Live From Austin!

Hydration is the Key

When having to mow one of the front yard septic fields in the blasting August heat, Scott used his ingenuity to stay fully hydrated.

Here he is using one of his uncle's Christmas gifts loaded with two bottles of water.

From Miscellaneous

He reports that his invention still needs some work since it's difficult to wipe away the sweat streaming down his face. Oh well, Edison didn't get the light bulb on the first try either!

Real Men of Genius: The Shirts Off Our Backs at 180 Feet Per Second

We've been on an extended project hiatus, so it was time for Scott and me to get back to our weekend do-it-yourself (DIY) projects. This weekend's edition was to build a t-shirt cannon. As the Bud Light Real Men of Genius commercial goes, we wanted to be able to give the shirts off our backs--at 180 feet per second.

The project plans come courtesy of MAKE magazine. Here's a short 1:50 video of Scott explaining the plan and a t-shirt launch.

Whoo hoo... works the first time!

Some Pictures of Washington and Lee University

I had a chance to swing down to see Claire's Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia. The campus is beautiful with rolling hills and a creek which runs through it.

Here's some photos from my adventure. I clipped the parts from the campus map to show where the buildings were located.

As you can see, Claire made a stellar choice!

Award Winning Blogger in the Family

I was in New York City last week and honored to receive an award for best blog by BtoB magazine. Here's a picture of me accepting an award from the the B2B magazine publishing team:

The magazine had a generous writeup and the moderator, Paul Gillin, of the panel on which I participated also shared kind words on his blog.

It was great visiting Dad's old stomping grounds around Rockefeller Center too!

Honored and Thrilled to be USTA Texas Section Family of the Year!

We all are absolutely thrilled and honored to be recognized as the United States Tennis Association's Texas Section family of the year!

Here's a snippet of the letter that arrived just a few days ago:

The banquet is in February of next year. All 17 of the USTA sections select a family of the year, and one family is selected as the national USTA family of the year.

Cross your fingers!

Meg Learns Finer Art of Sewing with Antique Technology

As this school year winds down, Meg has multiple project due and is working through the weekend to get them done. One involves making a quilt for a project on the history of Harlem. She learns the finer points of working with late-1920s/early-1930s sewing technology on this vintage White sewing machine.

Kate and Claire's Senior Prom

Here's a picture with Mom & Dad before Kate and Claire's senior prom yesterday:

Here's a few more in a slideshow:

Kate Recognized for Selecting University of Texas

The Austin Tennis Academy held a signing ceremony for more of its seniors who selected their college or university. Kate shows her burnt orange colors and selection of the University of Texas.

Here's Kate with proud parents, and Head Coach and CEO Jack Newman:

Way to go Kate and Hook 'em!

Keep that Opponent Honest!

When it comes to middle school tennis, you don't want to make a questionable line call and have Scott as your opponent.

He just might give you "the look":

It's great to see Scott with a racquet back in his hands after a couple of years away from tennis.

Claire Wins Capital Area Tennis Association Female Junior Player of the Year

Tonight was the the Capital Area Tennis Association (CATA) annual banquet. Claire was honored with both a CATA scholarship and named female junior tennis player of the year.

Claire's coach from Lake Travis High School, Coach Carol Creel introduces Claire and shares some of her accomplishments over the years:

Congratulations, Claire!

Kate Wins Lake Travis Scholarship

Kate is rewarded for all her hard work and high class ranking at Lake Travis High School with a Lake Travis Education Foundation scholarship. This is in addition to the one she received from the University of Texas top 10% scholarship award.

Whoo hoo and congrats to Kate!

Claire Signs with Washington and Lee University

It was a big week for Claire as she signed her letter of intent to play for Washington and Lee University in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley in Lexington, Virginia. Given her friends at both the Austin Tennis Academy and Lake Travis High School she had two signing ceremonies.

Here's the first at Austin Tennis Academy with proud parents, CEO and Head Coach Jack Newman (right) and Claire's primary coach, Doug Davis (left) looking on:

Here's the second signing ceremony over at Lake Travis High School with proud parents looking on:

Claire also received the great news of winning a Lake Travis Education Foundation scholarship for her hard work and academic performance at Lake Travis. Whoo hoo and congrats to Claire!

Spring Wildflowers

Meg got started today on her wildflower project for biology. We have a bumper crop in our yard this year with all the fall and winter rains.

Here's the ones she found so far:

Today's Project - An FM Oscillator

It's spring break this week, and I'm taking a few half days to enjoy the break with the kids. Today's project is the Velleman FM Oscillator Kit that Scott is giving a go. I'm chronicling his work here.

The kit let's you connect a microphone, iPod or MP3 output, or other sound generating device and broadcast an FM signal which can be picked up by FM receivers. Yes, pirate radio here near the shores of Lake Travis!

Here's some of Scott's handiwork in action:

From Projects

Unbelievable...

Scott and I were down by the shopping center across 183 from the building that was struck by the plane. My phone didn't take a very good picture but here it is after some photoshop lightening:

This building is about a mile south of my work building and close to our former neighborhood in Northwest Hills.

Unbelievable...