I took last night. Have to stop doing …

Jul 31, 2022: First ride in Maine on this vacation.

Jul 31, 2022: Nice dark skies here in Maine. This photo of the Milky Way taken on iPhone. DSLR photos will have to wait till I get home. Left my computer bag …

Jul 28, 2022: My son is in Tuscany, playing chamber music and doing some sightseeing. I am so jealous.

Jul 27, 2022: Cygnus wall Cygnus wall is a part of the North American nebula (NGC7000) with the most concentrated star formation. The dark area on the right is interstellar …

Jul 27, 2022: What am I doing wrong with Markdown in this post below? Seems like the link I am trying to use is not working. parag.micro.blog/2022/07/2…

Jul 27, 2022: A local friend built an observatory for his huge telescope. Absolutely thrilled that I get access to this beast. Helped him with setup last night. It …

Jul 27, 2022: Alright, summer. Time to move along. Go and bother people in the Southern hemisphere now. I am so tired of the heat. Also, we are in drought …

Jul 25, 2022: This is why I like David Sedaris.

Jul 25, 2022: Another disgusting day here. Already 80F at 7:30 am. Hopefully, we will get some thunderstorms and rain today to break this heat and humidity. 😓😓😓

Jul 22, 2022: Crepuscular rays around sunset yesterday.

Jul 22, 2022: College-hunting for my son continues. We were at another small liberal arts college yesterday in the foothills of Adirondacks in NY. Wonderful campus …

Jul 20, 2022: On the last climb of the day in Stage 17 of Tour de France. The top 2 contenders, Vingegaard and Pogacar are at the front of the race. There will be …

Jul 20, 2022: Comet Neowise from two years ago on July 20, 2020. Two tails were clearly visible and a photobombing satellite.

Jul 19, 2022: Sixteen stages of the Tour de France area already over. Only 5 days remain. Can’t believe it has gone by so fast. Next 3 days in the Pyrennes …

Jul 18, 2022: Comet Neowise from 2 years ago on July 15th, 2020.

Jul 18, 2022: Got Pfizer/BioNTech Covid vaccine booster shot for my parents who are visiting from India. A good boost to their immunity after their initial …

Jul 15, 2022: I see people posting on socials about completing the season of so-and-so TV show and feel very inadequate. Seems like I can never finish watching any …

Jul 14, 2022: Today is an epic climbing day at Tour de France. But, NBC is not showing it live like other stages because there is golf. They are choosing this sorry …

Jul 13, 2022: Whole Veil nebula complex. It is made from material blown from a supernova that happened ~15000 yrs ago. All this gas and dust is still moving at the …

Jul 12, 2022: Camera and image framing Now with some experience with 2 different cameras on the same telescope, I can see how these different setups have different field of view and it can …

Jul 11, 2022: Oh Wow!!! This is amazing!!! NASA’s Webb Delivers Deepest Infrared Image of Universe Yet - NASA

Jul 11, 2022: My son auditioned for Connecticut Youth Symphony - one of the highest level orchestras for high school students in the state. After a few days/weeks …

Jul 11, 2022: Western Veil nebula in Cygnus. This is in such a rich star field. Have to do some star reduction work. 30x5min subs on WO ZS61; ASI533MC; LeNhance; …

Jul 10, 2022: New post on my astronomy website. paragvs.wordpress.com/2022/07/1…

Jul 10, 2022: Camera and image framing Now with some experience with 2 different cameras on the same telescope, I can see how these different setups have different field of view and it can …

Jul 5, 2022: Another try at imaging the Cygnus Wall in North American nebula (NGC7000). I think this is my best effort so far. 30x5min subs on WO ZS61; ASI533MC; …

Jul 4, 2022: We moved into this house and made it our home, 15 years ago on 4th of July weekend.

Jul 4, 2022: Got a lumbar sprain yesterday when I bent down to put a dish in the dishwasher. Back is all stiff and hurting. This is going to hurt for a few days. …

Jun 30, 2022: Today is June 30th! Half the year is gone! Time is just slipping away like a handful of grains of sand.

Jun 29, 2022: Fireflies from a meadow next to my home from last night.

Jun 29, 2022: Not so easy to get the fireflies photos to look good. Don’t want want to make them too bright or too dark but different screen settings for computer, …

Jun 27, 2022: So many fireflies!

Jun 27, 2022: Spent the whole weekend doing bike rides and tinkering around with new astronomy equipment. Now when I listened to NPR on the way to work, all the …

Jun 26, 2022: New images from last night. M57 aka Ring nebula. Ring of material from exploded star can be seen around the remnant white dwarf in the center. Also …

Jun 25, 2022: With the new telescope setup, I am sitting inside, controlling it on the iPad and looking at the live view of Ring nebula.

Jun 25, 2022: New camera and computer Last night was the first time using my new astrophotography setup with a dedicated astronomy camera ZWO ASI533MC-PRO and the small computer ASI …

Jun 25, 2022: New astrophotography setup Last night was the first time using my new astrophotography setup with a dedicated astronomy camera ZWO ASI533MC-PRO and the small computer ASI …

Jun 24, 2022: On this day On days like this, I feel good that I work with natural laws that were not made by shitty humans and can’t be changed by other shitty humans. Earth …

Jun 24, 2022: The January 6th committee hearings make one thing abundantly clear that trump and his supporters are the most vile and disgusting people pieces of …

Jun 23, 2022: Not very surprised that this Supreme Court of USA is providing protections for the rights of gun owners and taking away the protections for the rights …

Jun 21, 2022: Got invited to a wedding and am looking forward to it. Have to think about what to wear. Haven’t worn a suit in about 10 years. That one is baggy now. …

Jun 21, 2022: Glad that Summer solstice is behind us and now the days will start getting shorter. It is just weird to have twilight even at 9:30 pm. Damned daylight …

Jun 20, 2022: Picked up this snapping turtle and helped it cross the street like I have done before for painted turtles. This one was feisty. It hissed at me while …

Jun 19, 2022: Hummingbirds visiting the newly installed feeder.

Jun 18, 2022: Beautiful Saturday bike ride.

Jun 17, 2022: Just received some new astronomy equipment (ZWO ASI Air plus) in the mail. All the folks who live near me expect several cloudy nights. Sorry!

Jun 17, 2022: The most amazing part of yesterday’s hearing was to learn that trump called Pence a wimp and pussy and told him that he won’t be a friend if he didn’t …

Jun 15, 2022: Daughter: Last whole year my life has been filled with so much negativity. I got worried when I heard that but then she explained. Bowdoin college …

Jun 15, 2022: Awaiting two big announcements today: Advisory committee read on COVID vaccine (Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech) for children ages 5 and below. …

Jun 14, 2022: Did some Astronomy outreach for young kids. Hope to inspire a few of them to get interested in Astronomy. I got hooked after attending a similar …

Jun 13, 2022: Some I-series US savings bonds from 2001 are earning 11.72% interest right now due to the higher fixed rate portion for these bonds. Also, current 30 …

Jun 13, 2022: Have heard many instances of only a few members in a family testing positive for COVID, getting mild symptoms and recovering. To those who are still …

Jun 12, 2022: Watched a few overs of India vs South Africa T20 match in Cuttack. 🏏 It seemed like no one wanted to be there - not the players or the umpires or the …

Jun 12, 2022: The chamber strings group that my son plays with was invited to play before the performance of Hartford Symphony Orchestra. It was a great experience …

Jun 12, 2022: Went to Hartford Symphony Orchestra concert. It was very nice, even the Philip Glass piece. My jet lag was kicking in and making me sleepy but the …

Jun 4, 2022: Travelled on these trains when I was a young man, long time ago.

Jun 3, 2022: Royal Poinciana or flame tree - one of my favorite tropical flowers/trees.

May 31, 2022: Getting to eat a lot of delicious Alphonso (हापूस) mangoes 🥭 on this trip to India. All the immense unbearable heat is totally worth it.

May 30, 2022: Test of endurance - a century ride from 2021.

May 29, 2022: Fish along with corals. 📷 mbmay

May 29, 2022: Stripes of nebulae and stars and dust in the Milky Way galaxy. Captured on Sheepscot river near Edgecomb, ME. 📷 mbmay

May 28, 2022: Fair weather to go out for a hike. 📷 mbmay

May 27, 2022: New post on my astronomy blog.

May 27, 2022: M51 - reprocessed Back on April 21st, I captured an image of the Whirlpool galaxy (M51) and processed it without any calibration frames as I didn’t have flat frames …

May 27, 2022: One of Lincoln’s most inspiring and memorable speeches is written on his memorial. 📷 mbmay

May 27, 2022: Never felt so anxious about going on any trip before - not even that first time when I came to US 30 years ago.

May 26, 2022: Tight rehearsal schedule before the concert. 📷 mbmay

May 25, 2022: I am sure everyone knows this but it is worth repeating to realize how fucked up this is. In Texas, one can go out and get an automatic rifle or two …

May 25, 2022: Franconia ridge - the best hiking trail in the White mountains of New Hampshire. 📷 mbmay

May 24, 2022: Intricate structure of our nearest neighbor - Andromeda galaxy 📷 mbmay

May 23, 2022: Found more pink lady’s slippers today’s hike. These are orchids that grow in the northeast US and are symbiotic with a fungus in the soil. …

May 23, 2022: Breakfast parfaits made with plain yogurt. 📷 mbmay

May 22, 2022: Century bike ride shirts - my favorite pieces made of textile. 📷 mbmay

May 22, 2022: Hard to believe how time is flying by. My daughter finished freshman year in college already and she has to vacate her dorm room today. Going to pick …

May 21, 2022: Big day for my son today. The string ensemble he plays in had the end-of-the-year concert this afternoon in which he got to play a solo. Now dropping …

May 21, 2022: Startrails photo One of my photos was published in the newsletter for a local land preservation trust, Lyme Land Trust. I have plenty of publications for my …

May 21, 2022: Symmetry of the underside of Gold Star bridge over Pequot (aka Thames) river in New London, CT 📷 mbmay

May 21, 2022: Here is the original star trails photo that is mentioned in my post yesterday. I like how some trails continue in the tree line.

May 20, 2022: One of my photos was published in the newsletter for a local land preservation trust. I have plenty of publications for my professional work but this …

May 20, 2022: There is nothing like an ice cold gin and tonic on a hot afternoon - My favorite beverage . Looking forward to a hot weekend. 📷 mbmay

May 19, 2022: I really don’t like Mayim Bialik as the host of Jeopardy. Don’t know what TV show she was on; I didn’t watch it but she is not good on this one. Wish …

May 19, 2022: Over indulgence : On that day when I learned how to shuck oysters, I didn’t want to stop. Can’t recall if we ate 3 or 4 dozens of them. 📷 mbmay

May 18, 2022: Some order emerging out of random ness. 📷 mbmay

May 18, 2022: It was a historic stage win for Biniam Girmay yesterday on stage 10 of Giro d’Italia. 🚲 First African man to win a stage in one of the grand tours. …

May 17, 2022: Just holding on… 📷 mbmay

May 17, 2022: Hey @pratik look what you made me do. 3 weeks in a row. Hope this continues.

May 17, 2022: My son asked me to name a living person whom I admire. Sure there is Bob Dylan (close second) but without a doubt the living person I admire the most …

May 16, 2022: Oldtimey way to know the time. 📷 mbmay

May 15, 2022: This is a favorite spots on one of my bike routes. I keep taking pictures here in every season. One day they will make a nice composite image.

May 15, 2022: Total lunar eclipse happening tonight but it is cloudy here. 😐

May 15, 2022: Clouds !! 📷 mbmay

May 14, 2022: Trying out a new gin today. This is supposed to be the official gin of Wimbledon.

May 14, 2022: Fence 📷 mbmay

May 14, 2022: Hi @jean just wanted to let you know that my post for “community” photo challenge is not on the photo challenge page. Could you please add it there? …

May 13, 2022: Community of galaxies in Virgo (Markarian’s chain) that are about 50 light years away. Zoom in to see the trillions of stars in this frame. First …

May 12, 2022: Tranquility 📷

May 11, 2022: “Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose” - Kris Kristofferson

May 11, 2022: Maroon orchid blooming 📷

May 10, 2022: Instant pot full of paavbhaaji ingredients, ready to cook. 📷 mbmay

May 9, 2022: Rosette nebula in Monoceros. Looking just like a bloom ing rose. 📷 mbmay

May 9, 2022: After working on French in Duolingo for a few months, I think I have learned the most important sentence. “Je voudrais un verre de vin”. I am ready to …

May 8, 2022: Union 📷 mbmay

May 7, 2022: Birthday lunch.

May 7, 2022: My favorite spots to sit and enjoy nature in Acadia National Park : Jordan pond with Bubble mountains; rocky beach along park loop road 📷 mbmay

May 6, 2022: From the partial solar eclipse photos last year, this is my favorite shot. Zoom in to see the horizon just below the crescent of Sun.

May 6, 2022: Silhouette of the moon. Taken during partial solar eclipse on June 10, 2021. 📷 mbmay

May 5, 2022: Thanks to **** Earth’s**** rotation for making this photo possible. Startrails captured for about 2 hours before the clouds took over. 📷 mbmay

May 4, 2022: After blasting some rap by Kendrick Lamar on the car stereo during the drive here, my son is now beautifully playing baroque music on his viola with …

May 4, 2022: Microblog May photo challenge - Thorny Fed this carpenter ant to Venus fly trap and then felt really bad watching it struggle to escape for a long …

May 3, 2022: Three months ago, signed up for a 100 mile ride on Long Island in May. Now the string ensemble that my son plays in announced their season-ending …

May 3, 2022: Experimental 📷

May 2, 2022: Bought an Apple Watch for wife on her birthday. Scoring some brownie points. 😄

May 2, 2022: Number of times I have taken my kids to - Disney : 1 Universal : 1 Acadia National park : 11 Can you guess where we might vacation this summer?

May 2, 2022: Photographing the hunter. 📷 #mbmay

May 1, 2022: When they took out the dam, it switched from being Ed Bills pond to Eight Mile river.

Apr 30, 2022: Grand old oak overlooking the cemetery.

Apr 30, 2022: Pinwheel galaxy The Pinwheel galaxy aka M101 is located in Ursa Major. This face on spiral galaxy is about 21 million light years away. It is a bit larger than Milky …

Apr 29, 2022: The Pinwheel galaxy aka M101 in Ursa Major. This face on spiral galaxy is about 21 million light years away. It is a bit larger than Milky Way and has …

Apr 29, 2022: I had added my son as a user on my MacBook a few years ago before he got his own laptop. My astrophoto processing was struggling because the disk was …

Apr 28, 2022: The Orion season is coming to end as it sets earlier and earlier in the evening. This is probably my best Orion Nebula shot, taken in January. 📸📷

Apr 27, 2022: Our eastern redbud is just about ready to bloom.

Apr 27, 2022: Mortgage rates are in 4-5% range now and will most probably trend higher in the near future. Glad to have refinanced in 2020 when the rates were super …

Apr 26, 2022: After listening to many many TED talks, I have realized that a lot of them are just bull droppings - especially true if the speaker is speaking in …

Apr 25, 2022: Teaching my son how to drive. Isn’t as bad as I thought it’d be. Making him drive on narrow back roads with no shoulder is giving him a good feel for …

Apr 25, 2022: Forsythias are blooming!!! A big change during the last week when we were out.

Apr 25, 2022: M51 - The Whirlpool galaxy I find M51 as one of the most striking images of a galaxy. M51 aka the Whirlpool galaxy along with its companion dwarf galaxy NGC5195 can be seen …

Apr 13, 2022: Comet Hale-Bopp Almost 25 years to the day when I took this photo of comet Hale-Bopp at Princeton Battlefield park in Princeton, NJ. This was taken with a Pentax …

Apr 12, 2022: Markarian's chain This is my first try at capturing Markarian’s chain in Virgo. This is a stretch of galaxies that are part of the Virgo cluster. I have seen images of …

Apr 5, 2022: Galaxies in Leo Spring is officially galaxy season. Here are two groups of galaxies from the constellation Leo captured on two separate nights. In these images you …

Mar 31, 2022: Rosette nebula again Another attempt at capturing Rosette nebula. This time I was able to get about 2 hrs of exposure instead of 20 mins for the first try a few days ago. …

Mar 26, 2022: Rosette nebula I so wanted to capture this for a long time. Last night I set up everything but clouds rolled in in about 20 minutes. That is why it is so noisy. …

Feb 26, 2022: M33 : Triangulum Galaxy Triangulum Galaxy (M33) is a spiral galaxy that is ~2.7 million light years away. It is one of farthest deep-sky objects that is visible to naked eye. …

Feb 11, 2022: Horsehead nebula Orion is my most favorite constellation and my most favorite deep-sky object is the Horsehead nebula. It is a dark nebula with background of bright …

Feb 6, 2022: M81 and M82 Reprocessed data from June 2021 for Bode's galaxy (M81) and Cigar galaxy (M82) from Ursa Major. These galaxies are about 12 million light years away …

Jan 29, 2022: Nebulae in Orion January has been a very cloudy and rainy/snowy month. On a couple of clear nights, there was a big bright moon making it hard to do any deep sky …

Jan 13, 2022: Sunspots on 20220112 Several sunspots can be seen in photos of the Sun on January 12th. After going through a trough over the last couple of years, the solar activity is …

Jan 10, 2022: Orion I am sure everyone agrees that Orion is the most recognizable and the most beautiful constellation in the night sky. Along with all the bright stars, …

Jan 5, 2022: Strava stats for 2021 My Strava stats for 2021. This has been the best year so far. My goal was to average 1 hour of exercise per day and I definitely achieved that. Also …

Jan 1, 2022: My Astrophotos of 2021 Here is a post of my favorite astrophotos of 2021. All of these did not make it as a post during the year, hoping to do better documenting in 2022. …

Nov 15, 2021: Remains of exploded stars As the stars (of the size about 1 to 8 solar masses) age, they get bigger and become red giants. In their outer cooler shell, they start to accumulate …

Oct 27, 2021: Seacoast century ride 2021 It has been more than a month since this ride and I am really late posting about it. On Saturday (Sept 25) was this year’s Seacoast century ride. I …

Oct 27, 2021: Eight mile river This is a river conservation story that I witnessed happening over the years. One of my favorite bike routes in Lyme, CT goes by this picturesque spot …

Sep 20, 2021: Andromeda Galaxy in September 2021 During last Fall and Winter, I was able to image Andromeda Galaxy (Messier 31) a few times. In fact, it was one of those nice bright objects that is …

Jun 2, 2021: Startrails Collecting long exposures to record the movement of Earth creates these beautiful trails. You can use the Earth’s motion to draw perfect concentric …

May 25, 2021: North Fork Century Link to Strava Saturday, May 22nd was the day for a century ride on Long Island. I had signed up for this ride back in the beginning of 2020 and it …

Apr 20, 2021: Sirius fun When one thinks of astrophotography, these two aspects come to mind: 1. Rock solid mount with tracker to eliminate shakes and 2. Perfect focus to get …

Mar 31, 2021: Andromeda Galaxy The Andromeda Galaxy, also known as Messier 31, M31, or NGC 224 and originally the Andromeda Nebula, is a barred spiral galaxy approximately 2.5 …

Mar 30, 2021: Ride to work It was a bright and beautiful Saturday morning. I needed to pop into work to take care of an experiment and also wanted to go for a bikeride. Decided …

Mar 22, 2021: Spring equinox and warm weekend The first day of Spring was a wonderful warm Saturday but, had a busy morning and afternoon with chores and family tasks that kept me from going on a …

Mar 10, 2021: Twinkling colors of Sirius Saw this article in BBC's "Sky at night" magazine and decided to try my hand at capturing a similar photo. Here is my first attempt with Sirius, the …

Mar 10, 2021: Warm March evening ride With the temperatures in 50s, I couldn’t resist the temptation of going out for ride even after a tiring work day. Went for a quick spin around town …

Mar 8, 2021: Dark skies of Acadia National Park Being in the Northeast USA which has some of the most densely populated areas, there is a lot of light pollution. It is hard to find really dark skies …

Feb 28, 2021: Venus in 2020 Venus put on a great show in the evening sky during the Spring and Summer of 2020. It was joined by other planets like Mercury, Mars and Uranus and …

Feb 28, 2021: First outdoor ride in February 2021 I am glad that an outdoor ride finally worked out on the last day of February. We have had so much snow this month that I didn’t get a chance to …

Feb 23, 2021: Comet Neowise It was really nice to have Comet Neowise stay around for a few weeks in Summer. There were many opportunities to view it without clouds or moon in the …

Feb 22, 2021: Astrophotography in 2020 Last year turned out to be great for astrophotos. Due to the COVID pandemic, there was a lot more time available in the evenings with a significant …

Jan 1, 2021: 2020 Stats 2020 was a quite horrible year but, it was great for cycling. Clocked the most number of miles in a year on my bike. It is going to hard to match …

Jul 18, 2020: Morning ride in NJ Went riding with Adit and Sujit around West Windsor, NJ. It was a nice change to ride on flat roads opposed to rolling hills in CT. Towards the end, …

Jun 4, 2020: Bike ride 2020.06.03 Went to pickup CSA bread in Old Lyme. It was a warm afternoon. Rain was promised in the forecast but, it didn’t show up. Very little traffic on …

Jun 3, 2020: Bike touring 2019 Last year in May right after Memorial Day, went on a nice long bike trip from London to Amsterdam. It would be so nice to go on another trip like …

Nov 15, 2011: V: Adit, please don’t scream and shout! Talk softly. A: but why, mommy? V: If you keep screaming and shouting, my ears will stop working …

May 12, 2009: Man on the moon Chat in the car this morning. Adit: Where is the man on the moon? Me: There is no moon in the sky, so we can't see that man. Adit: Where is the moon? …

Apr 9, 2009: Blood donation Donated blood at American Red Cross blood drive at work. Did my good deed of the day AND lost one pound of weight. I just love the instant …

Apr 6, 2009: Do not touch the queen On NPR’s Morning Edition, there was a report about Michelle Obama charming everyone in Europe. Here, I paraphrase the reporter: ... Michelle …

Mar 18, 2009: Venus on 031709 - pt2 A better way of looking at those three Venus photos from the last post. When they are put side-by-side, the change in the appearance of Venus over the …

Mar 18, 2009: Venus on 031709 As Venus is coming closer to Earth, its overall size is getting larger but, the Sun-exposed area that we can see is getting smaller. Hence, a thinner …

Mar 13, 2009: Happy 6th birthday, Ashwini!!! Ashwini turned 6 years old last Saturday. Now that she will start 1st grade this fall, she officially is a “big girl”. Recently, we had a …

Mar 12, 2009: Vision checkup Got my eyes checked with the eye doctor. It was just a periodic check-up and I passed with flying colors. There are no horrible physical conditions: …

Mar 12, 2009: 50th anniversary This week marks 50th anniversary of 2 products; both of which are somehow related to women. One claimed to have helped improve self-image of millions …

Mar 3, 2009: Care bears Recently, Ashwini and V took some older baby books from home to a second-hand book store to make some space in book shelves and bought one book about …

Mar 3, 2009: Dark chocolate According to the Journal of the American Medical Association in 2007: Small amounts of dark chocolate (one piece of a 16 piece bar of 100g or around …

Feb 27, 2009: Two crescents Venus has been shining brightly in the evening sky for quite some time now. Moon is coming along to join the show for a few nights. They are going to …

Feb 23, 2009: Two movies Watched two (actually, one and half) Hindi movies in the last few weeks. Chak de India: A good movie about Indian Women's Hockey team training and …

Feb 18, 2009: Ashwini, the ballerina Ashwini has been going to a ballet school for more than an year. She is still in "pre-ballet" class and learning the basics. According to …

Feb 10, 2009: 25 random things about me Don’t remember if I got tagged here or on Facebook, but here we go… My left index finger was injured 2 years ago while opening a window …

Feb 5, 2009: Two floating heads

Feb 4, 2009: Kindergarten rules Saw this list of rules in Ashwini’s classroom. The most amazing thing about these rules is that they are not the teacher’s rules but, the …

Feb 3, 2009: Radio lab One of my most favorite shows on NPR is “Radio lab”. Their new season began late last year and now they have 5 new shows on their website. …

Feb 2, 2009: The Boss “Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band” provided the half-time entertainment at Superbowl XLIII. It was 12 minutes full of great music …

Jan 27, 2009: Chopsticks at Nanami Last night, we ate dinner at a Japanese restaurant. We usually take the kids to places that we know they like such as Olive Garden etc. (where they …

Jan 25, 2009: Lace and fur! While traditional gifts for 13th wedding anniversary are lace, fur and textiles, what I received and gave is very very different. Right now, V is …

Jan 21, 2009: Inauguration of Obama I could catch bits and pieces of the Obama inauguration on the web at work while it was happening because the internet kept choking up. In the …

Jan 6, 2009: 66666 It has been just over 6 years since we bought this V70 with 6 miles on it. Today, the odometer turned 66666 miles.

Jan 3, 2009: Happy 3rd Birthday, Adit!!! Adit turned 3 years old last Sunday. He is very happy to be a big boy now and so are we. Earlier this year, we were a little worried with Adit …

Dec 14, 2008: On Friday night, the Moon was at its closest to Earth. When it is full Moon at this position is Moon’s orbit (perigee), it appears the biggest …

Dec 8, 2008: On Saturday night, first real snow fell. There was about 2-3 inches of snow when we woke up on Sunday morning. We quickly gobbled down our breakfast …

Dec 5, 2008: Kissing wedding Ashwini: Did you kiss Daddy when you got married to him? V: No. Ash: Aren’t you supposed to kiss your husband when you get married? V: You were …

Dec 2, 2008: Triple conjunction For the last couple of weeks, Venus and Jupiter have been lighting up the evening sky. They came very close to each other (about 2 deg) and a young …

Nov 24, 2008: Upromise A few months before Ashwini was born, I read about a website, Upromise.com. It is a consumer spending trend tracking program with a twist. Instead of …

Nov 18, 2008: Diwali and Halloween photos... Blue from Blue's clues and piglet ballerina.

Nov 14, 2008: Mr. Adit While watching a very scary Halloween episode of "Dora the explorer" on TV. After Ashwini dressed him up with her play jewelery. Trying to put the …

Nov 14, 2008: Really?!? Ashwini had an epiphany in the car this morning. “Daddy, did you know? The slow songs have slow music and fast songs have faster music.”On another …

Nov 4, 2008: I voted! This morning on my way to work, I voted in my first ever US presidential election. Unlike other places that I heard about on radio, there was no big …

Oct 20, 2008: Stargazings 10-18-08 It was a quick half hour session with Adit calling me to come in every 5 minutes. A clear and cold night made everything look very beautiful. These …

Oct 20, 2008: Planetarium Over the weekend, we went to the Children’s Museum in West Hartford, CT. On display, were some hands-on science exhibits for kids and also a …

Oct 17, 2008: Store signs OK! Time for some juvenile humor. Recently, I came across a couple of store signs that made me think about ShivSena’s "store signs in …

Oct 8, 2008: Mt. Monadnock hike From Mt. Monadnock All Summer long, I was planning with my friend to go for a day-hike in New Hampshire. It finally happened after official end of …

Oct 8, 2008: David Sedaris live On Friday, we went to a David Sedaris program. I was expecting it to be a book reading with him reading some chapters from his recent book, When You …

Aug 21, 2008: Another beach evening We are enjoying this beautiful beach-weather while it lasts. Here is a link to a video I shot with my cellphone: Adit and Ashwini on the beach

Aug 21, 2008: Science experiments We have a couple of Science experiments ongoing at home. This could also be categorized as growing pets at home. Growing butterflies: Kids are just …

Aug 20, 2008: When I grow up... I have probably posted about this before. Adit keeps saying, “When I grow up, I’ll be a pig.” I found it to be funny and disturbing …

Aug 18, 2008: A day with Ashwini On Friday, Ashwini came with me to my work. She was very excited to get her own badge and was thrilled to ride elevators and escalators. She sat with …

Aug 10, 2008: The Dark Knight Watched “The Dark Knight” on Friday. It was well made but, was damn too long. There is only so much of loud explosions and bright flashes …

Aug 5, 2008: One and a score years ago... I am not sure if it was the 2nd or the 5th but, it was August of 1987. My first day at College. This was the day when I met V for the first time. She …

Aug 4, 2008: An evening at the beach Sunday evening was just perfect for going out to the beach. It was sunny and clear but, not too hot. This time, we decided to explore a beach in …

Jul 28, 2008: Cloning photos I had created images with cloned children like this one here, a couple of times before. This was before Adit was born and only Ashwini appears in …

Jul 26, 2008: More startrails Star trails from an hour long exposure. Nikon D70: 18-70mm at 18mm: ISO 1600: f/3.5: 120 thirty second exposures: Stacked using Gimp.

Jul 25, 2008: A handful of kids Click to see bigger version

Jul 22, 2008: Ashwini's new dress Ashwini's aaji sent her a couple of nice dresses with me back in January. Now that Summer is upon us with all the heat and hunidity, it is time to use …

Jul 20, 2008: Star trails First attempt at capturing star trails by stitching multiple images instead of one long exposure. Seems to work better. This is composite of about 20 …

Jul 10, 2008: When I grow up... Ashwini: When I grow up, I am going to be a doctor and a teacher. How about you, Adit? What do you want to be when you grow up? Adit: When I grow up, …

Jul 6, 2008: Green electricity Sometime earlier this year, I changed my electricity supplier to Community Energy, which produces electricity using renewable (reusable) resources …

Jun 30, 2008: Happy 2.5th Birthday, Adit! On Saturday, Adit turned two and half years old. I think the last progress report I wrote was on his second birthday. In the last 6 months, Adit has …

Jun 25, 2008: Analemma ver 1 Partial Analemma. Click to see a bigger version. As the Earth makes its trek around the Sun, due to the inclination of Earth's axis, different parts …

Jun 15, 2008: Bubble time Kids await very eagerly for warm weather as they both love blowing bubbles. Cold temperatures are not good for this purpose. Ashwini is a champion …

Jun 10, 2008: Ol' turkey buzzard Click for bigger version. As we got out of the house this morning, we spotted this huge turkey vulture sitting on our neighbor's roof. Its wingspan …

Jun 9, 2008: Breaking news Stop the presses…. Adit just peed in the potty! Another year and we’ll be diaper-free. Yeay!!!

May 29, 2008: Two moms Ashwini and I were lounging on the couch the other day. I was reading “Sky and Telescope” and she was finishing off her last book of …

May 29, 2008: Ashwini on a carousel Ashwini always likes to ride the "Merry-go-round". This photo was taken on last weekend at Hoffman Playland in Latham, NY. I like her expression and …

May 23, 2008: Father Adit has decided to address me as ‘Father’ over the last few days. Whenever he does that, I start to think my name is…. धोंडो भिकाजी कडमडेकर and my …

May 20, 2008: Adit: I want that umbrella. Ashwini: No. That is not your umbrella. It is mine. Besides, it is not raining. So, you don't need it. I just love it when …

May 16, 2008: Vermin Last year, we had a lawn service cutting our grass, but this year I decided to do it on my own. On Sunday, I took out the lawn tractor for the …

May 15, 2008: Mortgage/credit crisis Lately, the mortgage and credit crisis that brought down several financial companies to their knees has been in the news. The negative impact of this …

May 10, 2008: Getting closer Long long time ago, I don’t recall if it was before we got married or after, V promised me that she’ll buy me a pipe as a gift on my 40th …

May 9, 2008: Adit's umbrella Adit has a new umbrella and he has been using it a lot. No matter how many times I tell him to rest it on his shoulder, he always carries it so that …

May 9, 2008: Painted Lady Butterflies Over the two weeks, I didn’t get a chance to update on the progress of our caterpillars. They turned into these exotic-looking cocoons. Make …

Apr 28, 2008: Birds of the outback Birds of the outback are back at Mystic Aquarium this year as well. We went for a member’s preview yesterday. Kids had a lot of fun like last …

Apr 24, 2008: Just photos Ashwini with her new Summer haircut Keeping an eye on her parent's cooking. Making sure that they do it right.

Apr 24, 2008: Seafood and more seafood Last week, our old friend, Shailen came to visit us from Oxford, England. He stayed with us for four days and went to Yale for a conference over the …

Apr 21, 2008: A girl in washbasin While I was changing Adit’s diaper in the bathroom, Ashwini came along and climbed into the wash basin. This reminded me of a picture I had …

Apr 21, 2008: They're growing The caterpillars have been busy eating and growing over the last few days. On Saturday, they climbed up to the lid of the jar they call home and …

Apr 21, 2008: mangoes, sweet mangoes As I bit into my first mango of this season, the sweet taste brought back a ton of good memories of eating huge amounts of mangoes. Last year, some …

Apr 18, 2008: They're back We are raising ‘Painted Lady’ butterflies this year, too. The caterpillars came in the mail last Saturday. They have been eating a lot …

Apr 11, 2008: Birdfeeder As it gets warmer and warmer, Adit and Ashwini are very excited about the fact that more and more birds are coming to the birdfeeder on the deck.

Apr 9, 2008: Moon occults Pleiades It was quite a sight to photograph. First couple of photos show Moon near Pleiades (M45). Moon was getting close to set by the time I captured (3rd …

Apr 8, 2008: A celestial event The forecasters predict a clear sky tonight. I hope it comes true because tonight, a thin crescent of Moon will be occulting the beautiful star …

Apr 8, 2008:

Pangea day seems like a brilliant and powerful idea. here is some info from their website…

Pangea Day is a global event bringing the world …

Apr 7, 2008: Taxes 2007 Finally, finished with filing our tax returns for 2007. Shelled out additional $55 for using e-file to send the data to tax agencies and shall mail …

Apr 5, 2008: Spring has sprung It is such a beautiful day: sunny and 60’s. First decent day after ages. I took the kids to a birthday party and on the way home, we …

Apr 2, 2008: Chocolate bunny One ear for Ashwini, one ear for Adit and they were both happy!!!

Mar 31, 2008: Drastic measures Ashwini: When is Devenmama coming to visit us? Me: I don’t know. Ashwini: He came such a long time ago. He should visit us again. Me: Ask him …

Mar 28, 2008: New books Pre-ordered two new books from Amazon.com. 5% extra discount for pre-ordering. When you are engulfed in flamesby David Sedaris The Wordy Shipmatesby …

Mar 26, 2008: Riverdance Ashwini was very impressed with irish dance done by a troupe of schoolgirls at her daycare on St. Patrick’s day. She tries to imitate what she …

Mar 24, 2008: न्यू जर्सीला जाण्याचा फायदा: ताजे अळू !!! खूप खूप दिवसांनी अळूची आमटी आणि भात खाल्ल्यामुळे हा को.ब्रा. भयंकर खुश झाला. आता उद्या शिकरण-पोळी आणि मटार …

Mar 24, 2008: an upset bunny “Who are these silly little kids that are stealing my chocolate filled eggs???” The teardrop on his right cheek is due to wind blowing and …

Mar 17, 2008: Diego live On Saturday, we went to see the Diego Live show. Both Adit and Ashwini were just totally amazed to see their favorite characters: Diego, Alicia, baby …

Mar 17, 2008: Where is that cow from? Heard on A Prairie Home Companion podcast: Oli was visiting Sven who had recently bought a new cow. Sven: This cow is funny. She farts whenever I milk …

Mar 10, 2008: Hairband When Ashwini got ready to go to school on her birthday last Friday, she was very excited to show off her new dress, new tights, new shoes and a new …

Mar 7, 2008: Happy 5th Birthday!!! Happy Birthday to my dearest BIG girl. A birthday post will follow soon…

Mar 4, 2008: 8 words “My daddy put powder cheese in my mouth”, Adit told his sister last evening. Adit’s talking has been improving quite a lot lately …

Mar 3, 2008: La Jolla, CA Beach at Torrey Pines State Reserve in La Jolla, CA is just breathtaking.

Feb 29, 2008: what day? Sometime last evening… Adit: Happy Balancesteins, Ashwini. I love you. Ashwini: Adit, it is not Valentine’s day anymore. On another …

Feb 28, 2008: Colorful clouds Sky over Phoenix as my plane took off around sunset on Feb 13th.

Feb 27, 2008: I like it... Whenever Adit asked for anything… food, toy or book… he always says, “I like it. I like that one…” We were scratching …

Feb 23, 2008: which garden? V was talking with someone: Ashwini will be 5 next month. She will go to Kindergarten in September. Adit overheard her while looking at a book: Adit …

Feb 19, 2008: I be princess Ashwini: When I grow up, I am going to be doctor and teacher. Adit: I grow up be princess. Ashwini: You can’t be a princess, Adit. Princesses …

Feb 15, 2008: Valentine's Day It looks like beginning of a new tradition. For two years in a row, I had dinners at nice restaurants with my co-workers on Valentine’s day …

Feb 15, 2008: Trip to San Diego I picked one of the worst days to travel. There was an icestorm on the east coast on Tuesday night and I was supposed to fly on Wednesday morning. My …

Feb 12, 2008: The Cog Here is the original Honda ad made using spare parts and here is a video with similar idea seen in the ad, but is more elaborate. The Honda video at …

Feb 11, 2008: Bodies revealed I had heard a lot about it for the last couple of years and finally, I got to see it with my own eyes, yesterday: Bodies Revealed. It is one of the …

Feb 7, 2008: Epiphany Ashwini had an epiphany and she told me about it yesterday. “Dad, if you fart and move away, it doesn’t go with you.”

Feb 1, 2008: Questions and Answers P1: Do you know where we live? P2: Where? P1: In the Milky Way galaxy. All the planets and Sun and Moon are in the Milky Way. P1: Do you know which …

Jan 30, 2008: Venus and Jupiter These two bright objects are hard to miss in the morning sky these days. They are seen in the southeastern sky before sunrise. Due to their …

Jan 28, 2008: Back in the USA Came back from Hindustan over the weekend. I had a such a nice time for two weeks, I didn’t realize that it was time to come back. It feels good …

Jan 14, 2008: NYC to BOM This was my time on Air India and It was one of the best airline experiences ever. Direct flight from New York to Mumbai takes only 13 hours and 40 …

Jan 11, 2008: Earlier this week, my reusable insulated coffee cup with University of Nebraska Medical Center insignia broke. Over the years, it helped me avoid …

Jan 11, 2008: Blood Donation Yesterday, it was time for the bimonthly blood donation drive at work. Usually, my hemoglobin is well above the 12.5 gm/dl limit required to be …

Jan 6, 2008: Last night, I made paav-bhaaji after a long time. While we filled ourselves with the stew… V: I had paav-bhaaji in India a couple of times, but …

Jan 4, 2008: Toys for Adit Adit was a very happy boy last week as it was his birthday and Santa dropped by too. He received a lot of presents from us, but my favorite ones were …

Dec 26, 2007: 10 years of online shopping Ten years ago, I placed my first ever online order at Amazon.com in Dec 1997. In the last 10 years, online shopping has become our main source of …

Dec 20, 2007: are you monogamous? The following post is not explicit, but acknowledges the existence of sex. Use your discretion. At a recent doctor’s visit: Doctor: Are you …

Dec 19, 2007: Moon's position in the sky As a response to premkudva’s comment, I wrote this stuff about the position of Moon and times of mooonrise and moonset. Just want to keep it …

Dec 18, 2007: Happy to be together again They were very excited to see each other after three weeks and really are very happy to be together, except when they fight.

Dec 12, 2007: Before And….. After

Dec 9, 2007: Adit on Fort Griswold Adit and I went for an outing to Fort Griswold in Groton, CT. It is a revolutionary era fort on a hill next to Thames river. It is a small fort but is …

Dec 9, 2007: Countdown They are counting down the days before they can see each other next Sunday. This has been the longest time apart for them.

Dec 7, 2007: Ashwini update Ashwini at the wedding Ashwini had a blast, modeling at the wedding. After the bride and the groom, she was the most photographed person at the …

Dec 7, 2007: Holiday cards If you wish to receive a card from us this year, please reply with your name and address. Comments are screened for your privacy.

Dec 5, 2007: Our photo Picture of me and V along with our pets in Dofus, the alternate world that we have been living in, part-time for the past year or so. It has helped us …

Dec 5, 2007: The Sun and Winter Solstice. December 22nd is Winter Solstice: the official shortest day of the year. But, that doesn’t mean that it is the day with latest Sunrise and …

Dec 4, 2007: It has been just over one week since V went to India. So many people have asked me about how I have been taking care of Adit without V. Many of my …

Dec 4, 2007: Airline logic. On international travel, passengers can check-in 2 pieces of luggage. The baggage weight allowance for each passenger is 100 lbs. If you check-in only …

Dec 4, 2007: The Blair Witch Project

Dec 2, 2007: Adit on 11-30-07 Ho Ho Ho… In his sister’s Dora jammies that he totally adores. I just loved this pose… don’t know why.

Nov 30, 2007: Adit on 11-29-07 When Adit wakes up in the morning, he calls out for either me or his Aai. He gets very upset if the parent he is not calling for, shows up to get him …

Nov 29, 2007: Adit on 11-28-07 Adit was trying to eat with his eyes closed. He had the spoon going to the right place without looking at it. :)

Nov 28, 2007: Happy 1.916667th Birthday, Adit!!! Adit is just one month short of his second birthday. It has been a couple of months since I wrote his last progress report. During this time, his …

Nov 28, 2007: Adit on 11-27-07 I plan to post at least one photo of Adit every day for his Aai and big sister. Here is Adit getting out of the car at his daycare.

Nov 27, 2007: HIndi movie download I just recharged my RelianceIndiaCall.com calling card for India. It came with a coupon for a hindi movie download. I am totally clueless about …

Nov 27, 2007: The days of boys Last night, Ashwini and V got on an airplane and left for Hindustan. For the next three weeks, I’ll be a single parent, caring for a 23 month …

Nov 15, 2007: BIIIIGGGGG What is the largest object in our solar system? If your answer is the Sun, then you are wrong. It is the heaviest but not the largest. Currently, that …

Nov 14, 2007: Diwali 2007 V made some Diwali treats and we put on lights, but due to various reasons, this year Diwali wasn’t very big in our house till the last day. The …

Nov 8, 2007: Happy Diwali Recycling last year’s photo to wish you all a very Happy Diwali and prosperous New Year!!!

Nov 7, 2007: just photos Another attempt at capturing Comet Holmes. More fall colors from the same window as before.

Nov 6, 2007: Who needs paper money? If someone asks me, “How much money do you have in your wallet?”, I’d be clueless. Not because I have so much that I have lost the …

Nov 6, 2007: Why do I deserve all the candy? The answer is simple. Look at the photo below. If I hadn’t pulled them around in the wagon to all those houses for trick-or-treating, there …

Nov 5, 2007: Leaves just after Sunrise on Nov 3, 2007.

Nov 2, 2007: Comet 17/P Holmes: part 2 Finally caught it on camera before it disappears. The comet is currently heading away from the Sun. Its closest encounter was in May 2007, but the …

Nov 1, 2007: Trick or treat. Introducing Mr. Blue and Ms. Tinkerbell. (Actually, Blue from “Blue’s clues” is a girl dog, but Adit likes Blue and we had …

Oct 28, 2007: Comet 17/P Holmes An unexpected comet, called comet 17/P Holmes is visible in the night sky for the last 3-4 days. In one day, its brightness changed from magnitude 17 …

Oct 23, 2007: First photo with M90 Sony DSC-S85 along with a 32mm eyepiece was connected to the new scope and aimed at the easiest object in the night sky.

Oct 19, 2007: Minor victories Ashwini slept in her own room, in her own bed all night long; two nights in a row. First time since we moved to CT. Adit slept through two nights …

Oct 18, 2007: Making sure that he’ll get praised at his first dentist visit next week.

Oct 16, 2007: Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus)

Oct 10, 2007: Telescope update. Follow-up to my new telescope post: The package is on the UPS truck “out for delivery”. It should be waiting for me when I get home in the …

Oct 7, 2007: Apple picking 2007 It was unseasonably warm yesterday when we went out for apple picking. Probably for the first time ever, we were not wearing jackets but, were in …

Oct 4, 2007: New glass After a long wait of about 5 years, just ordered a new telescope: William Optics Megrez 90 doublet APO. Can’t wait to put my hands on it.

Oct 1, 2007: Popsicles! Enjoying the last few popsicles of this year as Summer comes to an end.

Oct 1, 2007: End of Summer Summer officially ended last week and so did the “Summer hours” at work. No more Friday half-days. Will have to work five full days every …

Sep 27, 2007: Nike Freestyle Nike Freestyle must be one of the coolest TV ad ever. I remember watching in awe, every time it came on about 5-6 years ago. The person in this 30 sec …

Sep 25, 2007: Kids' activities As the schools started this month, a lot of out-of-school kids' activities have taken off as well. Our kids don’t even go to school yet, but …

Sep 16, 2007: Ganesh Chaturthi 2007 Ganapati Bappa Moraya!!! Modaks: Ganesha’s (and ours, too) favorite food. Kids in festive spirit wearing Indian clothes. Adit’s first …

Sep 7, 2007: Happy 4.5th Birthday, Ashwini!!! Taken at “Birds of the Outback” exhibit at the Mystic Aquarium. Ashwini talks and acts so much like an older kid, that we sometimes treat …

Sep 6, 2007: Public restrooms It is conventional wisdom that men go into public restrooms, finish their business as fast as possible and come out without even making eye-contact …

Sep 6, 2007: Yaaay! While I was getting all depressed with all the life/work troubles, Adit made my day. It was his first no-cry drop-off at the daycare. He happily went …

Aug 29, 2007: Happy 1.6667th Birthday, Adit!!! Adit turned 20 month old yesterday. It has been 4 months since I wrote his last progress report. Our move from Michigan to Connecticut completely …

Aug 28, 2007: Youtube goodies.... This is so hilarious. Heard about this on the NPR news quiz show, “Wait Wait Don’t tell me”, and then saw it in co_techie’s …

Aug 23, 2007: Almost every parent of a two year old kid experiences this…

Aug 23, 2007: Wide Angle: The Dying Fields A documentary about cotton farmers in Vidharbha airs next Tuesday (Aug. 28) on the PBS show, Wide Angle. I was aware of farmers committing suicide …

Aug 22, 2007: Summer heat We have been blessed with cooler temperatures for the last few days. It almost feels like Summer is gone and Fall is here. But, that is not true. This …

Aug 21, 2007: TV shows. As it is, among all the kids' TV shows that I watch with A & A, Noddy is my least favorite. Yesterday, it was the last straw that turned my …

Aug 19, 2007: The bottomline: I enjoy driving and love going on roadtrips, but I hate to take the car into New York city. I totallt support Mayor Bloomberg’s …

Aug 19, 2007: The bottomline: I enjoy driving and love going on roadtrips, but I hate to take the car into New York city. I totallt support Mayor Bloomberg’s …

Aug 13, 2007: dhak dhak Someone once said to me, “What kind of Madhuri Dixit fan are you if you haven’t seen ‘Dhak Dhak’ from Beta?” So, I …

Aug 13, 2007: dhak dhak Someone once said to me, “What kind of Madhuri Dixit fan are you if you haven’t seen ‘Dhak Dhak’ from Beta?” So, I …

Aug 7, 2007: The Simpsons First 10 seasons of The Simpsons on dvd are 55% off. Go, buy them quick!!!

Aug 6, 2007: MI-CT homes When we were looking for houses during our recent move, we had our work cut out for us: Find a house that is similar to the one in MI. We were so …

Aug 2, 2007: Summer skies

Aug 2, 2007: Summer skies

Aug 2, 2007: Harry Potter mania! Our own pre-ordered copy of “Harry Potter and ……” (book 7) arrived in the mail two days ago. V was very excited to see it. …

Jul 30, 2007: More beach photos taken over the weekend. My friend, Hrushikesh from New Jersey was visiting us.

Jul 30, 2007: More beach photos taken over the weekend. My friend, Hrushikesh from New Jersey was visiting us.

Jul 24, 2007: The beach It is quite nice that we are about 2 miles from the beach and the ocean (actually, long island sound). Took the kids to the beach last week to just …

Jul 23, 2007: Haircut Everything is more expensive in Connecticut compared to Michigan. When I saw the sign for “$10 haircut”, I didn’t pay attention to …

Jul 14, 2007: We've moved. Two weeks ago, after spending more than five wonderful years that doubled the size of our family, we bid Michigan goodbye with a heavy heart. It was …

Jun 25, 2007: Disaster "It’s like America running out of steak. Sushi without tuna just would not be sushi." TADASHI YAMAGATA, vice chairman of Japan’s national union of …

Jun 20, 2007:

Jun 16, 2007: Ashwini: June 2007 Ashwini in “Lata Mangeshkar” hairstyle.

Jun 16, 2007: An afternoon at the zoo Last weekend, we went to the Toledo Zoo. Thankfully, this is a small zoo as our kids last for about 2 hours before getting tired and cranky. We had …

Jun 9, 2007: "Kill Bill" movies are just so beautiful and poetic. I can watch them again and again and again forever. Just watched the second half of part I. …

Jun 7, 2007: Count them all There are 4 on the top and 4 on the bottom. All the incisors have come in. The canines have decided to be fashionably late and now 2 molars on the top …

Jun 1, 2007: Most valuable body part A couple of days ago, I went for my first ever visit to the Emergency Room. I have been there plenty of times before with the kids, but never for …

May 31, 2007: What story was that? radio: … they had no food, no milk, no bread. All the markets in Gaza …. me: quickly turn off the radio Ashwini: Why did you turn it …

May 30, 2007: House for sale Interesting description for this house in the ad. Want space, amenity, comfort, and safety for the kids? How about around 4000 square feet of living …

May 30, 2007: Yahoo! Mail Yahoo! Mail now provides unlimited storage for no cost. I only hope they continue to support the classic view and not upgrade everyone to the new …

May 25, 2007: Is that a bird? Is that a plane? Is that SUPERMAN? Dada, what the $%#& was that?

May 23, 2007: Ashwini, the shutterbug Ashwini wanted to take photos while we were playing outside. I showed her the classic left-hand-under-the-lens camera hold and she was shooting like a …

May 23, 2007: Sunday afternoon bake The cat is away again and the mice are enjoying their freedom. While Adit was taking a nap, Ashwini decided to make brownies and I was eager to help …

May 21, 2007: Coinstar Decided to cash in a big coin jar that sat on the kitchen table. I didn’t like using coinstar because they charged counting fees (8.9c per …

May 18, 2007: Some spring photos Blooming Crabapple Young Maple leaves Dandelion seeds

May 17, 2007: Couldn’t agree more with what Heather of dooce said… Before we woke up from the dream called “Childless Marriage” where we moaned and …

May 15, 2007: It is just annoying when people who know we have two kids call after 9 pm. Not that we answer the phone, but they should know better than to call at …

May 11, 2007: Ashwini wrote it all by herself, and look at that pretty flower she drew. I hope to receive many many more such cards in the future. :) Thanks to all …

May 1, 2007: Playing in the backyard... Don’t just stand there taking photos, put me in this swing!!! By the way, Happy Birthday to V!!!

Apr 16, 2007: Home of the brave As of today, everyone in our household has the same status as far as the government is concerned. V and I took the oath at the naturalisation ceremony …

Apr 14, 2007: New Videos Adit is learning from Ashwini how to dance. Yellow tweety bird hanging on the door is the source of music. [youtube www.youtube.com/watch Here is …

Apr 14, 2007: Ashwini: Excuse me, I farted. Me: Ewwww! Stop it, Ashwini. You are stinking up the room. Ashwini: But, I can’t. It just keeps coming out of my …

Apr 12, 2007: Twitter Is there anybody who uses Twitter? If you do, can you please add me to your list? My ID is garap.

Apr 10, 2007:

Apr 9, 2007: Aurora in Alaska. One of the many many reasons I want to visit Alaska is this… Aurora in Alaska

Apr 5, 2007: A nice collection of Puneri patya.

Apr 4, 2007: Mr. Tambourine Man My favorite verse of this popular Dylan song… Then take me disappearin' through the smoke rings of my mind, Down the foggy ruins of time, far …

Apr 2, 2007:

Apr 2, 2007: After a busy playday... After running around in the yard all afternoon and getting wet while washing the cars, on a warm sunny spring day, everyone was just wiped out. Adit …

Apr 2, 2007: After a busy playday... After running around in the yard all afternoon and getting wet while washing the cars, on a warm sunny spring day, everyone was just wiped out. Adit …

Apr 1, 2007: Goodbye ol' tree While driving by this afternoon, I noticed that the farmer finally cut down this dead tree that I had photographed on several occassions over the last …

Apr 1, 2007: Goodbye ol' tree While driving by this afternoon, I noticed that the farmer finally cut down this dead tree that I had photographed on several occassions over the last …

Apr 1, 2007: Happy April fool's day You gotta love Gmail’s April fool’s day prank.

Apr 1, 2007: Happy April fool's day You gotta love Gmail’s April fool’s day prank.

Mar 30, 2007: Starvation for Sanjaya Let me start this post by stating that I never watch any reality shows. I think the whole idea just smacks of being fake. Anything that happens in …

Mar 30, 2007: Starvation for Sanjaya Let me start this post by stating that I never watch any reality shows. I think the whole idea just smacks of being fake. Anything that happens in …

Mar 29, 2007: Saagar kinaare V's brother made a CD of assorted Hindi songs for her and it is being played in the car for some days. Ashwini listens and remembers these songs …

Mar 28, 2007: Happy 1.25th birthday, Adit!!! Today, Adit is 15 months old. Here is his monthly progress report. Although I have missed several months in between, I still call this a monthly …

Mar 28, 2007: Happy 1.25th birthday, Adit!!! Today, Adit is 15 months old. Here is his monthly progress report. Although I have missed several months in between, I still call this a monthly …

Mar 27, 2007: Kids were in bed by 9:15pm last night as usual. But, somehow Adit, Ashwini and I ended up downstairs in our pajamas at 10:30pm eating popcorn and …

Mar 25, 2007: Spring is here Spring is in the air. It is starting to get warm outside. That means it is time to blow bubbles again.

Mar 20, 2007: A trip... It was the first time for Adit to travel on an airplane. We were worried about how he'll do, but he slept both ways as soon as the plane got ready to …

Mar 12, 2007: Diamond studded path leading into the woods

Mar 12, 2007: Happy 4th Birthday, Ashwini!!! Tangled up in blue and white on her birthday. Although it is hard for us to believe, a couple of days ago, Ashwini turned 4 years old. She is growing …

Mar 7, 2007: Tangled up in blues Bob Dylan was singing, “Tangled up in Blues” while we got out of the house this morning. Ashwini: Daddy, I am tangled up in blue, too. No. …

Mar 1, 2007: Ashwini: cold box This post is very very overdue. Should have wrote about this last summer. We had noticed Ashwini calling the appliance that keeps our food cold, …

Feb 28, 2007: This American Life on TV My favorite radio show, This American Life, comes to TV (Showtime) on March 22. Here are a couple of trailers for the show. [youtube …

Feb 28, 2007: Letter to Dad Ashwini has gotten much better with her writing skills. She can write most of the letters pretty well. I think “S” is the only problematic …

Feb 27, 2007: Get that hair out of your face...

Feb 27, 2007: Ice ice baby After a winter storm that dumped freezing rain instead of snow, everything was encased in a layer of ice. It was a lovely sight to see Sun rising from …

Feb 27, 2007: Adit the grouch Oscar the grouch from Sesame Street is Adit’s most favorite character. He behaves like Oscar too, as seen here with our trashcan. We thought …

Feb 23, 2007: Vagina?!?! What is that, aunty? Eve Ensler’s very famous book, “The Vagina Monologues” and its dramatized version have been around for quite a few years. The …

Feb 20, 2007: Big helper V left early this morning for a business trip and will be away for a couple days. My conversation with Ashwini when she was getting ready for school. …

Feb 19, 2007: Fun in the snow - 2007 This fall/winter had been very funny. First there was no cold and there was no snow. Then came bone-chilling cold followed by snow and cloudy skies …

Feb 19, 2007: Food... food... food It was a busy and fun weekend. My brother and sister-in-law came to visit Ashwini and Adit. They also talked with us because we were around. As usual, …

Feb 12, 2007: Just a photo Marathmoli Ashwini

Feb 11, 2007: New kids videos [youtube www.youtube.com/watch [youtube www.youtube.com/watch If you can’t see them, you are not on my friends list at Youtube. Send me your id …

Feb 6, 2007: Chance to see Mercury Mercury and Venus are close to each other in the evening sky. Venus will serve as a good guide to search for Mercury, which is usually hard to find. …

Feb 6, 2007: Teacher in making...

Feb 1, 2007: Curious headgear While changing clothes, Ashwini used to have fun with leaving her shirt over her head. Such behaviour can’t be encoded in genes, but Adit loves …

Jan 25, 2007: 11 years and counting… Hope to reach at least half century.

Jan 18, 2007: Popsicles After the recent freezing rain/ice storm, everything is covered with ice and there are icicles everywhere. Ash: Daddy, I like eating icicles. Sydney …

Jan 17, 2007: The Indian Autorickshaw Challenge The Indian Autorickshaw Challenge This must be a really exciting race. Should follow it in August.

Jan 16, 2007: Winter is here... It is cold, but not cold enough for good snow. We had a lot of freezing rain. Now, everything is covered in ice.

Jan 15, 2007: It is 1:59 am Monday morning. If you know what it means to be drunk with Tequila and be playing role playing game called dofus, you’ll …

Jan 10, 2007: Who is my wife? While talking with me, Ashwini always referred to V as “Aai” and she referred to me as “Dada” or “Daddy” while …

Jan 9, 2007: Comet McNaught C/2006 P1 A new comet is in the sky, Comet McNaught. It is getting quite bright as it is rounding the Sun. It is visible to naked eyes just after sunset and …

Jan 8, 2007: Happy Feet and Don Went to watch Happy Feet with Ashwini on Saturday. It is a beautifully made movie. The animation and music was great. The story was a little too …

Jan 8, 2007: Kids notes – It just so happens that during 95% of our waking hours, all four of us are within a 20 sq.ft. area. Don’t know why we need a big house. …

Jan 5, 2007: New photo smile Ashwini decorating cupcakes for Adit’s birthday and sporting a new smile that she uses while posing for photographs.

Dec 31, 2006: Cricket: Sreesanth Swinging His Bat..... Dhoom Machale?! "Cricket: Sreesanth Swinging His Bat..... Dhoom Machale?!" on Google Video Cricket: This is the # 10 batsman Sreesanth, of India, responding to the …

Dec 29, 2006: Happy 1st Birthday, Adit!!! Adit turned 1 yesterday. We had celebrations at home with just four of us and V’s brother who is visiting us. We made a cake and some cupcakes …

Dec 21, 2006: Two A's Currently, I am in love with two A’s. Not those obvious ones… these are foods. Almonds and Apricots Dried apricots are my favorite …

Dec 18, 2006: Tannenbaum 2006 We are ready for Santa. Lots of space for him to drop the presents.

Dec 14, 2006: Holiday cards I wasn’t sure if I would get time to make cards this year, but te deed is done. If you’d like to receive a card, please send your address …

Dec 13, 2006: Halloween 2006 With all the trouble that followed Halloween this year, I forgot to post photos of the spider, the blue dog and the pink kitty (cousin Priya, who was …

Dec 10, 2006: Celestial gatherings Early morning on Dec. 10, 2006, there were two groupings of celestial objects worth noticing. Jupiter was close (within 1 deg.) to Mars and Mercury. …

Dec 9, 2006: Flowers on Buddha plant

Dec 9, 2006: color of the sky = winter cold blue One of the most beautiful things about winter. Camera: Nikon D70 Exposure: 0.001 sec (1/1000) Aperture: f/1.8 Focal Length: 50 mm ISO Speed: 200 …

Dec 8, 2006: Another Ashwini conversation Location: In the car while going to school. A: Aai, I want Daddy to drop me at school. V: But, he drove you yesterday. It is my turn today. A: No. I …

Dec 8, 2006:

Dec 6, 2006: just a photo. Adit looking at the falling snow through the window.

Dec 5, 2006: Ashwini, the foodie Saw an article in Parenting magazine (or something similar) about what children from around the world eat. They listed three C’s that American …

Dec 5, 2006: It's the wrong trousers, Gromit! One of the best films ever: Wallace & Gromit in The Wrong Trousers This clay animation won the Oscar in 1994 for the best animated short film. I …

Dec 4, 2006: A bedtime conversation Ashwini: Aai, I'll tell you a secret in the morning. V: What is it? A: I'll tell you in the morning. V: Come on... tell it now. What is it? A: If I …

Dec 4, 2006: White Infidel Call me a wine-snob, but when one goes to a fancy restaurant and orders a whole bottle of a White Zinfandel, they proclaim to the whole world that …

Nov 27, 2006: QOTD Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans. – John Lennon.

Nov 25, 2006:

Nov 23, 2006: Happy Thanksgiving Thanksgiving dinner has been a tradition in our house since 1998. Some of our friends have attended every one of these gettogethers over the last 8 …

Nov 20, 2006: Adit vs. Streptococcus sp. Almost last whole month had been quite rough for Adit. He caught an ear infection that turned into bacterial meningitis. He needed to be treated with …

Nov 16, 2006: GM diet details... So many of you have been asking for information on GM diet. Here is what I had received from a friend. Indianised version of the diet. GENERAL MOTORS …

Nov 12, 2006: Casino Royale 2006 Whoever did the casting for Casino Royale has totally messed up. Daniel Craig, the new James Bond, looks more like a KGB agent than one in her …

Nov 1, 2006: Diwali 2006 Celebrating Bhaubeej at home.

Oct 31, 2006: Two weeks after GM diet It has been two weeks since we did the GM diet. I lost 7 pounds during those 7 days of GM diet. Even after returning to my gluttonous lifestyle for …

Oct 25, 2006: Breast Cancer Awareness Month October is “Breast Cancer Awareness Month”. It is one of the most prevalent cancers in women around the world. This year, about 200,000 …

Oct 24, 2006: Adit in a snowhat I don't like wearing hats, especially these girly kind.

Oct 24, 2006: Happy Diwali Wish You All a Very Happy Diwali and a Prosperous New Year!!!

Oct 23, 2006: Transit of Mercury Mark Nov. 8th in your calendar. Mercury will transit over the Sun. It should be easily seen through Solar viewing goggles or with the use of a pinhole …

Oct 20, 2006: Here is what Ashwini sees when she looks up from her bed. These butterflies are about 2 feet wide. They spin around gently as they hang by a fishing …

Oct 20, 2006: Here is what Ashwini sees when she looks up from her bed. These butterflies are about 2 feet wide. They spin around gently as they hang by a fishing …

Oct 19, 2006: Quick change of outfits I was always amazed at the heroines from Bollywood movies who changed clothes so often and so fast. Check out this video, where the clothes change …

Oct 18, 2006: Flu shot Ashwini received her influenza immunization this evening. While we were going to the Doctor’s office, she was a little apprehensive about …

Oct 18, 2006: Unemployed lined up at the FDR Memorial in Washington, DC Nikon D70; Nikkor 18-70mm at 44mm; f/4.5; 1/160 sec; ISO200

Oct 18, 2006: GM diet At this morning weigh-in, I have lost about 7 pounds in one week of this diet. I don’t feel any other benefits from it. My knees feel better …

Oct 17, 2006: Week of GM diet Today was the last day of this diet. Tomorrow morning, I’ll weigh myself to find out how much weight I lost. I liked doing this routine for the …

Oct 13, 2006: Third day of GM diet. Today we get to eat both fruits and vegetables. Don’t know how credible this whole GM diet thing is. Googling “GM diet”, brings up …

Oct 12, 2006: Fall is here... Summer is definitely gone. I have been too busy to enjoy Fall this year and it is slipping away. This morning, we had our first below-freezing …

Oct 10, 2006: Yikes! This is one of the most emailed photos on Yahoo. IMHO, whoever thinks that this woman looks beautiful or sexy is mentally ill. As for this lady, she …

Oct 10, 2006: New Friends Last month, Ashwini’s best friend, Payton was taken out of the preschool and she started going to another one where her sister goes. Ashwini and …

Oct 10, 2006: Apple picking Saturday was a perfect fall day for an outing: 60 degrees and sun shining in the cloudless deep blue sky. We decided to go for our annual apple …

Oct 7, 2006: Boy full of mischief... Adit’s teachers call him, the “Pacifier Bandit”. He doesn’t use a pacifier, but goes around and pulls them out of the mouths …

Oct 5, 2006: Eating a 7 year old I ate my first lobster last night. To get to being of marketable size, i.e. about 1 pound in weight, a lobster takes about 7 years.

Oct 3, 2006: Interesting... If the brand names of cars available in USA are arranged alphabetically, our two cars, Acura and Volvo are the first and the last, respectively. …

Oct 1, 2006: More Adit on YouTube In the future, all videos will be private, for friends and family. If you want to view them, please send me your youtube id and I’ll add you to …

Sep 30, 2006: The crawler [youtube www.youtube.com/watch

Sep 30, 2006: Ashwini and Adit [youtube www.youtube.com/watch

Sep 28, 2006: Happy 0.75th Birthday, Adit!!! Adit, seen prowling around the house. Today, Adit is 9 months old. Last month has been a growing up month for Adit. When I wrote last month’s …

Sep 23, 2006: Eric Clapton live We were supposed to see Eric Clapton in a concert tonight, but uncle Eric had laryngitis and had to cancel the concert. They’ll reschedule at a …

Sep 23, 2006: Ashwini enjoying the mild fall weather and reading a book in the front yard.

Sep 23, 2006: Ashwini enjoying the mild fall weather and reading a book in the front yard.

Sep 20, 2006: American Heart Walk '06 Everyone knows someone in their family or a friend that is affected by heart disease or stroke. To help research to battle heart disease, I will be …

Sep 20, 2006: The Summer is gone and now as we move into fall, the mornings are getting colder and colder. In our household, the tanktops and the shorts have made …

Sep 20, 2006: The Summer is gone and now as we move into fall, the mornings are getting colder and colder. In our household, the tanktops and the shorts have made …

Sep 19, 2006: Roger Waters and The Dark Side of the Moon Went to see Roger Waters of Pink Floyd in concert last night. It was alright, not as good as the “Division Bell” tour in 1994 performed by …

Sep 19, 2006: Back from vacation We are back from vacation after spending a week in Washington DC and New Jersey. Here are some highlights: Ashwini visited her first aquarium at the …

Sep 19, 2006: Back from vacation We are back from vacation after spending a week in Washington DC and New Jersey. Here are some highlights: Ashwini visited her first aquarium at the …

Sep 18, 2006: Rock and Roll week Today: Roger Waters Saturday: Eric Clapton

Sep 14, 2006: Adit at daycare Some photos of Adit sent by his teacher. eating lunch lounging with a book finger painting out for a ride smile smile smile Hey Big Sister, stop …

Sep 14, 2006: Watch out! The little monster is on the prowl. Adit has figured out how to roll, crawl, sit up and lie down all by himself. Last night he was so happy when he …

Sep 1, 2006: Ashwini dancing to music to entertain Adit… Asha Bhosale sings: tan ki jwala thandi ho jaay aise… A: Aai, she is feeling cold. She said …

Aug 31, 2006: Vacation Plans We’ll be travelling next week to visit friends and family. We’ll be in Washington DC area from 4th till 6th Sept. follwed by a stay in …

Aug 28, 2006: Happy 0.6667th Birthday, Adit!!! Adit, just a few seconds before he pulled out some grass and put in his mouth. All through this month, Adit was troubled by a bad cold, but he kept …

Aug 27, 2006: Butterfly release Last Sunday, after keeping the ‘Painted Lady’ butterflies in our house for a week, we decided to let them go. Ashwini reluctantly agreed …

Aug 22, 2006: Come! Don't be scared. Let me take you into the deep dark woods...

Aug 21, 2006: There was a survey in Time magazine that asked questions to find out how healthy you are. One of the questions was, “How often do you have bowel …

Aug 21, 2006: Fortune Fortune from my fortune cookie at lunch: You are soon going to change your present line of work. Home schooling, here I come. Should I call myself …

Aug 16, 2006: New family members Please welcome 3 new members to our solar system. International Astronomical Union decided to bestow the status of ‘planet’ to three …

Aug 15, 2006: Sex: Everywhere we look These days, it is so difficult to raise kids in a clean environment. We try to keep sex and violence out of the house by not watching much TV. We …

Aug 14, 2006: Crocs: You gotta love 'em We have two happy users in our house

Aug 9, 2006: Summer evening

Aug 9, 2006: Ashwini's dream Two nights ago, Ashwini woke up crying/screaming in the middle of the night. V went to see what happened. Ashwini was crying out: “my fins fell …

Aug 9, 2006: Acura MDX My impressions after driving first 1000 miles… It is a bloody gas-guzzler. After driving a compact sedan for 10 years, every time I fill up gas …

Aug 8, 2006: Metamorphosis continues... Ashwini’s pets, the hungry caterpillars ate, ate and ate a lot of food and have turned from the larvae stage into the pupae stage. There are …

Aug 4, 2006: Ashwini and Swati Swati was one of the names on the short list when we were thinking of names for Ashwini. I had put all the names of stars and constellations in the …

Aug 2, 2006: New pets Recently, V bought a nice gift for Ashwini (and me). It is called, Butterfly Garden. The kit had a coupon to get live caterpillars by mail. They …

Aug 1, 2006: Ashwini - growing up A couple of notes from Ashwini’s teacher: Jul. 21, 06: I feel as though Ashwini has matured this week. Some of the things she says sound like …

Jul 28, 2006: Happy 0.5833rd Birthday, Adit! Adit getting ready to go to the waterpark. Adit turned 7 month old today. This last month will be remembered as the month of big changes. He started …

Jul 27, 2006:

Jul 27, 2006: These flowers are so fragile with their paper-thin petals.

Jul 27, 2006: How many times must a man look up before he can see the sky? . . . How many times can a man turn his head, pretending he just doesn't see? Bob Dylan; …

Jul 23, 2006: Big change Goodbye, dear old friend! I shall miss you after our 10 years together. Hello there, stranger! Hope you’ll stick around for at least next 10 …

Jul 20, 2006: How is your vision? Thanks to good genes inherited from my parents, even at 36, I have perfect 20/20 vision. I don’t need to wear any glasses. After looking around, …

Jul 20, 2006: Ashwini and Cinnamon Ashwini feeding her other baby, Cinnamon.

Jul 18, 2006: Just four of us... After about 8-9 months of having parents from India visiting us, the whole of last week, it was just four of us. It is both good and bad. It is bad …

Jul 12, 2006: Julia Sweeney Julia used to be on Saturday Night live in early 90’s. Her popular skit was “It’s Pat”, which was about a person named Pat, …

Jul 12, 2006: Ashwini I realised that I hadn’t posted Ashwini’s pictures (by herself) in a long time.

Jul 12, 2006: Ashwini I realised that I hadn’t posted Ashwini’s pictures (by herself) in a long time.

Jul 12, 2006: Bathtime Bathtime is so full of fun in our home. Both the kids just love being in water. I think it is one of the most enjoyable activities that I participate …

Jul 8, 2006: Adit's first week at daycare Notes from Adit’s teacher during the first week. July, 5, 2006: Adit had a fantastic first day! He loved sitting by the mirror and playing with …

Jul 5, 2006: Adit's daycare Today is Adit’s first day at the daycare. He gladly went to his teacher with a big smile. Hopefully, all the new things (to put in his mouth) …

Jul 5, 2006: Adit's daycare Today is Adit’s first day at the daycare. He gladly went to his teacher with a big smile. Hopefully, all the new things (to put in his mouth) …

Jul 5, 2006: 4th of July We had some backyard fireworks last night. Mostly, it was fun. Kids (even Ashwini) didn’t like the ones that made noise. They liked the colorful …

Jul 4, 2006: Eating solid food Over the last couple of days, Adit started eating solid food. He started out with rice cereal mixed up in formula. He seemed to like it very much and …

Jul 3, 2006: Pet peeve There is a world of difference between alone and lonely. This hasn’t happened to me in a long time, but I hate it when people assume that one is …

Jul 1, 2006: For the first time in my life, I have eaten fish every day for the last 5 days. Monday: Seared Big Eye Tuna Tuesday:Grilled Chilean Sea Bass …

Jul 1, 2006: For the first time in my life, I have eaten fish every day for the last 5 days. Monday: Seared Big Eye Tuna Tuesday:Grilled Chilean Sea Bass …

Jun 28, 2006: Happy 0.5th Birthday, Adit! Adit sitting up with “The Hungry Caterpillar” Adit turned 6 months old today. Half an year zoomed by since his birth. It just seems like …

Jun 27, 2006: Father's day card Ashwini’s preschool teacher helped all her students make Father’s day cards. She asked them questions about their dads and wrote the …

Jun 21, 2006: Poop Ashwini thinks adding the word “poop” or any of its many variations such as poopy, poopoo, poopyhead, etc. makes anything funny. :)

Jun 20, 2006: Saturn in Beehive cluster, M44 Saturn is the bright one at bottom right. reprocessed photo taken in Mar ‘06.

Jun 19, 2006: Us minus one Three of us

Jun 19, 2006: Funny One of my colleagues has this ‘out of office’ email message. I am out of the office and will be back on Monday June 26. Because of the …

Jun 18, 2006: Happy Father's day Wishing a very happy father’s day to my dear father, who is enjoying the Summer with his grandkids. I hope to be half as good as him as a …

Jun 16, 2006: Joke Got this forwarded to me today… Thought for the day: There is more money being spent on breast implants and Viagra today than on Alzheimer's …

Jun 16, 2006: Joke Got this forwarded to me today… Thought for the day: There is more money being spent on breast implants and Viagra today than on Alzheimer's …

Jun 15, 2006: Assassination Vacation Assassination Vacation was my second Sarah Vowell book. It was so entertaining and educational. The book is about Sarah’s travels to visit many …

Jun 14, 2006: Orkut Finally, after the whole world has done it, I have an Orkut account. Please feel free to add me in your network.

Jun 14, 2006: Elvis Costello It was Elvis Costello and the Imposters with Allen Toussaint last night at the Ann Arbor Summer Festival. We received free tickets from work, hence …

Jun 13, 2006: Work?!? A: What does Dada work with, Aai? V: He works with big magnets. A: What do you work with? V: I work with computers. A: Do you know what I work with? I …

Jun 13, 2006: Face recognition Followed a link from Urmila’s post and used the face recognition software. Used this photo as input and here are the results… Adit looks …

Jun 12, 2006: Concerts '06 - II Tomorrow: Elvis Costello 9/18: Roger Waters 9/23: Eric Clapton

Jun 8, 2006: First haircut Just like his sister, Adit starts to feel hot very easily and gets uncomfortable. This leads to him scratching his head and pulling out his hair. To …

Jun 6, 2006: Eyes

Jun 6, 2006: same question; different answer. A: Can I have a lollipop? Me: Why? A: Because, I am good.

Jun 1, 2006:

Jun 1, 2006: Goddess Durga Ashwini knows some of the Hindu deities: Ganesh, Ram-Laxman-Sita, Hanuman, Shiva, etc. On our last trip to the local temple, she came across a statue …

Jun 1, 2006: QOTD “The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts.” –Bertrand …

May 31, 2006: Monthly progress report for Adit Laughing out loud. Here is Adit’s monthly progress report: Adit ... continues to be a smiley, happy baby. is very vocal and much louder than …

May 30, 2006: Hot hot summer It has been so darn hot over the weekend and it was 81F (28C) at 8am this morning. When I dropped Ashwini off, all the kids were changing into …

May 30, 2006: Angry maavashi Ashwini chanced upon an issue of Filmfare, that V’s mom brought from India last year. She looked at the photo on the cover and asked, “Who …

May 29, 2006: Happy 0.4166th Birthday, Adit!!! five months old

May 25, 2006: We used lollipops as bribes to get Ashwini do things like sleep in her own bed, go to the potty, etc. A couple of mornings ago, Ashwini woke up in our …

May 24, 2006: It is a typical arranged-marriage scenario in a Maharashtrian household and the guy and the girl are given some time and space to chat up alone. The …

May 24, 2006: Ghalib was found urinating outside his lover’s house. When asked to explain for his behaviour, he replied: PYAR ME IS KADAR GHAYAL HUE KI AANSUO …

May 24, 2006: Potty training Finally, it has been accomplished! After us fretting about it for a long time, Ashwini on one fine day decided that she wanted to start using potty …

May 24, 2006: Wump of Mr. Gump I made a post about Dr. Suess' One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish sometime last year. It is still one of the most read books in the house. Here …

May 22, 2006: Concerts '06 Roger Waters: “The Dark Side of The Moon” at The Palace at Auburn Hills, MI on Sep 18th, 7:30pm.

May 18, 2006:

May 17, 2006: How do you answer a five-year old, whose mother is in prison, asks, “Is my mommy a bad guy?” And then goes on to say, “Maybe, I …

May 16, 2006: Adit fell asleep in my arms and I was putting him in his crib. Didn’t realize that he was holding my t-shirt while he fell asleep. As I put him …

May 15, 2006: Biting nails, no more. Don’t know when I picked up this habit, but as far as I can remember, I bit my fingernails all my life till about 3 months ago. There must have …

May 11, 2006: peas in a pod, enjoying a spring day

May 11, 2006: peas in a pod, enjoying a spring day

May 10, 2006: Half way through... Thanks to Prem and Aish11 for birthday wishes. Today, I completed 36 revolutions around the Sun. According to the CIA - The World Factbook, life …

May 5, 2006: Spring flowers White Dogwood, my favorite this year. Redbud Yellow Tulips and Daffodils Pink Tulip Last but not least, the mighty Dandelion

May 4, 2006: Hello everyone, how are you?

May 4, 2006: Hello everyone, how are you?

May 4, 2006: A day with Thomas Last Thursday, Ashwini and I went to meet her favorite Thomas, the tank engine. Thomas comes to Henry Ford Museum’s Greenfield village every …

May 3, 2006: Oh, funny bones!!! On Sunday, Ashwini and I were out early morning for the “March of Dimes' walk. Thankfully, Ashwini agreed to sit in the stroller (instead of …

Apr 30, 2006: Happy 0.33rd Birthday, Adit!!! Adit turned 4 months old on the 28th. He is a handful and keeping us busy. Wearing his sister’s crown. Here is Adit’s monthly progress …

Apr 27, 2006: Saturated colors Playdough art; by Ashwini & me.

Apr 26, 2006: 1996 VW Jetta GLX: turned over 150,000 miles (240,000 Km) today.

Apr 26, 2006: Be nice to me. I donated blood today!

Apr 26, 2006: Be nice to me. I donated blood today!

Apr 24, 2006: Spring flowers

Apr 24, 2006: Brain fried... Yesterday, I was listening to my favorite NPR radio program, This American Life. In yesterday’s episode, Fake I.D., Mira Nair read a story, …

Apr 22, 2006: Zoo playmat Ashwini loved it when she was a baby and Adit likes it too. Tiny Love Gymini Super Deluxe - Lights & Music

Apr 22, 2006: An easy solution. OK.. OK… OK…. Before you start sending me angry hatemail, there was no baby in the bassinet. When V was tidying up the bed, she put the …

Apr 20, 2006: Kids... Aditis such a smiley boy. He smiles even when he wakes up in the morning and sees someone near him. has figured out that he can control his hands and …

Apr 20, 2006: Kids... Aditis such a smiley boy. He smiles even when he wakes up in the morning and sees someone near him. has figured out that he can control his hands and …

Apr 19, 2006: Hey, Mr. Tambourine Man... … Let me forget about today until tomorrow. …

Apr 16, 2006: Adit's room More than 3 months after his birth, Adit’s room is finally getting ready for him. Finished with wallpapering and installed his crib, yesterday. …

Apr 14, 2006: No matter how many times I have heard it, whenever someone refers to “my dad’s wife” or “my mom’s husband”, it …

Apr 12, 2006: With a loving wife, two wonderful kids, work and house/yardwork, my life is so full that it is bursting at its seams. Wish there were a few more hours …

Apr 10, 2006: Almost Spring The green grass and the bright blue sky is here. All we need is some flowers and leaves.

Apr 10, 2006: This same field looked so much different in bright sunlight.

Apr 10, 2006: Haircut After getting a series of bad haircuts, I decided to get a fresh start. So, asked the barber to give me a buzzcut. After looking in the mirror, I was …

Apr 10, 2006: They look so similar... We were looking at Ashwini’s old photos and comparing them with Adit’s photos taken recently. They looked so similar. Behind the cut are …

Apr 10, 2006: They look so similar... We were looking at Ashwini’s old photos and comparing them with Adit’s photos taken recently. They looked so similar. Behind the cut are …

Apr 6, 2006: Sex and the city Saw a post about the show written by locks and I had to post my thoughts. Yes, I confess. I have seen every single episode of this show on HBO during …

Apr 5, 2006: Google Romance... Google is getting into personals ads business, too. My wife is going to kill me when she reads this… I posted an ad here over the weekend and I …

Apr 4, 2006: Fortune cookie and Pythagoras This is what it said at lunch time today: The future is in your hands. Turn your fate into destiny. What is the difference between fate and destiny? …

Apr 4, 2006: Fortune cookie and Pythagoras This is what it said at lunch time today: The future is in your hands. Turn your fate into destiny. What is the difference between fate and destiny? …

Apr 3, 2006: Know your colors... Learnt something new while watching Blue’s clues with Ashwini. Primary colors: Red, Yellow and Blue red + yellow = orange red + blue = purple …

Apr 3, 2006: Angry or Calm? Another wonderful optical illusion. If you watch the above images from your seat in front of the computer, Mr.Angry is on the left, and Mrs.Calm is on …

Apr 1, 2006: Spectacular astro event tonight Don’t miss the Grand Occultation of Pleiades by Moon this evening. Here is more info. Looks like weather is going to mess up my plans of …

Mar 31, 2006: What are you talking about? I took this photo along with others that I posted a couple of days ago. But the expressions on their faces deserve a separate post. Here is the fun …

Mar 30, 2006: Ashwini update Ashwini’s lip has recovered very nicely. It has been only 3 days since the accident, but you can’t even make out that there was an injury …

Mar 30, 2006: Happy New Year! Wish you all a very happy and prosperous new year. Best wishes for Gudhi Padva / Ugadhi.

Mar 30, 2006:

Mar 29, 2006: Photochallenge winner My photo received the most votes and was the winner of Photochallenge #158. Yay!

Mar 28, 2006: Happy 0.25th Birthday, Adit! I am planning to write monthly reports for Adit, just like I did for Ashwini. Hope to keep it up till his 3rd birthday, too. Adit is... eating well, …

Mar 27, 2006: Customer service My last two phone calls for customer service were extremely pleasant. Didn’t have to go through a maze of voice-prompts, wasn’t put on …

Mar 27, 2006: Customer service My last two phone calls for customer service were extremely pleasant. Didn’t have to go through a maze of voice-prompts, wasn’t put on …

Mar 26, 2006: kids... Adit pooped after 4 days. After a brief period of unconciousness, everyone recovered to find a smiling Adit. Ashwini fell off her trike in the …

Mar 23, 2006: Quest for a cure Ever wondered … how a drug is discovered? how much research ends in failures before one drug is discovered? how much money is spent in …

Mar 22, 2006: Eating an apple After eating so many apples over so many years, it took someone to point out the following obvious fact… The best part of an apple is the …

Mar 22, 2006: nothing new. In the last test match againast England, India did what it knows best…. crumble under pressure. Nothing new about it.

Mar 20, 2006: Spring is getting close... Today is Vernal equinox, the exactly 12-hour day (and 12-hour night) that marks official beginning of Spring. It may not feel that warm and …

Mar 17, 2006: Salaam - Namaste Our first movie of the year was Salaam - Namaste. I was at home sick with flu-like symptoms. So, while working on taxes, we decided to watch the …

Mar 17, 2006:

Mar 16, 2006: just a photo...

Mar 16, 2006: QOTD We do not so much need the help of friends as the certainty of their help.

Mar 16, 2006: QOTD We do not so much need the help of friends as the certainty of their help.

Mar 12, 2006:

Mar 9, 2006: Starbucks Mocha Currently, I am listening to Sarah Vowell’s The Partly Cloudy Patriot. I first listened to Sarah on the NPR show, This American Life. She has a …

Mar 9, 2006: True Friendship: Forwarded email It is not very often that something good arrives as a forwarded email. This one really made my day. True Friendship Are you tired of those sissy-ass …

Mar 8, 2006: Good boy, Adit!!! When it happened last week, we thought it was just a one time deal, but it happened again last night. Adit slept through the night. 1030pm to 630am. …

Mar 7, 2006: Happy 3rd Birthday, Ashwini!!! Ashwini is 3 years old today. I can’t believe that my little daughter is growing up. I still remember her as a little baby when I first held her …

Mar 6, 2006: Adit at 2 months Went for the 2 month doctor’s visit. Adit has done such a good job of eating well and growing. After patting him on the back, the doctor gave …

Mar 6, 2006: Oscar Awards - II Reese Witherspoon was talking on the stage. Ashwini walked in the room, glanced at the TV and said: “Aai, that maavshi is not wearing any …

Mar 6, 2006: Oscar Awards Didn’t get to watch a lot of the show. Caught a bit where the worst looking actors with the worst acting skills were paired up to present the …

Mar 5, 2006: Saturn in M44 Lately, Saturn has been sitting in the constellation of Cancer. Last night, I took this photo with my 80-300mm zoom lens to capture Saturn and the …

Mar 2, 2006: Cool UI The computer user interface seen in the movie “Minority Report” is close to becoming reality. Check out Multi-Touch Interaction Research …

Mar 1, 2006: Sunrises and sunsets Last few days, I have been seeing stunningly colorful sunrises and sunsets. Unfortunately, I was busy with one of the kids, so couldn’t get out …

Feb 28, 2006: A.Word.A.Day Today’s word from AWAD website: adit (AD-it) noun Access; entrance; admission. A nearly horizontal passage leading into a mine. [From …

Feb 27, 2006: Surviving the death of a spouse A very interesting article was published earlier this month in New England Journal of Medicine about mortality rates after hospitalization of a …

Feb 26, 2006: Photos, after a long break...

Feb 21, 2006: Overheard in NY This website has become my latest addiction. I can’t help take a peek whenever I have a few minutes to spare. Tween girl #1: Aren't you gonna …

Feb 21, 2006: Thinking... Ambition is the last refuge of the failure. – Oscar Wilde

Feb 17, 2006: One more week One more week went by without serious nail-biting. I stopped myself from biting on a few occassions, mostly while sitting in meetings. Let’s see …

Feb 17, 2006: Balls of bull I have been busy working in the lab whole morning. One of my colleagues was trying to extract a compound from bull testicles to use as a reference. …

Feb 16, 2006: Overheard on NPR On Morning Edition today, there was a segment about this website, OverheardInNewYork. S. Morgan Friedman and Michael Malice run this website that …

Feb 12, 2006: Eg..sited Yesterday, Ashwini went with me for her first ever movie in a theater. We watched ‘Curious George’. She has been a fan of ‘Curious …

Feb 10, 2006: One week of no nail-biting completed. Tonight, I trim them with a clipper. YeaY!!! See more progress on: stop biting my nails

Feb 6, 2006: Photo Booth Photo Booth is quite cool. The Eye The Chin I am thy lord, God, fear me!

Feb 6, 2006: Optical illusion This is one of the best optical illusions I have ever seen. If you look at the movement, you see only pink dots. Stare at the “+” sign in …

Feb 2, 2006: The World Is Flat. Finished reading (listening) this excellent book by Thomas Friedman, The World Is Flat. It is a very insightful book that tries to explain everything …

Jan 30, 2006: Whatever.... Ashwini and I rushed out of the house this morning. As I strapped her in the car seat, the following conversation took place. A: ha ha ha ha… …

Jan 26, 2006: Happy Republic Day I had seen this video for Jana Gana Mana quite a few years ago on TV. Found it on Google video. One of best of AR Rahman.

Jan 26, 2006: Anniversary presents. It was a nice day yesterday. We couldn’t really go out and celebrate with a 4 week baby in tow. Celebrations are deferred by 6 months and we …

Jan 25, 2006: Ten years and counting... When fun is being had, time just flies by. I can’t believe that V married me 10 years ago on this day, Jan 25th and we are still married after …

Jan 20, 2006: Adit at 3 weeks V is not going to like this photo in ‘red’ dress. But, I don’t have too many photos of Adit to choose from. I took so many pictures …

Jan 18, 2006: Arithmetically speaking: One almost 3 year old and one 3 week old = 2 kids In terms of time and work needed to care for: One almost 3 year old and one …

Jan 17, 2006: Meaning of Adit I didn’t think ‘Adit’ was an uncommon name, but have received several queries about its meaning. Adit: pronounced as ädit, and means …

Jan 13, 2006: Center of the Milky Way Have you ever wondered how our own galaxy, Milky Way, looks like? On a dark night, one can make out a swatch of shimmering cloud like Milky Way go …

Jan 12, 2006: Adit at 2 weeks Adit turned 2 week old yesterday. He seems to be doing well. His conehead is not as pronounced anymore and is becoming rounder. His eyes are not …

Jan 8, 2006: Happy 2.833rd Birthday, Ashwini!!! Ashwini’s portrait, taken at home. Ashwini had a nice Christmas holiday break. No daycare for 10 days. This was the longest break since our …

Jan 8, 2006: Garrison Keillor I am a big fan of Garrison Keillor and his radio show ‘A Prairie Home Companion’. Here are a couple of gems from the show… Marriage …

Jan 7, 2006: Adit and I

Jan 6, 2006: Brokeback mountain I have heard a lot of good reviews about this movie. But, I am not going to watch it. I am very impressionable (if there is such word) and easily …

Jan 6, 2006: New Year's resolutions. In my opinion, there is no sense in making New Year’s resolutions. They are bound to fail just by the nature of their design. These resolutions …

Jan 3, 2006: Adit on day 5 Adit is a ‘natural born sucker’. He is very efficient about filling up his tummy. His clock is still messed up. Likes to sleep during the …

Dec 29, 2005: Adit We are pleased to welcome the newest member of our family. Adit was born on the evening of Dec. 28th, 2005. He weighed 7.5 lbs and was 20 inches long …

Dec 25, 2005: Merry Christmas Wish you all a Merry Christmas. Here is Ashwini singing a carol for you.

Dec 23, 2005: Ashwini in 2005. Review of what Ashwini did and how she looked as she grew up through 2005. January 2005: Ashwini's new wardrobe February 2005: Fun in snow From her …

Dec 23, 2005: Holiday cards 2005 - II If you missed my earlier post about holiday cards, here it is again. Fill out this poll to receive a card from us. I am sending these cards out …

Dec 22, 2005: Master's thesis in a trash Linda Cerniglia lost her only copy of her Master’s thesis saved on a jump drive when a burgler stole her purse from her car. After a few hours …

Dec 21, 2005: Left or right? Every time I sit down for a proper ‘sit-down’ meal at a banquet or a reception, I instinctively choose the wrong set of glasses. I am …

Dec 19, 2005: Ashwini update Note from her teacher last week: Rachel asked Ashwini today when her baby brother was coming. Ashwini told her, "at Christmas. Santa is going to bring …

Dec 13, 2005: My PhotoChallenge entry for "Narrow" Shot in Venice, Italy.

Dec 12, 2005: Dr. Suess These days, Ashwini is into Dr. Suess books: The Cat in the Hat and One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish. These books are so wonderful. I …

Dec 12, 2005: More winter photos Snow is here to stay till April/May

Dec 7, 2005: Happy 2.75th Birthday, Ashwini!!! Ashwini still sleeps like a frog. Here is Ashwini's monthly progress report. A couple of notes from her preschool: Nov. 11, 2005: Ashwini and Payton …

Dec 6, 2005: Snow makes the world go B&W This photo was shot in color and hasn't been tweaked to remove color.

Dec 4, 2005: Soft fluffy stuff...

Dec 4, 2005: This is the way we brush our teeth... Brush our teeth … Brush our teeth … This is the way we brush our teeth on one fine Sunday morning.

Dec 1, 2005: Change of seasons Fall is definitely gone. Winter is here to stay.

Dec 1, 2005: Baby, we were born to run... ‘Born to Run’ is my most favorite Bruce Springsteen album. It was first released 30 years ago. To celebrate the 30th anniversary, a …

Dec 1, 2005: Holiday Cards 2005

Nov 30, 2005: Thanksgiving 2005 - II I know these are not great pictures, but, didn’t have much time to spend with her on Thursday morning with all the activities in the kitchen.

Nov 30, 2005: Thanksgiving 2005 Thanksgiving this year was wonderful. We had a full house with 23 friends and family members celebrating the harvest festival. There were the usual …

Nov 29, 2005: People in the background All morning shows on network TV, feature the weather(wo)man standing in front of a group of screaming/waving people to talk about the national weather …

Nov 22, 2005: Yesterday, Ashwini and I were coming home. It was raining and was already completely dark at 5:30pm. We were stuck in traffic caused by an accident. …

Nov 18, 2005: I know an old lady Ashwini’s preschool has this book, I know an old lady, that she likes very much. So, we bought it for her and here is how it starts off… …

Nov 16, 2005: Good Morning... indeed I usually turn on the TV while getting ready in the morning to check the weather forecast. While the TV was on and I waited for weather, watched these …

Nov 14, 2005: O Brother, Where Art Thou? In the highways, in the hedges In the highways, in the hedges In the highways, in the hedges I’ll be somewhere working for my lord I’ll be …

Nov 11, 2005: Dilemma about smoking As a result of the big multi-billion dollar settlement between the tobacco companies and several state governments in US, a lot of this settlement …

Nov 11, 2005: Rockstar for toddlers Laurie Berkneris often called the rockstar for toddlers. She used to be a teacher and makes great kids' music. We saw her on ‘Noggin’ TV a …

Nov 10, 2005: Happy 2.6667th Birthday, Ashwini!!! Ashwini helping me clean up leaves from our deck. This month, I am late by 3 days. This is not excusable. But, being busy at work and busy at home …

Nov 9, 2005: lolli Contemplating the future of a lollipop…

Nov 5, 2005: One of her father’s bad influences

Nov 4, 2005: Is USA not good enough? Last week, I was called to sign my name on a patent application. That form also asked for the citizenship of the person. The admin who prepared the …

Nov 3, 2005: Flu vaccine Ashwini received Influenza vaccination last night. While we waited in the examination room, Ashwini was standing up on the table and looking out of …

Oct 31, 2005: Trick or Treat Loook, it's Blue from Blue's clues....

Oct 31, 2005: Happy Halloween Happy Halloween Wish you all a very Happy Diwali and a Prosperous New Year!!!

Oct 26, 2005: U2 - part II Bono proved his greatness as a singer. He recorded “Miss Sarajevo” with Luciano Pavoratti a few years ago. Yesterday, he sang the whole …

Oct 26, 2005: U2 It was an awesome show. The music was great and they performed very well. Show started with ‘City of Blinding Lights’ from their latest …

Oct 25, 2005: Anticipation... Will leave early from work today to go to see U2. The concert is supposed to start at 7:30pm. But, with opening bands and all, U2 should come out on …

Oct 25, 2005: More fall colors More pictures from my backyard. Colorful canopy Light play

Oct 19, 2005: Gross thousands I can’t believe that it’s been 9 years since we met first. I don’t exactly remember the date, but, it was 3rd week of October. She …

Oct 19, 2005: Ashwini enjoying the fall weather in her bug jacket made from recycled plastic soda bottles. Ashwini is excited about the upcoming winter and is …

Oct 19, 2005: Finally, it's fall. My favorite season is definitely here. After what seemed like a long summer, it is finally getting cooler. The mornings are nippy and it feels good to …

Oct 18, 2005: random update Stop taking my pictures. I am not going to smile anymore. This morning, when we left the house, Moon was about to set and was getting close to the …

Oct 18, 2005: On the way to work this morning.

Oct 17, 2005: Parineeta I was pleasantly surprised by ‘Parineeta’, at least the first 75% of it. First of all, it was only 2 hours long. Many more Hindi …

Oct 14, 2005: Breast Cancer awareness October is “Breast Cancer Awareness Month”. October 21st is “National Mammography Day”. Schedule to get a mammogram for …

Oct 7, 2005: Happy 2.58333 th Birthday, Ashwini!!! Taken atop Konica tower near Niagara Falls. We receive a note from Ashwini’s preschool every week. Here are a couple of notes from her teacher, …

Oct 7, 2005: Spencer Tunick I remember seeing a documentary on HBO called ‘naked states’ on works of Spencer Tunick, a couple of years ago. I don’t know how he …

Oct 5, 2005: Do you know what 'sad' is? As told by Ashwini’s teacher, Sara: We have been talking about feelings and emotions in the class. Yesterday, we talked about being sad. S: Do …

Oct 4, 2005: The young 'mahut' During our Canada trip, a couple of weekends ago, we visited the African Lion Safari in Hamilton, ON. It was a fun trip. We really like the idea of …

Oct 1, 2005: V: Ashwini, we have to clean up this room. Pick up all your toys and books and put them away. A: Why? Who is coming to our house?

Oct 1, 2005: Good morning, Niagara Falls, ON

Sep 28, 2005: New found religion My life had no direction or meaning till I discovered the grace of His Holiness. My schools are responsible for my misguided life. I don't know why …

Sep 25, 2005: Weekend trip It was a wonderful weekend. A very well planned and executed trip to meet some old and some new friends. Check out the view from our hotel room …

Sep 23, 2005: chugga chugga ... wheesh Ashwini received her first train set on her 2nd birthday, earlier this year. Since then, I have been buying more and more trains and track components. …

Sep 21, 2005: what...tarian? I always wondered how to describe my food preference. Now, I know the word I should use… Pescatarian: Vegetarian that eats fish. Thanks, …

Sep 20, 2005: After the floods Heard on my favourite radio program, This American Life: First-hand accounts of people from New Orleans during/after the floods caused by Katrina. The …

Sep 19, 2005: The Complete Calvin and Hobbes Calling all Calvin and Hobbes fans… The biggest and most complete Calvin and Hobbes compilation is about to be released in a couple of weeks. …

Sep 18, 2005: Setting Moon Setting Moon early this morning.

Sep 11, 2005: Bappa & modak Ganapati Bappa Moraya; Mangalmoorti Moraya

Sep 10, 2005: The left foot I had to post this photo after seeing premkudva’s this post. Ashwini was about one month old when this photo was taken.

Sep 8, 2005: Happy 2.5th Birthday, Ashwini!!! Taken on the shores of Lake Michigan in South Haven, MI. Two major changes happened in Ashwini's life during the last month. I wrote a post about one …

Sep 8, 2005: American Heart Walk Everyone knows someone affected by heart disease or stroke. I have set a personal goal to raise funds for the American Heart Association by …

Sep 6, 2005: Evening sky... It was a beautiful evening sky today. Venus, Moon and Jupiter came together close to create this spectacular view. If you missed it, try again on …

Sep 1, 2005: A new beginning When Ashwini goes back to daycare next week, she will be going to Preschool. It will be a big change for her. Her teachers have been preparing her and …

Aug 26, 2005: wini-me By popular demand… presenting Dr. Evil’s new sidekick, wini-me

Aug 26, 2005: caterpillar -> cocoon -> butterfly It would have been nice to have a photo accompanying this post, but, unfortunately I don’t have any. A few weeks ago, I had made a post about …

Aug 24, 2005: boohaahaaahaa... boohaahaahaa Ashwini has learnt to laugh like Dr. Evil from Austin Powers movies.

Aug 23, 2005: Ashwini's photography These days, Ashwini is getting interested in being on the other side of the camera to take photos. She knows how to take photos. Hold the camera in …

Aug 23, 2005: Good advice This morning, I was saying goodbye to Ashwini and she gave me some pearls of wisdom… “Bye. Go to work, Dada. Drive your car on the …

Aug 18, 2005: Iron Chef “Iron Chef America”, the American version of the original Japanese cooking competition show, sucks big time. The original was so much …

Aug 18, 2005: Another one... ETA: Jan 2006

Aug 16, 2005: Another beautiful sunset taken on Aug. 15, 2005. taken on Aug. 15, 2005.

Aug 16, 2005: Ashwini went on a field trip today to a waterpark. I went along with the group too. It was too much fun. More pictures later.

Aug 16, 2005: August 16, 1991 India’s Independence day always reminds me of another important day in my life. For the first time in my life, I left my parent’s home to …

Aug 15, 2005: sing from benigan Last week, Ashwini said the following many times while music was playing on the CD player in the car: “sing from benigan” I couldn’t …

Aug 14, 2005: Polite streak... For the last couple of days, Ashwini has suddenly become polite. She always used to say, “I want to read this book”, “I want to sit …

Aug 13, 2005: Veggie flowers I was always curious about how the veggies start out on plants. Here are a couple of answers… Okra Eggplant

Aug 12, 2005: New pull toy new toy toppled over. needs some maintenance.

Aug 12, 2005: Disclaimers Last night, while watching NFL, I saw an ad for CIALIS, one of the erectile dysfunction drugs. They had following disclaimers at the end of the ad: …

Aug 11, 2005: Perseids 2005 Early morning of Aug. 12th is going to be the peak for 2005 Perseid meteor showers. I missed last year’s show because of cloudy skies and the …

Aug 8, 2005: Bond... James Bond Being a James Bond movies fan, I must have seen every Bond movie at least 5 times and some of them many many more times. I like all the Sean Connery …

Aug 8, 2005: Happy 2.416667th Birthday, Ashwini!!! Getting to know the Gorillas. Taken at the Toledo Zoo, last week. Ashwini's talking has been the focus of her monthly progress reports past few …

Aug 8, 2005: The swamp This is where the bird from my earlier post lives.

Aug 8, 2005: Water fowl Found this in a pond/swamp near A’s daycare. Don’t know exactly what this big bird is. I think it is a blue heron. Could anyone please …

Aug 3, 2005: Page 3 Finally, the search for a likeable hindi movie is over. It took more than one year since “Ab tak Chhappan”, but, “Page 3” was …

Jul 30, 2005: 237 channels and nothing's on... The situation is quite pathetic when the best choice of program to watch on TV is a crappy movie like ‘The Independence Day’.

Jul 30, 2005: Here is the current roster of Indian Cricket team: *Rahul Dravid Sourav Ganguly Virender Sehwag VVS Laxman Yuvraj Singh Mohammad Kaif Jai P Yadav …

Jul 29, 2005: First harvest Fresh from our veggie garden. Tomatoes, Cauliflower and Okra (Lady’s fingers) are on their way to mature soon.

Jul 28, 2005: A visitor We found an uninvited visitor in the veggie garden this evening. Ashwini was happy to see a real life version of the hero of her favorite book, The …

Jul 27, 2005: Yellow stain I was standing front of the mirror, brushing teeth, this morning and noticed a yellow spot on my t-shirt. Realised what it was right away. Must have …

Jul 26, 2005: ye re ye re paavasa Finally, I captured Ashwini singing Marathi songs. Click here to hear. The english translation of the song doesn’t really make much sense, but, …

Jul 25, 2005: Over the last 2 years... When I saw this post by draupadi, I had to copy the idea. Just couldn’t resist… July 2003 July 2004 July 2005

Jul 25, 2005: Yesterday Woke up at 5:45 am to find thunderstorms and rain. Had to cancel 6:30 am tee-time. The rain stayed on through most of morning. We had to keep the …

Jul 23, 2005: Doodles Ashwini has suddenly improved her sketching techniques. Till recently, the only thing she could draw intentionally was a straight line. We were amazed …

Jul 21, 2005: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers Continuing our Summer of concerts, we went to see Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, last night. It was at the DTE energy music theater, north of …

Jul 20, 2005: Sunset on Jul 18, 2005. Nikon D70; 18-70mm lens @ 70mm; F/4.5; aperture priority; ISO 400. Slightly cropped and curves adjusted for contrast.

Jul 19, 2005: Bunty aur Babli If someone tells me that the producers of this movie bribed the news reporters to write good reviews, I would believe it in a heartbeat. How else …

Jul 19, 2005: kabause Our latest trick to get a quick laugh is to ask Ashwini a ‘why’ question…. V: Ashwini, why are your teeth so white? A: kabause, I …

Jul 18, 2005: RTM Early this morning, I found V reading the manual for her new hair dryer. If Ashwini was around she would have asked the question that I didn’t …

Jul 13, 2005: Golf... My best performance of the season so far. 62 strokes on 9 holes, even after losing 3 balls. I got my first par on a par-5 hole. Quite happy about …

Jul 13, 2005: A nice day at the lake

Jul 11, 2005: Ashwini's first camping trip Last weekend, Ashwini went on her first ever camping trip. And, she absolutely loved it. I could see her disappointment, when I was taking down the …

Jul 7, 2005: Happy 2.333rd Birthday, Ashwini! If you come by our house these days in the evening, you’ll find Ashwini in this same pose. Recently, I bought a 2 liter container of soap …

Jul 7, 2005: Young leaves taken with Nikon D70, 18-70mm lens at 70mm; f/4.5; 1/250sec; ISO200

Jul 5, 2005: Some new photos of Ashwini... Sporting her first 2-piece swimsuit

Jul 1, 2005: Long weekend I am sure everyone in US has plans to do something over the 4th of July weekend. I always like to stay home over this long weekend. Two reasons: It …

Jun 30, 2005: Coool goooogle Google at its best ever… Google Earth is ADDICTIVE. Adjusting tilt is just a little too much. It feels like playing a video game with an …

Jun 30, 2005: Typical day... A typical day in Ashwini’s life: 7:00amwake up, get ready, some breakfast 7:40am leave home for daycare 8:00am breakfast at daycare 8:30am …

Jun 28, 2005: copied from radhika74 If you have absolutely nothing better to do Please leave a one-word comment that you think best describes me. It can only be one …

Jun 27, 2005: two day stubble This has always bugged me…. What do women find attractive in a man with a two day old stubble? I can understand liking a fully grown proper …

Jun 27, 2005: Crappiest movie ever Yesterday, I watched one of the most crappiest Hindi movies ever, on AZN masala weekend. My brother was visiting for the weekend and we had a blast …

Jun 24, 2005: It was the first visit of the year to the emergency room for Ashwini. We came home from daycare and after getting out of the car she wanted to sit in …

Jun 22, 2005: Book tag Finally, a meme about books that has been making circles in the blog world. Although I love to collect and read books, my book-reading habits have …

Jun 21, 2005: Yes, she IS my daughter. We had a little incident today. Ashwini’s daycare teacher arranged an outing for all her kids and their families at Chuck-E-Cheese. This was our …

Jun 21, 2005: My 3rd Father's day A’s teacher: Ashwini, what did you do for Father’s day? A: My say happy father’s day to dada. My do drawing on card. My give card to …

Jun 21, 2005: Pulp Fiction accessories This is an essential accessory for all the “Pulp Fiction” fans out there. I would love to get one for myself, but, ‘boss’ …

Jun 20, 2005: Fly away, bubbles... fly...

Jun 20, 2005: What's the next word? Follow-up to this post about Ashwini’s Punjabiness… Yesterday, V made my favorite aloo parathas for Father’s day. Ashwini got one …

Jun 19, 2005: Happy Father's Day Happy Father’s Day to me… Over the last two years, I grew up as a father and learned so much more about life and love than I ever knew …

Jun 17, 2005: Colin Mockery and Brad Sherwood show Went to see the stars of the TV show, “Whose line is it anyway?”. They kicked off the three-week long Ann Arbor Summer Festival. They were …

Jun 17, 2005: Petting farm Ashwini’s class went on a trip to a petting farm on Tuesday. I decided to go along and give a hand to her teachers. There were 4 teachers with …

Jun 14, 2005: Plough A: Plough. I want to eat plough. That is how she answered to our queries about her food preference for dinner. It took us a minute to figure out that …

Jun 14, 2005: Don't expect me to cry... Have been listening to “Nirvana: MTV unplugged in New York”. This song “Jesus don’t want me for a sunbeam” is just stuck …

Jun 11, 2005: The Revenge of the Sith Thanks to “Summer hours” at work, we went to watch “The Revenge of the Sith” yesterday. Loved it. As usual, the acting was …

Jun 9, 2005: HOT HOT HOT It is so hot, I feel like I am melting. It was 75F at 730 in the morning when I got out of the house. Today’s high is going to be 90+ again. Lat …

Jun 9, 2005: Golf IV Yesterday was extremely hot when we began and then got soaked in a thunderstorm. Managed a score of 67. That was pretty good as I tied my average for …

Jun 7, 2005: Happy 2.25th birthday, Ashwini! The greatest achievement for Ashwini over the last month is singing songs in tune. Many of you must have already heard her rendition of A B C D. We …

Jun 7, 2005: Cleaning the CCD After I wrote about the dust on the CCD of my Nikon D70 yesterday, did some digging around on the web and found that this is a common problem. …

Jun 6, 2005: Problem with Nikon D70 Noticed that a couple of small particles of dust and small fiber have gotten onto the CCD of my Nikon D70. I can see it there when I open the shutter, …

Jun 5, 2005: Health... Since Ashwini was born, I haven’t done any regular exercise like I used to. I haven’t been watching what I eat, how much I eat and when I …

Jun 4, 2005: Cloning....

Jun 3, 2005: Cool wedding A wedding on Mount Everest Now, that must be the coolest place to get married. Congratulations and best wishes to the newlyweds.

Jun 1, 2005: Ashwini strutted into a large gathering room at her daycare this morning showing off her new skirt. (Damn… I forgot to take a picture in the …

Jun 1, 2005: QOTD Kissing a smoker is like licking an ashtray. via kiruba A draconian move by the Indian government. Usually, I don’t like any bans or laws that …

May 30, 2005: Ashwini's new playset Last few days, I have been busy building Ashwini’s playset. It arrived in about 90-100 wooden pieces and other parts. There were hundreds of …

May 29, 2005: Hope... Saw this on a roadside sign yesterday: Man's way leads to hopeless end God's way leads to endless hope Make your choice. But, think about it… …

May 27, 2005: A B C D... Check this out. Learn your alphabets if you have forgotten them.

May 26, 2005: Sunset on May 26th 2005 These clouds appeared in the sky just as the Sun was setting.

May 26, 2005: Stories at the barbershop... Went to get a haircut yesterday. This old man hacks my hair as if he is a butcher, but, he tells interesting stories. This is what he entertained me …

May 25, 2005: New playset Ashwini is very happy with the new playset that we built for her. It is still not complete, but, will be tomorrow. More pictures and details to follow …

May 24, 2005: I have been reading The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. This is Mark Haddon’s first novel and it turned out to be an excellent …

May 24, 2005: Winged Migration Got my own copy of Winged Migration. Ashwini and I watched it for a few minutes (giver her short 10-15 minute attention span) yesterday. She was …

May 23, 2005: Bride and Prejudice silly and stupid. was expecting better from Gurinder. aishwarya spoke in a weird accent that was very annoying. the songs were awful. just like …

May 22, 2005: 2..2..2..2 Today Ashwini is 2years, 2months, 2weeks and 2days old. Thanks for pointing it out, Sujit.

May 22, 2005:

May 22, 2005: Good soup Roasted red pepper and tomato soup from Pacific Foods is most excellent. It is organic with all natural ingredients. So easy to make: pour, heat and …

May 20, 2005: more tulips

May 17, 2005: Long words... Ashwini is getting good with long words these days. Yesterday, she was looking at a book and saying the names of the animals out loud. cow… …

May 17, 2005: Young Maple leaves

May 16, 2005: My movies I think on9thheaven asked me to do this sometime last week… Total number of films I own on DVD/video: VHS = 10-15 (haven’t touched them …

May 16, 2005: Crabapple After the tulips and daffodils, the crabapples are in bloom now. These trees are making more and more flower every year. Three years ago, during our …

May 14, 2005: Spring greenery With the arrival of spring, the woods behind our house have turned into the ‘Shire’ again. Compare it with how it looked a couple of …

May 12, 2005: my... my... mine Ashwini is learning the ‘my’ concept. Last week, she was standing in the window looking outside at the flowers, trees, road, etc. …

May 12, 2005: Golf III I continue to do worser and worserer every time I play. Last night, my score was 70. What is my excuse for this time??? Hmmmm…. I was playing …

May 10, 2005: Spring flowers Tulips When we had a snowstorm a couple of weeks ago, after the tulip bulbs started sprouting, I wasn’t sure if they’ll survive. Contrary …

May 10, 2005: 35 and counting.... Completed 35 revolutions around the Sun, today. Thanks to the Earth and my parents for making this possible. Thanks to many friends for their warm …

May 9, 2005: Happy 2.16667th Birthday, Ashwini Happy Mother’s day, Aai The most significant achievement came just a few days ago. Ashwini can now jump by herself. She can become airborne for …

May 8, 2005: Winged migration Just finished watching “Winged Migration” on TV. It was just beautiful. Great cinematography. Very little commentary and very few images …

May 6, 2005:

May 6, 2005: Golf II Played another round of golf on Wednesday. This time the score was 69. Worse than the first time, but, this part of the course is tougher. One par 5 …

May 4, 2005: Grren leaves and snow together look quite unnatural…

May 4, 2005: Saturn from Cassini One of the prettiest photos of Saturn. Didn’t know that the rings were so thin. The moons in the plane of the ring… it is quite cool.

May 3, 2005: The Fountainhead III Finished listening to ‘The Fountainhead’ this morning. I am glad I chose to listen rather than read. I would never have finished a paper …

May 2, 2005: March of Dimes: Walk America The walk was on Sunday. It was a beautiful day to be outside. A little chilly but comfortable for walking 2.5 miles briskly. It was a successful …

Apr 30, 2005: Another speechless moment. V: Ashwini, let’s get ready to go see the doctor. A: nako doctor, aai. V: Do you remember that Dr.X gave you a lollipop last time. A: no Dr. X, …

Apr 28, 2005: Golf Played golf after a long long time yesterday. I was substituting someone in the golf league at work. I scored 63. That is better than what Tiger Woods …

Apr 28, 2005: Silhouette

Apr 28, 2005: Little miss pout Ashwini tripped and fell while playing at her daycare and got a swollen lip. Her daycare teacher’s comment: “Ashwini looked like Angelina …

Apr 25, 2005: Bruce Springsteen Just came back from the opening show of Bruce Springsteen’s concert tour. It was amazing. The name of the tour describes the performance: …

Apr 25, 2005: My music sampada asked for this, so here it is…. Total amount of music files on your computer: On my iPod, I have 955 songs taking up 8-9 GB. But, I …

Apr 24, 2005: Food recommendations Bonny Doon Vineyards; Pacific Rim dry Riesling: Very smooth and refreshing. Perfect compliment for Indian or any spicy food. Bought for $9.99.Muscat …

Apr 24, 2005: Winter is back... After two weeks of Spring/Summer weather, Winter is back again I knew it was too early to get so warm. Since yesterday, we have freezing rain and snow …

Apr 22, 2005: Make your own Virgin Mary grilled cheese sandwiches eBay item 5574030908 (Ends Apr-26-05 11:25:58 PDT) - OFFICIAL HOLY PAN THAT MADE THE GRILLED CHEESE SANDWICH A few months ago, a 10-year old grilled …

Apr 22, 2005: Eclipse A tulip bud eclipsing the setting Sun.

Apr 21, 2005: Another moon photo from last week. It is actually a mosaic of three photos.

Apr 21, 2005: Aai-bai Ashwini is into rhyming words these days. She calls herself shwinee-beenie. Her teachers are Sara-bara and Rachel-bachel. Her friends are holly-Molly, …

Apr 20, 2005: Sunrise on April 19, 2005 Almost same time, almost same location, almost same camera settings except focus.

Apr 19, 2005: Kille Raigad On my fourth trip to the capital of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s kingdom, I cheated. The technological advance let me take a shortcut on this …

Apr 18, 2005: I was reading my LJ friends page on Sunday morning. I was reading this post by sampada. I looked out of the window and what I see… a cardinal. …

Apr 18, 2005: Save premature babies, II Reposting this as the date of the walk comes closer. Sincere thanks to those who already made a donation. So far, I have collected $150 from friends …

Apr 17, 2005: Power trip I felt so powerful today…. We decided to clear out some area in the woods. We don’t want to touch the big trees, but, need to remove some …

Apr 17, 2005: Community service II To continue with the community appreciation theme, Ashwini’s daycare baked cookies and distributed them to houses around their facility. I feel …

Apr 15, 2005: Ashwini hears and learns a lot of words at her daycare. Am not sure if she really knows the meaning, but, she uses them correctly. A couple of days …

Apr 15, 2005: Astro-photos Last night was not too windy and clear. Although, I froze my fingers by the end of the 2 hour session, I was able to take some photos of the Moon and …

Apr 14, 2005: Moonlit night Two day old thin crescent of the Moon with some lingering sunlight. A closeup shot of the same 2 day old Moon showing earthshine.

Apr 13, 2005: Colorful Sunset

Apr 13, 2005: Bad parents... Some people are just insane and I feel like smacking some sense into them. They are not fit to be parents and should be neutered. Yesterday, there was …

Apr 13, 2005: Bob Dylan concert Just came back from the Bob Dylan Show as they called it. It was OK. Less than what I had expected. I wasn’t disappointed but, I wasn’t …

Apr 12, 2005: Community service At Ashwini’s daycare, this week is ‘Community Appreciation Week’. Yesterday, a chain-gang of toddlers walked outside their daycare, …

Apr 11, 2005: Busy day Saturday was such a busy day. It started with Ashwini’s swimming class in the morning. Did our usual grocery run in the evening followed by a …

Apr 11, 2005: More music this year... Just bought tickets on ebay for Bruce Springsteen’s tour-opening show in Detroit on April, 25th. Yaay!!! It is so exciting. First time to see …

Apr 11, 2005: The Fountainhead.... I am still listening to ‘The Fountainhead’. I found the descriptions of interactions between Howard Roark and Dominique Francone quite …

Apr 7, 2005: Happy 2.0833th Birthday, Ashwini!!! Ashwini is 25 month old today. I am supposed to stop counting months after 2 years, but, I cannot. As it can be seen in the photo, she has picked up a …

Apr 6, 2005: Is a beautiful warm and sunny day, today – Had another lunch date with V – More Japanese food – Should go home early – Need …

Apr 6, 2005: More Hyderabad photos... Following up my earlier entry with more photos taken around Charminar. Charminar sits in the center of Hyderabad with lot of markets around it and …

Apr 5, 2005: The Fountainhead Started listening to “The Fountainhead” by Ayn Rand. I had heard a lot about this book, but, it’s size always scared me. It is so …

Apr 5, 2005: Long Wait to See Pope Yahoo! News - Mourners Brave Cold Night, Long Wait to See Pope I don’t see the reason why people are doing this. There are many who are flying …

Apr 4, 2005: Ashwini's daycare We are just so pleased with Ashwini’s daycare. Her teachers are very nice and caring. Everyone who works there, has a degree in child …

Apr 4, 2005: Pepsi free songs part II I bought one more pepsi drink… diet mountain dew this time. It had a free song too. So, I am 3 out of 3. I am pretty sure that I have used up …

Apr 4, 2005: Daylight saving time I hate it. I know all the reasons for it, but, many of them don't make any sense in this day and age. Everyone was robbed of one hour of sleep over …

Apr 3, 2005: Ashwini swim class I was planning to post these photos for a long time, but, just didn’t get around to it. kicking water fetching a toy kicking water on her back …

Apr 1, 2005: Water on Mars The latest news about Mars: Found: Water on Mars

Apr 1, 2005: It is hard to keep track of what you are doing while deep in thought. This morning, I was planning out experiments for the day. I was in the bathroom, …

Mar 31, 2005: Spring is here... The signs of spring are definitely here. All the snow has melted away. Had first of our spring showers last night and gardner’s friends are out …

Mar 30, 2005: Vincent Van Gogh Today is 152nd birth anniversary of Vincent Van Gogh, one of the best post-impressionist artists. He suffered from a mental illness and committed …

Mar 29, 2005: Ashwini wanted to read a book while she drank her milk. She kept saying, “read wamayend, aai, read wamayend.” It took us a while to figure …

Mar 29, 2005: Hustle and bustle around Charminar in Hyderabad, India.

Mar 29, 2005: Went to Ashwini’s daycare for a meeting with her daycare people. While we were there, decided to peek into her room without letting her know …

Mar 29, 2005: Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Thousand salutations to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, on the occasion of his 375th birth anniversary Photo taken in Jan2005 at kille Raigad, which was …

Mar 28, 2005: An oak tree viewed through a window.

Mar 28, 2005: Disgusting.... India lost the last test match to Pakistan in Bangalore by 168 runs. It was just disgusting. Pakistani batsmen were playing as if the Indian bowlers …

Mar 28, 2005: Disgusting.... India lost the last test match to Pakistan in Bangalore by 168 runs. It was just disgusting. Pakistani batsmen were playing as if the Indian bowlers …

Mar 24, 2005: too much.... not yet Ashwini has learnt how to use these phrases correctly and she uses them at every opportunity she gets. If we are transfering food in her bowl or …

Mar 24, 2005: too much.... not yet Ashwini has learnt how to use these phrases correctly and she uses them at every opportunity she gets. If we are transfering food in her bowl or …

Mar 24, 2005: Bye bye winter Spring is almost here. All the snow is melting away. Scenes like this are going to be just a memory till November-December.

Mar 24, 2005: Bye bye winter Spring is almost here. All the snow is melting away. Scenes like this are going to be just a memory till November-December.

Mar 23, 2005: The scent of a female cockroach BIOCHEMISTRY: Irresistible Lure for Cockroaches Determined – Pennisi 307 (5712): 1029b – Science Just like many other animals, cockroaches …

Mar 23, 2005: The scent of a female cockroach BIOCHEMISTRY: Irresistible Lure for Cockroaches Determined – Pennisi 307 (5712): 1029b – Science Just like many other animals, cockroaches …

Mar 23, 2005: Pepsi free songs I have been very lucky about getting free songs in bottles of Pepsi products. In last two weeks, I bought two bottles of Sierra Mist and found free …

Mar 23, 2005: Pepsi free songs I have been very lucky about getting free songs in bottles of Pepsi products. In last two weeks, I bought two bottles of Sierra Mist and found free …

Mar 23, 2005: Living will Last December, we decided to draft a living will and other such documents this year. In light of the recent Terry Schiavo case, it becomes very …

Mar 23, 2005: Living will Last December, we decided to draft a living will and other such documents this year. In light of the recent Terry Schiavo case, it becomes very …

Mar 21, 2005: Learnt in grad school... I knew going to graduate school would do me good. Two important things I learnt while getting a Ph.D. : How to live happily in poverty when the end is …

Mar 21, 2005: Learnt in grad school... I knew going to graduate school would do me good. Two important things I learnt while getting a Ph.D. : How to live happily in poverty when the end is …

Mar 20, 2005: Sunrise form last Saturday This photo was taken at the same time as this photo posted earlier.

Mar 20, 2005: Vernal Equinox Today is vernal equinox. Officially, the first day of Spring. Wish you all a long and warm Spring before things heat up for the Summer.

Mar 20, 2005: First lollipop Friday was Ashwini’s 2 year physical with her pediatrician. She is growing as expected. 24.5 lb (30th percentile) and 33 inches (30th …

Mar 20, 2005: Fresh Snow

Mar 18, 2005: U2 Just bought 2 tickets to see U2 on October 25th, 2005 at the Palace of Auburn Hills (home of Detroit Pistons) in Detroit.

Mar 18, 2005: Pajama day Ashwini’s daycare has pajama day today. Not everyone came in their jammies but, Ashwini did.

Mar 16, 2005: Ashwini's birthday presents Continuing the series of Ashwini’s Birthday posts… She received quite a few presents for her birthday. She had a lot of fun ripping all …

Mar 15, 2005: Robert Zimmerman Live: Part II After I received my ticket for the Chicago concert, they announced a show in Detroit. So, I bought me a pair of tickets for the Detroit show on …

Mar 14, 2005: Blowing candles I forgot to post this in the earlier photo post. Here is a little (1.3MB) video of Ashwini enjoying her favorite activity of her birthday: blowing …

Mar 14, 2005: Ashwini's birthday pics Ashwini’s 2nd birthday was on last Monday. We celebrated it on Sunday, a day early. She wore an orange (her current favorite color) dress and …

Mar 11, 2005: iTunes I am impressed with iTunes, yet again. Not only it does a great job of organising all the music, but, it handles multiple processes very efficiently. …

Mar 11, 2005: Absolute space doesn’t exist. Absolute time doesn’t exist. Space-time is absolute.

Mar 9, 2005: Post-processing of digital photos A lot of people scoff at digital photos that are post-processed using softwares like Photoshop and Gimp. I think what they don’t realise is that …

Mar 9, 2005: Good Morning The Sun was trying to show its presence before disappearing in the clouds above.

Mar 8, 2005: More fun in the snow... Spring is slowly showing its signs. Last weekend, we saw temperatures in 40s. The snow started to melt, became sticky and was perfect for packing and …

Mar 7, 2005: Happy 2nd Birthday, Ashwini!!! Ashwini is already 2 years old. We can’t believe that these precious days are slipping through our fingers. Through our eyes, Ashwini is doing …

Mar 5, 2005: Play in water Today was Ashwini’s second swimming class. She enjoyed it as much as the one last week. She didn’t want to come out of the water at the …

Mar 4, 2005: March of Dimes Some facts about March of Dimes that I learnt recently… This charity was started by Franklin D. Roosevelt, who asked mothers to collect dimes …

Mar 3, 2005: Robert Zimmerman Live Will be going to see Bob Dylan live in Chicago on April 2nd, 7pm.

Mar 3, 2005:

Mar 2, 2005: Happy Birthday, Yahoo!!! It was 10 years ago today, when Yahoo! become an incorporated company. I still remember using the Yahoo website in its Stanford days when it was a …

Mar 2, 2005: Hear ye hear ye…. All rise and bow to the mighty Sir Bill

Mar 2, 2005: Hulchul Tried watching Hulchul last Saturday. The promos (and that unreliable source, again) promised non-stop laughter and a funfest. Instead it was all …

Mar 1, 2005: Hmmm… Interesting. Just noticed the names of these two albums in my iTunes library that follow each other…

Mar 1, 2005: really snowed in today... We got a few (4-6) inches of snow last night. The public schools have announced a closing. That means Ashwini’s daycare is closed. So, I get to …

Feb 28, 2005: Finally.... It was a love at first sight. At that time, we were not meant to be together. I pined in the pain of separation for more than a year. Finally, today …

Feb 26, 2005: Come on, jump in... Ashwini went to her first swimming class today. It was called ‘Parent-child Water Exploration’. We had so much fun. I was the parent with …

Feb 25, 2005: Sweet dreams After all the tantrums, screaming and running after Ashwini that is involved in making her eat dinner, take a bath and put on clothes, she is finally …

Feb 23, 2005: Big crash... What if part of New York broke off and slammed into New Jersey? Something similar happened in Antartica over the last couple of months. Check out the …

Feb 22, 2005: Save premature babies... Premature birth is the leading cause of newborn death in the first month of life. It affects 1,305 babies a day in the United States. Those who …

Feb 21, 2005: Snowed in... Over the weekend, we received another healthy dose of snow (about 8 inches). It was cloudy, foggy and snowing all the on and off on Sunday. A perfect …

Feb 17, 2005: LJ user-photo collage After seeing everyone’s collage, I had to put mine up too. ~parag~ LJ friendsCollage. Brought to you by <a …

Feb 16, 2005: In the middle of nowhere I had earlier posted about a show called ‘This American Life’ on NPR. I continue to like it more and more everytime I hear it. Check out …

Feb 14, 2005: Where do babies come from??? For parents who will be answering to their children's "where do babies come from?" question, here is a new book that will definitely be of help. It …

Feb 13, 2005: Fun in snow It was a beautiful Saturday morning. If we could bottle it and sell it, we could become billionaires in a jiffy. A typical crisp and clear February …

Feb 13, 2005: Dhoom machaale dhoom... After hearing praises from some unreliable sources, I decided to ignore my dear friend Vinayak’s admonitions about ‘Dhoom’. Within …

Feb 11, 2005: Happy Valentine's day Sick of all the stupid, meaningless, commercialised, syrupy, slushy, gushy-mushy Valentine’s day crap? Send an anti-valentine to someone for a …

Feb 10, 2005: I sure was glad to have my camera with me when I drove by this…

Feb 10, 2005: Legislating fashion What is so offensive about seeing someone’s underwear? Don’t these idiotic legislators have anything better to do? Did the Taliban start …

Feb 9, 2005: HR gobbledeegook It is interesting to see how goal setting and performance evaluation policies are changed by HR. From this year, goals should be written at a very …

Feb 9, 2005: Mandalit del Barco Some people have names that just sound so great. This NPR reporter is one of them. When she signs off at the end of the report, it is worth listening …

Feb 8, 2005: Don't miss .... …. Aishwarya Rai on the Late Show with David Letterman tonight at 1130 pm ET.

Feb 8, 2005: Hava Mahal (Air Palace) in Jaipur

Feb 7, 2005: Foggy foggy day... Saturday was an extremely foggy day. Not just the morning but the whole day. Couldn’t see anything that was farther than 50 feet. All the …

Feb 7, 2005: Happy 1.91667th Birthday, Ashwini! We were in India last month and missed posting her monthly progress report. Here is Ashwini’s current progress report. I can't walk while …

Feb 4, 2005: The Qutub Minar The Qutub Minar in Delhi is the tallest freestanding stone tower in the world (approx. 250 feet).

Feb 2, 2005: Back from India - IV After coming back from India, I am missing my parents and friends and then, all the good food. A close third behind that is all the great remix videos …

Feb 2, 2005: Pet peeve #3 People that keep their home thermostats set at 75-80F. All that dry heat is so bad for health. It dries up your eyes, skin and breathing passages …

Jan 31, 2005: Play ball Come here…. sit (on) balls…. play balls

Jan 31, 2005: Back from India - III Negotiating traffic on the roads of Mumbai, while at the wheel has become more difficult compared to what I remember from my last trip in 2000. Maybe, …

Jan 30, 2005: Ashwini's new wardrobe During our trip to India, Ashwini acquired a lot of Indian clothes. Some were brought by relatives to wear during her kaka’s wedding, some were …

Jan 27, 2005: Guess where I went during my India trip….

Jan 26, 2005: Cool cool night.... IT is such a beautiful night tonight. Very clear and stars are shining brightly even with almost a full moon. But, the clear sky comes with a big …

Jan 26, 2005: Back from India - II If you check out the US government’s guidelines about traveling to India, you would think that it is a germ infested, diseased country and you …

Jan 25, 2005: Brilliant minds at work... White House Cuts Hubble Servicing Mission from 2006 Budget Request Bush Wants $80B More for Iraq, Afghan Wars Cut $1 billion for something useful and …

Jan 25, 2005: Back from India - I Left 85F weather in Mumbai on Sunday and arrived in frigid Detroit at 13F with a foot of snow on ground. Thankfully, my neighbor’s kids had …

Jan 3, 2005: Enjoying the Sun and sand V and Ashwini enjoying the beach at Guhagar, on coastal Maharashtra, India. This is why we have been away from the internet.

Dec 10, 2004: Friday funnies... If you are choking on an ice cube, don't panic. Simply pour a cup of boiling water down your throat.Avoid arguments with the Mrs. about lifting the …

Dec 9, 2004: Very Escheresque... Check out the zoomquilt at the following link… The Evil Tree Quite amazing!!! Thanks, premkudva.

Dec 8, 2004: Holiday cards or postcards from India I’ll be leaving for India this Sunday. If you wish to receive a postcard from India or a holiday card from me please fill out the following …

Dec 7, 2004: Happy 1.75th Birthday, Ashwini! We are planning to use this photo for our 2004 holiday card. Here is Ashwini's monthly progress report... Ashwini is getting very good at running …

Dec 7, 2004: QOTD In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice; in practice, there is.

Dec 7, 2004: Food. I won’t be eating any Japanese food for the next 6-7 weeks during my India trip. My last Plate of Sushi/Sashimi was most excellent. Very tender …

Dec 3, 2004: Biggest panoramic photo Ever tried taking two or three or ten photos and stitched them together to make a panoramic view? Here is an extreme panoramic photo taken at Delft …

Nov 29, 2004: Thanksgiving 2004 - contd. Follow-up to my earlier post about Thanksgiving… Ashwini was very happy to welcome all our guests…. until they started to take over her …

Nov 29, 2004: Sick, sick, sick... Here is a fine example of a person fit for death penalty or at least sterilization so she can’t make more children and hurt them. I don’t …

Nov 29, 2004: Thanksgiving 2004... It was lovely to have a white Thanksgiving this year. We had our first significant snowfall on Wednesday and the snow stuck around for a couple of …

Nov 23, 2004: Woooowwwyyy! Date created: 2003-09-02 11:02:49 Date updated: 2004-11-22 20:24:20, 9 hours ago Journal entries: 322 Comments: Posted: 918 - Received: 1,645 I …

Nov 22, 2004: Moon on Nov. 22nd, 2004 First photo taken through my telescope using the Nikon D70. It is not great. I still need to play with aligning all the optical elements properly to …

Nov 22, 2004: New outfit Ashwini showing off her new outfit. She wore it to school today and all her teachers just loved it. I just hate taking photos with a flash. It is so …

Nov 17, 2004: Veer Zaara Could someone please enlighten me with the meaning of this movie’s title? From the previews, it seems like a Bollywood version of …

Nov 16, 2004: Ashwini notes... Ashwini has a little Bengali influence from don't know where. She says 'eat crackers' and also 'eat juice' and 'eat water'. She found out that in all …

Nov 15, 2004: Well past expirarion date... In preparation for our annual Thanksgiving gathering, we decided to clean-up around the house. Yesterday, we ventured into our pantry. There was so …

Nov 15, 2004: This American Life This American Life is one of my most favorite programs on NPR. It is an hour of storytelling at its best. They cover a very very wide range of topics. …

Nov 14, 2004: Thought of the day “Not guilty” is not the same as innocent.

Nov 12, 2004: It is a challenge to find out what Ashwini really wants. Her answers depend on what question you ask. Here is a conversation from yesterday. V was …

Nov 11, 2004: Happy Diwali!!! Wish you all happy Diwali and prosperous new year. May you have a year full of joy and happiness. &nbspWhen we put lights around the house for …

Nov 10, 2004: The best blonde joke.... period Now, this is the best bloody blonde joke I ever read. Couldn’t stop laughing for hours.

Nov 9, 2004: Moon, Jupiter and Venus Taken on the morning of Nov. 9th, 2004. Moon, Jupiter and Venus, from top to bottom.

Nov 7, 2004: Happy 1.66667th Birthday, Ashwini! Ashwini wearing her gnome jacket made from recycled plastic soda bottles. Here is her monthly progress report... Ashwini doesn't walk anywhere …

Nov 6, 2004: Awesomely bad movies Watched the Saturday afternoon Indian programs on International Channel after a long time. According AVS TV show, these five are “awesomely bad …

Nov 6, 2004: Sunrise A few minutes before sunrise on Nov 6th, 2004.

Nov 3, 2004: Ashwini's hair are getting longer day by day. Pretty soon, we'll be able to tie her hair in one ponytail at the back of her head like older girls. A …

Nov 1, 2004: Wild fire Yesterday, I did a lot of yard work. Collected a lot of leaves. The bagger attachment on the lawn tractor is very useful. This work is just like …

Oct 31, 2004: Happy Halloween! Carved a couple of pumpkins under Ashwini's supervision Tiger went out on a hunt for candy.

Oct 28, 2004: Fall colors #5 More fall colors from my backyard

Oct 27, 2004: Total Lunar eclipse on Oct 27, 2004.

Oct 23, 2004: Monahan's roasted bluefish This recipe was so good that we had to share it. Serves 2. 1 lb bluefish fillet 1 small onion, minced 2-3 cloves of garlic, minced 2 tblsp olive oil 3 …

Oct 22, 2004: Single parenthood V has been away on a business trip since Tuesday. This was my first chance to be a single parent to Ashwini for an extended period of time. I …

Oct 20, 2004: Fall colors in my backyard

Oct 19, 2004: Party time Mom is away on a business trip for 4 days. Yipeeee! My housemate Ashwini and I are going to parteee… Games, books, milk and lotsa cookies. You …

Oct 18, 2004: Flu vaccine Everyone knows about the massive shortage of flu vaccine in US, this season. Shutting down a plant owned by Chiron in UK was the main reason for this …

Oct 14, 2004: Amitabh for '04 This is hilarious! Check out Bill Clinton’s message at the end when the credits get over. That is the best part. Thanks, Mayuresh!

Oct 12, 2004: Fall colors #4 Fall colors from my everyday drive in and around Ann Arbor, MI

Oct 12, 2004: A little girl Showing off the new outfit her aai bought for the fall

Oct 11, 2004: Sin is sick Yahoo! News - Manila’s Cardinal Sin Rushed to Hospital I know it isn’t nice to make fun of someone who is ill. But, am I the only one who …

Oct 10, 2004: Apple/Pumpkin picking Armed with a bag, on the way to apple trees. Can’t decide which way to go… Red delicious or golden delicious? Reaching out for a red …

Oct 9, 2004: dada look motoo Check out these tomatoes or motoos as Ashwini calls them.

Oct 7, 2004: Fall is here... This Oak usually turns from green to brown. There is something special this year that it got this red hue.

Oct 7, 2004: Happy 1.5833th Birthday, Ashwini! Ashwini getting ready to root for the Texas Longhorns in their game against Oklahoma Sooners on Saturday. Here is her monthly update: (Don’t …

Oct 5, 2004: Jaai / Jui / Chameli / Jasmine The forecasters were right. It was indeed cold this morning. 25F or -4C. I grudgingly got out of bed and somehow managed to brush my teeth. Then, my …

Oct 4, 2004: Comet Hale-Bopp Comet Hale-Bopp photographed on Friday, April 4th, 1997 from the Princeton Battlefield Park, using Pentax K-1000, 50mm normal lens mounted on the back …

Oct 1, 2004: Main Hoon Na It is a freaking ri-god-damned-diculous movie. I didn’t watch it for so long but, why the hell did I decide to torture myself now???

Oct 1, 2004: Fall Colors #3 My most favorite photo from the same trip to Vermont in 1997. It was all cloudy with the Sun peeking through small gaps in the clouds. In the areas of …

Sep 30, 2004: Fat Bastard Fat Bastard is good. Just wanted to say that 2003 Fat Bastard Merlot is very smooth.

Sep 30, 2004: Fall Colors #2 Another photo from the same trip to Vermont in 1997. I have not seen such bright fall colors since this trip, even on our subsequent trips to Vermont.

Sep 29, 2004: Fall Colors #1 This photo was taken in the Fall of 1997 somewhere in Vermont. It was the best Fall colors trip that we ever took.

Sep 28, 2004: Harvest Sun

Sep 26, 2004: Ashwini photos Just realised that I hadn’t posted any Ashwini photos in a long time. These days Ashwini wants to wear a hat all the time. Doesn’t matter …

Sep 26, 2004: Movie Friday Thanks for all your suggestions, but in the end we decided that eating Japanese food peacefully was better than any movie we could watch in the …

Sep 24, 2004: Ravi Shankar Just came back from a live concert by the sitar maestro, Pt. Ravi Shankar. It was awesome. It was a great experience to listen to him play live and be …

Sep 23, 2004: Wrath of God Check this out… If it is true, you know whose side the God is on! Path of hurricanes through Florida.

Sep 23, 2004: Last chance for Summer movies As we officially move from Summer into Fall, our ‘Summer hours’ at work come to end this week. From June through September, we were …

Sep 22, 2004: Autumnal Equinox FYI: Today (Sept 22nd) is the Autumnal Equinox. The day and night are exactly 12 hours each. Also, the Sun rises and sets at true east and west, …

Sep 19, 2004: Ganpati bappa moraya! This year, it was challenging to get all the cooking and Ganesh Chaturthi Pooja done properly with Ashwini trying to ‘help’ us in every …

Sep 17, 2004: American Heart Walk I am helping the American Heart Association fight the nation’s leading causes of death by participating in the American Heart Walk on October …

Sep 14, 2004: Culinary Notes MTR is amazing. On Sunday, I made vada and rassam with MTR ready mix and it was just fabulous. I am still licking my fingers. Should try more MTR …

Sep 13, 2004: Dead birds We have this huge window above the front door of the house. Birds often mistake it as open space and fly into it with their head first. I have been …

Sep 10, 2004: India, an IT powerhouse: Who said so? I am planning to attend a conference in Hyderabad, India in January 2005. There is a website set-up for information about the conference and they have …

Sep 8, 2004: Hrithik is GAY???!!!??? It is official. Hrithik Roshan is gay. Check this out... :) :) :) Evidence of Hrithik's gayness. via Patrix

Sep 8, 2004: Addendum to "Happy 1.5th Birthday, Ashwini!!!" Ashwini is learning a lot of Marathi words along with English. These days she says 'nako' instead of 'no'. I was teaching her all body parts in …

Sep 7, 2004: Capriati beats Serena Williams Capriati moved into the semi-finals of the US Open Tennis tournament. It was a great 3 set match with ups and downs for both players. But, 4 calls …

Sep 7, 2004: Happy 1.5th Birthday, Ashwini!!! Here is Ashwini's monthly progress report The biggest change in Ashwini over the last month is her efforts at talking. She has turned into a parrot. …

Sep 5, 2004: Ashwini's first foreign trip Ashwini is now foreign-returned. She successfully made a trip to Canada to visit the African Lion Safari near Hamilton, Ontario. It is about 1 hour …

Aug 30, 2004: Ashwini photos Ashwini being Ashwini Ashwini strolling in the garden

Aug 30, 2004: Optical Illusion Here is one of the coolest optical illusions that I have ever seen. It comes from Dr. Edward Adleson of MIT. There are more illusions on his website. …

Aug 30, 2004: The most reckless, incosiderate drivers drive... Volkswagen Jetta! According to Tom and Ray Magliozzi of Car Talk, a NPR show that is wildly funny and yet full of useful information. I have been …

Aug 26, 2004: The dark side of the Moon Lunar Farside from Apollo 11. The far side of the Moon is rough and filled with craters. By comparison, the near side of the Moon (the side we always …

Aug 26, 2004: Taken from radhika74 Last Cigarette: 1990 Last Alcoholic Drink: Grey Goose martini; last saturday Last Car Ride: about half an hour ago to work Last …

Aug 25, 2004: Nicknames for Ashwini When we were deciding on names for our daughter, we thought about the possible nicknames that she will be given in school and tried to avoid something …

Aug 23, 2004: Optimist Definition of an optimist:  A pessimist without enough information.

Aug 22, 2004: Walk in Gallup Park Saturday was a perfect day for any outdoor activity. The weatherman predicted a cloudless clear sky with 70F as the expected high temperature of the …

Aug 21, 2004:

Aug 19, 2004: Ashwini enjoying her deckchairs...

Aug 19, 2004: Interesting names Today we had a visitor at work from England. His name is Alex A. Alex. Wonder what his middle initial stands for. Should have asked him. Have met a …

Aug 19, 2004: Mid-month Ashwini update Just a quick note so I won’t forget. Five teeth are out. #6 and #7 are waiting in the wings to make an appearance any day. Ashwini has learnt …

Aug 18, 2004:

Aug 16, 2004: 16th August 2004: 13 years and 1 day ago, I stepped on the soil …er… concrete of the United States for the first time. It has been a …

Aug 15, 2004: Phillips webdesign prize winner Click on this link to see the website. You will see a weird looking guy. Pass your mouse over his face a few times. Then, leave the pointer on his …

Aug 13, 2004: Perseid meteor showers Beautiful composite image of Perseid meteor showers using photos taken over 6 hours by Fred Bruenjes Here is how he captured it… I was blessed …

Aug 13, 2004: Rajanikanth antics I got a forwarded email from a friend describing some deeds of Rajanikanth which are not possible to perform in our known Universe under the laws of …

Aug 13, 2004: Rajanikanth antics I got a forwarded email from a friend describing some deeds of Rajanikanth which are not possible to perform in our known Universe under the laws of …

Aug 13, 2004: Railroad on summer afternoon

Aug 13, 2004: Railroad on summer afternoon

Aug 10, 2004: Ashwini Dance Video I recorded another version of it. It doesn’t have the great ending as the first one but, the dance is equally good.Attempts to rotate the …

Aug 10, 2004: Ashwini Dance Video I recorded another version of it. It doesn’t have the great ending as the first one but, the dance is equally good.Attempts to rotate the …

Aug 10, 2004: David Dhavan Was watching AVS or TV ASIA on TV and saw a blurb with David Dhavan in it. From watching his movies, I always had an image of a young, savvy gentleman …

Aug 10, 2004: David Dhavan Was watching AVS or TV ASIA on TV and saw a blurb with David Dhavan in it. From watching his movies, I always had an image of a young, savvy gentleman …

Aug 9, 2004: New version...

Aug 9, 2004: Happy 1.416667th Birthday, Ashwini!!! Ashwini has been doing a lot of new things everyday. It is becoming hard to keep track. She also surprises us with new words that she learns by just …

Aug 7, 2004: Perfect! It was one of those perfect summer afternoons when you just want to stand still, do nothing but be glad and enjoy being alive.

Aug 7, 2004: HELP! Here is a video of Ashwini (1.7MB) that I took without knowing that it can’t be rotated. Does anyone know how to do that?

Aug 5, 2004: Railroad This railline runs about a quarter mile away from our home. It is not very busy; maybe one or two freight trains per day that serve some factories in …

Aug 4, 2004: Kinetic Energy in Pink

Aug 2, 2004: Spicules on the Sun Absolutely amazing picture of the Sun…

Aug 2, 2004: Timepass V and I amuse ourselves with this new timepass that V has found. Everytime you load the front page of Rediff.com, a new matrimonial ad (Rediff …

Aug 1, 2004:

Aug 1, 2004:

Jul 29, 2004: No text; just pictures...

Jul 29, 2004: No text; just pictures...

Jul 28, 2004: Firefox 'tip of the day' Create a new folder under bookmarks and put all the webpages that you open ‘first thing every morning’, in it. Under ‘general’ …

Jul 28, 2004: Firefox 'tip of the day' Create a new folder under bookmarks and put all the webpages that you open ‘first thing every morning’, in it. Under ‘general’ …

Jul 27, 2004: Firefox 0.9 Just upgraded to the latest version of Mozilla Firefox (0.9). Only 4.7MB to download. It is amazingly easy to install and fast to use. It allows …

Jul 27, 2004: Firefox 0.9 Just upgraded to the latest version of Mozilla Firefox (0.9). Only 4.7MB to download. It is amazingly easy to install and fast to use. It allows …

Jul 25, 2004: A day at the zoo This was our second trip to the Toledo Zoo and it was so much better. Yesterday wasn't hot at all. 73F, few clouds and a cool breeze: perfect day for …

Jul 25, 2004: A day at the zoo This was our second trip to the Toledo Zoo and it was so much better. Yesterday wasn't hot at all. 73F, few clouds and a cool breeze: perfect day for …

Jul 23, 2004: Forts of Maharashtra, part II Monsoon is definitely the best time to hike and visit the forts in Sahyadri. The weather is usually cool and one doesn't need to worry about carrying …

Jul 23, 2004: Forts of Maharashtra, part II Monsoon is definitely the best time to hike and visit the forts in Sahyadri. The weather is usually cool and one doesn't need to worry about carrying …

Jul 22, 2004: Ashwini's car Lately, all I can think of posting is stuff related to Ashwini. Maybe, I'll find time to think and write about something else soon. Here is another …

Jul 22, 2004: Ashwini's car Lately, all I can think of posting is stuff related to Ashwini. Maybe, I'll find time to think and write about something else soon. Here is another …

Jul 18, 2004: Bike ride Ashwini and I went for a bike ride in the evening. I think she likes to feel the wind on her face. If I slow down, she pats me on my back to make me …

Jul 18, 2004: Bike ride Ashwini and I went for a bike ride in the evening. I think she likes to feel the wind on her face. If I slow down, she pats me on my back to make me …

Jul 18, 2004: Eating preferences of Ashwini Ashwini has taken a liking to “Chitale Bandhu Bakarvadi”. It is surprising that she doesn’t find it hot or spicy. Yesterday, she …

Jul 18, 2004: Eating preferences of Ashwini Ashwini has taken a liking to “Chitale Bandhu Bakarvadi”. It is surprising that she doesn’t find it hot or spicy. Yesterday, she …

Jul 15, 2004: Ashwini's Summer activities Ashwini enjoying a Mogra (Jasmine) flower from our garden. It ended up in her mouth soon, but was quickly removed by her ever-vigilant mother. Her …

Jul 15, 2004: Ashwini's Summer activities Ashwini enjoying a Mogra (Jasmine) flower from our garden. It ended up in her mouth soon, but was quickly removed by her ever-vigilant mother. Her …

Jul 14, 2004: Forts of Maharashtra There are about 350 forts in the Western Ghats (Sahyadri range) of Maharashtra. These were great strategic assets to kingdoms to keep big areas around …

Jul 14, 2004: Forts of Maharashtra There are about 350 forts in the Western Ghats (Sahyadri range) of Maharashtra. These were great strategic assets to kingdoms to keep big areas around …

Jul 13, 2004: Saturday night special Our favorite menu for many-a-Saturday nights in Summer. Grilled Salmon (any wild caught, if available. this time, it was Alaskan) with Cajun spices …

Jul 13, 2004: Just Blooming Black eyed Susan is one of my favorite flowers of the Summer. We have a lot of them in our garden and they just started blooming yesterday.

Jul 10, 2004: Now top100 movies of all time Thanks, co_techie IMDB's Top 100 Best Movies of All Time generate this HTML for your own page at ObeytheFist.comRank Movie Didn't See It/ …

Jul 10, 2004: Now top100 movies of all time Thanks, co_techie IMDB's Top 100 Best Movies of All Time generate this HTML for your own page at ObeytheFist.comRank Movie Didn't See It/ …

Jul 9, 2004: Ashwini's dinner cheese | steamed vegetables | cheerios | blueberries | water

Jul 9, 2004: Perfect Summer Last two days were just perfect. Made me realise why I don’t mind living through Michigan winters. High temp around 70F (20C) and lows around …

Jul 9, 2004: Huh!? Hopefully, we won’t be facing this same question from Ashwini in another 4-5 years.

Jul 8, 2004: Happy 1.3333th Birthday, Ashwini! Time seems to be flying by. It is time for another monthly update. Actually, I am late by one day. Ashwini is not just walking anymore, she wants to …

Jul 8, 2004: Steep walls of the Grand Canyon Most of the people look at Grand Canyon from the rim. It is beautiful - no doubt. But, looking at it from Colorado river, the force that created it, …

Jul 7, 2004: The worst of them all Here is a list of the bottom 100 movies of all time according to votes on IMDB. I am proud to say that I haven’t seen any of these in the …

Jul 7, 2004: Going to Havasu Falls

Jul 7, 2004: Medusa

Jul 6, 2004: Fahrenheit 9/11 Watched it last Friday and was impressed by it. Very well made with a lot of information and emotions packed in. It is not even 2 hours long, but, I …

Jul 6, 2004: Symmetry in nature

Jul 1, 2004: Yet another Grand Canyon post The narrowest region of Grand Canyon is about 85 feet wide and probably the Colorado is at its deepest here to accomodate all the water-flow. Lorna …

Jun 30, 2004: Bubbles This happiness arose from watching bubbles blow from bubble-gum. Look at those 4 teeth. More are on their way.

Jun 30, 2004: Jailbird Somebody please take me out of here!!!!

Jun 30, 2004: Pink Dress Amolmama’s wedding was the perfect opportunity to wear the pink dress that her Aajoba brought.

Jun 29, 2004: Just say NO! I had noted earlier that Ashwini has learnt to say ‘NO’, and she likes to use it. Here is what baby-experts at babycenter.com have to say …

Jun 29, 2004: Even more Grand Canyon In between the rapids, there were plenty of lazy stretches of the Colorado river that allowed us to just sit back and soak in all the beauty around …

Jun 29, 2004: During our first road-trip of this summer, Ashwini got a taste of McDonalds. The only time we eat at McDonalds is when we are on the road. She liked …

Jun 24, 2004: More Grand Canyon After the long 7.5 mile hike, we finally reached to cool Colorado. The water was unbelievably cold 55-60F with air temeperature more than 100F. The …

Jun 23, 2004: First photos with Nikon D70 I am just amazed with this camera on the first day. It is so fast. There is no delay after pressing the button. The photo quality is absolutely …

Jun 23, 2004: Pet peeve #2 My head starts to throb when people write “their” and mean “there” and vice versa. These same people also write …

Jun 22, 2004: Devil's Corkscrew This is the most arduous part of the hike on the Bright Angel Trail with many switchbacks. It is very dry and barren without any shade. After climbing …

Jun 21, 2004: Oh, NO! Guess what Ashwini learnt this weekend… She now knows how to say ‘NO’.

Jun 21, 2004: Father's Day It was a great day for me. Must have done something good over the last year. V made my favorite alu-parathas and mango milk shake. Ashwini brought a …

Jun 20, 2004: Sunset from Hopi Point, Grand Canyon National Park

Jun 18, 2004: Hike down the Bright Angel Trail

We started our one vertical mile descent into the Canyon.

Jun 17, 2004: From the South Rim

Two years ago, we took a trip down the Grand Canyon to raft on the Colorado River. This series of photographs were taken at that time. I am planning …

Jun 17, 2004: In the wrong place When I hear someone saying that they are ‘in the wrong place’, it reminds me of a Bob Dylan song, “Desolation Row”. One verse …

Jun 17, 2004: Comment stats Taken from dhempe. 2 rileen 148 comments 18.09% of total 3 savyasachi 59 comments 7.21% of total 4 dhempe 41 comments 5.01% of total 5 …

Jun 17, 2004: Good Morning, Sunshine! Sporting her new tie-dyed night dress.

Jun 11, 2004: Bollywood invades excellence in sports What do Aamir Khan, Rani Mukherjee, Vivek Oberoi and Bipasha Basu have in common other than their pathetic displays in movie theaters around the …

Jun 10, 2004: Horrible tragedy In the house next to us lives a typical American family: husband, wife, two daughters, a dog and a cat. Yesterday, they were struck by a horrible …

Jun 9, 2004: Two hands This joke is very crude but funny. Consider yourself warned before you click on this following link… Why do women and men have two hands? …

Jun 9, 2004: Two hands This joke is very crude but funny. Consider yourself warned before you click on this following link… Why do women and men have two hands? …

Jun 9, 2004: Commensal organisms This will be a shock to germ-phobic clean-freaks. Every healthy human being has about 150 different species of bacteria living in their gut. These …

Jun 7, 2004: Da Vinci Code Finished reading ‘Da Vinci Code’ by Dan Brown yesterday. It is very gripping and fast paced. Enjoyed reading a thriller after a long time. …

Jun 7, 2004: Happy 1.25th Birthday, Ashwini! Today, Ashwini is 15 month old. Ashwini: can walk and run freely anywhere she wants. Doesn't need to hold her hands out for balance. likes to climb …

Jun 4, 2004: New Photoblog Announcing a new version of my Photoblog. Many of my posts contain photographs anyway. But, this blog will be exclusively photographs and nothing …

Jun 1, 2004: I’ve heard you say many times That you’re better than no one And no one is better than you. If you really believe that, You know you got …

Jun 1, 2004: Attack of the Clones....

May 31, 2004: Yum!!! The story behind the lj-cut is really gross. Lately, Ashwini is into fruits, all kinds of them. She wants us to cut small pieces that she can pick up …

May 28, 2004: Pet peeve #1 I just hate it when people keep on saying ‘I mean’ or ‘you know’ in a conversation as a habit. Just spent an hour in a meeting …

May 27, 2004: Comet Neat Comet Neat (C/2001 Q4) was visible to naked eye for the last 2-3 weeks. Unfortunately, I could observe it only on one night (May 19th) due to …

May 27, 2004: Few of her favorite things Her favorite place in the house is this window, where she can stand and watch the cars, dogs, cats, squirrels, birds and people go by. Her favorite …

May 25, 2004: One of the biggest regrets of my life I was a poor graduate student. One of the best bands ever came to town in Winter of 1994. Didn’t have money to buy any more concert tickets as I …

May 23, 2004: More spring flowers Taken using a 4MP Sony DSC-S85. ISO 100; F/8.0; 1/60 sec. Adjusted brightness/contrast and cropped in Adobe Photoshop ISO 100; F/8.0; 1/100 sec. …

May 23, 2004: No. It is Ashwini’s first finger painting that was sent home by her teacher. But, I surely see the next Jackson Pollock in her. :)

May 22, 2004: Spider

May 21, 2004: Strange weather Update: We learnt about the real storm when we got home around 7:30 pm. It seems that we had 95 MPH wind gusts in our area and a lot of hail. One of …

May 21, 2004: gmailswap Thanks to my dear friend, pseudofreud, I have a gmail account of my own. There are many around the world who are offering everything from money to …

May 19, 2004: Nicely said! This appeared in one of the articles about Indian elections in NYTimes today. For India, his swearing-in will be historic, and not just because of the …

May 18, 2004: Shopping On-line Just ordered something from Amazon.com. In their customer service section, you can list everything that you ever ordered from them. Found out that my …

May 17, 2004:

May 17, 2004: The Catcher in the Rye Finished reading ‘The Catcher in the Rye’ by J.D. Salinger last night. A very well-written book. It took Mr. Salinger 10 years to complete …

May 14, 2004: Spring/Summer storms Watching the thunderstorms rumbling last night, reminded me of this photo that I took last year. Some of you may have seen it before. [Listening to: …

May 13, 2004: Walking on grass I had noted previously that Ashwini was not very happy to be on the grass. It used to tickle her feet and hands. So, we slowly started to take her out …

May 10, 2004: Current Setiathome Stats Results Received8013 Total CPU Time7.510 years Average CPU Time per work unit8 hr 12 min 35.1 sec Average results received per day4.65 SETI@home …

May 10, 2004: Ashwini is getting ready for Summer with some bright Summer colors. Not a great photo, but, didn’t have to time to play along with her this …

May 7, 2004: Happy 1.16667th Birthday, Ashwini Today, Ashwini is 14 months old. We are tired from running after her all around the house. Ashwini : walks freely by herself and that is all she wants …

May 7, 2004: Happy 1.16667th Birthday, Ashwini Today, Ashwini is 14 months old. We are tired from running after her all around the house. Ashwini : walks freely by herself and that is all she wants …

May 7, 2004: !@#$@!$ Oil prices Yahoo! News - Oil Hits $40, First Time Since Gulf War Oil is getting so expensive and consequently, gasoline is getting expensive too. This really …

May 6, 2004: Friends: Finally over. Tonight is the last ever episode of ‘Friends’. Thank God! I just get this primal urge to hurl the nearest object I can find, towards the …

May 3, 2004: Ashwini's weekend Although it was chilly outside, we spent some of Sunday in the yard. Here are a few pictures from our weekend. The leaf in her hand finally ended up …

May 3, 2004: It was V’s birthday on Saturday. We just lazed around and played with Ashwini. I took Ashwini to the grocery store and she picked out these for …

May 2, 2004: QOTD The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt. -Bertrand Russell, philosopher, mathematician, and …

Apr 30, 2004: Spring is here... Signs of spring have been around for quite some time. But, it took 2 days of almost 80F heat to coax these redbud buds to finally bloom. We planted …

Apr 29, 2004: Goodbye, Bob Edwards :( I hope all of you NPR fans listened to “Morning Edition” this morning. Today was Bob Edwards' last day on the show. Here is a nice article …

Apr 27, 2004: Guess what this is... No. This is not moon. This is Venus from last night. Being an internal planet, we can see a cresent of Venus just like the Moon. Here are some …

Apr 27, 2004: A pot of gold Saw this pot of gold in the backyard this morning. It disappeared by the time I got out to pick it up.

Apr 26, 2004: Trivia – Out of 100 people hit by a lightening, only 15% are women. – A pregnant tick gains upto 100 times her non-pregnant body weight.

Apr 22, 2004: Violet

Apr 22, 2004: While skiing in Snowbird, a lady was riding the chairlift with me. She was complaining about the money the resort was charging ($180 per hour) for her …

Apr 22, 2004: Proper punctuation, please! Heard on NPR yesterday: Lynne Truss, writer, journalist and advocate of proper punctuation, has come to rescue us from the misplaced comma. In her …

Apr 21, 2004: Guess who is walking? She wasn’t doing it well just a week ago. Now, she seems like a pro. Click here to view a small video clip (about 1MB).

Apr 20, 2004: What is this? I know it is a very easy question…

Apr 20, 2004: Cactus flower Christmas cactus flowering in April.

Apr 20, 2004: Help save premature babies (Second posting) Those who wanted to support my walk, but, haven’t made a donation yet, please do so soon. Wednesday, April 21st is the last day for submitting …

Apr 20, 2004: Keystone '04 Came back from Snowbird yesterday. Still walking on two feet, albeit gingerly, after 4 days of skiing. No broken bones. It was a wonderful meeting. A …

Apr 14, 2004: [none] skiing is so much fun!

Apr 13, 2004: Off for a week This journal takes one week off. I’ll be in Snowbird, UT attending Keystone symposium on “Frontiers of Structural Biology and Structural …

Apr 12, 2004: Tahquamenon Falls in Fall '02 At Tahquamenon Falls from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, winter started to show itself in the middle of fall. It snowed pretty hard that day in …

Apr 7, 2004: Happy 1.08333th Birthday, Ashwini Today, Ashwini is 13 month old. Time is going by faster than ever with Ashwini doing new things everyday. Ashwini : can stand up and sit down on her …

Apr 6, 2004: Where are the people? When I show my photographs taken on a trip, everyone always complains that there are no people in most of those pictures. Upon hearing the same kind …

Apr 6, 2004: Spring 2004 Blood Donation Did my good deed today. Now, I am free to do some bad things to balance things out. Don’t want to be called a ‘good boy’. ;) My …

Apr 5, 2004: Huh!? What religion is this? Received a notice to renew my Driver’s License a couple of days ago. A note was attached to the forms that said: The federal Welfare Reform Act …

Apr 2, 2004: Help save premature babies I am walking in the “March of Dimes” walk on April 25th to raise money for research on saving premature babies. My daughter and I both …

Apr 1, 2004: Sehwag's triple century First of all, congratulations to the Indian team for a great win. It took 2 overs on the morning of the 5th day to take the last wicket to officially …

Mar 30, 2004: Strange coincindence V and I sneaked out to get lunch at a chinese restaurant near work. At the end, the freakiest thing happened… Both of us got the same fortune …

Mar 30, 2004: Birthday Trivia Two of my favorite artists, Norah Jones and Eric Clapton have the same birthday. Norah turned 25 today and it is 59th birthday for Clapton.

Mar 29, 2004:

Guess who got her first tooth?????

Mar 29, 2004: Parent's night out! Saturday night was our first night out without Ashwini. It was also our first experience with babysitting. But, it was at her daycare with her usual …

Mar 27, 2004: Thok de saale ko??? Watched ‘ab tak chhappan’ last night. It is just awesome. Nana Patekar plays an officer in the special operations division of Mumbai …

Mar 24, 2004: Many kids at Ashwini’s daycare, including Ashwini have a cold. These kids are so efficient in recycling fluids. They don’t let any to …

Mar 23, 2004: Recent Publication Some of my work from a long time ago got published in Biochemistry recently. Drastic reduction in ability to publish results in scientific journals is …

Mar 23, 2004: Ashwini with her dada

Mar 23, 2004: Ashwini with her mum

Mar 21, 2004: Ek Hasina Thi Watched it over the weekend. It was a good thriller. I like Ram Gopal Varma movies. First attractive feature is that they get done in 2 hours. Mostly …

Mar 20, 2004: Ready for shipping Would you like to receive this????

Mar 18, 2004: Walker Wagon??? Ashwini found a better use of her walker wagon. She likes to sit in it with her toys and books and finds someone (This is not too diffcult. All she …

Mar 18, 2004: Old friends This is an overdue post. Wanted to write this since a long time. Last year was very good in terms of meeting old friends. Three of my school buddies …

Mar 18, 2004: More choices at Starbucks Do you know that there are about 19000 different ways of ordering a cup of coffee at Starbucks? Recently, they announced one more option: Extra Hot: …

Mar 15, 2004: The Great Orion Nebula. Compare this with this. Well, actually don’t. It is hard to imagine that these photos depict the same object.

Mar 15, 2004: Antibiotics Heard a really nice seminar by an eminent scientist, Dr. Alexander Mankin about how antibiotics have evolved and how they work. Want to jot down a few …

Mar 12, 2004: Ladybugs. Ashwini likes to play with ladybugs. Not the toy kind but real ones. As the spring approaches, we start to see ladybugs inside the house. I …

Mar 9, 2004: Hubble Ultra Deep Field The Hubble Space Telescope has just finished taking the Hubble Ultra Deep Field (HUDF), the deepest image of the universe ever taken in visible light. …

Mar 9, 2004: The double Helix The double Helix: A Personal Account of the Discovery of the Structure of DNA by James D. Watson Interesting book about how the structure of DNA was …

Mar 7, 2004: The goombah are back on HBO for another season. This will the fifth season of ‘The Sopranos’. Tonight’s episode was quite good. One …

Mar 7, 2004: Happy 1st Birthday, Ashwini!!! I had a really great day, even though I was suffering through an erupting tooth and a cold. My teachers and friends at school made a beautiful crown …

Mar 7, 2004: Munnabhai MBBS Watched it last week. Had some really funny moments. The casting was horrible. Sanjay Dutt should get a lot of plastic surgery done. His old age shows …

Mar 5, 2004: Yesterday, we had US postal service, UPS, and FEDEX delivery guys at our house to deliver 8 packages of gifts for Ashwini from friends and relatives. …

Mar 4, 2004: Very soon, Ashwini will start walking and running. She is already trying. Wonder how long this will stay soft and delicate the way it is now.

Mar 4, 2004: V bought me a nice collection of DVDs for our anniversary: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and The Return of Sherlock Holmes. I wanted these since …

Mar 4, 2004: The Complete Far Side The Complete Far Side by Gary Larson I was just amazed by its sheer size. Didn’t realise it would be this big and bulky when I ordered it. It is …

Mar 4, 2004: Wireless high speed internet All I can say is WOW. Now, I know what I was missing in life. Installed wireless network at home yesterday. I am connected anywhere in the house …

Mar 2, 2004: Cruising the internet at high speed Yippieeee! Finally, our hamlet is all wired up. Now, we have high speed internet service at home. Thanks to Comcast, I can connect to the internet at …

Mar 1, 2004: Walking slowly... For those who don’t care about my astronomy pictures, enjoy this weekend Ashwini update. She got to open one of her birthday gifts a week ahead …

Mar 1, 2004: Latest Stargazings Last week had been really good. Warm (more than 20F) and clear nights most of the week. Took the telescope out and took some pictures too. I suppose …

Mar 1, 2004: Pleiades (M45) again Better photograph of Pleiades (M45), compared to my earlier attempt. Used the telescope driving mechanism this time to avoid the streaks caused by …

Mar 1, 2004: Saturn on Feb. 27th, 2004

Mar 1, 2004: Half Moon

Mar 1, 2004: The Great Nebula in Orion (M42) Nursery for new stars… Check out these images of M42 taken by others. Please don’t make any comparisons with my photo as it doesn’t …

Feb 27, 2004: Moon on Feb 24th, 2004 Enlarged smaller area with craters and a mountain range at the edge of light and darkness.

Feb 26, 2004: Pleiades (M45) from last night Beautiful star cluster Pleiades (M45), enlarged through the telescope…

Feb 25, 2004: Moon and Venus Moon and Venus from last night.

Feb 24, 2004: Busy studying...

Feb 24, 2004: Fat Tuesday. Aaahhhh! I just love ‘Fat Tuesday’. I don’t know the religious significance of it, but I love paczkis (pronounced puchkis). This is …

Feb 23, 2004: Ms. Fountainhead

Feb 17, 2004: Haute couture Queer headgear: just like Erykah Badu

Feb 16, 2004: I am getting old. Most of the times, it is harder for me to read text written in the SMS language (i.e. 4, u, shd, thot, bcoz, etc.) than complete words. Maybe because …

Feb 16, 2004: Caffeine-free week: last update My caffeine-free week ended successfully on Sunday. I made a nice pot of coffee to celebrate it. Just after my first cup, I was so wired that I was …

Feb 15, 2004: Noooo! In Ashwini’s dictionary, the meaning of the word “no” is: I think Mommy and Daddy liked what I just did; let’s do it again.

Feb 15, 2004: Valentines ;) Some really nice valentines. Copied from Charukeshi Kind, intelligent, loving and hot This describes everything you are not. I love your smile, your …

Feb 12, 2004: Crawler turns into a cruiser... Hey doggies, do you want to race me????

Feb 12, 2004: Anti-Valentine This year, ask some one tobe your anti-valentine. If you are sick and tired of this Hallmark occasion, show it with style. Send an anti-valentine from …

Feb 11, 2004: Caffeine-free week: Day3 More than 72 hours since last caffeine intake. Still no headache. Don’t know what the deal is. But, I am getting extremely sleepy early in the …

Feb 10, 2004: Caffeine-free week; Day 2 I am still alive, but barely. Almost 48 hours since the last dose of caffeine. Still, no throbbing headache from lowered blood pressure. Maybe, I had …

Feb 9, 2004: Caffeine-free I am going caffeine free this week. My last cup of tea was on Sunday around 5pm. So, my next serving of a caffeinated drink will be at 5pm on this …

Feb 9, 2004: Trivia Penguins need to squeeze 4 times harder than humans to poop. There…. Now you know another useless fact.

Feb 7, 2004: Happy 0.91667th Birthday, Ashwini! It is hard to believe that Ashwini’s first birthday is approaching so quickly. One more month to go. That’s it. Ashwini is: trying to pull …

Feb 6, 2004: Moonlit Landscape

Feb 6, 2004: Slip sliding away... Last night some freezing rain fell in our area. We woke up to a nice 1 cm think sheet of ice covering everything from houses to trees to roads. It was …

Feb 3, 2004: States of the Union that I have visited over the years... create your own visited states map or write about it on the open travel guide

Feb 3, 2004:

Feb 2, 2004:

Feb 2, 2004: Watch out!

Jan 29, 2004: Joys of Winter.

Jan 29, 2004:

Jan 28, 2004: Santana: Shaman I just love this album. There is a lot of spanish in there that I don’t understand. But, it doesn’t matter. The music and rhythm is just …

Jan 28, 2004: Happy 8th anniversary to us!

Yes. On Sunday, we completed 8 years of marriage. Hard to believe. It is even harder to believe that we know each other since 1987, i.e., almost 17 …

Jan 27, 2004: Jogger's Park and Baghban Watched these two movies during the last 3 weeks or so. It was good to see that actors were actually in roles suitable for their age and not the usual …

Jan 26, 2004: Yaaay! A big snow/ice storm is heading this way. May get a snow day tomorrow. Keeping my fingers crossed…

Jan 26, 2004: Hunt begins... We have a crawler on the prowl. Ashwini is enabled with crawling technology as of Friday, January 23rd.

Jan 23, 2004: It is soooo coooldddd. It has been almost 4 weeks since the temperatures dropped below freezing. There is no sign of them going back up on the other …

Jan 22, 2004: Taos I was here one year ago. It was fun skiing in Taos. Hope to do some skiing this year, too.

Jan 22, 2004: Run..... run..... Run….. Run…… Puff is coming this way.

Jan 19, 2004: New law of physics A phenomenon called ‘Ashwini’ expands to fill up all available space and time.

Jan 18, 2004:

Jan 16, 2004: QOTD What is life? It is the flash of a firefly in the night. It is the breath of a buffalo in the wintertime. It is the little shadow which runs across …

Jan 16, 2004: My Setiathome stats Thanks, kohamm for reminding me to do this by posting yours. Name Parag Results Received 7591 Total CPU Time 7.240 years Average CPU Time per …

Jan 15, 2004: Heard on NPR, on the way to work… Advantages of marriage: It domesticates men. It protects women from predatory men. It provides the safety of …

Jan 13, 2004: Hello Puff!!! I am extremely happy to welcome my new friend, Puff-the dragon to my new colorful playroom. Looking forward to having a lot of fun with her.

Jan 13, 2004: Jupiter Composite of Jupiter photos. One was taken with shorter exposures to view the surface details and other with longer exposures to view the moons of …

Jan 12, 2004: Update on the intern... At the risk of sounding obsessed with this intern, here is another update. Her pictures and herself have disappeared. Haven’t seen her in the …

Jan 9, 2004: Another moon photo The big crater in the top left corner is Bullialdus, the double crater in the top right corner is Gassendi. The center of the picture shows a 150 Km …

Jan 7, 2004: Happy 0.8333th Birthday, Ashwini !!! All decked up to go out in the snowy and frigid January morning. At 10 months, Ashwini is: sitting up without any help eager to stand up all the time, …

Jan 7, 2004: Expensive time-keepers During the holiday shopping season of 2003, the highest percentage increase in sales of an item over 2002, was for watches that cost over $10,000. I …

Jan 6, 2004: Brrrrr!!! Right now, the temperature is 8F (-14C) with windchill of -11F (-24C). Not the coldest that I have ever seen, but, definitely cold. Probably, the …

Jan 6, 2004: Are you a human being (being what you want to be) or a human doing (doing stuff to be what you want to be)?

Jan 5, 2004: Every January, I feel like I am becoming an alcoholic from all the holiday cheer that I imbibe through November and December. I am going to stay away …

Jan 5, 2004: Happy New Year!!! (Belated) I didn’t really want to come back, but, here I am after a nice more than 2 week long vacation. I wanted to post some things during my vacation, …

Dec 17, 2003: Update Update to my earlier post about putting your own picture on your office wall… Finally one of us asked this intern nicely about photographs on …

Dec 15, 2003: Need some horns

Dec 15, 2003: Winter blood donation Donated blood this morning. Feeling my usual high: the false sense of achievement that one gets from donating blood. Feels good that I did something …

Dec 12, 2003: Quote of the day. Vision without a plan is hallucination.

Dec 10, 2003:

Dec 10, 2003: Kal ho naa ho: part II Finally, I watched it last night. I decided to ignore minor things like: after ordering a double espresso at Starbucks, Naina walks out with a huge 20 …

Dec 8, 2003: Happy 0.75th Birthday, Ashwini!

Dec 3, 2003: I was walking to a meeting, and noticed that a new intern, who recently started working, has two of her own 8x10 photos on her desk. There is nobody …

Dec 3, 2003: It is hard to see them in the photo, but, they were there.

Dec 2, 2003:

Dec 1, 2003: Thanksgiving 2003 It was a nice long weekend. Thanksgiving is our favorite holiday. It is so close to Diwali in spirit as well as in timing. This year, on our 6th …

Dec 1, 2003: Kal ho naa ho I haven’t seen this movie yet. Was planning to, but, reading this review on Rediff was enough to change my mind. It is an interesting dissection …

Nov 24, 2003: Green Card Fever Watched a movie called ‘Green Card Fever’. It was well made. Lots of serious issues with the right amount of humor without going overboard …

Nov 24, 2003: US Postal stamp on Diwali I have just read and signed the online petition: “Issuance of US Postal Service stamp on Diwali” hosted on the web by PetitionOnline.com, …

Nov 24, 2003: Summer Thunderstorm It seemed like the sky was boiling….

Nov 24, 2003: 122,000 miles... On the way to work today, my car turned over 122,000 miles. Way to go! I hope to see 150,000 on this gal.

Nov 19, 2003: Know your 80's music???? Find out... I scored 60.5. <a href="http://www.yetanotherdot.com/asp/80s.html"> <img …

Nov 17, 2003: Tiger ready to hunt some candy!!!

Nov 17, 2003: A foggy wet chilly November morning For Suku…

Nov 14, 2003: Ashwini has a boyfriend. ;) This is how her teacher told the story to us… Ashwini is getting used to daycare slowly in her second week. She still gets upset when one of …

Nov 14, 2003: Find out where you stand The Political Compass website has a quiz to figure out political leanings of a person and categorize in one of the 4 bins. Check it out. The answer …

Nov 12, 2003: Drummers of West Africa Last night, I was at the awesome performance of this group from Senegal. The leader, Doudou N’Diaye Rose is 74 years old, but, full of energy. …

Nov 12, 2003: Indian Ghettos I was aware of Indian Ghettos (area with large concentrations of Indians) in Edison, New Jersey and New York. But, I was surprised to find out that …

Nov 11, 2003: Heard this yesterday during Monday Night Football… Who is the only Superhero without any superpowers? Let’s see who knows the right …

Nov 7, 2003: Happy 0.6667th Birthday, Ashwini!!!

Nov 6, 2003: Ashwini's first day at daycare. Ashwini started going to daycare on Monday. We decked her up in nice new clothes and hat and off she went. Didn’t have any problems at drop-off. …

Nov 6, 2003: Old(?!) friends... Back from 3 days of vacation. It was just too busy to enjoy it. Two of my very close schoolfriends came for a visit. These are the guys that I know …

Oct 31, 2003: Happy Halloween, everyone!!!!!

Oct 29, 2003: Moon This photo was taken a few months ago. I got around to doing some processing recently.

Oct 29, 2003: When an angel turns into a monster... For the last few weeks, our little angel turns into a screaming monster in the night. We were so happy that she used to sleep through the night …

Oct 28, 2003: Ads for new MS office Did anyone see the advertisements for the new version of MS Office? They show people jumping around, climbing on tables, cutting down projection …

Oct 28, 2003: My Trick-or-Treat Haul I did pretty well. Got lotsa candy… My LiveJournal Trick-or-Treat Haulparag goes trick-or-treating, dressed up as Tiger.comversations gives you …

Oct 27, 2003: Nice lunch. Want a nap now. V and I sneaked out to eat lunch together after a long long time. It was Japanese food after more than a month’s gap at the recently renovated …

Oct 27, 2003: Diwali 2003 Diwali was very good this year. It was Ashwini’s very first Diwali. From the way she was admiring all the ‘panatya’ that we put in …

Oct 23, 2003: Happy Diwali Everyone! Rehash of my astrophotos from the last year. This is my version of fireworks in the sky to celebrate Diwali. Wish you all Happy Diwali and a …

Oct 22, 2003: Jupiter Jupiter with its 4 Gallilean moons; Io, Europa, Callisto, and Ganymede. The cloud bands on Jupiter are also clearly visible.

Oct 21, 2003: Bollywood and India Today I am coming very close to canceling my subscription for India Today. One out of every 3 or 4 magazines have a cover story related to Bollywood. I am …

Oct 20, 2003: Saturn on Oct. 19, 2003 This is from the first round of processing with 6 images. More Saturn images to follow soon… OK. Here is an update after some more work. The …

Oct 16, 2003: Sign this petition if you support women's right to work I am sure everyone has heard about the misogynistic utterings of Mr. Venugopal Dhoot, Managing Director of Videocon Industries. He has the right to, …

Oct 15, 2003: IMHO, fall is the most amazing season of the year for multiple reasons. The air starts to cool off. Morning dew turns into morning frost. The cooler …

Oct 13, 2003: Bob Dylan: Live1966 Am listening to this album for the first time ever. It is just amazing. The version of ‘Visions of Johanna’ is the best. Must have heard …

Oct 13, 2003: How does it feel being loved too much??? Ask anyone who has a 7-8 month old child. Ashwini turned 7 months old just last week. There is so much going on with her, I am surprised not to see …

Oct 10, 2003: I am off to a department party. V has promised to pick me up at 6. 3 to 6… hmmm 3 hours and much drinking to be done.

Oct 10, 2003: Bob Dylan Gem This would be a great thing to say while making a new friend… Thanks, Bob! I ain’t lookin' to compete with you, Beat or cheat or mistreat …

Oct 10, 2003: Lord of the Rings: partIII Many had mentioned this before, but, after watching the trailer for ‘Lord of the Rings: Return of the King’, I have to say this. It is …

Oct 2, 2003: Brrrrr... It got so cold last night. We had a frost advisory, but, didn’t see any frost in the morning, eventhough, the thermometer showed 30F. I am glad …

Sep 29, 2003: Summer is over! An indication of end of summer, other than the cold temperatures that we are experiencing now, is end of summer hours at work. Now, we have to work 5 …

Sep 29, 2003: Football notes from the weekend Nebraska didn’t play, because they beat Southern Miss on Thursday night (38-14) They move up in rankings. They are now 8th in Coaches poll and …

Sep 24, 2003: Lost posting On Monday, I wrote a long post with Semagic about the wonderful week and weekend that I had. But, a power glitch rebooted my PC and I lost it all. Oh, …

Sep 12, 2003: I was eating Sushi last night. As I chewed on a piece of Salmon Nigiri, I remembered Gollum from LOTR:Two Towers, catching fish out of the river and …

Sep 11, 2003: Mars from early morning of Sept 6, 2003 Picture of Mars taken on early morning of Sept 6, 2003. The image on the right is the prediction of how Mars would look like at the time, when I took …

Sep 10, 2003:

Every time I listen to some of Bob Dylan songs, I learn new ways to insult someone. Here is an example…

Sep 6, 2003: Stargazings from last night It was one of the best nights in a long time. The sudden reduction in temperature made it the perfect night for watching the sky. Saw following …

Sep 4, 2003: The Gender Genie Did anyone ever address you with incorrect gender after reading your writing? Maybe you do write like a person of the opposite sex. Give The Gender …

Sep 4, 2003: Football season Last Saturday was the first day of College football season and tonight the NFL season starts. Every year, I wait for this week since February. …