Wendell Berry: Thinking Globally, Locally

I came by this quote through the book, Dumbing Us Down: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schoolings. The book is okay. The quote is full and worth a long digesting.

I don’t think “global thinking” is futile, I think it is impossible. You can’t think about what you don’t know and nobody knows this planet. Some people know a little about a few small parts of it…The people who think globally do so by abstractly and statistically reducing the globe to quantities. Political tyrants and industrial exploiters have done this most successfully. Their concepts and their green are abstract and their abstractions lead with terrifying directness and simplicity to acts that are invariably destructive. If you want to do good and preserving acts you must think and act locally. The effort to do good acts gives the global game away. You can’t do a good act that is global…a good act, to be good must be acceptable to what Alexander Pope called “the genius of the place”. This calls for local knowledge, local skills, and local love that virtually none of us has, and that none of us can get by thinking globally. We can get it only by a local fidelity that we would have to maintain through several lifetimes…I don’t wish to be loved by people who don’t know me; if I were a planet I would feel exactly the same.

By thinking and acting globally, all of us, we take care of the globe. Seems simple enough. It breaks down quick, however, when we begin to peer over the fence, evaluate our neighbors work, and believe we can do better.

Acting globally requires trust in millions acting locally , which is why it’s so damn hard to do.

For more on . . .

-N- Stuff  :  On Living  :  Wendell Berry Literature

Neighborhood Golf, a film by Nicolas Heller

Neighborhood Golf Association from HELLER films on Vimeo.

For the past 10 years, street photographer Patrick Barr aka Tiger Hood has become a local legend known for bringing golf to the streets of NYC.

It’s a game that requires only three items: a golf club, a newspaper-stuffed milk carton, and a crate. What was initially just a way for Barr to pass time has gained traction from major news outlets and celebrities on a global scale. However, street golf seems to overshadow his true passion… photography. Barr’s archive consists of thousands of mind blowing film photographs of NYC from the 1990’s to 2000’s.

His goal was to preserve a time and place that he predicted would dissolve in the coming years. With his archive as evidence, he predicted correctly (via).

In a time that likes to embrace a, “Be content with what you have,” or, “make the best of what you’ve been given,” Tiger Hood is an example to us all.

For more on . . .

-N- Stuff  :  Inspiring films about Humans  :  Documentaries  : The Tables, a short film by Jon Bunning

Favorite Podcasts : February

photo by Ami Vitale

Here are a few of my more recent favorites. As always, if you have any you'd like to recommend, let me know (thank you Jenna Baum for recommending One Head, Two Brains!!!).

Enjoy!

One Head, Two Brains: How The Brain's Hemispheres Shape The World We See: Hidden Brain

If you go to an antique store, you might find posters showing a human head with the brain divided like a map. Reason is in one quadrant, emotion in another. Memory is over here, imagination there. For a long time, the popular representations of hemispheric differences focused on what different parts of the brain do. Iain says what really distinguishes the hemispheres is not what they do but how they do the same things differently (via).

“The brain is divided into two hemispheres” Psychiatrist Iain McGilchrist argues, “so that it can produce two different views of reality. One of the hemispheres, the right, focuses on the big picture. The left focuses on details. Both are essential. If you can't see the big picture, you don't understand what you're doing. If you can't home in on the details, you can't accomplish the simplest tasks.

Iain uses a couple examples to explain, but the one most intriguing was that of a bird finding a worm.

All living creatures need to be able to attend to the world in two different ways, which require quite different attention at the same time. And this is simply not possible unless they can work relatively independently. On the one hand, in order to manipulate the world - to get food, to pick up a twig to build a nest - you need a very precise, targeted attention on a detail in order to be able to achieve that and be ahead of your competition. But if you're only doing that - if you're a bird just concentrating on the little seed, you'll become somebody else's lunch while you're getting your own because you need, at the same time, to be paying the precise opposite kind of attention - not piecemeal, fragmented and entirely detailed but sustained, broad and vigilant for predators and for other members of your species.

It truly is a fascinating discussion of our brain, but it’s also fairly dense and needs some attention. I had to listen to it twice, with the second time sitting at my desk while following the script. It was just too much to handle for a single, somewhat distracted, drive into town.

Why We Contradict Ourselves and Confound Each Other: On Being

A perfect sidekick to a left-brain, right-brain debate.

With his book Thinking, Fast and Slow, Daniel Kahneman emerged as one of the most intriguing voices on the complexity of human thought and behavior. He is a psychologist who won the Nobel Prize in economics for helping to create the field of behavioral economics — and is a self-described “constant worrier” (via).

One of the more convicting segments of the podcast comes when Kahneman discuss how we come to conclusions, and why arguing, really, is just a waste of time. “Even if you did destroy the arguments that people raise for their beliefs,” he states, “it wouldn’t change their beliefs. They would just find other arguments.”

the fact that arguments that feel irrefutable come to our mind so easily doesn’t mean that those arguments are the real cause of our beliefs and doesn’t mean much of anything about the validity of the argument. The way that the mind works, very frequently, is that we start from a decision, or we start from a belief, and then the stories that explain it come to our mind. And the sequence that we have when we think about thinking, that arguments come first and conclusions come later, that sequence is often reversed. Conclusions come first, and rationalizations come later.

The Laws Of The Office: Planet Money

If something is going wrong in your workplace, there's probably a law that explains why. Like Goodhart's Law, which says if a company decides to measure something, workers will find a way to respond with good numbers. Or, the Peter Principle, which says that every employee tends to rise to their level of incompetence.

Not sure if this is right or left brain, but the unconscious mind is pretty untrustworthy. At least, according to these made up yet accurate laws. I texted this to my fellow admin because I couldn’t help but think of education and test scores specific. Pretty good stuff!

AMI VITALE : Wild Ideas Worth Living

I sent this one to my wife.

In war-torn Gaza, Ami Vitale was asked to “focus on the violence.” Then, one day, while her and all the other photo journalists were capturing kids throwing rocks and soldiers bullets, Ami heard music. She followed it. And found a wedding.

“Why aren’t we telling these stories too,” she thought, “the ones that allow us to relate to one another as human beings.” She suddenly realized she was telling a lie, because she was only telling half the story. “There were all these other stories around us. Stories that allowed us to relate to one another as human beings, {stories} that allowed us to connect” by reminding us that we “share the same things on this planet.”

“As a journalist,” she continues, “I was being asked to create more fear and polarization on this planet and see those people as other and different than us. The truth is, it was just a beautiful young couple wanting the same things that we all want in life. That was when I stopped and asked myself, ‘Why aren’t we telling these stories too?’”

From then on, Ami Vitale changed the way she tells stories. She still captures the hard and terrible ones because that is still very much a part of life, but she also seeks out the beautiful and hopeful, the ones that inspire and spark joy, because those too are a part of life. And Ami Vitale wants to provide a balance and reminder “of our connections”, that we are all human beings on this world, longing for the same things, eager to tell and share our stories.

Another episode I enjoyed by Wild Ideas Worth Living was CHRIS MCDOUGALL – WRITING UNTOLD STORIES ABOUT RUNNING AND AMAZING HUMAN PERFORMANCE. I LOVED the book (Born to Run) and truly enjoyed hearing more of his story. Definitely worth a listen.

Bias And Perception : TED Radio Hour

How does bias distort our thinking, our listening, our beliefs... and even our search results? How can we fight it? This hour, TED speakers explore ideas about the unconscious biases that shape us.

I actually haven’t quite finished this one yet, but it’s pretty golden - especially when considering the habits and attitudes of the right and left sides of our brain.

Enjoy the day, and happy listening.

For more on . . .

-N- Stuff  :  Podcasts 

Kiliii Yuyan : People of the Whale

Sigvaun Kaleak and his father Raleigh, wearing traditional ice camouflauge parkas, are lifelong whalers. Although European whaling decimated the global whale population by the 1900, the Iñupiat maintained a sustainable harvest of bowheads (via).

The Iñupiat have hunted whales here {high above the Arctic Circle} for millennia, often waiting for fickle sea ice conditions in an era of changing climate. The unpredictability of this coastal Arctic environment means that the Iñupiaq are the carriers of a vast ecological knowledge.

“Kiliii Yuyan is a Nanai (Siberian Native) and Chinese-American photographer whose award-winning work chronicles indigenous and conservation issues.” His “mission is to present collaborative new narratives of indigenous culture. He is fascinated by the essential relationship between humans and the natural world. Kiliii’s photography presents an alternative vision of humanity’s greatest wealth—community, culture and the earth” (via).

And he does a pretty damn good job.

Looks cold, simple, and beautiful.

A rare windless day results in glassy waters at the edge of the sea ice on the Chukchi Sea. Days like this are cherished good weather windows and are the time when the volatile sea ice environment is the safest (via).

You can see all of Kiliii Yuyan’s images from People of the Whale here. His other works are worth checking out too, especially his Living Wild collection which “documents a group of 21st century hunter-gatherers as they rediscover the traditional living skills of the Paleolithic.” It and they are pretty wild.

You can also follow him on Instagram or Twitter.

For more on . . .

-N- Stuff  :  Photography  : Kiliii Yuyan

What we've learned from Justine Sacco's tweet

Maybe there’s two types of people in the world: those people who favor humans over ideology, and those people who favor ideology over humans. I favor humans over ideology, but right now, the ideologues are winning, and they’re creating a stage for constant artificial high dramas where everybody’s either a magnificent hero or a sickening villain, even though we know that’s not true about our fellow humans. What’s true is that we are clever and stupid; what’s true is that we’re grey areas. The great thing about social media was how it gave a voice to voiceless people, but we’re now creating a surveillance society, where the smartest way to survive is to go back to being voiceless.

Let’s not do that (via).

What a challenging TED Talk. I especially loved the contrast between what social media’s intention, to connect us all through our faults and mistakes, and the reality of what it has become. Namely, a stage to celebrate our false perfection and a spear to hunt people. So we can hang them with their shameful secrets.

As Ronson says, let’s not do that.

For more on . . .

-N- Stuff  : On Living : TED Talks : Jon Ronson

Dear Self : An Open Letter to Those Who Wander

photo by @wayleadstoway

“What advice would you give to your teenage self,” is asked at the end of every Wild Ideas Worth Living podcast, and the answers are often what you’d expect. “Be brave,” “be kind,” or “be adventurous.” All good advice, but not all that helpful because, what do they mean? What would they look like? Especially for a teenage kid?

I’ve often wondered what I would say to my younger self, if I could sit and chat with him a while. It probably wouldn’t be much different than what I share with my students or children. But then recently, the son of my good friend recently left his job, bought a van, and hit the open and free road, and I found myself living vicariously through him. I saw myself packing the van, scouring maps, and anxious to go, to start the adventure, and to see what sort of story would unfold.

So I sat down and wrote him a letter. His name is Austyn, but as I thought and wrote and considered his coming days, I found myself writing more to myself than to him and answering the question, “What advice would you give?”

This is my answer:

Dear Self,

When I heard you were embracing the Road, I instantly longed to go with you. To sit in the co-captain’s chair, arm bouncing out the window, and small worries packed into a small bag. The open road and an empty journal. Wonder and bliss. Life. Or at least, it can be.

Self, know that to you I'm little more than a name on a page, and thats okay! But if you don't mind, I'd like to share some thoughts with you. Thoughts that are bread from experience, from the reflections of those who have gone before you and I, and thoughts that are inspired by the endless train of the faithless who have desperately reached for, and occasionally captured, a glimpse of Understanding on this journey called Life.

I hope you find them beneficial. If not, no worries! Writing these words has brought me back to my own travels with family and friends, like running my finger along a map of life, and I'm okay with that. Because that too is why we wander, so that one day, we have something to look back on.

Self, Be Inspired:

Heading for the unknown is, I think, just as natural and crucial as the need for food, shelter, and love. Throughout history, cultures across the world have valued the process of "finding yourself" - especially in the West - which is why guys like Kerouac (On the Road) and McCandless (Into the Wild) are so damn inspiring, because they're scratching the itch that many of us choose not to reach. These men, and the many that came and went before and after them, wanted to “suck out all the marrow of life,” and they did, making them uncommon among the common and pillars of inspiration.

“Being original doesn’t mean require being first,” Adam Grant writes in Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World, by Adam Grant, “It just means being different and better. (pg 105) As you prepare for your journey, I wanted to give you a few examples of people who did things different and better. They, I think/hope will provide some possible clarity and direction to your coming days and months:

180 Degrees South : Conquerers of the Useless : "My whole life I've been drawn to open country. I always come home a little different."

Life Lessons from a 7-Thousand-Mile Bike Ride: "I had this fear of building {a} routine . . . and so promised myself that I had to do something radically different. I'm gonna do something that scares the crap out of me and see if that changes my brain chemistry."

Loved By All: The Story of Apa Sherpa: “The true beauty of Nepal isn’t the mountains, but the people who live in their shadows.”

Breath: a "deep punch to the creative soul" : Mike Olbinski is a storm chaser, photographer, and an overall inspiration. 

Be Original:

It's easy to be inspired by others and their adventures, because that's life!!! It's also dangerous, because in following the inspiration of others, you can easily lose your own path. As you travel and rub shoulders with others, be cautious. The purpose of such trips is to find clarity, not lose yourself in someone else's noise. 

Like these people:

Instravel - A Photogenic Mass Tourism Experience from Oliver KMIA on Vimeo.

. . . people didn't really enjoy the moment and were hooked to their smartphones. As if the ultimate goal of travel was to brag about it online and run after the likes and followers . . . "These Instagrammers are collectively sucking the joy and spontaneity out of travel . . . Social media encourages the memeification of human experience. Instead of diversity we see homogeneity. It’s extremely boring” (via).

In short, don’t be boring. Don’t be common. And don't take this picture. 

Or this one.

Instead, be original.

"We are all social chameleons," Kevin Ashton writes in How to Fly a Horse, "adjusting our skin to blend in with, or sometimes stand out from, whatever crowed we happen to be in" (pg 224) which makes sense because we all want to be accepted, to have our Tribe, and to know that we are known, that we belong. But we also want to be uniquely ourselves, to stand out, and to provide our own stamp and worth upon the greater world or small Tribe. Just remember, "Being original doesn't require being first. It just means being different and better.”

Be different, be better, AND be known.

Head out on your adventure, like the many men and women who have done and gone before you, at times following their footsteps, like a child struggling to meet the gate of his father's long stride but confident he is headed in the right direction. Other times, veer off and find your own stride. Explore. But then come back.

Be like this guy; not one of "those guys."

Self, Don't Get Lost:

Remember that trip you took as a sophomore in high school? You were planning to visit you sister in Philadelphia and had one friend lined up and ready to go. But with only a week or so before departure, he backed out. "My mom said she's nervous we might break down or get lost" he had said, and you were devastated because you thought the trip was off. When you Dad, he said, "I would think so. That's part of the adventure! Find another friend who would like to adventure with you.” So you did. And nothing happened. No tires exploded and no accident occurred. You didn’t even get lost! But you did stretch a 10 hour drive into almost 18 because, well damnit, there were just too many roads that needed exploring!

Self, getting lost geographically isn't a problem. In fact, you might find it the most enjoyable part or your journey! Getting lost mentally, however, is a terrifying thing. I mentioned Kerouac and McCandless in the beginning, and I did so deliberately because they tend to be the faces of contemporary American adventure, inspiring hundreds (if not thousands) to quit their jobs, wave goodbye, and hit the road in search of "ultimate freedom.” Yet, at the end of their journey what they were left with was a wake of pain, destruction, and death.  And I don't mean physically, but humanly. I mean the kind of death that can only be born from selfishness and the isolated pursuit of personal gain. The kind of death destroys the soul, the spirit, and the beauty of those around you. That’s the death I’m talking about, the living kind, and the kind I hope so desperately to steer you away from.

Self, as you travel, as you spend countless hours driving, thinking, talking, and living, consider this: who can you serve? Initially, road trips were inherently selfish. With a thumb pointed towards the sky, wondering travelers required the help of strangers. They bummed rides, spare change, and simple meals. The more outgoing supertramps were offered a bed. Yet, how many of them actually helped others? How many used their gifts and talents to serve and bless others? Kerouac didn't. McCandless for sure didn't! Both thought only of themselves, their journey, and how others might help enhance their experience. In search of truth or experience or whatever, they forgot the greater and deeper purpose of life: to help others.

There may never be a time such as this, where your days are your own, the road is open, and responsibilities at a minimum. What an opportunity to find yourself! To discover what you are good at, what you love, and HOW BEST TO GIVE IT AWAY!!! You are gifted with many things, and hopefully, those gifts also align with what you're passionate about. So try them out on strangers, offer them to bypassing wayfarers (I think I just made that word up): old ladies walking across the street, mothers with their hands full of groceries, the man on the corner holding a cardboard sign. Whatever it is, and to whom ever it is, FIND WAYS TO SERVE!!! If you do, you will never be lost. 

And Lastly, Self:

Here are some simple pieces of advice I wish someone had told me, when I was your age:

Learn a new skill of any sort - music, photography, drawing, whittling, whatever. Learn something new. You've got the time and endless amount of inspiration.

Journal - a lot! Even the mundane. I would truly recommend a blog (wix, squarespace, etc) only because, from experience, journals tend to be lost or damaged. Plus, if you and your journey truly are an original, people will find your journey inspiring - so why not give it away!!! However, many would argue a 99 cent journal, black pen (I recommend the InkJoy 700RT 1.0 M, found at any Walmart or Target), and a picnic table are just as, if not more, inspiring than a blog. Whatever your fancy, WRITE!!! You won't regret it. 

Take pictures. Keep them safe (like on a blog!!!) You're gonna want them someday.

Write letters. Not emails, not texts. Letters. Especially to people who help and encourage you along the way and to those who come to mind on your journey. Not only will you bless those fortunate enough to receive them, it will serve as a constant reminder of just how many people have helped you along your greater journey. Which should, in turn, inspire you once more to help others.

Thoughts for the Road:

I know you’ve already planned your playlist for the road, so I won’t waste time on that. However, what I can provide are podcasts. Below are a few of my favorites.

Reality: Invisibilia

Feminism in Black and White: Scene on Radio

GREGOR: Gimlet Media

THE TRUE HARD WORK OF LOVE AND RELATIONSHIPS: On Being

DECLUTTER: The Minimalists

GRASS IS GREENER: The Moth

Analysis, Parapraxis, Elvis: Revisionist History

Do Meaningful Work and Change the World with Adam Braun

Tom Petty and the Creation of "Wildflowers": Broken Record

Ami Vitale – Traveling the world, Telling Stories, And Creating Awareness Through Photography: By Wild Ideas Worth Living

One Head, Two Brains: How The Brain's Hemispheres Shape The World We See: Hidden Brain

(And if this isn’t enough, there’s plenty more where they came from).

I envy the journey you are about ready to embark upon, and in many ways I wish I could go with you. But maybe this is good enough, joining you in mind and spirit, at least for now. Who know though. If you stop in, and if you have room for the family, we might just join you.

Good luck to you!!!

Safe travels.

(Older) Brian

For more on . . .

-N- Stuff  : Adventure : Inspiration

The Other Half of Stories : An interview with NatGeo photographer Ami Vitale

Photo by Ami Vitale

(From Wild Ideas Worth Living Podcast)

In war-torn Gaza, Ami Vitale was asked to “focus on the violence.” Then, one day, while her and all the other photo journalists were capturing kids throwing rocks and soldiers bullets, Ami heard music. She followed it. And found a wedding.

“Why aren’t we telling these stories too,” she thought, “the ones that allow us to relate to one another as human beings.” She suddenly realized she was telling a lie, because she was only telling half the story. “There were all these other stories around us. Stories that allowed us to relate to one another as human beings, {stories} that allowed us to connect” by reminding us that we “share the same things on this planet.”

“As a journalist,” she continues, “I was being asked to create more fear and polarization on this planet and see those people as other and different than us. The truth is, it was just a beautiful young couple wanting the same things that we all want in life. That was when I stopped and asked myself, ‘Why aren’t we telling these stories too?’”

From then on, Ami Vitale changed the way she tells stories. She still captures the hard and terrible ones because that is still very much a part of life, but she also seeks out the beautiful and hopeful, the ones that inspire and spark joy, because those too are a part of life. And Ami Vitale wants to provide a balance and reminder “of our connections”, that we are all human beings on this world, longing for the same things, eager to tell and share our stories.

Our world could use a lot more people like Ami Vitale.

You can listen to her full interview at Wild Ideas Podcast or watch her How to Photograph Hope presentation for NatGeo Storytellers Summit.

For more on . . .

-N- Stuff  :  Humanity  : Podcasts : Inspiring Art

One Breath Around the World

Guillaume suggests that you turn off the lights and plug in a pair of decent headphones because if you can get past the strange black bathing suit - and that is a big if - this film is perfectly unsettling.

I can’t decide if a few scenes are a bit doctored up a bit, or if they’re just that spectacular that my mind can’t grasp them. I sent Guillaume a message, asking. If he responds, I’ll let you know.

You can see more of Guillaume Néry’s work on his Youtube channel, but so far, this one is the best.

For more on . . .

-N- Stuff  : Art : Inspiration : Short Film

Creating Saturday Night Live : Cue Cards

There’s something fantastic about this. Sure, it would probably be easier and faster and much more efficient if they used TelePrompTers and other similar devices, but in doing so, what is lost? If nothing else, it’s the personal touch, and in a world that strives for efficiency and productivity - at times at the cost of human interactions - this simple holding on to the past is perhaps one of the many reasons why SNL has lasted the test of time.

Maybe. Maybe not. But I’d like to think so.

For more on . . .

-N- Stuff  :  SNL

Loved By All: The Story of Apa Sherpa

The true beauty of Nepal isn’t the mountains, but the people who live in their shadows.

Loved By All: The Story of Apa Sherpa from Sherpas Cinema on Vimeo.

Every spring, Mount Everest draws in people from around the world to conquer its peak. Despite the riches surrounding the highest point on Earth, the Sherpa people who live in its shadow remain poor with few educational opportunities. One man hoping to change this reality is Apa Sherpa, a child of the Khumbu and world-record holder for summiting Everest. Like many before him, Apa Sherpa was pulled from home at the age of 12 to work on the mountain as a high-altitude porter. Now, the Apa Sherpa Foundation is working to create a different future for the children of Nepal. As Apa says, "without education we have no choice” (via).

There’s something truly great about this story. A man who has accomplished (21 times!) what others spend years training for, dreaming of, and then risking their live’s to conquer, looks at his life and believes there’s something bigger and better. That his days on top the world are not enough.

He then chooses to spend his life serving and caring for others, and is satisfied. Because The true beauty of Nepal isn’t the mountains, but the people who live in their shadows.

You can watch more “short documentary films from around the world selected by the National Geographic video team” (via).

For more on . . .

-N- Stuff  :  Inspiring films about Humans  :  Inspiring Art  :  Documentaries 

Three Videos

I love annotating music videos. Especially when they’re sent to me by previous students, “Thought you’d like these” they say, after months of living different lives on different continents, and I just love that.

These three came in the last few weeks. If you have any thoughts, don’t be afraid to share.

Enjoy!

“All art,” according to Gene Roddenberry, “Is an attempt to answer the question, ‘What is it all about?’”

What, according to these videos, is the answer?

For more on . . .

-N- Stuff  :  Music  

"In a nut shell" : A short film about the history of the world

“From a seed to war, from meat to love, from indifference to apocalypse.
An attempt to capture the world in a nutshell” (via).

Symmetry : A short film by Daniel Mercadante

Symmetry from Daniel Mercadante on Vimeo.

For more on . . .

-N- Stuff  : Art : Daniel Mercadante

Favorite Podcasts : January

Here are a few of my more recent favorites. As always, if you have any you'd like to recommend, let me know (thank you Sarah Downs for recommending War of the Worlds!!!).

Enjoy!

40 Years Later, What We Learned From Jonestown, by Fresh Air
On Nov. 18, 1978, an itinerant preacher, faith healer and civil rights activist named the Rev. Jim Jones led more than 900 of his followers to kill themselves by drinking cyanide-laced Flavor Aid at their Jonestown settlement in the jungle of Guyana. 40 years later, questions still linger regarding the Jonestown massacre and the man who inspired it. Journalist Jeff Guinn details how Jones captivated his followers in the book 'The Road to Jonestown.' 

War of the Worlds, by Radiolab
It's been 80 years to the day since Orson Welles' infamous radio drama "The War of the Worlds" echoed far and wide over the airwaves. So we want to bring you back to our very first live hour, where we take a deep dive into what was one of the most controversial moments in broadcasting history. "The War of the Worlds," a radio play about Martians invading New Jersey, caused panic when it originally aired, and it's continued to fool people since--from Santiago, Chile to Buffalo, New York to a particularly disastrous evening in Quito, Ecuador.



The Room of Requirement, by This American Life
My whole family thoroughly enjoyed this one. The summary doesn't do it justice so I deleted everything but the opening sentence.

Libraries aren't just for books.

So, so good. 


Feminism in Black and White, by Scene on Radio
Most of December was dedicated to this podcast series entitled, "MEN." It's a newer podcast, with only it's third season available, and as one might imagine, the first season isn't great. The third one, however, is very good. I appreciated just about every episode, but this one was exceptional. 

The struggles against sexism and racism come together in the bodies, and the lives, of black women. Co-hosts Celeste Headlee and John Biewen look at the intersections between male dominance and white supremacy in the United States, and the movements to overcome them, from the 1800s through the 2016 presidential election.

Enjoy the day, and happy listening.

For more on . . .

-N- Stuff  :  Podcasts 

"Better than a dog" : Charles Darwin's pros and cons to marriage.

In July of 1838, Charles Darwin was twenty-nine and recently returned from his “legendary voyage around the globe . . . and a few months away from sketching the first outline of natural selection in his notebooks” (pg 8).

He was also contemplating if h should I get married or stay single.

So, to help clarify his quandary, he made a pros and cons list, “dividing two facing pages in his notebook into two columns.” At the top of one column he wrote “Not Marry.” On the other, “Marry.”

He concluded the following:

Not Marry

- Freedom to go where one liked
-Choice of Society and little of it
-Conversation of clever men at clubs
-Not forced to visit relatives and bend in every trifle
-Expense and anxiety of children
-Perhaps quarreling
-Loss of Time
-Cannot read in the evenings
-Fatness and idleness
-Anxiety and responsibility
-Less money for books etc.
-If many children forced to gain one’s bread (But then it is very bad for one’s health to work too much)
-Perhaps my wife won’t like London; then the sentence is banishment and degradation into indolent, idle fool

Marry

-Children (if it Please God)
-Constant companion (and friend in old age) who will feel interested in one
-Object to be beloved and played with. Better than a dog anyhow
-Home, & someone to take care of house
-Charms of music and female chit-chat. These things good for one’s health- but terrible loss of time.
-My God, it is intolerable to thing of spending one’s whole life, like a neuter bee, working, working, an nothing after all - No, no won’t do
-Imagine living all one’s day solitary in smoky dirty London House
-Only picture to yourself a nice soft wife on a sofa with good fire and books and music perhaps
-Compare this vision with the dingy reality of Great Marlboro Street, London

How long he deliberated over this list is uncertain. His decision, however, is clear, and not only because he wrote, “Marry, Marry, Marry QED” at the bottom of the page, “but also because he did, in fact, wed Emma Wedgwood six months after writing the words”, a marriage that would “bring much happiness to Darwin” (pg 9). I assume his marriage was a success, in part, because she never saw this list, or at least I suspect she didn’t. Because if she had, I would like to think their discussion would be similar to Ross and Rachel’s.

For more on . . .

-N- Stuff  : Charles Darwin : Marriage Things

Calvin and Hobbes head out on an adventure

The first of anything is difficult. Even, sometimes, if you’ve been doing it for a while. For me, the first post of the new year is completely nerve wracking. There’s something about the first post that seems to set the tone, and it always makes me incredibly nervous. Sometimes I just dive in, like I’m jumping into a cold pool and I just need to get it over with. Other times I take my time, waiting for the perfect idea to come along.

This year, it took just over two weeks. But the wait was worth it.

On December 31, 1995, Bill Watterson published the final 'Calvin & Hobbes' comic strip. Little did he probably know how his little cartoon would inspire, encourage, and entertain the world.

Or inspire the beginning of a new year.

It’s a magical world, and I’m ready for another year of exploring all that it has to offer, are you?

Sojourner Truth's, "Ain't I a Woman" read by Alice Walker

“Poet Alice Walker reads the 1851 speech of abolitionist Sojourner Truth. Part of a reading from Voices of a People's History of the United States (Howard Zinn and Anthony Arnove,) Novemeber 11, 2006 in Berkeley, California” (via).

Well, children, where there is so much racket there must be something out of kilter. I think that 'twixt the negroes of the South and the women at the North, all talking about rights, the white men will be in a fix pretty soon. But what's all this here talking about?

That man over there says that women need to be helped into carriages, and lifted over ditches, and to have the best place everywhere. Nobody ever helps me into carriages, or over mud-puddles, or gives me any best place! And ain't I a woman? Look at me! Look at my arm! I have ploughed and planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head me! And ain't I a woman? I could work as much and eat as much as a man - when I could get it - and bear the lash as well! And ain't I a woman? I have borne thirteen children, and seen most all sold off to slavery, and when I cried out with my mother's grief, none but Jesus heard me! And ain't I a woman?

Then they talk about this thing in the head; what's this they call it? [member of audience whispers, "intellect"] That's it, honey. What's that got to do with women's rights or negroes' rights? If my cup won't hold but a pint, and yours holds a quart, wouldn't you be mean not to let me have my little half measure full?

Then that little man in black there, he says women can't have as much rights as men, 'cause Christ wasn't a woman! Where did your Christ come from? Where did your Christ come from? From God and a woman! Man had nothing to do with Him.

If the first woman God ever made was strong enough to turn the world upside down all alone, these women together ought to be able to turn it back , and get it right side up again! And now they is asking to do it, the men better let them.

Obliged to you for hearing me, and now old Sojourner ain't got nothing more to say (via).

For more on . . .

-N- Stuff  :  Humanity  : History

The Why: A film by Billy Yang

“Here I was, surrounded by almost 700 like-minded people from my tribe intentionally about to march forward into the mountains since dark morning, seeking something through the discomfort, the unknown.”

I stumbled across this documentary after listening to David Goggins, and now, I’m in full “get off the couch and GET SHIT DONE!” mode. In life, at work, and everything and anything else. I’ve even started running.

For more on . . .

-N- Stuff  :  Documentaries : Inspiration 

Jimmy Chin Photography

photo by Jimmy Chin

After listening to David Goggins curse and cus and create a reality much different from what I’m used to, I’ve been thinking a lot about adventure and pain and pushing myself to the limit. I’ve been inspired.

These images by Jimmy Chin are cut from the same cloth. Because so is Jimmy.

Photo by Jimmy Chin

”Jimmy Chin is a photographer, filmmaker, and mountain sports athlete known for his ability to capture extraordinary imagery while climbing and skiing in extremely high-risk environments” (via).

Photo by Jimmy Chin

“As a filmmaker, his years of experience in the adventure and extreme sports world enables him to bring an authentic and unique perspective to his storytelling. His 2015 film Meru won the coveted Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival and was on the 2016 Oscar shortlist for Best Documentary” (via).

Photo by Jimmy Chin

You can see more of Jimmy Chin’s work on his website (where he allows you to download his images for free . . . because he’s a badass), or on instagram.

For more on . . .

-N- Stuff  :  Photography  : Jimmy Chin

A Panorama of Mars

This is pretty friggen cool. (Make sure you click on the full screen option).

Mars Panorama - Curiosity rover: Martian solar day 2

With its rover named Curiosity, Mars Science Laboratory mission is part of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program, a long-term effort of robotic exploration of the red planet. Curiosity was designed to assess whether Mars ever had an environment able to support small life forms called microbes. In other words, its mission is to determine the planet’s ‘habitability’ (via).

Enjoy the coming weekend! I know I’m ready.

For more on . . .

-N- Stuff  :   Space