When the temperature reaches 108F and it's going to be over 100F for the next five days, and there's been no rain for weeks, and humidity is in the teens... well, St. Louis, meet Palm Desert. Which is pretty good weather for geezers with a/c, but it's hell on the hydrangeas.
Gets you thinking... what if it doesn't rain until September? It means that all the water I bought, and will buy, over the last months and this summer will be for naught and we'll be losing trees, not just plants, and we'll be facing fires, not just the usual tornadoes and hailstorms. It's so Biblical!
One sign that it could be the end of the world: folks are giving away their tickets to the Cardinals games over the weekend...
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Saturday, June 23, 2012
Back on the Trail
Yeeks it's been another month. I hope that's over. I just... well, it's the Meriwether Dilemma. How can you write a journal when you are busy fightin' bears?
Well, the bears are lumbering off this morning, looking for tastier fare. And I'm thinking that the rest of my life begins - not today, too obvious - but July 1, 2012. So I've got this little time for a windup. Then in about a week I will take off, stop stewing, start doing, ensuring that when my funeral comes around they will be able say more than he was a nice guy.
This is the new Blogger format. I will give it a try, although I thought the old one was cool, dry-Manhattan cool. Maybe this will be a little warmer. A Perfect Manhattan, this time. Or not, and I will try to re-engineer back.
We seem to be embarking on a new political season and the chatter seems as banal and surface-coasting as ever. And about money, money, money, or maybe that's me, maybe I'm getting to the sad state where I think everyone but me is venal.
Just look and listen, and see if any candidate is talking about anything because it's virtuous, righteous, and not because it's politically savvy. And way more important: see if the reactions to what the candidates say are based on lack of virtue, or righteousness, as opposed to smart or stupid for the campaigner.
Not to say that process doesn't matter. There is a trend taking place in California - the place that, contrarian that I am, I admire more and more - where they are trying to throttle back the rules so that the electorate no longer has to choose between extremists on either side. Lots of ways to get there - I'll do a really wonky piece about it before election day.
But now, I'm getting ready for July 1. Where are those running shoes?
Well, the bears are lumbering off this morning, looking for tastier fare. And I'm thinking that the rest of my life begins - not today, too obvious - but July 1, 2012. So I've got this little time for a windup. Then in about a week I will take off, stop stewing, start doing, ensuring that when my funeral comes around they will be able say more than he was a nice guy.
This is the new Blogger format. I will give it a try, although I thought the old one was cool, dry-Manhattan cool. Maybe this will be a little warmer. A Perfect Manhattan, this time. Or not, and I will try to re-engineer back.
We seem to be embarking on a new political season and the chatter seems as banal and surface-coasting as ever. And about money, money, money, or maybe that's me, maybe I'm getting to the sad state where I think everyone but me is venal.
Just look and listen, and see if any candidate is talking about anything because it's virtuous, righteous, and not because it's politically savvy. And way more important: see if the reactions to what the candidates say are based on lack of virtue, or righteousness, as opposed to smart or stupid for the campaigner.
Not to say that process doesn't matter. There is a trend taking place in California - the place that, contrarian that I am, I admire more and more - where they are trying to throttle back the rules so that the electorate no longer has to choose between extremists on either side. Lots of ways to get there - I'll do a really wonky piece about it before election day.
But now, I'm getting ready for July 1. Where are those running shoes?
Monday, May 14, 2012
Back from California
It’s a grand place, really. Americans have loved California for generations, and it shows. San Diego, my principal destination this time, is shiny, massive, unmoored from most traditions except the tradition of the US Navy. The Midway is parked in front, and Saturday morning the venerable aircraft carrier was swarming with Girl Scouts. As American as you can get.
Which is one of the ways in which this neo-secessionist movement is so sad. Its proponents in the so-called “red” states* think of California and New York and Massachusetts as un-American havens for welfare and disability cheats and freeloaders. But they should go see the Midway. There it is in California, manned by greatest-generationers who seem to love their volunteer gig. Not a bum or a panhandler in sight. Un-American? Please.
There are homeless people in downtown San Diego, in their sleeping bags, pushing their carts, hanging out in twos and threes with their scrawny but evidently well-loved dogs. They aren’t in the least aggressive, and they obviously aren’t stupid - if I were ever to find myself on the street, out of choice or necessity, I’d think San Diego was a pretty fair place to camp. No wonder the Okies headed there.
It's a wonderful mix, homeless and Girl Scouts and folks in bars and babes in limos and families walking along the waterfront. Walking back from the Midway, a big graduation ceremony for Phoenix University. It isn’t blue, or purple, any more than it’s red or green or black or white. It’s California, and if it’s any color it’s still gold, plus plenty of red, white, and blue.
* I’m sorry, I still think that the notion of “red” as a symbol for American conservatives is an ignorant joke.
** I have no idea why this post is framed on white but I can't figure out how to undo and I'm sick of trying. They're just words.
** I have no idea why this post is framed on white but I can't figure out how to undo and I'm sick of trying. They're just words.
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Lewis and Clark
There a lots of ways to divvy up personalities, from the Myers-Briggs type indicators to my long-time favorite: are you Beatles or are you Stones. But I'm working on a new one, William Clark v. Meriwether Lewis.
Clark was organized, methodical, commanding, and his journal entries from the 1804 expedition are daily, factual, and interesting but not compelling. He was had a fine career, apart from the expedition, and is buried here with great distinction at Bellefontaine Cemetery.
Lewis was visionary, artistic, a companion of Jefferson, and wrote in his expedition journal only in occasional bursts, accompanied with illustrations, but with long periods of silence. He died young, alone, on a trip back to the East on the Natchez Trace, probably by his own hand.
So in the world of public diarists - what we call, somewhat tediously, bloggers - how do we split up?
I suppose I'm Lewis, but I should be Clark.
There a lots of ways to divvy up personalities, from the Myers-Briggs type indicators to my long-time favorite: are you Beatles or are you Stones. But I'm working on a new one, William Clark v. Meriwether Lewis.
Clark was organized, methodical, commanding, and his journal entries from the 1804 expedition are daily, factual, and interesting but not compelling. He was had a fine career, apart from the expedition, and is buried here with great distinction at Bellefontaine Cemetery.
Lewis was visionary, artistic, a companion of Jefferson, and wrote in his expedition journal only in occasional bursts, accompanied with illustrations, but with long periods of silence. He died young, alone, on a trip back to the East on the Natchez Trace, probably by his own hand.
So in the world of public diarists - what we call, somewhat tediously, bloggers - how do we split up?
I suppose I'm Lewis, but I should be Clark.
Thursday, April 12, 2012
The Wheel Turns
A little over a year ago I left my old firm. A long, tough story, but it was my choice and I landed well.
Today comes the news, and it is not unrelated to my departure, that my old firm is closing its doors.
I'm going to stay on top of this, name no names, but try to identify some lessons learned. There are real human tragedies that take place at a time like this, and the least we survivors can do is learn. For some, there are no lessons left.
The first thing, and it's not as much a lesson as an indictment of all of us, is that the weakest in the firm are hit the hardest and least capable of absorbing the blow. We big thinkers can talk about capitalism and creative destruction, but what happens to the secretaries and receptionists - fine, dignified people - is just plain damage.
A little over a year ago I left my old firm. A long, tough story, but it was my choice and I landed well.
Today comes the news, and it is not unrelated to my departure, that my old firm is closing its doors.
I'm going to stay on top of this, name no names, but try to identify some lessons learned. There are real human tragedies that take place at a time like this, and the least we survivors can do is learn. For some, there are no lessons left.
The first thing, and it's not as much a lesson as an indictment of all of us, is that the weakest in the firm are hit the hardest and least capable of absorbing the blow. We big thinkers can talk about capitalism and creative destruction, but what happens to the secretaries and receptionists - fine, dignified people - is just plain damage.
Monday, April 09, 2012
Better Answers
One of the memes emerging in the Presidential campaign is high gas prices. The Democrats now say you can't blame the President, which is more or less true, and has always been more or less true, although it has only been true for many Democrats since January 20, 2009.
Mitt Romney, who will probably be the Republican nominee notwithstanding his furious efforts to dumb-talk his way out of it, responds to this issue by saying: well, this President ran for office saying we needed higher gas prices.
It may (or may not) be a clever answer politically, but it really is a great example of the shallowness of American politics. Romney is smart. He knows perfectly well that higher petroleum prices would be a good idea, to the extent that the commodity is artificially underpriced. There is an argument that it is; it's hard to say that the externalities of resource depletion and foreign policy cost have been captured. And there is an argument that it is not; OPEC has been gleefully engaging in production controls and monopoly pricing for years. And there is an argument that years of subsidizing gas-vehicle-favored infrastructure in America mean that we should impose a tax, in order to permit other energy sources to catch up. Or even - heavens, from this libertarian? - to promote conservation.
These are serious answers, right or wrong, to serious questions and a debate over them might conceivably lead to better policy. But they won't ever come up, because the pols think people are too stupid to follow the argument. Or, in the case of a tax on gas, they think the idea is political suicide. They might be right; the few who have gone down this road got creamed. But if the many had the guts to enter the debate honestly, who knows, some intelligent policy might ensue.
Forgive my sniffy tone. It's just that the good questions and the good answers have been around for years. I worked in this field in the early 1970's and they were around then. They were ignored by politicians who knew much better, and the trail from there to the Gulf War to to 9/11/01 is pretty direct.
We members of the Grown-Up Party can sit around waiting for thoughtful conversations about significant issues, but they probably will only be among us, and never reach a larger stage. There is too much noise. Only a real shouter could get above it, and in the Grown-Up Party we don't have good shouters.
One of the memes emerging in the Presidential campaign is high gas prices. The Democrats now say you can't blame the President, which is more or less true, and has always been more or less true, although it has only been true for many Democrats since January 20, 2009.
Mitt Romney, who will probably be the Republican nominee notwithstanding his furious efforts to dumb-talk his way out of it, responds to this issue by saying: well, this President ran for office saying we needed higher gas prices.
It may (or may not) be a clever answer politically, but it really is a great example of the shallowness of American politics. Romney is smart. He knows perfectly well that higher petroleum prices would be a good idea, to the extent that the commodity is artificially underpriced. There is an argument that it is; it's hard to say that the externalities of resource depletion and foreign policy cost have been captured. And there is an argument that it is not; OPEC has been gleefully engaging in production controls and monopoly pricing for years. And there is an argument that years of subsidizing gas-vehicle-favored infrastructure in America mean that we should impose a tax, in order to permit other energy sources to catch up. Or even - heavens, from this libertarian? - to promote conservation.
These are serious answers, right or wrong, to serious questions and a debate over them might conceivably lead to better policy. But they won't ever come up, because the pols think people are too stupid to follow the argument. Or, in the case of a tax on gas, they think the idea is political suicide. They might be right; the few who have gone down this road got creamed. But if the many had the guts to enter the debate honestly, who knows, some intelligent policy might ensue.
Forgive my sniffy tone. It's just that the good questions and the good answers have been around for years. I worked in this field in the early 1970's and they were around then. They were ignored by politicians who knew much better, and the trail from there to the Gulf War to to 9/11/01 is pretty direct.
We members of the Grown-Up Party can sit around waiting for thoughtful conversations about significant issues, but they probably will only be among us, and never reach a larger stage. There is too much noise. Only a real shouter could get above it, and in the Grown-Up Party we don't have good shouters.
What I Learned in the Last 40 Days
1. An early Spring is a mixed blessing.
2. Life without cocktails at home is pretty much like life with them.
3. There's a great station on Sirius called L'Oasis Francophone.
4. Lent actually ends at sunset on Good Friday. I took advantage of this for purposes of testing No. 2 above.
5. I may be better off moving this stuff to Twitter. I seem to be thinking in aphorisms more than paragraphs.
1. An early Spring is a mixed blessing.
2. Life without cocktails at home is pretty much like life with them.
3. There's a great station on Sirius called L'Oasis Francophone.
4. Lent actually ends at sunset on Good Friday. I took advantage of this for purposes of testing No. 2 above.
5. I may be better off moving this stuff to Twitter. I seem to be thinking in aphorisms more than paragraphs.
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