Jerusalem: Center of the World

A preview of a 2013-release IMAX 3-D movie on Jerusalem and the Holy Land. Having stood in most of the spots shown in this movie, I got chills seeing them again and remembering why Jerusalem remains the most important piece of real estate in the world:

Jerusalem | Filmed in Imax 3D from JerusalemGiantScreen on Vimeo.

Ron Paul: Smartest Guy in the Room

Congressman Ron Paul was on Fox News Sunday morning answering some marshmallow questions thrown to him by Chris Wallace. Yes, the questions were easy for Paul to answer, and the 14 minutes amounted to a campaign opportunity for the Congressman. But that's a good thing. From all I know of the Congressman, I don't agree with 100% of his views on everything. But he says more that's right about the Constitution, the economy, the role of government, and the status of liberty in America than any other candidate in the race. He's not the most polished or most handsome candidate (which says something about why we should pay closer attention than we might otherwise pay), but he's definitely the most accurate on matters of substance.

For clarification, Paul uses the term "monetize the debt" near the end of the interview. This refers to the Federal Reserve Bank (headed by Bernanke) buying up the bonds that the Treasury Department (headed by Geithner) continues to issue. In the last few years, the Federal Reserve (as I understand) has bought about three-fourths of the trillions of dollars of new debt instruments issued by the U.S. Treasury Department. And where does the Federal Reserve get the money to buy the Treasury bonds? It "prints" it—creates it out of thin air. This is what's known as "monetizing the debt"—increasing the money supply to buy U.S. debt instruments. And it's this "monetizing of the debt" (increasing the money supply out of thin air) that results in inflation. I don't think the average person understands the charade that's going on at the Federal level. The right hand (the Treasury) sells new debt instruments (bonds) to continue to fund the bankrupt U.S. government and the left hand (the Fed) creates money out of nothing to buy the debt. The only reason the U.S. government stays in business is by living off new borrowed money (new debt that it borrows from itself). Ron Paul is the only candidate who continually tries to expose this bankrupt policy.

This is a great interview:

Young Entrepreneurs

Occasionally, something brings to mind one of my three sons' (plural) first venture into entrepreneurship—running the summer concession stand at the neighborhood swim club to which we belonged in their grammar school years. I fronted the money to purchase cases of junk food and sodas, and they were responsible for selling the products at the pool's concession stand. We kept track of P&L figures in a notebook on the kitchen table, the goal being not so much to make a profit but to learn a bit about running a business, being responsible, keeping commitments, and other Dad-type agenda items. I can't remember how it all ended—whether I got my investment back or how much they learned or made. But it was a good exercise in . . . something (like learning that being the owner has its privileges—like "free" candy?). And they were entrepreneurs for a summer. And have each risked capital as adults in various ways and made a few dollars doing it.

Ran into a few more budding entrepreneurs lately—even younger than my sons.

While riding my bike a few days ago, I passed a house with the proverbial lemonade stand in the front yard, "girled" by three young businesswomen. It was a terrible location on a busy street in a yard totally hidden from one direction by trees, and nowhere to stop except their driveway. This is a road I always ride to the end of, then turn around and go back the same way, so I knew I'd be passing their house again. Before I arrived the second time, I stopped my bike and pulled out a couple dollars from my biker's wallet to give them when I got to their house. I declined the lemonade but told them "way to go" for running their stand. They didn't quite understand when I just gave them money but didn't take the lemonade, but when I told them just to put the money in their money box they said, "Okay!" (Never turn down money—even when the customer doesn't want the product. His loss, your gain.)

Yesterday, I heard a tentative knock on my front door. The knocker was a young guy around eight years old, accompanied by a pal and what looked like a little sister. He asked if I wanted to buy a copy (for fifty cents) of the comic book he was writing. He had finished his manuscript (he showed it to me) and was taking orders. He would make copies and deliver them the next day. "Heck yeah," said this writer to the other. "Hold on while I get fifty cents." Two quarters and a sign-up later, he had the money and I had an eight-year-old's promise. Today, the budding writer/publisher/marketer showed up with my copy of his two-page, hand-drawn, hand-written, photo-copied, black-and-white comic—about a greedy kid who learned to share and be generous. Nice theme.

Nice to see these little ones finding their skills and setting out to discover how much said skills are worth in the marketplace. More power to 'em.

My First Earthquake

Because I work in my home office all day, I am immediately sensitive to differences of any sort—sounds, light, temperature, etc. Just before 2:00 EST today, I began hearing VERY slight noises like might be made if a bookcase or table were creaking back and forth—ever so slight noises. I actually got up and walked around my office trying to pinpoint the origin of the sound but couldn't. It stopped, so I returned to work.

A half-hour or so later I happened to turn on a radio and heard that a 5.9 earthquake had occurred at 1:53 p.m. just NW of Richmond, VA, about 300 miles from where I live outside Charlotte. That explains that.

I am proud to say I lived through my first (as far as I know) earthquake. Hope the folks in Virginia are okay—and that it rattled a few cages in the nearby nation's capital.

Every time the earth is shaken by an earthquake, I think of Hebrews 12:26-29:

When God spoke from Mount Sinai his voice shook the earth, but now he makes another promise: Once again I will shake not only the earth but the heavens also. This means that all of creation will be shaken and removed, so that only unshakable things will remain. Since we are receiving a Kingdom that is unshakable, let us be thankful and please God by worshiping him with holy fear and awe. For our God is a devouring fire.

Update: Turns out this was serious, as everyone knows by now. This picture is of the National Cathedral in Washington, the left-hand spire of which was shaken and broken off during the quake:

A Video a Day Keeps the Doctor Away . . .

I've stated before in this space that I am a big fan of Dr. Michael Greger, M.D., one of the leading plant-based docs in the world. For the last four years he has issued an annual DVD containing his summaries of the previous year's best nutritional research. He scans thousands of articles each year to locate the research that most of us would never come across.

On his new web site, NutritionFacts.org, he is making the videos available for viewing at no cost. (He previously donated all the revenue from the sale of the DVDs to charity.) Each video summarizes a certain piece of research. They are brief, usually humorous, very easy to understand, and graphically interesting. This is a terrific web site—one could do worse than viewing a video a day in pursuit of good health.

Here's the introductory video (available in HD) about Dr. Greger and his mission:

Vegetarians, Vegans, and Iron

When I went to give blood today, the gentleman who took my vitals and checked my iron levels said, "You're a vegetarian, aren't you?"

"Yes," I said. "How'd you know that?"

"I've processed you before, and I remember us talking about it," he said.

"Nice of you to remember," I said. "I like to give blood regularly because it allows me to check my iron levels just to make sure I'm getting enough iron since I don't eat meat."

"Well," he said, continuing to check my vitals, "there's a lot of them that come in here and get in trouble."

"Vegetarians and vegans, you mean?" I asked.

"Yes, sir. Either they can't pass the iron test or, if they do, then they go out there to give blood and get sick—get light-headed or nauseous," he said.

"I can't tell you how much that distresses me," I said. "The truth is, too many people who don't eat meat aren't careful about what they do eat—they don't take in enough leafy greens and other iron-bearing foods to keep their iron levels up. They want to save the animals, which is good, but then they don't take care of their own health at the same time."

In all fairness, my iron levels were just barely high enough when I last gave blood. The iron reading has to be a minimum of 12.5 to give, and mine was 12.7. I was frustrated with that, but I redoubled my efforts and today it was 14.1 (14-15 is normal).

Because heavy perspiration and physical exertion deletes iron levels, I have had to be extra conscious of iron intake over the last couple months due to my lengthy bike rides 4-5 times per week where I perspire like crazy and know I probably lose iron on every ride. But I also read something recently I had read before but had not implemented—that Vitamin C aids in the absorption of iron (and things like tea block the absorption of iron). So when I fix my daily bowl of breakfast "oatmeal" (an oatmeal-based hot cereal with eight grains plus red and white quinoa and buckwheat and blackstrap molasses—most of which carry some iron), I'll drink a glass of fresh-squeezed orange juice with it to get the Vitamin C mixed with the iron. And on nights when I eat lots of spinach, kale, and other greens I'll take a 1,000 milligram Vit. C tab along with the meal.

I don't know if those combinations help with absorption, but I am happy that my iron levels were fine today.

Vegetarians and vegans who can't give blood because of having low iron give the whole program a bad name, especially when it's unnecessary. We need to do better—for our own sake but also for the sake of those who would like to eat less meat but wonder if all their nutritional needs can be met with a plant-based diet. The answer is, Yes they can—if we eat healthfully.

Breakfast in Peru: Quinoa and Apples

While giving blood today at the Red Cross blood drive, I had a great chat with the clinician who was drawing my blood. Carmen is originally from Peru, so of course I asked her if she ate a lot of quinoa—which she definitely does. And she told me how they fix it traditionally in Peru for breakfast: cooked with apples.

She didn't give me any measurements, but it basically involves cooking quinoa with chunks of apple, then when it's done putting it in a blender along with cinnamon and sugar and blending it until it becomes a smooth porridge, adding water or milk as needed to thin it out.

Being a pint low on blood when I got home, I decided Carmen's quinoa dish would be a perfect booster to rebuild my system. So I created my own measurements:

3/4 cup quinoa

one medium apple

Tbsp of cinnamon

Tbsp of blackstrap molasses (for iron after giving blood)

Tbsp of maple syrup

Almond milk as needed while blending to desired consistency (like oatmeal or thick porridge)

I cooked the quinoa with the chunks of apple (skin included) in the pot. When finished I poured the quinoa and apples in the Vitamix, added cinnamon, molasses, and maple syrup and blended on high. If all the water has been absorbed by the quinoa you'll need to add milk right away to allow the blending to start since it's very thick.

It was still very hot after blending, and was delicious! A really smooth, velvety consistency, and great taste (think apple pie with the apple, cinnamon, sweetener, etc.).

Carmen also told me there is a brand of spaghetti available at EarthFare made from quinoa which I'm going to look for. What a great grain!

Summer Candy

Black cherry tomatoes and some-other-kind-of cherry tomatoes ready daily for pick-'n-eat treats:

Thought for the Day 11.0

"Never let the lizard send an email."

I laughed out loud when I read this, of course, precisely because my lizard brain has sent some doozy emails that I wish I could take back. (And I have received emails sent by others' lizard brains.)

The quote is from Seth Godin's Linchpin: Are You Indispensable? I'm on my second read of this book and have underlined lots of pithy statements like the above.

To understand his meaning you have to read chapter xx (they aren't numbered), "The Resistance." Godin's "lizard brain" is the flip side of Steven Pressfield's "resistance" as defined in the latter's book The War of Art: Winning the Inner Creative Battle. (Godin's Domino Project published a short version of The War of Art called Do the Work as a free e-book available on Amazon. It's no longer free, but Pressfield's short and long treatise on "resistance" are both worth the read.)

The lizard brain is what kicks in when resistance to creativity, starting, and shipping arises. Godin describes the lizard brain this way (p. 107 in Linchpin):

Your lizard brain, the part that the [creative force] has no control over, is working overtime to get you to shut up, sit down, and do your (day) job. It will invent stories, illnesses, emergencies, and distractions in order to keep the genius bottled up. The resistance is afraid. Afraid of what will happen to you (and to it) if the ideas get out, if your gifts are received, if the magic happens.

If we aren't aware of the existence of resistance, if we don't do battle daily with the lizard brain, then we have become overtaken by it and live in submission to it.

Why should the lizard never be allowed to send an email? Because it's usually an act of self-sabotage; an effort by the lizard to create trouble that will keep us from our true task of starting and shipping creativity to the world.

(Don't misunderstand: not all email is sent by the lizard. If we don't know the ones that are when we hit "Send," we will soon find out.)

For an 18-minute overview of how the lizard and resistance (using different terms) work in the creative process, watch this. (Rather than leaving you to watch the video in peace, I have to add this: I'm always intrigued when I hear secular, or quasi-spiritual, talks that contain ideas or explorations in thought that are more fully explicated in the Bible. There is nothing biblical about this talk, yet the spiritual sources of creativity she discusses [with a helpful overview of creativity from the Roman and Greek perspectives] could easily find a place in the outline of cosmology found in Scripture, imho. Yet many folks are unwilling to end their quest and settle into that outline, for some reason. Too simple, perhaps. As Luke said of the Athenians, "[they] spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas" [Acts 17:21].)

So 'Ya Think You Miss Anything by Watching the MSM?

Thanks to Daniel for the link:

The Daily Show - Indecision 2012 - Corn Polled Edition - Ron Paul & the Top Tier
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

So 'Ya Think You Can Ride a Bike?

Thanks to Robert for the link.

404: Page Not Found

Everyone has gotten the dreaded "404: Page Not Found" error message when surfing the web. This is the ultimate page not found. Maybe there was something there before; maybe there will be again. But right now, there's nothing.

Life as Story

Chris Seay, pastor of Ecclesia Church in Houston, speaking at the Houston TED conference. Worth a listen: (this is in HD, so crank it up if you can)

Making a Difference for Animals

Great video about The Gentle Barn's efforts to restore neglected animals to a life of safety and dignity, in this case, calves that would otherwise have been left to die. Those rescued animals then become a vehicle for The Gentle Barn's "ministry" to at risk and special needs children and young people. There's a good video of the founder of The Gentle Barn on the Ellen Degeneres Show here.

The Logic of Our Leaders

Crazy Diamond

David Gilmour's musical creativity seems to be boundless. This version of "Shine on You Crazy Diamond" is powerful. Interesting how he uses it as an off-ramp at the end of the set. I love the time change at around 2:35" -- amazing how a simple change of beat affects the feel of the song and the attitude of the listener:

I Know You Love Me, But Do You Like Me?

Michael Hyatt, former CEO and now Chairman of Thomas Nelson book publishers, has a good post about what kind of love keeps a marriage together. It's a guest post by counselor John Marshall, who was asked that question by a young man he was counseling whose marriage was ending.

For Christians, the standard answer has always been agape love—the selfless, sacrificial love where spouses love from the will; they choose to love as God chose to love the world in Christ.

But from the history of his own 30-plus years of marriage, Marshall gave a different answer. He thinks the kind of love that allows marriages to endure is philia, the Greek idea of brotherly love and affection. (Think Philadelphia, city of brotherly love—theoretically.) That's not to discount agape (selfless love) or eros (physical love), but without philia people don't remain friends in the long run. And that's what causes marriages to dissolve.

After painful years of thinking about this subject myself, I think Marshall is addressing a question that I've always put in these terms:

"I know you love me (and thanks for that), but do you like me?"

You can read Michael Hyatt's re-post of John Marshall's original post here. (Or on John Marshall's site here.)

(WK idea: What if significant others, instead of saying, "I love you," started saying, "I like you"? Just a thought.)

A Thousand Sit-ups and Push-ups a Day

Great WSJ article about golf legend Gary Player's fitness regimen. At age 75, he does a thousand push-ups and sit-ups a day—the sit-ups with a hundred-pound weight on his chest. He eats a mostly vegetarian diet and explains why. Pretty inspiring stuff—here.

In his early golf days, Mr. Player says most pros, himself included, didn't think twice about their diet. For the last six years, Mr. Player has followed a mostly vegetarian diet. He says he has much more energy since he's cut out meat. Mr. Player believes that the future of fitness lies in what people eat much more than how active they are. "Nutritionists will be the new trainers." he says. "Diet is 70% of the fitness puzzle."

We're going to the chapel . . .

Beautiful chapel in the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas, Thorncrown Chapel. Lots of beautiful pictures here—and click on the Virtual Tour link as well for 360 degree photos of the interior.

(Thanks to Robert for the link.)

Famous Last Words

"Hey—watch this!"

(thanks to Tom and Ray on Car Talk)

New Cherry Tomatoes

I have four volunteer cherry tomato plants that came up and are fruiting even in the extreme heat we're having. This flower is obviously not a tomato flower but is beautiful nonetheless:

The black cherries are about halfway there. They will turn a bit darker and are larger than red cherry tomatoes and taste wonderful:

Some "regular" cherry tomatoes are also fruiting. I have no idea what variety these are as I have volunteers every spring that just appear from dropped fruit off past plants. I'm always amazed at how plants always find a way to reproduce themselves:

This is my collarless, neighborhood feline friend who appears silently on my front porch several times a week, like Sandburg's fog that "sits looking . . . on silent haunches and then moves on." S/he prefers the water out of my garden watering can to the fresh water I put out for h/er, and turns up h/er nose at the expensive cat food I bought for h/er. Cats. (I think it's a she since, periodically, I will see a tom with a lean and hungry look in his eye sitting, waiting, a few feet away. Men.)

Vegan Men

Nice to see men speaking out for good health and compassion for animals via a plant-based diet:

Vegans in Vegas, May 2011 from Ryan Henn on Vimeo.

Pictures of the Tour de France

A beautiful album of large-format pictures covering the recent Tour de France race, showcasing the incredible scenery, the craziness of the fans, the passion of the riders, and the enormity of the race itself is here.

This sample: Three-time Tour winner Alberto Contador punches a fan dressed as a doctor who was running alongside him on a steep climb sticking a stethoscope on his chest. I saw this on television when it happened but this is a better image. Hopefully this (doofus) fan needed a doctor after Alberto's intervention.

Fiddlesticks

When I was a child, I often heard my father exclaim, "Fiddlesticks!" at a point of frustration. I never thought to ask him what "fiddlesticks" meant and never bothered to find out. A wild guess would suggest it had something to do with a fiddle and some sticks, but what?

Here's an illustration of someone playing fiddlesticks—two light sticks used to tap out a percussive beat on the strings of a fiddle while the fiddle is being played. This musical style apparently developed in early American/pioneer/old time music settings -- but don't know much more about it than that. In a time when musical instruments were at a premium and folks were easily entertained, I guess it was easy to invent new ways of being musical.

And I still don't know why my father used it as an expression.

Santa Barbara, North Carolina

I have mentioned in a couple of posts about the wonderful three days I spent recently in Santa Barbara, California. At church on Sunday morning while there I noticed a number of men wearing traditional Hawaiian-style shirts: loose, square tails worn out, open collars, and beautiful designs and patterns. I wasn't surprised—I've always loved some of these shirts I've seen over the years, especially black ones with huge, white and pink and red hibiscus-family flowers on them.

So Sunday afternoon, my friend Priscilla and I walked up and down the eclectic and charming State Street, Santa Barbara's "Main Street," looking at Hawaiian shirts. We stopped in The Territory Ahead's outlet store and retail store, as well as several smaller shops that had new and vintage shirts. We saw a number of interesting shirts—especially the "real" ones made out of rayon that drapes so nicely—but nothing really stood out. Besides, I was having a hard time convincing myself that I, back in Charlotte (okay, Stallings—even worse), North Carolina, needed a Hawaiian shirt. So I came home without one. No harm, no foul. Life moved on.

A couple of days after being back I came across a video interview with John Lasseter, the Oscar-winning head of Pixar Studios (Toy Story, Cars, etc.). Turns out he's a Hawaiian shirt freak, wearing a different one to work each day, matching the design on the shirt with what he would be working on that day at Pixar (e.g., a shirt with vintage cars on it when working on Cars). The video interview showed him in his house-sized closet at his home where he had 370 different Hawaiian shirts neatly hanging, organized by themes (with another 630 shirts in storage for lack of space in the closet—1,000 Hawaiian shirts total).

I was so turned off with this conspicuous consumption (okay, maybe that would be me if I had a zillion dollars like Lasseter) that I sent the video link to Priscilla with sort of a "see where this Hawaiian shirt thing could lead?" kind of attitude. Nonetheless, she did her research thing and sent me some links to online sources for Hawaiian shirts. "Nope," I wrote back. "I'm not buying a shirt. It's the last thing I need." Case close. Life moved on.

So today I ran an errand to Costco and was cutting through the men's clothing section on the way to get white vinegar when a table of beautiful Hawaiian shirts grabbed me by the tail of my T-shirt and pulled me over. Hawaiian shirts at a Costco in Charlotte? Was I wrong about these shirts being out of place in Charlotte? Apparently so! I caved.

$15 later (a bargain compared to Santa Barbara prices!) I was the colorful owner of my first (and hopefully last) Hawaiian shirt. Having gotten that out of my system, life can finally move on. (I am available for pool parties and vegan luaus within a 50-mile radius of Charlotte. Heck, make it 100.)

Epilogue: While standing in the check-out line at Costco with my shirt sitting protected in the cart's baby seat, there was a friendly looking guy standing behind me, a bit younger than me. I pointed at the shirt: "Think I can get away with wearing that in Charlotte?"

He studied the shirt and smiled: "Sure."

I told him I'd seen lots of guys wearing them in church in California a couple weeks earlier and finally decided to get one. "I guess if God doesn't mind seeing them in church, I shouldn't mind wearing one," I said.

"He doesn't care what we wear," the guy said, "as long as we're there."

Charlotte is one of the (few?) large cities in America where you don't hesitate to mention church to a stranger in the check-out line at Costco. I wasn't too sure about the shirt, but apparently God and Hawaiian shirts have bonded in my hometown. And I'm down.

Pass the pineapple, ya'll.

Rohan Designs: Taking Care of Customers

Quick props to Rohan Designs (LOTR fans have to love the name), a British maker of outdoor clothing that Aragorn and J.R.R. himself would have been proud to wear. They took care of a customer service request for me, at their expense, which they weren't obligated to do. The request was handled without objection—quickly and courteously.

Thanks to Emily, their stateside service rep, who solved the problem for me and who linked me up with her British counterpart to complete the transaction. Even though they could have said "No," they did their best for a customer. Why aren't all companies this eager to serve and win a loyal customer base? I'm happy to point out folks who go above and beyond in the line of duty.

Check out Rohan—they're even having a huge sale right now.

The Thrill of Victory, The Agony of Victory

Today's stage in the Tour de France was among the greatest in the history of the race, or so said the commentators. If you're not a Tour follower, the details will take too long to explain. But these pictures, as usual, are worth thousands of words:

The rarified heights of today's stage climb—the highest in the history of the Tour. There were places where the road literally clung to the side of a sheer mountainside:

This young man, Luxembourg's Andy Schleck, broke away from the pack and crossed the finish line alone, moving up to second place in the overall standings:

His father, Johnny Schleck, a former Tour rider himself, had to help Andy walk after he got off the bike:

The price these guys pay is unimaginable to us who haven't done it -- up to six hours a day on the bike for 21 days (w/ two rest days) riding and climbing from one end of France to the other:

But the rewards are sweet. Not only did Andy win today's stage (first pic), he also won the Most Aggressive Rider award for his solo breakaway (second pic):

This man, France's Thomas Voeckler, has been leading the Tour for the last 9 days, and he held on to the leader's (Yellow) jersey today by a mere 15 seconds after nearly three weeks of racing. He was cooked when he finished:

Voeckler couldn't even get off his bike at the end. He stayed in this position for a full minute, trying to get oxygen at 8,000 feet, while his team manager kept the press away—who stood respectfully quiet while Voeckler tried to recover:

But recover he did, to receive his tenth Yellow Jersey as leader of the Tour:

It was appropriate, after such a historic stage, that Belgium's Eddy Merckx (background, in blue shirt) was on the podium to congratulate Schleck and Voeckler. Merckx is considered the greatest professional bike rider in history, and was known as "The Cannibal" in his racing days for the way he chewed up opponents on the road:

ABC Sports' Jim McKay was well known for opening the Olympic games on ABC for decades by describing the "thrill of victory and the agony of defeat." Today's Tour stage showcased not only the thrill of victory, but the agony of victory as well.

Vive Le Tour!

Want to See Why Nobody Pays Attention to MSNBC?

Ha ha ha! Let's hear it for smart people who politely reveal the arrogance of some talking heads. Mo Brooks is the Republican Congressman from the fifth district of ALABAMA. (Alabama mamas taught their boys to say, "Yes, ma'am." Respect the skirt if not who's wearing it.)

(Thanks to Daniel for the link.)

Santa Barbara Beauty

A few more pics from my recent visit to Santa Barbara.

Part of the beach (at high tide) at the base of a high plateau on the north side of Santa Barbara called The Mesa. My friend, Priscilla, grew up on The Mesa and used to play on this beach as a child. I took this pic standing on a LONG set of stairs leading from the top of The Mesa to the beach -- affectionately called "the thousand steps":

A section of the thousand steps:

Near the bottom of the thousand steps:

Reportedly the largest fig tree in America. Notice the size of the roots compared to Priscilla sitting among them. (Disclaimer: we didn't see the "stay off the tree" sign until after taking the pic of Priscilla sitting on the roots.)

Thoughts for the Day 12.0

From Small Is the New Big by Seth Godin:

If your target audience isn't listening, it's not their fault, it's yours.

From Bruce Wilkinson's The 7 Laws of the Learner:

It's the teacher's responsibility to cause the students to learn.

Santa Barbara Courthouse

Recently in Santa Barbara, I was given a weekend tour of the area by a native who knows every nook and cranny—including the historic Santa Barbara County courthouse. For whatever reason, I have always pictured Santa Barbara as being farther north on the coast, but it sits just above Ventura County which is just above L.A. County—i.e., in the southern third of the state. This southern proximity accounts for the heavy Spanish Colonial influences in the architecture and history of the region as Spanish explorers, accompanied by Catholic missionaries, merged with the native Indian populations.

All that to say—the Santa Barbara courthouse is stunning. First built in the 1870s, the current courthouse was completed in 1929 after a 1925 earthquake destroyed much of the city. It just goes to show what a vision for blending art, architecture, and service can accomplish. This structure -- indeed, the entire Spanish Colonial feel of all Santa Barbara -- makes other modern cities feel a bit sterile by comparison.

The ceiling of the main entryway into the courthouse:

An interior hallway:

This room is the most famous -- the mural room -- where official city, civic, and community functions are held, including service as a courtroom. The murals depict various events and stages in the settlement of Santa Barbara. The pictures hardly do it justice:

Another shot of part of the interior of the courthouse:

These pictures came to mind when I found a jury summons in the mail upon my return from Santa Barbara. While Union County, NC's, historic courthouse still stands -- and it represents the traditional image of historic Southern courthouses -- my jury duty will take place in the bland, shiny, new courthouse that has replaced it for most county government work. I wouldn't mind reporting to and serving in the old courthouse -- walking on old wooden floors, sitting in old wooden chairs, smelling the history of Union County while I help decide the fate of a stranger (unless my ordained religious status causes me to be excused). That would make the wheels of legal tedium turn faster, for sure. If I lived in Santa Barbara County, I might volunteer for jury duty just to spend a week reveling in the beauty of what is possible when people really try. (Thanks to Priscilla for the grand tour.)

What Happens to Your Luggage?

Ever wonder what happens to your carry-on bag when it goes under the x-ray hood at the airport?

On a cross-country flight recently, I had to check one large bag. Arriving at my destination and opening that bag in my hotel room, I found a printed note from our friends at the TSA (paraphrasing): "Your luggage was selected for a random security search. If your bag was locked, we cut or broke the lock to gain entrance to your luggage. Sorry 'bout that."

Being the trusting sort, my bag wasn't locked (nor was there anything in that couldn't have been easily replaced if stolen). But I had mixed -- okay, negative -- feelings about this intrusion. I suppose I was warned about it in some cryptic TSA reg which I hadn't read. And I don't have a good answer for the trade-off between privacy and security.

What did cross my mind was the entertainment fodder this exercise must represent for the bag searchers. Think about the variety of surprising things the searchers much encounter as they explore the lives of ordinary Americans vis-a-vis their luggage: "Whoa! What the heck?" I can think of one thing in my bag that likely caused that reaction. And I smile even today at the thought that some handler is still wondering what I was doing with that. (Just like you are.) :-)

Oaks and Acorns

Another view:

Thanks to Jennifer—wife of the oak and mother of the acorn—for the original picture.