Mike Browne’s Blog

Spaceflight Now | STS-114 Shuttle Report | Mission Status Center

T-minus 3 hours until the first shuttle flight since the last tragedy. Everyone’s holding their breath to see if these rickety old shuttles can still do it.

More info at nasa.gov

UPDATE 6:08 pm PST – Launch scrapped due to faulty fuel switch. Fizzle.

Call me Super-nerd! I can burn DVD’s in a single bound (or 6 minutes) with my brand spanking new Plextor PX-716A

I was having trouble sleeping early this morning, but fell back to sleep. I suspected something was going to happen today and it has. Upon awakening at 8:00am I found I had received an email from my birth mother, Dianne, who lives in Berwick, Nova Scotia.

Dianne sent me all of her contact information and a link to pictures of her and my half-brothers from JP’s website for his cute as pie son and daughter (the eldest half-brother who I look a bit like). I’m not sure yet if they’re cool with me posting their pictures here, but when I get the go ahead you’ll see them too. Apparently I’m most like my youngest half-brother, Phil, who’s artsy and a blogger too. You can count on a link as soon as I get it.

Late this afternoon we finally connected over the phone. What a wonderful phone call. I am so grateful I have been able to start in this direction at all. It has taken some doing to get up the nerve to begin this whole process but with the experience I’m having so far I’m looking forward fearlessly to more.

I felt a connection right away and our conversation was a mind blower to say the least. She seems like such a cool person. The more I learn about Dianne and her (my birth) family the more connected to planet Earth I feel in a way I never have before. I’m not an alien (as far as I know to this point) as I have suspected. There are others ‘like’ me.

Being a product of the 60’s as I am now so sure about explains my bent toward hippidom and that, ahem, lifestyle. Dianne is proud that I’m a Beatles fan and not an Elvis man. 🙂

On a really interesting note, Dianne’s mother, my biological grandmother, the war bride from Amsterdam, came from a family that was Jewish and converted to Protestant when the Nazi’s started their insanity before and during WW2. Most of the family is ‘just gone’ as a result of Hitler’s final solution. The one 80+ year old great aunt (who still drives) did survive the war although in a concentration camp and will not go to Germany to this day. That makes me a quarter Jew. Oi! Who knew? I always suspected on a deep level and have even discussed it with Carol prior to knowing as I have felt a special affinity to the Jewish people for as long as I can remember. Now I know why.

I’m looking forward to more contact and meeting this whole new ‘side’ of the family. My biological father may be a different story. I know his name now and will start poking around. I’m not going to hold my breath or plan any kind of result. We’ll see how it plays out. I’m just glad to be having this experience at all. Keep praying for me.

Eat Hufu – The Healthy Human Flesh Alternative!
It’s tofu for cannibals who are tired of all the read meat. You can be a vegan cannibal too with hufu.

The alphabet in a creepy funny way. I miss Edward Gorey.

More here… good for a laugh.

BBC NEWS | UK | London rocked by terror attacks
Moselle are you okay? If I remember correctly you’re a train commuter.

Upon arriving home absolutely bushed from ‘Fire Mountain’ I had a special delivery letter waiting for me on my desk. I knew immediately what it was even before reading the info on it. When I opened it I saw I did contain the biographical letter I have been expected from my birth mother and the form (I will send tomorrow over night delivery) for direct contact approval by me. The information I read has me reeling. Although very emotional I feel extremely positive about continuing on toward making contact with my birth mother. It has taken me until this point today to feel together enough to write a bit about it.

A lot of the letter I’d like to keep private, medical information and some personal feelings, but I’ll give you all the general low down and now some specifics. As every adopted child hopes that someone out there misses them, my birth mother misses me still. Its actually comforting in a strange and totally self-centered way. She did worry about me and whether she had made the right decision. Its a gift to be able to share with her the wonderful childhood I did have to ease her fears.

What have I learned?
– My birth parents never married and have no contact (I guess I’ll find more out later)
– My birth mother did marry an RCMP officer but divorced 15 years ago
– I have two younger half-brothers, JP (John-Paul) who is moving to Alberta to work in the oil fields with his wife and son and new daughter (call me uncle Mike), and Phil who has a degree in Theatre Arts and has acted in various plays (Surprise! Another actor in the family)
– My maternal grandmother, recently deceased, was a war bride from Amsterdam so I have family there, in Belgium and England
– My birth mother is an accounting/payroll clerk at the town hall where she lives, she is also executive secretary and a volunteer firefighter for the local fire department. (I have also done this)
– She loves to laugh, read science fiction, watch movies and listens to classic rock and heavy metal (all things I like too!)

I finally know that I was born at 7:44 am (I always knew the date [August 5, 1969] just not the time) and that I spent three days with my birth mother and that her friend smuggled a camera into the hospital for her to take my picture at 1 day old which she still has!

As you can see. So far so good. I am feeling emotions I’ve never felt before so I don’t even know what to call them yet…

Bear with me.

Lance Armstrong is wearing the yellow jersey at the Tour de France again (of course) and the French are pissed (as usual). The following photo and caption were found in Fark.com’s comments on the story above:

Eet vaz zee steroidz, n’est pas?