Sitting Alone

Christopher Garrett's (2012) charcoal and graphite rubbing from the Oakland Museum of California (see Oakland Museum of California) seemed just about right for today. 

Goes well with these words from Gary Snyder:

"We have to appreciate the Mind that floats our many selves, gives shelter to our hard-won information and word hoards, and yet remains a sea of surprises. Meditation is the problematic art of deliberately staying open as the myriad things experience themselves".

Stake 14

U Ohn Hlaing, leader of the Village Management Area project at Nam Sabi (see Nam Sabi VMA and Tiger Tracks), adjusts stake 14. [NOTE: It gets cold and snowy in New York and I start thinking about setting inventory stakes in northern Myanmar].

Books and Books and Books

Lovely, quirky, and totally engaging video by book artist and papermaker Randi Parkhurst.  Entitled, "Patience", the clip shows Parkhurst slowly revealing the twenty or so nested books in her creation, each one smaller than the one before.  Mesmerizing. [NOTE: Original music provided by Laura Inserra].

Wood Heat

Had an informative and bitterly cold visit to Camp Deerpark (see Camp Deerpark Forestry, Cabins at Camp Deerpark, and Tree Marking) in the Catskills yesterday. The water is (super) heated in the wood boiler shown above, and the water stream is pressured by the pumps shown below. The hot water is then pumped through the radiators at the main house and the cabins, and through the floor (radiant heat) in the workshop/warehouse and everything becomes nice and toasty. The firewood is an output from the Camp Deerpark forestry plan. What a great trip (thx, Sean and Ken). 

The History of Typography

Lovely animated short by Ben Barrett-Forrest about the history of fonts and typography. 291 paper letters, 2,454 photographs, 140 hours of work. Totally engaging–and you might actually learn something about typography (see The Elements of Typographic Style and Helvetica). [NOTE: Perfect for a freezing, snowy day in New York. Like today].

Tree Allometry

These are what clean data look like. Tree measurements of height and diameter (upper graph) from 394 kanyin (Dipterocarpus sp.) trees and volume and diameter relationship (lower graph) for kanyin calculated based on basal area, height/diameter relationship, and an 80% taper coefficient. All data were collected by local fieldcrews working in the Nam Sabi VMA (see VMA Inventory). Worth noting that the R-squared, i.e. the coeffecient of determination, is 0.77 in the first graph and 0.97 in the second one. Great job, guys. [NOTE: Allometry refers to the statistical analysis of the shape of an organism].

1.1.15

Always try to start the New Year off with a smile (see 1.1.14). So, here you go. One of my favorites: Diego Rivera. From sometime in the 1930's, when Rivera was in San Francisco with Frida Kahlo to work on a mural for the San Francisco Stock Exchange building. [NOTE: Go here for a nice story about this mural].