24 November 2010
17 November 2010
Thoughts via Charles Dickens on a hopefully forthcoming post
If these were Dickens' observations in the early 1800s, I shudder to think of what he'd have to say about today. What the Dickens?!?!
I was led to this quote via a German etymological search for the word "ballast", which in addition to English and presumably elsewhere also appears in the German language. At the very bottom of this post I've included some ballast of the word's etymological info for your philosophizing enjoyment. :-)
"Dollars! All their cares, hopes, joys, affections, virtues, and associations seemed to be melted down into dollars. Whatever the chance contributions that fell into the slow cauldron of their talk, they made the gruel thick and slab with dollars. Men were weighed by their dollars, measures were gauged by their dollars; life was auctioneered, appraised, put up, and knocked down for its dollars. The next respectable thing to dollars was any venture having their attainment for its end. The more of that worthless ballast, honour and fair-dealing, which any man cast overboard from the ship of his Good Nature and Good Intent, the more ample stowage-room he had for dollars. Make commerce one huge lie and mighty theft. Deface the banner of the nation for an idle rag; pollute it star by star; and cut out stripe by stripe as from the arm of a degraded soldier. Do anything for dollars! What is a flag to them!"
-Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens (1812–1870), British novelist. Martin Chuzzlewit, ch. 16 (1844).
Remarking on a company of New Yorkers.
-------------------------------
more from dictionary [dot] com:
ballast
[C16: probably from Low German; related to Old Danish, Old Swedish barlast , literally: bare load (without commercial value), from bar bare, mere + last load, burden]
"heavy material used to steady a ship," 1520s, from M.E. bar "bare" (in this case "mere") + last "a load, burden," or borrowed from identical terms in North Sea Gmc. and Scand. (cf. O.Dan. barlast, 14c.). Du. balg-last "ballast," lit. "belly-load," is a folk-etymology corruption.
I was led to this quote via a German etymological search for the word "ballast", which in addition to English and presumably elsewhere also appears in the German language. At the very bottom of this post I've included some ballast of the word's etymological info for your philosophizing enjoyment. :-)
"Dollars! All their cares, hopes, joys, affections, virtues, and associations seemed to be melted down into dollars. Whatever the chance contributions that fell into the slow cauldron of their talk, they made the gruel thick and slab with dollars. Men were weighed by their dollars, measures were gauged by their dollars; life was auctioneered, appraised, put up, and knocked down for its dollars. The next respectable thing to dollars was any venture having their attainment for its end. The more of that worthless ballast, honour and fair-dealing, which any man cast overboard from the ship of his Good Nature and Good Intent, the more ample stowage-room he had for dollars. Make commerce one huge lie and mighty theft. Deface the banner of the nation for an idle rag; pollute it star by star; and cut out stripe by stripe as from the arm of a degraded soldier. Do anything for dollars! What is a flag to them!"
-Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens (1812–1870), British novelist. Martin Chuzzlewit, ch. 16 (1844).
Remarking on a company of New Yorkers.
-------------------------------
more from dictionary [dot] com:
ballast
[C16: probably from Low German; related to Old Danish, Old Swedish barlast , literally: bare load (without commercial value), from bar bare, mere + last load, burden]
"heavy material used to steady a ship," 1520s, from M.E. bar "bare" (in this case "mere") + last "a load, burden," or borrowed from identical terms in North Sea Gmc. and Scand. (cf. O.Dan. barlast, 14c.). Du. balg-last "ballast," lit. "belly-load," is a folk-etymology corruption.
15 November 2010
Fall Series Part Two: Pedestrian Bridgeviews.
A very brief panorama on the pedestrian bridge going over the train tracks. Of note: the colors, a few buildings downtown, Oregon Health and Science University (aka OHSU, aka Pill Hill, which I visited for the first time yesterday riding the Aerial Tram) and of course mode of transportation.
The copper building is the Koin Center, the white one is the tallest building in Portland/Oregon and sports the name of a stupid bank.
Trees, OHSU, and the tower up at Council Crest
View from pedestrian footbridge at PSU, south toward hills
same, north toward downtown
A gorgeous autumnal tree masking a not-so-much parking structure.
The copper building is the Koin Center, the white one is the tallest building in Portland/Oregon and sports the name of a stupid bank.
Trees, OHSU, and the tower up at Council Crest
View from pedestrian footbridge at PSU, south toward hills
same, north toward downtown
A gorgeous autumnal tree masking a not-so-much parking structure.
An October Hodgepodge
Opa und seine Enkelin
A VERY delicious meal. Yet one of many things I am thankful for...
Those cupcakes happened to be very delicious as well. Danke Susan für das Geburtstagslied.
Some of the last sunflowers of the season from the garden. There *may* be a few more this week, we shall see. We actually have some carrots left and will be planting some garlic, shallots, and onions which can grow through the winter. The fava beans are taking off like crazy.
Some delicious figs courtesy of Mike Meyers and of course the Lord of the Harvest
Casey would waltz with a strawberry blonde (Can you complete the phrase?! <-- Well, that is what happened.)
14 November 2010
Zero Emissions Race Comes to the Choates! (oh, and Portland)
The team arrives
zero-race.com
http://zero-race.com/en/teams/ (there is a team from Adelaide! I met a guy named Nick who talked about living in The City of Churches.)
Sven charging the Team Vectrix Elektroroller in our garage last night.
Here I am less than an hour ago with Louis Palmer, the first man to circumnavigate the world using 100% solar power (2008). Now he's at it again with a different tactic, the Zero Emissions Race teams, and has a bigger, fascinating plan for next year as well. Shaking his hand last night and hearing him speak to a(n embarrassingly) small group of about 15 EV enthusiasts and others in downtown Portland, I learned that I am now one degree separated from the likes of James Cameron, Ban Ki-moon, Jay Leno, and, among others, various princes, kings, & emirs from the Middle East.
http://www.zero-race.com/en/louis/
http://www.solartaxi.com/
The Transportwagen in front of our place. Meendert, who also stayed with us, can be seen to the right.
Same, but with my excited mug in the shot.
zero-race.com
http://zero-race.com/en/teams/ (there is a team from Adelaide! I met a guy named Nick who talked about living in The City of Churches.)
Sven charging the Team Vectrix Elektroroller in our garage last night.
Here I am less than an hour ago with Louis Palmer, the first man to circumnavigate the world using 100% solar power (2008). Now he's at it again with a different tactic, the Zero Emissions Race teams, and has a bigger, fascinating plan for next year as well. Shaking his hand last night and hearing him speak to a(n embarrassingly) small group of about 15 EV enthusiasts and others in downtown Portland, I learned that I am now one degree separated from the likes of James Cameron, Ban Ki-moon, Jay Leno, and, among others, various princes, kings, & emirs from the Middle East.
http://www.zero-race.com/en/louis/
http://www.solartaxi.com/
The Transportwagen in front of our place. Meendert, who also stayed with us, can be seen to the right.
Same, but with my excited mug in the shot.
11 November 2010
Fall Series Part One
Mine and others' favorite stretch of canopy down ol' 99. Beatiful year round, including this time of year. Well planned planting, now forms huge mature trees and excellent leafy tunnel!
09 November 2010
Frenbone Taurecord
From an on-campus display. Cream of the crop meiner Meinung nach.
The Frenbone Taurecord:
Die Meistersinger, (Master Singer) by Victor Talking Machine Co. I'm not sure if "Prize Song" is a translation of "Die Meistersinger" or the name of the track.
I guess you could also just call it "Horn".
The "His Master's Voice" logo and the original painting by Francis Barraud has a very interesting backstory which I learned while teaching high school about 2 years ago now.
The Frenbone Taurecord:
Die Meistersinger, (Master Singer) by Victor Talking Machine Co. I'm not sure if "Prize Song" is a translation of "Die Meistersinger" or the name of the track.
I guess you could also just call it "Horn".
The "His Master's Voice" logo and the original painting by Francis Barraud has a very interesting backstory which I learned while teaching high school about 2 years ago now.
08 November 2010
06 November 2010
05 November 2010
Late Season Produce
Midweek harvest
Entwined carrots perspective I
Entwined carrots perspective II
Entwined carrots vertical view. Before:
After:
Entwined carrots perspective I
Entwined carrots perspective II
Entwined carrots vertical view. Before:
After:
03 November 2010
VOTE! (part II)
The Ballot
The Delivery
The ballot box + mode of transportation
The scene plus "that lit'le flagger on it" (pronounced à la Nigel Tufnel). The Pioneer Courthouse stands in the background, yet another piece of the system. The courthouse is part of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals headquartered in SF, and, as one can learn on a walking tour of Portland, it is the most overturned appeals court by the Supreme Court of these United States.
The time-stamp on my camera for the delivery snapshot reads November 2, 2010, 7:16:30pm (the 30 = seconds). Better late than never, they say. The deadline was 8 pm! A friend of mine said he loves to wait till the last minute to vote "to keep 'em guessing" (love it!). Another friend of mine said, "Ich liebe das System hier in Oregon. Es ist sehr benutzerfreundlich" (user-friendly). Definitely a true statement, but somehow much funnier in German. I suppose part of the hilarity is due to the personality who said it.
All in all, I would have to say that this has been my most pleasant and informed election experience thus far in my voting career. I also heard that a few local races are very close and that we may not know the results until late tonight since so many people voted late! Hooray democracy!
During the pre-election period, we got an enormous "VOTE!" note on our doorknob, which was generally annoying except that someone had handwritten in the blank: "_____ percent of voters in your neighborhood voted in the previous election cycle." Our neighborhood was 90.7%! Wow! Imagine how very differently things would turn out if the rest of the country voted like that. And if those who don't typically vote did.
The Delivery
The ballot box + mode of transportation
The scene plus "that lit'le flagger on it" (pronounced à la Nigel Tufnel). The Pioneer Courthouse stands in the background, yet another piece of the system. The courthouse is part of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals headquartered in SF, and, as one can learn on a walking tour of Portland, it is the most overturned appeals court by the Supreme Court of these United States.
The time-stamp on my camera for the delivery snapshot reads November 2, 2010, 7:16:30pm (the 30 = seconds). Better late than never, they say. The deadline was 8 pm! A friend of mine said he loves to wait till the last minute to vote "to keep 'em guessing" (love it!). Another friend of mine said, "Ich liebe das System hier in Oregon. Es ist sehr benutzerfreundlich" (user-friendly). Definitely a true statement, but somehow much funnier in German. I suppose part of the hilarity is due to the personality who said it.
All in all, I would have to say that this has been my most pleasant and informed election experience thus far in my voting career. I also heard that a few local races are very close and that we may not know the results until late tonight since so many people voted late! Hooray democracy!
During the pre-election period, we got an enormous "VOTE!" note on our doorknob, which was generally annoying except that someone had handwritten in the blank: "_____ percent of voters in your neighborhood voted in the previous election cycle." Our neighborhood was 90.7%! Wow! Imagine how very differently things would turn out if the rest of the country voted like that. And if those who don't typically vote did.
01 November 2010
Fahrrad fahren?!
One of Sierra's favorite phrases is "Fahrrad fahren?!", which she says with vigor and a slight bit of nervousness, hoping each time she asks that we will go for a ride ASAP.
Here we are after our ride to Imago Dei yesterday:
Here we are after our ride to Imago Dei yesterday:
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