RenoVous

  I was born on a year ending in 5, and I met Hubby on a year ending in 5. So I'm aiming for good vibes this new year.  ^_^ I will be off tomorrow for the holiday and though I'll be back on Thursday, I'm off again on Friday for our first camp of the year, so we might just keep this running for the rest of the week. According to Google Photos, my 2024 was "Always outdoors - Covered in sand - Never growing up."  That's a way of life. On my Untappd app, I checked in 54 new beers this year. I don't do Spotify so I don't have that annual summary like so many do, but feel free to share one of your own recaps of the year! Cheers, all!  ❤️

  We took a drive up to Yuba Pass so the pups could enjoy some snow. We haven't seen much on the valley floor yet, and this wasn't much for the mountains either.  We used to come up here for snowmobile camping at New Year's. Trailhead, 2011. Take a walk on the winter side. (2010)

 Welcome to the Denmark Strait cataract, between Greenland and Iceland.  It is where we find the world's biggest waterfall, but it's underwater. It's roughly 300 miles across and falls 11,500 feet, sending a massive amount of water into the Atlantic Ocean every second - like, one and a half Great Pyramids of Giza worth of water. Per NOAA, "Cold water is denser than warm water, and in the Denmark Strait, southward flowing frigid water from the Nordic Seas meets warmer water from the Irminger Sea.  The cold, dense water quickly sinks below the warmer water and flows over a huge drop in the ocean floor, creating a downward flow." This is a vitally important part of the system of ocean currents known as the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, or "a large global conveyor belt," which circulates water from north to south and back in a long cycle. It brings cooler waters and climactic stabilization as well as oxygen, nutrients, and organic matter cruci...

  Beginning in 1900 as an alternative to hunting, Frank Chapman of the Audubon Society started the Christmas Bird Count.  27 people across 25 locations tallied 18,500 birds from 90 species. Today, it's the longest running  community science  project in the world. Results for the Stellar's Jay (2009-2021) Black-tailed Gnatcatchers are popular around here apparently. What's a bird you see around your home?

From the Christmas Camper! We're not going anywhere this week though, just off tomorrow. Read-Along I hope you all have a wonderful holiday and I'll see you back on Thursday!

Best Archival Pull: Sabrina Carpenter Best Sports Crossover: Naomi Osaka Best Menswear: Colman Domingo Best Minimalism: Pamela Anderson Best Theme Dressing: Jenna Ortega Best Maternity: Jennifer Lawrence Best Stage: Taylor Swift Best Theatrics: Chappell Roan Best Wedding Gown: Joey King The Best: Zendaya Top 50

One of the most famous math pieces in the world, the Mandelbrot set, but what is it? First, fractals.  "They are tricky to define," says Michael Rose, PhD candidate at the University of Newcastle's School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences.  "Infinite intricacy, zoom symmetry, complexity from simplicity, and fractional dimensions." Benoit Mandelbrot was born in Warsaw in 1924 and he could see that fractals are the geometry of nature.  He was working as a coder for IBM in the 70's when he came across a paper by Gaston Julia. The Julia set, defined loosely, is "the set of points where, no matter how many times you repeatedly apply some function to them, they will never shoot off into infinity." With the aid of computer graphics, Mandelbrot was able to connect the function: fc(z)=z2 + c More  Here  if you can understand the math.  I just like the visuals.  :-P  

  Published on this day in 1843. I've seen many versions, from movies to stage, but I've never actually read it. Online Source

 Friday night we saw the Emo Night Tour and here are some songs still stuck in my head. I didn't realize this was considered emo. But yeah, "emotional lyrics and melodic sound." The term originated from "emcore" which included hardcore, as a mid 80's subgenre of punk. And then, screamo. They played this too, although it's more goth alternative... And then Linkin Park is nu-metal, but the lyrics can be emo.

 This restaurant has been in business since 1956.  My grandparents ate here, my parents - I met my husband here almost 20 years ago. It was bought out in May, by Jacobs Entertainment, who has been buying up much of old 4th Street.  Originally they didn't intend to keep the restaurant, but then decided they would, ultimately killing a legacy. Tomorrow a brand new menu debuts, having removed everything that the customer base has come to expect.  It's been comfort food, reliable soups, made from scratch recipes - which they've been failing on up to this point anyway.  What once was the best sausage gravy in town.... It's just a bummer to watch something you love be torn apart bit by bit.  It would have been better if they had just demolished it for the property they're really after.  Maybe build their own new restaurant instead of dragging down a historic local. RIP.

  Cynthia Erivo Marisa Tomei Alicia Vikander Demi Moore Elle Fanning Lily-Rose Depp Regina King Monica Barbaro Priyanka Chopra Saoirse Ronan

  Have you ever noticed a green slime blob on your walkway or lawn after it rains? It's called nostoc, or troll's butter, and is a colony of cyanobacteria.  They can live in the water or on land, from the tropics to the poles, and they often form a symbiotic relationship with nearby plants. They can photosynthesize, fix nitrogen, withstand being frozen and thawed multiple times, and absorb UV radiation. They can also survive drying out, known as dessication.  It will turn a dark brown color, blending in with soil, so when it gets rehydrated it seems to appear out of nowhere. If this looks disgusting to you, don't have any fat choy, a delicacy of Chinese cuisine, often enjoyed for the Lunar New Year.  It actually looks worse cooked.

  Over the weekend, Hubby and I took our nieces to the planetarium.  Neither one of us had been since we were kids on a field trip.  This is something we need to do more! The movie we caught wasn't entirely space related, but of course we went over the night sky first.  With the dome theater, anything is cool. We learned that the dome is getting a full LED upgrade, and will be the first on a college campus.  Not only does this mean better movie quality, but it will also provide a new way for students to learn with astronomy simulations and immersive software. This is through a partnership with Cosm, a global technology company, and a donation from the George W. Gillemot Foundation to establish an Aerospace Engineering Department at UNR's College of Engineering. Built in 1963, the Fleischmann Planetarium was the first in the country to feature a 360 degree projector.  It was built by local architect, Raymond Hellmann, and is protected on the National Registe...

 TIME has only been celebrating Athlete of the Year since 2019, but Caitlin Clark is the first WNBA player to earn the honor. She is the reigning Rookie of the Year, scoring 769 points over the season, which is a rookie record.  She also had 337 assists, 122 three-pointers, both records, and 2 triple-doubles, the first by a rookie in WNBA history. She led the Indiana Fever to their first playoff appearance since 2016, and the team played the most watched WNBA games ever.  The entire WNBA saw an all-time record of 54 million unique viewers across all its national broadcasting platforms. When asked to define her year in one word, Clark chose "historic." The article mentions Serena Williams and Simone Biles, how it's one thing to rally around star athletes during global spectacles, but quite another to turn a regular season of a league long neglected into appointment viewing.

 The Christmas Market in Zagreb, Croatia has been voted the best in Europe. Above, Zrinjevac Park. There's a ski hill nearby, as well as an ice rink at King Tomislav Square. The Gric Tunnel is transformed. The seasonal treats are highly regarded, such as sarma - boiled or brined cabbage leaves stuffed with a combination of beef and pork, rice and assorted spices. Fritule - little balls of dough laced with brandy, flash fried, and dusted with powdered sugar. Rakija - Croatia's national drink, a clear spirit made from distilled fruits and herbs, sweetened with sugar or honey.  Plum is the most popular flavor. The heart of the event is in Ban Jelacic Square, where you can shop for handmade gifts and listen to live performances around the Grand Christmas Tree. Ante Gelo is one of the artists set to perform, along with his band. Here's a taste.

  Michelle Yeoh Zoe Kravitz Cynthia Erivo Nicola Coughlan Mindy Kaling Selena Gomez Ryan Destiny Emma Corrin Ali Larter Zendaya