Independence Day

In honor of Independence Day here in the United States, I am seceding from WordPress.com. I’ll still use WordPress as a framework because… you know… it rocks, but from now on the Journal of his Delights will be hosted at (appropriately enough):

http://journalofhisdelights.com

Okay, so it’s not the most original domain name, but I figured it was probably a good idea to keep things simple. Also, probably in a couple of weeks, I’ll delete the posts here and just hang a pointer to the new site.

Please remember to bookmark the new site. Thanks!

Name, Name — What’s in a Name?

So I’ve got a dilemma…

I have a site host all picked out, but before I can sign up, I need to come up with the domain name, and I’m stumped. The obvious choice is to use my name, but something about that puts me off. I’d consider using 3seed, except that someone’s squatting on it.

Colleague and friend, Emily, advises something easily searchable and/or unique, but I’m totally drawing a blank. And I can’t move the site until I nail this down.

Are there any suggestions from the gallery?

Two Articles

I have a couple of news items for you. Neither article may sound all that interesting from their description, but each in their own way is compelling.

Lost Promise for Rape Victims
The first is an account of all that goes into putting together a rape kit. It’s written by a researcher at Human Rights Watch, and it’s downright damning given the effort involved.

Can Weeds Help Solve the Climate Crisis?
The second article is a New York Times piece about the effects of global warming on weeds. It’s long and often more about the researchers than the research, but it’s a potential glimpse into the future–one where we can’t take for granted the ability of agriculture as we know it to feed humanity. Although, it may be that the weeds save us in the end.

Check ‘em out.

Two Super-Cool Finds

The title says it all.

The first is from a nonprofit working on development issues. It’s an education/promotion piece about the Girl Effect. Check it out – it’s a wonderfully creative approach to educating about the benefits of helping women and girls in the developing world.

I saw the other piece on Emily’s blog, and it really is amazing. People are so creative! You have to be patient though — its coolness doesn’t manifest till about 1:08. Trust me though, it’s worth it.

Yes, the machines really are playing Nude by Radiohead.

It’s a Meme Thing

I’ve been tagged by Kim for a meme. Specifically, it’s to pick up the nearest book, flip to page 123, go to the 5th sentence, and read the next three sentences.

I have next to me The Journey from the Center of the Page by Jeff Davis.

“By day’s or week’s end, you may recognize patterns of our culture’s flotsam that may give you fodder for creating a fiction or nonfiction scene. Weaving in and twisting these speech bits also can give a poem texture as it comments on the nature of our daily language. One student wrote a short story in which one of the characters spoke almost entirely in commercial jingles and sound bites.”

I’ll tag CC, Lowie, Emily, and Carrie.

Where to Next?

It’s been too long since I last updated. Mea culpa.

To be honest, though, the blog was suffering from an identity crisis. I wasn’t sure what I should focus on now that I’m not traveling around the world. My life? My writing? Making a difference in the world, the mundane, the absurd, all of the above, none of the above?

I didn’t have an answer, and I felt the blog needed a framework — some kind of structure to give it meaning. Or if not meaning, then at least a guiding principle or theme. Otherwise it was likely to become an incoherent mess and collection of random perceptions.

So I let the blog lay fallow; to give its landscape a chance to rest and become fertile once more. The result? I still don’t have a proper answer, but I do have the seeds of something; a sense of what I’d like to focus on next.

In the last few years, I’ve been interested in exploring human suffering. That’s one of the original reasons I went to London for the Masters in Development Studies. It’s one of the reasons I worked for over a decade with AI. But, consistent with all the changes in my life, it’s time for something new. Or not really new — more of an evolution.

Timelessness and change. That’s what I’m interested in exploring. I know they’re big topics, but then human suffering wasn’t exactly small either. And I don’t have much more beyond that — just the two seed words. But it’s enough for a start.

Of course, you’ll still get random perceptions, posts about food, photography, geekiness, and the like, but there’ll be a tendency to head in particular directions. And there will also be some changes, including moving the site to my own domain. I’d like to post some of my poetry, and I’d feel better if I had more control over the site.

I’ll also be focusing more on writing; one of the ways I’m changing my life. Also expect to see more posts about advocacy and issues of concern; to help with changing the world for the better. As for the timeless, well… that’ll be harder, but I’m willing to go looking. *grin*

So, I’m sorry for the lack of posts, but I needed to figure out where to head next with the Journal. I hope you stick around and enjoy the ride.

Phoenix

When I was a child – maybe nine or ten – I mailed the Jet Propulsion Laboratory a request for pictures of the solar system. When the package arrived, I was so excited. Inside were images from the Voyager and Viking spacecraft. Pictures of Jupiter, Mars, and other planetary bodies. There was something extraordinary about the fact that I was able to see such things – pictures of other planets!

A couple of days ago, the Phoenix Lander touched down on Mars. It’s mission is to drill down into the planet’s north pole, see if there’s any water, and check out the chemistry of what’s to be found. It’s also sending back pictures.

Now, the Martian landscape isn’t that interesting. It’s just rocks. But the fact is, they’re rocks on another planet, and that we are able to see them, I find that just as astonishing now as when I was younger. We can do that! We can go to other planets and see what’s to be seen. Granted, right now it’s through robotic eyes, but that won’t be for forever

We are capable of this much and so much more.

Turning Into Plastic

Kim let me know about another article with information about plastic in the ocean. This one takes a closer look at the effects on the human body.

Our oceans are turning into plastic…are we?

Issue: The Plastic Ocean

I grew up next to the Pacific Ocean. I have fond memories of playing along its beaches as a child, and there were many days as an adult when I found myself staring out into its immensity. If there is any natural place in the world for which I feel an affinity, it is the Pacific Ocean.

You can imagine my distress then, when I read about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Technically, this area of the northern Pacific Ocean is called the North Pacific Gyre, a clockwise-swirling vortex of ocean currents twice the size of the continental United States. It’s called the Garbage Patch because the motion of the currents tends to accumulate marine debris.

In the past, this was not a problem for the Pacific and its denizens. Sea birds, marine mammals, and fish were well adapted to make use of driftwood and other debris in the Gyre. The last few decades, however, have seen a dramatic new threat to ocean health arise — plastic.

According to the Algalita Marine Research Foundation, more than a hundred million tons of plastic debris have accumulated in the North Pacific Gyre. A hundred million tons! There is so much plastic, that it outnumbers the zooplankton six to one.

This is plastic that will never disappear. Plastic doesn’t biodegrade. Instead it photo-degrades, which means that sunlight breaks it down into smaller and smaller pieces. Those small pieces drift in the ocean and are mistaken for food by fish and birds.

For example, seabirds like the North Pacific albatross are often found dead with innards full of plastic. Things like cigarette lighters and toothbrushes. Also, sea turtles will mistake plastic bags for food, thinking that they are jellyfish. These turtles will often be found dead with their intestines clogged by plastic bags.

The result? One million seabirds and 100,000 marine mammals die each year due to ingestion of or entanglement in plastics. And even worse — these small bits of plastic act as sponges for non-water soluble pollutants and toxins. These poisons reach concentrations up to one million times higher in the plastic than in their free-floating state.

Filter feeders that eat these plastics are in turn eaten by fish, which are in turn eaten by larger and larger predators. In many cases, this chain concentrates the poisons even further and leads it directly to human beings.

The scope of the problem is astounding, but I refuse to believe that nothing can be done. There are places around the world contemplating banning plastic bags, and I plan on supporting those efforts. On a more personal level, I will re-commit to using cloth bags and reusable drink containers.

If you think that won’t make much of a difference, think again. For each reusable bag, another 400 plastic bags will keep from being used. Every reusable water bottle will keep another 167 plastic bottles from entering the environment.

And as we all know, change is created a person at a time. Won’t you join me?

For more information on plastics and the ocean, check out:

• The Rise Above Plastics blog
• Sailing on a Sea of Plastic
• Are Plastic Grocery Bags Sacking the Environment?

Speed Racer

My first memory of drawing anything was in the third grade, doodling the Mach 5 from Speed Racer. In fact, I can recall drawing the car over and over and over again. I was, apparently, quite the little fan.

Years later, when I was in college, I owned some of the episodes on VHS videotape.

I’ve always been a big fan of animation (and I still am), but I can’t figure out the appeal of Speed Racer for me — the plots were thin, the action not very exciting, the animation quality only so-so. And I truly detested Spritle and Chim Chim, even as a child.

It must’ve been the car. That glorious car with its ultra-sleek lines and the promise of speed and gadgets. A car that could leap obstacles or cut through them, that would protect you from bullets and other misfortunes. I don’t know that I loved the show so much as I loved its main star, the Mach 5.

That may not be completely true – Racer X was also pretty damn cool.

As for the film version out in theaters, I went to see it over the weekend, in magnificent IMAX no less. The reviews have been terrible, but you know what? I didn’t mind it. The film is clearly meant for kids, and it does a fine job in that regard. As long as you don’t go in expecting magic from the Wachowski Brothers, you should be okay.

Would I have liked to see a modern, more adult re-telling of the story? Sure, of course. Who wouldn’t want entertainment tuned to their sensibilities? But this other direction is okay too.

The truth is that super-cars are a dime a dozen now. Look at the James Bond films, the Knight Rider TV series, or even the Pursuit Special in Mad Max/The Road Warrior movies. As sad as it may be, the Mach V is star out of TV’s past, who’s heyday is remembered fondly, nostalgically, but whose chances of being able to sustain an entire film are slim. This is the era of the Interweb, and technology is an uncertain in film. People are too used to miracles. Even Ironman, which is also out in theaters, is more about Tony Stark than it is about the suit.

Do I recommend going out to spend $10 on Speed Racer? If you’ve got kids, I’d say yes. If you’re in it for the nostalgia, then I’d say maybe. It depends on your tolerance for kids’ movies. I had a good time, but I don’t know that I’d call myself typical.