Monday, January 31, 2011

Last Day Of January 2011 In Tucson


The balmy weather we've been having for the last week has changed to skies that are cloudy and the temperature is a bit cooler. This morning I went out by the pool and took a few pictures of the clouds rolling in over the Santa Catalina mountains. You can click each photo to see a larger version.


Here is the first photo, taken at 8:00 A.M.


Here is the next one, taken at 8:30 A.M.


Taken at 9 A.M.

Taken at 10 A.M.


Taken at about 11 A.M.

After noon, the sky cleared and the sun shone down brightly. The wind died and the temperature rose into the 60s.

And that's the weather for today.

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Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Less Blogging, More Readin' and Writin'


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This will be the last of my daily blog entries. From now on I will blog only when I feel inclined to do so. It might be once or twice a week, or even less than that. I intend to do more serious writing and more reading of both fact and fiction each day... eBooks, KindlePC books, and printed novels.

Virginia Woolf's father, Leslie Stephen, counseled her in the art of effective reading: his advice, as recounted by Woolf in A Writer's Diary, was to read what one liked because one liked it [and] never to pretend to admire what one did not.

I will be reading books that I like.

Cheers...
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Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Laundry, Chores, Etc.


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FLASH!

I was just informed that Julia Spencer-Fleming is still actively writing novels. She and I used to discuss writing and shared some critiques when she was a member of my writers group. Back when Julia had her first book (In The Bleak Midwinter) published I bought it through Amazon.com but then did not buy any of her subsequent works-- now she has another new one coming out in April. Its title is One Was A Soldier. She now has a website, so you can read all about Julia and her several novels

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There are some things I have to do this morning so the blogging has to be put on hold for now. Maybe time will permit more later in the day. Maybe...

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Monday, January 24, 2011

Don't Feel Like Thinking Up A Title




As I was walking southward on Conestoga Avenue I noticed that I was being paced by a pair of coyotes on the other side of the road. I think they were wanting to cross over but were prevented from doing so by my presence. There was a lot of brush over there and even though I took seven shots with my camera only one of them caught a full body photo. Here it is:

Coyote ambling down Conestoga Ave., Tucson, AZ

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The Humane Society of The United States is the nation's largest and most effective animal protection organization

This is s real-life Rescued Dog
Now living with a family that cares.

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Sam Harris Is Still Around
His latest book is:


Lawrence M. Krauss, theoretical physicist, Director of the Origins Project at Arizona State University, author of The Physics of Star Trek and Quantum Man wrote:

Reading Sam Harris is like drinking water from a cool stream on a hot day. He has the rare ability to frame arguments that are not only stimulating, they are downright nourishing, even if you don’t always agree with him! In this new book he argues from a philosophical and a neurobiological perspective that science can and should determine morality. As was the case with Harris’ previous books, readers are bound to come away with previously firm convictions about the world challenged, and a vital new awareness about the nature and value of science and reason in our lives.

Okay... I admit that I have not yet read The Moral Landscape but I intend to do so soon.

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Animism

The New Athe­ists' Narrow Worldview is the title of an article by Stephen T. Asma in The Chronicle Review, published January 32, 2011

The article's basic premise seems to be that The New Atheists (Dawkins, Harris, Hitchens Dennett, PZ Myers, et al.) are "throwing out the baby with the bathwater" by lumping 'all' religions together in the same (superstitious nonsense) pot -- that they're wrong in imagining that the primary job of religion is morality; that they are ignoring non-western beliefs such as Buddhism, for example, which is about finding a form of psychological happiness.

Animism is defined by dictionaries as:
Animism (from Latin anima "soul, life") refers to the belief that non-human entities are spiritual beings, or at least embody some kind of life-principle.

According to this article, animism is the belief that there are many kinds of persons in this world, only some of whom are human, and that animism in its various forms is the world's largest religion.

Ste­phen T. Asma is a professor of philosophy and a fellow of the Research Group in Mind, Science and Culture at Columbia College Chicago. His latest book is "Why I Am a Buddhist"

As is often the case, some of the rational comments following this article are more illuminating than is the article itself.

I can't say that I wholeheartedly agree with Stephen Asma's Buddhist conclusions, but as always for me, new ideas are worth reading and considering, and I will admit that the subject of animism is fascinating food for thought.

And I intend to delve more deeply into this subject of animism.

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Sunday, January 23, 2011

Blog Rhymes With Slog


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As we entered a Tucson Safeway store . . .
at just after nine on Saturday morning -
a recreational balloon passed overhead.

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Q: What is a book good for?
A: A book...

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From: A.W.A.D

Expostulate
verb intr.:
To reason earnestly with someone in order to dissuade.

Wow! I had always thought the word meant 'to object loudly.' Now I see that I was wrong.


Another word with which I was mistaken about its meaning:

hegemony
the dominance or leadership of one social group or nation over others;

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With traditional soup, you make a big pot of it, and cook everything together, so the flavors of the vegetables/ beans/ meat/ whatnot all get blended into the broth.

But with this soup, it's exactly the opposite. You don't make a big pot of it at once; instead, you make just a bowl or two of it at a time, ad hoc. You cook your protein, you saute your veggies... and then, at the very last minute right before you're ready to eat, you put all the stuff in a bowl, and pour the hot broth/ stock over it.

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While conversing on the phone, a person all of a sudden speaks nonsensical words, such as, when intending to say, "Okay, see you when you get home" instead enunciates: "Ki say ya one jewgetum."

Is this a sign of senility? A simple form of forgetfulness? Or a physical disability (such as a brain malfunction) that comes and goes?

I question this because it's been happening to me lately.

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The Writer's Almanac
credits Aryn Kyle with saying: She loves the thrill of beginning a new story and she loves the glory of finishing a first draft. But all of that time writing in between can be difficult and discouraging, she said, like "digging through concrete with a salad fork"

Now that's a pretty good description of the process of writing fiction.

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To Kill A Mockingbird



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Regarding To Kill a Mockingbird: Flannery O'Connor said, "It's interesting that all the folks that are buying it don't know they are reading a children's book."

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Back Home Again, In Indiana

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A Friend back in Indiana sent me a
Hoosier History Lesson



Tomato juice was first served at a French Lick, Indiana hotel in 1925.
The first tomato juice factory was also in French Lick, IN.
World famous basketball star Larry Bird lives in French Lick, IN.
The world's largest orchid species collection is found at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana.
The first regulated speed limit (20 - 25 mph!) was initiated on Indiana roads in 1921.
The steepest railroad grade in the world is in Madison, Indiana.
An average of 400 funnel clouds are sighted each year in Indiana.
The city of Gary, Indiana, was built on fill brought from the bottom of Lake Michigan through suction pipes.
There are only two Adams fireplaces in the United States. One is in the White House and the other in the Diner Home in Indiana.
The Indianapolis Methodist Hospital is the largest Hospital in the Midwest.
One of the first complete bathrooms in Indianapolis was in the home of Hoosier poet, James Whitcomb Riley.
The career of Dorothy Lamour was launched in Indianapolis .
Aviatrix Amelia Earhart was once a Professor at Purdue University.
Crown Hill Cemetery ( Indianapolis ) is the largest cemetery in the U.S.
The library in Fort Wayne, Allen County, Indiana, houses one of the largest genealogy libraries in America.
Wabash, Indiana, was the first electrified city in the U.S.
Pendleton, Indiana, was the site of the first hanging of a white man for killing Indians.
The Courthouse roof in Greensburg, Indiana, has a tree growing from it.
The world's first transistor radio Regency TR 1, price $ 49.95 was made in Indianapolis.
Clark Gable and wife Carole Lombard (born in Fort Wayne, IN ) honeymooned at Lake BarBee near Warsaw, Indiana.
The American Beauty Rose was developed at Richmond, Indiana.
Elkhart, Indiana, is the band instrument capitol of the World.
Frank Sinatra first sang with the Tommy Dorsey band at the Lyric Theater in Indianapolis.
U.S. 231 is the longest highway in Indiana (231miles).
Johnny Appleseed is buried at Fort Wayne, under an apple tree.
The main station of the Underground Railroad was in Fountain County, Indiana.
There are 154 acres of sculpture gardens and trails at the Indianapolis Museum of Art.
Nancy Hanks Lincoln is buried in Posey County, Indiana.
Pendleton, Indiana was the site of the 'Fall Creek Massacre'. A museum housing 3500 artifacts of pioneer heritage now exists on that site.
A buzz bomb (German - WWII), believed to be the only one on public display in the nation, can be found on the Putnam County Courthouse lawn in Greencastle.
Roberta Turpin Willett was born in Indiana .
James Dean was born and is buried in Fairmount Indiana.
The world's tallest woman lived in Indiana.
Red Skelton was born in Vincennes, Indiana,
Mae West and Claude Akins were from Bedford, Indiana.
The inventor of the television, Philo T. Farnsworth, lived in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
Forrest Tucker was from Plainfield, Indiana.
Bob Greise is from Evansville, Indiana and was quarterback at Purdue University in West Lafayette, IN.
Toni Tenille (of The Captain and Tenille) is from Indiana.
Florence Henderson is from Indiana.
The much sought-after Hoosier Cabinets are an Indiana product.
90% of the world's popcorn is grown in Indiana.
The Jackson Five are from Gary, Indiana.
The birthplace of the automobile, the pneumatic rubber tire, the aluminum casting process, stainless steel and the first push-button car radio was in Kokomo, Indiana.
Frank Borman, NASA astronaut, was born in Gary, Indiana
Jerry Ross, NASA astronaut was born in Crown Point, Indiana
Virgil Grissom, NASA astronaut was born in Mitchell, Indiana
and . . .
Charles Gene Chambers was born in Rensselaer, Indiana.

Friday, January 21, 2011

This Wondrous World Wide Web

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I am discovering so many new and interesting things on the web. For instance:

Beetles are coloring your food.


Since Jan. 5, the FDA has required food manufactures to disclose whether red cochineal beetles are among their products' ingredients. These beetles are farmed, harvested, dried and crushed to produce a red dye called carmine that, until this year, had been disguised in the ingredient list as "artificial color," "color added" or the all-encompassing "natural and artificial coloring."

Carmine provides pink, red and purple coloring to foods such as ice cream, yogurt, candy, and fruit drinks (should you permit that last one to be categorized as a food). Because of lax labeling laws, the extent of carmine in foods and drinks is not known.

And . . .

You can listen to music
at, Sonny James Radio

Or you can pick and choose the
type of music you want to hear.

And . . .

You can take courses -- for free -- from
Massachusetts Institute of Technology!
More than 2,000 courses are offered and yes
there are courses in various types of writing.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) OpenCourseWare (OCW) is a web-based publication of virtually all MIT course content. OCW is open and available to the world and is a permanent MIT activity. There is no registration or enrollment process because OCW is not a credit-bearing or degree-granting initiative.


And . . .

The Books from Russia website is the official English language resource on contemporary Russian literature and the Russian publishing industry. Its aim is to promote new Russian writing by providing the international publishing community with in-depth and up-to-date information about contemporary Russian books, their authors and publishers, and facilitating means of collaboration with Russian partners.

And . . .

Linguistics is the scientific study of language.

On Language
is a collection of On Language columns published in The New York Times. Ben Zimmer is the magazine's new columnist.

Popular Linguistics Magazine is a monthly online publication which aims to bring linguistics and language research to anyone who’s interested.

And . . .

Congressman John Lewis, reportedly, said --
"I happen to believe that health care is a right."

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Another thing I recently discovered, although not from the web, but from a TV show:

In an episode of Star Trek The Next Generation, while describing the power consumption of the Enterprise, Commander Data said, "Yes Captain, we are currently generating 20.7 billion Gigawatts."

Good Grief! Evidently, running a starship takes a great deal of power.

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