Journal Entry

Sorry for the delay, but a new entry will be added someday soon. I've had lots of new adventures in 2002 to speak of! --Kimberly 7/2/02

Pardon for the slow update -- I have not had time to work on this entry. Please be patient and check back soon for an update --- Thanks, Kim --- 3 October 2001

4 September 2001 (incomplete)

It's probably about time for a new journal entry.....

Howdy All,

"Eureka!" I'm still in California. Things are still "golden." This past weekend (the Labour Day holiday in the States) marks about my first anniversary here in the Golden State, the land of the rolling blackouts, earthquakes, movie stars, and all creatures big and small, and of course, me, for now.

I'm hanging in there, continuing to work on several neat-o NASA projects. I've had the opportunity to do a bit of traveling during the summer to attend a few classes and conferences related to my work.

In late June, I took the slow (and I really mean **s**l**o**w**) train to Santa Barbara from San Jose to attend a week-long course on infrared detectors held at USCB. I also had the wonderful opportunity to get reacquainted with a dear friend Ajay, from my Hopkins days, catching up on his life and meeting his friends. Here are some piccies of beautiful beautiful Santa Barbara, CA, in June.

July in the San Francisco area was quite pleasant. No hot days. I enjoyed celebrating July 4th among local friends with a traditional American BBQ followed by non-traditional croquet followed by traditional American fireworks. My month was also highlighted with my 29th birthday (July 23, and yes I am that young!), celebrated among local friends.

Towards the end of July, I nipped down to San Diego, CA, for a SPIE meeting, to present a poster on this MIDEX satellite mission concept I have been working on these past few moons. I did not get to see much of San Diego, CA, and the meeting was not all what it was cracked up to be. But it was a decent escape. I will definitely want to explore San Diego a bit more.

In August, I finally made it to Space Camp. I always had wanted to go as a child, but never did it. I gave a talk about designing, building and testing infrared space telescopes and infrared detectors (the things I do for a living!). It was a lot of fun. I must admit that I really have forgotten what it was like to be 13 again. I had 30 thirteen year olds for an hour. They liked my talk and show and tell, but they surely went wild when I ended the presentation with a liquid nitrogen experiment. I froze lots of things, and broken them, among the oohs and ahs. I surely made a mess. But I had fun with it! Oh, if you would like to see my presentation, in PDF, click here.

Kim makes it to space camp at age 29!! Here I am setting up for my talk on "Playing with 'Cool' Space Toys." I got a big kick out of it. I hope the kids did as well.

To escape a bit from the madness a space proposal goes into, when it hits pink and red team review, I flew down to Orange County, CA, to visit my uncle and aunt and cousin, for the long labor day weekend. They just recently bought a house in San Clemente, with a nice ocean front view. I enjoyed watching the sun set over the Pacific followed by the full moon rise in the east over the mountains. I enjoyed my break away.

Some factoids about my new home....

State Animal                 California Grizzly Bear
State Bird                   California Quail
State Colors                 Blue and Gold
State Dance                  West Coast Swing
State Fife and Drum Band     California Consolidated Drum Band
State Fish                   Golden Trout
State Flag                   Bear Flag
State Flower                 California Poppy
State Folk Dance             Square Dance
State Fossil                 Sabre-tooth Cat
State Gemstone               Benitoite
State Insect                 California Dogface Butterfly
State Marine Fish            Garibaldi
State Marine Mammal          California Gray Whale
State Mineral                Gold
State Motto                  Eureka!
State Nickname               Golden State
State Poet Laureate          Charles B. Garrigus
State Prehistoric Artifact   Chipped Stone Bear
State Reptile                Desert Tortoise
State Rock                   Serpentine
State Seal                   Great Seal of California
State Soil                   San Joaquin Soil
State Song                   I Love You California
State Theater                Pasadena Playhouse
State Tree                   California Redwood