Earth Hour: Turn off your lights 8-9pm Tonight

Just thought I would get a plug in for Earth Hour tonight.

http://www6.earthhourus.org/

The city of Chicago is participating as well as many major cities across the world. So just take one hour and shut off your lights from 8-9pm. Light a candle. Play a guitar. Read a book. Talk to your family! Whatever!

Stuff

Here is some of our stuff. I'm not a big fan of "stuff," but I still want it! I love bringing things back from vacations and sometimes making things. This first picture has a shrine Maggie made on the left, a rock that looks like it has a bear print that I found in Oklahoma, two bear fetishes we bought at Dave's Rock Shop here in Evanston, Some more rocks found in the southwest, two crosses I made, a deer antler I found along the Cimarron, a small southwestern pot, a Frida box, an iron something or other that says "ER" on it, and a small mammal skull that I haven't quite figured out yet.
I found this Audubon print of Canvasbacks at the Junior League here in Evanston.
This fish fossil was given to me by my Father in law. The little Bison was my Grandmother Gresham's.
I wish we could say we found this skull, but we bought it at this huge, amazing shop in Santa Fe called Jackalope.
And this painting I got for my birthday is by my friend Rob Compton.
And my ultimate collection of "stuff" are my Tolkien books. Here are just a few.

Day 20

America Can Change

"The profound mistake of Reverend Wright's sermons is not that he spoke about racism in our society. It's that he spoke as if our society was static; as if no progress has been made; as if this country, a country that has made it possible for one of his own members to run for the highest office in the land and build a coalition of white and black; Latino and Asian, rich and poor, young and old -- is still irrevocably bound to a tragic past. But what we know -- what we have seen is that America can change. That is the true genius of this nation. What we have already achieved gives us hope " the audacity to hope " for what we can and must achieve tomorrow."

Wilmette Harbor

Spent some time at Wilmette Harbor this morning. It was fun watching the Goldeneyes getting into spring even though it was cold! Saw Redheads, a Ring-necked Duck, Greater and Lesser Scaup, Common, Hooded and Red-breasted Mergansers, one White-winged Scoter, Mallards, Canada Geese, Belted Kingfisher, Red-winged Blackbirds, Song Sparrow, Ring-billed Gulls and I'm sure I'm forgetting something.

Goldeneyes getting into spring
Beautiful male Red-breasted Merganser


White-winged Scoter eating
More Common Goldeneyes

Greater Scaup eating a meal
Here's the Baha'i Temple in Wilmette as seen across the harbor. It truly is beautiful and very accessible, so make sure you stop by if you have a chance.

Not only is the universe stranger than we imagine, it is stranger than we can imagine.
- Sir Arthur Eddington

Machias Seal Island

Check out these pictures of migrating birds that stop to rest on Machias Seal Island off the Maine coast. Amazing!

Chet Gresham, Pitcher, Brooklyn Yankees

So I decided to officially put my name on this blog. Not sure why I hadn't. Some since of modesty I guess. Not that it matters at all. So anyway, afterward I googled my name to see if this blog came up and I found out that I am a pitcher for the Brooklyn Yankees!! When I clicked on it I figured there was some real baseball player on some Yankees' farm team with my name, but I'm guessing no. I really have no idea what this is, but it doesn't look like I am that good, and I haven't been born yet, but still it's good to be noticed.

Bobby Broom Trio

Maggie and I went to see the Bobby Broom Trio at Pete Miller's last night. I had read about Broom (guitarist) and was looking forward to seeing him. And I wasn't disappointed. He has played with greats like, Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins, Max Roach, Art Blakey and the list goes on and on. I like Jazz a lot, but I'm not a student of it. I wish I could articulate why it was so good, but I can't. It just was! When he wanted to be fast and flawless he was, but when he wanted to give it a little more improvised feel he did that as well. It seemed like he could do anything he wanted. I'm usually more a fan of the brass instruments like sax and trumpet, but guitar has to be right up there. He is also in the Deep Blue Organ Trio which I can't wait to see play. They have a Hammond B3 Organ player and I love that sound.

Day 4

Seedlings Day 3

On Sunday night I planted some cabbage, brussels sprouts and broccoli. I didn't expect to see the seeds sprout so quickly, but today I saw a few little flecks of green!

Art Institute of Chicago

I took my class to the Art Institute today and snapped a few pics.

Once more

I've written about how great the movie Once is and going to see The Swell Season and now they've won the Oscar for best song for Falling Slowly! It was great to see them win!

Poem O' The Day by Mary Ruefle

Kiss of the Sun

If, as they say, poetry is a sign of something
among people, then let this be prearranged now,
between us, while we are still peoples: that
at the end of time, which is also the end of poetry
(and wheat and evil and insects and love),
when the entire human race gathers in the flesh,
reconstituted down to the infant's tiniest fold
and littlest nail, I will be standing at the edge
of that fathomless crown with an orange for you,
reconstituted down to its innermost seed protected
by white thread, in case you are thirsty, which
does not at this time seem like such a wild guess,
and though there will be no poetry between us then,
at the end of time, the geese all gone with the seas,
I hope you will take it, and remember on earth
I did not know how to touch it it was all so raw,
as if by chance there is no edge to the crowd
or anything else so that I am of it,
I will take the orange and toss it as high as I can.

Indecision '08

So, I was torn between Obama and Clinton, and still am, but I voted for Obama on Super Tuesday. I am a sucker for powerful speechifying. When it comes to policies and voting record I feel that they are very close. And how am I supposed to know who can "get things done"? But when Clinton started to bash Obama for his great speeches I wondered what exactly was wrong with being able to inspire? When I hear Obama speak the stark difference between him and our current president amazes me. Yesterday Bush was trying to convince everyone that he didn't want to build military bases in Africa and he sounded, well, like Bush. It seems that leadership is a hard thing to possess and Obama has it. I am usually very cynical when it comes to the choice for president. I think Futurama had it about right in the episode, A Head In The Polls when two clones were vying for the presidency. At least this year, no matter who wins on the democratic side I feel like we will have someone who represents a different viewpoint than the 43 white males that have come before.

Huh?

Reginald Shepherd blogs over at the poetry foundation site. Here is a post of his concerning "post-avant" poetry with the 100+ comments that follow. Now, I admit to being pretty slow on the uptake, but why do poets care so much about what "school" of poetry they are lumped into? I can understand poetry scholars arguing over these things in the future, but if you are writing poetry and you are worried about what that poetry is called then you should take up a new hobby.

Wednesday Night! Lunar Eclipse!

A total eclipse of the Moon will occur in the early evening hours on February 20, 2008. In the Chicago area, the eclipse will begin at 7:43 p.m. (CST) and end at 11:09 p.m.

Clemens On The Hill

Originally found at Ivy Chat. A couple of my favorite things, baseball and A Few Good Men:


Clemens: You want answers?

Congressman: I think I'm entitled to them.

Clemens: You want answers?

Congressman: I want the truth!

Clemens: You can't handle the truth! Son, we live in a world that has baseballs. And those balls have to be hit by men with bats. Who's gonna do it? You? You, Congressman? I have a greater responsibility than you can possibly fathom. You weep for steroids and you curse HGH. You have that luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what I know: that HGH, while illegal, probably sells tickets. And my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, sells tickets...You don't want the truth. Because deep down, in places you don't talk about at parties, you want me on that mound. You need me on that mound. We use words like fastall, slider, splitfinger...we use these words as the backbone to a life spent playing a sport. You use 'em as a punchline. I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and falls asleep to the Sportscenter clips I provide, and then questions the manner in which I provide it! I'd rather you just said thank you and went on your way. Otherwise, I suggest you pick up a bat and dig in. Either way, I don't give a damn what you think you are entitled to!

Congressman: Did you order the HGH?

Clemens: (quietly) I did the job you sent me to do.

Congressman: Did you order the HGH?

Clemens: YOU'RE GODDAMN RIGHT I DID!! !

World Without Tears

Dottie in action . . . sorda