How cool would this be?

I may buy this barn and paint it turquoise

I think we might be moving soon.

In the fall of 2002, we found an 1812 farmhouse in Connecticut.  We bought the house, having decided that nothing we found in the inspection would stop us from buying it.  And so we bought it, re-lined the flu in the chimney, took down 200 years of wall-paper, painted the place and added on a bit.  The house is not longer full of kids who are now out and about and so we might be selling the house. It's very big.  And we hang out in roughly two rooms.  And someone might be interested in buying it.  And the might sign the contract.  And then we would sell it and move.  And we will miss it and so will the kids. 

But we will find another place. And fix the fireplace, and add on a bit.  Hopefully not to much. We saw one with a barn which we could covert to a studio.  And we'll paint it familiar colors.  And move in our stuff.  And the kids will probably like and we will to. But I hate change. 

Things aren't always what they appear

Check out this piece by Roy Lichtenstein at the High Museum in Atlanta.  The structure is actually convex. A walk around has you thinking that it is a normal 3D House (albeit Lichtenstein).  Then as you keep moving it doesn't shift as you expect....until you realize it is actually convex.  I was fooled.

Peace and Quiet

Nothing better than...

My goal in life is.....

a few moments of peace and quiet.....

a sunny spot 

and a cup of coffee.

Old water-wheel in the woods of fairfield county

Wandering the woods of southern New England, there, I came upon a twelve foot, in diameter, ancient rusted water wheel, near a a stream and a waterfall, in the woods.  

The suburbs are not what they used to be.

Kimmel Center in Philadelphia

 Went to Philadelphia this weekend and hear an amazing French cellist play along with the Philadelphia Orchestra at the Kimmel Center.  Concert was great and the hall was wonderful - like being inside a guitar.  And most amazing of all was the soaring lobby ceiling.

Occupy Wall Street

I had lunch with a friend, an old friend, who I knew leaned rightward, but I was surprised at his stance.  He'd risen up the corporate ladder to heights very high.  So high, I guess it's hard to see the ground.  Obama, he said, won't be re-elected, for sure. Because, he said,  everyone knows it's his fault.  The Occupy-wall-streeters, he said,  could all get jobs if they wanted.  They don't want, he said, to work.

That can't be right.
The movement lacks a voice, that's clear.....
The movement lacks a voice that's clear.

But isn't the gist that it should not be so hard.  I am reminded of how cruel commerce can be by the nineteenth century factories.  We need regulation for a reason.  The excesses.  But maybe we don't need so much excess regulation.  There has to be a middle ground.

Is the movement is looking for the middle ground?

Great telephone pole on Martha's Vineyard

Do you think I can go for the Nobel Prize for Economics?

So here's what I figure.....DO THE MATH.....(would if I could).

1) We can replace most manual labor with big machines (farming), and robots (manufacturing). and computers.

2) We can replace much clerical labor with computers.

3) We can replace much of middle management and management with better management information, controls, processes, telecommunications and computers.

4) That leaves most businesses targeting highly leveraged models, with as few employees as possible, as few high-paid middle management jobs as possible.

5) Communications and computers enable most word to be done close to where there are raw-materials and cheap labor.

6) Cheap labor includes low-price PhD's from the abundant global supply.  Also low-price service employees for phone-support, aided by remote computing.  Also low price analysis.

7) Now, DO THE MATH. (would if I could).

8) There are 6 or 7 or 8 or 9 billion people in the world - - and growing rapidly.  There will not be enough good paying jobs - - unless:

a) We build roads and buildings like we did in the 19th century.  Using a lot of people.
b) We manufacture things like we did in the 19th century. Using lots of people.

Note:  We built highways and railroads and sky-scrapers faster in 1880--1940 than we do now.

c) We farm using lots of people.

9) What is a service economy - where you don't need people to make things or run companies.  You only need young people to look after old people with a continuous transfer of wealth from the aging population to the younger generation and so on, and so on.

10) Do the math.  Would if I could.

The Global Economy: Pumpkins in New England, imported from Mexico, not-for-profit

Growing up, we bought our annual pumpkin at Rippy's Farm Stand on the Post Road in Westport.  It wasn't until my children were in grade-school that I actually saw a pumpkin patch - - with pumpkins growing in a field to be picked.  The next year when we returned to the farm in Redding, the field was there, the pumpkins were there, but they had been placed there - as if they had grown there. We went, yesterday, to Ridgefield, where there is an annual fund raiser at the local church, raising money by selling pumpkins, imported from Mexico.  The air was clear, the pumpkins were beautiful, we 'picked' a few.  Global.

Ma belle ami

DeKooning show in NY should be amazing......!

Rebuilding

For the last 8 months, my office was on the 32nd floor of One Liberty Plaza, downtown Manhattan across the street from the reconstruction of the World Trade Center.  The tower rose floor-by-floor, day-by-day rising to roughly two-thirds its potential height.  

The New Federalist Papers

I need to work on these.

God wasn't sending a message with the earthquake and hurricane about smaller government - - he was sending a message about the need for term limits....

All Clear - more or less

Saturday at Menemsha........the black herons and me....waiting for Irene

A lot of folks left the island today. And a lot came over.  We counted how many stores were preparing.....for the tides that would breach the two-foot 'sea-wall' that protects down-town Edgartown from the waters in the harbor....there were 9.  We counted about a dozen sand bags.  Folks were taking down their store signs.  The Atlantic restaurant's Bulgarian waiters were taking down the awning.   Everyone on the island, seemingly, filled their tank with gas. The birds have been very quiet all day.  Where do they go during a storm?

With apologies to Dolly Parton, Irene, Irene, Irene, Irene

Irene, Irene, Irene, Irene

We the People, here's what I want you to do..............Solve the Problem People.....Write to any congress person you disagree with.

Get a list of wrong-thinking congressmen and women, no matter the state, and tell them what to do.  Write and write to each of them.  Tell them what you want.  Tell your friends to do it do.

We need to fund education. We need to fix the roads and bridges.  We need to fund new 21st Century Industries.  We need jobs for low, middle and high capabilities people - - not just for the brilliant - - not just for the people who will wait on them.  Cut waste out of government.  Fix the tax system. If that means some taxes go down, fine. If that mean some taxes go up, fine. If it means adjust the rates, fine. If it means close the loopholes fine. 

'Solve the Problem People'

BB = Brooklyn Bridge/City Hall on the IRT

The Phoenix Rises

This summer, I walk through the streets of lower Manhattan three times a day.  In the morning, on the way to work, shaking off the heat and crowd of the subway enjoying the last cool breeze of the day rising from the sidewalk.  In the full bright light of the noon-day sun, the street is teaming with lunch-seekers, workmen and tourists who have come to see the great construction sight.  And in the early evening on the way home, ducking onto the hot, hot platform at Fulton Street.

Brows II

Cliff Hanger

We the People, of the United States of America, in order to form a more perfect union elect officials who sign away their obligation to govern with a pledge.

The purpose of the separation of powers in the United State Government is to protect us from tyranny.  We need to pay our bills.  We need to cut waste. We need to raise revenue.  We need to provide for the things the private sector, companies in pursuit of their own best interests, will not provide for: The Common Good.  We need to create 8-12 million jobs.  We need to create new industries. We need to increase the education available to our workforce. We need to repair the pot-holes, paint the bridges, and maintain the railways. We need to take care of those who most need it, whether they are old, or young, sick or poor, or just down and out. We the people, of the United States of America, in order to form a more perfect union.

Modern

There is something very wonderful about machinery maintained to perfection.  There is something perfect about a fine paint job - - the high gloss, the bright colors, the contrast.  This stand of pipes is on a cross street in Manhattan between Broadway and Park Avenue a few blocks north of Union Square.

One Fine Day

New York warmed up this week feeling the spread of the 100 degree temperatures which covered much of the country.  As the temperature gained momentum, we stopped for an early morning sit in Bryant Park, in front of the Library, near the majestic lions which guard the books.  Iced Coffee at 8:00 am and then a quick walk back to Grand Central, where we descended into the Lexington Avenue Line and the almost waiting number 4 train.  The platform was hot as the train was cool, and every person moved slowly and with care so as not to jostle the next passenger.  At Fulton Street, there was a breeze. Not yet the heat of the day.  At the office that day the buildings against the light-gray sky told the story.

Three blind mice, see how they run.

Checking out the small Jackson Pollack at the Wadsworth Atheneum.  I am thinking that Pollack's paintings are more accessible when they are enormous and envelop you.  Great painting  - worth the effort to block out my peripheral vision and focus on the task at hand.

Eiffel Tower

We walked from the Champs E'lysees to Ile St Louis, to the Eiffel tower and back. Breathtakingly beautiful.

Frank Gehry's Rainbow

I was in my office at One Liberty on Thursday and the sky darkened slightly as great gobs of raindrops came tumbling down in torrents. So big were they, that I thought it looked like snow. The sky cleared within a few minutes and the sun came out.  Sun and rain. There has to be a rainbow only if you can see it from space.  I looked the other way - - out the window towards the new Frank Gehry apartment building and the Brooklyn Bridge beyond.  And indeed, there was a rainbow.

O, God Thy Sea Is So Great And My Boat Is So Small

Does this look like a detail of a Renoir?

The humble civil servant