Busy

Life sometimes throws a lot at you. It feels like more than you can handle. If it is more than you can handle, something suffers. Something doesn't get done. That's how life is for me right now...almost.

I do what I can each day, keeping a bunch of different metaphorical balls in the air, and manage to keep the important things on schedule. An ongoing illness in the family adds to the stress. If life were perfect, I'd draw from x o'clock to y o'clock every day, then take a o'clock to b o'clock to finish a few projects I've wanted to get to for a long time, and so on. Instead, events move around in the schedule as if I'm playing some frustrating video game. I will shortly go out and put up posters for a concert I'm helping to present when I'd prefer to be drawing, then come back and draw some more, working later than I'd prefer, then memorize lines for a play rehearsal tonight when I could be drawing another strip, which I will instead draw tomorrow.

However, I will gradually catch up on everything, and the fact that, even with five or six inches of snowfall a couple of days ago, spring will begin to appear in a month or so encourages me. And the sun just came out as I'm typing this. That helps.

I guess I'm lucky in that I draw what I like to think are funny cartoons for a living. This makes other people happy, and I can't help but smile when I draw one. Neither wind nor rain nor snow nor an overload of burdens can deter me from my daily round of writing, drawing, scanning, coloring and uploading.

I never learned to juggle, and yet that's what I'm doing now. Not quite funny enough for a cartoon, but enough to amuse me as I go about my day.

http://donsmith-weiss.blogspot.com/2010_02_01_archive.html

The poop on biofuel

When I built a house a few years ago, I subscribed to Small Flows magazine, a publication dedicated to septic systems and waste treatment. I was researching what sort of system to install, and I just never cancelled the subscription after I'd made my choice.

Well, this month's issue features a fascinating article for someone interested in ecology and that sort of thing. Researchers have found that they can use algae to treat wastewater, and a byproduct of the process, which is used primarily to clean the waste, is biofuel! Yes, a combination of sewage and algae---two pretty unappealing things---can result in clean water and fuel for heating, vehicles, etc.  The article states, "In fact, many environmental experts believe that the combination of algae and wastewater may be the key to a low-carbon future--an oil utopia of sorts."

The use of algae to produce fuel was first tested in the fifties, and scientists began using it in 1978, after the oil crisis; but, as oil prices went down in the 90s, so did interest in the process. Now, of course, the idea is becoming appealing again. The cost-effectiveness of combining algae with wastewater easily trumps traditionally-farmed biofuels. With current technology, it's not yet commercially viable, but a pilot project is in the works.

Imagine home treatment systems--instead of just a septic system, you could have a biofuel plant and clean water for your plants! And, I assume, fertilizer would be another byproduct--although the article doesn't address that. On a national scale, imported oil could be replaced by fuel from our own waste. The cool part of this is that it treats waste that we already produce and always will, and which we have to treat anyway, and creates fuel as a byproduct. It also reduces costs by about half for both algae growers (who now grow it to produce biofuel) and wastewater treatment providers over their current systems operating separately.  Countries without vast stores of oil might no longer be at the mercy of those who do have them. Imagine poor third-world countries being able to produce their own fuel, maybe on a local level!

A cost-effective technology is probably several years away, but it looks like this might become a magic bullet for some of our energy ills. I can see the slogans now: From Crappy to Happy! This Is Really Good Sh*t! Wastewater Purity = National Security. Flush with Pride.

Okay, I'll leave the slogans to people who know their sh*t.

Super Bowl

I'm really happy for the Saints. My apologies to those who wanted the Colts to win, but New Orleans was a team that was trying to lift the spirits of a city that still, four years later, is recovering from the devastation of Katrina.

Once the Patriots (my home team) lost in the playoffs, I assumed I'd watch the Super Bowl with no favorite. Both teams had beaten New England in the regular season, and in fact the Saints embarrassed us more than the Colts. But the Saints were the underdog, and as the game began, I thought, these guys are the Patriots nine years ago: the underdog in the Super Bowl, whom just about everyone who writes about sports predicted to lose. A team that had never won a Super Bowl in its long history, but a team with loyal, die-hard fans nonetheless. A team that could represent a comeback from a disaster--after all, how appropriate that a team called the Patriots won the Super Bowl a few months after the 9/11 attacks, when national pride was strong. So as I watched the efficient Colts go up 10-0, I began to really root for the Saints. They were my team if my team couldn't be there.

I wasn't entirely happy about choosing sides. If you have no vested interest in the outcome, no result can hurt. But I thought of the time I spent in New Orleans. I had walked the streets that would be filled with happy crowds if the team won. I knew they'd celebrate as we in New England did in 2001. And I liked seeing a team that had worked its way up from mediocrity to greatness in a short time achieve so much.

(I also got the chance to educate a football non-fan at the party I went to about the basic rules of football and why I like the combination of the cerebral and the sheer physicality of the game--she may even buy a handbook to learn more now!--and this was a perfect game to illustrate that, with something as clever and dangerous as an onside kick to show how coaching decisions can be as important as who misses a tackle or gets open downfield.) 

Even if the Saints had lost, I'd've been happy. They made it that far, and they were playing an incredible team. But the come-from-behind win (another hallmark of the Patriots for many years) felt even better.

So, congratulations, New Orleans. This is your time. Next year, I'd like to see my team play you in the big one, and if that happens, I won't be on your side any more. But for today, you are my team.

We Are the World

I just saw a video clip about the upcoming remake of the '85 tune "We Are The World". The original raised millions for famine relief in Africa; the new version will aid the Haiti relief effort.

As a song, it's kind of mediocre. There's a direct ripoff of Do You Hear What I Hear? in the chorus ("a star, a star..."), and it's sort of a middling pop song, with a standard 4-5-1 chord progression that worked much better in Blowin' in the Wind, Viva la Vida,  Always On My Mind, and others. It's surprising that Michael Jackson, arguably at his peak at the time, co-wrote this instead of something closer to Billy Jean or Thriller. But, despite that, it was an inspirational work that did a lot of good. Sometimes the easily digestible is an effective way to accomplish the morally imperative. You could say that musical junk food is a good way to get real food to people in need.

I'm looking forward to seeing who's on the recording; it becomes a record of the time. Seeing Kim Carnes (Bette Davis Eyes) and Huey Lewis (The Heart of Rock & Roll) reminds me how huge acts that seem like they'll be around forever can disappear from the public consciousness. I imagine some artists will return for the second one: Lionel Richie, who co-wrote the song, even though he's not making much of an impact these days; Springsteen, who still is; Kenny Rogers, who, if he does appear, will probably look younger than the first time around, thanks to extensive plastic surgery.

Maybe there'll be a a rap interlude, or a hip-hop section. There are ways to freshen up a tired tune. But whatever it sounds like this time around, it will be heartfelt, inspiring and a worthy effort. If you don't buy a copy, send the cost of one to relief aid---or to any charity to which you're dedicated. The important thing about this song and its various versions isn't so much if it's as good as Single Ladies, but that it makes us stop and think about how we should be helping others. And that's beautiful music to my ears.

Haiti

I try hard to avoid political commentary in this blog, because I want people to enjoy the comic strip without thinking about whether they agree or disagree with my opinions. But I won't shy away from commenting on televangelist Pat Robertson's recent assertion that Haitians themselves were to blame for the earthquake that hit Haiti recently. Their crime? "Practicing voodoo."

First of all, I don't care if they blows bubbles and call them angels. I'm not pompous enough to declare that my vision of religion is the only one, or better than someone else's. Secondly, I don't believe God punishes people with earthquakes and tornadoes and hurricanes because they've been bad. And third, I wouldn't dream of kicking a nation of poor, struggling people when they're down.

These kinds of comments will just discourage some of his followers from donating. The Christian thing to do is to take care of your fellow human beings--there's this little thing I heard about called the Golden Rule, which I would suggest is generally held to be true by most religions, and by atheists, agnostics and Pastafarians as well.

I did a week's service a few years ago helping to add a second story onto an orphanage in the Dominican Republic. I saw the poverty there, and, on a day trip to the Dominican/Haiti border, saw the conditions the Haitians live in. We saw one man carrying a load of items on his head the size of a Volkswagen. One child pleaded to shine the shoes of one of my fellow workers, even though they were canvas sneakers.

That was on our last day there. The next day, we were stopped on our way to the airport by soldiers. The countryside is crawling with them the day after the one day of the week on which Haitians are allowed to cross the border and trade, sell their wares and make purchases in the DR, because there's always the worry that Haitians will try to stay in the Dominican. As poor as it it is, the Dominican is still a step up from the poverty and oppression in Haiti.

I see the earthquake as an opportunity for the international community to help make a better place of that part of the world. I guess Pat Robertson sees it as a chance to build his flock at the expense of informed discussion. Blaming people for natural disasters is judging those who do not deserve to be judged.