Sunday, June 24, 2007

Hummingblink

This shot from Bird Chick is it.

What we call "supercute."

Anyone else feeling this good?

Dang, wish it were only Saturday.

Mixed feelings

Why do people insist on crowding themselves into places where the risk of destruction is as close as the hillside that rhymes with landslide, the shoreline where storms beat, the valley of a volcano, still active?

Our recent dense spate of hurricanes has made it difficult for East Coasters, for example, to obtain, much less afford, insurance. There is discussion of creating a kind of public insurance trust, one that accumulates its unspent premiums, as opposed to spending them and calling it profit. However, it strikes me that the cry of "something must be done" is faulting the insurance providers, with no mention that perhaps as a matter of business and basic common sense, it's logical that providers would want to discourage people from setting up home in such high-risk locations.

No one seems to be getting the message.

Where is the responsibility of the well-endowed island-dweller?

Of course, in the United States, we can make such choices. Residents of Haiti, for example, have no such option.

Anyway, it's summertime, and that means wildfires.

On the one hand, I'm sad acres of forest are dying, and somewhat embarrassed that human error is involved. I will defer the argument about "natural" burn cycles, controlled burns, and the patterns of humankind's interference to your personal research.

This one in Alaska, near Anchorage, is 50,000 acres lost. It started with sparks flying off a shovel being sharpened over dry grass. The iron age was a long time ago, so this may not be a first. Nowadays, always have a bucket handy! Same goes for when you're playing with consumer-grade and homemade/dynamite fireworks. Exit strategies and emergency planning are important in both household affairs and government. Use all of your brain, think ahead a little, show us we've learned from our mistakes. (Give this slug a reason to believe.)

The peninsula is a vacation spot, where one goes to fish, see whales, be granola.

Montana has a 1,000-acre fire at work.

And over in the divorce state: "Near Reno, Nev., firefighters reported progress in their battle against a 150-acre wildfire that had burned within 200 yards of upscale homes Saturday, said Reno city spokesman Chris Good. He said crews hoped to contain the brush fire Sunday."

A much smaller fire. I'm kind of hoping it makes it just a little further.

I am a classist, no denying, and today I'm feeling like a bitter little proletariat.

And granola. America has to stop believing its high consumption code is a laudable and intelligent practice, something to be exported even, and indefinitely sustainable.

Doing the same things will not produce new results.

Thursday, June 21, 2007

Tuesday, June 05, 2007

Am I blue

A medly

There are a number of ways to spell the name most of us knew Lee Tisdale by, including: which is how I found out about this on Friday evening while wandering in East Crossroads.
His chair, done up in a fashion like a lot of his artwork, was in the Pi Gallery on 18th. I know you can't really see anything in this photo. I don't make my photos big on this blog anymore, you know. And you can't tell what I'm feeling about the loss of this person, either.

A view of downtown

From 22nd and Woodland, my favorite street, as you know.

Monday, June 04, 2007

Sunday, June 03, 2007

Playing with fire

Someone in this photo has an advanced degree in engineering. Maybe a monkey would make a fire by piling oak leaves on top of wood.

The boys did this "review of fire" many times Saturday night. I guess the fun of fire is that you play with it.

Someone in this picture said, "If I can't use this pump to blow up my matress, then this is what it's going to do."

Friday, June 01, 2007

Happy 30th!


That's my brother and his birthday is today.

He's pictured at the tender age of 29 in Manhattan, Kan. with his newly-received architecture degree on May 12.

I'm the older sister, so, yeah, I feel old. He's already employed and everything, and living a few degrees south of KC, down in Houston, Texas.

Let's be proud!