I know everyone's seen this already, but I just have to add to the internet traffic for this wonderful find: a 100-year-old time capsule from Oklahoma. How cool is this?
This is an example of why I love being a writer. When I research a story (like the 1930s novel I'm currently working on) I seek out old books, old movies -- sometimes old people -- to find out about the world of the past. In a way, it's like opening a time capsule of information that has not been read in decades, reveling in memories that have not been probed for ages, and bringing back to life (if only for a few minutes) the minutia of a world that has long since stopped existing.
The people of 1913 Oklahoma who created this time capsule did the world a great favor. They included art or their time, fashions, laws of the native peoples, letters written to descendants of families -- and even recorded their voices to be heard in the next millennia. I know a lot of people could not care less about the past. It's a shame, really, because as the saying goes, their past is our prologue.
You can read more about this find (and see photographs) here.
27 April 2013
26 April 2013
21 April 2013
Sorrow
I feel sad for all the people involved in both the Boston bombings and the West fertilizer-plant explosion. I feel empathy for the people who were killed, those injured, and even those who just happened to be in the area. Even if not physically affected, they are mentally affected -- which can often be just as bad.
Of all the people connected to these events, you know who I feel the most sorrow for? Ruslan Tsarni -- an uncle of the two Boston bombers.
I suppose this might come as a bit of a shock. Why don't I feel the most sorrow for the people who died? Or the people permanently injured?
Fair enough. But, put yourself in the place of the uncle:
You're sitting at home, minding your own business and you see a television report showing the suspected bombers and you recognize BOTH of the bombers as relatives. You are an immigrant to America, you love your new country as much as you love your heritage and here you are: faced with such a horrible action taken by people you know and are related to.
Tsarni could have stayed in his house, cowered in a corner for fear someone would find out that he was related to the suspects. What did he do? He appeared in front of national media, told everyone who he was and his relationship to the suspects and implored them to turn themselves in. He stressed that the suspects -- his nephews -- brought shame to their family, shame to their home country, shame to their status as immigrants.
Some have dismissed his actions as a clever public-relations ploy. Perhaps it was. But perhaps it was another example of one or two people bringing shame to an entire class of immigrants. History is replete with stories of immigrant parents disowning their children for doing something that brought shame to their nationality. This is nothing new. For many immigrants, it matters to them that they "do the right thing" as American residents or new American citizens. They want to prove that they are worthy of being an "American."
It took a lot of courage for Tsarni to put himself square in the public focus like he did. I sincerely hope all the other Americans who heard his pleas understand that the guilty are not "immigrants," they are not "Islamists," they are not "Chechens." The guilty are the people who placed the bombs that did the damage.
You can read more about Tsarni here.
Of all the people connected to these events, you know who I feel the most sorrow for? Ruslan Tsarni -- an uncle of the two Boston bombers.
I suppose this might come as a bit of a shock. Why don't I feel the most sorrow for the people who died? Or the people permanently injured?
Fair enough. But, put yourself in the place of the uncle:
You're sitting at home, minding your own business and you see a television report showing the suspected bombers and you recognize BOTH of the bombers as relatives. You are an immigrant to America, you love your new country as much as you love your heritage and here you are: faced with such a horrible action taken by people you know and are related to.
Tsarni could have stayed in his house, cowered in a corner for fear someone would find out that he was related to the suspects. What did he do? He appeared in front of national media, told everyone who he was and his relationship to the suspects and implored them to turn themselves in. He stressed that the suspects -- his nephews -- brought shame to their family, shame to their home country, shame to their status as immigrants.
Some have dismissed his actions as a clever public-relations ploy. Perhaps it was. But perhaps it was another example of one or two people bringing shame to an entire class of immigrants. History is replete with stories of immigrant parents disowning their children for doing something that brought shame to their nationality. This is nothing new. For many immigrants, it matters to them that they "do the right thing" as American residents or new American citizens. They want to prove that they are worthy of being an "American."
It took a lot of courage for Tsarni to put himself square in the public focus like he did. I sincerely hope all the other Americans who heard his pleas understand that the guilty are not "immigrants," they are not "Islamists," they are not "Chechens." The guilty are the people who placed the bombs that did the damage.
You can read more about Tsarni here.
17 April 2013
12 April 2013
08 April 2013
19 March 2013
Misplaced Focus?
Recently, the television news station CNN has taken heat over its coverage of a rape trial in Ohio. Some people (really, a lot of people) have taken them to task over appearing to have "sympathy" for the two boys convicted of a rape and little concern for the victim.
The "sympathy' shown by CNN has been in the form of comments about how the future of the boys has been forever ruined, how the families are devastated and how the culture that raised them is tarnished.
I, for one, don't think this is "sympathy"; rather, a very potent (I hope) warning to others about just how easily one stupid action can tarnish your life forever.
Before I go on, let me unequivocally state the following, just to make sure I'm not misunderstood:
However, these boys are (apparently) representative of a lot of male teenagers coddled in an "athletes can do no wrong" culture where they are never punished for anything they do wrong. Poor grades? No problem: we'll fix it. Underage drinking? No problem. Speeding ticket? No problem. Taking a little something from the store without paying? No problem. How hard is it to imagine these boys taking it even further, to something like "having sex with someone who is unconscious? No problem."
These boys apparently had no authority figures to teach them right from wrong. Not their parents, not their teachers, not their coaches and not (according to some reports in this case) the police officials. They had so little idea of the moral and legal issues involved that they posted their conduct on the internet using text messages and video footage. It was not posted by someone trying to demonstrate a crime. No, they posted it themselves.
There is probably no better time than now to focus on these boys and how their actions ruined their own lives. They will forever be branded sex offenders, they will not be able to get scholarships to college to play ball, they will probably not have good careers, good relationships, good families. The entirety of their lives has been brought down because of their own actions.
I hope other teenage boys see the tale of these two rapists repeated over and over and over. If other boys and men are similarly without figures of authority showing them right from wrong, perhaps (just perhaps) they will figure out that rape is wrong.
And if the tale of these two rapists stops just a single boy or man from raping a woman, then some good will have come out of this horrible series of events.
As for the victim, I can only hope she is able to move on at some point, to not let her life be similarly destroyed by the actions of others. I would think she would rather have little media focus on her right now, so she can start the process of rebuilding. I don't know how possible that is. I just hope so.
You can read more about the CNN backlash here.
The "sympathy' shown by CNN has been in the form of comments about how the future of the boys has been forever ruined, how the families are devastated and how the culture that raised them is tarnished.
I, for one, don't think this is "sympathy"; rather, a very potent (I hope) warning to others about just how easily one stupid action can tarnish your life forever.
Before I go on, let me unequivocally state the following, just to make sure I'm not misunderstood:
- Rape is wrong
- Sex without consent is rape
- Being passed out is not consent
- The boys are guilty and deserve far more punishment than they will ever get
- The victim is not guilty of anything
However, these boys are (apparently) representative of a lot of male teenagers coddled in an "athletes can do no wrong" culture where they are never punished for anything they do wrong. Poor grades? No problem: we'll fix it. Underage drinking? No problem. Speeding ticket? No problem. Taking a little something from the store without paying? No problem. How hard is it to imagine these boys taking it even further, to something like "having sex with someone who is unconscious? No problem."
These boys apparently had no authority figures to teach them right from wrong. Not their parents, not their teachers, not their coaches and not (according to some reports in this case) the police officials. They had so little idea of the moral and legal issues involved that they posted their conduct on the internet using text messages and video footage. It was not posted by someone trying to demonstrate a crime. No, they posted it themselves.
There is probably no better time than now to focus on these boys and how their actions ruined their own lives. They will forever be branded sex offenders, they will not be able to get scholarships to college to play ball, they will probably not have good careers, good relationships, good families. The entirety of their lives has been brought down because of their own actions.
I hope other teenage boys see the tale of these two rapists repeated over and over and over. If other boys and men are similarly without figures of authority showing them right from wrong, perhaps (just perhaps) they will figure out that rape is wrong.
And if the tale of these two rapists stops just a single boy or man from raping a woman, then some good will have come out of this horrible series of events.
As for the victim, I can only hope she is able to move on at some point, to not let her life be similarly destroyed by the actions of others. I would think she would rather have little media focus on her right now, so she can start the process of rebuilding. I don't know how possible that is. I just hope so.
You can read more about the CNN backlash here.
17 March 2013
12 March 2013
Dirigibles!
I've long been fascinated by the period of history between the two world wars. This includes the whole Hindenburg story. Seriously, could you have written a better story than the pride of the Nazi fleet bursting into flames over America? I think not.Although the Hindenburg disaster meant the death of rigid airships for many decades, they have come back (sorta) in the form of much smaller blimps -- like the famous ones used by Goodyear and MetLife.
Over the weekend, we were outside reading and the familiar sound started of the MetLife blimp flying over our house near downtown Phoenix. Every time one of these flies over, I try to imagine how much bigger was the Hindenburg -- and just how majestic it would have seemed flying over houses back in the 1930s.
So, I created this little comparative photo showing the MetLife blimp flying over us (thanks to my spouse, Matt, for taking the snap) and a superimposed image of the Hindenburg. (The Hindenburg was a little over 6 times the length of the current MetLife blimp.) Pretty fascinating, isn't it? Imagine what it would have been like to see this flying over your house in 1937.
09 March 2013
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