Engineer's Daughter

the letting go

welcome

My church's last Sunday morning service will take place next Sunday, October 29th, at 10:30am.  We're still figuring out what will happen to the property once we close, but if you can count on one thing it's that this last service will be an awesome one and I'd love to have some of you there with me.  I realize next weekend is a busy one, but absolutely no previous or current Christianity required.  There'll be some singin', and there'll be some prayin'.  And then that will be it for Northminster.

Northminster Presbyterian Church
545 Ashbury Avenue
El Cerrito, CA 94530
510.524.4401

"All shall be well and all shall be well and all manner of things shall be well."  --Julian of Norwich, 14th Century

escapism october 2006

Eeeee my trip to Cape Verde and Senegal is less than a month away!  Two weeks on another continent is definitely going to be some serious escapism.  But of course I'm already dreaming even further into the future...

Where?

• Paris
• Barcelona
• Cape Town
• Nicaragua & El Salvador
• Open copy of Lonely Planet's Bluelist, point to random adventure, go
• Other

"All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware." - Martin Buber

maven

girard_matchbook_covers

At SFMOMA - Alexander Girard: Vibrant Modern.  Work has been battering my soul recently, so it was high time for a museum lunch break.  Even better, the Anselm Kiefer show just happened to be open for a member's preview yesterday, so I did a quick run-through.  Initial impressions: very strong, though I'll write more when I have a chance to go back to spend a proper few hours.  As for Alexander Girard, what an utterly joyful exhibition.  Girard worked as textile director at Herman Miller from 1952 to 1973, and they have a number of his eye-popping fabrics and patterns on view, displayed both on their own and incorporated into Eames furniture.  There are also a number of his designs for La Fonda del Sol Restaurant in New York, including tablecloths, matchbook covers (above), and glasses with suns smiling up at you from their bottoms.  I am so in love.

-press images

61*

"Ninety percent of the game is half mental."

A report card for Congress:
The Drum Major Institute has rated members of Congress based on their voting record on protecting the middle class. Find out what grade your lawmaker received.

ice vice, baby

from Grist:
Iceland plans to resume commercial whaling for the first time in nearly 20 years, despite an international moratorium. Through August 2007, the government will permit whalers to harpoon 30 minke whales and nine endangered fin whales. Iceland's Fisheries Ministry says there are 43,600 minkes and 25,800 fin whales off of Iceland's coast, and that limited commercial hunting is "consistent with the principle of sustainable development." Iceland has been killing whales for allegedly scientific purposes since 2003. Anti-whaling nations, including the U.S. and Britain, were dismayed by Iceland's announcement, as were green groups in Iceland and elsewhere. "There is no market for this meat in Iceland, there is no possibility to export it to Japan; the government appears to have listened to fishermen who are blaming whales for eating all the fish," says appropriately named Arni Finnsson of the Iceland Nature Conservation Association. "This decision is giving the finger to the international community."

sources:
Guardian
San Francisco Chronicle
BBC News

turner prize 2006

tiny372

Car batteries, clay nipples, reality TV and a glimpse of the future in this year's edition of the annual art prize.

Special report: Turner prize 2006

remembering myra hess

myra_hess

Commemorating the wartime concerts at the National Gallery, which lifted the spirits of the British nation.

Listen to the audio on your MP3 player

all the fun of the fair

levene_tworabbits3

It's only in its fourth year but it's already one of the biggest art fairs in Europe.

Some of the works up close

Full coverage: Frieze Art Fair 2006

your gallery winners

cracknell1

In September, the Guardian asked readers to choose 10 artists from the web for a unique reader-curated exhibition. As it opens, Jonathan Jones introduces the finalists.

Blog: Your Gallery, reader's thoughts

More about the Your Gallery project

schmooze

Owens%20web

I would have liked to have made it to the Aesthetics of Suburbia lecture with photographers Bill Owens and Brian Urich last night at the Art Institute, as said aesthetics inspire in me a heady mixture of both severe nostalgia and total repulsion.  But when I fell soundly asleep on the bus ride home and almost missed my stop I thought it might be unwise to drag my tired self back into the city before the Project Runway finale.  Yeah and as for Project Runway itself...I don't want to talk about it.

The Day Habeas Died:
Keith Olbermann: Your words are lies, sir. They are lies that imperil us all. "One of the terrorists believed to have planned the 9/11 attacks," …you told us yesterday… "said he hoped the attacks would be the beginning of the end of America." That terrorist, sir, could only hope. ... These things you have done, Mr. Bush… they would be "the beginning of the end of America."

filet of the land

Ba_salmon08_026_cl

from Grist:
Two studies released yesterday are likely to confuse you even further about the benefits and risks of eating fish. A report from the Harvard School of Public Health claims that fish consumption can reduce the risk of coronary death by 36 percent, and total mortality by 17 percent -- benefits that far outweigh the risk of exposure to toxins like PCBs and dioxin, it says. "Seafood is likely the single most important food one can consume for good health," says coauthor Dariush Mozaffarian. But a study by the Institute of Medicine concludes that while chowing down on salmon, mackerel, and other fatty fish "may" reduce the risk of heart disease, different populations should follow different fish-eating guidelines, and women of childbearing age and children should be particularly cautious. Consumers Union criticized both studies for not giving enough attention to the dangers of mercury in tuna and PCBs in most fish. Nutrition expert Marion Nestle of New York University recommends that consumers make sense of the morass by following advice from the Monterey Bay Aquarium and Environmental Defense about fish choices that are safe for people and ecosystems.

sources:
The New York Times
Los Angeles Times
San Francisco Chronicle
Seafood Watch Seafood Guide
Best & Worst Seafood Choices