Where are we headed?

"Investment Biker" by Jim Rogers (finished reading on April 18, 2002).

The book is about Jim Rogers (and his girlfriend Tabitha Estabrooks) journey around the world riding BMW motorcycles. It is not only a memoir of this journey, but also a look at how a prosperous investor determines how to invest.

First hand experience, history, and prospects for the future all seem to be important. Although it is a concept I've thought of before (due to a background in history), it is interesting to hear others ponder the "lifespan" the United States will have. History has shown that all countries are dynamic. The rise and fall of governments and the changes in geographic borders has been constant. It is somewhat apathetic and naive to think that the United States is above such a fall. I in now way would want this to happen but in looking reviewing history most great countries rot from within (sometimes it comes from outside). I believe that a large percentage of the population are apathetic (I am not above this in some respects). How many of us take an active interest in politics with the belief that we really can change things? Although we may vote in national elections, how many take the time to follow local elections which often have more impact on our daily lives?

Another thought provoking statement from Rogers "The success of a country, a culture, an enterprise, a people-particularly a very great success-also contains the seeds of its decline, possibly its destruction." (p72) The United States reached a pinnacle? The United States saw incredible growth during the Industrial Revolution. Not only were there new inventions and innovations in the fields of transportation, food production, construction, and farming but there was also a fundamental change in the individual and the families. At the turn of the century and in the succeeding decades huge numbers of people moved from rural locations to the prosperous new cities where industrialization created offered new opportunities. The "assembly-line" method of production was one of many steps that while being an incredible time-saving and money-making device actually would lead to a loss of jobs in the American market place. Later the growth of computers and the subsequent mechanization of American industry further has led to a drop in the number of employees need in many industries. I am not against computers or the future. These innovations do not need to be seen as the "seeds" of our destruction. It is time for innovation. Maybe it is time to focus on questions like what are we producing in this country. I am not against other countries being prosperous who are we to deny the individuals and countries bettering themselves. Let's not produce just to produce...there is enough of that coming over from China. Let's look towards energy, food, and sustainability. That should be our future.

Another topic Rogers discusses is the idea of progress. He says, "I know all the arguments of how we must stop the boot heel of progress, how we must preserve the way things were in the good old days. I'm not convinced there were any good old days." (p 57) Time and the continuous push for so-called progress seems to promote this euphemism of the "good old days."


One of the dilemmas is that we can't stop change, and is it anyone's right to deny what would appear (to most) to be progress and prosperity to developing groups or nations. Sounds like the continuous dilemmas that anthropologists try to deal with. For the good of whom? Are we (in general) trying to just maintain a museum like quality among what are considered traditional life ways? How does this hurt/hinder the growth and development of people?


...take a breather...

I think it would be interesting to hear what Jim Rogers' opinion of today's world climate is in comparison to those offered in this book. The book was written prior to September 11, 2001. His ideas on the growth of Muslim influence and the prophetic statement that the fight would not be so much of capitalism vs. communism but instead Christianity vs. Muslim is interesting. Rogers suggested that communists would no longer be the scapegoats and that instead Christians would be put on the spot.

Well, enough for today. Maybe I should have mentioned the investing...wait...I did. Invest in ourselves and others.

Flower gone

Today is not a day for talking about books. For those of you who may not have heard, Mary Travers, passed away today. You may not recognize her name but you would recognize her music. Mary Travers was a member of the folk group Peter, Paul, and Mary. They were an incredible set of folk singers from the sixties. Their music and messages did not end with the passing of that decade. They continued to make music over the next forty years, sometimes as a group but also as solo artists. They often sangs other songwriters songs make them even more popular than the original.

I have to admit that I was not alive when they first started making music in the early '60s. In fact, I would have only heard them for the first time after 1973 when I was born. I can claim that I have been listening to them since then. My parents have always enjoyed listening to music. My earliest memories are of my dad's turntable and reel-to-reel. I grew up listening to an eclectic mix of music. My father is a native Floridian and my mother is from England.

Peter, Paul, and Mary have always held a special place in my family. My father is not at all worried about singing along with the songs. We used to spend weekends around the house with hours and hours of music. It was all about the vinyl and the reel-to-reel tapes(later on the radio). My sister and I always picked out Peter, Paul, and Mary.

Favorite songs:
500 miles
Leaving on a jet plane
Stewball
Lemon tree
Puff the magic dragon
Where have all the flowers gone

...just to name a few.

Many a car trip has been spent singing their songs. This tradition has not ended with my parents or my generation. My nieces can easily sing most of the words to these songs and they are only 11 and 6. In fact, we were recently driving along and singing their songs. It did not matter that none of us really have great voices(We laugh. My sister called us "The Von Crapp Family Singers of Town and Country"), that's not what their music is about. Their music is for everyone. Of course I'm sure there are some negative people out there who may not admit they like some of their songs but I bet they at least know the words.

My family watched PPM on television every single chance we got. PBS is famous for having them on. We would sit and get teary. I think all of us thought about the passage of time. There is something about their songs that makes you reflect on the passage of time. Whether it is the passage from childhood to adulthood, the lost dreams of the sixties generation, or just life.

I got home from work today and heard a passing blip on the news about Mary's passing. Automatically my throat began to restrict and the tears started to come. We knew she had Leukemia(my mother also had it...she's clear though) but did not realize it had gotten worse. I could have sworn I saw they were touring just last year. My family kept saying, "When they next come to Tampa we are going."

My mother was one of the lucky ones who got to see them when she was young.

If you have a dream don't wait around and make excuses. Get out there and do the things you want to, before they pass you by.

We'll miss you Mary.

How many books is she going to talk about?

Well, I know you may be wondering so I better clear the air. I have kept a reading journal off and on for the last ten years.

"So many books, so little time."

What a great quote. It sometimes frustrates me to think of all the wonderful books there are to read. I suppose in a way it is my selfishness that pushes my reading. Ultimately to whom will it matter whether I read 5 or 5000 books. Who cares what I have thought about and reflected upon with each book.

I have to admit I am excited going to libraries but also often leave feeling a bit disappointed that I can not hope to ever read them all. I love new books and old books. I don't often follow bestseller lists. Usually one books leads to another. Whether it is a direct reference to another book or it occurs merely as a footnote.

I have been using the internet since 1995. I never thought that I would move from reading paper books to electronic versions. I have found though that sometimes I do. They both have their own qualities.

Let me clarify something, when I say my goal is to read 100 books this year, it is not for the quantity. Over the years, besides having kept a reading journal, I have kept a reading list. This reading list is not static. It continually grows. Sometimes I go to a book on the list and it no longer interests me so I skip it and leave it for another time. This is not your usual list. It is now over 14 pages long.

For those of you who may worry that I am living through books...fear not. I travel constantly with my work. I am always visiting museums and parks. I love the outdoors and I am glad my job allows me to be there. And in a weird twist of fate, although I can be shy and hesitant about situations, I like being around people.

"The Floating Brothel"

On July 14, 2003, I read the book "The Floating Brothel" by Sian Rees. It is an account of one of the first female convict ships sent to Australia during the latter part of the 18th century. It follows the lives of women and men on the ship. Most of the women had committed what would be considered misdemeanors, but at that time were generally punished severely. In some cases the punishment of transportation to "New South Wales" was a reprieve from death, to others the sentence may have seemed similar to death. The "Lady Julian" was lucky enough to have been commandeered by relatively decent individuals. Later convict ships became known as "coffin ships".

The fact that a number of women prostituted themselves and shacked up with the crew and officers of the ship (and men in ports) is presented to the readers in two ways. They can be viewed as victims or, as women who did assert their will upon their lot in life. From the research it appears that many of them used the fact that they were women to better their conditions on the ships and their new roles in Australia. Victims or opportunists, or a mixture of both? Just as with most of the people on earth, very few are documented in the historical records.

Driving on

Ah, how much do I feel like writing when the internet just acted up and I lost this blog (or what was going to be this blog).

What was the topic? Think shades of green, umber, gold, rust and brown. Think of pumpkins, gourds, corn in their husks, soybeans and millet. A change in the air.

I had longing flowing sentences about the changing colors and the joy of driving over a hill and being presented with the stereotypical colors of fall in all their glory.

I have a soft spot in my heart for fall. I don't necessarily mean the colors of the northeast because in fact I have never really experienced them at their peak. Coming from Florida the change of seasons are often subtle. Some claim, in fact, that Florida does not really have any seasons. I believe that this is a misconception. Often this comes from those who do not take the time to see the incredible subtleties that take place between seasons. Florida (and I don't mean the paved areas) is not often for the faint of heart. I have visited and worked in quite a few states. Florida continues to rank as one of the less forgiving environments but... it does have its beauty. The change of seasons is marked by changes in the colors of its flowers and the changing shades of greens and brown. One of my favorite changes takes place among the Cypress. The Cypress trees turn the most wonderful shade of rust. Look for the changes maybe you are missing them.

Sunday I drove through some beautiful areas of Illinois on the way to Cave-in-Rock, Illinois. The cavern located along the sandstone bluffs of the Ohio River is impressive. The opening is the result of massive amounts of water flooding and receding along the river. Although the cavern is impressive there are just as many incredible natural formations on the outside. It is fascinating to look at the geology and formation of the sandstone. I often come across worked chert in the form of stone tools at the archaeology sites I work at. It is thus easy to forget (I just have not happened to be at quarry sites doing work) how it occurs naturally, as lenses and nodules. Therefore, it was nice seeing these in plain site along the banks of the Ohio.

Appreciate what is around you.

Go on a holiday.

On May 7, 2004 I read "From the Orange Mailbox: Notes From a Few Country Acres" by A. Carman Clark. The writing was a bit awkward but overall the book was thought provoking. It is one of those nice reflective books. The combination of nature, gardening, cooking and family was comforting. It was nice taking a sort of small vacation in New england for a year. Divided into monthly chapters the book allowed the reader to see the changes in season.

I picked this book up in a thrift store in Mississippi while working on the I-69 project with Lisa and Doug Wells, Norm Davis and Alli Newton. (Do the books in thrift stores represent what the local population have read and enjoyed or have read and disliked?)

A few quotes I liked come from the author but also from those she has read.

"I can't change yesterday and I may not awaken tomorrow morning. But this day is mine." (pg. xi, author)

"the worst poverty anyone can have is a poverty of mental interests" (Hemingway)
-Does this come from not having faced any other forms of poverty?

"We have lived not in proportion to the number of years we have spent on the earth but in proportion as we have enjoyed them" (Thoreau)

"People-pleasing is corrosive"

"Life without laughter is mere existence"

I always find it good to ponder some of the lines I read in books. You have to be careful to remember that the context of the quotes must be regarded. Although they are often presented alone they are only part of a whole.

Map in hand that I can't see?

The Island of Lost Maps - A True Story of Cartographic Crime by Miles Harvey

Finished reading January 1, 2009

Notes:

It often takes me a while to get back on track with my reading list. The temptation to pick up books not on the list is a temptation I find hard to resist. As of 2009 the need to reach some of my reading goals has been renewed. So, that led me to picking up a book that had been placed on the list in 2000. Overall, I enjoyed the book. The subject is fascinating, especially if you are interested in books, history and maps. The author Miles Harvey stumbled upon a seemingly obscure crime committed by a seemingly obscure, or bland perpetrator (Gilbert Bland). Having spent so much time in Special Collections at various University and public libraries I quickly became engaged with the topic. The mere thought of a razor blade and the destruction of priceless books horrified me. It was not because of any monetary value placed on the items but instead on the thought of the destruction of knowledge. This knowledge was being held by these institutions as a service to everyone.

-The book draws parallels between the author life and that of the perpetrator.
-Sometimes veers a bit too far from the mapping of the crime to the mapping of the soul/brain

-Might find it interesting to read Frances Wood's, Did Marco Polo Go to China?

-Is it a coincidence that I had just read quick interview of Paul Theroux (mystery writer) in I believe it was a cooking magazine, and then to have him quoted in this book. (pg33)

-interesting quote (p73) from an inscription at the library of the San Pedro monastery in Barcelona:

"For him that steals, or borrows and returns not, a book from its owner, let it change into a serpent in his hand and rend him. Let him be struck with palsy, and all his members blasted. Let him languish in pain crying aloud for mercy, and let there be no surcease to his agony till he sing in dissolution. Let bookworms gnaw at his entrails in token of the Worm that dieth (sp) not. And when at last he goes to his final punishment, let the flames of Hell consume him forever."

-Other names for librarians: Learned Men of the Magic Library, Scribes of the Double House of Life, Mistresses of the House of Books, Ordainers of the Universe, Keeper of the Books

-at the end of the book he suggests that perhaps the role or responsibilities of libraries will change, they will once again revert to sacred temples with only limited access to the public. Why? Security, Preservation ; suppose other methods of access exist now?where is the loss in being able to view or handle the actual or incredible copies of the real thing.
-who will have access

-author mentions that many librarians are horrified by the idea of dog-earring a book; Dad always stressed the importance of not doing that; why when I have such a great love of books do I dog-ear mine?

-Along the idea of paths is it coincidence that after having read this book that one of the next ones I just picked up from the library book sale, which was also on my reading list, is also about maps? It has been on there a long time and it showed up now?on the heels of this book.

Pondering the Past

Commentaries and reflections on Christopher Woodward's "In Ruins", read June 6, 2004.

Christopher Woodward's book is not intended as a handbook for archaeologists or museums on how to handle or approach ruins but instead as just a book showing how they have been viewed in the past. It is clear through Woodward's writing that he has done extensive literary and historical research for this book. As a supplement to his knowledge he has visited many of the sites discussed. I suppose the thing I like most about this book is that although it is not intended for archaeologists it is not bad pondering over the dilemna of presenting that past. How do you present ruins to the public? At what point in the history of a ruin do you attempt to capture its essence and present this to the public? Is it important to include artists input which may distort or disagree with the physical remains? Aren't all interpretations valid?

As always I have some points or passages which interest me. On page 17, I like Edgar Allen Poe's quote, "Man is now only more active, not wiser, nor more happy than he was 6,000 years ago." the quote is actually from a disagreement Poe was having with a friend over "man's advance toward perfection." If we measure it by what we know about our world then I might disagree, but if "wiser" is taken to mean how we use what we know then I would agree with Poe's declaration.

On page 69, Woodward writes that "Archaeologists will argue that flowers and ivy on a ruin are just Picturesque fluff, curlicues to amuse an artist's pencil. What Shelley's experience shows is that the vegetation which grows on ruins appeals to the depth of our consciousness, for it represents the hand of time, and the contest between the individual and the universe." I like this description. I realize that underbrush can help in the decay of a ruin or monument, and that this may be considered bad dependant on the views of the culture at the time. This may just be part of the natural process. How do we know what the natural process is when we exist as part of it?

The author, talking of cemeteries, states that "The promise of continuance is not in the angels and cherubs or the stiff crosses but in this fecundity of Nature, in the ivy which effaces the chiseled letters of a name. Indeed do we ever linger in cemeteries which are bare of vegetation?" True. The sterile new cemeteries removed of trees and plants speaks of stagnancy. For those who have visited an older cemetery, such as Townsend House Cemetery in Pasco County, the natural environment does speak of a continuance of the natural processes of living and dying.

Woodward effortlessly ties in quotes from other sources. These always excite me as to new possibilities to add to my reading list.

This has always been one of my favorite poems and is great for reflecting on the permanence of things, not just man-made but also ourselves.

Ozymandias

I met a traveler from an antique land,

Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone

Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand

Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown

And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,

Tell that its sculptor well those passions read,

Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,

The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed.

And on the pedestal these words appear

"My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:

Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!"

Nothing beside remains. Round the decay

Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare

The lone and level sands stretch far away.

- Percy Bysshe Shelly (1792-1822)

For those who have not read this before I hope you enjoyed it. Some of you may have recognized as having made an appearance in the movie "Watchmen." Reflecting on the poem may help tie in some loose ends for the movie buffs out there.

Well, that is all for today.

"Sign, sign, everywhere a sign"

I would just like to acquaint potential readers with what they can expect from my blogs. I have a background in history and anthropology with a focus on archaeology. Some of my blogs will be postings on my travels and about the project I am currently working on. Sadly, often some of the details will have to remain cloudy depending on who the project is being done for.

A large part of my blog will be discussing some of the books that I have recently read. I am almost obsessed with reading and tend to keep notes on what I read. A common theme that will become evident in my blogs is the idea of "connections." I see connections or "signs" everywhere. Connections between what I read, where I travel, and what direction my life seems to take. I am not a firm believer in "signs" and am unsure about the difference between connections and coincidences. Maybe I will figure it out as I post.

To expose or not to expose...that is the question.

"Hook, line, and sinker."

Dictionary.com defines the verb "expose" as:
-to lay open to danger, attack, harm, etc.
-to lay open to something specified
-to uncover or bare to the air, cold, etc.
-to make known, disclose, or reveal (intentions, secrets, etc.)
-to reveal or unmask (a crime, fraud, impostor, etc.)
-to hold up to public reprehension or ridicule

The origins lie in the Latin word "expōnere" meaning "to put out, expose, set forth in words." Most of the definitions appear to come with some sort of risk. If this is correct, then why "expose" yourself to these potential outcomes in a public writing environment? The decision to start a blog is an odd one.

Students of history and the theory of history know that basically any form of writing is done for posterity. Many would not agree to this idea but think about it. Even for those who keep a diary there is a certain rush in the thought that someone might get their hands on the private writings. This may include fear or excitement. One thing is for sure, most people do not write down information and then destroy it so that others may not read.

Writing is also a form of art. I believe that most artists have some form of confidence in what they create whether it be music, visual art, or writing.

So, in creating this blog I risk "exposure" not of a dirty nature but of my personal thoughts on many different subjects. There must also be some part of me that feels that I have something to share that others may find interesting. Well, the first is inherent and the risk can only be stopped by silencing oneself...that is not going to happen. The latter thought remains to be seen. Happy Reading!

vw69