Anarchy Evolution

Full disclosure: I'm a Bad Religion Fan Girl. Or something. Fan Girl sounds awfully frivolous, but what else do you call it?

Fan?

OK.

I'm a Bad Religion fan. And I have been for something like 17 years. Bad Religion was a huge influence on my life and world view as a teenager. You know those years where everyone is figuring things out for themselves and starting to ask the big questions? Those were the years that I listened to and studied Bad Religion albums. And I sang along. I knew every lyric (still do) and found so much to think about. So yeah. I pretty much grew up with Greg Graffin's philosophic influence. And, not necessarily as a result, but as it happens, I'm an atheist and a monist and I find evolution in everything. I am not a scientist, but I sometimes wish I was. Pretty much I've been so influence by Greg Graffin and I've listened to and read his lyrics for so long that Anarchy Evolution is just common sense to me. I'd like to say that I think like him, but maybe it's more correct to just say that I understand what he's saying. It's what I would say if I were eloquent (OK, I wouldn't write the personal memoir-type stuff, but the philosophy/atheism/evolution stuff).

In short. I'm going to buy my own copy of this book because I want to read it again with a hi-lighter (they frown on that with library copies) and I want to hi-light the crap out it. And I want to shove my neon copy into the hands of the next person who asks me some dumb question about atheism or what I believe and say "read the yellow parts."

I don't believe in self-important folks who preach
No Bad Religion song can make yourself complete
You'll get no direction from me.

Airport Margarita

I started a Tumblr.
It's called Airport Margarita.

It's about drinking margaritas in airports, which is something I do from time to time. I think it's gonna be set up so anyone can make a submission. But I'm still figuring out this whole tumblr format, so who knows.

A Visit From the Goon Squad

Earlier this week, I was about halfway through A Visit from the Goon Squad and I went to see Social Distortion. Mike Ness is losing his hair, and I thought about how sexy he was last time I saw them play...back when I was in high school, in 1997. And then I realized that 1997 was 14 years ago. It was a 21+ show, and for maybe the first time ever, instead of looking around a show and thinking "Wow, I feel old compared to all these kids" I thought "Wow, we're ALL old".

Early in the set they played "Mommy's Little Monster" then, "Sick Boy". Those songs kicked me in the gut. Then they played "Ball and chain" and I just wanted to cry. I've known those songs and lived those songs and sang those songs and thought I had every emotional reaction to those songs before. But now, the ball and chain is the corporate job and the underwater mortgage. There is nothing punk rock about an underwater mortgage. I think I had a mid-life crisis, right there in what would have been a mosh pit 14 years ago, but was just a crowd of polite foot tappers.

Time is a goon. I think I'm going to paint my fingernails black.

Our Endangered Values

I like Jimmy Carter. Even more now that I've listened to Our Endangered Values.

I especially was interested in President Carter's discussions about fundamentalism, in religion and in politics. He defines fundamentalism in a way I'd not through of it before, but seemed dead on to me. He says that fundamentalism is the idea that we're right, and chosen and everyone else is wrong and therefor un-chosen and therefore disposable. Also that it gives power to leaders instead of to people, which leads to abuses of power. These are exactly the qualities of so many vocal religious groups that make me hostile to religion in general. Sometimes I forget that there are other kinds of religiosity. It's really rare to hear a public figure, especially a Christian public figure, standing up to the idea that some churches and church leaders have taken a selfish and corrupt path. I was preparing myself to really disagree with President Carter for the religious chapters, and I did disagree with him, especially when he talked about missionary work. But I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed what he had to say. He really shows that it is possible to separate religion and politics without being disloyal to your strongly held beliefs.

I was also so refreshed to hear him talk about religion in politics in a way that promotes peace, environmentalism and kindness, things that the most vocal religious political groups condemn. I want to give this book to all my Christian relatives who seem believe that Jesus wants them to starve the poor and bomb the middle east and all that other evilness.

I "read" this as an audio book, and I have to admit that I probably wouldn't have got through the book format. The second half or so got a big dull, but listening I could just tune out a bit without giving up entirely.

Since finishing the book, I've browsed around on the Carter Center website. They do some good stuff!

Green Books - Green Lighting

This review is part of the Green Books campaign. Today 200 bloggers take a stand to support books printed in an eco-friendly manner by simultaneously publishing reviews of 200 books printed on recycled or FSC-certified paper. By turning a spotlight on books printed using eco- friendly paper, we hope to raise the awareness of book buyers and encourage everyone to take the environment into consideration when purchasing books.

The campaign is organized for the second time by Eco-Libris, a green company working to make reading more sustainable. We invite you to join the discussion on "green" books and support books printed in an eco-friendly manner! A full list of participating blogs and links to their reviews is available on the Eco-Libris website.

This year, for the Green Books campaign, I read Green Lighting by Brian Clark Howard, William J Brinsky and Seth Leitman. The book, which I must disclose I received free through the campaign, is printed on 100% post-consumer recycled paper certified by the Forest Stewardship Council.

Something you should know before reading this review: I work in the energy industry and the firm I work for was referenced in Chapter 1 of Green Lighting, (which I didn't know when I chose to read it). I review energy efficiency projects including some lighting projects, but I am by no means an expert on the subject. Lighting is a much more vast topic than most people realize and I often find myself calling colleagues with questions. As an engineer who works with lighting, I found this book to be a wonderful reference and refresher about various lighting technologies.

In general the book reads like a text book (a 101-level lighting text for non-engineers). Sure you could read it cover to cover, and it's accessible enough that some people probably do that. I couldn't get through it like that. I used it to be more of a reference. I picked around and read sections and chapters as I needed them and as they caught my attention.

The chapters on best practices and day lighting and on solar and next-generation lighting were by far the most interesting to me. They're the only chapters I would describe as page-turners and I think they have the broadest appeal. (Homeowners, are you listening? You should start at chapter 8!) There is a section on how to light various rooms in a home that should be required reading for builders and decorators.

I found the sections on florescent lights and gas discharge lights to be extremely informative and while it didn't make for captivating bedtime reading, I'll be keeping my copy of Green Lighting at work where I can pick it up the next time I need to remember the relative efficacies of low pressure sodium or metal halide lamps. (But I'll still need another more detailed reference to do any kind of rigorous calculations.) I'm not sure a typical homeowner or even commercial property manager needs that same level of detail. Of course if that homeowner happens to be an engineer, then they'll read it anyway!

In all, I'm very pleased with Green Lighting. It's a book I'll keep and come back to.

*** edited to add

I just realized that I received and read the wrong book!

At the start of the campaign each blogger chose several books. Green Lighting was one of my choices, but wasn't the book finally selected for me. I was supposed to review Solar Power for Your Home. Green Lighting, was assigned to a blog called Green Goddess and her review is here.

I'm not sure exactly how the error happened, but I'm feeling pretty guilty that I didn't notice it until now. After 5 weeks and a comedy of errors involving a mistyped email address, then signature required shipping, the package being returned to the sender while I twittled my thumbs thinking they'd try to deliver it again, then the awesome help of Eco-Libris to get it re-shipped to my office where I had to chase the delivery guy across the parking lot after I watched him walk past my office window the day I knew it was supposed to arrive (not his fault, the addresses in my building are confusing), I finally received Green Lighting. By that time, I'd forgotten which of my choices was selected and since I recognized the title, I didn't think twice about it! The books are from the same publisher and with the confusion in shipping, it could have gotten mixed up at any point.

Modern slavery is real

How you can help.

Another blog, maybe

I'm thinking about starting an energy efficiency blog.

It would be something simple with minimum writing from me. More like a scrap book than a blog, Tumblr-style maybe. It would just links to good articles and videos. Like this one.



But I'm not really sure about it though. I don't really need one more project in my life. And I am suspicious that my employment agreement prohibits any energy related work that they don't own. And I'd rather not do it than write a corporate blog. (The words "corporate blog" make me want take a nap. So I'm gonna just go to bed now.)