Melyssa-with-a-Y

Is a Star Wars mimobot ! Gotta love the smirk on Han Solo's face. ;) Darth Vader and R2-D2 are already sold out. (No, I don't really want one, I just think they're cute.)

I Passed - 10 out of 10! It amazes me that many of the people who are born in the good ol' US of A don't know a thing about our nation's history, and take it for granted... but the people who fight to get here to build a better life for themselves, they know ALL about it. You Passed the US Citizenship Test Congratulations - you got 10 out of 10 correct! Could You Pass the US Citizenship Test?

I should have posted this earlier, of course, but I am tremendously thankful for my family and friends, my job and my great co-workers, and of course, the USC Trojans. ;) Here's a great picture of us at the Carpinteria Tidepools on Friday. L-to-R that's Jae, me, Sam, Teri, and Bryan. I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving, full of laughter, food, family, and fun.

Wow. I mean, WOW ! It's incredible. The Hearst family owned so much land that at the turn of the century they used to put up tents at the top of the hill, and vacation up there. Of course, when they raised tents, they put down oriental rugs, and loaded in furniture, and hung paintings along the sides of the tent... it was very elegant "camping." They used to call it "The Ranch." William Randolph Hearst wanted to build something up on the hill, but his mother* wouldn't let him, so he had to wait until she passed away. Then he went to work. In 1919, he commissioned the architect, Julia Morgan , to build three guest houses surrounding one main house (above). He was partial to Italian and Spanish styles. We did two of the tours (#1 and #2). The first was one of the guest houses, and the first floor of the main house, and the pool(s). A lot of the interior decorations are pieces he purchased from defunct churches in Europe - there are rooms lined with ch...

Sunday morning, we slept in a little bit and then headed for the nearest Fry's . I had to buy a new camera, after all -- there's no way I was going to the Monterey Aquarium and Hearst Castle without a camera! I picked out an Olympus FE-300 . It's GREAT. I love it. I also bought an xD memory card (1Gb) and one of those converters to plug in to the lighter in the car (to charge the battery). Then we drove south and stopped for a bit at Gilroy, so I could get new shoes. (My feet were killing me in San Fran!) We found our way to the hotel in Monterey by about 1pm, checked in, and headed off to the aquarium and Cannery Row. We were sooooo hungry (breakfast was at McDonalds, when we were searching for Fry's)... we went to a bbq restaurant in Cannery Row and scarfed down some salads. Then it was time to see the animals! The Monterey Bay Aquarium exhibits focus on the ecosystem around the bay, the oceans in northern California, and other local waterways. The first t...

On Friday, Mom and I set off from Reno at about noon, headed to Fallen Leaf Lake, which is southwest of Lake Tahoe. We made it about ... 15 minutes, before we had to stop at Boomtown for some coffee. I took a few pictures of the mountains, and then we were off to the west. I didn't even notice when we crossed into California. We are driving a cute green Jeep Liberty. We stopped once on the road so I could take pictures, and then for lunch at the Olde Tahoe Cafe in Homewood. We just kept saying how beautiful the scenery was. And stopping by the side of the road so I could jump out and take pictures. :) When we called Mike (our host), he told us we'd definitely want to stop and take pictures when we got to Emerald Bay. He wasn't kidding! Unfortunately, up on top of that mountain, it was COLD! But a nice lady took a picture of us, and we returned the favor for her. Then we jumped back into the car and headed for Fallen Leaf. We missed the turnoff for Fallen Leaf Ro...

I have just finished four fun-filled days in lovely (and a little dreary) Reno, NV at the International Supercomputing Conference, otherwise known as SC'07 . I saw a lot of people I haven't seen in a year, worked hard at representing my center, made some new friends, and learned a lot. Handed out a lot of business cards. Not a single photo. I was waking up at 6am and collapsing into bed at 10pm, with very little time in between to do anything but read a little bit of email and answer the important stuff. I did manage to lose $10 at the slots, however, and caught the 30-min special Blue Man Group show on the last night of the event. I still have a lot of work to do to catch up with what I missed, and make notes about what I did all week. Next post: "Thelma & Louise" set off from Reno for South Lake Tahoe, San Francisco, and beyond!

Oh, to have been in DC on Monday when the author of Abraham's Children: Race, Identity, and the DNA of the Chosen People spoke at the American Enterprise Institute. The discussion centered around the supposed genetic predisposition of Jewish people to be smarty-pants. (That's a very technical term, you know!) :) The average IQ of Ashkenazi Jews is 107 to 115, well above the human average of 100. But what if the genes that make us smart also make us sick? I never thought about it this way, but the Jewish population of the world is one of the most in-bred groups in existence. Makes sense, though, with all of our mothers urging us to find a "nice Jewish boy," or avoid the "shiksas." ;) The question is, are we all smart because our genetics have made that happen? Or are we smart because the Jewish culture & religion place a heavy value on study and learning? Or is it a combination of both? And are we smarter at the expense of being less coordinated? or...