A Seattleite born in Rhode Island with a fondness for technology and haiku.
morning hazy skies
eastern washington fires
their smoke drifts westward
Eastern Washington is afire, and their smoke is now drifting westward. Thus, our air quality sucks, and is only going to get worse over the week. High up in the skies right now, though it’s expected to drift earthward soon. My throat is already mildly irritated, and that’s sure to get worse. Yay for AC and air filters!
I hope this finds you well, ideally with fresh air to breathe.
This song has been in my head since I woke up, giving me a nice boost. I hope it does the same for you in the time of madness, rage, and despair.
while the sunlight wanes
passing through the Western clouds
the birds quieting
One of my favorite Christmas Gifts this year is a Far Side calendar. This one is today’s.
What’s particularly amusing to me: I work at a church! So, it fits, thematically, I guess.
I hope all’s well with each of you!
dawn drifts through clouds
the raindrops begin to glow
the birds awaken
So, we’re into the final stretch of July. Saturday we flip the calendar into August. I’ll enjoy these summer days, and the respite offered by clouds with rain.
as the sunlight fades
drifts over faded rose petals
the evening air cools
Yesterday, I came across this post about Jimothy, something of a celebrity here in Seattle. The official description of him is simply that he’s a “deformed and belovedly bedraggled raccoon”. Perhaps he’s something of a mutant. I’m no biologist, so we’ll leave it there for now.
For me, though, the most delightful part of the story was brought about by Matt Inman (of the Oatmeal…yeah, I have a well-documented love for his work) this morning.
Ah, I thought it was perfect! Jimothy has made it as a Seattle cultural icon!
So, I hope that this gives you a positive energy boost to launch you into the weekend.
First, welcome to the middle of the week! And, for that matter, the middle of the month.
If you’ve read enough here, you’ll know that I served in the US Navy aboard submarines. As such, I have a penchant for sub things. Thus, this Far Side delighted me more than (I’m sure) most folks.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy this one. And that your week is going well.
I recently discovered Amy Kim, a creator posting on Instagram about Korean culture and history. As a black belt in Taekwondo, I have a deeper exposure to Korean culture than many folks in the States. But I still have a lot to learn. I had never heard of Korea’s IMF bailout in 1997.
For me, the most powerful lesson here is one of awareness. As something of an analyst, I can easily get immersed in numbers and spreadsheets. So much so that the impacts of decisions, the HUMAN impacts of decisions, can get abstracted away. I understand, at that abstract level, the value that this bailout and the ensuing austerity brought. Yet there were huge human impacts on people. Lives lost. And a rippling trauma that still haunts the Korean people.
So, the bold question: how do we manage things like economies, societies, and all that while recognizing human dignity? I wonder if there was a way to implement this solution in a way that mitigated the social destruction? Communicate, in some way, that the impacts upon these folks’ lives were not their fault, not a reflection upon their worth and value. That, in a project of this scale, managing the social impacts is just as valuable, perhaps even more so, than the economic ones.
Just a quick bit this Friday.
I’ve long loved Matt Inman’s “The Oatmeal” (for instance, he’s long held the top spot in the Webcomics section of my blogroll). Most of the time, his work is pee-your-pants funny. Sometimes, though, it’s incredibly insightful. Today is one of the more insightful moments.
Anyway, I highly recommend subscribing. He doesn’t spam and, again, does great work.