26 January 07
Native Plant Links
I sometimes wonder where one might find a particular native plant for Pica’s garden. The California Native Plant Link Exchange figures to be a good resource here — among other things one can query it by species to find out what nurseries stock that plant.
25 January 07
What to Write About?
This morning I took a survey about blogging (thanks, Beth). One of the reasons I didn’t give was “it’s my turn.”
When it’s “my turn,” the day unfolds as a series of opportunties. Last night, for instance: the cat throws up on the bed. I get up and deal with it. I finally after much tossing and turning get to sleep, only to dream about a man knocking on the door in the dark, wanting me to call for an ambulance. Where are you from? I said, instead of calling the police (hey, it was a dream). Over there, he said, pointing toward the railroad tracks. Not sure whether he wanted an ambulance for himself or someone else, and profoundly suspicious, I vacillated until he showed every sign of dying on the spot whereupon I dialled 911 asking for an ambulance. “We don’t do ambulances,” came the reply. Then I woke up to the sound of a puking cat.
Or, I could write about my profound depression (and it’s at this point, I should probably admit to myself, medicatable) about the state of the world.
Or I could write about my new and exciting dalliance with Akim Cursive, a modern calligraphic hand I knew nothing about just two days ago, but which seems very suited to writing poetry. I was practicing this evening, drawing the vomitatious cat (he moved off), working working fast to try and push it hard. It’s fun when one of these things can be semi-mastered in a matter of hours rather than years.
24 January 07
Aural Calligraphy
In my two tries so far I haven’t made a Morse Code contact yet. One thing that I’m sure will help is practicing my sending — my calls out now probably sound like complete mush. I have a practice key which sounds a tone when I press the key. What I do is hook it up to the computer and record it using a sound editing program. (I use Audacity which is free and open source.) The program is nice to use here because not only can I replay my sending I can also visually look at the letterforms. It becomes quite clear when I am for instance holding the final “dih” too long in the letter C (dah-dih-dah-dih). More than anything the process feels like learning to do calligraphy in sound, in time.
Above is a sketch of my practice key. I have been doing many of these brush pen sketches lately using Pica’s walnut ink.
23 January 07
State of the Union Scorecard
I’m posting this by Bob Wicks, who is a friend’s sister’s high school English teacher down in Southern California in a dim and distant past. Bob is welcome to guest-blog here any time.
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Many of you have misplaced your State of the Union Scorecards, so I am providing an updated copy to make your watching more productive tomorrow night [tonight—ed.]. You may remember that Bush scored an unprecedented 80 points in 2001 due to a fluke in the scoring system that year where an unlimited number of self-satisfied smirks were allowed. His smirk score alone that year was 42, and it prompted a rules change so that subsequent to 2002, no more than five points could be garnered for smirking. The rules for this year are essentially unchanged from last. The chart below will make your scoring easy and convenient. Remember that questionable calls are to be recorded in the president’s favor.
Action Points
Any self-satisfied smirk is good for one point to a maximum of five points.
Any sentence with the words bi-partisan or co-operation, one point.
Any sentence with the meaning that we will stand down when the Iraqis stand up, one point.
Reference to Iraqi combatants as killers or murderers, two points.
Call for support of troop build-up in Iraq, one point.
Warning to Osama Bin Laden that his time is about up, five points.
Reference to Iran’s nuclear program destabilizing the area, one point.
Any use of the word “brave” in describing our troops, one point to a maximum of five points.
Camera panning to members of the armed forces in the audience, one point. Marines in dress uniforms count two points.
Reference to parents of dead servicemen, one point.
Letter from little girl in Kansas supporting our troops, one point.
Asserting that the Iraq war keeps terrorists away from our country, one point.
Mention that the world is better off without Saddam, one point.
Acknowledgment that global warming is real, one point.
Suggesting government help to corporations developing alternate fuels, one point.
Noting the advance of the Dow Jones Average to record highs, one point.
Promising to reduce deficits at some future time, one point.
Noting that the Bush administration has added over three trillion dollars to the national debt, 100 points.
Proposing that wealthy people should get a tax deduction for their health insurance premiums, two points.
Calling for continuation of “No Child Left Behind,” one point.
Mention that the world has changed because of 9-11, one point.
Any joke about Nancy Pelosi, five points.
There you have it. Keep this scorecard handy as you listen to the speech. A score of 35-40 is considered average. It is very unlikely that we will ever see the 80 points of 2001 surpassed. There is very little for Bush to smirk about these days, self-satisfied or not.
21 January 07
Quote Of The Day
They are a handful of miserable resuscitators of a degenerate dead religion who wish to return to the monstrous dark delusions of the past.
— Father Efstathios Kollas, the President of Greek Clergymen, referring to the the first officially sanctioned ceremony held recently at the Temple of Olympian Zeus in Athens by hundreds of followers of the 12 major Greek Gods.
20 January 07
Day in San Diego
I’m just back from a quick day in San Diego, visiting my cousin Gainor who was at a board meeting for her work with the Episcopalian drug and alcohol recovery program. I’ll post a bit more about this tomorrow but we quickly took in the San Diego Museum of Art then after lunch went to Point Loma, where I sketched and she explored the lighthouse with her friend Kit.
It’s a good-scale city, I think. We had a wonderful day.
19 January 07
KG6KDJ/AG
I passed my test, both the multiple-choice bit and the Morse Code section! So I’m now licensed to transmit on the high-frequency bands. The /AG appended to my call sign above is what I have to use until my paperwork about the license upgrade goes through the FCC.
The word is that Morse Code testing will end on February 23, so I’m sneaking in under the wire to complete the code test.
Tomorrow is figuring to be a good day to play radio. Let’s see how I do on the new wavelengths!
18 January 07
Fungus the Bogeyman
A friend brought a copy of this amazing graphic novel, now out of print, when they were up here doing the Christmas Bird Count, hoping , perhaps, I’d agree with her that it was the best children’s book ever.
Ron, you’re right.
I’m seeing from the Wikipedia entry that this was turned into a TV miniseries in 2004. I’m sure my niece and nephew, who are heavily into all things gross just now, would appreciate it. I love the art, I love the philosophical turn of thoughts of poor old Fungus (“but what’s it all for?”), and I love the side comments. (And I especially love the triple nipples.)
Thank you, thank you. A treasure.
16 January 07
Test Approaching
I’m planning to take the exam for my General Class amateur radio license this Friday at a session in Lafayette. The imminent elimination of the Morse Code requirement has gotten me motivated to take the test while the requirement for the Morse Code is still in effect. I will be having to copy code at the rate of 5 words per minute for the test, in addition to the multiple-choice questions on radio theory and practice. 5 WPM is still very slow, but it’s a good starting-off point for on-the-air adventures in Morse.
15 January 07
Bodega Trip
While my mother moved to Maine last summer, her house has not yet sold, victim of bad timing. I went over there yesterday to check on things and meet with the realtor.
It was the first time I’d been back since she left.
It was cold but sunny and with almost no wind to speak of, an anomaly in this place where there’s almost always an onshore breeze (more like a gale, usually).
I took myself to lunch at the wonderful Seaweed Cafe (baked queso fresco over roast vegetables and amaranth pudding, washed down with an exquisite Ti Kwan Yin). This is a restaurant that takes “local” food seriously, serving, for instance, wine from not just Sonoma County, but WESTERN Sonoma County.
After I walked along the Head, a place I’d walked so many times with my mother, and stopped at the spot where she strew some of my father’s ashes.
Bittersweet. I’m glad she’s moved to a community she can grow to be a part of while she’s still strong and has all her faculties (and can be near the grandchildren). But she’s far away now. This scattering, fruit of choice and opportunity, comes with a certain price…