The blog formerly known as "vale."

This is what I get for always having to say something.

[tengo-ritmo-blog]

We vacate the moment in order to document it (and share that record), then end up remembering the photograph rather than the experience itself. Four decades before smartphones and Instagram, Italo Calvino captured this with brilliant poignancy in contemplating photography and the art of presence: “The life that you live in order to photograph it is already, at the outset, a commemoration of itself.” This compulsive commemoration consumes a great deal of our lives today and sustains entire business models.

The Psychology of Time and the Paradox of How Impulsivity and Self-Control Mediate Our Capacity for Presence

I’ve been thinking recently about how I’ve started using photography as a substitute for memory--so much so that I don’t even know if I “remember” how to encode memories without a photograph.  So I’m challenging myself to take fewer pictures in general-- use it only as an art form, a way to portray reality in a new light-- culminating in a month with no photos taken whatsoever.  We’ll see.  

Maybe it’ll help me be a better writer, or more conscious in the moment.

[explore-blog]

Emerson on trusting yourself, self-reliance as the essence of genius, and what it means to be a nonconformist.

[tengo-ritmo-blog]

Hey high school self, remember your senior quote?  Hella relevant.  Hellavent.

[tengo-ritmo-blog]

Me pongo a escribir, porque no queda más remedio. 

The things, people, places I choose to surround myself with in my life are largely (obviously) self-selected.  I see, therefore, a skewed version of the world, one that largely mirrors my own personality-- one that ascribes an emotional valence to everything, one that delves into murky depths in search of clarity, one that take little at face value, one that requires adventure and curiosity and constant questioning. 

I forget that maybe not everyone is like this.  What are they like instead?

 Objectivity about matters that involve human beings is hard to come by, especially when I necessarily strive for it within my own worldview, piecing it together as I try to peer around the colored glass.  Science, of course, is helpful, and I retreat to it in moments where I feel utterly confused by the social world, torn apart by its complexity, unable to find steady footing. Empirical evidence provides solace in a way that I realize might be misleading, because behind every study is, unfortunately or fortunately, another human being.  

 Objectivity is still an asymptote towards which we will always strive, but will never quite reach.  So, then, how do I accompany this craving to know THE RIGHT ANSWER?

[explore-blog]

John Keats’s exquisite love letter to Fanny Brawne, the love of his (tragically short) life. 

[americasgreatoutdoors]

Sunrise, snow and clouds mingle in this spellbinding photo of Canyonlands National Park in Utah. Photographer and freeskier Simon Dumont woke up at 5:30 AM to capture this gorgeous view beneath the curving arm of Mesa Arch – arriving in time to catch what he describes as “some of the best sunrise shots of my life.” Photo courtesy of Simon Dumont.

[explore-blog]

If I ask you, “What do you want out of life?” and you say something like, “I want to be happy and have a great family and a job I like,” it’s so ubiquitous that it doesn’t even mean anything. A more interesting question, a question that perhaps you’ve never considered before, is what pain do you want in your life? What are you willing to struggle for? Because that seems to be a greater determinant of how our lives turn out.

Beautiful essay by Mark Manson. 

Lest we forget, “how we ask our questions affects the answers we arrive at.”

(via explore-blog)

pertinent question.

[explore-blog]

Joan Didion, who turns 81 today, on self-respect. 

[tengo-ritmo-blog]

What I Discovered From Interviewing Imprisoned ISIS Fighters

No sooner am I settled in an interviewing room in the police station of Kirkuk, Iraq, than the first prisoner I am there to see is brought in, flanked by two policemen and in handcuffs.

Clickbait-ey title, but this is the research I’m most interested in.  

Again, “if you want to change the world, you need to understand why bad things happen.”

[explore-blog]

One of the things that you struggle for as a writer is to make sure that the shape and sound of your sentences reflects their substance. That’s what writing is – it’s making the shape and sound of your sentences reflect their substance.

There is a wealth of wisdom on writing and life in Adam Gopnik’s superb On Being conversation with Krista Tippett – if you haven’t yet listened to it, do your highest a favor.

Complement this particular sentiment, which comes from the unedited version of the interview, with this compendium of celebrated writers’ advice on the craft. 

(via explore-blog)

[mypubliclands]

Spring in the Sonoran Desert

Spring tends to be an extraordinary time in Arizona, but this year is especially nice in the cactus-studded landscape of the Sonoran Desert.  A nice batch of winter rains means we’re enjoying a (relatively) lush landscape, clear blue skies and an abundance of wildflowers.

Photos of the Ironwood National Monument near Tuscon, Arizona, by BLM Tumblr Blogger Adam Milnor and BLM

[tengo-ritmo-blog]

Why Do We Have Allergies? | RealClearScience

I’m not 100% satisfied with this answer, but it’s done the best job so far in answering this question.  And it might be allegorical to other adaptations humans have that seem to malfunction in peculiar ways... still figuring those out.

[explore-blog]

Critical thinking without hope is cynicism. Hope without critical thinking is naïveté. […] In order to survive — both as individuals and as a civilization — and especially in order to thrive, we need the right balance of critical thinking and hope. A plant needs water in order to survive, and needs the right amount of water in order to thrive. Overwater it and it rots with excess. Underwater it and it dries up inside.

Some long overdue thoughts on cynicism, hope, and the stories we tell ourselves (via explore-blog)

[latimes]

Nice giant rodent…nice giant rodent…  This is Josephoartigasia monesi, the largest-known rodent to have ever roamed the Earth (an artist’s rendering of it, that is). It lived in South America around 3 million years ago, and researchers suspect that its enormous front teeth were useful for both fighting and digging – much in the way that elephants use their tusks.

[cheese24k]

Monkey teaches Human how to Crush Leaves

[mypubliclands]

BLM Winter Bucket List #7: Trona Pinnacles, California, for Out of This World Rock Formations

The Trona Pinnacles, just outside of Ridgecrest, are some of the most unique geological features in the California Desert Conservation Area. The unusual landscape consists of more than 500 tufa spires, some as high as 140 feet, rising from the bed of the Searles Dry Lake basin. The pinnacles vary in size and shape from short and squat to tall and thin, and are composed primarily of spongy calcium carbonate (tufa). They were formed underwater from 10,000–100,000 years ago when Searles Lake was one of a chain of interconnected Pleistocene lakes stretching from Mono Lake to Death Valley. 

The Trona Pinnacles have been featured in many commercials and films, such as Star Trek and Planet of the Apes. A 0.5-mile hiking trail leads into the heart of the pinnacles for a close-up view of the spires and the surrounding desert.

Because summer temperatures often exceed 115 degrees, the best times to visit are late fall, winter, and early spring. Early morning, early evening, and nights with a full moon provide the most dramatic views.

CLICK HERE to plan your visit.

[tengo-ritmo-blog]

check. oh hi Tumblr.

[explore-blog]

Wyoming, the nation’s top coal-producing state, is the first to reject new K-12 science standards proposed by national education groups mainly because of global warming components. The Wyoming Board of Education decided recently that the Next Generation Science Standards need more review after questions were raised about the treatment of man-made global warming. Board President Ron Micheli said the review will look into whether “we can’t get some standards that are Wyoming standards and standards we all can be proud of.”

Wyoming rejects national science standards for being too inconveniently true. Big Oil is apparently the Roman Inquisition of our day. 

(HT pourmecoffee)

[tengo-ritmo-blog]

Can an Avocado Pit Really Keep Guacamole From Turning Brown?

Can an avocado pit really keep guacamole looking fresh?

Spoiler Alert: Not really.

I knew this, but the best thing about this article is it talks about the extinct giant ground sloth and the fact that wild "avocados" probably evolved to entice it.  Damn, that's awesome.