If memory serves me correct, this is the first Star Wars item I ever owned. There’s a story associated with this watch. According to my parents I wore it to kindergarten, and after one of my classmates made fun of it, I took it off and refused to wear a watch ever again. I don’t actually remember that happening, but based on the fact that I’ve never worn a watch in my life, I assume it to be true. Bradley released a couple of different Star Wars watches in 1977. There’s one featuring R2-D2 and C-3P0, and this one, featuring… (read more)

In Disney’s 1975 classic Escape from Witch Mountain, one of the film’s mysterious interstellar twins carries with her the Star Case, s small box with a picture of two stars next to one another. That’s where I learned about binary stars — two stars that orbit around one another and depend on each other for survival. Last week, Lemmy Kilmister, lead singer of the band Motorhead passed away at the age of 70. Last night was David Bowie’s turn. He was 69. I discovered Motorhead on MTV’s Headbanger’s Ball back in the late 80s. After a couple of hours of… (read more)

Located in Anahola on the beautiful island of Kauai in Hawaii sits the Anahola mountain range. One of the range’s most unique formations is Kalalea Mountain (that one that sticks up in the middle). Kalalea Mountain was originally named Mano (Hawaiian for “shark”), but due to its resemblance to a gorilla’s head (facing left in my pictures), the mountain was given a new nickname: Kong Mountain. The Anahola mountain range has appeared in dozens of movies and the island of Kauai was substituted for everything from Costa Rica to Vietnam. In fact, some of the locals used to joke that… (read more)

The year twenty fifteen brought me lots of personal highs and only a couple of lows. In 2015, I celebrated both my 20th wedding anniversary, and my 20th year of working at the FAA. In October of 2014 I moved to a new department at work, and was promptly assigned to a different work detail, which I spent the majority of 2015 working on. I applied for a different position in the summer of 2015, which I got and began in November. I spent a lot of time spinning my wheels at work in 2015, but I am very excited… (read more)

Back in the summer of 2009 I posted a blog post noting that I had visited 38 of the 50 states. After realizing that I had visited almost 80% of the US, I made it a goal to visit all 50 states. In March of this year, after a 2,500 mile family road trip I was able to mark Iowa, North Dakota, and Wisconsin off the list, leaving just Hawaii. On December 23rd, 2015, after arriving in Oahu, I was able to officially mark Hawaii off the list. That officially makes all 50 plus Washington DC, Mexico, Canada, and the… (read more)

George Lucas loves it when history repeats itself in the Star Wars universe, whether it’s father and son losing the same hand, or generations of characters “having a bad feeling about this.” Thirty-two years ago, the day after I had my tonsils removed, my dad took me to see Return of the Jedi. My throat was on fire the entire time. When we got to the theater, people were lined up outside all the way around it. Many were dressed in costumes and carrying toy lightsabers. When the film began, the theater erupted in applause, and each time something great… (read more)