A Bakhtinian Hell (or, Where We Are Living Today)

Today I read a post on the Lost Art Press blog about a recent memorial gathering for Jennie Alexander.

It struck me that when he writes about

Homemade Timber Inventory Tools

This is a good collection of simple, homemade tools for do-it-yourself timber inventory.

http://cru.cahe.wsu.edu/CEPublications/EM038E/EM038E.pdf

I found it in the process of seeking a way to estimate basal area at 10 selected points on my land, partly for my ongoing project of keeping specific data on what's going on in my woods, and partly for a before & after study of what happens when we log the land, hopefully this year.

REVISION (2019/01/08)
Here are stocking tables and some more timber inventory information from the Wisconsin DNR. Very good stuff. I'll be printing this out and incorporating it into my personal file of data I've collected on my land. 
http://learningstore.uwex.edu/assets/pdfs/G3362.PDF

REVISION (2019/01/09)
More on the theory behind the tools: 
https://dnr.wi.gov/files/PDF/pubs/ss/SS0023.pdf

A Pedant Discourses Upon Led Zeppelin

I'm no certified arborist, but I do know Led Zeppelin is good. This guy knows why.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvOm2oZRQIk

Ramen in Decatur: Wa Ga Ya

Last week I ventured just a bit outside the Decatur city limits and tried the ramen at Wagaya, in Emory Village. It was a cold early winter day, with incipient rain, and I

Ramen in Decatur: Taiyo

Taiyo is located in the Courtyard Decatur Hotel, just up from the square on Clairemont. (Yes, I know it's Clairmont further north where you're thinking of it, but inside the Decatur city limits it's Clairemont.)

We both had exhausting Mondays for our own individual reasons, so decided to treat ourselves to noodles. Serendipity! As we were

Peter Stormare

I dislike many things about VW as a corporate entity, but it sure was cool when Peter Stormare did some commercials for them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWMpHc77qNI

Lowery on Texas

The piece in the link (if it's not behind a paywall) is difficult to read. Difficult emotionally; the prose itself is plainly written and more powerful because of that. It's an account, by many eyewitnesses, of the Texas church massacre last weekend. Wesley Lowery, the lead reporter, described it on Twitter this way: "We emptied our notebooks of every detail we have . . ."

I have recently finished Wesley Lowery's excellent book They Can't Kill Us All, and recommend it if you're interested in what's behind the movement(s) protesting police violence against unarmed black people. In addition to reporting on the crime scenes, Lowery takes the time to get to know the community leaders who dedicate time and energy to keeping these needless killings in the public eye.  One thing that becomes clear as you read the book is that reporting on these events takes a huge toll on the journalists who cover them. My second reaction on reading this piece is how devastating it must be just talking to people who have so recently gone through this, let alone actually being present during the killing.


https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/the-sound-of-hymns-drifted-from-the-country-church-then-came-gunfire/2017/11/08/4bd191b4-c4b7-11e7-aae0-cb18a8c29c65_story.html?utm_term=.d450c89e921e