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.

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

Review: Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights

Amazon

From Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights, by Salman Rushdie

This is the story of a jinnia, a great princess of the jinn, known as the Lightning Princess on account of her mastery over the thunderbolt, who loved a mortal man long ago, in the twelfth century, as we would say, and of her many descendants, and of her return to the world, after a long absence, to fall in love again, at least for a moment, and then to go to war."

Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights. Count 'em up. That's 1001 nights. Consider this Salman Rushdie's attempt at fan fiction for "1001 Arabian Nights." How does it hold up?

After the jump, my review.

POTD: Mumtaz

From 2016 02 05 Agra

Today's photo-of-the-day is from the Agra Fort in India. A fort stood on this location for a thousand years, but the current fort dates to the Mughal Empire when Agra was the capital of India. Its most famous occupant was Shah Jahan, who built the nearby Taj Mahal as a tomb for his empress, Mumtaz. This photo of two beautiful Indian women was taken near the marble balcony where it is said that Shah Jahan died, gazing at the Taj Mahal where Mumtaz was buried.

Bonus photo after the jump.

The Big Short (2015)

IMDB

The Big Short (2015): Outsiders bet against housing market and win. Don't blame the poor. Wall Street is rigged. Too many stories here. B-