Devonian Time
25/07/08 12:20
The first modern
geological map was pieced together early in the
nineteenth century in England by
William Smith
almost
single-handed. He also helped standardize some
of the terms we use to describe geological
periods, which is why some of these refer to
parts of the English countryside. But in late
July, I found myself in the country of Devon,
thinking of Devonian time in a way that was
quite different from the geological use of
Devonian as I attended a countryside getaway
with some friends and their network of
acquaintences. Read
More...
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The Legacy of Empires
25/07/08 12:19
The farthest east
I’ve traveled in Europe before visiting Vienna was
the Czech Republic, a country with a historic
orientation to the west for the most part. That was
a long time ago, however — 1996. On that same trip,
I also visited Berlin, a place once isolated as an
island of east-looking Germans. Even so, Berlin
never felt like it was in the east. Perhaps in
current language, Berlin was a kind of Forward
Operating Base in the Cold War. In Bavaria, both
Munich and Passau felt close to the east, but again
the connection seemed pretty weak. Like Berlin, the
east felt like more a threat than a source of
ideas, oppportunities, or culture. Vienna is
completely different. Vienna looks hard to the
rising sun, facing downstream and east. I sense
that it still thinks of itself as the capitol of
the Balkans, though dressed in the latest fashions
and carrying a world-weary sense of empire.
Read
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Flowing Regimes in Central Europe
25/07/08 12:07
The Danube — the Donau in German — is not a Great
River like the Mississippi, the Congo, or the
Amazon. But in Europe, it is a critical resource,
culturally and economically. And it is a complex
place. I have just returned from Vienna and a
swirling mixture of ideas, impacts, and people
focused on the Danube. Read
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On the Road Again
11/07/08 18:11
The beginning of a trip is always a time of
thoughtfulness. Lately, my mind has turned to
psychology. Most psychologists now seem to believe
in the concept of “temperament” — some permanent
core of your personality that was set early in
life, perhaps even before birth. And while this
core can evolve and change to a degree based on
experience, many qualities are essentially set and
fixed. Part of my temperament seems to be a
tendency to being moved very easily. I think my
friends and my family know me as an expressive
person. But experience has brought this aspect of
my temperament much closer to the foreground. Over
the past eight months, I find myself crying easily
and often. I am moved by pain and beauty. This has
been a tough job at times. My returns home mostly
seem like a time to recover and restore a little.
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Great Circles: My Big Night Out & Up
02/07/08 08:27
Last April, I was in India for about a week,
wandering between the Delhi and the foothills of
the Himalayas with some colleagues, taking
overnight second-class sleeping car train rides and
long rural cab trips. But my schedule was pressing
and I needed to complete some work in Delhi with
some colleagues there before I returned west a day
earlier than the rest of my colleagues. And I left
the hill town of Mussouri and took a frightening
little plane ride back to the great metropolis is
Delhi. Thus began one of the strangest of my travel
experiences so far. Read More...
