Ohm’s Allegory

In science a “law” is a lesser concept than a “theory”. Theories include an explanation of why something works the way it does. For example: the theory of relativity, evolutionary theory, quantum theory, etc. But when we posit a law, all that’s required is to formalize observations of some type of effect.

Regression To The Mean

Seems like a wet year. Maybe it is, I haven’t been able to find a really good site for monthly totals for the past few years. But part of why it seems so wet is that the last few years have been so dry. Really dry. Exceptional drought dry. So now, even if we get an average year it will seem pretty wet.

By the Numbers

It’s another new year. So I guess it’s time to tally up my score for last year. And I think I did pretty well. As a writer I need to track where I submit things to and what the outcome is. I keep a database which makes it easy to count up some of my important statistics.

Resting on Laurels

Back on December 1^st California’s Poet Laureate visited Bakersfield. For those that don’t know, that’s a position given to someone that does a lot to represent poetry. In particular, California’s Poet Laureate, Dana Gioia (JOY-yah), has made it his goal to present poetry in every California County. Which, given the population of some of our counties, means he’ll be talking to some pretty empty rooms.

“Birds” Watching

So recently I spent some time in the small towns of Bodega and Bodega Bay. The weather was rainy due to a small storm sliding down California, so there weren't a lot of outdoor activities that could really be enjoyed. I did some photography of the waves crashing into the beach. (Even a small storm can make some pretty dramatic waves.) And I did a little bird watching.

Retrograde

Every night about nine o'clock, Moonpi (our dog) and I step outside. For him it's an opportunity to do some sniffing around and do some other doggy business. And for me it is an opportunity to look up at the night sky. For the past few months I've been watching a small triangle of stars on the southwest part of the sky.

Historical

I've been getting exposed to history that I was never taught in school. I'm learning quite a bit from a podcast (which is an internet audio “lecture” or “discussion”) called “Stuff You Missed In History Class”. That podcast covers all manner of topics, from the tasty (a history of cheese) to the silly (the West Point Eggnog Riot of 1826) to the horrific (the Tulsa Race Riot). But there are many things that just don't show up in history classes. Partly due to time, there just isn't enough time to cover everything. And partly due to a certain kind of censorship, people just don't want to talk about certain things.