T-Shirt #5: Do you want to move to Mars?

T-Shirt #5: Mars One: Funny thing, my wife bought me a T-shirt. It's not really funny as in laughter evoking by itself. But it's quirky and cute.

One morning last year, I asked my wife Liesel: "Would you like to go live on Mars?"

I was just checking. I wanted to see what she would say. I have always liked the idea of going into space. Moving permanently to Mars is a neat idea but maybe not realistic.

This subject came up because of Ray Kurzweil.
"Raymond "Ray" Kurzweil is an American author, inventor, futurist, and director of engineering at Google" (Wikipedia). 

If you like science, Ray Kurzweil runs a great Twitter feed of science news here:

KurzweilAINews

@KurzweilAINews

KurzweilAI is a newsletter/blog covering nano-bio-info-cogno breakthroughs in accelerating intelligence

California/Mass · http://kurzweilai.net

Google has hired Kurzweil to work on AI, which is an exciting proposition.

There is also a great website: Kurzweil Acclerating Intelligence.

I like to follow Kurzweil and watch the news he shares. He sends A LOT of Twitters, and they are always entertaining and informative.

Late last year (2012), he sent this
Mars One plans to establish human settlement on Mars in 2023

No return ticket

Liesel called me a "dork" for asking about going to Mars, but then, she searched the Internet and bought me a T-shirt from the Netherlands based Mars One project and gave it to me as a birthday present.

Kuzweil has updated the search for people to colonize Mars here:

WANTED: MARS COLONISTS TO EXPLORE RED PLANET

At this time, we have no plans to move to Mars, but I do like the shirt.
- 1303.26 7:46

T-Shirt #4: Original Star Trek - Command - Gold

T-Shirt #4: Original Star Trek - Command - Gold

Star Trek! One of those Facebook ads that show up because the social web 2.0 knows I love Star Trek snared me. Now that I am married, I am a lot more comfortable showing my true geek self. Not that I was all that shy about it before I got married. But there was quite a bit of hiding my in the closet, so to speak. I think the "closet" comparison is somewhat apt, not to minimize the way the term is usually applied, which is far more serious. Now, I am more comfortable with who I am. Also , geek (or nerd, if you prefer) has become cool. I always loved these uniforms. Once the ad caught me in its trap, I sprung for the blue and red ones, too. Damn. "Now, would be a good time to beam me up, Scotty..." - 1303.25 9:25

T-shirt #3: Michigan in Hebrew

T-Shirt #3: Michigan in Hebrew: I love these University of Michigan international shirts "sporting" different languages. I noticed that Moe's in Ann Arbor carries several others, such as Arabic and Russian. I would like to collect several more, and I happen to be in Ann Arbor on April First, so....we shall see. This is my second Hebrew shirt for UofM. I have always felt a deep connection to the Jewish faith.

This shirt and picture is all the more special because the picture was taken by my Dad. He came over to my house to help move a cabinet, and without my asking, he brought his camera. Proof of synchronicity! I had considered asking him to bring his camera for just this reason, for this photograph, but did not want to impose. Not only did we move the cabinet from the kitchen to the bathroom, but we accomplished one other household task all while Michigan opened a can of whoop ass on Virginia Commonwealth University! Say hello to the Sweet Sixteen for the first time since 1994. Is an Elite Eight showing possible? I might have to buy some more Michigan shirts...

T-shirt #2: Michigan in Chinese

T-shirt #2: Michigan in Chinese

The University of Michigan has been a part of my life always. My father graduated from the Blue in the 1950s, and my sister graduated from there in the 1990s. I almost went there, but instead, I chose Kalamazoo College.

I have followed Michigan sports with my Dad and my sister all of my life. It means a lot. I lived in Ann Arbor for most of a summer and spent a lot of time there. It's a favorite place. Today, March 23, 2013, Michigan plays its second game in the NCAA tournament, a milestone it has not been able to pass since 1994. Here we go. Go Blue! Make the Sweet Sixteen!

Also, apparently,

密西根大学，加油！

means literally "Michigan University add gas!" via my good friend @chris dilley. He doesn't really like sports, but he knows Chinese. I like this because I have a lot of gas to add to most any moment in time.


If Michigan wins, T-Shirt #3 may be the one I have that's in Hebrew. If they lose, I might have to mourn until football season.

T-shirt #1: Son of Satan

 T-shirt Number One: An auspicious beginning, yes? The subject matter/name of this T-shirt is likely to turn away many potential viewers/readers. This may be part of the clever intention. I am mad for comic book themed T-shirts. Retro images from the 1970s are my new kick. The day I passed on ordering a retro Machine Man shirt, this one arrived at the comic book store. I had forgotten that I had ordered it until I saw it in my weekly comic book pull, which is part of the fun (and the endorphin addiction) of ordering, buying, and owning T-shirts. However, the tales of Damion Hellstrom from the Marvel Comics of the 1970s are among my favorites. I am a little surprised that there is no mention of the controversy such a comic character stirred up in the 1970s, though I have no direct knowledge of any Bible thumping disapproval.

Daimon Hellstrom on the cover of Marvel Spotlight #13