Blue Skies Falling

2009 IL Primary Elections - Blue Skies Falling Endorsements

2010-02-02T15:11:00.001-06:00

It's very late in the day, and I've only recently gotten around to researching any of these candidates. That said, if you haven't voted yet, and you're interested in a pseudo-informed opinion, here's who I'm going for this round.

GOVERNOR - PAT QUINN (D)
U.S. SENATE - DAVID HOFFMAN (D)
CONGRESS - IL 9TH DISTRICT - JAN SCHAKOWSKY (D)
COOK COUNTY PRESIDENT - TONI PRECKWINKLE (D)
METROPOLITAN WATER RECLAMATION DISTRICT - MARIYN SPYROPOULOUS (D), TODD CONNOR (D), KARI STEELE (D)

My most enthusiastic endorsement goes to Todd Connor, for his strident argument in favor of closing the Sanitary and Ship Canal to prevent the spread of Asian Carp into Lake Michigan. It seems that almost every politician I'm aware of has vocally supported keeping the locks open, a horrible choice to favor short-term expediency over long-term stability and fairness. The contention also illustrates one state's ability (and nobody can doubt that Illinois is the most powerful state in the region) to blatantly disregard the interests of other states. In this, one of the most important of county offices, we need qualified candidates who are willing to act on principle, and Connor appears to have exemplified this in his response to the Asian Carp crisis.

It is interesting for me to note that all three of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District candidates listed here were endorsed by the right-leaning Chicago Tribune Editorial Board as well as the environmentally-conscious Sierra Club. This level of concord among such different crowds suggests that these are extraordinarily qualified candidates.

My least enthusiastic endorsement goes to Pat Quinn for Governor. Both candidates ran attack ads of the variety that call the integrity and mission of their campaigns into serious question. There is no sugar-coating the vigor and virulence of political debate in Illinois, but the ads of both candidates completely occluded any discussion of their policy differences, which were, in many cases, little easier to disentangle from their public statements... at least from my point-of-view. I disagree with Pat Quinn on a variety of issues; he supports ease of recall elections, which is ironic given pledges to reduce the deficit, and Hynes makes a very well-reasoned argument that recalls are a gateway for special interests. However, I got a better sense of Quinn's specific stance on many of the most important issues, and he seems to have a stronger focus on the hard-hit middle and lower-classes in the midst of recession. So: "I'll punch the card for Quinn, or whatever."

My primary protest vote of 2010 goes to David Hoffman for U.S. Senate. Our political machine has been infected with all sorts of nasty financial shenanigans, and Alexi Giannoulias seems to typify many of these. However, I would like to add that Hoffman represented himself well overall in Tribune interview.

Event:Pass Health-Care Reform Yesterday!

2010-02-02T01:20:00.000-06:00

I've been getting progressively more worked up each day the last few weeks and it finally spilled over into this letter I just wrote to my congresswoman and senators.

On consideration, I think the analogies here (trite as they seem) are worth sharing precisely because they are so very obvious and applicable. At any rate, I'm interested in your thoughts.

Dear Sen. Durbin, Sen. Burris, Congresswoman Schakowsky,

First, I appreciate your hard work and the good things you do. Please be aware of this.

Second, enough is enough.

Many in my family worked for GM for may decades, and I've had plenty of opportunities to reflect upon the failings of that company and the odd sort of insight that you only get from not being in the thick of a situation. Isn't it strange that the executives who ostensibly knew more about their company than anyone else missed the most apparent signs of its downfall? There's some horrible disadvantage to being on the inside; one misses the obvious wisdom that consumers stop buying cars from an unresponsive automaker unconcerned with quality and changing needs. Ironically, the people building the cars understood these liabilities far better than those running the company.

Today, I have had a grand opportunity to observe the same phenomenon in the slow and incremental death of health care reform.

Now everybody and their brother who supports you (and has been supporting your career for how many years now) knows that the Democrats' odds of surviving in November improve if you pass this bill. We all know that your chances are better the sooner you pass it. You seem locked in this idea that the independents -- that precious margin that determines so many elections -- are going to freak out if you are seen as having too progressive an agenda, while you miss the reliable and fundamental fact that the independents are more drawn to things that work than they are to political ideologies of any stripe. And today's half-passed bill does not "work" by any stretch of the imagination.

Conversely, the senate is too blithe in assuming that the liberal base that has funded and supported the last two election cycles is going to have anything other than fury and resentment with an agenda that seems to turn its back on most of the issues we care most about.

In this case, the analogies are simple and apt:

Roger Smith, CEO of GM thought his restructuring of GM without changing corporate culture or quality standards would save GM. He was wrong, and it was obvious to everyone on the street.

Jeff Zucker of NBC thought that preemptive shuffling around of late night personalities without consulting the hosts or the affiliates would help NBC. He was wrong and it was obvious, and it was obvious to everyone on the street.

Now Rahm Emmanuel is sidelining health care and it looks like Harry Reid is going along with that. Guess what: They're wrong, and it's obvious!

PASS HEALTH CARE REFORM!

Pass it yesterday.

The sooner you pass it, the sooner it will start saving lives, and the sooner you can start taking credit for the good work you've done in the face of stiff opposition.

If you do not pass it, I assure you, and not without great sadness and regret, this November will be a calamity.

Respectfully yours...

Diary: Life these days, these times.

2010-01-14T15:36:00.000-06:00

It has been a long time since I've posted here, but of course, these "intermissions" are not unheard of in the history of Blue Skies Falling, and they have become lengthier and more frequent in the last few years. In the first few years that I kept this blog... basically from 2003-2005 and from 2005-2007, I posted a great variety of content with few interruptions. There was a long interruption in 2005, 2007, and a six-month break in 2008. There have been more breaks since then, and the current lapse is, I believe, about three months.

I enjoy blogging and given the current line of work I am doing, media consultation, it is not unhelpful to my career. But it is also very time-consuming, and with so many major life changes underway, I have to rank this a somewhat low priority.

That said, a lot of the damage has been in the sheer disarray of the last several months. From around Thanksgiving efforts for the 2009 Parliament of the World's Religions in Melbourne, Australia kicked into high gear, and I didn't really have time for anything else through mid-December.

After that had concluded, there was actually a lull that lasted for about a week, but I wasn't going to spend it blogging. I was enjoying the fullness of a long and mild autumn giving way to a white and wet and gorgeous Chicago winter... I was reading books, watching movies, catching up with my friends. Dealing with very important preparations for not-so-future events. And getting ready to move. There was a trip for Russian food. There was a trip to see the Nutcracker. There was a Christmas tree which I bought and dragged home even though I had only gone out for a wreath. There were meetings and consultations with new clients (that's right, now I have "clients" instead of "bosses").

In the two or three days leading up to Christmas, I packed two years of frenetic and memory-drenched things (like the first season of Taxi) -- I've been back in Chicago for almost as long as I lived in New York -- so that when my parents arrived for a visit on Christmas day, the furniture was all rearranged and the boxes were stacked high. Early the next morning, the movers came and we absconded to the new place in glamorous Edgewater Beach.

The week between Christmas and New Years was completely consumed by moving. There was a lot of stuff to clean and take care of in the old place... the purple and blue and shamrock green and salmon pink walls had to be painted back to the same shade of dull bone white. By by the time New Years Eve rolled around (and after a particularly dizzy all-nighter), I was sleeping in very late, and the old place was locked for good.

New Years Eve and Day were a delight, surrounded by friends from Chicago (where I haven't celebrated that day in years) and a good friend from Flint who made the trip down for the holiday. We celebrated from a loft in East Garfield Park with a spectacular view of the Skyline, but got home easily. The next day, we met with friends for brunch, a trip to the Garfield Park conservatory, and pizza and games. Two days later, a two day trip to Kentucky. Two days later, I had a hospital procedure that has knocked me somewhat out of commission for the last week. Although I did manage to make it down to Hyde Park last Saturday for a magnificent 16-hour marathon of the extended version of the Lord of the Rings movies.

It was worth it.

This isn't just a prolonged excuse... or even mainly. I know the numbers show that not many people stop by here anymore, and it isn't likely that any of these excuses for my hiatus will ever be read.

But I also think it is important to document times like these... the frantic, inescapable, mazey, insomniac times that (thankfully) only seem to crop up for a couple months once every year or two. The feelings that bubble to the top when you move around heavy and fundamental things deep down are, of course, a very peculiar sensation and they generally preserve the atmosphere of these times far into the future. But the actual steps involved... the craziness from one day to the next... this is also worth remembering.

It's worth taking the time to write down for that reason alone.

Event: It's Friday. Some videos.

2009-10-23T07:42:00.000-05:00

Not silly stuff this week. But engaging and worthwhile.

Also: Watch this one on Facebook videos.

Concept: It's Friday. Here is some stilly stuff, therefore.

2009-10-16T07:32:00.000-05:00

Event: My letter to the newspapers.

2009-10-10T19:03:00.000-05:00

Dear editors,

Most Americans understand now that health care reform is necessary. Most of us, eighty percent according to some polls, support a public option. The economic analysis and historical precedents have been examined; nobody proposes we go where angels fear to tread. No death panels, and no debt inflation. The public option is, quite simply, the muscle. It's what will make the reform meaningful. What will make it work.

So why does this option seem to be slipping further and further toward the horizon?

Quite simply, the insurance and drug industries have more money than the scattered public. These industries are better organized and have deployed their resources effectively. They have fought this fight with the same single-minded discipline with which they deny millions of legitimate claims.

What seems to be missing from the debate is the righteous anger and indignation that is the only appropriate answer to the outrages of the health care crises. People are dying out here. Careers are ruined. Health is lost. Long lives are cut short because treatable problems are unfixed.

John McCain rightly said this week that "elections have consequences." If this is truly the case, then the public option should pass by wide margins. I urge all reasonable Americans, the Americans who have seriously considered the public option and know how reasonable and even necessary it is, to pick up your phones and write your emails. Give your representatives the pressure and the political cover to push this thing through, and to make it stick.

This issue is too important to leave at the voting booth. It needs to be heard and read. Share your anger. I've shared mine. Now it's your turn.

Event: My letter to Sen. Dick Durbin.

2009-10-10T18:09:00.000-05:00

Dear Senator Durbin,

I am a Michigan transplant who has been living and voting in Chicago for the better part of the last ten years.

I am writing you today about an issue that will supersede in importance the life of the auto industry; this is a bold statement for me to make as many of my family and many friends are or were employed by GM.

It is not enough to desire a public option in the effort to reform health care. We must demand it. Now I recognize that the diversity and recent development of the Democratic party makes consensus and coalitions difficult. But quite simply, this is what you were all elected to do, and your constituency is vastly in favor of the public option. I am reasonable, and I recognize that insisting on a public option will cause some risk to the entire reform initiative, and will entail short-term political liabilities. But this risk will be repaid with a robust and meaningful reform, just as immediate dips in the polls will be more than balanced by what will be increasingly seen as a historic long-term victory.

Not to be confused with the skeletal acquiescent "reform" increasingly represented by the proposal of Sen. Baucus.

A public option is essential. Any reform stripped of this option will not accomplish what must be accomplished, and the problem will resurface down the line.

Voters like myself, loyal liberals and Democrats with a variety of views have held out through the discouraging years of the Bush administration, when the slimmest of Republican majorities set a policy that we found as repugnant as it was regressive. With the strong numbers of Democrats in both the legislative and executive branches, this is a victory we insist upon.

Sincerely,

Connor Coyne

Diary: Should I Call It Platform Surfing?

2009-10-09T19:49:00.000-05:00

Sometimes, if I get onto the CTA platform and an outbound train is waiting with no inbound train in sight, I'll hop on the outbound train and ride north, and catch my train to work further up the line. It's fun. It adds a little variety to my morning. It means I'm more likely to get a good seat, and if someone looks like they need a seat, I can always offer it to them (something many passengers are not always inclined to do). In the past I've ridden as far north as Thorndale, which is three stops out and about two miles away.

This morning I added a bit of a gamble to this game. An inbound train had just left, an outbound train was waiting for me, and the next inbound was just setting out from Bryn Mawr, less than a mile away. I hopped on the northbound train, got off one stop up at Berwyn, and caught the southbound train just as it pulled into the station.

It didn't save me any time.

But it was fun, and that's what Fridays are for.

Event: I support the Chicago 2016 Olympic Bid.

2009-09-30T07:32:00.000-05:00

At the end of the day, this is a great city, and it is events like these that make cities great. In the late 1800s Chicago suffered a devastating fire that tore it to its foundations, and less than twenty years later, it dreamed up the skyscraper, gave the lake to the public, and invited the world in for the Columbian Exposition.

There is much that is wrong with Chicago, naturally; that is true for all cities. But I think that the world and Chicago itself will learn and benefit from this choice. It is, after all, "the city on the lake where the embers never fade." The logo itself suggests embers to me.

Body: Today is Michaelmas.

2009-09-29T07:41:00.000-05:00

It is also the feast of the three Archangels Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael.

You can read more about it here.

One of the wonderful ambiguities of religious tradition is the way that what may seem from the outside to be a simple "symbolic" allegory is, in fact, multivalent and complementary. Michael is most popularly considered as a warrior and in a military light. He led the angels against Satan and threw him from heaven. Yet earlier traditions associate Michael with curative powers and healing, and to this day he is the patron saint of the sick. This is conflated with the role of Raphael, whose name means "God has healed," and who is cited in the book of Tobit which features miraculous healing. In that same book, Raphael accompanies Tobias on a great journey, which has caused him to be associated with travel and critical junctures. We might think that these qualities would be better suited to Gabriel, who is the messenger and angel of the Annunciation, who first proclaimed: "Hail Mary, full of grace..." But while Gabriel is both a traveler and a messenger, his own work does not stop there. Gabriel's own name means "strength of the lord" and he has been associated with the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.

It would seem, then, that the qualities and roles of these three angels are somewhat mingled, and I believe that this is a reflection of the interaction of their themes in the real world. You cannot really separate testimony from struggle and from healing. They all combine and take each other on.

To step for a moment into a "political" issue, I want to consider the current health care debate here. It is political but it also touches on religion and spirituality. The Health Care debate might fall under the province of Michael, since it is a question of healing. But healing itself is a fight and a struggle; the body fights off infection. Right now we are in the midst of a great fight for the health of our nation, and too many Christians (and too many Catholics) are looking at the issue within the closely inscribed boundaries of their own self-interest. They may sincerely ascribe their views to concerns over abortion or patient rights, but these issues have been resolved for the discerning witness and listener. And isn't that our responsibility? Isn't that an aspect of the faith we are called to observe? To be a discerning witness?

So I call on my fellow Christians to consider the sharing of roles and responsibilities of these three angels, and to take a stand for the public option in today's debate. This is a case where our faith must enter into the realm of politics, but the argument that faith should make, based on both tradition and scripture, is solidly on the side of robust reform.

CONCEPT: I'm back.

2009-09-28T19:48:00.000-05:00

I was a good, consistent blogger from 2002 to 2007. But ever since I moved back to Chicago, I've been more unreliable about it. I'm hoping to return to the blog soon, and I will shortly be making changes to the appearance and content. In addition to more frequent updates, the blog will be:

- More professionally oriented.
- More streamlined.
- More navigable and straightforward.

That said, I'm going to continue the admixture of the political and the artistic, the esoteric and the routine, that has made this fun to work on for the last seven years. I hope you'll be a frequent guest, and if you have any suggestions for the update (which should start to nose its way in later this week), please let me know.

Diary: Things to Inspect and Consider, 2009-2010

2009-09-27T18:52:00.000-05:00

These links are for my own use and convenience.
However, you are welcome to use them too, if you like.

EVENTIME

USNO: Complete Sun and Moon Data for One Day. BSF:ET - Resource
Sapphire Moon: Solstice and Equinox Finder. BSF:ET - Resource

GODTIME

EXERCISE: Society of Jesus: Oregon Province: The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius. = starting mid-September - Resource

CALENDARTIME

ALMANAC

LOOK UP: SPACE.com: Night Sky Highlights in 2009. ~M
LOOK UP: AccuWeather.com: Chicago, IL Weather Forecast. =
LOOK OUT: Phenology ~W
LOOK OUT: Chicago Reader. ~H
LOOK OUT: Wikitravel: Chicago. y6
LOOK OUT: Gardening Plan. y3
LOOK OUT: Camping Plan. y3
LOOK OUT: Fishing Plan. y3
LOOK OUT: Frugal Village y9
LOOK OUT: Chicago Urban Exploring. y9
LOOK OUT: Benjamin Franklin y12
LOOK IN: Time. BSF: ET, y12
LOOK IN: The Eightfold Path. y1
LOOK DOWN: St. Boniface Cemetery. y12

HEALTH

United States Department of Agriculture: MyPyramid.gov. BSF:ET

BLOG and NEWS
New York Times. =
Chicago Sun-Times. ~T
Detroit Free Press. ~F
Flint Broadside. ~H
Flint Journal. =
Andy Heller. =
Detroit Free Press: The Detroit Tigers. ~M
Detroit Free Press: Detroit Pistons. ~T
Detroit Free Press: Detroit Red Wings. ~W
Detroit Free PresS: U of M Wolverines. ~H
Detroit Free Press: MSU Spartans. ~F
USA Gymnastics. ~F

Proceed to blog. *

Year 31: The Year of Somewhere Something.

2009-09-26T12:03:00.000-05:00

Navel Gazing:

This has been the fifth cycle of four years since I started giving years names. High school and college made firm the pattern of lumping them into four years (maybe each year approximates a season?) but life events have, for the most part, had an odd way of conforming more or less closely with this. The first cycle was maybe the strongest exception. I started out in one city and ended in another. I started out having been home schooled for over four years and ended by going into the third school building (after elementary school and junior high) in three years. But the second cycle of years conformed neatly to high school and the third to college. The fourth cycle was marked by low-paying temp work, a lack of career focus, and the frustrating shuttling back-and-forth between Michigan and Illinois. The one steady stream throughout the whole thing was my girlfriend who, appropriately enough, I married at the end. We didn't plan our wedding with this in mind; it just fell out that way. After Belize and a trip to New York the next cycle started; early marriage. My wife and me against the world, so we divided that time between Chicago and New York, and I got my MFA and she got her own degree and now we're expecting to add another human being to our family. Again, we didn't plan the timing this way... this "major event" once every four years. But here I am and things are just heating up as another cycle of four begins. When the sixth cycle ends, my child will be four. And I wonder what I would have thought as a child, as a fourteen year old who decided to give each year a name, if I had know what those names would be and what they would portend.

Year 12 (when I was 11) was the year of Stellar Fire.
Year 13 was the year of Summereve (whch I did not know was the name for a feminine hygiene product).
Year 14 was the year of the Trampoline.
Year 15 was the year of the Mask.

Year 16 was the year of the Storyteller.
Year 17 was the year of the Broken Mirror.
Year 18 was the year of the Counterflood.
Year 19 was the year of the Agit.

Year 20 was the year of the Power Sack.
Year 21 was the year of the Hunter Divides.
Year 22 was the year of Delving.
Year 23 was the year of Conjunctisylphistry.

Year 24 was the year of the Horizon Divides.
Year 25 was the year of the Bossy Big Toe.
Year 26 was the year of the Synchopated Sailor.
Year 27 was the year of Deep Wells.

Year 28 was the year of the Shark's Lullaby.
Year 29 was the year of the Hidden Rain.
and year 30 was the year of the Magnet Castles.

The year that has just passed (mid-June 2008 until tomorrow) is officially named:

THE YEAR OF SOMEWHERE SOMETHING

1. RADIOHEAD - MY IRON LUNG
2. MOBY - EVERLOVING
3. WALL-E - DOWN TO EARTH
4. ELISABETH BLAIR - DUCK DUCK GOOSE
5. TING-TINGS - WE WALK
6. NINE INCH NAILS - THE GREAT DESTROYER
7. THE GO! TEAM - LADYFLASH
8. SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES - ENDING THEME
9. WEST SIDE STORY - SOMEWHERE
10. JOHN CAGE - 4'33"
11. THE SMASHING PUMPKINS - G.L.O.W.
12. THE WHO - WON'T GET FOOLED AGAIN
13. THE SWANS - LOVE WILL TEAR US APART
14. CANNIBAL CORPSE - I WILL KILL YOU
15. THE PRODIGY - VOODOO PEOPLE
16. PAPA WEMBA - YOLELE
17. SUFJAN STEVENS - STAR OF WONDER
18. LOUIS ARMSTRONG - WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD
19. THE BEATLES - DEAR PRUDENCE
20. PRINCE - COMPUTER BLUE
21. KATE BUSH - CLOUDBUSTING
22. SPARKS AND SPOOLS - GARDEN
23. LOU REED - WALK ON THE WILD SIDE
24. THE LEMON PIPERS - GREEN TAMBOURINE
25. PATTI SMITH - BREAK IT UP
26. THE UTAH SAINTS - SOMETHING GOOD
27. LAURIE ANDERSON - O SUPERMAN (FOR MASSENET)
28. AIR - RUN
29. BJORK - EARTH INTRUDERS
30. BJORK - DECLARE INDEPENDENCE
31. WILL SMITH - MIAMI
32. EMINEM - SAME SONG AND DANCE
33. APHEX TWIN - AGEISPOLIS
34. RICHARD WHALING - THEME FROM "PAINT SMASH"
35. LADYTRON - DEEP BLUE
36. PEARL JAM - OCEANS
37. MADONNA - SKY FITS HEAVEN

Event: My New Letter to Congresswoman Schakowsky.

2009-09-14T15:42:00.000-05:00

My renewal of support.

Dear Ms. Schakowsky,

In the last election I voted against you because I didn't think you had taken as strenuous a stand against funding the war in Iraq as I thought was possible, given the level of support (and strong, progressive support) you've enjoyed here in Chicago. I was also disappointed by your support of TARP, given the lack of oversight involved (and how it has contributed to a deficit that is a sticking point in the present health care debate). That said, I am very proud to be represented by you these days; for my whole life affordable health care was always one of the most important political issues for me. On a day when most lawmakers (including strong Democrats) appear to be wavering and equivocating on the centrally important and essential "public option" I am very, very, very happy that you have been such a staunch and emphatic supporter. I realize that my vote in the last election wasn't strategic (if it was I would have supported you in spite of my misgivings), but I anticipate being able to offer more unequivocal support in the upcoming election. Please let me know how I can help promote the public option in the upcoming health care reform.

Sincerely, Connor Coyne
Uptown, Chicago

Alauras 29, 31.

2009-08-18T01:11:00.000-05:00

- QUOTE OF THE WEEK -
"I give up."
- Who said this?

- QUESTION OF THE DAY -
When was the last time you gave up?

Alauras 22, 31.

2009-08-11T09:22:00.000-05:00

- QUOTE OF THE DAY -
"The sea, the sky, the you and I
The sea, the sky, for you and I
I'll know we're all blues
All Shades, all hues, all blues"
- Oscar Brown, Jr.

- QUESTION OF THE DAY -
What is your favorite Miles Davis song?

Alauras 16, 31.

2009-08-05T11:28:00.000-05:00

- PICTURE OF THE WEEK -
{:)

Who is this?

- QUESTION OF THE DAY -
Invent an emoticon. Describe it if it is not self-evident (though generally emoticons ought to be...)

Event: Health Care Reform Post #2 - Interesting Articles

2009-08-04T11:01:00.000-05:00

New York Times: Health Plan Opponents Make Voices Heard.

This is one thing that the new (meaning post-1994) generation of conservatives have excelled at; compensating for numbers with virulence. I'm nont saying that progressives should strive for such shrillness, but we should at least be emphatic. I'll be looking for evidence that Americans in favor of health care reform are taking just as demonstrable a stand. Or to put it a little differently, we know that politicians instinctually turn toward political cover. Let's provide some of that cover and support, so they won't be afraid to finish this much-needed bill.

Andy Heller drops in for a few cynical but well-intentioned comments:

The Flint Journal: Let's wait for heath care until we're all sick and dead, OK?

The Flint Journal: We'll spend to kill but not to heal and protect.

Alauras 15, 31.

2009-08-04T09:49:00.000-05:00

August is Admit You're Happy Month.

- QUOTE OF THE DAY -
"There are all kinds of courage. It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends."
- Who said this?

- QUESTION OF THE DAY -
What is your most trusted excuse?

Diary: It's my Birthday, and I'll Go to the Green Mill if I Want To.

2009-08-03T13:22:00.000-05:00

10:30ish tonight. I think there's a $7 cover. You know, at the corner of Larry (Lawrence) and Broadway: http://www.greenmilljazz.com/

The Patricia Barber Quartet: http://www.patriciabarber.com/

Feel free to show up if you want. Or bring anyone you want to. Or don't show up at all.

But whatever you do, have a lovely day!

~ Cx31

Alauras 14, 31.

2009-08-03T07:49:00.000-05:00

- NEWS OF THE WEEK -
New York Times: Two Sides Take Health Care Debate Outside Washington.
Also: Today is my birthday.

- QUESTION OF THE DAY -
What are your true feelings for paisley?

National Health Post.

2009-07-31T07:35:00.000-05:00

I'm really annoyed at myself for not having covered this more in the past several weeks.

Here's an astute argument from Uwe Reinhardt:

A 'Common Sense' American Health Reform Plan.

And here's an unabashedly emotional appeal from Jeff Danziger:

Alauras 11, 31.

2009-07-31T07:28:00.000-05:00

- PLACE OF THE WEEK -
Lorain, Ohio.

- QUESTION OF THE DAY -
- What's your favorite Toni Morrison book?

Alauras 10, 31.

2009-07-30T12:14:00.000-05:00

- LINK OF THE WEEK -
Hotpads.

- QUESTION OF THE DAY -
How many addresses have you had in the last five years?

Alauras 8, 31.

2009-07-28T11:39:00.000-05:00

- QUOTE OF THE WEEK -
"A celebrity is a person who works hard all his life to become well known, then wears dark glasses to avoid being recognized."
- Fred Allen

- QUESTION OF THE DAY -
What holiday would you like to receive more attention?

Alauras 7, 31.

2009-07-26T22:17:00.000-05:00

- NEWS OF THE WEEK -
New York Times: Times Topics: Health Care Reform.

We should all read this... it's very important.

- QUESTION OF THE DAY -
What builds character?

Alauras 1, 31.

2009-07-21T21:50:00.000-05:00

- Sorry about ongoing delays guys. This time I have an excuse I'm happy about. I was in Miami, stalking the beaches, surfing the swamps, driving the coast, and having a good ol' time.

- PICTURE OF THE WEEK -

What is this?

- QUESTION OF THE DAY -
What is your favorite thing that has happened this month?

Concept: Collaborative Writing Project This Summer.

2009-07-16T21:20:00.000-05:00

Elisabeth Blair and I are composing/editing a Gothic Funk novel to be titled Hollywood. However, it is set in Chicago.

I'm taking charge of the writing, and Lisa of the music, but we're looking for additional collaborators. In addition to a tangible application of the "gothic funk aesthetic," Hollywood will also be a teen noir (or at least a 20-something noir) for those of you familiar with that term... think of an episode of Veronica Mars codirected by Baz Luhrman and David Lynch. It will also be a hypertext novel a la Judd Morrissey, Shelley Jackson, and John Cayley.

Let me know if you're interested in contributing writing (or something else) to this piece, or if you're interested in more details.

It isn't a paying gig, but you will get credit for publication via the Internets.

Thanks,

Connor Coyne

Diary: Phenology: July 9 - 15, 2009.

2009-07-15T19:26:00.000-05:00

An abundance of squirrels. There are millions of them. I've never seen so many as this year. About a month ago, I noticed something; when I visit Michigan, squirrels are prime candidates for roadkill. But I never see roadkilled squirrel in Chicago. So have the Chicago groups evolved (or learned) that cars are common, and deadly?

Raspberries on a tree in an overgrown vacant lot in Canaryville. They were gooooood.

Countless lightning bugs. Amazing bugs. The Michigan farms win, because there's nothing as magical as a thousand fireflies lighting up over a fallow field. But it's pretty cool to see them flash bright by the dozens in front of brick tenements.

Noisy birds nesting.

My pepper plant has sprouted bell peppers.

But (alas) the days are growing noticeably shorter. Chicago summer is brief and bitter this year. Bitterish, but not bitter.

Buzzing mosquitoes.

Alumas 24, 31.

2009-07-14T23:13:00.000-05:00

I will post more this evening...

- PICTURE OF THE WEEK -

Where is this?

(Hint: I'm going there this weekend.)

- QUESTION OF THE DAY -
Where do you want to go on vacation?

Body: Storms.

2009-07-14T00:33:00.000-05:00

Alumas 23, 31.

2009-07-14T00:27:00.000-05:00

- QUOTE OF THE WEEK -
In the thirties balance-of-power thinking was still quite strong, the diplomats were all down with Balkanosis, spies with foreign hybrid names lurked in all the stations of the Ottoman rump, code messages in a dozen Slavic tongues were being tattooed on bare upper lips over which the operatives then grew mustaches, to be shaved off only by authorized crypto officers and skin then grafted over the messages by the Firms' plastic surgeons . . . their lips were palimpsests of secret flesh, scarred and unnaturally white, by which they all knew each other.

- Who said this?

- QUESTION OF THE DAY -
Share a memory from when you were in 7th grade. (I may be asking questions like this frequently for the next month or two; novel-fodder).

Alumas 19, 31.

2009-07-10T08:00:00.000-05:00

EXPERIMENT: My weeks have been too busy this month for a daily update (even one this brief) every day... so until things settle down a bit I'm going to experiment with posting on the weekends too. Just FYI.

- PLACE OF THE WEEK -
Sinaia.

- QUESTION OF THE DAY -
List all of the countries you've been to. If we get a few replies, I'll bet we can come up with quite a list!

Alumas 17, 31.

2009-07-07T22:11:00.000-05:00

- PICTURE OF THE WEEK -

What is this?

More to the point:

What is wrong with it?

- QUESTION OF THE DAY -
Have you ever seen a riot? Do tell...

Concept: My Cosmo Dogood Blurb

2009-07-07T08:16:00.000-05:00

Check out this short article I wrote for Bookish.us:

The Decline and Fall of Cosmo Dogood's Urban Almanac.

Concept: Tuesday Funk #14

2009-07-07T00:13:00.000-05:00

Today!

Details at the Tuesday Funk Website.

Alumas 16, 31.

2009-07-07T00:11:00.000-05:00

- QUOTE OF THE WEEK -

"What? Are we to put difference of party tactics before the desperate needs of the workers? ... While countless women and children are breaking their hearts and ruining their bodies in long days of toil, we are fighting one another. Shame upon us!"

Who said this?

I'm posting this one again, because I'd really like someone to take a stab at it.

- QUESTION OF THE DAY -

Offer up a quote of you own.

Alumas 15, 31.

2009-07-06T08:07:00.000-05:00

- NEWS OF THE WEEK -
Family Sees Image of Michael Jackson in Tree Stump.

- QUESTION OF THE DAY -
Throw some interesting news my way.

Alumas 12, 31.

2009-07-03T09:30:00.000-05:00

- PLACE OF THE WEEK -
Cluj.

- QUESTION OF THE DAY -
What do you wish zoos would/could do, that they currently do not?

Alumas 9, 31.

2009-06-30T13:55:00.000-05:00

- QUOTE OF THE WEEK -

"What? Are we to put difference of party tactics before the desperate needs of the workers? ... While countless women and children are breaking their hearts and ruining their bodies in long days of toil, we are fighting one another. Shame upon us!"
- Who said this? A quarter for this one.

- QUESTION OF THE DAY -
Name one morning you vividly remember.

Body: Happy 2000th Birthday, Saint Paul!

2009-06-29T09:41:00.000-05:00

Things are way different here from how they were when you were around.

Then again, maybe not so much.

Alumas 8, 31.

2009-06-29T09:32:00.000-05:00

- NEWS OF THE WEEK -
This has been celebrity death week: Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett, Ed McMahon, and Billy Mays, the latter of whom I had just seen on Conan last week. Man.

- QUESTION OF THE DAY -
Who's next?

Alumas 5, 31.

2009-06-26T08:56:00.000-05:00

- PLACE OF THE WEEK -
Iasi.

- QUESTION OF THE DAY -
When was the last time you went fishing?

Event: The Closing of Flint Central (Part 4 of 4)

2009-06-25T18:49:00.000-05:00

Almost to the end.

I'm allowing myself a closing argument.

Flint has been in decline since before I was born, and very soon almost the entirety of its residents will only remember the city's downfall. In the last fifty years, the population has halved, and Flint has gone from an expansionist vision of a future that saw it eclipsing competing cities to the possibility of demolishing whole neighborhoods that have emptied out.

During this time there have been a lot of attempts to resurrect the city in its old glory, and many of them were, frankly, unrealistic. At times the main drag, which is the oldest road in the region and a conduit through four major cities (including Detroit) has been cordoned off for an ill-conceived pedestrian mall. Parking meters and haphazard one-way streets were installed downtown at the same time as free parking was added to the strip malls and plazas of the suburbs. AutoWorld, a hare-brained theme park expected to draw a million visitors annually was probably Flint's greatest embarrassment. However, an era of inept political leadership (two mayors have been deservedly forced out of office in the last ten years alone) has probably been more damaging.

These issues are all surrounded and dominated by the withdrawal of General Motors. In 1978, almost 80,000 people worked for GM locally. That number has shrunk by 90%, and the process continues today. Flint at its peak had 200,000 residents, and the county under 500,000. Even under expert leadership, well-coordinated institutional support, and an aggressively inventive private sector, Flint would have been doomed to a steep decline. In reality, the severity and speed of its actual decline is part of the reason this city is so analyzed, even on an international level.

The last several years have realized, finally, a more pragmatic and well-considered response. A decade of selective investment in the downtown area has prepared the way for a time when several expanding commuter colleges would go residential. In the last decade Kettering University on the West Side built dormitories, and has been followed this year by housing downtown at the University of Michigan campus. The area between the two schools has been approved for redevelopment and park space (several proposals involve brownfield left by GM along the Flint river, which could reflect the Olmstead-style Kearsley Park across town). The idea is that a sizeable mixed-income population will encourage investment and rising property values.

The East Side is instrumental to these plans. While it does not have a residential campus, it is the site of the Cultural Center, which has been an anchor and an asset to Flint for over fifty years. Mott College, which is itself expanding, and the stable neighborhood of the East Village bound this area on the south and east. If anything, this part of the city has helped shore up the downtown area far more than downtown has driven regional commerce. If Flint's current slow-growth development works as intended, in one decade we will see a viable urban corridor running from the western city limits to Dort Highway. Of course, this corridor will still be bounded by the poverty and devaluation of surrounding neighborhoods, and the disparity will be extreme. However, given the severity of disinvestment, it is hard to imagine any permanent progress being made in Flint without some consolidation and growth.

The Flint School District, too, is a critical piece of the puzzle, albeit in a less obvious way, and from a less promising position. The district has cycled through three superintendents in the last several years, and has fallen victim to hare-brained schemes of its own. Earlier this decade the graduation rate was pegged at around 40%. And yet, if you haven't noticed, most of the current redevelopment plans involve higher education in some form or another. Three colleges are in the targeted development areas, and a fourth just outside of city limits. If Flint's progress is contingent on collegiate educational growth, yet city residents are not equipped to participate in that growth, then there is every reason to think that whatever progress does occur will be segmented, or worse, superficial. Therefore: By any means necessary public schools in Flint have to fix their problems. At this point, it is as important a question as GM's continuing presence.

Flint Central and its campus are an asset that cannot be replaced. We needn't rely on sentimental reasons for saving the school. Any short-term gains achieved by demolishing the building (even if another structure is built on-site) would be offset by the inability of future development to fill such a unique and necessary niche in the city's social and geographic landscape (an architect friend of mine has observed that $27 million today could not construct a school in any style of Central's size). Central is emblematic of Frank Manley's community education experiments, which are more relevant to Flint today than ever before, and the campus has ideal access to the city's most successful institutions. True, the problem of retaining the physical structure could be ameliorated by selling the building to Powers Catholic, but the most long-term solution, the solution that enables Flint's population to be the necessary and participatory force in the city's recovery demands that the school remain with in the public school system. Get the money from our foundations and federal stimulus money, beg, borrow, and steal from alumni, find and coerce the genius behind the Kalamazoo Promise, go on Oprah and beg, do whatever it takes. Fix Central, upgrade Northern, and make these two high schools the effective poles of newer, meaner, sharper magnet programming and community education. $27 million isn't pocket change, but it isn't that much either when calculated against the capital of a reenergized city center.

Central High School could be one the most decisive elements in a retooled and realistic master plan for the City of Flint.

And in my mind, when those polished doors swing open again, its the Indians they will welcome home.

Part 1: Here.
Part 2: Here.
Part 3: Here.
Part 4: Here.

Event: The Closing of Flint Central (Part 3 of 4)

2009-06-25T18:17:00.000-05:00

I have no idea why this space is configured this way; it's located flush to the east side of the fourth floor of the main building, and a ladder adjacent to the entry runs up to the roof. The floorboards on the paths running around this space are rickety and not to be trusted.

The fourth floor was primarily set aside as an ROTC training space. We were unable to get to the fifth floor, which Sam told me was pretty interesting.

Trivia: Most of floors have a "secret" (that is, non-prominent) entrance to the tower stairway in their western wall. On this floor, it was this same room, though I didn't get a picture. One floor down, it was in a corner of the library. The tower has 110 steps, according to Sam.

And... this is where the waterboarding happens.

"From kindergarten to graduation, I went to public schools, and I know that they are a key to being sure that every child has a chance to succeed and to rise in the world." - Dick Cheney

So waterboarding isn't torture, and public education can be improved without sending money to the poorest schools, as shown by this district that has an offensively high dropout rate and about half the enrollment that it did twelve years ago. I know there's an appropriate metaphor somewhere here, but since this room wasn't literally used for waterboarding, I don't know that the parallels are worth the setup.

Whatever. It still gives me the shivers.

The fourth floor has this clinical look that unusual in Central as a whole.

Can you guess where this is?

Here's a clue: what do you think those glowing lines on the floor are?

They're fluorescent lights.

This is the sealed-off portion of the second gym as viewed from its balcony. The "floor" is actually a flimsy tile ceiling above a series of science classrooms.

The Model UN room. Flint's Model UN group went to Chicago every year for an annual conference hosted by the University of Chicago. Before I met my wife as a U of C college student, she assisted with this conference, and probably met friends of mine. It's a small world, and everything connects together more closely than we think.

As we wrapped up our explorations, we heard a strange sound coming from the west lawn. The a capella groups of any and all classes were invited to convene at 7 PM to sing the alma mater. Throughout the day we met students who were enrolled as freshmen and sophomores this year, and alums who graduated in the 1930s. The Flint Journal reported that the oldest attendee was in her late nineties, and would've been one of the first students to go to school in the current building.

It must have seemed very different then, fresh brick and nearly-wet mortar, saplings and young shoots.

Part 1: Here.
Part 2: Here.
Part 3: Here.
Part 4: Here.

Concept: Michael Jackson is Dead.

2009-06-25T18:12:00.000-05:00

New York Times: Michael Jackson, 50, Is Dead.

Alumas 4, 31.

2009-06-25T17:17:00.000-05:00

Those in the know knew it was a comin'.

- LINK OF THE WEEK -
The Council for a Parliament of the World's Religions.

- QUESTION OF THE DAY -
In whatever terms speak to your preference, which religion belongs to you?

Event: The Closing of Flint Central (Part 2 of 4)

2009-06-24T19:07:00.000-05:00

So I thought that I could get through this sucker in two posts, but that ain't gonna happen. I'll go for three posts and a short epilogue. Continuing on:

It's the Liberty Bell!

To the balcony...

A better view of the theater.

The main entrance... they don't make these like they used to.

And then we took a long long climb up the dark dark stair on the wraparound stairway to the tall tall tower and there we emerged into the sun at the highest point in the school. We looked out over the green green city.

Flint sprawls over 30 square miles, and even in its current state of decline the density is over 4,000 per square mile. However, all non-industrial areas were heavily planted (a hint of the primeval wood that once carpeted the whole of Michigan). Since few structures are more than three stories, in summertime and from the air, Flint looks like a vast forest.

The Flint Cultural Center includes the Longway Planetarium (the largest in the state) and the Flint Institute of Music. Before this campus was fully developed, the Oak Grove center occupied what is now the Central parking lot. According to the Picture History of Flint, this complex was "originally a hospital for the treatment of nervous and mental disorders." Moreover, underground tunnels still link up Central with the field house, power station, and various buildings in the Cultural Center, in a network that covers several city blocks. Naturally, the basements of all of these buildings are reported to be haunted.

Adjacent Whittier Middle School, with its moat and causeways.

Yes, you read that right.

An artsy shot.

I'll probably bring this up again, but part of the value of Central to future generations of Flintites is its beauty and potential as a campus. The parklike surroundings take in rolling hills, Gilkey creek, and the campus is bordered on all sides by the Cultural Center, Mott College, the prairie-like Burroughs Park, and (nearly) downtown. I understand that rehabilitation is expensive, but in addition to potential for stable housing values and urban planning, there are intangible benefits to preserving the building and campus. This is a design that points toward the importance of higher education, as well as an inextricable connection between education, culture, and commerce. It's far different from the factory-like settings that characterize most American public schooling, rural, suburban, and urban.

The tower.

The grand tour.

I know the library better than any other part of the building. That's because I was a volunteer here in 1999. During down time I drafted my first novella, a conspiracy theory teen noir called Vertebrates. It started with the sentence: "Everything was dark." Good times.

What was taught here?

Here's where we get to the heart of the problem. This was originally a gym. You can see it, right? The school had two gyms, one for boys and one for girls. This one featured a track balcony which hung over a dozen feet below the ceiling. When the usage of that space was reevaluated, this area was converted into a set of science classrooms, and the ceiling was dropped to just below the balcony. That's right, there's over twelve feet of empty space right above those ceiling tiles.

Do you see those floors? That linoleum covers hardwood flooring. The problem is more than aesthetic. The dropped ceiling hid decades of water damage from above, and the linoleum allowed the floorboards to warp undetected. This is the result:

That door cannot open.

A glimpse of the abyss above.

Hardwood floors in the classrooms.

This is the teachers' lounge, but I think it looks more like a place where a teacher would do detention.

Students' bathroom. Someone has a run-in with a can of paint.

I had the full command of my senses; and my eyes became used to the darkness, which was lit, here and there, by fitful gleams. I calculated that we were in a narrow circular gallery, probably running all round the Opera, which is immense, underground. I had once been down into those cellars, but had stopped at the third floor, though there were two lower still, large enough to hold a town. But the figures of which I caught sight had made me run away. There are demons down there, quite black, standing in front of boilers, and they wield shovels and pitchforks and poke up fires and stir up flames and, if you come too near them, they frighten you by suddenly opening the red mouths of their furnaces ...
- Gaston Leroux, The Phantom of the Opera

He then took me into his laboratory and explained to me the uses of his various machines, instructing me as to what I ought to procure and promising me the use of his own when I should have advanced far enough in the science not to derange their mechanism. He also gave me the list of books which I had requested, and I took my leave.
- Mary Shelley, Frankenstein

As she walked round it, she passed a door, that was not quite shut, and, perceiving, that it was not the one, through which she entered, she brought the light forward to discover whither it led. She opened it, and, going forward, had nearly fallen down a steep, narrow stair-case that wound from it, between two stone walls. She wished to know to what it led, and was the more anxious, since it communicated so immediately with her apartment; but, in the present state of her spirits, she wanted courage to venture into the darkness alone. Closing the door, therefore, she endeavoured to fasten it, but, upon further examination, perceived, that it had no bolts on the chamber side, though it had two on the other. By placing a heavy chair against it, she in some measure remedied the defect; yet she was still alarmed at the thought of sleeping in this remote room alone, with a door opening she knew not whither, and which could not be perfectly fastened on the inside.
- Ann Radcliffe, The Mysteries of Udolpho

Finally, a great set for the production of any Harold Pinter play.

Please contact me if you'd like a higher-resolution image from this collection.

Part 1: Here.
Part 2: Here.
Part 3: Here.
Part 4: Here.

Alumas 3, 31.

2009-06-24T15:41:00.000-05:00

Yes, I will be posting more photos today, but I just got home from work after three hours of sleep and I'll be taking a break before you catch more updates here.

In the meantime...

- PICTURE OF THE WEEK -

Where is this?

- QUESTION OF THE DAY -

Name something you'd like to see built out of Legos.

Event: The Closing of Flint Central (Part 1 of 4)

2009-06-23T10:18:00.000-05:00

I have a lot of stories to tell from the last couple months... things got away from me during the job search. It's not like I expect everyone to want to pore over my life story. This blog is basically a record of my experiences. Memory is a system of cantilevers; it supports our understanding of ourselves.

With that in mind, the most appropriate story for me to tell first is about my recent trip to Flint. I'd been following the local news anxiously for the last several years, as each new administration threatened to close Flint Central. This month, they finally made good on that suggestion.

A bit about the school: As an institution the school is 134 years old. The present building on the East Side was erected in 1923, and its architecture reflects the wealth of the city at that time. Built of brick and limestone, the school nevertheless an ornate style incorporating gargoyles and a tower turret, and stylized molding and paneling throughout the interior. Much of the building has been retrofitted, and since many of these physical changes were short-term solutions to long-term problems, they aged the structure prematurely. Water damage is extensive, and in some areas, floorboards have warped and buckled to the point where doors cannot be opened. Elsewhere, there are dangerously high levels of asbestos and other debris.

Central has been controversial through the years, as it was the public high school that maintained the largest Caucasian population after white flight hit the North Side in the sixties and seventies, and the neighborhood just southeast of Central was responsible for racist housing compacts. In recent decades, however, the school has become the most multicultural in the city, drawing varied populations from the East and South Sides. Central's theater program flourished under Martin Jennings for many years, and alumni include a number of impressive athletes such as Jim Abbott. In the nineties, Central's scores on standardized tests often outstripped those of Southwestern Academy, which had selective admission for gifted students.

A bit about my own story here: I never attended Central as a student. I grew up nearby, in the East Village, but I attended the Valley private school for two years and then was home schooled. I developed close friendships with kids from my neighborhood, however, and when my family moved to the suburbs when I was twelve, I took pains to stay in touch. I went to Flushing High School, and most of my friends went to Central or Powers Catholic. High School, therefore, became kind of a shadow experience. I dwelt in Flushing, and formed connections with some wonderful teachers and students there, but more often then not (and especially after I could drive), I spent the evenings in Flint. As a sophomore, I went to Central's prom in the University Club (at the top of the now abandoned Genesee Towers), and as a college student, I volunteered at Central's library when I was in Flint for the summer. Today, I'm friends with several dozen Central alums, as opposed to four or five people I keep in touch with from my own high school.

Of course, you can't go to a school unless you go there. Imagination alone won't put your feet on the floor. But I felt enough a part of this building and its history that when the news came down about the school closing that I had to come back and see it myself.

On Friday, June 12th, the district opened the building up for visitors. Sam offered a ride from Chicago in exchange for gas money, and Melvin and I took him up on his offer.

Sam.

Melvin.

Me.

Arrival; I had to park a distance from the school. The parking lot was jammed with the news, alums, and the curious, plus the art fair was going on just a block away.

Into the beast:

A couple years ago, the Board of Education decided that the school's original mascot -- the Indians -- should be changed, as it might be offensive to Native Americans. If I recall correctly, local tribal organizations seemed to support the Indian as Central's mascot. Undeterred, the administration decided to circumvent debate via the completely uncontroversial "Operation Tomahawk" (their words, not mine), during which they stole into the school and scalped scrubbed all reference of the Indians from the walls. Except for one, evidently, which escaped their notice.

Why Central's mascot has to go, but the Cleveland Indians get to keep their hideous caricature is one of the great mysteries of this world.

The Radio Station (and Record Room)

Cafeteria:

This is the new mascot, the Phoenix. Nothing suggests hope like a bird that rises from its own ashes, and nothing suggests such an apotheosis like shuttering a school and scattering its students to the wind.

Given that Central closed anyway, would it have killed the Board to let the school keep its mascot for the last few years?

Note the art-moderne door handles. Also, note the sign warning that nothing should be kept within 36 inches of this shelf, and the table leaned up against the lower left-hand side.

And speaking of safety scissors:

Holy meltdown, Batman!

I had to wait until college to become a socialist. Not that Che Guevara is especially deep underground as far as revolutionary heroes go, but the closest thing to this I would've caught in Flushing would've been a Clinton/Gore '92 sticker (in 1997). There I go, ranting about the Marketplace of Ideas again!

Now, a large number of theatre pictures:

I've taken pictures in this space a half-dozen times, but I can never get the light quite right.

Backstage:

Back when I did theater, the fly space was one of my favorite places to be:

Into the scene shop:

More art-moderne.

Please contact me if you'd like a higher-resolution image from this collection.

Part 1: Here.
Part 2: Here.
Part 3: Here.
Part 4: Here.

Alumas 2, 31.

2009-06-23T09:37:00.000-05:00

- QUOTE OF THE WEEK -
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."
Who said this?

- QUESTION OF THE DAY -
What's something that inspires you?

Alumas 1, 31.

2009-06-22T08:41:00.000-05:00

- NEWS OF THE WEEK -
BBC News: Self-rule introduced in Greenland.

- QUESTION OF THE DAY -
Name another region of the world that you believe should be permitted self-rule.

Lunas 27, 31.

2009-06-17T13:48:00.000-05:00

- PICTURE OF THE WEEK -

What album is this from?

- QUESTION OF THE DAY -
What is your favorite album artwork?

Lunas 26, 31.

2009-06-16T12:05:00.000-05:00

- QUOTE OF THE WEEK -
"Anything that moves I am interested in."
Who said this?

- QUESTION OF THE DAY -
Have you ever seen or been in a tornado?

Concept: I Am Back

2009-06-15T15:31:00.000-05:00

Malware removed.

Now I have a long process of repairing the website, although the blog appears to be minimally impacted.

For the last month, I posted a blog in exile here: http://blueskiesfalling.wordpress.com/.

Posts there included Martuz!, No Exit, Event: The Marketplace of Ideas.

I'll post more tomorrow about what I've been up to for the last odd month.

...

It has been a very odd month.

Lunas 25, 31.

2009-06-15T15:02:00.000-05:00

- NEWS OF THE WEEK -
COSMOS: Mammoth genome cracked: key to cloning?

- QUESTION OF THE DAY -
How do you feel about genetically recreating extinct creatures?

Concept: Blue Skies Falling Blog Infiltrated.

2009-05-20T13:38:00.000-05:00

On May 15, 2009 my personal website (connorcoyne.com) was infected by a malware program associated with Martuz .cn that inserted scripts into dynamic and static files at over 1500 distinct sites. The bug is discussed at http://blog.unmaskparasites.com/2009/05/18/martuz-cn-is-a-new-incarnation-of-gumblar-exploit/. Evidently the infection isn't the result of any specific action on my part. I was setting up a book review blog through WordPress (using the toughest password I've ever come up with) and this was what the program targeted. The infection caused Google to blacklist my site for viewers' protection, and when Twitter picked up on the Google listing, it suspended my account. So far Facebook has not responded, but to say this is a major headache would be an understatement.

Sam from Forge 22 (http://forge22.com) has helped me with these problems -- he's a great guy and a great designer, and you should throw him some business if you can.

Bottom Line: connorcoyne.com, connorcoyne.com/blog, and associated sites are safe to visit, but Google has not lifted their warning yet, and I don't know what the timetable on that will be. Until it's lifted, however, there isn't any reason to visit. The damage was extensive and will take time to repair. In the meantime, I suggest you check back from time to time, and I will post an announcement as soon as things are a little bit more normal around here.

Sorry for the inconvenience.

~ Connor

Oculine 30, 31.

2009-05-19T10:08:00.000-05:00

- QUOTE OF THE WEEK -
"Once there was a tree... and she loved a little boy."
- Who said this?

- QUESTION OF THE DAY -
For a writing project. An examination of the emotion of fear (defined as anxiety and physical response to feelings of physical or metaphysical peril). So:
What are some songs that have inspired you with a sense of fear?

Concept: Just give me a little space, okay?

2009-05-15T15:42:00.000-05:00

Check out my nerdy essay on punctuation, spacing, and text-justification at bookish us.

Event: In support of Soviet-style Central Planning.

2009-05-15T11:16:00.000-05:00

My brother sent me a link to this Kunstlercast. Podcast #64 is about the initiative to shrink Flint city limits, and Jim Kunstler spoke against in general terms against mandated shrinking. He said that he wasn't familiar with the specifics of the situation in Flint, but his overall position seemed to be that city should rely on incentives and zoning to shift population. I largely disagreed with this argument, at least as pertains to Flint, and here is part of my (typically long-winded) reply to my brother:

I most disagreed with Jim on the principle of eminent domain. He seemed reluctant to endorse municipal management beyond offering incentives and long-term fixes such as rezoning marginal neighborhoods. He thought that mandated relocation "smacks of central planning" a la the Soviet Union. He talks about eliminating municipal restrictions and bureaucratic red-tape. This half-engaged approach fails to take two things into consideration.

The first consideration is the extent of demographic realignment. Flint's population has dropped from almost 200,000 fifty years ago to 110,000 today, and Genesee County's has decreased slightly since 1980. Industry and capital investment is shrinking. This means that short-term growth in any part of the area is only going to happen at the expense of somewhere else. In Flint long-term strategy has to proceed from short-term strategy because the city is caught in a vicious cycle of disinvestment. In fact, the city and city employers have long offered a number of incentives to repopulate the inner-city, including restricted-tax Renaissance zones. It's not enough to make the necessary difference. If our goal is a smaller, healthier, and more stable Flint, we are unlikely to achieve this without large-scale governmental intervention.

The second consideration is the extent of economic distress. Jim is worried about the abuse of eminent domain. Ordinarily, this is a fine thing to worry about, but the standard of living in the marginal parts of Flint is really wretched. These neighborhoods sometimes have around a 60%-70% residency rate, meaning that 1 out of 3 houses are vacant (a figure that does not consider the vacant lots left by already-demolished houses). Crime and poverty are rampant, many neighborhoods often do not have a school or a supermarket nearby, and infrastructural degradation is so complete that basic things like safe water access and electricity can be spotty. I remember that when Jess and I lived on the East Side, some areas by the river were virtually undriveable by car. I noticed electrical wires down and in the street for days on end. Not long after we moved, an abandoned house two blocks away from ours blew up because of a gas leak. It is a typically capitalist paradigm that property rights are sacrosanct while things like public health are more negotiable, but what logical reason do we have to prefer the rights of a small group of property owners over the obligation of the city to provide all residents with essential services (water, police and fire protection, etc.)? The money residents pay for those services is just as real as the money someone puts down on a house, and (unlike eminent domain) the money will not be returned just because the services are not delivered.

Finally, one other reason I'm not worried about the effort to shrink Flint. Flint has a political scene long mired in corruption and incompetence, but neighborhood downsizing could be an accurate bellwether of administrative progress. Do you remember Woodrow Stanley's plans to cut down and sell all of the trees on public land, or Don Williamson's city-run factory? Part of the reason these harebrained schemes (thankfully) didn't go any further than they did was the lack of political maturity in those administrations. Neither Stanley or Williamson wanted or cared to compromise with their opponents and government entities. Now shrinking Flint is far-and-away a more feasible and reasonable plan, but there's a slew of logistic hurdles and political liabilities involved. Moving populations, discontinuing service, and wholesale demolition requires the careful coordinated effort of public and private entities, each with their own unions, management, and workforces to answer to. So an incompetent government would not be able to pull this off. Pulling any number of voting homeowners out of the neighborhood, even on favorable terms, is a political liability with risks for officeholders. So a completely corrupt government would have a hard time pulling this off. If Flint is actually able to shrink itself, it's a good sign that residents have put the right people in positions of power; that is likely to make as big a difference as downsizing the city.

Oculine 25, 31.

2009-05-15T09:21:00.000-05:00

- PLACE OF THE WEEK -
Papua New Guinea.

- QUESTION OF THE DAY -
Let's continue this line of inquiry! What's your favorite thing to do in Chicago (or in Sydney)?

Oculine 24, 31.

2009-05-14T09:37:00.000-05:00

- LINK OF THE WEEK -

Chicago Reader: Wild Wild Midwest.

This is a wonderful and dense alternative-take on tourism in Detroit; it's really cool. I should also note that if you're not able to visit the Motor City anytime soon, you can probably explore a lot of these places online, via Google Earth or Google Street View.

- QUESTION OF THE DAY -

What's your favorite thing to do in Detroit?

Event: Target store on target for fall 2010, despite lawsuit.

2009-05-12T12:10:00.000-05:00

Read my article on Chicago's Wilson Yard development published by the Chi·Town Daily News at Target store on target for fall 2010, despite lawsuit.

Oculine 23, 31.

2009-05-12T12:04:00.000-05:00

- QUOTE OF THE WEEK -
The profs of our great university
Display the most striking diversity:
Some wise and some foolish,
Some saintly, some ghoulish,
And some of the utmost perversity.

- Who said this?

- QUESTION OF THE DAY -
Write a limerick.

Concept: Shake Rattle and Read and the Uptown Story.

2009-05-11T12:38:00.000-05:00

Read my article on the Uptown book and music store Shake Rattle and Read at Bookish Us: Shake Rattle and Read and the Uptown Story.

This article has also been promoted on the Uptown Update blog.

Oculine 22, 31.

2009-05-11T11:41:00.000-05:00

More tomorrow...

- NEWS OF THE WEEK -
Wikipedia: 2009 Scavhunt Rankings.

- QUESTION OF THE DAY -
Now what?

Event: A Non-GM Future for Pontiac?

2009-05-07T12:52:00.000-05:00

Flint Journal: Pontiac not for sale, GM says, despite local dealership's offer to buy.

I would be interested, next time I wanted to buy a car.

Oculine 18, 31.

2009-05-07T12:02:00.000-05:00

- LINK OF THE WEEK -
The University of Chicago Scavenger Hunt

- QUESTION OF THE DAY -
What's your favorite item on the 2009 list?

Body: Youth is not relative, it is only subjective.

2009-05-06T13:48:00.000-05:00

A youngun' is anyone who was not old enough to theoretically understand the significance of Kurt Cobain's death in 1994. It doesn't matter whether they actually do know or understand said death... however, they have to have been old enough (say eight or nine) to have had a conversation about this musician who made music that a lot of people liked, and he killed himself, and that's that.

An elder is anyone who was old enough to theoretically understand the significance of James Brown's performance at the Apollo in 1962. It doesn't matter whether they actually do know or understand said performance... however, they have to have been old enough (say nine or ten) to have had a discussion about this musician who electrified an audience with a propensity to boo singers off stange, and brought about a whole new kind of music.

It's interesting to me that the demarcations both result from music, and not from literature, politics, or science. But there it is.

This is what makes someone a youngun' or an elder.

Concept: Ashburn, Chicago.

2009-05-06T13:13:00.000-05:00

Today I explored Chicago's Ashburn neighborhood because it's the setting of several plays I am currently revising. That sentence implies a circular paradox. Why wouldn't I have explored the neighborhood before drafting the plays? In a sense, I did.

When I was a First Year at the University of Chicago (in 1997), I chose Ashburn as a setting for a Frankenstein play because the name had a cool sound. Ash + Burn... hmmm... sounds pretty gothic, doesn't it?

According to Wikipedia (and the Trib, if I recall correctly) the name comes from the dumping ground for the city's ashes. In '98 I did have a chance to go out and check the neighborhood out. But I didn't have a car, and I wasn't very familiar with the CTA back then. The trip from Hyde Park would have typically taken ninety minutes, or more. Then, on arrival, Ashburn is a huge neighborhood. I've only been been back there twice, once in 2003, and once in 2005. In the meantime, I have written another play, Raspberry Crush, which I also set in Ashburn.

The neighborhood is young... it didn't take off until after World War II, and during the sixties and seventies, school integration was a hot-button issue here. The neighborhood has gradually integrated, from being predominantly white through the early nineties to a more heterogenous makeup today. According to the Encyclopedia of Chicago home ownership remains high, and "racial steeting is not tolerated: 'for sale" signs have been cooperatively banned; lawsuits are filed against realtors who do not comply. In recent years the only signs that have appeared on Ashburn lawns -- en masse -- read: 'We're sold on Ashburn.'" If this seems a little heavy-handed to you, acquaint yourselves with the massive post-World War II sell-offs that devastated much of the South Side.

The neighborhood can be effectively subdivided into three parts. The easternmost part, known as Wrightwood, is now mostly African American, and the housing stock is older than other parts of the area (dating all the way back to the 1950s). The westernmost part, Scottsdale, is still predominantly white, and it is filled with a maze of streets and parish churches and small Chicago-style bungalows.

The central part of the neighborhood, known simply as Ashburn is, you guessed it, the most integrated. It also seems a bit grittier than the other parts, although I suspect this mostly is due to the Southwest Highway (Columbus Ave.), which is a sort of abbreviated industrial corridor that passes through the area on a diagonal, northeast to southwest.

These photos are all from the central, Ashburn section of the neighborhood. They are not fully representative. I was exploring and taking pictures at my leisure. I didn't get any shots of Wrightwood or Scottsdale, or of the myriad churches and parish schools, of Bogan High School or the Richard J Daley College, of Ford City or the strange industrial hinterland just to its east. You can see all these things on Street View though. Strange views sprout from the unlikeliest sources.

And this is an unlikely source...

Excepting its dubious history of racial discord (which, compared to most other areas hereabouts has had a relatively happy ending), Ashburn could be described as one of Chicago's most boring neighborhoods.

I mean that in a good way.

The neighborhood's youth is obvious. The business strips are almost uniformly derelict, and therefore a bit depressing. The residential areas, which take up the most space, are green and tree-lined with prim yards and swept porches and bricks still untarnished by the frost and ice... these spaces are bright and cheerful, and have a slightly suburban feeling.

It's the sort of neighborhood where one would want to raise his kids, and the kind of neighborhood where those kids, as soon as they have access to a car and some friends will probably try desperately to escape. All this gives Ashburn a sort of bittersweet soulfulness; a marriage of youth and maturity and old-age that participates in a basically stable and satisfying life, and yet which is constantly aware of the passage of time.

Of course, all this also begs the question of to what extent we can trust such impressions. We don't know what's happening in the living rooms or the basements (I'd say attics, but most of these houses are single story). It could be black-box theater or political experimentation. It could even be the creation of a Frankenstein monster.

I grew up in a neighborhood much like this, and I find them to be unavoidably poignant places.

They certainly deserve to be the subject of plays and stories.

Oculine 17, 31.

2009-05-06T13:05:00.000-05:00

- PICTURE OF THE WEEK -

What is going on here?

- QUESTION OF THE DAY -
What period of history do you wish you understood better?

Oculine 16, 31.

2009-05-05T06:34:00.000-05:00

- QUOTE OF THE WEEK -
"Annoy, tiny blonde one, annoy like the wind!"
- Who said this?

- QUESTION OF THE DAY -
What's your favorite noir?

Oculine 15, 31.

2009-05-04T11:09:00.000-05:00

- So I have been singularly inconsistent about posting lately. That's okay, because I've been working very hard on my writing and looking for a job, and spring cleaning and watching the first season of Veronica Mars when I've got time. Although my apartment is not as clean as I would like it to be, and it's hard not to slip behind. Here's the last week.

On Thursday I got up and went to see the endodontist; since I had my tooth removed a couple weeks ago, I had to get a root canal on an adjacent molar. Well the molar was so cracked and tormented that the dentist had to send me to a specialist; she was worried that otherwise the tooth would shatter. It had to be Thursday, because that was the last day of April, and so, the last day I was covered under my plan at Northwestern. The experience went fine, but I can't get a crown until I resume insurance coverage in June. Ever since then my tooth has been hurting so much that I'm popping ibuprofen all day, and the pain wakes me up in the middle of the night each night. I think it has to get better with time, though. I rewarded myself with McDonalds breakfast on the way home, but my lip was too numb to drink the coffee effectively.

On Friday I worked and researched all day, and then met up with Barb to go and see Lisa's play. We walked from my place down to Roscoe... it's such a nice feeling, at this time of year, when Chicago weather officially shifts into warm mode for good. It's been in the fifties and sixties pretty consistently. I don't think it's going to get cold again. After Alas and Lisa's music (she sounds great accompanied by cello, by the way) we went out to Pick Me Up. I knew that there was a scav party down in Hyde Park, but I didn't want to spend ninety minutes on the train after midnight. Too much trouble. I went home and called it a night.

I slept in on Saturday and spent the entire evening finishing up some transcribing I was doing for Jenny. Then, in a fit of consumerism, I went out to the supermarket and got two bags of tortilla chips and two cartons of sherbet ice cream. I was in an odd mood. I tried to start revising Post-Modern Prometheus, but I wasn't focused enough. Maybe this week.

On Sunday I skipped church (bad me!) but worked on Urbantasm, did some spring cleaning out on the back porch, and went out for a wonderful pasta dinner fixed by Reinhardt. It was Barb, her friend Aron, Reinhardt, the wife, and myself. We stopped at the Hopleaf afterwards. It was a late night. We went right to bed. And that is that!

- NEWS OF THE WEEK -
Chicago Sun-Times: Young visitors get scoop on zoos poop.

- QUESTION OF THE DAY -
How was your weekend?

Oculine 10, 31.

2009-04-29T09:13:00.000-05:00

- PICTURE OF THE WEEK -

What is this?

- QUESTION OF THE DAY -
What kind of fruit are you craving right now?

Oculine 8, 31.

2009-04-27T09:02:00.000-05:00

- Entering week three of no job... distinguishing features between weeks and weekends begin to disintegrate. The weekend is when my friends are more available. And the week is when I can watch Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (but hopefully fall asleep before Poker After Dark, which is usually so boring that it keeps me up). Life isn't bad, though... I'm getting nibbles and interest. I'm sure that the job search will begin getting old at some point, but it hasn't yet.

This weekend I continued my job search. I also did a lot of research for my novel Urbantasm, including reading about the formation of minerals, and the early modern era in Western Europe, the colonial Americas, and Romania.

Coolest passage I encountered in my research:

The seventeenth century is considered the golden age of old Romanian literature. The remarkable works of literature and art during this century are manifestations of a Baroque sensitivity in the sense formulated by Edgar Papu: "The expression of a highly elevated reality, continuously under the threat of being crushed by stronger forces. As a result of this tragic situation, Baroque existence adopts a defensive position of an altogether special kind, defence through an explosion of splendor as a substitute for real power. Hence, the glorious splendor of the Baroque style."

- NEWS OF THE WEEK -
I'm sure you've already heard plenty about Swine Flu, so I'll link to something silly instead.
Telegraph.co.uk: Moustachioed horse evades barbers.

- QUESTION OF THE DAY -
How often to health and safety concerns inform your decision of whether and where to travel?

Event: David Letterman, the trenchant observer.

2009-04-24T11:00:00.000-05:00

Monologue, as captured via the New York Times Laugh Lines blog:

How about those Somali pirates? So they bring one of the pirates to New York City so they can put him on trial. But he will also be doing some other stuff. Like, tomorrow, he’s going to ring the opening bell at the stock exchange. Friday he’ll be on “Rachel Ray” making Clams Mogadishu, and he will be the starting pitcher for the Yankees. Monday, he’ll be on the “Today” show singing “I Dream a Dream.”And Monday night, he’ll be sleeping with Madonna. That’s the full schedule.

But the Justice Department says they want to make an example of this Somali pirate guy. And I thought, really? In terms of making an example, I don’t think you can do much better than shooting the other three guys in the head.

And oh, speaking of things like that, classified documents that were recently released show that Dick Cheney, who a couple of years ago went nuts and shot a guy, ordered Khalid Shaikh Mohammed waterboarded 183 times. When do you suppose Mohammed caught on and said, "I know this is just horse play"?

But anyway, they waterboarded Mohammed 183 times, and thanks to the information they got from this guy, via waterboarding, we were able to capture bin Laden.

President Obama has kind of a happier outlook on torture. He says instead of waterboarding terrorists, he’s going to put them in dunk tanks.

But Dick Cheney is now criticizing President Obama, and he’s saying that his recent actions around the world are "disturbing" and "not helpful." Yeah, yeah, things were so much better when Cheney was president, weren’t they?

Do you remember Eliot Spitzer, who was governor of New York? He had to stop being the governor of New York because he enjoyed prostitutes. Well, now, he’s talking about running again for governor in 2010. He also said he’s looking forward to spending less time with his family.

Concept: Late Night with Jimmy Fallon

2009-04-24T09:59:00.000-05:00

I've enjoyed the show so far. I think that there was a shared tactical understanding from the beginning that he couldn't outweird Conan, and Letterman and Leno have the cynical and the everyman roles down, respectively. Why not put a "nice guy" on Late Night? That's their strategy, I think.

In the first month or so, the interviews have been maybe a little fluffy, more than needed. The show's greatest genius has been in the audience interactive bit, for example, the "Shared Experience" bits where everyone discovered a snuggie under their seat (which seemingly subsequently turned the entire studio into a deni of Jedis). I also think that the show has made a varied and versatile use of the Roots, their band. It's the first time a hip hop outfit has been used in this capacity on any major late night talk show, and the Roots have the musical chops for the job.

I think that the Jimmy Fallon show will continue to grow on me the longer I watch it. But that doesn't mean I won't be looking forward to O'Brien's reemergence on the Tonight Show. And of course, props to Leno for all those free shows he's been doing for the unemployed.

Body: The Litany of Mary

2009-04-24T09:52:00.000-05:00

When praying the Litany of Mary, I've always been puzzled by the abundance of titles attributed to Mary. Many are evocative, but some seem almost inexplicable: "tower of ivory" and "seat of wisdom" and so forth. This week I was lucky enough to come across this website on the Litany, which was evidently composed during the Middle Ages at the Holy House of Loreto.

The site is interesting because it links to a separate page on each of the Marian metaphors, usually in the form of a prayer, which helps to put these fascinating titles into context.

I'll have to watch out. It could become a time vacuum.

Oculine 5, 09.

2009-04-24T09:47:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, in addition to work/organization stuff, I went to the zoo with Sam for his birthday, and played with the gorillas. Later, the wife and I went to National Address with Sky. Otherwise, a pretty sedate day.

- PLACE OF THE WEEK -
Greece.

- QUESTION OF THE DAY -
Do you tend to follow recipes closely, or do you change them up?

Oculine 4, 09.

2009-04-23T11:37:00.000-05:00

- LINK OF THE WEEK -
Winston Churchill Backed by Band of the Future.

- QUESTION OF THE DAY -
Which historical figure would you like to vocoderize?

Event: Shrinking Flint.

2009-04-22T08:44:00.000-05:00

NOTE: I am a member of the Flint Diaspora. I care about my hometown and continue to follow news there. These are the opinions and observations of a former resident.

This is the closest thing to positive press I've ever seen Flint get from the New York Times. Which is ironic, because the situation prompting such a drastic response is almost relentlessly bleak.

The picture today, however, is somewhat different.

Shrinking any city is a complicated process, with few examples of implementation and accommodated by few tested processes. Everyone, homeowners, businesses, municipal government, and civic institutions, is taking a risk. And yet, as Karina Pallagst so eloquently argues in the article, "some cities just don’t have a choice." The idea of shrinking Flint confronts a drastic problem with a solution that is both ambitious and rigorous in scope.

Shrinking a city is also a test of leadership. It will be politically unpopular among residents dislocated, and also within more stable areas forced to quickly recalibrate their balance of services and residents. It will require delicate negotiation and collaboration between unions, city workers, residents, and government. Not least of all, the initial expenditure will be massive. Even after clearing away as much red-tape as possible, the process of razing and deregulating square miles of a dense city will take a lot of money. Taxpayers will have to be patient with officials as savings slowly accrue over time.

I've often argued that a lack of municipal coordination was one of Flint's biggest disadvantages. Unlike the withdrawal of GM, it is undoubtedly the largest factor that residents have a power to directly change. The city's decline in the last fifty years was inevitable, but with government and local institutions providing a united front, a lot of the tragedy of that time could have been averted. Instead, we've seen infighting, corruption, and a rhetoric that has racially divided the city at precisely the time when citizens needed to come together.

In 2002, after the recall of Mayor Woodrow Stanley, I noticed that Darnell Earley (formerly the City Administrator) seemed to do a better than competent job of reconciling the many difficulties of his office. He certainly excelled the Stanley, Rutherford, and Williamson administrations of recent history. Now there would appear to be a similar pragmatism coming from acting mayor Michael Brown. What is it about Flint that the best leaders are those who don't actively want the job? Is it a lack of political ambitions, or an immunity against reprisals?

At any rate, given the power vested in the Land Bank, the recent cohesion of the business community, and meaningful investments by higher education in the city, Flint's leadership may have finally come of age.

If so, it isn't a moment too soon... in fact, it's a few decades too late.

But the New York Times article conveys both the gravity of the problem and the potential for innovation, even progress, to spring from definite misfortunes.

Diary: Phenology: April 2 - 22, 2009.

2009-04-22T07:58:00.000-05:00

I haven't been consistent in updating here, but minus my time in England I have been in Chicago. The first part of the month was uniformly chilly, typically in the thirties and forties. More recently, it's vacillated between chill and rainy days and humid and warm days. I love this vacillation, and the trees and plants are waking up daily.

I have noticed almost innumerable strains of birdsong when I walk down the street, often fighting over mating opportunities.

Even more innumerable squirrels.

Sap moving in a few trees.

My flowers, which I think are geraniums, are bright and pink in the windows.

The ice is gone from Lake Michigan (but certainly not from the North Atlantic).

Diary: England and Aftermath, Part 2 of 2.

2009-04-22T07:10:00.000-05:00

Here's what I've been doing since then.

The wife picked me up at the airport last Wednesday evening (wow, has it already been a week?) and we zipped home via the Mexican restaurant La Gallo Bravo. That night we started a nature film that we were too tired to finish.

The next day I was all ready to begin my job search take a few days off. I know, I know, early to bed, early to rise... in my defense I spent a lot of that time spring cleaning, and I haven't really had a "break" (aside from the occasional three day weekend) since I moved back to Chicago in December 2007. And even then, my "vacation" was spent moving from New York. So I felt I deserved this. Thursday's accomplishment? I beat Super Mario World. I also ate some delicious Peruvian ceviche.

The next few days were filled with more video games, a lot more cleaning, gearing up for the big job search, nature documentaries, RPGs... but the high point for me was the nightwalk. I don't get to take these very often anymore, or at least I haven't made the time, but during much of my life taking walks at night was a way for me to resolve important issues and dilemmas.

In this case, not just the job search, but to take a personal inventory of my life and objectives. I will soon be published, and in the last year I have written for two periodicals and have published an arts journal. I worked in a skilled position requiring specialized knowledge. My resume has changed drastically in the last several months even. On the other hand, losing my job in this economy is an obvious up-front loss of personal financial viability. Fortunately, the wife is very impressive on this front. The long and short of it is that I'm in a position conducive to taking well-considered profitable risks, and I will spend the next several months doing so.

It was nice to come to this conclusion walking among the factories and foundries of Chicago's West Side, and then north along Lincoln Park West and Sheridan Road until I got home as the sun came up. I walked maybe thirteen miles, and every mile was beautiful.

This picture was from Google Earth (Panoramio).

Of course, I slept through most of Saturday.

On Sunday, I went to a reading salon that Lisa set up and read from Hungry Rats. It seemed to go over well, but the comment that particularly delighted me was, "wow, that was gory." The story wears shoes like "noir" and "experimental prose," but it's also meant to be the literary equivalent of a slasher film. Shocking gratuitousness is both easier and difficult in words than in literal images. But I digress...

During the last two days, I've launched my job search in earnest. I spent a lot of Monday at Borders researching the job market and focusing my objective. I want to get back into the writing/publishing industry if possible, ideally as a teacher or as a freelance editor. There are discrete paths that can be taken toward these goals with my qualifications, and I've chosen several that seem the most reasonable. I'll keep you posted.

In other news, I've been as busy as I usually am (sleeping six hours a night, roughly). I'm still doing some writing for the Chi·Town Daily News, spring cleaning. I have five months to wrap up my research for Urbantasm, so I'm doing a lot of reading for that... right now, background on the rivalry between Ford and Nissan (Halberstam's The Reckoning, which is a tome of a book), and the sixth volume of the University of Chicago's Readings in Western Civilization series: Early Modern Europe: Crisis of Authority.

Oculine 3, 09.

2009-04-22T07:06:00.000-05:00

- PICTURE OF THE WEEK -

Where is this?

- QUESTION OF THE DAY -
Okay, who is the most famous person you've met if we now define "met" as "stood in a room with"?

Diary: England and Aftermath, Part 1 of 2.

2009-04-21T09:19:00.000-05:00

The week before last was my last week of work at Northwestern. It was bittersweet, but each day we too busy to really stop and reflect. There were a lot of loose ends I wanted to tie up before heading out. Each of the doctors came and spoke with me personally, and Vicki and I went out to lunch with Pam, Steve, Andrea, and Dr. Rosenberg. On the last day, Mary brought in cookies she had baked and many of the techs brought in sweets and cake. I stayed until almost seven, cleaning and clearing off my desk.

This all coincided with Holy Week. So this week had started after Palm Sunday at St. Ita's and the wife and I also went out for Holy Thursday at St. Gertrude's. On Friday, I got to church, flush from my last day of work, and a little bit hungry. But it was a beautiful service. (As it turns out, I would miss the actual Easter vigil and service.) I walked the half-hour home afterward, luxuriating in that April spring coldness. I decided, however, to skip out on Sam and Bill's disco set. I had really wanted to attend, but it was already late and I had to pack to go abroad.

I put on good music and Dead Man's Chest and was up packing and cleaning until 4 in the morning. At 8 I got up and after downing a breakfast of bananas and fried eggs, I was out the door (a little late), and (after doubling back to check the apartment, because I was inexplicably afraid I had left the gas burner on) cut across the cemetery and grabbed the Larry bus. And I made it to the plane alright.

The next day was weird; eastward flights usually were. I flew to Washington Dulles over Zanesville, hopped on a flight to London Heathrow. I sat next to a very kind Saudi man who was very talkative, despite the fact that together we knew about 20 words in common. He spent half of his vacation with his son in Manchester, and the other half in a Saudi village with his wife. "She has seven children," he told me. I was too fidgety to sleep, even though I'd deliberately avoided coffee and bought a whiskey to make me drowsy. The sun had risen over London Heathrow when we landed, and I found it to be one of the most unerringly complicated airports I've ever been in. Also, the authorities threatened to not stamp my passport because I didn't know the address of Catherine's parents where I was staying. Despite all of this, I made my connecting flight to Manchester and was met there by mom, dad, Cody, and Catherine's mom, Laura.

When we got to their home in Lymm, I finally fell asleep for a few hours, but got up in time for a delicious chicken dinner, and a walk/tour of the area. And this is when I rediscovered my camera!

Evidently this is a very old canal that helped to connect the early Manchester cotton works to the seaports at Liverpool. Lymm is a small town and this canal (filled with a ton of brightly colored shotgun boats) at one point crosses a road as the road crosses a stream. This is known as vertical variation.

Dad and Cody.

Caitlin and Catherine.

Who says stocks are falling all over the world?

Lymm.

Later that night, after some discussion of logistics, Catherine drove me with Caitlin and Cody to their flat just north of the city where I would be staying for the next two nights. We were hungry, and ordered a pizza, and talked about the things you talk about when you only see your siblings in person twice a year.

The next day I was too busy/distracted to take photos. After a slow start we got out to meet up for the rehearsal lunch. Sadly, my wife, grandma, and aunt were unable to attend, but my mom, dad, and sister were all there. On Catherine's side, there was her mom, dad, sister and her husband, and several other relatives. One of these, John, had a seemingly encyclopedic knowledge of recent rock, and he gave me a mix of Muse. Cody and Catherine also gave me a CD by Elbow, which I've listened to several times since I got back.

We stopped off at the house in Lymm for some early opening-of gifts, then headed out to the Unitarian Church for some rehearsing. Auspicious signs.

In the last decade, my family has tripled in size.

Soon they will be able to say that the sun never sets on us.

Practicing for the first dance.

I told Catherine that I like this photo a lot.

After the rehearsal Cody and I headed back to his place alone. I took him out for Indian food near his place, and we stayed up for awhile. He didn't seem nervous... yet!

The next day was a slow flurry of activity. Slow because I think everyone was a little groggy, but flurryish because, of course, you're always waiting for the other shoe to drop. In my case, I made three obnoxious mistakes. The first (and worst) was that I had never worn a shirt with "French cuffs" before. So while I just thought it was a nice British fashion to wear your shirt sleeves a full inch below the suit, in fact, I looked like a big doofus until my dad pointed this out to me after the service. If anyone was upset about this, they didn't say so. Second, I left my jacket (and passport) at Cody's place. Third, the next day, I left my rented suit in the hotel room.

Given the chaos I've seen at any number of weddings (including a little at my own) this one went pretty smoothly. The flowers my mom had put together were absolutely gorgeous, the bridesmaid dresses were sharp and graceful, and I've never seen so many wonderful hats. Catherine was enchanting in his white and flower-embroidered dress. The church which (in a fit of Unitarianism) had clear panes was absolutely open and flooded with light. Cody and Catherine are both musicians, so the music was as full and significant as the vows and sermon. Also, my brother got a little vaklempt during the vows, but that's okay. His voice carried the depth of affection for Catherine, and her owns vows were reassuring and filled with their own care.

There's that saying about dogs resembling their owners, and vice versa.

I think we could say something similar about weddings.

This one was eclectic despite its modesty.

After the ceremony, we went outside for photos, grabbed a few drinks in the social hall, and headed out to the reception. Cody and Catherine had selected a museum restaurant; it occupied the seventh floor of a glass-enclosed triangular-shaped building and offered a magnificent vista of the Manchester skyline as it came to life and light. We were just a block away from the giant Ferris wheel, and my dad got some great photos. In addition to wine and hors d’oeuvres, there was killer swing music, a chocolate cake and a "cheese cake" (as in a stack of cheese wheels), a lot of talk about accents and travel, and Ian and I made speeches. To brag a little, while our speeches were very different in style, I think they complimented each other very nicely.

After this we went back to the hotel we were staying that night. I was exhausted. I checked my email and went to bed, though I stayed up for an hour to watch a documentary about a man who deliberately strands himself out on mountaintops and tries not to die of hypothermia.

The next morning, things had slowed down just enough for me to remember my camera again, and take some pictures.

I love the guy in the background, who has that expression on his face that says, "damn, I'm photogenic!"

I was able to collect my jacket from Cody's, and with the help of Laura, I was able to return my suit. The whole family took me to the airport as a group which, while it might seem a small gesture, really meant a lot to me.

Flying west - into the sunset - is the opposite of flying east. It feels like the most natural thing in the world, and I end up feeling more, not less, rejuvenated. The plane, interestingly, flew literally right over Flint on its nonstop trip from London to Chicago. Figure that. Growing up I never thought of the jets passing overhead as crossing a third of the planet.

Here are some pictures of Canada's glaciers, Michigan's fields, and Chicago's sprawl. From the air. As for my impressions of England, I'll have to wait until I go back to visit. Everything was much to fast to notice much except for the left-hand traffic.

Oculine 2, 09.

2009-04-21T07:42:00.000-05:00

I'll be posting pictures of my trip to England, and its aftermath, shortly... it's too involved for a daily post.

- QUOTE OF THE WEEK -
"A lot of movies are about life, mine are like a slice of cake."
- Who said this?

- QUESTION OF THE DAY -
Who is the most famous person you've ever met (let's define "meet" not as "stood in a room with" but "actively conversed with?"

Oneidine 21, 31.

2009-04-10T09:27:00.000-05:00

- Today the wife is off to Michigan and tomorrow I'm off to Manchester (England) for my brother's wedding. Needless to say, I won't be posting until I get home, but when I do, I'll have plenty of pictures.

- PLACE OF THE WEEK -
Manchester.

- QUESTION OF THE DAY -
Which exotic new place would you like to visit this weekend?

Oneidine 20, 31.

2009-04-09T08:05:00.000-05:00

LOST was amazing last night. I stuck around for the series premiere of the Unusuals, which was also fun.

- LINK OF THE WEEK -
LOST.

- QUESTION OF THE DAY -
If you were the mastermind behind a weekly serial drama, what title would you choose? What would it be about?

Oneidine 19, 31.

2009-04-08T08:10:00.000-05:00

- Last night, all kinds of busy-ness. After work I had Tuesday Funk which was a large crowd of about 20. Then I met Amber, Joe, and Carmen at a piano bar. And got home by eleven. Today I am exhausted.

- PLACE OF THE WEEK -

Where is this?

- QUESTION OF THE DAY -
Do you have a personal journal for yourself?

Oneidine 18, 31.

2009-04-07T08:58:00.000-05:00

Note: I will be able to blog each day this week, but because so much is happening at once don't expect much of substance. I can manage quotes and questions, though.

- QUOTE OF THE WEEK -
"If you're not big enough to lose, you're not big enough to win."
Who said this?

- QUESTION OF THE DAY -
What's your favorite kind of ape?

Concept: Detroit Video

2009-04-06T19:01:00.000-05:00

from ESPN: Detroit In The Spotlight

It plays a bit like a Bing campaign ad, but otherwise it's pretty cool. Magic Johnson and Mitch Albom are eloquent as always.

Oneidine 17, 31.

2009-04-06T13:27:00.000-05:00

I'll have to be brief, although this has been a very eventful week. I'll give the bad news first, and finish with the good. First, today I had a tooth pulled, and I'm going to need some work done on my mouth. That sucks. Second, my job has been eliminated due to departmental reorganization. As of next week, I'm unemployed and looking for work!

There is a silver lining though... perhaps this will be an opportunity to find work in the publishing or editing fields, which is really where my education and background would place me anyway. However, I loved working for the Northwestern Lasik Physicians, and if a similar position opened up elsewhere, I would happily consider it. Also, the wife started her job this week, and my brother and his wonderful fiancee will be getting married next week. I'll be traveling out to England to join them for the ceremony and reception.

The best news is that after years of writing and submitting work, I'm finally going to be published. My short story "Dash Against Darkness" will be published in the upcoming issue of the Santa Clara Review, a publication based out of the Santa Clara University in California. Believe I'll be shouting from the rooftops when that happens!

What a strange Spring.

- NEWS OF THE WEEK -
CNNhealth.com: Beward the perils of caffeine withdrawal.

- QUESTION OF THE DAY -
Where do you think I should apply for a job?

Concept: New Link: "Reef Diaries"

2009-04-04T13:28:00.000-05:00

Reef Diaries is the very young blog maintained by Red Mangrove Eco Adventures in Belize. My wife and I loved our honeymoon in Belize, and this sort of nature-oriented blog is always refreshing. What I think is so cool about Reef Diaries in particular is the thoughtful and circumspect treatment of the bull shark issue posted less than a month after the blog was launched. The writers treated the subject with seriousness and showed great respect for their readers; this is the only approach that allows those of us living in (for example) inland, cold, freshwater climes to appreciate the difficulties and challenges of the sensitive reef ecosystem.

I have added Reef Diaries to the sidebar, and you should check it out.

Oneidine 14, 31.

2009-04-03T08:19:00.000-05:00

- PLACE OF THE WEEK -
Kazakhstan.

- QUESTION OF THE DAY -
Which do you better resemble temperamentally, a chimpanzee or a baboon?

Concept: New Link of the Week.

2009-04-02T13:01:00.000-05:00

This article by the Chicago Reader is awesome! It almost makes me pardon their superficial one-sided canning of the 2016 Olympics bid. Also, I directed a play that went up in the Trumbullplex.

Event: A hundred Wagoner loads of thoughts will not pay a single ounce of debt.

2009-04-02T11:16:00.000-05:00

"Here’s the part I find odd. Now, the government didn’t ask any of those Wall Street C.E.O.s to quit. Isn’t that kind of a double standard? I mean, if you build Cadillacs, you’re screwed. But if your chauffeur drives a Cadillac, you’re O.K. Whew!"
- Jay Leno

Two or three days ago, I forget what it was, the news was packed dense with details on the travails of Chrysler and GM, and most of this focused on the ouster of General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner. The Danziger cartoon above encapsulates some of the ironies of the current situation; a career-long affiliation and decade plus executive tenor coupled with an inability to move product. In fact, this is a constant theme in the books I've been reading on the American auto industry: the inability of the executive financial class to reconcile public demand with a speculative market. For a half-century their strategy has favored the latter, and so their decline in actual market share was foreseen and, once started, ongoing.

What I've noticed in the Free Press and among many Michigan politicians (and, surprisingly, late night talk show hosts who usually like to castigate Detroit and the Big Three) is the increasing tendency to contrast the disparity between the treatment of Detroit and that of the New York financial firms. After all, who has been ousted there? There's no question that, at least where the corporate class is concerned, bankers have retained more autonomy and have received less scrutiny than manufacturers, despite the fact that the mistakes made in the financial sector have been by far the worse.

But the ideas and contradictions embodied in the Leno quote are where things really start to get interesting. It prefers conflation by industry over separation by class, which runs somewhat counter to reality. It's actually a pretty funny joke, but not quite correct when we get down to things. Those who "build Cadillacs," that is, the autoworkers and management, are likely to be subject to forced contract renegotiations in the upcoming weeks and months -- in bankruptsy court if not out of it -- and this is where the force of contrast is a source of dark humor. But then Leno also assumed this slight applies to Wagoner personally: "Now, the government didn’t ask any of those Wall Street C.E.O.s to quit." The former GM CEO isn't hurting these days. He received something of a $20 million severance package, so in the words of our president he's "doing fine," he'll "still be affluent." To put it a little differently, in the Danziger cartoon, our sympathies ought to be with the bedraggled dealer who has worked hard to push his unwanted vehicles, not with a hapless and besuited Wagoner.

I don't share the sympathy of the press for GM's former CEO; he had a decade worth of chances, and while he tried harder than some of his predecessors, he didn't try hard enough. The disparity in the government's response is telling, and has more to do with politics than with our economic health. This week is important as the G20 summit will determine whether we will continue to push our economies through aggressive spending (per the US) or whether we will instead pursue aggressive international financial regulation (per the EU). The fact that this is only posed as an either/or proposition shows how unequal governing forces have been to the economic crisis so far. The fact is, we need both.

In the U.S. where we are enacting broad spending programs and will need to enact more, there is no injustice or impropriety in the government's demands on Chrysler and GM. However, we need to see more oversight of the financial sector, and when it comes, it should be in terms as strong as and stronger than the chastisement the auto industry has received this week.

BODY: Soothe, by the Smashing Pumpkins.

2009-04-02T09:45:00.000-05:00

I think that for many of us the lyrics to Soothe by the Smashing Pumpkins represents the possibility, if not the ideal, of what we can realistically hope for when it comes to dealing with ugly situations in the past and present. Look at these words as applying not to a person, but to an event or a situation.

Hold me, hold me again. Hold me, hold me again.
When will it start to sway?
When will it start to almost break you?
Hold me, hold me again. Hold me, hold me again.

I don't miss you, and I don't wish you love,
but I forgive you and I don't wish you away, away, away.
It'll almost break you, almost take you,
almost break you, almost break you up.

Oneidine 13, 31.

2009-04-02T08:52:00.000-05:00

- LINK OF THE WEEK -
New York Times: Micheline Maynard.

- QUESTION OF THE DAY -
Other than your own, which country on your continent (for Australia and New Zealand, consider Oceania) most intrigues you?

Diary: Phenology: March 26 - April 1, 2009.

2009-04-01T11:43:00.000-05:00

In the last week, I have noticed how cold and snowy it got again! Snow, as a surprise... a sure sign that it's almost spring.

Oneidine 11, 31.

2009-03-31T08:51:00.000-05:00

Yesterday: Oog.

- QUOTE OF THE WEEK -
"If we are all in agreement on the decision - then I propose we postpone further discussion of this matter until our next meeting to give ourselves time to develop disagreement and perhaps gain some understanding of what the decision is all about."
Who said this, and why was it said?

- QUESTION OF THE DAY -
Also, what does it mean today?