Research, An Expensive Vitamin

Hubby got an email the other day from someone he had never met.  She was the niece of a research scientist that he had gone to school with many decades ago.  She was doing some historic exploration on her uncle, but not because he had passed away recently.  He had died a long time ago and she wanted to know more about him.  This uncle had taken a night dive off the coast of Oahu back in the 1970s and was never heard from again.  Some surmised that he had been taken by a tiger shark that had been cruising the area, but since he had had a diving partner who also never returned, there were other guesses of an accident and perhaps heavy currents.

I think this is a gray shark...photo taken by me back in the 1970's

I used to S.C.U.B.A. dive fairly often when I lived in the South Pacific, and I have posted on this time in my life earlier in this blog.  I look back on those years as if I was some other woman, because I never got out of the water until my tank was nearing empty; I was fearless.  Over the years, I preferred snorkeling, because there was more flora and fauna in the less than 30 feet water.  It was a wonderful time in my life.  We were young, just married, in good health, and the cost of diving, since we had just purchased a small outboard motor boat, was easy to swallow, as was the ability to enjoy the remote beaches sans clothing.  I should tuck a story or two away for my grandchildren to read someday so that they can think Grandma was just a little fascinating and not always a boring old lady sitting at home, because this was where my love affair with the earth kicked into high gear.

This is I next to some soft coral.

Crinoids which were my favorites when they waved their feathering "arms" in the current.

An other life form bored by all the paparazzi. (squid)

I remember seeing small sharks (3 to 5 feet long) at the edge of reefs on half of those diving days.  They ignored us and we just kept an eye on their distance and dorsal fin to check their mood as we cruised looking for interesting stuff.  (A dorsal fin is like the hair on the back of a dog.)

I digress.  Getting back to Hubby's email, Hubby thought back over his relationship with this former colleague and said he remembered that the guy was super-focused on his work which was to research cave fish that came out only at night, and therefore he had to do a lot of night diving before his grant money ran out.  There are always those that take dangerous chances for their passion and sometimes inadvertently give their life.  In spite of what conservatives like to tell you, scientists are like policemen, teachers, journalists, doctors, nurses, parents etc. They feel their work is important even if it revolves around cave fish, they do like their work, and they are as honest or dishonest as the next guy.  The huge majority of scientists are truly focused on finding the facts, taking that chance and making the world a better place with their discoveries, not on beating a drum for a preconceived agenda, or doctoring results so that they can get that pittance of a grant that barely pays for the boat fuel once a graduate student's salary is paid and lab materials are purchased.

I have worked very briefly on a committee reading and reviewing grant applications, and politics never came into the discussion on whether a grant should be awarded.  It was always whether the grant was well thought out, well written, had an accurate budget, fit the discovery of the granting institution and of compelling interest to the citizens. There were always many more grant applications than money to grant.  Scientists and their assistants spend much time writing even while researching and many good applications fall by the wayside.  Regardless of who gets the money the search for INFORMATION is the key.  (In this cave arena information involves bacteria that may have applications in cancer research, data showing changes and evolution in species adapting to environmental change, etc.)

There was a recent bill passed in the House of Congress (H.R. 1422--little chance of it ever being moved and signed but let's continue to waste the taxpayers dime) that has restricted independently funded scientific environmental experts from being appointed to boards of the EPA, because Congress feels these scientific experts "have an agenda."   It also restricts scientists that get grants from EPA to serve on the boards; I am assuming that Congress feels their results will be questionable as well.  The same bill makes it easier for petrochemical scientists to be on the boards of EPA though, because this will erase any "appearance of impropriety".  Pretend that someone who studies viruses finds that his data foretells a preventable epidemic and he gets his funding from NHS, but he must pretty much keep from talking to the primary institution and hope they read it and grasp its importance.. but those who could take action on it are well informed by pharmaceutical companies that have a new weapon against this self-same virus. (Can you tell I am furious with this ignorance or actually the greed of self-serving politicians?)

Research scientists that work for universities and the government are not the ones bringing down big salaries and making money off of polluting the air and the water and causing this documented increase in small earthquakes near fracking sites or the tremendous increase in carbon dioxide being now held in ocean waters---soon to reach its limit.  Yes, it will cost you and me money to breathe clean air and drink clean water and stem the tide of the rising oceans and mitigate the long droughts.  But at what price is a healthy world?  Although in reality it is too late to prevent some of this---islands and low lying parts of countries are going to go underwater and we will have waves of refugees leaving their sunken land in coming decades.  (A glacier recently calved a piece of ice the size of lower Manhattan and three miles wide!.)

As an aside, in my research, the FBI website lists eco-terrorists as more active in this country in causing havoc than ISIS.  I am NOT advocating that!

By the way, neither political party gets even a B from me on their environmental report cards. And sadly I think most people do not seem to care what kind of world the meek will inherit much less what they leave their grandchildren because many of faith in Congress leave it all up to God and those of money know they can build their castle high on a hill in a better climate.  I think Sophocles wrote, "No good e'er comes of leisure purposeless; And heaven ne’er helps the men who will not act."

Sleeping Bits

They lay scattered like Legos
Across the cluttered space

Hard for me to see
beginnings and endings
Hard for me to judge
rhythms and emphasis
Hard for me to paint
colors and shadows.

Thinking that there must
be keys of pattern
Thinking that there must
be swells of justice
Thinking that there must
be piles of hope

Selecting each small word
Rotating it like a jigsaw
Selecting each small symbol
Turning it like a key
Selecting each abstract sound
Listening for the music

to begin
again.

Shoes

Chiharu Shiota is a Japanese contemporary artist.  It is difficult to find much on her except she was born in Osaka and now lives in Berlin.  She attended schools in Japan, the United States, Germany, and Australia.  Her works are original and interesting, and perhaps, full of social commentary more than artistic spirit.  Below is an exhibit that was on display at the Freer/Sackler museum which I seem to be writing about endlessly these days.  It is an exhibit of 300 discarded and found(donated) shoes (not pairs) and donated notes about each shoe tied to a piece of red yarn that goes back to that point in the corner.  The artist has collected these over the years because they are reflective of the bits and pieces of our lives that we leave behind.  I could not read the notes while I was there since most were in Japanese. I later found this link that tells the story of many of these notes.

In this photo above I included the guard who was there, I am sure, to keep small children and evil adults from playing with the display.  (I wonder if some days his feet hurt?)  You can find some interesting information on the installation here.

Shoes are often symbols of our travels across this earth via our life.  I have not had enough courage to visit the Holocaust Museum, but they have a room full of shoes that once belonged to living human Jews with precious and important lives.

Shoes represent who we are and what we think of ourselves sometimes.  Symbols of our essence maybe?  Sometimes given more importance than they deserve.  I recently posted about shoes on this blog.

Stay Safe!

I read the article that is linked below and realized that, while I am a more adventurous traveler than many I know, I must keep my fears in travel in perspective with the reality of the world.  The graphic below shows how dangerous it is in the United States, and while I have been to Baltimore a number of times, I do find that city pretty scary in places.  DC is dangerous in perspective.  I have never really felt in danger there even when leaving a nightclub late in the evening with my daughter in a sketchy neighborhood.

(  http://www.citylab.com/politics/2013/01/gun-violence-us-cities-compared-deadliest-nations-world/4412/)

War torn nations are terrible places to be, none the less, countries that appear to be peaceful can have plenty of dangerous crime as they camouflage the truth everyday with their reporting.  Yes, below, they are comparing U.S. cities to entire countries.

• If it were a country, New Orleans (with a rate 62.1 gun murders per 100,000 people) would rank second in the world.
• Detroit's gun homicide rate (35.9) is just a bit less than El Salvador (39.9).
• Baltimore's rate (29.7) is not too far off that of Guatemala (34.8).
• Gun murder in Newark (25.4) and Miami (23.7) is comparable to Colombia (27.1).
• Washington D.C. (19) has a higher rate of gun homicide than Brazil (18.1).
• Atlanta's rate (17.2) is about the same as South Africa (17).
• Cleveland (17.4) has a higher rate than the Dominican Republic (16.3).
• Gun murder in Buffalo (16.5) is similar to Panama (16.2).
• Houston's rate (12.9) is slightly higher than Ecuador's (12.7).
• Gun homicide in Chicago (11.6) is similar to Guyana (11.5).
• Phoenix's rate (10.6) is slightly higher than Mexico (10).
• Los Angeles (9.2) is comparable to the Philippines (8.9).
• Boston rate (6.2) is higher than Nicaragua (5.9).
• New York, where gun murders have declined to just four per 100,000, is still higher than Argentina (3).
• Even the cities with the lowest homicide rates by American standards, like San Jose and Austin, compare to Albania and Cambodia respectively.

Prejudice, That Sticky Companion

Prejudice: a precomposed mindset, a foregone conclusion, seeing something through the smallest of lenses.  We all have our prejudices even though we do not like to admit it.  We think we see things fairly and test both sides before coming to our well-thought-out conclusion.  We tell ourselves that we are trying to see things through the eyes of the "other" side.  We sometimes even rally our defenses in the event that someone will point out we are being a little too one-sided in our response.

Let us face it.  We do not have even half the tools to overcome any prejudices we hold.  The emotion is the first to clog our conclusion.  Emotion:  love, fear, and anger are too strong to make us sit and count to ten and then see where we stand and do more research.

Last year my husband and I had planned a trip to Turkey with some friends.  They had gotten a "good deal" through their Catholic newsletter.  Hubby and I were a little hesitant as we are not Catholic and actually not religious.  We assumed it would be an overdose of the history of the Christian religion without the balance of the "other" in that area.   But we also assumed we could pull away from some of the tours and balance our time with more pagan or other religious explorations.  Then the war in Syria grew more intense and certain factions came right to the southern borders of Turkey.  Intellectually we knew that our tour group would not go near this area, but emotionally we realized that as part of a Christian tour group we would stand out like flag wavers at a rally even in the North.  There was always a slight chance that terrorism could erupt in the northern part of Turkey.  Needless to say, the increase in security itself might be an issue as our tour bus went from location to location.

We cancelled our trip.

This spring we are planning a trip to France as part of a tour group.  The group is non-religious and the tour is much more expensive so the travelers will all be upper middle class and mostly westerners.  We are not even considering cancelling this trip in light of the now tragic terrorist activities in Paris and surrounding areas, even knowing intellectually that a rich group of tourists is just as attractive to hostage taking as a group of devout Catholics.  I think this is partly because this is just a non-religious tour group, but also because France is a "western" country.  France is in Europe and not the mid-east.  France is more like us. We are certainly prejudice thinking we could be safer on this tour and that the uprising will not get worse than a few crazy zealots by the time we begin our travel.  We have no facts to base this on.  Just our prejudice and level of emotional reaction.

Art in Many Forms

My recent visit to the Smithsonian museums before the holidays was fulfilling and exhausting.  One of the venues at the Freer/Sackler gallery of art was the display of the personal art collection of the Cosby family.  Bill's recent fall from grace did not prevent me from wanting to see works of art that are not normally available to the public and I was glad that I did.  There was an enormous range in style, medium, and history.  Much of this collection was social commentary.  While there I took one photo of the large space and was immediately told they did not allow photos of this particular exhibit.  I am guessing it might have something to do with insurance, but who knows.  I was a little frustrated, but I do not really like to take photos of art anyway, because everything gets lost in the digital translation.  I was just trying to capture the variety in style that this collection has and also the interesting juxtaposition of art that the Smithsonian curators displayed next to Cosby artworks.

Not to be thwarted I captured some really 'cool' expressions in the architecture that you can take in a museum and I am putting up a few below.  This building was designed by Charles A. Platt at the turn of the century. The Freer was the first of his public commissions in 1913.   I am not sure to what extent he was involved in the underground passage between the Freer Gallery and the Sackler Gallery (both devoted to Asian Art and an odd place for the Cosby exhibit unless it was chosen because it was the most secure or had the most free space.)  Platt favored Italian Renaissance in both buildings and garden design.  I read that his design philosophy emphasized the integration of interior and exterior space through strong visual and circulatory connections, so probably he was indeed an influence on the underground which I photographed below and which you can see reflects that philosophy.  (As an aside and a very small brag, I sold another photo that I took from this subject area recently.  Amazing what a thrill one gets to see someone else likes their expression of art even if so little money is made from it.)

AND I just learned that you can go here and see over 40,000 works of art from their collection digitally.  This is their 2015 gift to us all!

Too Good To Not Pass Along

Banging head on desk and wondering why some people cannot find a country with no government where they can go live and leave the rest of us taxpayers alone.  When you are done reading this brilliant response from a small town newspaper note the first letter in each paragraph.

You can go here or cut and paste below.  It has gone somewhat viral on the "net" already.

http://www.fredericknewspost.com/news/politics_and_government/kirby-delauter-kirby-delauter-kirby-delauter/article_da85d6f4-fa3c-524f-bbf6-8e5ddc0d1c0a.html#user-comment-area

About 1,340,000,000 results on Google

This season is finally winding down.  I 'hate' do not like this season.  I mean I will forgive you if you love this season of over the top ads for beer and pizza and violent video games, sound effects like train whistles or war whoops, people who paint themselves like Hunger Games fans, and big handsome guys in casually tailored suits that say things like "I love that guy!  He really brings it."  I can understand your interest in half naked young women with more energy than you ever had on a Sunday afternoon.  I forgive you if you spend hours days on statistical tables or enter the pool with abandon (football pool), but I still find this a long and boring and loud time of year for me.  Yes, I move to another room and try to escape the horns and drums and yells as I lose myself in blogging or reading or thinking with the beat of an anthem following me from the other room.

The odd thing is that I used to be BIG football fan.  When I lived in Texas I knew their names and their games and their aims.  I cheered along with all the others and made fattening, salty snacks for my cohorts.  I liked when the newscasts in the evening had to spend at least 15% of the newshour on sports.  I laughed at the newscasters' jokes which I understood and empathized with their dismay at a loss and shared their ebulliency at a win.  I, too, was surprised when my in-laws wondered how this could be news.

Then I grew up or away?  I would think about the salaries, the hormones and drugs, the excess in testosterone that led to unfortunate events, and the huge business machine that shoved aside city neighborhoods and interfered with my DVD taping of The Good Wife.  I remember when Dan Rather walked off the set of his newscast when yet another overtime game delayed his news broadcast.  I thought he was a Prima Donna back then.  Now I think he was pretty brave.  Yes, many of these dudes are good and honest and philanthropic, but there are now 4 game nights!!  FOUR!  What if there were four nights of Antique Roadshow type shows that delayed your entire regular viewing schedule on a Monday night as people discussed the value of that antique snuff box and took bets---in your living room?  Or four nights of 3-hour-long Duck Dynasty visits.  Yes, with the hundreds of cable channels, there probably ARE, but you are trying to distract me from my point...which is...I find these months drag on far more than the winter itself.

"Guess what the score is?"  hubby calls from the next room.
"What?" I sigh.
"42 to 0!"  he laughs.
"And you are still watching it?"  I call back in an amazed voice but I am truly indifferent.  It is like listening to the Kardashians having a family discussion.

I return to my historical novel on Ireland.  (I am so addicted to that country!)  Go ahead and fill your afternoons and evenings watching for hours...just turn down the volume, please.  Oh, go ahead and Google "football" if you do not believe me.

The Groaning Board

Winter's shadows on a steel gray afternoon

Shadows un-sharpened by the sun

Lie softly upon the wooden floor

Where worn leather soles

Once danced in abstract patterns on the oak

Leaving indefinite memories

Of lives of purpose,

But so long ago no one recalls them.

Heartwood, they boast proudly

Hard hearts lived here.

One has to look carefully for few scars

Scars are well-hidden in the dust.

Perpendicular forces buried

In the grain and quiet tension of the years.

They reflect no weakness in spirit

Or indecision in purpose.

A wooden floor that was built

To live above the earth, protecting a babe’s feet

And to get a foothold in life

Even to frame a braided rag rug that was

Completed with arthritic hands.

They are all now gone and winter afternoons

Whisper so that the wood does not groan.

Endings and Beginnings

May this first few days of your new year start slowly and carefully like the kindling of a winter's fire as you ease into that favorite chair.  May the only noise filling your mind be that of the snap and pop of logs surrendering to the fire as you also surrender to getting a year older and accepting the challenges and rewards of the year to come while you turn away from the challenges of the year just past.  Each year brings new exciting growth for both you and I.  May that cup of cinnamon tea or glass of brandy warm your insides as the flames grow and glow to warm the outside of your model 2015 body.  May your goodbyes in 2014 sweetly release the resolve that you will keep the gentle memories and forget the pain; pain which could only be felt because you cared about something and were not an empty soul.  May your greetings to 2015 be honest and welcoming and forgiving for whatever is ahead.  There will certainly be wonderful surprises if you open your heart to another year.

The Down Side of Living Global

Some new global things to ponder as we enter 2015 and to encourage you to make it a resolution to get your head out of the sand.  Yes, the bright sunlight is painful at first, but the power of seeing is good for you.

The Good(?) side of the economy:
The fall of oil prices due to increase in fracking products and natural gas deposits in the Western world has given our economy a shot in the arm.  Travel and shipping of products is falling making it easier for those on budgets to spend money elsewhere, perhaps on food!  It means certain small businesses can turn better profits.  It means the market will rise for some time maybe with the DOW breaking 20,000 in the coming 2015... in some part due to cheaper energy.  This is a good thing, except that it is pushing conservative Congresspersons to argue for more fossil exploration in our national parks.  If you have not visited a fracking treatment site, you have no clue.  This is a good thing except it has environmental side effects that are certainly tragic and potentially more tragic as global climate change is not just an inconvenient truth, it is a dangerous truth.  Another side effect is it is one cause for the Russian Ruble to tumble.  We are happy for that evil person, Putin, to get this comeuppance but this shove means there is always a fall back somewhere.  Like HERE.  It is a global economy after all.  Pull one thread on this web and others feel it.

The bad side of the messing about where we should not:
We are winding down and ending our War in Iraq...at least that is what they tell us.  What a sticky tar pit we have entered.  The cost in money?  It is anyone's guess.  Some say $800 billion, a low-ball estimate.  Others say it has cost $1.7 trillion with an additional $490 billion in benefits owed to war veterans, expenses that could grow to more than $6 trillion over the next four decades counting interest.  Money your grand-children will have to pay.   I think the Bush administration predicted the cost would be about $50 million to $60 million dollars.  Ignorance is bliss, but if you are Dick Chaney, you are making lots of money for your grandchildren, so perhaps it is all in how myopic you are.  And what did we get for this?  Where is Iraq now, 13 years and more than 2,300 troop deaths and over 13,000 wounded later?

"Ali Allawi, a former minister of trade, defense and finance, and author of two books on Iraqi history, agrees. "There is so much up in the air," he said. "There are the trappings of a functioning state, but it is like a functioning state lying on a sea of Jello...The ground is so unstable and shifting.""

Kurdish business tycoon Sirwan Barzani, a nephew of Iraqi Kurdish President Masoud Barzani, sees this as a moment to advance his people's nationalist dream and take his country back to 1916!  Back when another developed nation meddled.   "They asked about my plan," Barzani told Reuters in a military base on the frontline near Gwer, 48 kilometers (30 miles) south of the Iraqi Kurdish capital Arbil. "I said, 'My plan is to change the Sykes-Picot agreement'" –" a reference to the 1916 agreement between France and Britain that marked out what would become the borders of today's Middle East."  He goes on to describe the situation we leave..."Iraq is not real," Barzani said. "It exists only on the map. The country is killing itself. The Shi'ites and Sunnis cannot live together. How can they expect us to live with them? Our culture is different. The mentality of Kurds is different. We want a divorce."  Clearly our Western marital consultation skills are shiiite!  No pun intended, just trying to be polite.

And the Shi'ites?: ""We are like a sinking ship. Whoever gives you a hand lifting you from the sea whether enemy or friend, you take it without seeing his face because he is there."  The sheikh's changing perceptions are shared by other Iraqi Shi'ites. They once viewed Iran as the enemy but now see their neighbor as Iraq's one real friend. The streets of Baghdad and southern Iraq are decorated with images of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei."


Ignorance is artificial bliss, and unless you know this, we will follow other well-meaning or ill-advised or corrupt leaders into other wars.

Battle for the Heart of Mankind

I saw "The Hobbit. The Battle of Five Armies" this past week over the holidays.  It is exactly what the title says it is, so I should not be surprised if I thought most of it was special effects and war ad nauseam.  If it is true to the author of the story, that might be why I never finished reading The Hobbit as a book so many years ago.

It did get me thinking about art and commerce and why the two cannot wed and are continually in a battle for leadership, one a quiet warrior with ideas as weapons and another warrior with dollars to be used to bludgeon the artist.

Then I remember this National Book Award speech I saw a week or so ago.  I have not read her works, but now I want to.


The link follows:    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Et9Nf-rsALk#t=216

My Wish for You

My original Christmas card to you.  Please forgive my editing of Luke, but I think that was a typo in the Bible.

Copacetic

The title above is for my husband.  That describes him perfectly.  I am far more complicated and no one would ever give me that title unless I was well into my second bourbon and soda over the holidays.

As I wrote in the prior post we headed to the museums in the city.  I selected only the 'special' exhibits in the art museums because I had seen the ongoing ones months before.  I did stop at the Museum of Natural History to see the photographic exhibits.  We had seen the wildlife winners a while back but did not have time to stop and see the exhibit of Wilderness Forever Photo winners.  So, this was our second chance.  I had viewed the photos online because I do link to a number of photographic sites.  The photographers ranged in age from young to old and professional to amateur.  Each photo was more breathtaking than the last.  While I spent time studying composition, lighting and clarity and read the details on the wall, I lost my husband!

I turned 180 degrees scanning the floor.  There I saw his bald little head at the end of the hall in front of the canoe-in-the-sunset-on-the-boundary-waters photo.  That had captured his imagination and he, in turn, had captured an audience for the story of his canoe tale!

I waited patiently at the end of the hall, snapped a few more photos, and then sighed and leaned against the entryway.

He was in his full glory and they were enchanted.  At times like these I think of how rich we could be if he was a tour guide.  I also think that if I die before him, I will not have to worry about him being lonely!

The story did not end with this photo because as they drifted away and he and I were looking at another photo down the line about five minutes later, the lady on the far right came up to me and smiled and asked if she could ask my husband just ONE more question!  He does have that baby boomer appeal, I guess.

Trippin'

Celebrating a birthday weekend.  I am not big on birthdays anymore.  I am just happy to be healthy each year.  I was big on birthdays when I was younger...much younger.  Then there was a decade or so when my birthday was an afterthought by those I love because they were so busy with the holiday season.  Now my birthday is a hit or miss event.  My daughter is headed to Hershey Park for a tour of the Christmas decorations and a visit with Santa with her kids and her good friends.  My son "may" be on his way north to spend the holidays with his wife's family.  Therefore, Hubby was feeling guilty and booked one night in the city for the two of us.  We can tour the decorations on the mall and tour a museum or two, which really is fun for me and an 'OK' activity for him.  We are also eating somewhere(?) nice for dinner.  I will keep you posted.

Weather is going to be cold and sunny tomorrow, but rainy the next day, of course!!  Outdoors tomorrow and indoors to museums on Monday is the agenda

The photo above was one I took from the Kennedy Center last spring.  The view is of an area only blocks from the Saudi Military Attache's Office, the American Institute for Research, the Ritz Carlton, a number of embassies, and naturally, a Starbucks.   Such a dangerous and magical town is our Capital.

13 things I have learned on my trip down technology lane--Thursday Thirteen--Late

Information for those who are thinking of reviewing their entertainment viewing.

1. Push one tiny button accidentally on your fancy amplifier and nothing works.
2. If you discover which button was accidentally pushed, everything works.
3. Streaming TV over the Internet to your big screen TV works fairly easily.
4. Streaming TV over the Internet is sometimes (a little) jerky depending on your service provider.
5. Streaming TV over the Internet does give you access to lots of channels, some of which you have never heard of.
6. Streaming  TV over the Internet does give you access to most of the programs but not all.
7. Streaming TV over the Internet does have some premium charges depending on the provider and is not all free.
8. Streaming TV over the Internet is cheaper than cable.
9. If you have an expensive sound system putting the dongle in your TV means that sound will not go through your nice side speakers but routed through your smaller TV speakers.
10. Using your laptop for other things while streaming TV does interfere slightly with reception.  (I never tried using a digital phone or tablet.)
11. If you have "triple play" cable the ID that appears on your TV screen when the phone rings will not appear and you have to get off the couch and see who is calling when you are streaming.
12. My particular Chromecast dongle setup must be plugged into electricity which removes the lovely wireless look.
13. Hulu is good for TV shows and Netflix for movies, so before I talk to cable I am going to have to subscribed to one or the other of these and test them.

In answer to my reader's questions:  There is ONE alternative to my cable company, but it runs the same bait and switch on costs.  I live too far for antenna reception.  I, like many of you, watch only about 5 channels off and on, none of them premium channels, and I scroll past hundreds of others.  I have a son who is a sound engineer and if I begged he would come down and help BUT he is currently fighting the flu, lives over an hour away, and has a full time job which requires the longest hours just before the holidays.

Anyway, I am feeling much better moving onto the next steps and will stop blogging about this stuff!

One of THOSE Days

On your LEFT, your RIGHT, your LEFT!

I have never had to get my "ducks in a row" as I never did own ducks.  I imagine it is a challenging task.  I also never understood why a meticulous duck farmer would want ducks in a row.  I also know how hard it is to herd cats although I have never attempted it.  This week has been a week where I would rather be herding cats or getting ducks to march in a line than what I have been doing.

I have been trying to find a plan to wean myself off of our cable company which has not increased my service in any way, shape or form, but has increased the price of my service by 144 % in the last 9 years.  If you follow news you will know that cable companies are some of the most hated service companies in America.  I was told by my children and read on the Internet about a Chromecast dongle being used to access cheaper television shows via the Internet.  I bought the $25 Chromecast dongle as a test before cutting the cord.  I did not realize it would be as hard as getting ducks in a row, although I was suspicious, because this is technology, and when has that ever been a cakewalk?

I spent the first 20 minutes realizing my amplifier did not have an HDMI port like my son's did.  My amp weighs a ton and has a gazillion cords in the back!  I spent another 40 minutes finding the HDMI port at the back of my large screen TV which is high and tight against the living room wall.  One ladder, one flashlight and one extension cord later and the thing was successfully plugged in!  I returned to my laptop and Google Chrome walked me through the App and soon I was able to see any screen that was on my laptop on my TV.  While this meant I had some small success it was not the success I needed.  The Utube videos were not a great resolution but the worst part was I never figured out how to get sound!  Good thing I have not yet subscribed to Hulu or Netflix.  (If you have no idea what I am writing about and your eyes are glazing over right now, please go on with your life and come back for another post another day, because you will not get this time back in your life and I am determined to ramble on.)

I pulled the dongle from the back of the screen, and much to my surprise (hardly) I could no longer get my cable box and my amp to talk to my TV.  I fiddled for an hour.  There are about 10 options each on the various remote controls.  Multiply 10X10X10 and you get the idea.  I am exhausted and now have to call someone to come help and it will probably cost as much as my monthly cable bill anyway.

I felt really defeated because this has been one of those days.

I will not even go into the well water issue that has raised its furry head!

Nor will I dwell on the bill coming due from the outboard motor shop due to the diagnosis of the "cough" in that engine this fall.

These are three items, so I am thinking that if trouble really does come in threes I am done for a while.  Right???

Why Don't You Understand Me?

This "Global Refuge Mural" by Joel Bergner 2009 stimulated the words below.

It's the words

Amorphous gems to grapple the mind's ear

It's the words

Building blocks of ideas to stand upon

It's the words

Tripping us in our stilted pondering

It's the words

Piles of them spilling onto the floor

It's the words

Bringing us to our knees in pain

Searching for that perfect one in the haystack

It's the words

Written, not shouted, across the emptiness

Can you understand me?

Admission of Guilt and How the First World Deals with the Holiday

We  I have put up very few decorations this year.  We just got lazy.  We ARE talking about buying some lights for the dock since our neighbors dock looks so lovely all lit up.  But I do love when the house is decorated with boxes from my online shopping and bags of gifts from regular shopping.  I love gift giving...perhaps a little too much.

The only thing in the middle box above was this much smaller box below with lots of brown filler paper.

And, of course, with all the wrapping, who has time to decorate the house?  There will be no one here to see this year anyway.  I still feel a little guilty.  Although I read somewhere that Americans spend 6 billion on Christmas decorations alone?  Maybe to buy their way into heaven?  Nope.  I think it is to show off to their friends and neighbors---some of the time.  More guilt.  What MUST the world think of us when this holiday season is about the birth of a prophet whom many think is God?  Unless you celebrate Hanukkah or Kwanzaa...which also have little to do with spending.  Boy, 6 billion can buy a lot of food!

Our first exchange with loved ones is this Saturday since we will not see them on Christmas.  So shopping and wrapping had to be done efficiently.  That little blue plane on the left was an old decoration that I found that was my son's when he was much younger.  I thought I had given him all his old ornaments now that he has his own family, but missed that one.

Now I am finishing up the other stuff...sending greetings.

I give to charities and causes on a year round basis....but I am thinking after reading this post that I need to give some more this month!  Not looking forward to the budget busting bills in January.

No Explanation That I Can Find

My mornings have recently been perfection, no place I have to be, no appointments to keep, no illness forcing me out of bed to suffer elsewhere.  Yes, there is Christmas shopping to do, but I am 80% done and did it online!  No, I did not take advantage of any sales or use the comparison shopping sites recommended by Consumer Reports.  This year I am being lazy and, yes, the December bills will be hard to pay because of my laziness.  But I digress.

As the day unfolds it goes smoothly with housework, mail, hobbies, interests such as blogging, rest activities and sometimes even exercise.

I go to bed at a normal and routine time with no guilt or unresolved issues, at least none that can easily be identified.

So....why does my mind kick into high gear with endless lists of  "things to be done" and "resolutions to be made" as soon as my head hits that sweet pillow.  Why can I not fall into a snorefest as my hubby so easily does each night?  What Puritan streak do I need to kill?   What sins do I need to repent?  Why is my mind not cooperating when my body is so exhausted?

The Nasty Captcha!

According to some readers you can ignore the Captcha word verification window that appears before you comment.  I (and many other bloggers) have word verification off and yet it still appears!  Ignore it and lets see if you can comment!!

Walking in Someone Else's Shoes

Bryan quietly slipped on his right boot.  They were laces, so they would not make the noise that his Velcro running shoes made.  He was trying to be whisper quiet as he wanted to avoid waking his wife and the baby.  Because of the holidays his work schedule now started before the sun got up.  The shoes were new and still pinched on the sides a little.  Bryan forced himself to ignore that pinch because policing the Brinker neighborhood was going to take all his focus today.  As the holidays got closer the crime rate went up on those narrow streets and there seemed to be more crazies.  His partner, Colin, had already started to get angry even before he hit the breaks of the car.  Colin pushed the situation just to get it over with and to get on to the next crazy thug.  The cops at the station thought that Bryan was just too naive in these situations.  They told him he would be sorry one day when he always wanted to give the other side the benefit of the doubt.

Jimar laced his favorite new tennis shoes carefully tightening the turquoise neon-blue laces.  He was going to get to the park early, before his dad came to pick him up this morning.  He knew it was wishful thinking because his dad was always late.  Jimar was excited because he only saw his dad once a month and for just a few hours.  He grabbed his black plastic gun which he took everywhere.  It made him feel safer for some reason and it looked like the ones the big guys in his neighborhood sometimes pulled quickly from their pockets just like a magic trick.

Morty rubbed the sand from his eyes.  One of them was itching more and he knew it was probably infected again, but the free clinic didn't open until Monday.  He moved his stiff joints knowing he had to walk to another corner before that cop came by and banged him on the legs telling him to get moving.  He liked to sit just on the back corner near the grocery store because the housewives sometimes gave him food or change this time of year.  Maybe that fat guy was going to be selling cigarettes today.

(all photos taken from the Internet and Photoshopped to protect the honest)

Be Kind

I try not to watch much news as the holiday season means even more "crazies," normal people for whom the season is an overwhelming sensory overload to be abated only by some violent or criminal act, feed the headline beast each day.  Ignorance would be bliss sometimes.  Do you remember the time before the Internet allowed you access to any and all the sewage of mankind?  Do you remember the time when you could be shocked by a headline? 

Google "protests 2014" and Wikipedia actually lists them all by year back to 1990.  An interesting demographic picture of our unhappy world.  Do not get me wrong, I believe in peaceful protests to wake up a sleeping population.  I guess it just reminds me that, like war, protesting will exist until all protestors are dead because there will always be something to protest.

Google "2014 wars in the world" and once again Wikpedia comes to the rescue with an article and even a colored map breaking the colors into groups:  Major wars, 10,000+ deaths per year; Wars and conflicts, 1,000–9,999 deaths per year; and finally, Minor skirmishes and conflicts, fewer than 1000 deaths per year.

I tried to Google "miracles 2014" and did not get nearly such interesting links.   Most of the miracles are listed in nature and I do know what a miracle nature can be.

But to leave this post on a more optimistic note and to continue an ongoing movement which occurs always but mostly during this time of year I will send you to this link "Random Acts of Kindness."  There is even a Random Acts of Kindness Week coming up and in the fall the Random Acts of Kindness Day.   Good resources to keep you from going crazy during this busy season and to keep you from making others crazy.  To get started go here for ideas.

I Do Focus...Now and Again

I have just finished ordering some Christmas gifts online while watching the news on our Public Television station.  I immediately segue into my email which links me to an Australian marketing talk video about digital art works and passive income.  I can watch surreptitiously along with the audience of 20-somethings drinking wine and laughing at the Aussie's jokes.  Almost at the same time a poet comes on TV to discuss her art and because she is black, she says she is pained by this time in our country more public with its racism, finding it hard to write and I hit the pause on the laptop to watch her for a while.  I love poets.  Then I can watch for 15 minutes another lecture in one of the digital courses I am taking.  I am taking two alternatively...one on writing sentences and one on cooking, both things which I have vast areas in which to improve before I die. 

I count birds at the feeders briefly each Wednesday and Thursday intermittently throughout the day for Cornell University and note that today I saw two Towhees and then grab my telephoto to catch the way the sun hits a leaf and take that photo to manipulate soon.

I just finished reading "The Goldfinch" novel...not at all what I expected.  What did you think of it?  Do you know Fabritius?   Do you like his work?  Hold that thought, I have to go load some Christmas CDs.  It is the 4th and I have not even started listening to Christmas music!  Oh, I see the folder where I need to create a file of photos for my Christmas card...not sure at all which ones reflect our 2014 the best...there are so many....

Yes, I am compulsive and rapacious about what is left of my life.  I love so many things and jump from one to the other, rarely giving them the time they need to congeal as complete thoughts before some other idea crosses my mind.

The Tree!

Still thinking about posting the kids holiday photos because I am not sure who reads this blog and while I think family and friends do not...I will never know.  Also not wanting to spoil their card if someone does see this early I will hold off posting.  I also think that creepy people steal photos from the net and I do not want to be a tool for that!  So below are some photos from the tree decorating process that we undertook the next day after Thanksgiving with faces hidden just enough to get you in the mood for the Christmas Season and remind you of the little ones that shared the season with you at one time.  My son-in-law made it clear I was NOT to post these photos on FB with his bed head...LOL.  This guy is model handsome and needs to get a grip!

The youngest is going to be a rock star...!  Do you remember those times (if you celebrated Christmas) when you would study those ornaments as if never having seen them before or as if we had found touchstones to a life long ago?

This little pumpkin above had her hair done for the Christmas card photos the day before this was taken, so her "bed head" is somewhat tamed in this photo!

And the eldest who is so close to my heart.

Wake-Up Call!

I did have a lovely Thanksgiving with both kids and their families.  I DID eat only 2 tablespoons of everything (heaping tablespoons) but this included turkey, gravy, dressing, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, half a roll, roasted Brussel sprouts, broccoli cheese casserole, green bean casserole, and blue cheese pecan app spread on two crackers!  This is a lot of calories.  I also had a piece of pumpkin pie at the end of the meal!

While up at daughter's house my son-in-law mentioned he wondered if I could come back up on Saturday to take some family photos.  They did not have time this year to drive the four hours up to their friend's (the professional photographer) house and he wanted to get his annual family photo shoot done so that they could order Christmas cards.  (da-da-da-da-da)  That was my heart jumping a bit.  Son-in-law is Mr G-Q.  He is also very particular about the appearance of his family to the point where he gels his boys hair before they head out to school and makes them change if he does not like the outfit combination.  Talk about setting a high bar.

The professional photographer they use is great!  She really knows her stuff!  So, this hobbyist is going to have to up her game.  Taking photos of flowers and mountains and streams is not like taking photos of your loved ones that they want to send out to all their friends.

I tried to be calm going back up on Saturday afternoon with my best lens...not a portrait lens and my batteries charged and a tripod (which we never used).  I was so nervous I did not bring my back up camera. 

Before we got there I called and told them that they had to pick out the site near their neighborhood, mentioned we REALLY had to get going before I lost the late afternoon light, and checked over my camera for the millionth time to make sure I knew the settings.

We did get a great place with a bright red train cab and an old wood building for background.  I had less than an hour to shoot, five faces to get in focus and with the best expression on all and light changing every second or so as heavy clouds moved in across the sun.  Yes, you can shoot on cloudy days, but late afternoon sunshine on a winter afternoon is much better. 

100 shots (photo) later and I head home to work on my images on the computer.  This is a wake up call for me.  I see my strengths and weaknesses right from the start.  Composition is pretty good, I usually can see the problems with setting.  I still have trouble with DOF when using this lens.  Couple this with a moving three-year-old and no light deflectors or light discs or assistant and I had no idea how this was going to turn out.  Since I do not charge professional fees, they at least would be saving some money!

How did it go you might ask?  Well I am sending 31 images that I have photo-shopped just a bit to their dropbox site and we will see what they think.  If they like them, I might show you one or two.

Post Thanksgiving-Burp

Actually I did not eat too much.  Just about 2 tablespoons of EVERYTING...except I did have a normal serving of dessert and about three and half  glasses of wine (over the fours hours of prep-cooking at daughter's house.)  But I feel good this morning.  Here is part of my post TG breakfast.

Picked a week ago (early) from this overloaded tree in the photo directly below and this larger not so overloaded tree in the next photo.

These persimmons cannot be eaten until they are perfectly ripe and so we put them in brown paper bags in the refrigerator and then bring them out one bag at a time to ripen on the kitchen counter and it works about 80% of the time.

Below the second of two harvests.  Fortunately for us the raccoons and squirrels have not yet found the tree and if we can continue picking them before they are ripe, we may get most of this harvest each year!

Regarding taste question below:  The texture is custardy or a gelatin texture, sweet not tart, and ours have no seeds.

If Wishes Were Raindrops the Planet Would Be Nurtured So Much More

My greatest wish is that everyone on the planet has a full and satisfied stomach today...my greatest wish...and for everyday hereafter. 

It is Elegans

My prior post was a sad song about Central America, a link to a sad land.  Today, with the thankfulness season approaching, I promise more uplifting posts.  I will write instead about an interesting plant native to Guatemala.

I saw this plant in a fall herb garden at the National Arboretum one year and was intrigued since it was so hearty in late fall and still full of blooms.  I bought this plant last year for my herb garden as its common name is pineapple sage (Salvia elegans).  As a Master Gardener I did my research before planting...NOT.  I buy stuff and stick it where I need to put a plant and then hope it makes it without a lot of mollycoddling.  Fortunately it was in a place where it gets morning sun and afternoon shade, which is the perfect niche.  All of my soils are relatively rich and thus it grew like a house on fire.  I did my research later, and discovered this baby can get to be FIVE FEET high.  There goes a third of my small herb garden.

Does it smell or taste of pineapple you may ask?   I will copy text from one garden that sells it "Did I mention that it really does smell like pineapple? You may be skeptical about the fragrance. After all, the orange and chocolate mints may smell like their namesakes, but only if you concentrate really hard and use your imagination. Pineapple sage, on the other hand, really smells pineapple-y, and it's also an attractive plant in its own right."  No, I did not find a strong pineapple smell, but my old olfactory glands are not what they used to be.  The leaves are edible, but not striking in pungency like mint or sage.  The flowers can be used in fall salads and are a nice colorful addition.  The flowers are also a favorite of hummingbirds as the days grow short.  I think they look a little like hands giving directions ;-).

This plant, like a chrysanthemum, uses a photoreceptor protein and blooms as the day gets shorter.  So it is a nice accent to late fall gardens when other bloomers are going to sleep or forming seeds.  Pineapple sage forms blossoms as the day grows shorter and the nights longer which starts on June 21.  Cotton and rice are also short day plants.  Next year I am going to try more carefully to see if I can get the hummingbird at this plant.  I do not get many hummingbirds to my yard.  The plant freezes back to the ground after the first freeze, but may survive a harder winter if I mulch it carefully.  (It is not expensive to replant each year.)

I think the "elegans" name comes from the shape of the flowers - like ballerinas hands arching.   It is dainty, discriminating, and elegant.

Its a Disease and We Have to Cure the Symptoms

I am angry, dismayed, hopeful and confused. Therefore I will let Bob speak the truth.

Go here to Bob's blog and face the real world and the voices that merge to speak the truth. 

Cancel Those Vacation Plans as the Ship is Sinking--A Thursday 13

My universe is cracking!

This is my Thursday Thirteen, which I have not done in a long time, and which, unfortunately instead of a thankfulness list, is reduced to a reality to do list!  (As a background, before you read ahead, this house was completed in 2006 so she does not yet have that patina of charming old age.)

1. Front door knob not turning easily and slipping on the catch and door can swing open--I am sure that is how that mouse got in!
2. Large burner on range not auto-lighting - using a match
3. Deck steps to back yard are sinking to one side or I am having too much wine
4. West wall on garage is cracked near door - probably sinking
5. A few inches of taping on front room ceiling (two stories up above my head) coming loose due to a nasty storm years ago
6. Taping in guest bedroom ceiling coming loose now
7. Gate not hooked up to electricity, waiting on budget ease to hire electrician as we have given up on the solar panel option
8. Some smoke alarms need to be replaced in basement and top floor but cannot find plug-ins that match
9. Wine cooler not working (Yes, I see the small violin you are playing.)
10. Water pump has low pressure--called for repair yesterday.  Repairman came and fixed it in an hour.  We were told it could have cost $1900, but our repair was only $100.  (Thankfulness #1)
11. Gutters need cleaning badly and I will not let hubby up on the ladder and it is not in the budget for right now
12. Window in right guest bedroom does not close easily--so I no longer open it!
13. Driveway pavement needs cracks filled AGAIN!

Next Thursday Thirteen will be a thankfulness theme...I promise!(Thankfulness #2  ease on the future budget is that most of the spring vacation has been pre-paid.)

Post Script. Regarding Blogger stats:  My  most visited post (2394 visits) was this Thursday Thirteen back in September 2012... in case you are curious.

The Time for Savory

Each weathercast directed our way indicates that a cold freeze is coming.  Each night the temps drop into the low 30sF and each morning things look chilled, but there is no 'frost on the pumpkin' yet.  Of course the only pumpkin that I have is inside on the table.  I purchased the one below because it has such lovely colors and textures.

But we know that Jack is coming and soon behind him his colder friend Hard.   Thus we headed outside with harvest baskets in hand to do some last minute collection in the garden.

The dramatic swings in temperature are causing these zavory peppers to crack.  They are not hot but have just bite of heat.  They also have a bit of fruity essence when dried and smoked and used in soups, on salads, and in marinades.

We have a small smoker that is very old but loyal.   Outside on the back patio is the sweet smell of wood smoke.

I spent a couple of hours yesterday afternoon pealing these cloves of garlic.  I washed them, steamed them in the microwave for a little over a minute to make them easier to peal.  Then they go into jars of olive oil and into the fridge and the rest of the ivory orbs go into ziplocks with a bit of olive oil and into the freezer.  We are sometimes to humid to let them hang dried all winter, but I do have a half dozen left for fresh cooking.

When all  is done I take some time to practice a bit of photography still life.   Yes, this is quick setup and should have had a nicer background and base, but the sun's lighting through the window caught my eye and that sun moves fast.  Those tiny limes were immature kaffir limes I had to harvest before a bit of pruning to bring the tree inside for winter.

Soon it is dinner time and this snapper filet will be baked in a savory garlic, curry, basil, smoked zavory pepper flakes sauce with fresh cloves of garlic and bits of kaffir lime.  Very savory!