Madame Butterfly

I hate that I used to wear a small, but now with the trend of shirts being worn like an extra layer of skin, I have to wear larger sizes so I don't look like a skank.

I hate shirts that are obviously way to big on men, rock concert t shirts.

If you'd have included pants, I'd have said those ridiculous parachute pants some men can't throw away. :P

Enjoying the calm of the day before I get ready for yoga.

It's supposed to be 115 today. :P

I heard this song on the radio on the way home from work and now it is STUCK in my head!!

"I do swear

that I’ll aways be there.

I’d give anything and everything

and I will always care,

through weakness and strength,

happiness and sorrow,

for better or worse,

I will love you with every

beat of my heart."

From this moment life has begun

From this moment you are the one

Right beside you is where I belong

From this moment on

From this moment I have been blessed

I live only for your happiness

And for your love I’d give my last breath

From this moment on

I give my hand to you with all my heart

Can’t wait to live my life with you, can’t wait to start

You and I will never be apart

My dreams came true because of you

From this moment as long as I live

I will love you, I promise you this

There is nothing I wouldn’t give

From this moment on

You’re the reason I believe in love

And you’re the answer to my prayers from up above

All we need is just the two of us

My dreams came true because of you

From this moment as long as I live

I will love you, I promise you this

From this moment

I will love you as long as I live

From this moment on

Moulin Rouge Soundtrack.

Cosmic catastrophe may have struck star

Thursday, July 21, 2005; Posted: 10:37 a.m. EDT (14:37 GMT)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- A dust-cloaked star very much like our sun may have been the site of a cosmic catastrophe involving collisions between asteroids, comets or even planets, scientists reported on Wednesday.

Astronomers believe many stars had dust around them at an early planet-forming stage of their development, but this is an adolescent, and its dust is warm and very close to the star, about the same distance away as Earth is from the sun.

"The most likely explanation is that there were two really massive planet-sized objects -- about the size of Earth and Mars -- that collided with each other and spewed a huge amount of dust into interplanetary space," said Benjamin Zuckerman, a co-author of an article in the journal Nature.

"It must have been something really violent like that," Zuckerman said by telephone from the University of California-Los Angeles.

Our own planetary system is no stranger to such violence. Some astronomers theorize that the early Earth was struck by a Mars-sized object that generated a monster magma fountain, some of which condensed to form the moon.

But that was probably in Earth's infancy, when it was perhaps tens of millions of years old; the star in question is likely hundreds of millions of years old, still younger than Earth's estimated age of 4.5 billion years or so.

The immense amounts of dust close to the star -- known as BD+20 307 -- suggest that other planets may also be lurking, UCLA scientists said in a statement.

Because the dust is pulverized into tiny particles, scientists believe the cosmic catastrophe may have occurred within the last several thousand years, an eye blink in terms of cosmic time.

"This star is a real exception," said Zuckerman. "For something the age of this star, there's nothing comparable."

The dusty star is about 300 light-years from Earth, relatively close by cosmic standards. A light-year is about 6 trillion miles (10 trillion km), the distance light travels in a year.

It has about the same mass as our sun and is about as bright, the scientists said.

Don't forget the ear plugs so you aren't singing that song all your day through. :P

NASA revising its master plan for Mars

Next rover may be delayed amid ‘rebalancing’

Updated: 2:23 p.m. ET May 20, 2005

As the Spirit and Opportunity rovers continue their extended studies of Mars, NASA's Mars program appears headed for change. The shift will be driven by a variety of factors including technical and budget issues, as well as a "rebalancing" of science objectives.

NASA has been engaged since last year in what the agency calls a roadmapping effort to flesh out the details of a Mars master plan that would lead to an expeditionary crew landing on that remote world.

One scenario that has been under active discussion is slipping the mission of the mobile, nuclear-powered Mars Science Laboratory, or MSL, from 2009 to 2011. Another possibility was building two MSL rovers to double the data that could be gathered during that mission and reduce program risk.

James Garvin, the chief scientist at NASA Headquarters in Washington, said the space agency's science program is undergoing a "rebalancing." He said the status of MSL is still under review, but also said he thinks the prospect for launching two MSL rovers "is long gone."

"Right now, my aim is to ensure one, full-scope Mars Science Laboratory, at the least risky opportunity and best-suited to making revolutionary scientific discoveries," Garvin told Space.com.

Garvin also said that maintaining progress with the Phoenix Mars lander, which is being readied for a planned 2007 launch, and MSL in either 2009 or 2011 "is essential if the rapid pace of scientific progress is to be continued."

Mars matters

That rapid pace also involves NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, recently transported to Cape Canaveral, Fla., where it is being prepped for an August launch.

And in other Mars matters, NASA's Mars Telecommunications Orbiter is targeted for a 2009 launch slot. It is the first piece of communications infrastructure that will provide a link with Earth for all future Mars missions.

Lockheed Martin Space Systems in Denver has entered negotiations with NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory to build the Mars Telecommunications Orbiter for a still-pending contract value, said Joan Underwood, a spokeswoman for the company.

The Mars Telecommunications Orbiter is scheduled to carry a science package still to be selected. It also will evaluate laser optical communications gear designed to speed the flow of data between Mars and Earth. In addition, NASA plans to demonstrate tracking, rendezvous and maneuvering with a football-sized canister that would be ejected from the main spacecraft — a test intended to help the agency hone future robotic Mars sample return procedures.

Visionary agenda

Newly appointed NASA chief Michael Griffin has accelerated the pace of all roadmapping, Garvin said, with emphasis on the Crew Exploration Vehicle and lunar activities in the near term.

"The Mars roadmapping has provided useful perspective, coming as it has after several years of communitywide strategic planning for robotic, discovery-responsive exploration of Mars," Garvin said.

The value of this Mars planning will come in the near term, Garvin said, as important decisions are made regarding the path ahead for the robotic Mars Exploration Program in the context of executing President Bush's "moon, Mars and beyond" vision for NASA.

"As such, there will necessarily be impacts on the Mars program," Garvin said. Given the criticality of maintaining Mars rover exploration at the surface while implementing a successful Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, "there may be some consequences," he added, "but the full scope of those won't be fully analyzed until this summer."

House endorses NASA missions to moon, Mars

Bill permits retiring shuttle by 2010, launching new exploration vehicle

Slide show

Updated: 4:47 p.m. ET July 22, 2005

CAPTIOL HILL - The House Friday overwhelmingly endorsed President Bush’s vision to send man back to the moon and eventually on to Mars as it passed a bill to set NASA policy for the next two years.

The bill passed 383-15 after a collegial debate in which lawmakers stressed their commitment to not just Bush’s ambitious space exploration plans but also to traditional NASA programs such as science and aeronautics.

There is some tension between Congress and the White House over the balance between Bush’s vision for space exploration and other NASA initiatives. Originally, the measure would have shifted $1.3 billion in funds from exploration to other NASA programs. But after administration objections lawmakers added the money back to the budget for exploration during floor debate. That was done by adding to the bill’s bottom line — now at $34.7 billion — not at the expense of science and aeronautics.

Democratic Rep. Bart Gordon of Tennessee said Bush’s ambitious moon and Mars missions “should not be done by cannibalizing other NASA missions.”

The bill is the first NASA policy measure — its budget is funded by a separate bill — to pass the House in five years. It advanced as the space agency tries to rebound from the Columbia disaster in February 2003 with the launch of the space shuttle Discovery next Tuesday.

The measure permits but does not explicitly endorse retiring the space shuttle fleet by 2010, as the administration would like to do. It directs the agency to launch a new crew exploration vehicle — which would lack the full capabilities of the shuttle but could travel to the International Space Station — as close to 2010 as feasible.

NASA’s plans call for a new vehicle to be ready by 2014, which unnerves lawmakers who do not want the United States to have to rely on other countries to catch a lift to the space station.

A companion Senate measure approved by the Commerce, Science and Transportation panel last month would bar NASA from retiring the shuttle before a replacement vehicle is ready.

Both House and Senate bills also endorse a servicing and repair mission to the Hubble Space Telescope. Without such a mission, the Hubble will fail when its gyroscopes and batteries wear out in the next few years, but the agency has not announced whether to let the telescope fail or whether it will undertake a costly manned repair mission.

“Congress endorses the President’s Vision for Space Exploration,” said Rep. Sherwood Boehlert, R-N.Y. “The United States will work to return to the moon by 2020, and then will move on to other destinations.”

The full Senate has yet to act on the NASA measure.

Regardless of the ringing endorsement Friday, NASA must still compete with other agencies for its budget in the annual appropriations process, which moves on a separate track. That promises to make it difficult to fulfill all of the policy recommendations made by the House on Friday.

Still, there was one lone voice against the bill. Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., questioned spending billions to go to Mars when “day after day ... we’re told we can’t do enough for housing and we can’t do enough for health care.”

“This is a fundamental debate the country ought to have ... about whether or not to commit these untold billions ... at the expense of other important programs,” he said.

Relaxing for a bit before I have to move on and do some chores and get ready for work.

Just in from the pool and had a very good time on the waterslides.

Now I'm sitting in jammies and running my fingers through my hair to get the curls to spread before they dry.

I FINALLY GOT MY BOOK!!!!! YAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!! I AM READING IT NOW..!!!!!!!!

 

Only on second chapter....

Click For Spoiler

whats going on with snape???

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he and Mcgonagall are partners.

Well, from the interview with Rowling, the link of which I posted here, they will get together.

Sleepy Hollow

Willy Wonka

There's something painful about Eddie that I can't watch it all the way through.

:lol: Did he direct Pee Wee's Big Adventure??

OMG!!!! I LOVE THAT MOVIE!!!

It's genuis!!

Just finished a lovely lunch.

Waiting just a bit more before we head over to the fair grounds.

I will not ride the spinny rides this year.

Black cotton cheer shorts

Pale pink V necked T

Claddagh ring and my eternity ring

A claddagh toe ring

Well some of the shippers definitely have some "questionable" couples, or trios!

Though I thought I heard the Remus and Sirius shippers scream with glee in Movie 3 when it appeared they were going to kiss in the shrieking shack.

Right click on them, hit save picture as.

Open a free account at photobucket, enter it there and it will give you three different types of "tags" to use.

If you are going to use it as a sig use the IMG

for a avatar the middle option is yours

I just saw someone talking about Harry and Madame Pince as shippers. YUCK!!!

Things I do typically after starting to get ready for the day.

Comb out my hair and put something on it to control the curl.

Answering PM's and emails

Waiting for mugglenet to put up part 3 of the JKR interview

summer pajamas

 

*Pant......pant......*........You really have to stop doing this to me Madam!...

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:lol:

Ok then I won't say **bleep** Kor. Just to make sure you don't hyperventilate!!

Just finished setting up our ultra cool and ludicrously expensive television.

 

Then I was just nodding in approval as my mother picked out the new oven, microwave and side tables she wanted and then demanded my father pays for it all.

 

Now I'm taking a break before I clear out some of the clutter and useless junk from our living room.

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See if your Dad will give me the downpayment on a new car while your Mom is at it.