meleeska

Polaroid

2012-02-14T02:00:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day!

The Green Economy

2012-02-12T20:51:00.000-08:00

When the United Nation’s Environmental Programme inspired the question of “[The] Green Economy: Does it Include You?” my knee-jerk reaction was to shout out a self congratulatory ‘heck, yes!’ I had a ready-made list in my head to brag about: my green job, my hybrid vehicle, my life-long habit of recycling, my walk-able neighborhood, the compost pile which occupies some space along one side of my house.

There are pockets of every community willing to take up environmental issues. The ethical premise of sustainable living resonates with that group on a very deep level. It’s a group that routinely measures the carbon footprint of vacations and major purchases. A group that makes the purposeful effort to support the Green Economy. Understand that I count myself a member of this group. My eyes don’t roll at all when I mention our instinct to read tree-hugger blogs, find ways to make more with less, and occasionally attempt to out-green each other with biodegradable this, or energy-efficient that.

But the more I thought about the topic the more certainly I concluded being part of a Green Economy isn’t something a person opts into or out of. How active a business or an individual is in that economy varies but membership doesn’t. Membership comes with breathing. Like it or not a person breathes the air that is in front of his or her face. Whether you drive a hybrid or a hummer, it’s the same air. Businesses benefit from efforts to protect biodiversity. Job markets respond to growth sectors no matter their color.

Some people shy away from the term Green Economy. The term conjures images that are both expensive and irrelevant to their everyday lives.
At this point I don’t think the Green Economy wins out over apathy based on the moral argument. The people who were going to take up sustainability issues based on the ethical rewards have already done so. That’s your tree-hugging blog reader, your life long recycler.

What I like is that the Green Economy now has the metrics and the data to make a business case, and a long-term investment or employment case. The metrics speak for themselves, they engage a broader audience. Boiled down to its essence the Green Economy inspires a series of questions about stuff: how much of it we’re consuming? Are there ways to be more efficient with the stuff we already have?

The main distinction between a Green Economy and more traditional economics is how the traditional model is fuelled by a frenzied instinct to consume, throw away, and consume more. An economic base that encourages gluttonous pace of consumption burns itself out in the long run. Ultimately the traditional economic basis runs out of money, jobs, resources, and all the stuff the economy makes itself out of.

I’m rather optimistic that people will eventually engage with the Green Economy it presents a better, smarter model. It offers a paradigm with less pollution, less waste and more profit. It’s the better offering for an individual as well. It’s cheaper. It’s cleaner, it’s healthier. It offers a more stable source of employment.

Does the Green Economy include me? Without a doubt. The Green Economy isn’t particularly interested in who or why a person becomes engaged. Whether sustainability practices are fuelled by regulation, the compelling business model, or by an environmentalist’s moral leanings the outcomes are the same. And the outcomes, the externalities, of a Green Economy are like the air we breathe it pulls everyone in with or without their explicit consent.

Camel-Jerky

2012-02-10T06:43:00.000-08:00

I worked in the CSU Library during my undergraduate degree program. Leafing through my journal I found the following entry dated February 10, 1995:

"Camel-Jerky" said Mark, the librarian," write it down in your book of cool things that people say."

"Camel-Jerky?" I asked.

"Camel-Jerky."

"That's it?"

"Uh-huh, just: Camel-Jerky. Sort of says it all."

"I shouldn't write down your name or the context or anything?"

"Nope."

The Gig

2012-02-07T18:54:00.000-08:00

It's been more than 20 years since I've sung in front of a crowd. Small venues, you know, like my my car and the shower were OK but that was about it.

But my mom and Nancy Marshall have been teaching me some new tunes recently. We had my first in 20 years gig tonight for the Stephen's Ministry group at First Plymouth. It was pretty cool.

Art & Bubbly

2012-02-03T07:00:00.000-08:00

N's Homemade Valentine circa 2006

I'm pretty excited to attend the Sheldon Art Gallery's Art & Bubbly event this Valentine's Day season. I bought a new red dress and everything.

Evidently it's a champagne tasting with sweet treats, and candlelight. The event also sports a silent auction.

At the close of the evening I'll plop a Polaroid snapshot of my pretty red dress and a glass of champagne into my coat pocket. Ooo-ooo-ooo! As if that isn't enough my little Polaroid won't be the only one kicking around. Andy Warhol's Polaroids will be on display in the Focus Gallery.

What's your Valentine's Day plan?

Date: February 11, 2012

Time: 6—8pm
Location: Sheldon Art Gallery Lincoln, NE

Tickets: $30 Sheldon members -or- $35 general admission

Reserve your tickets by visiting Art & Bubbly tickets or by calling 402-472-1454

Cab Line

2012-02-01T13:59:00.000-08:00

So my conference in Phoenix ended. With the last presentation we applauded the speakers. I retrieved my luggage from the side aisle of the room, wheeled myself into the hall and onto the down escalator. I waited for a cab at the curb. Made small talk with the enviro next to me. It was your usual line-waiting chit chat.

Flying home today?

Which presentations at the conference did you attend?

Where are you from?

What sort of work do you do?

Then the conversation flopped over onto its belly mid-sentence.

You'll see what I mean.

We were comparing fields of experience. I gave my blurb. He gave his when (out of nowhere) he shrugged and said, "...so, naturally, we started working with NASA about six years ago..."

The kicker?

He wasn't kidding.

PHX

2012-01-29T08:05:00.000-08:00

I head off for a conference in Phoenix today. Three-days, two-bags and a set of complete travel arrangements isn't a bad way to start the occasional work week.

So I dusted off my luggage, shed my coat at the airport, and kissed the faces of my nearests and dearests.

Ignite 3

2012-01-26T09:33:00.000-08:00

Have you heard about these Ignite Lincoln events?

Last month the group asked local residents what they are doing to make Lincoln a little more interesting. The challenge is: they only have five minutes to share their idea.

Tonight's speakers have been announced and fire things up around 7pm at the Bourbon Theatre (1415 O Street).

* Steve Ramos—“Pinball: A Game Of Skill”

* Shane and Sunny Dwyer—“Great Pictures With Any Camera”

* Jane Garrity—“The Startup Visa: Helping The World’s Entrepreneurs Create American Jobs”

* Calvin Pappas—“Silicon Valley To The Silicon Prairie”

* Julie Beno—“The Secret Life Of Librarians”

* Steve Maly—“Get Real”

* Jordan Pascale—“The Evolution Of Reporting”

* Shauna Groenewold—“And They Lived Happily Ever After”

* Tanner O’Dell—“Attraction of Awkwardness”

* Shane Farritor—“Becoming More Creative”

* Brenda Ealey—“Intellectual Freedom”

* Hope Edwards—“Serve To Lead”

* Collin Caneva—“Turning A Headwind Into A Tailwind”

* Brent C. Wilson—“A Foster Family’s Tale”

* John Coffey—“Nebraska Sucks!”

* The Colonel Mustard—“Modern Representations of Expressionism: In Freedom of Thought and State of Being”

The event is general admission and free. Doors open at 6:30pm

Bold Behavior

2012-01-24T18:32:00.000-08:00

I've never been the boldest person I know. It's not that I can't put myself out there I just don't find the occasion to do so all that often. I'm more deliberate than I am impulsive, really. Last year, though, I applied for a very occasional, part-time, online writing gig.

What did I have to lose, right? It's not like I was giving up my day-job, or at risk of foreclosure one way or another. The best case scenario would task me with writing more often and give that writing a sense of purpose. The worst that could happen was the editors saying, "No, thanks" to my resume.

And "No, thanks" is what they said, essentially, in the nicest rejection letter I've ever received. I've been shy about mentioning the whole deal. Not because I'm embarrassed so much as because the story doesn't fit the "bold move, big reward" narrative.

But I'm a believer that taking risks makes the outcome less important. Sometimes bold behavior throws open the possibilities of this life in a way being scared or reclusive closes them off.

Viola Lessons

2012-01-23T15:00:00.000-08:00

See that crack in the lower right? Yep. Ouch. I suppose N got a music lesson of another sort: carry the viola with both hands.

Cabin Fever

2012-01-20T18:20:00.000-08:00

N attends the Before & After Program at Prescott. Every year we're tasked with saving wrapping paper, ribbons and bows from our winter holidays for the annual Indoor Snowball Fight.

No snow involved, just wrapping paper. The whole thing resembles family therapy, mixed thoroughly with cabin fever, and drenched in near mayhem!

Stereotypes Are Awesome

2012-01-20T14:35:00.000-08:00

Thanks, B.

Keystone

2012-01-19T19:41:00.000-08:00

The Obama administration denied a permit for TransCanada’s Keystone XL oil pipeline yesterday. The administration says it needs more time to review a new pipeline route that avoids ecologically sensitive areas of Nebraska.

With all the political posturing around the Keystone XL pipeline, it's a bit like the forest through the trees, and hard to hear the issue past the soundbites.

I think environmentalists miss the boat when they put an all-or-nothing bid on the pipeline permit. For environmentalists to claim victory over the Keystone XL permit sets ups a false political and environmental end-game. Once the sandhills and groundwater issues in Nebraska get sorted out, denial of this pipeline permit doesn't land the United States any closer to a carbon neutral future.

Republicans similarly miss the boat when they read this permit denial as a signal of the administration's disinterest in creating jobs. The State Department said in a report to Congress yesterday that the pipeline would create 5,000 to 6,000 construction jobs during the two years needed to build the project, based on labor expenses TransCanada included in its application.

That's a lot of good paying jobs to leave on the administration's table. I was unsurprised to learn that administration extended the invitation, and TransCanada quickly accepted the opportunity to reapply with the new route.

The Keystone XL routing process is farther along than any of the alternatives. My guess is TransCanada will squawk, complain, and ultimately build the pipeline along the new, more environmentally sensitive route. The aquifer and sandhills will be better protected, the US construction jobs will be created, the tarsands will feed a global oil market, and the TransCanada investors will make a whole lot of cash.

The need for tarsands oil is too great, Canada's bid for "superpower" status in global oil markets too resolute to abandon the project all together. The latest round of siting review hasn't scared away companies in need of the XL pipeline.

TransCanada's CEO, Russ Girling, told investors Thursday that "[d]espite the delays in permitting, I guess what I'd tell you is that the interest in this project continues to grow."

The Drive Home

2012-01-19T18:32:00.001-08:00

Midwestern Buddhism

2012-01-17T18:15:00.000-08:00

My friend, D, simplifies the teachings of the Dalai Lama for me:

a. Don't be a douche-bag.

b. Being a douche-bag will get you nowhere.

c. Be nice.

d.Thank the douche-bags in your life for helping you to choose not to be likethem.

Books & Blankets

2012-01-16T18:45:00.000-08:00

It has been those nights where nobody has felt quite right. That groggy feeling left over at the end of long weekend, or the same sensation that comes with the beginning of a feverish cold. Within these four walls we were early to bed with books and blankets.

Moons of Juipter

2012-01-15T18:09:00.000-08:00

http://withfriendship.com/user/sathvi/galilean-moons.php

I spied an image, like this, of the four Galilean Moons of Jupiter from our backyard telescope tonight.

It made me feel small, and properly situated in the universe.

Devil Sent the Rain

2012-01-14T14:06:00.000-08:00

Last year I had the best-ever brush with greatness experience while listening to National Public Radio.

From my end of things the scene resembled any random Sunday. I was in the kitchen washing dishes when I turned on the radio. I was standing at the sink, sporting some hot-pink-dish-gloves by the way, trying to keep my hair from falling into my eyes, and tuned into an author interview on NPR. Tom Piazza had published Devil Sent the Rain Music and Writing in Desperate America and was being interviewed as part of a publicity circuit.

Tom was part of the University of Iowa Writer's Workshop at the same time as I was part of the undergraduate workshop wannabes. And, as commonly occurs, all of the underclass writers knew and admired the members of the graduate workshop. I met Tom, maybe, three times. We talked about music. He was curious about my dad's radio show, and extensive vinyl record collection.

So I was standing in my kitchen, last year, half listening to this interview and half sorting through the where and the when of things in a mental box labelled "Tom Piazza" in my brain. And the interview pierced the mental cobwebs with this: "[i]t's not just about beautiful sentences. It's not just about catchy song hooks. But it's about something deeper. And it is about the reaching from one individual out to another individual."

I looked up from the dish soap to imagine him talking about this book with a friend in a crowded restaurant. One of those noisy rooms I would be too embarrassed to cross. A moment I wouldn't want to interrupt. But imagined him glancing around, for just a second, wondering why that blonde in the corner looked so familiar?

I winked at the blank wall above my kitchen sink, and I wished Tom Piazza well.

Coal Supply

2012-01-13T19:34:00.000-08:00

The demise of coal available for electrical generation from Central Appalachia runs deeper than the series of environmental regulations coming down the pike.

Production in coal has fallen according to recent reports due, in part, to federal rules but also an expanding global market and the depletion of the Central Appalachia's most recoverable deposits.

The coal companies concur, saying that development could migrate to regions with more accessible reserves and a lower extraction cost. It's easy to use the EPA as a talking point punching bag, but the industry keeps mum about the dwindling coal supply in a region that has been extensively mined. What little coal is left in Central Appalachia is difficult to extract, the mining process is more labor intensive and ultimately less profitable.

“Based on historical trend, most of the supply reduction is likely to be permanent,” says Arch Coal in a quarterly assessment. “The 2008-2010 drop is shaping up to be the largest fall-off in production yet,” in reference to Central Appalachia.

The highest levels of unemployment and lowest levels of income for the Appalachian region tend to occur in areas with the greatest amount of mining. Indeed, counties that produce the most coal in Appalachia often are the poorest in the nation. Consider Kentucky, where the coal industry generated a total of almost $528 million in tax revenue in 2006, yet ended up costing the state $642 million in subsidies that same year—a net deficit of $115 million.In Virginia, the seven coal-producing counties pump out more than 40 million tons of coal a year, but they remain amongthe poorest counties in the state.

Although Appalachian coal operators like to blame environmentalists or overzealous federal regulators for the industry's decline, they should spend less time flinging blame toward Washington D.C. and more appropriately send it west to the Powder River Basin of Wyoming where coal seams are closer to the surface and easier, less costly to extract.

Short of mountain-top removal or other forms of surface mining in Central Appalachia, I would be surprised to see the production numbers rebound. Since most coal fired generation is configured for a specific type of coal, I would be similarly surprised if coal-fired generation dependent on lignite coal didn't ramp downward.

Game On

2012-01-13T15:45:00.000-08:00

This winter we purchased a table-tennis set that can be mounted in the dining room. The first time we played, N looked across the table at her oponent (me) and fiercely said "bring it".

Well, at that point, someone else was going to have to throw their game and salvage my kid's self esteem.

I know I'm her mom. I know I should have been proud of her for being so bold. And I was proud of her. I swelled with pride, actually, and then I brought it.

Before Forty

2012-01-12T13:38:00.000-08:00

Why that is New Year’s Resolutions never grab for the low hanging fruit? I’m thinking we miss the opportunity to set easily achieved goals.

We could resolve to watch more television in the New Year, for example, or eat more junk food, or to be cranky and irritable come tax season. Instead we resolve to do difficult things like lose weight or save more.

I’m in the 'difficult resolution' camp this year I suppose. At the stroke of midnight I resolved to participate in one of the marathon races in the redwood forests of California . So, in one fell swoop, I've managed to resolve to exercise and save more.

Actually this resolution crosses off two line items from my sometime-before-turning-forty life list. And it's a good idea to double-up on that list. I have just a smidge over one year left.

The marathon (or the half) is a goal that either explains itself or else falls under the wildly ambitious category and can't be demystified.

Visiting the redwoods, though, draws from my long standing romantic obsession with trees. I think everybody has a landscape they’re drawn toward. A particular skyline that conjures some sense of feeling centered or well. Some people are pulled toward city-scapes, others have an affinity for white sandy beaches. There is the sort of person that can’t stray too far from the mountains, but I’m a misty morning in the forest sort of a person.

Last year N & I enjoyed reading Wild Trees by Richard Preston at bedtime. After a particularly lovely section of text where Preston describes the redwood tree canopy N nuzzled into her pillow and said:

"You want to go there sometime, don't you?"

"I do. Very much."

"I can hear that," she said, "in the way your voice sounds soft with all the words."

The Fat One

2012-01-10T19:36:00.000-08:00

Image Credit: http://io9.com/astronomy/

The El Gordo star cluster sat silently at a seven billion light year distance from it's debut at today's meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Austin, Texas.

Not to brag or anything but El Gordo, which means 'The Fat One' in Spanish "...is the most massive, the hottest, and gives off the most X-rays of any cluster found so far at this distance or beyond," says Rutgers astronomer Felipe Menanteau.

Star clusters or star clouds are groups of stars and this one results from the collision of two smaller clusters several million years ago. El Gordo tips the the scales at two quadrillion times the mass of the sun. A large portion of its mass is in the form of dark matter, an invisible material that pervades the universe. It appears the collision of these two smaller clusters, the genesis event for El Gordo, results in a larger body with the constant pull of normal matter away from its dark counterpart.

Gift Receipt

2012-01-09T19:48:00.000-08:00

I was standing in a return line at Target last week. A long line of big, orange carts and people holding gift receipts. I'd left my purse in my car so I couldn't fidget with my phone or blow big, obnoxious bubbles with chewing gum or anything. To abandon my spot in line would bump me back another sixty minutes or so, so I just stood still and waited a long time.

I thought of those Christmas Shopping headlines I'll read in the check-out lane of the grocer: Parents Start Fist Fight Over The Last Tickle-Me-Elmo. The headlines are a less understandable version of consumer crush than the General Admission Who concert of 1979.

From what I understand the consumer instinct that is sort of forward surge. I heard once that people don't usually get trampled. The movement is vertical. The crowd crushes someone rather than knocking them to the ground. The image is less panic stricken. The victim is lifted off of the ground, possibly the object of desire is within sight, and they’re asphyxiated while standing vertical.

There is a constant ache we feed with the things we want. We want something, we get it, we want something else. There isn’t an end to it. There is a dull rumble in the pit of your stomach, an unsatisfied center that wants more.

The preponderance of what we do, what we buy, what we want is with the conviction it will help us feel accomplished or alive. We have glimpses of those feelings. Flickers of it in quiet moments. But the sensation can't be purchased, so we keep moving to find it.

With that thought the queue of orange carts moved two-steps forward. I smoothed out my gift receipt. I was the next in line.

Long Ago & Far Away

2012-01-09T19:11:00.001-08:00

Happy 40th, C.

Blinking At My Feet

2012-01-06T19:25:00.000-08:00

About a month ago I got a call from a head-hunter. It was one of those out-of-the-blue experiences. I felt a little like the freckled wallflower of a girl in the corner at the Junior High gym being asked to dance.

There was some swoony feeling of flattery from the impressive listing he made of my resume. The job sounded interesting. Under the right circumstances, it was a something I could imagine being good at.

So we danced a little. Me and this head-hunter. Somebody I had never met before. But he asked and I said OK.

Three interviews later the music stopped. He gave me a polite wink, told me thank-you, and that I was lovely, and walked away with the noise. So I'm blinking at my feet and clearing my head a little to get reoriented.

Subtlety by Tanya Davis

2012-01-05T18:28:00.000-08:00

With What You Have

2012-01-03T19:39:00.000-08:00

Thank you, Theodore Roosevelt.

New Year Revelations

2012-01-03T08:10:00.000-08:00

A 20 hr short-weekend getaway excursion could, and to my mind should, require 4 sets of foot apparel.
$15 will purchase 14 packs of gum.
When N tugs on my arm and asks if she can go and get some gum, I should ask more detailed questions.
The sight of all that gum in one’s possession will inspire a sort of hero worship from anyone under the age of thirteen.
The indoor playground at Mahoney State Park has no weight, size, or age restrictions. And, yes, the net ladder and the punching bag maze at indoor playground are just as much fun as you’d imagine.
I had no idea there was something called the ~suicide dive~ that a grown man could do off the high board at Larsen Pool. It was both hilarious and impressive.
My blog needs to split in two. Last year I started posting a series of environmental and industry issue blogs. I wanted to form a writing habit that was focused on issues without being snarky. I’ll need to separate the issue focused write ups out from my more personal posts.
Getting your first “tiger” toast at the Landis assemblage to ring in the New Year is a pretty darned good deal.

My Soundtrack

2012-01-01T07:25:00.000-08:00

Regina Spektor takes first prize in the all around competition.

Packing List

2011-12-30T08:15:00.000-08:00

-hiking boots

-baseball cap

-sunscreen

-chapstick

-fleece socks

-lodge reservation

-little black dress

-heel-y shoes

-fancy earrings

-paperback novel

-dinner plans

-ice skates

-ready, set...

Somewhere In Nebraska...

2011-12-28T18:22:00.000-08:00

Thanks for the image, S

Post Holiday

2011-12-28T08:14:00.001-08:00

M had the flu on Monday. Our post-holiday dinner plans were a no-go.

I broke the news, along with M’s apology, to N as we drove home from her tennis clinic. The hug I was also instructed to deliver would have to wait a little bit. We were in a moving vehicle. The seatbelts presented an obstacle.

N took the news pretty well. She blinked at the empty landscape outside the car window and wondered out loud, “Well, who ~is~ coming to dinner?”

It made me chuckle. Rather than the regular fall-out from Christmas candy sugar high, or the particular heartbreak of waking up to a morning without presents and stockings the holiday crash for this nine year old was an uncrowded dinner table.

The Bike Kitchen

2011-12-28T08:10:00.000-08:00

Across the alley from me, in a house that lay dormant for a long, long time, sits The Bike Kitchen. It's a volunteer shop that welcomes people to bring their bikes and to learn how to fix them up. You can also get miracled by The Bike Kitchen by a fixed-up or rebuilt bike that has been donated.

This Bike Kitchen is a departure from the pretense you'll find in some bike shops. They'll never snicker or roll their eyes at your curled under handle bars, your ancient ten speed, or tell you this bike isn’t a good enough bike to bother fixing. I wouldn’t begrudge anyone with the skill level or the cash from having the very best ride a bike can offer. I also believe biking's price of admission shouldn’t require a tricked out, custom-built, titanium frame.

Growing up the rule in my house was that nobody got a bike before we were ten years old. At ten I got a baby-blue dirt bike with white rimmed tires and a banana seat. My mom found an ad in the Thrifty Nickel that said something generic like “girls bike”. We went over to the seller’s house, walked over to the side door of his garage while he wheeled the bike onto the lawn. He dusted off the seat and batted off the cobwebs from between the spokes. It was twelve dollars. And it opened up a wider world to me. Libraries, swimming pools, friends’ houses and flat out farther reaches of my neighborhood were within a short ride.

The Bike Kitchen has a broader field of vision than the semi-pro or racing enthusiast and sees people like me. Twenty-some-odd years after my banana seat dirt bike days I still ride. I’m not particularly fast nor accomplished as a biker but that was never my aim. Cycling is fun, it’s healthy, it’s environmentally conscious and a cheap way of getting around town.

The Bike Kitchen operates by a philosophy that anyone that wants to be biking should be able to for free. Yep. Free.No money is required. Financial donations are welcome. The more valuable donation, though, is your time. And the volunteer base that sprawls across the front lawn with wheels and pedals and wrenches in the air is pretty amazing. People volunteer their time helping others fix their bikes, or fixing up donated bikes to give away, or helping in the backyard vegetable garden.

I don’t mean to be coy about this so I’ll just say so out-right: The Bike Kitchen is a really great neighbor.

Peace on Earth

2011-12-25T07:26:00.000-08:00

Ah. Coffee, slippers, pig-tails & a round or two of table-tennis. Quite a morning. Merry Christmas, everyone.

Champagne After

2011-12-22T16:19:00.000-08:00

My friend, T, works at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He works in a lab restoring armor.

A young couple was visiting the lab, and the fellow proposed to his fair lady. The ring was hidden inside a fifteenth century helmet. Boy was she surpised! I think she said 'yes' since everyone shared some champagne afterwards.

Brainiac

2011-12-22T13:32:00.001-08:00

Green Roofs

2011-12-22T11:29:00.000-08:00

ERIN DUERR /Journal Star filephoto

It looks like Lincoln will have another green-roof dotting the upper portions of the city. The Urban Development Department is working on a plan to build an 11,500-square-foot green roof on a building bound by by 13th, 14th, P and Q streets.

I'm a big supporter of finding a purpose for unused spaces. Fire escapes, alleyways and roof tops are the sorts of platforms that people glance at but largely ignore. Chicago made a concerted effort to green their rooftops a couple of years ago and found that green roofs last longer than conventional roofs, provide natural insulation and thereby reduce energy costs, create peaceful retreats for people, and absorb storm water.

On a wider scale, green roofs improve air quality and help reduce the Urban Heat Island Effect, a condition in which city and suburban developments absorb and trap heat. Remember the blisters you got as a kid when you who has walked across a scalding parking lot in the summertime? Your feet felt the effect of an Urban Heat Island.

One of the most famous American green rooftops, Chicago's City Hall, combines extensive, intensive, and the intermediary semi-intensive systems on one retrofitted roof. Under the Mayor's direction, the City of Chicago's Department of Environment City Hall pilot program kicked off a citywide push to support green rooftop systems with incentives and grants.

A survey of Lincoln's green rooftops is rather impressive, actually:

The Arbor Day Foundation installed a 7,369-square-foot greenroof
Color Court installed a modular style green roof that covers about 20percent of the roof
The Prairie Building at the Pioneers Park Nature Center Prairie Building has a green roof planted with drought-tolerantplants
The former Whittier Junior High hasa small green roof that serves as a test plot for the University ofNebraska-Lincoln
Sandhills Publishing installed a2,000-square-foot green roof on part of its parking garage lastyear.
An 8,000-square-foot green roof has been planted on the newAssurity Life Insurance Co. headquarters

According to calculations by the Lower Platte South Natural Resources District a 7,900-square-foot green roof system hasthe potential to capture, store and use nearly 100,000 gallons ofrainfall and snowmelt annually that normally would end up in citystorm drains.

In a town of this size I think that's a pretty impressive inventory. I'm glad to think we'll have one more to add to the list.

Canned Food Drive

2011-12-22T11:02:00.000-08:00

Poster Artwork by V.

Thank you to everyone who participated in Prescott Elementary School's Roots & Shoots service project this winter. Our Canned Food Drive raised 377 lbs of non-perishable food donations for the Lincoln Food Bank.

Since the average person eats approximately 25lbs of food a week Prescott's donation was roughly equivalent to feeding a family of three for five weeks. Wow!

Graph Slacker

2011-12-22T10:45:00.000-08:00

At the end of every year I put together an Annual Report for my job performance. It's been a busy year.

With EPA regulatory engines hitting overdrive and the features of a fossil-fuel limited world coming into focus - I had a lot to talk about. Mix those essential ingredients with my seasonal sugar-high and over-achiever tendencies and this annual report got a little out of control. I'll spare you the details but by running the numbers you'll get the gist:

23 Pages of Text

1 Table of Contents

17 Report Sections

3 Glossy Photos -- gosh, those were pretty

4 Data Tables

3 Footnotes

No comb binding, no color graphs. I know, I slacked on the graphs. But I have to leave room for ~something~ new next year.

Sandhills Trip

2011-12-21T05:41:00.000-08:00

N's Vacation Wish Was to Practice Tai Chi On A Rock

Compressed Air Energy Systems

2011-12-20T08:54:00.000-08:00

Nebraska Public Power District continues to close in on compressed-air systems as a viable form of generating electricity.

They've developed an innovative energy project which stores compressed air in one of the panhandle’s geologic formations 3,000 feet below ground, then uses the same pressurized air to turn a turbine and produce power. There are, maybe, two systems like it in the world.

The salt dome geoformation outside of Big Springs , Nebraska was a natural gas reserve the oil and gas industry tapped in the 1950s & ‘60s. The same site was used for natural gas storage in the 1990s which means the rock formation is both sealed and breathable. In other words the rock lets the gas both in and out which indicates site provides sufficient pressure, support of the air injection process and produces good air with drawl rates.

In October, NPPD’s board of directors approved utility staff to begin negotiating a lease agreement with the land owner and development of an Air Injection Test plan. Pushing some rough preliminary numbers the production of electricity from a compressed air system would cost NPPD $1,200 to $1,300 per kilowatt.

It’s an exciting project. One I'll be glad to watch develop. To learn more, check out this powerpoint presentation.

Holiday Cut

2011-12-20T08:48:00.000-08:00

Rewind a couple of years and land yourself at a Christmas occasion with me in our late-late twenties with my new baby.

So, with this rewind, I'm twenty-nine and N is in my arms for every holiday occasion. My bloodshot eyes sting from the cameras and the flashbulbs going off everywhere. Who knew my parents could lead a double life as members of the paparazzi? N was so darned cute, and my family so dear that the holiday was still a good time.

Weeks later I clicked through the digital Christmas photo files on my mom's computer in one of those side-show type set ups. To show my parenting bias I must say that N was a stunner. Frame after frame she was just captivating. Blending together the best features of her mediocre parents and kicking it up a notch with her sweetness and...well...she is exquisite. Always has been. Not that I'm biased. I sat on my mother's floral print couch, cooing over photos of this gorgeous creature that is my kid and wincing at the pale, pasty-faced person with greasy hair holding her.

Whoever you are, wherever you're naturally inclined to fall in the powder puff scale of personal appearance (whether you're well assembled and spotless every morning or the sort of person who gives your crumpled shirt a sniff-test on your way out the door) newborns will take you down a notch. Maybe two. My new parent personal appearance descent is excruciatingly well documented from that first Christmas. Tinsel sparkling in the background.

You can end the rewind on the tape there, thank you. For the record: I no longer own the shirt I was wearing. I should have given it more than the sniff test that morning.

N is nine years older and just lovely. I've had a little more sleep and also made a holiday habit of getting my hair cut just before the family gatherings commence. My appointment is this week.

Pre-Holiday Weekend Numbers Game

2011-12-18T20:10:00.000-08:00

32: Chocolate-chocolate-mint cookies baked

2: Acts of the Play N & Co. Performed in Both English & Mandarin

7: Christmas Ornament Crafts N Made with Sam & the Girls

90: Minute Hike in Wilderness Park with Ms. B

2:Christmas Trees Trimmed at Our House

8:Trips to the Grocery Store

3: Parlor Games Played

4: Chapters N & I Read of A Tree Grows In Brooklyn

Conserve...C'mon, Everybody's Doing It

2011-12-18T17:58:00.000-08:00

You've seen those door hangers in the hotel bathroom, right? The ones that encourage everyone to reuse the towels?

These door hangers will typically rely on the "Save the Planet" line of reasoning. The environmental benefits of electricity and water conservation. It's you're gut instinct, isn't it? Sell somebody on the merits of conservation, and they'll conserve.

Turns out there are a fair number of people for whom the "Save the Planet" message finds fertile ground. Hook, line, sinker. They'll reuse their towels. But there is a larger group of people for whom the social norm argument is much more persuasive.

Somebody, somewhere performed a hotel door-hanger study. There were two sets of text: one with your typical "Save the Planet" message, and another which mentions 75 percent of hotel guest reused their towels and asked this guest to do likewise.

The research documented a 20 percent increase in towel reuse when the habit was more of a social norm than conservation effort.

Mulago Foundation

2011-12-18T06:20:00.000-08:00

Each Holiday Season I'll gift a cause or charitable group. I figure if I'm finding enough money to buy trinkets and stocking-stuffers that might or might not be used by familiar faces I can certainly kick a little money toward world needs.

Among non-profits there is a well oiled machine that makes holiday donations easy. Because my donations move around I'm on a lot of donor lists. This means I get a powerful amount of mail this time of year to comb. A lot of good work and inspiring stories find me and it's hard to select where or what or who to select each year.

What I like about Starr's presentation is that he tasks the giver with transforming their good intentions into community and world impact. To look past the theoretical potential of a cause to the actual outcomes. He provides a series of criteria to evaluate the impact potential of giving. I found this lecture both moving and helpful.

Starr heads the Mulago Foundation, a philanthropic fund that acts more like venture capital for upstart world-changers than a typical foundation. Mulago's Scalable Solutions Portfolio includes promising smaller development organizations like KickStart, Samasource, and the One Acre Fund.

...Boldly Go...

2011-12-17T19:50:00.000-08:00

Thanks, J.

Green Job Growth

2011-12-14T14:33:00.001-08:00

Despite perennial effort to pit jobs against environmental regulations recent analyses would suggest the U.S. EPA's regulations are actually creating jobs rather than eliminating them.

The University of Massachusetts evaluated the job market impact projection from two rules which will force the power sector to make substantial capital purchases for infrastructure upgrades and pollution control equipment. Their findings indicate these two rules will require about 1.46 million years of new labor to make those changes happen over the next five years -- the equivalent of 290,000 full-time jobs.

I would never dispute the real and sizable costs of compliance which would run in the ballpark of $200 billion. However, at this point, it isn't just the greenies saying these jobs would make a much-needed dent in unemployment. The clean energy and energy efficiency sectors are among the fastest growing segments of the nation’s economy. These job markets are putting people back to work and attracting new opportunities and investments to countless communities across the nation.

On top the jobs benefit, environmental regulation serves as a catalyst for industries to upgrade, innovate and evolve. To do so the nation builds a diversified and skilled workforce. The EPA also tasks industry with solving problems that markets ignore like environmental and public health.

According to the Office of Management and Budget, the EPA generates up to $551 billion in economic benefits every year. A 2010 analysis of rules passed in the prior decade, calculates the benefits-to-cost ratios across various government agencies. The EPA came out on top with the highest ratios by far, with benefits from its regulations exceeding costs by an average of more than 10 to 1.

The net benefit of compliance boosts GDP in the long run by creating livable wage jobs and making communities both healthier and more productive.

Runs The Whole Show

2011-12-14T10:04:00.000-08:00

N: Mom, you know I don't believe in God, right?

Me: Yep.

N: And that doesn't make you mad does it?

Me: No, faith is an extremely private matter. It's not up to me whether you believe in God or whether you don't. You have to find something that works for you on that score.

N: OK. Because I don't think there is a God but I do believe in a Higher Power.

Me: Yeh?

N: Yeh. Here, I'll draw you a picture of what I mean.

[She draws the night sky on 1/2 of a page of paper. Points to the seam between the stars and the blank page]

N: I think something lives on the edge of the universe. I call it a Higher Power. It isn't a person but it runs the whole show: the planets, the science, the seasons and traffic lights. It's made up of magic and dust.

Richard III

2011-12-14T05:41:00.000-08:00

Now Is The Winter of Our Disco Tent

Thanks, C, for the link!

BSG Addiction

2011-12-14T05:35:00.000-08:00

Academic Record

2011-12-13T09:56:00.000-08:00

I was crouched down in the front hallway of L’s house, last week, zipping up my Calc III notes & textbook into the big mouth of my backpack. My brain was fogged up from the past 90 minutes going over the highlights of the course material and preparing for my final exam.

At the doorway we were saying our good-bye’s and have-a-nice-holiday’s when L started fidgeting, a little awkwardly, and said…

“I want to congratulate you on completing this series of calculus courses. A lot of people would have started with a stronger background in math, had more recent coursework, or been handed less challenging material and they would have given up. You have worked exceptionally hard. I really admire how you’ve stuck in there.”

It was, quite possibly, the highest compliment I could have received.

Xmas Tree Lighting

2011-12-12T18:31:00.000-08:00

We went to the State Capitol for yesterday's Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony. N was more impressed with the architecture than the celebration.

When grown-ups participate in a holiday sing along, we fail to jazz it up sufficiently for her. She took my camera and wandered around for awhile. Snapped this photo of the ceiling.

If I Had A Trilion Dollars...

2011-12-12T12:07:00.000-08:00

Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) reported last week that over atrillion dollars has been invested in renewable energy, energy efficiency andsmart energy technologies since 2004.

Interestingly enough, the one trillionth dollar was recorded as thetwo-week long gathering of 15,000 world leaders stalled in their attempts tonegotiate an international climatechange agreement in Durban, South Africa.

According to Bloomberg the investments made, any of which might have accounted for the trillionth dollar, supportedprojects like: the 77MW expansion of a biomass co-generation plant in Brazil; a48MW wind farm in Fujian province of China; the 396MW La Ventosa wind farm inMexico; and the development phase of a 125MW solar thermal project in Morocco.

According to BNEF, annual clean energy investment rose nearly five-fold in seven years. Last year’s $243 billion investment level is right about halfway to the yearly investment levels required to slow climate change.

Blago

2011-12-07T10:47:00.001-08:00

McK: Am I the only one who thinks Rod Blagojevich looks like the leadcharacter from A Clockwork Orange?

(Silence)

McK: So...that's just me who thinks that?

Me: Now that you've said so? No, it's not just you. Not anymore.

Winter Attire

2011-12-06T15:11:00.001-08:00

She's Started Signing All of Her Schoolwork as "N, The Gryffindor, and PROUD OF IT!"

Morning Moon

2011-12-06T14:25:00.001-08:00

Sigh. It was a lovely welcome to my job-site!

Facebook Find

2011-12-06T13:34:00.001-08:00

Thanks, J.

Greening Lincoln

2011-12-06T10:40:00.000-08:00

A three-day "Greening Lincoln" workshop focused on neighborhood improvements for an area south of the State Capitol began today at St. Paul United Church of Christ, 1302 F St. The program will brainstorm street design options to improve pedestrian and bicyclist safety and comfort, add more street trees, and incorporate green infrastructure elements such as rain gardens to manage and treat stormwater runoff inside a focus area along 11th Street from A to J streets.

Lincoln was one of five cities chosen to be part of the Greening America's Capitals program, an initiative of the Partnership for Sustainable Communities, which includes the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Departments of Housing and Urban Development and Transportation.

I'll admit it: I'm a public meeting junkie. But you don't have to be a public meeting wonk to show up. If you have a bike or pedestrian habit, an interest in city street-scapes, or an affinity for neighborhood or environmental issues I'd encourage you to attend or all sessions at St. Paul's church free of charge.

Today's sessions were largely a series of listening sessions for neighborhood concerns and interests. Tomorrow is a design work session to mark up maps and street-scape sketches. Day three wraps up the series with a presentation of the workshop outcomes.

The three-day schedule is as follows:

Tuesday

12:30 to 1:15 p.m. -- Welcome and project overview
1:30 to 3 p.m. -- Breakout sessions on small businesses and new technologies; the environment and sustainability
3:30 to 4:30 p.m. -- Breakout sessions on history, art and culture; schools
5:30 to 7 p.m. -- Neighborhood association meeting

Wednesday

8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. -- Open house and team work day
5:30 to 7 p.m. -- Public meeting

Thursday

11 to 11:45 a.m. -- Presentation of workshop outcomes

Saturn Storm Advisory

2011-12-05T10:56:00.001-08:00

What first showed up as a small blemish on the face of Saturn about a year ago turned into a rager of a storm that has wrapped around the entire planet, covering around 1.5 billion square miles.

The storm, sometimes called the "Dragon Storm", marches through the planet's atmosphere and is recorded through a series of false-color mosaics from NASA's Cassini Spacecraft. The red and orange colors which show up in the Cassini images indicate clouds that are deep in the atmosphere. Yellow and green colors indicate intermediate clouds. White and blue indicate high clouds and haze. The rings of Saturn appear as a thin horizontal line of bright blue. Casini has been following the 9,000 mile wide storm as it moves across Saturn's surface, snapping some spectacular photos along the way.

This "Dragon Storm" is about 500 times larger than the biggest storm previously seen by Cassini. At its most intense the Dragon generated lightning flashes more than 10 times per second.

"Cassini shows us that Saturn is bipolar," says Casini team member Andrew Ingersoll. "Saturn is not like Earth and Jupiter, where storms are fairly frequent. Weather on Saturn appears to hum along placidly for years and then erupt violently."Evidently storms on Saturn are less like a weather events and more like a volcanoes. Before the storm erupts there is a build up of pressure under its placid exterior.

This event was a single thunderstorm that raged continuously for more than 200 days, affecting nearly 20 percent of Saturn's northern hemisphere. While the storm's active phase is over some of the clouds it created still linger in the planet's atmosphere today.

Snow Bound

2011-12-04T07:36:00.001-08:00

There was just enough snow to keep us inside yesterday. We watched the original Muppet Movie, spoke some Mandarin Chinese, and roasted a fresh batch of orange-pecans.

Thanks, MW, for the photo!

A View From This Morning

2011-11-30T13:12:00.001-08:00

“How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.” - Annie Dillard

Thanks, Kashoan, for the photo!

Nebraska Tree Stands + Co-firing = Electricity

2011-11-29T13:44:00.001-08:00

Last year, the Nebraska State Forest Service approached the Nebraska Public Power District (NPPD) with the idea of utilizing dead standing trees for electricity production. A series of different invasive insects and diseases such as emerald ash borer and thousands of cankers disease are threatening ash and black walnut trees in Nebraska. Those tree stands could produce a significant woody fuel source considering that Nebraska has 1.2 million acres of forestland producing a net 1.47 million air-dry tons of biomass every year; non-forest land with trees produce an estimated 597,000 dry tons, and an additional 270,000 green tons of wood waste are generated through smaller woody biomass processes in the state. Dead and diseased trees left standing pose an increased fire hazard, and it’s pretty clear we’ve got biomass to burn.

The Forest Service's question was whether Nebraska could burn woody biomass in a co-firing configuration at electrical generating stations designed to run solely on coal. While co-firing is less flashy in the renewable circles than research and testing of biomass electrical generating plants, the benefits associated with co-firing could include lower operating costs, reductions of harmful emissions like sulfur and mercury, greater energy security and, with the use of beneficial biomass, lower carbon emissions. Co-firing is also one of the more economically viable ways to increase biomass power generation today, since it can be done with modifications to existing facilities.

So, the State Forest Service worked with NPPD to send samples of different infected tree species to the Energy and Environmental Research Center (EERC ) in Grand Forks, N.D for a month-long test to see how woody biomass would affect heat rate, boiler fouling and slagging when blended at different ratios with coal. The EERC tested different wood types and co-firing ratios with 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25 percent biomass.

Several of the tree species appeared generally favorable for blending, especially at co-firing levels below 20%. From an operational perspective, the co-firing scenario looks possible. The trick is the logistics. The diseased trees are available, but unfortunately they’re not located right next to the power plant, or in concentrated areas generally. The dead trees spot the landscape, so harvesting, gathering, storing, and transporting the material will cost money.

With energy demands increasing, fossil fuel prices rising, and regulatory restrictions tightening, the economics might sort themselves out. Cost-sharing could also take the biomass co-firing concept off Nebraska's drawing board and closer to reality

Green Tuesday

2011-11-29T06:44:00.001-08:00

This holiday season, not-for-profit organization Green America floats the idea of "Green Tuesday" in the spirit of Black Friday or Small Business Saturday. It's an effort to inspire people to consider the environment as part of their gift giving traditions.

Following the thought of holiday giving I hope you'll consider making a donation to an organization I admire a great deal called Water for People. Water for People is the nonprofit arm of the American Water Works Association and they're tasked with helping developing countries improve their quality of life by supporting the development of locally sustainable drinking water resources, sanitation facilities and health and hygiene education programs.

Around the world, 884 million people do not have access to safe drinking water and 2.6 billion are without adequate sanitation facilities. Dotting the landscape are broken water pumps, filled latrines, and reminders of well-meaning solutions that didn't last. At the end of the day, any technical solution - whether it's digging a well, putting in a pump or installing a latrine - is only as good as its lasting impact. If it breaks and can't be fixed the effort is wasted.

Long lasting solutions are at the forefront of how Water For People plans, creates, monitors and follows up on our programs. In each of their program countries, Water for People activities are concentrated in specific regions, which enable them to create a climate of energy, synergy and motivation that fuels future success for the communities within that region. Water for People works in collaboration with local partners - the local government, local private sector, local civil society, and the communities to develop a strategy and priority plan. And finally the organization works to keep solutions local so that the tools and resources needed for maintenance and repair are never too far away.

Sweetness Follows

2011-11-26T07:24:00.001-08:00

Shackleton Crater

2011-11-26T06:15:00.000-08:00

Namesake

2011-11-25T17:26:00.001-08:00

“Remember that you and I made this journey together to a place where there was nowhere left to go.”― Jhumpa Lahiri, The Namesake

Happy Thanksgiving

2011-11-24T06:58:00.001-08:00

I thought I'd provide a little food for thought as everyone sits down to their tables today. According to NPR Tofurkys will served at about 350,000 family and friendly occasions this holiday season.

I have a great deal to be thankful for. Thank you to everyone who has loved, supported, or otherwise helped prop me up this year. From any angle a person looks at it: I'm an exceptionally lucky person. Thank you.

Solyndra

2011-11-23T15:15:00.001-08:00

I went to a pretty exciting conference last week. One that pushed past the guessing game of a “Carbon Constrained Future” we’ve had for the past fifteen years. The features of that future have begun to take shape through regulation and permit limits. The conference was focused on maneuvering within that future andstill providing electricity reliably.

It tackled the nuts and boltsof carbon sequestration and cleaner coal paradigms, and I also got tolisten in on presentations about biomass systems, methane generators,and compressed-air energy storage systems.

It was hard to grab a coffee at breakor make small talk with your conference table neighbor without theword Solyndra popping up. The conference occurred at the same time that Secretary of Energy Steven Chuwas summoned to the House Energy and Commerce Oversight andInvestigations subcommittee to explain the details behind the $535million in loan guarantees to the now bankrupt solar panelmanufacturer Solyndra.

Clean energy technologies are more ofan emerging market by comparison to the fossil fuel and coal plant technologies. Testing of these innovative clean energy systems is supported by Department of Energy (DOE)loan guarantees. The DOE supports 38 clean energy project throughthis type of loan program, which are expected to employ more than60,000 Americans, generate enough clean electricity to power nearly 3million homes, and displace the use of more than 300 million gallonsof gasoline annually.

And that's the bright shinyfuture of clean energy the loan guarantee program propels. However, withSolyndra out of business and American taxpayers out of $535 million,the House Subcommittee held the unenviable task of figuring out whatwent wrong. The question of what happened is the jumping off point for a pretty hefty blame game.

HouseRepublicans were hoping to paint the administration with carelessmisuse of money. Secretary Chu and some of the clean energysupporters were careful to point out that Congress approved the loanguarantee program that benefitted Solyandra under the Bushadministration, and that $10 billion was even set aside to coverlosses.

The testimony certainly provided highpoints for partisans on both sides of the political spectrum. Eachside of this issue have their own message and captive audience withwhom their stance resonates. The National Review, for example, chortled when Chusaid that the only solar power he personally used was a solar poweredflashlight. The left leaning Guardian applauded Chu for being “unflappable” inhis testimony.

In my opinion, the Solyndra bankruptcyinspires nobody to change their opinion of clean energy projects. Thepeople who support renewable energy will see this as an isolated,unfortunate, and costly event – a bump in the road to a betterfuture. On the other side of the coin, supporters of the currentenergy mix will see this $535 million loss as an inexcusable errornever to be repeated.

With venturecapital perennially shy of investing in clean energy and the Obamaadministration standing by its resolve to promote fossil fuelalternatives, the clean energy field is put into a precariousposition.

Regulation and permit limits are bringing the features of a“Carbon Constrained Future” into focus. But that’s the sidethat tells us what we can’t use – the alternatives or paradigmsthat are only acceptable within some kind of constraints. Withoutloan guarantees or some cash to fuel the possibilities, we havecreated an energy policy that says “no” to all of the availabletechnologies without providing any alternatives. Without fuelling thepossibilities.

We’ll bring Secretary Chu in for aHouse Subcommittee grilling, and he’ll be resolute in his stanceand everybody will cheer for their side of the aisle and boo at theother side. But nobody addresses what would fuel innovation if DOEloan guarantees fall out of favor.

With private investors perenniallyshy of clean energy investments, where would cash-starved projectdevelopers go for funding? Without DOE loan guarantees I don’t seehow the United States gets from our current energy mix to a cleanerfuture.

Kitchen Talk

2011-11-19T19:58:00.001-08:00

I like to hang out in kitchens. Always have. If I've ever walked into your house then I've probably wandered into your kitchen, grabbed a towel or a knife and invited myself to help out and generally hang around. It's a little presumptuous, probably, if not outright annoying. But, like I said, I like kitchens.

Aside from the vapor that rises from a boiling pot, or the spicy smell of food being prepared I like the idle jabbering that happens in the kitchen. I don't know anybody who's inclined to grate that or stir this in silence.

I would say that most, if not all, family gossip travels through somebody's kitchen at least once. Standing at somebody's counter you're equally likely to hear about babies being born or people getting married as you are to hear about job loss or money trouble or illness. Juicy details of the story get flung around when you're in the kitchen. Even if I were to hear the same story in another space it wouldn't be told the same way. The kitchen provides a different rendering of the same events. It's a more intimate or less rehearsed narrative. It's a story more likely to breathe than be a set of well-practiced monologues.

Obviously the food is eventually served and we take our place at a table. By that time, though, everything is in a pretty bowl, neatly served onto plates or laced up in linen napkins.

When you think about it the dinner table is less than 1/3 of any gathering. There's something that happens in the kitchen over cutting boards and dish-soapsuds in the sink. Even with a good meal, maybe ~especially~ with a good meal, I like to hang out in kitchens. Always have.

After The Show

2011-11-19T12:21:00.001-08:00

After attending the Prescott Talent Show last night we went for ice cream to celebrate. I learned several things:

Ivanna Cone's Hazelnut Shortbread is more of a life experience than an ice cream really.
N has a rather elaborate plan to assemble a dream team of Hogwarts students from Harry Potter and Jedi rebels from Star Wars to battle the dark forces of the universe.
This song by Pink Martini adds just the right zing to the end of a lovely evening.

Go Yoda or Go Home

2011-11-18T05:03:00.001-08:00

N performs the Star Wars theme song on her viola as part of the Prescott Talent Show tonight. We were selecting a dress for the occasion and she was hoping to find one that was Yoda-esque.

After some careful deliberation she went with the thematically appropriate sparkly dress. It was more of a conceptual nod to outer space. Yoda is just one of those iconic figures that requires a proper homage to go all-in or not at all. Altering N's ears was the deal breaker for the all-in option.

Leonid Meteor Shower, 2011

2011-11-17T07:02:00.001-08:00

This is tomorrow's apology in advance for being sleepy. If the skies are clear I'll be up early to check out the Leonid meteor shower which will make me an exceptionally sleepy office dweller. I'll be the office mate who sucks down half the pot of coffee to keep propped upright.

The Leonids are made up of cosmic litter, the legacy of the Tempel-Tuttle comet that will occasionally pass between the Earth and the sun on its orbit. The comet litters a stream of dust particles and debris - typically no larger than a pea on your dinner plate - in its wake. Each November the Earth side-swipes this stream of comet rubble and the particles become luminous as they hit our atmosphere.

Meteor showers are commonly called "shooting stars" and "falling stars" but they're not stars at all, really, just space stuff burning up in the Earth's atmosphere. The Leonid shower is known for its occasional swings of stunning skies. The sort of stargazing that doesn't require a telescope just an affinity for pleasing aesthetics.

“Some years, the Leonids brighten the sky with storms of shooting stars,” says Astronomy Magazine Senior Editor Richard Talcott. “Other years, like this one, astronomers expect the event to be muted, with observers under a dark sky seeing up to 10 meteors per hour.”

I'm optimistic though. While meteors might not be prolific this year Astronomy Magazine posits that a few of these meteors could leave bright streaks of ionized atoms hanging in the sky for several seconds — or possibly minutes.

So, I'm good to go. My apologies for being unproductive at work tomorrow have been made in advance. My alarm is set for some ungodly early hour. I have a pack of stuff (warm blankets, a lawn chair, wooly socks...it's like packing for a fireworks display only better) by the back door and the coffeepot is programmed to kick out a thermos of coffee in the predawn hours of tomorrow morning.

Viewing should peak sometime between 2:30 and 4:30 a.m. Central Standard time. If you're awake, you should check out the dark southeastern sky.

75% National Recycling Rate = 1.5 Million Jobs

2011-11-16T15:06:00.001-08:00

I consider myself in the pleasant company of about 33-37% of Americans who currently recycle. I'm sure I have heartfelt blog post in me about the environmental and ethical reasons to recycle.

This time, though, I want to focus on the findings of a recent report that the United States could create 1.5 million jobs if the national recycling rate reached 75%.

The text juxtaposes a Base Case analysis characterized basically by a continuation of the current recycling participation trends and practices over the next two decades with a Green Economy scenario based on enhancing national recycling and composting practices to an overall diversion rate of 75% away from landfilling by 2030.

Landfilling materials is a process that isn't labor intensive and it creates fewer jobs per ton of waste (0.1 job per 1,000 tons) for its management.

Processing recycleables (1 to 2 jobs per 1,000 tons) and organics (0.5 jobs per 1,000 tons) is somewhat intensive. A manufacturing process which uses recycled materials is where the numbers open up a wider margin.

The report ends by throwing the Lorax in me a nod and finding that the 75% national recycling rate scenario would reduce CO2 emissions by 276 million metric tons by 2030.

40 Miles; 1 Station

2011-11-15T06:58:00.001-08:00

TransCanada said Monday the company will work with the StateDepartment and Nebraska’s Department of Environmental Quality to determine anew pipeline route.

“I am pleased to tell you that the positive conversations wehave had with Nebraska leaders have resulted in legislation that respects theconcerns of Nebraskans and supports the development of the Keystone XL pipeline,”Alex Pourbaix, TransCanada’s president of energy and oil pipelines, said in astatement. “I can confirm the route will be changed and Nebraskans will play animportant role in determining the final route.”

A new environmental review will be required as well, whichthe State Department said last week could take until early 2013.

Rerouting the Keystone XL line will likely require 30 to 40additional miles of pipe and an additional pumping station. The exact route hasnot yet been determined, so those numbers are still soft.

I considered theweight of 1700 people attending the State Department’s public meetings lastmonth, Bill McKibben’s weeklong protest at the White House, I Stand With Randy signs in store fronts and on yard signs on every corner in Lincoln, andpolitical pressure from a state and national scene to get 40 miles of pipe andone pumping station.

When you have people on one side and oil or money on theother I think the Kestone pipeline is an example of how people can win. But ittakes a strong, steady push from thepeoples’ side to get there. In my lifetime that strong and steady push hasn’t happened allthat often. It’s a sort of awe-inspiring sight when it does.

Astronomy Fair

2011-11-11T17:47:00.001-08:00


Thanks, guys, for making N's Astronomy Fair so much fun!

Skinny Legs

2011-11-10T07:46:00.000-08:00

This past summer N asked if I might teach her how to shave her legs.

I tried my best to maintain a cool exterior, and continued to peel potatoes at the sink. If she never shaved her legs the hair would stay soft and blonde. It would never feel stubbly or coarse. Hasn't everyone's mother made this case? Mine did. It's a compelling argument and when I was ten I nodded in agreement, looked at my feet, and then the next time I was in the bathtub I promptly shaved my legs. It was a razor that had rusted so my legs were all sliced up by the time I was "done".

N was still staring at me in the kitchen. This whole leg-shaving thing was obviously something that required me to muster a response. Darn. I took a deep breath and agreed that some guidance on this matter was a good plan since razorblades were involved. I further reasoned that fall or winter would be the best time to learn since some nicks and cuts were part of learning. Long pants could cover up her learning curve over the winter months. She nodded and I crossed my fingers this the topic would disappear into the abyss never to raise it's sharp head again.

Nope. She meant it and asked again once the weather turned cold. I meant it too when I said it was a good idea to get some guidance. I thought it was obvious, though, that her mother wasn't the best source of support there. You know, ~razorblades~ were involved for goodness sake! This is my kid we're talking about. Huh.

So last night we perched ourselves on the side of the tub, lathered up with shaving cream, and started at the ankle. She has these skinny legs that I don't often notice. They're elegant and awkward with knobby knees and perfect, porcelain skin. I coached her about taking long strokes with the razor rather than short swipes. Rinse off the blades and don't apply too much pressure. She caught on pretty quickly, only nicked her knee once. And I only cried for a little bit.

Holiday Craftacular

2011-11-09T05:14:00.000-08:00

If you live close to Lincoln don't miss out the Holiday Craftacular Sale& Cocktail Party at Chez Hay tonight from 5-7pm. Pictures with Santa, handmade gifts, and over thirty local artists will show their arts and crafts at the event.

2005 YU55

2011-11-08T08:39:00.000-08:00

I found out two things about this second Tuesday in November.

Lancaster County will not hold an election today. You can show up to the polls but there's nobody there. No "I VOTED TODAY" stickers just hanging around either.
A large asteroid (2005 YU55) will perform a close fly-by of the planet earth tonight. The asteroid isn't on a collision course, at it's closest point the object is still 202,000 miles away. But that closest point occurs tonight at approximately 5:30pm Central Standard Time.

No election. Big asteroid. Isn't that just just begging to become the plot of my next great sci-fi novel?

Weekend Trip

2011-11-07T10:30:00.000-08:00

In a fit of late-fall restlessness we took an overnight trip to Nebraska City last weekend. Packed girlie shoes, dresses, paperback novels and hiking boots. We stayed at Arbor Day Foundation's Lied Lodge.

I love this time of year. It can inspire me to curl up by the fireplace with a good book, or bundle up and go for a hike. The morning air is cold and light and clean. The autumn weather changes its mind several times a day.

XL

2011-11-06T13:19:00.000-08:00

This is my friend, Pat, reading from a statement from Nebraska State Senator Bill Avery about TransCanada and the Keystone XL pipeline.

The demand for oil is too high for me to support stopping the pipeline all together. I'm not opposed to pipelines. We have 1.8 million miles of natural gas lines connected to most homes and businesses in Canada and the United States. Petroleum product pipelines occupy around 200,000 miles of North America. Most of these pipelines are operated safely and without environmental incident. When properly located and installed pipelines are about the safest transportation method available for petroleum products.

What I don't like is the 65 mile stretch of pipeline which endangers the Ogallala Aquifer. What I don't like is TransCanada's environmental record.

The attached clip was from the public meeting in Lincoln a couple of weeks ago. I voted for Senator Bill Avery and I'm proud to be his constituent.

Movie Night

2011-11-05T03:32:00.000-07:00

I spent last evening curled up on the couch with popcorn and hot cider. Each Friday night N and I have a movie date. We watched How To Train Your Dragon which was sort of lovely and thrilling. The young Viking character reminded me very much of my dad. He was clever, loyal, quirky, and surprised by his own acts of bravery.

Wonkish Instincts

2011-11-04T07:15:00.000-07:00

It can’t come as much of a surprise that I’m a boringly studious policy wonk, right? At one point, when N was an infant, I hired a babysitter so I could attend a public works meeting. Not dinner. Not a movie. A public works meeting. Here’s the kicker: it was a ~really~ good meeting. One I still recall with freakish clarity and an odd amount of fondness. Huh, I digress.

My wonkish leanings don’t often come in handy but this past week they did. I was brought into a transmission route planning process at work which afforded the opportunity to geek out over Lincoln’s 2040 Comprehensive Plan. I drew up their GIS maps. I created charts and spreadsheets. I was just giddy with glee.

At the other end of the public policy or the Comp Plan is a battery of services that affect people’s lives. Policies and public meetings lead to roads, bridges, schools, fire stations and social services. I have an affinity for the sort of lofty goals outlined in policies that guide staffing levels, public programs and budget decisions.

I spent the whole week wrapped up in Lincoln’s 2040 Comprehensive Plan and I was reminded of why I love Lincoln. I was reminded of how this community defines itself and how that identity plays out in terms of physical geography and an offering of programs or services.

My inner geek, the one I’ve fostered for as long as I can remember, the one I spend a lot of time trying to downplay or apologize for, provided the speaking points. It was pretty darned cool.

modcloth.com

2011-11-03T09:46:00.000-07:00

The New Dress I Bought

Homemade Cake

2011-11-03T09:31:00.000-07:00

N and I recently went to the playground. She's at an age where she'll peel off from my side almost immediately. I plant myself on a park bench with my book and, on this particular occasion, I eavesdroped on the following conversation between two boys.

Boy 1: The only best things in life is friends and money.
Boy 2: Friends, money, and CAKE. HOMEADE CAKE!!

[Boy 2, at this point, breaks it down with an awesome and over the top CAKE dance]

Rough Night

2011-11-01T06:20:00.000-07:00

Before

After

Part of Our Living

2011-10-31T12:13:00.000-07:00

We made a day of it at the Sheldon Art Gallery's Dia de los Muertos celebration yesterday. Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) is a centuries-old spiritual tradition which celebrates the continuity of life by honoring the dead on their return to Earth for one day each year.

Sheldon Art Gallery hosted lovely occasion. If you're familiar with the building envision the museum's Great Hall elaborately decorated papier-mache sculptures, masks and papel picados (punched-paper art pieces) hanging from the windows. The occasion was complete with flowers, music, food, families, chatter, and an ofrenda (altar) which was set in one of the shadowy exhibit rooms.

The graveyard picnics and candied skeleton trimmings of the Dia de los Muertos celebration offer some visual continuity with Halloween occasions. But it's a more reverent occasion than Halloween for me. Dia de los Muertos encourages people to speak of the dead as they truly were. The table is set with the departed person's favorite foods, and their vices. Candles illuminate the path the spirit would take to sit at this noisy table of people.

Dia de los Muertos pushes a person past their own fears of mortality. It inspires a person to coquettishly laugh in the face of those fears and throw a big, colorful party with food, music, flowers and (why not?) skeletons. I like the idea that dying is just another part of our living.

Weekend Report

2011-10-30T19:52:00.000-07:00

Reading with N: Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick

Laundry Loads: 4

Pumpkins Painted: 2

Costumes Readied for Halloween: 1

Miles by Bicycle: 14

Cleaned Bathrooms: 2

Times I Washed the Dishes: 12

Breakfast(s) in Bed: 1

Hours of Tennis Playing: 1

Paper Flowers Made @ Dia de los Muertos Celebration: 3

Dinner Line-up: Creamy-Carrot-Dill Soup, Bread, Spinach Salad

Reading: Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson

If only I'd had time to get a haircut...sigh...there's next weekend, I suppose!

This Time Last Year

2011-10-28T19:02:00.000-07:00

Glass Factory Tour in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

What Doesn't Mix

2011-10-27T15:21:00.000-07:00

I would like to thank Governor Dave Heineman for "...calling a special session of the Nebraska Legislature to have a thoughtful and thorough public discussion about alternative solutions that could impact the route of the pipeline in a legal and constitutional manner.”

Wordstruck

2011-10-24T09:03:00.000-07:00

I spent the whole weekend reading. One of those sleepless, sort of overly emotional weekends where I behave like some lovesick adolescent. I suppose wordstruck, rather than lovestruck, might be the best way to describe my weekend fling.

I could talk about little else, carried my books with me, fell asleep for cat naps with my glasses on. It was cold and rainy on Saturday morning so I curled up in fleecy socks to read this article by Megan Daum about my hometown of Lincoln Nebraska in the Smithsonian Magazine. It's a lovely examination of the self effacing and down-to-earth people I come from.

Then there was this article about a couple buried 1500 years ago in a position of mutual admiration made me unreasonably happy.

I also developed a crush on a book by Bill Bryson. I can't tell if I'm committed enough to finishing it, but it was a lovely little fascination for a hour or two.

So I returned to my cubicle at work this morning with a sort of sleep deprived, cloudy-brain, distracted feeling. Like I'm walking on air. Words will do that. When somebody arranges them in just the right order or when I'm open to them from the receiving end they'll sort of float me around for a little while in the nicest way.

The Pumpkin Next Door

2011-10-22T08:03:00.000-07:00

If Sponge Bob and a Zombie were to have a Pumpkin Love-Child...

Sticking With It

2011-10-20T15:05:00.000-07:00

“You have to love dancing to stick to it. It gives you nothing back, no manuscripts to store away, no paintings to show on walls and maybe hang in museums, no poems to be printed and sold, nothing but that single fleeting moment when you feel alive." - Merce Cunningham

I came across an article last week that talked about the neurological benefits of dancing. The medical evidence suggests that people who dance are less likely to have strokes, less likely to suffer from dementia, and less likely to have Alzheimer's disease advance rapidly. Evidently dancing stimulates brain activity in a massive way. Dancing tunes your brain and your body to listen for the melody at the same moment as you'd inspire a set of motor-skills to respond.

It wasn't the medical findings that surprised me so much as the whole slant of the article. When I'm dancing, really dancing I rarely consider my brain. In fact, that's part of the thrill. Feeling like there is a direct communication that occurs between my body and the music. The sensation that each moment, each movement happens in isolation without a sense of what comes next.

I've made a habit of dancing this year, actually. Turning on loud music or something soapy and sweet and letting myself move. I've been surprised to feel self-conscious or even awkward about it. At certain points in my life it was easy for me to slip into dancing. A particular curl to my toes was all it took. The music was optional. I'd dance where and whenever I felt like it. Muzak in the mall, dance clubs, wedding receptions, various messy apartments in my twenties...

Maybe everyone shrinks a little from these things as we age. My life has a sense of permanence now. I don't wake up every morning or take up every moment as though everything before was nothing. The permanence of things will cling to me, even when there's a jazzy tune being played. My body has limits it didn't have. My life has features and relationships that stick. But dancing can still sort these things out, I just have to get past that initial sense of awkwardness. But I've been pleased to find that both my life and my brain are malleable enough to respond once the music starts.

News

2011-10-20T14:35:00.000-07:00

Congratulations, Lys & Mike, on your engagement!

Heirloom Apple Tasting

2011-10-17T07:51:00.000-07:00

Something about the cold air, the dark house each morning of last week made me more fully realize it's October. With the leaves dying off I decided to attend an heirloom apple tasting in Nebraska City over the weekend.

Evidently the United States once harvested an estimated 15,000 apple varieties. These days your local grocer sports maybe 10 varieties (Granny Smith, Red-Delicious, Braeburn, etc) in their produce section. The heirloom varieties have been nearly wiped out of the marketplace except in these niche orchards scattered around the country and populated each October by apple addicts like myself, I suppose.

I selected the Arbor Day Foundation's Preservation Orchard as my weekend destination. It has a limited harvest of 165 different heirloom apple varieties. The orchard was rather picked-over by the time we arrived on Saturday, but we had the good fortune to sample three different varieties. Each one had a distinctively delicious personality that made the cold air, the dark house of each fall morning a little more inviting.

Dial "N" for NASA

2011-10-15T05:34:00.000-07:00

N called NASA this past week. Yes, ~that~ NASA, to extend an invitation to the Astronomy Fair her school is putting on next week. They might be interested. You never know. She left a message.

Blackberry Morning

2011-10-14T07:01:00.000-07:00

I was standing in my kitchen this morning, checking my work email inbox from a hand-held Blackberry. N asleep upstairs, the cats purring at me, my feet in socks and slippers, NPR playing on the radio, the smell of coffee thick in the cold, morning air.

I had a moment of imagining the late 80s - early 90s version of myself looking at this scene with a sense of awe and a lot of questions.

____________
Personal Soundtrack: Extraordinary by Liz Phair

Safety Belt

2011-10-12T06:51:00.000-07:00

Me: Honey, you don't have to get buckled in. It will be a while before we drive off.

N: Yeh, that's OK. (pause) I just like to have everyone know I'm safe in case the car explodes or something.

Me: Really?

N: Yeh.

Me: That's planning ahead.

N: (self-satisfied-shrug) I know.

Occupy Wall Street

2011-10-07T17:43:00.000-07:00

"A weary cynicism, a belief that justice will never get served, has taken over much of our political debate — and, yes, I myself have sometimes succumbed. In the process, it has been easy to forget just how outrageous the story of our economic woes really is." - Paul Krugman

Bug

2011-10-06T14:22:00.000-07:00

"We hope that, when the insects take over the world, they will remember with gratitude how we took them along on all our picnics." (Bill Vaughan)

The Pipeline

2011-10-04T21:48:00.000-07:00

The phrase "tar sands" came into Lincoln's common vernacular about 8 months ago. While TransCanada had been working on its Keystone XL pipeline route for more than three years, the steady citizen resistance started in earnest this past year. TransCanada's idea with this pipeline was to tap into Alberta's tar sands, the second largest crude oil resource in the world, to meet looming oil supply shortages.

I've been impressed by the public opposition to the pipeline. In an era where people are increasingly cynical about the public process, this opposition movement turned out about 800 people to attend the public hearing in Lincoln last week, and 1000 for the Atchison meeting. The I Stand With Randy critics of the TransCanada project are correct to say a major leak could ruin drinking water and devastate the mid-west's economy. TransCanada is also correct to assert the energy security and job creation benefits the pipeline offers.

It's not pipelines I distrust so much as it is the corporate interests involved. I think we're running out of oil and it's unlikely we'll conserve more and consume less of it in the foreseeable future. Is conservation possible? Yes. Probable? Nope. Sadly I think we live in a world that needs this pipeline to be built somewhere. Where and to what degree of stewardship the pipeline is constructed is directly proportional to the amount of push TransCanada receives from its opponents. And that push has been steady and strong from Randy and those who stand with him.
____________

Attention any Nebraska folks in DC, VA or MD, please come to the DC State Dept. final public meeting on Friday, 10am-2pm at 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue (Reagan bldg). Wear RED.