Check it

Guys--I am totally posting this from my new iPad. Sweet, no?

neat green things: Will Obama's New Walking and Biking Initiatives Entice Americans Out of Their Cars? - Planet Green

Will Obama's New Walking and Biking Initiatives Entice Americans Out of Their Cars? - Planet Green

More money spent on alternative means of transport can only be for the best. I don't know if it's the intention, but this is one of those policies that are multi-directional: the main point is to get us less dependent on oil so that things like the energy crisis don't damage our framework as much, but the result is things like the fact that people who walk and bike are healthier and tend to have stronger ties to their city because they have to engage with it, which creates stronger communities and more pride in how the city works, which creates stronger cities. And that leads to a stronger country, doesn't it? Being safer also means less stress, less fear and more willingness to try the new bike trails. More foot traffic means areas that couldn't support walk-in business now can.

Even if only a portion of people go along, that frees up a lot of resources, and maybe the people who don't walk or bike will be more open to other sorts of alt transport, because the main reason they didn't switch to the trails is because they live too far away or something. Then, well-run city buses are an option, or streetcars which can be run off batteries, or maglev trains, or any number of sleek and modern, energy-efficient, emissions-free, people-movers. Done correctly, they, too can foster a sense of community, of coming together when the usual society is more about individuality to the point of not even relating to anyone else and not caring about the place where you live because you don't even know your neighbors.

I think community is what will save us in the end: if everyone pulls together, the government can do anything, because WE are the source of it's power, ultimately. And it's about time we started doing something about that.

gradschool: and it begins

One more day of work, then tomorrow it's all packing and calling for shuttle reservations and trying to remember everything I need to do before I leave and gathering addresses for postcards and so on. Maybe a jaunt to the post office for a book of stamps (since they're closed today). It's only a week, but I'm pretending it's a whole semester since I'll be staying in the dorms and I have to bring pillows and blankets and stuff. Trying to remember what dorm life was like, and I figure I'll whittle it down next time when I have the chance-- and next time will be in a hotel, anyway, since kids will still be living in the dorms over winter break...

I keep running into more things I didn't know I had to have-- like the name of a craft-of-writing book that I'll have to read and write a paper on this semester on top of everything else. I'm hoping that it just seems overwhelming because I don't know what to expect, not because it really will be-- I'm overwhelmed enough by my normal life!

Tuesday early is my flight out, and I'll be journalling along the way since the airports should have wifi and the school definitely will.

video: laughing baby

And there's this one. This is the sort of thing that makes me want to have kids!

This is exactly how I would want to have my father-daughter dance... if I wasn't, you know, spastically uncoordinated...

ThinkGeek :: ThinkGeek's Ultimate GeekDad Giveaway

ThinkGeek :: ThinkGeek's Ultimate GeekDad Giveaway

This is the most super-awesome grand prize I ever geeked.