blue moon, you knew just what I was there for

I've not been sleeping well this week.
No, I take that back. When I do go to sleep, I feel that I sleep soundly, so that is not the problem.
I've had difficulty going to bed this week.
Yes. Yes, that is definitely right.
I have found myself staying up until 2, 2:30, 3 AM...then I get up at 8 or 8:30...then I do it all over again. I went through a similar sleep cycle when the peace Guy left. I finally figured out that I was waiting for him to get home from work. Still. And once I realized that, I found I was able to go to sleep at my usual midnight or midnight thirty.
Well, not this week.
I had noticed on Monday, after class, that the moon was nearly full. We'd had a cloudless night sky and the moon was at the 2 o'clock mark, beaming brightly over the nearly empty parking lot. In other words, it was a very lovely night.
And that is when I had my first up-until-two evening.
No big deal. I didn't have anywhere I needed to be on Tuesday morning, so I slept until 9:30-ish.
Then I was up until 2 AM again.
I made myself arise at 8:30. After all, I knew from previous bouts with odd sleep cycles that the best way to break them was to maintain a constant wake-up time. Fewer hours of sleep would lead to earlier bed times within only a day or two, tops.
So, Wednesday night, I see the moon and the moon sees me.
Fine.
I'm bopping around on fb, doing my touch-and-go routine, when I'm suddenly stopped in my meanderings. One of the cool pages (either "Science is awesome" or "From Quarks to Quasars") has a post about blue moons! Oh, really?
So I read it. Then I wander off and find this.
Ah-hah! That is no ordinary moon! It's a seasonal blue moon!
In other words, this summer, instead of only three full moons from June 21 to September 21, we're going to have four. And, since each month's one full moon has it's own name, then a thirteenth moon needs a special name for itself, so the other moons don't get out of whack in the naming scheme.
I swear, I am not making this stuff up. Check the references.
It's all based on solid math, too, jsyk. I mean, just so you know.
The lunar cycle, or length of time for the moon's orbit around the Earth, is 29.53 days. That's a pretty odd length and, when divided into the length of an Earth year, there's about 11 days left over leading into the next Earth year. Those remaindered days add up such that there are "extra" moons, i.e., more than the usual one per month. In fact, there are seven extra full moons for every 19-year span of time.
In other words, for every 19 years, there will be seven years with thirteen moons.
That's a pretty cool fact.
So, it works out to one month having two full moons, which, of course, means a season with four full moons.
Again, that's pretty cool.
So, to toast this seasonal full moon, I went out into my front yard to stare into it. And also, literally, to toast it with my birthday tequila. I even recited my rap to it!
After all, there won't be another blue moon until May 21, 2016.
Go ahead, look it up for yourself.
Me? I'm going to bed.
'Night!

Oh, one last thing. If you can figure out what that extra little spot is that seems to be orbiting the moon, how about letting me know, okay?
And don't try to say it's a plane or a satelite, either. Those travel in straight lines.
Thanks!

I could have talked, talked, TALKED all night!

(You have to sing it, to the tune of "I Could Have Danced All Night".)

Last night, I went to a play at Muse Arts with my new physicist friend.
For the past few months, I've been trying to get to know him better by getting him more involved in the things I like, such as No Kidding!. We had already gone to three of those events, in March and April (dinners at Crystal Beer Parlor and Toucan Cafe, high tea at The Gryphon Tea Room). Honestly, I think I was trying to let him meet some folks who were not employed at Armstrong, maybe find a new girlfriend along the way.
During our frequent talks in his office or mine, between outings, I had picked up on his liking of finer culture and had suggested earlier in the week that he might be interested in seeing this Jean-Paul Sartre play, "No Exit". He had agreed and so we had gone, with me picking him up for the trip across town and down Louisville Road.
We sat in the very front row and were able to watch ourselves watching the play, thanks to the video monitors. Rather a different experience, one which really accentuated the voyeuristic bent of the play. Afterward, we stood in the parking lot, decompressing and talking... and talking... and talking... as the other audience members and the actors and the staff of Muse all eventually left, while we stood in the grass, looking at the size of the full moon with our thumbnails and talking.
I didn't want it to stop. That moment in the moonlight, talking to him - I didn't want it to stop.
As my car became the last one parked, I said, "I am having so much fun talking to you! Can we go somewhere and keep doing this?" And, to my surpise and delight, he enthusiastically agreed! To the IHOP? Waffle House? The Diner? No, we weren't hungry - except for words - so off to the beach we went!
And the talking went on and on, as we drove out there, as we walked and stood and sat on the pier. While the waves rolled beneath us and the full moon beamed and the jellyfish lightning jumped horizontally from cloud to cloud before our eyes. Talked and talked for hours, until we were both so very thirsty but reluctant to leave the pier, reluctant to lose the magical spell cast by the moon and the surf and the charged air.
But we relented to our thirst and found a nearby bar still open and sat knee to knee on the barstools, talking with faces so close, so close... I thought several times that we might kiss and then I was afraid we would not... then it was closing time and the generous barkeep ushered us back out into the moonlight.
I drove him home, with both of us talking still, not wanting the night to end, so tired I could hardly keep my eyes open.
Then we hugged good night and I came home.
Oh, my.
What an incredible night.
Now I hope he doesn't find a new girlfriend.