i love this time of summer. its not to hot and the daily thunderstorms have chilled out. there are a lot more bugs and butterflies now. most plants are mature or ripening-- many of them are starting to turn brown. the high pressure dome we've been under for the past week and a half or so ensures pale blue cloudless skies. the air smells different now. its not thick and sweet anymore with the smell of growing things. instead it has a hint of spice, a bite of tang, and a large pinch of dust and pollen. its a smell that will hold on until the cold dry winter air moves in. butterflies are finally out after spending the muggy part of the summer in a cocoon. I am the only person I know who slows down and swerves to avoid them on the roads. cicadas and bugs of that ilk play their music on tough weed stalks and in dusty trees. you can feel nature shifting gears from growing and maturing to preparation. its a really neat time of the year. Im glad im still around for it.
speaking of which, the countdown has begun. 16th and im gone. hopefully for 2 years 3ish months.
i finally got my rain barrel projects done. now i just need a bit of rain to fill them so my mom can use them for her last garden plants.
we moved monica back to college yesterday and benjie moved back to indy today. monica has a sweet apartment. a lot of her friends, and her boyfriend, are in the same building. as long as she avoids the usual roommate drama i think she'll have a swell time. i miss college. it was the only time of my life where I could just learn about stuff and have fun without having to stress out about other crap. oh well . . .
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Thursday, August 12, 2010
jet lag
Ive been home from canada for about 40 hours now and my head still feels fuzzy. i hate jet lag.
speaking of things i hate, i learned that i hate RVs. they are a symbol of whats wrong with western culture. allow me to contextualize. we drove up highway 93, called one of the most scenic highways in the world. the speed limit was 90 kph. we kept getting stuck behind RVs going 75-80. not only was this annoying, but the wide back end of an RV effectively blocks your view of the road ahead. that, and i got so tired of reading "tour canada!" and "1-800-RV RENT" Consequentially, I spent a good amount of my time passing RVs on a two lane mountain road. now, before you criticize me for speeding, I would like to point out that we followed this one slow RV for about 10 minutes before I passed him. about 3 minutes later, we were able to see a black bear cub before he got in the trees. the RV missed it.
the purpose of an RV, at least according to the advertisements plastered on many of them, is to allow someone to "travel in comfort." this is the height, so far, of western arrogance. since when is traveling comfortable? it has Never been comfortable, except for maybe royalty, and even they died on trips. the purpose of traveling, especially sightseeing, is not to be comfortable, but to see stuff. the traveling aspect is terrible at worst, bearable at best, and usually a pain in the butt. if you want to go on a vacation to be comfortable, or live in luxury, go to a freaking resort. if you cant stand leaving your house, then dont leave it. sightseeing, by definition, precludes your house.
RVs are vehicles the size of a bus that are used like a personal automobile. buses and trucks do not handle mountain roads, for example, very well, but they are usually driven by professionals who know how to operate their vehicles. semis often pulled over on the shoulder and let cars pass them. RVs? not so much. RVs also clog up popular tourist sites. We stopped at Lake Louise. the parking lots were RVs competed with cars for parking spots. i invite you to imagine the chaos.
RVs have crappy fuel economy. the best ones get around 20 mpg, most get between 7-14. the following scenario plays out constantly- RV owner drives his RV up a mountain, at the cost of 10 mpg, to see a glacier that is quickly receding due to global warming that is at least helped by greenhouse gases from internal combustion vehicles. i felt bad enough driving my rental car up there and it gets about 35-40 mpg. I cant imagine how a couple could drive their own personal bus to an environmentally sensitive site like that. thus, we have the phenomena of annoying and environmentally damaging vehicles being driven around because people feel they are entitled to embark on a traditionally challenging undertaking with all the comforts of home. it makes me sick.
speaking of things i hate, i learned that i hate RVs. they are a symbol of whats wrong with western culture. allow me to contextualize. we drove up highway 93, called one of the most scenic highways in the world. the speed limit was 90 kph. we kept getting stuck behind RVs going 75-80. not only was this annoying, but the wide back end of an RV effectively blocks your view of the road ahead. that, and i got so tired of reading "tour canada!" and "1-800-RV RENT" Consequentially, I spent a good amount of my time passing RVs on a two lane mountain road. now, before you criticize me for speeding, I would like to point out that we followed this one slow RV for about 10 minutes before I passed him. about 3 minutes later, we were able to see a black bear cub before he got in the trees. the RV missed it.
the purpose of an RV, at least according to the advertisements plastered on many of them, is to allow someone to "travel in comfort." this is the height, so far, of western arrogance. since when is traveling comfortable? it has Never been comfortable, except for maybe royalty, and even they died on trips. the purpose of traveling, especially sightseeing, is not to be comfortable, but to see stuff. the traveling aspect is terrible at worst, bearable at best, and usually a pain in the butt. if you want to go on a vacation to be comfortable, or live in luxury, go to a freaking resort. if you cant stand leaving your house, then dont leave it. sightseeing, by definition, precludes your house.
RVs are vehicles the size of a bus that are used like a personal automobile. buses and trucks do not handle mountain roads, for example, very well, but they are usually driven by professionals who know how to operate their vehicles. semis often pulled over on the shoulder and let cars pass them. RVs? not so much. RVs also clog up popular tourist sites. We stopped at Lake Louise. the parking lots were RVs competed with cars for parking spots. i invite you to imagine the chaos.
RVs have crappy fuel economy. the best ones get around 20 mpg, most get between 7-14. the following scenario plays out constantly- RV owner drives his RV up a mountain, at the cost of 10 mpg, to see a glacier that is quickly receding due to global warming that is at least helped by greenhouse gases from internal combustion vehicles. i felt bad enough driving my rental car up there and it gets about 35-40 mpg. I cant imagine how a couple could drive their own personal bus to an environmentally sensitive site like that. thus, we have the phenomena of annoying and environmentally damaging vehicles being driven around because people feel they are entitled to embark on a traditionally challenging undertaking with all the comforts of home. it makes me sick.
Monday, August 9, 2010
bears! oh my!
Today we drove up highway 93 towards Jasper. that stretch of highway has been called the most beautiful in the world and its easy to see why. you drive along the side of one mountain line and there are peaks and glaciers everywhere. I think we drove by something like 6 glaciers in a matter of minutes. then you drive up over mountains up back the Columbia icefield which is where we stopped.
on the way up we saw a black bear cub bounding into the trees above the road. then, on the way back, we saw a full grown black bear about the same place. he sniffed around on the bank above the road, then ambled across the road, looked at the cars and tourist bus stopped there because of him, and disappeared in the woods.
I had this one transcendent moment during the drive. we'd just gone past Crowfoot glacier, Bow lake (brilliant blue), and the lake's glaciers, some punk rock song was on sirius, and I was like "wow, this is absolutely amazing"
we only went as far up as the Athabasca glacier, which I remember visiting as a kid. the glacier was a Lot shorter than I remember though. it was a good 300 meters away from where I remembered it being. but we got to walk on it, and i drank some melt water running down the side. the amount of water spewing out from under the glacier was absolutely incredible. if you know what to look for, you can see where the glacier ground its way down the valley. like you can see bedrock with gouges ripped in it from the glacier going over it.
the Columbia ice field which feeds the Athabasca glacier and 7 other major glaciers, drains into three oceans- Atlantic, Pacific, and Arctic. just looking at even the Athabasca, its hard to imagine how much ice is in it, but when you look at the path it gouged out of the mountainside, you cant help but be in awe of the whole process.
as awesome as the day was though, it depressed me too. My family went up to the Athabasca glacier, and further to Jasper I think, when I was about 9. I remember driving up 93. As I drove up there today, I could not believe how little snow there was on the mountains compared to when I was up there 19-20 years ago. All the glaciers were smaller. I could see where they had been. The Athabasca glacier still had the same profile, but it was much shorter, and somewhat smaller than I remember.
There is a picture of me at 9 years old standing by a sign that marked the glacier's location at 1982. You can see the glacier in the background. Not anymore. Now it is half a kilometer away, and behind a hill.
If I had any doubts about global warming before today, they are gone, rushing away with millions of tons of melted ice. Global warming is real. There is no denying it. Look at pictures of receding glaciers and I dare anyone to try. Do people play a role in it? I can not see how we do not. Our impact is debatable, but there IS an impact. the hundreds of RVs I passed today are evidence of that. It is humbling to stand beside a phenomenon that levels mountains, and it is sobering to realize that in another 20 years it may not be there for my kids to marvel at.
on the way up we saw a black bear cub bounding into the trees above the road. then, on the way back, we saw a full grown black bear about the same place. he sniffed around on the bank above the road, then ambled across the road, looked at the cars and tourist bus stopped there because of him, and disappeared in the woods.
I had this one transcendent moment during the drive. we'd just gone past Crowfoot glacier, Bow lake (brilliant blue), and the lake's glaciers, some punk rock song was on sirius, and I was like "wow, this is absolutely amazing"
we only went as far up as the Athabasca glacier, which I remember visiting as a kid. the glacier was a Lot shorter than I remember though. it was a good 300 meters away from where I remembered it being. but we got to walk on it, and i drank some melt water running down the side. the amount of water spewing out from under the glacier was absolutely incredible. if you know what to look for, you can see where the glacier ground its way down the valley. like you can see bedrock with gouges ripped in it from the glacier going over it.
the Columbia ice field which feeds the Athabasca glacier and 7 other major glaciers, drains into three oceans- Atlantic, Pacific, and Arctic. just looking at even the Athabasca, its hard to imagine how much ice is in it, but when you look at the path it gouged out of the mountainside, you cant help but be in awe of the whole process.
as awesome as the day was though, it depressed me too. My family went up to the Athabasca glacier, and further to Jasper I think, when I was about 9. I remember driving up 93. As I drove up there today, I could not believe how little snow there was on the mountains compared to when I was up there 19-20 years ago. All the glaciers were smaller. I could see where they had been. The Athabasca glacier still had the same profile, but it was much shorter, and somewhat smaller than I remember.
There is a picture of me at 9 years old standing by a sign that marked the glacier's location at 1982. You can see the glacier in the background. Not anymore. Now it is half a kilometer away, and behind a hill.
If I had any doubts about global warming before today, they are gone, rushing away with millions of tons of melted ice. Global warming is real. There is no denying it. Look at pictures of receding glaciers and I dare anyone to try. Do people play a role in it? I can not see how we do not. Our impact is debatable, but there IS an impact. the hundreds of RVs I passed today are evidence of that. It is humbling to stand beside a phenomenon that levels mountains, and it is sobering to realize that in another 20 years it may not be there for my kids to marvel at.
canada eh
Benjie just said that everything is slow in canada. specifically the internet.
we just got into banff tonight on our 2 day return trip to calgary. Im actually ready to get home. I have a bunch of PC stuff i need to get done and, although its been fun, this hasnt been the most relaxing of vacations. i guess that part of the problem is that i messed up my hamstring and havent been able to do to much. It tightened up on me on tuesday as i was walking back to our condo from a hike. i went on this early morning hike with monica and mom on wednesday-- that was bad.
but on thursday we went up into Kootaney (?) national park to see some stuff. we saw these mud pots that produced ochre, and we went on a 3k-ish hike through this burned out forest to this little canyon. there was a massive forest fire about 9 years ago so all the trees were dead, but there were flowers and lots of undergrowth so it was really neat to walk through.
we saw a bull moose and a family of mountain goats along the road. there were black tailed deer everywhere.
on the way back we soaked in these hot springs.
that was the last hiking i was able to do until today, when i scrambled up this scree slope along one of the highest waterfalls in canada
i was also able to hike along Lake Louise. google it and you'll recognize it immediately. photogenic spot.
going to Lake Louise really kind of pissed me off. the lake is fed by several glaciers, the lowest of which is almost gone, and some of the upper ones too. I had been to Lake Louise about 20 years ago and the vague memories I had of the place included a LOT more glaciers than what there are now. the far end of the lake, where the glacial streams come in, is turning into a delta because there isnt enough water anymore to carry away all the sediment. Maybe even in my lifetime, that brilliant sky blue lake will become a clay bog. Once the glaciers are gone, it will be a clay bog with a seasonal snow melt stream running through it over looked by a ritzy hotel.
In other words, I could see the effect of global warming right before my eyes. You can look at something 80+ years of photographs of that lake and see the same thing. and people still argue that global warming is some conspiracy/isnt true etc etc. the causes of global warming are debatable, but I find it interesting that the decline of Lake Louise has obviously begun since the industrial age. the simple fact of the matter is that denying global warming is asinine.
so are RVs, but I need to let that rant stew a little more
anyway, the canadian rockies are gorgeous. we drove up through the columbia river valley and thats pretty gorgeous too.
we just got into banff tonight on our 2 day return trip to calgary. Im actually ready to get home. I have a bunch of PC stuff i need to get done and, although its been fun, this hasnt been the most relaxing of vacations. i guess that part of the problem is that i messed up my hamstring and havent been able to do to much. It tightened up on me on tuesday as i was walking back to our condo from a hike. i went on this early morning hike with monica and mom on wednesday-- that was bad.
but on thursday we went up into Kootaney (?) national park to see some stuff. we saw these mud pots that produced ochre, and we went on a 3k-ish hike through this burned out forest to this little canyon. there was a massive forest fire about 9 years ago so all the trees were dead, but there were flowers and lots of undergrowth so it was really neat to walk through.
we saw a bull moose and a family of mountain goats along the road. there were black tailed deer everywhere.
on the way back we soaked in these hot springs.
that was the last hiking i was able to do until today, when i scrambled up this scree slope along one of the highest waterfalls in canada
i was also able to hike along Lake Louise. google it and you'll recognize it immediately. photogenic spot.
going to Lake Louise really kind of pissed me off. the lake is fed by several glaciers, the lowest of which is almost gone, and some of the upper ones too. I had been to Lake Louise about 20 years ago and the vague memories I had of the place included a LOT more glaciers than what there are now. the far end of the lake, where the glacial streams come in, is turning into a delta because there isnt enough water anymore to carry away all the sediment. Maybe even in my lifetime, that brilliant sky blue lake will become a clay bog. Once the glaciers are gone, it will be a clay bog with a seasonal snow melt stream running through it over looked by a ritzy hotel.
In other words, I could see the effect of global warming right before my eyes. You can look at something 80+ years of photographs of that lake and see the same thing. and people still argue that global warming is some conspiracy/isnt true etc etc. the causes of global warming are debatable, but I find it interesting that the decline of Lake Louise has obviously begun since the industrial age. the simple fact of the matter is that denying global warming is asinine.
so are RVs, but I need to let that rant stew a little more
anyway, the canadian rockies are gorgeous. we drove up through the columbia river valley and thats pretty gorgeous too.
Monday, August 2, 2010
mountains and kilometers
I am sitting here on my balcony at this resort village in BC, Canada. I can turn my head 90 degrees and see at least 6 mountains, although Im not really sure what the difference is between a "mountain" and a "peak."
I got here yesterday evening with my parents, ben, monica, and annabelle. we left our house at like 5:30am and got to Calgary at about 1 pm our time. Delta sucks. dont fly delta. I mean AirTran has shitty service and over stuffed planes, but at least their flights are on time and they dont lose luggage. the only typical air travel problems I have ever had have been with Delta. this time around they lost Ben and my parents' bags. I dont know what kind of idiots Delta hires to handle their luggage, but I am pretty sure that Calgary is Not Salt Lake City nor Seattle.
anyway, on the bright side, I managed to upgrade my basic compact rental car to a nice Ford Fusion. On the weird side, driving at 120 kph is pretty weird.
The plains between Calgary and the mountains are cool. Monica and Annabelle rode with me, and we stopped for some photo ops, and at a gas station on this Reserve. I would call it ghetto but it wasnt in a city.
Today monica, mom and I went on a 10ish? kilometer hike up the creek valley. i saw bear crap, but no bears. the last grizzly sighting on that trail was apparently on July 18th at 9 am. this girl I talked to at breakfast this morning said that the bear have moved up in the mountains for the summer.
our condo is in this "ski resort village?" that is about 20 k up from the nearest town. it has restaurants, a liquor store, and is staffed by lots of brits and australians. we are higher up than the nearest town, but the nearest mountains to me are easily a couple thousand feet higher. there are a couple peaks in front of me, off in the distance, that are higher than that. the one still has snow on it.
in other news, i see that Lady Gaga said that abstinence from sex is essential to her creativity. I guess she's not very abstinent.
the only down side to this trip is that its put off my visa application for PC because I didnt have time to get it out before I left. hopefully I'll have time to do it when i get back.
i am still trying to wrap my head around the fact that I am going to be leaving for Togo in a little over a month.
I got here yesterday evening with my parents, ben, monica, and annabelle. we left our house at like 5:30am and got to Calgary at about 1 pm our time. Delta sucks. dont fly delta. I mean AirTran has shitty service and over stuffed planes, but at least their flights are on time and they dont lose luggage. the only typical air travel problems I have ever had have been with Delta. this time around they lost Ben and my parents' bags. I dont know what kind of idiots Delta hires to handle their luggage, but I am pretty sure that Calgary is Not Salt Lake City nor Seattle.
anyway, on the bright side, I managed to upgrade my basic compact rental car to a nice Ford Fusion. On the weird side, driving at 120 kph is pretty weird.
The plains between Calgary and the mountains are cool. Monica and Annabelle rode with me, and we stopped for some photo ops, and at a gas station on this Reserve. I would call it ghetto but it wasnt in a city.
Today monica, mom and I went on a 10ish? kilometer hike up the creek valley. i saw bear crap, but no bears. the last grizzly sighting on that trail was apparently on July 18th at 9 am. this girl I talked to at breakfast this morning said that the bear have moved up in the mountains for the summer.
our condo is in this "ski resort village?" that is about 20 k up from the nearest town. it has restaurants, a liquor store, and is staffed by lots of brits and australians. we are higher up than the nearest town, but the nearest mountains to me are easily a couple thousand feet higher. there are a couple peaks in front of me, off in the distance, that are higher than that. the one still has snow on it.
in other news, i see that Lady Gaga said that abstinence from sex is essential to her creativity. I guess she's not very abstinent.
the only down side to this trip is that its put off my visa application for PC because I didnt have time to get it out before I left. hopefully I'll have time to do it when i get back.
i am still trying to wrap my head around the fact that I am going to be leaving for Togo in a little over a month.
Friday, July 30, 2010
butterflies
so I was at walmart again tonight. standing in line. out of 28 checkouts, there were 4 open. 4 out of 28. I dont think that walmart pays their employees so much that opening say, half, the checkout counters is going to make a big in the quarterly profit.
its the time of the year when all of those little yellow butterflies are out in force. I usually see them clustered around mud puddles in our driveway or along the side of the road. This seems like a bad move from a survival of the species standpoint, but Im not a little yellow butterfly. Anyway, they are really pretty when you drive near them and they all take off. I was coming back from town and went around this curve that had a puddle along it. I looked in my mirror as i drove by and I saw a cloud of little yellow butterflies like a cyclone. It was just for a split second but I cant get it out of my head.
speaking of butterflies, I wish the ones that have been living in my stomach for the past two days would go away. enough already. I get it.
And I need to re-learn what little french I knew. I should have paid more attention in french class 5? years ago. Damn that seems like such a long time . . .
I was talking with my friend Lynette tonight and I remembered? re-realized? how comfortable academia is and how scary it is to leave it. I dont mean that academia is easy at all, but its very comfortable. Once you learn how things work, and how people in it are, you're set. There is comfort in the fact that knowledge never changes, there is just more of it. There is comfort in the schedule, or lack thereof. There is even comfort, albeit the comfort of a familiar yoke, in the omnipresent cloud of work that hangs over every grad student's life. Academia is an insular world that promotes comfort because comfort is essential to information acquisition. This insular nature of academia is another post for another time though.
I ran 3.7 miles tonight
The annual Ladoga Lion's Club Fish Fry started tonight. Good fish sandwhiches. My sister and I successfully got food and left.
its the time of the year when all of those little yellow butterflies are out in force. I usually see them clustered around mud puddles in our driveway or along the side of the road. This seems like a bad move from a survival of the species standpoint, but Im not a little yellow butterfly. Anyway, they are really pretty when you drive near them and they all take off. I was coming back from town and went around this curve that had a puddle along it. I looked in my mirror as i drove by and I saw a cloud of little yellow butterflies like a cyclone. It was just for a split second but I cant get it out of my head.
speaking of butterflies, I wish the ones that have been living in my stomach for the past two days would go away. enough already. I get it.
And I need to re-learn what little french I knew. I should have paid more attention in french class 5? years ago. Damn that seems like such a long time . . .
I was talking with my friend Lynette tonight and I remembered? re-realized? how comfortable academia is and how scary it is to leave it. I dont mean that academia is easy at all, but its very comfortable. Once you learn how things work, and how people in it are, you're set. There is comfort in the fact that knowledge never changes, there is just more of it. There is comfort in the schedule, or lack thereof. There is even comfort, albeit the comfort of a familiar yoke, in the omnipresent cloud of work that hangs over every grad student's life. Academia is an insular world that promotes comfort because comfort is essential to information acquisition. This insular nature of academia is another post for another time though.
I ran 3.7 miles tonight
The annual Ladoga Lion's Club Fish Fry started tonight. Good fish sandwhiches. My sister and I successfully got food and left.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
walmart
I was at walmart yesterday standing in line at a "express" checkout. I was in line with about 4 other people. I stood there and took a quick count. Of 28 checkout lines, 6 were open. These each had something like 2-4 people in line. what the hell is the point of having 28 checkouts if less than 1/4 of them are going to be used? I hate walmart enough as it is without spending half my life standing in line there
Friday, July 23, 2010
a long long time . . .
You know, I used to read the Drudgereport every day for my news. I usually liked breitbart articles when I came across them. I used to be pro-life. I used to be gung-ho about the death penalty. I wanted to impeach Clinton. I've never voted for a losing presidential candidate.
I stopped reading Drudgereport when its sordid, ostentatious, sensationalist headlines failed to reflect the articles to which they were linked. I became pro-choice when I realized that a specific moral code does not always help with the hard choices people have to make, and that they should be allowed to make those hard choices. I despise the death penalty because it's barbaric. Clinton was the only president in my lifetime who balanced the budget. And I wish that I'd voted for a losing presidential ticket.
Where does breitbart fit in this? I stopped reading his stuff a long time ago, about the same time I stopped reading drudgereport's crap. Watching breitbart's fat ass pontificating on TV, however, about the Shirley Sherrod deal absolutely disgusts me. I'd never heard of Sherrod before this week. I should not have had to. By all accounts that I've read, she's a hardworking woman who tries to do the good she knows. For this, she gets skewered by the national right-wing media and dropped like a hot potato by her chickenshit boss because some pundit wants to make a splash. This problem has become endemic in American conservatism today
I can sit here and list off the names of fat white men who make a living by destroying people-- Beck, Limbaugh, Breitbart etc. It sickens me that I used to consider myself a member of the right-wing if that is the company that I kept.
Stuff that vile should not be graced with the aegis of a political designation. It should be anti-political. But no, it gives breitbart TV time, boosts Murdoch's revenue, and drives one more nail in the coffin of the Republican Party. If Republicans do not have the balls to stand up to crap when they see it, then why should I expect them to find said balls while in office? A conservative party is a good thing. The kind of conservatism , however, that celebrates, then ignores, racism does not belong in the 21st century, let alone in the American political arena.
I stopped reading Drudgereport when its sordid, ostentatious, sensationalist headlines failed to reflect the articles to which they were linked. I became pro-choice when I realized that a specific moral code does not always help with the hard choices people have to make, and that they should be allowed to make those hard choices. I despise the death penalty because it's barbaric. Clinton was the only president in my lifetime who balanced the budget. And I wish that I'd voted for a losing presidential ticket.
Where does breitbart fit in this? I stopped reading his stuff a long time ago, about the same time I stopped reading drudgereport's crap. Watching breitbart's fat ass pontificating on TV, however, about the Shirley Sherrod deal absolutely disgusts me. I'd never heard of Sherrod before this week. I should not have had to. By all accounts that I've read, she's a hardworking woman who tries to do the good she knows. For this, she gets skewered by the national right-wing media and dropped like a hot potato by her chickenshit boss because some pundit wants to make a splash. This problem has become endemic in American conservatism today
I can sit here and list off the names of fat white men who make a living by destroying people-- Beck, Limbaugh, Breitbart etc. It sickens me that I used to consider myself a member of the right-wing if that is the company that I kept.
Stuff that vile should not be graced with the aegis of a political designation. It should be anti-political. But no, it gives breitbart TV time, boosts Murdoch's revenue, and drives one more nail in the coffin of the Republican Party. If Republicans do not have the balls to stand up to crap when they see it, then why should I expect them to find said balls while in office? A conservative party is a good thing. The kind of conservatism , however, that celebrates, then ignores, racism does not belong in the 21st century, let alone in the American political arena.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Sons of Anarchy
Ive been re-watching Sons of Anarchy the past couple of days. Its drama on FX that follows the exploits of a motorcycle gang of the same name in a fictional SoCal town. I have a man crush on the main character. Other than that, Sons is a well written show that looks at society from the other side of the law and from the fringes. Most shows have this growth period where the actors are still feeling their characters out and figuring how they relate to one another within the context of the show. I dont know if its because of the script, or the directing, or whatever, but Sons never had that initial awkward period. The first episode starts off with a bang and the series never lets up. I usually try to avoid shows on cable tv because the writers are under creative constraints for content, language, etc, but Sons' writers do a really good job of, say, minimizing the the absence of "fuck" in situations where its expected. Plus the music is really good. I highly recommend the show.
I successfully ran about 3 miles tonight without wanting to die. this makes me happy.
Now Playing: "Steal Away" by Murder by Death
I wonder how much gas people spend on mowing/trimming their lawns ever year. And how much it pollutes. Mower engines arent that efficient and the 2-cycle engines on weedeaters are even less so. Think about it, how many thousands of acres of lawn get smoke belching machines driven over it every day? Ive heard a lot about environmentally conscious ways to maintain a yard-- like not watering (as much) and not using lots of fertilizer, pesticides, etc.-- but the impact of actually mowing is never mentioned. Besides, its not like we need gasoline powered lawn mowers. Ive seen decent looking hand mowers for sale. One of those seems to be about equivalent to a push mower. Or why not just plant yards in gardens, or prairie grasses? but thats a post for another time . ..
I successfully ran about 3 miles tonight without wanting to die. this makes me happy.
Now Playing: "Steal Away" by Murder by Death
I wonder how much gas people spend on mowing/trimming their lawns ever year. And how much it pollutes. Mower engines arent that efficient and the 2-cycle engines on weedeaters are even less so. Think about it, how many thousands of acres of lawn get smoke belching machines driven over it every day? Ive heard a lot about environmentally conscious ways to maintain a yard-- like not watering (as much) and not using lots of fertilizer, pesticides, etc.-- but the impact of actually mowing is never mentioned. Besides, its not like we need gasoline powered lawn mowers. Ive seen decent looking hand mowers for sale. One of those seems to be about equivalent to a push mower. Or why not just plant yards in gardens, or prairie grasses? but thats a post for another time . ..
Monday, July 19, 2010
some thoughts
I hate soap operas. and I think that soap opera digests/guides are a disgrace to the concept of literacy.
I feel sorry for Levi Whathisname. The father of Sarah Palin's grandchild. Talk about literally screwing up. Can you imagine Sarah Palin as a mother in law?
I discovered bok choy tonight. I am a fan.
I just finished re-watching the Starz series Spartacus: Blood and Sand. It is my guilty pleasure. Not as deep or complex as say, True Blood, but definitely fun to watch.
I think that the entire rack of magazines at supermarket checkout counters should be moved back to the toilet paper section.
Now Playing: "It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)" by Bob Dylan
Its really hard to listen to Bob Dylan and write at the same time. Like trying to compose a song while listening to Bach.
I would love to be all for limited government. I really would. But then I think about stuff like international corporations. Or environmental degradation. Etc. And I cant see how a small government would be able to enforce any measure that protected its constituents from a world that is increasingly dominated by non-public powers.
I feel sorry for Levi Whathisname. The father of Sarah Palin's grandchild. Talk about literally screwing up. Can you imagine Sarah Palin as a mother in law?
I discovered bok choy tonight. I am a fan.
I just finished re-watching the Starz series Spartacus: Blood and Sand. It is my guilty pleasure. Not as deep or complex as say, True Blood, but definitely fun to watch.
I think that the entire rack of magazines at supermarket checkout counters should be moved back to the toilet paper section.
Now Playing: "It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)" by Bob Dylan
Its really hard to listen to Bob Dylan and write at the same time. Like trying to compose a song while listening to Bach.
I would love to be all for limited government. I really would. But then I think about stuff like international corporations. Or environmental degradation. Etc. And I cant see how a small government would be able to enforce any measure that protected its constituents from a world that is increasingly dominated by non-public powers.
Lamb
So I just finished another book, Christopher Moore's Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal. This is what happens when the Infancy Gospel of Thomas meets a sense of humor, an active imagination, and a strong sense of irony. Lamb is just like what the title says- the life of Jesus (Joshua) as narrated by his best friend, Biff. Most of the book fills in the gaps between Joshua's birth and his ministry, such as his learning kung-fu, talking with a yeti, and borrowing ideas from Buddism. Biff follows Joshua as he attempts to discover whether he is the Messiah and, in the process, serves as his friend's sinful foil (Joshua is forbidden to "know a woman" so Biff experiences it for him). I skimmed the last section of the book because I wanted to know how it ended, but one thing that struck me was that, despite all of Moore's irreverencies, liberties, and pleasurable snark, he balances Jesus the man and Christ the messiah. And all the conflict therein.
Anyway, I recommend Moore's work in general, and Lamb in particular for the less easily offended; he has a light, funny, satirical style that is reminiscent of Terry Pratchett, if not as imaginative, but Moore can also deal with reality in a way that makes his characters that much more alive.
Anyway, I recommend Moore's work in general, and Lamb in particular for the less easily offended; he has a light, funny, satirical style that is reminiscent of Terry Pratchett, if not as imaginative, but Moore can also deal with reality in a way that makes his characters that much more alive.
Sunday, July 18, 2010
tea
My mom makes this stuff called "sun tea." it is basically ice tea that's brewed in the sun. she puts a bunch of tea bags in this gallon glass jar, fills it with water, screws on the lid, and puts it out in the courtyard for the day. she usually adds some herb/fruit tea to the regular black stuff so it tastes summery. i like it.
Monica's boyfriend, Matt, is down for the weekend, so we went canoeing this afternoon with my parents, Benjie, and Annabelle. Benjie didnt feel like getting wet so I drew the kayak since we had an odd number of people. We did the 5 mile trip. The creek is kind of high, so it only took us about 2 hours because we stopped to eat. The bad part was that my "kayak" was a cheap piece of crap and didnt handle the fast water well at all. I got soaked. On the plus side, I was passing this group of drunk college kids, and this one chick was like "hey you want a beer," which is like asking if the sun came up this morning. so she tossed me one. behind my kayak. full beer cans float. catching them is hard. but it was worth it.
Monica's boyfriend, Matt, is down for the weekend, so we went canoeing this afternoon with my parents, Benjie, and Annabelle. Benjie didnt feel like getting wet so I drew the kayak since we had an odd number of people. We did the 5 mile trip. The creek is kind of high, so it only took us about 2 hours because we stopped to eat. The bad part was that my "kayak" was a cheap piece of crap and didnt handle the fast water well at all. I got soaked. On the plus side, I was passing this group of drunk college kids, and this one chick was like "hey you want a beer," which is like asking if the sun came up this morning. so she tossed me one. behind my kayak. full beer cans float. catching them is hard. but it was worth it.
Friday, July 16, 2010
running
tonight Monica and i went running. we were originally going to go about a mile/mile and a half, which is usually my range, but instead we decided to keep going "around the block." I put in about three miles before i cramped (again). it was pretty awesome; ive never run that far before.
I like running at dusk, which is about 9 this time of year. the heat of the day has usually dissipated by then, mist rises over the bean fields, the crickets/cicadas sound off in the ditches, and lightning bugs flash in the corn fields. the mist carries the sweet, cloying smell of corn and the green smell of summer. nights really weaken my desire to leave
Now Playing: "Girl from the North Country" the Lions
I "perfected" my rain barrel design. again. except i discovered that i didnt caulk around the bibs very well, so they leak. i will probably have to drain the barrels so my caulking will bond. oh well.
I like running at dusk, which is about 9 this time of year. the heat of the day has usually dissipated by then, mist rises over the bean fields, the crickets/cicadas sound off in the ditches, and lightning bugs flash in the corn fields. the mist carries the sweet, cloying smell of corn and the green smell of summer. nights really weaken my desire to leave
Now Playing: "Girl from the North Country" the Lions
I "perfected" my rain barrel design. again. except i discovered that i didnt caulk around the bibs very well, so they leak. i will probably have to drain the barrels so my caulking will bond. oh well.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Gentlemen of the Road
I just finished reading Michael Chabon's Gentlemen of the Road and I enjoyed it a lot. It is a short book, unlike his better known The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay and The Yiddish Policemen's Union. Like the former books, Gentlemen defies genre categorization; it falls somewhere in the gray area between a historical fiction and a swashbuckling adventure novel. The book is set circa 950 CE in the Caucuses, specifically in the quasi-historical Khazar kingdom-- a kingdom famous in Jewish lore for being a kingdom of "wild redhead Jews." Thus, like in all of Chabon's works that I've read so far, Jewish identity plays a key role in the book's plot; although, in Gentlemen, it is more a fact of life than an issue for the protagonists.
I love Chabon's writing ability. He can turn a convoluted, complex sentence into a chocolate truffle that you roll around in your mind tasting its intricacies while you unravel its meaning. Chabon is simply an excellent writer, a fact that, in this case, makes up for the somewhat mundane nature of Gentlemen's plot-- adventurers find mysterious youth who turns out to be a "prince" etc etc. I was so caught up in the story that I didnt foresee the entirely predictable major plot twist halfway through the book.
In real life, Chabon's Zionist prattle pisses me off, but his books are always excellent reads. If you want a short book that lets you smell the dust of forgotten roads and hear the sing of swordplay, check out Gentlemen of the Road
I love Chabon's writing ability. He can turn a convoluted, complex sentence into a chocolate truffle that you roll around in your mind tasting its intricacies while you unravel its meaning. Chabon is simply an excellent writer, a fact that, in this case, makes up for the somewhat mundane nature of Gentlemen's plot-- adventurers find mysterious youth who turns out to be a "prince" etc etc. I was so caught up in the story that I didnt foresee the entirely predictable major plot twist halfway through the book.
In real life, Chabon's Zionist prattle pisses me off, but his books are always excellent reads. If you want a short book that lets you smell the dust of forgotten roads and hear the sing of swordplay, check out Gentlemen of the Road
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
I ATE THE FRITOS AND THEY TASTED SO GOOD
. . . but now I feel like I need to go stick a toothbrush down my throat. ugh. what is it about baked corn meal and salt that makes me feel like shit?
Now Playing: "No Regrets" Authority Zero
Now Playing: "No Regrets" Authority Zero
I (successfully?) built my first rain barrel this evening. I will hopefully post pictures when I get more of them done. I was surprised when the hardest part of the whole enterprise turned out to be trying to find a saw that will cut 4x4s in a straight line. My dad's circular saw is a piece of shit.
One thing that always amazes me is how easy things turn out to be. like building a wall. it looks hard, but its easy once you actually do it.
anyway, back to rain barrels. I read someplace that the roof of an average sized house collects roughly 200 gallons of water per quarter inch of rain. thats a lot of water. to put it in perspective-- new shower heads are suppose to limit water usage to 2.5 gallons/minute or less. Thus, if you take a 10 minute shower, you could be using something around 25 gallons of water.
Now, if you get your water, whether city or private, from a well or well field, you've just washed yourself with fossil water-- water that has been underground for hundreds, if not thousands of years. Its the same water that you use for washing dishes, or watering your yard, or flushing your toilet. Have you ever drank the water out of your toilet? you could. its the same water that comes out of your faucet.
This always kind of gets me. It seems pointless to use perfectly good potable water for flushing shit, especially when your house is a great non-potable water collection device. I think our toilet upstairs uses around 3 gallons of water per flush. There is also the fact that at least 50% of household waste water is "greywater." This is water used by washing (the aforementioned shower?); that is its "dirty" but not "polluted" with sewage. Such water would be great for toilets. So, imagine this-- a filtered rainwater cistern that could be used for washing that could then be used for sewage. Such a system would drastically reduce a household's water consumption. Just a thought . . . .
One thing that always amazes me is how easy things turn out to be. like building a wall. it looks hard, but its easy once you actually do it.
anyway, back to rain barrels. I read someplace that the roof of an average sized house collects roughly 200 gallons of water per quarter inch of rain. thats a lot of water. to put it in perspective-- new shower heads are suppose to limit water usage to 2.5 gallons/minute or less. Thus, if you take a 10 minute shower, you could be using something around 25 gallons of water.
Now, if you get your water, whether city or private, from a well or well field, you've just washed yourself with fossil water-- water that has been underground for hundreds, if not thousands of years. Its the same water that you use for washing dishes, or watering your yard, or flushing your toilet. Have you ever drank the water out of your toilet? you could. its the same water that comes out of your faucet.
This always kind of gets me. It seems pointless to use perfectly good potable water for flushing shit, especially when your house is a great non-potable water collection device. I think our toilet upstairs uses around 3 gallons of water per flush. There is also the fact that at least 50% of household waste water is "greywater." This is water used by washing (the aforementioned shower?); that is its "dirty" but not "polluted" with sewage. Such water would be great for toilets. So, imagine this-- a filtered rainwater cistern that could be used for washing that could then be used for sewage. Such a system would drastically reduce a household's water consumption. Just a thought . . . .
Saturday, July 10, 2010
from a hotel room in the Gold Coast
. . . district of chicago.
Christy and I drove up to Chicago this afternoon for the weekend. We checked into our hotel, the Ambassador East-- all kinds of swanky-- and took the el up to my friend Laura's house. From hence we ate some good thai and went to the chicago Irish Fest to see the Tossers play. The Tossers usually put on a decent show until their lead singer drinks himself to incoherency and starts to sound like Shane McGowan of the Pogues. His mandolin playing usually falls off too and then even I can tell that the band isnt playing together. but it was a lot of fun. hanging out with laura always brings a refreshing blast of east coast snark that shakes me out of my midwestern languidness.
i like the lincoln/wicker/irving park areas. a lot of the buildings are older, and if you look down alley ways and between buildings, it seems like you've stepped back in time 70-80 years.
it always kind of amazes me, especially when im ridding in the el, how many people live in chicago. we ride past hundreds of houses and apartments in which thousands of lives are playing out. its kind of amazing to me
as much as i love chicago, i dont know if i could live here. i would have to have a condo in an old brownstone on some shady side street to stay sane i think. not having anything resembling a lawn would probably drive me nuts. Christy said she'd love to live in a high-rise condo. the thought makes my toes curl. i like being closer to the ground.
one thing that i think is kind of funny about chicago is that people look at me weird when i say "excuse me." granted, people did that too in, say, cairo, but i think thats because i was a white, blond guy speaking arabic.
Christy and I drove up to Chicago this afternoon for the weekend. We checked into our hotel, the Ambassador East-- all kinds of swanky-- and took the el up to my friend Laura's house. From hence we ate some good thai and went to the chicago Irish Fest to see the Tossers play. The Tossers usually put on a decent show until their lead singer drinks himself to incoherency and starts to sound like Shane McGowan of the Pogues. His mandolin playing usually falls off too and then even I can tell that the band isnt playing together. but it was a lot of fun. hanging out with laura always brings a refreshing blast of east coast snark that shakes me out of my midwestern languidness.
i like the lincoln/wicker/irving park areas. a lot of the buildings are older, and if you look down alley ways and between buildings, it seems like you've stepped back in time 70-80 years.
it always kind of amazes me, especially when im ridding in the el, how many people live in chicago. we ride past hundreds of houses and apartments in which thousands of lives are playing out. its kind of amazing to me
as much as i love chicago, i dont know if i could live here. i would have to have a condo in an old brownstone on some shady side street to stay sane i think. not having anything resembling a lawn would probably drive me nuts. Christy said she'd love to live in a high-rise condo. the thought makes my toes curl. i like being closer to the ground.
one thing that i think is kind of funny about chicago is that people look at me weird when i say "excuse me." granted, people did that too in, say, cairo, but i think thats because i was a white, blond guy speaking arabic.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Tails
I was at Borders a couple weeks ago and, while I was browsing in the sci-fi/fantasy anthologies, I found this book called Tails of Wonder and Imagination. Its an anthology of short stories that feature cats. Of course, being the cat fanatic that I am, I bought it.
There are sphinxs, manticores, humans that turn into cats, cats that turn into humans, tigers, lions, saber toothed tigers, and the Serpent in Garden of Eden who created cats because she was bored.
the problem with short stories collections in general is about 50% of the stories are ok, 35% are terrible, and 15% are good. like, in this collection, there was a sci-fi story by George RR Martin that featured a protagonist who loved cats. I ate that shit right up.
the problem with this collection in particular is that it involves a lot of cats being run over, gassed, eaten, dying of whatever, etc etc, because, apparently, a good part of the authorial world thinks that killing cats makes some kind of artistic statement. And the editor doesnt look like she gets laid often.
the book depressed the fuck out of me. Dont buy it.
There are sphinxs, manticores, humans that turn into cats, cats that turn into humans, tigers, lions, saber toothed tigers, and the Serpent in Garden of Eden who created cats because she was bored.
the problem with short stories collections in general is about 50% of the stories are ok, 35% are terrible, and 15% are good. like, in this collection, there was a sci-fi story by George RR Martin that featured a protagonist who loved cats. I ate that shit right up.
the problem with this collection in particular is that it involves a lot of cats being run over, gassed, eaten, dying of whatever, etc etc, because, apparently, a good part of the authorial world thinks that killing cats makes some kind of artistic statement. And the editor doesnt look like she gets laid often.
the book depressed the fuck out of me. Dont buy it.
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
there is something Ive been thinking about a lot recently.
it seems to be that there are two conflicting trends in American society. the first of these is a preoccupation with life. This can be seen in the passage of the recent health care bill for example-- birth till death care. It can also be seen in the Pro-Life movement's rabid condemnation of all things pro-choice/abortion. it can be seen in PETA and other animal rights organizations-- I just read about a Great Dane rescue society the other day.
Americans care about crabs and birds in the Gulf spill and baby seals in Canada. They care about human rights in Darfur and in China. They dont seem to care as much about human rights in Gaza, but thats another topic. So, basically, Americans dont like death. They dont like the thought of it and they only like to see it on TV before PETA's "no animals were harmed in the making of this movie" disclaimer. There is an entire industry devoted to making the deceased lifelike.
I was talking with a buddy of mine a couple weeks ago and he mentioned how much meat Americans eat. I went to Cracker Barrel last month and I looked through three pages of the menu until i found a meatless dish. There must be some unwritten rule that a meal has to include a meat dish.
The fascination with life conflicts dramatically with Americans' eating habits. Ive had several people tell me that, if they had to butcher animals themselves, they'd be vegetarian; they couldnt bring themselves to kill a chicken, or a cow, or whatever.
People get around this problem, i think, because meat comes from the store, or mcdonalds, or wherever. There is a conceptual disconnect between meat as life and meat as food. Its entirely possible to eat thousands of steaks and not have to watch the cow from whence the steak came kick out its last few seconds of life. As someone who shares the American fixation on life, this bothers me.
it seems to be that there are two conflicting trends in American society. the first of these is a preoccupation with life. This can be seen in the passage of the recent health care bill for example-- birth till death care. It can also be seen in the Pro-Life movement's rabid condemnation of all things pro-choice/abortion. it can be seen in PETA and other animal rights organizations-- I just read about a Great Dane rescue society the other day.
Americans care about crabs and birds in the Gulf spill and baby seals in Canada. They care about human rights in Darfur and in China. They dont seem to care as much about human rights in Gaza, but thats another topic. So, basically, Americans dont like death. They dont like the thought of it and they only like to see it on TV before PETA's "no animals were harmed in the making of this movie" disclaimer. There is an entire industry devoted to making the deceased lifelike.
I was talking with a buddy of mine a couple weeks ago and he mentioned how much meat Americans eat. I went to Cracker Barrel last month and I looked through three pages of the menu until i found a meatless dish. There must be some unwritten rule that a meal has to include a meat dish.
The fascination with life conflicts dramatically with Americans' eating habits. Ive had several people tell me that, if they had to butcher animals themselves, they'd be vegetarian; they couldnt bring themselves to kill a chicken, or a cow, or whatever.
People get around this problem, i think, because meat comes from the store, or mcdonalds, or wherever. There is a conceptual disconnect between meat as life and meat as food. Its entirely possible to eat thousands of steaks and not have to watch the cow from whence the steak came kick out its last few seconds of life. As someone who shares the American fixation on life, this bothers me.
Sunday, July 4, 2010
3rd of July- some thoughts
Tonight I went to the Crawfordsville "Freedom Fest 2010." Christy came, along with Ben and Katie, Annabelle and some of her friends, and a bunch of people from church.
I've been thinking all day about Independence Day, or the idea of "Independence Day." Its an idea so ingrained in our national mythology that its hard to deconstruct. I start by asking the question "who did the Declaration of Independence make independent?" It certainly wasnt the American Indians. They got to enjoy Manifest Destiny for the next 150 years. It certainly wasnt blacks, slave and not. That didnt begin until the Civil Rights movement and hasnt ended yet. Nor women-- 1920. White, unpropertied, males? 183os.
No, the real beneficiaries of the Declaration of Independence were the men who wrote it. A group of elites who wrote it with their own interests at heart and with a narrow view of "all men are created equal."
It could be argued that the Declaration of Independence was the beginning of a trend in, and created an aegis under, which various groups could agitate for freedom. This argument fails when the fledgling United States and England are compared during the same time period. Slavery was in the process of being abolished in England during the Revolutionary War. The US had to fight a civil war to end it 80 years later. Has the rallying cry for the Boston masses "no taxation without representation" ever been realized in the United States?
Now playing: "Drones" Rise Against
None of this is an attempt to disparage the US, but to unpack one of its foundation myths.
Tomorrow is certainly not Independence Day for areas in which the United States is exerting is will. Afghans, Iraqis, Palestinians, etc. etc. have yet to see the "all men are created equal" clause manifested in the US's actions. But this is a different topic for a different time . . .
I've been thinking all day about Independence Day, or the idea of "Independence Day." Its an idea so ingrained in our national mythology that its hard to deconstruct. I start by asking the question "who did the Declaration of Independence make independent?" It certainly wasnt the American Indians. They got to enjoy Manifest Destiny for the next 150 years. It certainly wasnt blacks, slave and not. That didnt begin until the Civil Rights movement and hasnt ended yet. Nor women-- 1920. White, unpropertied, males? 183os.
No, the real beneficiaries of the Declaration of Independence were the men who wrote it. A group of elites who wrote it with their own interests at heart and with a narrow view of "all men are created equal."
It could be argued that the Declaration of Independence was the beginning of a trend in, and created an aegis under, which various groups could agitate for freedom. This argument fails when the fledgling United States and England are compared during the same time period. Slavery was in the process of being abolished in England during the Revolutionary War. The US had to fight a civil war to end it 80 years later. Has the rallying cry for the Boston masses "no taxation without representation" ever been realized in the United States?
Now playing: "Drones" Rise Against
None of this is an attempt to disparage the US, but to unpack one of its foundation myths.
Tomorrow is certainly not Independence Day for areas in which the United States is exerting is will. Afghans, Iraqis, Palestinians, etc. etc. have yet to see the "all men are created equal" clause manifested in the US's actions. But this is a different topic for a different time . . .
Saturday, July 3, 2010
I got to use an electric planer this morning. It was loads of fun. The sawdust spraying every where made me feel like I accomplished something
Now playing: Mustafa snoring
If you ever want to see man's effect on the environment, go to Home Depot or someplace like that and buy a premium 2x4x8'. they cost like $4. take it home. assuming that your house is at least 10 years old, punch a hole in your wall. Then compare the 2x4 you just bought with the ones holding up your house. the one you just bought will be shitty in comparison. it will be full of knots, possibly splintered, and will likely have a strip of bark down one corner.
Why is this? Logging companies harvest younger trees due to the fact that all the older timber is gone, or protected. in years past they have cut more mature trees, then replanted those areas. Now those areas are being harvested. The total amount of forested land, however, is still declining. If you go out west where there is a lot of logging, you can see this system in action. Here in indiana, its hard to look at a corn field and imagine that it used to be part of a woods.
Thus, to put it succinctly, the structural integrity of your house may be directly related to deforestation
I hate Nickleback. I hate their pseudo "grunge" corporate sell-out sound. I hate their whiny songs. I hate their lead singer's fat lips. I hate his "poor little rich rockstar me" emo lyrics. I hate that I think I can remember his name. I hate the fact I liked them when they first came out.
In other news, I got some plastic (polyethylene) barrels! Once my remodeling job is over, Im going to make sl e rain barrels! (i hope)
Now playing: Mustafa snoring
If you ever want to see man's effect on the environment, go to Home Depot or someplace like that and buy a premium 2x4x8'. they cost like $4. take it home. assuming that your house is at least 10 years old, punch a hole in your wall. Then compare the 2x4 you just bought with the ones holding up your house. the one you just bought will be shitty in comparison. it will be full of knots, possibly splintered, and will likely have a strip of bark down one corner.
Why is this? Logging companies harvest younger trees due to the fact that all the older timber is gone, or protected. in years past they have cut more mature trees, then replanted those areas. Now those areas are being harvested. The total amount of forested land, however, is still declining. If you go out west where there is a lot of logging, you can see this system in action. Here in indiana, its hard to look at a corn field and imagine that it used to be part of a woods.
Thus, to put it succinctly, the structural integrity of your house may be directly related to deforestation
I hate Nickleback. I hate their pseudo "grunge" corporate sell-out sound. I hate their whiny songs. I hate their lead singer's fat lips. I hate his "poor little rich rockstar me" emo lyrics. I hate that I think I can remember his name. I hate the fact I liked them when they first came out.
In other news, I got some plastic (polyethylene) barrels! Once my remodeling job is over, Im going to make sl e rain barrels! (i hope)
Thursday, July 1, 2010
frustrating
Ive had more frustrating days. I just cant remember when.
I was at Fr. Joel's working on my remodel project. I had to bring a recep from the wall through the front panel on this cabinet that Annabelle and I installed yesterday (could not have done it without her. seriously. kudos to her).
so the first thing that happened was that my precut hole in the panel was too small for the box that I had. And for the second box that I scrounged up. Then my jigsaw kept screwing up the finish on the panel as i tried to widen the hole. then the blade broke.
so i went to the store and found a metal box that fit the hole. And got some new jigsaw blades. And a countersink for my drill.
Got back and the new box didnt have a grounding screw. One could not be scrounged up. Jigsaw is older than I am, and the blades I bought didnt fit. Then I tightened up the hex key in my $11 countersink . . . and the shoulders rubbed off.
My right hand is swollen.
And I came home to a massive hairball that one of my cats barfed up on my rug.
On the other hand I like building things. Its one of the few things that stimulates that part of my brain once occupied by academia.
Now playing: "Give the Bastards Hell" the Killigans
One of things that Ive been thinking about lately is the American concept of "neat." we like nicely manicured lawns. straight roads before "well-kept" houses. trimmed vegetation. etc etc.
Its like such "neatness" evidences our control over our environment.
I want to plant my yard in prairie grass and have done with it.
I was at Fr. Joel's working on my remodel project. I had to bring a recep from the wall through the front panel on this cabinet that Annabelle and I installed yesterday (could not have done it without her. seriously. kudos to her).
so the first thing that happened was that my precut hole in the panel was too small for the box that I had. And for the second box that I scrounged up. Then my jigsaw kept screwing up the finish on the panel as i tried to widen the hole. then the blade broke.
so i went to the store and found a metal box that fit the hole. And got some new jigsaw blades. And a countersink for my drill.
Got back and the new box didnt have a grounding screw. One could not be scrounged up. Jigsaw is older than I am, and the blades I bought didnt fit. Then I tightened up the hex key in my $11 countersink . . . and the shoulders rubbed off.
My right hand is swollen.
And I came home to a massive hairball that one of my cats barfed up on my rug.
On the other hand I like building things. Its one of the few things that stimulates that part of my brain once occupied by academia.
Now playing: "Give the Bastards Hell" the Killigans
One of things that Ive been thinking about lately is the American concept of "neat." we like nicely manicured lawns. straight roads before "well-kept" houses. trimmed vegetation. etc etc.
Its like such "neatness" evidences our control over our environment.
I want to plant my yard in prairie grass and have done with it.
PS
The views expressed in my earlier blog are not necessarily an accurate representation of what I currently think.
starting up again
its 1:32 am. I am listening to "From Her Lips to God's Ears" by Against Me! and I have decided to started blogging after a long hiatus. I think that the last time I blogged was sometime in 2007? you can check my former blog to which I can no longer remember either the email address or the password. this is the second edition of randomneuralfirings. i hope that it is more productive than the first one.
I recently discovered a setting on my computer that randomly splashes some picture from iPhoto on my desktop every 30 minutes. If I did not have my trademark sloppy photographs as proof, I would never believe that I have been where I have been.
they say that a picture is worth a thousand words. they forgot that a picture is worth ten thousand emotions.
Ronny Dio was a better metal singer than Ozzy
I recently discovered a setting on my computer that randomly splashes some picture from iPhoto on my desktop every 30 minutes. If I did not have my trademark sloppy photographs as proof, I would never believe that I have been where I have been.
they say that a picture is worth a thousand words. they forgot that a picture is worth ten thousand emotions.
Ronny Dio was a better metal singer than Ozzy
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)