Non-bummer Hurricane Sandy instagram of the day: Guy sharing power strip with strangers —

Jen van der Meer snapped this wonderful photo of a nice man sharing power with strangers in NYC, after massive outages from Hurricane Sandy. Click for large. (thanks, @aileengraef!)
— Xeni •

Boing Boing reader Ben Leshchinsky shares this wonderful photo in the Boing Boing Flickr pool and says, "About 10 km from the ancient city of Machu Picchu, we had the good fortune of seeing a magnificent rainbow over the Rio Urubamba in the Andes Mountains of Peru. Moments like this evoke remarkable feelings of introspection and wonder."

My boyfriend Miles O'Brien lost his beloved little sister to breast cancer today. She was only 46 years old.

They both lost their mom to it a few weeks after I was diagnosed with the same disease.

There is so much to say about what a beautiful soul Aileen was, what a cruel and ugly and brutal disease breast cancer is, how torturous treatment is, how enraging it is that science and medicine have nothing better to offer us yet, how unjust the financial devastation a diagnosis brings to so many women is—and, most of all, what it means to those of us with cancer to have the kind of support in our lives that men like Miles provide, selflessly and heroically and with unconditional love.

But for now, I just want the world to see, respect, and remember this photograph Miles took of his sister this morning, shortly before her life ended. He brought her dog Jethro from her home to the hospice house so Jethro could also say goodbye.

Gone but still loved by all. RIP Aileen Crimmings O'Brien Graef - 10/30/64-8/21/2012

She is survived by two beautiful daughters, Katie and Aileen, whom she loved very much.

And, their dog Jethro.

Update: Miles and her daughters suggest that donations in honor of Aileen be sent to Visiting Nurses Association of the Treasure Coast (@vnatc), 1110 35th Lane. Vero Beach, FL 32960. This is the hospice center that cared for Aileen in her final days. Services at Strunk Funeral Home, 916 17th Street, Vero Beach, FL 32960. If you wish to send cards or flowers, this is the best address.

Image link (photo: Miles O'Brien).

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Above, a NASA photo of astronaut Don Pettit, Expedition 31 flight engineer, posing with some sweet-ass digital cameras in the Cupola of the International Space Station. ISS031-E-112469 (10 June 2012).

I hereby propose that someone launch a tumblr with more photos like this, to be titled FUCK YEAH DON PETTIT.

Larger sizes at OnOrbit, via PetaPixel, via BB's sainted sysadmin Ken.

Update: FUCKYEAHDONPETTIT.tumblr.com is now a thing.

André Kuipers, a Dutch physician and astronaut with the European Space Agency, was on board the ISS when the SpaceX Dragon vehicle berthed. He took this photograph, and wrote,

Inside of the Dragon module. Beautiful. Spacious, Modern. Blue LEDs. Feels a bit like a sci-fi filmset. Of course it is from Los Angeles.

He wrote more about the historic space milestone here, on his blog.

Last Friday was a special day on my mission. Don and I docked the SpaceX’s cargoship Dragon to the Space Station. Dragon brings new equipment for the crew. On the 31st of May it will return to Earth with supplies from the others and myself. The Dragon mission is the operational highlight of my mission. But it is also a milestone for international spaceflight. This is the first time that a commercial spacecraft has flown to the ISS and docked with the Station. You could say a new era of spaceflight has begun. Soon private companies will take people to and from space.

REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach

German riot police carry a demonstrator fully covered in paint as police clears the camp of occupy protestors in front of the European Central Bank (ECB) in Frankfurt, May 16, 2012.

Photo: REUTERS

A worker paints a single-seater submarine designed by Zhang Wuyi and his fellow engineers at a shipyard in Wuhan, Hubei province May 7, 2012. Zhang, a 37-year-old local farmer, who is interested in scientific inventions, has made six miniature submarines with several fellow engineers, one of which was sold to a businessman in Dalian at a price of 100,000 yuan ($15,855) last October. The submarines, mainly designed for harvesting aquatic products, such as sea cucumber, have a diving depth of 20-30 metres, and can travel for 10 hours, local media reported.

Boing Boing reader Renee Rendler-Kaplan of Chicago, IL went to the National Restaurant Association's trade show, and shot this photograph of a terrified pizza pie. I don't really know what this is, actually. I just know that I will never look at pizza the same way again. And, the strange orange color reminds me of Tanning Mom. Or John Boehner. If you're in the area, the NRA expo continues through May 8. (via Boing Boing Flickr Pool)

REUTERS/Dominic Ebenbichle

People sit in front of a house built upside-down by Polish architects Irek Glowacki and Marek Rozhanski, in the western Austrian village of Terfens May 5, 2012. The project is meant to serve as a new tourist attraction in the area, and is now open for public viewing.

Photo: Xeni Jardin

The view from an ocean-facing window at the home of Boing Boing publisher-at-large Jason Weisberger, improved by his 5-year-old daughter with stickers. We had a Boing Boing meeting here.

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