Stella is one year old!

Our little girl is growing up so quickly. Her first birthday was a bit of an unexpected surprise for her, but as always she took each event in stride. Stella enjoyed visits from friends and family on her big day, and of course some generous and well appreciated gifts. It is difficult to believe that it has already been a year since we met our little ray of sunshine and we look forward to discovering more of the world along with her. A select few of the well over 200 photos taken of Stella's first birthday are available for viewing. At the mark of her first transit around the sun, Stella was 28.5 inches in height and weighed 21.5 pounds, and was the owner of two little teeth. In reflecting dates and days of birth, here is a link to some birthday related facts and figures.

Movie Illustrations from behind the former Iron Curtain

Some terrific illustrations of movie scenes and characters as done in a traditional Russian storytelling style. I particularly enjoy the depiction of Star Wars. If you don't read Russian you'll just have to guess which is which. Poland is a source for great animation and printed art. Here's a gallery of Polish movie posters advertising some familiar films.

Safe, free nuclear energy

As taken from the 2006 Fortune Brainstorm conference in Aspen, CO:

"Don't get me wrong: I love nuclear energy! It's just that I prefer fusion to fission. And it just so happens that there's an enormous fusion reactor safely banked a few million miles from us. It delivers more than we could ever use in just about 8 minutes. And it's wireless!"

- Leading ecological thinker, architect and Cradle-to-Cradle author William McDonough

Sketched from photos. . .

The entire senior class of Hamline University, Saint Paul, Minnesota, 1925, each drawn in one hour a night--with a few days off--from November 17, 2004 to February 17, 2005.

The Top Ten Most Beautiful OS X Apps

As determined in Phill Ryu's blog. There are some great looking items here.

Pixelhead

Detailed instructions for creating a pixel head icon for virtually anyone. Give it a try.

Wicked Lasers

Ever felt the need to have a laser that can start a match on fire, burn holes in trash bags or cauterize wounds? Here's your source. For as little as $99 or as much as $3,499, your dream can come true. As a special bonus, the laser beam is green.