Inbetween holidays

The days between Christmas and New Years have always been a tough time.  Boxing day was a-seasonally warm so the Phactors took a decent walk that pushed us over the 10,000 steps threshold. Not sure why that's the arbitrary but round number goal, but it is? Also managed to clean up some leaves, and the net that had collected them and pick up all the newly downed limbs around the place. Then had the neighbors over for cocktails. Bulbs are already pushing up in places. TPP usually renews all his society memberships and makes some donations to worth while causes. This year supporting the Union of Concerned Scientists and ACLU seems like a good idea.  Both organizations may have a busy year. 
Worked in a dental checkup just because not much else is going on.  Have to do some grocery shopping later for a dinner party tomorrow evening, but first have to finish planning the dinner menu. Will waste New Year's Eve at a party with long-time friends, who have been doing this for more than 35 years. 
Not much else going on. Dumbly trying to figure out the smart part of new smart TV. So far it doesn't seem very bright really, but everyone says there are things you can do, if you ever do do those things. Don't even have to return any gifts.  Took a new painting/collage (mixed media) to have it framed well, and the nature of the piece makes it a bit tricky. High hopes it will look terrific and then begins the problem of hanging it in the right place and any resulting domino effect.  The other new piece of art is a blown glass vase so just have to find the right place, a not easy problem because of its size. A couple of weeks ago we attended a friends open house, and it is an art museum of major proportions. A large closet, several pieces of furniture, a basement store room, a couple of dozen sets of storage shelves in the basement housed the pieces not on display (a collection of glass and ceramics in the thousands, along with hundreds of prints, paintings, sculptures (some outside), and even art furniture. Terribly impressive as was his explanation that using eBay to downsize his collection had backfired into more acquisitions. Did get to meet the creator of our newest vase. Nice.
Hmm, killing some time with a not very inspired blog post; maybe some coffee would stimulate the little gray cells.

Rick called

Rick Sanctimonious called.  He wanted to tell me how outraged he was.  Lots of things outrage Rick, and mostly it would seem it's people's freedom to do things that Rick doesn't like, and there are lots of things Rick doesn't like.  Rick was hoping that the people he was calling were outraged enough at what he was telling us that some money might be "invested"  in his cause.  It was nice of Rick to call, so best be polite.  When he's done TPP will pick up the telephone from the kitchen counter, disinfect it, and then hang it up.  Sounds like Rick may be going on for awhile, and you want him to get his money's worth, but since it's a pretty one-sided call, he didn't actually need me to keep listening. Hello?  Hello?  Wonder if Rick got my message? 

Wanted - A Patron of Botany

Two things grieve me severely. 1. My back isn’t getting any younger and more and more of my research takes place at ground level, or so it seems. 2. Students who miss out on first-hand scientific experiences because of too few resources. And that is the point of today’s missive; the Phactor needs some patrons of botany. Artists have patrons; why not botanists? Surely somebody out there with deep pockets, and actually they don’t have to be that deep, wants to support students interested in botanical research. The Laboratory for Plant Identification and Conservation stands ready to accept your charitable donations. A mere $10,000 a year would keep several students in groceries while happily engaged in research. A mere $100,000 would endow the laboratory and the herbarium collection within providing perpetual support. Just so potential patrons understand, not a cent goes to support the Phytophactor; that’s Mrs. Phactor’s role. And those young minds (and backs!) are needed for the future of botany. While our government daily fritters away billions as if pennies on dubious international escapades, the educational needs of tomorrow’s botanists, apprenticed by engaging in today’s research under the tutorage of experienced and worldly scholars, are not being met. The funding rate from the National Science Foundation has fallen to the lowest level (less than 5% of grants are funded) in my entire career, so needless to say governmental support is far from filling even the minimal research needs, especially those of us who are not at large research universities, those of us who deal with undergraduates rather than post-docs. Failing to support basic research is just one more way that our governmental system is mortgaging our country’s future. But rather than castigate any individuals for having accumulated a large share of this nation’s wealth, how about allowing some of it to trickle down to the grass roots of botanical research? Every Hummer that drives by represents one person with misplaced values; for the difference in price between an impractical and a practical vehicle, you could support a student’s research for a year. You’d never regret your decision. You’d see your name in the scientific literature. You’d be invited to our fabulous end of harvest gala balls (we serve pizza, or sometimes fry a turkey). And we'd love you, really. Your support would allow a clever and committed waitress to rush to a few less tables each evening carrying a few less plates of pasta, a job she needs to make ends meet even after working in the field all day. We’ve got some great youth in this country, and we have lots of interesting things for them to do, but they can’t eat grass. Contact the Phytophactor at his google-mail account with any serious inquiries.