Scribbling

This weekend my wife and I slipped off to spend a little time with friends of ours who have built a wonderful home just off the Blue Ridge Parkway near Sparta, NC.  The quilt is just one of about a hundred that were on display at the Quilt Festival.  I loved the colors –reminded me of one of my favorite artists, Vincent Van Gogh.  From the displays of quilts we pushed on to a craft fair where we purchased a piece of pottery we particularly liked.  My wife was familiar with the potter’s work and had admired one of his larger pieces at an earlier show but its size and cost were prohibitive.

We finished off our evening at the Blue Ridge Music Center on Parkway Mile Post 213.  This wasn’t our first time picniking in the open air of the Blue Ridge and enjoying the music provided through out the summer.  The first group came from nearby Galax (BRMC is actually in Virginia) while the second act, Linda and Robin Williams had to travel a bit farther from near Staunton (that’s pronounced STANTON for those who are wise in the way of Virginia phonetics).  The Williams’ are frequent guest musicians on A Prairie Home Companion and were actually in the movie too, and performed one of their original songs.  I would have expected a bigger crowd considering the quality of the performers.  The sky threatened rain earlier in the day but not a drop fell to dampen the spirits of those in attendance.

Mile Post 213 represents a completely different view of the National Park System, and, one worth experiencing.

Tags: Blue Ridge Parkway, mountain music, pottery, quilting

The sport’s cliche, No Pain No Gain, is surprisingly applicable to a number of other less athletic endeavors.  One which springs immediately to mind is the much ballyhooed and equally enigmatic pillar of democratic society: Citizenship.  What is it really?  What is implied when one says one is a citizen?  What are one’s responsibilities at any given level of participation in a democratic society, whether it be in an official capacity such as a government employee (elected, appointed, hired) or an ordinary work-a-day Jane Doe?

Hypotheticals generally dominate a discussion of civic responsibility and intimate the existence of moral imperatives that are available to everyone as guide and arbiter of ethical uncertainties.  The challenges which frequently confront the average person are not abstractions that are extrapolated for philosophical investigations: class, religious belief, ethnic origins, and indeed, real human faces etched with or masking the complexity of personal emotional content, are the realities with which a community or neighborhood must contend.  Interactions with one’s neighbors offer a wealth of opportunities to test both word and deed.  Engagement is a fundamental tender of citizenship.

Incidents that may be sharply defined for some may be technical lacunae to others to which they retreat to practice an absurd casuistry that affords them the appearance of trying to be good stewards.  What is one to do for example when one is charged at by a large snarling, dog weighing nearly ninety pounds from a neighbor’s property as one is walking down one’s driveway to retrieve mail from the postman, especially when the neighbor subdues the animal as it is about to launch its attack in earnest, disclaiming ownership and declaring that the dog is a stray?  What does one do when it happens a second time?  When the neighbor is in law enforcement and should be conversant in the statutes that govern such things?  One would assume that reasoned discussion would result in a swift, equitable, and sensible solution.  It seems that there is an inevitable vacuum created in both public and private discourse regardless of the best intentions of the communicants.  What may be obvious to a professional in her application of law in the course of her official duties somehow devolves into a landscape marred by gray areas and excuses when the same standard which has brought penalty to others is carelessly ignored when it should be applied in one’s private life.

History has documented the necessity for vigilance in protecting against unjust laws which result from the distortions of prejudice and the aberration of reason poisoned by fear, ignorance, and hatred.  Civil disobedience has its place in a reflective and open society as that society refines itself toward achieving its goal as an appropriate and secure instrument guaranteeing justice for all of its members as well as those who may in any way fall under its care and protection.  Lethargy should not be confused with civil disobedience–foibles and personal peccadilloes fail as litmus tests to challenge the enforcement of laws enacted for communal health.  Stray dog attacks launched from a neighbor’s property onto one’s own property are not the sort of activities whereby one chooses to make a stand to defy the law in an act of civil disobedience, unless, of course, one has not the slightest regard for the rights and safety of one’s neighbor, which, coincidentally, are mandated to be upheld in one’s professional capacity!

The horns of dilemma can be unforgiving and particularly punishing if one’s balance falters.  What the law allows often challenges the realities of communal dynamics: law can be sterile and distant but neighbors reside in close proximity with each other in their own domains, which are often delineated by the irons that mark the corners of their property lines.  The potentially painful or distasteful outcome of choices defines a dilemma.  If one does nothing about an aggressive stray dog, for example, one may avoid ill feelings with one’s neighbor only to be bitten later.  However, if one acts according to the legal statutes to have the stray apprehended, one may remove the danger of physical injury but incur the ill-will of one’s neighbor.  When the dilemma is made even more acute because prior discussions have failed to yield a spirit of cooperation, psychological pressures exact an additional toll on those involved.  As poignant and significant as our own personal affairs may be to us, they pale in comparison to the dangers so many must face, often alone, throughout the world.  A stray dog and a recalcitrant neighbor in the midst of prosperity in the US amounts to a minor absurdity when juxtaposed with the emaciated faces of dying children in Sudan, women and young girls raped, sometimes by those who have betrayed the trust that they pledged to uphold in the first place, or young boys robbed of their innocence when they are kidnapped, brainwashed, and trained to become killers.  Despite the disparity of scale, the personal dilemmas that may plague us from time to time should not be dismissed out of hand.  Indifference can be a one way path to nowhere, a destination in which the horror we decry in the world today, may not only exist but flourish.

However one defines a good citizen one should never devalue courage and integrity.  If we are content to talk about citizenship in the abstract and are reluctant to risk our own comfort in exchange for a confinement that is neither safe or healthy, what have we really achieved?  As we marginalize ourselves and our values, we jeopardize the foundational piers of an open democratic society.  We cannot assume that membership in any organization or group suffixed with an “ism” exempts us from evaluating the principles upon which both public and private segments of our society are based.  Some of us may find ourselves so preoccupied with our own lives and so certain of our own beliefs that we fail to comprehend the damage we might cause others by our inflexible moral rectitude.  Rules as well as rights are generally only accorded to members of a specific group: our dark past with slavery should be a reminder that law without justice is at best, a tragedy deferred.

Enjolas entreats his comrades in the musical Les Miserable to consider their choices, the perilous consequences of their dilemma.  We may only find ourselves at the barricades metaphorically; however, it is both relevant and necessary for us to ponder our own responsibility in determining our common destiny and the contract to be established between the people and the government.

It is time for us all
To decide who we are
Do we fight for the right
To a night at the opera now?
Have you asked of yourselves
What’s the price you might pay?
Is it simply a game
For rich young boys to play?
The color of the world
Is changing day by day…
Red and Black
Les Miserables

Tags: citizenship, democracy, dilemma, ethics, law, morals, obligation, personal responsibility

Although drought continues here in Piedmont North Carolina we had fresh corn on the cob last night–the first of the season for us.  In addition to the corn we also managed to find a few ripe grape tomatoes, green bell peppers, and jalapeno peppers.  The three different varieties of summer squash that we planted are producing more than we can eat and/or give away despite the lack of rain.  While we have already picked and prepared green beans several times this year, the dry conditions threaten how plentiful any remaining harvest will be; however, the winter squash we planted (butternut) seems indomitable in our increasingly arid climate.  Our blueberries and blackberries have held up surprisingly well; but, they, too, are bracing for the unrelenting onslaught of Japanese beetles, which have now begun to lace the leaves of the blackberry bushes, glut themselves on ripe fruit, and breed on every leaf they have not already consumed.

Our weather forecasts tend to be more wishful thinking than they accurate predictions.  There have been rain dances in Atlanta conducted by shamans from various Native American tribes but I’m going with the Temptations, at least after the fireworks are over.

Sunshine, blue sky, please go away…
I wish it would rain (oh how i wish that it would rain)
Oh let it rain, rain, rain, rain (oh how i wish that it would rain)
The Temptations — I Wish It Would Rain

Tags: drought, gardening, rain

Last Saturday night we caught the final performance of Godspell at the Open Space Cafe Theater in Greensboro.  A good friend had recommended this particular production to us with glowing terms; she found the musical very entertaining even though she admitted that she was a bit weak on the finer points of the New Testament and the Gospel of Matthew–she’s Jewish.  She also sings and is a musician.  Her enthusiasm for the show was justified.

The performance was indeed entertaining, which I felt owed its greatest debt to the actors who engaged the audience in just the way the original stage direction seemed to indicate was necessary for the play to be successful–if the play appears too polished or too slick, its message runs the risk of being considered glib or even trite.  I vaguely recall when Godspell was first introduced in 1970 or 1971.  At the time, I remember that I considered it a kind of fundamentalist retort to Jesus Christ Superstar, which I much preferred to Godspell and liked well enough to purchase a recording of the soundtrack–I think I still have that old vinyl around here somewhere.  Sifting through the few memories I could recall from that time period, Day By Day, seemed to be the only notable song from Godspell whereas almost every song from Jesus Christ Superstar was instantly recognizable.  Day by Day lilted wistfully, and, in some ways, predictably while most of the songs featured in JCSS contained the elemental tension people face in lives that are challenged through matters of faith (I Don’t Know How To Love Him,for example), they are also more memorable since their foundation is rock music and not a church hymnal as was the case with Godspell.

Sometimes too much information can be as limiting as too little; consequently, I often do more in depth research on a play after I’ve seen it performed rather than before.  My method is probably counter intuitive to most; however, my penchant for over thinking is less likely to impede my ability to view the performance without preconceptions or unrealistic expectations if I come prepared more as a noble savage than as, well, a member of the pontificating array of philosophers/thinkers with which Godspell begins.  Post performance research reinforced my general attitude toward the actors, the staging, and the dynamics of the former and latter within the context of the play itself.  My investigations also reinforced my initial reservations formed decades ago about Godspell as a vehicle for the cargo it meant to transport.  I think the play itself fails in that regard; however, that is a matter of my own personal preference rather than a commentary on the skill and talent of the actors who labor in the variously articulated roles.  I just did not see how the concept of community was defined and solidified through the principal character, Jesus, the people, and his disciples as the original director’s notes indicate should be the case.  I have difficulty believing that this can be accomplished regardless of the actors selected for the various roles.  While the archaic spelling of Gospel suggests novelty and, perhaps, intimates that a revision or reinterpretation of the gospel’s meaning in light of current events will follow, it falls short despite references to foreclosures and sky-rocketing fuel prices.  OSCT’s performance of Godspell didn’t devolve into a vaudevillian band of merry pranksters bent on one-upmanship; however, the nature of play tends to teeter toward that precipice, nonetheless.

On balance Joe Nierle, the actors, and all of the OSCT crew did a commendable job and we were rewarded with an evening of great entertainment.  OSCT offers a different kind of live theater experience without sacrificing quality in either material or actors.  The informal nature of the venue promotes a more  communal atmosphere and helps to remove the barriers which tend to isolate the actors from the audience:  in a very real sense, and certainly with regard to Godspell, the audience becomes part of the performance.

The remainder of OSCT’s 2008 season promises a rich range of plays: Crowns; Blood Brothers; Blithe Spirit; Sander’s Family Christmas.  Based on past experience, there isn’t a bad choice in the lot, so why not make a point to see all of them?

Tags: live theater, musical, play

It has been roughly six months since I took the plunge to purchase iFamily for Tiger, a relative newcomer to genealogy software for Macs. I had reservations about the product at the outset triggered initially by the its name, iFamily for Tiger. With Apple already promising Leopard on the horizon I was concerned about the viability of the software especially if I chose not to become an early adopter of Apple’s newest operating system. My concerns led to an interesting and amusing chain of emails with the developer, Keith Wilson. As our exchanges progressed, I was convinced that my initial concerns were unfounded. Keith has not only produced an excellent product at an unbelievable price(upgrades are free!), he is exceptionally attuned to his user base and provides unparalleled service with obvious good will topped off with a welcome twist of wry humor! While there are a few features in iFamily that are only available to those who have upgraded to Leopard, they are completely transparent to those who continue to use Tiger. I plan to upgrade to Leopard when Apple resolves a few more issues that exist with the operating system so I was pleased that the improvements to iFamily were not exclusively for those who had made the switch to Leopard.

I had tested several genealogy programs for Mac: Reunion 9, MacFamilyTree 5, Heredis, Genealogy Pro, PAWriterX, and a few more whose names elude me at present before I finally demoed iFamily for Tiger. For starters, $100 was way too steep a price to shell out for Reunion 9–it just didn’t seem worth it to me despite its apparent dominance in its category for Mac software; and, I also found that its crippled demo was incredibly short-sighted considering the cost of the product. MacFamilyTree was better but the glowing reports regarding the software that I had encountered were for the old version, 4.5.  I visited the support forum of the latest version where the user comments and the company’s responses read like a script to a modern day soap opera or perhaps a mystery miniseries which revolved around the on-going, suspense-filled question: Will they ever get it right? To be frank, I liked iFamily from the start but it lacked a feature of being able to generate an HTML file, which could be published on a web site. That capability was already built into Reunion and MacFamilyTree and it seemed as if I would have to resort to other means to accomplish HTML generation with the data maintained in iFamily. As requests for this feature increased on iFamily’s support forum, Keith responded by implementing it in style–the resulting file looks so good that it is fun just to generate an HTML file and burn it to a CD or DVD for family members to view on their own computers, PC’s or Macs. iFamily has continued to mature with the addition of features and enhancements, which, in many cases, are a collaborative effort involving specific requests submitted by forum members and the developer. Equally as important as the maturation of the software is the restraint Keith has shown by not sacrificing quality for unnecessary bells and whistles and performance degrading bloat. iFamily for Tiger, Leopard, or Snow Leopard, this cat just purrs!

Tags: Mac genealogy software