I'll start with the punchline: Neither Tina nor I will be allowed to vote today in the most important Presidential election in years. How we came to this incredibly frustrating situation is slightly circuitous (no surprise there, given that election laws differ by jurisdiction) but worth explaining as another of many reasons we're exasperated with the East Coast.
For a several days Tina and I checked the PA Secretary of State's website to verify that we were registered. When we couldn't find ourselves we chalked it up to user error or the fact that we've moved three times in the 13 months we've lived in PA. So when I phoned their office yesterday expecting to be told which polling place I should use, I was more than a little surprised to learn that I am not registered, even though the Secretary of State's office was easily able to find me on the eligible voter rolls simply by using my name and birthdate. Problematically, registration can't be done online - only by completing and mailing a paper form, or at the DoT - and provisional ballots are only allowed if you're a registered voter. In any case the deadline for registering for today's election passed in mid-October.
When we exchanged our Idaho drivers licenses for Pennsylvania ones we each indicated we'd like to register to vote in the appropriate jurisdiction. As a side note, since PA enacted a highly contentious voter ID law earlier this year that's received heaps of mostly negative national publicity, it made sense that we'd be offered the opportunity to do so. Sometime later, the county where we lived at the time apparently mailed us a document asking that we confirm we actually lived at the address on our drivers license. {If the Secretary of State's office can find me just with a name and birthdate, why would a county need a separate physical piece of paper confirming my existence and address?!?} According to the Secretary of State's office we didn't return this magical document. Of course, we weren't aware we'd need to respond to the county (not the state!) in order to register to vote so we have no recollection of whether we returned it or not (I vaguely remember doing so, but seriously, how many forms do we fill out and how many pieces of mail are misrouted when you relocate?)
When we moved again, to Ardmore in April, we each changed our address with PennDoT online and chose the option to shift our voter registration accordingly. However, since the state didn't have us registered in the first place, the registration couldn't move with us.
Pennsylvania has once again made us feel unwelcome, this time by taking away one of the most basic US citizenship rights at the moment we most need to exercise it. The first time I've missed voting in a Presidential election since I was 18. Not because I'm apathetic, lazy, ignorant (OK, I might be some of those things from time to time, but not in this case) but because the state and local government's system of registering and managing voters has a big deep crack in it.
Showing posts with label personal notes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label personal notes. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Sunday, October 28, 2012
Our First Hurricane
"Awww, isn't that sweet?"
Isn't that what your significant other (and insignificant others, for that matter) is supposed to think or say when you make note of a "first" in your relationship? Many guys depend on accruing "points" by remembering these types of things, to make up for our inevitable episodes of spectacular stupidity.
That said, recognizing some "firsts" runs the risk of overreaching, like too narrowly focused sports stats. "He's the first left-handed batter with a last name that starts with L, born on the 4th of July in Georgia who's hit two home runs in the post-season off a cross-dressing pitcher from Albania!"
So it is I find myself this Sunday afternoon, feeling a strange sober casualness, quite literally in the calm before the storm. Hurricane Sandy, having made a believer in the ever-present and mostly unpredictable powers of Mother Nature of quite a few in the Caribbean, is bearing down on the mid-Atlantic. We've both seen some pretty notable "weather events" - tornadoes, snowstorms, even floods - but we've never been hugely negatively affected beyond the inconvenience of living without power and maybe running water for a few days. Ironically, we noted earlier today that as backpackers we love to go out of our way to have the opportunity to filter our water, eat freeze-dried food and sleep uncomfortably. Maybe that's why we aren't quite as freaked out as the flocks of Audi- and Lexus-drivers clogging the local supermarkets to buy the distilled water, organic fruits and free-range meats they apparently believe are the key to survival in the anarchic aftermath of the "Frankenstorm".
We have our water, we have plenty of nonperishable food (even, heaven forbid, freeze-dried backpacking meals), our storm windows are shut as tightly as this old house will allow, and our heat's turned up a notch to offset the damp cold outside. Tina's cooking up what will undoubtedly become a fantastic chicken dinner while I sip a glass of Douro and tap away on my laptop as we await the arrival of our first hurricane as a couple.
Isn't that sweet?
Isn't that what your significant other (and insignificant others, for that matter) is supposed to think or say when you make note of a "first" in your relationship? Many guys depend on accruing "points" by remembering these types of things, to make up for our inevitable episodes of spectacular stupidity.
That said, recognizing some "firsts" runs the risk of overreaching, like too narrowly focused sports stats. "He's the first left-handed batter with a last name that starts with L, born on the 4th of July in Georgia who's hit two home runs in the post-season off a cross-dressing pitcher from Albania!"
So it is I find myself this Sunday afternoon, feeling a strange sober casualness, quite literally in the calm before the storm. Hurricane Sandy, having made a believer in the ever-present and mostly unpredictable powers of Mother Nature of quite a few in the Caribbean, is bearing down on the mid-Atlantic. We've both seen some pretty notable "weather events" - tornadoes, snowstorms, even floods - but we've never been hugely negatively affected beyond the inconvenience of living without power and maybe running water for a few days. Ironically, we noted earlier today that as backpackers we love to go out of our way to have the opportunity to filter our water, eat freeze-dried food and sleep uncomfortably. Maybe that's why we aren't quite as freaked out as the flocks of Audi- and Lexus-drivers clogging the local supermarkets to buy the distilled water, organic fruits and free-range meats they apparently believe are the key to survival in the anarchic aftermath of the "Frankenstorm".
We have our water, we have plenty of nonperishable food (even, heaven forbid, freeze-dried backpacking meals), our storm windows are shut as tightly as this old house will allow, and our heat's turned up a notch to offset the damp cold outside. Tina's cooking up what will undoubtedly become a fantastic chicken dinner while I sip a glass of Douro and tap away on my laptop as we await the arrival of our first hurricane as a couple.
Isn't that sweet?
Saturday, May 26, 2012
Humidity
Having lived in the West for over a dozen years, I found myself missing some things from earlier stages of my life: Certain foods (real grits, fried Krispy Kreme's, collards with ham, etc.), architectural styles common before 1930, friends (most of all). The one thing I never missed - not for a moment - was humidity.
Pennsylvania apparently doesn't often suffer from the levels of humidity to which I grew accustomed - didn't know any better - living in Ohio, Georgia, and Alabama. When I would visit those places, or more sultry locations like Mexico, after moving to Idaho, I'd mutter a curse at how I felt like I was wearing a wet blanket taken straight from a hot dryer.
Temps in our neighborhood reached nearly 90 today, with humidity around 80%. Tina, having acquiesced in her battle with the humid air for control of her hair, admitted that she appreciates its affects on her skin. She noted, though, that after having walked only a few blocks I had already sweated through the t-shirt I was wearing (Icebreaker merino wool, chosen especially for the occasion. If you aren't familiar with the all-season wonders of merino wool, I'll be happy to educate you). To put it very politely, I was uncomfortable.
Sitting on our little porch this evening, though, the dark and quiet was punctuated by the distant flash and thump of a fireworks display in an adjacent town. I felt an occasional breeze lift the dogwood leaves in our front yard and listened to the rattle of melting ice settling in my glass. I remembered sitting with my grandparents in their yard in rural northeast Georgia listening to a train approaching through the drone of the crickets; sitting on curbs outside stadiums after shows, eating PB&J sandwiches and chatting with my drum corps family; camping among and climbing the gritty limestone cliffs at Red River Gorge...
At night, I realized, humidity has a different personality - becomes a familiar and comfortable character, one I like to spend time with.
Pennsylvania apparently doesn't often suffer from the levels of humidity to which I grew accustomed - didn't know any better - living in Ohio, Georgia, and Alabama. When I would visit those places, or more sultry locations like Mexico, after moving to Idaho, I'd mutter a curse at how I felt like I was wearing a wet blanket taken straight from a hot dryer.
Temps in our neighborhood reached nearly 90 today, with humidity around 80%. Tina, having acquiesced in her battle with the humid air for control of her hair, admitted that she appreciates its affects on her skin. She noted, though, that after having walked only a few blocks I had already sweated through the t-shirt I was wearing (Icebreaker merino wool, chosen especially for the occasion. If you aren't familiar with the all-season wonders of merino wool, I'll be happy to educate you). To put it very politely, I was uncomfortable.
haze over Philly
Sitting on our little porch this evening, though, the dark and quiet was punctuated by the distant flash and thump of a fireworks display in an adjacent town. I felt an occasional breeze lift the dogwood leaves in our front yard and listened to the rattle of melting ice settling in my glass. I remembered sitting with my grandparents in their yard in rural northeast Georgia listening to a train approaching through the drone of the crickets; sitting on curbs outside stadiums after shows, eating PB&J sandwiches and chatting with my drum corps family; camping among and climbing the gritty limestone cliffs at Red River Gorge...
At night, I realized, humidity has a different personality - becomes a familiar and comfortable character, one I like to spend time with.
Out With The Old, In With The Not-so-old
Seven weeks ago Tina and I bid farewell to our 1995 Toyota 4Runner. It'd seen us through thick and thin over the half-dozen years I owned it; sporting nearly 170,000 miles, it shuttled me on numerous climbing, and backpacking trips, days of kayaking and cycling, and it was the dogs home away from home. The power windows worked only intermittently, the seats were shredded, the manual transmission slipped, and there was a permanent layer of Sawtooth's trail dust and climbing chalk on the inside. It was my "Rig".
The Rig met an untimely end at an intersection near here, when I made a left turn in front of an oncoming sedan. In my defense, neither Tina or I saw it until it was on top of us. We weren't injured in the collision - in fact, the dogs, who were standing in the back at the time, were barely knocked off their feet. The accident seemed like nothing more than amusement park bumper cars - the other driver hit us square on the passenger rear tire, which sent The Rig spinning clockwise as though the front end was anchored and sent the impacted tire bouncing down a side street.
So, six weeks ago Tina and I became the proud owners of a 2007 Toyota 4Runner - charcoal gray, automatic, power everything, clean. Way too comfortable, powerful, and tidy to be the rightful heir to The Rig. Seriously, if you have to worry about scratching the truck or getting it dirty, and without the "feel" of a manual shifter and 4-wheel drive, would you consider taking it into the Upper Hell Roaring trailhead?!?
There may be hope yet that I can break it in. As one small step in its indoctrination, I've begun to put my brand on it.
The Rig met an untimely end at an intersection near here, when I made a left turn in front of an oncoming sedan. In my defense, neither Tina or I saw it until it was on top of us. We weren't injured in the collision - in fact, the dogs, who were standing in the back at the time, were barely knocked off their feet. The accident seemed like nothing more than amusement park bumper cars - the other driver hit us square on the passenger rear tire, which sent The Rig spinning clockwise as though the front end was anchored and sent the impacted tire bouncing down a side street.
So, six weeks ago Tina and I became the proud owners of a 2007 Toyota 4Runner - charcoal gray, automatic, power everything, clean. Way too comfortable, powerful, and tidy to be the rightful heir to The Rig. Seriously, if you have to worry about scratching the truck or getting it dirty, and without the "feel" of a manual shifter and 4-wheel drive, would you consider taking it into the Upper Hell Roaring trailhead?!?
There may be hope yet that I can break it in. As one small step in its indoctrination, I've begun to put my brand on it.
Sunday, May 6, 2012
Ardmore ~ North End
As we announced in mid-April, we moved two weeks ago to Ardmore PA, an honest-to-goodness neighborhood about 9 miles from downtown Philadelphia. Our little (~1200 sq ft) house sits at the north end of a street entirely populated with "twin homes", essentially duplexes with a property line that subdivides the structure.
Yin-yang twin home in Ardmore
Although our place has been a rental since its owner moved out about five years ago (and so needs a serious cleaning and some cosmetic work), we're already way more comfortable than we were during our six months in the humongous house among the horse farms. With the exception of the location, our routine would be familiar to most people who live in the North End: We walk through the neighborhood to dinner (Ardmore's version of DBA lists over 40 eating establishments in the town, which measures about 1.5 miles square), ride our bikes to the Saturday morning farmers market (in Bryn Mawr, home to the eponymous women's college), walk the dogs (through campus of Haverford College, another highly-rated liberal arts college, only a few blocks from our place), drive about two miles to the local grocery store (Trader Joe's in Ardmore or Whole Foods in Wynnewood). Our achievements of the past two weeks include identifying a great neighborhood coffee shop (Milkboy), Irish bar (McCloskey's Tavern), sushi restaurant (Harusame), hardware store (DMI), and dog park. With the exception of the dog park, which is two miles away, everything's within walking distance.
I drop my shirts at the dry cleaners on my one mile walk to the Ardmore train station. Most days I ride Amtrak to Paoli (subject of several earlier posts), from where a shuttle bus takes me to Vanguard's campus. My commute has extended from 25 to 55 minutes but it consists of a 20 minute walk and reading on a train and bus. Longer to be sure, but when I arrive in the office at 8:05AM I'm less stressed because I haven't had to deal with traffic or parking. And when we have occasion to head into Philly (which we'll do next Saturday to see members of the Trey McIntyre Project perform Peter Pan with the Philadelphia Ballet) the train will drop us off downtown in about 15 minutes.
We're on the left side - 636 Georges Lane
Of course our new abode boasts a guest room - in fact we'll host Petra, Tina's friend and former coworker, in a couple of weeks. Her visit is a great excuse to head into Philly, Washington DC (where we'll have dinner with Alan and Geri Bullard, Boise friends who're coincidentally visiting DC) and NYC (to see Porgy & Bess on Broadway) during her week-long stay. PLEASE come hang out with us!
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Change of Venue
It's been a month since we posted - no excuses (good ones, at least) - and we promise to get to it more regularly. In the meanwhile though, we want to share the news of our pending relocation.
We shared with you the adventure of living among the horse farms west of Philadelphia. You'll recall we found the house too large (and expensive), without the neighborhood feel we enjoyed in the North End (although our next door neighbor is Christin Steele's childhood friend - how crazy is that!) and too far away from shops, restaurants, and other amenities.
The suburb to which we're moving, called Ardmore, is only nine miles from downtown (aka Center City) Philadelphia. We'll be one mile or less to supermarkets (Trader Joes!), restaurants (our new favorite sushi place!), a library, the train to Vanguard and Philadelphia, and heaps of other stuff we can walk or ride our bikes to. Plus, the house is around the size of our Boise place, with similarly lower costs.
For your records, as of this Sunday 21 April, our address will be:
636 Georges Lane
Ardmore, PA 19003
We shared with you the adventure of living among the horse farms west of Philadelphia. You'll recall we found the house too large (and expensive), without the neighborhood feel we enjoyed in the North End (although our next door neighbor is Christin Steele's childhood friend - how crazy is that!) and too far away from shops, restaurants, and other amenities.
The suburb to which we're moving, called Ardmore, is only nine miles from downtown (aka Center City) Philadelphia. We'll be one mile or less to supermarkets (Trader Joes!), restaurants (our new favorite sushi place!), a library, the train to Vanguard and Philadelphia, and heaps of other stuff we can walk or ride our bikes to. Plus, the house is around the size of our Boise place, with similarly lower costs.
For your records, as of this Sunday 21 April, our address will be:
636 Georges Lane
Ardmore, PA 19003
As a reminder, Vanguard's just north of Paoli and we're living (for the moment) on Yellow Springs Road (in the very upper left corner). Our new place is marked. Philly is at the bottom right.
Monday, January 16, 2012
Reflections on Martin Luther King Day
Although I (Kenn) grew up in Georgia in the 1960s I have no memory of Dr. King or the paradigm cultural shift of which he was a leader. I don't remember reading or hearing of his speeches at Ebenezer Baptist Church, the marches and sit-ins he lead, the newsflash of his assassination or the nation-wide riots that flared as the world learned of his murder. I was well into adulthood before it dawned on me what an extraordinary thing it was to have black classmates and friends at an Georgia elementary school in the early 1970s. I was not quite 2 years old, after all, when he died.
All that said, Dr. King is a hero of mine and I'm proud to be able to tell others that I was there, even as an infant. I credit my parents with making a choice that defied conventional wisdom among white Georgians, and even their own families: To raise my brother and me with the belief that the difference between a person with white skin and skin of another color is only that one thing.
When you consider all of the lessons young parents might teach their kids it's remarkable how such a small thing can create such an enormous difference in how one perceives the world. It means that the kid is raised with a presumption of equality and respect rather than inequality and anger. It lays the basis for competition in a meritocracy instead of privilege. It teaches that the Golden Rule is a universal mandate.
Most importantly it plants the seed for an understanding that the reason we're here is to make the world better, and the way to do that is by showing one another kindness and compassion. The only way.
In the past few years I've found myself compelled to study Dr. King's speeches and writings as part of my own journey. As an erstwhile writer and lover of words I appreciate him as a brilliant wordsmith. More importantly though, his words and actions echo those of other sages and saints, like Ghandi, the Dalai Lama, and many others. From them I've learned how difficult, but critical, it is to break the cycle of anger by refusing to retaliate when attacked; that service is the highest calling; that achievements are never earned alone and must be accompanied by humility; the importance of perseverance through hardship; and how a powerful idea can become an unstoppable wave of action when driven by single-minded focus on what is right.
Most fundamentally, though, Dr. King taught me, through my parents' choice, that we all want the same thing - to be happy. Understanding that there is no difference has made all the difference.
A few favorite quotes:
Hatred and bitterness can never cure the disease of fear; only love can do that. Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it. Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it. Hatred darkens life; love illuminates it.
Martin Luther King Jr.
Strength to Love, 1963.
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. Hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence, and toughness multiplies toughness in a descending spiral of destruction....The chain reaction of evil--hate begetting hate, wars producing more wars--must be broken, or we shall be plunged into the dark abyss of annihilation.
Martin Luther King Jr.
Strength to Love, 1963.
I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality.... I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance Speech, Dec 10 1964.
I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. That is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant.
Martin Luther King Jr.
I submit to you that if a man hasn't discovered something he will die for, he isn't fit to live.
Martin Luther King Jr.
Speech in Detroit, June 23, 1963.
And I've looked over, and I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you, but I want you to know tonight that we as a people will get to the promised land. So I'm happy tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man.
Martin Luther King Jr.
Speech in Memphis, April 3, 1968, the day before King was assassinated.
The time is always right to do what is right.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Speech at Oberlin College, 1964.
Everybody can be great. Because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve....You don't have to know the second theory of thermodynamics in physics to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.
Martin Luther King Jr.
Letter from Birmingham Jail, April 16, 1963.
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed - we hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
I Have a Dream speech, Civil Rights March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, August 28 1963.
This will be the day, this will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning "My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring!"
Martin Luther King, Jr.
I Have a Dream speech, Civil Rights March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, August 28 1963.
And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every tenement and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last, free at last. Thank God Almighty, we are free at last."
Martin Luther King, Jr.
I Have a Dream speech, Civil Rights March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, August 28 1963.
Like an unchecked cancer, hate corrodes the personality and eats away its vital unity. Hate destroys a man's sense of values and his objectivity. It causes him to describe the beautiful as ugly and the ugly as beautiful, and to confuse the true with the false and the false with the true.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Strength to Love, 1963.
All men are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality.
Martin Luther King Jr.
Faith is taking the first step, even when you don't see the whole staircase.
Martin Luther King Jr.
Let no man pull you low enough to hate him.
Martin Luther King Jr.
All that said, Dr. King is a hero of mine and I'm proud to be able to tell others that I was there, even as an infant. I credit my parents with making a choice that defied conventional wisdom among white Georgians, and even their own families: To raise my brother and me with the belief that the difference between a person with white skin and skin of another color is only that one thing.
When you consider all of the lessons young parents might teach their kids it's remarkable how such a small thing can create such an enormous difference in how one perceives the world. It means that the kid is raised with a presumption of equality and respect rather than inequality and anger. It lays the basis for competition in a meritocracy instead of privilege. It teaches that the Golden Rule is a universal mandate.
Most importantly it plants the seed for an understanding that the reason we're here is to make the world better, and the way to do that is by showing one another kindness and compassion. The only way.
In the past few years I've found myself compelled to study Dr. King's speeches and writings as part of my own journey. As an erstwhile writer and lover of words I appreciate him as a brilliant wordsmith. More importantly though, his words and actions echo those of other sages and saints, like Ghandi, the Dalai Lama, and many others. From them I've learned how difficult, but critical, it is to break the cycle of anger by refusing to retaliate when attacked; that service is the highest calling; that achievements are never earned alone and must be accompanied by humility; the importance of perseverance through hardship; and how a powerful idea can become an unstoppable wave of action when driven by single-minded focus on what is right.
Most fundamentally, though, Dr. King taught me, through my parents' choice, that we all want the same thing - to be happy. Understanding that there is no difference has made all the difference.
A few favorite quotes:
Hatred and bitterness can never cure the disease of fear; only love can do that. Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it. Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it. Hatred darkens life; love illuminates it.
Martin Luther King Jr.
Strength to Love, 1963.
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. Hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence, and toughness multiplies toughness in a descending spiral of destruction....The chain reaction of evil--hate begetting hate, wars producing more wars--must be broken, or we shall be plunged into the dark abyss of annihilation.
Martin Luther King Jr.
Strength to Love, 1963.
I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality.... I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance Speech, Dec 10 1964.
I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. That is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant.
Martin Luther King Jr.
I submit to you that if a man hasn't discovered something he will die for, he isn't fit to live.
Martin Luther King Jr.
Speech in Detroit, June 23, 1963.
And I've looked over, and I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you, but I want you to know tonight that we as a people will get to the promised land. So I'm happy tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man.
Martin Luther King Jr.
Speech in Memphis, April 3, 1968, the day before King was assassinated.
The time is always right to do what is right.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Speech at Oberlin College, 1964.
Everybody can be great. Because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve....You don't have to know the second theory of thermodynamics in physics to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.
Martin Luther King Jr.
Letter from Birmingham Jail, April 16, 1963.
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed - we hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
I Have a Dream speech, Civil Rights March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, August 28 1963.
This will be the day, this will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning "My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring!"
Martin Luther King, Jr.
I Have a Dream speech, Civil Rights March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, August 28 1963.
And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every tenement and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last, free at last. Thank God Almighty, we are free at last."
Martin Luther King, Jr.
I Have a Dream speech, Civil Rights March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, August 28 1963.
Like an unchecked cancer, hate corrodes the personality and eats away its vital unity. Hate destroys a man's sense of values and his objectivity. It causes him to describe the beautiful as ugly and the ugly as beautiful, and to confuse the true with the false and the false with the true.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Strength to Love, 1963.
All men are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality.
Martin Luther King Jr.
Faith is taking the first step, even when you don't see the whole staircase.
Martin Luther King Jr.
Let no man pull you low enough to hate him.
Martin Luther King Jr.
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Our Huge - I Mean Humble - Abode
The house we're renting - "The Tater Box", aka K-bar-T B&B - sits among horse farms in beautiful and historic Chester County, about 30 miles west of Philadelphia. The map below shows the area, with Downingtown (for reference for those who read our post on that town) on the far left and Philly on the right.
Our understanding is that the house was built in the mid-1960s by an aeronautical engineer as an exact replica of his grandparents house, which was apparently constructed in the 18th century. This declaration is made easier to believe after taking a close look at how tightly the doors fit into their frames, the perfect right angle made by each of the dozens of identical colonial-style hinges, the 14" wide planks used as flooring throughout the house.
The listing information from HotPads does a good job of describing the place. Here's the super-long link:
http://hotpads.com/search#lat=40.076766126602664&lon=-75.58143138885498&zoom=22&previewId=4e1qcr4qban3y&previewType=listing&listingTypes=rental,sublet,room,corporate&includeVaguePricing=false&loan=30,0.0525,0&resultsPerQuad=24
Below we've created a short photographic tour of the interior of the house so potential visitors can get an idea of where they'll be staying (see how cleverly I slipped that invitation in there?)
The house has four entry doors onto the ground floor (four - I have no idea why) but we typically enter through the kitchen, off the parking area. This kitchen is WAY too big (like most of these shots only partly of the room is captured in the picture) but Tina's done a great job of making it as functional as possible.
That's Bailey, our German Short-haired Pointer, hanging out near the door (to the left of the fridge) in hopes she'll get to go outside.
The dining room is next.
Turning left and up a short flight of stairs (left side of the photo below) puts you in the foyer.
Up another short flight (visible in the foyer picture) is the master bedroom.
Across the hall is my favorite room, my office. Love having a library. Makes me feel intelligent to be surrounded by words.
Up another short flight of stairs is the main hallway, which leads to the guest room. Karma's wondering what the heck I'm up to.
At the end of that hall is another bedroom we've converted into a massive closet. While the house itself doesn't lack for square footage, the closet space is miserly.
Up ANOTHER flight of stairs is the top-most room in the house, Tina's office, which is tucked into a great attic space with its own bathroom.
Below all of this is a finished basement, and below THAT a workshop / storage space.
We're not fans of having to clean, heat, and pay rent for a house that's nearly 3X larger than what we had in Boise. Truth be told, we settled on it because of its proximity to Vanguard's campus (about 6 miles) and because the owners we OK with our animal menagerie. Although we're unsure how long we'll stay in such an out-sized house rest assured that so long we we're here guests are always welcome.
Our understanding is that the house was built in the mid-1960s by an aeronautical engineer as an exact replica of his grandparents house, which was apparently constructed in the 18th century. This declaration is made easier to believe after taking a close look at how tightly the doors fit into their frames, the perfect right angle made by each of the dozens of identical colonial-style hinges, the 14" wide planks used as flooring throughout the house.
The listing information from HotPads does a good job of describing the place. Here's the super-long link:
http://hotpads.com/search#lat=40.076766126602664&lon=-75.58143138885498&zoom=22&previewId=4e1qcr4qban3y&previewType=listing&listingTypes=rental,sublet,room,corporate&includeVaguePricing=false&loan=30,0.0525,0&resultsPerQuad=24
Below we've created a short photographic tour of the interior of the house so potential visitors can get an idea of where they'll be staying (see how cleverly I slipped that invitation in there?)
The house has four entry doors onto the ground floor (four - I have no idea why) but we typically enter through the kitchen, off the parking area. This kitchen is WAY too big (like most of these shots only partly of the room is captured in the picture) but Tina's done a great job of making it as functional as possible.
That's Bailey, our German Short-haired Pointer, hanging out near the door (to the left of the fridge) in hopes she'll get to go outside.
The dining room is next.
Turning left and up a short flight of stairs (left side of the photo below) puts you in the foyer.
Across the foyer is the parlor - I mean, living room. The window wells show off how thick the walls are.
Across the hall is my favorite room, my office. Love having a library. Makes me feel intelligent to be surrounded by words.
Up another short flight of stairs is the main hallway, which leads to the guest room. Karma's wondering what the heck I'm up to.
Up ANOTHER flight of stairs is the top-most room in the house, Tina's office, which is tucked into a great attic space with its own bathroom.
Below all of this is a finished basement, and below THAT a workshop / storage space.
We're not fans of having to clean, heat, and pay rent for a house that's nearly 3X larger than what we had in Boise. Truth be told, we settled on it because of its proximity to Vanguard's campus (about 6 miles) and because the owners we OK with our animal menagerie. Although we're unsure how long we'll stay in such an out-sized house rest assured that so long we we're here guests are always welcome.
Sunday, December 18, 2011
"Hold, Please"
It's been about a month since we've last posted and we didn't want our hundreds (OK, handful) of dedicated followers to think we'd forgotten about or shunned our blogging duties. Far from it: We've continued to collect interesting (at least to us, and hopefully to others) anecdotes that highlight the similarities and differences between our new East Coast stomping grounds and our beloved Idaho.
To give you a sense of our activities, since we last posted on 20 November, we've:
To give you a sense of our activities, since we last posted on 20 November, we've:
- Entertained our first house guests - friends from Boise, their son who's attending West Point, and their son's friend
- Kenn studied for and passed his securities licensing exams (again) - those registrations weren't required or were waived (because of his holding the CFA charter) while he worked for banks and Harmonic Investment Advisors but he had to take them all over again as a requirement of working for Vanguard. Imagine sitting down to the SAT exams in your mid-40s...
- Speaking of taking college entrance exams again, Tina's been studying for the GRE, getting her recommendation letters in order, writing her "personal statement" and doing everything else required to apply to graduate school at the University of Pennsylvania.
- She also did the lion's share of unpacking all of our worldly possessions, finding effective places to store them in the new house, and otherwise getting a household up and running.
- Lots and lots of other stuff - the kinds of things that you do, that at the end of the day/week/month you think "I know I was busy, but can't seem to remember exactly what I was doing - you know, that stuff.
We won't be sending old-school paper holiday cards (again) this year. Next week we'll be sending a (hopefully) clever e-card, like last year, that we hope finds everyone in fine holiday form. In January, after Tina's submitted her application to Penn, we'll send a longer note to friends and loved ones.
Since we won't see or speak with most of our friends in the next week, rest assured that we send our best wishes for a great holiday season and look forward to connecting ASAP.
Saturday, November 12, 2011
Congratulations to Our Friends in Public Service
While we're on the other side of the country, it didn't escape our notice that several of our friends were elected to public office this past Tuesday. We'd like to take a second to recognize their efforts on behalf of their communities.
- Lauren McLean - Boise City Council
- Ben Quintana - Boise City Council
- Dave Bieter - Mayor of Boise
and Tina's dad Ike Funkhouser, who became the newest City Council member in his home town of Challis Idaho.
Congratulations and thanks for stepping up.
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Taters "In the Soup"
The most joyous and depressing event of our recent memory was our Farewell to Boise party, held on a beautiful late summer evening at the Idaho Shakespeare. Joyous, because a great many good friends arrived to send us off; depressing, because we must leave behind those friends who have made our lives immeasurably richer.
When we were younger - much younger - we'd have endeavored to stay in touch with those friends and family by writing letters. In fact, we enjoyed writing and and looked forward to receiving letters from our family and friends who lived elsewhere or were travelling. Those days appear to be over; the upside to the loss of intimacy and tactile satisfaction of opening and reading a letter written "by hand" is that a blog post can address many recipients simultaneously. Technological efficiency at its finest.
Welcome, then, to the rather inauspicious inaugural post of Taters "In the Soup", an online receptical for our ramblings and, in its finer moments, a resource for family and friends to track Kenn Lamson and Tina Funkhouser (aka, the Taters) through our adventures in relocating from Idaho and establishing a life on the East Coast (aka, "the soup".)
Welcome, then, to the rather inauspicious inaugural post of Taters "In the Soup", an online receptical for our ramblings and, in its finer moments, a resource for family and friends to track Kenn Lamson and Tina Funkhouser (aka, the Taters) through our adventures in relocating from Idaho and establishing a life on the East Coast (aka, "the soup".)
To be clear, our blog shouldn't be considered a rant against the ways of our new neighbors, but rather a hopefully thoughtful and occasionally humorous comparison, for the benefit of ourselves and our friends in the mountain west, of what we experience here versus Boise.
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