suziebeezieland

postcards from puffin + postcards from ladybird

Have you seen this Postcards from Puffin collection? I somehow missed it (although I had seen Postcards from Penguin at Anthropologie) when it came out in the fall of 2010. This would be such a sweet way to decorate a wall in a nursery or child's room.

Here is the official blurb:

A unique collection of 100 postcards, each featuring a different and iconic Puffin book cover. From picture books to paperbacks, teen fiction to Puffin Classics, this is a selection from seventy years of outstanding British design and illustration in one sturdy little box.

I went looking over at Amazon UK to see what else I haven't noticed, and I found a similar collection called Postcards from Ladybird. 

When I was little and lived in Australia, we had Ladybird books. :)

another porch light

Do they really? Do they REALLY share my disappointment? Is there somebody actually there sharing my disappointment? Because right under "Dear Suzanne", it says "This is an automated message."

No biggy. :) It's just a light.

I have ordered a new one at the very cool Barn Light Electric (where I should have looked to begin with), and after some research, measuring, and a tall-person-walking-through-doorway simulation, this one should (1) actually be in stock, should (2) look cute, and (3) should not decapitate anyone I love.

adidas

I've been thinking about Paris a lot lately. We're going to spend some time there this summer. The last time I was in Paris was 27 years ago. I spent a semester there my sophomore year in college, and turned 19 that November. Good times.

I guess the traditional thing for me to say is, "It seems like I was just there yesterday." But it doesn't. It feels like I haven't been there in about 27 years. :)

I'm excited to show Bob and Claire around, if I can still orient myself. Alas, I'm not known for my sense of direction. But when I lived there, I slept with a big map of Paris taped to the wall next to my bed, so I kind of got the hang of where things were. 

This is Sandro in Paris. He was my boyfriend for a few months while I was there, until he had to go home, which was the saddest day of my life up until then. :) He was Italian, from a suburb just outside Venice. He lived in the same student dorms I did. 

I went and visited him in Venice later in the fall. When I was in Venice, I stayed in a convent with my also-Italian friend Sonia, who had lived in the room next to me in Paris. (I met Sandro through her.) I took the train from Paris to Venice, which is a very long train ride, and when I got there I was exhausted, but they pumped me full of espresso and showed me around.

Everybody's mom kept making me eat and eat and eat.

It's funny, the details you remember. I remember how Sonia handwashed her clothes out in the sink, and I remember her grandma squeezing my cheeks and saying "Bella!" like something out of a movie, and I remember the convent had marble floors. I remember Sonia explaining prosciutto to me, and saying that Americans never wanted to eat it because they were nervous about uncooked meat. And there was a trash strike in Venice, which was embarrassing to all of them, and intriguing to me. I was so surprised that gondolas were just normal, and you zipped around in them as if you were in a taxi in any another city. And we went to a party and everybody was really nice to me, and I was barely awake, just running on espresso fumes and five full meals in one day.

And below, that's me. We were climbing around on the roofs in Paris, which is surprisingly easy to do. I am not sure why we were dressed the same: jeans, red sweaters, and Adidas. I think that was probably accidental. That doesn't seem like something I would do on purpose.

I think I owned that sweater for about 10 years. I really loved it. And those Adidas, too.

patience, grasshopper

On Saturday, when I was running some errands, a guy in a gigantic black Ford Extinction (or whatever they're called) was in a hurry to make a right turn, and decided to pretend there was a lane next to me. He went into this imaginary lane to make his extremely urgent and important emergency right turn, and just about took off my passenger mirror in the process.

Pan left to Suzanne, sitting in her car with little black squiggles smoking out of the top of her head, like the ones that hover above you in Wii Sports Resort if you miss a shot at table tennis. In less then a minute, I built a complete case in my head about what a total and complete jerk this guy was, based on two observations: (1) he drove a gigantic black SUV, and (2) he got too close to me when he turned right.

After I calmed down, I realized I didn't really know very much about him.

Maybe he had a big SUV because he has a big family, or because he's tall, or because his work gives him one, or maybe just because he thinks they are nice, and when he was younger he always wanted one, and now he's excited he can actually have one.

And maybe he chose black because it is a nice basic and non-flashy color, or maybe he parks under a tree that drops black junk on it and so it blends in better, or maybe his wife chose the color, or maybe that's the color the dealer had on the lot.

Why do I have it in my head that if somebody has a big huge black SUV, they're a pushy jerk? That is a stereotype, and it's not always true. It's true sometimes, but there are pushy jerks driving green Honda CRVs (which is what I drive), also.

And maybe he was making that right turn because he really WAS in a hurry. Maybe it was a new SUV because his wife is pregnant with triplets and they were ON THE WAY THAT SECOND. Maybe he was just zoned out for a minute, and made a bad choice.  I do that, too. And there is a really good chance he was not as close to me as I thought he was. I always think everything is closer or farther away than it is, because I am spatially challenged.

The fact is that I had no proof that this guy was a jerk ... or even that he was temporarily acting jerkily. From where I sat, that right-hand turn seemed like a bad move, but I took it so far so quickly in my head, and imputed motive and character he probably didn't have.

One of the best pieces of advice I have ever received related to the day-to-day mechanics of the Christian walk is, "Give people the benefit of the doubt."

I sometimes (okay, often) jump to conclusions. I jump to a conclusion, it's often incorrect, I lay it as my foundation, and then I start building on top of this foundation that is incorrect. Before you know it, I have created an entire scenario or universe inside my head that is NOT TRUE AT ALL. You know how it is when you quilt or lay tile, and get one row off, and it gets more off with each successive row. I decide something, and I'm wrong, but then I keep going, and I get even wronger and wronger. And wronger.

Sometimes, I'm right. A couple years ago, a guy backed into me in the parking lot at Ralph's, and he was, in fact, a complete and utter jerk. Our brief conversation established that, and the police and insurance company confirmed my belief. But I still would not have been justified in flipping out at him, as I would very much have liked to.

In Ephesians, Paul tells us how believers should treat fellow believers:

I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. (Ephesians 4:1-3 ESV)

In 2 Corinthians, he talks about how we should treat unbelievers, and in so doing, bring glory to God:

We put no obstacle in anyone's way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, but as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: by great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love; by truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; through honor and dishonor, through slander and praise. (2 Corinthians 6:3-8 ESV)

My passenger mirror (or even my entire car) is not more important in any given situation than is my mandate to speak and act like I am a child of the King.

So whether that guy turning right on Saturday was a fellow believer or not, and whether he actually took off my passenger mirror or not, and whether he was as jerky as the parking lot guy or not, I have a pretty clear idea of how I should have reacted. In this case, he wouldn't have heard my reaction good or bad (unless I rolled down the window and screamed obscenities at him), but it's good for my heart when I react to things in a Godly way, even if nobody knows I'm reacting in a Godly way. :)

We're not here to glorify ourselves. We're not here to have perfect, carefree lives, and skip through each day unblemished. My reactions to people reflect on my God. When I give them "the benefit of the doubt", what I'm really doing is showing to them the same grace that God has shown to me. How many times in my life have I (metaphorically)(and possibly literally) driven my obnoxious, gigantic car into somebody's lane and almost smashed them? How often and how liberally has God forgiven me and shown me His glorious grace?

In light of the cross of Christ, how should we respond to "heat" in our lives?

... in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. (2 Corinthians 5:19-20 ESV)

sausage bean soup

Katherine mentioned sausage bean soup in a comment below, and I realized it might be good if I reposted that recipe, since the last time I posted it was January 16, 2007, on the old suziebeezieland blog (that was password-protected). 

January must be soup month. :)

In 2007 when I posted it, I wrote, "We've had a hard frost three nights in a row, which is unusual for southern California! Our lawn sprinklers have been freezing the sidewalks into a big ice slick."

Not so 2012! It's been in the 80's (and even 90's) almost all month so far. It has been a very, very warm winter for us. Our tulip tree is in full bloom. I will take a photo of it for you tomorrow.

Anyway, here it is. I buy Italian sausages, slit each down the side, and pull the casing off.  I separate the meat in the pan with the end of the wooden spoon as I brown it with the onion and garlic.

I do love this soup. It is good with a big hunk of French bread, to soak up the broth. My mom or sister gave me this recipe. Or maybe they both did. I can't remember. Maybe they can remember.

Sausage Bean Soup

3/4 lb bulk Italian sausage

1/2 c chopped onion

1 garlic clove, minced

15 1/2-oz can butter beans, rinsed and drained

15-oz can black beans, rinsed and drained

14 1/2-oz can diced tomatoes, undrained

14 1/12- can beef broth

1 T minced fresh basil or 1t dried

2 T shredded Parmesan cheese

In a large saucepan, cook sausage, onion, and garlic until sausage is browned. Drain. Add beans, tomatoes, broth and basil. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Sprinkle each serving with Parmesan cheese.

4-6 servings

minestrone

I'm not a big fan of soup, usually, unless it resembles stew. It seems like kind of a rip-off as far as meals go.

But! I made some minestrone a couple weeks ago because it was such an efficient way to get large quantities of vegetables into my family. And it was delicious! And it was even MORE delicious heated up for lunch the next day! I will definitely make it again.

There is a lot of chopping prep, but that's kind of fun if your knife is sharp and you're not in a hurry.

I used Ellie Krieger's recipe that was in the January issue of Better Homes and Gardens. I forgot to grab low-sodium broth (I used vegetable), so I just omitted the teaspoon of salt when I made it and it didn't taste too salty or too bland to me. Here it is:

1 large onion, diced
2 Tbsp. olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 ribs celery, diced (1/2 cup)
1 large carrot, peeled and diced
1 medium zucchini (about 8 oz.), diced
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. dried basil
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
6 cups low-sodium vegetable broth or low-sodium chicken broth (48 oz.)
1 28-oz. can no-salt-added diced tomatoes
1 14-oz. can no-salt-added crushed tomatoes
1 15-oz. can low-sodium cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 c. whole grain elbow pasta
1/3 c. finely shredded Parmesan cheese
2 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley leaves

1. In large soup pot over medium-high heat cook and stir onion in hot oil 4 minutes or until translucent. Add garlic; cook for 30 seconds. Add celery and carrot. Cook and stir 5 minutes, until vegetables begin to soften. Add zucchini, oregano, basil, salt, and pepper. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring frequently.

2. Add the broth and the diced and crushed tomatoes. Bring to boiling. Reduce heat to medium low. Simmer uncovered for 10 minutes. Add the beans and pasta. Cook 10 to 15 minutes more or until pasta and vegetables are tender. Top servings with cheese and parsley. Makes 6 servings. 

house painting! whoo hoo!

Tomorrow the house painters come, and start painting the exterior of our house! I'm quite excited about that.

I chose the same color that my aunt and uncle's house is painted, because I love their house, and it is also stucco. That's our sample swatch up there. Right now it's that beige color on the left (but in need of a repaint) and it will be the color on the right (Glidden Thicket ... they no longer make it, but I was able to get a reasonable match at MyPerfectColor.com).

All the trim and shutters will be bright white.

This autumn we got a new front door. We also had the front porch railings rebuilt (the wood was all rotted), and I had our carpenter add a tongue-and-groove ceiling to the porch to hide the ugly rafters. He rebuilt our pergola out back, which had also rotted over the years.

Here is the new pergola. It's much sturdier than the old one.

Here's the new porch ceiling. This used to be buggy, yucky rafters.

Here are the new porch railings. After the house is painted, we will get new rain gutters and have the front porch faced in brick to match the walkways. No more painting the front porch every year. Yay. :)

Since I knew we were paving the porch, I didn't bother to paint the concrete last summer, and it's looking pretty gross.

Here's a nice view out front when Tom was hanging the new door.

Come on in!

There had been some trim glued onto the stucco around the door that looked cheap and bad, and hid some spiders that came out at night and freaked me out when we'd come home late. He ripped it right off, and sure enough, look at this spider egg sac hiding underneath. Gross.

We're replacing the light below with this one (if it fits ... I measured but I'm not positive ... it might stick out too far) after the painters leave.

This is the new light. Hopefully it's not too big. Although as I look at it, I think it probably is. I can just imagine all the very tall people in my life walking out of our house and getting karate chopped in the head by this if it sticks out. I might need to keep looking.

Here's the new front door.

The windows make it brighter inside, which is nice.

We spent our initial effort on this house fixing the "systems" when we first moved in here seven years ago (it needed a new roof, and we've since installed new air ducts and a tankless water heater) and we also worked on getting the inside comfy. It's fun to be finally getting around to the outside of the house! 

i just enjoy your company

It's January! So I've been organizing like a maniac. It feels GOOD. Cleaning, moving stuff around (sometimes to make things more efficient, and sometimes just for change), getting rid of stuff we don't use. Once that Christmas tree comes down, I just zoom right into spring mode and want to freshen and lighten everything up every year.

The small canning jars are great for storage. They hold business cards exactly right. And chalk, and cords, and glitter, and baker's twine, and ... I still haven't finished filling them up yet. (It's been a work-in-progress for a couple years, because I'm particular. And I forget about it. Ha.) I got a gift certificate to French General for Christmas, and think I will find some more good cubby items there. :)

The small latte bowls are great office-supply storage, too: the green one holds thumbtacks and my flash drive. :)

sources:

White numbered cubbies, yellow lamp, clear lamp (discontinued), blue baskets (discontinued), chalkboard labels on baskets: Pottery Barn
Blue mini-goals chalkboard: Mary Kate McDevitt
Mini-goals chalkboard: Liberty
Dotted garland on chalkboard: Shanna Murray Illustrated Decals
Lyrics on chalkboard: from So Long by Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward from the Winnie the Pooh soundtrack available on iTunes
Yellow 2012 Calendar: Katharine Watson
"Eclair" vintage Hook & Eyes and vials of glitter: French General
Paper numbers tape (thanks, Aunt Paula!), Turquoise ceramic strawberry basket (thanks, Tash!), & small green latte bowl: Anthropologie
Wire file basket: See Jane Work
Blue springtime birdy: Bayberry Cove (discontinued; Jennifer Murphy had a licensed line for awhile but now sells only handmade through her website -- they are beautiful little creatures!)

some pretty twenty-twelve calendars

My favorite calendar is the Erin Condren 2012 Jumbo Calendar, which I buy every year. It has big squares to write in and is colorful and cute and works well for me. It hangs on the side of my fridge and I will show you this year's version later. I can't get up now to take a picture because Hannah the Cat is sleeping on my legs.

I also like to pin a couple decorative (the pretty flat kind you don't write on) calendars elsewhere around the house. I figure even though I never wear a watch, I have some kind of ethical obligation in life to at least know what day it is.

Here are some lovely options. I love that letterpress is accessible and no longer limited to Crane & Co.

Satsuma Press 2012 Calendar

 

Susy Jack 2012 Wall Calendar

Shop Katherine Watson Limited Edition Letterpress Calendar

 

Green Chair Press 2012 Desktop Calendar (this one has sweet haiku on each month)

 

Snow and Graham 2012 Desk Calendar

 

Rifle Paper Company 2012 Garden Calendar Print

 

Rifle Paper Company 2012 Fruit Calendar 
(The fruit part of these pages would be so pretty framed in a kitchen after the calendar was extinct.)

 Now I have to stop because Hannah has moved up and it is getting difficult to type.

the "it's a small world" app

Disney has released an It's a Small World book app for iPhone and iPad that is completely enchanting.

Some little kids with really cute voices narrate it, and the interface is fun.

It's all very sweet and simple and I know it is designed for little kids, but I keep playing with it. :) 

It costs $3.99 in iTunes.

merry christmas!

In this the love of God was made manifest among us,
that God sent his only Son into the world,
so that we might live through him.
(1 John 4:9)

mary's song by luci shaw

Blue homespun and the bend of my breast
keep warm this small hot naked star
fallen to my arms. (Rest ...
you who have had so far
to come.) Now nearness satisfies
the body of God sweetly. Quiet he lies
whose vigour hurled
a universe. He sleeps
whose eyelids have not closed before.
His breath (so slight it seems
no breath at all) once ruffled the dark deeps
to sprout a world.
Charmed by dove's voices, the whisper of straw,
he dreams,
hearing no music from his other spheres.
Breath, mouth, ears, eyes
he is curtailed
who overflowed all skies,
all years.
Older than eternity, now he
is new. Now native to earth as I am, nailed
to my poor planet, caught that I might be free,
blind in my womb to know my darkness ended,
brought to this birth
for me to be new-born,
and for him to see me mended
I must see him torn.

what child is this?

Tonight during our Christmas singing and prayer time at church, our friend Donny reminded us that there is no fourth member of the trinity during Christmastime! Baby Jesus is THE Jesus ... one and the same!

And this morning during church, Stephen reminded us of the same thing ... Baby Jesus is the same Son spoken of in the following verses:

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs. (Hebrews 1:1-4 ESV)

As He lay in that manger, He was still the Heir of All Things, and was still upholding the universe by the word of His power. 

Rejoice this Christmas season that this, this is Christ the King.

:)

saturday morning, christmastime

a closeup

Some of you asked for a closeup.

This was taken on that red carpet I was showing you, by a photographer who was allowed on the other side of the fancy people barrier.

Our BFFs Gary and Colin looked like this, but without any writing on top of them.

the los angeles premiere of tinker, tailor, soldier, spy

You know I'm a big John LeCarre fan. :) I think he is a brilliant writer. My favorite book of his (and one of my top five favorite novels) is Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.

So a couple weeks ago, I entered a contest on the Fandango blog to win two free tickets to the Los Angeles premiere of the new Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy movie.

And I won! I was shocked. :) It was last night, and my sister and I went. Oh my goodness, we had so much fun. We just kept giggling the entire time.

(But not during the movie. We were quiet during the movie.) 

Five days ago, we were sitting out here in the suburbs without any power, listening to the food inside our freezer thawing, and tonight, a Hollywood premiere. Whoo, that's a lot of commotion in one week for two stay-at-home moms! :)

My pictures are quick, poor, very blurry iPhone shots taken while things zoomed by, but here they are.

The Sunset Boulevard exit off the freeway

The famous corner of Sunset and Vine. Why is it famous? I am not sure. Speak up if you know why it's famous.

Amoeba Records, the biggest independent music store in the world.

The Cinerama Dome, where the movie was premiering.

George Smiley (as played by Gary Oldman) and Suzie (as played by Suzie)

The Red Carpet out front, as viewed from behind the "don't cross if you're not famous" tape :D

The Red Carpet out front, as viewed from inside the lobby

David Dencik, who plays Toby Esterhase in the movie

The back of Mark Strong's head. He plays Jim Prideaux (my favorite character in the book besides George Smiley) in the movie.

Robyn Slovo, the producer. She had really cute shoes. I almost walked between her and a photographer taking her picture. I came to a screeching halt not to do so. It was so funny. :)

Our exciting free popcorn and drinks!

After we went into the theater and were seated and waited awhile, the director, Tomas Alfredson, came onstage and thanked some people and sang happy birthday to somebody in Swedish (it was really cute). Then some of the actors came onstage with him, including Colin Firth and Gary Oldman. Whoo hoo! 

They both look great.

Did I like the movie? Well, yes and no. :) Mostly yes.

Here are the things I liked very much: The casting and acting are brilliant, the plot has been compressed into two hours very nicely (smart screenplay), some of the changes to the plot are refreshing and give it a nice new twist, the cinematography and atmosphere is perfect, the attention to detail is really fun, and the music score is perfect. I was so worried that Gary Oldman would not be a good George Smiley, because I have the George Smiley in my head from the book (whom I like the best) and then Alec Guinness as George Smiley from the mini-series (whom I am also very fond of), and I feel oddly proprietary about George Smiley, as if John LeCarre wrote him just for me and my dad. :) But Gary Oldman did a great job. They all did. Superb acting.

Here are the things I did not like: It is rated "R" and has a lot of junk in it that wasn't in the book and is not needed.

For instance, I understand, artistically, why the director went with the few short, shocking, very graphic bits of violence -- the movie is European in actuality and also in its sensibilities, very quiet in parts, and full of dialogue and thinking and people looking out windows (which I love, all of it), and the gore keeps the Cold War plotline from feeling like a game of chess. There were real, horrible consequences in this story. But LeCarre was able to convey that in the book without being explicit (ditto with the mini-series) so I still object, even though I can understand what the director was going for. It is a very visually stunning movie -- gray and brown and smoky and spy-like.

I have become largely desensitized to movie violence over the years, and this bothers me about myself, and I want to resensitize myself. I really think movie and t.v. people will just keep making things more and more shocking as audiences become blase, and I don't like where that is headed at all. So to be honest, I don't really go to "R" movies, with few exceptions, and sometimes I cover my eyes in the theater. It is working. I am becoming shockable again. I know this will sound nutters or very quaint to some of you, but I don't care. :) We change in different ways as we grow up, all of us. 

But I liked this movie. It was very well done, and I am just so happy that some other people loved LeCarre and made this. Just censor yourself as needed, chickies. (The parents' page on IMDB for the movie explains most potentially objectionable content. But there are some plot spoilers, so don't look at it if you consider yourself unshockable.)

I probably won't see it again for awhile, whereas I can watch the mini-series over and over again annually, but I'm very glad we went, and very thankful to Fandango and Focus Features. I will probably write a long letter to the director and a couple of the actors telling them specific things I loved. I'm hoping that they all keep going and make the novel Smiley's People into a movie, too. (It's the third in the Quest for Karla trilogy.)

If you go, and you have time, read the book first, so you know more of what's going on.

I call this video I took "You have to believe me, it's them." :D

The dot on the far left is Gary Oldman. Colin Firth is on his immediate right. If you have the sound on, that's the director speaking.

windstorm

We had a crazy windstorm come through southern California Wednesday night, and our Pasadena area got the brunt of it. So now we're all mostly just waiting for our power to get restored. Our own house did not sustain any damage, but the general area is a mess of toppled trees, and folks have lost cars and houses. :( Mark C. took a lot of interesting photos ... I'll see if he has them somewhere you can view.

I am feeling grateful for God's mercy and my extensive, oft-mocked candle collection :)... we have used every single one!

We also don't have hot water at our house ... something to think about before getting a tankless (electric) hot water heater.

I don't mind telling you that I have interesting Physicist-like hair these days...

what i have to offer the world of physics

I've always thought it would be really cool to make an important contribution to physics.

Up until today, it seemed pretty unlikely I would do this, because:

(a) I don't really understand physics, and

(b) I lack federal funding.

However! I do not think I am being immodest in boasting that I do, in fact, have the following important observation to offer the world of physics:

All my favorite physicists have interesting hair.

In some cases, I can tell his or her hair is interesting because this is obvious.

In other cases, I can tell his or her hair is interesting because although he or she has gone to some lengths to tame or disguise this tendency toward interestingness, certain errant hairs and/or the extreme amount of hair product used testifies to the hair's innate interestingness.

Gallileo Gallilei (1564-1642, Italian)

He performed fundamental observations, experiments, and mathematical analyses in astronomy and physics, and discovered mountains and craters on the moon, the phases of Venus, and the four largest satellites of Jupiter: Io, Europa, Callisto, and Ganymede.

And he had interesting hair:

Nikola Tesla (1857-1943, Serbian-born American)

He created alternating current.

And he had interesting hair:

Marie Curie (1867-1934, Polish-born French)

She discovered the radioactivity of thorium and co-discovered radium and polonium.

And she had interesting hair:

Albert Einstein (1879-1955 German-born American)

He explained the Brownian motion and the photoelectric effect, contributed to the theory of atomic spectra, and formulated theories of special and general relativity.

And he had interesting hair:

 

Niels Bohr (1885-1962, Danish)

He contributed to quantum theory and to the theory of nuclear reactions and nuclear fission.

And he had interesting hair:

Erwin Schrödinger (1887-1961, Austrian)

He contributed to the creation of quantum mechanics and formulated the Schrödinger wave equation.

And he had interesting hair:

Louis de Broglie (1892-1987, French)

He predicted wave properties of the electron.

And he had interesting hair:

Richard Feynman (1918-1988, American)

He co-developed quantum electrodynamics and created a new formalism for practical calculations by introducing a graphical method called Feynman diagrams.

And he had interesting hair:

Makato Kobayashi (1944-Present, Japanese)

He contributed to the theoretical understanding of CP-violation and co-discovered the origin of the broken symmetry that predicts the existence of at least three families of quarks.

And he has interesting hair:

Edward Witten (1951-Present, American)

He made fundamental contributions to manifold theory, string theory, M-theory, and the theory of supersymmetric quantum mechanics, and is generally considered the greatest theoretical physicist in the world.

The things he has thought of are super cool.

And he has interesting hair:

Everyone should have a favorite physicist.

An easy way to determine who your favorite physicist is is to choose one based on his or her hairstyle.

Who is your favorite physicist?

happy thanksgiving!

the wizarding world of harry potter

I took all these this morning with my iPhone in one hand, a mug of butterbeer* in the other, and a huge, gigantic grin on my face.

If you'd seen me, you'd have known right off I was a Muggle tourist.

(*A very sweet and creamy non-alcoholic beverage. Perhaps the best thing I've ever had to drink in my whole life.)