Monday, January 17, 2005
I was drawn by the sirens of Titan...
January can be a bleak month in Phoenix. But we just had the most gorgeous weather this weekend; sunny, 70+ degrees, with just a bit of a breeze. I spent a pleasant Sunday in the back yard, putting up a new cast iron trellis that Carrie and Keith helped me assemble Saturday evening, against the north wall. The most involved part was disassembling the patchwork of rotting planks and landcaping wire supporting the vines; the herdenbergia in particular was pretty intimately wrapped around the wires (and itself), so I had to leave some of them in. The Lady Banks rose, once untangled, looked pretty gangly, but hopefully with more room to spread out it will plump up this season.
I've started my tomato seeds under the gro-lamp in the spare room. This year I'm trying the following varieties from Totally Tomatoes:
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Last night I sat down to spend about an hour on the Stardust County arrangements after dinner, but things really caught fire and I wound up working past my bedtime and - save for polishing - finished up The Whole Distance and the Denoument! It was one of those rare sessions where, as soon as I finished up a phrase in one instrument or part of the score, I knew exactly what the next phrase needed to be. Well, I did choose The Whole Distance because of the relatively simple arrangement making it a break from Stardust County Line. Once I polish these guys, it's on to Less Than a Hero, which is going to be a real bear.
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Some of our local legislaters are back at amending the Arizona State Constitution again. It seems that the existing "Official English" laws aren't Englishy enough for them. My opinion is that we should worry about translating the Arizona State Income Tax instruction books into English before we start worrying that city community centers might print circulars in Spanish or some other non-English language that the legislators can't read and therefore probably are calling them boogerheads behind their backs. I'm all for new immigrants learning English. But I'm also aware that no-one learns English as a second language instantaneously, and for most people who pick up a new language as adults, or even as seniors, the first language is always going to be the easiest. Our country has had many waves of immigrants; German, Irish, Chinese, Vietnamese, Hispanic - each group has had its own challenges and its own way of adapting. Why tie that hands of future state and local government by prohibiting them from using what they deem the most efficient methods of communicating with the people they serve?
Or just make the official state language Tohono O'odham and be done with it.
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January can be a bleak month in Phoenix. But we just had the most gorgeous weather this weekend; sunny, 70+ degrees, with just a bit of a breeze. I spent a pleasant Sunday in the back yard, putting up a new cast iron trellis that Carrie and Keith helped me assemble Saturday evening, against the north wall. The most involved part was disassembling the patchwork of rotting planks and landcaping wire supporting the vines; the herdenbergia in particular was pretty intimately wrapped around the wires (and itself), so I had to leave some of them in. The Lady Banks rose, once untangled, looked pretty gangly, but hopefully with more room to spread out it will plump up this season.
I've started my tomato seeds under the gro-lamp in the spare room. This year I'm trying the following varieties from Totally Tomatoes:
- Rainbow Cherry Mix
- Sunmaster (heat tolerant - supposed to set fruit at 90 degrees (F)
- Rainbow (no relation)
- Cherokee Purple
- Brown Berry
- Tomcat Hybrid (free with the order, so I thought I'd try it)
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Last night I sat down to spend about an hour on the Stardust County arrangements after dinner, but things really caught fire and I wound up working past my bedtime and - save for polishing - finished up The Whole Distance and the Denoument! It was one of those rare sessions where, as soon as I finished up a phrase in one instrument or part of the score, I knew exactly what the next phrase needed to be. Well, I did choose The Whole Distance because of the relatively simple arrangement making it a break from Stardust County Line. Once I polish these guys, it's on to Less Than a Hero, which is going to be a real bear.
----------------
Some of our local legislaters are back at amending the Arizona State Constitution again. It seems that the existing "Official English" laws aren't Englishy enough for them. My opinion is that we should worry about translating the Arizona State Income Tax instruction books into English before we start worrying that city community centers might print circulars in Spanish or some other non-English language that the legislators can't read and therefore probably are calling them boogerheads behind their backs. I'm all for new immigrants learning English. But I'm also aware that no-one learns English as a second language instantaneously, and for most people who pick up a new language as adults, or even as seniors, the first language is always going to be the easiest. Our country has had many waves of immigrants; German, Irish, Chinese, Vietnamese, Hispanic - each group has had its own challenges and its own way of adapting. Why tie that hands of future state and local government by prohibiting them from using what they deem the most efficient methods of communicating with the people they serve?
Or just make the official state language Tohono O'odham and be done with it.
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