Anaerobic Compost

Compost is made most efficiently by either circulating air through the pile via vented pipes, or, more normally, turning the pile from spot A to spot B. The point is to provide fresh oxygen to the aerobic bacteria in the pile so they will keep working. There are anaerobic bacteria as well—bacteria that don't need oxygen to survive—and they will break down organic matter and turn it into compost as well, albeit at a slower rate.

I have used the aerobic method (frequent turning) with the compost I have made in the past. But I created an anaerobic pile over the last six months or so that didn't get turned a single time. A couple times I did use a corkscrew tool I have that bores down into the pile and opens air channels, but for the most part the pile just sat. Every 1-2 weeks I would bring a fresh five-gallon bucket of vegetable scraps from the kitchen and build a new layer on top of the existing pile: veggie scraps, with a bit of existing compost sprinkled on top to introduce bacteria into the fresh scraps, then sprinkled alfalfa meal on top of the dirt, then covered with a layer of straw and soaked with water. I've done that repeatedly over recent months just to see what would happen if I didn't turn the pile.

I had two round wire bins, each four feet tall.

The one on the left had about a foot of previously made compost which I removed into the wheelbarrow to use in my front veggie bed:

The bin on the right is where I've been "stacking" fresh ingredients a layer at a time the last six months. The straw all around the edges has not broken down because it didn't get incorporated into the pile as it normally does when the pile is turned regularly.

My mission today was to turn the anaerobic pile on the right into the now-empty bin on the left. I took the wire bin from around the pile on the right and this is what it looked like from the top. Three-plus feet of solid, dark compost surrounded by a doughnut of uncomposted straw around the edges. I was amazed. I could have dug that compost out of the middle of the pile and used it immediately. It was totally ready to use—no recognizable food scraps or straw anywhere in the middle section.

Instead, I turned everything—finished compost and straw from around the edge of the pile—into the new empty bin, sprinkling more alfalfa (nitrogen food source for bacteria) in as I went. Hopefully, the uncomposted straw will get broken down in short order and this whole bin will be ready to use later this spring:

My conclusion is that anaerobic composting works. It definitely takes longer, but it produces a nice product.

Manifesto

The guys that started the "lifestyle" company, holstee.com, wrote a manifesto instead of a business plan. I like it -- so I bought a copy and had it framed. I'm not much into "motivational" stuff, and could quibble about the worldview reflected by a lot of these offerings, but that's not the point. I understand where these guys are coming from and like the "spirit" of their manifesto.

They also created a video version of the Manifesto using the urban bike culture of NYC as a vehicle. There are a number of things I like about what these guys are doing with this young company so thought I'd give them a shout. (After you read the Manifesto and watch the video, ask me why I haven't done this already.)

Lance Armstrong Going Plant-based

I've wondered how long this would take—for someone as smart as Lance Armstrong to recognize that he should be eating a plant-based diet. He is now two-thirds of the way there.

Armstrong is friends with Rip Esselstyn, a former triathlete and founder of the Engine 2 (plant-based, vegan) diet—and son of Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn whose plant-based approach to preventing and reversing heart disease is healing former president Bill Clinton's heart. As Armstrong has moved from his pro cycling career to triathlete competition he has begun training with (Rip) Esselstyn again and has adopted a plant-based diet for breakfast and lunch.

Effects: He says his energy level and mental sharpness are better than they have ever been. Read the whole story here.

The Spring in Spring

Made the monthly trip to the spring at Cold Spring Church for water today. What a gorgeous site was waiting for me:

On the way home I stopped to look at this beautiful house that I pass each time I go to the spring. When I first saw it, it was inhabited and in good shape, but the last year or so it seems to have been empty and unkempt. I asked a nice lady who lived across the road about it -- yes, it has changed hands, she said, about a year ago. The new owner is trying to restore it but is moving very slowly. Up close, there is lots of evidence of rehab work being done and a "No Trespassing" sign.

I especially love the "annex" built on the left of the property. It's odd that a house this old has no fireplace, but the annex does. The neighbor lady said the annex had been added on, which is obvious -- but it is a beautiful addition, especially the front windows -- and the chimney. What a great office/library/studio that would make!

Note the acorn finials -- and is that square "box" the end of a central beam?

The trees are massive:

And the grounds are punctuated with statuary and urns -- a little taste of Athens in the North Carolina countryside. Somebody had something definite in mind when they collected and added these. I wonder if the new owner will honor that theme?

New from Google: Gmail Tap

(Don't forget: This was released on April 1)

A Classic from the "Sixties"

Younger readers won't recognize the name of Arlo Guthrie or the name of his famous song, "Alice's Restaurant Massacree"—but here's your chance to fill in that cultural void.

Guthrie released the song (it took up one whole side) on his 1967 vinyl album (left). It became one of the most popular anti-war anthems of the Vietnam War era. It's a true, albeit embellished, story of something that happened to Guthrie as an 18-year-old. The chorus is addictive and the guitar foundation has become a classic for fingerstyle guitar players.

If you have 16' 35" to spare, listen to Guthrie perform this classic at Farm Aid 2005. And read the story of the song here. (If you wonder what the fuss is about, it's because you missed the 'Sixties—making fun of the police and the military was what occupied a large part of the decade.)

Beautiful Chard

This Swiss Chard has been growing since late last summer and just doesn't stop. Both these plots are from seeds I saved from a big plant that had gone to seed. This first group of plants was from seeds I started:

This group came up on its own from seeds that fell from the previous plant that went to seed:

Four big leaves ready to be juiced. The big, thick stems are loaded with juice when just picked:

Hip Hip, Hoo-Dutch!

Being of Dutch ancestry—"Kruidenier" means "seller of herbs" or "grocer" in Dutch (kruiden = herbs, kruidenier = seller of herbs; see wagon in this picture) . . .

. . . I have to give a shout to the lowly Dutch when I can, both of these having crossed my desk this week.

First, a Dutchman who created the first human-powered, wing-based (flying like a bird) flight. He used wireless controllers from a Wii game machine to translate the motion of his flapping arms to the wings. Very nice -- (hit the CC button, then "English", for a translation of his post-flight reaction): Update: I got snookered (along with a lot of other people). This was an elaborate, fictional hoax eight months in the making. Watch the video anyway -- it's cool -- and then watch the ABCNews interview with the "hoaxer" below. (Thanks, Daniel and Liz.)

Second, a "used" cathedral in Maastricht, Holland, has been transformed into the "world's most sacred bookstore." This is not a library—it's a bookstore. I'd say it's a step down from housing the Word of God to the words of men, but a nice job of it nonetheless. Go here for the article and a half-dozen more gorgeous photos (thanks, David KRUIDENIER, for the link):

Hey, William of Orange (take your pick) had nothing on these Dutchmen.

Who and Where

Just received a new (2012) book by Atina Diffley today—a memoir of her and her husband's decades as organic market gardeners on fifth-generation land in Minnesota. I had seen a great review of the book, not only praising the story but the author's beautiful writing.

After cutting the grass I sat down on the front porch and paged through the portfolio of beautiful color photos in the center of the book that tell the story of their farming lives. And then picked a random spot and began reading—about the day Atina delivered their second child, Maize (because his newborn hair looked like corn tassle).

Atina worked in the fields until a couple hours before giving birth, then called the midwife and delivered the baby—just a few minutes after her husband came in off the tractor and showered.

Just hours after being born, Maize was introduced to the farm and has been in the thick of things ever since. I love this portrait of his place in the market stand they run on the farm:

"[Maize] can hear my voice as I move around working the stand, and I can see him from wherever I am. Not only do I know he is safe, but he is right there in the center of our business, surrounded by produce and customers, learning sales and relationships on an intuitive level. He will know what his parents do, how we earn money, and what our values are. He will know where he is from and who he is." (p. 90).

Has whatever good the Industrial Revolution produced been greater than the harm of separating parents from children, sending parents off to jobs "in the city" unrelated to the life of the home? Isn't knowing "where he is from and who he is" more important than almost anything?

I think this will be a great book. (5-9-12 update: Read an in-depth, excellent review of the book here.)

Chick-fil-A: The New Monsanto

Among small farmers across America, there is a one-word answer to the question, "What is the most despised corporation in America?" The answer is, Monsanto. This giant company has bankrupted lots of small farmers by suing them over seed patent infringements that happen by accident when Monsanto's GMO seeds and pollen blow onto a neighboring farm and cross-breed with the non-Monsanto-bred plants on that farm. Monsanto sues, saying the small farmer is using their seed without permission—and wins. It's disgusting.

Now Monsanto has a competitor for biggest bully on the corporate playground: Chick-fil-A. This "Christian"-based company has forced more than 30 companies to stop using the words "Eat more . . ." in their corporate slogans or advertising. Because these are all micro-businesses, they can't afford to fight in court so they cave.

The latest company in Chick-fil-A's gunsights is a T-shirt maker in Burlington, Vermont, who sells a T-shirt that says, "Eat More Kale." Chick-fil-A has sent him a "cease and desist" order -- and the guy is going to fight.

He is using kickstarter.com to raise $75,000 to produce a documentary film about Chick-fil-A's heavy-handed tactics. They only have six days left to raise the remaining money. If you're not familiar with kickstarter.com, it's a site where venture capital can be raised for bootstrapping projects. You pledge an amount by credit card but your card is not charged unless the funding goal is met. If the goal isn't met, you pay nothing. Here is the kickstarter.com page for the Eat More Kale documentary project. I'm going to pledge my support and hope you'll consider supporting the project, too. And I'm going to try to figure out some way to communicate my disgust to Chick-fil-A. Since I haven't been in one of their stores in more than a decade, saying I'm going to boycott them doesn't mean much. But if you eat chicken sandwiches, I hope you'll buy them somewhere else and let them know why. I left a post on the Chick-fil-A Facebook page letting them know I'm supporting the Eat More Kale initiative (which they promptly deleted!).

Here are a couple of videos about the documentary film project:

Why Isn't Governor Dalrymple Running for President?

There could be lots of reasons North Dakota's governor Jack Dalrymple shouldn't be president, but here are two why he should: (1) his words in this video and (2) the fact that his home page gives no indication of his political party affiliation (nor does the Wikipedia article about him). He appears to be just a plain governor whose state has the lowest unemployment in the nation (and it's not all due to the current North Dakota oil boom). What's not to like?

Ketones and Coconuts

Because Parkinson's Disease (PD) robbed more and more of the last 25 years of my mother's life, and has been doing the same to my older brother for more than a decade, my radar is always on for things related to this disease. For that reason, I have just read Alzheimer's Disease: What If There Was a Cure? The Story of Ketones by Dr. Mary Newport, M.D. (2011). (Go here for Dr. Newport's website. Her original 2008 article which summarized her husband's illness, her research, and initial success with ketone therapy, and created a popular interest in the subject, is here.)

The reason an Alzheimer's book is important for the PD community is because they are both neurodegenerative diseases—breakdowns in the brain. Dr. Newport's pioneering work is causing quite a stir among folks who are related to Alz's, PD, and other brain-related diseases. You can find video interviews with Dr. Newport on YouTube by searching for her name. You'll also see other related videos by those who are implementing some of her findings for themselves or their loved ones.

I won't make this a long post—just enough info for background and to encourage you to read her book if this subject applies to you.

Her story: Dr. Newport's husband began showing signs of early Alzheimer's Disease a few years ago. Though her specialty is neonatology, she put on her research geek hat and began searching for answers and help. She discovered that medium-chain-triglyceride (MCT) fats, such as found in coconut oil and palm kernel oil (both saturated fats), provide a new-found level of energy to damaged brain cells. When her husband began consuming coconut oil and MCT oil with every meal, he came out of the darkness he was in back into the light. (When he took a memory test he had previously failed, a few hours after his first dose of coconut oil, he passed the test.)

He wasn't cured—that won't happen. But he became functional at a level that shocked them both. His memory, alertness, ability to recognize, converse, and do normal things came back in a significant way and remains. Again, not cured—just brought out of the mental darkness he was in back into a functional level of mental activity. Since then, she has been on a relentless quest to connect with whoever has done research in this area, make the results known, and increase awareness of a simple protocol that may help many people struggling with neurodegenerative diseases.

The science (overly simplified for this post): As more is discovered, Alz's Disease is being referred to as Type-3 Diabetes because the problem is the same as in Types 1 and 2 diabetes: insulin. Insulin, produced by the pancreas, is an escort chemical that delivers glucose to the body's cells, including brain cells. Without insulin, cells get no glucose and die.

•In Type-1 Diabetes, the pancreas doesn't produce insulin, a permanent condition requiring insulin injections for life.

•In Type-2 Diabetes, usually due to poor diet, the body doesn't produce enough insulin to handle the overdoses of glucose (sugar) in the blood (usually from too many simple and processed carbs/sugars). Type-2 can usually be halted and/or reversed with changes in diet and lifestyle.

•In Type-3 Diabetes, brain cells become resistant to insulin (for a variety of reasons) and cannot absorb glucose from the blood. The glucose (energy)-starved brain cells begin to die. The result is neurodegenerative conditions like Alz's, PD, and others. (This is vastly over-simplified, but a source of energy to the brain, to keep brain cells from dying and allowing them to continue their work of neuro-transmission, is the big idea.)

What Dr. Newport (and others) have discovered is that MCT's provide a source of energy that can cross the blood-brain barrier (be absorbed by the brain) in two ways:

1. MCT's themselves can be absorbed by brain cells and provide energy.

2. MCT's are partially converted by the liver into ketones which are readily absorbed by brain cells without the aid of insulin. (Brain cells will absorb ketones even if they are still able to absorb glucose.)

When Dr. Newport began feeding her husband coconut oil and MCT oil, it was like putting gas in an empty gas tank and turning the ignition. His brain came to life. While his brain cells had become resistant to glucose, they readily absorbed the ketones (produced by the liver) from the coconut oil. In a matter of hours both she and her husband could tell a marked difference in his mental activity. He now consumes coconut and MCT oil with each meal and at bedtime in amounts they have balanced out through their trial and error studies.

Yes, coconut oil is a saturated fat with all the (supposed) attendant liabilities. Dr. Newport goes into all the pros and cons, cites all the relevant research, and navigates through an area that is developing as she writes. Her book is her fist attempt to get this information to a public increasingly afflicted with Alz's and neurodegenerative diseases. (One of the most depressing parts of her story, though not surprising, is the resistance she got from national Alzheimer's organizations when she was knocking on doors trying to get someone to listen to her story. She has since become recognized as a medical authority on the subject. But why is the AMA crowd so often the last on board with new or alternative protocols?)

If these diseases have touched someone you know, I encourage you to get the book and read her story. And if you are untouched by these diseases, consider this: Research now shows that brain degeneracy (insulin resistance) begins some 10-15 years before symptoms appear of Alz's, PD, and other diseases. Meaning? Consuming ketones via MCT's (found in coconut oil) could—repeat, could—stave off the onset of brain-cell failure by providing a new source of energy for cells that are growing resistant to glucose absorption.

(Note: I'm not a doctor and haven't played one on TV (old joke). The goal of this post is to simply draw attention to Dr. Newport's research and success with this protocol as an encouragement for others in the same situation.)

Raise Your Hand if You Laugh

Jimi Hendrix is sitting in a corporate office across from an interviewer who says, "Your résumé looks good, Mr. Hendrix, but are you experienced?" (Thanks, Joey)

Did you hear about the Zen master who ordered a hot dog? He said, "I'll have one with everything." (Thanks, Nicolas Cage)

Where Omega-3s Fit

Fooducate.com posted this great schematic of where Omega-3 oils fit in the grand scheme of food. Read their short article explaining the chart here. (See this also for more good info on Omega 3's.)

"404" Animals Saved

A very quantitatively-oriented researcher has gone to a lot of trouble to estimate (conservatively) how many animals an American vegetarian or vegan saves (on average) from death in a year. The number is 404: 34 land animals, 219 fish, and 151 shellfish. The numbers can't be proved as accurate, of course, but the research suggests a measure of credibility. (Read the research here.)

So, in my 10+ years of plant-based eating, I've saved more than "4,000" animals from an unnatural and unnecessary death. (No brag, just a possible fact.)

I've learned that most people eliminate animals from their diets with one of two priorities in mind: nutrition or animal welfare. That is, it's possible to be a junk-food, animal rights vegan, concerned about animals but not about health. It's also possible to be a nutrition junkie and regard the by-product of fewer animals killed as nice, but not critical. Regardless of initial motivation, most vegans usually end up recognizing and honoring both priorities equally.

From either direction, the net effect is the same: fewer animals get eaten.

I came to a plant-based lifestyle from a third direction—the Bible. When I discovered that the diet outlined in Eden (Genesis 1:29) for human beings is a plant-based diet, my commitment to letting Scripture guide my thinking led me to a vegan lifestyle. With further understanding, I discovered that the other two priorities were accomplished by pursuing a biblical approach: eating plants is nutritious as well as honoring to animals under the creation stewardship mandate in Genesis—not honoring their "animalness" so they develop into better quality food but honoring them as sentient beings who make their own contributions to the mosaic of life on earth.

So starting with Scripture allows me yet another opportunity to honor the Bible as a guide for faith and practice while accomplishing the other two priorities—nutrition and animal welfare—at the same time. A rare three-fer.

Welcome to Amerika 3

Excellent piece by Pat Buchanan on the Obama administration's recent decision to force the Catholic church to provide contraceptive and "morning after" service to its employees. And the gradual usurpation of legislative law-making rights by the Supreme Court. Link.

Juicing Big-time

The current issue of Vanity Fair magazine has a nice article about a booming California company (two stores) selling fresh-pressed veggie juices: Pressed Juicery. Locations currently in West L.A. and Malibu, making them hot and hip and trendy. But this is the real stuff: raw, un-pastuerized juice with a three-day shelf life that is pressed—the very gentlest and best way to extract juices. Until I broke my Welles Press juicer, it provided the best juice I've ever made (pulp created on a Champion, then pressed in the Welles). Pressed Juicery got started with the famed Norwalk Juicer, still the Cadillac (with a price tag to match). Read about Pressed Juicery here. (Picture from their website without permission.)

What I Say or What I Do?

When it comes to eating, should we do what the government says or what the government does? The pyramid on the left shows that nearly 74 percent of government food production subsidies go to the meat and dairy industry. But compare that with the portion of one's diet the government suggests should come from protein, predominantly meat and dairy in America (triangle on the right). In other words, compare the size of the two orange sections.

Also, compare how much of one's daily food the government says should be fruits and vegetables (green part of the right triangle) with how much money the government spends subsidizing the production of fruits and vegetables (.4 of one percent at the tip of the left triangle).

Shouldn't these two triangles look about the same? If the government is going to subsidize food production (topic for another day), shouldn't they do so proportionally to what they recommend we eat? Just sayin'. . . .

(Thanks, Robert)

He Shoulda' Tipped His Hat to the Crowd

Federer-Nadal, Australian Open:

U.S. Constitution Not a Good Model

In an interview by an Egyptian journalist, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said she would not recommend the Egyptians look to the U.S. Constitution for guidance in structuring their own. Instead, she mentioned the constitutions of South Africa, Canada, and the European Convention on Human Rights as worthy models to examine.

Terrific. One of the people charged with upholding the U.S. Constitution has serious doubts about its worthiness. Link.

An Offer to Paula Deen

I have, using all the powers at my disposal, resisted the urge to weigh in on the Paula Deen scandal of recent weeks. I have expressed my dislike for her activities in this space before, but have resisted the urge this time.

However, Dr. John McDougall has done a good job addressing her situation—and made her an amazing offer. The man is nothing if not confident in the power of a starch/plant-based diet to fix diabetes. Read it here.

Turn Yourself Around

Seen on a T-shirt:

The Hokey-Pokey Clinic

A place to turn yourself around.

Should the Department of Education Be Abolished?

In the three-plus decades since the Department of Education was established in 1980, the decline in American education compared to other nations is well-known. One wonders what good the Department serves.

Charles Murray (B.A., Harvard; Ph.D, M.I.T.), a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, makes a strong case for the abolition of the Department of Education, using three tests: Constitutionality, whether there are problems with the American education system that can only be fixed at the federal level, and track record. He says the Department fails on all three counts.

This article appears in the January 2012 issue of Imprimis, the free monthly print publication of Hillsdale College. If you aren't one of the 2.1 million monthly readers of Imprimis, you can subscribe here. Charles Murray's article is online here.

"Your truffles or your wife!"

Those of a certain age will remember the famous Jack Benny skit where the notoriously tightwad comedian was approached by a mugger who demanded, "Your money or your life!" Benny replied, "I'm thinking! I'm thinking!"

In his book Provence A-Z, Peter Mayle tells a story that reminded me of the Benny skit, with a twist: "Your truffles or your wife!"

A Provence landowner's property had been frequented by a truffle poacher in the dead of night, relieving the landowner of thousands of dollars worth of the incredibly valuable fungi. One dark night, the landowner ventured into his forest with shotgun and flashlight and caught the poacher—along with his wife and trained truffle-sniffing dog—red-handed. Encouraged by the shotgun muzzle in his ribs, the poacher confessed to having stolen many kilos of truffles from the man's property. But he had money at home which he would gladly return with if they could agree on an amount. They agreed on 100,000 francs, and the poacher left, leaving his wife as a hostage until he returned.

Of course, the poacher never returned and was never seen in the region again. And the landowner realized his mistake. He should have demanded that the poacher leave his dog as hostage instead of his wife since, in Provence, a truffle-finding dog is worth its weight in gold.

How Does Your Country Grow?

COMPONENT SETTINGS FOR JANUARY 2012

In the U.S. . . .

One birth every 8 seconds

One death every 12 seconds

One international migrant (net) every 46 seconds

Net gain of one person every 17 seconds

(From U.S. Census Bureau)

Makes Me Want to Get an iPad

Posted by Al and Amy Pettaway (note that Al and Amy's cat, Olson, is named for legendary guitar maker James Olson). Interesting that the dog, then later the cat, tried to "look under" the iPad. They were pawing around the edge of the device as if to want to raise it up to get to the fish which must be under the surface:

The Beauty of Books

Because I work at home and travel very little, I have no need at present for a digital book reader. Even if I needed one, I would regret having to use it, though I recognize their utility. There's still something I resist about the sudden transformation of books from works of craft and art and utility to utility alone. To wit . . .

Because I was captivated by the Swedish movie versions of Stieg Larsson's Millennium Series of novels (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest), I decided I wanted to read the books themselves to see the author's original version of the stories. (Ten volumes were planned, with only three finished and published before Larsson died suddenly.)

The American publisher, Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., issued a nice four-volume boxed set just before Christmas—the three novels plus a fourth Afterword volume containing correspondence from the author as he wrote the stories and had them published. I wasn't enamored of the Knopf edition, but was attracted to the British edition—unfortunately now out of print. But I found a bookseller in San Francisco who had a still-shrink-wrapped boxed set from the British publisher, MacLehose Press, an imprint of Quercus. The British edition was typically understated compared to the American Knopf edition. So I bought them.

It's not hard to see why many people prefer to own finely printed and bound volumes compared to digital editions. The pictures below remind me of the Seinfeld episode where Jerry asks George why he bothered keeping copies of books once he's read them. This is part of the reason why:

This gold dragon—highlighting the "Dragon Tattoo" motif—is imprinted on the side of the slipcase:

Even the thread used to sew the signatures together is beautiful! But—evidence that these are still mass-produced volumes: insufficient sanding of the edges (left) and a bubble of glue (right). But the picture shows the signatures of which books are made—the individual mini-books that are printed, then bound together to create the volume—nineteen signatures in this volume:

Fifteen in this one:

The British edition (unlike the Knopf edition) also came with a wall poster containing images of 36 different covers of the novels created by foreign publishers. More than 65 million copies of the novels have been published in hard copy, and well over a million copies for the Kindle have been purchased:

Not only are books beautiful themselves, repositories of books are as well. For Christmas, my son David gave me a gorgeous volume titled The Most Beautiful Libraries in the World (Abrams, 2003). It contains breathtaking large-format photos of some of the most beautiful and thoughtful "buildings" constructed throughout history to store the collected knowledge and art of man.

This is a foldout spread of the Great Hall in The Abbey Library of Saint Gall in Switzerland:

And a closer look at two of the panels:

I sent David the following reflections after my first perusal of this book:

1. In the non-American libraries, where collections are much older, imagine the labor that went into the binding BY HAND of these millions of volumes. Even though the printing press came online around 1455, books were still bound by hand, right? And not just the binding, but the gilding and lettering on the spines, etc. The man-hours represented by the binding of millions of volumes is staggering -- all for the preservation of knowledge.

2. Again, in the non-American libraries, I was struck by the admixture of art and literature. Libraries could have been sterile warehouses with shelves -- just a place to catalog and store books. But they were stored in the equivalent of palaces and cathedrals. The libraries themselves represent the height of art, sculpture, and architecture of their day. It speaks well for how books (and manuscripts and music scores and important papers) were viewed -- on a plane with royalty and deity, so ornate and thoughtful were their places of storage.

3. The contrast between American and European libraries. I think only two American libraries are featured -- the Library of Congress and the Boston Athanaeum. Purely from the perspective of the photos of the books on the shelves, the American library books are smaller, newer, less ornate than the books in the European libraries. That's obvious and easy to explain, of course -- America is a younger nation, etc. But it must also say something about the intellectual history of the two cultures -- our libraries look "lighter" than the European libraries. More than once, in looking at some of the European libraries, I thought, "That's what the library at the Biltmore House (Asheville) looks like." . . . It's because George Vanderbilt basically imported books from Europe (as he did furniture, tapestries, art, etc for the house) that it looks so much like a European library.

Solomon had it right: "Of making many books there is no end" (Ecc. 12:12). And it's a shame that they (save one) will wilt before the renovating flames yet to come. The destruction of the great Library at Alexandria in 48 B.C. (thanks, Julius Caesar), where much of the accumulated knowledge or the world was stored, is a warning to all who would hold books too tightly.

But while we have them, they are a pleasure to have and hold.

The Role of the Home in Making Practical Men

"A distinguished American writer says: 'The training and improvement of the physical, intellectual, social, and moral powers and sentiments of the youth of our country require something more than the school-house, academy, college, and university. The young mind should receive judicious training in the field, in the garden, in the barn, in the workshop, in the parlor, in the kitchen—in a word, around the hearthstone at home. Whatever intellectual attainments your son may have acquired, he is unfit to go forth into society if he has not had thrown around him the genial and purifying influences of parents, sisters, brothers, and the man-saving influence of the family government. The nation must look for virtue, wisdom, and strength to the education that controls and shapes the home policy of the family circle. There can be no love of country where there is no love of home. Patriotism, true and genuine, the only kind worthy of the name, derives its mighty strength from fountains that gush out around the hearthstone; and those who forget to cherish the household interests will soon learn to look with indifference upon the interests of their common country. We must cultivate the roots, not the tops. We must make the family government, the school, the farm, the church, the shop, the agricultural fairs, the laboratories of our future greatness. We must educate our sons to be farmers, artisans, architects, engineers, geologists, botanists, chemists—in a word, practical men. Their eyes must be turned from Washington to their States, counties, townships, districts, homes.'"

The originator of these words is identified only as "a distinguished American writer," quoted by Edmund Morris in his circa 1867 book, Farming for Boys. (Italics in the original.) The book is being serialized in Small Farmer's Journal. This quote is from Part VI, Chapter XIV, of the book reproduced in SFJ, Winter 2012, Vol. 36, No. 1, pp. 34-38.

When I read this quote I was struck by the absence of such a worldview in modern literature. I read a lot, and these words jumped out at me as being from a different era. But regardless of era, they convey a settled way of thinking about life that is missing from postmodern thinking: the source of true education, the purpose of the home, how boys learn to be men, the intended distant influence of Washington, and others. Some will rail against pre-modern (1867) writing that excludes "girls" from the focus of training in the home. Note that this is a book titled Farming for Boys. If this author's point was to outline a system of industry for boys, the outline of a similarly vigorous industry for girls could be gleaned from Proverbs 31:10-31.

Chillun'

Ran across this sweet photo of two of my children the other day—Stephen and younger sister, Elizabeth. They were both participating in a wedding (early-mid 1980's) and were snapped by the wedding photographer. I only had the hard copy 8x10, and scanning it reduced a bit of the color—but not the soft effect the photographer used.

Citizen Legislators

On January 12, Representative Tim Johnson of Illinois issued a press release announcing the introduction of the Citizen Legislator Act in Congress. His goal is to return the Congress to the idea of citizen, rather than professional, legislators. The following are key elements of his bill:

Limits days in session to five per month or 60 business days per session.

Halves the salary of Representatives and Senators.

Permits members to have jobs outside of Congress so long as they do not derive their income as a result of the privilege of their office, such as speaking tours, lobbying, consulting, etc.

Allows members to choose benefit plans to reflect their lower salaries and allows them to opt out completely for a private option.

Cuts member office allowances, committee and leadership budgets in half.

Prohibits any grandfathering out of the new salary requirements and benefit packages for current members.

Cuts member salaries an additional 10 percent for every five business days Congress exceeds 60 business days in a session.

Given the fact that our current legislators would be voting to reduce their own pocketbooks, perks, and power if they voted for this bill, the chances are slim it will make it out of committee. And given the fact that life in 2012 is a lot more complicated than in the 1780's, Johnson's specific recommendations may be unrealistic. But it's definitely a step in the right direction. After all, anything would be an improvement over the Congress we have now. (Read more about the Act at Rep. Johnson's web site.)

Apple Trailers Speed Boost

I'm a big fan of the Apple movie trailers web site for keeping up with new movie releases. Each trailer has three streaming options (format sizes) plus four download options. The three streaming options are Automatic (smallest format), 480p (next largest format), and 720p (largest streaming format).

Traditionally, I have always used the 480p format since the 720p format took too long to stream an adequate buffer before play would begin. But a week or so ago I noticed that the 480p stream had slowed to a crawl; it was basically unusable. I had to revert to the small Automatic option just to watch a trailer without waiting forever for the stream to buffer in 480p. The problem seemed to be isolated to the Apple trailers since no other web sites suffered from slowdowns.

But today, things are different. The entire 480p stream now downloads in a few seconds, and the 720p is so fast that playback begins almost immediately. I can now watch trailers in the HUGE 720p HD format that I couldn't before.

I can only assume that the temporary slowdown was due to Apple working on the servers that deliver the streams (?). And that the huge speed boost is due to some streaming upgrade on their end. If anyone has a better explanation, let me know.

Friday 1-20-12 UPDATE: Friday evening, streaming of trailers has reverted to the former sluggish rate described above.

USSC to POTUS: "Butt out!"

In a rare unanimous decision (all the more significant in this case), the U.S. Supreme Court told the President of the United States to take his hands off the internal functions of churches in America. The government claimed that a Lutheran church exercised "employment discrimination" when it terminated the services of its minister. No so, the Court said unanimously. Here is part of Chief Justice Roberts' opinion: (Link)

“Requiring a church to accept or retain an unwanted minister, or punishing a church for failing to do so, intrudes upon more than a mere employment decision. Such action interferes with the internal governance of the church, depriving the church of control over the selection of those who will personify its beliefs. By imposing an unwanted minister, the state infringes the free exercise clause, which protects a religious group’s right to shape its own faith and mission through its appointments. According the state the power to determine which individuals will minister to the faithful also violates the establishment clause, which prohibits government involvement in such ecclesiastical decisions.”

Doing Vegan Right

James McWilliams is associate professor of history at Texas State University, San Marcos, and a frequent writer on food matters—and a vegan. In this excellent The Atlantic article—"The Evidence for a Vegan Diet"—he responds to numerous recent articles by foodies who bewail their failed attempts to thrive on a vegetarian or vegan diet. His point: You have to do it right. Besides the abundant scientific data supporting the benefits of a plant-based diet, stories of people who did it right and transformed their lives are powerful.

This is an excellent article. I especially love his opening paragraph:

Here is a comprehensive list of what I ate, in one form or another, on the day I wrote this:

Kale, mustard greens, carrots, celery, onions, mushrooms, quinoa, amaranth, pinto beans, beets, parsnips, turnips, yellow peas, brown rice, kimchi, purple cabbage, butternut squash, blueberries, a banana, hemp seeds, flaxseed oil, snap peas, an apple, cashews, almonds, pumpkin seeds, pistachio nuts, garlic, broccoli, raisins, granola, avocado, polenta, salsa, a few saltines, a piece of raisin toast with apricot jam, tofu, coffee, olive oil, harisa, chickpeas, tomatoes, a small handful of chocolate chips, a couple of beers ... and a vitamin.

How to Get People to Give Blood

In his delightful memoir, A Year in Provence, English author Peter Mayle tells how he and his wife gave blood in their village to help a desperately ill child. I have written in this space on my experiences giving blood to the Red Cross where I live. If the Red Cross followed the French model—at least the way they do in the town of Gordes—they'd probably get a lot more donors:

In England, the reward for a bagful of blood is a cup of tea and a biscuit. But here, after being disconnected from our tubes, we were shown to a long table manned by volunteer waiters. What would we like? Coffee, chocolate, croissants, brioches, sandwiches of ham or garlic sausage, mugs of red or rosé wine? Eat up! Drink up! Replace those corpuscles! The stomach must be served! A young male nurse was hard at work with a corkscrew, and the supervising doctor in his long white coat wished us all bon appétit. If the steadily growing pile of empty [wine] bottles behind the bar was anything to go by, the appeal for blood was an undoubted success, both clinically and socially.

Some time later, we received through the post our copy of Le Globule, the official magazine for the blood donors. Hundreds of liters had been collected that morning in Gordes, but the other statistic that interested me—the number of liters that had been drunk—was nowhere to be found, a tribute to medical discretion.

Uke Revival

In the early part of the 20th century, ukuleles were everywhere, having not yet been displaced by guitars as the most popular stringed instrument. The Martin guitar company made thousands and thousands of ukes—so many that they didn't even give them serial numbers which makes the vintage models hard to date and value today. But Martin stopped making them eventually when their popularity waned.

But a genuine, power-and-fire ukulele revival is under way. Martin started making them again a few years ago and now can't keep up with orders. And with Martin cranking them out again, boutique builders are cashing in as well, and popular rock 'n roots musicians are adding them to their repertoire (Dave Matthews, Eddie Vedder, Mumford and Sons, et al).

The hottest boutique uke builder right now is Mya-Moe Ukuleles in White Salmon, Washington, a husband-and-wife team (with a couple helpers) that is building drop-dead gorgeous instruments. You have to see the woods to believe them—here and keep clicking through them 600 plus ukes in the gallery.

Here's Irish singer-songwriter Lisa Hannigan doing one of her songs with her Mya-Moe:

Brevity

Blaise Bascal, the French polymath, is supposed to have once written, "I have made this letter longer than usual because I lack the time to make it shorter."

This counterintuitive statement illustrates what most of us know from experience (and what Strunk and White teach in The Elements of Style): It's much harder to write fewer words than more.

Put another way, writing is really rewriting and editing (cutting). I certainly violate the "less is more" principle in this blog (and conversation) but cannot afford that luxury in my work—as I have learned the hard way: A book contract once called for 80,000 words and I turned in 104,000—and was asked to cut 24,000 words. (In my defense, it was a marketing issue: The manuscript I turned in would have been more expensive to print and would have raised the cost of the book, hurting sales. Welcome to book publishing!)

For several years, I have written a series of pieces for a client that have to be exactly 130 words in length. Sometimes I turn in 129, sometimes 131—but 130 is the target. By the end of today I will have written 1,164 of these pieces, or a total of (approximately) 151,320 words. (That's enough words for a nice two-volume set on the history of something. It also demonstrates that the impressive two-volume history of something you've longed to write can be done—130 words at a time.)

Writing to an exact word count has been a great teacher. With word-count functions available in word processing software today, writing for an exact word-count target is a greatly under-utilized teaching tool. If teachers would assign their students the daily task of writing "your number one goal for today in exactly 17/23/29/31 words"—or some similar, short exercise—they would go a long way toward teaching students how to write well; how to choose, substitute, eliminate, and prioritize their words.

Just a thought.

(Delete that last line.)

Twelve Percent Less in Five Years

Mark Bittman, food columnist for The New York Times, talks about the reasons for a great trend in the U.S.: meat consumption is down 12 percent in the last five years. His conclusion: It has nothing to do with availability, prices, or any other external reason. Rather, people are eating less meat because they are choosing to eat less meat. Link.

Thought for the Day 16.0

From Seth Godin's blog:

One option is to struggle to be heard whenever you're in the room. Another is to be the sort of person who is missed when you're not.

The first involves making noise. The second involves making a difference.

At Least I Wasn't Texting

I had a two-hour drive on the freeway last night and had my camera with me so took a few time exposures of trucks passing by. Is it against the law to take pics while driving . . . yet?

Vegan Body Builders

New York Times article on vegan body builders here. (Thanks, Stephen.)

National Treasures

For the last several years, I have waited religiously for the broadcast of the annual Kennedy Center Honors awards ceremony. It is the best two hours of television I know of.

The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., honors five members of the artistic community—music, comedy, dance, theatre, film—in a gala ceremony that celebrates their achievements. Even if I am not already familiar with, or a fan of, each nominee's work, the 20 minutes devoted to each is an incredible, and always moving, introduction to their work. They are honored with a short movie retrospective of their work, then by performances by their peers that illustrate their achievements. It's a black tie event and the audience is filled with all manner of recognizable artists who come to honor their friends and peers.

The ceremony is held in the fall and broadcast a few weeks later on CBS. The production value is of the highest quality and a pure pleasure to watch. It is a celebration in the truest sense of the word. The productions seem to get better every year -- yet I rarely hear them mentioned by John Q. Public. I think lots of folks are missing something special. (There are tons of YouTube segments from past Kennedy Center Honors presentations.)

The 2011 awards went to saxophonist Sonny Rollins, Broadway actress Barbara Cook, singer-songwriter Neil Diamond, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, and actress Meryl Streep. There is always one representative from the "popular" music field that really gets the crowd on their feet, and this year it was Neil Diamond.

Following is the segment of this year's show honoring Diamond featuring performances by Rafael Saadiq, Jennifer Nettles, Lionel Ritchie, and Smokey Robinson. A couple of things that will help you enjoy the last song, "Sweet Caroline," that won't be immediately evident: "Sweet Caroline" is sung in the middle of the 8th inning at all Boston Red Sox home games, and it was inspired by Caroline Kennedy, the host of the honors show, when Diamond saw a picture of her when she was a little girl. You'll understand when you see it. Enjoy . . . and tune in next year! (And hats off to Meryl Streep for her engagement with every moment of the performances—not just Neil Diamond's, but all the honorees.) (There's a 2-3 second blank space in the video, but it continues.)

If You Don't Laugh out Loud at This . . .

If you don't laugh at Fred Armisen's question (he of Saturday Night Live), you probably don't laugh at The New Yorker cartoons either. My first thought after reading this—after laughing out loud—is that it would make a great New Yorker cartoon. See the whole newyorker.com article here.

This week, Margaret Talbot writes about Carrie Brownstein and Fred Armisen, the comedic masterminds behind IFC’s “Portlandia.” We sent Gabriele Stabile to photograph the pair in New York. “Fred’s apartment has wonderful northern light, beautiful views of the Upper West Side, and an unbelievable vacuum-cleaner robot,” Stabile said. “One of the publicists showed up at the shoot eight and a half months pregnant, and Fred asked, ‘Does your husband know?’ When you’re around people who are seriously funny you realize how bad your jokes are.” Here are a few outtakes from Stabile’s shoot.