About lcharters@gmail.com

I started life as a child.

Dublin 2019: Retrospective Hugos for 1944

Dublin 2019: An Irish Worldcon was the 77th World Science Fiction Convention, the oldest science fiction convention in the world. Each year, it meets in a different city, and for 2019, the host was Dublin, Ireland, the first time for Continue reading Dublin 2019: Retrospective Hugos for 1944

Cape Disappointment on a sunny day

One of the most violent channels along the coast of the United States can be found off Cape Disappointment, at the mouth of the Columbia River. The cape is on the north side of the Columbia River as it flows Continue reading Cape Disappointment on a sunny day

Golden Gate on a sunny day

While living in the San Francisco Bay area, I was fascinated with how people’s expectations met with reality. A common example: people would plan for years — sometimes their entire lives — to travel to San Francisco and see the Continue reading Golden Gate on a sunny day

Beautiful Harmony

On May 1, 2019, Emperor Naruhito became the 126th Emperor of Japan. The Japanese imperial dynasty is the oldest dynasty in history, officially tracing back to 660 BC. Modern historians think it started somewhere between 200 and 600 AD. In Continue reading Beautiful Harmony

NOAA Wave Pool

The NOAA Wave Pool (also concatenated as “Wavepool”) is a kinetic sculpture created by Jim Sanborn. It is located in the courtyard of Silver Spring Metro Center 4, on the NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) campus in Silver Spring, Continue reading NOAA Wave Pool

Awards and Honors

Everyone wants to be recognized for something. This has resulted in an explosion of different ways to be recognized, ranging from spending money to get your own trophy (or get your name engraved on a brick, or monogrammed shirts, or…) Continue reading Awards and Honors

US Naval Observatory

The Naval Observatory photo gallery has been updated with a new responsive design. The old design was “responsive,” but the images were too small, and the JavaScript was awkward. In July 2007, as part of a science partnership with the Continue reading US Naval Observatory

March of the Penguins

After resisting for years, I was finally told I had to move out of my office. The walls were going to be demolished, the electrical circuits jerked out, and all six of my high-speed Ethernet links cut. I was sad. Continue reading March of the Penguins