Resonant Constellation

This next week is spring break at the university, so I’ll be going home. I always look forward to this opportunity, as it allows me to catch up on some sleep and decompress a bit. Beside this, I also get to eat good food for a while-an opportunity I will NEVER turn down.

As I write this now, I’m sitting in the Tucson (theoretically) International Airport. Going through airline security always makes me slightly frustrated. It seems an ineffective inconvenience (for more ranting on this subject, see my Australia Travelogue, though you’ll have to dig to find it). I used to really enjoy flying, especially by myself. I once flew by myself from Albuquerque to Las Vegas to visit my grandparents (who live in Lake Havasu, Arizona, but spend quite a bit of time in Vegas). This was a very exciting experience that I truly enjoyed, but sadly this is no more. Ah well.

I say I’ll be relaxing in Albuquerque this week, but I seem to have accumulated a busy schedule. Aside from working on an image processing project for a class, I’ll be working for my research advisor, Matt Kenworthy, on our multiple brown dwarf system project. I also hope to get out to somewhere dark with my telescope (which I unfortunately have to leave in New Mexico) and perhaps take a few astropictures with my camera (you’ll see ‘em here first). Other possible activities include hiking and (as I always do) visiting the local music stores to gawk at the merchandise that I can’t afford.

Also, there’s a hint that a store in Albuquerque may have some of Deschute’s Brewery’s The Abyss. Excitement!

Afterwards:
The flight was uneventful today, but a funny thing happened right before I got on. I got to talking to the people right behind me in line, and the subject of my field of study came up (seems it always does). Now, I had a choice: If I feel like talking I could say that I’m an Astronomer, or if not I could say that I’m a Physicist. The reactions are always the same-if I say Physicist everybody says “Oh. Physics. That’s hard,” and the conversation is over. If I say Astronomer, the reaction is much more positive: “OOOh, Astronomy, I loooved looking at the stars when I was a kid. My brother…” and so on. Eventually they ask me if I think “Like, maybe there’s aliens out there somewhere?” I swear to you, this works every time, including today (I was feeling good, so I said Astronomer). People are funny like that.