And Yet Another Snippet from "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson

“There are ninety-two naturally occurring elements on Earth….

“As you might expect, oxygen is our most abundant element, accounting for just under 50 percent of the Earth’s crust, but after that the relative abundances are often surprising. Who would guess, for instance, that silicon is the second most common element on Earth or that titanium is tenth? Abundance has little to do with their familiarity or utility to us.
Many of the more obscure elements are actually more common that the better-known ones.

“Abundance also has little to do with ease of detection. Aluminum is the fourth most common element on Earth, accounted for nearly a tenth of everything that’s underneath your feet, but its existence wasn’t even suspected until it was discovered in the nineteenth century by Humphry Davy, and for a long time after that it was treated as rare and precious. Congress nearly put a shiny lining of aluminum foil atop the Washington Monument to show what a classy and prosperous nation we had become, and the French imperial family in the same period discarded the state silver dinner service and replaced it with an aluminum one. The fashion was cutting edge even if the knives weren’t.

“Nor does abundance necessarily relate to importance. Carbon is only the fifteenth most common element, accounting for a very modest 0.048 percent of Earth’s crust, but we would be lost without it. What sets the carbon atom apart is that it is shamelessly promiscuous. It is the party animal of the atomic world, latching on to many other atoms (including itself) and holding tight, forming molecular conga lines of hearty robustness—the very trick of nature necessary to building proteins and DNA…. Of every 200 atoms in your body, 126 are hydrogen, 51 are oxygen, and just 19 are carbon.

“Other elements are critical not for creating life but for sustaining it. We need iron to manufacture hemoglobin, and with it we would die. Cobalt is necessary for the creation of Vitamin B12. Potassium and a very little sodium are literally good for your nerves. Molybdenum, manganese, and vanadium help you keep your enzymes purring. Zinc—bless it—oxidizes alcohol.

“We have evolved to utilize or tolerate these things—we could hardly be here otherwise—but even then we live within narrow ranges of acceptance. Selenium is vital to all of us, but take in just a little too much and it will be the last thing you ever do.”

Have I convinced you to just go out and get this book for youself?

Yet Another Snippet from "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson

“We’re a twin planet. Not many of us normally think of the Moon as a companion planet, but that is in effect what it is. Most moons are tiny in relation to their planet. The Martian satellites of Phobos and Deimos, for instance, are only about ten kilometers in diameter. Our Moon, however, is more than a quarter the diameter of the Earth, which makes ours the only planet in the solar system with a sizeable moon in comparison to itself, and what a difference that makes to us.

“Without the Moon’s steadying influence, the Earth would wobble like a dying top, with goodness knows what consequences for climate and weather. The Moon’s steady gravitational influence keeps the Earth spinning at the right speed and angle to provide the sort of stability necessary for the long and successful development of life. This won’t go on forever. The Moon is slipping from our grasp at a rate of 1.5 inches a year. In another two billion years it will have receded so far that it won’t keep us steady and we’ll have to come up with some other solution, but in the meantime you should think of it as much more than just a pleasant feature in the night sky.”

What I'm Listening To #67

Alex Cuba's latest CD "Agua del Pozo" is just a joy from one track to the next. It is one of the most intimate CD's I've listened to in like forever. His voice is rich and sweet and I for one cannot resist singing along if for no other reason than to feel my vocal cords resonate along with his. Mellow, soothing, an everyman's voice, Alex sings songs of his own composition which wrap themselves around your heart in one instance and your hips in the next! As "Amor Infinito" left almost wanting to cry, and for no other reason than it was just so tender, "Tu Boca Lo Quita" and "Penita en la Cara" had me cursing my hoplessly Anglo genes that have always inhibited my ability to Salsa...but not my desire to try!

This is a truly wonderful CD! I rate it "a buy without reservation!"

Another Snippet from "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson

"If you could visit a cell, you wouldn't like it. Blown up to a scale at which atoms were about the size of peas, a cell itself would be a sphere roughly half a mile across, and supported by a complex framework of girders called the cytoskeleton. Within it, millions upon millions of objects--some the side of basketballs, other the size of cars--would whiz about like bullets. There wouldn't be a place you could stand without being pummeled and ripped thousands of times every second from every direction. Even for its full-time occupants the inside of a cell is a hazardous place. Each strand of DNA is on average attacked or damaged once every 8.4 seconds--ten thousand times a day--by chemicals and other agents that whack into or carelessly slice through it, and each of these wounds must be swiftly stitched up if the cell is not to perish."

And we think things are bad on the macro-level of our lives! Geez-Louise!

Tuesday Funny

Speaking about Olympic athletes.....

The Hope of France

Brian Joubert is not an athlete whose name, let alone back story, would be very familiar to most Americans. After all, he competes under the red, white and blue of France--and not the U. S. of A. Yet he is an amazing athlete, and a person worth knowing. As a child, he had a kidney removed due to illness before he reached his first birthday. As a young man he has risen to the status of world champion in the sport of figure skating.

Wikipedia records his accomplishments thusly: "He is the 2007 World Champion, a three-time (2004, 2007 & 2009) European champion, a six-time (2003-2008) French National champion, and the 2006 Grand Prix champion. As of November 2009, Joubert is ranked third in the world.

And he is a model for companies like Izod. As a European, he needn't fret that a photo of his beautiful body in underware or less would in anyway impede his ambition to represent a nation in sports. And why should he?

Perhaps it's all those statues of classical men and women in marble that lead our European cousins to view the human body as a thing of beauty. To acknowledge it's form and functions without prudish distain. But one wonders really just why Americans allow a fringe of our society to still shame the majority of the rest of us into allowing the platonic appreciation of physiques to feel seemly and untoward. I for one look forward to the Vancouver winter Olympics, and I will be cheering this beautiful young man on as he strives to win the gold: a man who is beautiful for his response to life's capricious disadvantageous snafus and his body and it's physical abilities. Vive le Brian Joubert!

What I'm Reading #24

Is a wonderfully well written account of nearly everything! Otherwise, it wouldn't be called "A Short History of Nearly Everything"! As audacious as the title is, it is a really wonderful tour de force of ideas, personalities, coincidences and facts that have shaped the very foundations of scientific inquirey. Thanks to this book, I actually get what E=MC2 means, and I don't consider myself stupid--(what moron ever does!) None-the-less, this is a wonderful read full of ideas, personalities, facts, and possibilitites.

Here are a couple of passages to illustrate my assertion.

"Only half a dozen times in recorded history have supernovae been close enough to be visible to the naked eye. One was a blast in 1054 that created the Crab Nebula. Another, in 1604, made a star bright enough to be seen during the day for over three weeks. The most recent was in 1987, when a supernova flared in a zone of the cosmos known as the Large Magellanic Cloud, but that was only barely visible and only in the southern hemisphere--and it was a comfortably safe 169,000 light-years away.

Supernovae are significant to us in one other decidedly central way. Without them we wouldn't be here."

"When the poet Paul Valéry once asked Einstein if he kept a notebook to record his ideas, Einstein looked at him with a mild but genuine surprise. "Oh, that's not necessary, " he replied. "It's so seldom that I have one." I need hardly point out that when he did get one it tended to be good."

The book is full of gems, ideas, facts...I'm repeating myself! They're all so very amazingly good, too!

What I'm Watching #218

Caught this amazing film this afternoon with my friend Kimeo. I expected to be the only white guy in the theater, and I wasn't disappointed, but for the record there were three white women who joined me in a see of African Americans. I tell you this because when people tell you that we are not a racist society, they didn't try to see "Precious".

Precious is nothing short of an amazing film. It plays out with an honesty and vigor that rarely attaches to a film about relationships, let alone a film about women, not to mention that the film is about black women. So many strikes against it, and it so triumphs. It demonstrates the utter depravity of human nature beat nearly to death by the realities of our society, and the resilience of the human spirit pushed to the fringe, yet offered hope.

I loved this film. If it goes down to ignominy at the academy awards, then it is dissed at the peril of the entire movie industry and we are condemned to one insipid movie after another. For my buck: Best Actress: Mo'nique; Best Supporting Actress: Mariah Carey, Best Director: Lee Daniels.

Oakleaf Hydrangea @ Night

Here's a wonderful photo I made of an Oak Leaf Hydrangea on Saturday night. It sits outside my sunroom and here is lit and backlit by night lamps. I love the colors. They are only available in autumn, but run the range of the seasons.

What I'm Watching #217

Wrecked billed itself as a gay "Short Bus".... Where to begin? This is a really BAD movie. Only people who spent their education on a short bus could make such a statement with integrity. Frankly, there is nothing about this film that warrants redemption...it's just a wreck.

San Francisco PC

Got this beautiful postcard from my friend Rafa on his first visit to San Francisco. I remember mine. It's just one of the most amazing cities in the world.

New Stamps for 2010

Some new stamp designs for the 2010 season. The first is for the winter olympics in Vancouver, Canada. Not figure skaters, or ski jumpers, hockey players OR even luge riders! but snow boarders! How amazing a choice. Does the USPS think it needs to appeal to a younger audience?

Another winter offering will be a commemor- ative quad of naval service men. I don't know the navy. I guess these are good choices.

I am, among other things a stamp collector, too. I have all commemorative stamps in mint condition from 1928 to the present and lots of others prior, as well as, most definatives, airmails, postage dues, etc. Our stamps are a reflection of our values as a nation in a way that little else can be said to be.

War On Terrorism November Up-Date

This map shows the states (in black) where the casualty toll has met or surprassed that of the previous year. To date that would be 28 states and the District of Columbia. The top TEN by casualty rates compared to last year are these states;

Minnesota - 280% of last year's casualty level
Alabama - 250%...
Hawaii - 200%...
Rhode Island - 200%...
Utah - 200%...
Massachusetts - 186%...
Ohio - 180%...
North Carolina - 154%...
Georgia - 150%...
West Virginia - 150%...

What I'm Reading #23

"The Magician's Assistant" is my 3rd book by Ann Patchett, although it was written prior to either of the other two I've read. It is still beautifully full of all the things that I love about her writting. The way she takes people from disparately different backgrounds and unites them by a common event to reveal the depth of their humanity in all of it's complexities. We are left never knowing what to expect next, because the journey through the story belongs equally to everyone. We may know, or think we know, the principle characters the best, but even a minor player can suddenly transform a moment, be the catalyst to an epiphany.

Her stories reveal themselves like layers on an onion carefully peeled back. In both instances the effect on my tear ducts are very nearly the same. I can't help but become so entwined with the people in the novel that I shed tears all along the way. I don't cry, that's a really different act, but a shed tears in joy and sorrow at what is discovered and at what is lost. I love her writing.

Random Quote #109

"The universe is not queerer than we suppose, but queerer than we CAN suppose."

~ J. B. S. Haldane, 1892 - 1964

What I'm Watching #216

"Glue" is a very interesting, stylized film by Alexis dos Santos. It's the story of Lucas who is just bored and filled with all the angst and desire that defines being 16. The fact that he deals with it in a little forgotten town on the barren plains of Patagonia is both irrelevant and profound. In our glimpse into his life, we see his passions, his fucked up average family, his two friends--Nacho and Andrea in the lens of his bordem and desire. It's a really interesting film about almost nothing at all, and what carries it so well are the performances of the 2 teenagers.

When you think of foreign films you usually think to Europe, Canada, India's Bollywood franchise or Australia, but there are some really amazing, powerful, courageous films being made in other places. Here's my top "Look To" non-European countries in no particular order: Thailand, Israel, Mexico, Brazil, and most definitely Argentina, and I would give South Korea and South Africa both honorable mentions.

Sunday Funny: Family Bar-B-Que!

Pre-Sunday Funny: a.k.a. Funny Bunny!

Parting Shots: My Gardens In November

This brilliant red geranium is from a plant in a planter at my back door. It's velvety redness has been a delight all summer.





In a large pot in my herb garden, another geranium blooms amidst parsely, basel, and rosemary.








The pineapple sage (aromatic herb) that I planted along the backyard walkway is finally blooming. A member of the salvia family, the crimson flowers are trumpet-like and demanding of a probiscus, while insects with such aparatus are rarer and rarer these days. Very curious.

Like Monet's gardens in France, the cooler weather has caused my nastursiums to explode in cascades of octagonally divided leaves and pantagonally petaled blossoms in burgundy red and banana yellow. All edible and peppery to the taste a la watercress.

I'm using this close-up as my current screen background on my computer.

What I'm Watching #215

"Finding Me" was billed as a breakthrough film from a Haitian-American director/writer. I'm no one to dispute that, except I'd ask, "Break through to what?"

My answer: a sincere story, but not a very good film in the sense of things that make films good. Things like acting, directing, lighting, sound production, writing....

When I was in 6th grade, a group of friends (classmates) and I wrote and made a film, a murder mystery. It was a school project. The school nurse's husband, Mr. Gormley, volunteered to use his new camera (8mm hand held) to do the actual filming. He was very generous to not only film it, but to do it the way we wanted him to! The year was 1972.

This film made in 2009, reminded me time and again of that experience.

Political Ponderings on the Great Divide in American Governance on a Federal level

We seem to be a nation that is obsessed with unity and bi-partisanship as a rhetorical campaign mantra, while dividing more and more in real terms by way of our political affiliations. It’s a fascinating phenomanon in which it’s driving force seems counter-productive to growth. While Democrates are generally available to modernity, Republican’s seem to feed upon a pedestrian xenophobia of all things new.

With these ideas in hand, I explored the way that the divide might be effecting the representation of densely urban areas versus sparsely rural. The comparison uses data from the top 10 urban areas according to the U.S. Census Bureau compared to 10 of the most rural areas in the nation. While the urban areas are based on census data, the rural areas are more loosely based on my own sense and research of the demographics of the United States.

WHAT SURPRISED ME

That there wasn't a starker contrast between the basic representation of these radically different demographics by women: Urban 28%, Rural 20%. This suggests that the evolution of women in positions of authority politically is being uniformly advanced by all Americans. It’s clearly deficient, but it’s not discriminitory by population density.

WHAT DIDN’T

Republicans out represent Democrats in the most rural areas of this nation. And conversely, city-folks would seem to trust Democrats more than Republicans to champion their issues.

I Love Elephants

Honestly, I do. I've seen them in the wilds of Africa and the animal prisons we call zoos. They are never anything short of magnificent. They hold their dignity well in all circumstances---except circuses! I hate circuses. They make baffoons of everyone whom they employ. If a human being wants to play the fool, so be it! But mocking elephants, (lions, tigers, chimpanzees, horses, etc.) is nothing short of cruel and ought to be seen as most unusual in the mindset of us humans. Elephants don't deserve to be turned into clowns...but I digress.

And so imagine my delight in happening upon this amazing photograph by G. Colbert.

I added the words, nothing particularly unique, and made posters of it as gifts to my 2nd grade teachers to inspire their students.

I'm Not Dead Yet!

But I have been away from my blog for a little while lately. It's mostly a disenchantment with my computer thing....and nothing worth going into. Instead, I'll tell you a little story. The other day I drove over to PG Plaza to get some things at Traget, and then to the Home Depot for a new rake. Afterwards, I drove into Hyattsville and grabbed a burger at an A&W there--the only one I know of in the area. They make a descent bacon cheese burger, not something that I indulge in more than a couple of times a year, but I was jonesing for one. To give me time to eat it in my truck, I drove into DC on Rhode Island Avenue. Around Fort Totten, in the Chillum neighborhood, I started to make my way back towards home.

At this point I turned into what appeared to be a neighborhood of circa 1970's ranch homes, just west of the metro line. It was midday, and the place was basically deserted. In an effort to navigate my way to North Capitol Street, I found myself thwarted by various dead ends, but kept exploring as I continued to move north out of the District.

At one street I noticed ahead of me a slothenly dressed African American man in his late 20's standing at the curb and bouncing an old basket ball. He had a baseball cap on his head, and a narly trenchcoat covered most of the rest of his attire. As I approached him he grabbed onto the basketball and held it until I was right about to pass him, at which point he bounced it directly in front of my truck. Given the fact that he seemed so out of place, and so focused on me, it didn't surprise me, and neither did I respond to it. I just ran the damn ball over! The height of my truck cleared it with no trouble, and it's age and lack of bounce kept it on the street surface.

In my rearview mirror, I saw the guy step into the street in my wake and give me an earnest shoulder shrug and half-hearted outstretched hands in a gesture that seem to say, "What the Hell?" And I thought, "What the Hell, indeed!"

Was I supposed to slam on my breaks to avoid hitting the ancient ball that HE tossed in front of me? I have no proof of his intentions, only the nagging intuition that he was trying to stop me for some nefarious purpose.

What I'm Watching #214

"Mulligans" turned out to be a bit of a surprise for me. And I'll admit the reason why right up front: Charlie David. The actor probably best known for his role on the soft-porn gay vampires & witches series "Dante's Cove," and who is not only the writer, executive producer, and co-producer of this movie, but had one of the starring roles. Given how cheesy Dante's Cove is (full frontal nudity not withstanding); my hopes for this film were not high. However, a carefully placed and editted trailer on another DVD, enticed me to give it a chance, and I'm really glad that I did.

The story in a nutshell is that of the Davidson family. Nathan and Stacy Davidson married while still in high school because of the advent of their now college age son, Tyler, who along with 8 year-old Birdie, completes the family. It's summer vacation, and hyper-macho Tyler is returning more with his college roommate, Chase Rousseau, for the break. Chase has a secret, he's gay. A revelation that leads to an affair between Chase and Nathan, a clumsy affair that rattles the world of the Davidsons one and all. Now, I know this synopsis sounds, well, cheesy. And believe me, I fully antiscipated it would be just that; yet, to carry the metaphor a bit further, it wasn't the non-dairy velveeta that I had assumed, but rather a far more carefully aged Camembert or Wensleydale. This is to say, the characters act like adults. Can you believe it? Oh sure, everyone's hurt, some are angry, some are confused, but in the end they manage to see the bigger picture, and though it's not easy, they find a way forward. They absorb the way the world has changed, and even find within themselves a positive paradigm from which to change, too.

Can I say it again? I really liked this movie. Thank you, Charlie David.

What I'm Watching #213

"azuloscuro- casinegro" which translates verbatim "darkblue almostblack" is a delightful story from Spain. Written and directed by Daniel Sánchez Arévalo, it's the story of Jorge.

It opens with Jorge's lame attempt to tell his father that he does not want to follow in his footsteps as an apartment building's janitor. An event that gives his father a stroke, and cements his guilt based fate...or does it? It takes an incarcerated estranged brother, his jailhouse girlfriend, Jorge's upwardly mobile teen-age crush suddenly returned from school in Germany, and Jorge's sexually confused best friend to help him discover that fate is really a moveable feast.

Delightfully played from start to finish.

What I'm Listening To #66

This promised to be one of the most amazing concept record- ings ever. Back in the day, her father, Johnny, made a list for Rosanne of the 100 essential country songs. On this CD, she chose 12 of them to perform. After her previous CD of original songs which was out of this world amazing, perhaps my expectations were too high......but with deuts with the likes of Bruce Springstein, Elvis Costello and Rufus Wainwright! How could it be so bad? It boggles the mind.

So what went wrong? In a word, "Orchestration". The arrangement of the songs often appear to be more about giving a instrumentalist a clever rift than allowing the instrument that sells the album, Rosanne's beautiful voice, to make the song work. John Leventhal really seems to have dropped the ball. Most aggregious was the dobro... Bro. Some of the arrangements are actually painful to listen to (e.g. "I'm Moving On." Oh please, don't let me stop you!) And even some things that you think just HAVE to work, like Rosanne and Bruce singing "Sea Of Heartbreak" together, leave you squinting at the "harmony" of their voices...and I LOVE them BOTH, but singing together was not a good idea.

So what does work? Surely something MUST work. Best vocal on the album "She's Got You", and by and large the arrangement lets us keep our focus there. "Girl From The North County" comes across as something that Rosanne would have written herself. It brings out her gift as a singer who can tell a story, too. But then again, almost anything written by Bob Dylan can be made better by someone else singing it. (And I do think he's a genius. He even gave me the courage to sing in front of people in high school, but I am NOT a genius, and well the rest, as they say is history! But I digress.) The duet that came closest to working was "Silver Wings" with Rufus Wainwright. Their voices seemed to almost caress one another, I only wish it had been on a better song with a better arrangement. The final cut was my favorite. She sang "Bury Me Under The Weeping Willow," written by her maternal grandfather, A. P. Carter. With the good sense that God and the amazing genealogy that is her ancestry gave her, she kept it spare, almost acoustic. Shame she didn't chose to go this route with the entire CD.

Lego Factory Series #12

Dagnab them! They're at it again--Another new offering to their factory series of detailed city buildings. This time it's a Fire Brigade. And it initially presented me with a conundrum. You may recall that in the interim, one of the buildings that I had made and added to my complimentary city buildings was a Fire Station. And frankly, I really like mine (Lego Factory Series #9, views #1 & #2 -- 20 DEC 08).

So my solution? Buy it (Of course, that was never in doubt). Build it. Make it into a museum. Pretty cool, eh? And so, I also bought another couple of sets so that I could cannibalize the bricks and create an annex that complimented the original structure: After the fashion of so many urban extensions to classically architected structures. Ergo, lego on the left and my annex on the right.

And here's the view from the back. I created a glassed in corner in my building to provide natural light for the display of the vintage fire truck from the lego model. Like lego, my model has a finished interior that includes display areas for artifacts and a modest balcony cafe.

Lego = creative fix for an architect wannabe!

What I'm Watching #212

"Eternal Summer" is absolutely one of the most beautiful films I've seen in a long time. Shot entirely in the Republic of China, it's the story of 3 friends during their senior year at high school and freshmen year of college. The boys, Jonathan and Shane, have been friends since fate brought them together in elementary school, the girl, Carrie, is a bit of a misfit who enters their world as the story begins. She is first drawn toward the shy and sensitive, Jonathan, and later becomes the girlfriend of the moodier, athletic Shane. Her presence acts as both a catalyst and a balm in the friendship between Shane and Jonathan. Along the way there is angst and compassion, disappointment and forgiveness. Secrets are revealed, truths told, and what life and their own fears threaten to destroy, chance and the mysterious bond that undergirds their friendship redeems.

From the first moments, you are aware that this is an exceptional movie: the acting is honest and open; the score and cinematography lyrical and intimate. And the writing deserves perhaps the greatest kudus of all. Dean Wang and Cheng-Ping Hsu know just what to give the audience and just when to give it, right down to the final stark and amazing second. In my heart, I suddenly knew that the film was over, but the instant the screen when to black for the credits, I gasped inside--wanting desperately to know where the story would go next.

Run, don't walk to get this film. You'll be grateful that you did.

What I'm Watching #211

"Giorni," or "Days," is an Italian film made in 2002. This is key to its major theme: living with HIV.

It's the story of Claudio whose days are punctuated by the annoying buzzing of the alarm on his wrist watch announcing the times when he must take the next does of his anti-retroviral pharmacopeia. In spite of his infection he works out and has a great body, holds down a stable and supportive (if boring) job at a bank, has n HIV(-) long-term companion, and maintains healthy relations with his emotionally distant mother and sister. Enter the one-night-stand.

Andrea remakes his world. From chance encounter to torrid affair, he rattles every fiber of Claudio's world. In the end there are casualties and questions of morality that find no comfortable resolutions. It's a thought-provoking film.

What I'm Listening To #65

Tonight I'm listening to the Cubano band "Orishas". They have it all: reggaeton, hip hop, salsa, techno; all in a wonderful fusion. Between dancing and just floating to their rythms, I am moved, inspired, bathed in waves of music that empower and bring joy to my tired heart and mind.

Bless all acts of human creativity that enrich and restore our deeply taxed souls!

Our Latest American Hero #138

Army Capt. Benjamin A. Sklaver, 32, of Medford, Mass.; assigned to the 422nd Civil Affairs Battalion, U.S. Army Reserve, Greensboro, N.C.; died Oct. 2 in Murcheh, Afghanistan, from wounds sustained when he was attacked by a suicide bomber. Also killed was Pfc. Alan H. Newton Jr.

"Soldier Wanted To Win Hearts Of Afghans"

HARTFORD, Conn. — Army Capt. Benjamin Sklaver was a humanitarian who lived and died trying to fix whatever he found broken in the world, his friends and family said Monday.

The 32-year-old reservist had worked on refugee issues in Africa and started a nonprofit organization that brought clean drinking water to thousands. He was killed Friday in southeastern Afghanistan when his civil affairs unit was ambushed by a suicide attacker.

“Ben was a patriot, loved his country and loved serving,” said friend Jake Herrle. “But he also saw his job in the Army to be a combatant for peace. He saw the Army as a way to do greater good.”

Sklaver, a Hamden native, was almost finished with his reserve commitment and was engaged to be married when he was recalled to duty this spring and sent to Afghanistan.

His job there was to help the military establish better relationships with the Pashtun people, so fewer would join the Taliban, said his father, Gary Sklaver. He would meet with village elders to find out if they needed schools, a hospital or clean water, and then he would help them get it. Often, he would not know whether the people he was working with were sympathetic to the enemy.

“The people who are there doing good, such as my son, are the biggest threat to the Taliban, because if they win over the hearts and minds of the population, then the Taliban doesn’t have the recruiting points they would have if the soldiers just came in, knocked on doors and killed people,” his father said.

Ben Sklaver had a history of winning people’s hearts and minds, Gary Sklaver said.

After graduating with a master’s degree in international relations from Tufts University, he went to work for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta and traveled to Malawi in Africa to work on international hunger and refugee relief issues.

In 2006, his reserve unit was sent to the Horn of Africa. He ended up in northern Uganda, where his mission was to help refugees re-establish communities after 20 years of civil war. Most of his work involved finding new sources of clean water, helping dig wells or creating protected springs, his father said.

He was so moved by the suffering he saw that he founded the nonprofit Clearwater Initiative when he got home, recruiting friends to help him continue the work in Uganda.

“It was totally volunteer. He had a full-time job with the CDC and spent about 30 hours a week of his own time working on this,” his father said.

The organization allows donors to contribute to specific projects, such as repairing a well at a school. They can then follow online as the project they funded is completed.

Since it began, the Clearwater Initiative has provided access to clean water for more than 6,500 people, said Herrle, who volunteers and serves on the charity’s board. Sklaver’s goal was to increase that to 250,000 within 10 years.

“He was a tremendously bright and caring person,” Herrle said. “He could have very easily just coasted along on his talent, looking out for himself. But because of the way he saw the world and saw his place in it, he always tried to improve it.”

Sklaver had just begun a job in New York with the Federal Emergency Management Agency when he was called back to active duty in the spring.

At the time of his death, his friends were preparing a giant care package to send to him for Thanksgiving. Everyone who donated to the package also made a donation to his nonprofit.

His family is requesting that mourners contribute to the charity instead of sending flowers.

What Inspires Me #02

NPR did a story recently using a photographer to illustrate the practical benefits of the work cited by the Nobel Committee in issuing recent prizes. During the interview the artist described the most amazing photograph taken on the lip of the Victoria Falls in Zambia. This is that photo. I had the privilege of visiting the falls back in 1990. It is an amazing, magical place...dare I say, holy? The photo really captures the essense of this. Don't you think?

What Inspires Me #01

You all have to discover the amazing person who is William Kwamkambe. He has a book that tells his story, "The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind." His genius literally saved his family in their direst hour. His ingenuity and good fortune has transformed the lives of everyone in his family and village. Who among us can claim such an accolade? The more you learn, the greater will be your inspiration...believe it!

Autumn Morning

The view from my front door with the sprinkler running. Perhaps the last time this year. I love the light in this image. The way the leaves glow, the burnishing red of the little changing dogwood. the way the magnificent old sugar maple frames the walkway.

Obama's "Power Top"?!

Thursday before last, on Bravo’s “Watch What Happens Live” with host Andy Cohen, Tyson Beckford was asked to identify the man he would want to have sex with, IF he were that way...

Tyson then went for it hook line and sinker and said ” It would have to be Barack Obama, and I would want to be on top” he continued ….”well who did you think I was gonna say? Will Smith?? There is just something about Barack Obama.”

Beckford, who is single, has long been rumored to be gay. Wonder what Obama thought of all of this foolishness...er, that's Michelle. Who's better to know something something about Barack and power tops! As to Tyson, I pity the fool!

Advice 01

If you wake up nude with your feet soaking in the kitchen sink, you don't want to know what happened last night!

What I'm Listening To #64

Listening to Bee- htoven's 5th symphony conducted by Simon Rattle and the Vienna Phil- harmonic.

It drives me to dance!

Old, non-rythmic, me!--which is to say that it works miracles in the hearts, souls, and bodies of those who experience it. It's the most amazing version of this ubiquitous work of classicial music ever recorded.

It's so powerful, that my first instinct -- that every elementary school child in America should be exposed to it as part of their curriclulum -- was tempered by the fact that if fully absorbed in their innocent minds, it would drive them insane, and therefore ought better be banned! Kanye West has NOTHING over Ludwig von Beethoven! Believe it!

Legos Rule!

Legos rule! They even repair homes. Cool, eh?

More Garden Pictures, Garden Rambling...

I have lots of clay pots--every gardener does--and many sit around with dirt in them from the previous year. Many of mine also sprout with various seeds from plants long ago purchased. One of my perennial favorites is the tomatios. Back in the late 90's I bought some to make a dip for a party from a recipe that my ex- gave to me. The unused fruit ended up in my compost heap. I use the dirt from this to support my planters, foster new seeds, fill in around new plantings. At some point, from one of my planters, new tomatios sprang! And they have been springing in more and more pots year in and year out. They bear the sweetest, most amazing little pearls of fruit, and like plucking fresh peas in the early spring; I spend August to September enjoying their bounty!

In a similar fashion, the Silvia in this image just happened. I can't even remember the last time I actually bought Silvia like this as an annual to plant in my gardens. It's been years. Yet, voila! Another volunteer. Others that surprise me year in and year out are impatiens, geraniums, and coleus.
This photo is from my Goldenrod garden off the back of my garage. This species of goldenrod, introduced to greenhouses back in 1993 from the University of North Carolina is called "Fireworks" (solidago rugosa). The bed blooms late when little else is, and each cutting makes any bouquet stunning!

I've clipped a couple to feature in a bouquet of various mustard and rust colored coleus foliage that I'm taking to school in the morning. And it is stunning.

Yellow-Throated Warbler Spotted!

I awoke this morning to discover a pair of Yellow-Throated Warblers feasting on the seeds in the sugar maple in my backyard. My first thought was that they were just golden finches which are rather common, but they just lacked a certain hyper-tensivity that the finches embody in rydelin-deficited spades. I observed them for a good 15 minutes before I hit pay dirt. One emerged from the confusion of the foliage to fly to a higher branch, and I clearly saw the beautiful bluish-grey cap and back contrasted against the brilliant yellow throat. What joy!