Toronto, Ontario; Austin, Texas; Katy, Texas, Houston, Texas; Chicago, Illinois; Fairfield, Iowa; Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Montreal, Quebec; Paris, France.
Maple Leaf Lounge. Relaxed start of trip to Austin, saw Margaret Atwood at breakfast. Trip became complicated as late flight to Chicago would miss connection. Long line, but phone call revealed seats available via Newark. Rushed to commuter gates. (Toronto) 20141203Stubbs Bar-B-Q, Austin, TX. Young Tongue, opening act on a quiet Wednesday night in the Red River district, north of 6th Street. We arrived in Austin a few hours ago, having been waylaid by a missed connection. (Austin, Texas) 20141303County Line Bbq. Beef ribs, fatty beef brisket, half pound of pulled pork, as lunch for family of five. Order for 3 enough, would have been ridiculous to call for 5 plates. (Austin, Texas) 20141204Party sushi. Family from Toronto and California convening foot lunch in Katy, Texas, one day before wedding celebration. Split off women to bridal shower, men to sightseeing at museums in Central Houston and Rice University. More family still arriving. (Katy, Texas) 20141205Windsor Parks Lakes. Pavilion at east end of man-made lake in gated subdivision at the western periphery of Houston. Cool, cloudy day, but warm enough to be bicycling along winding roads around two storey houses. (Houston, Texas) 20141206Family wedding celebration. Niece is first of generation to be married. Post dinner dancing reveals a variety of skills amongst cousins not previously observed in other contexts. (Katy, Texas) 20141206
IAH Terminal C, security check. At Bush Airport, TSA Pre does not even provide bins, as laptops stay in luggage. Somehow discomforted by convenience, as I know that laptop on top of tablet should be impenetrable to x-rays. AHI and me to C gate for Chicago, him in slow lane through security. NPI was on different bus to B gate for commuter plane to Columbus. (Houston, Texas) 20141207After School Matters installation. Stained glass umbrellas overhead, and windows to both sides of corridor between Terminal 1 and 2. Designed by schoolchildren in 2008 as acrylic and hand drawings, reproduced as skylines along the path. (Chicago O’Hare) 20141207Cattle grazing. On the farm, not many distractions from writing. Hunting season, but deer know how to hide. (Iowa) 20141208Bookstore pizza. Relaxed lunch by main square in town. Sat in the spirituality book section while enjoying the half of the thin crust pizza that didn’t have cheese on it. A break from another day of writing on the computer. (Revelations Cafe, Fairfield, Iowa) 20141210Eastern Iowa Airport, pier C. Non-coniferous trees in white and blue signify holiday season has arrived. Added to the hall of flags on the bridge from landside to airside C gates. Low stress airport with most traffic back and forth to Chicago O’Hare, so few distractions for passengers waiting to depart. (Cedar Rapids CID, Iowa) 20141213Danforth Ave. w. of Woodington. Bundled up for bicycling at freezing point, trolling dollar stores for inflatable neck pillows to sleep in upright position on flight to Europe next week. Filled neck pillows now easier to find than inflatable ones. Slow bicycling up hills northbound on a dreary afternoon. (Toronto) 20141218Red bean soup. A better alternative to a birthday cake made with dairy products that I couldn’t eat, sweet soup for dessert at the end of a family Chinese meal. (Perfect Chinese Restaurant, Scarborough, Ontario) 20141224Stainless steel elk. Sculpture by Mathieu Isabelle 2013 “The Great One” in front of duty free store in the airport terminal on a Christmas Day. Changing planes for an overnight flight to Roissy Charles de Gaulle, Paris, France (Montreal Trudeau Airport) 20141225CDG information. Clerk at information booth said RER B train outage today, recommended Roissybus to Opera. RDI very tired, I listened to music for 3 hours lying down on courtesy upgrade by Air Canada. (Roissy Charles de Gaulle Airport, Paris, France) 20141226College de France gates. Research education founded 1530, across the street from the older Sorbonne, in the Latin Quarter 5th arrondissement. Statue of Claude Bernard (1813-1878) who first decribed “milieu intérieur”, now known as ” homeostasis”. Late afternoon following morning arrival at Charles De Gaulle airport, so RDI falling asleep at almost every opportunity. We should both feel better after a good night’s sleep (Paris, France) 20141226Pont Neuf. Love locks on the Lovers Bridge seem sparser, as maintenance workers have been removing them frequently to lighten the load on the span. Strolling over the Seine and back many times with PO and BY. (Pont Neuf, Paris, France) 20141227Eiffel Tower. Unexpected Paris landmark in frame, from the Palais de Tokyo plaza overlooking the Passerelle Debillly arch crossing the Seine. Had a late Sunday start by sleeping in on second day, enduring long lines at the Foundation Louis Vuitton art museum designed by Frank Gehry, then quick stop at Musee D’art Moderne. (Paris, France) 20141228Fondation Cartier pour l’art comtemporain. Unexpected joy at complicated two-room installation taking entire first floor, with “Musings on a Glass Box” 2014 Diller Scofidio + Renfro (designers), and David Lang and Jody Elff (sounds), explained during 6:30 p.m. tour (en francais). The receiving room has huge monitor panels suspended so observers ride a reclined shop creeper on wheels to view the images of the ceiling projected from the moving bucket in the transmitting room. (Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain, Paris, France) 20141228 (Ballade pour une boîte de verre)CDG. Checked in at 11:58 for 13:00 flight. Got lost on way to bus to Gare du Nord, got taxi to station. Left RDI at Gare du Nord. Frustrated at RER elevators out of service, gates that won’t read tickets. On to Montreal for connection. (Charles de Gaulle Airport, Paris France) 20141229New generation camera. Returned to store for Canon G7X after visit yesterday for S120. Old S90 not as reliable recently, decided to jump to larger sensor in new compact camera body. Fine details in selecting between a variety of technology options. (Downtown Camera, Toronto) 20141231
Sushi on New Year’s Eve. Quiet family dinner, with sons preparing raw salmon on vinegared rice in a professional style. Buying sushi-grade fish from Bill’s Lobster in Chinatown beats having to deal with the crowds on a popular holiday event. Sons may find friends to celebrate, parent more likely to catch up on sleep. (Toronto) 20141231
The October online meeting of Systems Thinking Ontario presented an opportunity for an update on progress made by the Systems Changes Learning Circle by 2022. A slide deck had been prepared an in-person seminar at the Universitat de Barcelona Graduate Programmes in Business, organized by Ryan C. Armstrong, one week earlier. Our regular monthly meeting, […]
Just before starting a trip to Spain, I received an invitation from Ryan C. Armstrong at the Universitat de Barcelona Business School to give some lectures. The students in the bachelor’s programme in international business had a short mention of systems thinking in the first lecture of the operationa management class. With that brief entry, […]
While the adaptive cycle and panarchical connections reflect the possiblity of movement from one stable state to another, it’s possible to get “stuck” in a disfavoured trap. Social ecological systems involve both natural systems and human systems. After widespread recognition of the 2002 Panarchy book, reflections in 2010 revealed further development of the theory and […]
In order to appreciate the influence of resilience science and panarchy on ongoing research into systems changes, revisiting foundational works sometimes resurfaces insights. In the 2002 Panarchy book, Chapter 15 provides a summary of findings. In the course of the project hat led to this volume, we identified twelve conclusions (Table 15-1) in our search for […]
What might a non-anthropocentric view of sustainability look like? This would probably include regeneration of species alongside others in the ecosystem. With some recent presentations, an idea that resonates with audiences is the “The Second Life of Trees”, credited by Tim Ingold (2002) to John Knight (1998). Ingold sees continuity of life not only of […]
Towards a general theory of living systems, we should be looking beyond the singletons of a hierarchical level, i.e. (i) cell, (ii) organ, (iii) organism, (iv) group, (v) organization, (vi) community, (vii) society, and (viii) supranational level. In a scientific approach, James Grier Miller created a list of hypotheses. In the 1100+ page book, the […]
In conversation, @zeynep with @ezraklein reveal authentic #SystemsThinking in (i) appreciating that “science” is constructed by human collectives, (ii) the west orients towards individual outcomes rather than population levels; and (iii) there’s an over-emphasis on problems of the moment, and…Read more ›
In the question-answer period after the lecture, #TimIngold proposes art as a discipline of inquiry, rather than ethnography. This refers to his thinking On Human Correspondence. — begin paste — [75m26s question] I am curious to know what art, or…Read more ›
How might our society show value for the long term, over the short term? Could we think about taxation over time, asks @carlotaprzperez in an interview: 92% for 1 day; 80% within 1 month; 50%-60% tax for 1 year; zero tax for 10 years.Read more ›
For the @ArchFoundation, #TimIngold distinguishes outcome-oriented making from process-oriented growing, revisiting #MartinHeidegger “Building Dwelling Thinking”. Organisms are made; artefacts grow. The distinction seems obvious, until you stop to ask what assumptions it contains, about the inside and outside of things…Read more ›
In web conference, #HermanDaly says #EcologicalEconomics used to get attacked from the right, now it's from the left. Panel @revkin @jon_d_erickson @ktkish @sophiesanniti #TimCrowshaw #KatieHorner livestreamed #sustainwhat .Read more ›
Complementing the idea of a @longnow , @nfergus provokes the challenge of a #shortthen as the online social media platforms distract the larger perspectives on history.Read more ›
An online version of a special issue of Paunch (1980) on "Root Metaphor: The Live Thought of Stephen C. Pepper" has been preserved on the internet Archive
Attributed to Hippocrates is the use of the term kairos in observational methodology, and the presentation of significant findings. Just to be scholarly, Hippocrates is generally reported as a institution, rather than a person. Although Hippocrates is generally accepted as the father of medicine, few have recognized, or even realized, the extent to which he […]
Autopoiesis, as coined by Humberto Maturana, is in the contextualist root metaphor of Stephen C. Pepper, rather than the organismic root metaphor, say #HowardMancing and #JenniferMarstonWilliam .
