Tag: opt (page 1 of 4)

The Best Star Gazing Binoculars for 2015

January 24, 2015 / / 0 Comments




Excerpt from space.com

Most people have two eyes. Humans evolved to use them together (not all animals do). People form a continuous, stereoscopic panorama movie of the world within in their minds. With your two eyes tilted upward on a clear night, there's nothing standing between you and the universe. The easiest way to enhance your enjoyment of the night sky is to paint your brain with two channels of stronger starlight with a pair of binoculars. Even if you live in — or near — a large, light-polluted city, you may be surprised at how much astronomical detail you'll see through the right binoculars!
Our editors have looked at the spectrum of current binocular offerings. Thanks to computer-aided design and manufacturing, there have never been more high-quality choices at reasonable prices. Sadly, there's also a bunch of junk out there masquerading as fine stargazing instrumentation. We've selected a few that we think will work for most skywatchers.
There was a lot to consider: magnification versus mass, field of view, prism type, optical quality ("sharpness"), light transmission, age of the user (to match "exit pupil" size, which changes as we grow older), shock resistance, waterproofing and more. 

The best binoculars for you

"Small" astronomy binoculars would probably be considered "medium" for bird watching, sports observation and other terrestrial purposes. This comes about as a consequence of optics (prism type and objective size, mostly). "Large" binoculars are difficult to use for terrestrial applications and have a narrow field of view. They begin to approach telescope quality in magnification, resolution and optical characteristics.

Most of our Editors' Choicesfor stargazing binoculars here are under $300. You can pay more than 10 times that for enormous binocular telescopes used by elite enthusiasts on special mounts! You'll also pay more for ruggedized ("mil spec," or military standard) binoculars, many of which suspend their prisms on shock mounts to keep the optics in precise alignment.

Also, our Editors' Choices use Porro prism optics. Compact binoculars usually employ "roof" prisms, which can be cast more cheaply, but whose quality can vary widely. [There's much more about Porro prisms in our Buyer's Guide.]
We think your needs are best served by reviewing in three categories.
  • Small, highly portable binoculars can be hand-held for viewing ease.
  • Medium binoculars offer higher powers of magnification, but still can be hand-held, if firmly braced.
  • Large binoculars have bigger "objective" lenses but must be mounted on a tripod or counterweighted arm for stability.
Here's a detailed look at our Editor's Choice selections for stargazing binoculars:

Best Small Binoculars 

Editor's Choice: Oberwerk Mariner 8x40 (Cost: $150)

Oberwerk in German means "above work." The brand does indeed perform high-level optical work, perfect for looking at objects above, as well as on the ground or water. Founder Kevin Busarow's Mariner series is not his top of the line, but it benefits greatly from engineering developed for his pricier models. The Oberwerk 8x40’s treat your eyes to an extremely wide field, at very high contrast, with razor-sharp focus; they are superb for observing the broad starscapes of the Milky Way. Just 5.5 inches (14 cm) from front to back and 6.5 inches wide (16.5 cm), the Mariners are compact and rugged enough to be your favorite "grab and go binoculars." But at 37 ounces, they may be more than a small person wants to carry for a long time.


Runner-Up: Celestron Cometron 7x50 (Cost: $30)

Yes, you read that price correctly! These Celestron lightweight, wide-field binoculars bring honest quality at a remarkably low price point. The compromise comes in the optics, particularly the prism's glass type (you might see a little more chromatic aberration around the edges of the moon, and the exit pupil isn't a nice, round circle). Optimized for "almost infinitely distant" celestial objects, these Cometrons won't focus closer than about 30 feet (9.1 meters).  But that's fine for most sports and other outdoor use. If you're gift-buying for multiple young astronomers – or you want an inexpensive second set for yourself – these binoculars could be your answer. Just maybe remind those young folks to be a little careful around water; Celestron claims only that the Cometrons are "water resistant," not waterproof. 


Honorable Mention: Swarovski Habicht 8x30 (Cost: $1,050)

From the legendary Austrian firm of Swarovski Optik, these "bins" are perfect. Really. Very sharp. Very lightweight. Very wide field. Very versatile. And very expensive! Our editors would have picked them if we could have afforded them. 

Honorable Mention: Nikon Aculon 7x50 (Cost: $110) 

Nikon's legendary optical quality and the large, 7mm exit pupil diameter make these appropriate as a gift for younger skywatchers. 

Best Medium Binoculars

Editor's Choice: Celestron SkyMaster 8x56 (Cost: $210)

A solid, chunky-feeling set of quality prisms and lenses makes these binoculars a pleasant, 38oz. handful. A medium wide 5.8 degrees filed of view and large 7mm exit pupil brings you gently into a sweet sky of bright, though perhaps not totally brilliant, stars. Fully dressed in a rubber wetsuit, these SkyMasters are waterproof. Feel free to take them boating or birding on a moist morning. Their optical tubes were blown out with dry nitrogen at the factory, then sealed. So you can expect them not to fog up, at least not from the inside. Celestron's strap-mounting points on the Skymaster 8x56 are recessed, so they don't bother your thumbs, but that location makes them hard to fasten. 


Runner-Up: Oberwerk Ultra 15x70 (Cost: $380)

The most rugged pair we evaluated, these 15x70s are optically outstanding. Seen through the Ultra's exquisitely multi-coated glass, you may find yourself falling in love with the sky all over again. Oberwerk's method of suspending their BAK4 glass Porro prisms offers greater shock-resistance than most competitors’ designs. While more costly than some comparable binoculars, they deliver superior value. Our only complaint is with their mass: At 5.5 lbs., these guys are heavy!  You can hand-hold them for a short while, if you’re lying down. But they are best placed on a tripod, or on a counterweighted arm, unless you like shaky squiggles where your point-source stars are supposed to be. Like most truly big binoculars, the eyepieces focus independently; there’s no center focus wheel. These "binos" are for true astronomers. 


Honorable Mention: Vixen Ascot 10x50 (Cost:$165)

These quirky binoculars present you with an extremely wide field. But they are not crash-worthy – don't drop them in the dark – nor are they waterproof, and the focus knob is not conveniently located. So care is needed if you opt for these Vixen optics. 

Best Large Binoculars

Don't even think about hand-holding this 156-ounce beast! The SkyMaster 25x100 is really a pair of side-by-side 100mm short-tube refractor telescopes. Factor the cost of a sturdy tripod into your purchase decision, if you want to go this big.  The monster Celestron comes with a sturdy support spar for mounting. Its properly multi-coated optics will haul in surprising detail from the sky.  Just make sure your skies are dark; with this much magnification, light pollution can render your images dingy. As with many in the giant and super-giant class of binoculars, the oculars (non-removable eyepieces) focus separately, each rotating through an unusually long 450 degrees.  Getting to critical focus can be challenging, but the view is worth it. You can resolve a bit of detail on face of the new moon (lit by "Earthshine") and pick out cloud bands on Jupiter; tha's pretty astonishing for binoculars. 


Runner-Up: Orion Astronomy 20x80 (Cost: $150)

These big Orions distinguish themselves by price point; they're an excellent value. You could pay 10 times more for the comparably sized Steiners Military Observer 20x80 binoculars! Yes, the Orions are more delicate, a bit less bright and not quite as sharp. But they do offer amazingly high contrast; you'll catch significant detail in galaxies, comets and other "fuzzies." Unusually among such big rigs, the Astronomy 20x80 uses a center focus ring and one "diopter" (rather than independently focusing oculars); if you’re graduating from smaller binoculars, which commonly use that approach, this may be a comfort. These binoculars are almost lightweight enough to hold them by hand. But don't do that, at least not for long periods. And don't drop them. They will go out of alignment if handled roughly. 


Honorable Mention: Barska Cosmos 25x100 (Cost: $230)

They are not pretty, but you're in the dark, right? Built around a tripod-mountable truss tube, these Barskas equilibrate to temperature quickly and give you decent viewing at rational cost. They make for a cheaper version of our Editors' Choice Celestron SkyMasters. 

Honorable Mention: Steiner Observer 20x80 (Cost: $1,500)

Not at all a practical cost choice for a beginning stargazer, but you can dream, can't you? These Steiner binoculars are essentially military optics "plowshared" for peaceful celestial observing. 

Why we chose NOT to review certain types

Image stabilized?

Binoculars with active internal image stabilization are a growing breed. Most use battery-powered gyroscope/accelerometer-driven dynamic optical elements. We have left this type out of our evaluation because they are highly specialized and pricey ($1,250 and up). But if you are considering active stabilization, you can apply the same judgment methods detailed in our Buyer's Guide.

Comes with a camera?

A few binoculars are sold with built-in cameras. That seems like a good idea. But it isn't, at least not for skywatching. Other than Earth's moon, objects in the night sky are stingy with their photons. It takes a lengthy, rock-steady time exposure to collect enough light for a respectable image. By all means, consider these binocular-camera combos for snapping Facebook shots of little Jenny on the soccer field. But stay away from them for astronomy.

Mega monster-sized?

Take your new binoculars out under the night sky on clear nights, and you will fall in love with the universe. You will crave more ancient light from those distant suns. That may translate into a strong desire for bigger stereo-light buckets.

Caution: The next level up is a quantum jump of at least one financial order of magnitude. But if you have the disposable income and frequent access to dark skies, you may want to go REALLY big. Binocular telescopes in this class can feature interchangeable matching eyepieces, individually focusing oculars, more than 30x magnification and sturdy special-purpose tripods. Amateurs using these elite-level stereoscopes have discovered several prominent comets.

Enjoy your universe

If you are new to lens-assisted stargazing, you'll find excellent enhanced views among the binocular choices above. To get in deeper and to understand how we picked the ones we did, jump to our Buyer's Guide: How to Choose Binoculars for Sky Watching.

You have just taken the first step to lighting up your brain with star fire. May the photons be with you. Always. 

Skywatching Events 2015

Once you have your new binoculars, it's time to take them for a spin. This year intrepid stargazers will have plenty of good opportunities to use new gear.

On March 20, for example, the sun will go through a total solar eclipse. You can check out the celestial sight using the right sun-blocking filters for binoculars, but NEVER look at the sun directly, even during a solar eclipse. It's important to find the proper filters in order to observe the rare cosmic show. 

Observers can also take a look at the craggy face of the moon during a lunar eclipse on April 4. Stargazers using binoculars should be able to pick out some details not usually seen by the naked eye when looking at Earth's natural satellite.

Skywatchers should also peek out from behind the binoculars for a chance to see a series of annual meteor showers throughout the year.

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Think You Could Live on Mars? Think Again

October 15, 2014 / / 0 Comments



Excerpt from
time.com

A new analysis of Mars One's plans to colonize the Red Planet finds that the explorers would begin dying within 68 days of touching down


Hear that? That’s the sound of 200,000 reservations being reconsidered. Two hundred thousand is the announced number of intrepid folks who signed up last year for the chance to be among the first Earthlings to colonize Mars, with flights beginning as early as 2024. The catch: the trips will be one way, as in no return ticket, as in farewell friends, family, charbroiled steaks and vodka martinis, to say nothing of such everyday luxuries as modern hospitals and, you know, breathable air.
But the settlers in Jamestown weren’t exactly volunteering for a weekend in Aspen either, and in both cases, the compensations—being the first people on a distant shore—seemed attractive enough. Now, however, the Mars plan seems to have run into a teensy snag. According to a new analysis by a team of grad students at MIT, the new arrivals would begin dying within just 68 days of touching down.


An artist concept of NASA's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) mission. Launched in November 2013, the mission will explore the Red Planet’s upper atmosphere, ionosphere and interactions with the sun and solar wind.
The United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with NASA’s Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) spacecraft launches from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Space Launch Complex 41, Monday, Nov. 18, 2013, Cape Canaveral, Florida. NASA’s Mars-bound spacecraft, the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN, or MAVEN, is the first spacecraft devoted to exploring and understanding the Martian upper atmosphere. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)
NASA's MAVEN spacecraft, inside a payload fairing, is hoisted to the top of a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket at the Vertical Integration Facility at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Space Launch Complex 41 on Nov. 8, 2013.
Inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, engineers and technicians perform a spin test of the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution, or MAVEN, spacecraft. The operation is designed to verify that MAVEN is properly balanced as it spins during the initial mission activities.
Lockheed Martin/NASA

The organizers of the burn-your-boats expedition is a group called Mars One, headed by Bas Lansdorp, a Dutch entrepreneur and mechanical engineer. As Lansdorp sees things, habitat modules and other hardware would be sent to the Red Planet in advance of any astronauts, who would arrive in four-person crews at two-year intervals—when Mars and Earth make their closest approach, which holds the outbound journey to a brief (relatively speaking) eight months. The crew-selection process would be part of (yes) a sponsored reality show, which would ensure a steady flow of cash—and since the settlers would grow their own food onsite, there would be little to carry along with them. All that would keep the overall cost of the project to a shoestring (relative again) $6 billion.

So what could go wrong? That’s what the four MIT students set out to find out, and the short answer is: a lot.

The biggest problem, the students discovered, concerns that business of breathable air. One of the things that’s always made Earth such a niftily habitable place to live is that what animals exhale, plants inhale, and vice versa. Since the Martian astronauts and their crops would be living and respiring in the same enclosed habitats, a perfect closed loop should result in which we provide them all the carbon dioxide they need and they return the favor with oxygen.

Only it doesn’t, the MIT students found. The problem begins with the lettuce and the wheat, both of which are considered essential crops. As lettuce matures, peaking about 30 days after planting, it pushes the 02 level past what’s known as .3 molar fractions, which, whatever it means, doesn’t sound terribly dangerous — except it’s also the point at which the threat of fire rises to unacceptable levels. That risk begins to tail off as the crop is harvested and eaten, but it explodes upward again, far past the .3 level, at 68 days when the far gassier wheat matures.

A simple answer would be simply to vent a little of the excess O2 out, which actually could work, except the venting apparatus is not able to distinguish one gas from another. That means that nitrogen—which would, as on Earth, make up the majority of the astronauts’ atmosphere—would be lost too. That, in turn, would lower the internal pressure to unsurvivable levels—and that’s what gets your 68-day doomsday clock ticking.

There is some question too about whether the hardware that Mars One is counting on would even be ready for prime time. The mission planners make much of the fact that a lot of what they’re planning to use on Mars has already been proven aboard the International Space Station (ISS), which is true enough. But that hardware is built to operate in microgravity—effectively zero g—while Mars’s gravity is nearly 40% of Earth’s. So a mechanical component that would weigh 10 lbs. on Earth can be designed with little concern about certain kinds of wear since it would weigh 0 lbs. in orbit. But on Mars it would be 4 lbs., and that can make all the difference.

“The introduction of a partial gravity environment,” the grad students write, “will inevitably lead to different [environmental] technologies.”

For that and other reasons, technical breakdowns are a certainty. The need for replacement parts is factored into Mars One’s plans, but probably not in the way that they should be. According to the MIT team, over the course of 130 months, spare parts alone would gobble up 62% of the payload space on resupply missions, making it harder to get such essentials as seeds, clothes and medicine—to say nothing of other crew members—launched on schedule.

Then too, there is the question of habitat crowding. It’s easy to keep people alive if you feed them, say, a single calorie-dense food product every day. But energy bars forever means quickly losing your marbles, which is why Mars One plans for a variety of crops—just not a big enough variety. “Given that the crop selection will significantly influence the wellbeing of the crew for the entirety of their lives after reaching Mars,” the authors write, “we opt for crop variety over minimizing growth area.”

Then there is the question of cost—there’s not a space program in history whose initial price tag wasn’t badly lowballed—to say nothing of maintaining that biennial launch schedule, to say nothing of the cabin fever that could soon enough set the settlers at one another’s throats. Jamestown may not have been a picnic, but when things got to be too much you could always go for a walk by the creek.

No creeks here, nor much of anything else either. Human beings may indeed colonize Mars one day, and it’s a very worthy goal. But as with any other kind of travel, the best part of going is often coming home.

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Intention and the Rite of Disengagement

August 30, 2014 / / 0 Comments

What we participate in is pretty much the name of the game. What do we spend our time, energy and intention on? What are we consciously and/or subconsciously empowering that’s leading to our own dis-empowerment? Where attention and thus intention goes, energy flows. Where is ours going, collectively and individually? Something to seriously consider on a continual basis in this massively manipulated energetic world.I’ve been blown away recently by the rapid rise in consciousness [...]

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July 2010: Divergence

July 10, 2010 / / 0 Comments

a message from Polaris channeled by Karen Murphy

Saturday, 10 July, 2010 

We spoke last month about a divergence in energy — internal vs. external — which continues on in the present...

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Time going faster? Not in my World!

July 6, 2010 / / 0 Comments

I've heard it say in these past years, and on the scale of years I even concur that time is speeding up, but lately, it seems to have come to a grinding halt, or at least life has: nothing left over but inconsequential things, which seem to give no re...

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Feng Shui for Better Living

July 5, 2010 / / 0 Comments

a message from The Brotherhood of Light channeled by Edna G. Frankel

Sunday, 4 July, 2010 

Greetings, dear ones, from the Brotherhood of Light! We are excited and delighted to be sharing e...

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Healing the Waters, Healing the World

July 5, 2010 / / 0 Comments

5 July 2010 - 12:22pm

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Channeler: 

Selacia

We...

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You lose one, but gain a bunch

July 4, 2010 / / 0 Comments

In hindsight, the intention that got me onto my bike this morning is no longer important, since it never materialized. But hey, I should be used to that after five years of on and off success in manifestation, right? And probably this minor thing just...

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Akashic Records for July 2010

July 3, 2010 / / 0 Comments

a message from Akashic Records channeled by Jen Eramith MA

Thursday, 1 July, 2010  (posted 3 July, 2010)

What energy and experiences can we expect in July 2010?

This month has a lot of forw...

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Birthday Sale misinterpreted

July 3, 2010 / / 0 Comments

At first glance of Lauren's title today, I figured "Hey, that's a great idea!" Rather than inviting friends over to bring you more stuff you may or may not like, why not have them over to a sort of garage sale where they can acquire stuff ...

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SaLuSa 19-April-2010

April 20, 2010 / / 0 Comments

19 April 2010 - 7:52am

Channeler: Mike Quinsey

We inform you so often that all is proceeding well and we really mean it, as you cannot know the full extent to which our allies and us are preparing a path for the many changes. There is an ongoing thrust to force a number of issues to be resolved, so that those charged with making important announcements feel safe to do so. There are certainly opportunities approaching that will strengthen the hand of our allies, and the energy with it is extremely powerful and will lead to the expected and required action. Each week that passes sees another step forward taken, and the announcement that is awaited draws ever closer. It is time to bring out the truth of your many Space friends and their links with Earth, and this will trigger many related issues that are hidden from you. It will also be instrumental in revealing who is behind the attempts to prevent you learning the truth, and also their reasons for doing so. The fight for control over you has gone on for a long time, and the dark ones were nearly successful. Fortunately, events have been used to limit the opportunities of the Illuminati to achieve any further progress towards their goal. They are struggling to maintain their stance, yet still plot to cause you chaotic conditions. However, they will not be able to achieve as much as they intended, as we are always limiting the likely effect of their covert actions.

Our allies are spread around the world which is very useful to our efforts to promote our own agenda. We have a number of options where the announcement is concerned, and in the ultimate it may come from a least expected source. What is certain is that it has become very near to being broadcast, and is one of the most important steps that we will be taken on your behalf. It has never been our wish that the truth is forced upon you, but we do want to feed you with information that will lessen the inevitable shock that some will experience. Not everyone is ready to have his or her beliefs shattered by learning too much, too quickly.

In recent years we have been able to influence your media and television programs. We have successfully been able to have our presence shown in such a way, that it reflects more truthfully what we are about and our peaceful approach to you. We have a mission that regardless of any interference carried out will proceed as planned, and we are motivated by our love and service to Mankind. You are for the moment like our children, but you will grow up at an exceedingly fast pace. The more you move into the Light, the more you are reaching up to the levels that we are from. It is our place to ensure that you travel the path to Ascension, and that all preparations are completed in time to include Mother Earth.

Each week that passes by is also another opportunity for you to raise your vibrations, as from outside of your Earth streams of high energy are being beamed to you. It is an ongoing process and you can so to say go with the flow, and be gradually uplifted so that you are ready when Ascension takes place. Simply do not allow yourselves to become actively involved in the negativity around you, but instead send it your Light and Love. You are becoming more powerful in this way, and perhaps have yet to realize your true potential. It applies for example to the healing of Self or others, and if you feel competent why not put your skills to the test. Become a channel of Light, and allow it to flow from you as you direct it into the aura of the person concerned. That is a very simple way to transfer healing energy to another one, or even animal if that is your desire. Accompany your healing with a mantra or prayer for help from a Master or Angel, and they will empower you.

You have untold powers that will come to you as you approach the end time, and you will take these with you and advance them to even higher levels. Healing for example would become instantaneous by the power of thought. Your creative skills will enable you to manifest exactly whatever you need, by pure thought. It will be the same when you need to move somewhere else, and that will also come through the use of thought. Even now you use such power, but you most likely have little or no idea of what you are really doing. Think of it this way, that whatever you place your focus upon will respond, and of course it can be for a positive or negative reasons. This is why you must guard against wishing harm to another person, as if you are responsible for something of that nature it will at sometime surely return to you. This is particularly true where you are dealing with those who are sufficiently advanced, to place protection around themselves. That person can be you if you remember to keep yourself surrounded by Light, and visualize it as a cocoon in which your body safely resides.

Your spiritual journey of many lives is reaching its end where duality is concerned. However, it will still continue with Ascension, and you will never stop learning as you make your way through the higher dimensions. That will take you further along your evolutionary path, until you reach the Source. You have all but finished the difficult bit by finding your way through the challenges of duality, and it has been a most trying time reaching up for the Light. Understanding the purpose of life is most important, and a step forward that moves you firmly onto your spiritual path. Also, accepting the Oneness of all life will raise you up to a point of higher conscious awareness. You can then express it by sharing your love and Light with all life forms. You will see things in a new light and separatism will no longer be something you contribute to, and it becomes redundant to your thinking.

I am SaLuSa from Sirius and must tell you Dear Ones, that when you can put others before Self, you are truly well advanced along the path to Ascension. When you can also allow for the experiences of others without judgement, and accept that they result from freewill choice you have jumped another hurdle. We of the Galactic Federation look down at Earth, and see the negativity that takes place, but we judge not and know that ultimately it will all pass by and you will all be the stronger as a result. In this lifetime you have probably learnt more than at any other time, because the vibrations have recently started to lift you all up into a greater state of awareness. As the Light grows more powerful it is accelerating your personal growth, and it is a wondrous sight to see the Light shining out from Earth where once there was so much was in the darkness.

Thank you SaLuSa.

Mike Quinsey.

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Friends will be friends

April 20, 2010 / / 0 Comments

THIS IS SUCH A NEAT STORY.....

The story begins with the rescuers finding this poor little guy they named Ralphie. Someone had already taken him under their wing but weren't equipped to adopt.

Ralphie, scared and starved, joined his rescuers.

I wouldn't think anything could live thru this, but we were wrong.

This little lady also survived that wreckage.

Here she is just placed in the car, scared, but safe. 

 and then, they are no longer alone!
 

Instant friends, they comforted each other while in the car. 

Add two more beagles found after that, the more, the merrier!

 Oh boy, a new traveler to add to the mix. (Note: the cat coming over
the seat needing shelter.) Now, just how is this going to work?
(Remember, they are all strange to one another.)

 It's going to work just fine, thank you very much!

Wow! The things we learn from our animal friends.
 
If only all of mankind could learn such valuable lessons as this.
Lessons of instant friendship.
Of peace and harmony by way of
respect for one another, no matter one's color or creed.

These animals tell you; 'It's just good to be alive and with others.'
Yes, it surely is. So.....Live, Love, Laugh.

'Life's a Gift.....Unwrap It!'


  

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Total Relaxation Achieved

April 17, 2010 / / 0 Comments

This morning, I woke up with enough inspiration to add seven pages to my novel in less than an hour, and the exercise has maneuvered me in a state where you guys and gals get the short end of the stick: I'm leaving website update to my other team members today, and will enjoy this day in total relaxation. As a bandaid, here are the pages I added today:

Thursday, October 30th, 2003, 20:21

Somebody lied to me today, but both he and I Know it: Henk told me today his Thursday meetings are going to end, so I won't be able to continue visiting his psychic hour.

 

In case you hadn't guessed, Henk is a psychic. He is the guy who helped me realize about the vow I'd made at age eight, to figure out the Cosmos, and tell everyone who will hear about it. I'm glad he did, especially from the viewpoint of where I am now, finishing the novel that will be the culmination of this life's work.

Henk magically appeared as a friend of a friend of a colleague of my wife, in a moment where I desperately needed him. The first night he told me my soul was aligned someway half outside my body, but he wouldn't fix it. Instead, he had me fix it myself! Make-belief, hypnosis, name it what you want, but that night I felt better than I had in years!

Henk held what he called his Thursday meetings, and invited me to come. No entrance fees or anything, although some of us sometimes brought cookies to go with the ever abundant coffee. When one day I offered him fifty euros for his services, he looked at me and merely asked: “Why are you doing this?” in a non-incriminating manner.

Lying on the table, Henk taught me to recognize the flow of energy throughout my body, and he kept trying to teach me to breathe properly. In that, he seemed not to succeed, or did he: I've always been a shallow on-demand breather. Just couldn't stick to his program of deep, belly-based breathing.

And he asked me to write. Write manually, while in fact I dislike my own handwriting. I did it, but for serious writing like this novel I still stick to hammering it out on the keyboard. Maybe my disregard for his lessons is what eventually got him to call it “Class Dismissed!”, but I don't think so.....

One last experiment I remember around that time happened around that time, was an outing to the local kids farm with my family. I was very occupied with my being, and while the kids played, I was sitting on a bench in the Sun. A fly came up to me, and landed on my right leg, just above the knee. I figured, if my vibration was OK, I'd be able to approach it sincerely, without disturbing it.

I moved my left hand, index finger outstretched, to the vicinity of it's bulging faceted eyes, quite slowly. Do you know how hard it is to approach a common housefly from the front, to within one millimeter of it's head? I did succeed however, and we sat there for seconds, face to 'face'.

Finally, I broke the magic by becoming greedy, and carefully nudged its head. The fly got up, and landed just out of range of my hand, as if to say: “OK, I know your boundaries now....”

When I later told Henk about it, he applauded me for having made so much progress. And when he stopped seeing me on Thursdays, he offered his help for anything I might require later on. Well Henk, I'd love to send you this manuscript, but by now I think you will somehow magically get your hands on it when the time comes....

 

Saturday, April 17th, 2010, 04:42

Today I am somewhat in conflict, but in a good way. I'm going to break my word in a manner of speaking, but only because I know Jolene will forgive me, in a way will even silently applaud me for it!

Just like I Knew Henk, the psychic that helped me at age 35 to remember my vow at age eight, was lying when he told me his Thursday meetings were ending, I just Know Jolene meant just about the complete opposite of what she told me: she asked me not to tell anyone about her life, but I'm sure she'll absolutely not mind that I tell this story anyway, with the proper precautions to achieve what the business end of the world would call 'Plausable Denyability', or in other words, a bit of white lying magic to protect the innocent.

I met Jolene on the train the other day, quite by incident, and very nicely. Somehow, I felt very, very connected to her, even though she turned out to be a person who had an uncanny ability to tell me exactly what kind of a person I am! Or maybe just because of that, because with her, my Know-indicator was on the blink.

But despite the obvious connect, she kept her distance. We did exchange addresses, and over the next few weeks, she phoned me a couple of times, just to hear about how I was doing, and what was up in my life. Jolene felt very awesome, kinda like Selina, even though with her there was this barrier, which both of us kept intact: externally, she was the kind of person I'm not really attracted to, which was aggravated by the fact she tried convince me that our relationship was purely business (which is kind of a dirty word to me).

She claimed she needed help with her computer, and one day, I was invited to provide said help. I traveled there at the appointed hour, and walked the last few hundred meters from the bus to her home, or at least the address she gave me. It was in a well to do neighborhood, all privately owned homes. I rang the bell, and was invited in, only to find myself in a pigsty! I mean, she'd warned me her place was a mess, but I figured it to be like mine sometimes is, for lack of futuristic domestic droids. This however looked far worse, and my first instinct, which I immediately followed, was to offer her to help clean things up a bit. She wouldn't hear of it however, claiming she'd gotten me in there to help her along where the computer was concerned.

So I sat down, amidst a flurry of newspaper clippings, partially opened mail, and other 'messy' things. Nothing really gross, just this consistent wrapping of disorder that I could easily ignore in order to get my work done. She wanted a general cleanup of her computer, like I've done dozens of times for myself and others. Defrag, cleanup, remove unused software, install basic stuff needed to do proper work, you know the drill. So did I, or so I thought...

I'd seen she used Outlook for her mail, but also observed that her Word and Excel where complaining about needing an installer CD to be usable. I usually resort to public domain software wherever possible, and so gave her the option of having OpenOffice installed, instead of those office applications. She agreed, not realising like I should have, that her Outlook was part of the Microsoft Office I was aiming to replace. We chatted on, while she made us something to eat in a kitchen that to me would have been barely unacceptable as starting point for cooking activities.

It was a home-brewn soup, as she called it, quite tasty, but too many unknown ingredients to be on my list of favorite dishes. I somewhat too ardently refused seconds, but we parted as friends. Then, after I'd gotten home, she called that her E-mail no longer worked. Realizing my colossal blunder I gladly took the blame, but was relieved she didn't expect me to get back on the train right that instance. I did offer to attempt a rescue using TeamViewer, so I could take over her system from home, but being a self-proclaimed digifobe, she declined that. She did get another friend to call me later, to dissolve the matter via phone.

But then there's the little incongruities that trigger you to the weirdness of the situation: though Jolene claimed she was afraid of computers, I counted no less than three systems in her home: the computer I needed to work on, an IBM Thinkpad carelessly lying around, and a Compaq DeskPro system in one of the bedrooms. Add to that the question she'd asked me about purchasing Val's old laptop, and I guessed myself in the twilight zone.

Speaking of zones: even though she and I were in the zone constantly, I was very near the edge of my comfort zone while in that place. To me, a home needs to be somewhat cleaner to be comfortable, but it was Jolene's home, so I kept abiding by her will, and tried not to disturb the flurry of newspaper clippings that so cozily surrounded me.

Yesterday, I mailed her to inquire if her friend's rescue operation had succeeded. I got back a mail, so it obviously had: she said she wasn't angry or disappointed, but told me not to mail, phone, or try to contact her otherwise.

Now I could mourn the loss of a friend, but this sounded way more like: “School's over, class dismissed!”

Final sync: I just found out Rush are on their “Time Machine Tour”! How very syncy that they are mentioned in various places in this Now Time Tale......

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