Day two: jet lag. Despite five hours of sleep on the plane from Dulles to Geneva, my body insists that it is, in fact, midnight when we land. It is unhappy, it is tired, and it is angry at my brain for keeping it up. Despite the overwhelming exhaustion, the […]
I am on my first trip to CERN as a real collaborator in the ATLAS experiment. I have not earned the right to call myself a “member” yet – at least, in the sense that I can sign papers. I am a newbie (n00b, if you will), a greenhorn, and […]
The past week has been spent in restraint. As Thanksgiving approached, a few brave souls jumped the gun and started putting up Christmas decorations. Jodi and I started driving around the neighborhoods and then changed to walking. Every time we returned home, Jodi would race for the garage, storehouse of […]
The sermon that followed the baptism of my God-daughter was a let down, a reminder of the reason I originally abandoned a religious life in favor of a spiritual one. I don’t know if these let-down sermons are at all common; I just know that I run into them a […]
We landed in SFO over an hour later than scheduled. The woman sitting next to me was ill-prepared for actually leaving the plane. When the herd thinned ahead of our row, she seemed to suddenly realize that getting her bags together was a good idea. The two mini-bottles of wine […]
The past two days have been full of discussions about the B-Factories Legacy Book. This book, targeted for publication in 2012, will contain a coherent record of the work of the two B-factories: Belle and BaBar. As a member of the BaBar collaboration, I am keenly interested in seeing a […]
We are enjoying a quiet Sunday morning. This month has been extremely busy, and for at least a little while this weekend we can return to something resembling quiet. Jodi is making pumpkin waffles. “Car Talk” is on the Stevo (my MythTV box), to be followed by “Wait, Wait Don’t […]
Jodi and I have been going to SMU football games. Apart from the chilly air, it’s been fun for the both of us. Last night, we were treated to quite a special array of events at the SMU vs. Navy game. The photos below tell most of the story. The […]
Today I learned of the death of a former mentor of mine, Richard (Dick) Yamamoto [1]. I thought I would share some memories of Dick, memories which to this day still shape my own behavior as a physicist. What I have often found intriguing about my own life is that […]
Author’s forward: I wrote this not because I agree or disagree with the choice of a particular Nobel prize winner. I wrote this because I was sick to death of the tone of the discussion about why Nobel prizes, in any field, are awarded. I’ve heard a lot of horrible […]
Oh drums, you never steer me wrong. After years of neglect, I have started spending time during the week working on my drum technique. I’ve also met several people here in Dallas who seem interested in jamming. This has only made me more interested in having fun with drumming. I’ve […]
It’s a good day to look ahead to politics and science as we enter the fall. This is not only the day that Congress went “back to school”; it was also the day many kids in the U.S. did the same. The President addressed schoolkids today. We’re about to leave […]