Gone Hiking






I'm planning to go wiggle my toes in some hot, white sand, and drink chai with red chile honey. I'm sure my internet access will be quite limited. If Andy feels like posting he knows he can. If he doesn't, he doesn't, and that's ok too. I may or may not drop in. I may or may not stumble.
I'll leave you with a few links to some alternative building techniques. I would hope they wouldn't be quite so labor intensive as to leave a person looking like the guy in the photo, however, the resulting architecture could indeed be similar.

I still fancy a yurt myself at this point, but I'm still interested in alternatives and both of these are sustainable, quite durable, and not expensive. Add some solar panels along with other DIY solar projects, a wood fired hot tub, a running creek and sand for my toes, and, I'll weather anything.

Industrial hemp is the key component to sustainable housing.
Also read, Sustainable Housing on Indian Reservation Relies on ‘Hempcrete’

If not hemp, try paper:

Papercrete, fibrous cement, and paper adobe are remarkably inexpensive building materials utilizing recycled paper and cardboard.

I think there should be an entire eco-village of 'crete' structures.
Until later...see ya mid August, if not before. posted by Cyndy | link |    | |

Complexity and Intuitive Thought

Dave Pollard has an interesting entry about Freakonomics and Complexity.
He compares complicated systems and complex systems and continues the thought by pointing out that both economic and social behaviors are complex, not merely complicated.
Conventional wisdom, which is gradually changing, neglects to take us below the surface and neglects to look for and recognise patterns. He points to the value of attractors and barriers, or incentives/disincentives to bring about change or to find effective actions. Read his entire post to better understand the importance of implementing change using a different approach.

Complicated systems are the left-brainer's dream: To decide what to do all you need to do is identify all the variables, determine which causes which (using root cause analysis), draw systems thinking diagrams to depict the relationships, assess the possible points of intervention that could lead to a different and desired result (e.g. turn a self-reinforcing vicious circle into a virtuous one), recommend those interventions and collect your fee. Very scientific, and lots of fun. Unfortunately, in the modern world, complicated systems are fairly rare.

Complex systems are the rule, and they are not completely knowable or analyzable because the number of variables is essentially infinite, and hence the consequences of any particular intervention are largely unpredictable. You need to use a more sophisticated, less scientific approach when you're dealing with complex systems, and be more tentative in your assessments. Freakonomics deconstructs some of the many erroneous and dangerous assessments we tend to make, and actions we therefore take, when we treat complex systems as merely complicated.

Now to further his thought, I'll point to something I found the other day, an orange beneath the apple peel, another layer that confounds conventional thinking, a deeper layer that places value on creative change within a differently structured thought process. It helps me know why I find patterns so intriguing and often so simple, yet I can't figure out how I figure it out, and why I can't begin to put it all into words but find Dave's ability to flesh it out fascinating.

Intuitive Intelligence. Intuitive intelligence is the ability to learn complex skills and solve problems on a subconscious basis; for example, a child learning to speak without learning the rules of grammar. The rules of grammar actually were learned, but the child cannot tell you want they are. This type of intelligence is particularly powerful at picking up patterns in a seemingly chaotic situation. When the right answer to a complex problem pops into your head but you can't figure out how you came up with it, it's probably the product of your intuition. Important: Intuitive intelligence is better at solving certain types of complex problem than our conscience, sensory intelligence.

The article above connects intuitive intelligence with ADD. Perhaps that's why I feel so scattered and wordless at times even though it's there. As long as Dave can get the words out, I can nod my head and say, "Yeah, that's it!" Now if I could always Remember What I Already Know. :) posted by Cyndy | link |    | |

William Burroughs Reappraised

Eric Griffiths

A note about brain-chemistry here may help to clear up a popular error. Addiction to opiates provided Burroughs with a frequent subject and a pet analogy, but it was marijuana not heroin which coloured his imagination when he was writing, as he described in The Place of Dead Roads (1984): “the cannabis made everything so much sharper . . . . it also made him silly in an eerie, ghostly sort of way”. Though Walter Benjamin long ago called for a “physiology of style”, literary studies have not moved far in that direction, let alone attempted a neurophysiology of style. And perhaps the explanatory prospects are not bright: the Marquis de Sade, for instance, was a chocaholic, but it might not be easy to correlate massive intake of theobromine with the character of his oeuvre. Yet in Burroughs’s case, he was himself so avid a self-diagnoser it seems apt to calibrate input against output. His writing often lies along the dangerous edge between prurience and indignation.

posted by Cyndy | link |    | |

Christian Exodus

I blogged about this 'movement' in May 2004.



Yesterday it apparently made the national news and my page was flooded with searches looking for info. Unfortunately my old link was dead, it's now fixed.
This is all I wrote then:
"When I lived in South Carolina 10 years ago there were serious ramblings of this. Of course, you understand, it's 'for whites only'. Let Bush go run that nation!"
May I just add now:
Just go now. Leave Me Alone. posted by Cyndy | link |    | |

Hot, White Sand

drifting
shifting
shimmering with waves

white porcelain sculpted
with gentle fingers
into rivers of gypsum
indentations, crevices, emptiness
filled,
refilled

drifting
shifting
a cooling westbound wind

whispering footprints of ancestors
spoken, unseen
an impermanent collection of tiny particles
kissing your flesh
stinging, burning, life alive
evolving into a playground

drifting
shifting
digging deep for remnants of dew

the sensual laughter
of lizards
and beetles
roll downhill
and climb again
to survey the vista

drifting
shifting
spontaneous lazy afternoons

a sky blue flame
of simple enchantment
burning through the piercing sunshine
casting a scarlet orange blossom
of nightflowers
onto variegated dunes

drifting
shifting
feeling it between your toes

~cyndy posted by Cyndy | link |    | |

Never Underestimate


People Have The Power

I was dreaming in my dreaming
of an aspect bright and fair
and my sleeping it was broken
but my dream it lingered near
in the form of shining valleys
where the pure air recognized
and my senses newly opened
I awakened to the cry
that the people / have the power
to redeem / the work of fools
upon the meek / the graces shower
it's decreed / the people rule
~Patti Smith

I was underestimating. I was expecting. I wasn't expecting. It was great to see. Standing room only at the Town Hall Meeting John Conyers held on the anniversary of the Downing Street Memos. 723 people! Energy. People finally feeling that someone in Washington is willing to do something. Fresh air. Needed air. Excitement, even empowerment. This is the type of energy that can grow if we feed it. We have to feed it. We have no choice if we want to save what is left of the country we used to know.

Corpus Callosum has two different reports on the Town Hall Meeting, with links I haven't included here.

The Progressive Dems have a report from different events across the country. Thousands Across the U.S. Mark DSM Day at 300+ Public Forums

Truthout has a series of reports and some video.

There is a very nice collection of photos from Detroit here

...And I have some photos, including the one below, from our standing-room-only viewpoint.



We have a hero, lets get behind, and, stay behind him. posted by Cyndy | link |    | |

Eyes Wide Open




The Eyes Wide Open Exhibit was displayed today. I never did find out why it wasn't yesterday.
1773 pairs of boots representing just a fraction of the human cost of war.
Below is one of the photos I took. If you'd like to see more you are welcome to visit by my Flickr page, where I have put several different views up.

posted by Cyndy | link |    | |

Potters Guild Exhibit

From the Ann Arbor Potters Guild Exhibit. This one really got my attention and I forgot to take note of the artist.
posted by Cyndy | link |    | |

Potters Guild Exhibit 2

More
posted by Cyndy | link |    | |

Joachim Knill Photography

20" X 30" Polaroid Photographs of surreal installations photographed with the world's largest portable instant film camera built and designed by the artist himself

Fascinating!
posted by Cyndy | link |    | |

Action

Postdated to stay at top of my blog until the event takes place.

Rep. John Conyers is hosting a meeting on the Downing Street Memo July 23, 2~4pm Wayne State, University Law School Auditorium, Detroit MI.

Let's pack the place and the campus and Cass Avenue all the way to Jefferson.

Carpoolers? Leave a message in the comments or send me an email.


UPDATE: AfterDowningStreet.org has a signup page for this event. I've signed up. Have you? John Conyers deserves all the support we can give him.

Category downing street memo posted by Cyndy | link |    | |

Shaky Jake & Art Fair

Can't have Art Fair without Shaky Jake. I couldn't resist taking his photo with him all decked out. He was having a great time listening to Corndaddy. I don't even think he was sweating!

I would have taken more pictures of the art itself but I got screamed at by an artist one year for taking photos and I've not felt quite right about it since then unless they clearly are welcoming photographers.

I also stopped to take a photo of the Eyes Wide Open Exhibit because I didn't have my camera with me when I saw it yesterday, and I was surprised to see the exhibit wasn't there. Does anyone know why??
posted by Cyndy | link |    | |

I Do This Every Year

I stand and stare. They always amaze me.
Marc Sijan is the artist. "homages to humanity's fascination with its own forms"
If I could, I would. In the past I've bought one of his smaller polyester casts of a mouth, which is fascinating in it's own right, but it doesn't compare to the fascination of each of these lifelike sculptures.
posted by Cyndy | link |    | |

Another photo of a sculpture by Marc Sijan


posted by Cyndy | link |    | |

One More Photo of a Sculpture by Marc Sijan


posted by Cyndy | link |    | |

New to Me

Another Ann Arbor area blog, DataWhat? has a great rant about the Art Fair! Oh, and while you're checking out the art fair rant, you may as well take a look at the Ypsi Dong.
Welcome to my blogroll. posted by Cyndy | link |    | |

Slick New Ann Arbor District Library Website

Included in the newly redisigned, very functional website is a picture gallery.
The Shifted Librarian is impressed . Make that doubly impressed.

Edward Vielmetti has been playing around and has some ideas I may try to play with myself. Nice! posted by Cyndy | link |    | |

Spirit of Place

Spirit of place

DH Lawrence was an incomparable observer and his travel writings are among his finest prose. Henry Shukman visits the New Mexico desert where his ashes rest along with his paintings

Lawrence declared that the only place that ever changed him from the outside was New Mexico. Standing at 9,000 feet, the pines on his Kiowa Ranch never stop whistling. The view over blue folds of hill and plain to northern Arizona is heart-stopping. Crows and hawks like it up here. The scent of pine is always on the clear, high air. There are several tumbledown, ramshackle western cabins strewn around the property, like the set from a mountain scene in a cowboy film, all dark patched-up woodwork and log-stove chimneys. [ more ]

Sand between the toes.

posted by Cyndy | link |    | |

Exploring Alternate Energy

Bob has two good articles exploring the efficiency of ethanol and biodiesel and plug-in hybrids. The next bit of research I'd like to see him explore would be about deriving energy and other resources from industrial hemp. He really does a great job of researching and presenting the facts. Thanks Bob. posted by Cyndy | link |    | |

Managing for Creativity

As we move from the Technological Age into the Conceptual Age, management is going to have to make adjustments if they want true innovation. The following excerpt from Managing for Creativity in the current Harvard Business Review Online, demonstrates the core of the challenge management faces.

Creative people work for the love of a challenge. They crave the feeling of accomplishment that comes from cracking a riddle, be it technological, artistic, social, or logistical. They want to do good work. Though all people chafe under what they see as bureaucratic obstructionism, creative people actively hate it, viewing it not just as an impediment but as the enemy of good work. Do what you can to keep them intellectually engaged and clear petty obstacles out of their way, and they’ll shine for you.

My, what a concept. posted by Cyndy | link |    | |

I knew better, but I did it anyway

I'm dyin' here.
I knew what I was getting myself into, but it just seemed right.
Susan pointed to the New Cowboy Junkies saying, "It's probably the most poignant anti-war/anti-violence disc in years." The link goes straight to the music clips. wax files
Of course my eyes were attracted first to "Two Soldiers". I knew. It had to be the same "Two Soldiers" Craig used to sing. I had to dig through my hard drive to find it. You know I had to do it. It just seemed right, right?
That song always made me cry anyway. It may have been right, but it's damn hard to listen to. It's also damn good. I uploaded his version here mp3
"She was just a blue eyed Boston girl..."

posted by Cyndy | link |    | |

The Desert and I: A Study in Affinity

Yi-Fu Tuan

My affinity for the desert is so strong that I believe it to be grounded on something more than just experiences in childhood and youth. Certain phobias and needs, etched deep in my psyche, are somehow answered or assuaged by bare and open landscapes. One phobia I have always had is disorientation. True, no one likes to be disoriented, but my dread of it is excessive. An element of that dread is the feeling of gross incompetence and, with it, vulnerability. Another element, closer to the core of my being, is the fear of meaninglessness. The two reinforce each other. Lost in the city, I am physically immobilized. My car is tanked up, ready to go; the streets all lead somewhere. But I have no reason to move one way rather than another; even front and back cease to have meaning. This temporary physical paralysis is elevated in my mind, absurdly no doubt, to the level of metaphysical anguish--the conviction that my life itself has no direction, no purpose.

Much gratitude to wood's lot for this link, and many others, but this one especially. posted by Cyndy | link |    | |

When it comes to sex, men are eternal optimists and romantic at heart (?)

Question mark added by me.

The results of a survey of 250,000 men and women who completed a detailed psychological questionnaire reveal that many male and female stereotypes are deep-seated and biological.

... )the on-line survey was unprecedented because it involved people from about 170 countries and six ethnic groups. The survey was carried out for a television series called The Secrets of the Sexes, which begins on BBC1 tomorrow night.

Now, since I'm television illiterate, can anyone tell me how I can see this program? posted by Cyndy | link |    | |

Dennis Kucinich and Fiancée Elizabeth Harper


Dennis Kucinich introduced his fiancée Elizabeth Harper to his neighbors in Cleveland and nearby Lakewood in the communities' 2005 Independence Day parades. posted by Cyndy | link |    | |

60 Years Ago Today

July 16, 1945

The bomb designed to be used at Trinity Site actually involved two explosions. First there would be a conventional explosion involving the TNT and then, a fraction of a second later, the nuclear explosion, if a chain reaction was maintained. The scientists were sure the TNT would explode, but were initially unsure of the plutonium. If the chain reaction failed to occur, the TNT would blow the very rare and dangerous plutonium all over the countryside.

Because of this possibility, Jumbo was designed and built in Ohio. Originally it was 25 feet long, 10 feet in diameter and weighed 214 tons. Scientists were planning to put the bomb in this huge steel jug because it could contain the TNT explosion if the chain reaction failed to materialize. This would prevent the plutonium from being lost. If the explosion occurred as planned, Jumbo would be vaporized.

...) As confidence in the plutonium bomb design grew it was decided not to use Jumbo. Instead, it was placed under a steel tower about 800 yards from ground zero. The blast destroyed the tower, but Jumbo survived intact.

"The heat was like opening up an oven door, even at 10 miles." Dr. Phillip Morrison said, "Suddenly, not only was there a bright light but where we were, 10 miles away, there was the heat of the sun on our faces ..... Then, only minutes later, the real sun rose and again you felt the same heat to the face from the sunrise. So we saw two sunrises."

Although no information on the test was released until after the atomic bomb was used as a weapon against Japan, people in New Mexico knew something had happened. The shock broke windows 120 miles away and was felt by many at least 160 miles away. Army officials simply stated that a munitions storage area had accidently exploded at the Alamogordo Bombing Range.

posted by Cyndy | link |    | |

a dude somewhere

Every now and then I run across a dude somewhere and something about him makes me look long and hard and say, WOW!
No,it's not his ass I'm looking at, ok? ..but...that too... (no, that was not sexist, and there is no picture !)

I've been bored for some time with the same ole' routine, the same ole' politics, the same ole' webpage and my attention has been scattered. Bored I tell you. Bored. Yeah and a little depressed too, I admit. I just want new energy, freshness, spunky humor, variety and balance and, less reading. My eyes are glazing over and it's summertime dammit. The familiar is ok, but change is what I strive for, isn't that what progressive means?

I found some new energy. I like what I see. It's hopeful and fun and varied and it must take hours to do, but I'm excited to see it, (him?)
Seriously, even you dudes, go check out a dude somewhere.
I mean it. posted by Cyndy | link |    | |

Patti Smith given French honour

US punk rock star Patti Smith has received one of France's top cultural honours in recognition of her influence on rock music.

...) Smith, 58, was presented with the Commander of the Order of the Arts and Letters by Culture Minister Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres.

Her appreciation of 19th Century French poet Arthur Rimbaud was also noted in the citation. [ more ]

Patti Smith's poem to Rimbaud off the album "Sahara Blue"

from Interview Patti Smith Meets Rimbaud: "I read him all the time. Because I have never been disappointed, I have never outgrown him, you know. I can read "Deserts of love" just like I listen to John Coltrane records or I listen to Beethoven or Maria Callas. I didn't outgrow Maria Callas and I haven't outgrown Jimi Hendrix and I haven't outgrown Rimbaud. Or I haven't outgrown Picasso's Guernica. Because they all stand as great enduring art that continuously reveal new things."

from Poets.org: Patti Smith: The Genre-bending Gender-bender

Excerpt from "Rimbaud and Patti Smith: Style as Social Deviance"

The fact that [Patti] Smith chose to focus her largely successful 1978 album Easter on Rimbaud points first to the great appeal of his myth; Rimbaud, the countercultural rebel, provided young musicians of the seventies with a persuasive model of antisocial innocence. However, Smith's multiple allusions to Rimbaud's text-- her appropriation of precise features of his style-- suggest thtat there was something she found nourishing in the poetry itself. The case of the punk reception of Rimbaud (a reception that occurred primarily through the mediation of Smith) demonstrates that it was the linguistic strategies we associate with the lyric genre-- and not simply the myth of the French voyou (hooligan, punk)-- that inspired the work of both punk musicians and their avant-garde predecessors, the dadaists of the late teens and the situationists of the sixties.

...) Guy Debord and Gil J. Wolman maintained that the "discoveries of modern poetry" could provide a blueprint for countercultural activity, especially, if not exclusively, in arenas traditionally foreign to high culture.[ more ]

posted by Cyndy | link |    | |

White House faces evidence that it misled the public over who leaked a CIA officer's name

This headline and leading paragraph from the AP sure was a long time coming wasn't it? It makes a tidy little sound bite. Now we just need to get the words 'misled' changed to 'lied to'.

The White House is facing damaging evidence that it misled the public by insisting for two years that presidential adviser Karl Rove wasn't involved in leaking the identity of a CIA officer.

posted by Cyndy | link |    | |

Live Simply

Frugal For Life has a new design and a lot of 'living below your means' tips. I really appreciate the effort and care she puts into getting the ideas out there. I always leave the site having learned something useful. Go see what you can learn. Save some resources and some money. It can't get much better than that. posted by Cyndy | link |    | |

More New Mexico Photos

Beautiful!
taken by dangerousmeta!

HERE posted by Cyndy | link |    | |

A Slideshow History of the Vibrator

I'll keep my comments to myself. posted by Cyndy | link |    | |

Gila Cliff Dwellings

Emerson, Thoreau, Whitman, Muir, Burroughs, and especially the Russian philosopher-mystic Piotr Ouspensky influenced Leopold's view of a living Earth. Ouspensky noted that "sometimes we vaguely feel an intense life manifesting in the phenomena of nature.." "Possibly," Leopold observed, "in our intuitive perceptions, which may be truer than our science and less impeded by words than our philosophies, we realize the indivisibility of the earth--its soil, mountains, rivers, forests, climate, plants, and animals, and respect it collectively not only as a useful servant but as a living being, vastly less alive than ourselves in degree, but vastly greater than ourselves in time and space--a being that was old when the morning stars sang together, and when the last of us has been gathered unto his fathers, will still be young."
posted by Cyndy | link |    | |

Chaco Canyon


Radiating out from the Chaco complex are an enigmatic series of straight lines that extend ten to twenty miles into the desert. Conventional archaeological theories explain these lines as roads leading to outlying settlements, but this seems highly unlikely as the lines are arrow straight regardless of terrain. They go over mesas (table-top mountains), up and down vertical cliff faces, and along ways that make them utterly impractical for use by the casual or commercial traveler. Perhaps they had another purpose. Paul Devereux, the British scholar and leading writer in the so called "Earth Mysteries" field has suggested that these lines (and others he has studied around the world) are better understood as markings that represent the out-of-body spirit travel of ancient native shamans. Archaeological research does indeed indicate that the lines often lead to small shrine-like structures where evidence of religious and shamanistic activity is common. posted by Cyndy | link |    | |

Andy Stephenson RIP

posted by Cyndy | link |    | |

Gender Influences Who We Trust

From the study:

“For women, this in-group is me and my friends and family and their friends and family. For men, the in-group is my team or my company or my club. These are the people we feel we can trust.”

...) Men look for symbolic connections that you get from belonging to the same group, rather than for personal connections that women prefer.”

Reading the methods and the results of this study gave me pause for consideration. I certainly don't base my feelings of trust in the manner women are said to, but I don't often have an affinity for team, company, or club either. Trust, for me, wavers between trusting without question, and then, once I'm burnt, not trusting at all for quite a lengthy period of time. When I'm in 'trust' mode, I find I'm vulnerable, naive and socially inept. Once burnt, no group of friends, family, team or club will break through my skepticism until I'm ready to try trusting again. Weird how that works. It causes a lot of withdrawal from/alienation of people and sure doesn't help with the social skills, but that's just how it is.
I think if I had participated in this study, the stakes were set low enough that I would have trusted all strangers. Monetary considerations weigh a lot less for me than empathetic considerations. posted by Cyndy | link |    | |

These Were Blair's Bombs

by John Pilger

...) Moreover, the G8 meeting in Scotland and its accompanying "Make Poverty History" campaign and circus of celebrities served as a temporary cover for what is arguably the greatest political scandal of modern times: an illegal, brutal and craven invasion conceived in lies and which, under the system of international law established at Nuremberg, represented a "paramount war crime".

Over the past two weeks, the contrast between the coverage of the G8, its marches and pop concerts, and another "global" event has been striking. The World Tribunal on Iraq in Istanbul has had virtually no coverage, yet the evidence it has produced, the most damning to date, has been the silent spectre at the Geldoff extravaganzas.

The tribunal is a serious international public inquiry into the invasion and occupation, the kind governments dare not hold. Its expert, eyewitness testimonies, said the author Arundathi Roy, a tribunal jury member, "demonstrate that even those of us who have tried to follow the war closely are not aware of a fraction of the horrors that have been unleashed in Iraq." [ more ]

posted by Cyndy | link |    | |

Emotions, Men and Women



What a great post by Kathy Sierra at Creating Passionate Users! The book The Emotional Brain is now on my wish list. I have been struggling with a tough decision myself and I finally had to make it based purely on feelings in my body, right or wrong. I was kicking myself for being overly emotional and I still don't know that my decision was the 'right' decision', but ultimately, unless things had changed drastically, the decision would have had to be the same because I wouldn't have been able to stand it physically otherwise. it's nice to know men actually deal with the same decision processes whether they know it or not.

True, we women often show it differently... and certainly more freely than the average male. We don't have as much to prove there, and we always knew that emotions would one day gain the street cred they so richly deserve.

We've just been waiting for the neuroscience to catch up.

...) Sooner or later, guys, you'll have to learn to cope with the knowledge that you're not nearly as rational as you thought. But I bet if you look back at the last big purchase you made, you'll know in your heart of hearts that no matter how good it looked on paper... you bought it because of how it made you feel. Deal with it. : )

Heh! posted by Cyndy | link |    | |

She reads the right-wing blogs so I don't have to

I read enough just reading her post, Kill them all and let God sort it out.
All I can say is God help us, and thank you for having the stomach to wade through all the BS, Carla. I think my stomach is somewhere under my right foot. posted by Cyndy | link |    | |

365 Dreams

As my dreams fade, I find all my words fading too. I used to be a lucid dreamer but lately it seems I can't even control or recall, with any detail, my own waking life. Stuck. Numb.
Worse than stuck, worse than numb, but I won't go into details because I know many people have been there.
Dreaming is a part of listening to yourself. I think that when we begin to not listen in our waking lives, our dreams fade too, for lack of attention, if nothing else.
Is it possible to spark some new dreams by reading about dreams other people have had? At the very least it's entertaining, but I think there is potential for some personal spark again while reading the weblog 365 Dreams.
Who knows, maybe soon I'll have a dream I can contribute too. Too bad the potential to revive waking dreams isn't part of the deal. posted by Cyndy | link |    | |

EO Newsroom New Images

Las Cruces, New Mexico
One of the many splendid finds while reading Spontaneous Arising.
UPDATE: Yes, the image was found in his comments, posted by PrairieWeather who I have been meaning to add to my blogroll for sometime now. posted by Cyndy | link |    | |

Watch The Elegant Universe

Why string theory might hold the key to unifying the four forces of nature.
The NOVA three hour series The Elegant Universe is online broken into short viewing segments. It was originally broadcast in Oct-Nov 2003.
Homepage here.
Video segments here.
Maybe one day soon I'll finally grasp string theory. posted by Cyndy | link |    | |

Lost Destinations::La Cueva

As I trudged along the steep, narrow trail, I marveled that someone would walk all the way out here to live alone in a cave. I couldn't help but think about the enigmatic man who used to call this place home...

...) As I finally reached the summit of the mountainside, and faced the darkened entrance to the cave, I became aware of the solitude of my surroundings. I turned around to take in the spectacular view. Amazing. You could see forever... the whole entire valley was laid out in a patchwork of colors. As I turned back toward the dark mouth opening into the mountain, I couldn't help but think of the local ghost stories that claimed there is still phantom firelight spotted out in front of La Cueva on the occasional moonless night. Going inside the shadowy cave, I felt the hair raise up along my arms and the back of my neck. He lived in here, I thought. They found him murdered here.[ read the story ] posted by Cyndy | link |    | |

Déja vu in London

A photo, by eyewitness Alexander Chadwick, of King's Cross Tunnel.
From the postings by the British public on the BBC site.
And a drawing by Henry Moore during the London Blitz sometime between 1940 and 1942.
posted by Andy | link |    | |

You've seen it elsewhere

Now you see it here.
Just skip on over to Skippy's again. posted by Cyndy | link |    | |

Leave it to Bush

The Toilet Online
Watch both episodes, and do not drink soda while you're watching unless you really like it coming out of your nose. posted by Cyndy | link |    | |

her name was hope

she died
in a dream
of colourful words
stroked gently
against a pillow of clouds
all clarity invaded

occupying voices painted smudges
of dark and light
sizzling then frozen
stretched upon a canvas
of withered flesh
and crackled stains of blood

her blue eyes deafened
to the sound of her own voice
when the bombs of reality
destroyed
her handcrafted easel
crashing it
into a river of perpetual war
leaving behind
no wake
no wake
no wake

~cyndy posted by Cyndy | link |    | |

General Synod Votes In Favor Of Same Sex Marriage


Chuck Currie, blogging for the United Church of Christ, reports: "Today the General Synod of the United Church of Christ put the national setting of our denomination on record supporting same sex marriages. This makes the UCC the first mainline Christian denomination to take such a stand. Supporters of the resolution stated:

The message of the Gospel is the lens through which the whole of scripture is to be interpreted. Love and compassion, justice and peace are at the very core of the life and ministry of Jesus. It is a message that always bends toward inclusion. The biblical story recounts the ways in which inclusion and welcome to God's community is ever-expanding, from the story of Abraham and Sarah, to the inclusive ministry of Jesus, to the baptism of Cornelius, to the missionary journeys of Paul throughout the Greco-Roman world. The liberating work of the Spirit as witnessed in the activities of Jesus' ministry has been to address the situations and structures of exclusion, injustice and oppression that diminish God's people and keep them from realizing the full gift of human personhood in the context of human communion.

Our local churches can be proud that General Synod has taken their responsibilities to discern God's will faithfully on yet another difficult issue."

Progressive voices in the church are an encouraging sign. Keep up with the actions at the UCC blog and the voice of Chuck Currie for more encouraging signs. posted by Cyndy | link |    | |

The Literature & Culture of the American 1950s

posted by Cyndy | link |    | |

Analyst Says Cooper Documents Reveal Karl Rove as Source in Plame Case

Will we see this?

"And I know I'm going to get pulled into the grand jury for saying this but the source of...for Matt Cooper was Karl Rove, and that will be revealed in this document dump that Time magazine's going to do with the grand jury."

UPDATE: You may find this flashback/transcript written at Pacific Views, August 21, 2003 interesting again. I know I do.

Ambassador Joseph Wilson: "At the end of the day, it's of keen interest to me to see whether or not we can get Karl Rove frog-marched out of the White House in handcuffs. And trust me, when I use that name, I measure my words."

Also, you will find links in the comments below that are quite insightful. Thanks Rajiv! posted by Cyndy | link |    | |