Peace and Politics

Saturday I participated in the peace demonstration downtown. There were about a dozen of us off and on. Only three of us were there the last time, so we had some additional interest. It feels good to participate in something I believe in.

Overall people were pretty positive. We did have one guy slow down and stick his head out the open window of his pickup and yell, "Get a life." Here a couple of days later I'm still puzzling over what that means, exactly. It seems an odd thing to yell at people demonstrating in support of peace. I didn't get the connection, but I suppose it made sense to him.

I've been watching the various polls about Clinton supporters who say they won't vote for Obama unless Clinton is the VP, or will vote for McCain. Please, don't make me write a blog post titled, "Don't be an Idiot."

I do not understand this. We had a deep field of candidates this time. I would have felt very good about casting my vote for Richardson, Edwards, Clinton or Obama. I chose Clinton because I thought she had the best chance of getting into the White House. Of course, happily, Obama has gained tremendous support over the months and I think people of all political persuasions see that he has great potential to change our world for the better. I'm excited by him.

The night of the caucus here, I was talking with Sean and he was teasing me I was on the wrong side. I told him I would wholeheartedly support whoever won and he assured me he would, too. Now, there's the voice of reason.

It's not like we had one good candidate and one horrible one. We had two fabulous candidates. Now that Obama has won the nomination, lets all get behind him and work to get him into the white house so we can turn this country around.
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Quote of the Day

"Why not go out on a limb? That's where the fruit is."
~ Mark Twain

Heart of America Press Award

Saturday night in Kansas City I was given a Gold Heart of America Press Award from the Kansas City Press Club. Journalists from Kansas and Missouri enter in various categories, and Gold, Silver and Bronze awards are given. I was not there, but Mark called to give me the details.

This was the top award given in the Business to Business category for a series of reports about the Greensburg Tornado done for the XM Satellite show, "Landline Now." The award was given to five of us who worked on the series. My contribution was doing the reporting, including interviews, writing and voice work, on site in Greensburg.

In the comments the judges wrote, "This moving and intense series captures the human experience of a terrible tornado that demolished Greensburg. This is the bar for in-depth radio reporting that matters. Bravo."

It's incredibly flattering to be chosen for this honor. It reminds me of how amazing it can be to work with other professionals who do incredible work.

I did interviews the first day on the ground and then wrote and voiced the first piece in a Pratt hotel room. I did one more day of interviews and finished those in my home office. I ftp'd the pieces to Landline Now, and their sound engineer, Barry, who is obviously a genius when it comes to sound, made it all flow together and added the music.

Thanks to Mark and Barry for seeing the potential in the series and submitting it for an award.

Click to hear:
Truck Driver Kenny Smith and his Tornado Experience
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JK Rowling on Failure

“Failure meant a stripping away of the inessential. I stopped pretending to myself that I was anything other than what I was, and began to direct all my energy into finishing the only work that mattered to me. Had I really succeeded at anything else, I might never have found the determination to succeed in the one arena I believed I truly belonged.”
J.K. Rowling during Harvard Commencement Address

When I ran across this quote today it really spoke to me. I'm at a place in my life where I feel like I've failed at many things. Most of those are things I feel don't really matter much, anyway, even though the world gives other indications. At the same time, there are some things I feel I'm very good at that I think are important. But, alas, the world doesn't seem to value those things.

It's curious to think about "failure" and what that means. I think it just means learning. I've learned that "failure" is something others want to attach to individuals, when the failure may actually have more to do with the environment in which you and others are working than it does with anything any one of you might do or not do.

It seems the world - at least in this country - values only money. Making money. Then making money from the money you made. So you have more money. The next step, it seems, is to spend that money on foolish things. I guess because you don't have time to do something interesting with the money, because you have to use your time to make more money, people squander it on $6000 sunglasses and other idiocy.

I like money, really I do, but I want to make it with my soul intact. Money is a wonderful thing. It buys me freedom, and that is what I want most desperately. I want enough money to buy my freedom to live, and once I have my freedom, the rest of the money can go to charity. But I need enough to buy my freedom. My sweet, sweet, sweet freedom.
The last few months I have been putting my energy into projects that feel "right" to me. This quote makes me feel that is the correct course. It's difficult to do that, sometimes, when the world is telling you you're making the wrong decision. Of course, the world hasn't done much to steer me right so far, so I'm not sure why I should pay any attention now.
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Bobby Kennedy Funeral Train June 8, 1968

It was on this day in 1968 that Bobby Kennedy's funeral train traveled from New York to DC to lay Bobby to rest next to JFK. On the train was photographer Paul Fusco, hired to do a story for the now defunct "Look" Magazine.

As the train traveled the route, Fusco saw people gathered along the way to watch it pass. The resulting photographs are part of an exhibit at Danziger Projects Gallery.  They also offer this link to a New York Times audio visual project. http://www.nytimes.com/packages/html/magazine/20080601
_RFKTRAIN_FEATURE/index.html

Although I was far too young in 1968 to understand what was going on in the world, I'm all too aware of it today. Forty years later we're still fighting some of the same battles. We're embroiled in another war that seemingly has no end, just like we were in 1968. Although racial issues are better than in '68, racism is still alive in this country. On a bright note, we have a politician who offers hope. I hope Mr. Obama can deliver on the change we all want.
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WKRP in Cincinnati

I flipped on the TV tonight and WKRP in Cincinnati is on. I loved this show. It's probably one of the reasons I went into radio. And, after I worked in radio I learned that WKRP was a beautiful example of what it was like to work in broadcasting. Dr. Johnny Fever is found across the country, as are Venus Flytrap, Herb Tarlek and Les Nessman. You just hope, hope, hope there's an Andy Travis where you work.

I worked at one place where it was on the log to call the morning guy to wake him up for his shift. One morning at 5:38, I placed the call, and John (his real name - maybe Johnny Fever was patterned after him), who had been to a Rolling Stones concert the night before and probably indulged in - well - indulged, fell asleep holding the phone. So, picture me sitting in the studio, screaming into the receiver, hoping I would get his attention. This was before the days of cell phones, so that was my only option.

Well, John's first break was at 6:08 because we were doing national news until then from the network. At 6:07 he would arrive on his bicycle (license lost due to indulging at other times). This morning when 6:08 rolled around I did the break, hoping he would show up soon. At 6:25 the program director called, wanting to know why I - the least experienced person on staff was doing the highest listenership timeslot. I explained and he got up, drove over to John's house and pounded on the door until his wife answered. Then the program director drove John to work. It was my first time doing Morning Drive. Fortunately, nothing horrible happened.

John arrived unshaven, unkempt and unruffled. He reeked of... well, I don't even know what he reeked of... but it wasn't pleasant. He did his usual morning routine of sucking down coffee, when his mouth wasn't wrapped around a cigarette. And, turned on the mic, and sounded fabulous. I wonder where he is these days. That was a long time ago.

When I flipped on the TV tonight, it was one of my favorite episodes - you know the one - "As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly." And it was followed with my most favorite one of all time - "Ferryman, Ferryman he's the man with a plot, he's the man with a plan." Nice little jog down memory lane.

I also remember going with a friend to see Gary Sandy, who played WKRP program director Andy Travis, at an appearance in Lexington, Kentucky, when the show was at its height. I don't remember the specifics, but I remember the kiss.

We were in a throng of people in a large auditorium and he was saying hello and shaking hands with people and when he got to me I was shaking his hand and he leaned in toward me and gave me a little peck on the lips. He looked at me and at my friend and said, "My goodness, there are sure some pretty women in Kentucky."

I'm guessing he repeated that whenever he was, with the appropriate substitutions, and that he either kissed every 32nd woman, and/or we looked like the only ones that were over 18. Regardless, I didn't take it to be anything too personal. Good thing, because Mr. Sandy continued to make his way through the crowd, shaking hands as he went - and I was never again to see him. But, it is a nice memory. My friend was mighty jealous of the kiss, although, frankly, it barely qualified as such.

I'm sure that sort of thing would not happen today. Rather a pity. Someone could be writing on their equivalent of a blog - whatever that will be then - and talking about their unexpected kiss.
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Hail in Hutchinson Kansas

Yesterday I had a Horizons board meeting and got caught in a rain/wind/hail storm as I pulled into the parking lot. It was about 5:15 and it was intense. Since I had the camera with me, I couldn't resist capturing the sound of the hail hitting. When the car was moving in the wind I was getting a little concerned but there were no tornadoes in the storm. At the end of the video you can see the trees bent over. I understand there were 80 mph winds, with very large hail in places. Of course, as usual, parts of town had no hail, and other parts had tons of it. I just happened to be in that part of town. .

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Quote of the Day

Any life, no matter how long and complex it may be, is made up of a single moment - the moment in which a man finds out, once and for all, who he is.
-Jorge Luis Borges

Working on my Attitude

I've been working hard on my attitude the last few days. It needs an adjustment. I feel like I've made some progress on that. But, good grief, I can suffer setbacks so easily.

I did take time today for some wonderful conversation, which is always inspiring. I had plans to meet Jason downtown to talk a while and I ended up going a little bit early and having lunch. It was a very late lunch by that point, but it all worked out. We chatted for a bit and then Jon came in and he and I talked for awhile after Jason had to leave. It's wonderful to visit with people who are thinkers. I love that. Absolutely love it.

I met both of them at the peace demonstration recently. There's another one this Saturday at noon. Anyone is welcome to join in. I'm planning to go, barring unforeseen events.

Quote of the Day

Don't let yourself be paralyzed by fear, which prevents so
many people from living out their dreams.
-Mark Fisher

Obama is It

Obama has enough delegates for the nomination the experts say. I hope we will be referring to him as President Obama in a few months. Although I have been a Hillary supporter, Obama now has my complete and full support.

I hope that other Hillary supporters will also support Obama wholeheartedly. And I hope they will do so regardless of who he chooses for Vice President.

I suppose Obama/Clinton would be a dream ticket for many, but Obama is entitled to choose the VP he wants - not necessarily the one people think he should choose. This is someone he will be working closely with for four, maybe eight, years - he needs to choose the person he wants as his second in command. That is a privilege he has earned.

I am impressed that Clinton has said she's open to the VP slot. It seems so often at this stage of the game there is bad blood and the one on the bottom cannot swallow their pride enough to accept the number two slot. It's not like being VP is a bad job. And, obviously, Hillary is a politico. I'm sure she would have something to offer, but so would others.

At this point, Obama has the nomination, and we all need to give him our full support as we go forward. And we need to support his VP choice, whoever that may be. I think it was wise of him to say he wasn't going to talk about it until after he had enough delegates for the nomination. That's the classy thing to do.

I was glad he acknowledged Hillary's contributions to health care, as well as other things. I wish she had been a bit more conciliatory in her speech. I'm not a political expert and don't understand the reasons for these things.

This is an historic occasion in our country's history - something school children will be looking back on in amazement at some point. That was the FIRST woman running? That was the FIRST African-American? We are living this momentous occasion, lets relish in all it means.

Of course, we're some time from the convention and who knows what could happen there. But, for the moment, lets just start practicing saying, "President Obama."
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Oldest Living Thing on Earth

Three scientists who discovered a 250 million year old bacteria still alive in an inclusion in a salt crystal were in Hutchinson Saturday afternoon for a lecture at the Kansas Underground Salt Museum.



Dr. Russell Vreeland and Dr. William Rosenzweig from West Chester University in Pennsylvania were the biologists. They worked with geologist Dr. Dennis Powers to look at the layers of salt and make sure the area where they were collecting from had not been penetrated before they gathered it. As Vreeland said, "he reads layers like I read a book."

In an inclusion in a salt crystal from a site near Carlsbad NM, in less than a drop of water (12 microliters), they found a bacteria that was alive but essentially in hibernation. Bacteria have an ability to form spores and be dormant for a long time, but no one had an idea they could be dormant this long.

As Vreeland explained, the bacteria could not reproduce in the water where it was because the waste generated would have killed it.  They put it into fresh nutrients, including a 20% salt solution, and Vreeland said they, "woke it up." It took four months for them to see growth in the bacteria.

"The feeling we had when we saw it was humility," Vreeland said in an interview after the lecture. "We're in the presence of an organism that has survived 250 million years in a crystal. You've got to respect that."



Their research was published in "Nature" in 2000. Before they published the research, "Nature" required even more stringent verification than usual. The researchers isolated the organism in 1998 and published in 2000. The museum here now has an exhibit about the discovery, including the crystal the organism was found in.



The scientists were surprised by the initial interest in the project. Vreeland said that "Nature" put out a press release on the wire and fifteen minutes later the college switchboard was getting calls for interviews, and was almost instantly jammed. The two biologists did interviews every half hour for the next two weeks. Vreeland said he started at 7:30 in the morning and was doing his last one at 11:30 that night on the BBC Coffee Talk Show. He joked, "Here it is eight years later ... and I'm a museum artifact."

He said one of the great things about the experience was that it has "given us a chance to give science back to the people who paid for it."

Prior to this, the oldest bacteria discovered was in a piece of amber and it was 25 million years old. Before that the oldest was a 10,000 year old spore found in a mummy.

Minerals can be dated radiometrically, and the ones where this sample was taken are 253-254 million years ago, right at the end of the Permian Period. They looked at 100 crystals, and found two organisms.

The dating of this has been one of the breakthroughs of this research. As Vreeland said, "You can only date an organism based on geology, not on DNA." This was dated like any other fossil.



"The key to the exhibit is the techniques, not the organism." They combined microbiologists, a geologist and a high level of sterility.

All of their work was done in very sterile conditions. Vreeland says that "sterility is never a given, it's a probability." The protocols they were working under produced a sterile environment that is 1000 times better than that of an operating room. The chance of contamination for Vreeland's system is 1 in a billion. By comparison, the Mars Rover's chance of contamination was 1 in million.

Vreeland said the crystal is a great preservative. Oxygen would kill the organism, but none gets to it in the crystal. Also, when the crystal is forming, the heavy metals that would kill the organism are being pushed away. Then, it gets buried where it's dark and cool, creating an ideal, stable environment.

They are also  working with 400 million year old samples, as well as 125 million year old ones.

Vreeland said we know that microbes can withstand the acceleration to get off planet Earth, and they can survive the deceleration of meteor hits, so it's likely microbes from Earth are on Mars. "When man goes to the stars, our microbes will be waiting for us," Vreeland said during the lecture.



A surprise with this organism has been that when the microbes are exposed to an environment where salt is forming, first thing they do is look for an inclusion and then recruit others. They then allow themselves to be closed up.

Vreeland said in an interview after the lecture that while there's no proof the organisms are affecting crystallization, there are indications of it. The higher the microbe population there is, the faster crystals form and those crystals are slightly different than those that form without microbes present, including the shape and rate they grow.

Vreeland says, "Somehow they are doing things we don't expect them to be doing." They've proven that microbes can navigate mazes, and the mazes the organisms pick are the same size as the inclusions in the salt.

Other work looking at microbes in volcanic glass says it looks like they create openings in the glass.

"It's a fascinating idea and it's an idea that we as humans really need. We've bought too much into our own propaganda saying we're the pinnacle of evolution, that we're complex and they are simple," said Vreeland in an interview after the lecture.

"The feeling we had when we saw it was not pride. It was humility," Vreeland said in the interview. "We've given it its opportunity and that's all. I feel humble everytime I look at it."

"I don't care what your beliefs are, there's no way we can look at ourselves and thump our chests looking at that. That is the oldest living thing on earth. Here's an organism that was alive 100 million years before the dinosaurs, you've got to respect it."




Photos courtesy of http://www.blogger.com/www.thelope.com.



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Blogging Good for Your Health

Scientific American has published an article about how blogging is good for you. It's what you would expect - writing is good in general. Of course, blogging is another way people write. http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=the-healthy-type
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Unheard Of

I am heading upstairs to bed - at 9:15 p.m. I know, it's something unheard of for me. But I don't feel good. I can't say I feel bad, but I don't feel good. I guess it's more that I just don't feel normal. I haven't for awhile now, but it is worse today than usual. I feel worn out and strung out, even though I've done very little today because I just haven't felt like it. I'm not sure what the deal is but I think it's stress manifesting itself physically. I'm just not sure how much more of it I can take.
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Sex and the City (no spoilers)

I capped off a very full Saturday by going to see Sex and the City. I really enjoyed it. I'm going to refrain from saying anything much about it since it's the first weekend it has been out and I'm sure some folks haven't had a chance to see it yet.

I'm not a big movie person and I have only seen the show on TV. I never saw the racier HBO version. But, I could always relate to the girls, even though I've never lived in New York.

Andrea, Kate, Amy, Greg and I went, so we had a little group.

If you're a fan of the show, the movie won't disappoint, which is a rarity when dealing with movies from TV shows. It was good. Very good.
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Southern Girls

We have a new coffee shop, called Roaster 2 Cup Euro Caffe, which may soon be Bruce's. Martha mentioned it the other night at Chicks but I hadn't been there yet. As you might guess, Bruce is the owner. He is roasting all his own beans every day and told us you can't be doing anything else food wise while doing that because the coffee will pick up the flavor.



Today Kate and I decided to get together and went there to give it a try. While we were in there, Amy popped in so the three of us got to chat. Kate is in the pink, Amy in the blue.



The coffee shop is comfy, with some cushy seating, and a nice selection of magazines. This is one of my favorites - Scientific American. Oddly enough, that plays into my weekend plans. I'm going underground tomorrow to attend a roundtable lecture by scientists who discovered ancient bacteria embedded in salt. I'm excited about talking to them. And, no, I'm not being funny. I'm really looking forward to it.

But, back to the topic at hand. Amy, Kate and I are all southern girls. Kate is from Georgia and Amy from South Carolina, while I'm from Kentucky. We decided today we're going to start our own little club for southern girls and those with southern ways.

Topics of conversation today were:
1. how can people possibly not know what cheese straws are - it's scandalous, I tell you
2. the horror of no derby pie on Derby Day - none of us have quite recovered from that
3. how can people not know their history -  i.e. "where are your people from?"

We didn't get much further than that, but went away with the task to come up with a name. Of course, we thought about GRITS (Girls Raised In The South) but that's been done. We considered the Sweet Potato Queens, the Ya-Yas and some other things, including our own twisted Junior League, but decided we need to come up with our own name.

I was sharing this with Greg at dinner and he asked what southern girls would say about food.  My response was, "butter, heavy cream, cheese or gravy - or some combination - can improve almost anything."

It's comforting to talk with other southern girls. I do miss my own kind.

And I do declare, those southern men are a special breed as well. I didn't fully appreciated them until I wasn't around them. But, that's a-whole-nother topic for a-whole-nother time.
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Meeting Bob Aronsohn and Baxter and Riley

This is Baxter the dog. I met him today and fell completely in love with him. He already has a human, however. Even if he didn't, I'm afraid I would not be a good dog owner because I'm gone too much. Besides, I'm not even a dog person. Baxter didn't seem to notice that, however. And, frankly, it kind of slipped my mind, too.

I also met Riley, his canine counterpart, when we went to look at a garden for the tour on June 22. Greg went with me to take photos. Have I ever mentioned he's the best ex-bf a girl can have? I'm sure I have - like 40 dozen times - but it bears repeating.

I petted Riley, too, but Baxter was jumping up on my legs, giving me this look of, "hey, pick me up, what is wrong with you, don't you see me here, pick me up, what are you waiting for, pick me up." How could I resist?

I've been doing the garden tour for a few years now and it's always interesting to find the gardens and go meet the home owners. Some people are a little concerned about one thing or another, understandably so, and some people are so casual it's amazing.

This homeowner, Bob Aronsohn., falls into the latter category. He met us at the door and motioned for us to come on into the house and we went through it into the back yard, which is as lush and green as you can imagine a yard being. Just look at the part Riley is not covering up there.

Mr. Aronsohn is a legend in hunting circles, and his house is filled with the evidence of his prowess - from Africa, Argentina and other locales. It was fascinating to talk with him. He is particularly known for crow hunting. I'm working on a passage in my novel now the involves a crow. I didn't know I had such a great resource just a few blocks away.



I was telling him about my brother in Kentucky who loves to duck hunt and Mr. Aronsohn mentioned he is going hunting with a friend from Lexington soon, and knew another hunter in Paducah. I grew up about 25 miles south of Paducah and graduated from the University of Kentucky in Lexington. I guess this would fall into the "small world" category.

Maybe he would let me come visit Baxter again. He said the dog rarely let anyone hold him for any amount of time, but Baxter was so cuddly with me. Did I mention I'm not a dog person?
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Memories

Does this scene just remind you of small town America? I snapped it today at Fraese Drug. A grandma brought in her four granddaughters, all dressed alike, with the same hats. They had shakes, malts and sundaes. It was just too cute for words to see them all sitting at the counter.

I realized that granny was making some memories for those little girls. I'm guessing these two in the middle are cousins, but it's only a guess. I can imagine them talking about this day at some point in the future when they've got their heads together talking about more important topics than I hope they have on their minds at this young age.

Making good memories seems to be the point of life.
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Beauty

Life is full of beauty. Notice it. Notice the bumble bee, the small child, and the smiling faces. Smell the rain, and feel the wind. Live your life to the fullest potential, and fight for your dreams.
                                Ashley Smith

For the past year or so I have been thinking a lot about beauty, and how I need more beauty in my life. When we did our vision collages, my focus statement was about having the freedom and inspiration to create and appreciate beauty. I came to that statement after a large amount of journaling over some months, and it was the result of focusing on what was wanted from me, not for me.

I can't say I've figured out exactly how to manage this in my life yet, but I know it's what I need to strive for, and continue moving toward. Of course, the problem is that sometimes it's hard to tell when you're moving, much less what direction you're headed.

I try to always move toward something instead of away from something. But, of course, it's hard to focus on the unknown you're moving toward, and pretty easy to focus on what you want to leave behind.

While I'm struggling with these issues, life has this seemingly magical way of working itself out with little input from me. Things fall into place, almost as if there's nothing for me to do. But, in retrospect I realize there were steps I was taking, I just didn't recognize them as such.

Every day I'm doing things that are moving toward something new. Something wonderful. Something long wished for and intensely desired. I hope the life I lived today moved me closer to the dream of tomorrow.

In that tomorrow, beauty will surround me and I will be able to appreciate it and create more beauty as a result of that inspiration.

Mars Landing

This is a shot from Mars. Isn't that an amazing thing in and of itself? That we have a photo of the surface of Mars, and that I can download it right on my computer and send it out again to others in a different context.

This top photo is from "day 0." The lower one from "day 1."

I've been transported back to 1969 and the moon landing in many ways during this. I was too young then to comprehend a whole lot about what was going on, but I was old enough to know it was cool. I remember going outside and looking up at the moon and thinking, "wow, people are up there now."

I'm experiencing the same wonder now. Somewhere I have a little toy of the Mars Rover, which I loved. Now this. Space exploration is the ultimate in long term planning in many ways. It takes many years for the science and the desire to take us to new frontiers. When astronaut Jeff Ashby spoke here a couple of years ago he talked about NASA's motto of "The Moon, Mars and Beyond." It's exciting to be living in these times where technology is such an amazing part of our daily lives.

I love the feeling of delight I have on a daily basis about technology. I can sit in my home office and look at photos from Mars and write and share thoughts with people around the world. It's an incredible time to be alive and to be experiencing all this.
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This was the fourth day in a row that Kansas has had outbreaks of tornadoes. It's starting to seem like this is just the norm now. Fortunately, we just got rain tonight - nothing more.

I've had a very laid back day, working on stuff at the computer, and enjoying Mark and Greg's company. Mark headed home tonight, missing most of the bad weather.

I woke up at 5:30 this morning and couldn't get fully back to sleep. I did rest some more, but just couldn't sleep deeply. I sleep so little. I try to sleep. I mean, I really try. But, four hours after I go to bed I'm awake. If I go back to sleep, I'm awake six hours after I went to bed. After that it's nearly impossible for me to actually sleep any more. I may doze, but that will be about it. Every once in a great while I go to sleep and stay asleep for 7-8 hours but it is rare.

I get so frustrated when people say you need to rest. You have to sleep. Well, don't you think I'm trying? I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do? I go to bed. I even make myself stay in bed sometimes, although it nearly makes me bonkers, but I still can't sleep. I don't think I've slept more than five hours any night in the last three weeks.

Of course, there are a whole slew of drugs for such things. But, after my last go at antibiotics and steroids I decided the fewer chemicals in my body the better. I'm almost recovered from all those and I don't want to add anything else to the mix.

But, all of this to say, I'm tried now. Very tired. I'll go right to sleep as soon as I go upstairs. It's the staying asleep for an extended period that's the hard part. I'm glad tomorrow is a holiday.

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Peace Demonstration in Hutchinson Kansas

One of the things I love about my life is that I just never know what interesting thing is going to happen on any given day. Today I met Mark and Greg at Roy's for lunch. Mark is covering the antique truck show at the fair for his XM radio show, Landline Now. Greg has been hired to do photos for the magazine so they were both headed back to the fairgrounds.

I intended to hit Smith's Market and then head home. As I approached the intersection of Main and Avenue A I saw something that made my heart sing. There were about ten people gathered, holding signs promoting peace. Yes, PEACE, that ever-elusive thing.



All of the photos here were taken by Greg. You can see his blog at www.thelope.com.

Well, I couldn't resist stopping and talking with them. So, I circled around and came back and interviewed them, discovering that they're the Hutch Action Alliance. Their facebook page says, "The Hutch Action Alliance is a group of concerned citizens' attempt to put good intentions to good use. We aim to aid the community through service, dialog, activism, and social justice advocacy." One of the organizers, Hutchinson native Jon Dennis, 24, said, "we're people trying to find solutions for the problems plaguing our world."



Today was their first public event, although they did volunteer as a group at the Soup Kitchen last week.

A core group of five people has been meeting for about a month. They were inspired after hearing Kathy Kelly of Voices in the Wilderness speak about that organization. The goals of the Hutch Action Alliance include finding ways to bring peace into the conversation of the community. Dennis said, "people will be talking about this tonight."

I'm sure he's right. It's not every day you see a group gathered in downtown with colorful signs stating a point of view.

The signs were created by artist Mikaela Trim, 23, who moved to Hutchinson about a year ago. Her parents are missionaries in Japan and she lived abroad most of her life, but would come back periodically to live near her grandparents in South Hutchinson. She was seeking a place of her own, and chose Hutchinson.

She is one of the organizers. She said, "I'd like to see the community come together, agree or disagree, come together and talk. And this is one of the ways to manifest that - to start a conversation."

The most recent addition to the group is 22 year old Mason Hitchcock. He said he was out there today because he had wanted to be able to do something but didn't have the means to get involved.

Another of the organizers, 17 year old Jason Depew, who will be starting his senior year of high school this fall, said he'd heard many people express that desire to do something and this is one way to provide an opportunity for that. He said he's involved because, "I'm really passionate about the causes."

The other organizer who was there today was David Coon, 24, a member of the National Guard. He said, "I was deployed to Iraq for a year and certain experiences I had over there prompted me to do something more with my life."

I asked him more about that, but as I've seen before when asking anyone who has been to war about their experiences, he didn't seem to want to talk about it much. Because this is my personal blog, and not journalism, I had no reason to press him. But he did say, "It forced me to evaluate my place here in the community. I wanted to make sure I could make a difference. I didn't want my life to go to waste."

After I was done with the interviews, I picked up a sign, and finished out the event with them. I choose a sign that said, "Support the Troops, Bring Them Home," which, as you know if you've read here any amount of time, is one of my favorite concepts - how can my desire for the troops to be home and safe be construed as anything less than supportive?

I was pleasantly surprised to find that most of the people in passing vehicles were supportive. One man yelled out, "Peace, Brother," as he drove by. Many folks flashed peace signs and thumbs up signs.



I was thrilled they allowed me to jump in on their event at the last minute. It was a joy to be involved with folks who are interested and motivated to do something in our community.

They have another Peace Demonstration set for June 7 at noon, at Ave. A and Main. Everyone is welcome to join in. I'm going to be unavailable that day - sure wish I could be there. But, I'll be eager to read your report about that day's event.

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Check www.patsyterrell.com for the blog, art, and more.

Tornado Watching on a Friday Night

Well, they say the tornado/thunder-storm is about 30 minutes from us right now. So, I think I'll probably be heading to the basement soon unless something changes. I've gone to the basement fewer than a half dozen times since I've lived in Kansas, but tonight may be a night when I do that very thing. I'll update twitter from the phone if possible - you can see twitter in the sidebar of the blog at www.patsyterrell.com.
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Check www.patsyterrell.com for the blog, art, and more.

WhatsUpHutch

I'm involved in a new project locally, and it's one I'm excited about. I think it has tremendous potential. It's www.whatsuphutch.com, an online magazine for Hutchinson, Kansas. It's the brainchild of Cody Heitschmidt, whose blog CodyTalks is always worth a look.

For a long time I've wanted something like this to exist - a place to go to for talk about the community and what's happening and what could happen. Possibilities. I love possibilities. Look at whatsuphutch.com and take time to be part of the community there.

I'll be doing a monthly column called, "Patsy Writes," and so will other folks - folks with very divergent views. You can find my column, as well as others, in the "reads" section.

I don't know Cody well - we've crossed paths a few times and chatted, but recently we've been working on a local task force together and have gotten to know each other a little better. We've also gotten to know each other better as we've exchanged messages on twitter. (Consider this your formal invitation to join us there - look for patsyterrell and codyks and you'll instantly have two friends. OK, I'm speaking for Cody without his permission, but I feel pretty confident on this one.)  In the brief time we've been communicating, we've realized we're in agreement about a whole lot of things and at opposite ends of the spectrum on others. I'm very comfortable with that, and I suppose Cody is as well. These interactions led to him asking me to be a columnist on whatsuphutch.com. I'm excited by the potential, and wanted to be in from the get-go.

You can also write. The site will depend on a lot of interaction from folks. You can blog there. You can comment. You can tell us we're full of it. You can tell us we're right on. You can write your own piece because we're all missing the obvious.

In one of those things that happen in a smaller city, Cody and his wife own LogicMaze, which is the company that was hired some months ago for web design by a local organization on whose board I serve. Frankly, this sort of thing is something I like about living in a smaller city. I like walking into a group and figuring I'll know at least one person there, but that's a-whole-nother topic - and perhaps something for a future column.

Go on over to whatsuphutch.com and take a look. Today is the first day it's live, so you'll be in on the ground floor.

This Week in My Life

I'm so glad Friday is upon us. This has been a hectic, busy week, and I've gotten a bit behind in blogging about life in general.

I've been working on the garden tour. We've had it full. Then lost one. Then got a new one. Then lost one. I am so weary of doing these sorts of things. It's exhausting and stressful. On top of that, I've got some unexpected things looming to take care of.

When I had lunch with Trish this week we were talking about things and she used the perfect phrase for it. She said she didn't have anything on the horizon she was dreading. I realized that was the word for it - dread. There are things I'm dreading. It's just not a good way to live one's life. I suppose people do it all the time, but it makes no sense to me.

I've been spending more time on twitter these days. I'm eager for more folks I know to get on there. I've had an account for a long time but haven't used it much until recently. It's very interesting. I'm also fond of friendfeed, but even fewer people I know are on it.

Mark is down for the Antique Truck show. I got to see him at lunch and dinner today. He's working for his XM show, so I haven't seen him except in passing. He's not staying with me this time. Since he's working his company got him a hotel room.

I'm just trying to push through the next month and get everything done I need to get done. Then I will be able to rest a bit, I hope, and work more on the novel.

My plan is to work very hard tomorrow and get some things out the door so I can have this three day weekend off. I'm hoping. Hoping, hoping, hoping.

Other good news today - I got a good report at the dentist. I always love to hear I have no cavities.

I have almost all of my plants in the ground. They were saying we might get bad weather tonight but I'm hoping it's not big hail. I don't want all the pretty white roses on the bush in front torn up, nor do I want the plants I just got in the ground beaten to a pulp.

Yesterday I got a call about doing some voice work that sounds like it will be a fun experience if they hire me. I love doing voice work so that's a bonus. We'll see what happens. I also got a new writing "job" that I'll be saying more about as soon as it's ready for public consumption. More on that soon.

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Check www.patsyterrell.com for the blog, art, and more.

Photo Story 3 and YouTube and my latest adventure

I did this recently to play with some software I wasn't familiar with - Photo Story 3. The software is easy... so there are any number of applications for it yet to be thought about. I didn't even realize it was a freebie with windows - I've never had a reason to look for something like this.

I just grabbed some pix I had on my hard drive, found some quotes that go with it and did this to get my feet wet. I think it's kind of cool looking for something done in a little bit of time with free software.

If you haven't ever watched anything from YouTube, you just click on the box below and it will play right on your computer. There's nothing dangerous in it that will harm your computer. This is just a little over a minute long.



As always when learning something new there are snags along the way. This software for Photo Story 3 is very easy. I didn't bother to put any sound behind this one, but it's an easy function offered there. You have access to this software - it's free with windows.

The snag came when I tried to load it to YouTube. It wouldn't accept it even though the format was one of the ones they take. Some online searching netted some very, very, very useful information from this page http://www.bmyers.com/public/1321.cfm?sd=30 on Bill Myers website. Scroll to the bottom of the page and he addresses this very problem. His page is the only place I found the needed information. It's very easy to follow the steps he lays out and then it works like a charm.
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Check www.patsyterrell.com for the blog, art, and more.

Addictomatic Yourself

OK, admit it, you've googled yourself. And you should. Whenever I google myself I find things online I didn't know were there because I didn't put them there.

Tonight I happened across another way to achieve this that breaks down your appearance online into various categories.http://addictomatic.com/

Of course, you could search for something other than yourself... if, well, you know, you have any other interests. I did a little searching for some travel info, some tea info and a couple of other things. Just a new toy I wanted to share. OK, maybe it's an old toy and I'm the last person to know about it, but just in case...
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Check www.patsyterrell.com for the blog, art, and more.

Stress

This has been a Monday. Wow. Definitely a Monday.

Did you know that stress is a factor in the seven leading causes of death in the US? It is. It's a real killer. Literally. 75% of doctor visits in the US have a stress component. There's a reason more heart attacks occur on Monday mornings than any other time of the week.

I have a-fib, and for me it's very stress dependent. People really, really, really stressed me out today and my heart went into a-fib. It was quite a while before it went back to normal. I wonder if they would take a sadistic pleasure in knowing they made me miserable for awhile? Fortunately, now it is normal again and I feel much better - just a little strung out.

The end of April through mid May is a difficult time for me. I always feel like I should get a medal for just getting through it with my sanity (such as it is) intact. When am I going to "get over it?" I have no idea. I'll just feel the way I feel until I don't feel that way anymore.

I wonder how the "business oriented" types handle loss. Do they just drop in for their mother's  funeral at 10 and are back at work by 11:30? I truly don't know, but that's how they act.

I'm just not built that way. Loss is serious to me. It's still fresh, although no longer raw. I don't know, and don't want to know, how to be that cavalier about it.

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Check www.patsyterrell.com for the blog, art, and more.

Post It Notes Essential for Novel Writing

I recently had the opportunity to work on my novel for a whole week. It was amazing to have that time. I got six more chapters written, which I'm editing now.

You may recall my love of post its to help me organize. This was the wall beside my computer. I've started color coding - pink is people in the book, orange is chapters, white are scenes yet to be written, purple are things to be tidied up in the book, etc.

I took this the last night I was there. It had grown over the week. I had taken a photo earlier and the comparison is interesting.



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Check www.patsyterrell.com for the blog, art, and more.

Islamabad Loves Me

OK, that title is misleading, but I couldn't resist.

You may have noticed the little graphic in the sidebar that shows where people are hitting the blog from. It's a cool little toy, but only shows the most recent info and isn't always exact. For example some friends who live in north east Kansas just show up as "Topeka," although none of them actually live in Topeka. It's fun to look at it but if I were really in to stats, I'd use something far better.

But, today I got a real chuckle when I noticed the following:
Islamabad, Islamabad arrived from images.google.com.pk on "Patsys Ponderings by Patsy Terrell: October 2005"

I must admit tremendous curiosity about what someone in Islamabad might have found interesting from my October 2005 postings. I was interested enough to go look at that month's archives. I'm betting on Gorbachev, but who knows.

The internet is an interesting thing!
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Check www.patsyterrell.com for the blog, art, and more.