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![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/syndicated.gif) wilwheaton | |
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http://wilwheaton.typepad.com/wwdnbackup/2009/11/in-which-my-brother-gets-excited-and-makes-things.html Whenever I write about and link to my brother's photography, the positive feedback is just overwhelming. It seems that people all over the world love his work just as much as I do, and as a big brother that makes me put my hands on my hips and smile like a goon.
If you haven't seen them before, here are a few of his pictures, from Jer's Flickr thingy (click to embiggen):
On his website, Jeremy says:
I'd have to say that my father was my biggest influence for photography. While I was growing up it seemed like he always had a camera in one hand pointing it at us kids. But looking at his boxes of photos in recent years I noticed that he also had lots of photos of pine cones, rusty nails in boards, fence posts, etc. He didn't just capture wonderful moments of our childhood, he also captured the beauty of the world around us that we probably never noticed back then. I got my first digital camera only a few years ago but I quickly fell in love with the artistic value in photography. I love to get outdoors with my camera. Having the camera makes me slow down more than I would otherwise and look at my surroundings a bit more closely in different ways. The one thing I love about photography more than any other aspect is the ability to capture that one single moment the way I saw it. I hope you like what I saw in those moments.
I hope this doesn't sound too paternal, but I just love it that Jeremy is carrying on the Wheaton Photographic Tradition™. I am as proud of him as I am happy for him*. Jeremy lives in Montana, which means I don't get to see him ... well, ever. I miss him a lot, so I talk to him as often as I can, which is pretty easy since we live in the future and everything. For at least a year, we've been talking about collaborating on a book together, where he'd take pictures and I'd write prose to go with them, but we've both been too busy with our jobs and families and dogs to actually work on it. Last week, though, I was able to convince him to get excited and make some things on his own with his pictures, which he put into a CafePress store. I think they're lovely, and I thought that some of you, out there in Internetland, may agree. And if you see this post, Jer: I love you and I miss you. *(That's a lot.)
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tubecityalmanac | |
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http://www.tubecityonline.com/almanac/entry_1386.php Tube City Video Almanac for Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2009
(If above video fails to load, please visit the Daily Motion website.)
Volunteers were busy at the McKees Point Marina this month, pulling in the docks as the facility at the foot of Fifth Avenue closes down for the winter.
It takes about four weekends --- eight to 10 days total --- to bring in the docks each fall, and another eight to 10 days to replace them in the spring, says Ray Dougherty, marina manager for the past three years.
The books are also being closed on what was a successful season for the city-owned marina.
According to Dougherty, the marina turned a $3,000 profit, and more than 80 percent of the 186 slips were rented. That profit comes despite a late-spring ice jam that damaged more than 30 of the support poles that hold the docks in place, which caused the marina to open late.
The poles were replaced by pipes fabricated at McKeesport's Camp-Hill Corporation and welded and coated by Dura-Bond in Port Vue.
"Other than that it was a great year, and we had nothing but positive comments about the marina," Dougherty says.
Next year, Dougherty says, the marina hopes to attract a boat sales and service firm which will likely help boost occupancy to between 90 and 100 percent.
The marina's budget was about $110,000 this year. In light of the recession and to keep the marina competitive, Dougherty says the prices were lowered this year by about $2 per foot on the larger docks.
"Our overhead has been totally cut out by the people volunteering to take the docks out and little cost savings here and there," he says.
Next year will see several improvements at the marina, according to Dougherty, including a new permanently-installed self-service gas pump that will save the city thousands of dollars per year in money spent pulling in the gasoline lines and removing them at the end of the season.
New solar-powered lighting will also lower the marina's electric bill.
The marina is on the Youghiogheny River, just south of the Monongahela, which keeps its boaters out of the way of towboats and barges on the Mon. The Yough has about a seven to nine foot channel at McKeesport, according to Dougherty. Although some taller boats have a tough time making it under the CSX railroad bridge, the marina is equipped to handle boats up to 70 feet long.
"We also have jet-ski docks," Dougherty says. "We've actually had a very large increase to about 16 or 17 jet-ski docks this year ... I think people have gone out and gotten jet-skis just to stay on the river," rather than maintaining more expensive full-size boats.
Boaters who a rent a slip at the marina are allowed use of a private room at the McKees Point Cafe, located on the first floor of the Palisades Ballroom. Although the menu is limited, the cafe is also open to the public for breakfast and lunch.
While the boating business is understandably seasonal, Dougherty says the marina has made McKeesport a destination for people who otherwise wouldn't have any reason to come to the city.
In a city that often gets a portrayed only as a community in decline, the McKees Point Marina may represent a unique opportunity to show off a better side of the McKeesport area to visitors. About 90 percent of the boaters are from outside the city --- many of them from Westmoreland County, Dougherty says.
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![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) dvarin | |
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Are racial slurs off limits for all time, or just until the generation that used them passes on? If the former, are we supposed to be able to remember all the ones everyone used ever and avoid them?
I mean, I know language determines culture and vice versa, but there are a good number of terms dating from the WWII era that I simply never learned. I can understand the inherently insulting ones (eg, boxhead, nazi, japansy) being bad, but the ones where it's merely a shortened version of the actual nationality? WTF, why is that insulting? And in a further WTF, how am I supposed to avoid recreating them?
This post brought to you by someone using "Jap" on an LJ forum, me thinking it a reasonable if unnecessary-in-text abbreviation, and someone else commenting to bash his bigotry. (No, this wasn't recent, but I went to the Wing Luke museum this weekend, they had an exhibit of anti-Japanese WWII propaganda, and I recalled it.)
(Relatedly, are British people offended to be called Brits? Are Canadians offended to be called Canucks? (That latter at least I know they use themselves, but who knows if it's got a double function as an ingroup/outgroup marker the way 'nigga' does.))
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tubecityalmanac | |
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http://www.tubecityonline.com/almanac/entry_1385.php 
Relatives and civic leaders gathered Saturday afternoon at McKeesport and Versailles Cemetery to honor pioneering aviatrix Helen Richey on the 100th anniversary of her birth.
 Born in the city Nov. 21, 1909, Richey was the first female commercial airline pilot and set a number of aviation records; Amelia Earhart reportedly considered Richey a superior pilot.
Daughter of Amy Winter and Joseph B. Richey, city superintendent of schools, Helen Richey earned her pilot's license at Bettis Field near Dravosburg when she was 20.
Richey became a stunt pilot, performing in "barnstorming" shows around the country before setting an endurance record for women pilots, keeping an airplane continuously aloft with mid-air fueling for eight days, five hours in 1933.
In 1935, she won the first annual National Air Race in Dayton, Ohio.
 Also in 1935, she was hired by McKeesport-based Central Airlines --- a predecessor of United Airlines --- becoming both the first woman to fly U.S. air mail and the first woman to fly passengers on a scheduled route. But only nine months after beginning work, Richey was forced to resign by the all-male airline pilots union.
In 1936, teamed with Earhart, Richey placed fifth in the transcontinental Bendix Trophy Race.
After working for the U.S. Commerce Department helping place navigational beacons, Richey became one of the first women aviation instructors.
Before the U.S. entry into World War II, Richey flew transport flights for the British government, delivering planeloads of bombs from munition plants to air bases.
After the war, however, frozen out of the aviation industry --- the only business she ever loved --- by male pilots, Richey became despondent. She died, an apparent suicide, in New York City at age 37, and was buried in McKeesport.
The graveside ceremonies capped a yearlong celebration of Richey's legacy organized by McKeesport Heritage Center and chaired by Evette and DeWayne Wivagg.
 Speakers at Saturday's events included Michelle Wardle, executive director of the center; Robert Messner, member of the center board of directors; and city Mayor James Brewster.
The Rev. Dr. Darrell D. Knopp, pastor of McKeesport Presbyterian Church, offered a prayer and remarks. The Richeys were members of Central Presbyterian Church on Versailles Avenue, one of several congregations that have merged to create the present-day McKeesport Presbyterian, and the Rev. Dr. E.E. Robb of Central officiated at Richey's 1947 funeral.
The McKeesport Veterans' Honor Guard provided a color guard, while the Garden Club of McKeesport provided the wreath laid at Richey's grave.
Following the ceremony, invited guests --- including members of the Richey family --- attended a luncheon in Richey's honor at McKeesport Heritage Center.
(All photos: John Barna, special to Tube City Almanac, © 2009. Please contact John before reproducing photos in any medium. Additional photos follow the jump.)
Robert Messner, board member of McKeesport Heritage Center, provides a biography of Helen Richey.
Jeanne Flaherty reads the poem "High Flight" by John Gillespie Magee Jr.
McKeesport Mayor James Brewster
Sue Ann Striffler Galaski, president of Striffler Family Funeral Homes Inc. Hunter-Edmundson-Striffler, the city's oldest funeral home, handled Richey's original funeral arrangements; Striffler's donated the tent and chairs used for the Saturday ceremonies.
Bob Hauser, board member of McKeesport Heritage Center, speaks at a luncheon following the ceremonies.
Above, members of the Richey family gather for a portrait.
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wilwheaton | |
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http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/wwdn/~3/7SyK6S3Mf5k/hey-look-its-the-memories-of-the-futuremug.html It turns out that all this talk about getting excited and making things, uh, got me excited to make something.
I don't remember the precise moment this hit me, but I'm pretty sure it happened during one of those times I felt stuck on a story or something, and decided to get out of my office and take a walk. These walks are a fundamental part of my creative process, a time when I let my mind wander away, confident that it will come back with something cool.
During this particular walk, I was thinking about my plans for 2010, what I'll do with my podcasts, and getting excited to do more work on Memories of the Future Volume Two.
That's when my mind ran off like a dog chasing an idea through the forest, returning a few minutes later with something awesome. If I were to create a dialog to dramatically illustrate the way it all came together, it might go something like this:
My Mind: DUDE! OMG! This is going to be so cool!
Me: Okay, I'm listening.
My Mind: We're going to make a mug that goes with Memories of the Future.
Me: Tell me more...
My Mind: On one side, it will have those beautiful space jellyfish that Will designed for the cover.
Me: I love how those look.
My Mind: Everyone does. Will did a great job with them. Now listen, because this is what takes this mug from cool to awesome: On the opposite side of the mug, it says:
Tea,
Earl Grey.
Hot.
Me: Holy crap, My Mind! That's awesome!
My Mind: I know, right?!
Me: High five!
My Neighbor's Kid: Why did Mister Wheaton just slap himself in the head?
My Neighbor: He's a writer, honey. They do weird things like that.
And ... scene.
When I got back to my house, I e-mailed the idea to my friend Will Hindmarch, who did the cover and interior design for Memories of the Future, Volume One. About 2 hours later, we'd built the mug and put it into a store at CafePress. I remember saying to Will, "I think this is awesome, and I don't know if anyone else will ... but who cares? It's a 2 hour project that has great potential, and if I'm the only person who wants one of these mugs, so what? I'll have one, and I'll be happy."
I vaguely recall Will saying that he thought more than one person would want to have one, but I'm not entirely sure, so I'm not going to quote him. I'm sure he'll chime in here if he wants to add to the historical record. (Edit: Will says, That's pretty much how I remember it going, with the enthusiasm and the hope that people would like it and the glaven. Except that I remember gasping and saying, "That's magnificent!" when you said it should say "Tea, Earl Grey. Hot." on it.)
Now, I'm going to restate something I said on this week's Memories of the Futurecast: In just two hours, my friend who lives on the other side of the country and I created something that anyone in the world can get, if they want it. We didn't have to invest anything other than a little time (and, honestly, Will did all the hard work; I just came up with the idea and tweaked the final specs a couple of times.) I. Love. Living. In. The. Future.
Okay, enough backstory. Here's the 1000 words that matter:
If you'd like to purchase a Memories of the Futuremug for your very own (or as a gift for the luckiest person you know), you can head over to make it so at my Memories of the Futureshop at CafePress.
Please note that, in addition to Earl Grey, the Memories of the Futuremug is suitable for other types of tea, various kinds of coffee and other hot beverages, pencils, or pudding.
 
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jesse_the_k | |
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This is all over the nets this morning. It's the perfect "tag" or "stinger" for news machines: it's got Web 2.0 tech, plus a stigmatized unseen impairment (mental health, in this case, major depression), plus a thin woman wearing a bikini. Canadian insurance company cancels her disability benefits, claiming her happy Facebook photos demonstrate fraud by payee with depressionMore reasoning errors thanks to over-broad metaphor. Major depression is not simply "sadness." It's emptiness, it's exhaustion, it's pain, it's worthlessness, and most perniciously, it's isolation. On my own, it's even harder to believe that I have things to give, a will to act, access to succor, or valuable qualities. That's why I treasure the regular activities which drag me out into a social universe. Also, I adore that a trip to somewhere warm or light is economically termed a "sun vacation" from the cold & dark Canadian perspective.
Crossposted from my Dreamwidth account. Please use your LJ or other OpenID to comment there.Tags: disability, impairment, media, metaphor
Current Mood:  distressed
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lanning | |
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Okay. I know lots of folks have much more serious health issues to deal with than my piddly-do, and I am grateful that I only have piddly-do, but this run of bad health mojo is just wearing me down and seriously getting on my wick. The cough is better, but I'm still coughing (since AUGUST, ffs) and whenever it rains, it gets worse, and sometimes the fever comes back and that shit is so last month, you know? The doctor warned me this would hang on for a long time, and that I might even have asthmatic symptoms from now on. Fine. I was warned. I don't have to like it. And now, I have STUPIDLY injured myself by slipping on some slimy stairs and landing on my back, while wrenching my shoulder in a vain attempt to break my fall. Muscles all through my back, shoulder, neck and chest are screaming, and it freaking hurts to *drive*, ffs, and so here I am at home, double-dosing Aleve and getting my prescription for muscle relaxers refilled because I am one massive muscle spasm and God DAMN I've missed enough work already! *breathes* I am letting this go. I am letting this go. You know things are bad when I start channeling Naomi Sandburg. On the other hand, I did upload a lot of stories to AO3 over the weekend, so I suppose that's of the good. Maybe I'll get the rest of them up today, provided I'm not too stoned on Flexeril to manage the interface. I even found one I forgot about -- a piece of crack Sentinel elf-fic inspired by persons who shall remain nameless. I also noticed, while I was rating and warning and tagging (finally), that an awful lot of my stories contain graphic violence. And I'm wondering what that says about my psyche. Perhaps it's best not to know. (removes sharp objects from apartment) Fanfic is a window to the soul. ;) Current Location: comfy chair
Current Mood:  sore
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mistergrumpy | |
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Twice in recent days, putting a small amount of money on hand to a good use, I realized something: I am bad at drawing attention to worthy causes I believe in and have given to.
I'd like to give you a nice, well-considered message reflecting detailed consideration of the issue. Alas, the issue boils down to my issue. Notably, I have no grasp on how to focus on what the need is, because I am looking for things to be fixed and not necessarily credit for doing so, and I am usually fearful of self-aggrandizement, even if that's not actually how anyone but me would perceive my actions.
Perhaps others of you have thoughts? Or is the issue, fundamentally, just that I am broken?
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