Tuesday January 16, 2007 6:50 am Lethbridge Sunrise 8:22 Sunset 17:00 Hours of daylight: 8:38

A. Morning Musings

6:50 am It is -2 C at the moment with a high of +1 C forecast.

I was right about yesterday, it was full. I still have to make my final notes for the two Virginia Woolf books. Today should be fairly busy as well. I will delay making some photo DVDs until I have gone through the files and edited out the weak images. This editing may take a couple of weeks. It will be something to do when I don't feel like doing anything. I bought a magazine "Cooking Light" that looks like it has some good recipes for stews and casseroles. There is also a special section with 4 articles: A Fresh Start, Eat Smart, Be Fit , and Live Well. I think I am going to enjoy this magazine. I may even pick up a few good ideas. Just thinking about this has motivated me to try a new goal: one new recipe a week. Another good idea would be some form of regular exercise, in addition to our normal one-hour walks (which I have let go for the last three weeks because of my cough and the weather - cold and windy). It is time to wake up!

I am still coughing, but it is definitely easing up.

Coffee is now taking on a totally new meaning. We bought a Tassimo coffee machine yesterday. So far we have used it to make a cup of regular coffee (which was excellent) but the real purpose is to make lattes and cappucinos. Today we will try the cappucino. We have yet to buy the package for the latte. Meanwhile my normal plunger-style early morning coffee tastes great.

Now for the news.

CBC Headline: Harper to deal with fiscal imbalance in next budget: report

The idea is to include revenue from natural resources in the formula for provincial equalization payments. This would mean that provinces like Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Newfoundland would be paying more into the system, and that the other provinces would be receiving more in return. This seems reasonable to me, but I need to have a better sense of the strengths and weaknesses of the present system. Google "Canada provincial equalization payments" yielded http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/cdngovernment/equalization.html . This is an excellent article that gives much of the detail and complexity of the system. I always get a little worried when I see simple statements and descriptions. Most matters and issues are (very) complex.

Canadian Headline: see above

Australian Headline (from The Australian): Fires put state in meltdown.

Bushfires have cut the main electricity transmission lines between Melbourne and NSW. Many areas are without electricity and traffic lights and train service has been disrupted. There will be further restrictions on electricity as the problem becomes clearer. About a quarter of Victoria's supply of electricity has been affected. Temperatures in the state are about 40 C.

This is one of the reasons I like the Web - I can view news that fails to make the headlines in our country.

From rear window	South patio
Both images taken at 2 PM

B. Plan

Immediate
Health	Walk & exercise	1 hr
Technology	Begin reading "iPhoto"	1 hr
	Digital photography - learn about using the various manual settings	1 hr
Model Trains	Follow tutorial for 3rdPlanIt (Manual p. 3 - 24)	1 hr
Literature	Make notes for "Between the Acts & "Virginia Woolf: The Inner Life"	1 hr
Later
Chores	Investigate water softeners for home
Technology	Read manual for cell phone
	Make notes for chap. 4 of "Switching to the Mac"
	Burn backup of images onto DVD
	Edit iPhoto images
Mathematics	Read "Fearless Symmetry" chap 9: Elliptic Curves
Model Trains	Add ground cover to oil refinery diorama
	Continue assembly of coaling tower
	Purchase DCC system
History	Read Watson "Ideas"
Philosophy	Read & make notes for "Breaking the Spell"
GO	Complete reading "Lessons in the Fundamentals of Go"
Puzzles	The Orange Puzzle Cube: puzzle #10

C. Actual/Note

	Literature 08 January 16
Literature Notes
2:05 PM I read "Between the Acts " from "Selected Works of Virginia Woolf" a couple of days ago and also finished reading chapters 13 & 14 from "Virginia Woolf: An Inner Life" by Julia Briggs. Here are my remaining notes for these two books. link to back cover Between the Acts (1941) " '... Next to the kitchen, the library's always the nicest room in the house.' Then she added, stepping across the threshold: 'Books are the mirrors of the soul.' " [p. 934] "For as the train took over three hours to reach this remote village in the very heart of England, no one ventured so long a journey without staving off mind-hunger, without buying a book on a bookstall. Thus the mirror that reflected the soul sublime, reflected also the soul bored." [p. 934] I like the term "mind-hunger". Beautiful. Overall, I did not like this story as much as her previous ones. This one began to give me the impression that she was trying (too hard) to be terribly clever, but the message got lost in the process. Here is one final quote from Briggs. "Woolf's diary was written primarily for her own rereading, the young Virginia writing to her future self. Sometimes she questioned who she was writing for, recognizing that Leonard [her husband] would be its likeliest reader (and regulating her words accordingly). Sometimes she pondered whether she should report on the wider world, or the doings of her own circle or on her own thoughts and feelings, but increasingly it became a record of what mattered most to her - what she was writing or planning to write, a record of the unfolding creative process itself, ..." [p. 341] This is similar to thoughts I often have about this web site. I agree - I also write primarly for myself, and what matters most in this context is how one might use technology to further one's own Learning. SUMMARY of the session: I have completed two books, both well worth the effort of reading carefully. 2:30 PM

4:10 PM Here are two pictures of an amaryllis in our dining room.

D. Reflection