Hope the Democrats can take back Congress

Enough with a culture of greed and all those campaign ads about "keeping your money;" as if money was everything.

Downshifting. My life has always been there

Scroll down for funny sign.

As the pace of the corporate workplace gets faster and meaner, more and more talk of downshifting appears. Life in the slow lane is taking on a greater appeal.

Well, I have lived all my career in the slow lane. Basically, I was never qualified to be in the rat race.

The deadly rat race didn't accept my application!

First I was idling through school. Not doing great, but not doing bad either.

Nearing graduation, I realized that a BA in Geography wasn't a big deal. Many go on to graduate school, but I decided to try the work world for the first time.

Realizing that job experience is important, I decided to start out with what I could qualify for; being a janitor.

The city of Bellingham, where I graduated, has a very competitive job market for professionals. People moving here from all over USA with many years of experience and advanced degrees. They just take what they can find.

This is a place where your waiter will likely to have a masters degree in library science, or something.

I applied for a few "full time" custodial positions and only found "part time" work. It was in a restaurant named Pizza Haven. A custodial position that was actually kind of fun. The boss was sort of a clown. Pleasant to be around.

All my meager bills were paid. In all my working career, I've never even had to collect unemployment!

Around the time I found that part time job, I also found an upstairs neighbor who talked about the virtues of "job sharing."

Part time work. The great balance between being a bum and working to death.

She was a tired secretary who had been in the high pressure world and was mostly burned out.

Was looking for a healthier balance.

She convinced me that my part time schedule was okay.

I had that balance.

Didn't need much money to live on, so the bills were paid, but I also had time.

Lots of free time.

That is when I really got into bicycle touring.

Working part time, I had many free afternoons when I could ride out Mount Baker Highway. Discovered I could go all the way to Heather Meadows and back after my short morning shift.
See below.

Sign near heather meadows says "no swimming or picnicking." Duh, a frozen lake. Sign was there for the 2 or three months per year that the lake thawed. Lake is at Heather Meadows near Mount Baker. Sign no longer exists, last I knew. Picture didn't turn out that well, but a bit of editing helps.

Continued...
I worked 7 days per week, but some days were only a 2 1/2 hour shift. Other days were closer to 6 hours, but total for the week was seldom over 30 hours.

I applied for full time work a few more times, but even for custodian, the competition was fierce. People with years of experience, training and preference points for veterans got hired. The university, school district and city put you into large cues behind several hundred applicants for only a handful of openings. Other places, in town, tended to be just part time retail outlets.

Still, I was enjoying part time, so I didn't bother applying for more work after a while.

Not only did I get into cycling, I also got into the various art and correspondence projects that eventually lead to this web page.

Eventually, I did worry about not having health insurance, but I was healthy.

Some folks are made sick by the high stress job that they feel they must take, in order to have health insurance.

What a catch 22.

Anyway, that part time job lasted 11 years; just about till the restaurant went out of business. My health outlasted the health of the business.

Before the restaurant closed, I was offered the full time position I have now.

I am on the custodial crew of a YMCA just an easy walk from where I live.

Even has a health plan and a retirement fund.

Still low stress and practically no commute time. It's full time, but a good and fairly laid back environment. Also lots of vacation time. Even the ability to arrange leave of absence, which is good for bike touring.

So my life has always been down sized.

Still, except for some retirement and savings, I have no equity.

No home ownership.

Even when starter houses cost less than a quarter million, I never made enough to qualify for monthly mortgage payments.

Now there are quite a few "homeowners turned millionaires" moving to this area. It's even fueling the local economy as folks can now live off their home equity for many years. This means there is still spending, which props up local retailing even though there doesn't seem to be much local industry.

Luckily there are still affordable rental units around town. A building boom is leading to fairly high vacancy rates.

The little room I live in is much cheaper than most Bellingham units for sure.

This city is becoming a retirement haven.

Our economy equals:

"Go to school, then retire."

How's that for the "work ethic?"

I've been partially retired for years.

One room and no car. No kids, no pets. A bicycle and a computer; that's about all I have.

Who needs more?

People moving here are now seeking what I must have had all along. Still many of them are trying to live in the big homes.

Some end up having to sell and move out when they realize that their home might be their only income source.

It's down sizing and I have been there all along.

Vancouver Weekend

Picture shows some colored lights near old BC Hydro Building on Burrard Street.

Just a bike ride away, but it's in another country; Vancouver.

I biked up there on this last weekend before Halloween. Took me around 7 hours from Bellingham. Stayed two nights and went out dancing at some of the gay clubs. The music is much better than I find at bar type places here in Bellingham. I don't go to those kind of places often, but if the music were better down here, I might go.

Places like Numbers on Davie Street have good dance music.

Storefront along Davie Street.

Cold Turkey Vacations

Overworked Americans are now grappling with a new problem encroaching on their ever too short vacation time ... e-mail and cell phones that bring office duties to the beach and hotel room.

Articles abound calling on folks to go "cold turkey." Leave that cell phone at home, don't check e-mail while on vacation.

This might be one way to deal with workaholic behavior ...

Going cold turkey, but what about maintaining a "common sense balance."

Relax.

It's not the end of the world if technology can help us blend work and vacation a bit. An ideal job should be almost like being on vacation. Some would say an ideal job is sitting out on the beach, with a laptop, writing a great novel.

If our work could be a bit more leisurely and creative, then we wouldn't mind this encroaching, a bit, on vacation. Overworked Americans ought to find ways to relax and make working less stressful.

Work ought to be less about "the bottom line' as society should be less materialistic.

These ideas could also lead to shorter workweeks and longer vacations.

At the same time, people might be expected to do a few tasks, even while on vacation, like answering one or two e-mails.

During my long "bicycle tour" vacations, I enjoy checking back home with friends, and often co-workers. After bicycling all day, 60 mile days, the time spent at a computer inside some library, where the carpet looks and smells like the carpet of the building I work at, provides a nice break. It provides a bit of variety and balance.

Dance with age diversity of whole room rather than locked into one couple

Pictured above are Ken Freeman and Laya, who I often dance around at something called the Purple Church. Ken is past 70 as of 2006. Celebrated 80th birthday 2014. He still can look like a bright billboard proclaiming what fun dancing is. Ken basically started the dance gathering that is now called Purple Church. In the beginning, it was Fairhaven Undisco.

Pictured below is another friend who is on the younger end of the age spectrum. He goes to the dance also, at times. I joined him for a bike ride out to North Lake Samish where he's pictured threading the wire of an MP3 player to his ear for music.


It is nice to be able to dance with people of many different ages and interests; rather than being confined to one partner; as in a couples dance. Great when the big group is dancing together, or everyone is by themselves dancing around one another.

When I was a kid, I remember the old roller skating rink, down in Lewiston Idaho, that my scout troop used to go to. There was a "couples only" light that would go on every fourth song or so. We had to sit on the sidelines during those periods.

I was never very good at skating anyway.

Shed several thousand pounds. Loose your automobile

My weight loss program could have you losing several thousand pounds your first day.

Get rid of your automobile.

If this can be done, you may find yourself walking, bicycling, jogging more. A fitness program that is integrated into daily living is easier to stick with. Not to mention shedding all those car payments, insurance bills, gasoline bills, parking spaces.

Also quite a few people have a lot of junk in their cars; spent hamburger wrappers, paper cups, books, clothing, tools, what ever.

Trimming whos government fat?

I noticed the Bellingham Herald endorsed Mike McGavick (R), rather than Maria Cantwell (D), for US Senate. They say it was a difficult choice. I find they lean toward Democrats fairly often, but also toss a few endorsements in the direction of Republicans.

McGavick was seen as someone who might restrain federal spending more than Cantwell since some organization rated Cantwell poorly in that area. I forgot what organization.

If anyone, especially Republican, says they want to cut the budget, I don't believe it. I've heard it all before and I just don't believe it.

Our populace has become too addicted to federal spending, whether it is things like veterans benefits, or more lanes crossing the border.

If people really want to cut the budget, there is a candidate for that same Senate seat who would push for that.

Bruce Guthery, the Libertarian candidate.

Now Libertarians would really cut spending; for better or for worse.

Most Libertarians would bring troops home from the Middle East, reduce spending for such things as the federal "war on drugs." They would privatize and really trim a lot of things, but I am not sure if this would be the best idea either.

It seems like Americans have become addicted to our government programs. Look what's happening in Seattle at even the thought of closing extra schools. Just the thought has a few citizens going so far as to throw punches at the school board meeting.

I think I would vote for Cantwell if, for no other reason, putting Congress back into the hands of the Democrats might place a check on some Bush administration excesses.

Remember, it has been said that Bush "spends like a drunken sailor," and supposedly Republicans were the party of fiscal restraint.

Well, maybe Bush couldn't help it. On his watch were 911, Hurricane Katrina and a whole bunch of other things creating need for federal response.

The early Bush years also saw low interest rates. This makes borrowing easier and ever so tempting. Much easier than raising taxes or cutting programs that (let's admit it) people depend on.

Slashing the budget is not likely to be a comfortable thing to do. I doubt I would even recommend it, but if anyone were to do it, they would probably have to be the Libertarian candidate.

Congressman Rick Larsen in the living room

Sometimes you might wonder if your congressman sees your message. They do get lots of mail, but it can still make a difference.

With November 7th election coming up, Larsen has been visiting his district, including the living room of two friends I have.

It was the "OCTOBERFEST & FUN-RAISER! 42nd Legislative District Democrat's pre-election celebration and attitude adjustment party," hosted by Janis Walworth and Michele Kammerer on October 6.

Also on hand were state legislative candidates for the 42nd district Kelli Linville, Jesse Salomon, and Jasper McSlarrow.

Even though I live in the 40th district (Bellingham's environs straddles the line) I was still welcome.

Rode my bicycle out to the gathering.

On my way back, the moon was full and my LED lights were flickering like a discotheque. Good to have flashing lights for night riding.

Michelle is active in Stonewall Democrats.

It was impressive to have all these "big political people" gathering in that living room rather than always thinking of them in far off "Washington DC." type places. Also a big step for Stonewall Democrats who were represented among the crowd as well.

I sure hope the Democrats can regain Congress and also make headway in state legislatures this November 7.

Maybe Democrats aren't totally ideal, but they are better than Republicans, in most cases.

As for third party candidates:

Someday it would be great if we could get "instant runoff voting." I think that's the type of voting where you can have a "second best" choice if there are more than two candidates running for a position.

It would sure reduce the problem of third party candidates becoming the spoiler.

Anyway, be sure to remember to vote.

Bush painted himself into a corner on Iraq

Bush says, "stay the course" like someone painting the floor who didn't think of an exit strategy; the door.

Painted into a corner, he can't get to the door with out stepping across wet paint.

Some people might have thought the war, not the door, was a good idea.

Finnish the paint job that was never complete after Gulf War 1991 that left Saddam still in the painting.

Others think that paint job should have never been started.

It's an oil based paint.

Just think, if all that money, spent on the war, could be used for opening new doors; alternative energy, alternative transportation, alternative lifestyles.

imagine the look of that floor.

Idealistic? Maybe.

Things like those horrible events on 911 cover the idealism; like faded and irrelevant mahogany painted over with blood.

It's time for someone to try a new chore, not painted too far from the door. Rescue us from this horror.

Maybe the Democrats.

Foggy snow field in early autumn. Bellingham gay men's hiking group

Quite a bit of snow sticks around all year near Artist's Point up at the end of the Mount Baker Highway. Several weeks back, the Bellingham Gay Men's Hiking club did a trip to Artist's Point. It was sunny in Bellingham, but foggy and mystical up there. June 2005. Consolidating some blog entries.


Wading through wetlands. A partially submerged boardwalk along Cedar Lake. Pine and Cedar Lakes in the Chuckanut Mountains south of Bellingham were a recent destination for the newly forming Gay Men's Hiking Club.

Not Quite Naked Bike Ride Day, Quito Style

A friend of mine recently wrote from Ecuador.

Since Quito is too inhibited to passively allow a nude bike ride
protest, they did the next best thing; attach billboards with nude cyclist posters on their bikes. Even these "nude" cyclists on the billboards are discreetly shot so nothing shows.

Air inversion day from top of Sehome Hill

Smog from Vancouver, BC and other places like Bellingham. One doesn't normally think of smog here, but we have it too. In reality, this layer looked a bit browner than in photo.

Cars, wood stoves, forest fires, you name it.

An air inversion can trap the crap against our backdrop of mountains. This happens occasionally. Image shows inversion layer from Sehome Hill in Bellingham. This is looking north across Fraser Valley with it's backdrop of mountains.

Hearing news about Congressman Mark Foley's resignation

Conservative Republican, sexual emails. Reminds me of a recent case involving the former mayor of Spokane, WA., Jim West, who has since passed away. He was a conservative Republican also.

Back in the 1970s, I saw a cartoon that showed some skeleton in the closet. The caption read:

"She waited too long to come out of the closet."

It was in a lesbian magazine.

Images of me near end of my 2006 bicycle tour

Leslie took this shot of me as we were eating in an outdoor cafe in Santa Barbara.

Saying goodby to Leslie after a nice visit.




Still working on the pages around doing other things, like work for instance. Yes, I earn a living, working as a custodian. Time to think about what I plan to write.

Meanwhile I was interviewed on the radio. A show called Around The World on KZSB in Santa Barbara. Show will be rebroadcast again at 10 AM Saturday Sept. 23. The segment about my trip is at the end of the hour around 10:50. Anyway, it's 1290 AM from Santa Barbara and on the listen live link at newspress.com. Also syndicated some places, including stations in Australia.

Even if you see this and miss my interview, it seems like that station has a lot of interesting and locally produced shows. Not like so many stations that turn out to be just local transmitters for the big national shows.

I remember, back in the 1980s, when it seemed like all one could get on the radio was "Talk Net," with Bruce Williams. He was all up and down the dial from all over, including here in Bellingham.

Anyway, that was the 1980s, now it's today, with more and more Internet and media diversity, in terms of programming at least, all the time.

Above photo is me, taken by my friend Leslie, who brought his bike up to Santa Barbara on the Surfliner Train. He came up from Los Angeles for dinner. Image was taken at a Santa Barbara bike path.

Walmart Expansion in Bellingham?

Some say, "let the market decide."

If the market were like me, Walmart would not be a lucrative business. I've never been to a Walmart, basically because I don't drive.

Walmart is not easy to get to, for me. No, I am not even boycotting that corporation. Maybe I should check out a Walmart, someday, just to see what it's about. On the other hand, who wants to bike through all that traffic!

If people were less addicted to their cars, the market would behave differently. Walmarts cater to parking and freeway exits. If those things were less crucial, in a business plan, even mighty Walmart would be different.

Bellingham City Council has passed a temporary moratorium on large retail development in the city. Sort of a cooling off period as Walmart plans to expand it's local store into "super store" status.

Many support the moratorium, but others say it was a bad move. Some fear the corporation could just relocate in Ferndale. Others are dubious about the council's foray into what they feel should be a market driven choice.

I don't have a strong opinion either "pro" or "anti" moratorium.

Some feel that as long as the expansion is in an area that has already been "trashed" by sprawling retail, don't worry. Bellingham's Meridian area is already "strip mall city." At least it isn't devouring more prime farmland.

Also the city and Walmart can, and have worked out some deals that could improve circulation in the area, if the store were built. Like extending Deamer St. (I think).

One problem that "Meridian Strip" faces is a lot of "dead end" suburban streets that just lead to the hopeless and traffic clogged arteries. Attempts to retrofit the area into something closer to a gridiron street pattern, with more streets going through, could help a little, at least.

Still, if less people were addicted to their cars, things would be different. If the marketplace was driven by pedestrians and bicyclists, the city council would not have to go out on the "politically unsafe limb" of moratorium land.

Market economists might say that the people vote for Walmart with their feet. Problem, they are not voting with their feet, they are voting with their cars.

Folks, you just got to cut back on your car use if you want a better world.

As for Walmart's lack of health insurance for employees?

A very common problem in all of the retail / service sector; even the beloved "mom and pop's."

We need something like "single payer" health insurance basically handled by the state.

Big changes need to come in the way people live and do business on many levels.

Comment on Walmart Superstore, Richland, WA.

Obligatory 911 comment

Tomorrow is the 5 year anniversary, but I think there is too much fanfare over these events. Notoriety and glory is one thing that the terrorists want.

Last Friday, I heard a great interview on KUOW's Conversation show with the author of a new book called "What Terrorists Want," by Louise Richardson.

It sounds like one of the big things they want is notoriety.

Maybe we should shuffle news of these crimes onto the back pages. Shuffle the news behind stories about many more lives that are lost each year to drunk drivers, for instance. Don't give terrorists so much notoriety.

Just let the CIA, Military, FBI, and so forth, quietly do their jobs catching these perpetrators.

It seems like our President has been taken over by terrorists. This is the Presidency that is defined by 911. Bush plans to travel to Ground Zero, Lay reefs, also head to Pennsylvania for that plane crash. It seems like every time Bush opens his mouth, it's about 911 and reaction to terrorism.

Why is he wasting so much of his time, and energy? What about affordability of health care?

Of course, Republicans are usually not very good at putting effort into a domestic issues. Republicans usually talk about getting the government out of domestic affairs. Reduce government so the Walmarts can take over.

Did I say Walmarts, or should I say the marketplace?

Leaving domestic affairs up to "market forces."

It is Republicans who focus on foreign affairs and national defense issues. Democrats are the ones who to get the urban transit systems going. Democrats discuss issues like affordable housing and health care; what ever attempts to make the lives of ordinary Americans work.

We need transit systems to help us become less dependent on that volatile Middle East, for oil.

Will our reaction to terrorism destroy us? Bankrupt us? Distract us from the things we really need to do for energy independence and security?

Maybe we should relegate terrorist crimes to the back pages where they belong. Put them behind the murderers and drunk drivers who take more lives each year.

Would I display a flag for 911?

No.

I would rather display the flag for something positive, like the anniversary of Americans landing on the moon.

Can someone do more stories about the Apollo PAC for clean energy?

Santa Barbara, CA.

.

The thing labor needs most?

A long and wonderful vacation.

I am back home from my 2006 trip down the west coast. This was my 5th west coast tour over the years.

Came back by train.

Above picture taken from observation tower atop Santa Barbara County Courthouse. Downtown Santa Barbara has a lot of classical architecture and pedestrian malls.

A similar view was featured in the popular book "Bicycling The Pacific Coast" by Tom Kirkendall and Vicky Spring, (at least in an earlier edition). I remember pouring over that book before my first west coast trip in 1987.

Cyclists are still taking that book with them as they do this trip. (Probably later editions).

At the end of my trip, the radio said that California has just passed a strong piece of legislation designed to roll back state wide greenhouse gas emissions. Roll these back to 1990 levels by 2020.

That will be a tall order as one must remember, population is also increasing.

Just "treading water" (keeping same percapita consumption levels) means increasing consumption if population is increasing.

This will require some major changes.

Or, maybe the goal can't be achieved with conservation? Nuclear power anyone? How about solar? Hydrogen Fusion?

All of the above.

Ironically, southern California seems more bicycle friendly than northern California. More people and more money for infrastructure. Also the need is clearly evident.

Things like bike paths and the southern California Surfliner train are great.

Now, back hear in Washington State, the Dave Ross Show, on Seattle's KIRO, does a segment about how to make roads safer.

Labor Day weekend is a deadly weekend on the roads.

Many kinds of suggestions come in. People suggest things like making truckers only operate at night or having the driving test become harder.

No one mentions making the nation less dependent on automotive travel. Maybe I should have called.

Looking forward to adding photos and stories, from my 2006 trip to these sites in the next few months.

Wouldn't be as good as a dance floor

I am passing through Garberville, CA. on my 2006 bicycle tour down west coast. Have enjoyed the huge redwoods. Riding quietly through the big trees on a side road called Avenue Of The Giants. Much nicer than the more "pragmatic 101, where most commutes and trucks go.

Biking is a quiet way to see the trees.

Meeting some other cyclists at the campgrounds. KOA in Eureka had a hot tub. $20 to camp, but worth if for the hot tub. The bike area is big, behind the main building away from the RVs. Most of the time I am in state park "hiker biker" sites. No hot tub, but only $3 per night thanks to Cal state park encouragement for bicyclists.

I passed one big tree that someone wanted to chop down back around 1910. They wanted to use the stump for a dance floor. That idea was nixed and the tree still stands. Would have been too small for a dance floor anyway, but the tree is huge; and I like dance floors. It's just that the tree wouldn't have been a good one. It's better as a tree.

Lots of groves have been preserved in this area. Avenue Of the Giants, and other parts of the Redwood parks are quite extensive. A joint California and federal park system.

Tomorrow I head back to the coast on Cal Highway 1. Headed toward fort Bragg. Then San Francisco, in a few days.

My 2006 bicycle trip has started

Headed south down USA west coast. Every once-in-a-while, I will put details here. Later this coming Autumn, there will be a write up, with photos, on my web site. Past trips are already there.

Inclusive Neighborhoods

Photo looking up into Bellingham Farmer's Market clock tower. Light fixtures.

There is a lot of talk about Inclusive zoning these days. Allowing a mixture of housing types and price ranges with-in a neighborhood.

That, instead of places where only (expensive) single family homes are allowed while, across town, a ghetto of apartments is kept in one area. Like, "keep those apartments from escaping."

Inclusive zoning means a mix of housing types and income levels. Also a mix of land uses in one neighborhood. That means one can take a stroll, near one's home, and pass houses, a park, a church and an ice cream parlor.

That's more inviting than some boring "subdivision mile" with nothing but garage doors visible.

It brings diverse income groups together. More trust and understanding between social classes.

Also allows people to live closer to services and activities. Cuts car dependency.

I recently saw a good article about this concept in the July 26 06 Cascade Weekly. Written by one of our city council members, Joan Beardsley. She talked quite a bit about the good effects that "inclusive neighborhoods" have on schools.

In the past, people have spent much effort bussing kids across town to bring various elements of our society together. Well, another way to bring us together can be in how we plan our neighborhoods.

Bring various income classes together, for instance.

After pondering those encouraging words, I had a conversation with a friend in Ecuador, South America.

A conversation via Skype Internet phone.

My friend, in Ecuador, spoke of a negative consequence when the gap between wealthy and poor gets too wide. Latin American nations are noted for wide gaps between income classes.

Something that could be in USA's future, if we don't watch out. The income gap keeps getting wider.

He said single family homes are loosing popularity for the middle class in Ecuador.

Loosing popularity because the crime rate is so high that detached homes are vulnerable to break ins, robberies, even armed robberies.

It's like class warfare.

So the middle class is turning to high rises.

Condominium projects, rather than detached homes.

A condominium complex can provide centralized entrances for security and things like "windows high off the ground," away from the break-in zone.

Interesting observation.

It seems like bringing American income classes together, to lower the crime rate, might help us save the single family home.

Ironically, we may need to be less exclusive about our single family neighborhoods to save them.

Save them from the ravages of societal breakdown.

Being a homeowner is too lucrative for economic good, it can be considered a vocation

Highest paying job in the economy?

Being a homeowner.

It seems like home ownership is the highest paying occupation. I don't have statistics to back this up, but it's a good guess.

One of the strange distortions of our economy that results from the incredible real estate boom, over much of USA, in the last few years.

Does the occupation of home ownership produce anything useful?

Growing food produces something useful. Manufacturing plywood produces something useful. Educating students, writing software, it's all useful.

What does the occupation of "homeowner" produce for others in the economy?

A question to ponder.

As population grows and land gets scarce, home values rise. At the same time, industry gets more restricted. The economic base seems to be shifting away from employment and toward using land as a wealth generator.

One also notices lots of retail and service jobs.

Where do people get the money to shop in all those stores?

Imagine, our economy based on home equity loans.

Amazing.

Now I hear about a New York Times article on middle aged men dropping out of the workforce. The jobs they find pay much less than what they had in the past.

Many have been laid off or down sized. Quite a few of these folks are coasting, for now at least, on their home equity. Others are on disability and so forth.

It's an interesting article in Today's NY Times business section.

"Men Not Working."

Got A Blind Spot ?

Good human rights discussion in Irshad's blog

Irshad Manji has a great blog.

I sometimes feel like the world would be better off if the Middle East didn't exist, but realize there are a lot of decent people caught up in all that mess. It would be callus to just write everything in that region off, but it's hard to know what the best strategy is for helping innocent people caught in bad circumstances.

Ideas and discussions presented on this blog, and other places can help.

Silver Lining?

US involvement in Iraq and the greater Middle East may have just made things even worse. Fanned the flames more.

If there is any good to come from this, it could be the total discrediting of right wing politics in USA. It may have taken this to discredit much of the religious right and the Republican agenda.

Hopefully, at least much of Congress can change in November.

Many folks keep holding signs that say "impeach Bush," but it is really Congress which has that power. Voting in November may be a step in that direction, but the process is fairly slow. Bush's second term, in the White House, will be over before long anyway. Likely before an impeachment process can unfold.

My, how time flies.

Also, of course, it isn't just the American right wing that's discredited. Fundamentalism looks bad all over the world. Whether it is the "Christian Right," "Islamic Fundamentalism," or what ever, it all looks perverted.

I hope more liberal and tolerant voices can be heard from all corners of the world. Liberal religions and so forth.

Wandering Around

Grand reading room in Wilson Library at Western Washington University, here in Bellingham. Just an easy walk from my home.

Seems to invite one to slow down.

The only countries I have been to are USA and Canada.

Still, I see many different things than "main stream society" because of the unusual way I travel. Most people go by car and jet.

I bicycle, walk and use public transit. It's almost like seeing a different world.

In 2003, one of my bicycle tours took me through Los Angeles. I described that trip as "leisurely." Others are surprised by that adjective for getting through Los Angeles. Remember, they are going by car, or changing planes at the airport. I go on the bike paths and back roads.

They gripe when it takes several hours.

I have a different perspective and don't mind that it took me two days, from one end of the metropolitan area to the other.

Glad I had enough money for the expensive motels, however.

In USA, it costs more to "stay put" than it does to keep moving. No wonder we have a "rat race" society.

Still, expensive motels are just in the cities. On most of the rural California Coast, state park camping was only $3 per night for bicyclists.

An advantage of being a bicyclist.

I don't seem to feel any need for going overseas. Not that I hate jet planes, or anything. I just feel that most people don't really take the time to be in their local environment.

Here in USA, we will need to pay more attention to our local environment so we can figure out how to make it run with less oil. That might mean actually learning the local bus schedule.

Some folks know more about overseas resort towns than they do about how to cross their own home town with out getting on the freeway.

Travel to a different perspective.

Imagine a world with-out the Middle East

It seems like most of the bad news comes from the Middle East. Maybe the world would be better if that region didn't exist. Then again it might just mean other trouble spots would rise to the limelight.

Not only is the Middle East the source of most bad news, it's also a big source of oil; that addictive substance in civilization. Like pure sugar, it's bad for us.

I sometimes think that if sacred places and buildings in the Middle East were destroyed, the world could stop fighting over them. This may be an irresponsible attitude. Certainly there are innocent people and places there.

Normally, I like historic buildings, but maybe we could do with out many of those religious places that people keep fighting over. If those buildings turned to rubble, the world might do better with out them. And I believe in God. I just think too much fuss is going into sacred places that are man made.

Maybe the world could learn a lesson from this high school girl, I met, while she was working at an AM / PM Mini-mart in upstate New York.

This was during my 1991 bicycle tour across USA.

The little store was a world of throwaway items and plastic counters; in Upstate New York which is a bastion of American history. It was just an Exxon station, or something like that. All modern and sterile.

Across the street were some apartments with the number "1772" over the main door.

I was intrigued and ask the woman, "Were those apartments really built in 1772, or is that number just the street address?"

She just gave a quick laugh and said, "Built in 1772, I wouldn't be surprised !" "Those apartments look pretty old and crappy to me."

Then she was ringing up the next customer, like that history didn't really matter.

Maybe they had a crummy landlord also.

Smelly carpet?

It was my first time in Upstate New York and I thought "buildings built before the revolutionary war are kind of neat." We don't have things like that here in the state of Washington.

Of course many of the old temples and places of the Middle East are far older than that.

I don't feel like saying this often, but at times one needs to say (about old memories and baggage)

"Get over it."

This is especially true if it causes people to fight.

Sign on a local machine shop

"Bush Free Zone."

Monica Lewinsky topic revisited

Americans becoming more socially isolated in recent years?

Maybe, Bill Clinton's biggest mistake was kowtowing to conservatives with white lies. He should have publicly embraced the concept of friendship and support outside one's primary relationship.

Friendship and support, at least.

Of course there is the worry of venereal disease with sexual relationships, but the line between friendship, support and eroticism can be blurry. Clinton could have handled his yearnings for contact, outside the primary relationship, in a better way, for sure, but said yearnings have validity.

Maybe he should have lead the nation into a dialog about these issues; including polyamory. Imagine, such a discussion starting from "The White House."

It was a missed opportunity, but I know it would have been political suicide.

Yes, we do have lots of workshops, seminars and therapists that provide contact outside the marriage.

It's a whole industry.

Massage workshops, retreats. Even things addressing sexual issues such as the "Body Electric" workshops, for instance.

These types of seminars serve an important function of breaking isolation, but some might criticize them as being "manufactured intimacy."

Yes, "manufactured."

"Just pay your $480 fee and feel connected."

Now I read, there is a study, from Duke University, that says Americans have fewer friends outside of the family. They say American's circle of confidants has shrunk dramatically in the past few decades and the number of people who say they have no one to discuss important matters has more than doubled. This study also indicates that social ties are more family based than before.

Study is called, "Social isolation in America: changes in core discussion networks over two decades."

While I can't provide a detailed review of the study, I can present my own thinking, as inspired from these news items.

It seems like people are desperately clinging to their marriages and shrinking circles of "nuclear family" ties. It's almost like "clinging for dear life" as the world washes away around us. Increasing mobility means neighbors no longer know one another. Longer work hours, longer commutes means less time to nurture friendships outside of the primary relationship.

This trend is in the wrong direction. Most people need more than just the nuclear family.

Even the nuclear family, which is being held so tightly, is on shaky ground. It's influenced by the same mobility forces that brake up friendship networks.

Often it seems like people are loosing wide circles of friends and clinging more tightly to marriages and the marriages are becoming "war zones." Marriages are more apt to end in divorce, these days.

I fear that folks are getting their "variety" from something called "serial monogamy." That is going from one marriage to the next through life.

It's serial monogamy, for variety, rather than wide networks of friends, relatives and neighbors.

I also hear that the nuclear family is more isolated, these days, than in past history. In the past, extended families of grandparents, uncles and aunts provided support networks. Today, these broader "extended family networks" are more scattered.

The nuclear family is isolated and subject to what one could call "cabin fever." When one gets board and seeks variety, it often breaks up.

Serial monogamy leaves a painful trail of broken relationships in its path. It's a sad story.

Putting more energy into a diverse circle of friends is better than putting everything into one's marriage until cabin fever strikes.

Yes, a national dialog on the state of our relationships and the dynamic between "primary relationships" and "outside friends" would be healthy.

Former President Clinton was struggling with these issues along with just about everyone else.

There is a lot of rhetoric about trying to make marriage last. Most Americans seem to talk a lot, while not really living this value.

One can, at least, praise the Clintons for staying married. Through all the news of Clinton's extra marital escapades, that marriage has held together.

These days, people talk about fidelity, but don't practice it. As soon as a rough spot hits, like some extra marital affair, folks bail out.

At least the Clintons demonstrate that old fashioned value of staying together.

I remember someone calling a talk show accusing her husband of winking at another woman in the supermarket. He wasn't having affairs, just winking.

The talk show host had a good answer. She said, "your husband is only married, he's not dead." "He will have feelings."

Expectations can be real high these days. Even winking can become a problem. The bar is set so high that a slight hint of adversity can end things.

This situation must be caused by advertising. It's advertising that constantly pounds people with the message "you deserve better."

The nature of business and advertising raises expectations to unsustainable levels. At the same time, mobility and things like the Internet make "greener pastures only mouse clicks away."

Then there are lots of people, like me, who can live without partners. For single people, friendship networks take on an added importance.

Yes, I think it would be good for people to back off a bit from clinging so tightly to the marriage concept.

People should seek broader networks of community. Relax, "let go" a little and, ironically, even the institution of marriage might benefit.

I guess it was Hillary Clinton who coined the phrase, "It takes a village to raise a child." Well, I say, it takes a village, and more than just one's "nuclear family" to satisfy our needs.

Nation's Population About To Blast Past 300,000,000

Even if they don't find the "gay gene." one would still think there is plenty of reason not to worry that not everyone leads "lifestyles of procreation."

There are more than enough people.

Evidence for genetic basis of gayness is convincing, to some, but not all. The jury is still out.

A recent interview, on National Public Radio, brought me yet another perspective on the natural state of human beings.

Genetics does not really dictate our sexuality.

One of the beauties of our genetic makeup is that we are given a lot of flexibility. Human behavior, including sexual behavior, is not rigidly dictated by genetic programming. This gives us the ability to adapt our behavior to changing circumstances.

Maybe the genes drop a few hints, but they really don't say as much as some folks might think.

We have the inherent ability to be quite adaptable.

Adaptability is an attribute for survival.

Even thinking about "survival of the fittest" the species with the most offspring is not necessarily the one most likely to be survive.

"Quality," rather than just "quantity" makes a difference.

Elephants, for instance, don't have a lot of offspring, but they take real good care of the offspring they have.

Our genetics may dictate things about the workings of our kidneys and heart, but the more interesting area of human behavior is not necessarily a slave of genes. The ability to use "free will" and adapt to changing circumstances, in our environment, is a great thing we have inherited.

We ought to be glad we have this flexibility.

I don't think there is anything in the "program" that says, "everyone must procreate" to "get with the program."

There is an old phrase that goes, "come on, get with the program."

One can ask, "what program?"

These thoughts are inspired after an interview, I heard several weeks back, with a Professor named David Barash, at University of Washington.

Another way to adapt to growing population. Don't litter.


More people, more need to curtail things like littering.

I was never a litterbug, but the first sign I saw that said, "thousand
dollar fine for littering" impressed me. It was on my 1988 bike trip to southern California. Somewhere around San Simeon.

"Wow, thousand dollar fine for tossing a candy wrapper."

Now, these signs are common place; even here in Washington State.

Here comes the train

Where the trail and tracks cross a freight train approaches.

Near Boulevard Park.

At dusk, the approaching light is what my camera sees. Looks like a sunrise coming down the track.