Sculpin

These are my links for August 28th through August 30th:

• the nonist: stick charts - Remarkable Pacific Islander wave navigation charts. “They were not carried on a voyage and the adult navigator gauged the wave patterns represented in the Stick Charts entirely by his sense of touch.”
• Spy’s Spice: Decollage - Dissecting books for art.
• How to Square Bags » Crafty Daisies - I have vague ideas about making some square bags to hold Christmas presents one of these years.
• Rhodes Architectural Stone- Introduction to Ornaments - WANT.
• BBC NEWS | Europe | Arrests over Russia writer murder - Russian police and security officers are among 10 suspects arrested over the murder of investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya.

These are my links for August 27th:

• Craftzine.com blog: Cat Hat Costumes - Knit a wig for your cat. No, really, do. Josh says, “I am sure your cat would love that! I can think of nothing that can go wrong with this plan.”
• Karen Stenner’s current research - Another view of the psychology of authoritarianism.
• The Authoritarians - Bob Altemeyer, an American psychologist at the University of Manitoba, has written a highly-readable book about the psychology of authoritarians, esp. authoritarian followers, and made it freely available at his website. (Read it; remind you of anyone?)
• CIO.com - Business Technology Leadership - Facial Expressions Test - How good are you at reading quick expressions? I seem to be pretty terrible — anger, disgust, and contempt are difficult for me to tell apart in this test. (And which is easier for you to read: #4 or #8?)
• The Last Psychiatrist: Are You Good At Reading Faces? - Some interesting speculation about the problems of reading lateralized expressions in that facial expression recognition test at CIO.com.

In “The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas”, a happy and seemingly ideal society depends on the misery and terror of one child imprisoned in a dark closet, and it appears to be quietly heroic and honest to choose not to take advantage of happiness that depends on that. But I was reading this morning about a deranged woman who goes around downtown yelling at and smacking random pedestrians, and I wondered. Step away from the fantastical a bit; instead of a child who has been imprisoned, substitute an adult who has an intractable mental illness and an unfortunate coping mechanism. Imagine that her happiness depends on being able to assault people. (And how does this change if her coping mechanism is purely verbal? Does it?) Posit that the happiness of the general populace depends in part on not being assaulted. Like Omelas, our happiness depends on her unhappiness. Imagine that she could be prevented from using this coping mechanism; would that be right? And what if it matters more to her than it does to us?

I could say that I’ve already partly found my own answer to that in my life history: a person with a pattern of abusive behavior does not generally get a pass with me because he or she is emotionally ill. Nor, generally, do they get a pass because I judge that I’m strong enough to stand the abuse. I can’t honestly say I much care how desperately unhappy it makes someone that he or she is restricted from abusing me; even if the calculus of happiness tips that way, evidence indicates that I’m not about to submit to abuse. It’s a matter of personal integrity: I am in my own charge. I acknowledge that such a principle may be tricky to defend, and I know that other people choose differently, with different principles of integrity that are at least as firmly held as mine.

Now, I can do some fancy footwork around that coping mechanism — hitting people is bad for her even if it’s a temporary relief, and it may even be that stopping up that coping mechanism would encourage the creation of more benign mechanisms. But forget that for a moment — what if the result of that restriction is plain misery for her, pure and simple? I find this question uncomfortable.

These are my links for August 18th through August 22nd:

• Madeleines Recipe - 101 Cookbooks - I love madeleines and for years now I’ve been meaning to try making them.
• The Ethicurean: Chew the right thing. » Blog Archive » Catching up: Washington State locavoreanism - An overview of an overview of Washington’s local-eating movement.
• zakka life: Rethinking Paper Lucky Stars - Cute little paper stars. I never did learn to make these; maybe this is the time.
• Tigers & Strawberries » Two-Sides-Brown: Pan-Fried Noodle Pancake - Mm, fried noodles. Could be a nice thing to do with the wok we picked up at a yard sale not too long ago.
• Tigers & Strawberries » Noodle Shop Secret for Springy Noodles: Pre-Steaming - How to make good fresh Chinese wheat noodles with just the right texture
• How Not to Pack a Suitcase - “There are only two categories of things of which the serious suitcase packer must reasonably be wary of packing: large animals and explosives.”
• HistoryLink Essay: Windshield pitting incidents in Washington reach fever pitch on April 15, 1954. - Seattle was the scene of a textbook case of mass hysteria.

These are my links for August 11th through August 16th:

• not martha: more tiny kitchen storage - Using a long cabinet handle as a tiny rack for hanging utensils? Of course! Why didn’t I think of that?
• Kent’s Bike Blog: A Coroplast Handlebar Bag - Those coroplast “Elect Jean Godden” signs are good for something after all.
• Clues for the Clueless - Beetle Wing Embroidery: second round, flower - Just what it sounds like: embroidering with beetle wings.
• Mind Hacks: Brain’s walking patterns specific for leg and direction - “An ingenious experiment using an adapted treadmill has shown that our brain seems to store patterns for the smooth movement of our legs independently for each leg, and for each direction of walking.”
• The Loom : Branded with Science - Science-related tattoos.

Last night, Josh came up from the P-Patch and said, “Hey, Cam, I’ve got a present for you.” Oh boy!

The present turned out to be an entire bucket packed full of rhubarb. (Oh boy?) Apparently the rhubarb’s ready, and how. Some of those stalks were three feet long. We set up two rhubarb-disassembly stations and chopped almost thirty pounds of rhubarb last night, not counting the trimmings. One pound of it went into a tasty rhubarb crumble, another pound is going into some experimental rhubarb ice cream, and I’ll make a compote soon with yet another pound. As for the rest, well, I think this will be the year we learn to can.

These are my links for August 1st through August 9th:

• My Special Zucchini Bread Recipe - 101 Cookbooks - And another zucchini bread.
• On blueberries, zucchini, and dragon slime | By Roz Cummins | Grist | ‘Tis the Season | 09 Aug 2007 - Blueberry Zucchini Bread, aka “Dragon Slime Bread”. “Mix ingredients until gross.”
• A Foothill Home Companion: Catch a Falling Star and Put It In a Jar - A simple, lovely idea: glow-in-the-dark stars in a jar as a night light.
• Craftzine.com blog: Sewing with Night Vision Goggles - This reminded me of you, Amare.
• HistoryLink Essay: Bees disrupt protest at UW campus on April 24, 1969. - On April 24, 1969, an attempt by the SDS to shut down corporate recruiting at the UW’s Loew Hall degenerated into farce when angry bees were set loose from hives trucked into campus, apparently at the UW’s invitation.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t respond to telephone solicitations as a matter of principle. Thank you.”

That’s my new line for dealing with charity telemarketers, and wow, does it ever work. Apparently, nobody has a comeback for “a matter of principle” in their script. I’ve taken to listening to the sweet stunned silence for a brief moment before I hang up the phone.

It’s even better than exclaiming, “Oh no! Hedgehog!” at them, and seems to leave them just as befuddled. There’s something elegant about an effective “No” that is both polite and sincere. And aside from the meaningless “I’m sorry,” it is very sincere: I do not approve of people calling my home and pestering me for money, and I choose not to support that industry. That’s why I can deliver that line deadpan.

Josh has a roundup of photos and other coverage from yesterday’s Ride for Fremont.

I was a doofus: I was so concerned about my wonky joints, but it was the chronic fatigue syndrome that did me in. I conk out hard if my heart rate goes above about 135-140 for more than a few seconds. (”Post-exertional malaise” they call it. I’m still a bit muzzy.) But I wasn’t wearing a heart monitor; it’s been many months since it’s been a real problem, and I plain forgot. Then I pushed it harder than I should have up the hill — there were those twenty-somethings pulling away from us, the tandem’s slow and heavy… and, in truth, the lone counterprotester with his rather snazzy “Bikes are Bullies!” sign made me feel like a million bucks. (Grr! Scary me! Hee, right.) This post-exertional stuff is a pain in the neck, because there’s a delay before it kicks in, so I generally only know I’ve overdone it after it’s done. Anyway, Josh and I rode up, around, and down before the conk-out kicked me in the head. Then we sat around watching the bikes go by. And by, and by, and by…

Conk-out and all, I had a lot of fun. I even met up with an old friend I hadn’t seen in years. (Hi, Jennie!)

Next time, I wear the heart monitor. And no heroics. Like Grouchy Chris said in a similar situation, “You know, Cam, sometimes you can be really dumb.” No more the dumb!

Next up: a round of email. I wrote this morning to Feet First, the pedestrian advocacy group. I’m a member, as it happens. (If you ever leave the house under your own power, consider joining up! It’s cheap.) I asked them if they’d taken a position on the Stone Way road diet and expressed my hope that they’re working with the bike community for a safer Stone Way. I think it’d make a lot of sense for Feet First to be out front and active on that issue. There’s a Pedestrian Master Plan in the works right now; we want the city to be sticking to its alternative-transportation promises.

I also wrote to Joe Szwaja to thank him for showing up. (If there were any other political candidates out there, I sure didn’t see them.) It didn’t escape me that Joe took our concerns seriously.

I’m planning to write a note of thanks to the folks at the Episcopal Bookstore. It warmed my heart to see the the staff out there clapping for us. My needs for Episcopalian supplies are very low indeed, but I could probably buy some gifts for my aunt there, and I have been meaning to read more Thomas Merton.

Josh and I are going to ride around Fremont with the SeattleLikesBikes.org crew tonight. We meet at 4:30 at Gasworks, then ride to Fremont. We’ll ride our bikes through Fremont where the city says we ought to ride them, following all laws. If you’re on a bike, come join us! Josh and I will have an early dinner in Fremont somewhere afterwards.

One or two of you are probably asking, “But Cam, your hip and foot are all messed up. How are you going to do this?” The plan, in a word, is aspirin. Plus I see my LMT tomorrow. Besides, it’ll be good for the cabin fever. I’ll probably only do a lap or two anyway. It’s going to hurt, but I’m okay with that, because this issue makes me really mad.

I’ve written my share of letters about the Stone Way bike lane debacle. But with mega-wealthy landowner Suzie Burke throwing her weight around, a little polite letter-writing doesn’t seem like enough to me. I want to help show City Hall that bicyclists will come out and act in support of the Bike Master Plan. Riding a bike where the city is claiming I should ride it? That sounds to me like some very mellow direct action indeed. And it sounds like fun, too.

I’m also curious: certainly this spineless reversal by the city looks like it’ll have a terrible effect in those blocks. But though I’ve been through Fremont by tandem a fair number of times, we don’t usually go up Stone Way, so I’m not sure exactly how terrible it is. (Who would want to grind up Stone Way without bike lanes? Not me.) This evening, I’ll find out for myself first-hand.

What I and many other cyclists want is a connected network of adequate bicycle street facilities. Does the Burke-Gilman connection north have to be on Stone Way, and not a nearby street? Eh, I could be persuaded, though it’s my belief that the Bike Master Plan as written has been thoroughly scrutinized by people who know what they’re talking about. The bottom line, though, is this: it’s got to have that connection. Six blocks of gap? No good. Won’t do.

In vaguely related news, oil prices are at an all-time high. Quoth the BBC, “Oil prices have climbed to a record high of $78.71 a barrel amid worries about whether oil supplies can meet global demand… The Department of Energy said that oil inventories had fallen by a higher-than-expected 6.5 million barrels in the week ending 27 July. Analysts had been forecasting a far more modest fall of about 700,000 barrels.” Just a wee bit off there.