Kitties Meet Roomba: Hilarity Ensues!

I was working at my home computer last night. Topher and Cameron, our new tabby kittens, were rolling around on the carpet near the Arboretum's robot vacuum cleaner, Roomba.



Suddenly I heard "ta-ta-ta-tah-ta-tahhhh!," the sounds of "Charge" being played on a computer... which is exactly what Roomba sounds like when she's activated.

I swiveled in my computer chair just in time to see a rather confused and bemused Topher sitting atop Roomba, as she lurched forward out of her docking station and headed for the door. Topher was off and running to the living room after about a four-inch ride, and Cameron was nowhere to be seen, having dashed into Lisa's studio and hidden under the bed.

I followed Roomba to the living room and grabbed my camera. Topher was in the kitchen, watching Rooba intensely. Gotta give the little guy the daily award for bravery. He stood his ground even as Roomba sucked her way within a foot-and-a-half of him, and retreated only a few inches away behind a dining room chair when she came closer.

Eventually, Cameron came out of hiding in the studio... and hid behind the chair in the living room, peering around to watch.

What a riot! I sure wish I'd thought to shoot video to send to America's Funniest Home Videos. I could use that $10,000.

Kittens. 'Nuff said?

The Arboretum became home to two new entities Sunday night. Topher and Cameron have joined the staff.

Lisa and I found them at PetSmart, at the FAIR(Foundation for Animals In Risk) table.

Read about it here.

A bridge pretty far....

This is my entry for the SketchUp 3d Challenge #17...



It's a take-off on the Newcastle-Tyne Bridge in Newcastle, England. The coolest thing about it is how the arch makes a beautiful oval when reflecting in the Tyne River. I can't do a reflection directly in SketchUp, so here's a Photoshop version I made from a SketchUp 2d export:

Goin' to the chapel

The Tucson Origins project, part of what used to be called Rio Nuevo, is planning the reconstruction of the old Convento and its attendant chapel. Local Tucson architects Burns Wald-Hopkins have drawn up plans, and they've been enthusiastically received.

The Tucson Citizen ran a story about it in today's 'paper. We could have illustrated it with an architect's drawing, but I had the time to draw it in 3D, in SketchUp. This allowed us not only to have original art for the 'paper, but to do a Quicktime movie flyby. Take a look!

Deja Vu

Deja (the Tree) gave us quite a scare. The big, strong, healthy tree, named in honor of Lisa's sister Nancy's deceased horse (got that?)... dropped about 99% of her leaves, soon after planting. Panic at the Arboretum.

I'm happy to say that after some deep watering and TLC, she's back, and better than ever. Saturday, I enlarged and fortified her well, and put her on slow drip for hours.






So let's celebrate! Here she is again... Deja Vu.

Try it, you'll like it...

My project for the Citizen....

Turn your sound on.
http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/downloads/flash/100807haunted.swf

AidsSkate 2007

Lisa and I worked the annual AidsWalk at the U yesterday. I wish that I'd taken my roller skates, particularly after seeing that the Tucson Roller Derby girls (above) were there.

L. did it as part of her day job with Access Tucson, and I did it because I love her and she asked me to, and what am I going to do on a Sunday without her, anyway? Also, it doesn't hurt that we both consider it a worthy cause and community event.

And there's free food.

This is the second year we've worked on it together. Lisa coordinates everything it takes to video-cover the event... and I get to run around and shoot stills of whatever interests me. I can handle that.

Even if it involves getting up at 4 a.m. Or a lot earlier if you're Lisa. Who had been flat on her back with the flu all day Saturday. OMG.

I took about 300 pictures, nothing that I thought was above average, unfortunately. But in downloading them yesterday, I made a series of blunders that lead to my erasing them all, effectively cancelling out the 5+ hours I'd put into taking them.

Lisa was wonderful, very supportive, and kept me from jumping off the roof until I remembered that my IT friend Chris Kemberling had the tools and the know-how to restore them. Hallelujah.

And, (to continue in a Biblical vein) so it came to pass. Thanks, Chris!

And thank God Lisa's better. She'd be fine if she weren't going on working a 12-hour day today. :-/