I’m grateful today for the big things — like asteroids that don’t hit earth, and that conditions could be far worse in Russia today after its own meteor strike. Still, the extent of the damage there is no small thing. Meanwhile, some lightheartedness goes a long way, so please enjoy favorites from my Twitter stream this week!

The new commander of the International Space Station, Chris Hadfield, is tremendously engaging and active on Twitter, and posts beautiful pictures with poetic captions. He also sings and plays guitar! Here are some highlights of what he posted this week!

@Cmdr_Hadfield “Just crossed N America in the night, from N of Vancouver to right over Boston. An incredible 9 minutes, aurora shimmering like magic.”

@Cmdr_Hadfield Tonight’s finale: Northern Lights – recent aurora in green and red waves, USA and Canada below, the universe above.

@Cmdr_Hadfield Seven billion hearts, but I can see only one. #ValentineFromSpace

@Cmdr_Hadfield Tonight’s finale: The Sun just over the horizon silhouettes the complexities of our atmosphere.

@Cmdr_Hadfield For those of you who missed it last week, here is a link to my musical collaboration with the @barenakedladies (YouTube)

Another theme this week was the Blizzard in the Northeast last weekend. A driving ban was put into effect statewide in Massachusetts in the afternoon before the Blizzard really got going.

@SarahEOlson2009 “Watching news do their regular traffic segment. There is no traffic, there’s a traffic ban! Don’t understand why traffic lady’s still there.”

@christinetraan “So technically, everyone living in Massachusetts is currently on house arrest.” #Blizzard2013

@SarahEOlson2009 “Well, we just had a big power blip here, but everything came back on. Would rather not join the stats in my last tweet.” [We lost power four times over the next 12 hours, but none of them lasted for longer than two hours. Grateful.]

@pourmecoffee Reddit has an amazing shot of snow-covered Boston from a 777. Be sure and click to embiggen

Then there was the State of the Union address:

@pourmecoffee “Steven Chu is the lone cabinet member not at SOTU. As is tradition, he will be at Area 51 with the Prometheus ship.” [Fabulous Stargate SG-1 reference! ;)]

@pourmecoffee “If you can’t stand up to applaud protecting the right to vote, maybe being an elected representative isn’t the right job for you.”

@Tamavista “Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn’t go away.” ~ Philip K. Dick

And lastly, this was live-tweeted by Carnival Cruise Lines as 4000 bedraggled, exhausted, and angry guests were finally disembarking from the Cruise to Hell:

‏@CarnivalCruise “Of course the bathrobes for the Carnival Triumph are complimentary.”