Art and Culture, Woolly Mammoths

Discussing and Dissenting

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Winter

Waning Wolf Moon

Into the city for a meeting of the docent discussion group.  We had a drawing and Bill Bomash won my extra copy of Seven Days in the Art World.   More people showed up than I expected.   We had an interesting, lively discussion of ideas for next meetings and resources we use for art history research.

Another discussion followed on some of the positives of touring and some of the sore points. All agreed that better signage would be a good place to upgrade public connections with the public tours.  We also wondered why it proved so difficult to get a recognized hearing for our concerns.  The discussion group decided this was not its responsibility, so we passed these ideas on to others who may find a way to act on them.

Twilight has begun to fall here.  Another winter night is on the way.  I’m on the way to chez Haislet atop Riverpoint condominiums in the old warehouse district.  The Woolly Mammoths.

Myth and Story, Weather +Climate, Writing

Brooding Over the Landscape

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Winter

Waning Wolf Moon

(note:  Weather reporting has moved to the Star-Tribune WeatherBlogs and my two weather websites, all of these have links under Andover Weather + on the right hand side bar.)

Last night I watched a bit of the Ravens and the Steelers.  As a Midwesterner my sympathies were with the rust bucket team from the Steel City.  They won. Now I have a half-hearted dog in the superbowl.  No, wait.  That was Michael Vick.  Anyhow.

Weather has become unremarkable.  Ordinary, garden variety winter in gray clothes, brooding over the landscape.  Though the temperature is more bearable, 10 degrees feels quite nice, the weather itself has taken on a dull tone.  We like variety here in the Upper Midwest and  our position in the center of North America gives it to us.  There are no mountains or oceans here to mediate or moderate; we get what rolls down from the north or blows up from the Gulf or over from the west.

We thrive on change.  When the weather becomes dull, it throws us back on other projects like work or chores.  Come on sky!

I wrote four pages yesterday on Red Earth, my first person account of what it was like to become Adam.  More today.

Of late, I’ve begun waking up at 6:00 AM.  I do not want to get up until 7:00 AM, that’s the whole point of my new routine.  At least for now I’ve chosen to lie there and think.   It’s quiet, I’m fully rested and an hours worth of thought seems a useful way to occupy myself until 7:00 AM.

Now onto the mind of Adam.

Aging, Great Work, Myth and Story, permaculture

I Have Not Mentioned Adam

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5  rises 29.92  NWN0  windchill 5  Winter

Waning Wolf Moon

A full day Permaculture workshop.  This guy, who takes a nap every day around 1pm, suffers in mid-day at day long events.  In addition, I find that my mind gets overloaded, takes in too much.  It’s not that I can’t absorb and eventually integrate the material, but the pace of absorption has changed over time.  I need space between intake and digestion.  A day’s worth of basically new material wears me out.

When I came back, Kate asked me what I’d learned and I had troubling with a clear answer.  The exhaustion played a factor, yes, but the tumbling pieces, the changing paragdigms and the altogether novel still raced around inside, had not come down to a place of rest. Tomorrow, next week.  Better.

Rest tonight.  Then I’ll work on Adam tomorrow.  I haven’t mentioned Adam yet, have I?  He’s taken over my thinking lately. What was it like, I wondered?  What was it like to wake up, come to consciousness, breathe that first breath? What happened in the mind and heart of Adam when God blew into his nostrils?

Art and Culture, GeekWorld, Weather +Climate

Out of the House. At Last.

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7  steep fall 30.38  ENE2  windchill 7  Winter

Waning Wolf Moon

Spent a morning at the museum.  The first time I got out of the house since Monday. Thanks to telecommuting I did committee work for the Sierra Club on Monday and Wednesday, research each day.  So this cold snap came and went with my outside experiences limited to snow blowing, shoveling, paper and mail retrieving.  It got cold.  -28 this morning at 8AM.

Starting Monday on the Star-Tribune Weatherblog page you will find me under Twin Cities Metro.  I got a sneak peek at the site today and it looks very professional.  This will be in addition to the Citizen Weather Observer Program webpage and the Davis Weatherlink webpage that take live-feed from my station.  I think I do have some instrument adjustment issues to iron out and come connectivity with the CWOP folks, but otherwise we pump info out into the public datastream every five minutes or less 24/7.  Another techno advantage.

The second graders I had today at the museum were bright, engaged kids.  But.  They recognized George Washington but did not know who he was.  One girl wondered if George Washington was G. W. Bush’s father.  The three African-American kids did not know where Africa was.  I sat with them and tried to get a few facts installed, but I had so little time with them.  I love second graders though, they were so eager.  So willing.  If only the world would not beat up on them, they could overcome this knowledge deficit.

Myth and Story, Our Land and Home

Hey! You! Help Me Write My Piece On American Identity

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I’d appreciate any comments on the notion of American identity:  what is it?  who has it?  should all Americans have it?  Do all Americans have it?  What is the American sine qua non?  Can we survive as a nation if we don’t have a shared national identity?  If not, why not?  If so, how would that work?

Use the comments section.  I’d love to know what you think.

Weather +Climate

Kinetic Energy Verrrry Slllloowww

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-25 falls 30.60  ENE0 wchill -25  winter

Waning Wolf Moon

Cold.  Colder.  Coldest.  -27 when I got up this morning.  Now that’s cold.  Today, for the first time in this cold snap I have to go into the city, another 2nd grade VTS tour.  I also have to get gas.  Don’t look forward to that.  Ouch.  Gotta gas for the snowblower, too.  You never know, it might warm up and snow big time.  Not predicted though.

According to rumor, the Startribune weatherblogs go live on Monday.  I will be among them so click on the Trib weather blogs if you want to see weather reporting from Andover.  My CWOP postings have been sporadic.  I don’t know why.  My data logger keeps my weather website up justs fine, so it’s something in the CWOP servers.  Over the weekend I plan to work on it.

My in box is basically empty.  Now I have to start filling it up again.  I have to write another legislative update on Sunday for Sierra Club folks who follow the political end of the Great Work. I want to get back to writing full time.  He says again.  But this time I mean it.

Great Work, Weather +Climate

Housebound and Loving It.

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-15  rising 30.65 WSW0 wchill -15   Winter

Waning Wolf Moon

My work with the Sierra Club’s political and legislative committee’s have lead me to a group of folks who really understand the political process.  They are focused, goal oriented and work hard.  They write bill language, round up authors and co-authors, supporters from both parties.  The grass roots support gets rallied when needed for a push.  I’m lucky to be in this process.  I’ll learn a lot. (and I thought I knew a lot.)

I now Twitter, blog for the Star-Tribune weatherblogs (if they ever go live.) and write this blog.  Once in a while I get on facebook and myspace.  I’m not a true child of this age though because I have resisted thus far the allure of cell-phone e-mail and internet.  But.  I do have a cell phone.

I’ve not left the house since Monday.  I have been outside to blow the snow, take out the trash and get the mail.  But that’s it.  The really cold stuff should break over the weekend.  I do have two tours on Friday, so I’ll get out into it then.

Faith and Spirituality

Well, Now. Where the Rich Are Below Average?

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January 13, 2009, 1:10 pm
New Model for the Rich: Minnesotans

When it comes to spending and flaunting their millions, the American wealthy have had no shortage of role models in recent years, from Trump and Stephen Schwarzman to Larry Ellison and Ira Rennert.

But now that thrift is in and bling is out, who can they look to for guidance?

Minnesotans.

Setting aside some obvious differences (for most of the rich, Sub-Zero is a luxury appliance, not a six-month climate), it turns out Minnesotans can teach the rest of the nation’s wealthy a thing or two about thrift, guilt and luxury shame.

An article in the Star Tribune by Kristin Tillotson says that luxury goods are the new porn, “things that must be hidden behind plain brown wrappers lest one be viewed as marching down the road to Prada perdition.”

And apparently when it comes to concealing their impure purchases, no one tops Minnesotans. “Conspicuous consumerism has never been in fashion for Minnesota’s anti-ostentation old money,” the article says. “Their idea of being flashy is breaking out Grandma’s diamond necklace once a year, and then only for a Wayzata fundraiser.” (For non-Minnesotans, Wayzata is a country club). Continue reading Well, Now. Where the Rich Are Below Average? →

Great Work, Politics, Weather +Climate

Cold and Tired

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“Do not wait to strike till the iron is hot; but make it hot by striking.” – William Butler Yeats

We can use all the heat we can get here tonight.  We’re 8 degrees cooler than we were last night and it was -22 when I got up.

Just a note to say the Senate committee meeting by TV worked fine, but it wore me out.  2 hours of watching, then an hour doing a summary for Michelle.  Tired tonight.

Great Work, Hydroponics, permaculture, Politics, Weather +Climate

Traveling By Television

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-6  steep fall 30.26  E1  windchill -8  Winter

Waning Wolf Moon

Boy do I feel good.  I recalled that some legislative meetings are webcast, broadcast, or taped.  Turns out the one I need to cover will be on Channel 17 at 3pm or I can watch it live on the web.  God, you gotta love technology.  Normally, I’d head into the capitol anyhow just to get the feel of the place, but the hassle of really cold weather and a long drive, capped with a return trip in rush hour makes the couch a much more sensible option.

I finished the seed database today for all the new seeds.  Tomorrow I’ll enter our left over seeds from last year.  It shows the work ahead in getting transplants ready.  Some plants like the mustard greens and huckleberries will go under the lights in the middle of February.  In two week intervals until May 1st, I’ll be starting different plants inside.

The weather today is what we usually get in the third week of January, really cold.  Paul Douglas, local weather guy, says this air was over Siberia two weeks ago.  And it’s still this cold?  Geez.