So the funny stories begin...

So today, I open up my email to find out that I did not get a job--hardly a funny story, but I did find it humorous that they sent this notification via e-mail. And, I guess, it was funny that they sent it to me FOUR times. Apparently in case I didn't get it or understand in the first letter of rejection...

Just too funny, and perhaps too real

I am a huge fan of Tim Kreider who is a comic of the world, and a sometimes New York Times columnist. I was going to call him a blogger, but when your blog is in the NY TIMES, you are a columnist, not a mere blogger. He, like a good editorial cartoonist, offends most everyone in a year's run of comics, but sometimes he is spot-on in his view of the world. That this drawing matches my life and where I am now should be somewhat self-evident.

And yes, someday this will be a funny story...

Agreements...

So I suppose the agreement would be that if this is a communication forum, then it has to have at least semi-current and relevant content. I can at least assure the semi-current part of this--relevance might be a bit much to expect, but I hope at least I get effort points on that, too.

So above are a few pictures of an icon of Seattle, the Pike Street Market.

And lastly, here is a small photo of me--pretty much still look the same--older and pudgier but that is life. And it is me...

Changes...

If you are reading this, chances are that you were referred to this site by one of my posts on my Facebook page. As I wrote there, I am moving out of (away?) from Facebook to concentrate on different types of communication forums.

No, no one made me angry on FB, no one disappointed me on FB and I am not skulking away becasue I did anything bad. But as some of you might have guessed, I am experiencing some transitions in my life, and as befitting a photographer, I need to focus more on forums that a bit more expressive and useful to me. I kind of find FB to be a mile wide and a few inches deep, with lots of "friends" but few friends, if you can follow that. It is too easy to say things or post things that should be more carefully thought out before sharing. I counted, and I really communicate with but 11 of my 164 listed " friends" on Facebook--I can do that more efficiently on my blog or with simple emails. Or, hey! A phone call or a visit.

Some have commented on the photos that I have posted on FB, and I have enjoyed the process of thinking of what to post, posting them, and waiting to maybe read a comment or two. Thank you, for almost all the comments were positive and meaningful. The geek in me would point out that the picture editor and the resolution of posted FB pictures is lacking--if I want to post photos for people to see, I can find better hosts than FB. And I have. In the few weeks or so I will unveil a site that has more than 100 high resolution photos on it, and that allows for viewing larger photos. Hey, you can comment on them there, too, and better for me, you can even order and buy a print if you wish to do so!

I am not withdrawing from this world of communication overload. I will still have my Blackberry, perhaps the ultimate sign of someone who is overconnected. I will still have 5 different email address, Yahoo IM, a web site, and at least one blog. No withdrawn, shrinking violet am I--I am just not doing all this on FB. Communication on FB is essentially texting, and I loathe trying to communicate in 140 characters or less. I hope to be more thoughtful in my efforts to communicate and encourage others, those who really wish to, to be more thoughtful and continue to communicate in these other forums.

Again, I am not disappearing. I hope that I am or my words and thoughts are, or perhaps my photographs are worth few more keystrokes and clicks. Please, stop by and stay a while, and keep in touch.

Health care, or not....

I have read and observed with interest the incredible and heartfelt debate about any proposed health care reform.

I can say that I am considerably unimpressed. Think about this. The United States isn't even in the top-ten lists of how the rest of world measures good health care. 45 million are completely uninsured. Another 60 million are under-insured. Our infant mortality rates almost put us on par with developing countries like India, and certainly below most every other industrialized country in the world. We are not in the top ten in life expectancy. More people in the US die from delayed care (while waiting for a needed identified procedure or treatment) than in the countries with "socialized" medicine. And we spend one out of every five dollars on a health care system that ignores 15% of the population, almost ignores another 20% and doesn't provide that good of care for much of the rest. Come on, think about Spain. It has better indicators of health for its entire population, and spends a fraction of the per capita costs that the US spends on our inadequate system. We claim to be the best most equal country in the world and a country that provides more opportunities for its people. Except for health care, that is. Those countries that immediately come to mind as innovators and world leaders, like Spain, and Norway, and more than 20 others, provide universal health care that is innovative, more cost effective, more inclusive, and which provide most of their population with better care.

OK, we have a crappy system. But no one seems to be talking that much about that. Instead they are talking about how awful it would be if the government provided any of this service, much less managed a single payer system like those of most of the leading countries alrealdy have. "Keep the Government out of Health Care!" read the posters and many blogs. It is so ironic. Here is one snippet from an AP article that caught my eye: "Audrey Steele, 82, from New Bedford, said she does not want the government to get involved with health care because "they just make a mess of everything," referring to the $700 billion bailout of financial institutions that was used to pay for lavish conferences and hefty executive compensation."

I find this really ironic. Here is an 82 year old woman who no doubt depends on government programs, like Social Security, for instance. Remember the cry to privatize social security? Can you imagine how that would have turned out? No, the government does a pretty good job of running the largest pension plan in the country--it is solvent, while millions of other private plans are bankrupt. More than 37 million people, like Audrey who commented above, rely on a government-run single payer system for their insurance right now--no one has called for people over 65 to get out of that terrible government system and go try and find health care on the open market. No, most people on Medicare would be un-insureable on the open market. So, government insurance is fine for one privileged class of people but others don't deserve it?

I know that there are real, solid, arguments which show that government-run single payer programs are not perfect. But as they say, perfection is the enemy of progress. This country needs a good health care system, one that serves everyone, not one that only serves a portion of the population and poorly serves the rest of its citizens. This Darwinian approach, where people are actually saying, "I have mine, the rest don't deserve to have it," recalls the Gospel of Wealth and the 1800s and the belief that "poor" people are poor or don't have health care because they don't deserve it. I advocate for more of a Social Gospel where the government provides equal opportunities for all in areas like education and health care.

But what do I know? I am just a &%@#!@#% heathen liberal. But one that thinks that all people in the richest country in the world should have something that approaches basic health care.

http://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/quickfacts/stat_snapshot/

Picture Lake

This is a great site, and probably one of the most photographed sites near Mt Baker. It is of her sister mountain, and dusk, it is awe-inspiring. Interestingly, a local photo club was taking pictures of what else but Picture Lake. A true Kodak moment....

Mountains and flowers

I have neglected this blog and have favored Facebook over this forum...my apologies, and I will do more on this site in the next few days.