Myth is the public dream, and dream is the private myth. - Joseph Campbell

Today's post is one of my periodic poems coming to the surface.  It is about

Neglect

Neglect is an old acquaintance of mine.

I don't intend to ignore.  It is not by design.

It just happens.  None of us wants to undermine

A productive and satisfying life, carefully aligned.

Neglect is an old habit that has big bottom-line

Consequences for me.  I don't mean to whine.

It just happens.  I complain as if it's my byline.

Habituated, my life's time measure gets sidelined.

Neglect is an old friend, if truth be clearly defined.

I use it expecting the "good fairy" will come to shine

On my enterprise.  It just happens.  Completion declined,

My project, neglected again by my good fairy, lies supine.

Neglect is an old way of avoiding the task disinclined

By my lazy self.  The job's too big, gigantic its outline.

That just happens to be inaccurate, however.  Defined

By neglect, the job grew by its distortion of deadlines.

Neglect is an old form of not having  enough spine.

Courage is facing the hard thing.  I shouldn't resign.

It just happens.  Nothing is ever as hard as in my mind.

Stepping up to the task, just starting can be my baseline.

Copyright by Carol Gee

February 24, 2008

Technorati tags: poetry thoughts personal

My topical post today at South by Southwest and The Reaction is about  politics.

Three decades ago -- During the mid 1970s I was enrolled in a community college in a technical specialization program.  It focused on educational media technology.  That is where I learned how to produce slide presentations, as we called them.  And my college classroom is where I also learned "Murphy's Law: 'Everything that can possibly go wrong will go wrong.'"  (See Murphy's Laws website).  To quote from Wikipedia:

Murphy's law emerged in its modern form no later than 1952, as an epigraph to a mountaineering book by Jack Sack, who described it as an "ancient mountaineering adage": Anything that can possibly go wrong, does.[4]Yale Book of Quotations editor Fred R. Shapiro has shown that it was also in 1952 that the adage first was called "Murphy's law," in a book by Anne Roe, quoting an unnamed physicist: There were a number of particularly delightful incidents. There is, for example, the physicist who introduced me to one of my favorite "laws," which he described as "Murphy's law or the fourth law of thermodynamics" (actually there were only three last I heard) which states: "If anything can go wrong it will."[5]

Disappointment -- How many times have you attended a workshop, a conference, a classroom's guest speaker's talk, or a lecture where the presenter included a slide show?  And how many times has the slide part not gone well?  Murphy's Law and slide presentations are very well acquainted old friends.  They often meet in the auditorium or the classroom.

These insidious  incidents can include such things as a slide being in upside-down or backwards, the slides and voice track being out of sync, or the slides refusing to show themselves at all.  Perhaps the slide projector is not there as ordered.   Or the slide tray could have been accidentally left at the office or at home.  Other mishaps might include the room being to brightly lit from uncovered windows, the audience coming back from lunch surfeited and drowsy.  I get anxious just thinking about Murphy's law and slide shows.

Murphy's laws and corollaries of technology include these Top 10 that apply.  To quote:

1. Technology is dominated by those who manage what they do not understand. (4)
2. The attention span of a computer [slide projector] is only as long as it electrical cord. (7)
3. A meeting is an event at which the minutes are kept and the hours are lost. (14)
4. A failure will not appear till a unit has passed final inspection. (16)
5. A complex system that works is invariably found to have evolved from a simple system that works. (30)
6. Under the most rigorously controlled conditions of pressure, temperature, volume, humidity, and other variables the organism [audiovisual] will do as it damn well pleases. (34)
7. When all else fails, read the instructions. (44)
8. If there is a possibility of several things going wrong the one that will cause the most damage will be the one to go wrong. (45)
9. Build a system that even a fool can use and only a fool will want to use it. (49)
10. The degree of technical competence is inversely proportional to the level of management. (50)

The next century -- Now we have "slide shows" on the Internet. They are a lot of fun to put together and not nearly as subject to Murphy's Law as when I was first learning.  Blogger recently introduced their version of one for us to use in our blogs: "Show off your photos with the new SlideShow."  My post on the subject, "Eye Candy: Slide Shows," has gotten a lot of interest from readers.

SlideShow -- My Southwest Blogger site has its own SlideShow.  In the right column of the page is, "Hollingsworth Wildlife."   It originated from my Picasa web albums.  It still seems to be working, amazingly well.  Enjoy!

Myth is the public dream, and dream is the private myth. - Joseph Campbell

My topical post today at South by Southwest and The Reaction is about politics.

Technorati tags: technology blogger murphy's law life photography

In our dreams we often return over and over to a few or several familiar themes.  People who journal about their dreams will find it easier to become aware of the main themes of their dreams.  Ask yourself, "What are the recurrent themes in my dreams?"

Our favorite bloggers often post on the same theme, one that is their preference about which to write.  "Margaret" at Margaret's Wanderings makes and posts  "Postcards" such as these.  Ask yourself, "What are the recurrent themes about which my "bookmarks" write?"

Returning to the theme of "Themes,"  ask yourself, "what is the thread, the unifying element, that runs through  my dreams, my on-line reading and my day to day activities?"  The answers to this question will enhance your self-awareness.  And you will be more "mindful" as a result.

Myth is the public dream, and dream is the private myth. - Joseph Campbell

My topical post today at South by Southwest and The Reaction is about the mainstream media.

Technorati tags: philosophy life thoughts

The challenge is to keep that creativity available to our children as we raise them, or as we become adults ourselves.  Socialization is a powerful force of influence with creativity.  It can either make or break one's creative spirit.

The trick is to socialize in ways that do not stifle creativity.  Messages of blind conformity, too many arbitrary rules, or too much reliance on past history all can reduce creativity along life's way.

Creativity can be preserved and enhanced in many ways.  Montessori  recommended a stimulant rich environment for children's learning.  Good parenting that respects the rights of children is essential.  Children who come to a good understanding of cause-and-effect or consequences can retain creativity at the same time.

Enhancing creativity in adults also includes an enriched environment, lifelong learning, self respect that includes standing up for one's own rights to have individual ideas or unique vision, a willingness to break the rules and a commitment to taking regular time for creative activities.

People's societal environments mold creativity towards good or ill.  Poverty, repressive governments, conflict and war, all diminish the creative spirit.  Such influences have been the subject of widespread academic inquiry.  The following article, from Indiana University's "Research and Creative Activity Magazine, is titled "A childhood of their own" by Karen Grooms. To quote:

[William] Corsaro, Indiana University Bloomington’s Robert H. Shaffer Class of 1967 Endowed Professor of Sociology, worries about the status of children in U.S. society and in many parts of the world. Throughout his career, he’s studied the effects on young people of a dispiriting list of social problems including poverty, violence, child abuse and neglect, high divorce rates, teen pregnancy, social stratification and segregation, and the underdeveloped social consciences of many policymakers. He is hopeful, however, that research such as his, based on children’s own perspectives, will lead to greater understanding of what children need to enjoy safer, healthier, more positive childhoods.. . . Corsaro cites [...] examples of children’s special ways of creating and preserving their own culture. “Small children are very good at improvisation,” he says. “With little effort, a stapler becomes a truck; a book becomes a monster. Most children also act out rituals of danger and rescue—imagining floods, tidal waves, fires, being lost, and so on. Or they take turns pretending to be monsters. They also take great satisfaction in subtly challenging adult rules. For example, in a day-care center where children officially were not allowed to bring possessions from home, I found the children would bring very small possessions—things that could be hidden in their pockets—and play with them in groups.”. . . In the developing world, Corsaro detects some promising signs such as reductions in child mortality, some diseases, and malnutrition. Such successes are a foundation for the future, he observes: “Cultures that invest in their children, that shelter, nourish, and challenge their young, that hold high expectations for their future generations, will survive and flourish.”

In conclusion I would also echo Corsaro's principles as they might be applied to adults.  An egalitarian society that settles conflicts in creative ways is much preferable to one that imposes harsh or arbitrary rules, enforces class difference and is determined to be very hierarchical.  In the United States disadvantaged adults are either isolated in their social systems or they are supported.   A good basic education for everyone is a right, not a privilege of economic standing.  Discouraging all kinds of discrimination makes people more free to be creative.  Societies that put a "floor" under their most vulnerable citizens will encourage more creativity amongst all citizens.   That is what I call a win/win for everyone.

Myth is the public dream, and dream is the private myth. - Joseph Campbell

My topical post today at South by Southwest and The Reaction is about  the legacy of the current administration.

Technorati tags: creativity education society

Cross-posted at Making Good Mondays

SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST means different things to different people.  Right now -- with a Google search -- lots of people have been referred to my other blog's web address, South by Southwest. I would guess that over the years it has gotten me a few more readers.  It has also probably been frustrating to people who had no interest in reading a Progressive political blog such as mine at S/SW.  My blog's heading reads,

IDEAS & REFLECTIONS - my observations and commentary on people and events that affect the USA or the rest of the world.

Google did it -- When anyone does a Google search on "South by Southwest," my blog always comes up on page 1. It is a very interesting confusion.  This year is because it has been early registration time (1/11) for the "South x  Southwest Festival and Conference," set for March 7-16 2008 in Austin, Texas.  Here is what they were actually looking for.  To quote from the S x SW websites:

SXSW InteractiveMarch 7-11, 2008

  The SXSW Interactive Festival features five days of exciting panel content and amazing parties.  Attracting digital creatives as well as visionary technology entrepreneurs, the event celebrates the best minds and the brightest personalities of emerging technology.

SXSW FilmMarch 7-15, 2008

“While SXSW has been able to leverage its laid-back 'tude and its lead-up to the musical festival as much as its film lineup, the fest has continually been honing in on taking itself to the next level.” – Ian Mohr, Variety, March 2007

SXSW MusicMarch 12-16, 2008

   Each March SXSW Music presents new opportunities to make your vision reality. Musicians and the companies they work with have used SXSW as a cost-effective way to promote themselves since 1987.

Today I salute you, the South x Southwest Festival and Conference.  It will be the "happening" place to be here in Texas in March.  Early registration is closed, but you will have no trouble registering for the events.

My topical post today at South by Southwest and The Reaction is about  the constitution.

Technorati tags: news entertainment south by southwest     southxsouthwest texas blogging google music technology

Myth is the public dream, and dream is the private myth. - Joseph Campbell

This week's political news carried stories about how Senator Clinton "found her voice" just prior to the New Hampshire primary election.  Watching it happen on television was an amazing experience for me, and, no doubt, many other women.  It is something to celebrate when a woman finds her voice.  Today's post is a synthesis of several ideas that I have had on hold for a while.  It is centered around the idea of what women can say that will make a difference.

Women who do not have their own voices are sometimes lost through no fault of their own.  Women who do not feel free to be creative sometimes lose that outlet.  And women's primary roles in families sometimes keeps them from having the more public voice of a wider social circle.

Women save things, but sometimes cannot save themselves -- In earlier times it was often women who helped to establish the schools, libraries, parks and gardens of a town or city.  And women have often been at the forefront of cities' historic preservation efforts.  The following link is about how cities preserve their treasures: Preservation is the Art of the City.  It is a celebration of the home town of a friend who died.  I happened across this link when searching for info about a friend from my college days, M.F.  I will not use her name our of respect.  My friend had bipolar disorder.  She eventually became homeless and then a murder victim.  She did not get the treatment that might have saved her life.  I post today to honor her memory, because M. could not find her voice to ask for help in the haze of mental illness.  But I know it was not the fault of her home town.

Women create things, but sometimes do not know how creative they can be -- Creativity is often stifled by rules imposed by so-called experts, by their own perfectionism or just by the demands of getting through very difficult life circumstances.  I took the following from About.com: Psychology "Boosting Creativity." It was written by Kendra Van Wagner; the piece is undated, probably written in 2007.  It begins,

According to cognitive psychologist Robert J. Sternberg, creativity can be broadly defined as "...the process of producing something that is both original and worthwhile" (2003). Creativity is all about finding new ways of solving problems and approaching situations. This isn't a skill restricted to artists, musicians or writers; it is a useful skill for people from all walks of life. If you've ever wanted to boost your creativity, these tips can help.

What is so valuable  in the creativity article follows.  I encourage you to click on  the link.  It is a well done list of 20 tips that are very useful.  For example:

7. Make Time for Creativity -You won't be able to develop your creative talents if you don't make time for them. Schedule some time each week to concentrate on some type of creative project.

Women are members of families - Sometimes they are heads of families, or members of blended families.  My favorite literary blogger is Maud Newton.  I first saw her years ago when I was just discovering the world of blogging.  Her dark hair, dark rimmed glasses and quirky manner were engaging. She also had Texas roots but is now living in New York, I believe.  One of the things I have enjoyed over my years of reading her blog has been the way she honored her family.  She regularly featured members of her family via a set of posts under the category of "Weekend Ancestry."  Here is her recent photo.  I recommend Maud Newton for her unique voice.

Women who do not have their own voices must be encouraged as they grow up.  Women who do not feel free to be creative sometimes find an outlet later in life.  And women's primary roles in families can get into better balance, if women pay attention and ask for what they need from their families and from their wider social circle.

Today, I celebrate women who've found their own voices.

Links: Technorati tags: politics texas women creativity psychology

My topical post today at South by Southwest and The Reaction is about news and politics.

Cross-posted at Making Good Mondays

(Yum Yum image from FreeFoto.com)

I do so because of my early experiences with a good 35mm camera.  I bought it in the 1970's just before I took two semesters of college photography classes.  I had everything eventually. . . a bunch of different focal length lenses, a variety of filters, a good flash unit, a light box, a viewing lupe, a tripod, a slide projector and portable screen and a darkroom.  And I produced a fairly good number of slide shows, beginning with one I did as a class project. I found a mail-in photo processing place on the west coast that would send me a free 36 exposure roll of 35mm film, a set of mounted slides and a roll of negatives with each order.  I was in heaven.  I used that service for years.  They are now out of business, another casualty of the digital age.

Slides -- I have a trunk full of old 35mm slides that I hope to scan and store digitally some day.  (Another of my oft repeated New Year's resolutions).  Do you know what I mean by the photographic term, slides?  Philip Guo explained it well in "Integrity in Digital Photography:"  To quote:

Slide, Film, and Digital PhotographyWhat does a photograph truly look like after you have taken it?In traditional slide photography, the slide that results from the development process is your final photograph. Take it or leave it. That's it. That is why professionals love to use slides. There is a certain satisfaction in knowing that if your picture looks good when it is projected onto the wall, then you did everything perfectly - you chose the correct film, you set the right f-stop and shutter speed, and you composed the shot optimally. However, if the picture is a bit darker or lighter than you intended, but you like everything else about it, then you're flat out of luck. There ain't nothing you can do. Slide photography is costly (and thus mostly reserved for pros) because there is no forgiveness for even minor mistakes.

Film photography is a bit more forgiving since photographs are developed into negatives before being printed onto photo paper. Through proper darkroom techniques, a photographer can control the brightness, contrast, and color balance of a photograph. He can even make specific changes to certain areas of a photograph in a process known as dodging and burning. The great landscape photographer Ansel Adams is well-known for his remarkable ability to dodge and burn photos in the darkroom. However, most people do not have the time nor skill to custom process every photo in the darkroom. We take our film to photo labs where a computer decides what the best darkroom processing settings are for our photographs. A picture that is a bit darker or lighter than intended can be fixed in the darkroom to a certain extent. As a result, just because a photograph looks great as a print does not mean that you did everything perfectly. The photo lab computer probably fixed some of your minor mistakes to give you a good-looking print.

All of the photos on the Internet are in digital format, and many of them were originally taken as slide or film photographs. They were scanned in using either a conventional flatbed scanner or using a more expensive (but higher-quality) film scanner that scans negatives instead of prints.

Google hosts all but one of my blog websites.  The photos or clipart that I use to illustrate my blog posts at South by Southwest and at this blog, Making Good Mondays, were all stored on Picasa Web Albums, Google's great feature.  It is where I have made all my Internet slide shows available to the public.  I have also added or embedded several "slide shows" on the pages of my blogs.  Here's a list:

South by Southwest slide shows --

• "john & karen hollingsworth wildlife photos" is a series of lovely nature photos for the National Wildlife Refuge System.  It is located about midway in the right sidebar column.
• "millennium slide show" is political commentary about the Bush administration.  It has captions, and is located at the bottom left of the page.

Making Good Mondays slide shows --

• "Life is Good" is my  little photo montage celebrating life.  It leads the left column.
• "Spacey Shots" is another captioned photo essay recognizing my "space junky" side.  It is also at the bottom right of my posting section.

The end of this story illustrates why slide shows have such a warm place in my heart.  That first slide show I produced back in the mid-1970's eventually let me into my late-blooming career as a Social Worker.  Though I eventually landed in my counseling office after reaching the age of 50, I never lost my love for imagery.  And here I am again 30 years later doing slide shows, but in a much more magical way.

My New Year's resolution is to scan my old slides, and only then buy myself a digital camera for being such a good girl.

Myth is the public dream, and dream is the private myth. - Joseph Campbell

My topical post today at South by Southwest and The Reaction is about a war casualty.

Technorati tags: art and photography blogging  hobbies photography blogger google picasa

Cross-posted at Making Good Mondays

• About the Stairway
• All About Mondays
• About - Dreams
• 250 on Fish
• All about Frogs

It is well known that non verbal communication is very important, as it judges your likeability. But it seems that the most important of all signals pass THROUGH facial expressions. The facial expressions are much more important than any other body language posture.

My topical post today at South by Southwest and The Reaction is about  civil liberties.

Technorati tags: rocks best loss daily diary life personal thoughts

My topical post today at South by Southwest and The Reaction is about  the environment.

Technorati tags: environment climate change poetry

Cross-posted at Making Good Mondays

On that happy note, Merry Christmas!" to all who love Christmas Eve almost as much as Christmas Day.

My topical post today at South by Southwest and The Reaction is about  a Christmas controversy.

Technorati tags: best culture current affairs entertainment food life parties and nightlife travel and places

• A Christmas memory from our youngest daughter (now 40+): "Going to Granny U.'s . . . the sound of the hardwood floors and the smells from the kitchen; exploring the little "house" behind the back porch."
• This same daughter's Favorite Vacation: "Train trip to Wyoming" (from Texas). And she remembers "Carol's cooking: Mayo in everything!"
• A memory from our oldest son was called The strangest thing Carol ever cooked:  I quote, "High protein milk shakes at midnight for all us kids. She had watched a TV program on starving children and wanted to make sure we had plenty of nutritionsls. This also falls under the category of the most nutritional thing Carol ever cooked." (Having a house full of four children under the age of six and a traveling husband can make one just a little crazy at times).
• Our oldest daughters vacation memory: ". . . long stretches between stops."
• Or youngest son's funniest thing I remember happening to me was, to quote,"Getting dressed in my good clothes, getting myself all muddy, then washing my shoes by standing in the toilet." (Remember what I said about getting a little crazy)?

My topical post today at South by Southwest and The Reaction is about the 2008 election.

Technorati tags: holidays diary family christmas

Cross-posted at Making Good Mondays

My scrap-blogs: cross-posted at Making Good Mondays. My topical post today at South by Southwest and The Reaction is about politics in the Southwest.  Ten of us have a social network website is called "scrap paper."  You are welcome to join us.

Technorati tags: art and photography blogs culture diary family fun hobbies home life personal poetry thoughts

The sensors are much like the low-fuel indicators in an automobile. As the shuttle rockets toward space, the sensors monitor the amount of liquid hydrogen in the external tank and automatically shut off the main engines when the tank is empty.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

   If the sensors aren't working, the engine could shut down before the shuttle reaches orbit, forcing Atlantis to make a dangerous emergency landing.

The crew of STS-122 will be heading back to Houston on Sunday evening but before leaving they expressed their gratitude for the effort to launch."We want to thank everyone who worked so hard to get us into space this launch window," the astronauts said in a statement. "We had support teams working around the clock at KSC, JSC, and numerous sites in Europe. We were ready to fly, but understand that these types of technical challenges are part of the space program. We hope everyone gets some well-deserved rest, and we will be back to try again when the vehicle is ready to fly."

Myth is the public dream, and dream is the private myth. - Joseph Campbell

My topical post today at South by Southwest and The Reaction is about  our health care system.

Technorati tags: NASA space program

Handling stress -- For many of us the holidays are extremely stressful. Here, from the Mental Health Association,  are some things you can do to make better Mondays this December.  It is a list I have used for years:

1. Talk it out.
2. Work it off.
3. Watch what you eat.
4. Get plenty of rest.
5. Take a break.
6. Do something for others.
7. Make a change.
8. Don't depend on drugs or alcohol.
9. Accept the things you cannot change.
10. Don't try to be perfect.
11. Be a good problem solver.

References:

• "Holiday Stress Relief" from WebMD
• "Six ways to beat holiday stress" from The Happy Guy
• "Time Management Strategies For Holiday Stress Relief" from Small Business of Canada

My topical post today at South by Southwest and The Reaction is about being truthful.

Technorati tags: stress health holidays family

For your Thursday enjoyment, boys and girls, "All about frogs" should begin with what Wikipedia says about this strange and abundant creature.  The illustration of this post came to me in one of those ubiquitous forwarded e-mails from a friend.  As with all such fun photos, the origins of it are lost in the mists of cyber time, so giving proper credit is not possible.

Girls, did you marry a prince or a frog?  It also impossible to remember when I first learned that princes can turn into frogs.  The question first came up for me as a child when my mother read me this wonderful fairy tale: " The Frog Prince " Classic Fairy Tale, Illustrated by Gustaf Tenggren.  The reality is, I have been married to a prince for over 50 years.

To me Kermit, The Frog was always a real person, most closely associated with his friend Jim Hensen until Hensen's death in 1990.    He is also associated with fellow Muppet, Miss Piggie.  I never exactly understood their relationship but it is quite adorably memorable.  Kermit's 50th Anniversary year was in 2005.

Frogs must have good love lives.  When I was raising our children I loved to hear Tennessee Ernie Ford sing"Froggy Went a Courtin ' ."    It was also recorded by, of all people, folk singer Bob Dylan.  It has 19 verses, beginning with this familiar one:

1. Frog went a-courtin', and he did ride, Uh-huh,Frog went a-courtin', and he did ride, Uh-huh,Frog went a-courtin', and he did ride.With a sword and a pistol by his side, Uh-huh.

• The ability to cause or cure hallucinations
• The ability to detect poison
• The ability to improve fertility

All about frogs -- Did you know that frogs set up their own website over ten years ago? In conclusion this post should end in the spirit which it began, with "Weird Frog Facts."

My topical post today at South by Southwest and The Reaction is about "Arrested Developments."

Technorati tags: blog culture fun thoughts animals

The rhyme that wrote itself

"They Called Her the Lady" was its name.

Full blown in my sorrow new thoughts came.

My first poem.  Its writing helps to proclaim

The rage we now feel.

"She was the lady," a scared witness proclaimed.

"They called her the lady" was the new frame

To contain all the words that now inflame

My new poet's feelings.

The courtroom was stuffy and filled end to end.

We're at the trial, feeling we have to attend.

Their kin and buddies, and her very dear friends

Who still feel it's so very unreal.

This lady, this woman, this friend of ours,

Was senselessly murdered. It was after-hours.

For her purse alone, the coward over-powered

Her as she sat at the wheel.

How could Linda's life -- her name I reclaim --

Have been taken by the  small bullet that maimed?

Royalty she was not, nor was her good heart's fame

Widespread.  Our mentor, she was ideal.

The rhyme that wrote itself, the healing flame,

Seared over my sorrow.  After years I've reclaimed

My peace with it.  After death it is never the same;

Know the poet's pen can help to heal.

Technorati tags: poetry creative writing

Columbus to fly and EU to deploy satellite network

The real event is targeted for Dec. 6 on a flight to the International Space Station, but astronauts and flight managers and contractors routinely run through a complete practice to get ready for a liftoff.. . . The Columbus laboratory the crew will ferry to and install on the International Space Station is already bolted into the shuttle's cargo bay. Columbus is ESA's primary contribution to the space station. It will be part of a dedicated suite of science modules at the heart of the station.

That will be the actual beginning of another big dream for ESA, the European Space Agency. ESA astronauts, Hans Schlegel and Leopold Eyharts will be part of the STS-122 crew. Schlegel has not been in space since 1993. To quote from his bio:Schlegel --

NASA SPACE FLIGHT EXPERIENCE:04/26/93 -05/06/93 -- Served as payload specialist on STS-55 aboard Space Shuttle Columbia. Nearly 90 experiments were conducted during the German-sponsored Spacelab D-2 mission to investigate life sciences, material sciences, physics, robotics, astronomy, and the Earth and its atmosphere.

LÉOPOLD EYHARTS (General, French Air Force)ESA Astronaut (Mission Specialist) .

To quote from his bio:

NASA EXPERIENCE:In August 1998, Léopold Eyharts was assigned by the European Space Agency to train at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. As part of the international astronauts of the 1998 class, he attended Astronaut Candidate Training which included orientation briefings and tours, numerous scientific and technical briefings, intensive instruction in Shuttle and International Space Station systems, physiological training and ground school to prepare for T-38 flight training, as well as learning water and wilderness survival techniques. Initially assigned to the Astronaut Office Space Station Operations Branch. Léopold Eyharts' assignments include serving as a flight engineer to the Expedition-12 and Expedition-13 back-up crews.

According to ESA, Columbus will, to quote:

Undertake a European experiment programmeLéopold Eyharts and Hans Schlegel will undertake a number of experiments for the European scientific community, including runs of the first experiments to be carried out in the experiment facilities in Columbus. Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko will carry out additional European experiments. Eyharts will also carry out a number of educational activities.The first experiments to be conducted using the experiment facilities inside ColumbusThe experiments requiring the weightless environment inside the ISS are in the areas of human physiology and biology, fluid science and radiation dosimetry. The experiments that need exposure to the open space environment outside the ISS cover a number of scientific areas including exobiology, solar science and material science, in addition to various monitoring and sensor technologies.

Space satellite communication

The other big space news from Europe happened just last week.  Officials have decided to use unspent public funds to help deploy Eaurope's own "GPS" network.  To quote from the story:"EU agrees public funding for satellite project" By Paul Taylor and Jeff Mason.  Fri Nov 23, 5:31 PM ET  Yahoo! News  (Reuters) -

European Union nations clinched a deal late on Friday to fund an ambitious satellite navigation project to rival the U.S. Global Positioning System using unspent cash from the EU budget, a presidency spokesman said.The Portuguese spokesman said budget ministers agreed to finance a 2.4 billion euro ($3.55 billion) shortfall in start-up costs of the Galileo system by redeploying unspent money for farm subsidies and competitiveness projects.

The world's continued peaceful use of space is something to give us all comfort and hope in times that are marred by conflict and killing.  It is with pleasure that we can take this space news from Europe.  To them we can say, "Congratulations!" on many jobs well done.

European Space Agency links of interest:

1. Columbus Mission
2. Arctic ice animation
3. Earth's true colours

Technorati tags: space program news European Union EU NASA ESA European Space Agency Columbus

My topical post today is at South by Southwest and The Reaction.

Cross-posted at Making Good Mondays

• For the turkey it might mean a vegetarian menu.  Ten million Butterball turkeys will be consumed on thanksgiving, however.
• For homeless people it might mean a traditional turkey dinner, served by smiling volunteers.  The National Law Center estimates that 3.5 million people will experience homelessness in any given year.
• For families it might mean a peaceful atmosphere around the table.  For our family it means a gathering of extended family of 20+ people in a small house.  But from years of experience we know that it will be noisy and crowded , but peaceful.  For that we feel blessed.
• For families in distress it might mean just being together and safe.  We never know how lucky we are until we ourselves, or someone we know gets into such distress.
• For workers it might mean the next day off.  For people in retail it is a long shot.  So while your are fighting the shopping crowds, smile as your your clerk checks you out.  You are escaping; the clerks  have to be there with the crowds.
• For travelers it might mean good weather or a hybrid vehicle or both.  Be compassionate towards your fellow travelers, and we at home wish you a safe trip.
• For energy companies it might mean people choosing to make that long drive -- "anyway," or students choosing to become engineers because that will be where the jobs are.  For the rest of us, it means we can try to have a green Thanksgiving," showing compassion for our beleaguered environment.
• For merchants it might mean a safe source of toys for tomorrow's "Black Friday" throngs.  The transition away from the Chinese market will be wrenching for everyone.
• For the families of soldiers in harm's way it might mean no uniformed officials at the front door.  Please save a huge helping of compassion for our war fighters and their families this Thanksgiving.

Technorati tags: thanksgiving news news and politics holidays

My address is "The World."

These are the places where my writing is regularly posted:

Primary blog -- My topical or political posts are at South by Southwest.    My first post (that actually worked) was titled "Frustration galore," (3/30/05), indicating I was a novice only learning by doing.  The S/SW post I'll write today will be number 808.

Creative blog -- at CarolGee-Southwest Blogger. My first post was very short and titled, "My craft is launched," (11/16/05).  I quote from it, "This is the first entry of my new creative writing blog.  It will consist of social comments, memoirs, poetry or creative writings.  It will be very experimental with no expectations for readership."  Today's post will be number 219 in that series.  It will be a duplicate cross-posted from Making Good Mondays.

Group blog -- I am an assistant editor at The Reaction, is (Canadian) Michael J.W. Stickings' current events/political blog.  He asked me to become a guest blogger there this summer.  My  first post, "An Idea Whose Time has Come," (6/7/07) was cross-posted from S/SW.

Two "Big" blogs -- Several times a week I cross-post to TPMCafe's diary section where I have been a member for over two years (first post 6/29/05).  This blog seems to have the best discussions around.  And the pace and politics fit my style.  Occasionally I write a "Diary" post at DailyKos, but it is rare because our composers (Blogger and whatever Kos uses) are not very compatible.  Also it moves too fast for me.Since cross-posting is usually what I do, I either have to strip the code out of my original or write from scratch.  I first posted there in November of 2005.  Also DailyKos seems to lack the centrist blend at TPMCafe.  This (8/6/07) Washington Post article lays out that possibility more fully:  Diversity is lacking" in YearlyKos world.

Social Network -- A few weeks ago a blog friend of mine set up a little group blog -- scrap paper -- for anyone interested.  This is how she introduced it:  "scrap paper is wonderful for creativity. no worries about filling space or making mistakes. welcome." We post photos and art, videos and music, write blogs, and have forum discussions, nothing very heavy or political.  One of our most active discussions has been about coffee.

These are a few of my blogging tools:

• The graph you see is by SiteMeter.  It refers to the origins of my readers on a given day, and how many people read my blogs.
• I use ScribeFire for noting post ideas, saving links and drafting.
• Freeze.com is one of my image resources as this link of 1/10/07 illustrates.
• Technorati tags: tagging helps get more readers.
• Wikipedia's Search Engine Optimization made it possible for one of my political posts to make the front page of a Google search:  "Fifty Ways to Understand the Protect America Act." 9/28/07.
• Tool to Strip HTML tags from copy.
• New York Times Link Generator, so your NYT links will stay alive.

Technorati tags: blogging

Technorati tags: blog

Technorati tags: blogs

Technorati tags: internet

Technorati tags: writing