Geeks on the Mat

Heading into class yesterday, a young woman was wearing a WPI (Worcester Polytechnic Institute) sweatshirt, with the school mascot goat's head. I stopped to chat, WPI is my alma mater. Industrial Engineer, class of 2007, working at Pratt & Whitney. Her yoga buddy was also an engineer at P&W, from Northeastern (I think).

Interesting to meet two women engineers, at yoga of all places. I suddenly felt old with my 1983 degree, realizing that this young woman had not been born as I stepped up to receive my diploma. And it kind of struck me like a bolt from the blue when she asked "Are you still in engineering?" Because I guess it's uncommon for engineers to keep plugging away in a technical field for their entire careers. Skills get old, familiarity with tools and technology slip away, engineers move into management, into other careers, into backwaters.

I remember reading about a corporate culture where senior engineers graduated into a sort of emiritus status, idea men and women, given the freedom to wander around poking their nose into things, napping on their desks, etc. Might have been Peters and Waterman's book "In Search of Excellence", but maybe not. That's rare though, mostly senior engineers get pastured out to doing product support for aging technologies, shuffled into paper pushing jobs, or driven upward into management (where their technical and people skills are often not great fits)

So, yeah, kind of interesting that, 26 years later, I am still doing engineering work. Part of that is an active choice - at my last corporate gig, the annual review would be an exercise in my manager trying to drag me into the management ranks and me resisting with all my might. I left in part because I had for the most part resolved the technical problems that my position was created to address, and I did not seek to become a corporate manager. So if I am still engineering all these years later, I do so out of choice.

So hello, sister engineering yogis. May your careers be long and interesting, filled with projects, travel, adventure, satisfaction. And may you, 25 years hence, look back on your career choices and path happily and with a heart and spirit still curious, supple, and learning.

Not a Bad Problem to Have

A mess of work, that is. Especially in These Economic Times(tm).

My largest client has entered into a period of unusual volume; I've had perhaps 6 months of record breaking work with them, and if things stopped dead right this second March would already be considered a very good month. But we've got about 7 workdays left and a small backlog flowing into next week, so I suspect March will be a record breaker.

Another client that has been pretty quiet for the past year has recently reconnected - but from a completely different place (engineering vs. service). Seems like some work in the offing. Nice.

I have a quote out to do some rare onsite work locally, at a gas station / convenience store. Interesting. No idea if it will come through but its a nice change of pace.

My oldest client has a long (and patiently) awaited update for a spreadsheet based data reader in the queue, waiting mostly for me to get a block of time to focus on it (VBscript / Excel macros just take a lot of time and grinding away).

My biggest website client is getting a late start on the 2009 season. Tickets go on sale April 1st, and yesterday they dropped a complete website redesign on me. I'm hoping to get something put together over the weekend (I'm self employed, so weekends are fair game) but there hours of work in the next week or so. Also, we're implementing a new ticketing program (so that they can control sell outs) which involves your faithful correspondant honing her PHP and MySQL chops.

Finally, another website client (albeit a pro bono one) has been nudging me to get some long delayed updates done. Hopefully I'll sneak into the office this weekend.

Oh yeah. My office is a mess. And my taxes are coming due. And the yoga studio has been keeping me busy with press releases, marketing, some filling in for the studio manager, and helping out with teacher training and national workshops. And teaching a few classes every week.

On a positive note, this is a down week for teaching - my Monday night intro class is over, my Wed night Adult Ed class has a break, and my Mon / Fri power classes do not start until next week.

Welcome Spring!

The daffodils are pushing up in front of my office building. Bird calls fill the air. Life, in all its diversity, dogged determination and glory, is making a comeback against the forces of entropy, darkness, and cold. My money is on the living......

10:40 am - BONUS! Sun is out!

Yoga sightings . . .and sitings for that matter

Three new islands of yogishness on the local scene.

#1) Jeff Zweig is teaching some classes over at Billings Forge Community Works (565 Broad Street, Hartford). Free classes the week of 3/23. Nice to have another yoga option downtown.



I've always enjoyed Jeff's classes, and his gentle, funny energy - I wish him well.

#2) Carissa Field is opening a studio - Body Bliss LLC - in Manchester, behind the Center for Progressive Therapies. Carissa is one of my favorite teachers at WHY (aw, heck, they are all my favorite teachers, bit Carissa was one of my first teachers) and I'm crossing my fingers and toes that she does well with her new space. She is continuing to teach at West Hartford Yoga, but this gives east of the river folks another yoga option.

#3) John Dorsey is presently beta-testing (his words) a small studio space (~12 students or so) in Newington. Contact John for info and perhaps an invite to one of his classes - jhd.yoga@yahoo.com

Craigslist - Missed Connections

One of my guilty pleasures is reading the Craigslist Missed Connections pages. Submitted for your amusement, this week's cream of the crop:

Theme #1 - The Family That Shoots Together....

In Line for Gun Permit (Middletown, CT)

You were the beautiful woman in line waiting to get your new gun permit, I was behind you waiting to renew mine. The line was really long, 12 people deep and I had to get to Manchester for an appointment. I thought there might be a connection there
I know there was on my part:) If you see this then perhaps it is fate...

Gun Permit - f4m - 32 (Middletown)

I was there a couple months ago. The man (mid 20s maybe?) with the dark hair and amazing blue eyes is still stuck in my head. Im pretty sure he noticed me too......I asked the finger print girl about him.....I'll be back when my temp comes in.

Your Lab Results Are Back

Hospital fitness center - m4m (Hartford)

Really enjoyed playing in private T-room. Would like to make it a regular thing (couple times a week). AM is usually good for me. Will bring the condoms next time.

Jude Comments: Now I know why my physical therapist was so late

Probably a Cheap Date

Saw you at Marshall's Sunday - m4m - 42 (Avon)

Saw you at Marshall's in Avon on Sunday. You were with the fam, I was alone. You - silver hair, glasses. Thought we had a few glances that might be more. Hit me back if you see this and are interested.

Jude Comments: The whole "you were with the fam" thing is a little awkward. Can we say "on the down low" maybe?

Mrs. Robinson, Are You Trying to Seduce Me?

same condo - m4w - 27 (Vernon)

Hello...you and I live in the same condo complex, and always smile at each other and say hi everytime we see each other. You are an older woman but I find you very sexy and attractive. Me and my buddy came over one time and had some drinks with you and a couple of your friends before. If you happen to see this and are somewhat interested send me a message back.

Make that a Grande

Starbucks Drive-Thru - m4m - 36 (Glastonbury)

You were in a blue pickup at the Starbucks on Hebron around 1:15 this afternoon. We made eye contact through your side mirror. I'd love to buy you a latte ;)

Blonde at glastonbury starbucks - m4m

enjoy talking with you, love your smile and wonderful energy.

Jude Comments: Glastonbury Starbucks a cruising zone. Who knew?

Meeting at Marshall's Suddenly Seems Like a Step Up

Southington Dollar Store - m4m (Southington)

Ironically, your name is kind of opposite where you work! I think you might be new there as I have not seen you there before. You are a cutie... would love to chat you up and find out more about you. If you have a clue who this might be you will know what I bought. To let me know it is you, let me know name and where you wear your name badge.

Jude Comments: Now we all want to know where he wears his name badge


Hey, That's My Vet

VETS OFFICE TODAY - m4m - 34 (WETHERSFIELD)

We were both at the vets office, you were picking up something you left behind for your dog, i was there with cat in blue plastic carry box. We chatted about our "kids" and how long weve each had ours. Would love to chat more.

Jude Comments: It'll never work out dude, he's a cat person.

Odd Couple

Hartford Wal Mart, March 16 - m4w - 40 (Flatbush Avenue)

Hot looking thin black girl in jeans and white high heel boots. You were with an older white guy with glasses, one dark lens and one clear lens around 1:00 PM. Would love to meet you. Please contact me. Thanks.

Jude Comments: The "one dark lens and one clear lens" thing is freaking me out.

Jill Miller at WHY

Awesome workshop this afternoon at West Hartford Yoga - Yoga Tune Up®: Hip Helpers for Classic Poses led by Jill Miller - from the Los Angeles area.

A sneaky workshop. Three hours, so we spent a lot of time doing little postures and exercises aimed at the muscle groups around the hips. Some extensive work with the ball - we do that a lot for shoulders, back, and glutes, but not so much on the side or front of hips. Then lots of different things to get into the hips - flexion and extension, abducting and adducting, rotation inward and outward.

Some really interesting lessons - working the feet and toes as a prep for the hips, seeing how movement and alignment in the feet and ankles affect the hips. A really cool hip pening exercise against the wall. And not so much classic yoga postures until we got to the climax posture - reverse triangle.

During and after the workshop, I felt all loose and wiggly - not unusual. But the real indications of just how opened up my hips were came later, as I was teaching my adult ed class in Bristol. I was demoing wide leg forward fold, and much to my surprise, set my head gentle down on the mat. That's never happened before - I've come close, but tonight I was right down there. Awesome.

Jill was a real delight - funny, wise, kept thing moving. I'll work with her again in a minute, would love to do a bit more extensive work - a multi day workshop or teacher training.

Neighborhood Walk

Zippy and I took the dogs for a long walk around the neighborhood this afternoon, taking advantage of the warm weather and longer sunrise. Some observations:

* People need to clean up! Lots of cans, bottles, wrappers on front lawns and curbside. Hopefully as the weather warms up people will be outside a bit more.

* Not so many homes for sale, no visible foreclosures. And checking Yahoo real estate and Zillow this evening, not so many properties for sale and the ones listed do not seem to be listed all that low.

* The foreclosed upon home behind us, that I was sort of interested in over the winter, is now occupied. The new neighbors seem nice (at least as far as a "hello" across the fence can determine) - they did more pruning, raking and cleaning today than the previous residents did in two years. And they put up a clothesline - points for environmentalism!

* The sidewalk along Newington Avenue, replaced over the winter as that road was dog up, widened, and repaved, is lovely for walking.

* Lots of kidlets out and about, playing hoops mostly.

I know the really warm weather is still a ways off but it was nice to be out and about. First time I put sneaks on in months!

Krishna Das at Kripalu

Trekked up to Kripalu last night with two friends / fellow yogis to see Krishna Das. Quite a lovely evening of Bhakti Yoga, a yoga of devotion to the divine through music, movement, and chanting.

We got a little bit of a late start, but my driving was sufficiently fast (what is it with yogis and driving, KD himself said something about a speeding ticket) to get us there in time for a quick Kripalu dinner (healthy and yummy) and then to the concert. We started out in the back on chairs but soon migrated to the follor near the front.

Really wonderful to see KD after all these years of listening to him at yoga and playing at kirtan. In some ways similar to how teaching yoga has taken away from my practice, playing at kirtan is different than participating in kirtan, so it was nice to just be there, chanting, letting the music carry me. He and his ensemble were quite wonderful, especially the violinist. As Shankara noted to me "we have to manifest a violin for our kirtan ensemble" and well, I think we manifested a flautist. Actually, I think she manifested us. Either way....a very wonderful addition.

Bit of a long drive, and my body is cranky from the driving as well as the sitting on the floor, bouncing around, and jyfully chanting. But worth it - a night of devotion and song, some time spent with two wonderful people, and a chance to see a performer whose music has become an important part of my life.

One of Those Days

Worked late last night on a website, so got moving a little slowly Wed morning. Worked for a bit, then headed over to the studio for a 9:30 practice. As I walked in at 9:15 I could sense the panic in the work study person's eyes - the 9:00 am All Levels teacher had not shown up and could not be reached via phone. So of course, I got to teach a clas instead of practicing.....

Grab some lunch, then back to work for a bit, and then back to the studio for a noon gentle class. Very relaxing and killer savasana, anything to be in my body for a bit. Then back to work all afternoon before heading out to Bristol for my Adult Ed class. Grab some dinner en route home, stop in to check email and visit with Zippy, and then back to the studio for meditation. Lot of runnign around and a lot of yogaish stuff.

Tomorrow, guerilla yoga with NP. And then a day of work. I'm getting dug out slowly, but the more I finish up and send out, the more work comes in the door. In these economic times, I am not complaining.

off the bed. Too tired for my own good!

Voices of the Faithful

The recent (and completely out of left field) bubbling up of the State of Connecticut vs. the Roman Catholic Church has caught my eye and ear.

As a former Catholic, I am interested. And perhaps surprising to some, I am on the side of the church hierarchy here - the state ought to keep out of the business of religion.

Of course, I hold this opinion for all the wrong (and nefarious) reasons. This proposal comes from internal church reformers (not from some legislative agenda to embarass the church), fearing the mismanagement and "old boys club" of the existing priest based financial management of parish assets and resources. Watching chuches close, watching diocesan and parish resources sucked dry by legal judgements or simple pilfering related to priest malfeasance. Who can blame them for wanting to try to save their church, their parish that they and their parents have invested in all these years?

But if one is happy to see the church buckle and fall under the weight of its own corruption, its timbers eaten away by corruption, scandal, and secrecy - well - keep on doing what you are doing, I say.

Voice of the Faithful - break away. Join the Episcopals, the Congregationalists, the Unitarian Universalists. Each person who walks away, who refuses to play by the existing rules, hastens the fall of the existing structure and perhaps the day of true reform.

I am perhaps a little harsh here. VOTF seems to have their hearts and minds in the right place. I am simply a bit more cynical, and have little hope that a popular uprising withing the church will make much of a dent in how things are run. Abosulte power corrupts, absolutely....at all levels of the church hierarchy.

Birthday Wishes

Kind of a quiet birthday.

I have been surrounded and overwhelmed with birthday wishes from friends. Thank Facebook for that one....funny because a week or so ago I considered removing my birthday from Facebook....go under the radar so to speak. That's been more typical of my style. But apparently I am visible this year. I wonder who I can blame for that? So I am basking in scores of birthday wishes: text messages, facebook messages, emails, calls, and in person.

Guerilla yoga this morning with my pal Nykki - notable because she and Amy got me a rather unique gift (a bag of Cheez Doodles, it's a long story). Also, one of the studio trees fell over, out of nowhere.

Some work before and after. Then lunch with my sister and mom who drove down from Massachusetts. We visited the studio, hit Elements for lunch (yum), and then drove over to Blue Back and WH Center for a little shopping and sightseeing. I picked up some things on the clearance rack at Lucy - sis and mom wanted to get me a little birthday something.

Eight Weeks Later

Tonight was the final class of my first Intro Series. Ten students in the room; most of the class stuck it out until the end. And after seven weeks of working on individual parts - legs, hips, core, twists, shoulders, inversions, vinyasa - I took them through a more or less regular practice tonight. It was wonderful to see them moving through postures, catching the flow, letting go. So happy for them, and proud. As they moved into a well deserved savasana, it was rewarding and inspiring to watch them.

Probably not my last intro series. But there is something special about the first time one does anything, and this is no exception. I'm off to bed, happy and warm, feeling as if I've touched some lives, perhaps lit a fire or two.

This yoga thing has infected me, and I am more than happy to pass it along!

Raising the Bar

I'm subbing at the yoga studio this morning. Shankara's 10:15 All Levels class. Subbing a weekend class is the big time, a full room of folks expecting a good class, and I'm preparing a little more than usual. Most times, I get into the studio a little early, get into my body, and mentally assemble a class. I identify a theme for the class (hips maybe, shoulders, or vinyasa, or something) and then block out the time (seated meditation, some seated postures, work on particular body parts, slotting in abs, back stretches, vinyasa, standing poses, back to the floor). I'll mentally bookmark a couple of postures I want to get in, and also some prep postures. But mostly, I wing it. Student's seem to like my sequences, my postures, my energy, and my language - so I guess I am doing soemthing right.

Not today though, I'm subbing for Shankara. People expect a good class, the room will be full, so I am formally prepping!

Subbing for Shankara is a glass half full / glass half empty kind of thing. I'm honored and flattered to be asked. And I do recognize that people have favorably compared my style in front of the room and my classes to his, so it makes sense. But I'm also vaguely suspicious that nobody else wants to fill in for Shankara, he is most beloved and respected, and his regular students are often visibly disappointed when he is not there. It takes a certain personality to watch students turn tail and walk out when he is not teaching, and not take it personally. Maybe my self-effacing "I am not worthy" attitude provides some space for that sort of rejection. Maybe because I know that it's about him (positively) and not about me (negatively).

Anyway, 10:15 this morning, All Levels at West Hartford Yoga. Be there....I've got a nice class planned!

It's the Economy Stupid....or Maybe Not

There is a catchphrase out there - "...in this economy". Not a day goes by when I do not hear it or say it. How's work? someone will ask me. Busy, I reply. That's something in this economy, they will say. And yes it is.

I am a bit dubious of the economic downturn, if the local restaurants are any judge. Last Tuesday, I went out to dinner with my studio owner (I figured I was about get fired or something, bu she just wanted to touch base). Since she is a fairly restricted food person (clean food, whole food, vegetarian leaning), and I am a gastronomic goat (I will eat pretty much anything), I let her pick a venue. Max's Oyster Bar. A Tuesday night around 6:30 - how bad could it be?

An hour wait; that's how bad. We crossed the street for Arugala, not quite so crowded but still relatively busy on a Tuesday night.

Last night, my friend Audrey was in town for a movie and wanted to go out to dinner. I let her choose - and she chose Plan B over on New Park. I was dubious (Saturday night and all) but it was early, 5:30, so I drove over there. We never got out of the car - the queue to get in was spilling out onto the sidewalk. Not unexpected (Plan B is a smallish place and popular) so I suggested Element's Bistro over on New Britain in Elmwood. Things looked good - the parking lot was pretty empty (I've seen it full), no visible line - but when we got in there, a 50 minute wait.

We ended up over at Bombay Olive. Which was also doing a nice business, with a number of tables marked Reserved, although there was room for us.

I dunno, it seems to me that if times are really all that dire, these reasonably upscale restaurants would be struggling a little bit. I know that lots of people are losing jobs, companies are downsizing, times are fraught with fear and paralysis. But so much of this economic panic seems to be based on emotion, on expecting the worst, on waiting for the bottom and the hoped for uptick. When I look around and see these restaurants still full, still a hot ticket, well, it's hard to not be just a little hopeful.

As a coda, you know I teach and practice yoga. Friday at noon, I had 25 people in my class. Granted, it was a low cost, $5 class, but it's nice to teach to a room full of people. And yesterday, I took a class with Nykki that was filled up with 60 bodies. People are still spending time and money. So I'll choose hope over fear, and maybe my economic optimism will float another boat or two.

And Now for Something Completely Different

Trekked over to Samadhi Yoga in Manchester yesterday for a 6:00 pm class with Matt. I was supposed to meet up with my buddy Alison and take a class together, but we miscommunicated (or rather, I did, I thought I had posted a note to her via Facebook but I did not, stupid since I do have her email and cell phone information!). I've heard wonderful things about Matt's class (met him briefly back when I was thinking about teacher training over there, but have never practiced with him). So it was a good chance to practice with someone new.

In any case, an interesting, All Levels class. Very pranayama focused - there is a little tendency (on my part) to see pranayama as a waste of good asana time. So a little bit of patience and letting the pranayama do its thing. I picked up a few interesting postures or ways of working, which add to my repetoire. However, I walked away with a tweaky lower back - Matt does a lot of "side to side" stuff that does not sit well with my body:

* Seated side bend and seated twist, back and forth with the breath and not sitting and breathing into one side

* A standing twist sequence that was similarly "jerky" - inhale up, exhale twist, inhale, exhale forward fold, inhale up, repeat other side. Not a lot of room or time to sink in to the twist or let it stew, and not a ton of prep work for what becomes a pretty deep posture.

* A sun salutation sequence - Surya Namaskar A but adding a twisted triangle on each side coming up. Again, just a quick "in and out" of the twist and a fairly rapid left right sequencing. My body just likes to get in there a little slower and soak into a particular side. The "left/right and back/forth" thing was not so good for me, I think my body needs to work into a particular side before getting into the deep twists, and to warm up with posture more (pranayama is fine for getting the body warm but not particular muscles groups)

Some forward fold pranayama at the end (kapalabati, uddiyana) - and more lower back stuff. Marcia's classes do the same thing to me, a lot of forward folding and right at the start of class, so I really have to warm up my lower back before class, and be conscious of it during.

Overall, I got very deep in the practice (a nice seated meditation just prior to savasana was a particularly nice touch), I really liked Matt's languaging and style, and I picked up a couple of interesting postures. But the sequencing and postures were just not all that good for this particular body. So, a good practice from a "know thyself" perspective, and I really do like to broaden my horizons with different styles and teachers, to keep from getting stale.

Hopefully, I'll get my rear end over there again some time - the rush hour drive through Hartford kind of bites, and it's hard to actually pay for yoga (I practice free down at WHY). But I do want to get together with Alison at some point....

Busy Friday

In case you are wondering why I have been off the grid the last week or so, life has just gotten busy. Today:

* Work this morning, I have quite queue of pending reports (some marked URGENT or ASAP) to crank out. Hope to put a big dent in that list today.

* Yoga at 12:15 - teaching my normal gentle class

* Set up for kirtan - between my armada of guitars, my wireless mic, and the group sound system, it's quite the production

* Wake for Maria and Mike Bollea - 4:00 pm - 7:00 pm at Sheehan-Hilborn-Breen Funeral
Home on New Britain Avenue (a blessing that it is right down the street)

* Dinner possibly with balloon friends, hopefully nearby

* Kirtan at 8:15 pm

Needless to say, Saturday will be a day of rest, recovery, and catch-up!

Amazon.com On Demand Rental now available for Roku....

Dear Judith,

You don't have to fetch your car keys or grab your wallet to watch Hollywood's hottest new releases.

Your Roku digital video player now offers more than 40,000 movies and TV episodes available to rent or buy instantly from Amazon Video On Demand—many on the very same day they’re available on DVD. Prices start at 99 cents and no subscription fee is required.

Choose from newly released movies such as The Dark Knight, Tropic Thunder and Pineapple Express, or catch up on the latest episodes of your favorite TV shows such as House and Battlestar Galactica.

The new software update to access Amazon Video On Demand will be automatically delivered to you, free of charge, within the next five days. From there, just link your Roku player to your Amazon account to buy or rent right from your TV. No PC required.

New releases are just a fraction of the more than 40,000 choices available instantly from Amazon Video On Demand. See for yourself! Select the "Amazon Video On Demand" button from your Roku player's Home screen and start exploring. Amazon Video On Demand is an addition to your Roku player. Your Netflix service remains unchanged. Check out the Amazon Video On Demand Special Deals section, where you'll find popular titles like Speed Racer and Journey to the Center of the Earth for as low as 99 cents! And for a limited time, the 2009 SI Swimsuit Show will be also be offered for free.

This is just the first of many exciting new additions coming to your Roku digital video player in 2009.

Keep watching and enjoy.

Tim Twerdahl
Vice President, Roku

More information here

Just Like That

A very sad story in today's news. Two Dead of Carbon Monoxide Poisoning. I was channel surfing the evening, keeping an eye on the weather, and I happened to catch this story on the local news.

Turns out I know the victims - Mike Bollea, a local balloonist, and his mother, Maria. The media is finally releasing the names, Hartford Courant story here.

I just saw Mike last night - he was at our balloon club safety seminar. He procures and funds a custom sheet cake with balloon decor (and often a frosting photo) made for these events - 2 or 3 times a year. As I chomped on the cake (yummy, with way too much sweet frosting), I chatted with him, teasing a little - what it would take to get a cake for our annual Gemini party? My buddy Robert chimed in "be careful what you wish for". M was likely to bring a few albums full of photos of his last flights, and would happily supply great detail you about each photo. He was quite the talker, and quite the character! Later yesterday, as he detailed how he had photoshopped his balloon and one other into the cover photo for our annual calendar, I teased him again. "Be honest, were there actually any balloons in that photo to start with?"

Yesterday he was detailing his annual expenditures - thousands of dollars in printer ink, photo paper, albums, sheet protectors. He was the de facto photographer of record of the CT Lighter than Air Society - if you wanted a photo of the balloon you were flying back in 1994, he could go back in the archives and pull it out. Last year, for the banquet, I put together a slide show for cocktail hour, and M sent several hundred pictures. This year, mostly aimed at him lest he overwhelm my In Box, I limited it to 30 photos per person. He sent his photos - and made sure I know he had plenty more if I needed them....

Mike never married - he lived with his mother, retired a while back from Wiremold in West Hartford. He was a kindly soul, would never hurt a flea and was always willing to step up for someone else. He was one of those balloonists who was often on the field without his balloon - helping out a friend by driving the chase van, flying for fun, or happy to take some pictures of a new balloon - he just loved the sport and the people. It's heartbreaking to know that he was just here - and is gone so quickly and unexpectedly. But as my friend Robert noted, it was also odd in a way. He and his mom were inseperable, and if she had passed away he would surely have been a lost soul, as would she if he had gone first. So doubly sad that they died together, but also a very small blessing at the heart of this great loss.

I'm quite sure he had a good day yesterday, surrounded by friends, talking about balloons, doing what he always did - take photos of the event, show off pictures of his most recent flight, talk about ballooning and plan the upcoming balloon season. I got an email from him a few days back - he flew on Wed 2/25. As usual there were 30-40 photos - documenting the entire flight - inflation, scenery, people, breakfast afterwards. I'll share a couple of photos from that email:


Right: Mike (left, with knit cap) in his balloon


Right: Mike's beloved balloon Checked-mate


Rest in Peace, Mike. Balloonists throughout the region will miss your friendly face, your passion for photography and ballooning, and I am sure as 2009 comes through, not a balloon weekend or event will roll by without something going undone, and we realize "Ah....Mike used to take care of that....". There will be an empty space on the field, and an empty chair at every post-flight breakfast, from here on.

Time for a little cry....

Instant Netflix: State and Main

From 2000. David Mamet's quirky film. Philip Seymour Hoffman. William H. Macy. Sarah Jessica Parker. Alec Baldwin. Charles Durning. Patti Lupone. What could go wrong?

CLAS Safety Seminar

Today, at the New England Air Museum. Mostly, a day of hanging out and listening to talks about ballooning and safety. Not a lot of new ground, but a nice refresher. My first such seminar; not sure if I will make it a regular thing, but its a nice chance to catch up with the balloon peeps during the off season.

The keynote / special guest was Don Piccard, who has a bunch of pet projects and associated websites. He is purportedly "The father of modern sport hot-air ballooning." and his biography certainly supports that. His history goes back as far as Lakehurst NJ (remember the Hindenburg?) and although he was a wee bit young for that particular event, he worked there, knew people who witnessed that, and has his theories about the event. So very interesting to listen to him.

He has two pet projects going. The XAP (eXtreme Altitude Project) is a proposed hybrid hot-air / gas balloon intended to fly to 150,000 feet (yes, that's nearly 30 miles up) into the mesosphere. Really interesting stuff (the concept, the technical challenges) although I have yet to really understand the switch-over from the gas bags (which can / will be cut away upon descent) and the hot-air system. Never did quite understand that.....but it sounds like a critical piece.

And finally, he is working on an affordable gas balloon (using Hydrogen or Methane gas) called the Piccard Pleiades - he's quite the salesman for the sport of gas ballooning (far less pedestrian than regular old hot air ballooning).

Hope I'm that spry and have so much passion and drive at 83. It was neat to meet him.

There were other presentations - a piece on crew safety (by local friends), a bit on pilot decision making by Bill Huighes of the Liberty Balloon School, and a nice overview of reading the weather by Mark Schilling, who put together a weather website for CLAS members. And the requisite number of scare stories about various accidents (real and imagined) to keep the pilots and crew honest.

I've been crewing for hot air balloons for almost 25 years, and have never witnessed a serious incident. But things do happen. So best to be prepared.....