I am, and always have been, a sky gazer. I have been known to peer into the night sky for hours, taking in the bredth and beauty of it all. This drive led to my pursuit of a degree in astrophysics, so I could make sense of it all. In my thirty years of gazing, there has been one constant: airplanes. My Missouri childhood home was close enough to St. Louis to see quite a bit of traffic. The New Mexico desert skies were less populated, but the planes were there. When I moved to Georgia, I was amazed by the amount of traffic. The first night I spent in a cow pasture watching for meteors, I quickly gave up on the showers to count planes. At one time, I counted fourty planes in my field of view at the same time. But tonight, for what is likely to be only time in my life, the sky is silent. It is eerie, when you realize what is missing. The silence of jet engines is louder than the scourge of crickets we currently have on the farm. It is eerie.

We’ve been warned for years that things like this would happen eventually, no matter how strict we made things. To actually watch it happen is staggering. The next few days are going to be rough, indeed.

This is the best explaination of how to play cricket that I’ve ever seen. It’s written for an American audience, and it answers all the questions I’ve ever had about the game. I used to watch cricket games going on in college (played entirely by foreign students), and never completely understood what was happening. I want to play now. (Thanks, Brennan.)

One of my all-time favorite personalities, Justin Wilson, has passed away. When I was young, I memorized many of his rambling cajon stories are repeated them, with accent, for the amusement and the annoyance of my friends. Perhaps tomorrow will be cajun night in memory – crawfish pie and a bunch of wine for dinner!

The White House Web Site is sporting a fresh new look, and includes the First Lady’s online diary. Oh my!

If you are at all into Elizabethan Renaissance gowns, you’ve got less than a day to snatch up one of the best I’ve seen. Right now it’s going for a bit over $1000, and the material alone almost cost that.

Since tomorrow begins my birth month, it’s vitally important that the first words out of my mouth after midnight is rabbit, rabbit. Vitally important.

There’s the beginnings of a vibrant online Wiz War community. I probably spent more time in college playing Wiz War than any other single activity. Here, they’ve got the rules and cards on-line, a discussion board, and a few other things. Check out the pictures section, where you can see a fabulous home-made board and cards.

Yes, at first he politely laughed at us (“Well, at least my belly’s full,” was the quote), but then things got better. It’s still a long shot, but we’ve established a dialogue and he knows exactly where we’re coming from. We’ll continue talking over the next few weeks, and we may yet strike a deal. He wants the land to be used for what we want to use it for, and while he’s been making his money from real estate, he’s more interested in the use of the land than the money he’ll make, for this particular piece of property. All the extraneous factors are in our favor, but the money gulf may be a hard one to jump.

Two years ago today I began keeping this collection of links and thoughts. I’ve never been able to keep a journal or diary more than a few weeks, so for me two years is quite a feat. My intended audience is me, but of course I was pleased when after a few months I had five or so regular visitors. Today, nearly a hundred people a day come though these pages, and I’ve received some of the most wonderful comments I could hope to hear. Many people stumble in here through a search engine – the wide variety of topic discussed have pushed many weblogs to the top of search engine results, no matter the search string – and many return on their own. Thank you, all of you, for deciding my life through my eyes is worthy of visiting. And I’m even more pleased that so many people I know, and even some I’ve never met, have begun keeping their own collections of links and thoughts, partially inspired by what they’ve found here. Even though I am often not very good at it, it’s my firm belief that writing one’s thoughts down is crucial to self understanding. We’re not just a collection of impulses – there are reasons why we think and do what we do, and through committing these things to writing, we can better understand ourselves and improve our relations with others. And it’s just plain fun to drop in on friends’ and strangers’ lives and see things through someone else’s eyes. I encourage everyone to write online. It takes no money or technical knowhow. There’s Blogger (where I got started), Diaryland, and OpenDiary, all of which easily work through your web browser and all can set you up with free space. Weblogger is powerful and cheap. I’m now using GreyMatter, which is great if you already have your own space and are technically inclined. You can create your own if your an expert. And there’s many other possibilities I don’t even know about. But of course, you can also just jot notes down on a piece of paper and the throw it away. That’s not as fun for me, but it would work just as well for you. Just write, and get to know yourself a little bit better. Here is a time lapse of the past two years here at Kestrel’s Nest: August 30, 1999: It lives! September 30, 1999: Cheese Roll Goes Down Well October 29, 1999: Phil dE Cat with Grape Jelly November 30, 1999: The Clothespin Repertory Theater January 1, 2000: I went to the Gobbler January 31, 2000: Udderly Smooth Udder Cream February 29, 2000: Tour my house March 30, 2000: There are nipples everywhere in New Mexico April 30, 2000: I destroy a city May 31, 2000: Playing baseball with Action Jackson June 29, 2000: Kitty art for the masses August 1, 2000: Confederados in Brazil August 31, 2000: Hampster Dance Lyrics September 29, 2000: Redcricket Camtoons October 30, 2000: Stratego Collectible Card Game November 29, 2000: Tatrachromats see four primary colors December 29, 2000: The Complete Uncensored Unbelievably True Ren & Stimpy Story! January 31, 2001: Georgia gets a new flag February 28, 2001: Cuppycake Gumdrop March 27, 2001: Call me Trimtab April 26, 2001: How does my garden grow? May 31, 2001: A fake life and an earthen oven July 9, 2001: I’m getting married July 23, 2001: I’m a bad family member August 30, 2001: You are here