Interests: More
Fly Fishing
Lifelong Pursuits, Joan L. Cannon, Allure: I'd watch the arcs of monofilament lines swirling as if with lives of their own, glistening in the sunlight. In the meadows where the water ran soundlessly, I could hear only the faint purr of the reels, distant crows calling, the cry of a red-tail almost invisible above me.
The Beauty of Sea Shells
Collecting seashells may be on a par with such popular hobbies, pursuits or fascinations as miniatures, crafts and birding. (I admit I haven't researched it's popularity authoritatively.) Pursuing another preoccupation of plumbing estate sales led me to a home on Siesta Key, Fl that had a handmade shell cabinet with a dozen or more draws lined with baize, filled with shells. It has traversed the country with us and I consider it a minor treasure in itself.
Seashells: the Plainness and Beauty of Their Mathematical Description is a website that is thorough, to say the least, and to be frank, may be a bit too esoteric for the average shell hunter. But you'll never look at a shell in quite the same way again:
This article uses LiveGraphics3D, a Java applet which displays three-dimensional figures as generated by Mathematica. Any figure displayed with LiveGraphics3D can be rotated by clicking and dragging the mouse on the image.
Contents:
State of the Birds, 2009 Report
The website, State of the Birds, has issued their 2009 report with a foreword:
"Birds are bellwethers of our natural and cultural health as a nation — they are indicators of the integrity of the environments that provide us with clean air and water, fertile soils, abundant wildlife, and the natural resources on which our economic development depends. In the past 40 years, major public, private, and government initiatives have made strides for conservation. Has it been enough? How are birds faring?"
From the Overview: "The results reflect the influence of human activities and global change on our nation’s birds. Every US habitat harbors birds in need of conservation. Hawaiian birds and ocean birds appear most at risk, with populations in danger of collapse if immediate conservation measures are not implemented. Bird populations in grassland and aridland habitats show the most rapid declines over the past 40 years. Birds that depend on forests are also declining.
"In contrast, wetland species, wintering coastal birds, and hunted waterfowl show increasing populations during the past 40 years, reflecting a strong focus during this period on wetlands conservation and management.
The ProjectFeederWatch website carries instructions for participating in the count.
Articles
Roberta McReynolds, I Painted Myself Into A Corner: I planned to paint a dancer in simple muted colors. I was aiming for something in the style of Monet (my sincerest apologies to Claude, by the way). I was in a high-powered creativity mode, covered with acrylic paint from fingertips to elbows
Beeton's Book of Needlework
Beeton's Book of Needlework was originally published in Great Britain in 1870 by Ward, Lock and Tyler. This facsimile edition published in Great Britain in 1986 by Chancellor Press, 59 Grosvenor Street London W 1
Samuel Butler's Preface
The Art of Needlework dates from the earliest record of the world's
history, and has, also, from time immemorial been the support, comfort,
or employment of women of every rank and age. Day by day, it increases
its votaries, who enlarge and develop its various branches, so that any
addition and assistance in teaching or learning Needlework will be
welcomed by the Daughters of England, "wise of heart," who work
diligently with their hands.
The recent introduction of Point Lace has brought a finer, and,
apparently, more difficult class of fancy work into general favour.
Ladies may now, however, confidently commence, with our patterns before
them, to reproduce Antique laces; for care and patience, with a
knowledge of Point Lace stitches, are alone required to perfect the
beautiful work, which, as shown in existing specimens of exquisite Old
Lace, constitute the chief glory of women's refined industry in past
centuries.
Instructions in Tatting, in Embroidery, in Crochet, in Knitting and Netting, in Berlin Wool Work, in Point Lace, and Guipure d'Art are prefixed to the pages devoted to these separate branches of needlework. The whole work is interspersed with coloured and other Patterns ... and Designs for Monograms and
Initials for marking handkerchiefs and table-linen. The quantity of materials required for each class of work is also given with every pattern.
The idea of combining a series of minute and exact instructions in fancy
needlework with useful patterns was conceived some years ago by one
whose life was devoted to the inculcation of the practical duties of
woman's life, and to assisting her sex in their daily work of Household Management and Refinement.
View the complete book at Project Gutenberg on the Internet Archive:
Every Pattern and Stitch Described and Engraved with the utmost
Accuracy, and the Exact Quantity of Material requisite for each Pattern
stated
Articles
Roberta McReynolds, I've Heard Aquariums are Soothing: "Have you calculated how much this all cost per ten-cent goldfish we have in there?" I mused ... Okay, so we haven’t quite reached that anticipated level of relaxation yet, but I’m sure we will soon. Maybe after we spackle the sheet-rock and paint the living room
Doris O'Brien, Rooting for Our Roots: Family cads become charismatic figures; ordinary people eking out a living are viewed as unsung heroes who braved adversity; a suffocating shop transport in steerage class morphs into a grand ocean voyage of discovery to the New World
Hobbies Research
The Pew Internet & American Life Project published a survey regarding Online Activities and Pursuits:
A telephone survey conducted in February-March 2007 found that fully 83% of online Americans say they have used the internet to seek information about their hobbies and 29% do so on a typical day. Looking for information about hobbies is among the most popular online activities, on par with shopping, surfing the web for fun, and getting news.
Online hobby research can inspire a person to travel, through activities like historical tourism, or inspire new experiences at home, like cooking or gardening. The Internet can provide detailed information about even the most obscure hobby and can connect hobbyists of every stripe. Taxidermists can find just the right glass eye to complete a stuffed owl. Collectors can scour far-away troves to find that one quilt, stamp, comic book, or baseball card they desire.
The Internet has also led to the creation of entirely new hobbies, as in the case of Geocaching — a hide-and-seek type of game using an interactive website and GPS technology. Keeping a multimedia diary in the form of a blog is another uniquely online pursuit. The Internet plays a crucial or important role for one-quarter of online hobbyists This growing use of the Internet for hobby information tracks a trend we have seen in other surveys.
In a survey completed in March 2005, we asked all Americans if they had started a new hobby or became more involved with a hobby within the previous two years. Some 27% of Internet users said they had and, of those, 28% said the Internet played a crucial or important role as they delved into the hobby.
Fantasy Congress
"Fantasy Congress™ offers you the power to 'play politics.' As in other fantasy sports, you — the Citizen —- draft a team of real-life legislators from the US Congress and score points for your team's successes. Join a league and compete against other Citizens, or form a league of your own! Play against your friends, family, bloggers, fellow politicos, or even a sitting U.S. Senator (one could be playing incognito, you never know!). On weekends, move Members of Congress into your active line-up or off your team to strategize for the upcoming week of legislation!"
Now instead of football or baseball fantasy leagues, you can " create an account, join a league, draft a team of real U.S. Members of Congress and have fun as you compete to score as many points as possible. As the Members of Congress you drafted put real legislation through the lawmaking process they will score points for your team. "
This is a game that might answer those questions as to where do proposed bills go (in theory) that you so anxiously hoped might pass and conversely, do those petitions you sign ever figure into congress's decision making?
In actuality, the site also draws " from the broadest and most up-to-date database of its kind, it ranks sitting members of Congress by legislative efficacy and other criteria."
Labyrinths & Mazes
The Labyrinth Society, not surprisingly, has a thorough education section that outlines different types of labyrinths. Here are a few classic examples:
Classical three circuit: Examples: Cretan coins of circa 300 to 70 BCE. Created with a seed pattern of a cross and a dot in each quadrant, this labyrinth has three paths. Turf labyrinth installation, Valbypark Garden Festival, Denmark.
The Man in the Maze circuit (with seven paths) is located in Tohono O'dam, Southern Arizona, USA
The Classical 15 path circuit is exemplified by another Danish labyrinth at Roerslev: Created with a seed pattern of a cross, three right angles, and a dot in each quadrant, this labyrinth has 15 paths.
If, of course, you'd like to make your own labyrinth, that's possible with a Classical Seven Circuit scheme. On the other hand, virtual labyrinths are on the Web to be toured.
And, the Society's information also include mazes:
The majority of early mazes, however complex their design may appear, were essentially formed from one continuous wall with many junctions and branches. If the wall surrounding the goal of a maze is connected to the perimeter of the maze at the entrance, the maze can always be solved by keeping one hand in contact with the wall, however many detours that may involve. These "simple" mazes are correctly known as "Simply-connected."
The hedge maze at Chevening House, England, c.1820, was one of the first consciously designed to provide a more complex puzzle and thwart the "hand-on-wall" rule for solving mazes.
Fortunately, the Labyrinthos Photo Library affords us illustrations of labyrinths, both past and present.
One of the other illustrated sites (slow loading because of the size of the photos) created by Helmer Aslaksen begins with
the Paleolithic period (from 20,000 BC)
Aslaksen also cites "The Mirror Maze at Lucerne in Switzerland which uses multiple reflections to increase puzzlement" and the "Chemin de Jerusalem, the labyrinth design within the pavement of the nave of Chartres Cathedral which is the earliest surviving example of the medieval Christian design. It is unique because of its central “rose” and the 112 cusps around the outside. Its design is of an 11-circuit labyrinth (instead of the pagan seven-ring cretan one) broken up by a cross laid over the entire design."
Bird and Artist Registries
While looking for a technology news source at the Stanford University Birds of Stanford site, we came across paired registries that identify new sightings as well as original art portraying birds. Both are of interest to those who are 'birders' and just those who admire ornithological art:
The Birds of Stanford "academic reserve is home to many things, some of them icons for the university's identity: laboratory buildings, splendid outdoor sculpture, the Quad, Frost, Hoover Tower, and the Oval. It has also left room for Nature.The Arboretum, the edges of Lagunita, and the "ears" of the Oval — left in native vegetation in Frederick Law Olmsted's original plan — provide pleasant places to walk and explore."
"And the campus is home to about 125 species of birds — and every year students, faculty, alumni and neighbors walk the campus with binoculars practicing one of America's fastest-growing hobbies. In fact the character of central campus receives some of special character from the birds with which we share it: the Cliff Swallows that return each March to nest under the Quad's eaves, the Acorn Woodpeckers with their weird laughs and their nut-storage habits, and the White-throated Swifts who hawk insects high above Green Library. All are part, though for many an unacknowledged part, of the campus as we know it or remember it."
But it is the Artists' Registry that particularly captured our long established but casual interest in birds:
The registry is designed for ornithological researchers seeking original art to accompany their publications and seek to encourage the creation of great, biologically informative bird art, to expand the publication and exhibition of high-end images, and to broaden the audience interested in learning about advances in bird biology and challenges to conservation efforts
For instance, artist Nicole van Axx uses an impressionistic style of painting birds: "I try to recreate emotion in the eyes of my models while using as few strokes as possible to indicate character." Her preferred field is birds of prey with highly colored plumage.
Charley Harper employs a minimal realism style, working in acrylic: "I try to reduce my subjects to the simplest possible visual terms without losing identity, thereby enhancing identity."
Australian Krystii Melaine is interested in the larger species, water birds, raptors, hornbills, toucans, owls, parrots & cockatoos, pigeons: "To capture the essence of a wild creature on canvas, and to share the pure joy of the natural world with others — this is what I live for!"
Enjoy the Artist's Registry.
The Sudoku Obsession
We first we heard about the Sudoku puzzle preoccupation on The BBC's World program, complete with a London Daily Telegraph link. Naturally, the goal was to find other listings for frequent Sudoku puzzles and there are many, one that assumes everyone on the earth has heard of this phenom.
The BBC site defines the name in this way:
Su means number in Japanese
Doku translates as singular or solitary, or can mean bachelor
The object is to insert numbers in the given grid to satisfy only one condition: each row, column and 3x3 box must contain the digits 1 through 9 exactly once.
A feature of the London Daily Telegraph's section is Andrew Stuart's Sudoku Assistant, a tool that every solver will try not to use.
"The Sudoku Assistant is not something that churns out a solution in milliseconds, but is a software that will allow you to step through your solving process number by number. If you are learning the more difficult strategies, you can see where twins and other logic schemes might get you past a sticking point. In the spirit of the Telegraph sudoku community, Andrew Stuart has made his code free access and is available to other sites with suitable acknowledgement."
An Australian site provides free puzzles.
Birding Links
The useful site organized by Robert White of the Bergen County (NJ) Cooperative Library System published a number of bird sites. Following Julia Sneden's article, For the Birds, we thought birders would find them of help, too.
Flight of the Raptor @ http://www.flightoftheraptor.com/index.html — Recently I got to see these birds fly at a falconry lecture/demonstration. It was a lot of fun to watch the birds swooping low over the heads of the audience, chasing their master's lures, and perching in the tent before and after the show. The falconer spoke of her respect for the birds and of their trust in her. The website includes some pretty nice photos and a list of places and dates where they will be appearing. If your paths cross I encourage you to go see these beautiful birds.
The Carolina Raptor Center @ http://www.birdsofprey.org/ "A non-profit organization, CRC's mission is the conservation of birds of prey through rehabilitation, research, and education." Track the paths of migrating raptors, learn about raptor research, visit WebCams (both live and archived) or just enjoy the photo album.
VINS Raptor Center @ http://www.vinsweb.org/raptor-center/ VINS stand for Vermont Institute of Natural Science and the Raptor Center is just one of the things that they do to protect "Vermont's natural heritage through education and research designed to engage individuals and communities in the active care of their environment." There's a lot of information here but not enough photos.
Patuxent Bird Identification InfoCenter @ http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/id/framlst/framlst.html "Here we present photographs, songs, videos, identification tips, maps, and life history information for North American birds." You'll quickly see that this site is not just about raptors, but if you're wondering what's the difference between a hawk and a falcon, this is a good place to find out. If you're not especially knowledgeable about birds (like me) it may seem badly organized at first so be patient. If you're looking for a bird but you don't know what family it's in do what I did: use your browser's Find (Ctrl F). That's how I discovered that the bluebird is a thrush. Once you get to the information about a particular bird you'll be pleased. It will come as no surprise that there are plenty of photos of our national bird, the bald eagle, but I was surprised at how different the immature birds look from what I was expecting. I suspect that you'll find this to be this week's most useful URL."
Gift Books about Dogs, Mammals & Others
Bark Magazine has queried a group of writers, artists and friends about their favorite books about canines. What appeared was a list that cites old favorites, new entries and 'time-honored classics.'
We second the nomination of the Martha Speaks, Martha Calling, and Martha Blah Blah books for children. We especially enjoy Martha Blah Blah, in which Martha is a victim of corporate downsizing. An article on author Susan Meddaugh by Eduplace.com describes it:
" But make no bones about it, Martha sniffs out the problem and uses her keen sense of dog-plomacy to save the day. In the process, she learns just how much her family loves her for who she is, not what she can say."
We also can recommend the paperback Dogs That Know When Their Owners Are Coming Home by Rupert Sheldrake a scientist who, for his day job, explores morphic resonance and holistic ideas in biology. The subtitle of the book continues....And Other Unexplained Powers of Animals...so not only are our canine friend's talents enumerated, parrots, monkeys, ferrets and other small mammals' anticipatory behavior and seemingly telepathic ways are not ignored. The following Sheldrake statement is an indication of the appeal of the book:
"For me, the most mysterious kinds of perceptiveness are those premonitions that cannot be accounted for in terms of telepathy or subtle physical clues. In these cases, by a process of elimination, precognition and presentment, events about to happen somehow seem to influence animals now, alerting them to potential danger."
"I do not pretend to know how animals' knowledge of the future might work. But at the very least, the existence of precognition of presentiment implies a blurring of what is happening now and what is about to happen."
Family friends Roy Rowan and Brooke Janis' book, First Dogs, American Presidents and Their Best Friends, is replete with interesting facts about our leaders and their doggy friends. Lincoln's dog's paw prints were treasured by the President's friends as keepsakes. A portrait of Fido was taken to remind Lincoln's children of their companion left back in Springfield substantially predating the attitude in the celebrated Wegman dog portraits.
While we don't know just how celebrated George W.'s dogs will become during his White House tenure the Rowan/Janis book does reveal that Barbara Bush's famed dog, Millie, was once dubbed DC's ugliest dog.
A picture of Lyndon Johnson's dog, Yuki, being held by the President in a swimming pool, serves to soften that well-known image of Johnson holding up his pet beagles by the ears. In fact, Johnson was so fond of Yuki that he sought to have the dog included in his daughter's formal family wedding portrait until Lady Bird declared, " That dog is not going to be in the wedding picture!"
Articles
"After three or four years of persistent puzzling, a man can become so expert that he scorns the pencil and eraser and dashes off his diagrams with a fountain pen. He may even reach the point where he scorns to look over the shoulder of the man in front of him who is working on the same newspaper. At this point, for the good of his soul and the peace of his neighbors, he should take up the making of crossword patterns for others to sweat and suffer over.
To put together a plausible puzzle, with enough expansive words and not too many odds and ends of vocabulary in it, calls for genius and endurance, three dictionaries, and enough good luck to take a man across the ocean in a bathtub with an outboard motor. A man making his first crossword puzzles is all alone in the world. He walks in a trance, while words rattle around continuously in the hollow parts of his head. He is liable to rush off at any moment to paw at a dictionary, and he will chase a spelling variation through three languages and seven centuries. He makes patterns and changes them, he runs into traffic jams and must start all over again, he wrestles with words until he is worn thin and ragged. By three days of heartbreaking labor, during which he has offended all his friends, ruined his digestion and lost his job, he gets a puzzle together and hides it safely behind a smokescreen of definitions.
Then he discovers that any high-school student can solve it without much trouble in 15 minutes, after which he either commits suicide or leaves the making of puzzles to people who have nothing better to do."
