In the August 2009 edition of the Communications of the ACM, venture capitalist Tim Draper argues that now is the time to innovate and try to make something happen. Unfortunately, for you civilians out there, viewing the article’s content requires ACM credentials.

In terms of American healthcare, Jonathan Alter sarcastically asks What’s Not to Like? The piece is directed against the belief that nothing is wrong with American healthcare, but avoids commentary on the big challenge: how best to address the problem.

Fourteen days ago, Sound Transit opened Link Light Rail, a light rail line between Tukwila (about 1.5 miles from the airport) and Downtown Seattle. In December, track covering the final 1.5 miles to the airport will open providing a direct train link from downtown to the airport. Trains run every 7.5 minutes at peak and every ten or fifteen minutes during off-peak hours, depending just how off-peak it is. Until the track to the airport is opened, shuttles will run frequently from the Tukwila station to the airport terminal.

I do not know if this is normal around here, but I am frequently discovering and having to deal with spiders in my apartment. Me being me, I catch and release these spiders, which have been ranging from pretty small to one exceptionally large spider that required a substitution in my usual capturing device (a glass) due to its size. I currently have one trapped underneath my desk and will be relocating it outdoors in a few moments.

In response to yesterday’s wholly unnecessary assault on my shoe (see Berry Stains from the Sky), I have decided to memorialize the event in haiku.

A young crow pooped mulberries on my white running shoes today.

I have long been a fan of the products at Despair.com — starting first with the Demotivators, some of which I find really funny (and true!) — and have known about the Made in USA by Robots t-shirt for a while (I find it hilarious). I saw the t-shirt in person for a first time a few days ago at work. I was a little surprised, but in retrospect probably should not have been. If I had seen someone wearing it at NREL that would have been a surprise.

It has been sunny (and increasingly hot) the past couple of weeks.

We went kayaking last Sunday. This was the first time I have been kayaking. It was pretty fun and was definitely good exercise.

I was not sure if loons spend any time here, but yesterday I saw one swimming and diving in Lake Washington. I had previously only seen them in Ontario and Minnesota and had little knowledge of their distribution.