LRT IRL

Luminaria inspired Christmas card commission for @procyon.bsky.social Anyone else love bokeh lights?

Time to start my long winter trip! This year I have been so distracted I've not even scheduled half of it yet, but I'll be flying to Albuquerque today and out of San Francisco on the 19th. Hoping to catch up with lots of friends!

Having preciously stayed in hotel room 621 (at a fur con) and 420, I can now add another funny number to my list

International travel can be a drag but I do enjoy being able to sleep for 12 hours the evening after returning home...

Finally back home! Where by "home" I mean the office because I'll be going straight into a bunch of meetings...

*sad, lonely end-of-con raccoon noises*

Hello MFFers! I will be there this year and will be arriving tonight... but not until quite late! Get the party started for me and I'll join when I can!

I'm in a place with a very different climate for a few days!

On my way to the next stop in my travels! Connecting at Denver Airport - flying over Colorado is really pretty as always...

Nice views from a short hike in the nearby mountains

Happy Thanksgiving! I am back visiting my family in New Mexico for the holiday - will be making a stop in upstate New York next week, and then onto MFF next weekend. (Hoping to see many of you there!)

Finished with lecturing for another semester! Which means it's time to travel again! *airplane zooming noises*

Experiencing the finest of British cuisine

Newcastle night out!

Feeling affectionate, do not have (and never will have) an acceptable way of dealing with such emotions...

Spent the whole weekend writing an ultra-fast-track paper on a really interesting astronomical object one of the students in my group found earlier this month - but despite working nonstop for three days it was a lot of fun getting it together! (Vague preview below...)

Yesterday a visiting speaker gave a talk to our department about his work developing an AI system to write (bad) scientific papers, and the only thing our PhD students are talking about today is how AI is terrible and must be razed to the ground. The kids are alright

The sadness is never far away

Back home again. Straight into the teaching whirlwind - the semester starts tomorrow!

We really lost out on something when we stopped putting gargoyles on observatory domes

Finished illustration for @Procyon of their raccoon character waiting out the storm as it passes overhead! http://wolf-ink.co.uk

Time for another trans-Atlantic trip! This time I'm going to... Wisconsin. (Somewhere different, at least?)

Cheers to S. D., our recently confirmed Associate Professor in Engagement for Biofouling and Environmentally Friendly Antifouling

On the plus side, walking your lambanana on a pride leash still seems to be allowed

Liverpool City Council getting ready to... ban fursuiting in the city centre (where I live)?!?

Had a great time this weekend, hope to be back next year!

Berlin beer cruise

I am visiting an Official Fancypants College™ for a few days

Loch Ness

Ben Nevis was too easy so now we are doing... this

Ben Nevis, highest point in the UK

Scottish Highlands!

Road trip time!!

I momentarily misread the word "manual" as "mammal" and the visuals were so cute I am choosing to continue misreading it indefinitely: Product safety mammal Software installation mammal Furniture assembly mammal Navigation system operation mammal Computer troubleshooting mammal (tag yourself?)

Back home after 25 days of travel! No other big trips planned for quite a while, so I'm looking forward to enjoying the rest of the summer closer to home :3

On my way home, via a detour to London to drop by the furmeet! Anybody I know going to be there? :3

Visiting East Anglia for the first time - which has the distinction of having the highest density of hilarious British place names of anyhere in the UK I've been to date. A small collection of my favourites so far:

Another one of those sad, sleepless transatlantic flights east...

So nice that many airports are now offering gender neutral restrooms (as long as you are a dog)

Flying back to England today... this visit was almost four weeks but still felt too short! At least I have a few fun things lined up for the next few weeks when I return (including this weekend!)

In Santa Fe this evening to celebrate my parents' 50th wedding anniversary. They're still in great health and I'm incredibly lucky to still have them, even if I only can visit a couple times per year.

Short New Mexico hike (in the rain!)

Also, looking further ahead (and much much further east), this raccoon now has a ticket for next Saturday's LFM...

Landed in Albuquerque! (I've been slowly working my way east this trip.) I'll be on vacation for a week in New Mexico, seeing friends and family.

The conference has an official cocktail, amazing

In Tucson for a few days for a conference. It is Very Warm (but at least the scenery is pretty)

Another place from my past! It's been 15 years since I last came to use the telescopes at Lick Observatory, and while they're far from the state of the art now, it is great that we can still do useful science from this mountain.

Bay view