Magazine Posts

I get it. Starbucks is a big-box chain. There’s one on every corner. They aren’t ‘unique.’ Howard Shultz let the Sonics leave Seattle.

I understand all the arguments against Starbucks. And, I love me some mom-and-pop local shopping.

But here’s the deal — I also really like Starbucks. Sure, I’m not going get some ultra-inspiring experience at the green mermaid. But it offers a few things that make it invaluable in my world.

1. Free Internet
2. Consistency
3. Holiday Panini
4. Mobile Office
5. Free (or Cheap) Refills
6. Rewards Program
7. Dog-Friendly

Which Starbucks do I like the absolute best? The on Lake Union! Follow the link in my profile to find out why.

Are you a fellow Starbucks lover? What would you add to my list?

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

On July 29, 2011 the Cassini spacecraft's narrow-angle camera took this snapshot and captured 5 of Saturn's moons, from just above the ringplane. Left to right are small moons Janus and Pandora respectively 179 and 81 kilometers across, shiny 504 kilometer diameter Enceladus, and Mimas, 396 kilometers across, seen just next to Rhea. Cut off by the right edge of the frame, Rhea is Saturn's second largest moon at 1,528 kilometers across. So how many moons does Saturn have? Twenty new found outer satellites bring its total to 82 known moons, and since Jupiter's moon total stands at 79, Saturn is the Solar System's new moon king. The newly announced Saturnian satellites are all very small, 5 kilometers or so in diameter, and most are in retrograde orbits inclined to Saturn's ringplane. You can help name Saturn's new moons, but you should understand the rules. Hint: A knowledge of Norse, Inuit, and Gallic mythology will help.

The Fall colors
are on show.
Beautiful to see
colors all aglow.

A beautiful plant
is the Dusty Miller.

Fall is here. Summer's spent.
time to make the Gardener's lament.
No more flowers. Blooms are gone.
Time is now, to plant some bulbs
and prepare the garden for Winter.

Geese in flight
making too much noise
migration

The glowing dot of an ember,
as the flame starts to dance
and the wood starts to smolder
with the fire's new romance.

Fall is here
it came with windy rain
Summer's gone

I saw a twinkle in your eyes,
It was yesterday.
Hoping that I will see,
Another twinkle today.
When a brightness, in those brown eyes,
Does appear, that's when I surmise,
That the one I love is here,
Not gone away; not when I'm near.
For the joy you'll see, in my face,
Brightens my day and quickens my pace.
I love you, Ellie
And always will.

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day:

How do binary stars form? To help find out, ESO's Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) recently captured one of the highest resolution images yet taken of a binary star system in formation. Most stars are not alone -- they typically form as part of a multiple star systems where star each orbits a common center of gravity. The two bright spots in the featured image are small disks that surround the forming proto-stars in [BHB2007] 11, while the surrounding pretzel-shaped filaments are gas and dust that have been gravitationally pulled from a larger disk. The circumstellar filaments span roughly the radius of the orbit of Neptune. The BHB2007 system is a small part of the Pipe Nebula (also known as Barnard 59), a photogenic network of dust and gas that protrudes from Milky Way's spiral disk in the constellation of Ophiuchus. The binary star formation process should be complete within a few million years.

He sits in the garden
with eyes all a bug,
waiting for a fly to come
down to a shrub.

I am still here.
I have not gone away.
Here I will stay
Until the end of my day.