Quote of the Day

"We do not draw people to Christ by loudly discrediting what they believe, by telling them how wrong they are and how right we are, but by showing them a light that is so lovely that they want with all their hearts to know the source of it."

- Madeleine L'Engle

Air Ferns

Steven has an air fern. He's had it for at least 3 years, and he's quite proud of the fact that it is still green...in other words, that he has been able to keep a plant alive for longer than a few months. I vaguely recall a couple other people in the dorm having air ferns.

Well, last night the subject came up yet again, and I made the final determination to learn what an air fern actually is and is not. A quick Google search turned up the fact that air ferns are actually Sertularia argentea...I would give you the entire scientific classification from Kingdom down to Species, but I know you would just stop reading. Anyway, the telling part comes first.

Kingdom: Animalia

Wait....Animalia?!? This is NOT a PLANT! Ah hah! I am vindicated!

As per Wikipedia: Air fern is the name given to a product that is in fact composed of a species of marine animal called Sertularia argentea. These so-called "ferns" are dead and dried colonies of hydrozoans, colonies of marine hydroids. Hydroids are related to corals and jellyfish.

So don't hold your breath waiting for it to grow!

Oh Yeah...I'm Definitely a Nut!

You Are a Cashew

You are laid back, friendly, and easy going. Compared to most people, you have a very mild temperament. You blend in well. You're often the last person to get noticed. But whenever you're gone, people seem to notice right away!

What Nut Are You?

I'm not sure I actually fit this description, but I like cashews, so it works!

Web Safari: Millennials

There have been all kinds of articles and such about my generation, as we are beginning to move into the workforce and everyone is trying to "figure us out" so to speak.

The first link is a look at what millennials mean for the workforce. It is a quite balanced article - it covers the positives that are unique and the differences that don't fit us easily into the modern workplace of the Boomers and Xers.

The next link is a look from the political side. Apparently a majority of millennials fit into the "progressive" mentality. My personal experience is that millennials are less willing to fit themselves into the Republican-Democrat boxes that have been prominent for the past several decades. Millennials also appear to be much much more interested and involved in politics than recent generations. It will be interesting to see what happens as we all mature and settle down with families.

A comparison of Generation X and Millennials.

A look at some of the factors and events that shaped/are shaping Millennials.

A blog devoted to issues relating to Millennials.

A NY Times article that discusses methods of communication and spreading news. A lot of what they say is true...people my age find information exactly the way I did here...you get a link from a friend via email or blog, you share what you read by blogging or emailing about it. I was thinking about the characteristics of my generation recently, as I have been considering ways to reach out to younger audiences for my job. So I went to Google and searched for articles relating to millennials. Then I skimmed through, found other links, etc. And now I'm sharing them with you!

Perspectives from Ghana

Stacia, a former RA from Anders at ISU, is with the Peace Corps in Ghana right now. She has some really interesting pictures and blog posts at her site.

One of her blog posts is her reflections at the 9-month mark in Ghana. Here are some thought-provoking quotes from it:

In America we often here of all the problems that exist in Ghana... poverty, corruption, abuse, gender inequality, lack of water, disease. We seem to think that it exists but can’t be as bad as they want us to believe. We also believe that it’s fixable. But living here for the past 9 months has given me a new perspective.

The corruption is pervasive, the gender inequality is improving in the urban areas, and poverty/water development is in progress. The Ghanaians may be poor, but compared to other countries in Africa, they are doing quite well. The truth is that they’re lives are incredibly difficult, and they don’t have any of the luxuries that we have in America and even small things that we take for granted are beyond their imagination. But they are doing just fine. Most families scrape by with enough food and water to survive. They used to be comfortable with having enough, but now the Western mentality has crept into the minds of the people and suddenly having enough isn’t enough. They want to have more. As much as possible, and they will do unthinkable things to get there.

It will take time, probably a lot of time to change things in Ghana and in Africa, and I truly believe now that development is going to take a lot more than money. Throwing money at a problem won’t do a thing, and the government workers will probably take a chunk of it to line their own pockets in the process. However, step by step, child by child, things can change. Education is at the heart of this change. My job is at the heart of this change. For the majority of teachers in Ghana, teaching is simply the transfer of information. My main goal here isn’t to teach computers. But by teaching computers I hope to transfer real life skills.

I would encourage you to go read all of what she has written and look at the pictures. Eye-opening! The line I put in bold type above is what really stuck out to me. We are so used to...saturated in a culture that says it's okay to always strive for more and more. This mentality doesn't have any less ugly results here, but we are so used to them - so conditioned to accept them as okay - that we don't even notice.

Busy Busy...Doing What?

Since I haven't posted anything recently, it would be fair to assume that I have been extremely busy. Well, I believe I have been busy, but I'm not altogether sure what it is that I've been so busy doing. Last week was fairly busy until the very end of the week. Saturday was the Master Gardeners' Tree Festival, but I didn't have much to do with that other than show up for a couple hours. So far this week I have stayed comfortably busy, but not crazy. I guess I haven't spent very much non-work time around a computer, hence the lack of posts.

My scheduled work is a lot lighter through April, compared to February and March, but the walk-ins and soil tests are increasing. I've got writing up soil test results down pat now, so they don't take very long most of the time.

My coworker's mother-in-law passed away on Sunday, so most of us from the office went to the funeral this morning. This afternoon I'm filming a segment with Ch. 12 called "Does It Work?" about a grass seed product called Patch Perfect. I'm not totally comfortable with the TV part yet, but I'm sure that sooner or later I'll get used to it.

Random Update

I'm doing a rare thing today and updating from work. I'm taking my lunch break, and then I'm headed out to teach a class. I feel like I should be updating more often, but as the course of life moves, I just don't get around to posting. Part of the problem is that I have some nice big thoughts, big posts to write. Unfortunately, they don't easily spill out onto the e-paper unless I take a chunk of time and focus on it. I suppose I could just start writing in stream-of-conciousness style, but I've been informed that most people don't fully appreciate the Mrs. Dalloway-Virginia Woolf style. Silly people. If I just started spilling my thoughts down on the page without a little editing and organization, I'm afraid that I would quickly find myself being sent to a mental health institution!

It is supposed to get to a high of 76 degrees here today, but it is currently only 56. For some reason, the air conditioning has decided to turn on though, making my office rather chilly. It's also windy - 16 mph - typical.

Anyway, I'm not anticipating getting much posting done this weekend, with it being Easter and all. There's probably more important things to focus on rather than ranting about flowers and such. Have a blessed Easter!

Exhaustion

I have now worked for 13 straight days, and more than 10 hours/day for several of them. I'm tired. The Wichita Garden Show went well, although apparently it was much more sparse and scaled back than it has been in past years. I have no frame of reference, so I try to stay out of the speculation ring. This past week was busy with meetings and playing catch up, but I didn't really feel as though I accomplished much because the last two days were spent in Manhattan at Hort Agent meetings, so the pile I cleared off my desk at the beginning of last week is right back where it was a week ago. This morning we had a Master Gardener work day in the demonstration garden. We had about 6" of old, semi-composted wood chip mulch to dig out and haul away from around all the raised beds. As I said, I'm tired. And I know I'm going to be really sore tomorrow. This coming week will be busy, but hopefully much more routine. I'm thinking about taking Friday off, just to rest and catch up some.

I have a couple of different blog posts rattling around in my head; we'll see when I get them written and posted.

Power Shopping!

I decided this week that this weekend would be a shopping weekend. Now, in general, I avoid clothes shopping like the plague. It's just not my idea of a fun-filled afternoon, particularly when I have a list of things I need to get. Ugh. But, for whatever reason, I seemed to be in the mood this week, and I know better than to let that sort of mood slip by. Of course, the mood could have been brought on by the fact that spring is quickly approaching here, and my hurriedly slapped-together work wardrobe is certainly only appropriate for winter. At a bare minimum I needed some good khakis that were dressy enough for work but not so dressy that I couldn't get a bit of dirt on them.

So, off I went to the mall. I got there just before 10 a.m., when most of the stores are just opening. I have to say that it was a quite successful day. In just over 2 hours, I ended up with 5 shirts/blouses, 3 camis, 2 pairs of pants, 1 pair of capris, and a dress. Happily, JCPenney had almost everything on 50% off before 1 p.m., so it was a great value! (I've been accused of only shopping when there are sales going on...sure, but when's the last time you were in a clothing store that wasn't running a sale of some sort?!?) It is also impressive that I was able to get almost everything I wanted to get so quickly. A lot of times I can spend several hours shopping and not find what I want. This was almost a miraculous shopping venture. I am also very happy that bright, saturated colors happen to be "in" this year. I found some really nice colored shirts that aren't a hideous shade.

In other news, the Wichita Garden Show is this week. www.wichitagardenshow.com We are going to be busy setting up Monday and Tuesday. Then I'll be at the show Wednesday-Sunday. 11 a.m.-9 p.m. on Wednesday and Thursday, 9 a.m.-9 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, and 11 a.m.-6 p.m. plus tear down on Sunday. So yeah...not getting a whole lot else done next week, needless to say. I also have a short TV appearance on Tuesday and a fairly important meeting to fit in on Monday. Yikes! Then next week I have Entomology/Plant Pathology update Tuesday and Hort agent training Thurs-Fri. in Manhattan.

In other words....don't expect to see much updating for a couple weeks. Sorry, no live-blogging from the Garden show, fun as that might be. If you desperately have to talk to me, your best bet is likely to be calling my cell phone.

Web Safari

1. Apparently my generation struggles with transitioning to the work world. Not a great surprise, that.

2. A blogger opines on the benefits of "old fashioned play." Can't say but what I disagree with her.
3. The NPR story the previous article was based on.

4. A NY Times article explaining the complexities of superdelegates and such.

5. An intriguing look at how the brain comprehends numbers and math.

6. An interactive map of Dante's Inferno!

7. A series of articles at Parchment and Pen theology blog about the emerging church.
- Would the Real Emerger Please Stand Up
- An Emerging Definition of Emerging
- Comparing Fundamentalists, Evangelicals, and Emergers (Be sure to check out the "Circle of Importance" charts. It's a great visual of one of the main differences between these groups.)
- Are You Emerging?

(If you want to take on the whole thing at once, instead of in sections, go here. )