How about putting transportation back in the transportation bill?

Well, well, well, what a surprise. Our U.S. Congress and Senate failed to agree on a transportation bill by the April 1 deadline, opting for yet another — as in ninth — extension of the 2005 bill. The extension, or Surface Transportation Extension Act of 2012, buys them another 90 days to come up with something they can agree on. (The Federal Aviation Administration had 22 extensions before Congress finally approved a multi-year bill this year.)

Congress passed their version of the Transportation bill in February. The Senate passed their version in March. But ne’er the two could meet.

What’s the problem? I made the mistake of...

Those frivolous nonessential arts

Ever wonder why the arts are the first to see their funding cut during unstable times? Ever wonder where the idea that arts are “nonessential services” comes from? I used to wonder that too.

The movie The Sound of Music had a profound effect on me as a child. I was too young certainly to understand its climate of politics and war and all that (I was only five or six), but what did take hold of me was the undeniable power of music as a survival tool. For all their...

Savoring flavor

I learned years ago from an old winemaker that there is no more flavor in a big bite than in a small one. In fact, there is far more flavor in a small bite than in a big one. The pinch of spice thoughtfully added by the cook is completely missed when shoved hungrily past the taste buds, swallowed nearly whole, a wasted flavor nuance. Such a pity too.

There is so much more to savor when considering all that goes into the food that sustains us: The farmer who senses the land and the weather in a way that is part of who he is; an attentive guardian who tends his wheat fields. The hands that know...

Uh-oh, it really is a man's world!

If the state of world affairs seems a little heavy on the testosterone, it’s not just a figment of our imaginations.

According to a United Nations Statistics Division report, there are 57 million more men than women in the world today. And most of that ratio imbalance is in the under-50 age groups. Women, now, still outnumber men in the over-70 age group, although less than they used to.

I could just imagine all those “extra” young men pairing with the “extra” older women. In a spunky mood, I saw the statistics as amusing.

But wait a minute. Nature doesn’t work that way. How could...

Wire armature for clay figures: My first!

My first armature wire structure!

We stayed with artist friends Kitty and Bill Vielehr at the Aspen ShortsFest and while talking about my little project to make an animated video to go with one of my music recordings, Bill said, "you'll want to make an armature for your characters."

What? I had no idea what he was talking about. Bill is an internationally renowned sculptor and turns out he used to teach figure classes for animation students. I know!

Bill's sketch in my notebook.

He started to describe how to make a wire armature for the clay figures, then grabbed a notepad and a pencil. I pushed the notepad away and stuck my notebook in front of him! He drew as he talked. I couldn't believe my luck! A lesson from a master! Me, a novice; no, a complete and total beginner. As you can imagine, I hung on every word!

A few highlights of the lesson...

Getting to the facts: How do we know what to believe?

A respected acquaintance recently expressed a startling opinion: “Real journalism is dead.”

“It is?” I replied.

He continued: “How do I know the facts the journalists are reporting are actually true and not just used to support their opinions?”

Ah, a critical question for the information age.

Journalists, like everyone else, are constantly faced with dubious “facts” from their sources. And because everyone and their mother produces “facts” these days, the time and resources required to double-check those facts have become increasingly scarce.

So, is it the reporter’s or the source’s “facts” that are in question?

February of this year, the...

Playing with clay: Meet Arliss

Arliss with hair and scarf.

Well, I finally ripped into the clay and made a practice head. My first attempt!

This is Arliss in her latest form. Below are the various stages getting her to this latest form.

I found two pearl-ish buttons in my button box, so used those for her eyes. I just used a blue sharpy to color the pupils.

Her hair is a curl snipped from an old wig I wore in a melodrama about 9 or 10 years ago.

I had such fun playing with the clay!

Next, I think I'll work on a body and little clothes for her. Hoping to carve out a little time this weekend to do that!

1. The lump of clay

2. Hello, I'm Arliss.

3. Hair and a hat of flowers?

4. Not liking this at all.

5. Really? Ouch.

6. Oh yes, this will do!

It’s your digital legacy and virtual wealth. Or is it?

Every time we engage in Internet activity, we add to our individual digital legacy.

But who owns that legacy? And what happens to it when we depart this world? What about our collections of music, movies and eBooks? Our active eBay auction bids? Our photos and email accounts? And then there are those websites we’d just as soon nobody knows about.

Planning to leave your iTunes collections to cousin Sarah? Not going to happen. You don’t own them. You are only licensed to access them until your, well, your terminal demise. Then your collection and account are terminated. See the fine print in “Terms of Service.”

Gmail, Yahoo!, Hotmail, LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube, Blogger, Flickr, Shutterfly, Go Daddy, Amazon, PayPal, eBay and the like all have different...

Aspen ShortsFest film festival really does delight and inspire! Had a great time!

Just home from the annual Aspen ShortsFest film festival; a first for us! I loved it! Unlike most film festivals that show feature-length films, most of the ShortsFest films run between 1 and 20 minutes. They’re shown in 90-minute blocks called programs. Because it is an international competition, everyone in the audience gets to rank the films on a scale of 1-4, with 4 being “loved it.”

Needless to say, we watched a lot of short films! My favorites were Lunch Date, Eyes on the Stars, Felix, Out of Erasers, and The Voorman Problem.  I haven’t heard yet whether any of them won awards.

As much as I enjoyed the films, the most valuable part of the festival was the comedy writers panel. Called "The Sometimes Hilarious Pain of Writing Funny," the panel was moderated by Elias Davis (Carol Burnett Show) and featured Shauna Cross (What to Expect When You’re Expecting), Alexander Payne (The Descendents), Mike Reiss (The Simpsons), and Robert Weide (Curb Your Enthusiasm). They answered...

Independence: It's all in the dirt.

Why aren’t fundamental life skills a standard part of secondary school education — tools young people need to ensure their independence as adults? If they can feed, clothe and provide shelter for themselves and their families, they’ll be prepared to weather almost any future storm, both literally and metaphorically.

Why are initiatives that teach those skills relegated to extracurricular, after-hours programs led by parent volunteers instead of being standard for all students? Let’s face it: Most students don’t have the means to participate in our amazing 4-H programs and other similar organizations.

While I was organizing my notes for this column (which was supposed to focus on hydraulic fracturing), my husband popped into my office and suggested that this weekend might be a good time to get our vegetable seeds started in indoor containers. I agreed and then tried to shift my attention back to the technical documents on my desk. But I couldn’t shake off the question of why we don’t teach basic food gardening in our schools.

Western Colorado is a rich and robust agricultural area. Shoot, even I managed to coax a few yummy veggies from the soil last year. I turned to Google for a quick search and then picked up the phone...

Clay: Taking That First Step

Modeling clay value pk

Today, I bought modeling clay. An 18 color pack for $14.99; a first step in my new art project.

As a kid, I loved playing with clay. About two years ago or so, I took a clay class taught by Nina Williams at the Art Center here in Grand Junction. She creates the most amazing minature clay things.

The classes were once a week over six or seven weeks for three or four hours or so. I enjoyed playing with the clay even moreso than I did as a kid!

The art projects in the class were so cool. The whole process, from squishy clay to shaping and molding to firing and glazing, was fascinating! ...

Despite their purchasing practices, the poor have many innovative ideas

The latest Mendelsohn Affluent report based on the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Expenditure Survey was released on March 1. The report analyzes the “role of Affluents as the spending engine that drives today’s consumer economy.” This is good news.

The 58.6 million adults with annual household incomes of $100,000+ have nearly 60 percent of total household income and 70 percent of all privately held wealth — and they are spending their money. They account for nearly half of consumer spending in 38 categories and about a third in 112 categories from airline travel and hotels to second homes and remodeling to jewelry, online gaming and charitable donations.

In most categories, they are outspending the other 254.4 million Americans by a considerable margin, with the intriguing exception of...