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.

It's Too Hot

So far 2016 is the warmest year on record. Following 2015 which was previously the warmest year on record. Out there in Death Valley they're flirting with surpassing the world's record temperature (134ºF from 1913). But it wasn't that long ago that we were still getting glaciers forming in the Sierras.

Stuff

I have recently been involved in trying to help some people move. And since they are going to a smaller place they have to get rid of stuff. A lot of stuff. And even when something isn't an heirloom it can still be a memory. And a memory can be important.

Time to Celebrate

It's almost May and Summer is around the corner. The end of April has been very busy for me so I hadn't really thought of anything that I could write about. But I discovered the National Day Calendar (http://www.nationaldaycalendar.com/calendar-at-a-glance/). And if you're needing a reason to celebrate they've got you covered.

Getting Animated

Due to getting access to YouTube on my TV I've been watching more stuff on YouTube than I used to. There seems to be something for everyone on there. I've found cooking videos for people who are Revolutionary War reenactors and others for how to take apart your computer.

Burning Daylight

So, it's just around the corner. Yet again. Daylight Saving Time. Another year with the horrible weeks of adjusting to a new timezone without even moving. Now I can sort of theoretically understand that there are people that like it.

Wavy Gravity

Physics was making big news again just recently. When Albert Einstein created his general theory of relativity it suggested that gravity was actually warping space. And that's the model that people have been using since many of it's predictions have been verified. Like gravity bending light, and slight differences in the flow of time between the Earth's surface and out in space (which has to be accounted for to make your GPS work). 

Lunar-C

Time is a strange dimension. Mathematically we can move all around in space, but with time all we can do is follow along as time keeps moving “forward”. We can look back in time through memory, history and scientific methods, but when we go forward we have to make predictions. These can be as good as predicting a solar eclipse years in advance. Or as poor as guessing who's going to be president next year.

Out in the Cold

I don't always know where my projects are inspired. But this time I'm pretty sure that my interest in cold smoking came from how expensive smoked salmon is. Cold smoking is like barbecue in that food is flavored by smoke of long periods of time, but since it's “cold” the food doesn't get cooked.

Cal-Earth

Not too long ago we were watching PBS (it happens) and saw a short segment on a group here in California building structures out of EARTH (don't call it “dirt”). They had gracefully curved buildings that would remind a person of a hobbit home. Cozy.

Getting Judgmental

I was recently asked to be a judge for a poetry contest held by the student editors of Taft College's literary magazine, A Sharp Piece of Awesome. This magazine has been put out by the students for the past five years, with their next issue due out next May. However, this was the first year I learned of their poetry reading event.

The event, like many of their book launch events, was held at the Black Gold Cafe in downtown Taft. The owner is a strong supporter of the schools in Taft.

There were probably twenty people there, mostly Taft College students, but a few other people came out to hear and read their poetry. There were three judges. Bill Devine is a professor at Taft College, teaching English classes. Then Clarissa Alderete, who is a student at Taft College and one of the Sharp Piece of Awesome editors. Then there was me. I had been invited since I'm a Kern County published poet.

We (the judges) took a few minutes before the reading started to go over the criteria we wanted to us. Since it was a contest of reading, some of the criteria were performance based (like articulation), and since it was a poetry contest, some of the criteria were literary (like clarity and imagery). Then we scattered to different parts of the room to listen. Then afterwards we got back together and discovered we'd all agreed on the top three. Oh, we did have them in slightly different order, but we all had the same top three. So after a little discussion we decided on a consensus order.

Given that most of the people there were Taft College students, it's not too surprising that two of the prizes went to some of them (first and third prizes). But second went to an older man (probably in his seventies, maybe eighties). His poems, while not in a modern style, were very good, and he was a very good reader. Well, actually he had his mostly memorized. The audience as a whole also got to vote their favorite, and again the majority went for him.

So all in all this was a fun event. I had a chance to meet some new people, talk poetry and have a good time. It was quite an honor for Geoffrey Dyer, the Sharp Piece of Awesome faculty advisor, to think of me as a possible judge for their event. Hopefully I'll have a chance to do something similar again.

Center of the World

Normally in August there is a festival down at Pine Mountain Club (near Frazier Park for those that don't know) called the Center of the World Festival. The name comes from the fact that the Chumash people that lived there say that Mount Pinos is the center on the world. The festival operates on grants and has a theme that changes based on their current grant.

Legacy

I recently went to a breakfast meeting in Bakersfield which presented information about John Muir, the founder of the Sierra Club and the man that helped convince Teddy Roosevelt to start the National Parks. In 1976 California historians named him the greatest Californian. (I'm sure that he'd still be near the top today.) But despite being an important Californian, he wasn't born here. He was born in Scotland.

The Jury Is Out

When you read this I will be coming up on my period of jury duty. It has actually been a couple years since I've been called. But there for a while I was getting called every year. At first I would go and get put in a pool at the end of the afternoon so I'd have to come back the next day.