Katy Dickinson

Sun's Hopper T-Shirt

Sun's t-shirt for the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing 2007 (in Orlando, Florida: October 17-20, 2007) arrived today. The front says I -heart- opensolaris. The heart shape is full of DTrace (Dynamic Tracing) script. The back says "Sun Women in Engineering" in English, Hindi, Spanish, Mandarin, Czech, and Russian.

Since she has done so much of the work to prepare for the conference, Tanya Jankot got the first shirt. Jesse Silver gets shirt #2 since he worked through all of the funding, design, P.O., and ordering issues to create the shirts. Tanya had to tape the boxes shut quick before more people could think of reasons why they should get a shirt too. The photo on the right shows me with our third shipment of Hopper boxes and posters about to go off to Orlando:

Tanya Jankot	Katy and Hopper Shipment:
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Images Copyright 2007 by John Plocher
Open Solaris is a trademark of Sun Microsystems, Inc.

Posted at 09:22PM Oct 10, 2007 by katysblog in Hopper - Anita Borg Institute  | 

11 October - Buy Books at Barnes & Noble

Santa Maria Urban Ministry (SMUM) provides basic services in the inner city of San Jose, CA: both short-term needs such as food, clothing and transportation, and long-term transformation through education, counseling, and after-school and seasonal programs. SMUM's programs have continued without interruption since 1983. SMUM serves the needs of the community and promotes self-sufficiency.

On 11 October 2007, SMUM is partnering with Barnes and Noble to help raise money to buy and install a safe and age-appropriate playground for ABC Playtime. SMUM's classroom is small and outside activity is crucial to the growth and development of young minds and bodies.

SMUM needs your help! It is very easy – just go to South Bay Area Barnes and Noble book stores on October 11 and buy some books or music. A list of participating stores is on the SMUM webpage along with vouchers and instructions on how to place special orders.

Music and books make great Christmas gifts and this is a chance to get a jump on your holiday shopping and also support a great cause. Tell your friends, neighbors, co-workers, mailman, etc. Give them a voucher and ask them to shop on that day.

Ballet Folklorico to be at the Stevens Creek (San Jose) Barnes and Noble on 11 October. They will be dancing (3 couples) at 7pm. There will be other special presentations at the store on Stevens Creek and in Gilroy at 6:30 p.m.

SMUM was founded as an outreach ministry of the Episcopal Diocese of El Camino Real.

Posted at 01:58PM Oct 10, 2007 by katysblog in Church  | 

Historic Photos of WP668 Caboose

We may have located two more historic photos of our WP668 backyard caboose: that makes five total so far. (I purchased one of the two new photos but haven't seen it yet. I am waiting to hear from the owner of the other one.) Unfortunately, all of them seem to be from the mid-1970s when WP668 was nearing retirement. I am still looking for earlier images. Here are the two historical images for which I now have reprint permission:

#1 - WP668, in 1974

#1 - photo from September 1974 on p. 122: Western Pacific Color Guide to Freight and Passenger Equipment by Jim Eager, 2001 (Publisher: Morning Sun Books; ISBN-10: 158248063X, ISBN-13: 978-1582480633) The caption is: "WP 668 NE series 644-668 - Converted in October 1943 and still two years away from retirement, the 668 was at Sacramento in September 1974. That is the axle-drive for the generator silhouetted inboard the right hand truck. (Peter Arnold)" Used with permission of Bob Yanosey, Morning Sun Books

#2 - WP668, around 1974

#2 - Western Pacific #668, location/Date/Photographer unknown. S. Roger Kirkpatrick collection, listed on Central California Rails Caboose Index - W Used with permission of S. Roger Kirkpatrick

Posted at 01:22PM Oct 10, 2007 by katysblog in Caboose Project and Other Trains  | 

Paul's Drawings

My son Paul is just 15 and is taking his first High School Art class as a Sophomore. He spends hours each day drawing on his laptop, so we have been curious to see how he does with more traditional art materials like charcoal, ink, and paint. In 1999, when Paul was in 2nd grade, one of his drawings was selected for a children's art show at the Animal Art Gallery in Menlo Park, California. I include that drawing below with one of his recent pictures. For the picture on the right, Paul's Art teacher asked the students to use black and white to show negative space with a clear center point.

1999 - Paul's Cat

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2007 - Paul's Lines

Images Copyright 1999-2007 by Paul Dickinson Goodman

Posted at 09:54AM Oct 10, 2007 by katysblog in Home & Family  |  Comments[1]