Category: Science

  • Blue Blocking Orange Glasses for Indoor and Outdoor Use

    2 pairs of orange colored glasses

    A long while back, Y suggested that I wear blue-blocking orange colored glasses in the hours leading to bedtime to help me avoid being woken by the blue light coming from my computer display, television, overhead lights, and smartphone. I can report that donning orange colored glasses a couple of hours before sleep (and taking with 1.5mg of melatonin and 700mg of magnesium glycinate about an hour before bed) helps me fall asleep much more quickly than I used to before wearing the glasses every evening.

    As I began developing presbyopia or age-related impairment of my eyes to focus on nearby objects, I upgraded from the pair of glasses on the left to the ones on the right to accommodate my reading glasses as shown below.

    reading glasses nested inside a pair of blue blocking orange glasses

    I repurposed my original pair of orange glasses to wear when I go out for walks at night with Y. I noticed that the bright lights of cars could sometimes trigger a migraine. Wearing these glasses reduces the intensity of on-coming car’s headlights on newer vehicles, which as others have noted, seem to be far brighter than halogen lights on older cars and trucks.

    To illustrate how well these glasses cut out blue light, you can see the blue Prospect Park West Holy Pita restaurant sign turn to an orange-white color through the orange lens below.

    the orange glasses' lens turns a blue sign orangish white
  • After the Hurricane Cleanup

    After cleaning up the mess left by Hurricane Helene, the homestead didn’t look that bad. A few days later, I made another pass at the grass with my dad’s Scag zero-turn riding lawnmower to get it down to 2″. Hopefully he won’t have to cut it again this year, but with global warming, it might have another growth spurt.

  • Albert Einstein by Jacob Epstein

    sculpture of albert einstein's head

    I saw this bust of Albert Einstein by Jacob Epstein in the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool, England in 2006. There’s a total of six castings of this bust. Another is located in Cambridge at The Fitzwilliam Museum.

  • Blue Atlas Cedar Tree in Green-Wood Cemetery

    Y and I know this blue atlas cedar as “Big Tree Friend.” It grows somewhere in the middle of Green-Wood Cemetery. We walk around–turning here and there–until we eventually find it.

    It has been growing in Green-Wood Cemetery for over 100 years–assuming it was planted soon after the death of the person it memorializes, Joseph Kinyoun (Nov. 25, 1860-Feb. 14, 1919). Its circumference is so large that I don’t think Y and I could join hands around it.

    When you stand beneath it, it complete envelops you.

    On a hot day, it’s a good friend to have shade you.

  • Naming the Lost Memorial Activation and Dedication Ceremony at Green-Wood Cemetery

    Naming the Lost Activation and Dedication Ceremony at Green-Wood Cemetery, May 19, 2024.

    Last weekend, there was an activation and dedication ceremony for the Naming the Lost Memorial at Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York that I posted about here last week. There were speakers, music, and rituals performed. The banner to the left of the speakers in front of the chapel has written on it, “A Big, Slow, Majestic COVID Memorial.” It couldn’t have been a better day–pleasant and sunny. Afterwards, I walked a few miles through the cemetery with my N95 mask off and hanging from my backpack’s sternum strap.