Global Wandering

Salt Lake Flowers by Cellphone

I am sitting in a Kinkos in Salt Lake City having just scanned my drivers license and Starwood Preferred Guest Platinum identification card so I can email it to Starwood Hotels and convince them that I am me since they for whatever reason decided to change the name on my account to that of one of my business partners. As one of my other partners mentioned, you can't make this stuff up.

I had booked a couple of rooms for my partner and me for our marketing presentation in San Francisco next week. Everything seemed in order until my partner called Starwood back to book an extra night's room. From that point on, my Starwood account has had his name attached to it, and Starwood has no record of the change so as far as they are concerned I am and have always been my business partner unless I can prove otherwise.

One rep on the phone said to me that while she sympathizes with the situation, I am only a voice on the phone and since the account says the name of my partner as far as she is concerned I am my business partner.

Posted by jd at 1:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Cellphone Photo and Video by Camden

Posted by jd at 9:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (9)

If anyone has any doubt as to the far reaching impact of good legislation gone bad, just read Michael Pollon's essay in today's New York Times Magazine called You Are What You Grow.

For convience, you can find a PDF version below.

Posted by jd at 9:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Old Faithful

My stepdad, brother-in-law and nephew are visiting from Ohio so we drove up to Yellowstone National Park today. It had opened to vehicle traffic just yesterday so the crowds were sparse and wildlife abundant.

We captured a photo of this grizzly right as she awoke from a nap. She is at the bottom of a hill about twenty five yards away.

The grizzly finally stood and lumbered off. The best line of the day was from the ranger who was guarding the crowd of onlookers with a can of pepper spray. "Does anyone see the bear? he said when the grizzlie dissappeared from view. At that point we headed to the safety of the car.

Elk in the Madison River

Doublet Pool

Posted by jd at 8:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)

Our dog is a vegetarian. She eats carrots, lettuce, apples and dirt.

Posted by jd at 8:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Popeye was kind of enough to name this blog as one of the five that make him think. There is no cash or statue with the Thinking Blogger Award. Just the cute badge and the responsibility of naming 5 Blogs That Make Me Think.

1. Riverfall - Simmons is not only an accomplished poet, but his photos and tales of adventure in the desert Southwest are inspiring.
2. Dos Centavos - Written by Taiwanese expatriate living in Australia. DC's interests are incredibly diverse and her opinions expressed with such fevor it will make your head spin.
3. Self Taught Girl - More online journal then blog, but don't let that keep you away. Kate's prose is beautiful and her candor refreshing.
4. 'Tis Herself - Kell is a great example of living a life of joy and optimism despite the setbacks.
5. The Becker-Posner Blog - They only post once per week, and while I don't always agree with their opinions, generally they are spot on.

Posted by jd at 7:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

I have blogged for about two years now. When I started, I aspired to connect with hundreds if not thousands of readers who might find musings about my small life of interest. Afterall, this is the Internet so theoretically any post could be read by millions.

Two years in, my perspective has changed. I will never be an A list blogger. Not even a Z list. My readership is small. Most days my hits can be counted on two hands. There are about a dozen who subscribe to my RSS feed, and a half dozen that leave comments. It also happens to be the same handful of individuals whose blogs I comment on. And therein lies the great blogging paradox.

Here we have a communication medium that is completely open, free for anyone to peruse, yet at the same time it is extremely intimate. Other than my business associates, I don’t have many close “real life” friends ⎯true friends is what my daughter would call them. Perhaps only five or six who I check in with every few months. Most don’t live in Idaho. On the other hand, I have blogging friends, who because of the medium, I keep closer tabs on than my real life friends. When they don’t post for a while I wonder if they are okay. I joy in their successes and am saddened by their sorrows. I care for them.

Yet, in some ways I don’t know them at all. I’ve never seen them in person. Never heard them speak. Most I don’t even know their real names. They don’t share everything about their lives so I have filled in the gaps myself. My blogging friends are part real and part imaginary. It’s quite possible that if I met them in person and got to know them better we wouldn’t get along. Possible, but not likely.

I have another part real and part imaginary friend. We have been corresponding by mail for over a year. He is in his 24th year of a life sentence without parole at the Alabama State Prison. We exchange letters every three or four weeks. I have learned much from him about patience and hope. A while back he called me on the phone. His voice startled me. It wasn’t the voice I expected. My mind had ascribed a voice to his words on the page. A pleasant Midwestern voice. This man on the phone spoke with a Southern drawl. His real demeanor was piercing the life I had imagined.

I adapted. Now his written voice sounds more Southern, and I have less gaps to fill in. Just as there are less gaps to imagine for my blogging friends as they slowly reveal themselves month by month. That is what keeps me blogging and reading a few blogs. The thrill of the imaginary becoming real.

Posted by jd at 8:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)

I’m finishing up a quick overnight trip to San Francisco where I spoke at a conference. I like this town. It is of my favorite U.S. cities. I’d make a list of my favorites, but it would be pointless because I have too many. Besides, my favorites shift depending on my mood.

Last night I was serenaded for an hour by a street corner saxophone player. His song drifted up twenty nine floors to my hotel room, and it was as clear as if he was standing next to me. Street music is beautiful.

Posted by jd at 5:16 PM | Permalink

I have learned to dislike the above question since moving to Idaho. It is usually the first thing I'm asked after meeting someone new. While the question might appear innocent, it is not. The purpose in asking it is to categorize people. To rank them. Perhaps even to judge them.

I've come to this conclusion because rarely after telling someone my profession, do they ask a follow up question. It's as if once they know where I rank in their particular categorization scheme, they move on.

My standard response to the question is to tell people I'm a bum.

I try not to ask the question myself. While I might be curious what someone does, I'd rather know who they are, what they think, and what is their story?

I sit on our small Idaho town's Planning and Zoning Commission. The meetings are often boring, but it affords me the opportunity to stare at the audience and wonder who they are. One couple last night was particularly fascinating. They were in their seventies and had been married for so long they looked like each other. Even more interesting was their eyes and heads moved in tandem. They both would look in one direction then simutaneously shift their gaze in another as if connected by string. Clearly, they had spent many days working together at their particular vocation. I believe they were farmers. I would have loved to hear their stories.

Posted by jd at 10:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

A big thick FedEx package arrived today from our accountant. I opened it with great trepidation. Gone are the days of two page tax forms. Now I spend four to six hours filling out the accountant's tax questionnaire, mail it in and then wait a few weeks for the accountant to send back a book telling me how big of check I need to write.

This year my federal tax return was sixty-five pages. It was undecipherable. Except for line spelling out how much I owe. Sadly, that was perfectly clear.

Do other countries have such a complicated tax system?

Posted by jd at 10:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

The house was unoccupied and still being built. Time to start over.

I think pheasants are one of the most beautiful birds in the world.

Posted by jd at 9:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

A new family pulled up unexpectedly this afternoon in a large moving truck at one of the vacant houses down the street. The kids and I went to help unload. Professional movers make a skimpy living in Idaho because everyone moves themselves. Just last Thursday, we loaded a different neighbor’s truck for their move to Utah.

It took us ninety minutes to unload the boxes and furniture from the 25 foot truck and 20 foot trailer. It was packed tightly from floor to ceiling. The family hadn’t closed on the house yet, so everything was stacked in the three car garage. When we were done, there was barely any room in the garage to walk. Just two narrow pathways that threaded between bookcases, desks, mattresses and dozens of boxes.

Americans, including myself, own too much stuff. Which is why whenever I finish helping someone move, I return home and start giving things away.

We used to have a coffee table book at our company headquarters with photographs of families throughout the world standing in front of their houses with all of their things spread out on the front lawn. The contrast between nationalities was stunning. I don’t need to tell you which nationality had the most things.

My goal is if they took a similar picture of my things that it wouldn’t take a two page spread.

Posted by jd at 4:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)