The Rhetoric

brentdanley

I didn’t expect today’s post to be a continuation of yesterday’s until a Flickr contact, Paul Carter, pointed me to an article in USA Today about Portland.

The article’s author, Rick Hampson, writes:

Portland’s attractions include gourmet restaurants, historic buildings, a picturesque waterfront, art galleries, museums, boutiques, microbreweries and coffee shops. Now, they’ve combined to land the city on Frommer’s list of the top 12 world travel destinations for 2007, along with the likes of Zurich, Tokyo and the Caribbean’s Virgin Gorda.

That’s pretty cool. Kirsten and I discovered Portland on Flickr. Our recent visit confirmed beyond our expectations that it is the place for us. It doesn’t hurt that we’re not alone in our love of Portland.

This coastal city of 66,000 is getting used to subjective but marketable accolades such as Frommer’s. This year it has been named one the “Healthiest Cities for Women” (Self magazine); one of 20 “Hottest Cities for Entrepreneurs” (Inc.); and one of 50 “Best Places for Businesses and Careers” (Forbes).

Last year, Portland was named one of 10 “Dream Towns” by Outside magazine and one of America’s 20 greenest cities by Vegetarian Times. In recent years it also has ranked No. 7 among “the Best 100 Art Towns in America” (Countryman Press); one of 10 “Great Adventure Towns” (National Geographic Adventure magazine); and “BikeTown USA” (BikeTown magazine).

One of the many things we love about Portland is its character. It’s not like every other city in America with the same big-box stores and chain restaurants.

Zoning discourages national chain stores in the Old Port. Clemens says some tourists miss “that name recognition of Crate and Barrel or Restoration Hardware.” Unless they find such stores, she says, these tourists don’t “feel they’ve arrived at the center of something.”

To others, Portland’s quirkiness is a plus. “It’s not all gentrified and prettified,” says Sarah Ferris of Boston, who visited last month. “You feel like this is a real place, not some shopping mall or a theme park. It’s authentic.”

Another reason we were attracted to this coastal city is the abundance of natural beauty and topographic variation we’ve missed so much living in Kansas.

Using Portland as a base, they can explore Maine’s wooded mountainous interior; take ferries to the many islands in Casco Bay; hit the beaches to the south; or shop the outlets in Freeport.

The primary reason people have expressed shock by our decision is that Maine has a reputation for being cold. Kirsten and I like the cold and look forward to the differences each new season brings. And, thanks to global warming, Maine isn’t as cold as it used to be.

Portland’s not that cold. It’s farther south than Eugene, Ore.; in January the average high is 31 degrees, only 8 degrees lower than in New York City.

Kirsten and I don’t need to be convinced. I hope, however, that this article will help quiet some of the skeptics who wonder why anyone would want to leave the flat of Kansas for New England.

Uncategorized maine

Ed Karjala

For those of you who just can’t seem to understand why we–or anyone–would move to Maine, look here.
We still haven’t had any bites on the house. We’re placing an ad in the McConnell AFB weekly newspaper, Contrails.

Uncategorized maine

brentdanley

After the Dallas Stars game Tuesday night Kirsten and I put the girls in the van and headed north for home. I drove for just over an hour before I was spent and Kirsten took over. She popped a couple Vivarin and while I slept she drove the balance of the way to Wichita. We got home just before four o’clock. I slept in while Kirsten went to Griffith to help the girls’ teachers. It was a total waste of a day for me but I needed the rest. Tomorrow I’m right back at it.

I love this Lear picture. It’s not as sharp as I’d like but the sun has set and the thrust reversers are deployed.

family

brentdanley

I spent Monday and Tuesday working in Dallas. Monday evening I drove to Flower Mound to spend the evening with the Claytons and my girls. Tuesday Will and Sam picked me up at D/FW’s rental car return. We watched the Dallas Stars lose to the Phoenix Coyotes. The American Airlines Center is an incredible venue. Will is a smart funny guy. It was nice to spend some time with him and his oldest son, Sam.

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I passed the neatest park on the way to my hotel today.  Bachman Lake Park is at the north end of Love Field here in Dallas.  After checking in to my hotel and picking up a Whataburger to go I drove back to Bachman Lake.  It is surrounded by an asphalt trail and has hundreds of waterfowl that eat bread out of the hands of generous humans.  The best part, however, is that it is spittin’ distance from active and very busy runways.  I took several pictures of very low airplanes.  I’ll post them to my Flickr photostream after I return home.

After work I drove to Flower Mound to visit the Claytons and my girls.  I enjoyed talking to Will.

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cyclochip

In the morning I fly to Dallas for two days of work and a hockey game. The best part will be meeting up with Kirsten and the girls. It’s been two long days without them.

family

The number of countries that format the date as date/month/year is long. Still many others format the date as year/month/date. The United States is among only a handful of countries that write the date in the format month/date/year. Did we just need to be different? The former two are either decreasing or increasing specificity from left to right. That makes sense. The way we Americans do it doesn’t follow logic. To make matters even more confusing we say July third and the following day is the fourth of July. What?

Goodnight.

Uncategorized science

Keith Ellison (D-MN) is the United States’ first Muslim congressman. When his not-so-distinguished fellow congressman from Virginia, Virgil H. Goode Jr., learned Rep. Ellison would place his hand on a Quran during his ceremonious photo opportunity, Rep. Goode sent an email to his constituents blasting this unamerican activity. Mr. Goode is an intolerant bigot!

If you’re not familiar with the story get up to speed by reading Rob Boston’s blog post at Americans United.

…nothing in the U.S. Constitution requires members of Congress to take the oath of office on a holy book of any sort and noted that Article VI specifically forbids religious tests for public office. In the official swearing-in for all members of Congress, no religious texts of any sort are used.

The stupidity of some right-wing pundits is discouraging yet not surprising. They would rather Mr. Ellison swear on the Bible–a book not sacred to him–than on a book that means something to him. What is the point of that? Do they think Muslims shouldn’t be allowed in public office? Or that they shouldn’t be allowed in America? Perhaps they’re concerned about the young people today. What if children were exposed to Mr. Ellison committing this dastardly evil deed? Oh my!

America is NOT a Christian nation. It may (or may not) have been built by people who espoused Christian values but that doesn’t mean the founding fathers intended it to be Christian. If Christian fundamentalists delusioned by the propaganda of their right-wing pundits would consider the real history of the early republic they would certainly see this. Many of the early settlers fled the religious oppression they had experienced in Great Britain. The founding fathers explicitly stated in the first amendment of the Constitution that church and state should be separate.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.

Good for you, Mr. Ellison. Exercise your religion any way you want. Thank you for standing up to hateful Christian bigots. Your refusal to have your photo taken with a hand on the Holy Bible may be the greatest contribution you make while in office. You are a patriot!

politics

Small towns certainly have charm. My cube mate at work is on the city council in Norwich, Kansas. Norwich is a very small rural town with a population of 551 (2000 census). According to my friend it’s a nice place to live where you still don’t have to lock your door and everybody knows everybody. Whenever he needs anything there are always neighbors willing to help. Is this goodwill unique to these small rural towns?

I read an article this evening in the Times that proves good neighbors are in big cities as well as small towns. A student in New York, Cameron Hollopeter, was having a seizure and fell onto the subway tracks.

Mr. Autrey jumped down onto the tracks and lay on top of Mr. Hollopeter, pushing into a space that was about a foot deep. Five cars traveled over the two men before the train screeched to a halt. It passed just inches above Mr. Autrey’s head, leaving grease on his knit cap.

Makes you feel good, eh? Kirsten and I have experienced that people in The Big Apple and Boston are every bit as friendly–probably more so–than the people here in Wichita. Whenever we were lost someone approached US to offer directions. It was common for people to hold a subway door for us or say hello as we walked past. Big city people seem comfortable around other people. People here often seem as though they’d like to be left alone.

Kirsten and I were surprised by the kindness of the people we met in New York and Boston. The editorial is correct about New Yorkers: “negative stereotypes about New York have never stood up to the facts.”

Uncategorized boston, nyc, wichita

My boss has decided to make me responsible for accounts receivables at our Dallas service center in addition to my normal duties here in Wichita. I look forward to the opportunity!

Monday I fly to Dallas to meet the people I’ll be working with and understand their processes. Kirsten will drive down tomorrow with the girls and stay with her sister’s family, the Claytons. I’m going with my brother-in-law, Will, and nephew, Sam, to the Dallas Stars NHL game Tuesday evening. It will be a blast!

I’ll have to change the database I built to handle multiple service centers. It will be a fun challenge and keep me much more busy than I’ve been.

family