Rude reminders

Attended a panel presentation last night about the genocide in Darfur. It was organized by geography graduate students and it was striking. The conversations ended with a bit of a stalemate. There seemed to be almost universal desire for military intervention--one member of the audience stated "This is simply not acceptable, we should put however many troops on the ground that would make it stop." One of the panelists responded by saying something to the effect of "And then what?" His ticked off a number of underlying moral issues that cause genocide and then a string of other countries where conditions are similar to Sudan (and yes, a great number of people are dying).

There was a palpable moment of thought as people processed the idea that military action might not do any good in any of these situations. The moment passed quickly though.

The quote of the evening came from this same panelist: "We spend too much time professing the ideology of human rights law."

Big week

I'm heading to the airport this morning for a flight to DC. A meeting is being held to discuss to 'future' of the map library. A similar meeting was held about a decade ago and it still gets mentioned. I wonder if this meeting will be the same. Sure, technologies have completely changed the cartography scene, but libraries and their staff have also changed. I'm told there's far fewer full-time map librarians than there were ten years ago.

I also get to see an old classmate and the person who used to have my job. I'm looking forward to both. As well as my traditional walk past the Lincoln Memorial.

Big weekend

Well, big ladder anyway. We tackled the larger bushes and camillias this past weekend. Didn't get too far, but I don't think we'll be needing to rent the 12 foot ladder again. The front looks much better--so much so that I'm tempted to radically prune the butterfly bushes to make it even more open.

I counted 14 different kinds of blooms on Saturday.

Message to Iris breakers

Version 1:
Dear flower breaker:
I hope that you received a lot of joy and satisfaction from destroying our flowers. You must have an incredibly empty and sad life if that is your idea of fun. May I suggest some alternatives that would not have such a negative impact on your neighbors:

• Try playing in traffic. It's very exciting.


• Take a nap on the railroad tracks.


• Try crank like all the other stupid people in Eugene.

Version 2:
Dear iris chopper:
I hope the memory of destroying our flowers continues to bring you happiness. We are looking forward to seeing our irises again next year, when you will not be able to damage them because you will still be recovering from the broken knees which I am going to give you when I track you down.

Version 3:
Dear deadheaders:
Next year, please wait until after the blossoms finish before cutting the stalks off of our iris plants. It is much more effective for encouraging healthy growth and allows all of our neighbors to enjoy the show.

Version 4:
Dear crank addict:
Just how much money can one get for a bunch of iris buds?

Version 5:
Dear friend:
I will pray for your soul which is obviously a dying dry husk. Anyone who would deny someone the simply pleasure of flowers must be empty inside. I am sorry that life has brought you to this sad state of affairs. You should probably seek help from your minister / shrink / guru / dealer.

Version 6:
Dear flower hater:
We can bloom faster than you can cut us down.
Signed: the rest of the flowers.

Version 7:
Dear vandal:
The remainder of the flowers in this yard have been treated with a genetically engineered fertilizer which will cause them to explode in a shower of sharp poisonous needles when tampered with. Cut blossoms at your own risk.

Version 8:
Dear garden fucker:
I will find you and kill you.

Version 9:
Dear heartless fool:
Please use scissors below to trim the remaining irises and then stab yourself in the eye with them.

Version 10:
Dear iris killer:
My grandchildren planted those for me outside my bedroom window after my motorcycle accident that left me paralyzed. It is the only thing I can see when my slave monkey turns my head to the side while he picks the fleas out of my hair. It is a very boring view without them.