thoughts • images
A PIT STOP
fascinations • nuisances
Denise and Joe on WFAE's "Charlotte Talks"
Had a ball, as usual, talking with Mike Collins at WFAE in Charlotte, NC, this past Friday. From Thanksgiving to the origin of America’s name, we covered a lot in our hour-long chat. The mp3 should be available soon at the link above.
Girls' Night Out: 1941 | Shorpy Historical Photo Archive
Love this shot of gals cutting loose in Washington, DC.
Manhattan Project Round-Up
A lot of interesting and diverse articles about the Manhattan Project have popped up in my browser in the last week or so. Here are the ones that I think are the most interesting:
Cameron Reed at the American Physical Society has a new take on an old document: A handwritten note from President Franklin D. Roosevelt to Vannevar Bush.
A new book by Ray Monk on the life of J. Robert Oppenheimer is reviewd byThe Telegraph.
Science Around Us
In Honor of Veteran’s Day, the Da Vinci Science Center posted resources and a video about the Manhattan Project, including links to quizzes and original documents.
Manhattan Project National Park
Gregory McNamee at the Encyclopedia Britannica Blog gives his take on the proposed National Park sites in Los Alamos, Oak Ridge and Hanford.
Ed Westcott’s Secret City Photos
Last, but certainly not least, here is a nice feature on photographer Ed Westcott’s work during World War II by Chris Barrett at Metropulse.
Nice write-up for "Stuff Every American Should Know."
Fun article by Steven Brown of the Charlotte Observer. Online version here, but the piece should be in the print edition this coming Sunday.
I love voting. I do. This year was the first time I have ever voted early. Felt good, as always, but added perk to avoid the game-day hoopla.
See illustrations for my short story, 'Button Man'
Illustrator Tom Pokinko posted some images he created for my upcoming story in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine (AHMM). I’d rather not reveal what the story’s about until it pubs in December, but you might be able to glean some clues from the pencil sketch and the final ink sketch on the blog of this Ottawa, Canada-based illustrator. Thanks, Tom!
Yay for my husband, Joseph D’Agnese! LOVE these sketches and can’t wait to see them in AHMM. Thanks to @TomPokinko for giving great art to Joe’s words.
SmugMugging
I have finally delved into SmugMug as a way to share and organize photos online. It is idiot-proof when it comes to customizing and works extremely well with Lightroom. I wish I had done this sooner. If you’re interested, take a peek….
Inspired and entertained by this video of Gay Talese’s underground writing and reporting lair.
I want one.
Thanks to the New Yorker for this treat.
"Peace Through Education. Stealing the Light."
This inspirational documentary by Rock Creek Productions of Asheville, NC, received a fab review from Booklist. Great film for educators and activists. Do check it out. More information at www.rock-creek.com.
A survivor of the United States’ atomic attack on Hiroshima, still hospitalized two years later, shows the damage to his hands, 1947 by Carl Mydans
(After Hiroshima: Portraits of Survivors)
NASA Animation of Temperature Data from 1880-2011
Via The Climate Desk, “a journalistic collaboration dedicated to exploring the impact—human, environmental, economic, political—of a changing climate. The partners are The Atlantic, Center for Investigative Reporting, Grist, The Guardian, Mother Jones, Slate, Wired, and PBS’s new public-affairs show Need To Know.”
Fashion week 1943, the first one ever. Thanks to “Threaded,” the sartorially inspired blog of Smithsonian Magazine, for this fun post.
Threaded - Your go-to fashion blog for all things historical and sartorial
While interviewing my ladies for my new book,
"The Girls of Atomic City," I heard countless stories about nylon shortages. Wonderful to come across this Smithsonian piece today.
Time for a coffee break.
Girl worker at lunch also absorbing California sunshine, Douglas Aircraft Company, Long Beach, Calif. (Library of Congress)Palmer, Alfred T., photographer.
1 transparency : color.Notes:
Title from FSA or OWI agency caption.
Transfer from U.S. Office of War Information, 1944.
This just in!
My wife and sometimes co-author Denise Kiernan just got the cover of her next book, The Girls of Atomic City, about the women who unknowingly worked to create the fuel for the first bomb.
It’s a true story—a narrative nonfiction title that will be published by Touchstone/Simon & Schuster in March 2013.
I’m proud of her. It’s a project she’s been working on, in various ways, for the last seven years or so.
To find out more, you can check out Denise’s website…
Sign up for the newsletter at the book site…
Check out her old-timey WWII-era images on her Tumblr blog.
You can pre-order via Amazon.
Or pre-order a signed copy via our indie bookstore, Malaprops.
I’ll post again about this when she gets a trailer together.
Thanks to my hubby for posting this. I can take no credit for designing this cover, but I am so very happy with it. Book is finally feeling real after all these years…
OK. Why did it take me so long to experience the joy and delight that is a Melodysheep remix? This video, “Symphony of Science,” reminds me of all the reasons I love physics, while still understanding so little of it.
Enjoy!
Keep On Cooking...
From pbs-food:
Julia Child would have turned 100 on August 15th! In her honor, PBS Digital Studios brings you a special birthday treat: a funky new Julia Child remix that celebrates her wisdom, wit & superb kitchen skills. Please share with your friends!
Join the PBSFood #CookForJulia Birthday Party, including rare videos, photos, tributes from your favorite chefs and more fun at http://www.pbs.org/juliachild
This is our jam!
Julia has been auto tuned! Brilliant remix by melodysheep, aka John D. Boswell. So bring on the roasted potatoes for one of the great ladies of all times. Off to go sauté something….
