Knock on Wood
I probably shouldn't say this but I'm going to anyways as I think it's always important to recognize some of the great accomplishments that we all make from time to time. As most readers know, I have a long, long history of depression in which I've never really been able to make a run of things and turn the corner on being unhappy. Until now that is. For whatever reason, I'm not only content with the way things are going, I'm actually extremely happy about life and the opportunities that continue to come my way. Life seems great and I can't begin to tell you how wonderful that all feels. I think I'll go find a tree and give it a little knock but for some reason, I'm not quite sure I'll need it.
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Zip, Zap, Zip
Believe it or not, I still haven't come close to finishing electrolysis. Most of my face is clear but my neck, well, it still has a ways to go. All of the dark hairs are pretty much gone but from time to time, a few seem to come back and by the end of a day, well, it's sometimes noticeable. So, I'll be visiting Norma this week for as many sessions as I can afford. I'm lucky, she charges me half of what her other clients pay. but I just don't have time to go during the school year and thus, I'm still not finished. I have no idea if others feel this way or not, but for me, electrolysis has been the biggest pain in the ass when it comes to transition. I hate it and want nothing more than to be finished, but alas, it's the gift that keeps on giving.
Some Thoughts On the News Of The Day
It's been a pretty eventful day for those who follow the news. The day broke with more stories about South Carolina governor Mark Sanford and has ended with the surprising death of pop sensation Michael Jackson. As if that weren't enough, former Charlie's Angels star and 70's era pinup Farrah Fawcett passed away after a long battle with cancer. Add in the continued unrest in Iran, the ongoing health care reform debate and the shitty economy and well, it's quite a day. With that, here are some thoughts on what's transpired...
1. I admit to being endlessly fascinated by the ongoing Mark Sanford affair and all it's tawdry details. First, I think it's important to remember that Sandford has been an endless proponent of so called "family values". He's fought the good fight in keeping the sanctity of marriage safe from teh gays and as a result, he was rumoured to be a contentder for the 2012 Republican presidential primary. He can of course kiss that goodbye, his political career is toast and I'll be surprised if he makes it to this time next week. Now I could really care less about his affair, that's between him and his wife, but lying to his staff, his family and most of all, the people of the Palmetto state, well, that's just wrong. Leaving the country without transfering power to the Lt. Governor is just crazy and as a result, he is clearly unfit to serve.
That being said, I do have to give him some props. Unlike his fellow cheaters, he didn't trot out his wife to stand by his side (though that was more her doing), he owned up to what he did (of course, had he not been caught at the airport, this would be a non story) and most of all, didn't throw the other woman under the bus. Unlike former New York governor Elliot Spitzer of New York, Louisiana Senator David Vitter or Nevada Senator John Ensign, his affair wasn't for kicks or getting his rocks off, he seems to have simply fallen in love with another woman.
So, despite my disdain for his politics and character, I really do hope that Sanford follows his heart and does what he needs to do. His political career is done, his marriage is hoplessly broken and staying in a marriage for the kids is just bad parenting. In short, trying to hang on as governor and work on a marriage that won't work with a wife he no longer loves is something that just won't work. He needs to go back to the airport and buiy a one way ticket to Argentina and be with the woman he loves. Bonnie Fuller at Huffington Post said it best- Go ahead and resign already and marry the woman you love.
Now, could someone please explain to me how someone as weird, boring and batshit crazy as Sanford ended up with the incredibly hot women? I mean seriously, his wife is a classic beauty and this Maria, well, she's freaking hot, hot, hot.
Maria, Maria, you are so damn hot!
2. Farrah Fawcett- For any boy who grew up during the 1970's, Farrah Fawcett was the love of their lives. Her swimsuit poster most likely hung on the wall of many a boys bedroom wall and most never missed an episode of Charlies Angles. As for me, well, I too watched the show religiously, never missing an episode. Of course I wasn't one of those boys fascinated by Fawcett, no, I spent my time wanting to be Jacalyn Smith's character Kelly. My hair was long back then and I used to imitate the way she would flip her hair out of her face. I wanted more than anything to be her and Fawcett was just an afterthought. Fawcett got pretty weird over the years but it's always sad to see someone go through what she did. Her long battle with cancer was courageous. She fought it hard but in the end, it got the best of her and another icon of my childhood disappeared today.
3. Michael Jackson- I took a nap this afternoon and when I awoke and turned on the computer I was stunned to see the headline staring back at me. The King of Pop died today of what looks to be cardiac arrest. Jackson was becoming a star when my mother was young and by the time I reached middle school in the 80's, Jackson was quickly becoming the biggest star in the world. His Thriller album dominated the airwaves and his videos became must see for fans everywhere. Sadly, Jackson will probably be remembered more for his off the charts behavior, especially his fondness for young boys and his creepy behavior with his own children. Still, there is no denying that he was an epic entertainer and I suppose that no one will ever afain rise to the level of stardom that Jackson enjoyed.
1. I admit to being endlessly fascinated by the ongoing Mark Sanford affair and all it's tawdry details. First, I think it's important to remember that Sandford has been an endless proponent of so called "family values". He's fought the good fight in keeping the sanctity of marriage safe from teh gays and as a result, he was rumoured to be a contentder for the 2012 Republican presidential primary. He can of course kiss that goodbye, his political career is toast and I'll be surprised if he makes it to this time next week. Now I could really care less about his affair, that's between him and his wife, but lying to his staff, his family and most of all, the people of the Palmetto state, well, that's just wrong. Leaving the country without transfering power to the Lt. Governor is just crazy and as a result, he is clearly unfit to serve.
That being said, I do have to give him some props. Unlike his fellow cheaters, he didn't trot out his wife to stand by his side (though that was more her doing), he owned up to what he did (of course, had he not been caught at the airport, this would be a non story) and most of all, didn't throw the other woman under the bus. Unlike former New York governor Elliot Spitzer of New York, Louisiana Senator David Vitter or Nevada Senator John Ensign, his affair wasn't for kicks or getting his rocks off, he seems to have simply fallen in love with another woman.
So, despite my disdain for his politics and character, I really do hope that Sanford follows his heart and does what he needs to do. His political career is done, his marriage is hoplessly broken and staying in a marriage for the kids is just bad parenting. In short, trying to hang on as governor and work on a marriage that won't work with a wife he no longer loves is something that just won't work. He needs to go back to the airport and buiy a one way ticket to Argentina and be with the woman he loves. Bonnie Fuller at Huffington Post said it best- Go ahead and resign already and marry the woman you love.
Now, could someone please explain to me how someone as weird, boring and batshit crazy as Sanford ended up with the incredibly hot women? I mean seriously, his wife is a classic beauty and this Maria, well, she's freaking hot, hot, hot.
Maria, Maria, you are so damn hot!
2. Farrah Fawcett- For any boy who grew up during the 1970's, Farrah Fawcett was the love of their lives. Her swimsuit poster most likely hung on the wall of many a boys bedroom wall and most never missed an episode of Charlies Angles. As for me, well, I too watched the show religiously, never missing an episode. Of course I wasn't one of those boys fascinated by Fawcett, no, I spent my time wanting to be Jacalyn Smith's character Kelly. My hair was long back then and I used to imitate the way she would flip her hair out of her face. I wanted more than anything to be her and Fawcett was just an afterthought. Fawcett got pretty weird over the years but it's always sad to see someone go through what she did. Her long battle with cancer was courageous. She fought it hard but in the end, it got the best of her and another icon of my childhood disappeared today.
3. Michael Jackson- I took a nap this afternoon and when I awoke and turned on the computer I was stunned to see the headline staring back at me. The King of Pop died today of what looks to be cardiac arrest. Jackson was becoming a star when my mother was young and by the time I reached middle school in the 80's, Jackson was quickly becoming the biggest star in the world. His Thriller album dominated the airwaves and his videos became must see for fans everywhere. Sadly, Jackson will probably be remembered more for his off the charts behavior, especially his fondness for young boys and his creepy behavior with his own children. Still, there is no denying that he was an epic entertainer and I suppose that no one will ever afain rise to the level of stardom that Jackson enjoyed.
Just When You Think You've Heard and Seen It All...
...along comes a story from the Detroit News about a body frozen in 3 feet of ice at the bottom of an elevator shaft in one of Detroits countless abandoned buildings. The kicker, is, he had been there for months and despite being seen by countless individuals, no one called the police, of course once someone did, they never showed up. Now you might be asking yourself, how did you find that, especially since it happened back in the winter? Well, I was going through the always entertaining pictures from Sweet Juniper at Flickr when I came across a link posted in the comments of one of the pictures of the old Detroit Public Schools Depository. For those who aren't reading Sweet Juniper, you really are missing out on one of the best blogs around.
Urban issues fascinate me to no end and urban planning and development is a topic that I read up on almost daily. Cities are amazing places and each one has a story to tell. We have a lot of really horrible places here in Louisville, there are almost 10,000 empty homes and buildings in the city and we have some rough neighborhoods that I wouldn't dare venture into. That being said, Detroit is on a whole different level from the rest of the world. It literally is a city returning to it's natural landscape as block after city block stands empty and devoid of anything. I've only been there once and it fascinated me like no other place ever has. Now make no mistake, it's a shithole of epic proportions, but dull it isn't.
I think this story perfectly captures the essence of Detroit and puts into perspective just how sad it is that this once great American city is now perhaps, the worst city in the world. Here are some follow up stories on the man beneath the ice.
A perfect symbol for Detroit
Urban issues fascinate me to no end and urban planning and development is a topic that I read up on almost daily. Cities are amazing places and each one has a story to tell. We have a lot of really horrible places here in Louisville, there are almost 10,000 empty homes and buildings in the city and we have some rough neighborhoods that I wouldn't dare venture into. That being said, Detroit is on a whole different level from the rest of the world. It literally is a city returning to it's natural landscape as block after city block stands empty and devoid of anything. I've only been there once and it fascinated me like no other place ever has. Now make no mistake, it's a shithole of epic proportions, but dull it isn't.
I think this story perfectly captures the essence of Detroit and puts into perspective just how sad it is that this once great American city is now perhaps, the worst city in the world. Here are some follow up stories on the man beneath the ice.
A perfect symbol for Detroit
Funny Again
The Tonight Show hasn't been funny since the legendary Johnny Carson left in the early 90's. Jay Leno, for some reason, was pretty popular, but I never could figure out the appeal. Not only is he annoying as hell, he just isn't funny, at least not to those of us born after say 1930. The upside of course was that the dullness that is Leno made my late night viewing habits easier to decide. For my money, David Letterman has always been the best late night talk show host though it must be said, he was a bit edgeier back when he followed Carson on NBC.
So, I was quite happy to hear that Conan O'Brien would be taking over for Leno on a revamped Tonight Show. He hasn't disappointed and it's once again made viewing decisions all the more difficult. Now O'Brien isn't for everyone, his humour is biting and as far as network television goes, he's pretty cutting edge. That his old sidekick Andy Richter is back makes it all the more entertaining. Add in Triump the Insult Comic Dog and The Tonight Show is once again must see TV. Here are a couple of videos to show you what you're either missing or if you're already watching, enjoying:
Conan and Andy explore the LA River.
Part 1 of Triumph at Bonnaroo
Part 2 of Triumph at Bonnaroo
So, I was quite happy to hear that Conan O'Brien would be taking over for Leno on a revamped Tonight Show. He hasn't disappointed and it's once again made viewing decisions all the more difficult. Now O'Brien isn't for everyone, his humour is biting and as far as network television goes, he's pretty cutting edge. That his old sidekick Andy Richter is back makes it all the more entertaining. Add in Triump the Insult Comic Dog and The Tonight Show is once again must see TV. Here are a couple of videos to show you what you're either missing or if you're already watching, enjoying:
Conan and Andy explore the LA River.
Part 1 of Triumph at Bonnaroo
Part 2 of Triumph at Bonnaroo
A Life Less Ordinary
Things I need to do:
1. Unplug my television for the summer.
2. Read more books and learn new things.
3. Eat less food and drink fewer cokes.
4. Spend more time walking in the woods.
5. Give my increasingly old dogs a summer to remember.
6. Walk barefoot in the grass.
7. Dip my toes in a creek.
8. See more movies.
9. Play with toys again.
10. Spend hours in a bookstore and buy nothing.
11. Stay out of chain stores and shop local.
12. Plant a tree.
13. Plant another tree.
14. Sleep under the stars.
15. Reveal in the beauty that is silence and darkness.
16. Burn more candles.
17. Do more kind deeds for those I know and those I don't.
18.. Leave kind notes in books at the bookstore.
19. Learn sign language.
20. Join something.
21. Learn to say no sometimes.
22. Smile at strangers.
23. Donate my time, not just money, to a charity I believe in.
24. Ask why!
25. Aspire not to have more, but to be more!
To learn what you can do, go to We Are What We Do.
1. Unplug my television for the summer.
2. Read more books and learn new things.
3. Eat less food and drink fewer cokes.
4. Spend more time walking in the woods.
5. Give my increasingly old dogs a summer to remember.
6. Walk barefoot in the grass.
7. Dip my toes in a creek.
8. See more movies.
9. Play with toys again.
10. Spend hours in a bookstore and buy nothing.
11. Stay out of chain stores and shop local.
12. Plant a tree.
13. Plant another tree.
14. Sleep under the stars.
15. Reveal in the beauty that is silence and darkness.
16. Burn more candles.
17. Do more kind deeds for those I know and those I don't.
18.. Leave kind notes in books at the bookstore.
19. Learn sign language.
20. Join something.
21. Learn to say no sometimes.
22. Smile at strangers.
23. Donate my time, not just money, to a charity I believe in.
24. Ask why!
25. Aspire not to have more, but to be more!
To learn what you can do, go to We Are What We Do.
Thoughts On A Road Trip
Last night, I got back from a short visit with my Dad in southern Louisiana. He lives on the north shore of Lake Ponchatrain just outside of New Orleans. As some of my long term readers know, my Dad is quite ill. When I last saw him in January, I wasn't sure that I would get another chance to see him but somehow, someway, the old man keeps on ticking. When I left yesterday morning, I couldn't help but feel that once again, I had seen him alive for the last time. Hospice has been called in and his weight is down under 100 pounds. I don't really know how long he has, no one really does, but it can surely be measured in weeks or months.
It was a very nice visit but more than a bit sad and by the time I left, I was mentally exhausted. This old man looking back at me wasn't the father I grew up with and I really don't want that to be the last memory I have of him. I want to remember the young and vibrant man that taught me how to swim, how to throw a baseball and most of all, taught me how to live. Now it's no secret that my Dad and I have had a rocky relationship, he and I see the world very differently, but these past few years have seen a real effort by both of us to mend some fences and bury our grudges. While we haven't totally succeeded, we have managed to at least make these last few years rather pleasant.
Anyways, by the time I got back last night, I was as physically exhausted as I was mentally. The drive from Louisville to Hammond isn't an easy one. Once you south of Birmingham, the terrain gets flat, ugly, boring and more than a bit depressing. Driving through Mississippi isn't exactly my idea of a good time. Despite what Ulysses Evereet McGill might have said, hooking the south up to the grid didn't exactly change things, especially in southern Mississippi as it truly is the land that time forgot. With that, I thought I would lighten things up a bit and give a rundown on some of the more offbeat things I saw on my trip...
License plates I saw: Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, New York, Massachusetts, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas, Texas, Colorado and Wyoming.
Best River name: The Chunky River in Mississippi.
Most Depressing Town driven through: Laurel, Mississippi. From the highway, you see delapidated public housing, empty storefronts, an industrial wasteland and one slauther house after another. It sucks in everyway possible.
Best town driven through: Besides my hometown, it has to be Nashville. It's a booming metropolis and by all accounts, a pretty awesome place.
Favorite town name: Toombusa Mississippi. It's so small that the internet doesn't even recognize it. Wow!
Best road side attraction: While I want to say Dinosaur World in southern Kentucky, I have to go with the Boobie Bungalow in Tennessee, just across the state line of the sexually repressed Alabama. It's located at exit 6 an exit that offers Alabama residents everything they can't get at home: Liquor, fireworks, sex toys, porn and strip clubs. Evidently it's quite famous for various reasons.
What more can I say?
Best Rest Area: The Louisiana Welcome Center on Interstate 59. In the pet walking area, the good folks of Louisiana have put in a couple of fire hydrants for our four legged friends. Too cool.
Worst rest area(s): Mississippi, all of them. Would it hurt to actually have some? There must be 5 parking areas, no restrooms, between Alabama and Louisiana. Of course, this is Mississippi we are talking about so I shouldn't be too surprised.
It was a very nice visit but more than a bit sad and by the time I left, I was mentally exhausted. This old man looking back at me wasn't the father I grew up with and I really don't want that to be the last memory I have of him. I want to remember the young and vibrant man that taught me how to swim, how to throw a baseball and most of all, taught me how to live. Now it's no secret that my Dad and I have had a rocky relationship, he and I see the world very differently, but these past few years have seen a real effort by both of us to mend some fences and bury our grudges. While we haven't totally succeeded, we have managed to at least make these last few years rather pleasant.
Anyways, by the time I got back last night, I was as physically exhausted as I was mentally. The drive from Louisville to Hammond isn't an easy one. Once you south of Birmingham, the terrain gets flat, ugly, boring and more than a bit depressing. Driving through Mississippi isn't exactly my idea of a good time. Despite what Ulysses Evereet McGill might have said, hooking the south up to the grid didn't exactly change things, especially in southern Mississippi as it truly is the land that time forgot. With that, I thought I would lighten things up a bit and give a rundown on some of the more offbeat things I saw on my trip...
License plates I saw: Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, New York, Massachusetts, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas, Texas, Colorado and Wyoming.
Best River name: The Chunky River in Mississippi.
Most Depressing Town driven through: Laurel, Mississippi. From the highway, you see delapidated public housing, empty storefronts, an industrial wasteland and one slauther house after another. It sucks in everyway possible.
Best town driven through: Besides my hometown, it has to be Nashville. It's a booming metropolis and by all accounts, a pretty awesome place.
Favorite town name: Toombusa Mississippi. It's so small that the internet doesn't even recognize it. Wow!
Best road side attraction: While I want to say Dinosaur World in southern Kentucky, I have to go with the Boobie Bungalow in Tennessee, just across the state line of the sexually repressed Alabama. It's located at exit 6 an exit that offers Alabama residents everything they can't get at home: Liquor, fireworks, sex toys, porn and strip clubs. Evidently it's quite famous for various reasons.
What more can I say?Best Rest Area: The Louisiana Welcome Center on Interstate 59. In the pet walking area, the good folks of Louisiana have put in a couple of fire hydrants for our four legged friends. Too cool.
Worst rest area(s): Mississippi, all of them. Would it hurt to actually have some? There must be 5 parking areas, no restrooms, between Alabama and Louisiana. Of course, this is Mississippi we are talking about so I shouldn't be too surprised.
Obama Hates The GLBT Community
John at AMERICAblog has all of the details about the Obama Administrations latest attack on the GLBT community. In short, the administration wrote and filed a brief in a California court defending the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). In the brief, Obama and company liken gay marriage to incest and marrying children. This all comes on the heels of the Administrations reluctance to move on Don't Ask, Don't Tell, despite overwhelming public support to repeal the policy. Furthermore, Obama hasn't made any effort to ensure passage of the Hate Crimes Law and a fully inclusive ENDA. In just 5 short months, Obama has proven to be a less than stellar President for so many of us who worked so hard to get him elected.
Just read this from Pam and it rings true...
Just read this from Pam and it rings true...
Friends, is this is the watershed mark, the line in the sand, the utter moral betrayal of this administration in black and white? Does this mean that we are not only expendable to this Administration, but that it has decided we can also be vilified as a constituency at will and not receive any blowback? That's balls. A brief with language like this could have been written by Liberty Counsel it's so homophobic; that it's written in legalese doesn't blunt the arguments being made here. It will be used to cause lasting damage to future civil rights gains.
Cities Are For People, Not Cars
New York City is one of the greatest cities in the world and the primary reason why is that the city is made for people and not automobiles. No other American city even comes close to the high level of population density that is found in New York and especially Manhatten. It's because of that high level of density that New York is able to offer the best public transit system in the country and one of the best in the world. Car ownership simply isn't necessary for those who call New York City home and as a result, the city is laid out in a way that sends people onto the sidewalks and into the parks instead of their cars. As a result, the sidewalks stay busy, commerce thrives and development isn't dependent on how much parking is available.
New York also has some of the best urban parks around with Central Park being the most famous. Well, you can now add a new showcase park to the city's credit. The High Line, a new park built upon an old elevated railway, is, if pictures are to be believed, a masterpiece of epic proportions. The park rambles two stories above the edge of the trendy Chelsea neighborhood and will continue to be developed over the next few years. Our cities, long the home of our most creative citizens, are our best hope for salvaging a decent future.
Here are a few photos of the park courtesy of Fast Company:
New York also has some of the best urban parks around with Central Park being the most famous. Well, you can now add a new showcase park to the city's credit. The High Line, a new park built upon an old elevated railway, is, if pictures are to be believed, a masterpiece of epic proportions. The park rambles two stories above the edge of the trendy Chelsea neighborhood and will continue to be developed over the next few years. Our cities, long the home of our most creative citizens, are our best hope for salvaging a decent future.
Here are a few photos of the park courtesy of Fast Company:
What He Said
Editors Note: Long post but one that I think is well worth reading.
I was all set to write a blog post about how smart I was but then I just didn't have the umph to actually do it (in hindsight, I guess I did have the umph). Back in February, I posted my thoughts on the current economic recession and how the fact that we've past peak oil would always be there to whack any recovery before it really got started. As the world moves toward a low energy future and resource scarcity, perpetual growth will not be possible and any periods of economic growth will be short and rather pathetic as high oil prices put a damper on business as usual.
Well, for those who haven't been paying attention, and that pretty much includes most of America, oil prices have soared over the past couple of months and closed today at over $70 a barrel. Not surprisingly, it appears that the rising price of oil will indeed put a damper on whatever recovery is underway. For the record, I don't believe we are in any kind of recovery, things are just getting worse at a slower pace and the talking heads seem to think things are getting better. The next wave of home foreclosures is set to begin as Alt-A mortgages reset, commercial real estate is imploding at an alarming rate as developers are no longer able to refinance every few years as they did in the past and rising umemployment will soon start another round of home foreclosures. Not better, not even close.
So, as I'm pouring over my usual collection of blogs, I come across this amazing post by Richard Heinberg. Pretty much everything I've wanted to say he said better and so I thought I would share....
Recently I've begun compiling a list of things to be cheerful about. Here are some items that should bring a smile to any environmentalist's lips:
• World energy consumption is declining. That's right: oil consumption is down, coal consumption is down, and the IEA is projecting world electricity consumption to decline by 3.5 percent this year. I'm sure it's possible to find a few countries where energy use is still growing, but for the US, China, and most of the European countries that is no longer the case. A small army of writers and activists, including me, has been arguing for years now that the world should voluntarily reduce its energy consumption, because current rates of use are unsustainable for various reasons including the fact that fossil fuels are depleting. Yes, we should build renewable energy capacity, but replacing the energy from fossil fuels will be an enormous job, and we can make that job less daunting by reducing our overall energy appetite. Done.
• CO2 emissions are falling. This follows from the previous point. I'm still waiting for confirmation from direct NOAA measurements of CO2 in the atmosphere, but it stands to reason that if world oil and coal consumption is declining, then carbon emissions must be doing so as well. The economic crisis has accomplished what the Kyoto Protocol couldn't. Hooray!
• Consumption of goods is falling. Every environmentalist I know spends a good deal of her time railing both publicly and privately against consumerism. We in the industrialized countries use way too much stuff — because that stuff is made from depleting natural resources (both renewable and non-renewable) and the Earth is running out of fresh water, topsoil, lithium, indium, zinc, antimony...the list is long. Books have been written trying to convince people to simplify their lives and use less, films have been produced and shown on PBS, and support groups have formed to help families kick the habit, but still the consumer juggernaut has continued — until now. This particular dragon may not be slain, but it's cowering in its den.
• Globalization is in reverse (global trade is shrinking). Back in the early 1990s, when globalization was a new word, an organization of brilliant activists formed the International Forum on Globalization (IFG) to educate the public about the costs and dangers of this accelerating trend. Corporations were off-shoring their production and pollution, ruining manufacturing communities in formerly industrial rich nations while ruthlessly exploiting cheap labor in less-industrialized poor countries. IFG was able to change the public discourse about globalization enough to stall the expansion of the World Trade Organization, but still world trade continued to mushroom. Not any more. China's and Japan's exports are way down, as is the US trade deficit.
• The number of vehicle miles traveled (VMT) is falling. For decades the number of total miles traveled by all cars and trucks on US roads has relentlessly increased. This was a powerful argument for building more roads. People bought more cars and drove them further; trucks restocked factories and stores at an ever-growing pace; and delivery vans brought more packages to consumers who shopped from home. All of this driving entailed more tires, pavement, and fuel — and more environmental damage. Over the past few months the VMT number has declined substantially and continually, to a greater extent than has been the case since records started being kept. That's welcome news.
• There are fewer cars on the road. People are junking old cars faster than new ones are being purchased. In the US, where there are now more cars on the road than there are licensed drivers, this represents an extraordinary shift in a very long-standing trend. In her wonderful book Divorce Your Car, Katie Alvord detailed the extraordinary environmental costs of widespread automobile use. Evidently her book didn't stem the tide: it was published in the year 2000, and millions of new cars hit the pavement in the following years. But now the world's auto manufacturers are desperately trying to steer clear of looming bankruptcy, simply because people aren't buying. In fact, in the first four months of 2009, more bicycles were sold in the US than cars and trucks put together (over 2.55 million bicycles were purchased, compared to fewer than 2.4 million cars and trucks). How utterly cool.
• The world's over-leveraged, debt-based financial system is failing. Growth in consumption is killing the planet, but arguing against economic growth is made difficult by the fact that most of the world's currencies are essentially loaned into existence, and those loans must be repaid with interest. Thus if the economy isn't growing, and therefore if more loans aren't being made, thus causing more money to be created, the result will be a cascading series of defaults and foreclosures that will ruin the entire system. It's not a sustainable system given the fact that the world's resources (the ultimate basis for all economic activity) are finite; and, as the proponents of Ecological and Biophysical Economics have been saying for years, it's a system that needs to be replaced with one that can still function in a condition of steady or contracting consumption rates. While that sustainable alternative is not yet being discussed by government leaders, at least they are being forced to consider (if not yet publicly) the possibility that the existing system has serious problems and that it may need a thorough overhaul. That's a good thing.
• Gardening is going gonzo. According to the New York Times ("College Interns Getting Back to Land," May 25) thousands of college students are doing summer internships on farms this year. Meanwhile seed companies are having a hard time keeping up with demand, as home gardeners put in an unusually high number of veggie gardens. Urban farmer Will Allen predicts that there will be 8 million new gardeners this year, and the number of new gardens is expected to increase 20 to 40 percent this season. Since world oil production has peaked, there is going to be less oil available in the future to fuel industrial agriculture, so we are going to need more gardens, more small farms, and more farmers. Never mind the motives of all these students and home gardeners — few of them have ever heard of Peak Oil, and many of the gardeners are probably just worried whether they can afford to keep the pantry full next winter; nevertheless, they're doing the right thing. And that's something to applaud.
-snip-
Okay, my point is this: we have reached the inevitable turning point. The growth trance that has gripped the world for the past several decades is in the process of ending. Even if we get short periods of economic growth, that growth will be in the context of a significantly contracted economy and will only be temporary in any case, as Peak Oil and other resource constraints will quickly damper increasing economic activity. Gradually, as "recovery" gets put off for another month, another year, another few years, people may begin to realize that the expansionary phase of the era of cheap energy is finished. There are of course no guarantees that the public and their business and political leaders will indeed finally "get it," because the urge to hang onto the growth illusion will be very strong indeed. But if the misery persists, there's at least a chance that understanding will finally dawn in the collective mind of our species — the understanding that we must get out ahead of nature's checks and deliberately reduce the scale of the human enterprise in ways that maximize the prospects of both present and future generations.
Go read the whole thing, it's fascinating and I think dead on. We have a choice but I'm so very afraid that we will do what we humans always do, choose wrong.
I was all set to write a blog post about how smart I was but then I just didn't have the umph to actually do it (in hindsight, I guess I did have the umph). Back in February, I posted my thoughts on the current economic recession and how the fact that we've past peak oil would always be there to whack any recovery before it really got started. As the world moves toward a low energy future and resource scarcity, perpetual growth will not be possible and any periods of economic growth will be short and rather pathetic as high oil prices put a damper on business as usual.
Well, for those who haven't been paying attention, and that pretty much includes most of America, oil prices have soared over the past couple of months and closed today at over $70 a barrel. Not surprisingly, it appears that the rising price of oil will indeed put a damper on whatever recovery is underway. For the record, I don't believe we are in any kind of recovery, things are just getting worse at a slower pace and the talking heads seem to think things are getting better. The next wave of home foreclosures is set to begin as Alt-A mortgages reset, commercial real estate is imploding at an alarming rate as developers are no longer able to refinance every few years as they did in the past and rising umemployment will soon start another round of home foreclosures. Not better, not even close.
So, as I'm pouring over my usual collection of blogs, I come across this amazing post by Richard Heinberg. Pretty much everything I've wanted to say he said better and so I thought I would share....
Recently I've begun compiling a list of things to be cheerful about. Here are some items that should bring a smile to any environmentalist's lips:
• World energy consumption is declining. That's right: oil consumption is down, coal consumption is down, and the IEA is projecting world electricity consumption to decline by 3.5 percent this year. I'm sure it's possible to find a few countries where energy use is still growing, but for the US, China, and most of the European countries that is no longer the case. A small army of writers and activists, including me, has been arguing for years now that the world should voluntarily reduce its energy consumption, because current rates of use are unsustainable for various reasons including the fact that fossil fuels are depleting. Yes, we should build renewable energy capacity, but replacing the energy from fossil fuels will be an enormous job, and we can make that job less daunting by reducing our overall energy appetite. Done.
• CO2 emissions are falling. This follows from the previous point. I'm still waiting for confirmation from direct NOAA measurements of CO2 in the atmosphere, but it stands to reason that if world oil and coal consumption is declining, then carbon emissions must be doing so as well. The economic crisis has accomplished what the Kyoto Protocol couldn't. Hooray!
• Consumption of goods is falling. Every environmentalist I know spends a good deal of her time railing both publicly and privately against consumerism. We in the industrialized countries use way too much stuff — because that stuff is made from depleting natural resources (both renewable and non-renewable) and the Earth is running out of fresh water, topsoil, lithium, indium, zinc, antimony...the list is long. Books have been written trying to convince people to simplify their lives and use less, films have been produced and shown on PBS, and support groups have formed to help families kick the habit, but still the consumer juggernaut has continued — until now. This particular dragon may not be slain, but it's cowering in its den.
• Globalization is in reverse (global trade is shrinking). Back in the early 1990s, when globalization was a new word, an organization of brilliant activists formed the International Forum on Globalization (IFG) to educate the public about the costs and dangers of this accelerating trend. Corporations were off-shoring their production and pollution, ruining manufacturing communities in formerly industrial rich nations while ruthlessly exploiting cheap labor in less-industrialized poor countries. IFG was able to change the public discourse about globalization enough to stall the expansion of the World Trade Organization, but still world trade continued to mushroom. Not any more. China's and Japan's exports are way down, as is the US trade deficit.
• The number of vehicle miles traveled (VMT) is falling. For decades the number of total miles traveled by all cars and trucks on US roads has relentlessly increased. This was a powerful argument for building more roads. People bought more cars and drove them further; trucks restocked factories and stores at an ever-growing pace; and delivery vans brought more packages to consumers who shopped from home. All of this driving entailed more tires, pavement, and fuel — and more environmental damage. Over the past few months the VMT number has declined substantially and continually, to a greater extent than has been the case since records started being kept. That's welcome news.
• There are fewer cars on the road. People are junking old cars faster than new ones are being purchased. In the US, where there are now more cars on the road than there are licensed drivers, this represents an extraordinary shift in a very long-standing trend. In her wonderful book Divorce Your Car, Katie Alvord detailed the extraordinary environmental costs of widespread automobile use. Evidently her book didn't stem the tide: it was published in the year 2000, and millions of new cars hit the pavement in the following years. But now the world's auto manufacturers are desperately trying to steer clear of looming bankruptcy, simply because people aren't buying. In fact, in the first four months of 2009, more bicycles were sold in the US than cars and trucks put together (over 2.55 million bicycles were purchased, compared to fewer than 2.4 million cars and trucks). How utterly cool.
• The world's over-leveraged, debt-based financial system is failing. Growth in consumption is killing the planet, but arguing against economic growth is made difficult by the fact that most of the world's currencies are essentially loaned into existence, and those loans must be repaid with interest. Thus if the economy isn't growing, and therefore if more loans aren't being made, thus causing more money to be created, the result will be a cascading series of defaults and foreclosures that will ruin the entire system. It's not a sustainable system given the fact that the world's resources (the ultimate basis for all economic activity) are finite; and, as the proponents of Ecological and Biophysical Economics have been saying for years, it's a system that needs to be replaced with one that can still function in a condition of steady or contracting consumption rates. While that sustainable alternative is not yet being discussed by government leaders, at least they are being forced to consider (if not yet publicly) the possibility that the existing system has serious problems and that it may need a thorough overhaul. That's a good thing.
• Gardening is going gonzo. According to the New York Times ("College Interns Getting Back to Land," May 25) thousands of college students are doing summer internships on farms this year. Meanwhile seed companies are having a hard time keeping up with demand, as home gardeners put in an unusually high number of veggie gardens. Urban farmer Will Allen predicts that there will be 8 million new gardeners this year, and the number of new gardens is expected to increase 20 to 40 percent this season. Since world oil production has peaked, there is going to be less oil available in the future to fuel industrial agriculture, so we are going to need more gardens, more small farms, and more farmers. Never mind the motives of all these students and home gardeners — few of them have ever heard of Peak Oil, and many of the gardeners are probably just worried whether they can afford to keep the pantry full next winter; nevertheless, they're doing the right thing. And that's something to applaud.
-snip-
Okay, my point is this: we have reached the inevitable turning point. The growth trance that has gripped the world for the past several decades is in the process of ending. Even if we get short periods of economic growth, that growth will be in the context of a significantly contracted economy and will only be temporary in any case, as Peak Oil and other resource constraints will quickly damper increasing economic activity. Gradually, as "recovery" gets put off for another month, another year, another few years, people may begin to realize that the expansionary phase of the era of cheap energy is finished. There are of course no guarantees that the public and their business and political leaders will indeed finally "get it," because the urge to hang onto the growth illusion will be very strong indeed. But if the misery persists, there's at least a chance that understanding will finally dawn in the collective mind of our species — the understanding that we must get out ahead of nature's checks and deliberately reduce the scale of the human enterprise in ways that maximize the prospects of both present and future generations.
Go read the whole thing, it's fascinating and I think dead on. We have a choice but I'm so very afraid that we will do what we humans always do, choose wrong.
Coming Attractions
One of the great benefits of being a teacher is having your summer off. Besides sleeping a lot, working in the garden and doing some travel, it's a great time to catch up on some movies. So far this year, I've seen the 3 big movies I wanted to see along with a few others. Watchmen was great, Star Trek was even better and Terminator Salvation was on par with the first two movies in that series. The summer movie season is just getting started though and here's a list of what I'm looking forward to seeing, in no particular order (click on the movie title to watch the trailer)...
1. Moon- It is the near future. Astronaut Sam Bell is living on the far side of the moon, completing a three-year contract with Lunar Industries to mine Earth’s primary source of energy, Helium-3. It is a lonely job, made harder by a broken satellite that allows no live communications home. Taped messages are all Sam can send and receive. Thankfully, his time on the moon is nearly over, and Sam will be reunited with his wife, Tess, and their three-year-old daughter, Eve, in only a few short weeks. Finally, he will leave the isolation of “Sarang,” the moon base that has been his home for so long, and he will finally have someone to talk to beyond “Gerty,” the base’s well-intentioned, but rather uncomplicated computer.
The trailer for Moon
2. Surrogates- Starring Bruce Willis, Surrogates is set in a futuristic world where humans live in isolation and interact through surrogate robots, a cop (Willis) is forced to leave his home for the first time in years in order to investigate the murders of others’ surrogates.
3. 9- This Time Burton feature is perhaps my most anticipated movie of the summer and second to only The Road for the year. When 9 (voice of Elijah Wood) first comes to life, he finds himself in a post-apocalyptic world where all humans are gone, and it is only by chance that he discovers a small community of others like him taking refuge from fearsome machines that roam the earth intent on their extinction. Despite being the neophyte of the group, 9 convinces the others that hiding will do them no good. They must take the offensive if they are to survive, and they must discover why the machines want to destroy them in the first place. As they'll soon come to learn, the very future of civilization may depend on them.
The trailer for 9
4. Public Enemies- In the action-thriller Public Enemies, acclaimed filmmaker Michael Mann directs Johnny Depp, Christian Bale and Academy Award® winner Marion Cotillard in the story of legendary Depression-era outlaw John Dillinger (Depp)—the charismatic bank robber whose lightning raids made him the number one target of J. Edgar Hoover’s fledgling FBI and its top agent, Melvin Purvis (Bale), and a folk hero to much of the downtrodden public.
5. Life is Hot in Cracktown- LIFE IS HOT IN CRACKTOWN shows the gritty, hard realities of a neighborhood, as well as the struggling, proud people who try to survive them everyday. Marybeth (Kerry Washington) is a pre-op transsexual working as a prostitute and living with her lover, Benny, a small time burglar. In spite of their lines of work, they live a somewhat normal life as a married couple. Marybeth works the streets in the hopes of saving enough money for her final sex change operation, so then she and Benny can be married...
Trailer for Life is Hot in Cracktown
6. The Hangover- Going to go see this tomorrow. Two days before his wedding, Doug and his three friends drive to Las Vegas for a blow-out bachelor party they’ll never forget. But, in fact, when the three groomsmen wake up the next morning, they can’t remember a thing. For some reason, they find a tiger in the bathroom and a six-month-old baby in the closet of their suite at Caesars Palace. The one thing they can’t find is Doug. With no clue as to what transpired and little time to spare, the trio must retrace their hazy steps and all their bad decisions in order to figure out where things went wrong and hopefully get Doug back to L.A. in time to walk down the aisle.
7. Sherlock Holmes- In a dynamic new portrayal of Arthur Conan Doyle’s most famous characters, “Sherlock Holmes” sends Holmes and his stalwart partner Watson on their latest challenge. Revealing fighting skills as lethal as his legendary intellect, Holmes will battle as never before to bring down a new nemesis and unravel a deadly plot that could destroy the country.
8. Inglorious Basterds- In Nazi-occupied France during World War II, a group of Jewish-American soldiers known as "The Basterds" are chosen specifically to spread fear throughout the Third Reich by scalping and brutally killing Nazis. The Basterds soon cross paths with a French-Jewish teenage girl who runs a movie theater in Paris which is targeted by the soldiers
9. Antichrist- A grieving couple retreat to ’Eden’, their isolated cabin in the woods, where they hope to repair their broken hearts and troubled marriage. But nature takes its course and things go from bad to worse…
10. The Road- This is perhaps the best book I've ever read and certainly the darkest so I have high hopes for the film that opens in the late fall. A father and his son walk alone through burned America. Nothing moves in the ravaged landscape save the ash on the wind. It is cold enough to crack stones, and, when the snow falls it is gray. The sky is dark. Their destination is the coast, although they don't know what, if anything, awaits them there. They have nothing: just a pistol to defend themselves against the lawless bands that stalk the road, the clothes they are wearing, a cart of scavenged food--and each other.
Trailer for The Road
1. Moon- It is the near future. Astronaut Sam Bell is living on the far side of the moon, completing a three-year contract with Lunar Industries to mine Earth’s primary source of energy, Helium-3. It is a lonely job, made harder by a broken satellite that allows no live communications home. Taped messages are all Sam can send and receive. Thankfully, his time on the moon is nearly over, and Sam will be reunited with his wife, Tess, and their three-year-old daughter, Eve, in only a few short weeks. Finally, he will leave the isolation of “Sarang,” the moon base that has been his home for so long, and he will finally have someone to talk to beyond “Gerty,” the base’s well-intentioned, but rather uncomplicated computer.
The trailer for Moon
2. Surrogates- Starring Bruce Willis, Surrogates is set in a futuristic world where humans live in isolation and interact through surrogate robots, a cop (Willis) is forced to leave his home for the first time in years in order to investigate the murders of others’ surrogates.
3. 9- This Time Burton feature is perhaps my most anticipated movie of the summer and second to only The Road for the year. When 9 (voice of Elijah Wood) first comes to life, he finds himself in a post-apocalyptic world where all humans are gone, and it is only by chance that he discovers a small community of others like him taking refuge from fearsome machines that roam the earth intent on their extinction. Despite being the neophyte of the group, 9 convinces the others that hiding will do them no good. They must take the offensive if they are to survive, and they must discover why the machines want to destroy them in the first place. As they'll soon come to learn, the very future of civilization may depend on them.
The trailer for 9
4. Public Enemies- In the action-thriller Public Enemies, acclaimed filmmaker Michael Mann directs Johnny Depp, Christian Bale and Academy Award® winner Marion Cotillard in the story of legendary Depression-era outlaw John Dillinger (Depp)—the charismatic bank robber whose lightning raids made him the number one target of J. Edgar Hoover’s fledgling FBI and its top agent, Melvin Purvis (Bale), and a folk hero to much of the downtrodden public.
5. Life is Hot in Cracktown- LIFE IS HOT IN CRACKTOWN shows the gritty, hard realities of a neighborhood, as well as the struggling, proud people who try to survive them everyday. Marybeth (Kerry Washington) is a pre-op transsexual working as a prostitute and living with her lover, Benny, a small time burglar. In spite of their lines of work, they live a somewhat normal life as a married couple. Marybeth works the streets in the hopes of saving enough money for her final sex change operation, so then she and Benny can be married...
Trailer for Life is Hot in Cracktown
6. The Hangover- Going to go see this tomorrow. Two days before his wedding, Doug and his three friends drive to Las Vegas for a blow-out bachelor party they’ll never forget. But, in fact, when the three groomsmen wake up the next morning, they can’t remember a thing. For some reason, they find a tiger in the bathroom and a six-month-old baby in the closet of their suite at Caesars Palace. The one thing they can’t find is Doug. With no clue as to what transpired and little time to spare, the trio must retrace their hazy steps and all their bad decisions in order to figure out where things went wrong and hopefully get Doug back to L.A. in time to walk down the aisle.
7. Sherlock Holmes- In a dynamic new portrayal of Arthur Conan Doyle’s most famous characters, “Sherlock Holmes” sends Holmes and his stalwart partner Watson on their latest challenge. Revealing fighting skills as lethal as his legendary intellect, Holmes will battle as never before to bring down a new nemesis and unravel a deadly plot that could destroy the country.
8. Inglorious Basterds- In Nazi-occupied France during World War II, a group of Jewish-American soldiers known as "The Basterds" are chosen specifically to spread fear throughout the Third Reich by scalping and brutally killing Nazis. The Basterds soon cross paths with a French-Jewish teenage girl who runs a movie theater in Paris which is targeted by the soldiers
9. Antichrist- A grieving couple retreat to ’Eden’, their isolated cabin in the woods, where they hope to repair their broken hearts and troubled marriage. But nature takes its course and things go from bad to worse…
10. The Road- This is perhaps the best book I've ever read and certainly the darkest so I have high hopes for the film that opens in the late fall. A father and his son walk alone through burned America. Nothing moves in the ravaged landscape save the ash on the wind. It is cold enough to crack stones, and, when the snow falls it is gray. The sky is dark. Their destination is the coast, although they don't know what, if anything, awaits them there. They have nothing: just a pistol to defend themselves against the lawless bands that stalk the road, the clothes they are wearing, a cart of scavenged food--and each other.
Trailer for The Road
Two Years
Two years ago today, I was waking up from a brutal nine hour facial feminization surgery. Mom and I would be in Chicago for almost two weeks and it would end up taking almost all of the past two years to finally feel good again. From time to time, I still ache a bit but other than feeling like my face has been pulled tight, which it was, I feel fine. As all of you know, I never was very happy with the results and to this day, I still regret having the surgery. Sure, I did experience a few dramatic changes, but overall, it just wasn't worth the money or physical hardship I had to endure. I've tried hard to put it all behind me, I really and truly have, but the truth is, I'm still pretty bitter and more than a bit angry at Dr. Z.
With my Mom on my birthday, 6 months before FFS.
The night of my FFS, June 5, 2007
Me today, two years later
With my Mom on my birthday, 6 months before FFS.
The night of my FFS, June 5, 2007
Me today, two years later
And on the Eight Day, God Created Summer Vacation
Would have been out two weeks ago but due to Ike and the nasty ice storm, well, you get the picture. Regardless, it was the best year I've had in my 8 years of teaching.
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