a little history of Florida

Like the Michener book on Texas I read in August, this book starts at about 500 years ago. The story is told, however, by a native north-Floridian at the time of the 2001 "hanging-chad" incident in Florida's capital. Like one of the reviews that is on the Amazon.com page for this book, it tells a history of not only Florida, but of her own family as well. So, there is history on aborigines vs Europeans as well as "slice-of-life" history of an old-South family in a part of Florida that is a little bit more like Georgia to the north than the rest of Florida.

I found the aboriginal history to be an ok starting place for where I'd want to go to get better information. There were many tribes of "American Indians" as well as an aboriginal Cuban influence.

When the Europeans started wanting to colonize, there were battles between the French and Spanish, as well as the challenges for those who came from non-tropics dealing with tropical weather.

One thing I found particularly interesting (it hadn't occurred to me before) is that, since Florida is such a great place to have zoos, with wildlife that is native to all parts of the globe (except, perhaps, polar bears and penguins), that when one of the many hurricanes comes around, the wildlife in Florida gets an influx of all kinds of weird species. It appears that no one knows what is native and what is not.

Which brings me to a thought that was not discussed in the book. There is a lot of consternation these days over saving the Manatees. This gentle beast is not too smart and apparently gets run over by motorboats very easily. It's endangered, I believe.

Well, a casual argument that I've heard when visiting Florida is that Manatees are not native anyway, so why worry; also, they eat all this native grass that messes up the ecosystem. But the other side of the argument says no, the grass is not native and cleaning it up helps the ecosystem.

But I digress. The book was worth reading. I really did not know anything about Florida except that I'd lived there (Orlando) for 6 months 20 years ago, it's flat and warm (with great waterways, including an ocean!), and has Disney and many other tourist areas.

I feel a little wiser now, when considering moving my family there. There are a lot of warts that come with the state. For instance, I read in the book it was late in understanding the need for civil rights among all Americans; still struggles today to get with the program.

Amy Tan, Khaled Hosseini

In October, I went to the first of a series of lectures being held by renound authors. The October lecture was given by Amy Tan. In preparation, I wanted to make sure I read one of her books. I hadn't read anything of hers before.

I chose The Hundred Secret Senses.

I am glad I chose this one. What she said in her lecture was very much part of this book. I could tell that her philosopies were very much like those of the American sister (the protagonist).

The general story involves two girls/women (they're half-sisters) of Chinese descent, and the story starts somewhere in the US (California, maybe?). There is an awful wrong that the American sister does to the Chinese sister when they are kids. When they are adults they end up in China, and there is much that the American sister learns while they are there.

I recommend this book for women. There is another book, The Kite Runner, that had the same flavor, that may have more universal appeal.

The Kite Runner is about a kid growing up in Afghanistan in the 60s or something where one fanatic group, then another, invaded and ruined life for the people who were living there. Basically created anarchy somewhat similar to the anarchy that reigns in Iraq today. I hear that it's getting better? (but I digress . . .)

The kid does something awful to his best friend, and his Dad escape Afghanistan and go to live in California. Everything happens in California, I guess. There are stories about culture shifts, adapting, etc.

The reason I compare these two books is because they both discuss confusion surrounding different cultures, plus there is a deep regret that the protagonist in each story has about a wrong they caused in someone who was very important to them.

trees

I was reading one of my many email newsletters today and saw the best picture of a tree. It inspired me to go searching for a tree in Yahoo. Here's one that was very cool:

Speaking of Faith radio show

This is a radio show I like to listen to every once and a while. A variety of religious topics is discussed, relating the topics to events that are happening today.

So I was happy to see a description of it on Yahoo!Picks. I recommend using the podcast option. I'm not a real fan of sitting and listening, unless I'm in the car. So I put the show on my iPod and listen if I'm taking a walk or something.

Speaking of Faith In this country, some people see religion as a debate between those who despise the theory of evolution and those who think God is a four-letter word. But Speaking of Faith, "public radio's conversation about religion, meaning, ethics, and ideas," takes a much-needed, more-nuanced approach. Hosted by Krista Tippett, who received a Masters of Divinity at Yale, the series ranges far and wide in examining different aspects of spirituality. While hot-button issues like gay marriage, religious fundamentalism, and "The Da Vinci Code" are not spared, the show also explores less-traveled areas like the challenge war poses to core religious tenets and the history of doubt. The program's archive goes back to 2001. Download each show in MP3 format, listen to it with RealPlayer, or subscribe to a podcast. And find yourself, possibly, thinking and speaking of faith with a broader perspective. (in Religion & Spirituality)

Leonardo da Vinci's Animated Illustrations

From: Yahoo! Picks

Leonardo da Vinci's Animated Illustrations Forget da Vinci's code, his notebooks are mind-boggling enough. And now that the Victoria and Albert Museum has translated nine of his drawings into mini-movies for a major exhibit of his books, the animated results are nearly divine. A human heart throbs, a church rises from the ground, and a beam of light moves slowly across a man's face. But if you only have a few moments, don't miss: "Human figures in motion"—grown men hammer, dig, jump, kneel, and sprint off the page. "Warfare"—Leonardo's thoughts on the "mechanization of war" were almost spookily ahead of their time. In this short, an armored tank rolls ominously across a modern-day battlefield. "Anatomy of a bird's wing"—an avian limb morphs into a human arm, which sprouts a man-made "flying machine." When we think that the amazing Mr. da Vinci thought of this sometime between 1480 and 1519, our heads start to spin. (in Visual Arts)

don't wanna vote dumb

I have not been keeping up with politician's views lately, except for what they're putting into their TV ads.

Given the reliability of the above source of information, I've been looking around to see if I can find a source of objective information on each of the offices that I need to vote for. So far I've found the following:

http://www.uselectionatlas.org/

If you've found any, I'll be interested in looking.

(added 11/3/06): Utne's Guide to Voter's Guides

THE IMMORTAL GAME

this article really surprises me - "not the most intellectual of games" - seems to me chess is one of the most intellectually challenging of games:

"Chess may or may not be the most intellectual of all games, says Michael Dirda, but it is certainly the most romantic... more» "

But anyway, it is a book review on the history of chess. Looks interesting.

Can men marry if they have ovaries?

By Faye Flam
Inquirer Staff Writer

Recent efforts to pass amendments that define marriage as a union between a "man" and a "woman" are going to run into more than just political opposition.

Scientists are contending there's no clear definition of the gender divide.

There are at least seven definitions, but not everyone qualifies as male or female across the board, says Galdino Pranzarone, a psychologist at Roanoke College who has argued against marriage amendments on the editorial pages of the Roanoke Times. [more]

Melbourne, FL

Well, it's looking more and more likely that we'll be moving to Florida (from Rochester, NY) at the end of this school year. The only thing that breaks my heart about it is knowing that it will break my son's heart. I'm confident that he will recover and thrive down there as much as he thrives up here. But at this emotional time, the thought of his recovery is not as much consolation as I'd like it to be. Fact is, his heart will be broken. And it will be my fault. How can a mom break her son's heart? Why should a mom cause her child to have to recover?

Regardless, I need to plan and learn as much about the area as possible. Here are some links I've found so far:

• The local newspaper
• The official City of Melbourne site
• The apartment complex we're likely to live in when my family joins me (I'll have to be away from them for a few months)
• Statistics on Melbourne
• (added 10/12/06): The Florida Virtual School system, where middle- and high- school students can take courses that count towards their high school degree, for free if they're Florida residents
• (added 10/15/06):
• Brevard County Libraries
• Florida Youth Soccer
• Brevard Football Club
• Youth Soccer in local newspaper
• Episcopal Diocese of Central Florida
• Viera.com - the highly recommended planned community
• Platbook community listing; helpful for when real estate listings say what community things are in. The Platbooks themselves are here.
• map of various statistics in Brevard County; flood planes, house sales, etc
• Boy Scouts - Council of Central Florida; Eagle District (northern areas of Brevard County); troops in Florida
• Surfing Camp - could be a replacement for downhill skiing
• (added 10/29/06):
• Local Professional Soccer: Cocoa Expos
• Florida is the Lightning Capital of the World, hotspots for lightning
• Melbourne National Weather Service
• (11/6/06):
• Comparison of census-type stats of Melbourne vs Rochester

links on moving in general:

• eHow
• About.com

10/15/06 - re breaking heart - son seems like he's been thinking about it a lot, and noticing that changes are happening with lots of his friends. When I told him how I didn't want to break his heart, but that I was afraid that I would have to, he responded saying it would be hard, but I got the idea that he wouldn't feel completely heartbroken, even though he loves his life here (Roch).

11/29/06 - Over Thanksgiving we announced that it is quite likely that we are going. At some point since 10/15, son actually said that he was kind of excited about the idea. Now he's gone back to being really concerned about it and it's threatening to distract him from his schoolwork. :-(

what I'm reading - Michener's Texas

I've been reading James Michener's Texas, written in 1985. It was hanging around on my bookshelf as one of the many "based on factual history" fiction novels that he has written, and I wanted a book to read without exerting too much effort to find one. Besides, I've been curious about the cultural background of our current president. I am a fan of the Michener books because I am interested in history, yet I have trouble reading it without a slice of life perspective. This is a history of Texas from ~500 years ago to the present. It starts with Spanish migration from Mexico on upward (they tried, but never really had an interest, given all the troubles that were involved). It includes migration from many countries (how the Texas population got built), war events, including Mexico and US (I'm just past the Civil War at this point). The first Michener book I ever read was The Covenant (about South Africa). It had a similar sort of slice-of-life style to it. Both books have characters returning through historical events and, coincidentally, they all are connected in one way or another.

The only thing different that he did in the Texas book, which I have not seen in the others so far, is that he frames the history around a modern day lecture series on Texas, and the lectures they provide are the historical story. I wasn't comfortable with that at first, but have, by now (about 800 pages into it) gotten used to it, and actually like tracking the current day characters to their respective ancestries.

10/30/06: I finished this book in the beginning of October, then quickly moved on to read a book by Amy Tan, in preparation for attending a lecture that would be given by her. I thought this (Michener) book was good, 'though I found the ending nothing special. But, with further consideration, I could not recall the endings of any of the other Michener books I've read. It's almost like they are "a slice of history." Like there is not necessarily any meaning to "it all," it just is.