Imbolc                                            Woodpecker Moon

Two tours.  First one, so-so with folks wandering around, but a keen observer in an art teacher.  Second one, very fun with three kids and a dad.  We did a circuit of famous photographs.  They had a great time.  This show is so different depending on the audience.

Tired.  Little sleep last night.

Imbolc                                             Woodpecker Moon

Art lovers and techno-geeks, check this out.  A really big rock moved at night to L.A.’s Modern Art Museum

http://www.latimes.com/videogallery/68749982/News/Levitated-Mass-moves-to-LACMA

Imbolc                                        Woodpecker Moon

Got to thinking today about the different times we celebrate.  Secular holidays like 4th of July and Labor Day.  Religious holidays like Hanuka, Christmas, Ramadan, Holi.  And personal holidays like birthdays and anniversaries.
Thought about birthdays.  We do not choose to be born.  As Martin Heidegger says, we are thrown in to the world: parents, family, era, genetic inheritance.  So the birthday celebrates that moment when we officially began the ancientrail of life, situated between its dark, wet beginnings and its unknown end.  Still, it’s a random event, a chance meeting of a particular sperm and a particular egg on a particular day.

An event preceded by also unique events where two people literally penetrate the usual shell between humans and become intimate, then in that intimacy become sexual.  And even then, it’s the sexual experience over time, months maybe, maybe years that allows the random act of creation to occur.

Our anniversaries, especially wedding anniversaries, though, are quite different.  They celebrate choices we made, two people choosing each other as life partners.  So, not random, we are not, at least in Western culture, thrown into marriage.  Yes, of course, the odds of this person meeting that one are large, but obviously not insurmountable.

Tonight, when Kate and I sit down at D’Amico Kitchen for our 22nd anniversary dinner, we celebrate an intentional coming together.  One we’ve enjoyed every day of those 22 years.  Worth celebrating.

Imbolc                            Woodpecker Moon

Store this in the Well, Duh file:

As an individual’s wealth and status rise, so does their tendency to be unethical, concludes a new study of the relationship between socioeconomics and ethics.

The study included seven different experiments that spanned real-world and laboratory settings, from rude San Francisco drivers to test subjects given a chance to take candy from children.

“Occupying privileged positions in society has this natural psychological effect of insulating you from others,” said psychologist Paul Piff of the University of California, Berkeley. “You’re less likely to perceive the impact your behavior has on others. As a result, at least in this paper, you’re more likely to break the rules.”

The findings, announced Feb. 27 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, come at a moment when historical tensions over wealth and class have reached a fever pitch: Is greed good, and extreme wealth a sign of virtue? Does wealth corrupt, and should a society strive to be egalitarian in income as well as principles?

Imbolc                                   Garden Planning Moon

Wow.  Didn’t notice I made no posts yesterday.  How time flies when you take a sub-woofer out for repair, come back, take a nap, throw yourself into a workout, finish the movie The Eagle, eat pizza and go to bed.

Now I was ready to head off to bed without another post.

Oh, yeah.  Now I remember.  All day yesterday my computers had an attack of keyboard non-recognition.  Tried all my tricks.  No joy.  Then I decided to run anti-viral/anti-malware software on their long scans.  Found a bug on one, two on the other.  Weird.  Same day.  Same problem.  Different virus.  Put them away and voila, the keyboard works!

Certain amount of satisfaction in solving the problem.

Today business meeting, a trip out to Barnes and Noble, first time I’ve been in a physical bookstore in a long, long time.  Kate and I picked up computer self-help books, then had lunch at Texas Roadhouse.  Seemed like a good idea at the time, but my tummy complained.

A distracting time since Thursday, really, since I had a full day at the MIA then and sheepshead that night, then a walk through the next morning, the subwoofer on Saturday morning and business meeting this morning.  Mornings are my prime work time.  Leaves me feeling disoriented, disjointed to miss so many in a row.

Imbolc                              Garden Planning Moon

Sheepshead.  Another good evening.  Bill Schmidt brought a Regina (his wife) made cake and there was a candle, too.  I made a wish.  Not granted.  I wanted better cards in the last half of the night.

(the perfect sheepshead hand)

I did learn something about being over 65, you can blame every mistake on age.  This will come in handy.

My cards were in the middle, some good hands well played, some good hands not so well played and a bunch of 7, 8, & 9’s,  Had better nights at cards, but the evening was special.  I’m still the youngest guy in the room.

My tour was a bit odd, but the lecture with David Little for the Sports Show was very good.  I’m getting excited about doing the show.  My current plan is to take attention as my theme.  Not sure if that will work.  The show opened tonight, so I’ll have a chance to go see  it later.

My energy level was fine today after coming home from the museum.  Can’t figure what all that was. I hope it’s passed now.

Winter                                    Garden Planning Moon

Business meeting this morning.  Kate worked yesterday.  Still fine tuning the budget, but it looks pretty well crafted right now.  Just have to manage it for awhile, get the feel of it.  We checked our calendar out through March, making sure we didn’t conflict on car use.  Moving to one car has, so far, been easier than I had imagined it would be.

Cranking on Missing now.  1,500 words a day.  Challenging, but not too much so that I can’t do it and still do other things.

Still in transition, but the patterns and the rhythm have begun to come clear.  Finally, on Friday, I noticed the benefit of the short burst training I’ve been doing.  Lower heart rate at higher workloads on the easy days.  Increased weight on the resistance work.  Gotta keep changing things up.

Winter                   First Moon of the New Year

In Denver.  Kate and I got here around 3 pm, got a car, got on Hwy 70 and that was as far as we got for awhile.  An accident well ahead of us.

Very bright here and warm.

Jon’s done an amazing amount of work on their new kitchen, dining room, two new baths, a new bedroom.  He bought an old bowling alley, cut in half, took a to a shop and had it planed and sanded, put edging on it and has mounted it as their kitchen work spaces.  It’s gorgeous.

He also took pillars and framing timbers of old growth Douglas fir, sawed 115 years ago, glued it together and made shelves and more counter tops.  It’s beautiful.

He worked for a while with a Minneapolis renovator and learned a lot.  He’s tiling, putting in waterproofing, laying bathroom floors.  Quite a project considering he’s also teaching full time.

Granddaughter Ruth and grandson Gabe came running up to get their hugs.  Sollie, the dog, stayed with us this summer and he came up to greet us, too.  Family.