Nostalgia: The 1950s and 1960s

In an email, a friend sent me a link to a video of 1950s nostalgia. What killed me, of course, was how well I actually remembered everything portrayed in the video -- the music, the cars, the (ahem) fashions. Talk about feeling old -- even though I was just a little girl in the Fifties, mind you!

Here's that link:

Take Me Back to the Fifties

After watching the video, I clicked through to the website's home page, where I discovered even more nostalgia inducers.

This video covers my high school and college years:

Take Me Back to the Sixties

And while we are at it, how about a featurette on The Cars We Drove in the 50s & 60s.

By the way, the first car I got to drive regularly was my mother's 1958 Ford Fairline 500, like the one in the photo at the top of this page -- but without the fender skirts. (Mom would never have had a car with fender skirts!)

Eight Random Things

My friend Mark Stoneman tagged me for the Eight Random Things meme: I'm supposed to tell eight random things about myself -- presumably things that most people might not know about me.

Here goes nothin' -

1) This is the first meme I've ever done, since my other blogs don't lend themselves to this kind of nonsense, heh heh.

2) Among Mark's Eight Random Things, he revealed that he used to raise hens when he was a kid. He's not the only one who had chickens. When I was a child, my grandfather used to buy colored chicks for my sister and me every Easter. (Selling dyed chicks as novelty pets was still legal then.) My sister always got dark rose-colored chicks, which she loved, and she always named them "Rosy Luk-luk." I got a different color chick each year, and gave them names like "Pecky," "Lucky," "Chickie," and similar un-original names.

3) Our friends' colored chicks always seemed to die. Ours always lived, and all of them turned out to be White Leghorn roosters. [See photo.] In late Fall we'd have to give them away to a local farmer. Visitation rights were not part of the deal, so we never were sure whether they really became members of an established flock, or ended up in a stewpot (and we were afraid to ask).

4) I studied Latin for four years in high school -- a public high school, not a Catholic one, believe it or not. In those days, learning Latin was thought to be an essential part of a well-rounded education.

5) My own children's schools did not offer Latin, so I decided to teach them first-year Latin myself. I stopped by the Classics Department at our local university and told the department secretary that I intended to teach Latin to my children and I was looking for some advice on appropriate materials. I'll never forget the incredulous look on her face. She exclaimed, "You want to do WHAT?!" But to her credit, she regained her composure quickly and directed me to a Latin professor who did indeed help me out by giving me a syllabus and review copies of a first-year Latin text and its companion workbook -- all for free. He also told me that, while he admired my motives, I was probably wasting my time. In the end, the kids and I did complete about half the lessons in the syllabus, no more, but no less.

6) Speaking of languages, we lived in Greece for many years, and as a result my husband and children and I all can speak, read, and write Modern Greek, at assorted levels of competency.

7) When we returned to the U.S. after living in Greece, I found a unique and practical use for our knowledge of the Greek language. Our garage door had a combination lock, but everyone kept forgetting the combination. I wrote out the combination on a card, using the Greek words for the numbers instead of numerals: δωδεκα, εικοσι-οκτω, δεκα-εξι. I pasted the card on the door beside the lock. Since there were no other Greek-speakers about, we were pretty certain that no one outside our family could read it. At the same time, we concluded that if someone came along who could read the combination, and could thus get into the garage and ultimately into the house, we'd probably want to meet that person anyway!

8) Finally, a confession: Even though I have several advanced degrees, I have never learned to touch-type. I can type at better than average speed, but I still have to look down at the keyboard from time to time, and I use only two fingers on each hand to type, not counting thumbs for the space bar. (But I can use a ten-key number pad properly, and without looking.)

UPDATE: I tagged Mary for the Eight Random Things meme, and she has posted her reply on her blog.

What I write about: Personal Portfolio

In the previous post I talked about my Aviation Portfolio -- all related, at least tangentially, to my work. In addition I write material that I think of as my Personal Portfolio.

The centerpiece of my Personal Portfolio is a blog called The Right Blue, which I co-produce with my husband. In it we recount the many adventures we've had over the course of several decades as divers, and some of the things we've learned along the way about the ocean and its natural inhabitants. In addition to the tales, the blog also showcases my underwater photography. With very few exceptions (all of which are labeled) , the images on the blog are photos I've taken myself, here in Hawaii where we live, as well as at various dive sites around the world.

Here are a few of the most recent articles posted to The Right Blue:

• Tales of whales: Humpbacks in Hawaii
• A little fish with a big job
• Male fur seals at Taiaroa Head
  

And here are a few recently posted stand-alone photos of marine life (no text -- although each has a brief description posted as the first comment).

• Red-spotted Sandperch
• Hawaiian Green Sea Turtle on Puako Reef
• Stripe-belly Puffer Fish
  

At present we are preparing a new blog -- a land-based companion to The Right Blue. The new blog will feature photos (and descriptions) of scenery, flowers, and animal life. We have an extensive garden that we run like a mini nature preserve, so most of the photos in the new blog will focus an the plants, trees and flowers in our garden, and the critters that live there or visit regularly. We'll also display photos shot elsewhere on our island, as well as images from places to which we travel. Stay tuned: When the new blog is launched I'll announce it here.

Finally, I also write for a multi-author blog called Go! Smell the Flowers. Here are my three most recent posts there:

• Go! Kick up your heels underwater!
  
• Go! See the contrasts
  
• Go! Smell the wildflowers... er, weeds
  

I rarely lack for topics to write about, but sometimes I run a little short of time to write all of the things I want to write, WHEN I want to write them. For example, all of the writing I intended to do in my personal blogs had to be put aside late this past week after a British Airways plane crash landed at London's Heathrow Airport. The priority was to write about that event and its aftermath for my aviation news blogs, which I did, but the task was so labor intensive that it left no time for the personal writing.

So it goes.

What I write about: Aviation Portfolio

"Just what kinds of things do you blog about?" I was asked recently by a new acquaintance.

I write about topics in several distinct domains. In my mind they are organized into two 'portfolios': I have a Personal Portfolio, and an Aviation Portfolio.

Let me introduce you to my Aviation Portfolio first. It's composed of a static website and a suite of blogs, all of which arose in conjunction with my work.

I'm a research psychologist, and for some years I have been studying the lives of people who work in the aviation industry, and especially those who fly for a living. I began in this role by investigating occupational stress and its effects on the health and well being of people who work as civilian aircrew. At first I focused only on pilots and flight attendants who work for commercial airlines. Somewhat later my work expanded to include other sectors of the civilian air transport industry as well, such as air cargo, air charter, and corporate aviation.

Eventually my research focus broadened beyond the stress-and-health issues, per se. More recently my research can best be described as ethnographic, i.e., looking at all aspects of the lives of people in aviation occupations, including training, safety, security, and labor issues as well as health.

Along the way I became an aviation news junkie! I'm interested in aviation news mostly from the perspective of its impact on the lives of the crew members I have come to know.

At some point I found myself forwarding news items and links to articles to the many pilots and flight attendants I had come to know through my research programs. I did this on a very frequent basis. I just didn't want them to miss anything important!

Then one day in 2004 it occurred to me to collate the news items and links on a blog that all of the people on my email list could read at their leisure (or not!) instead of having their in-boxes clogged up with my frequent mass mailings. That worked out reasonably well -- well enough that I began to think about how to do it a little better.

In February of 2005 I abandoned the first link collection in favor of a new blog, in which I posted news summaries of interest to people who fly for a living -- and the people who support them on the ground. I added a little commentary here and there, and also posted the occasional crew-related essay I had authored. I named the new blog Aircrew Buzz.

Aircrew Buzz remains as my flagship aviation news blog -- and continues to grow in readership. But in the Fall of 2005 I decided to spin off two specialized aviation news blogs from Aircrew Buzz -- one for pilots, and another for flight attendants. That airplane at right is the logo that now is displayed on each, indicating that they are all part of the same suite -- my Aviation Portfolio.

Today, Aircrew Buzz still focuses on "crew-centered news and commentary," but covers the broader topics -- regulatory issues, for example -- as well as international events and industry-wide topics. Here are some recent examples:

• Continental takes delivery of first Next-Generation B737-900ER
• Transaven Let L-410 missing off Venezuelan coast
• New prohibition on lithium batteries in checked baggage
  

The second in my portfolio of aviation news blogs is Professional Pilot News. Just as the title suggests, this one is less general than Aircrew Buzz, focusing on news and issues of particular interest to the people who fly civilian planes for a living. Topics covered include flight deck safety, accident and incident reports, contract and labor issues, tips on who's hiring pilots, and occasional stories about individual pilots. For example:

• American Airlines Pilots want mediation of contract talks
• Taxi prang for Sen. Obama's chartered Gulfstream
• Pinnacle vs. pilots: The latest chapter
  

Cabin Crew News, a news blog for flight attendants around the world, was spun off from Aircrew Buzz at the same time as Professional Pilot News. Similar in range of content to the blog for pilots, it features news of specific interest to flight attendants: cabin crew contract and labor issues, reports about cabin safety issues, tips on finding cabin crew jobs, and stories about individual flight attendants. Here are some recent examples:

• Air Canada turbulence incident injures 10
• Virgin Atlantic cabin crew plan to strike
• Aloha Airlines No. 1 F/A retires after 50 years
  

All three of my aviation news blogs are syndicated by both BlogBurst and Newstex. Through this syndication, the content from all three appears regularly on the Commercial Aviation page of McGraw-Hill's Aviation Week, and individual articles are distributed through syndication to Reuters, LexisNexis, EBSCO and others. (I must admit, it's fun to see my articles pop up on news websites all over the web.)

That's my current Aviation Portfolio. Next, I'll tell you about my Personal Portfolio.

Blogs As Collections

Have you noticed how many blogs display collections of one kind or another?

Lots of people collect things -- stamps, baseball caps, shells -- you name it. There was a time when peoples' collections were housed and displayed either in albums of some sort, or in cabinets. Now many collectors are using blogs to collate, display, and explain their collections.

I've become fascinated with the whole notion of Blog As Collection. Here are a few collection blogs I know of. I'll add to the list over time as I discover other collection blogs.

• Chair Blog - "Chairs, Chair designs, Chair designers, and Chair manufactureres"


• Chocolate Blog - "All things chocolate brown and gorgeous shades of blue"


• Diners, Roadhouses, Drive-ins, Joints & Dives


• Ethnic Group Posters


• Fruit Species - "All fruits: Common, exotic, rare fruits & vegetables around the world"


• Guitar Noize - "Guitar news from the furthest corners of the Interweb!

If you know of other interesting blogs in this genre (maybe yours?), please leave the name and URL in the comments.

Website design tool: Browsershots

So, you're designing a new website or blog template -- or you're tweaking one you already have. One thing you're wondering is how it will render in various browsers.

Here's a handy website you may want to consult. It's called Browsershots. Here's what it does:

Browsershots makes screenshots of your web design in different browsers. It is a free open-source online service created by Johann C. Rocholl. When you submit your web address, it will be added to the job queue. A number of distributed computers will open your website in their browser. Then they will make screenshots and upload them to the central server here.

Give it a try.

Pizzacono

Ever buy a slice of pizza and then struggle as it flopped as you tried to eat it while you walked? Someone has come up with a new pizza variant that would presumably end the floppy pizza slice problem. It's called "Pizzacono."

What exactly is it? According to the Pizzacono website:

Pizzacono is just what it's called: a 6-inch-tall savory cone, created from delicious flaky dough complete with a drip-free bottom. The cones come in a variety of appetizing flavors. The Cones could be filled with almost any food or dessert, enabling consumer to eat a delicious, satisfying meal while talking on the phone, driving a car, or walking down the street.

What the website didn't tell me is, where do I get a Pizzacono? Has anyone seen one yet?

[Photo Source]

More stuff to play with

Have a look at Poodwaddle.com for a great collection of stuff to play with, presented in a novel and interesting way.

Check out the Earth Clock, and the Poodwaddle Games. There are a bunch of gadgets and widgets that you can embed on your website.

A Life Expectancy Calculator

"Your Real Age (sometimes called Health Age) is different from your current physical age. It is a reflection of your health and vitality. The lower your Real Age the better shape you are in. It is used to calculate the Life Expectancy of someone of your current physical age."

So says the introduction on the page with the Life Expectancy Calculator (according to which I'm really only 49, and I'm going to live until I'm 90-something).

From Peter Russell's The Spirit of Now. While you're on Peter's Site, check out the World Clock -- food for thought.

Blogs I Like

This is a blogroll of sorts.

These are blogs that I like and visit regularly. It's an eclectic list. Some have wonderful photographs, some have interesting ideas. Some make me laugh, some make me think. What they all have in common is that they've held my interest for some time:

• A Little Piece of Me


• Almost There


• American in Athens


• Apathetic Lemming of the North


• Best Hawaii Vacation


• BFK Photography


• Cape Town Photoblog


• chrisdellavedova.com


• CK Go Places


• Clio and Me


• CyberBones


• Daisy the Curly Cat


• Diners, Roadhouses, Drive-ins, Joints & Dives


• DrowseyMonkey


• Dust and Rust


• Eavesdrop Writer


• Go Visit Hawaii


• Historic American Lodging


• Homespun Honolulu


• Identity Check


• Language For You


• Mon@rch's Nature Blog


• Monkey Fables and Tales


• My Den


• My GPS Camera Phone


• Myself, Unfettered


• NoDirectOn


• Obscure History


• Of Cabbages and Kings


• One Step Forward


• Photography by KML


• Photos from Northern Norway


• Planet Kauai


• Reality Is Over Rated


• Red Monkey


• RockStories


• Science & Soul


• Skeet's Stuff


• Stoneman's Corner


• Tales from Kulafumbi


• The Article Writer


• Tiffany Talks


• Waking Up to Another Beautiful Day


• What's Wrong Around Us


• Writing True

About the Virtual Scratchpad, and Me

Hello! Welcome to my Virtual Scratchpad.

My name is Bobbie, and I'm a multi-blogger. My other blogs are very specialized in theme and content, so I decided that I needed just one more blog -- this one! -- for all the bits that just don't suit my specialty blogs.

The Virtual Scratchpad is my catch-all blog. Here you'll find a sample of the kinds of scribbles that actually appear on the scratchpad on my real-world desk -- from "notes to self" to short essays and featurettes about ideas and issues I'm mulling over. In addition, this is where I'll post some of the more interesting gems I've gleaned from around the web.

A little more about me

I'm a research psychologist by profession. I work independently and I spend most of my waking hours at my computer: managing research projects, analyzing data, reading, writing, running a website, blogging, and participating in a handful of online communities. The order in which I do those things, and the amount of time I spend on each, varies daily.

I live on the Big Island of Hawaii with my husband and our cat. When I'm not glued to my computer monitors, I'm probably outdoors enjoying the ocean and our extensive garden.

If you are interested, you can find my other blogs by visiting my profile on:

• BlogCatalog
• MyBlogLog
• Technorati
  

I welcome comments and encourage reader participation in this blog. You are invited to use the Comments section to add your remarks or to ask questions.

Thanks for visiting, and I hope that you'll drop by the Virtual Scratchpad regularly, or subscribe to the feed.