Hey - It's Matt. It's been a while...

I'm sad. This weekend is the last space shuttle launch. The last launch of a program that has lasted almost my whole life. The last launch of a program where I remember JFK-assassination moments like the Columbia and Challenger (the latter of which I was home sick from school and told my mom the news 'cause i was watching it live). I'm not sad 'cause of the tragedies or because of the end of the era (the old gal was due for retirement). I'm sad because there's no solid plan for continued space exploration on the horizon. Space exploration expands our knowledge of science and the only way to push our knowledge boundaries is to push our human limits. Someone, be it President Obama or his successors, need to have another JFK-declaration moments - one where they declare a mission to Mars or a similar technological and boundary expanding challenge. Our country needs something to rally behind right now.

Speaking of something for our country to rally around, we all recently gorged ourselves on BBQ and beer over the 4th of July holiday. There's nothing I love more (well, besides Angie & Steve and the rest of my family) than 4th of July in Cedarburg, WI. A 2 hour parade, a good baseball game, the seeming-suspension of open-container laws and the best fireworks show you'll see from any 10,000-resident community in the country. You really have to experience it - grab a bloody mary from one of the local bars, walk up the street, see 20 people you haven't talked to in years, grab a beer, walk over to the ballgame, grab another beer, walk across the street to watch the kids play on the slides... you get the idea. You simply cannot beat it.

I also got a small bonus from work and got back into the digital SLR photography game (I used to be a newspaper photographer in college), so you'll be seeing a lot more pics from that camera around here. Below are some samples from the weekend (the rest are in Picasa). If you want any specific pics in a more high-quality format, let me know. I'd be happy to send them your way. Here are some samples: