The NY Times has a provocative article today on the concept of wasted time at work – especially as it applies to knowledge work. We continually try to graft concepts of efficiency developed for manufacturing onto more creative activities. Money quote: “In other words, what looks like wasting time from where you sit, could be …
Author: Reid Farmer
Big Fisherman
This photo emerged from a packing box over the weekend. That’s Reid Farmer, age seven, with some rainbows we caught in the Arkansas Ozarks. That’s my grandfather Travis Reid’s hand holding the other end of the stringer. I really liked that sheath knife that I bought while on vacation in the Smoky Mountains. Steve and …
Water Bird
A Black-necked Stilt in Devereaux Slough near Goleta.
Reggie Apprehended
Reggie, the released pet alligator at large in Machado Lake in Los Angeles, who Matt and I posted about back in 2005, has finally been caught. Reggie had a good long run on his own, and certainly had more than his fifteen minutes of fame as a media sensation in LA. It appears his future …
CSI: NIMBY
Time has an interesting piece on the problems that Texas State University is having in trying to get approvals to site a “body farm” where human bodies can be left to decompose in the open for research in forensic anthropology. Even the nearby airport objects that it would attract vultures that might collide with airplanes! …
More Airport Art
I was passing through the Phoenix airport some days ago, and looked into the store that carries these magnificent metal bat sculptures. I saw that the same artist has expanded his line of winged creatures to cover Gamble’s quail (see above) And roadrunners. The roadrunner’s legs are made of rebar.Nice, but not in the same …
Some Spring Blooms
One of the things that we are enjoying in our first spring here at Moonshine Gulch is seeing the flowers arrive as the weather warms. Each one is a surprise, and with the cool, wet weather up till now, we seem to have a bumper crop of wildflowers out in the yard. Like the indian …
Let the Kids Play
Steve posted last summer on The Dangerous Book for Boys and I have been seeing it cited more and more in the news and the blogosphere. There seems to be a gathering movement in favor of more traditional unstructured play for children. The NY Times weighs in on the subject in a recent piece. I …
Vinkensport
The NY Times today has a piece on vinkensport or finching: finch singing competitions in Belgium. Of course, Pluvialis was all over this a month ago, scooping the Times by a mile.
The Barnsdall-Rio Grande Service Station
I’ve always admired the architecture of this old abandoned service station, located on West Hollister Avenue in Goleta, out west of Santa Barbara. It was built in 1929, and must be one of the few, if not the only, remaining example of a service station built in the Mission Revival style so popular in the …