Busy month of living every day of the summer to the fullest, visiting family and friends, enjoying the local sights of the city.
Corvallis, Oregon; Silverton, Oregon; Portland, Oregon; Mountain View, California; Alameda, California; North Berkeley, California; San Mateo, California; San Francisco, California; Toronto, Ontario
Goss Stadium: Canada Day, but @ISSSMeeting ball game @CorvKnights and @HvilleHammers @GossStadium sing local anthem of the Star Spangled Banner. Our group enjoyed the luxury of the Omaha Room box, theme days with additional characters dressed up in Wizard of Oz costumes. OSU not only has a stadium for baseball, but additionally for football and for basketball. (Goss Stadium, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon) 20190701South Falls: Small detour to Silver Creek @ORStateParks for shortest hike to walk underneath waterfall. Only enough time to view the end of the Ten Falls Loop Hike, joining many families on the gentle incline down to river bed. History reveals the public funding behind the Civilian Conservation Corps and Works Projects Administration between 1935 and 1942. (South Falls, Silver Creek State Park, Silverton, Oregon) 20190702Seasons and Regions: Catching up on 6 years of lives, since the last time we met was at the alumni weekend in Illinois. Children have grown up, allowing us options in our choices of how we spend our time. Enjoyed Copper River salmon in a restaurant with the Oregon style. (Seasons and Regions Seafood Grill, SW Capitol Highway, Portland, Oregon) 20190702International Rose Test Garden: Voluptuous hybrid tea rose is one of the many varieties in bloom, on the high slopes of west Portland. Busy summer day with lots of families speaking foreign languages, appreciating the natural beauty. Not much time to linger in the garden, on our way to the airport. (International Rose Test Garden, Washington Park, Portland, Oregon) 20190703Taqueria La Bamba: Intercept dinner, direct from airport, with relatives due to fly out early next morning. All of us live on the Internet, so conversations online just continue in person. Coming to California presents the local opportunity for Mexican (Salvadoran) restaurants that we don’t have in the north. (Taqueria La Bamba, Rengstorff Avenue, Mountain View, California) 20190703Henry W Coe State Park: Short hike of 1 hour, paused to look at Manzanita tree, with red bark cool to the touch, sometimes called a refrigerator tree. Views of both Anderson Lake where we had driven by picnic visitors, and Coyote Lake to the south. Had refreshments at a farm halfway down the hill, both before and after the walk on a warm summer day. (Henry W. Coe State Park, E. Dunne Avenue, Morgan Hill, California) 20190705Yoda Fountain: Sought out obscure installation on the campus of Industrial Light and Magic, at the northeast corner of the Presidio lands. Happened across the Skywalker Room, as we wandered about the site. Relaxed day hopping around the city, from SoMa, Marina, Presidio, Sutro Baths, and Sunset. (Yoda Fountain, Letterman Drive, San Francisco) 20190705East Ocean Restaurant: Meeting with maternal Yee aunts, uncle and cousin for dim sum in the East Bay. Mishmash of languages with English, Toisan and Mandarin mixed across generations. Years between gatherings of elders, more opportunities for the young who travel more. (East Ocean Seafood Restaurant, Webster Street, Alameda, California) 20190706Westbrae neighbourhood: Convening #SystemsThinking salon @MitroffCrisis @bortseb opportunistically expanded with social ties for talk and pizza. Practical questions with theoretical and philosophical back stories, through histories of science. New house is more centrally located in town, conveniences within walking distance. (Westbrae, North Berkeley, California) 20190706Hummus Mediterranean: Early lunch to see @ckensek, maintaining the pattern of visits on practically every Bay Area visit for decades. Small additions to an ongoing conversation, we’re well-connected on social media. Beginning of a full day of activities before heading home tomorrow. (Hummus Mediterranean Kitchen, E. 4th Street, San Mateo, California) 20190707Fillmore Jazz Festival: Quartet led by #MichaelZilber, with #OsamEzzeldin #JeffChambers #JeffMarrs, reinterpreting tunes from early #WayneShorter #MilesDavis. This performance was at the California Street Stage located northmost of the festival, a destination as we bypassed multiple other musicians from the south. Explained modal scales to a classically trained musician, puzzling over how an ensemble plays together well. (Fillmore Jazz Festival, Fillmore Street at California Steet, San Francisco, California) 20190708Neck of the Woods: Emcee Chrissie #CrazyFunnyAsians Comedy Showcase #Hellafunny standup comic @nowmusicsf downstairs, on being a 4th-generation Japanese American now totally Westernized, except her face. First of seven on stage, most living within a few blocks of the venue. Venue almost full on for an Sunday early evening show, great for audience members with a day job. (Neck of the Woods, Clement Street, San Francisco, California) 20190707SFO Gate G94: Porcelain enamel on steel @squeakcarnwath (1999) Fly Flight Fugit. End of a good visit to the Bay Area, DY says that there are still many places to visit beyond the tourist places. (San Francisco International Airport, California). 20190708Chow Optometrist: Imaging of gas-permeable contact lens fitting explains why my vision is foggy in the left eye. Incomplete wetting means that there are dry spots behind the lens. Remedy is to take a few more minutes to more diligently rub wetting solution into lens, or else switch to an alternative hydrogen peroxide formulation that coats the surface with a moisturizer. (Chow Optometrist, Ferrier Street, Markham, Ontario) 20190712Scrap Metal: Plexiglass and formica sheets curved in resistance @juliadault (2013) Untitled 26 is bound stably in curves with Everlast boxing wraps below, and cotton cord above. A cautious engineer might suggest staying at a distance in the case the bindings snap. Intermittent rains, pitter-patter on flat roof of the venue. (Scrap Metal Gallery, Dublin Street, Toronto, Ontario) 20190713Christie Pits Park: Picnic @TheLeadersExp Toronto Local Circle, @HCrochetiere reserved ahead for the shelter, removing stress when rain materialized. A small social project for the summer, our first together! Random potluck sharing, leftovers to take home. (Christie Pits Park, Bloor Street West, Toronto, Ontario) 20190716CSI 192 Spadina: Design Session for Social Innovation in Canada @SICanadaTeam @csiTO, attendees introducing selves and sharing breakout conversations. Outline of progress since preliminary consultation late last year, seeking input into beta-beta thinking on pan-Canadian programs under development. Given timeboxed scope for questions, meeting innovators with mutual interests, we barely had time to get past introductions. (Centre for Social Innovation, Spadina Avenue, Toronto, Ontario) 20190718CSI Regent Park: Serving #csiPattyonthePARTY-O @csiTO annual celebration of summer. Pre-count of barbeque food preferences this year, found vegetarians served before omnivores. Enjoyed music outside, watermelon inside. (Centre for Social Innovation Regent Park, Dundas Street East, Toronto, Ontario) 20190718Xpace Cultural Centre: Art installation @sangminl (2019) How to Fix a Broken Home, fills project space @xpacecc . Subtle East Asian influences with bananas of varying ripeness, large bags of rice, and Bart and Marge Simpson with bright yellow skin. Wooden frame with a pitched roof outlines the larger context, we view from the outside. (Xpace Cultural Centre, Lansdowne Avenue, Toronto, Ontario) 20190720Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema: Panel @KGreenbergTO @ThisTechGirl @JohnLorinc on relevance of film Our Beautiful City, on the Minnesota Experimental City 1960s-1970s, to Toronto today. @WaterfrontTO cited as one of world’s best multi-level government corporations. Clarification of @SidewalkToronto as responding to urban issues including traffic congestion and affordable housing. The phrase “smart cities” is not used by the organizations. Difference in opinion about process, consultation and transparency on a 2-year schedule. (Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema, Bloor Street West, Toronto, Ontario) 20190724Perfect Chinese Restaurant: Weekday dim sum, taking time out since we haven’t seen each other in a while. Hadn’t appreciated that one room of the resto charges slightly less per dish, that’s posted on Chinese in the wall. Artful dodging on menu for vegan diet relaxed with fish, selected too many choices and brought home leftovers. (Perfect Chinese Restaurant, Sheppard Avenue East, Scarborough, Ontario) 20190722Beaches Jazz Streetfest: Evening set @robnchrisca @quincybullen on street closed off @beachesjazz . A few women stepped out in the clearing to dance; the majority just watched. Heavy crowds roaming in packs, bands alternating times to minimize crosstalk. (Beaches Jazz Streetfest, Queen Street East, Toronto, Ontario) 20190726Yonge-Dundas Square: Midday set @tastemiddleeast #Sephardic fusion @Avivachernick @ozereband @justingraybass previewing #BalkanLadino style in recording fall release. Rain subsided just as band started playing. Plaza full of kiosks and visitors, hot sun returned an hour later. (Yonge-Dundas Square, Toronto, Ontario) 20190727Sushi Bistro: Post-sushi lunch, 3 ex-Vancouver natives stepped out into a hot day, two had sun hats. We live relatively close to each other, just needed follow-through to pick a time and place. Checking in on news of family and friends. Food constraints were less restrictive than our last visit. (Sushi Bistro, Danforth Avenue, Toronto, Ontario) 20190729
AGO: Audience on benches @agotoronto watching screens of #BrianJurgen (1998-2019) Archive of Nike Air Jordan shoeboxes. Shelves are on the side wall, but videos show contents inside of everyday items and source materials. Larger Friendship Centre exhibition of sculptures made from consumer products, and showing of a recut film. Arrived at building just at 6pm, to join teeming crowds queued up for free admission. (Art Gallery of Ontario, Dundas Street, Toronto, Ontario) 20190731
In order to move forward, the Systems Changes Learning Circle has taken a step backwards to appreciate the scholarly work that has come before us. This has included the Socio-Psychological Systems, Socio-Technical Systems and Socio-Ecological Systems perspective, from the postwar Tavistock Institute for Human Relations. The deep dive on “Causal texture, contextualism, contextural” takes us […]
For those who haven’t read the 1965 Emery and Trist article, its seems as though my colleague Doug McDavid was foresighted enough to blog a summary in 2016! His words have always welcomed here, as Doug was a cofounder of this web site. At the time of writing, the target audience for this piece was […]
In the famous 1965 Emery and Trist article, the terms “causal texture” and “contextual environment” haven’t been entirely clear to me. With specific meanings in the systems thinking literature, looking up definitions in the dictionary generally isn’t helpful. Diving into the history of the uses of the words provides some insight. 1. Causal texture 2. […]
Towards appreciating “action learning”, the history of open systems thinking and pioneering work in organization science, the influence of Action Learning Group — in the Faculty of Environment Studies founded in 1968 at York University (Toronto) — deserves to be resurfaced. 1. Trist in Canada 2. Environmental studies, and contextualism in organizational-change 3. Action learning, […]
The news that Doug McDavid — my friend, colleague, and one of the original cofounders of the Coevolving Innovations web site in 2006 — had passed, first came through mutual IBM contacts. More details subsequently showed up on LinkedIn from Mike McClintock. Doug left us on May 9, while working at his desk, likely in […]
One of the challenges with the development of pattern languages is the cross-appropriation of approaches of techniques from one domain (i.e. built physical environments) into others (e.g. software development, social change). The distinction between pattern language and form language is made by Nikos Salingaros. Design in architecture and urbanism is guided by two distinct complementary […]
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 ›
Social ecology and environmental psychology described @dstokols @Social_Ecology , interviewed by @katiepatrick . References #WilliamsJames on attention. Book on Social Ecology in the Digital Age released in 2018.Read more ›
Concerns on #personaldata should be reframed as interpersonal, says @sheldrake , less the nodes and more the edge connections. “I want to take back control” superficial, @hartzog says control doesn’t scale. Agency is about negotiation in the world, more rhizomatic…Read more ›
Doing science should be wayfinding (pathfinding), says #TimIngold , gaining grounding in the art of paying attention, towards research as the pursuit of truth. Truth is more than objective facts, where science and art are embraced with materials, so that we can see the quality inside the natural world as it forms, rather than as […]
We should be more vigourous, says @MazzucatoM , in debating differences between value extraction and value creation, and between profits and rents. Lecture at Blavatnik School of Government, Oxford U., January 2019Read more ›
Social Systems Science graduate students in 1970s-1980s with #RussellAckoff, #EricTrist + #HasanOzbehkhan at U. Pennsylvania Wharton School were assigned the Penguin paperback #SystemsThinking reader edited by #FredEEmery, with updated editions evolving contents.
Resurfacing 1968 Buckley, “Modern Systems Research for the Behavioral Scientist: A Sourcebook” for interests in #SystemsThinking #SocioCybernetics #GeneralSystemsTheory #OrganizationScience . Republication in 2017 hardcopy may be more complete.
Proponents of #SystemsThinking often espouse holism to counter over-emphasis on reductionism. Reading some definitions from an encyclopedia positions one in the context of the other (François 2004).
Saying “it doesn’t matter” or “it matters” is a common expression in everyday English. For scholarly work, I want to “keep using that word“, while ensuring it means what I want it to mean. The Oxford English Dictionary (third edition, March 2001) has three entries for “matter”. The first two entries for a noun. The […]
It's been challenging to find sources that specifically define two-word phrases -- i.e. "systemic change", "systematic change", "systems change" -- as opposed to loosely inferring reductively from one-word definitions in recombination. MartinReynolds @OpenUniversity clarifies uses of the phrases, with a critical eye into motives for choosing a specific label, as well as associated risks and […]
The term "environmental" can be mixed up with "ecological", when the meanings are different. We can look at the encyclopedia definitions (François 2004), and then compare the two in terms of applied science (i.e. engineering with (#TimothyFHAllen @MarioGiampietro and #AmandaMLittle, 2003).
