Inception: where to begin?

Birthday Wishes

2011-01-30T00:42:00.001-08:00

Hey Friends,

I hope you are all well. I'm not usually in the practice of making birthday wishes, but this year there are a few worthy causes I'd like to support. So, just in case you were thinking about a birthday something, consider helping me with these. Every little bit helps. And, as an added incentive, email me back with the amount you donated and I will match your donation dollar-for-dollar, up to $100 per donation, to $500 total between all the donations, first come, first served!

Have at 'em:

This lovely young woman is a cousin of a friend of mine. She has an aggressive and fatal, but treatable, form of leukemia (wiki) that she has been fighting for 8 years. The barrier between her and a full recovery is, of course, cost. Help her heroic adoptive mother (who adopted her after she was abandoned with the disease) save her life:

http://pomnatasheeng.ucoz.ru/

For the last 5 years, the city of Ngelenge, Tanzania was blessed with a life-changing water well serving over 2,000 people built with the help of Engineers Without Borders. But recently, the well has been shutdown by an excess of fine sand clogging the works. (read about it) A new pump can restore water to them. We individually can't really bring them a glass of fresh water, but we can help pay for the pump.

http://www.ewb-sfp.org/donate and select "SFP Tanzania Project" from the pull-down menu.

What can I say about the Heifer Project? They enable families to provide for themselves and others by giving them livestock with which they can create sustainable livelihoods. It's not a handout, it's a tool in the hand, and a chance at dignity. Plus, where else can you buy someone a goat without all the horrible consequences?

http://www.heifer.org

Peace, all!

Edwin

Falcon 9 Maiden Launch

2010-06-04T08:20:00.000-07:00

Launch is currently scheduled for 11:40am EST (8:40am PST). Click on the image below to go to the webcast:

In case our servers get slammed, you can also watch on spaceflightnow.com:

While you're waiting, some cool photos:
http://www.spacex.com/press.php?page=20100211

And the obligatory playlist:

Queen - Don't Stop Me Now
The Crystal Method - High Roller
Elton John - Rocket Man
Dragonforce - Through the Fire and the Flames
Peter Schilling - Major Tom (Coming Home)
The Mountain Goats - Autoclave
MC Chris - Fette's Vette

Update:

10:00am On Launch Hold. There is a boat violating the downrange clear zone. Range is working to clear it.

10:16am: Hold released. T-15 min

10:20am: We are GO TERMINAL COUNT. T-10 min

10:24am: Internal power.

10:26: T-4min

10:30am: Launch abort. Final conditions not met for ignition. Waiting on word for re-cycle and re start terminal count.

11:30: Re-cycle approved. Preps complete. Hold released. T-15min

11:40: Hold released. Terminal count T-5min

12:12: Successful ignition. Successful 1st stage burn. Successful MECO. Successful Merlin Vacuum ignition. Successful 2nd stage burn. Waiting on word of SECO1, restart, s2 burn2, SECO2, and recovery.

Team Critter in St. Louis

2010-05-09T23:42:00.000-07:00

I took a trip to St. Louis, MO to visit Paul, Jeanette, and Ale of Team Critter. Enjoy some photos! Thanks for making us at home, for the smiles, and the schmoopie bread. Oh, and Happy Mother's day!

Ale and I had our first ever conversation!

At the Jefferson Memorial of Western Expansion

Of course, there was the arch...

And who knew? You actually have to ride an alien spaceship to get to the top!

Cue the timpani!

Also making an appearance at the top, is... Team Dork.

That's one happy kid! (Apparently at that age, I too thought toes were the coolest new thing ever)

Midwest folks, I know you're jealous...everything you said about frozen custard was true.

Well, that's all for now. What a beautiful weekend. Hope to see you all again soon!

Until then, keep smiling!

Ooh! And you can follow Team Critter's blog at http://herecomescritter.blogspot.com/ !

Easter Baptism

2010-04-21T01:03:00.000-07:00

My friend got baptized; what a beautiful Easter. Congratulations!

In addition to this happy news, there's an awesome story I want to record:

Having traveled from LA for the baptism, I arrived with a very wrinkled dress shirt from a suitcase. Since I was going to be her sponsor at her baptism, went in search of a cleaners to get it ironed out. Well, while we were talking about this, a woman walked by and over heard us. She immediately stopped and offered to iron the shirt for me since she lived just down the road. At first I thought she was one of our group, but nope, just a random person walking by. Not wanting to impose, we said we'd look for a cleaners first, but she gave us her number in case we couldn't find one open at that hour. Well, we found a cleaner, just minutes from closing time, and they were willing to iron the shirt right away. And when they found the shirt was to wrinkled to iron well, they SOLD ME ONE OF THEIR EXTRA SHIRTS for $5, perfectly starched and ironed. Best shirt I ever wore. Kind strangers are the best. What a happy Easter!

Just to bring this up to date

2010-04-21T00:56:00.001-07:00

Since then I moved two more times - stayed with a friend for a while, moved, got cheated by a dishonest housemate, moved again, finally settled down in a nice big house with a few friends, whom I'll someday introduce, some from work. Five of us in this house, ocean views, great place for having guests over. Had Thanksgiving, Christmas for our friends at our house. Lately, a pipe broke in my room and flooded it, so I'm out of a place of my own again. Always an adventure. We share the house also with a very clever, very friendly one-year-old border collie.

Still working at SpaceX, still building spaceships. Getting ready for a big launch.

It's still beautiful down here, please come and visit!

My last day at the Burn Out House...

2009-08-23T02:24:00.000-07:00

Moving again...

All my stuff is now moved out and the empty room has taken on an unsettling echo that I really wasn't prepared for.

In an earlier post about moving, I spoke about physical places and homes. I don't think I gave it enough credit. Physical places really do have a power and significance that is not totally illegitimate. Not enough to hold you back, but it deserves respect.

With that, here are the things I want to remember about Burn Out House:

-Jess, Jim, Casey, and me - the Burn Outs
-running into the beach at 3am
-the lightswitch fireplace
-the sound of the ocean as I'm falling asleep
-the ocean
-AS, DM, LD, ES, and my family, all who came out to visit and shared this space, you guys rock.
-my little oil lamp
-that washing machine - yes, it really was worth it.
-rock band
-parking...creatively
-the funky 1st floor layout
-the move out party
-the coastal commute to work
-coming home over the crest of Marine, and seeing the ocean, and calling it home. yep, it never got old.

This part of it is not a distrust of the future; it is a bond with my past. An empty house certainly looks like I've never been there, but I like to believe that I've left a imprint on the spirit (and not the walls, paint, and floors) of this place.

Onwards and upwards!

Painted on the Sky

2009-08-04T21:13:00.000-07:00

Nice clouds today...more photos! At 50mm and 18mm.

Nifty fifty...is nifty!

The sky, it was thiiiiis big!

Saying Goodbye

2009-08-04T00:03:00.001-07:00

Yup, I'm moving again. And with that, I've got to leave my lovely beach house behind. The housemates are moving on, and so I am too. I'm looking for housemates, so if you know anyone living in or moving to LA who's looking for housemates, shoot me an email.

I've been trying to spend more time at the beach to enjoy it for these last few weeks, and tonight gave me this beautiful view to share with you.

RIP, Good and Faithful Chair

2009-08-03T23:54:00.000-07:00

Well, there it is, my chair. The chair I spent nearly my entire college education in -- in which I toiled over problem sets, papers, and projects, and even slept a few tired nights in. And today, it finally gave up, and left me to take up the torch and carry on...alone. But to be fair, it did try to take me with it when it went.

.

Canticle of the Sun

2009-08-01T23:55:00.000-07:00

I was reading a book that called out The Canticle of the Sun, by St. Francis of Assisi, which then reminded me of the classic hymn. Remember Canticle of the Sun? Those who went to church with me probably recall that we sang it all the time. Man, I miss home.

"Come, dance in the forest, come, play in the field, and sing, sing to the glory of the Lord!"

Link to a translation of St. Francis' original Canticle:
http://www.webster.edu/~barrettb/canticle.htm

Blessings to you PY and J

2009-07-27T00:49:00.000-07:00

My cousin PY married J this last weekend, which is, in fact, the losing-of-a-bet for which I had to cut my hair. So, more than the haircut photo, I guess I owe you a photo of the lucky couple:

Congratulations, PY and J.

May you have every blessing that marriage has to offer, and through it, may you become a blessing to the world around you!

How to Vote

2009-07-27T00:44:00.001-07:00

Just found this except from a conversation with a friend around voting time last October (2008) whilst digging through email archives:

10:16 AM me:don't vote for the bad stuff

vote for the not so bad stuff

10:17 AM then take all the money out of your bank and hide it in a shoe box under your bed

I didn't recall the cynicism setting in quite so quickly after I moved to LA, but now that I've been here for a while, I guess it sounds like good advice...

Life Flows

2009-07-26T23:15:00.000-07:00

At mass today, the priest told a good metaphor:

Both the Dead Sea and the Sea of Galilee are fed by the River Jordan, yet the two are completely different in character. While the Dead See is barren, devoid of life, the Sea of Galilee is teeming with life -- with plants and fishes of all kinds. What is the difference? The Dead Sea has no outlet, and retains everything it receives, but the Sea of Galilee pours out its waters out on to the rivers and lands below. And life flows.

And so, the question is, which am I? Do my blessings, my money, my love, and my life flow through me and breed more of the same, or do they end -- stopped dead -- with me?

haircut.

2009-07-21T23:24:00.001-07:00

SpaceX to Space: It's on.

2009-07-14T02:17:00.000-07:00

7/13/2009: SpaceX just delivered it's first commercial payload, a Malaysian ATSB Satellite, into orbit.

We are now officially in the business.

And now with more video:

From our customer website:
http://www.atsb.my/

and space news coverage:
http://www.spacevidcast.com/2009/07/14/spacex-falcon-1-flight-5-razaksat-payload/

Did I mention that while the Shuttle was delayed by weather conditions (as well they should when carrying people), SpaceX launched Falcon 1 literally through a gap between storm clouds over Kwajalein?

Posthumous trunk volume reduced by a hit-and-run driver

2009-06-28T22:00:00.000-07:00

12:17 June 27th, 2009 on the 105 Westbound at Sepulveda. Well, that was quick. Just over 3 months into ownership, and Posthumous has been rear-ended on the highway by a hit-and-run driver. I'm OK, but the car will need some work. She took it well, though, showing almost no external damage, but the underlying structure has been deformed. And of course, I never got collision insurance because I figured that as long as I did not crash the car, the at-fault driver's insurance would.

It's funny, though, because one of the main reasons I opted to get this particular convertible is because of the ample trunk space. Well, now the trunk volume has been reduced. Not by much, but enough that the spare tire cannot be removed and the trunk neither closes nor locks, rendering it unusable. And the real bummer- no more convertible-ing until it gets fixed as the trunk is an integral part of the roof retractor.

Well, here we go...

Intrusion of the rear frame into the trunk.

Where the sheet metal bottom shell of the trunk buckled

Not awful to fix, though not cheap. But seriously, a hit-and-run!!??

Aww, potatoes.

Distinguished Graduates of the Class of...SPARTAAAAA!

2009-06-14T20:37:00.000-07:00

No doubt inspired by Wei and Joy Jams, I decided Wednesday and on Friday, hopped in a car with a kind friend and we drove up to Stanford for graduation. So many wonderful people graduating. Just had to see them again one more time. Couldn't miss it. More photos are coming after some sleep. Way to go, guys.

Wei and Joy Jams

2009-06-10T23:32:00.000-07:00

Had a pretty rough day at work today. It's like going to war.

But today, Wei and Joy had jazz gig in a little university coffee shop 400 miles away, attended by so many friends, all of whom I love dearly. And I was on Skype, there, transported by a laptop on a counter. And it was beautiful.

Isn't it wonderful how, whenever things get worse, there is always something better?

Thanks so much, I love you.

The Car!

2009-04-25T00:51:00.000-07:00

Tada! Here it is, finally ready for a full photo:

.
.
.

Okay. Just kidding.
The Tesla is a spectacular car, but the real HMS Posthumous is pretty fun too:

And it knows a few tricks of its own:

Peeling a Banana...the SpaceX way

2009-04-09T01:20:00.000-07:00

Fact of life #119: sometimes work is a drag, and sometimes it leaves you with a bunch of leftover liquid nitrogen from a cryo test.

Superman or not, this person is my hero.

2009-04-05T20:44:00.000-07:00

From my weekend at Claremont, I saw this on a door.:

New (Used) Car!

2009-03-30T21:34:00.000-07:00

Please meet the H.M.S. Posthumous (it needs a little work):
Yes, sadly this is a downgrade from the H.M.S. Haggis, the best car ever made.

Trunk limit switch.

Radiator fan controller

Radio
Tape deck (pre scalpel)

Reverse engineered!

Trunk disassembled exposing trunk mechanism, hydraulic, pneumatic, and fiber optic (?!) system.

Achy, breaky, (leaky) rear view mirror.

Lost a rubber bumper thingy from the trunk while putting it back together. Shuffled off to the hardware store. Now my car is part toilet parts. :-(

Radio, post-hack. Huzzah! I think the dealer wanted $300 for the ipod kit.

Throttle by wire!

More photos to follow.

Floating

2009-02-23T09:54:00.000-08:00

-

Flying back to LA.

Cruising at 35,000 ft, we saw the sunrise before anyone else.

The pilot banked right and the wing outside my window dipped dramatically into the clouds below.

Blindingly bright, white, pillow-y clouds as far as the eyes could see. Every detail cast deep shadows into the layers.

Every dance this weekend was beautiful. I was floating, long before I got on the plane.

-

2009-02-15T19:34:00.000-08:00

"Chivalry died with feminism"

I overheard this from an underclassman at the robotics team that I mentor at the local high school. Now I consider myself a feminist and I agree that the special treatment that comes from treating women as the fragile, fairer sex is sexism, so why did this bother me so much?

I think it's the implied notion that the demand for rights and the desire to be treated with respect should be mutually exclusive. That demanding to be respected should be an excuse that someone can use to be rude--not cool. You're just rude - no excuses. Being courteous and nice to people - male or female - should just be something you do - because you are nice. And it should have nothing to do with feminism.

And of course, the fact that this notion has enough of a place in our culture that our kids are in on it...

Reason #452 that LA is an alien planet

2009-02-09T22:27:00.000-08:00

Car chase was going on the street outside our house. Police cars and helicopters overhead. People are lining up on the street in hopes of catching a glimpse. Whaaaaat? This entire city is one big movie premiere.

Old Photo Sunday

2009-02-08T20:39:00.000-08:00

Back in twain, back in the old undergrad days, my impression of a sketchy grad student. Oh, how little did I know:

Ominous Moon

2009-01-20T17:55:00.000-08:00

Photo from last week. The moon over SpaceX. Totally unaltered. This is what the moon looked like. And earlier in the evening when it was lower on the horizon it looked like an ominous broken moon crashing into the earth. (Also, we're breathing that air...blech)

The photo below is photoshopped (well, with MS Paint and MS Word) to try and recapture that scene, but imagine it with the highway and skyscrapers in the foreground (couldn't take that picture while driving). Magnificent:

$16 telescope at CVS + optics from an old spotting scope = moonstography!

2009-01-11T23:40:00.000-08:00

Blogger didn't like my cropping; click here for the orginal.
(Unaltered except cropping and exposure)

Update: looks like last night when I took that photo, the moon was at perigee, the biggest and brightest moon of 2009.

And a playlist for moon-gazing:

Creedence Clearwater Revival - Bad Moon Risin'
Van Morrison - Moondance
Elton John - Rocketman
King Harvest - Dancin' in the Moonlight
Santana - Smooth

SeeqPod - Playable Search

SpaceX Holiday Party

2009-01-11T14:10:00.000-08:00

Me and Housemates at the SpaceX (belated) Christmas Party last night in LA.
Clockwise from right: Jim, Casey, Jess, myself.
Yes, that is in fact how we roll.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from us at Burnout House.

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-25T14:08:00.000-08:00

Today is the day that we remember especially that God came to be with us as a child of humble origins, to show us forgiveness and grace, kindness and love, a reminder that we are all capable of living out such things. Rejoice!

CRS. We has it.

2008-12-23T15:47:00.000-08:00

Announced today: SpaceX was one of two companies awarded the Commercial Resupply Service contract by NASA, meaning that we will be replacing the Space Shuttle on cargo missions to the ISS after the shuttle retires in 2010. We share the contract with Orbital Science Corp. We have been contracted 12 missions for $1.6bil. (Orbital got 8 missions for $1.9bil).

http://www.spacex.com/press.php?page=20081223

http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2008/dec/HQ_C08-069_ISS_Resupply.html

For now it is just cargo, but I look forward to the day when SpaceX joins America, Russia, and China in the great adventure of manned space exploration.

Oh yeah, and it's about to get really busy...

work

2008-12-12T20:41:00.000-08:00

home

2008-12-12T20:29:00.001-08:00

kaaaaaaaa!

2008-12-11T23:13:00.000-08:00

heard an amazing version of Carol of the Bells in the background music at Rite-Aid, of all places...

...and now I want to Mazurkaaaaaaaaaa!

It was the Rite-Aid custom radio channel. anyone know how to find out what they play on Rite-Aid radio??

need hope.

2008-11-29T11:39:00.000-08:00

Wal-mart. Toys R Us. A car cut in half on the 110 last night. I had to pick my way slowly through the wreckage. Mumbai. Oh God Mumbai. A suicide.

death death death...murder

murder is worse than death.

Keith Olberman Special Comment on Prop 8

2008-11-12T00:54:00.000-08:00

Hey folks,

Please, please watch this video:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/27652443#27652443

-Edwin

More on Gay Marriage, Christianity, Morality

2008-11-09T02:32:00.000-08:00

OK, I'm just going to barf a link at you, but only because it's such a good read, no matter where you stand on gay marriage, faith, morality, politics, etc.

I know, I know, bad manners...bon appetit:
http://dmeroit.blogspot.com/2008/09/proposition-8-part-two.html

Thanks to commenter switchtoicqkyo for sending me this link. I am reposting it on the front page for those who would otherwise miss it by not looking in the comments.

Halloween Dance

2008-11-06T00:43:00.000-08:00

My Joe the Plumber costume got me a dance with this very lovely Sarah Palin, so I'll call it a success. Way to target the *swing* vote. Zing! Click the photo for a link to Rusty's Rhythm Club, one of the finest swing and lindy establishments in LA. Do check them out if you're in the area. Bill Nye also approves.

Restore Marriage: no on Prop 8

2008-11-03T22:01:00.000-08:00

half formed thoughts, but strong feelings:

I'm a Christian, although for this post some will doubt, and yes that terrifies me, but I have to say something. I am voting no on Prop 8 precisely because I want to restore marriage and give it back it's meaning. In my heart this is how I must vote.

Prop 8 is a political issue, not a moral or spiritual one, and it's being used to divide voters and believers, the way Pharisees used the the Roman tax against Jesus. So if you want marriage to mean something more than political grandstanding, I suggest no on Prop 8.

and I believe that the whole anti-gay element in the church is in fact very deviant from Christ and Christianity.

i wrestle with this issue a lot

but in the end I keep coming to the conclusion that Jesus would be standing on other side from the church, with the homosexuals

while the church tries to rally against an easy target in order to unify its influence over its members the way bullies pick on kids.

and for us to AMEND our CONSTITUTION to exclude a class of people sounds like the most unchristian thing I have heard.

is homosexuality ruining family values and marriage in America? I point you to Desperate Housewives and Trading Spouses (among other heterosexual masterpieces) for the answer.

My coworker just got married, but faced the reality that CA voters would probably just null her marriage in a few weeks. She asked where all the money was coming from to break up her marriage. It broke my heart to tell her it was my church.

The meaning of marriage is that love can last, that two people can, by the strength of real caring love, publicly and privately commit to one another selflessly so as to become a greater whole. It is the belief that against other things, love is the greatest, and that against prevailing odds love will persevere. Proposition 8 flies in the face of this. Yes for marriage. Yes for gay marriage. No on prop 8.

Bill Nye the Lindy Guy

2008-10-23T02:27:00.001-07:00

Please, consider the following:

No kidding. I just ran into Bill Nye at a lindy hop. He's the real deal. We talked about control systems and launching rockets. Then he had to go for a cha cha.

Christmas In Twain

2008-10-15T21:20:00.000-07:00

Christmas 'Eve'

Christmas morning

While looking through old photos, I found these two from college. I bet some of you were there. A bunch of us in the dorm realized we missed the old (and new to some) custom of waking up at sunrise on Christmas morning, so we redid it in my room right before winter break. The night before, Christmas "eve", twenty four people crammed into a single room, got a tree and decorated it, placed gifts for each other and for donation, pulled out some carols, and shared a potluck of classic Christmas goodies, hot cider and cocoa. And on the morning of December 9th, we all woke up early (a feat for college students, you know) crammed back into the room and opened our gifts amidst smiles, laughs, and hugs. Afterward, we took the donations down to the local gift drive. It was one of the best and warmest memories of my life.

Sunset

2008-10-15T20:11:00.000-07:00

hmmm...I'll let it speak for itself.
Hope you enjoy it too.

I'm Home!

2008-09-29T20:31:00.000-07:00

I’ve moved in to my new place and am finally feeling at home. Let me introduce you to my new housemates, who are all wonderful: Casey, Jessica, and James.

They all work at SpaceX with me, so we commute together. Casey is in Dynamics, Jim in Propulsion, and Jess and I are in Avionics. You might remember them from a July 08 post as the house of crazy rocket scientists who jump in the ocean under a full moon at 4am.

This weekend Jim and Jess and I went out for dim sum together, after which we went up to Griffiths park and hiked around the observatory at the top of Mt. Hollywood (yes, that Mt. Hollywood). After a nice hike, we spend the rest of the afternoon at the observatory.

So here’s my new address:

200 Marine Av.

Manhattan Beach, CA 90622

If you’re ever in the area, please come on by. We would love to have you stay with us.

SpaceX is Orbital! (Video Update)

2008-09-28T17:59:00.000-07:00

Flight 004 Mission was successful. We are officially a spacefaring company.

My project on the flight also worked. Updates and video: www.spacex.com. Thanks for the support.

Cheers, everyone.

Update: It's on video.

I Am Moved...again.

2008-09-20T18:50:00.000-07:00

Note: this is a post from about two weeks ago.

That photo...that's my apartment, looking a lot like it did 2 months ago, with exception that this time I have one desk in addition to the sleeping bag on the floor.

Yup. I am moving again. But that's not a bad thing. I am moving in with some excellent friends into a house by the beach. Cozier place with more people around, the cure to my empty nesting.

Facebook

2008-09-16T00:22:00.000-07:00

An odd thought dawned on me.

We will be the few to remember a time without wedding videos and baby pictures on Facebook.

We're growing up.

Going Upstream

2008-09-06T18:39:00.001-07:00

The priest at church related an interesting parable story:

A man standing by a river noticed a man drowning, jumped in, rescued him, and brought him back to shore. Minutes later, again he saw a man coming downstream, drowning. He jumped in and rescued him too. After a third time, the man stood by the shore with the three that he had rescued. They saw another man coming downstream and called out, "why don't you save him!?" The man replied, "you do the same. I'm going upstream to find out why people keep falling in the river!"

The message is clear, but acknowledging that the message is clear is also acknowledging that there is a difficult, practical mission that we as people need to carry out in how we address the problems we see in the world. I wish I could say I know just what to do and have the courage to carry it out, but I don't. But I'm working on it.

Also, someone stood up in church and asked the priest in church, "What should we do come November", and he replied:

"You had better inform your conscience. The church says that you have an obligation to inform your conscience and vote as each of you truly believes is right."

Thank you, Fr. Barry.

Politics and Salvation (AARGH!)

2008-09-04T12:50:00.000-07:00

I was reading an article about a pastor in a Christian church today, and it angered me. Here is what he had to sayabout a previous election:

"I'm not going tell you who to vote for, but if you vote for this particular person, I question your salvation. I'm sorry."

I'm not going to post who he was talking about, because it really doesn't matter. (If you want to know, just read the article. Hey, you might have voted for him! Also, if you do, keep in mind that this is the rather liberal Huffington Post) Just the mere notion that people might be voting out of fear to save their own personal eternal hindquarters instead of for the good of the people of their country and the world really makes me queasy. I wish I could say that it was just this one particular pastor, but I have heard the same things in person coming from pastors at churches I have been to. To think some pastors think that they can make people vote one way or another with stuff like this! I just wish they weren't so right.

And how about this:
"I hate criticisms towards the President, because it's like criticisms towards the pastor -- it's almost like, it's not going to get you anywhere, you know, except for hell. That's what it'll get you."

As a Christian, I have to say, this is not what salvation is about! God gave us salvation so that we could do the right thing (or at least try to, to the best of our ability) without worrying about gaining someone's approval, and without the weight of the mistakes of the past dragging us down. This is what I believe. Salvation was never meant to be earned. It was given first so that everything else we do could be a response in gratitude and goodwill and grace, not a duty or a debt. (I assure you, alliteration absolutely accidental)

So before my God, I will say that this election, I will make my choice and vote for the candidate that will best serve the world and all its people with the gifts that the United States has been given, regardless of what it means for my personal salvation. Why can I say this? Because, God, you did the same in Jerusalem 2000 years ago.

Religious people everywhere, have faith, be a part of your religious community, listen critically to your pastors and councilors, but when it comes to thinking, remember that God gave you your own mind too.

note: yes, this is Pastor Ed Kalnins from the childhood church of Rep. VP candidate Gov. Sarah Palin. But this post is about the pastor, and salvation and politics, and not Gov. Palin. I like to believe that anyone we would put in the candidacy is fully capable of thinking for themselves. Same goes for Sen. Barack Obama and Pastor Jeremiah Wright. Evaluate them yourselves on the merits of their own thoughts and actions.

Sky. Purple.

2008-09-02T19:59:00.000-07:00

Woah. The twilight night sky in LA is purple today. Like a dark periwinkle.

Moving

2008-08-27T01:41:00.000-07:00

Found this from my journal, random thoughts while I was moving to LA back in June:

packing is really difficult
each item has a story, and many must be left behind
the most precious things I carry with me in my heart, still it is hard
I should work to collect the things that cannot be taken away or left behind: memories, skills, experiences, etc.
each of these things, at some time meant the world to me, and invention, my first computer, a project, poetry, pictures, etc, but now they are tossed away as trash
how do i feel about this

hoarding comes from a fear of the future
the belief that each moment will be the best it will ever be
a doubt that the future can only get better
this, an idea of an investment in the past.
keeps us going back, history repeating
because we feel invested, we do not leave the past, even if it is the wrong path
have faith that the future holds great things!
let each moment be the best, better than the last, and not as good as the next, but still each precious

Beautiful

2008-08-26T22:08:00.000-07:00

I have always believed that it is good for people to be told what others find beautiful in them.

Talking to Pixi today made me realize today that it is not enough to tell people what is beautiful in them, but to make them ask and see what they find beautiful in themselves. It's what I needed to do. A simple thought, but one worth sharing, I think.

She sent me this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQu9D4bjXaU

So, what beauty do you find in you?

Come Hike-Bike-Kayak in San Diego!

2008-08-20T21:50:00.000-07:00

This Labor-day weekend. Anyone want to join me? Website here. Eight glorious hours of hiking up the mountain, biking down the mountain, and then kayaking through no less than 7 sea caves in La Jolla. If you come down, there's plenty of room to stay at my place in LA, and in San Diego, I will try to make living arrangements with friends, depending on how many are coming.

Come down for the weekend! And let me know soon. I have to reserve the kayaks.

SpaceX: An Introduction for Me and You Both!

2008-08-20T21:05:00.000-07:00

I've moved to LA to work for SpaceX. (www.spacex.com) I started on July 7th, 2008.

In a word, SpaceX is crazy. Everyone here is crazy, what we're doing is crazy, and the CEO is crazy. As you may already know, I am crazy too. SpaceX is trying to get to space and to do so commercially, without the backing of a government or a multi-billion-dollar budget.

For comparison, other aerospace companies told me about 8-9 year product cycles, and 30% chances of projects being cut before launch. When I got to SpaceX, they said, "take the time to get up to speed but don't drag your feet. This project we are putting you on needs to be done by the end of the month." "Why?" "In September, it's in space." A week later, they made me the engineer responsible for the project. Crazy.

We are focused on orbital launch, and eventual inter-planetary travel. Other private space companies have done sub-orbital tourist spaceflight; orbit takes 7 times more energy. So far, only Orbital Sciences has been able to do it, but still for big bucks.

Our smaller launch vehicle, Falcon 1 is for small satellites.

NASA is looking to us and our heavy-lift Falcon 9 and our Dragon crew/cargo capsule to replace the Space Shuttle for ISS missions when the Shuttle gets retired in 2010.

The Space Race. It's back.

Falcon 1 Flight 003, and beyond! (and launch videos)

2008-08-20T20:38:00.000-07:00

So as some of you know, SpaceX recently launched it's third Falcon 1 rocket aimed at reaching orbit. Now I did not work on this particular rocket, having started just 2 months ago, but I am working on the next rocket, Flight 004.

Flight 003 did not reach orbit (CEO's message here), failing because of unexpected residual thrust in the 1st stage engine interfering with stage separation. This was a new engine design that could not have been tested in the true vacuum of space until that moment, and there we learned something. Plus, there's a fabulous video:

http://spacex.com/multimedia/videos.php?id=13

With 3 failed launches, SpaceX is still ahead of the game compared to most if not all space programs in history. How many rockets did we fail wondering if Russia would beat us to the moon? However, the catch is that we're trying to do commercially what entire governments have pooled resources to do as a country, so we kinda have to be on top of our game. That's what working at SpaceX is like. It's like the excitement of the whole US-Russia space race all over again.

Our CEO, and indeed, all of us, have made a public declaration to fix the problem, assemble another rocket, and launch flight 004 very quickly. And this time, my project will be on that rocket.

It's gonna be a busy couple of months folks. Stay tuned for more updates, and expect find me looking skyward.

SpaceX

2008-08-20T20:33:00.000-07:00

OK, everyone at SpaceX is a little crazy.

Case in point: Friday night, leave work at 10pm and head for a party at my coworkers house.

After some partying, it's 1:30am, time to run outside and jump in the ocean. What follows is 2 hours of swimming in a wonderfully warm open pacific ocean under a beautiful full moon.

Then, after some drying off and some more chillin', we go back to work at 4am.

To be fair, we had to go back anyways since we carpooled, but since we were there, we did some work we still had to finish to free up the weekend.

JaSmix and more!

2008-08-20T20:18:00.000-07:00

I can't tell you how wonderful it was to see you and dance with you all at JaSmix (weekend of Aug 10th)! I am grateful beyond words. Oh how I have missed you all! You gave me such a warm welcome; it's really nice to have a home to come home to, ya'know? Thank you for the music (the songs I'm singing...), DJ Jason. A shout out to the most fabulous dance partner in the world - that's you, Joy. And to Ella, visiting all the way from Israel - having you back is about the best thing ever.

And that's not all!
Katherine, cheers to France! Paris is one lucky city. Have a great time. Thanks for having me over!
Jackie - Happy Birthdaaaay!
Jason - beautiful hike; quote of the day: "could you guys talk quieter, because you know we're, like, in nature"

Hello World: Edwin has a blog!

2008-08-19T23:19:00.000-07:00

Hey Lovely People,

I'm finally getting a blog. With my new life starting in LA, I've got plenty of stories and thoughts I want to share with you, as well as preserve for myself. I can't think of a better way to start a new life than to share it with you, my friends. I've already got a few things saved up, so here comes the deluge!