tumbledry

On Recycling

Not so long ago, somebody looked at the heaps of tennis shoes and car tires piling up in landfills and thought “we can grind these up and sell the pieces!” Since then, these useful scrap rubber bits have been employed in a variety of ways, including replacement for gravel on playgrounds.

The material is, in many ways, an improvement over gravel: softer when trod upon, a nice radiator of heat on those chilly Minnesota spring days, and a good use of material that would go to waste. Unfortunate side effect: warm rubber has a biting, putrid scent. You can’t smell the fresh cut grass or the summer breeze; it smells like you are inside the world’s biggest tire.

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In the Future…

I am just so unbelievably excited to own my own business fixing people’s teeth, I can barely stand it. If you’re in the Twin Cities area five years from now, and your tooth hurts, please do look me up.

But seriously, I am SO EXCITED.

Sketch of Modern End

Sketch of Modern End

Abdoulaye Wade

Here’s a man that time forgot… not in a historical sense, but in the sense of doing any actual aging. Abdoulaye Wade is the president of the historically stable but deeply troubled country of Senegal. Look at his picture in that first link. Just look at his picture and then switch back here.

How old would you guess he is?

42? 48? Try 82. He is, unquestionably, the youngest looking 82 year old man I have ever seen.

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Sagrada Interior

Sagrada Interior

Parents Work for their Children

Our parents: “When You Weren’t Looking, They Were Working” by Ben Stein:

You were born on third base and your parents put you there, and you think you hit a triple. It’s not true. It’s time to give back.

Even though Ben Stein has “publicly denounced the theory of evolution,” I still respect his viewpoints on what he has written about our parents. Thanks, university-based education, for allowing me to understand that people aren’t 100% right or 100% wrong… politicians aren’t sports teams and nuances matter.

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Trumpeters on the Old End

Trumpeters on the Old End

Modeled after the stone masons and their relatives who worked on the cathedral.

Ze Frank and Aphorisms

Ze Frank doesn’t need a weekday video to continue his brilliance:

Then “Respect The Time You Are Given” gave me a push. That lasted for about as long as it took me to jot it down. For the moment I am hooked on “What Would The Hero You Do?”. When I start to feel lazy or trapped I think of a perfect version of myself and try to imagine what he would be doing right then and there. I don’t always emulate him (my pecs aren’t big enough), but it serves me well…for now.

WWTHYD.

Picture Editing

I’m still working on editing down those European trip pictures. I am unbelievably busy taking care of dental school and other things, but I’m sure I will get these things posted.

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The Old End

The Old End

This is the older end of the cathedral, completed while Gaudí was still alive. The stonework simultaneously evokes the heavy Gothic style and yet the proportions and naturalistic bent of the decorations also pull in the Catalan Modernisme movement.

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