Day in Nashville

Nashville stop over when coming back from camp...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62zoJkSqYos

Low Man on the Totem Pole

"Low man on the totem pole" is commonly used to describe the least important person, however, the meaning is actually reversed. The bottom figure of a totem pole is usually the most important figure and a place of honor. The person commissioned to make the totem pole usually only does the first couple feet while his helpers carve the rest.

References:

Stuff You Should Know podcast - Awesome podcast.

Answer Bag

Wiki

Eewwww

Yikes. Would you believe I just had a bat in my house? Eewww. Think it got in maybe via the fireplace/chimney. I managed to open a window in Alan's room and frantically wave it out with a towel, while my heart was racing, and Saffron was barking, snapping and jumping. Whew! Sorry, didn't get a photo--ha!

Charity

A couple of interesting thoughts on charity, told in a very interesting media format.

I think the question at the end of it is "what is there to do?" Some situations will get better through the slow progress of advancing civilization, but when do you switch from thinking about the individual to thinking about the community (especially when the individual's suffering causes you to action, but the alleviating of the suffering doesn't help the situation that caused it) An interesting example of this is that buying women out of prostitution makes the business of selling women in prostitution more profitable.

I found this tension, between helping individuals and helping much larger organizations (that move much slower), has really been the hard point to decide on in my thoughts on giving.