1.31.2011 … 51 isn’t so bad …

food, trends:  Flights of pie, oh my!

Pie is turning up all over the US, having reinvented itself from a dowdy church supper ware to a stylish dessert served in ‘flights’ in some places. Each region has a specialty based on local ingredients and culture. If you filled your plate motoring across the country – made an American pie flight, so to speak – it’d look like this…

Nutty South & Tart West

Down south, everyone’s gramma has her own recipe for pecan pie, where secret ingredients swirl in the bowl with the nuts and corn syrup. Royer’s Round Top Cafe (105 Main St, Round Top), in middle of nowhere Texas, has earned a swooning crowd for its version. It’s so traditional you’re charged 50 cents extra for not getting the ice cream on top. The chef also whips up southern-style buttermilk and coconut chess pies. Can’t decide? They offer a pie flight!

via American pie: slicing across the country – travel tips and articles – Lonely Planet.

FaceBook, social networking, culture:  More social, hummm?

Were you creeped out by the ominous trailer for “The Social Network” (“I want you to notice, when I’m not around …”) and what it may say about you? Does logging on to Facebook for the fourth time today make you feel like a soulless shut-in?

If so, fear not: According to a cheery report out of the University of Texas, Austin, Facebook actually makes us more sociable. Surveying 900 current and recent college graduates nationwide, Craig Watkins and Erin Lee of the Department of Radio-Television-Film at the University of Texas examined the impact of Facebook on users’ social lives, concluding that “social media afford opportunities for new expressions of friendship, intimacy and community.”

via Studied – Does Facebook Make You More Social Offline? – NYTimes.com.

art, pop art, Roy Lichtenstein:  Loved this … “So shocking that in 1964 Life Magazine wondered if the artist who created them, Roy Lichtenstein, was quite possibly the worst artist in the U.S.”

Whimsical paintings based on cartoons … witty sculptures … prints that remind us of famous paintings, with a commercial twist.

Images so familiar to us today it’s nearly impossible to believe that they were once considered quite shocking.

So shocking that in 1964 Life Magazine wondered if the artist who created them, Roy Lichtenstein, was quite possibly the worst artist in the U.S.

That’s not a question anymore.

When the dust settled at Christies’ auction house last November, one of Lichtenstein’s pieces named “Ohhh…Alright…”did more than “all right”: It sold for nearly $43 million.

A record, beating out even Warhol’s Campbell’s soup can.

Lichtenstein himself would find that shocking.

“He used to say that he was amazed that people would actually pay for what he called ‘used canvases,'” said Mitchell Lichtenstein, Roy’s youngest son.

But, in fact, Roy Lichtenstein may be more popular today than ever, says his youngest son, Mitchell, who walked us through the sculpture garden on the roof of his father’s old N.Y. studio, pointing to one piece Mitchell’s mother had called “her giant Chia Pet.”

“I think people appreciate his humor,” Mitchell said, “and I think they see more in it as time goes by.”

via Roy Lichtenstein: Pop Art’s Most Popular – CBS Sunday Morning – CBS News.

travel, historical journeys, bucket lists:  So where would you go … I would like to follow Lewis & Clark or Paul.

Part one: Go around the world in 80 days with Jules Verne, rampage across Mongolia with Genghis Khan and trek the Muslim world with Ibn Battutah.

Part two: Take the ‘Voyage of the Beagle’ with Charles Darwin, decide whether Alexander the Great should be Alexander the Grotesque and see if you think Marco Polo was a fibber.

Part three: Get satirical with Evelyn Waugh, explore the Wild West with Lewis & Clark, and trek across the Australia with Burke and Wills.

via Greatest historical journeys – travel tips and articles – Lonely Planet.

health, globalization: Go for it! I did not know that only one disease has been eradicated.

ONLY one disease has ever been eradicated—smallpox—but Davos Man thinks a second is possible. In a packed congress hall today full of world leaders and celebrities, David Cameron and Bill Gates announced a bold campaigh to wipe out polio over the next few years.

via Davos diary: A plan to eradicate polio | The Economist.

Baby Boomers, health, healthcare:  I think we are going to be a pain in the ass!

The MIT Enterprise Forum Northwest held Boomers, Technology & Health: Consumers Taking Charge in Seattle, Washington on January 19, 2011. The event examined the role of baby boomers in future technology innovation with a special focus on health.  The organizers did more than an excellent job framing the event with speakers representing health providers, industry, technology developers and venture capital they prepared a research report based upon interviews with 50 industry and thought leaders to understand the barriers as well as opportunities for boomer-driven innovation. The report is one of the best summaries of the evolving role of baby boomers in driving innovation in health and wellness and well worth the read.

The report presents five key findings:

1. Baby Boomers Will Play a Key Role in the Adoption of Personal Connected Health

Why will baby boomers make a difference? Simply put, the baby boomers have more money, greater expectations and personal health as well as caregiving needs that will drive demand for health and wellness innovations.

2. Personal Connected Health is a Component and Enabler of a Paradigm Shift to Patient-centric Approach

The baby boomers are the leading edge and passionately vocal movement of consumers demanding patient-centric care. With 67% of the boomers having one or more chronic diseases they will seek technologies and services to manage and monitor their health – on their terms as consumers with demands, not simply as patients in need.

3. The Imminent Explosion of Personal Health Data Will Create Opportunities for Entrepreneurial Problem-solvers

Consumer demand is only one part of innovation. Technology serves as inspiration and catalyst. The report observes that the ready availability of new wireless, mobile and ubiquitous smart everything present an endless possibility of health devices and services.

4. Lasting Behavioral Change Requires Incentives and Social Support Mechanisms

As noted in other posts on disruptivedemographics.com, social media is not just for kids any more. The report authors aptly observe that Web 2.0 will be key in developing the social support necessary for healthy and lasting behaviors.

5. The Northwest has the Ingredients for the Creation of Personal Connected Health Business Ecosystem

via Disruptive Demographics: Global Aging, Technology & Innovation: Translating Global Trends into Regional Economic Opportunity: The Pacific Northwest Looks at Older Baby Boomers, Health & Technological Innovation.

Egypt Uprising, titles/headlines, Davidson, prayers:  Updates for today … have to laugh at the Huffington Post title … “A Complete Guide to the 2011 Uprising.”  Davidson has two students in Egypt this semester.  One with a Middlebury Program and he is coming home.  One in Cairo who has family in Cairo and he is staying  Prayers for all in Egypt.

As his people desert him, so do Mr Mubarak’s foreign backers. Shortly after he spoke, so did Barack Obama. He called on the Egyptian president to “give meaning” to his promises to improve the lot of the Egyptian people. For much of the crisis, the American administration has been trying hard to avoid making a choice: Mubarak is our ally but we deplore violence and are on the side of “reform”, goes the line.

Hillary Clinton has called for restraint on all sides and for the restoration of communications. She said America supported the universal rights of the Egyptians, and called for urgent political, economic and social reforms. But sitting on the fence becomes increasingly uncomfortable as events unfold, and the vibes from Washington have become distinctly colder over the past 24 hours. The private talk, increasingly, is no longer about whether Mr Mubarak should go, but who might be able to take his place if he does.

via Unrest in Egypt: Not appeased | The Economist.

-and-

Having trouble digesting all the news in Egypt? Not sure what’s going on and why it matters? Want to brush up on the key players and latest developments? Or just curious to learn more about Egypt in general?

You’ve come to the right place. The Huffington Post is aggregating our comprehensive coverage into easily-digestible nuggets below to help those who feel overwhelmed. This page is 100% human-curated. It will be fluid and changing as major developments happen, so please keep checking back. And please share it with your friends, family and colleagues.

via EGYPT: A Complete Guide To The 2011 Revolution.

-and-

What’s happening today?

A.

Today’s biggest event was a battle at the Interior Ministry. The police have sort of made it their last stand. The building is surrounded by several hundred to a thousand police. Some of the protesters were a few blocks away, surrounding some army tanks, having afternoon prayers. The soldiers had been just sitting atop their tanks, being friendly with the crowd.

The prayers were punctuated by the sounds of gunfire. When they heard the gunfire, the protesters were all begging the Army to get involved. The soldiers drove four army vehicles to the Interior Ministry to protect the protesters who were fighting the police. The protesters hid behind the army vehicles as the police fired. It was amazing.

Q.

How is it for you as a resident of Cairo?

A.

I have lived here for 10 years. When I’m covering Baghdad, I expect to hear gunfire at night. I never expected to hear it in Cairo. There was never much news in Cairo and I liked it that way. My favorite thing about Cairo, coming back from Iraq or Afghanistan, was how warm and funny the Egyptian people are.

My neighbors are deeply concerned about what’s going to happen. There are roadblocks on almost every corner, with neighborhood militias — really just six to 10 men with sticks — protecting their homes from looters. People are very nervous about security.

I love Cairo. It’s hard to see the downtown area trashed, but for the first time in 30 years, people are excited. Professionally, there’s the thrill of covering such a big story and watching a revolution. But everyone is worried about what’s going to happen next.

via Cairo Photographer Sees Hope in Turmoil: Scott Nelson Tells What It’s Like – NYTimes.com.

Apps, games:  relaxing?

iPad owners in search of a relaxing, story-based puzzler should enjoy the game play packed into Treasure Seekers 2: The Enchanted Canvases HD, the sequel to a game that ranked among the Top 10 highest-grossing games in 43 countries.

Based on a nearly 2-year-old PC game of the same name, Treasure Seekers 2 challenges you to find well-hidden objects in busy environments (think Where’s Waldo?), and use items in your inventory (or in the environment) to solve the task at hand.

via Treasure Seekers 2: Graphics impressive; adventure on the short side – USATODAY.com.

challenge: Show Us Your City: A User-Generated Video Project with a Local Point of View – NYTimes.com.

art, sculpture, exhibits, London:  Another reason to go to LOndon. 🙂

England has produced some of the greatest sculptors of the last 100 years, so it is only fitting that one of London’s most prominent galleries, the Royal Academy of Arts (Burlington House, Piccadilly; 44-207-300-8000; http://www.royalacademy.org.uk), should hold one of the first comprehensive exhibition of their work. Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth, Jacob Epstein and Anthony Caro are just a few of the major artists whose sculptures will be on display through April 7.

via In London, a Century of British Sculpture – NYTimes.com.

fashion:  I will continue to let medium ash brown work for me.

From salt-and-pepper locks to a white mane, gray hair isn’t just for men in their 50s and 60s anymore. Film stars, athletes, television personalities, even President Obama, are all rocking gray hair–and some are welcoming it.

“I think it’s the measure of maturing and growing,” said Andy Cohen the host of Bravo’s “Watch What Happens Live.” The 42-year-old first noticed his transition from dark black to slate in his late 20s, when a few silver hairs started appearing around his temples. He never had the urge to dye it, and suggests that graying men regardless of their age should wear it with confidence.

via How to Make Gray Hair Work For You – Speakeasy – WSJ.

random: Click and watch this gorilla walk … kinda creepy.

Meet Ambam, a 485-pound Western lowland gorilla who strolls around the Port Lympne Wild Animal Park in England like he owns the place. According to Phil Ridges, the park’s gorilla keeper, Ambam might walk upright to get a height advantage to look over the wall to watch for feeding time. Either that, or he’s just a shrewd self-promoter: Videos of Ambam walking have captured YouTube’s attention, with more than 1 million views.

via Viral Weekend: Watch a Gorilla Walk Like a Human – TIME NewsFeed.

1.30.2011 … Just wanted to share …

followup, birthdays, kith/kin:   My whole kith/kin family gets kudos for making me feel special …

• John planned a wonderful gathering with very special friends and my favorite comfort food … pork chops …
• Jack called and talked a long time … even recommended a book … The Ape and the Sushi Master: Cultural Reflections of a Primatologist … anybody read it?
• ET does not often remember things like his mother’s birthday … I woke up to this IM “Happy birthday on my time zone haha sorry if I woke you up” 2:00 am. Well, 2 am EST is midnight MT … He timed it exactly right … I smiled all day thinking about that.
• Molly made me a divine chocolate/coffee infused cake with cream cheese icing AND gave me the most adorable pair of bright yellow plastic J Crew shoes and party headband (my tiara) … made me feel young!
• And all my extended family called or sent me notes.
• I am blessed … thank you, thank you …

bookshelf, spirituality and faith, kith/kin:  As i mentioned above, Jack, my son who is an anthropology major, recommended this book.  Anybody read it?  It will be interesting to me to watch his spirituality/faith walk as he relates his major to his faith.

“Esteemed primatologist de Waal strikes another blow against human uniqueness as he asserts that other animals also possess culture.” — –Science News [3/10/01]

via Amazon.com: The Ape and the Sushi Master: Cultural Reflections of a Primatologist (9780465041756): Frans De Waal: Books.

 

blogposts, favorites, Tolostoy, writers, lists:  Interesting list of Tolstoy included in Gretchen Rubin‘s post.  I like her question … What are your rules?

In Henri Troyat’s biography, Tolstoy, which I haven’t been able to finish yet, because I find Tolstoy so maddening, Troyat includes an excerpt from Tolstoy’s “Rules of Life” (I’m still trying to get my hands on the whole list). Tolstoy wrote these rules when he was eighteen years old:

Get up early (five o’clock)

Go to bed early (nine to ten o’clock)

Eat little and avoid sweets

Try to do everything by yourself

Have a goal for your whole life, a goal for one section of your life, a goal for a shorter period and a goal for the year; a goal for every month, a goal for every week, a goal for every day, a goal for every hour and for evry minute, and sacrifice the lesser goal to the greater

Keep away from women

Kill desire by work

Be good, but try to let no one know it

Always live less expensively than you might

Change nothing in your style of living even if you become ten times richer

Apart from the specifics of this particular list, I’m always interested to see when great minds take this approach. Taking the time to write your resolutions, or your personal manifesto, is an endeavor that can help us be more aware of the elements of a happy life. Everyone’s list of rules would be different; certainly Tolstoy’s list reflects him.

via 10 “Rules of Life” from Tolstoy. What Are Your Rules? (1).

 

‎1.29.2011 … it’s (LI)beration Day! … thank you all (that’s y’all for those of you who know me well) for the kind birthday wishes … I wish I could share it in person with each and every one of you. You are special to me.

birthdays, me, Facebook: Being connected made for a nice birthday … loved hearing from friends near and far.  So for all social networking’s disadvantages, it certainly does make birthdays nice.

Egyptian Uprising, culture, me:  As I have said before, I feel for the people when I know the people.  I do not know Egypt or its people, so I do not respond emotionally … but I respond emotionally to the destruction of their history and cultural heritage.  I see this as even stronger argument for sending our youth abroad to as many cultures as possible.  It can only make the world a better place.

Looters broke into the Egyptian Museum during anti-government protests late Friday and destroyed two Pharaonic mummies, Egypt’s top archaeologist told state television.

The museum in central Cairo, which has the world’s biggest collection of Pharaonic antiquities, is adjacent to the headquarters of the ruling National Democratic Party that protesters had earlier set ablaze. Flames were seen still pouring out of the party headquarters early Saturday.

“I felt deeply sorry today when I came this morning to the Egyptian Museum and found that some had tried to raid the museum by force last night,” Zahi Hawass, chairman of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, said Saturday.

“Egyptian citizens tried to prevent them and were joined by the tourism police, but some (looters) managed to enter from above and they destroyed two of the mummies,” he said.

He added looters had also ransacked the ticket office.

The two-storey museum, built in 1902, houses tens of thousands of objects in its galleries and storerooms, including most of the King Tutankhamen collection.

via Looters destroy mummies in Egyptian Museum: official – Yahoo! News.

followup, restaurants, coffee houses, art galleries,  FABO, Charlotte: As an early birthday celebration a good friend took me to a new place, FABO in Myers Park on Selwyn  … I’ll go again … Want to join me?

FABO, a locally owned coffee shop and art gallery, offers work from over 50 local artists in many mediums including jewelry, pottery and paintings. Our coffee shop features artisan coffee with fresh roasted beans and delectable goodies created by local food artists Tizzerts and Edible Arts.

Something is always changing at FABO – so come by often!

via FABO Cafe.

 

1.28.2011 … this is a do you remember where you were when day …

Challenger, NASA, do you remember where you were you when …: I was out of the country on vacation and did not find out about the crash until I was returning and saw the headlines in the airport.  I was devastated … and when I returned home to Charlotte our own newspaper’s cartoonist had drawn this cartoon.  It says it all …

via Google Image Result for http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/marlette2.jpg.

When I went to the Kennedy Space Center on January 28, 1986, to cover the launch of the space shuttle Challenger, I was expecting it to be routine, like the launches I had covered in the past. The only thing different this time was the excitement that surrounded the first teacher-turned-astronaut, Christa McAuliffe.

…

It was brutally cold, and the weather caused the launch to slip several times during the morning. Just before launch, I walked down to the countdown clock, as was tradition among the journalists, and waited for liftoff. I remember that typical winter clear-blue sky as Challenger took off.

That was the beginning of monthslong coverage of what was at the time the worst disaster in NASA history. I will never forget that image. When I close my eyes, I can see what I once thought looked like fireworks: the Challenger and its crew gone in 73 seconds. The nightmares I had of space shuttles exploding finally ended, but it took several years.

via Zarrella on 25 years ago: ‘We realized that something was really wrong’ – This Just In – CNN.com Blogs.

Egypt Uprising:  First Tunisia, now Egypt.  I don’t think I will ever understand this part of the world … but I will keep reading.

The basics: Egypt is a large, mostly Arab, mostly Muslim country. At around 80 million people, it has the largest population in the Middle East and the third-largest in Africa. Most of Egypt is in North Africa, although the part of the country that borders Israel, the Sinai peninsula, is in Asia. Its other neighbors are Sudan (to the South), Libya (to the West), and Saudi Arabia (across the Gulf of Aqaba to the East). It has been ruled by Hosni Mubarak since 1981.

What’s happening? Inspired by the recent protests that led to the fall of the Tunisian government and the ousting of longtime Tunisian dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, Egyptians have joined other protesters across the Arab world (in Algeria, notably) in protesting their autocratic governments, high levels of corruption, and grinding poverty. In Egypt, tens of thousands of protesters have taken to the streets. Here’s a photo of one of the protests in Cairo, the capital (via Twitter):

via What’s Happening in Egypt Explained. (UPDATED).

hobbies, kith/kin, random, country boy guitars: I understand making cigar box guitars is my brother-in-law’s new hobby.  I am glad I married into an artsy family!

Playing the guitar and smoking have many things in common, all of which center around you looking cool as hell. Combining the two for maximum awesome: Country Boy Guitars.

via Country Boy Guitars | Thrillist.

media:  thought this kinda fun … YouTube – Life in a Day Teaser #1: Slim Up.

“A lot of the attraction (to the documentary) is you couldn’t do this more than five years ago,” McDonald said.

The movie started when YouTube approached Scott Free Productions, Ridley Scott’s (Alien, Black Hawk Down) production company, and asked if they wanted to collaborate on a project. Scott approached McDonald, who came up with the idea of a collective documentary using user submitted videos filmed all on the same day edited to make a cohesive film. McDonald said he drew inspiration from Nikita Mikhalkov, specifically his movie Anna: From Six Til Eighteen – a documentary where the filmmaker asked his daughter the same questions on her birthday each year to show the historical changes during her life, and Humphrey Jennings, who was doing crowdsourced projects as early as the 20th century.

via Life In A Day YouTube Crowdsourced Documentary – Techland – TIME.com.

prayers, parenting: Just liked this one …

“May God grant us parents the patience and wisdom to guide our children.”

…

But it is the phrase “to guide our children” that has always struck me the most. She doesn’t say “raise” our children. Guiding is really what we parents do. We cannot control our children’s actions, only guide them. Whether it’s toilet training or teaching about drugs and alcohol, it is the cumulative efforts of the explaining, demonstrating, lecturing, punishing, laughing and crying we do with our children (plus the occasional paper airplane confiscation) that guides them.

via A Parent’s Prayer.

college, Duke, raising/guiding daughters, parenting, culture: A friend posted this on FB … it is one of the most unsettling articles I have ever read.  I hate it for this woman, for all women, for all college students, for Duke, for all colleges.  There is nothing good about this story.  Makes me think about the prayer above … we aren’t doing a very good job at raising our children … we need  God’s help to guide them.

But the 42 slides of Owen’s report on her “horizontal academics” are so dense with narrative detail, bits of dialogue, descriptions of people and places, and reproduced text-message conversations that they are a chore to read. It’s as though two impulses are at war with one another: the desire to recount her sexual experiences in a hyper-masculine way—marked by locker-room crudeness and PowerPoint efficiency—fighting against the womanly desire to luxuriate in the story of it all.

via The Hazards of Duke – Magazine – The Atlantic.

travel, frugal travel: Good advice.  I have noticed that fares are better on Tuesday!

When’s the best time to buy? Travel experts have long said Tuesday is when sales are most often in place, which is true. An analysis of domestic fares shows that Wednesday also has good—and occasionally better—ticket prices.

Though prices fluctuate frequently and the ups and downs of airline prices can frustrate and anger consumers, airline pricing actually does follow a cycle during the week. Many sales, in which some seats are discounted by 15% to 25% typically, are launched Monday night. That was true again this week when AirTran Airways launched a sale to all its destinations. Competitors typically match the lower prices Tuesday morning. By Thursday or Friday, many sales have already expired.

via Whatever You Do, Don’t Buy an Airline Ticket On … – WSJ.com.

1.27.2011 … Felt like I was in the blue soup scene of Bridget Jones’ Diary last night. :)

metaphorically speaking, movies, me, recipes: So why did I feel like I was in the blue soup scene of Bridget Jones’ Diary last night.? Well …. I was cooking pecan encrusted trout over sautéed cabbage and red peppers with an orange/ wine/ cream sauce. Everything was measured and laid out … Ready for cooking and assembly. I left to run an errand and John came in, called and offered to start cooking. And there the problem began. He never follows a recipe and he threw all the sauce ingredients in the pot. No, boil the wine, orange juice etc down to 1/2 cup, strain, add butter piece by piece then stir in cream. You get the picture. BTW, it was actually quite good. But the sauce was not a cream sauce.  Here is the recipe:  Pecan-Crusted Trout with Orange-Rosemary Butter Sauce Recipe at Epicurious.com.

 

random, literary figures, Ayn Rand, politics:  Don’t know if it is true, but interesting nonetheless …

Critics of Social Security and Medicare frequently invoke the words and ideals of author and philosopher Ayn Rand, one of the fiercest critics of federal insurance programs. But a little-known fact is that Ayn Rand herself collected Social Security. She may also have received Medicare benefits.

via Ayn Rand Received Social Security, Medicare | Patia Stephens ~ Missoula, Montana.

random, restaurants, health:  😦 Check Out The Awesome Meals You Can Buy At McDonald’s Around The World.

college, students:

The emotional health of college freshmen — who feel buffeted by the recession and stressed by the pressures of high school — has declined to the lowest level since an annual survey of incoming students started collecting data 25 years ago.

In the survey, “The American Freshman: National Norms Fall 2010,” involving more than 200,000 incoming full-time students at four-year colleges, the percentage of students rating themselves as “below average” in emotional health rose. Meanwhile, the percentage of students who said their emotional health was above average fell to 52 percent. It was 64 percent in 1985.

Every year, women had a less positive view of their emotional health than men, and that gap has widened.

Campus counselors say the survey results are the latest evidence of what they see every day in their offices — students who are depressed, under stress and using psychiatric medication, prescribed even before they came to college.

via College Freshmen Stress Levels High, Survey Finds – NYTimes.com.

people, Nelson Mandela:  Get well soon.

Former South African President Nelson Mandela’s night in the hospital has reignited speculation about his health, illustrating his pull over a country where he helped end white-minority rule and usher in a new democratic beginning.

The 92-year-old anti-apartheid activist was admitted Wednesday to a Johannesburg hospital and was still there Thursday for tests, according to statements. His stay drew a stream of well-wishers and provoked official jabs at the South African media for covering it so intensely.

The Nelson Mandela Foundation, his official charity, called the tests “routine.” The foundation added that Mr. Mandela was in “no danger and is in good spirits.” The African National Congress, the party that was once banned in South Africa and later helped Mr. Mandela win the 1994 presidential elections, appealed to the media to refrain from “unfounded and unwarranted speculation.” South Africa’s current president, Jacob Zuma, who was in Davos attending the World Economic Forum, asked that Mr. Mandela’s family be given “space to support him in privacy.”

via In Hospital, Mandela Draws a Crowd – WSJ.com.

random: My favorite states have these qualities: the lowest teacher pay,  the most sickly, the highest cancer rate and  the most robberies.

 

Why Your State Sucks: The Great American Map of Fail – TIME NewsFeed.

FPC:  Our interim pastor introduced himself with these words.  I think I will like him.  Welcome, Roland!

I expect and hope to preach as well as I can. It is probably
my greatest expectation as an interim, just as it was for over forty years as a called and installed pastor. But let me warn you (that word runs together; it is not spelled w-a-m; rather it is spelled w-a-r-n). I rarely preach a three point sermon. Most of my sermons do not have a point at all. That is not an attempt at humor. I am serious.
Rather than points one, two and three, I attempt to let the movement of the text push and pull the oral sermon along. The sermon has been written out in full manuscript form a couple of weeks before the preaching event. However, the written manuscript has been left in the office I occupy temporarily. I strive to be alive to and aware of the movement within the worshipping congregation as well as the text. Plus a lot takes place in the life of our world between the finishing and preaching of a sermon. And I trust we will be interacting to one another on intellectual and emotional levels.
Someone once asked me if I would begin summarizing the sermon as I finish the sermonmic effort. I do not do summaries. Summaries take all the lingering and whispering of God’s Spirit off to somewhere else. I expect you to finish  the sermon on the way home, at work the next day, or sometime much later on. You do your own summaries and finish the sermon in the best way you can to deepen your faith.
That is one of my expectations. What’s yours?

Roland

via the January 30, 2011 First News  First Presbyterian Church in Charlotte, NC.

The Reverend Roland P. Perdue III

Interim Senior Minister

Email: rperdue@ firstpres-charlotte.org

The Rev. Roland P. Perdue III grew up in Georgia and now calls Texas home, but he has strong ties to North Carolina. He and his wife, Jane, met while they attended UNC-Chapel Hill. After graduating from Columbia Seminar, Pastor Perdue served as Solo Pastor, Campus Pastor and Senior Pastor for congregations in Georgia, Texas, Florida and Michigan. Over the past 10 years, he has served as Interim Senior Minister for a variety of congregations including Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church in New York, First Presbyterian Church in Nashville, and most recently, White Memorial Presbyterian in Raleigh.

via First Presbyterian Church in Charlotte, NC.

1.26.2011 … still raining …

Pinky’s, Amelie, restaurants, Charlotte, followup:  Great lunch with my great friend.  I will say this … I prefer the old Penguin to Pinky’s,  and I highly recommend Amelie’s for coffee and dessert.  However I have heard that the view of Charlotte  on a nice evening is wonderful from Pinky’s … not much on a cold, rainy, wintry day.

World Economic Forum, bucket list: The WEF is 40 years old … I would like to go.  It’s added to my bucket list.

Leaders in business, politics and academia from around the world will gather in Davos, Switzerland, this week to try to rescue the planet. It’s a safe bet that, for the 41st year in a row, they will fail.

Even if it were possible to save the world in five days, the list of global problems just keeps getting longer — to the point where Klaus Schwab, founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum, is worried.

…

Ruben Vardanian, chief executive of Troika Dialog, an investment bank based in Moscow, said that Davos offered a place where people from emerging markets could meet on equal terms with counterparts from the United States and Europe.

“We didn’t go to the same universities, we are not members of the same golf clubs,” Mr. Vardanian said, explaining why Davos was still relevant. “For me, being head of the bank and trying to connect Russia to the Western world, it’s one of the best platforms.”

via Expanded List of Problems Awaits World Leaders at Davos – NYTimes.com.

Global businesses must play a role in raising global living standards, says BT CEO Ian Livingston via video at WEF

YouTube – Ian Livingston CEO BT Group: Globalisation 3.0 World Economic Forum, Davos, 2011.

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icaVOPZGUgc]

statistics, economics:  These are amazing statistics.

Which countries match the GDP and population of America’s states?

IT HAS long been true that California on its own would rank as one of the biggest economies of the world. These days, it would rank eighth, falling between Italy and Brazil on a nominal exchange-rate basis. But how do other American states compare with other countries? Taking the nearest equivalent country from 2009 data reveals some surprises. Who would have thought that, despite years of auto-industry hardship, the economy of Michigan is still the same size as Taiwan’s?

via Comparing US states with countries: US equivalents | The Economist.

technology, culture: interesting … “Maybe it’s because constant digital communication between dates increases a sense of intimacy, and makes even days-old relationships seem longer or more intense.”

Does your heart skip when your phone buzzes with a message from your new flame? If a new survey is to be believed, all those texts and late-night Facebook chats might lead you into the bedroom faster too.

In the survey of 1,200 men and women by Shape and Men’s Fitness magazines, nearly 80% of women and 58% of men said they believed that using social media tools with new partners leads to sex sooner, according to a recent Reuters article. (More on Time.com: An Evolutionary Explanation for Altruism: Girls Find It Sexy)

Maybe it’s because constant digital communication between dates increases a sense of intimacy, and makes even days-old relationships seem longer or more intense. Or maybe it’s because lovey-dovey text messages (or sexting, more likely) amps up anticipation and paves the way to the bedroom sooner.

But regardless of what they said they believed about digital communication hastening sex, only 38% of women said they had actually slept a partner sooner than they otherwise would have, because of a textual relationship.

via Survey: Do Texting and Facebook Chatting Ease the Way to Sex? – TIME Healthland.

followup, childhood,Disney Princesses, culture:  I am getting more of her point … it is not so much the fairy tale stories as it is the mass marketing to our girls. Not much different from mass marketing to our children sugary snacks/cereals and obesity.

“It’s not that princesses can’t expand girls’ imaginations,” Orenstein explains. “But in today’s culture, princess starts to turn into something else. It’s not just being the fairest of them all, it’s being the hottest of them all, the most Paris Hilton of them all, the most Kim Kardashian of them all.” Translation: shallow, narcissistic, slutty.

…

Orenstein is the first to admit she’s not a perfect parent. But her advice to others is to pride yourself on saying no. “People have said to me, ‘Don’t you feel like you’re brainwashing your daughter because you’re not giving her the choice of what she consumes?’ ” Orenstein says. “But there’s not really a choice. Disney isn’t giving you a choice.” Being a princess may seem simple. But raising one takes a whole lot of brains.

via ‘Cinderella Ate My Daughter’: Are Princesses Bad for Girls’ Self-Esteem? – Newsweek.

economic history, the dollar:

THE dollar’s ascendance to the rank of world’s most important currency is often remembered as having been slow and gradual, mirroring the decline of sterling and Britain’s historic economic dominance. In fact, it was surprisingly swift. From a standing start in 1914, the dollar had overtaken sterling in international importance by 1925. The first world war played a part, but so did a lesser-known factor. America had surpassed Britain as the world’s largest economic power as early as 1870, but it had a stunted financial system: its banks could not open branches abroad, it had no central bank and panics were common. All these things discouraged international use of the dollar.

via The rise and fall of the dollar: Go with the flows | The Economist.

youth, altruism, community service, Davidson: I have not given a swab … but I will.  Be The Match , Archive » Celebrating 20 years of student commitment to saving lives.

redemption, second chances: I do believe in second chances.

Vick has signed his first paid endorsement contract since his release from prison. The Philadelphia Eagles’ Pro Bowl quarterback inked a two-year contract with Unequal Technologies, a provider of the football pads Vick wore most of last season.

via Michael Vick gets first paid endorsement since dogfighting arrest – NFL – SI.com.

faith and spirituality, forgiveness, Henri Nowen:

Forgiveness, the Way to Freedom

To forgive another person from the heart is an act of liberation. We set that person free from the negative bonds that exist between us. We say, “I no longer hold your offense against you” But there is more. We also free ourselves from the burden of being the “offended one.” As long as we do not forgive those who have wounded us, we carry them with us or, worse, pull them as a heavy load. The great temptation is to cling in anger to our enemies and then define ourselves as being offended and wounded by them. Forgiveness, therefore, liberates not only the other but also ourselves. It is the way to the freedom of the children of God.

via January 26, 2011 – Forgiveness, the Way to Freedom.

new blog, SOTU: Another blog to follow.  I like her style very much … even if I do not agree with her.  She did a nice job on the SOTU speech last night.  Althouse.

Ann Althouse

I’m a law professor… and sometimes I write about law.

via Althouse: law.

public art, change, Charlotte:  I’m mad.  I do not like change.  I find the airport Queen Charlotte amusing and welcoming … she’s certainly not pretty!

Queen Charlotte must find a new home after more than 20 years greeting travelers from a cast stone column at the front of Charlotte Douglas International Airport’s terminal.

Airport Director Jerry Orr says expansion plans for the airport have forced the move of the 16-foot-tall bronze statue from her 25-foot-high perch.

Queens Table — an anonymous group of donors — commissioned the work in the late 1980s from sculptor Raymond Kaskey. That’s the same artist who cast the statues marking the four corners of The Square in uptown (also a donation from the Queens Table).

via Queen Charlotte statue departing from airport terminal | Charlotte Business Journal.

Supreme Court, SOTU, history: After the 2010 SOTU, I am amazed any of the conservative justices are going … and a  little history of this “issue.”

There is little question that the four members of the court’s liberal wing — Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen B. Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan — will attend. Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, the court’s swing justice, attended there last year, and he is likely to be on hand again Tuesday night.

And Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. has apparently concluded that his distaste for last year’s address, which

he called a “political pep rally,” was not reason enough to stay away. He may have concluded that the court’s reputation as an avowedly apolitical institution would be harmed should only the court’s more liberal justices attend.

via Six Justices to Attend State of the Union – NYTimes.com.

Back in the day when his predecessor, Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, stopped attending (he explained his first absence by saying that the speech conflicted with a weekly painting class he was taking) nobody much noticed or cared – one more indication that today’s political world is more complex and more toxic. 

via Thread of the Union – NYTimes.com.

App, IRS: For some reason I am not sure I want the IRS App on my phone … giving the IRS my personal data.

The free IRS2Go phone app, which works with iPhone or Android phones, allows taxpayers to check the status of their tax refund and obtain tax tips.

“As technology evolves and younger taxpayers get their information in new ways, we will keep innovating to make it easy for all taxpayers to access helpful information,” IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman said in a statement Monday.

via IRS Announces Tax Refund ‘App’ for iPhone – WSJ.com.

Apple:  I am glad I know someone with Apple stock.

The take home message from this report and others is that Apple is thriving. Even with Steve Jobs on a leave of absence, the Cupertino company has a team of executives that are second to none, and they will continue to develop innovative and inspiring products worthy of the Apple name.

via The significance of Apple’s earnings call numbers.

Great Recession, Financial Meltdown, compensation:  Doesn’t sound like much has changed … Viewpoints: Has Compensation Changed? – Video Library – The New York Times.

quotes, BSF Isaiah:  From last week’s lesson (Lesson 16), this is my favorite quote:

Isaiah 40

Comfort for God’s People

³ A voice of one calling:
“In the wilderness prepare
the way for the LORD^[a];
make straight in the desert
a highway for our God.^[b]
4 Every valley shall be raised up,
every mountain and hill made low;
the rough ground shall become level,
the rugged places a plain.
⁵ And the glory of the LORD will be revealed,
and all people will see it together.
For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”

1.25.2011 … Isaiah Study … then lunch with a special friend … focusing on Yahweh Shalom …

followup, ChristCare, faith/spirituality:  Great discussion of I Am The Good Shepherd by Stan Kellner – http://www.angelfire.com/jazz/karen_trust/IAM/Shepherd.html … I definitely am in a period of focusing on God as

Jehovah My Peace—Yahweh Shalom. Jesus’ shalom during this process is enabling me to find quiet meadows and waters of rest, especially as my anxious spirit wells up inside me. He speaks words of comfort and hope into my turmoil:

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

—Mt. 11:28-30

via Discipleship Journal Archives :: I Am The Good Shepherd.

Jekyll Island GA, travel, GA, Childhood, history:  Saw this today on Facebook and just remember being fascinated by this plastic box that contained an old-fashioned phone where “THE first transcontinental phone call” was made … whatever that was!

This first call was made during the 1915 opening ceremony which consisted of a four-way call between Jekyll Island, Washington D.C., New York City, and San Francisco.

via FIRST Transcontinental Telephone Call – Jekyll Island, Georgia – First of its Kind on Waymarking.com.

Atlanta History Center

On this day in 1915, the first public transcontinental telephone call was placed from Jekyll Island, GA by AT&T president Theodore Vail.

via Facebook.

Supreme Court, Justice Clarence Thomas: I always thought ignorantia juris non excusat (Latin for “ignorance of the law does not excuse” ) … Thomas Says He Erred on Disclosure Forms – NYTimes.com.

culture, Disney Princesses: I think I took the approach that the Barbie/Disney Princess/ pink phase was just that a phase that most girls went through … and would pass.

Orenstein finds one such enlightening explanation in developmental psychology research showing that until as late as age 7, children are convinced that external signs — clothing, hairstyle, favorite color, choice of toys — determine one’s sex. “It makes sense, then, that to ensure you will stay the sex you were born you’d adhere rigidly to the rules as you see them and hope for the best,” she writes. “That’s why 4-year-olds, who are in what is called ‘the inflexible stage,’ become the self- appointed chiefs of the gender police. Suddenly the magnetic lure of the Disney Princesses became more clear to me: developmentally speaking, they were genius, dovetailing with the precise moment that girls need to prove they are girls, when they will latch on to the most exaggerated images their culture offers in order to stridently shore up their femininity.” For a preschool girl, a Cinderella dress is nothing less than an existential insurance policy, a crinolined bulwark to fortify a still-shaky sense of identity.

via Book Review – Cinderella Ate My Daughter – By Peggy Orenstein – NYTimes.com.

new blog: Just discovered this weekly NYT blog on Civil War history … very good.

The story of the Civil War will be told in this series as a weekly roundup and analysis, by Jamie Malanowski, of events making news during the corresponding week 150 years ago. Written as if in real time, this dispatch will, after this week, appear every Monday. Additional essays and observations by other contributors, along with maps, images, diaries and so forth, will be published several times a week. For another perspective on the war, see this op-ed by Tony Horwitz. — The Editors

via DISUNION – Opinionator Blog – NYTimes.com.

GA history:  … and this week’s Disunion blog is on Georgia’s decision to secede.  Showdown in Georgia – NYTimes.com.

quotes, Margaret Mitchell:

“In a weak moment, I have written a book.” − Margaret Mitchell.

via http://www.atlantahistorycenter.com/pr_view.asp?id=47

Billy Graham, evangelism, Charlotte:  Good article on Billy Graham … he regrets close connections to politics.

“[S]uccess is always dangerous, and we need to be alert and avoid becoming the victims of our own success. Will we influence the world for Christ, or will the world influence us?”

via Billy Graham’s Regret: ‘I Would Have Steered Clear of Politics’.

Supreme Court, LOL, culture: This story analyses Sup. Ct. transcripts to determine which justice has the best sense of humor by the number of “(Laughter.)” responses recorded …

On the other hand, there was surely an intended sting in the best line of the term so far, from the generally dour Justice Alito. In an argument over a law barring the sale of violent video games to minors, Justice Scalia asked what the drafters of the First Amendment thought about government restrictions on depictions of violence.

“I think what Justice Scalia wants to know,” Justice Alito said, “is what James Madison thought about video games.”

“(Laughter.)”

via Study Analyzes Laughs at Supreme Court – NYTimes.com.

Children’s/YA literature, Eric Carle, art history:  I am a big fan of Eric Carle since my son Edward slept with his Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? for the almost two years.  So this book sounds very interesting.

In October, children’s author Eric Carle will publish The Artist Who Painted a Blue Horse, a book inspired by the work of “banned Expressionist painters” the author first encountered as a student in World War II-era Germany.Although he has written over 70 books, Carle pictured, via is best known for two classic titles: The Very Hungry Caterpillar and Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? Scheduled for publication in October 2011, Penguin Young Readers Group’s Philomel imprint has planned a first printing of 300,000 copies.Here’s more from the release: “[The book] is  inspired by the work of the great Expressionist painter Franz Marc, a founder of the artists’ group known as Der Blaue Reiter The Blue Rider, who famously used abstract blue horses in his paintings. Eric Carle’s new book tells the story of an artist who paints the world as he sees it—a red crocodile, an orange elephant, a purple fox, a black polar bear. His brilliant new work will captivate and educate readers with its colorful and magical story of Expressionist art and the imaginative leaps of a painter.”

via Eric Carle to Publish Children’s Book Inspired by Formerly Banned Expressionist Art – GalleyCat.

If I had a billion dollars: Enough said, I would buy this old house.

This home on King Street in the historic district was built by ODonnell over the period of 1852-1870. He was building the house for his bride but he took so long finishing the job that his fiancé married another. The home was once lived in by the women who inspired the character of Melanie in Margaret Mitchells Gone with the Wind. The home has an 18th century Venetian palazzo exterior with a cross-ventilated New York brownstone interior and wide Charleston-style porches. The home has been beautifully restored. Details to swoon for include random width heart pine floors, heavy moldings and ceiling medallions, 11 fireplaces with faux marble mantles, French doors and an antique elevator.

via Historic Patrick ODonnell House Gets Big Price Cut.

1.24.2011 … coffee with friends then ChristCare where we will discuss I Am The Good Shepherd by Stan Kellner

ChristCare, curriculum:  I Am The Good Shepherd  by Stan Kellner – http://www.angelfire.com/jazz/karen_trust/IAM/Shepherd.html

random, Mark Twain:  New autobiography revives careers for Mark Twain impersonators.  But you have to have the mustache!  Mark Twain Impersonators Gain Popularity – NYTimes.com.

literature, southern literature, Elizabeth Musser, Atlanta:  I am a little miffed they left out our own Elizabeth Goldsmith Musser … given the setting for the photo shoot. Do you think it is because of the genre she writes .. Christian historical fiction …

Is there a book club in America that hasn’t yet thrilled to The Help? Kathryn Stockett’s debut novel has lasted some 22 months on the New York Times hardcover fiction list—and will soon be a DreamWorks movie. “Kitty” Stockett far right, in fact, is leading a new wave of southern female writers who might look like belles but who write fearlessly about the region’s troubled legacies of race, class, gender, and sexuality. Typically, these women left the South in their 20s, heading for New York, Chicago, or San Francisco. But in time they came home. And they’re now turning Atlanta into the most vibrant new literary scene outside of Brooklyn.

via Belles, Books, And Candor | Culture | Vanity Fair.

movies, memorable phrases:

Have we heard the last (truly memorable) word from Hollywood?

Probably not, but it’s been a while since the movies had everybody parroting a great line.

via We’re missing lines that had us at ‘hello’ – CharlotteObserver.com.

LOL, random, products, design, Daniel Pink:  Saw this in the Petco flyer last week … maybe it is just me but I think it is LOL hysterical.  But really it is just a ball … with a design element to humor the humans.  So would you pay $12 for the equivalent of a used tennis ball to the dog?  I wonder if this product meets Daniel Pink’s definition of elegant design?  If you don’t know about Daniel Pink … check out the blog post about him which contains an interview.

Amazon.com: Moody Pet Humunga Stache Ball Dog Toy: Patio, Lawn & Garden.

“Design Thinking is solving problems in elegant ways” – Daniel Pink

via Elegant Design For Your Whole New Mind | Life In Perpetual Beta.

technology, culture, Jane Austen, bookshelf:  Another book that will be getting a great deal of commentary!

What I’m against is a kind of technological promiscuity, where that technology, so perfect in that [Abu Dhabi] circumstance, is the technology you think is perfect for people to bring into a board meeting, when they need to be working on a problem together. In that case it’s not the technology of choice. They’re not physically present with the people they need to bond with and deeply connect with, and need to make very consequential decisions with. I hate the metaphor of addiction: it implies we have to get it away, give it away, wean off. This is great stuff. It’s not heroin. It’s just something we need to learn to use when most appropriate, powerful, and in our best interest.

…

You mention how when people see the little red light on their BlackBerry, indicating a message has arrived, they feel utterly compelled to grab it. Do you personally experience that compulsion?

I recognize it with my email. Somebody said of email, “It’s the place for hope in life.” It reminds me of how in Jane Austen, carriages are always coming, you’re waiting, it could be Mr. Bingley’s invitation to a ball. There’s some sense that the post is always arriving in Jane Austen. There’s something about email that carries the sense that that’s where the good news will come. I did a hysterical interview with an accountant about why he felt so strongly about his texts. He said he might get a Genius award! I said, “I don’t think they give those to accountants.” And he said, “But you know what I mean.” He was trying to express that anything could happen on email. Anything could happen! I try to figure out what it is that this little red light means to people. I think it’s that place for hope and change and the new, and what can be different, and how things can be what they’re not now. And I think we all want that.

via “Alone Together”: An MIT Professor’s New Book Urges Us to Unplug.

women, politics, stereotypes:  A strong American woman is stereotyped a cowgirl … interesting article.

America has no tales of Amazons or of Atalanta; our national narrative does not chronicle the defeat of an armada by a virgin queen nor a teenage Joan leading her army into battle. American history includes no Cleopatras or Hatshepsuts; no Trung Sisters, who defended Vietnam from the Chinese in the first century; and no Catherines, great or otherwise. The mythos of our founding revolves entirely around fathers, save for the seamstress Betsy Ross and the querulous spouse Abigail Adams.

What we do have, to serve as the foundational fantasy of female strength and individualism we’ve agreed upon as embodying American power, are cowgirls: Annie Oakley, Calamity Jane, the outlaws, frontier women and pioneers who pushed West, shot sharp, talked tough and sometimes drew blood. Frontier womanhood has emerged as one of the only historically American models of aspirational femininity available to girls — passive princesses and graceful ballerinas not being native to this land — and one of the only blueprints for commanding female comportment in which they are regularly encouraged to invest or to mimic.

via Only Cowgirls Run for Office – NYTimes.com.

blogposts, economy, Great Recession, future, quotes, Mark Twain:  Again, my favorite Presbyterian minister blogger takes two articles I noted and pulls them together to say what I wish I had said … I wish I had his quick mind!  And of course he quotes my favorite … Mark Twain. Thanks, Jim

Mark Twain said it best:

Reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.

Religious people know this to be true. I am not referring to resurrection (a dimension of Christian faith, for sure) but to religious belief as a general phenomenon. Belief is a dynamic reality. It impacts attitude, instills confidence, generates hope, impels certain actions. Of these there is not a lot of confidence and hope to be found in the usual portrait of our country’s health these days. If you believe we are dying, die we will. The truth is very different though.

The USA remains a genuine heavyweight. Time to start fighting like one. Fighting, that is, not with anyone, but against despair and resignation.

“It ain’t over till it’s over” and it ain’t over!

via Not dead yet « Hopelens Blog.

blogpost, media, religion, prayers: So my other favorite Presbyterian minister blogger … the younger … nails this one in my opinion.  I will use his prayer this week!  Thanks, Marthame!

There are those who say that the church is in the midst of a historical moment unlike any since the Protestant Reformation. And just as the “new media” of the printing press made Martin Luther possible, our world is being changed daily by new technologies and new ways of communicating. Is it time for the church to, dare I say, “change”?

In some ways, we have been standing by the shore, doing what our ancestors have taught us, faithfully tossing our nets into the sea, pulling in a catch, and doing it all over again. And as uprooting as it might be, maybe we need to listen for that voice of Jesus telling us to leave all that behind.

…

Time for a Change.

NYC, change, travel:  Maybe I better get there soon!

CBGB, the birthplace of punk rock, is gone. No longer can visitors to Coney Island plunk down a few coins to play the unsettling attraction called “Shoot the Freak.” And seedy, edgy, anything-might-happen Times Square? These days, it’s all but childproof.It continues: That diner on the corner for decades — closed. The beer garden down the street — now a Starbucks. The block once home to clusters of independent businesses — thriving as a big-box store.

And last month, another piece of the old New York slipped away with the demise of the city’s Off-Track Betting parlors. It’s enough to make old-school New Yorkers bristle.

Around countless corners, the weird, unexpected, edgy, grimy New York — the town that so many looked to for so long as a relief from cookie-cutter America — has evolved into something else entirely: tamed, prepackaged, even predictable.

“What draws people to New York is its uniqueness. So when something goes, people feel sad about it,” says Suzanne Wasserman, director of the Gotham Center for New York City History at the City University of New York.

“I think that’s also part of the New York character,” she says, “that ‘Things were better when …'”

Change is constant, and few cities change faster than New York. But at what cost? Where is the line between progress and lost distinctiveness?

via As edgy NYC disappears, does its character go too?  | ajc.com.

gardens:  I friend told me about this.  I am putting it on my 2011 calendar for November!  Thanks, Maxwell for the idea.

Begin with a container. Plant an array of bulbs in layers now, and flowers will appear at intervals throughout spring. Think of the tiny irises as appetizers to the season, followed by the grape hyacinths. Next, delight in miniature narcissus. Build up to a feast of large daffodils. Then, as the icing on the cake, finish with a topping of violas that bloom from fall through late spring. The best part is that prep time takes less than 30 minutes.

Instant Miniature Bulb Garden – SouthernLiving.com.

Norwich England, Great Britain, sense of place, travel, bucket list:  OK, so I loved Norwich from this article.  It seems to have a real sense of place.  I am adding it to my list.  How could you not be intriqued by a place described as a book lovers/writers paradise  and this ““I love the emptiness and the atmosphere,” he said. “The scenery is quite unique. There is that feeling of being in a lost corner.””

Norwich, a two-hour train ride northeast from London, has increasingly become a refuge for writers fleeing the hectic pace of the capital’s publishing scene. At first glance it appears to be just another charming medieval town, with a fantastically preserved castle and a 900-year-old cathedral. But look a little deeper and you’ll notice the wellspring of author readings and literary festivals, featuring recent talks by Booker Prize winners like John Banville and Penelope Lively.

The comfy cafes within the town’s narrow old lanes are full of aspiring writers pecking away at laptops, dreaming of becoming the next Ian McEwan or Kazuo Ishiguro, both of whom got their start here at the University of East Anglia’s esteemed creative writing master’s program.

Mr. Ishiguro was so struck by Norwich and its surrounding county that he used it as inspiration for his 2005 novel “Never Let Me Go” (though the book was actually set in East Sussex, the 2010 movie adaptation was largely filmed in Norfolk County, home to Norwich). “I love the emptiness and the atmosphere,” he said. “The scenery is quite unique. There is that feeling of being in a lost corner.”

via Norwich, England, a Book-Lover’s Town – NYTimes.com.

green:  I knew it was coming.  Duke Power is giving customers a dozen bulbs for free.  I am interested to see if they really cut my bill.

The brightest bulb in most homes for more than a century is fading toward darkness this year as California turns out the light on the century-old incandescent.

Beginning Jan. 1, the state began phasing out certain energy-sucking bulbs, federal standards the rest of the country will enact next year.

Manufacturers will no longer make the traditional 100-watt bulb and stores will eventually sell out of current supplies. Consumers will have to choose from more efficient bulbs that use no more than 72 watts, including halogen incandescents, compact fluorescents and light-emitting diode, or LED, bulbs.

“These standards will help cut our nation’s electric bill by over $10 billion a year and will save the equivalent electricity as 30 large power plants,” said Noah Horowitz a senior scientist with the Natural Resources Defense Council. “That translates into a whole lot less global warming pollution being emitted.”

The change is part of the federal Energy Independence and Security Act that President George Bush signed in 2007, to reduce energy use and greenhouse gas emissions. California was allowed to adopt the national standard one year earlier.

via It’s lights out for the incandescent bulb in Calif  | ajc.com.

branding, advertising, Starbucks: just interesting …

The rise of the affluent society has left people with lots of time and talent to spare, Mr Shirky argues. For decades they squandered this cognitive surplus watching television. Today, thanks to the internet, they can also channel it into more productive pursuits.

For a surprising number of people these productive pursuits involve worrying about companies’ logos. Howard Schultz, the boss of Starbucks, recently announced that his company would mark its 40th anniversary this March by changing its logo a bit. The words “Starbucks” and “coffee” will disappear. And the mermaid, or siren, will be freed from her circle.

Starbucks wants to join the small club of companies that are so recognisable they can rely on nothing but a symbol: Nike and its swoosh; McDonald’s and its golden arches; Playboy and its bunny; Apple and its apple. The danger is that it will join the much larger class of companies that have tried to change their logos only to be forced to backtrack by an electronic lynch mob.

via Schumpeter: Logoland | The Economist.

quotes, Reynolds Price, RIP:  Given his recent death, I think  a quote from Reynolds Price is appropriate.

“… what I still ask for daily – for life as long as I have work to do, and work as long as I have life.” — Reynolds Price, A Whole New Life

In A Whole New Life, however, he steps from behind that roster of achievements to present us with a more personal story, a narrative as intimate and compelling as any work of the imagination. In 1984, a large cancer was discovered in his spinal cord (“The tumor was pencil-thick and gray-colored, ten inches long from my neck-hair downward”). Here, for the first time, Price recounts without self-pity what became a long struggle to withstand and recover from this appalling, if all too common, affliction (one American in three will experience some from of cancer). He charts the first puzzling symptoms; the urgent surgery that fails to remove the growth and the radiation that temporarily arrests it (but hurries his loss of control of his lower body); the occasionally comic trials of rehab; the steady rise of severe pain and reliance on drugs; two further radical surgeries; the sustaining force of a certain religious vision; an eventual discovery of help from biofeedback and hypnosis; and the miraculous return of his powers as a writer in a new, active life. Beyond the particulars of pain and mortal illness, larger concerns surface here — a determination to get on with the human interaction that is so much a part of this writer’s much-loved work, the gratitude he feels toward kin and friends and some (though by no means all) doctors, the return to his prolific work, and the “now appalling, now astonishing grace of God.” A Whole New Life offers more than the portrait of one brave person in tribulation; it offers honest insight, realistic encouragement and inspiration to others who suffer the bafflement of catastrophic illness or who know someone who does or will.

via A whole new life – Google Books.

green, design, wildlife:  Special provisions for the bears cougars, bobcats, elk and deer …

At a picturesque spot in the mountains near the ski resorts of Vail and Breckenridge, Colo., two streams of traffic converge: people driving east and west on Interstate 70, and animals — black bears, cougars, bobcats, elk and deer — headed north and south to feed and mate. When they collide, the animal is almost always killed and the vehicle badly damaged, even if the driver is lucky enough to escape injury.

The obvious solution is a bridge or a tunnel for the animals, but how do you build one they will use?

via Contest Seeks to Avert Collisions With Animals on I-70 in Colorado – NYTimes.com.

politics, GA politics, David Ralston-GA House Speaker, really stupid:  Since I often comment on the really stupid things we do in our youth, why is it that our politicians are the next group of people who do really stupid things?

House Speaker David Ralston and his family spent part of Thanksgiving week in Europe on a $17,000 economic development mission paid for by lobbyists interested in building a high-speed train line between Atlanta and Chattanooga.

Commonwealth Research Associates, a D.C.-based consulting firm, paid for the trip, which also included Ralston’s chief of staff Spiro Amburn and his spouse, to Germany and the Netherlands the week of Nov. 21-27, according to records filed with the Georgia Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission, formerly known as the State Ethics Commission.

The trip was the most expensive single expenditure reported by a lobbyist since at least 2005.

via Ralston, staff and families took $17,000 lobbyist-funded trip to Germany  | ajc.com.

Justice Antonin Scalia, The Supreme Court, Separation of Powers:  Haven’t decided what I think of this other than I would like to be there.  Do you have an opinion?  Is this appropriate for a Supreme Court Justice?

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, described just last week by a Washington law professor as “the first real celebrity justice” for his controversial public pronouncements, will come to Capitol Hill on Monday to lecture about constitutional law to some earnest members of the House of Representatives. He was invited to do so by Rep. Michelle Bachmann, a Minnesota Republican and tea party activist in Congress, as part of her effort to educate lawmakers about the nation’s founding legal documents.

Although Justice Scalia has been criticized in some quarters for accepting the invitation, it is not unreasonable of him to consider the opportunity to speak face-to-face with his interbranch partners as a rare and welcome one. And although many observers see the effort as a partisan ploy between and among conservative ideologues, there are plenty of nonpartisan things Professor Scalia can lecture about. For example:

via Professor Scalia Comes to Capitol Hill: Here Is His Constitutional Lesson Plan.

South Africa:  11 official languages is very difficult … interesting to watch how this is resolved.

UNDER the 1996 constitution, all 11 of South Africa’s official languages “must enjoy parity of esteem and be treated equitably”. In practice English, the mother tongue of just 8% of the people, increasingly dominates all the others. Its hegemony may even threaten the long-term survival of the country’s African languages, spoken as the mother tongue of 80% of South Africans, despite the government’s repeated promises to promote and protect indigenous languages and culture.

Under apartheid, there were just two official languages, English and Afrikaans, a variant of Dutch with a dash of French, German, Khoisan (spoken by so-called Bushmen and Hottentots), Malay and Portuguese. Pre-colonial African languages were relegated to the black townships and tribal “homelands”. Even there, English was often chosen as the medium of education in preference to the inhabitants’ mother tongues. Black South Africans increasingly rejected Afrikaans as the language of the main oppressor; English was a symbol of advancement and prestige.

Today, 16 years after the advent of black-majority rule, English reigns supreme. Not only is it the medium of business, finance, science and the internet, but also of government, education, broadcasting, the press, advertising, street signs, consumer products and the music industry. For such things Afrikaans is also occasionally used, especially in the Western Cape province, but almost never an African tongue. The country’s Zulu-speaking president, Jacob Zuma, makes all his speeches in English. Parliamentary debates are in English. Even the instructions on bottles of prescription drugs come only in English or Afrikaans.

via South Africa’s languages: Tongues under threat | The Economist.

followup, Keith Olbermann, media:  Seems there is a lot behind the curtains …

One NBC News executive said on Sunday: “Give us a bit of credit for getting eight years out of him. That’s the longest he’s been anywhere.”

via Years of Strife Caught Up With Olbermann at MSNBC – NYTimes.com.

 

1.23.2011 … Sunday, Sunday … so nice to have a day of rest …

followup, Jake’s , Charlotte, restaurants/diners:  So we ventured to Jake’s Good Eats for a second visit.  It is an upscale diner … in an old gas station.  The food is interesting.  The friend oysters were very good, but the sautéed spinach underneath was to die for.  The wedge with bleu cheese and bacon was very good … a meal in itself.  And my vegetable plate was quite good.  I could not have downed a full entre after the other two shared items.  I’ll go again … but get there early.  It is worth a 30 minute wait … but not an hour.

Jake’s Good Eats -.

music, classical music, lists:  I am not a music person, but I do consider myself educated … so I laughed when I got to her number 10 and had never heard of him.

I am about to reveal my list, though as those who have been with me on this quest already know, I’ve dropped hints along the way. And the winner, the all-time great, is … Bach!

…

But forced to pick only one more composer, I’m going with Bartok. In an earlier piece I made my case for Bartok, as an ethnomusicologist whose work has empowered generations of subsequent composers to incorporate folk music and classical traditions from whatever culture into their works, and as a formidable modernist who in the face of Schoenberg’s breathtaking formulations showed another way, forging a language that was an amalgam of tonality, unorthodox scales and atonal wanderings.

via The Greatest Composers – A Top 10 List – NYTimes.com.

Julio J. Ramirez, Davidson, kudos: To former neighbor Julio, kudos!

Julio J. Ramirez, the R. Stuart Dickson Professor of Psychology at Davidson College, has been named by President Barack Obama as a recipient of a the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring.

Ramirez will receive the award next Thursday, Jan. 27, at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington. John P. Holdren, Assistant to the President for Science and Technology and Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, will make the presentation. Ramirez will deliver a 10-minute talk on that occasion about his 30 years of involving students in his research on recovery from brain injury and his national efforts to promote neuroscience education and research.

via Obama honors Prof. Ramirez for mentoring | DavidsonNews.net.

Civil War Sesquicentennial, education, history, research:  We are only in the first weeks … It will be interesting to see how I/we feel after retracing this history in 5 years.

Over the next four years Americans will be reminded of and engage in debates about every aspect of a war that fundamentally transformed the nation and that set us on a path we are still working to come to terms with. America went through the same process at the centennial. What’s different this time around is the focus on race and slavery, both of which have the potential to divide Americans and obscure the boundaries between the present and the past; that, and the ability for anyone to access millions of pages of information about the war, its causes and consequences through the Internet.

via Teaching Civil War History 2.0 – NYTimes.com.

Silent Sam, public art, UNC-CH, Civil War, history, icons:   I remember first encountering Silent Sam and hearing the tale of why he is silent (read on … ).  I laughed and went on.  I never knew he was memorializing the Civil War veterans who attended UNC.  I am sure all the current students will know his history as calls to topple him are made.  A compromise needs to be made.  He is a university icon.  Maybe it is time to publicly remember slavery and teach to understand the war by all students.

The present generation, I am persuaded, scarcely takes note of what the Confederate soldier meant to the welfare of the Anglo Saxon race during the four years immediately succeeding the war… their courage and steadfastness saved the very life of the Anglo Saxon race in the South — when the ‘bottom rail was on top’ all over the Southern states, and today, as a consequence, the purist strain of the Anglo Saxon is to be found in the 13 Southern States.”

Carr then proudly recounted his contribution to Reconstruction’s racial violence:

“100 yards from where we stand, less than 90 days perhaps after my return from Appomattox, I horse-whipped a negro wench, until her skirts hung in shreds, because upon the streets of this quiet village she had publicly insulted and maligned a Southern lady.”

This disturbing past is part of our beloved institution’s history. All paths forward carry their own perils. Destroying the monument erases an uncomfortable past, but to ignore its connections to racial ideologies that barred African Americans from UNC until the 1950s is equally problematic. Even new interpretive signs would stir debates on what to include. These debates are healthy. As we near the Civil War’s sesquicentennial discussions over the meaning of our past ensures a more informed public. This I celebrate.

via The Daily Tar Heel :: Why Silent Sam was built: A historian’s perspective.

It is silent because the figure wears no cartridge box for ammunition,[2] but legend has it he fires his gun every time a virgin walks by; since supposedly “no one” on campus is a virgin, he never fires his gun, hence why he is known to be “silent.”

via Silent Sam – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Erected in 1913 as a monument to the 321 alumni of the University who died in the Civil War and all students who joined the Confederate Army, this statue is known by students as Silent Sam. The university continued operation during the Civil War, thanks to President Swain’s reliance on wounded veterans and men who were exempt from military service. Although the soldier holds a rifle, it is silent because he wears no cartridge box for ammunition.

via Landmarks | Silent Sam | The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

childhood, Disney Princesses, end of an era, RIP, Bruno Bettelheim, followup, :  Still think this is sad that our society has outgrown the princess fairy tales.  I am sure followers of Bruno Bettelheim would say the stories were never about happy endings … but still for a generation who grew up with the films and who raised its children on the films it is a sad end.

Tangled, Disney’s latest fairy tale movie, was shut out at the Golden Globe Awards last weekend. Nominated for two — Best Animated Feature Film and Best Original Song (“I See the Light”) — the retooled Rapunzel story won neither.

The critical shunning could be construed as a key indicator: Fairy tale movies have fallen on hard times. In fact, around Thanksgiving, the Walt Disney Co. revealed it has no plans to make another animated fairy tale.

It’s hard to imagine a world without Disney’s fairy tales. What do we tell the children? Kissed frogs don’t turn into princes, wicked stepsisters win out, glass slippers just won’t fit. And what colorful icons will we silkscreen all over kids’ pillows and lunchboxes?

via The Fairy Tale Struggles To Live Happily Ever After : NPR.

In The Uses of Enchantment (1976), his prize-winning treatise on the uses of fairy tales in the child’s upbringing, Bettelheim poignantly described how the child’s imagination is served by romantic stories, especially those told to the child and, in the telling, elaborated by the child’s freely created variations. Again, Bettelheim emphasized the collaboration of parent and child in sharing fairy tales to enhance the child’s developing sensibilities. The child needs not only those coping skills that are fostered by didactic parents, but also, Bettelheim wrote, a moral education communicated not through abstract (ethical) concepts but through fairy tales that deal with what is tangibly right and therefore meaningful. He likened the child’s understanding of fairy tales to the psychological insights gained long ago by poets. The German poet Schiller wrote: ‘Deeper meaning resides in the fairy tales told to me in my childhood than in the truth that is taught by life.’10

As in so many of his works, the foundation for Bettelheim’s thesis that fairy tales foster the child’s developing mind and provide a forum for emotional expression rested primarily on the application of psychoanalysis to childhood education. True to the subject, Bettelheim whimsically discussed some of the most difficult psychoanalytic concepts in clear, amusing and fanciful language, rendering his thesis accessible to contemporary parents. Conspicuously oedipal themes in fairy tales are brought forth for the reader to consider. The power of Bettelheim’s writing resides in his ability to illuminate concepts that are obvious to psychoanalysts but remain obscure to parents without explication. A little girl’s conflict with her mother is narrated in ‘Cinderella’ by the device of having the child’s mother portrayed as the wicked stepmother. Such a theme resonates with a girl’s feeling of helplessness which is then overcome by the ‘good mother,’ a fairy godmother, who rescues Cinderella and supports her in her aspirations to meet the prince. Bettelheim also highlighted the importance of sibling rivalry in the family and in the Cinderella story, which depicts beautiful but shy Cinderella helpless at the hands of her stepsisters. This, too, is resolved by the rescuing fairy godmother, a resolution that every little girl deeply appreciates. Bettelheim hoped that as parent and child together understood the deeper meaning of these stories, the parent and the child would bond in mutual enjoyment.

http://www.ibe.unesco.org/publications/ThinkersPdf/bettelhe.pdf –

random, video, NAPC, Atlanta:  Well this is an interesting way to teach a group of dull Presbyterians about their leaders and leadership! I’m a North Avenue Officer.

news, media, Keith Olberman:  So in the end does it just come down to money?

This was all Keith’s choice. He has several times over the years said that he wants out of his contract. He never meant it until this year. He started lawyers negotiating twice this year. He stopped them in the spring. Then, about a month ago with the guidance of his new ICM team and a new LA manager (who were making zero $ on his current deal), he once again said he wanted to leave and this time they negotiated the full package.

via NEW DETAILS: “MSNBC And Keith Olbermann Have Ended Their Contract”; Lefty MSNBC About To Make Right Turn? – Deadline.com.

“I think the same fantasy has popped into the head of everybody in my business who has ever been told what I’ve been told–that this is going to be the last edition of your show,” Olbermann said. “You go directly to the scene from the movie ‘Network’ complete with the pajamas and the raincoat.”

via Keith Olbermann’s Parting Words on MSNBC (Video) – Speakeasy – WSJ.

Arizona Massacre, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, rehabilitation:  So much hope … but I would hate to be in the spotlight.

Instead of doctors making you well, rehab means “teaching you how to help yourself” to get your life back, said Dr. William Donovan, a former medical director of the rehab hospital who still works there part-time.

It’s frustrating when your muscles and mind won’t work the way you want them to. Emotional challenges, post-traumatic stress and physical problems like seizures, headaches and infections loom as risks that could complicate her recovery.

via Rep. Gabrielle Giffords ‘More Alert,’ Says Dr. Gerard Francisco.

random, viral videos, lawsuits, YouTube:  I am sure this has happened before.  But the security guard did nothing to help her and posted the embarrassing video on YouTube. Do you think it really never crossed the guard’s mind that this was not appropriate? … unkind? … reflective on him or her that he/she was not doing their job?

But their lack of action has opened the floodgates. Sitting next to Marrero on GMA was her attorney, James Polyak. “We plan to hold all responsible parties accountable,” he said, for letting the video out, and will at the very least request an apology from the security team.

(More on TIME.com: See photos of the monstrous Mall of America.)

Marrero’s outcry has already made waves within the mall staff. According to the Reading (Pa.) Eagle, the Berkshire Mall security guard who posted the video has been fired. (via ABC News)

via Woman Falls in Fountain While Texting: Yes, She’s Real. And Mad. And Suing – TIME NewsFeed.

truth, friendship, relationships, Jane Austen, Davidson friends:  Ah, Jane once again subtly revealing the truth. This reminded me of my friend Cary’s recent article about our Davidson friend group gatherings.  I think one of the core requirements is that you tell the truth about yourself.

Truth is a very dangerous commodity. It is like a very sharp knife. You will kill or wound someone with truth more easily than you will cut the cords of ignorance with it. Truth often hurts; sometimes the hurt is necessary. A friend of mine used to say, “The truth will set you free, but it will make you miserable first.” In order for wounds to be healing wounds, they must be both given and received in a context of love and trust. Emma may often disagree with Mr. Knightly, but she never doubts his concern for her and her father.

via Holy Nativity Orthodox Church: Who’ll Tell Emma The Truth?.

heartbreak, Alzheimer’s, personal stories: Jan’s Story: Love and Early-Onset Alzheimer’s – CBS Sunday Morning – CBS News.

college students, Duke:  Duke is getting nailed for what has been happening on college campuses forever.  The women should know better; the men should know better.  “Student activists call the parties exploitative and dangerous to the young women who take part.” Stupid … and these kids are supposed to be the best and the brightest.

Some Duke University student activists hope to end a long-held practice where female students are plied with booze and encouraged to cozy up to new fraternity recruits.

It happens at “progressive” parties, generally held at the end of rush, the period during which fraternities and sororities evaluate prospective members. At Duke, the latest rush period concludes next weekend.

Female students are invited to be hosts at these fraternity parties. The Duke Chronicle student newspaper reported this week that the women’s tasks at the parties can range “from bartending to providing sexual favors.” The women often dress provocatively and are stationed in party rooms bearing such themes as “spring break” and “school girls,” critics say.

Student activists call the parties exploitative and dangerous to the young women who take part. A new group, the Greek Women’s Initiative, recently held a forum examining the issue, and petitions seeking to end the practice have garnered about 800 signatures.

via ‘Progressive’ Duke parties under scrutiny – CharlotteObserver.com.

random, literature, museum exhibits, Morgan Library, NYC:  Diaries are interesting.  I would like to see this exhibit at  the Morgan.

“I have tried to keep diaries before,” John Steinbeck writes in a giant ledger book filled with his methodical script, “but they didn’t work out because of the necessity to be honest.”

via ‘The Diary’ at the Morgan Library – Review – NYTimes.com.

random, politics, Congress, man cave:  I never thought about where freshman members of congress lived.  But if you think about it they have just spent a ton of money and are only assured of two years.  Man Cave in the office??

“I probably got it as good as a man cave can be,” Walberg said.

Down the hall, freshman Republican Joe Walsh of Illinois, is still figuring out how to manage his nights. He sleeps on a couch.

“I think it’s important that we show we don’t live here, we are not creatures of this town,” Walsh told us. “There’s so much to do the next two years, I don’t want to be distracted with another place. I don’t want to have to think about an apartment.”

Walsh, Walberg and nearly two dozen of their colleagues are part of a trend that may have reached a historic high point.

A CBS News survey of all freshmen members of the U.S House of Representatives has found that at least 21 of the 96 members are sleeping in their office – that’s 19 of the 87 new Republicans and 2 of the 9 new Democrats.

The reasons range from making a symbolic statement that they are not part of Washington, proving they are fiscal conservatives, and just saving money.

They sleep on air mattresses, cots, couches, and rollaway beds.

via One-Fifth of House Freshmen Sleep in Offices – CBS Evening News – CBS News.

Arizona Massacre, emotional injuries, prayers:  Keep them in your prayers.

They cried together. They promised one another to seek professional help. And they said they would remain in frequent touch. When Mr. Green drove by with his son the other day, Ms. Hileman vowed that there would be more backyard water gun fights.

In a certain sense, Ms. Hileman sees herself, along with Ms. Giffords, as the third corner of a triangle — she wanted Christina to know that she, too, could become the kind of woman who emanated intelligence and pizazz.

“Christina and I were doing exactly what we wanted to do,” Ms. Hileman said. “We weren’t dragging somebody to the movies. We were happy. Some idiot decided to rain on my parade.”

via Tucson Shooting Survivors Struggle With ‘What If?’ – NYTimes.com.

1.22.2010 … Jake’s for dinner … one of my favorite diners!

Great Recession, economy, RIP: Some of my favorite places … and home to some of my favorite people. Rest in peace, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Grand Rapids, New Orleans … or better yet … rise again!

We used the most recent data from the Census Bureau on every metropolitan area with a population exceeding 100,000 to find the 30 cities that suffered the steepest population decline between 2000 and 2009. Then, in an attempt to look ahead toward the future of these regions, we analyzed demographic changes to find which ones experienced the biggest drop in the number of residents under 18. In this way, we can see which cities may have an even greater population decline ahead due to a shrinking population of young people.

via America’s Dying Cities – Newsweek.