Category Archives: Personal history

Kalam, Infinities, and Intellectual Honesty

Posted on Friday 30 May 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

I was glancing around Adam Lee’s website and noticed his archive of foundational essays (some of which have been partially incorporated into his book). One is a very long, detailed response to the traditional arguments for the existence of God. … Continue reading →

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My Sect Is Right and Yours Is Wrong — Obviously

Posted on Friday 23 May 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

This Skepticblog post has a review of a book called God Bless America: Strange and Unusual Religious Beliefs and Practices in the United States by Dr Karen Stollznow, has this opening passage: When I grew up in the Presbyterian Church, … Continue reading →

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Thoughts about Family Pics

Posted on Friday 23 May 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

In the past couple weeks I’ve been looking through metal boxes and plastic carousels and mail order packages of the slides I inherited from my father 10 years ago, and have the following thoughts. In my father’s days — and … Continue reading →

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Mining Family History

Posted on Monday 19 May 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

When my father died in 2001, I acquired his boxes of slides. The earliest were in three or four metal boxes with rows of slots that would hold two slides each. These were mostly taken from my early childhood and … Continue reading →

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Personal History, part 3 (photos)

Posted on Saturday 17 May 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

Again before moving on, let me mine my own photo albums for relevant print photos. As I said in the first installment of this personal history, I visited England for the first time (since my birth) in 1990, and made … Continue reading →

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Personal History, Part 2

Posted on Friday 16 May 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

A bit more family history, as far as I can recall it, before I get to my personal memories of growing up in the high desert, and how that affected me. In Felixstowe [England, where I was born], the family … Continue reading →

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Personal History, Part 1

Posted on Wednesday 14 May 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

My parents were Robert Harry Kelly and Helen Elizabeth Pierce, born 1933 and 1934 respectively. They both grew up in small towns in northwestern Illinois – Cambridge and Kewanee, respectively. (This entire post, and others to follow, are advised IIRC.) … Continue reading →

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Hike to Parker Mesa Overlook

Posted on Sunday 4 May 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

Today’s hike, a longer one, about two hours round trip: Parker Mesa Overlook. http://www.hikespeak.com/trails/parker-mesa-overlook-in-the-santa-monica-mountains/ Same area as the Los Liones hike we did a few weeks ago, starting near the western end of Sunset Blvd near Pacific Coast Highway (PCH), … Continue reading →

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Amateur Astronomy and Cultural Mythology

Posted on Saturday 3 May 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

Since my post the other day about the my trigger to amateur astronomy in my youth, a grade-school textbook called A Dipper Full of Stars, I picked up the copy of that book I bought for a few dollars over … Continue reading →

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Cosmos and My Amateur Astronomy

Posted on Thursday 1 May 2014 by Mark R. Kelly

I liked last Sunday’s episode of Cosmos for a couple reasons. The second reason is what the bulk of the show explored: the process of scientific data collection and analysis, the way simple classification can give way to insight about … Continue reading →

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