Signifying nothing

Work took me to the midwest this weekend. I was in the middle of Illinois. The corn in Illinois was barely an inch out of the ground. When I commented how strange that seemed, the driver taking me from the airport to the hotel scoffed. "It has been so wet and cold here I'm surprised it is up at all." The farmers, it would seem, are worried. They are uncertain that they will get much of a crop this year. Compound this with the economic decline, and you can imagine that people's spirits are as low as their corn seedlings. It was overcast and while not exactly cold, it wasn't exactly warm my entire time in Illinois. Like much of the country, there is a great deal of concern about where the country is going economically. The housing market is in the tank, and even farms are being effected badly. If you don't know, many farmers run their businesses off big seed loans (literally) from banks. The bank loans the farmer enough money to plant a crop, and the...

I recall reading some time ago that human behavior is motivated more by perceptions of what other human beings are doing rather than on any particular reality that one is facing. We humans are very intuitive creatures, who interpret situations not just intellectually, but also by environmental and social influences. For example, in a psychology experiment designed to determine how unconscious factors influence people, experimenters had test subjects handed either a warm cup of coffee or a cold cup of coffeed to a test subject before they went into an interview. On the whole the people who held the hot cup of coffee perceived the experience of the interview more positively and also performed better. What I am getting at is that if something so simple as warmth can have an impact on us, imagine the impact of our fellow human being's behavior--subtle or not. The economic down turn has really only started hitting the middle class right now, what with the massive layoffs in January (...

I received this in the morning mail: Today is a particularly sad day for all of us at JPG and 8020 Media. We've spent the last few months trying to make the business behind JPG sustain itself, and we've reached the end of the line. We all deeply believe in everything JPG represents, but we just weren't able to raise the money needed to keep JPG alive in these extraordinary economic times. We sought out buyers, spoke with numerous potential investors, and pitched several last-ditch creative efforts, all without success. As a result, jpgmag.com will shut down on Monday, January 5, 2009. The one thing we've been the most proud of: your amazing talent. We feel honored and humbled to have been able to share jpgmag.com with such a dynamic, warm, and wonderful community of nearly 200,000 photographers. The photography on the website and in the magazine was adored by many, leaving no doubt that this community created work of the highest caliber. The kindness, generosity, and su...

Given that I finally received my "Economic Stimulus" payment (it says that right on the fancy Statue of Liberty emblazoned gubmint check), I have decided to spend it egregiously on items that I can no doubt live with out, but want, rather than using it for, oh, buying 150 gallons of gasoline. Given that I don't currently own a car, finding a place to put the gasoline seemed like too much work. Buying a new car seems like more work, and just about as exciting as root canal. With that, instead of suffering because of high fuel prices, I get to stimulate the economy in my own weird way. Item 1: Official Utah Jazz away jersey with "Theorris" imprinted on the back. I chose the number 83 since that was my high school football number. I shall wear it disc golfing today. Item 2: 3 new books, hardbound and all first editions. The Ten Most Beautiful Experiments by George Johnson. When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris. The Butt by Will Self. (I mu...