Watching my friend

This one seems possible for her...

how is it that I experience both the joy of possibilities for her

   and at the same time the touch of sadness at the changes that will bring...

not going to judge myself. it just happens...

there is this scar just here >

from when the women leave my world for other things...

I'm older, wiser

but it brings both kinds of tears still...

held private as they must be

Shoulder Bootcamp

One handed typing is a challenge. This past Monday 6/7/2010 I had shoulder surgery. The goal is getting back range of motion and reducing pain. Today I reported for the first day of physical therapy. I have a short window of time to rehab the shoulder to prevent it from locking up again. I'm in Shoulder Bootcamp. I have a schedule of physical rehab activities for home, 3-5 times a day, and a visit to PT 4 days a week. Yes, I get one weekday off. I'm too young to not be able to use my arms if there are other options. I chose Shoulder Bootcamp. 


This is not the first round of physical therapy on this shoulder. However this venue is different. Before I was almost the youngest person in the room. Today the room was full of twenty somethings or younger nursing knees. Note to self: find some decent looking exercise clothing. The bag lady look is SO yesterday.

Gustav Vigeland Sculptures and Life

I have not visited Oslo yet. The rest of my family went years ago. It was life altering for them to discover the Gustav Vigeland sculptures there. I knew from their stories that pictures, images do not convey the scale and intensity.  For just a taste see this website:
http://www.reckonings.net/photos/vigelandphotos/index.html

Gustav Vigeland (1869-1943) is a Norwegian sculptor whose work portrays the full range of the human life cycle and the wonderful diversity of intimate relationships among men, women and children of all ages—truly the family of humankind.

Surviving Orchid needs police protection in UK

Reported by John Platt in Scientific American online here, a single flowering plant of the terrestrial lady slipper orchid Cypripedium calceolus still lives in the wild in Lancashire UK.
The plant is under police protection. The plant is reported to be 100 yrs. old.


I would love to see an orchid living wild here in N. America. Orchids truly are survivor plants.

Dendrobium fibriatum

Dendrobium fibriatum, originally uploaded by asawusch.

I was amazed that this species dendrobium bloomed for me as late as 2009. I loved the frilly lip and the dark 'eye'. You can't see from this photo but it was growing on a teak crate. It really wanted to be hanging from a tree somewhere warm. The beauty of orchids that are not 'orchid color'. Yes. I miss these guys. But my current location just isn't what they need.

Children's programming from animation / machinima created in Second Life

I have met people from all over the world in Second Life. Amazing and creative things are happening in that environment. The possibilities for the use of Machinima created within virtual environments like Second Life for children's programing are just emerging. A first example is the machinima by my friend Chantal Harvey & others  The Joy of Music .
After they were done filming, my husband and I, in our Second Life avatars, were able to explore and play with / on the set ourselves. I jumped on the drum and walked the long road...

Tonight I received word of 10 Little Aliens
My friend Chantal Harvey shared this note with me this evening. With her permission I share it here with you:

SL Machinima for Sesame Street
http://www.aniboom.com/animation-video/435859/10-Little-Aliens/ 

Chantal Harvey's team entered a contest set up by Aniboom.com, who is helping Sesamestreet to find a new character for their series.

Aniboom then denied SL machinima, saying it is game design content --- that is when i thanked them for the compliment, as all avatars and props were made by Madcow Cosmos, and all seen in this machinima is our own. They have changed their minds and let us in now.

Lets support SL machinima, -  for once I am asking you to go there, -  and rate it if you can.

All the best,

Chantal Harvey
Lorin Tone
Madcow Cosmos
Lauren Weyland
Judi Newall
L1Aura Loire
Ze Moo
robwag Soothsayer

Requiem to a Chinese Cymbidium

This photo was taken in November 2005 in our Library. These are the cymbidiums of asian art. This plant did not require the intensity of HID lighting to bloom. It was tolerant of the south facing window in our climate. It did need more attention than I could give it. And it passed, I'm ashamed to say, from neglect.  Somewhere I have documented the species name... for this is a species, not a hybrid. Today I share the memory, and the photo.

Phragmipedium Schroederae

Truely a survivor plant. This photo was taken March 9, 2007 by JRS. It is a division of the plant I purchased in June of 1995 from Taylor Orchids in Monroe MI .  (Phrag caudatum x Phrag Sendenii) I’ve been growing it under HID lights since Sept. 1996. It is one of my favorites [9531001]

Paphiopedilum Wellesleyanum - 2003 bloom image

 

(Paph. concolor ‘Walter’ x Paph godfroyae ‘Krull’s Fat Boy’

Purchased 28 Jan 1996. This photo is a later blooming.
Photo credit: JRS 4/25/2003

This is one of my favorite references for Paph. growing:

The Paphiopedilum Grower's Manual, rev. 2nd ed.

Cattleya Orchids in May 2003

How could I have not documented these orchids before? I know. Life was too complicated  then.
Between February 21 and April 6 2003  I acquired 10 orchids in the Cattleya group. These next 2 were photographed 5/18/2003. My Cattleya group was hit hardest by virus; pests; and infections over the past several years. These photo images are all I have to remember them.

Carter and Holmes was one of my favorite sources for orchids.

A Woodworker's Library

Both a scholar and a craftsman, James Sawusch began documenting his hand crafted Windsor Chair series in December 2007 on his blog Not 9 to 5 aka Spare Time.  Each section or 'chapter' is documented with photos to accompany the text. The blog format is both a blessing and a curse: the   blog section Woodworking - Windsor Chair  displays the newest entries first, which puts the narrative in reverse order. Go to the archive to begin at the beginning of this extended essay on his construction techniques, inspiration, and lessons learned. Grab the RSS link to be advised when new entries are posted.
From his first entry:

My woodworking is an avocation.  My vocation, on the other had, is as a Professor of Psychology at the University at Buffalo.  My typical week is a bit on the long side, so my woodworking is done in small blocks of time on occasional weekends.  I usually make two or three chairs at a time.  The process, from starting with rough lumber to finishing, takes me about two years.

The chairs documented here start with a walnut tree in the back yard of my brother-in-law’s family.  When they decided to remove the tree, he offered to have it milled into lumber and I offered to split the cost.  So, these two chairs start with the trunk of a tree.

For the book lovers among us Jim's 7/22/2008 entry called Final Notes, is not really the end, but a reference list with annotations about some of the resources he has used.  Some titles are readily available to purchase. Some may be more difficult to locate. See his blog entry for his comments. Here is his list:

Dunbar, M. (1984).  Make a Windsor Chair with Michael Dunbar.  Newtown, CT: The Taunton Press.  (ISBN 0-918804-21-3)

Evans, N. G.  (1996).  American Windsor Chairs.  New York: Hudson Hills Press.  (ISBN 1-55595-112-0)

Evans, N. G.  (1997).  American Windsor Furniture.  New York: Hudson Hills Press.  (ISBN 1-55595-064-7)

Evans, N. G. (2006).  Windsor-Chair Making in America.  Hanover, NH: University of New England Press.  (ISBN 1-58465-493-7)

Kassay, J.  (1998).  The Book of American Windsor Furniture.  Amherst, MA: University of Massachusetts Press.  (ISBN 1-55849-137-6)

Moser, T.  (1982).  Windsor Chairmaking.  New York: Sterling Publishing.  (ISBN 0-8069-7630-6)

Santore, C.  (1981).  The Windsor Style in America.  Philadelphia, PA: Running Press.  (ISBN 0-89471-136-9) 

Here is a link to information on the magazine Fine Woodworking, mentioned in another of Jim's blog posts:

Magnets modify morality? What about cell phones?

I just wonder...
If judgements of right and wrong can be disrupted by low level magnetic pulses to an area just above and behind the right ear... what are the implications for extended cell phone use?

Scientists have shown they can change people's moral judgements by disrupting a specific area of the brain with magnetic pulses.

Note from My Dad - About Critical Incident Planning : What he would tell us about pilot training requirements

Today while working my way through my parent's correspondence and journals, recovered after their deaths in 2003 and 2006, I came across a single sheet, with an additional note attached. Both in my Dad's handwriting, but showing the difference between 1991 and the tiny note dated 9/1999.  I am working on "their book" elsewhere (The Long Goodbye - A WWII Love Story ).  My Dad, John W. Atkinson,  was in the Army Air Corp during WWII. He was a pilot. He was an instructor of other pilots.

It has not been a month since the first anniversary of the crash of flight 3407, when I lost my dear friend Susan Wehle. My Dad's voice was in my ear from the moment I learned of the crash of flight 3407. I want to share here what I just found, in his own words:

Staying Healthy

My cousin used to talk with me about the difference between problems and annoyances. He spent a good amount of his time helping people sort out the difference, to get the world in perspective. At the end of the day, you do what you are able and then it is out of your hands.

So how does this relate to Staying Healthy?