POTD: Stepwell

From 2016 02 07 Ranthambore

Today's photo-of-the-day is of Chand Baori, a thousand year old stepwell in Rajasthan, India. "Stepwells are wells or ponds in which the water may be reached by descending a set of steps."

Bonus photo after the jump.

Review: Spare Parts

Amazon

From Spare Parts, by Joshua Davis:

She remembered West Phoenix as a place that she wouldn't drive through by herself. It was a poor area and the better schools were elsewhere. So she was surprised to see an underwater-robotics team coming out of that neighborhood. 'There aren't oceans in Phoenix,' she pointed out diplomatically. 'No, ma’am,' Lorenzo Santillan said. 'But we got pools.'"

"Spare Parts" is the 2016 selection for "Richardson Reads One Book." As such, it carries the burden of high expectations. Does it live up to recent prior selections?

• 2015: "We Are Called to Rise" C+
• 2014: "Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore" B-
• 2013: "The Book Thief" A-
• 2012: "One Amazing Thing" C+

After the jump, my review.

Repeat Tweets: The Budget Deficit Is Too Low

Repeat tweets from April, 2016:

• Apr 1 2016: "The budget deficit is too low." Not an April Fools story. vox.com
• Apr 2 2016: Texas is stingy with tax dollars for public schools and Medicaid. Not for private events like Final Four in Houston.
• Apr 4 2016: As Trump drops and Cruz rises on betting markets, odds of a Dem win in November have stayed the same. predictwise.com
• Apr 4 2016: 23 years from the Four Tops to NWA. How does that even happen?

After the jump, more repeat tweets.

You're Going to Hate it Here

90% of time I will stop recruiting a kid when the parents complain about the High School coaches. I don't want somebody else's headache.

Source: Gary Lowery.

Gary Lowery is an assistant football coach at Hampton University. His tweet teaches a lesson that's applicable to much more than football.

What Has Stefani Carter Been Up To?

You remember Stefani Carter. The former Texas state representative for parts of Richardson. Swept into office in the 2010 tea party wave. The self-proclaimed "first black female GOP state representative" (which highlights how delinquent the Texas GOP was). The ambitious politician who campaigned nationwide for Mitt Romney in 2012. (How'd that work out?) Who attempted to climb to statewide office (Texas Railroad Commission) only to discover that the moneyed interests had other candidates in mind. Who scrambled back to her legislative race but lost her seat anyway when voters abandoned her for Linda Koop. All that was covered by The Wheel back in the day.

So, that Stefani Carter. What has she been up to? Spoiler alert: her activities in the private sector are raising eyebrows just as her activities in public office did.

New Setting, Same Old Story

See if you can guess the place described. Hint: it's not far away at all.

Over the past decade, City Hall and other local government agencies have bent over backward and poured tens of millions of taxpayer subsidies to turn the corner...into a dense, vibrant urban center. Instead, the investment has produced a bland apartment complex, a car-centric suburban strip center...and plans for another bland apartment complex and a few dozen townhomes.

Source: Dallas Observer.

Further description is after the jump.

The Barkley Marathons (2014)

IMDB

Barkley Marathons (2014): 100 mi footrace in Tenn mtns. A cult race runners love. Quirky founder has kept it noncommercial for 40 yrs. B-

POTD: Walk Like a Cow

From 2016 02 07 Ranthambore

Today's photo-of-the-day is a typical street scene in Rajasthan, India, and probably almost anywhere else in India except for the largest cities. Tourists are taught that to cross the streets on foot, one should "walk like a cow." That is, walk in a slow, deliberate fashion, never showing hesitation or fear. Don't stop and never ever back up. Drivers really don't want to hit cows. Despite appearances, they don't want to hit pedestrians, either. If you walk like a cow, you can usually cross busy streets without incident.

Early Voting on RISD Bond 2016

Early voting in the Richardson ISD election begins today.

Back in February, when the RISD board of trustees voted to place the bond before the voters, I recommended a vote YES. Since then, I've attended four community meetings (one in each high school attendance zone), listened to numerous questions asked at those meetings (and answers), heard more than a few passionate speeches by citizens urging a no vote (and some urging yes votes), and read more Facebook posts than I can recommend to anyone (mostly negative).

The objections to the bond haven't changed. Well, one is new (see below). They didn't persuade me to oppose this bond then. They still don't persuade me now.

POTD: The Eyes Have It

From 2016 02 05 Agra

Today's photo-of-the-day is from the Agra Fort in India. There's an art lesson here, which I could explain if I knew something about art. Consider the two people in this photo. The man has much to notice — hair, ear, beard, nose. The woman has, what? Her eyes. So, which person did you focus on? How long did it take for your own eyes to be drawn to her eyes? How long did they linger there? It's said the eyes are the most important part of any portrait. They are the hardest thing for an artist to draw. The art lesson is somewhere in those eyes.

---

P.S. The most famous cover in the long history of "National Geographic" achieved its fame because of its subject's eyes.