chuck kottke

I care!!:P

:laugh3: dunk, dunk.... mmmmm!

You look so good Kels, I'd love to dunk you in a big glass of milk!:rolleyes::P

So funny! devouring the stars - what will be next?!:laugh3:

Welcome aboard Kevin:sunny:

I remember many things, but first? Finally discovering how to escape from the crib, only to be captured by my mom and returned to it. I was frustrated!:laugh3: And my brother would open up a cabinet full of pots and pans, and proceed to remove them all, and start banging them together (or maybe they were too heavy, and they kept falling due the strong gravitational field beneath the house.:P) This also seemed to alert our parents, and a cabinet latch was installed.

warm hearts, cool butterflies :sunny:I hope it's a great show!!!:) Warm Mexico, warm Coldplay to warm everyone's hearts (and especially the beautiful sparrows in a hurry). I will cultivate more milkweed this year, to send more real monarch butterflies down the Mexico way - anyone else who gardens, please save a place for the milkweed & :flutterby: monarchs:flutterby: - in honor of Coldplay & Mexico!! Viva La Vida, and Viva la Mexico!:flutterby:

Carla, you won't be working on all four cylinders without that sleep!:P Bryce Canyon, Utah - Bryce Canyon, Australia?:laugh3: Obviously a Bryce kind of place either way. What I was thinking? just concerned for a certain special person, down in the Mexico concert..

So I was thinking about what random really is. Chaos is all about tipping points, like a bowling ball balancing on a nail, able to easily fall in any direction with the slightest change in position. But what really is at work that makes random things truly random? Take shaking dice for example. Generally, shake enough dice, the odds being what they are, and you will have an equal chance of getting a 1 or a 6, but rarely in sequence, or the outcome may be many more 1's than 6's. and there is no clear pattern to the outcome - no simple equation can describe it, except equations telling you the odds or probability of winding up with each number. But what really is going on in the process? In a physical, moment-by-moment sense? The dice are placed into a cup - the initial face showing on each varies depending on how you pick them up, the angle and force of the drop into the cup, the bouncing and tipping when they first hit bottom, then the bounce, colliding with each other, then resting. All those motions, described by equations, and with each point of impact, another chaos point, and then then another motion, and finally resting. All before the shaking and roll begins. I guess what I'm getting at is perhaps randomness is actually a series of movements of objects, their interactions within the universe, and the variable complex equations describing those motions, and after each tipping point is passed a new set of possible motions and interactions. The more tipping points, the more variable the motions and their correlating equations, the greater the random, unpredictable outcomes one sees. Similar to entropy, driving the universe perhaps? At least at the quantum level.. Just trying to get a handle on the basic driving forces out there..

inspiration

Trying to cheer someone up, and ending up getting them angry at me. And apologizing for it, which only seems to make them more upset.. wish I could just turn back time.

If we could turn back time, how we might have done things differently, said things better. But there is only forward in life..

Tis' cold in the house. Quick, grab some firewood, start the fire in the stove!;)

melancholy thoughts. I don't even know what to say.. when love is so elusive as relationships get complex. Maybe it's for the better, maybe she will change her mind, maybe she's already gone. I just don't know...

welcome to the surf-board :thumbsup:Welcome aboard the board! Post your card, and hang your hat in the hallway.;)

I think my name is in a song titled "strawberry swing".. background of it at least.

Lots. It entails an amazing number of things, most one can predict if you're a good listener, and put oneself in the shoes of that person you love. But that's the trick - and doing so gently; no easy feat, but it's worth it.;)

What genetics, stress, and time will do.. it's a cruel world!:dozey: But there is hope - hair transplants - like getting a thicker greener lawn in spring.:P

Compared to Haiti's 7.4 quake- and 200,000 to 300,000 deaths - I would have to say 708 deaths for a magnitude 8.5 to 8.8 quake is remarkably low, no matter how one looks at it. Biggest difference is the motion of the quake - some are more up and down, some more back and forth, depending on the slippage of the plates below (and thus how things collapse varies with the motion). Since a quake's magnitude is on a logarithmic scale, going from a 7.5 to an 8.5 represents a huge leap in the violence of the tremors.

I am pouring energy into designing better systems for overpasses and bridges to survive earthquakes and for the cars not to go flying off the roads.. Really well-anchored supporting columns, fitted with many large struts, attaching the spans to the columns. A shock-absorber / coil spring system would take the energy of motion, and the spans wouldn't be yanked from their moorings then - saving many lives, and saving the infrastructure necessary to get relief supplies in when a quake hits.. Perhaps useful at the base of smaller multi-story buildings as well - make the buildings rigid, cushion the ride as the earth beneath moves up and down, to and fro.. It could easily be retro-fitted as well onto existing overpass and elevated roadbeds, and at a minimal cost compared to the inevitable damage caused by a quake.

One has to be thankful the death toll is so low - that's really remarkable, but still very tragic for those families affected...

Oh sure - but then who would work at all the retail stores and fast-food joints, and how would they get there?:laugh3: (that would be pretty unpopular a move, considering the lack of mass transit in many places, and the mass rebellion of younger people that would cause.. hmm...) Sure, if we all lived in France, it might work!! (maybe..)

Hmm.. well, I hope that author keeps a good pen name going! Yes, here too - we do need some fundamental change in our system to root out the corruption - and add some checks and balances back to it. I was hoping our President would do just that - be he has to deal with Congress: in part the inability to make real change because of them, in part because of the way Washington works, and his own campaign backers.. it will take citizen grass-roots pressure to change it - otherwise, nothing will be done about it. Orwellian in the sense that anyone who tries to reform the system has had their life's activities rifled through, and any small things they may have done wrong magnified and twisted by TV political ads and media attacks, just to destroy their credibility in the public's eye, and detract from their more honest ideas and goals towards change. In Orwell's world, anyone who dared question the authority was immediately suspect, investigated, and destroyed by the all-powerful government-corporate entity (big brother). Here, large corporate interests, consolidated media interests, and investment tycoons have so much power over government and the major "news" outlets, it's very difficult to bring about real change, and to get government to work for the people once again. So what I and others would like to see is a major movement coalescing from many grass-root groups to get the big money out of politics as much as is possible, and set up a better system of checks and balances. If it takes an amendment to act as a rallying point, or some other motivational speaker, it would be worth it.

Hello Nancy! Thanks for all the information you provide here - that's very nice of you. I am glad to hear that the Swiss are amenable to releasing Duvalier's millions to help Haiti - and for his generosity as well. But Down the line, what would work to repair the soil erosion issues facing Haiti? I thought some time ago about this, and wondered if the soil could be dredged back off the ocean floor (in delta regions and elsewhere), and put back onto the bare limestone from where is came washing down. To secure it with erosion matting and stakes, plant it with tree crops and tropical plants during the drier season - maybe install some desalination plants for fresh water to desalinate the soil with first.. It seems the sensible solution, to restore the vegetation and find better ways to farm the island - there has got to be a better future for Haiti. Hopefully all the new construction will be designed to handle massive quakes there - and with new construction, make the island's building's better than they have ever been, as enjoyable places to live in. Either that, or everyone will need to start living in bamboo and grass structures, where an earthquake would only shake grass onto the inhabitants below! Thanks again for the updates - as the disaster was so much more devastating in Haiti.

Hello Nancy! Thanks for all the information you provide here - that's very nice of you. I am glad to hear that the Swiss are amenable to releasing Duvalier's millions to help Haiti - and for his generosity as well. But Down the line, what would work to repair the soil erosion issues facing Haiti? I thought some time ago about this, and wondered if the soil could be dredged back off the ocean floor (in delta regions and elsewhere), and put back onto the bare limestone from where is came washing down. To secure it with erosion matting and stakes, plant it with tree crops and tropical plants during the drier season - maybe install some desalination plants for fresh water to desalinate the soil with first.. It seems the sensible solution, to restore the vegetation and find better ways to farm the island - there has got to be a better future for Haiti. Hopefully all the new construction will be designed to handle massive quakes there - and with new construction, make the island's building's better than they have ever been, as enjoyable places to live in. Either that, or everyone will need to start living in bamboo and grass structures, where an earthquake would only shake grass onto the inhabitants below! Thanks again for the updates - as the disaster was so much more devastating in Haiti.