Lee C. Bollinger

Though he is only a professor and the president of a university, I am proud to have attended under his tenure and always enjoy hearing what he has to say.
PART I



PART II

Toxicology

After spending some time with the new feature of Blogger, Blogger Play, I realized that there are a number of artists out there who post their work (sometimes daily) for others to see and respond to. Blogger Play is basically a slideshow which scrolls through photos recently posted to blogger blogs. Having recently been motivated (read bored) to use some the art supplies that lie dormant in our spare room, I thought I would share with you my latest work. It came to being last Friday and is a combination of oils and pastels on canvas panel (12"*16"). It is for sale, you name the price, and is titled "Toxicology" in honor of the opportunity cost of undertaking such a work.

Blogger Play

Libraries

Though the libraries don't really move they do pop up around the city in new locations. This is another great idea that has been promulgated in Bogotá: that of the (not sure what to call it) book stand. In an effort to promote literacy and reading among citizens the city has designed and operates mobile libraries. I only passed a couple of these but they were intriguing. This one was at the National University, not a place I would expect you need another library or would be looking to improve literacy. I knew that they had invested a lot of money and architectural knowledge in new library buildings. Penalosa, especially, sees these as public/shared space where people can come together and equity is improved.

They've also combined the library with the park, once again emphasizing this focus on public space and combining it with their literacy objectives. The sign reads "A stop for books, for parks." The yellow panels open up when an attendant is there and there are books in there. It all works through the city library system so if you have a card issued at the main library you can get books from any of the stands, Gratis! (Free!). Also, not sure if you can return them anywhere or if you have to bring them back to the same stand. Colombian commenters, help me out here.

I like this idea and everytime I think about libraries I say to myself (aloud) "that's so cool, you can just go there and get books for free, what a great idea." But then I never go and get books. I look at material on the internet, download articles, or buy a magazine. That's not even mentioning all the reading for school I have and never get to. So.... would this idea work here in the US, not to increase literacy but just to get people to pick up books more, which I guess is 'increasing literacy'?

Tayrona

I have been away for awhile; packing up life in Colombia, returning to the US, celebrating my one year anniversary of being married, attending another wedding, starting school - a number of things have happened.

Lauren made it out to Bogotá on August 23 and we headed the next day to Santa Marta on the coast. It was a vacation for both of us and a throw back to our trip a year before when we visited a national park on the coast (of Maine). It was a bit of a hike to get there. We took a taxi to the city center, asked a few questions of the park service office, and then trekked through a massive urban market, including their meat (non-refrigerated) section. Along the way we picked up a hammock which served us well. Once you reach the far end of the market (corner of 11CL. & 11CR.) you can find a bus that you take for an hour to the park entrance and then you can board another vehicle, for a ten minute ride into the park. From there you can walk to the beaches and find somewhere to stay. We choose Arrecifes and walked to various other spots around the park from there over the next few days.

The place where we stayed was relaxed and quiet but the currents made the immediate waters dangerous. We hiked to other, more remote beaches daily. There we enjoyed pristine beaches without interference of crowds, nosey vendors, or nearby urban noise. We even carted around our new hammock and set it up when we found the chance.

One day we hiked to some ruins in the jungle of the park. The path consisted of huge boulders and notched logs and there were several points where a slip would have landed one of us in a crevice too deep to spend more time thinking about. The weather turned once we arrived at the village and we took refuge under the roof of the few indigenous people who are there during the days. The rain continued to fall until the a river had formed blocking the way we had come in. A National Park employee also showed up to check some books and offered to show us (and another couple) out along a safer route.


We concluded the trip at the condo of a friend located just outside of Santa Marta, on a beach called Bello Horizonte. Thanks to Jorge and Andrea for making that happen.