Month of August, 2008
Quote of the Day
"When's the last time John McCain brought out 75,000 people for anything? Or could he?"
- Senator Dick Durbin, D-Ill (as written in The Arizona Republic newspaper)
Cookies
I made cookies tonight that look like doo-doo. I'm not real happy about this. Especially since the cookies were for coworkers.
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Rabbit Hole
You know how it is when you start looking at something then you see a link to another site...and that's interesting so you keep reading...then you link to another site...and so on and so on? Yeah, that was me the other day. Some fun stuff to look at later.
http://flexistentialist.org/blog/archives/2005/07/17/made-my-own-messeng...
http://eeio.blogspot.com/2004/12/recycled-banner-golden-mean-messenger.h...
http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2007/06/make_a_messenger_bag_out_1.html
http://www.homegrownevolution.com/
http://www.ramshacklesolid.com/
http://blog.holyscraphotsprings.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papercrete
http://www.velacreations.com
http://www.strandbeest.com/
On the Lighter Side
Isn't Bentley cute?
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National Debt
Last night, Chris, Ryan, Kat, and I saw the documentary I.O.U.S.A. which is about the US National Debt. I knew my country was in debt, but this movie opened my eyes to the seriousness of the situation. Currently, the country is so deep into debt that every American would have to pay $47,000 to pay it all off. And that number is only accurate if the government shuts down and stops spending. Government spending is way, way, way out of control.
This issue isn't an issue of the right vs. the left, Republicans vs. Democrats. This issue is the same across both parties. Our representatives are spending too much money. Personally, I aim to stay out of debt and it's time my government did too.
After the movie, we watched a panel discussion which was put together just for this special event. The panel consisted of some very, very smart individuals: Warren Buffett, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway; William Niskanen, chairman of the Cato Institute; Bill Novelli, CEO of AARP; Pete Peterson, senior chairman of The Blackstone Group and chairman of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation; and Dave Walker, (my personal favorite) president & CEO of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation and former U.S. Comptroller General. They all had differing opinions on various pieces of the topic, but they all agreed on one thing - the US National Debt is a HUGE problem that needs to be worked on urgently; we have to force our representatives to do something.
I was especially impressed with Dave Walker, who was a former US Comptroller General. In that role, he prepared and presented the nation's financial statements to Congress and the President. Dave became so concerned with the awful financial situation of the US that he resigned from the position to become a full-time advocate for eliminating the debt. He runs the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, which is working to wake up Americans so that we get this problem fixed.
I'm fired up about this issue. I believe this country has significant problems with overspending both in the government and in the private sector. (The stats back it up; this year was the first time in history the savings rate was negative.) We've lost our common sense with finances. It's time to get things back on track so I'm going to get involved. On Wednesday, I'm going to go work at the phone bank for Bob Lord, who is running for Congress in my district. He clearly states on his website how he feels about the national debt problem. He wants to stop spending money we don't have. I couldn't agree more and I'm going to do everything I can to get Bob Lord and more people like him elected.
Then I'm going to start writing my current representatives - John Shadegg, Jon Kyl, and John McCain. They need to know people really care about this issue and we expect them to do something about it. You should do the same. Find out who your representatives are at Whoismyrepresentative.com
| The Gross National Debt |
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Hammock
Will and Stacy gave us the loveliest Mexican hammock for our wedding. Chris did an awesome job of hanging it on the porch and we occasionally slip into it early mornings and late nights. Because those times are the only times it's cool enough in Phoenix in August.
The house was awfully quiet this morning and that's because Chris was in the hammock. I can't wait to spend whole Saturdays in this thing...just as soon as it's a tiny bit cooler.
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Bad Olympic Commentary
I haven't watched as much of the Olympic games as I'd like to, but I did get some time to watch a few hours last week. I was shocked by some of the crazy things the commentators were saying. Crazy! Maybe they just don't have time to think before they're expected to say something.
Note: You can read each of these as if it was followed by an exclamation mark because that's how most phrases were delivered.
- She wants to dominate.
- That was ginormous.
- All you have to do is put pressure on the big boys.
- Any one of these guys could with the gold metal.
- How do they go back to the drawing board when it seems the drawing board is blank.
- That's like impossible.
- She can break a record. What that record might be, I'm not so sure.
Practical Art
Practical Art is a store in uptown Phoenix of locally, handmade, and useful objects. Chris and I first learned about Practical Art from Wayne, who is friends with Jane, the owner. Wayne thought Chris should talk to Jane about selling some of his woodwork in the store. So Chris stopped by, liked the store, and hit it off with Jane. He spent a few intense days in the wood shop and made a three frames to sell.
When Chris dropped the frames off, he and Jane chatted about the shop and it came up that they needed another staff member. He got the job and it's quite wonderful they'll be working around his school schedule. Really, it's a perfect fit. Chris gets to go to school full time (17 hours!) and work part-time. Best of all, he works at a shop that promotes local, handmade goods and green practices.
Practical Art: 5070 North Central Phoenix, AZ 85012
If you're in Phoenix, you really should stop by Practical Art for yourself. It's a lovely shop with lovely staff. They also show local artists every month and typically have an opening reception on the 3rd Friday of the month. They're open late for First Friday too. Or stop by on a Saturday and say hi to Chris!
Other pictures from Practical Art.
Quote of the Day
"The reason companies started buying, in other words, was that Congress began selling."
- from Thomas Frank's book, THE WRECKING CREW How Conservatives Rule
(from Michael Lind's book review in the NY Times called What’s the Matter With Washington?)
Ignite Phoenix
On Tuesday, August 12th, the first Ignite Phoenix event was held. Ignite is a group devised to get creative people together & share ideas. Each person on the agenda is given 5 minutes to present with 20 slides. There are Ignite events popping up all over the country. My friend, Jim, will be presenting at Ignite Denver on September 10th.
Jeff & Roger did a great job putting together the first Ignite Phoenix. All the presenters did a awesome job making the night fun. Turnout was great (over 100 people) and it was a good night.
My Notes from the Event:
(with links added for easier browsing)
meetupstogoto.com
ignitephx tag on Flickr
Intro should have also been 5 minutes with 20 slides
Big Time Evo Terra great visual example by using one's arm...I won't forget for a long time
Radiate Phoenix networking group Claudia Bullmore & Gene Urban radiatephx.com UrbanAffair by Catrina Nobel interesting group but mission is unclear
Vida e caffe Globe Autin Miles
stevenbshaffer.com OBGITR
7 ice rinks in Phoenix! David Koontz
storycast.com Jeff Reid
Cabin Pressure by Sean Tierney moo pedal?
Dan Messer library story FUN!
Tomas Carrillo green business ideas, awesome, prepared!
Fire Walking move past fears, transform your life, 5 hrs prepare QSGfirewalk.com Vincent Kellsey
Steve Swidler Myth 3: Social networks are a good sample of the general public... Like a pimple on the face of the Internet gathers a lot of attention but doesn't affect the health of the host; use it to strengthen your ties; take a good hard look at yourself & decide how to invest your time and then use the social networks to connect with others
Kevin Patterson globalretirementvillage.com
Melissa Bahl - compulsion 2.2 Americans OCD funny! share info
Sheila Bocchine Pinhole camera teakwood dries up in AZ (taped up); romantic, surreal; 3 years learning;
Wrap up - a little too much push for connecting via technology would have liked push for connecting in person since all in the same room
David Keens Art Show
On the weekend of July 11th, Chris and I went to Texas for David Keens' opening at The Arlington Museum of Art. David is a glass artist as well as professor of glass blowing at University of Texas in Arlington. Chris and David have been friends for about 6 years. I've been friends with David and Arianne, his wife, for about two years. They are good, good friends and wonderful people.
David's show was a significant event as it was a solo show at the museum. He's been preparing for the show for a year and I know he's been working very, very hard. This was a big moment in his career and he exhibited some brand new, extremely innovative work. Chris and I were very lucky that we got to be at the opening.
While David is an excellent glass-blower, his new work is glass sculpture. David shared some of his process with us. While I know I won't get it all right, I wanted to share what I remember. David first sculpts a piece in clay. Then he creates a plaster mold. After the clay is removed, the glass goes into the mold and into the kiln. When it comes out, David pain-stakingly removes the plaster from the glass. It's an extremely delicate process and David shared his pain of breaking pieces half a dozen times before getting the final. (He has far more patience and perseverance than I!) I love that he's telling such stories with the glass.
My favorite piece is the bed and the tornado. For me, it's all about nightmares.
See all the pictures from that weekend.
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Late to the Game
me: Interesting article on solar technology http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2008/oxygen-0731.html
Chris: I got the tweet from Tyson
me: I feel suddenly uncool
