Roberta M Roy

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Saturday, June 19, 2010

Qwerty, Lake Champlain, and Joan Sheldon

Today I asked myself what might be the effect were I to replace my current cell phone with one with a qwerty board. Would it speed up my readiness to interact electronically? Would I suddenly become less personally reserved in what I write? Would my popularity sky rocket and my whole future change? (I doubted it.)

Or suppose my house overlooking Lake Champlain in Port Henry sold. Would my life open up? Or narrow? For me often life has a way of making the major decisions for me so I concluded that the effects on me of its sale would depend on who was in my life at the time, their needs as well as mine, and the degree to which I could be creative with my life's design. Still, I liked the question.

And if I were to tell my life's story in book form, could I do it with style and poetry? Could I make it interesting? Would people read it?

Currently I am reading the autobiography of a life long friend, Joan Sheldon. Sheldon wrote Someone to Remember in response her children's questions about their father who had passed away, her life before they were born, and the grandparents they had never known.

I'm only half way through it, but as I read Someone to Remember, I am touched the understated telling of it, both the beauty and pain. And I am struck by Sheldon's courage and honesty in that telling . . . and the not telling . . . both of which lend to the sense that Sheldon has sailed through life in an easy, breezy manner, forever unbowed by the way life at times may have broadsided her. And from what I have seen, amazingly, she has stayed strong . . . not an easy task in the face the many life challenges she has had. Some occurred when we lived near one another, but most occurred after life's directions and the breadth of a continent separated us.

All of which leads me to this question: If I were to write my own biography, could I write as lightly as has Sheldon has of hers?

(Would that I could, but I think not.)

Roberta in Po-Town, Just wondering

5:20 pm edt Comments

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Day 57

June 15. Schools close next week. Estimated income taxes due. Obama to speak. Day 57 of Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Where are we? I'd say where we have to be. Making progress. Overwhelmed, but not totally.

BP is out there doing its thing, scouring the world for sand sifters and plastic shoe covers while demands go out for more shovels and rakes to do what can be done to clear the sand of oil at a snail's pace and backbreaking results as everyone jumps in to do his or her part. Just not enough sand sifting machines.

Lilliputians we all are, but not helpless. Only delayed and unevenly equipped due to lack of pre-planning for an event that no one in government ever really expected. Or should have.

Doesn't national (and probably even international law) require BP to adhere to best practices? Most advanced approaches? Well, so much for trust and integrity.

And now while BP battles the spill and provides what they can for the clean up, the nation battles a lack of supplies in an all out attempt by the Unified Command Center in Louisiana to pull together all of the relevant U.S. agencies.

But can you imagine the magnitude of a task assigned to a command center that is charged with coordinating the efforts of BP, Homeland Security, the Coast Guard, the Fish and Wildlife Service, the EPA, NASA , the U.S. Geological Survey, the Gulf states, and NOAA? Just remembering all the names or knowing which services they provide is challenge enough.

So how are we doing? Well, let's do some comparing. According to a man named Nick Pozzi who spent years in the Middle East and had charge of resolving a Saudi Exxon Valdez oil spill, it took them six months to have twenty-five supertankers clean up the major part of the 700-800 million gallon spill from which they recouped 85% of the oil for use and resale. The Deepwater Horizon numbers change on a day to day basis but using the 800 million gallon to six months clean up schedule offers us a measure by which to gage our progress. But it is going to take time.

So here we are, two months into the clean up but with the stuff still spewing. Not good, but somehow, hopeful. Yes. I figure that if the Saudis in six months could clean up the Exxon Valdez spill . . . almost secretly with 25 supertankers . . . we should be able to beat this problem. Think of it. We've all the world called upon for help and materials and all the U.S. agencies listed above involved.

And why do I thing we'll persevere to success? Well, thanks to the environmentalists who have made us at times screetchingly aware of the importance of protecting our shores and wildlife, the whole nation supports the clean up effort--and will continue to do so until its success is met.

Meantime, to get a better sense of the action and progess (or lack of progress), do check out the interactive map provided by NOAA at www.geoplatform.gov/gulfresponse .

Roberta in Po-Town, Hopeful

7:35 pm edt Comments

Sunday, June 13, 2010

What about a Convoy of Trucks Filled with Corn Cobs?

There's something wrong with the picture. It's like studying the disease when one hasn't the cure and not really seeming to be treating at least the symptoms. Is it the media coverage? Or the reality?

Now we know BP is overwhelmed by the size and fury of the oil spill and a best case scenario for its repair is the hope that the relief wells will have done their job by late August. Well, let's hope. So that at this point, is not really news.

And everyday I read of how the spill and its effects are mushrooming. They even talk of the slick reaching in the Atlantic as far north as the the New York shores. Missing from the equation, however, is talk of the defense against it reaching the shores where its damage is worst. (Although I did hear reference to some 1500 ships in the gulf addressing the problem . . . hopefully slurping up the oil, pulling it to shore, dumping into some kind of sub-station . . . if such things exist . . . where they can extract the oil and then return the salt water to the sea. Or better yet, perhaps the ships are equipped to do that, returning to shore only when their holds are filled with the oil extracted from the sea water-oil mix.)

So I look. Not much to read. Just pictures of oil slick on shore and water. Until today when I came across an article on how corn cobs can be used to absorb the oil and once picked up can be transported to a processing plant where centrifical force can be used to pull out the oil, and, I supposed, the cobs then returned to the sea for another pick up.

Strikes me that the beauty of this approach is its simplicity. Also, unlike some of BP's stop-the-flow ideas, this process has apparently already been patented in the U. S., Canada, and 30 other countries!

The corn cob idea was the brainchild of Adria Brown of West Bloomfield, IL. She dubbed the process, the "Golden Retriever." Turns out that corn cobs not only float, they are absorbent and also naturally rotate in the water. So Brown, with the support of others, working through the Feeders Grain and Supply Inc. in Corning, Iowa, have amassed 34,000 tons of corn cobs for use.

Now while I've no idea how much oil that many tons of cobs might absorb, I'm not really worried about it. I just think that the Federal Government should get them dumped along the shores of the hardest hit areas ASAP. Like by tomorrow.

Just think of it. A convoy of trucks filled with corn cobs on their way to Louisiana and the Gulf Shores at sunrise tomorrow or, at latest, Tuesday.

Roberta in Po-Town, Hopeful

10:37 pm edt Comments

Friday, June 11, 2010

Cathy Stucker Interview re: Jolt: a rural noir

Cathy Stucker will interview me about my intent and how I came to write Jolt: rural noir . The interview will be released on http://SellingBooks.com around 6 a.m. CDT on Sunday, 6/13/10.

Please take a peek at it by clicking on the Selling Books link above, and if you think it is interesting, please give my book a boost by sending it along to your friends.

Roberta in Po-Town, Hopeful

11:34 pm edt Comments

Thursday, June 10, 2010

On the Elegance of I Don't Know

Under cover of pride and a sense of knowledge falsely propped by bits and pieces from the internet, Modern Dumb continues to take its toll on human relations, rational thinking, and active problem solving.

Once upon a time I used to look forward to conversations with certain persons for the wealth of information, beliefs, and questions we'd exchange. But times have changed. More and more, the pervasive effects of the internet upon our psyches, has caused people to increasingly profess they know and have formed an opinion about a topic and if they don't know or have formed their opinion on some half-baked aspect understanding of the issue, they are offended to think you might want to tell them anything new.

Somehow the line between what is in the brain and what is on the net is often lost. When's the last time anyone said to you, "I don't know" ? Or to take it one step further, "I don't know enough to have formed an opinion" ? Or, imagine this one: "I know a little bit about it, but the picture is too big for me to fully grasp. What's your take on it?"

Nope. Everybody's got an opinion. Yup. And they don't want to talk about it. Why? They hate conflict. What's that mean? Well, obviously it means either they are not as informed as they profess to be or they are seeing the world in black and white, right and wrong, or my side and your side. But what's so wrong with let's talk about it? Or, well, I don't think I agree with you, but let's talk about it?

To counter this societal failing, I think we need to have study groups on questions related to what is happening in the world. It's so complex. These groups would be open to anyone willing and capable of discussing and sharing information they have from the web, newspapers, reading, the guy next door, and just personal rumination and speculation. Everyone would bring in a bit of information on the topic under discussion and first each person would summarize the main point the source was making. After everyone had shared his or her information, the group would open to discussion. As there is really is no answer as to how one should best manage turn taking fairly, each group would find its own way to manage the gate keeping of the conversation.

The real purpose of these discussions would be to explore a topic so that all would be better informed. Through this discussion the group participants would have processed the information and would therefore have understood it better, and thus being better prepared to form an opinion. The group as a whole might or might not come to agreement on the implications of the information. In general, opinions could be, but would not need to be stated as part of the exchange.

We have book clubs, bible study clubs, parenting groups, couples counseling groups, social discussion groups, the list goes on . . . but where are the groups that talk about the stuff of societal issues outside the confines of religion and political parties? Only in colleges and universities, in classes and advocacy groups. Why doesn't every group of friends, neighborhood and town have a news sharing group? I think they're needed. Before we all drown in a sea of knowing it all, when really, we haven't even scratched the surface.

Roberta in Po-Town, Gotta' comment?

12:02 am edt Comments

Friday, June 4, 2010

Be-fuddled:Teenagers Opting for the Rhythm Method?

Now teenagers are betting on the use of the rhythm method to prevent pregnancy. Can you imagine?!! A documented failure rate of 9 to 25% per year!! And if as many teenagers as there were a few years ago are currently sexually active . . . at one point I heard the number had decreased . . . just watch the number of teenage pregnancies sky rocket! (If my mother were around she'd be takin' them on one at a time and shaking them to their senses.)

Ask someone who grew up before abortion was legal if anyone dared at that time to rely on the rhythm method. In those days we did not advocate abstinence: we practiced it. At least for as long as we could hold out . . . which many of us did into our twenties.This meant, things being what they are, that those of us who held out the longest were also careful not to spend long times alone with members of the opposite sex. Or we married before the age of twenty. Among the rest of us . . . the birth control pill wasn't around at that time . . . the more informed and responsible young adults invested in condoms and diaphragms . . . and used them.

Of course at that time, becoming a single mother translated into the ultimate of shame. And while now the society is more open to single motherhood, this is not to say it's any easier.

In Vermont for a while, I did therapy with a teenager who attended a part of the high school program extended into a day program where parenting skills were taught to a small group of single mothers busy trying to juggle nursing their baby with passing algebra. Odd experience . . . teaching a high schooler how to write a letter while someone else is teaching her how balance a diet, shop for food, and apply for WIC.

But even with all that support, I wondered who would provide for the girl and baby after? The mom's parents? Or maybe she left the baby with her mom or in some day care facility and went for post secondary education or got a job. Regardless of the way, from my point of view, a long row to hoe and not one I'd recommend to anyone.

Roberta in Po-Town, Be-fuddled

10:20 pm edt Comments

Thursday, June 3, 2010

The US Senate's Secret Holds Have to Go

The work of cowards and manipulators, secret holds by members of the US Senate have prevented the seating of 120 appointees to the Obama White House staff, hampering and in places even crippling the functioning of the Federal Government Executive Branch. Among the open and contested seats are two on the Marine Mammal Commission.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota has pointed out that despite the oil spill crisis in the Gulf of Mexico, the two nominees to the Marine Mammal Commission have been blocked for more than two months through the use of the secret hold. This strikes me as especially irresponsible given the critical question of how to protect ocean wild life in relation to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico effects at this time. As such, why any US Senator would seek to prevent the Marine Mammal Commission from being fully staffed is beyond my ken.

Senate secret holds are achieved, often at the behest of powerful special interest groups, by a Senator anonymously threatening to filibuster the seating of a nominee. In so doing, the senator not only prevents the nominee's consideration by the Senate, but also, if the nominee's name is proposed, can tie the Senate up in filibuster, preventing the timely consideration of critical other issues that might have been addressed in the interim.

So to keep the wheels of government churning, the nominees names are simply not put forward. This, however, on the one hand, hobbles the functioning of government through ensuring its inadequate staffing and therein affects the nation negatively in a potentially very broad and ill-defined manner. Meantime the preventing senator hides safely behind the skirts of the secret hold.

When one considers the gravity of the situation in the Gulf of Mexico and the makeup of the nation's most powerful special interest groups, isn't it easy to guess that the cowardly senators preventing the consideration and seating of nominees to critical governmental posts might not number among their manipulators, big oil?

Senators to the right and the left of the isle are seeking to end the use of the secret hold. A petition is being circulated that is only a few signatures from making this intent a reality. My sense is that anything we can do to speed the Senate toward the abolition of this archaic and undemocratic practice should be done now, including calling or emailing our own state senators to share our take on the need to abolish the use of US Senator secret holds.

Roberta in Po-Town, Steamin'

11:35 pm edt Comments

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Here you're suppose to learn about my personal life, my love of learning, the dog I don't have, my house that sits empty on a hill in Port Henry 'cause on the one hand I don't want to sell it, 'cause I love it too much, but on the other hand, I never seem to find the time to get there anymore but I haven't found a buyer. Of course I haven't been looking either. Too busy with Jolt. Also this site is still under construction so I probably won't get to selling it this month either. Well, that means, at least I can run up there over Labor Day and party with all my friends and neighbors there which is enough to make me want to hurry up and finish this so I can get ready to leave.

Here I am supposed to write more about myself and think about putting a picture of myself someplace below, except I put the picture in before I did anything else because I thought I was suppose to get rid of the butterfly but it didn't, which is probably just as well because I like the butterfly better. That's because it doesn't make me feel exposed like the black dress I'm wearing below does. The reason I chose that picture is because my sister C. thinks it's about the best picture of me I ever had taken. That's because I'm more mature now and most pictures look awful because they really look just like me. Of course C. thinks the one below does and all the other ones don't. Which a bit of a trip in itself. But what is there to say? And I'm glad she took it. R.