Hoarded Ordinaries -- "Of a certain age," by Lorianne DiSabato

Last year when I celebrated the Big 4-0, I wasn’t sure how middle age would suit me. “Middle age,” in fact, sounded like a term I couldn’t imagine applying to myself. Given the fact that it feels like I finally finished graduate school only yesterday, it seems physically impossible that I could be over forty. But, it really is true when they say time speeds up as you age, for my long-awaited graduation from graduate school happened over five years ago, not yesterday. My twenties were the decade I married and moved to New England; my thirties were the decade I finally finished school, divorced, and came into my own; and my forties are…now. I’m not exactly sure how I got here so fast, but here I am, waking up to “middle age.”

And therein lies the kicker: it turns out I actually like being “middle aged.” I don’t necessarily like that term, as it sounds middling and mediocre: not quite young and not quite old, just a nondescript mishmash of This and That. I don’t like the way that many folks utter the term “middle aged” as if it were an epithet synonymous with “out-of-touch and stuck-in-a rut” rather than “a period of life when you’re still active enough to do fun things and wise enough to enjoy them sensibly.” But despite my initial indecision about how I’d like being 40, I’m finding that being a “woman of a certain age” really suits me. I’m beginning to think, in fact, that I’ve been a 40-something-year-old all along, and only now am I behaving in a way that is age-appropriate. Finally, the sprinkling of gray hair that looked so strange when I started getting it in high school looks entirely appropriate on a 40-something head: a badge of wisdom rather than an unfortunate genetic inheritance.

via hoardedordinaries.wordpress.com

I have been following Lorianne, Dr. DeSabato, for as long as I have known about the blogosphere. . . five years now, actually. She is smart, articulate and a wonderful photographer. It is not often you will find someone who is so good at both words and pictures. She teaches college students in the little town of Keene, New Hampshire. I urge you to visit her blog often, for a treat will most always await you.

Posted via web from Southwest Postings

RIP-reclusive & iconoclastic author JD Salinger. Slate Mag. has links to good articles from their archives.

Those of us who are readers probably remember at what age we first read Salinger's "Catcher In the Rye." It we were really young we might have felt a tinge of guilt at the time. I am an unabashed admirer of his writing and of his rebellion. He was much more of a rebel than I could ever manage, so I enjoyed him vicariously. I am sorry he was alone so much, but I understand that it was his rightful choice to be so. I feel very sure that the news that comes out after his death will be interesting in its own way. http://amplify.com/u/1mu3

Posted via web from Southwest Postings

FT.com / Media - Twitter plans technology to stop censorship

Twitter, the internet social network, is developing technology that it hopes will prevent the Chinese and Iranian governments from being able to censor its users.

Evan Williams, the chief executive and co-founder of Twitter, which has been credited with helping anti-government protesters in Iran to organise resistance, said Twitter was working on ”interesting hacks” to stop any blocking by foreign governments.

Mr Williams, speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, said he admired Google for confronting the Chinese government over censorship and cyber-attacks on its service, but it was too small a company to take a similar stand.

”We are partially blocked in China and other places and we were in Iran as well. The most productive way to fight that is not by trying to engage China and other governments whose very being is against what we are about. I am hopeful there are technological ways around these barriers,” he said.

Mr Williams said Twitter had an advantage in evading government censors from operating as a network of internet and mobile applications, rather than as a single website. ”Twitter is a network that is accessed in thousands of ways,” he said.

via ft.com

The contrast between the differing approaches, of two favorite U.S. service providers, to Chinese censorship is apparent. Google confronts the government directly. Twitter will depend on technology. Very interesting

Posted via web from Southwest Postings

This and that for your linking pleasure --

Image via Wikipedia

"Texas shouldn’t sit out education race#," is from The Fort Worth Star Telegram (1/22/10).

"Bedford photographer's cool shot receives hot reviews on National Geographic site#," is from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram (1/22/10).

"Edwards admits he fathered videographer's child#," is from Yahoo! News (1/21/10). Jon's message "The rethugs will try to capitalize on this event, but they should remember those who live in glass houses should not throw stones!"

"If Your Kids Are Awake, They’re Probably Online~," is from The New York Times (1/20/10).

"FCC says you can't use that wireless mic any more~," is from Signs of the Times (1/19/10).

"Filmmaker: Movie about balloon dad could clear him#," is from Yahoo! News (1/17/10).

"A Bad First Draft#," is from The Weekly Standard at Yahoo! News (1/4/10).  Regards the past decade.

Hat Tip Key: Regular contributors of links to leads are Betmo*, Diane~ and Jon#.

Blogs: My news and political blog is at South by Southwest. My general purpose/southwest focus blog is at Southwest Progressive. And Carol Gee - Online Universe is the all-in-one home page for my websites.

Related articles by Zemanta:

• No Child Left Unpolluted In Texas: School Absence Rates Linked To Air Quality

Posted via email from Behind These Links

Handy-Dandy: "Del.icio.us" Tips and Links

Del-icio-us+tips+links.doc (20 KB)
View this on posterous

A blog post for use by the novice and an experienced hand alike.

Posted via web from Make Good Mondays

The coolest and clearest

An image from the Sinks Canyon near Lander, Wyoming (summer 2009). The "river" is the Popo Aggie.

Posted via web from Make Good Mondays

Haiti's earthquake: In depth news, commentary and analysis from the Financial Times

UN appeals for $560m in Haiti aid

The United Nations is making an appeal for $562m to alleviate the catastrophe wreaked by the earthquake that struck Haiti - Jan 16 2010

Struggle to keep Haiti survivors alive

‘Minimal’ conditions at the UN makeshift hospital to treat survivors of Tuesday’s earthquake are indicative of the desperate struggle to help the millions of affected people against mounting chaos - Jan 15 2010

Editorial Comment: Tropical nightmare

Haiti needs to focus on state and capacity-building, in everything from justice to education. This requires external help to guarantee security and the rule of law - Jan 15 2010

Agencies struggle to secure transport link

A secure overland route into Haiti was last night emerging as a key priority after the destruction of the capital’s port and the seizing-up of its airport made direct transport into the country all but impossible - Jan 15 2010

Frustration over Haiti aid bottlenecks

Survivors of Haiti’s massive earthquake became increasingly angry after spending a third night in the open with little sign of aid being distributed beyond the congested international airport - Jan 15 2010

Rightwingers fail to dent US donations

Private US aid groups said that donations for disaster relief in Haiti could break all records in spite – or perhaps partly because – of a series of discouraging comments by rightwing figures. - Jan 15 2010

Rush of corporate aid to Haiti

Some of the world’s largest companies have pledged millions of dollars of cash and food supplies towards the Haiti relief effort as international aid agencies scramble to cope with the mounting humanitarian crisis - Jan 15 2010

via ft.com

It will soon be a week since the earthquake devastated the tiny nation of Haiti. The death toll could hit six figures. And it has been a horrific tragedy.
The depth of devastation is clear to our senses. We see and hear what has happened to the people and the buildings. Our other senses (taste, smell and touch) are mercifully spared the details of Haitian suffering via TV. But the surviving people of Haiti, and all those who have come to help or stayed to help, have not been spared. All that awareness of trauma will remain with them for a long long time.
They will need compassionate understanding from we who observe from afar. And they will need our help. Give if you can. Pray if you are inclined. Be tolerant if possible of those who do not get the rescue right. All of us are but fallible and fragile human beings, all in this little life boat together.

Posted via web from Southwest Postings

The Color of Green

Image via Wikipedia

This is a choice that produces a smaller "carbon footprint."  It is the responsible path for responsible citizens.  It is the example children deserve from parents leaving their life legacies.

Being green is an impossible state for the animal kingdom, just as being animal is impossible for life in the plant kingdom.  It is a partnership that needs tending because plants and animals depend on humans to see to the future.

Living green is marked by dozens of small choices we make every day, every year, every lifetime. 

I hope you have a lovely day. 

Look in the sidebar to find the little tool that ascertains your carbon footprint.

See "Behind the Links." for further info on this subject.
Blogs: My news and political blog is at South by Southwest. My general purpose/southwest focus blog is at Southwest Progressive. And Carol Gee - Online Universe is the all-in-one home page for my websites.

Russia to try to build a nuclear powered spacecraft

Tweeted from Space Fellowship: (1/11/10)."Russia earmarks $17 mln to research nuclear-propelled spacecraft http://su.pr/31wQew"

MOSCOW, (RIA Novosti) – The Russian government will allocate 500 million rubles ($16.7 million) in 2010 on a project to build a spaceship with a nuclear engine.

In line with an order issued by the Cabinet on December 29, a total of 430 million rubles ($14.4 mln) will be given to the Rosatom state nuclear corporation, and the rest to the Federal Space Agency Roscosmos.

Roscosmos head Anatoly Perminov said in late December that Russia would launch research into nuclear engines for spaceships this year.

He said nuclear engines for spaceships were a very promising area and should be created to make flights to Mars and other planets. . .

This a very interesting development.  It makes perfect sense for them to compete in this way.  And we are all in this together now, and deeply interdependent.

Posted via email from Make Good Mondays

NASA Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer snaps its first picture | Space News from The Huntsville Times - al.com

By Shelby G. Spires

January 06, 2010, 2:28PM

View full size

NASAThis is a photograph of the Carina constellation taken by NASA's Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer. 

This infrared snapshot of a region in the constellation Carina near the Milky Way was taken shortly after NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, ejected its cover, according to NASA. 

The "first-light" picture shows thousands of stars and covers an area three times the size of the moon. WISE will take more than a million similar pictures covering the whole sky. . .

via blog.al.com

That NASA calls this a "snapshot" is an understatement. Reread the size described: "three times the size of the moon."
The ability to do this sort of thing still amazes me and contributes to my remaining an incurable "space junkie."

Posted via web from Southwest Postings

When do they celebrate New Year's on the International Space Station? - By Brian Palmer - Slate Magazine

When do the astronauts pop open the champagne?

By Brian Palmer Posted Thursday, Dec. 31, 2009, at 11:49 AM ET

Party favors

Last week a Russian spacecraft ferried three astronauts to the International Space Station to join the two who had been manning it since October. The crew took Christmas Day off to share meals together. What about celebrating New Year's—how do you pick the right moment when you're hurtling through time zones at 17,500 miles per hour?

Just wait until midnight, Greenwich Mean Time. By convention, the astronauts set their clocks to GMT, also known as Coordinated Universal Time. . .

While the astronauts acknowledge New Year's Day, they won't have much of a celebration. They'll all stop working in the evening to gather around a communal table, with their feet in toeholds and the plates velcroed to the table, and share a meal of foods from their three countries of origin—the United States, Russia, and Japan. . . They might also take some time to video conference with their families, but most of the day will be like any other.

Space station holidays are established at the beginning of each mission and depend on the nationalities of the crew members. The current crew will recognize New Year's Day, Russian Orthodox Christmas, and Russian Defender of the Fatherland Day. The next two missions—set to begin in March and May 2010—will celebrate Showa Day (honoring the late Japanese Emperor Hirohito), Russian Victory Day, U.S. Independence Day, and Labor Day. . .

A space station New Year's Eve party might be kind of lame, anyway. There's no alcohol allowed on board, and sparkling cider isn't an option, either. . . There's no easy way for the astronauts to view the Times Square festivities, either. Mission Control occasionally uses its data stream to relay important television programming, such as a presidential announcement or the Army-Navy football game, but Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve has never been viewed in space.

The eats wouldn't be too bad, though. In late 2008, the space shuttle Endeavor brought a second refrigerator to the station—the original refrigerator is used only for science experiments—giving the astronauts some time to consume fresh foods. An unmanned Russian spacecraft brings fresh produce and other delicacies every two or three months. The Christmas menu included turkey, cornbread dressing, yams, and green beans.

via slate.com

There is cause to celebrate the long record of peaceful international cooperation in space. Take a minute today, the first of the new decade, to honor those men and women from many different countries who risked their lives to push the boundaries of the human experience beyond earth. It is a good thing for every soul on earth.

Posted via web from Southwest Postings