Focus in a Busy World: The GrapeVine Listening Room

One of the topics that I enjoy researching in my spare time is human attention and the ability to focus. If you spend enough time online you'll find articles, anecdotes, and studies that talk about how we live in a time where our attention is being pulled in every direction. One of the common assumptions is that because we have so much portable technology and such easy access to our friends and our entertainment, we lose the ability to focus on what is in front of us. We force our brains to try and listen, watch, text, type, talk, walk, etc. all at the same time. Some of these tasks can be done at the same time, but the true tasks that we enjoy and want to absorb deep into our bones cannot be done at the same time. Multitasking, the studies tell us, simply doesn't work well when it comes to higher level tasks. What are we to do when presented with so many tempting things to focus on?

Enter the GrapeVine Listening Room in Clive, Iowa and you will rediscover your focus.

If you're going to see a live show of a local band, you'll most often find yourself in a bar. These bars almost always have televisions, loud conversations, and kitchen noise. Most of the time, that's fine, we don't mind that. I frequently go to places like that to listen to the bands I like. The GrapeVine is a different kind of venue. They serve wine by the bottle and the room (yes, it's a single room) holds about 35 people with a small stage at the back. You immediately feel cozy upon walking in, especially with a big, comfy couch over on the left side of the room. 

There are no televisions. There is no kitchen. It's a listening room.

I saw my first show there last night and it was fantastic. My friend plays keyboard for a great local roots rock band called Brother Trucker and they were performing there last night. You are expected to be in your seats and ready to go at 7:00 sharp. No cell phones allowed, no conversation during the performance. Just listen. One of the owners told us exactly what to expect and what the rules were before the band started playing. Three of my friends and I brought some snacks to share at our table. We poured our wine, ate some snacks, and relaxed. Then the show began.

First of all, Brother Trucker is a fantastic band. I see them frequently and they know how to rock. But the best part about seeing them at the GrapeVine is that they are literally right in front of you, packed together on the small stage, and they're not blowing you out of your seat. They've got the volume just right. Because you are so focused on the band and nothing else, you get to hear all of the lyrics. You can pay close attention to how the bass player changes the way he plucks his strings, the different movements in the eyes and feet of the lead singer, and the movements and gestures of the lead guitarist. I've seen my friend play the keyboard many times with these guys but this was the first time I actually was able to see his hands as he played. There were unique ways his fingers touched the keys as he played different songs.

This place worked so well because your entire attention, everything you are, was focused on the band. And the lead singer gave each member of the band an opportunity to tell a story, pick a song to play, and give back story on what the songs meant, where they came from, and the unique relation each song had to someone in the band. You could see the band as an organic thing, watching the players watch each other for cues, keeping the time with their feet in different ways. It's one thing to see a band live, but it's another thing to experience it in full focus like this. It's as if you are part of the band, sitting just above their shoulder as you gaze around at the creation of the music.

If you live in the Des Moines metro area, heck, if you live in Iowa, you should come to the GrapeVine and check it out. It's a small place in a big, busy, attention-hungry universe. But it reminds you of how important it is to focus, to pay attention, and to rediscover something you love so much.

Memorial Day

As a democratic republic, we can and should have social discussions about the role of the modern military and our use of force in a 21st century world. On Memorial Day, however, we take a moment to remember the ideals that our armed services fought and died for, from Lexington and Concord to the fields of Iraq and Afghanistan. Each cause was unique, different, and involved a complex set of ideals and passions.

However, I took time today to ride my bike to a private establishment to enjoy the beautiful weather with a friend, watch baseball, and have excellent conversation. Along the way, I took advantage of clean air, taxpayer funded trails, a well-built bicycle made by American hands, clean and safe food and beer, and entertainment that has long been part of America's history.

Now I know that probably few, if any, soldiers thought of these kinds of things as they sat in foxholes and ran into gunfire during all of our conflicts. But the fact of that matter is that these women and men fought, and died, to keep this way of life, this system of government, this last, best hope of Earth alive for future generations to pass along to their children. Because embedded within days like this are the freedoms to evolve, to conjure new ideas, to elaborate on what is possible, and to disagree, without conflict, with your neighbor. This is the essence of of the American way of life. We have changed as a people from the centuries before, but we have always had the unique ability to disagree, to think about new things, and not be beholden to the previous generation in terms of ideas from the ancien regime.

So although I did not run into any veterans today to thank, nor did I actively do anything to remember them, I did do one thing that I think is important: I lived the way I wanted to. I was not dictated to, I was not forced to do anything, and I did not live in fear of someone watching over me.

To me, that is what it means to be an American. Happy Memorial Day.

ACRL 2013 - Librarians and Ideas

I had the opportunity to attend the national conference for the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) a couple of weeks ago in Indianapolis. This was my first national conference, as I usually attend state and regional conferences. I knew going into it that it would be the biggest conference I had ever been to, but I approached it with optimism and hope that I could bring some good ideas home.

On that first morning, it hit me like a ton of bricks: there are a ton of librarians in this country.

There were thousands of librarians at the conference, and 1100 of us were first-timers. The keynotes of Geoffrey Canada and Henry Rollins were really interesting, but I was there to hear from librarians who had tried new things, had success with projects, tried new teaching methods, and figured out ways to assess their work better. See, most library conferences are great because people are looking to find out what works, what doesn't, and how we can evolve our craft. Normally you go home with a large amount of notes on ways to improve what you do. At a regular state or regional conference you might go home with a grocery bag of ideas. At this conference I felt like I was trying to capture an avalanche of ideas.

One of the best parts of attending was discovering that there are a number of things we are doing at our institution that closely resemble what some of the 'bleeding edge' libraries are doing. That makes you feel like you're having a big impact. However, there are many areas that we have to work on as well. But that's the whole point of going, to discover how to get better and serve your patron community the best you can. So even though it was overwhelming (so many people!), it was a wonderful group of people to hang out with, ask questions of, and bounce ideas off of. There are times when you feel like you could keep conference-ing for weeks, but then you realize you are exhausted and have to recharge at the end of the day.

It was great to see current friends and colleagues, like my buddy Carl who is just about to graduate from library school at Illinois, and my friend Robin at University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. Plus, I got to see lots of old friends from library school. Best of all was meeting new people and starting new relationships. Those are the kinds of things I want to keep doing because those relationships are where some of the best, new ideas will come from. And hopefully I can reciprocate.

So all in all, it was a great time and Indianapolis was a nice city. It all happened so quickly but I hope I can join my colleagues again in Portland for the 2015 conference.

Boston and Dr. Tyson

Just a quick post this morning.

Last night, I traveled up to Iowa City to see Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson with two of my friends. He was fantastic. He brought the humor, the science, the passion that he is known for. It was a wonderful night, especially after a long day at work and learning about the Boston Marathon Attack.

Near the end of his talk, Dr. Tyson reminded us all of something incredibly important that transcends everything he had talked about before. Invoking the spirit of Carl Sagan, he showed the audience a photo (seen below) that the Cassini probe took of a Saturn-solar eclipse. Saturn was sitting in front of the sun, creating an eerie glow around the planet and its rings. But hidden off to the left of the rings was, as Sagan so famously called it, the Pale Blue Dot.

It is Earth.

Dr. Tyson reminded us, as his mentor Carl Sagan did, that on that tiny pale blue dot exists everything you have ever known, including all the rulers, bloodshed, and accomplishments of history. It even includes the tragedy of Boston. When we look at the Pale Blue Dot, we must remember to be humble, to treat each other with kindness, and to remember that we are all a part of a greater universe.

When we teach people that, let us hope that they understand the importance of this life on Earth and make it the best one they can. If we teach this way, we can hopefully snuff out the evil that exists and lingers in our world. And hopefully never have another Boston attack again.

NOVA: Meteor Strike

I had a delightful evening a couple of weeks ago when I happened upon an excellent NOVA program on PBS entitled "Meteor Strike." The program detailed not only the threat to Earth from space-bound rocks but showed examples of previous meteorite strikes. I learned that some meteors are actually made almost entirely out of metal. A British museum showed how one of their meteorites had actually been crafted into a perfect trailer hitch.

The main part of the episode, though, focused on the recent February meteorite strike near Chelyabinsk, Russia. This was the most documented meteorite strike in world history, thanks to so many Russian dashboard cameras. On a side note, Russians are terrible at driving and require huge amounts of expensive insurance, so lots of people carry these cams on their dashes to prove what happened. Who would have ever guessed they would record an historic, scientific event?

The science in the episode is breathtaking. One of my favorite parts involved a scientist who traveled from the U.S. to Chelyabinsk to find the spots from which most of the videos had been taken. Using these measurements, he and his team were able to then pinpoint where the meteorite originated in outer space and what track it came at through the atmosphere. They were also able to determine the size, speed, and trajectory of the object  as well. They even found shards of it in the nearby Chelyabinsk fields. 

Programs like this help us understand nature quite a bit but they also remind us that we need to remember that we are not immortal. If this strike had occurred just a little differently over a larger populated area, there could have been many casualties. We also need to be aware that we are intelligent enough as a species to prevent these kinds of things from harming us in the future. We need to fund the programs that track these objects and build orbital systems to intercept them. It's entirely possible, but we just need the money to do it.

Finally, this video is one of my favorites from the recent Chelyabinsk event.

Death from the Skies!

My most recent read was from astronomer Phil Plait, who writes the Bad Astronomy blog over at Slate. "Death from the Skies" chronicles all of the possible ways that our planet, and life as we know it, could be destroyed by non-terrestrial natural events. This is definitely not light reading nor does it always perk you up, but it is funny, highly informative, and humbling. Plait's description of our solar system, galaxy, and universe help you to appreciate our position in the cosmos. But how do we survive? Here's how.

Plait covers a wide range of deadly outer space culprits in an attempt to show you just how powerful nature is. The list includes: gamma ray bursts from black holes, solar flares/coronal mass ejections, asteroid impact, comet impact, galactic collision (that's a slow death), and many others. Each chapter starts with a fun little 2-3 page story of humans observing these things from Earth, and they can be a bit scary. After that, the writing is filled with excellent science writing mixed with Plait's clever humor. You come away from this book with far more knowledge of nature than just what can kill us. Plait does an excellent job of explaining how so many different natural forces work, from gravity to chemistry to geology to quantum mechanics.

Here's the good news: most of these things are not going to kill us. The chances of gamma ray bursts or galactic collisions happening are slim. However, the two chapters that I enjoyed the most are actually the chapters the tell the story of our two most likely killers: solar radiation and asteroid/comet impacts.

Plait makes a great case near the end to increase funding towards protecting our planet against solar radiation and impacts from extra-terrestrial bodies like comets and asteroids. There are some great ideas, scientists, and programs out there that just need more funding to get their plans off the ground. A coronal mass ejection could wipe out our power grid and send us plunging into medieval times. It could even damage our ozone layer, which leads to huge long-term problems. And we all know what an asteroid or comet impact could do. The dinosaurs know all about that. But we can prevent these, the most likely problems, if we just work harder at it.

This was a fun, engaging read that I recommend to folks who enjoy a good science book, especially those of you who enjoy astronomy.

Sandy Hook and Everything After

FlowingData is a site that I read frequently because they create interesting infographics and images that combine all kinds of data together to give regular folks an idea of how things work. As you can see below, they posted an image today to give the public an idea of how many gun deaths we have had in the United States since the deaths of students at Sandy Hook school in Newtown, CT.

Source: FlowingData.com

That's a pretty scary map. No one would admit that this is normal. In fact, the U.S. has a problem with gun-related deaths that other countries do not come close to. The question is: what is the solution? Do we ban certain kinds of guns? Do we have background checks for everyone? Something must be done. We cannot keep living this way.

There is one belief that the 2nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution prevents anything from being done in terms of gun control. The Constitution is a magnificent document, but there are parts of it that do not apply the same way today as they did in the 18th century. It is time that we rethink parts of our laws. I will leave you with one of my favorite quotes from Thomas Jefferson because I believe it applies to this situation quite a bit.

"I am certainly not an advocate for frequent and untried changes in laws and constitutions. I think moderate imperfections had better be borne with; because, when once known, we accommodate ourselves to them, and find practical means of correcting their ill effects. But I know also, that laws and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind. As that becomes more developed, more enlightened, as new discoveries are made, new truths disclosed, and manners and opinions change with the change of circumstances, institutions must advance also, and keep pace with the times. We might as well require a man to wear still the coat which fitted him when a boy, as civilized society to remain ever under the regimen of their barbarous ancestors." - Thomas Jefferson to H. Tompkinson alias Samuel Kercheval, July 12, 1816

Gun deaths since Sandy Hook

Present Shock

This piece on NPR was right up my alley the other day. I sat in the car in the driveway of my house finishing it, thus confirming the 'driveway moments' that NPR listeners talk about.

One of my favorite things to research in my free time is how technology affects the way we live. Since the birth of the web, the advent of mobile technology, and high-speed Internet, our lives have changed considerably. Douglas Rushkoff does a remarkable job of explaining some of the inherent problems that we now have because we are constantly connected. And yes, we do hear about this quite a bit. Multitasking is ruining us! We're texting while driving! These are problems that we must face and Rushkoff discusses some of those problems in this piece.

For example, he discussed digiphrenia, which is the concept of trying to live in the real world, the Facebook world, the Twitter world, the email world, all at once. Do you show the same face? Do you adjust what you post for who you are friends with?

He also brings up the point that social networks now bring our entire cast of characters together in one place. What does the kid you knew in 2nd grade have to do with the colleague you started working with 6 months ago? Should you be friends with both of them on Facebook? Should there be different circles of friends, like on Google Plus? Weird, wild stuff. Check out the interview below.

Interview: Douglas Rushkoff, Author Of 'Present Shock: When Everything Happens Now' : NPR

The Terror

This book was flat-out fantastic. It's one of the most engaging and thrilling novels I've read in awhile. It's based on a real event, the Franklin Expedition to the find the Northwest Passage to Asia through the arctic. We don't know much about what happened to the expedition, but Dan Simmons is brilliant by filling in the details for you. And scaring you quite a bit in the process.

There are a few characters, too, that you become especially attached to because they reveal themselves in stages throughout the story. The characters become darker as the story grows due to the fact that conditions worsen in the expedition. The descriptions of the arctic and the cold and the disease and the pain are so real that you sometimes feel like putting on more clothing or getting out one more blanket. You feel for these men, not just because they were real at one point in time, but because Simmons writes them so well. It's as if you're watching them do all of this right outside your window.

This story mixes man v. nature, science fiction, mythology, European v. Native attitudes, the slow descent into the inner core of who man really is, and countless other intriguing storylines. You find yourself turning the pages quicker and quicker. And just when you thought you might have something figured out, Simmons scares you again with something out-of-the-ordinary. I can't tell you too much without giving away the story. If you enjoy a good historical fiction with sci-fi mixed in, pick it up. I highly recommend it.

Oh, and AMC has announced that they are turning the book into a TV show, ala the Walking Dead. You can read about it here (warning: SPOILERS in the article).

Ancient Mars

The evidence just keeps rolling in that Mars once had water. It might still have some, actually, and that's why the Curiosity rover is there now, exploring the Red Planet. Here's my favorite photo of the week, from Mars Express, showing possible evidence of an ancient river or area of flowing water. Pretty exciting, isn't it?

Snowy Night

Tonight is the perfect night for good books and a Bell's Midwest Pale Ale. Since it's dark and snowy, I thought I would get out my Library of America collection of American Fantastic Tales. Great horror stories in there. And dinner is just about ready.

Photographing Iowa

One of my favorite websites is Flickr. The photography on that site is incredible and it is the largest repository of photos on the entire web. Plus, it gives you an opportunity to meet other photographers in and around where you live.

Since I moved to Iowa back in the fall of 2005, I have been trying to become a better photographer and capture some of Iowa's great beauty. My camera is just a little point-and-shoot, but I've caught some fun shots along the way. The folks who post three of my favorite Iowa photo groups, though, are real pros.

If you want to see more of Iowa's beauty and see the stories of everyday Iowans, check out these three Flickr pools. They are so much fun to subscribe to or browse through.

Iowa - Land Between Two Rivers

After the Storm

Iowa

Iowa Senate Chamber

Des Moines Iowa

I Hate to See That Evening Sun Go Down

Paper Towns

Reading John Green's Paper Towns brought me back to high school era thinking, but not in a nostalgic way. The novel is set in Orlando, Florida and the main characters are high school seniors, trying to navigate their way through the labyrinth that is adolescence. In the past I have found that I don't care too much for books like this, mainly because I find them to be trite, sappy, weird, or the author is just trying too darn hard to recreate their own past.

This book is different, though. Green does a great job of showing you glimpses of high school students as they are perceived to be (party-obsessed, goofing off) but also their inner spirits, the ones you don't see often enough in literature or films. Green has the ability to capture the feelings and difficulties that some students go through: their inability to fit in, their strong desire to leave where they were raised, their furious pursuit of being left alone by their parents. But when Green writes it, it doesn't seem cliche. When he writes it, it seems truly realistic, as if you are, at times, watching a documentary.

Of course there are scenes that just flat-out make you laugh, but you really smile when he focuses on the discovery of new writings, of new music, of exploring a world outside Orlando that seems more vast than it could ever be. These characters remind you that even though we are constantly bombarded by the different high school archetypes (nerd, jock, goth, introvert), often times there are many students who transcend those boundaries, and the results are refreshing. So if you're looking for a fun read, give it a shot.

Knowing Our Sun

Do you know about the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO)? It is one of NASA's greatest achievements because it has allowed us to learn all about our sun. The probe has been up there for about three years now and has been consistently beaming back the most amazing images and video of the sun we have ever seen.

It is scientific instruments like the SDO that allow us to know more about our world. We can gain confidence about future events and be able to explain things to a young child that asks us what that bright thing in the sky is. Put simply, science allows us to satiate our curiosity while at the same time increasing our demand for new knowledge. The SDO gives us a chance to ask better, stronger questions about our world.

Now, enjoy this incredible video put together by NASA. You will be floored by the imagery of our sun.

Let the Great World Spin

A great author has the ability to create multiple characters who aren't just archetypes, stereotypes, or one-sided, boring creatures. Colum McCann not only has the ability to rise above the common character but to create people who are so lifelike that you feel like you have met them before and have known them, off and on, for years.

This book is great fiction because it seems so real. I can't put a book down when the writing not only puts you into a specific time and place, but puts you into a quasi-memory. The settings and dialogue of the characters creates a new reality that you find it hard to pull yourself away from.

Each character exhibits a certain amount of sadness and curiosity that I think most people probably feel on a day-to-day or week-to-week basis, but is incredibly hard to write about. This is where I think great fiction helps us as individuals, to take solace in the fact that we are not alone, and to help us understand how other people feel. Even though we interact with people every day, we know very little about how their minds and emotions work. Fiction gives us small glimpses into how humans operate.

Plus, I liked how McCann connected the characters together without going overboard. I highly recommend this book to folks looking for a good fiction.

Advocate for Iowa Libraries!

It's fun to juggle many different subjects and projects as a librarian, but one of my favorite activities is coming up in the next couple of months. It's time to advocate for libraries statewide.

Now of course we as librarians want to be advocating for our institutions year-round, but this is an especially important time in Iowa because the legislature is in session. For the past few years, our state organization, the Iowa Library Association, has had to fight tooth and nail to make sure that the State Library of Iowa and public libraries across the state got the funding that they needed. What does this funding pay for? Well, here's a partial list of some of the most important things that libraries do for citizens:

• Summer reading programs
• Interlibrary loan programs (borrowing materials across the state)
• Funding for electronic databases (research, statistics, K-12 homework projects, etc.)
• Learning Express, a database that helps people learn about computers, study for placement tests, prepare for college, prepare for entering the workforce, and many other tasks
• Fund teacher librarians for every school in the state
• The Open Access Program, which allows residents of Iowa to obtain a library card from any library in the state and return materials at other libraries
• The State Data Center, which provides Iowans with all kinds of data related to the Census, economic development, and grants
• Websites for small public libraries, which sometimes cannot afford their own
• Audio books and ebooks
• The Library Service Areas, which help keep communication between libraries strong and provide smaller libraries in the state with access to new technology, training, and resources

The list goes on and on, but you start to get the idea. Iowa library use is at an all-time high. The statistics show that more people are coming to libraries than ever before, are getting library cards at a rate higher than ever before, are using computers more than ever before, and are checking out materials more than ever before. Libraries are essential parts of our communities and they need your help.

If you want to advocate for your local library, tell a story to your legislator. Explain to them how vital your local library is. Think of all the ways you use your local library on a weekly basis. You can also check out some of the Iowa Library Association's priorities for 2013 here.

Also, here are a couple of dates on which members of ILA will be active this year. Feel free to join in, especially during Lobby from Home Day. We can use all the help we can get.

2013 ILA Lobby from Home Day - Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Contact your legislators via phone or email and tell them your story. Legislators like to hear from their constituents, especially when they have a unique tale to tell. The more people they hear from, the more the legislators realize just how important libraries are to the citizens of Iowa.

2013 ILA Legislative Day - Wednesday, March 6, 2013
This event is so much fun because you get to visit the Capitol building, meet with legislators, receive a legislative update on what's happening on the floors of the House and Senate, and get to mingle with librarians all while eating some delicious food. If you're a librarian, board member, or trustee, come on down to the Capitol that day. If you're a citizen, join us. Legislators love it when their constituents show up.

The Future of Science

I love reading about young people getting involved in science and not just because of an assignment or an obligation. They really love it and they show deep passion for it.

One recent example that I came across was a young woman named Deepika Kurup. She's 14 years old and on a trip to India, saw children drinking polluted water right out of a stream. What did she do? Write a letter? Donate money? Start an organization to shed light on this issue?

Nope. She developed a new way to treat water so it's drinkable. Just watch her presentation and wait for your jaw to drop. This young woman is 14 and she's talking like a professional scientist.

We need more programs like this in our country. Children should grow up celebrating science, devouring books about their world, and asking deep questions about how it works. Many children already do this, but let's make it possible so every child gets an opportunity to see how incredible science is.

This Blog is About...

When I decided that I wanted to start blogging again, I had a problem: I didn't know what to blog about. Most blogs have a theme, a specific subject, or a topic that they focus on. In fact, the best blogs do this really well. There are many blogs that I read on a daily basis that cover interesting material on a single subject.

So what would this blog be about? 

Libraries?

Baseball?

Science?

History?

My "problem" is that I'm not the kind of person who finds one subject so interesting that I can devote an entire project to it. I'm the kind of person who is all over the map. That's part of the reason I'm in the career field that I'm in. I can't dwell too long on one subject because I find so many other subjects interesting. Also, so many great ideas and topics in our world are inextricably linked together, so by studying one you are studying many.

This will be a blog of variety. It will contain posts on seemingly unrelated things. There will be short pieces, experiences, long articles with links, photos, videos and other tidbits. 

It will not focus on one particular subject, so if that's not really your cup of tea, so be it, but that's how I'm going to blog. So if you want to follow me, be my guest. I hope you find some of these posts interesting, because that's one of the many reasons I like to blog: to remind people about some of the great things in our world. 

Now if I can just keep a steady schedule of posts.

Frozen River

Running at the park the other day, I noticed that the icy water in the river looked like frozen milk or giant hunks of diamonds, sitting in a reflection of the sky. It was a crisp day and I didn't think much of it until I was on my way home and stopped at the gas station. While fueling, a guy in a '68 Chevy Impala pulled up next to me. This thing was in mint condition and the driver, a young guy, got out. I started talking to him about it, he gave me a tour of the engine, and gave me the history of it. The paint was old white so I asked him what he was going to change it to.

"I'd really like to do a whitish-blue, something cold looking."

I said, "Like a frozen river?"

"Exactly, man, exactly! That's what I should call the color! Thanks!"

I like little things like that. They just happen. It's nothing really, but it makes me smile.

Running in the Snow

I've been running outside for years but this is the first time I've tried it in the heart of winter. My concern over the years has always been the cold but after talking to some experienced folks, I realized you can stay quite warm while running with the proper gear. It's really the terrain you have to be careful with.

For most of November and December I was running outside, no problem. The crisp air was refreshing and as long as I had the right gear on (especially a hat) then my run was great. Then I tried running about a week after the first big snow, thinking enough of it had melted off. It worked, but it was a bit treacherous. Some of the trail had been cleared and some had just melted clean, but there were large portions of it where the snow was still there but had a thin crust of ice on top. I gave it a go.

It was a fun run, but not as relaxing as usual, mainly because I had to focus on where each of my steps was going to fall. I didn't want to bring my foot down on a giant branch, a deep snow hole, or a glassy patch of ice. I made it through the whole 3 mile trail without slipping or falling. I actually smiled when I saw a few spots where I could see the gravel underneath the snow, knowing that one day soon the whole trail would be gravel again.

So running in the winter isn't too hard but you do have to be pretty careful when you have snow and ice under your feet rather than limestone gravel. I'm eager to check out the trail again soon to see if any more of it has melted. I'm starting to get antsy again. Below you will see a photo of my favorite park to run at, Raccoon River Park, after our first big snowfall. I went out there at sunrise one morning and caught some great shots.

Comet Ison: A Welcome Sight in 2013

2013 is already off to an exciting start because of the news of Comet Ison visiting Earth's orbit sometime later this ear. Comet Ison was detected by amateur astronomers in 2012 and based on the early observations, it looks like Ison will be quite bright by the time it reaches naked eye visibility from Earth. Right now, Ison is somewhere near Jupiter and won't make it to Earth until late November of 2013. The only problem Ison might run into in the near future is our Sun.

If a comet gets near our sun, often the ice and other frozen matter that comprise the comet start to melt or off-gas into space. If Ison gets too close to our Sun, it could be destroyed or have its path altered by gravity. However, the closer it gets to our Sun, the more breathtaking it could become as a visible object in the sky. Some scientists have even speculated that Ison could end up being brighter than a full moon.

There is an historical connection here as well. In 1680, people on Earth glimpsed a great heavenly object that was almost certainly a comet. It was described by many cultures in historical texts across the globe. It's possible that Comet Ison could well be the Great Comet of 1680. Comets do return from time to time as they behave like they have been in a slingshot around our solar system (think Halley's Comet).

Humans have long had a problem with comets. For most of our history as a species, history records that many civilizations saw comets as signs of impending doom. Comets were sent by the gods as a warning, or in some cases to bring terrible events on Earth. Although sometimes comets were seen as bringers of good news or the birth of a great person. The fact of the matter is that comets scared the heck out people because they messed up the normally predictable sky that humans had mapped for centuries. In other words, people looked up, saw something that wasn't supposed to be there, and then blamed all their woes on it. Correlation, right? That crazy thing is in the sky at the same time there was a plague. They must be related, right?

Modern science helps us see that lines of thought such as this are outdated and incorrect. A comet in the sky has as much to do with natural events on the planet as a raccoon has to the construction of a Ferris wheel. We can learn so much about our solar system and the beginnings of the universe from a comet, as they are leftover chunks of rock and ice from way back when. Plus, they are a reminder that nature can be a gorgeous thing to behold as long as we approach it with curiosity and a desire to learn rather than fear of the unknown. Comets, like so many other things around us, provide us with information that help us understand and process our world.

Comet McNaught, 01.08.07

Picture of the Week: Curiosity on Mars

Have you been following the Curiosity Rover on Mars? If not, you should!

For picture of the week, I chose this stunning shot of a rock that Curiosity cleaned up. Why do the dusting? NASA wants to get to the bottom layers of the rock with a drill or laser to take samples. If the Martian dust sits on top of the drilled or lased part, then it will contaminate the sample. So Curiosity cleaned up a little before it went to work.

To learn more about Curiosity, visit it here and here. Also, if you're into Twitter, she also has been tweeting fairly frequently with lots of fun images and data.

The information we are receiving from Curiosity will help us to understand the evolution of the solar system and give us plenty of new ways to think about our own planet. Did life ever exist on Mars? If so, why did it die out? Could we lose our atmosphere like Mars did? The great exploration continues.

Spillover by David Quammen

It feels good to get the reading year started with a science book. David Quammen has written some excellent science and nature essays in the past and I thought this book, his newest, would be a fun try at his longer work.

It did not disappoint.

The subject of the book is zoonosis, which is the transfer of a disease from animals to humans. Some of our most famous and deadliest diseases are zoonotic. Quammen travels the globe interviewing doctors, scientists, and patients who have either been infected with or worked with countless bacteria, viruses, or parasites. He chronicles malaria, hendra, hanta, ebola, SARS, flu, HIV, and others. It will definitely open your eyes to how susceptible we are to nature's cruelest bugs.

Quammen's writing style can be deep but also contains quick jabs that will spook you like a scene out of a horror film. You'll be reading fascinating pages about different forms of a virus, how it was isolated, the processes used to identify it, etc. and then all of a sudden he tells you a story about someone who got it and how it spread. The hair on the back of your neck stands up as the science gives way to the gruesome reality of these diseases.

The only part of the book I did not care for was a section he included in the HIV chapter. In it, he creates a sort of historical fiction of how the virus may have traveled from southeast Cameroon over a century ago into the Congo. It's pretty good fiction writing but I didn't feel like it meshed at all with the rest of the science writing in the book. It was kind of an outlier section that made you feel like the book was going in the wrong direction.

I learned a ton from this book. It helped dispel certain urban legends and pieces of misinformation about quite a few viruses. The chapter on SARS will keep you riveted and the chapter on HIV will make you proud of the hard-working scientists who traced HIV back over 100 years into Africa's past.

If you're into science and want something that will both pull back the curtain and scare you at the same time, I recommend this heartily.

The Info World as Forest

Why an Info Forest? Since the web was born 20 years ago, information has become more accessible than ever before. However, not everything is on the web, there are still large gaps in what is there, there is quite a bit of misinformation, and it's not always the easiest place to navigate.

However, the web is like an ecosystem. It contains different varieties of information, areas of growth, symbiotic relationships, lit clearings, dark and dense pockets, and lots of life.

I'm not entirely sure what shape this blog might take, but I'm going to put it on a path and see what happens.