I Always Thought I was FROM Mars

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101115/ap_on_sc/us_one_way_to_mars

Invoking the spirit of “Star Trek” in a scholarly article entitled “To Boldly Go,” two scientists contend human travel to Mars could happen much more quickly and cheaply if the missions are made one-way. They argue that it would be little different from early settlers to North America, who left Europe with little expectation of return...

Mars is a six-month flight away, possesses surface gravity, an atmosphere, abundant water, carbon dioxide and essential minerals. They propose the missions start by sending two two-person teams, in separate ships, to Mars. More colonists and regular supply ships would follow...

They think the private sector might be a better place to try their plan.  “What we would need is an eccentric billionaire,” Schulze-Makuch said. “There are people who have the money to put this into reality.”

Psychological profiling and training of the astronauts, plus constant communication with Earth, will reduce debilitating mental strains, the two scientists said.

“They would in fact feel more connected to home than the early Antarctic explorers,” according to the article.

But the mental health of humans who spent time in space has been extensively studied. Depression can set in, people become irritated with each other, and sleep can be disrupted, the studies have found. The knowledge that there is no quick return to Earth would likely make that worse.

Schulze-Makuch and Davies contend that Mars has abundant resources to help the colonists become self-sufficient over time. The colony should be next to a large ice cave, to provide shelter from radiation, plus water and oxygen, they wrote.

They believe the one-way trips could start in two decades.

“You would send a little bit older folks, around 60 or something like that,” Schulze-Makuch said...

Me!  I would go!  No money, hmmm… well, then I need a sponsor  :-)

Mike quilt update - okay and horrible

The design got simpler!  And I'm having a pretty good time getting these pieces together.  I think this'll work out.
I can't do any math for this because it's all going by how much fabric I have.  There'll be as many nine patch squares as it turns out I have green fabric for  :-)
I have a large amount of the red calico which WAS going to be for the backing, but I put it as sashing to increase contrast.  I've finally gotten Mike to admit that we need more contrast! 

Here's the results so far.
HORRIBLE!  N'est ce pas?  

Taco Salad with Kettle Tias

Idea of what to do with them:

whole bag of Kettle Tias Nacho chips crunched down to fine bits
shredded lettuce
olives
taco meat
avocadoes
grated colby cheese
for the dressing, a carton of sour cream thinned down just a little with milk

All just mixed together in a bowl!  The kids LOVED it!  We all loved it so much I waited one night, just for decency's sake, then made it again  :-) 

Found Spirals

I've had a saved search on Ebay for "spiral skirt" for a long time. Besides the Birch Street, there isn't much out there. I guess I'm the only one with a fascination for clothing that makes one look like a barber pole. 

I found these under "square dance", not even tagged with the keyword "spiral"! 

After much hunting, I found the pattern they used! 

Out Back This Morning

Click for wallpaper size. 

Karen's New Drawing of Some Fishies

Click to see close-up. 

My Cake Wreck

They asked me to frost the birthday cake, then they were going to decorate it, but they were so clueless and something about that blue surface was just so inspirational, I begged and pleaded to do it myself.

I’m not proud of this.  I basically grabbed that cake and started splattering frosting in a big hurry to show the kids I really could do something cool.  It’s poorly thought out, the design is all over the place, and there SHOULD have been twelve curlicues.

But the kids liked it  :-) 

Argh! And this is the best I can do at DISHING a slice of cake??

Hehe, no really most of the pieces came out perfect looking and I took this one. It tasted just as good as the others!