A trip to an art show

This past weekend I had the pleasure of attending Terrel Baptsite's 3rd gallery opening, "!!<!!{DIASPORA}" in Austin, TX at the Pump Project Art Complex. His artwork is excellent mixed-media (spray paint and use of stencils, acrylics, oils, found objects) which displays a great interplay of metaphors. My girlfriend and I also had the opportunity to stop by the State Capitol building and see a good chunk of the downtown area. We also snuck in Workers (a great photo documentary by Sebastião Salgado; international economist who poured over six years' worth of effort into this project) and the Texas Chair Project at Austin's Museum of Art.

I also wanted to mention The Office of the President-elect's Open Government website, specifically the "Your Seat at the Table". This site allows all Americans with internet access the ability to read and comment on official transition meeting documentation with all outside organizations. You can even search for issues relevant to you!


Ashes to ashes,
Dust to dust

Whe'er I err,
I must, I must.

The wonderful world of tea

Tea, having wonderful creation stories, has been refined over thousands of years. Stephanie and I recently picked up a green rooibos tea at Giftorama, and also Tieguanyin ("Iron of Guan Yin", Bodhisattva of compassion) in San Francisco. Stephanie has also introduced me to ice wine tea as well as Akbar's Ceylong tea.

As fall comes to a close, there's possibly nothing better than mulled apple cider with a little spiced rum and good company. We had a few friends over for a potluck and it was stupendous. We played several games (have you been cubed?) including Apples to Apples. Dishes included deviled eggs, bruchette, quiche, baked quinoa, and more.

The value of information

Remember that one encyclopedia, dictionary, and quote (plus so much more) site you use? What would you pay to have access to the content? $30 for a year? Please support Wikipedia's goal to reach $6m in funding by donating using PayPal or charging to credit card. It's for a great cause - knowledge! For instance, learn about the Shelomit Seal.

Thoughts on the 2008 general election

My friend Miriam Lind wrote the following:

Obama is the first candidate who I look at and see myself, and my friends. He is intelligent and ambitious, from humble beginnings, who is determined to defy limits, pursue excellence, and is unafraid and unashamed to want the world. He is the first candidate- sorry, the first PRESIDENT in my lifetime who I look at and, instead of just thinking "wow that politician sure is rich and powerful" I think "wow, if he could do it, I can do it. All my friends can do it." Obama is someone who makes me, on a gut level, want to work harder and to seize the day, because I can, because there is no excuse not to, because otherwise I would be cheating my potential.

And Reggie wrote some prose:

America is why Rosa sat
Martin marched
and why Barack ran
so our children will fly.

Also, an open letter to President-elect Barrack Obama by Alice Walker that I am quite fond of. And another, albiet more critical, open letter. In passing I heard someone say "a deep awakening has occurred", and I agree. The American people are once again proud of their nation and have hope in themselves to direct the fate of the world. I caution us not to simply rest our faith in a newly elected government, but to be a proactive, informed, participating vox populi.

Understand that we are facing a mass extinction on the planet, not to mention war in multiple countries costing us $341 million dollars a day, and a crumbling economy. It is time we solved problems through dialog, not force; to engage and work with other nations as we came together yesterday, November 4th, to change history; and possibly above all - ensure we are careful stewards of our only home we've ever known.

A promise has been restored, and it is our responsibility to keep it.

Functional fractals

Last night I caught a spectacular special on NOVA/PBS - Hunting the Hidden Dimension (support public television and buy the DVD here!) - about Mandelbrot sets and the application of fractal math to communications, medicine, rainforest preservation, and more. One topic that blew my mind was detection of early cancerous cell formation using fractals – scientists can accurately predict cancerous growth in tiny blood vessels if they start to branch in irregular (non-fractal) patterns. However, current imaging technology is nowhere near being cost-effective to scan a human’s body with precision to identify such tiny patterns. The solution? Using predictive fractal math, you can look at the larger branches of the human cardiovascular system and identify potential tumorous growth.

Also, did you know that cellphone antennae use fractal patterns to not only boost signal reception, but also receive a broader spectrum of wavelengths?

A quick renku

Methodically...
Oops! I have lost everything
Life always changing

Appropriate for the times? Also, some interesting history about Renkus.

The Invitation by Brian Parks

I saw an excellent play this weekend with a few friends, The Invitation by Brian Parks. It's a dark "revenge comedy" that compels the audience through a dinner party of pedantic discourse - almost to the point of anti-intellectualism - all the way pitting consumerism and heartless capitalism against idealism, anarchy, and free will. At least that I was I took away from it. It is currently playing at the Ohio Theater, part of the SOHO Think Tank.

Open congress: learn about legislation affecting you

Before I started my new position in New York, I went home for two weeks again to see my family and meet with my good friends John and Martin, who are working with me on a Science Fiction startup called "Scifi Market". I can't wait to announce the beta site once we launch! While I was home I mentioned an idea I would have loved to put together: targeted congressional information with social networking built in. It looks like a great organization has beat me to the punch with OpenCongress.org. Now, some of the news content can be politically biased - but the concept is there, nonetheless.