Kelly's So Called Life

Country Roads, Take Me Home

2009-07-09T21:33:00.002-04:00

This will be my last blog post till late next week as I'm heading out of town on a much needed vacation. Tomorrow morning, I'll head east on Interstate 64 to Charleston, West Virginia, where I'll pick up Interstate 79 north to US Route 33 in Weston. From there, I'll head east an hour till Elkins and Route 219. At that point, I'll head south again, slowly gaining elevation as I head into the heart of the Appalachian Mountains, my ultimate destination being Snowshoe, West Virginia, located a mile up on the southern end of Cheat Mountain. It's where I spent the best years of my life and this trip will be my first bag in almost 9 years.

Making the decision to leave the mountains and return to Louisville was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. In retrospect, it was probably the right decision as my Mom and Brother are both here along with a teaching job that I simply adore. I love living in Louisville, it's one of the most underrated places in America and it's probably where I'll live for the rest of my life, but a part of me longs for the days spent living in what is nothing short of the most beautiful and amazing place on Planet Earth. I've stayed away for one reason and one reason only, my fear that once I get back, I won't ever want to leave.

When people think of West Virginia, they picture abject poverty, coal mines, and uneducated mountain folks living in a third world. Now it's true that part of West Virginia is that way, the coalfields of the southern part of the state are as depressing a sight as any I've ever seen. Thankfully, the eastern third of the state, home to the highest mountains and the outdoor playground of the Mid-Atlantic isn't that way. There isn't a lick of coal to be found, most of the people I knew and met were anything but stupid and while there were pockets of poverty, most people seemed to live a life that was comfortably middle class. In short, it's a lot like most places, only the views are to die for.

I'll see you next week and a big shout out to Mom who will be crashing at the Kelly House and taking care of my three kids, also know as Sammy, River and Shadow. Oh yeah, I almost forgot, high temperatures each day are forecast to be in the low 70's.

The Summer of Greg?

2009-07-07T13:37:00.002-04:00

Not working during the summer months, it becomes all too easy to just say the hell with it and go out into the world as my old self. I'm just not very motivated during these months of leisure and to be Kelly, it takes a hell of a lot of work, work that I sometimes just don't feel like doing. Being Greg is so much easier and as I've said many, many times before, I don't get any stares when I go out as Greg. I look like a guy in every possible way and nothing is going to ever change any of that. I actually kind of dread having to go back to work, not because of the work itself, but because it becomes such a hassle to find the energy and strength to become someone that I sometimes think I should have kept hiding.

Declaration of Independence

2009-07-04T22:10:00.000-04:00

The Declaration of Independence

IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

Louisville Sprawl

2009-07-03T21:01:00.013-04:00

I live inside the urban service boundry of Louisville, roughly designated as anywhere inside the Watterson Expressway. Inside the expressway, you'll find old neighborhoods that were designed for people, not cars. There are lots of high density, mixed use neighborhoods that encourage a sense of community. The streets are largely laid out in a grid fashion with most residences just a few minutes walk to retail and entertainment. There are lots of greenspaces in the form of urban parks and front yards that welcome you to the door, not to the garage. Most parking is offstreet and all areas are well served by mass transit. Buses run along Bardstown Road and other major corridors every couple of minutes and with dedicated bike lanes on many streets, owning a car isn't necessary. Outside of the Watterson Expressway, well, that's a whole different ballgame....

Click on any picture for a larger view.

Roads That Don't Go Anywhere

Round And Round

Can't You Just Imagine The Kind Of People Who Live Here?

Exurban development in Oldham County in Suburban Louisville

The Worst Thing About This Whole Scene Is That You Can't Get Anywhere Without Driving To A Main Road

A Nightmare In Every Sense Of The Imagination

Golf Courses Not Community

Not Sprawl- An inner city neighborhood in the Highlands Neighborhood. This kind of development, complete with walkable streets, multiuse zoning, on street parking and a grid layout would be illegal to build with current zoning rules.

A street level view of the picture above. This is Bardstwon Road at Bonnycastle Avenue and the view is looking north. At this street corner, you will find a grocery store, several restaurants (street parking only), a music shop, several clothing stores, an antique store, a bookstore, several coffee shops and even a head shop. What you won't find are parking lots or chain stores. This is a healthy and vibrant neighborhood and unlike many areas of the metro area, home sales are still strong here and prices continue to rise. People want to live in places like this.

The FDIC is Very Hungry Today

2009-07-02T21:56:00.002-04:00

The FDIC was especially hungy this holiday weekend as 7 banks, 6 of them in Illinois, were, as Atrios likes to say, Eaten. For those keeping score, that's 52 bank failures so far this year and I suspect the number will grow substantially as summer fades to fall and into winter. I don't know why the idiots at CNBC seem to think that things are turning around, they aren't by a longshot, but more and more, the so called experts are looking for any sign of optimism and those signs just aren't there. With the number of unemployed continuing to rise, a new set of home foreclosures about to begin and the collapsing retail industry, well, it just keeps getting worse and worse.

Now it's well known that I'm a doomer when it comes to the impending collapse of civilization as we know it but even I didn't expect it to come crumbling down so fast and in this manner. The economic collapse was primarily caused by two things, a crazy ass housing bubble and the record run up in the price of oil last year. Home prices continue to tumble with no end in sight and just in case you haven't been paying attention to the oil markets, well, we are in the middle of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression and oil is trading at near $70 a barrel.

That tells me two things: The use of ones home as an ATM is never coming back and if we do somehow manage a small recovery, the price of oil will skyrocket once again, sending the economy crashing to the floor again. It's a cycle that we will most likely stay in over the course of the next few decades and it promises to change the way all of us live. As I've said many, many times before, the party is over and while it was a great run and a whole lot of fun, the hangover is proving to be quite painful, especially for those millions of people who have lost their jobs and will probably never get them back.

Happy 4th of July America!

July 2nd?

2009-07-02T16:36:00.002-04:00

I'm not sure I can ever remember it being this cool in July, not in Louisville anyway. I have the windows open enjoying some free air conditioning and I have to say, I'm totally loving it.

Update: Todays high of 71 tied the record for a record low minimum high temperature. Back into the mid 80's tomorrow with lots of sunshine. It was nice while it lasted.

Knock on Wood

2009-06-30T23:21:00.002-04:00

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.

Zip, Zap, Zip

2009-06-28T22:09:00.003-04:00

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.

Blow Jobs

2009-06-26T20:36:00.002-04:00

A copy of a real ad from Burger King...

Some Thoughts On the News Of The Day

2009-06-25T22:20:00.003-04:00

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.

Just When You Think You've Heard and Seen It All...

2009-06-23T18:01:00.003-04:00

...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

Funny Again

2009-06-22T21:39:00.002-04:00

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

A Life Less Ordinary

2009-06-21T23:57:00.004-04:00

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.

Thoughts On A Road Trip

2009-06-18T20:45:00.004-04:00

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.

Obama Hates The GLBT Community

2009-06-12T21:08:00.002-04:00

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...

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

2009-06-10T22:42:00.003-04:00

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:

What He Said

2009-06-09T22:19:00.003-04:00

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.

Coming Attractions

2009-06-07T22:02:00.004-04:00

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

Two Years

2009-06-05T22:10:00.005-04:00

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

And on the Eight Day, God Created Summer Vacation

2009-06-03T21:25:00.004-04:00

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.

The Right Wing of America is Deranged and Deadly

2009-05-31T21:54:00.002-04:00

I was going to post something light hearted tonight but then I read the horrible news out of Witchita. Seems another right wing militant decided to play God and shot a doctor who performs abortions. What's worse, he shot him at church where the doctor was serving as an usher. Dr. George Tiller, one of the few doctors who still performs late term abortions, had suffered years of harrassment and a previous attempt on his life. His clinic only performed these procedures when the life of the mother was in danger, something that any rational doctor should be willing to do. In every case, the health of the mother is always much more important than that of a fetus. There is simply no debate about that, save for on the right.

As Digby rightly says, these fools are nothing but terrorist. She also asks, when's the last time we had a left wing terrorist killing in the United States? Can't remember? That's because those of us on the left don't do stupid and deranged shit like kill people that we disagree with.

Ouch

2009-05-26T22:23:00.002-04:00

Indy was awesome in nearly everyway possible. The cars were fast. The crowd was huge. The cars were loud. The seats were great. The cars were really fast and really loud. Oh yeah, the weather sucked. It was hot, humid and as it turns out, just sunny enough to cause one hell of a sunburn. I slathered the sunscreen on but somehow, I guess I'm not used to wearing low cut tops, I forgot to put any on my chest. The result isn't pretty and it hurts like hell. Now I usually do everything possible to stay out of the sun, I spent the hour or so before the race sitting under the grandstand out of the sun, but once the race started, I pretty much had nowhere to go and now I'm paying the price.

Two Great Races, One Great Day

2009-05-23T21:12:00.004-04:00

Tomorrow is the greatest day in Motor Sports Racing as the world's two most prominent races take center stage. FIrst up is the Formula 1 Grand Prix de Monaco on the streets of the tiny but oh so glamorus Principality. Formula 1 is by far the most popular sport in the world, drawing an average television audience of well over a billion people per race. Ask any driver on the grid and all will tell you that this is the race they most want to win. Britain's Jenson Button, driving for the upstart Brawn GP team, has pole and if previous runnings are any indication, he'll be tough to be beat on the difficult to pass on course.

Six hours later and an ocean away, America's premier racing event, the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race, will get underway before a crowd in excess of 300,000. It's the largest single day sporting event by attentandce and is know throughout the world as The Greatest Spectacle in Racing. A full field of 33 drivers, led by pole sitter Helio Castroneves, will hit speeds of 225 mph on the famed yard of bricks, each trying to be the first to complete 200 laps. I'll be one of those 300,000 plus fans on hand and I expect this years race to be another classic.

Dario Francitti, my pick to win the INDY 500. Photo courtesy of Indycar.com

My sentimental favorite will be Paul Tracy, The Thrill from West Hill, but I don't think he has a car fast enough to win. Instead, I look for Dario Francitti, husband of the beautiful Ashley Judd, to once again drink the milk in the winners circle. I'll take Scott Dixon second and Castroneves third with young American Grahm Rahal fourth and Danica Patrick, one of three women in the race, coming in fifth.

So, get up early tomorrow morning, catch the Grand Prix de Monaco at 8 eastern on Speed TV (channel 607 on DirecTV), take a little nap and tune into ABC at noon for the pre-race show followed by the 500 mile race. By the way, I'll be in the Northwest Vist in turn 3 so try and look for me. I'm kidding of course but at least you'll know where I'm at.

Oh yeah, NAPCAR has a race tomorrow night, but who really gives a shit.

Babies R Us- Make It Stop

2009-05-23T00:17:00.008-04:00

It's really weird, I love being a teacher and working with kids, but when it comes down to it, I just can't imagine the appeal of ever wanting one, yet alone multiple versions of them. I rationalize this by my belief that the world is turning into a shitty place, mostly because there are way too many of us living here. Simply talking about overpopulation or it's solution is the surest way not to get invited over for cookouts, but if the children of today are to have a life as decent as the ones we've had, we need to stop having so many damn babies. Have one child, love them dearly and go peacefully into the night knowing that when you and your spouse are gone, you will have been a part of the solution and not the problem.

Last night, circumstances beyond my control sent me to the worst retail experience of my life, a visit to a place called Babies R Us. A friend of the family is having a baby shower tomorrow and she was registered at this Wal-Mart for babies place. I had never been in Babies R Us and as God is my witness, I will never go in again, so traumatized was I by what I saw. What I saw was more useless shit that neither baby or mother could possibly need. Most of what was for sale wasn't even invented when I was born and I did just fine. I mean seriously, how many different kinds of blankets and bottles and pacifiers and other crap do we need? What kind of place has two isles of baby themed CD's and DVD's?

To make matters worse, the place was full of pregnant women, all looking like they were about to do the most important thing in the history of the world, that is give birth to a child. They all had the same shitty grin and it was clear that the next couple of years will be spent talking about first steps, first words, first shits and other crap that you or I could care less about. Anyways, I could go on and on but I thought I would leave it to the master of such things, George Carlin, to say what's really on my mind...

UPDATE It appears that Youtube is down and videos are loading, hopefully it will get fixed soon.

I'm Getting Excited

2009-05-19T22:15:00.006-04:00

The starting grid of 33 drivers for the Indianapolis 500 poses in front of Macy's flagship store in New York City. The 500 mile race is Sunday afternoon and will be televised on ABC.

Pole sitter Helio Castroneves poses in front of his Penske Dallara Honda.

He's back. The Thrill From West Hill, Paul Tracy, is back at Indy and the race is better because Tracy will be there. He's very popular with the fans and he always drives all out. I'll be hoping he wins.

All photos courtesy of The Indy Racing League