Geologic Significance?

Back in 2004 I ran across a piece of fitted canvas. So I considered a mural, based on a quote from my high school’s graduation speech. My adviser who was also my bio and geology teacher, had asked us what our mark would be in geologic time. When I began sketching on the canvas I was a freshman in college, in my first semester. So I made up a list of great people, did a few layers of strata on the top of the canvas, then a multitude of recognizable faces, and more strata on the bottom. In the middle, at the base, was the quote, asking what will be your role in geologic time.

After sketching in all the faces and strata the canvas disappeared. And just in time, too. That second semester was much more difficult, with me struggling to maintain my GPA. I’ll occasionally wonder what happened to it. Recently I decided to re-sketch the idea, having long since lost or thrown out the original sketches. The main cartoon looks like this:

  Just, so bored this weekend.

Here’s an example of it up-close:

Longtime readers will recognize the comic format.

One major difference between now and 2004 is that I’ve a much better understanding of world history. Also I decided quite consciously to split in 50/50 women and men, since that reflects humanity. Also there are more non-whites. Teaching world history I’ve a more well-rounded view of humanity.

In case anyone’s curious, here are the 60 men and 60 women I picked. They are not who I think are best, or most honorable, or even most impacting. It’s just supposed to be a representative sample. There is a bias, however, towards the generally inspirational and uplifting, with a few tragedies thrown in. (But no Hitlers, Maos, or Pol Pots.) I highly recommend looking them up, and learning about their various fascinating lives and accomplishments. I’ve given ‘nationalities’ based on current geography (i.e. ‘Turkish’ rather than ‘Ottoman’). And who knows? Maybe I’ll still paint that mural someday.

1.      Adam Smith. Scottish economist, d. 1790

2.      Ada Lovelace. English mathematician, d. 1852

3.      Toussaint Louverture. Haitian revolutionary, d. 1803

4.      Queen Nzinga. Angolan monarch, d. 1663

5.      Thomas Jefferson. American president, d. 1826

6.      Sei Shonagon. Japanese author, d. 1017

7.      Jorge Luis Borges. Argentinian author, d. 1986

8.      Rachel Carson. American biologist, d. 1964

9.      Kwame Nkrumah. Ghanaian politician, d. 1972

10.  Elizabeth Blackwell. English/American physician, d. 1910

11.  Rumi. Iranian poet, d. 1273

12.  Ban Zhao. Chinese author, d. 116

13.  Suleiman I. Turkish monarch, d. 1566

14.  Lise Meitner. Austrian/Swedish physicist, d. 1968

15.  Porfirio Diaz. Mexican revolutionary, d. 1915

16.  Julia Morgan. American architect, d. 1957

17.  Moses Maimonides. Spanish philosopher, d. 1204

18.  Meerabai. Indian mystic poet, d. 1547

19.  Ernest Shackleton. English/Irish explorer, d. 1922

20.  Roma Mitchell. Australian jurist, d. 2000

21.  Mongkut. Thai monarch, d. 1868

22.  Maria Montessori. Italian educator, d. 1952

23.  Hone Heke. New Zealand Maori revolutionary, d. 1850

24.  Fatima Al-Fihri. Tunisian/Moroccan educator, d. 880

25.  Ahmes. Egyptian scribe, d. c. 1650 BCE

26.  Emma Goldman. Lithuanian activist, d. 1940

27.  Theodore Herzl. Hungarian journalist, d. 1904

28.  Hildegard. German polymath, d. 1179

29.  Sultan Agung. Indonesian monarch, d. 1646

30.  Tarquina Molza. Italian polymath, d. 1617

31.  Chuang Tzu. Chinese philosopher, d. 286

32.  Enheduanna. Iraqi author, d. 2250BCE

33.  Carlos de Siguenza y Gongora. Mexican polymath, d. 1700

34.  Gabriela Mistral. Chilean poet, d. 1957

35.  Tecumseh. American Shawnee revolutionary, d. 1813

36.  Marie Antoinette. French monarch, d. 1793

37.  Sun Yat-sen. Chinese revolutionary, d. 1925

38.  Mary Kingsley. English explorer, d. 1900

39.  Ludwig van Beethoven. German composer, d. 1827

40.  Juana Ines de la Cruz. Mexican poet, d. 1695

41.  Raphael. Italian painter, d. 1520

42.  Christine de Pizan. Italian/French author, d. 1434

43.  Ibn Battuta. Morrocan explorer, d. 1377

44.  Jane Addams. American reformer, d. 1935

45.  Luo Guanzhong. Chinese author, d. 1400

46.  Emmeline Pankhurst, British activist, d. 1928

47.  Siddhartha Gautama. Indian prophet, d. 483 BCE

48.  Maria Agnesi. Italian mathematician, d. 1799

49.  Menelik II. Ethiopian monarch, d. 1913

50.  Anna Komnene. Turkish/Greek polymath, d. 1153

51.  Claudius Ptolemy. Greek/Egyptian astronomer, d. 168

52.  Diane Fossey. American anthropologist, d. 1985

53.  Sigmund Freud. Austrian psychologist, d. 1939

54.  Tomoe Gozen. Japanese warrior, d. 1247

55.  Cicero. Italian statesman, d. 43 BCE

56.  Sacajawea. American Shoshone explorer, d. 1812

57.  Jesus of Nazareth. Palestinian prophet, d. 33

58.  Helena Rubinstein. Polish/American tycoon, d. 1965

59.  Omar Khayyam. Iranian polymath, d. 1131

60.  Cleopatra. Egyptian monarch, d. 30 BCE

61.  Thomas More. English statesman, d. 1535

62.  Liliuokalani. Hawaiian monarch, d. 1917

63.  Alan Turing. English mathematician, d. 1954

64.  Hypatia. Greek/Egyptian polymath, d. 415

65.  Groucho Marx. American entertainer, d. 1977

66.  Hedy Lamarr. Austrian/American entertainer, d. 2000

67.  Karl Marx. German philosopher, d. 1883

68.  Catherine II. Russian monarch, d. 1796

69.  Brahmagupta. Indian mathematician, d. 668

70.  Clara Driscoll. American designer, d. 1944

71.  John Maynard Keynes. English economist, d. 1946

72.  Indira Gandhi. Indian politician, d. 1984

73.  Imhotep. Egyptian polymath, d. c. 2600 BCE

74.  Ida Tarbell. American journalist, d. 1944

75.  Confucius. Chinese scholar, d. 479 BCE

76.  Hester Stanhope. English archaeologist, d. 1839

77.  Andrei Sakharov. Russian activist, d. 1989

78.  Mary Cassatt. American painter, d. 1926

79.  Kautilya. Indian statesman, d. 283 BCE

80.  Wangari Maathai. Kenyan environmentalist, d. 2011

81.  Harvey Milk. American activist, d. 1978

82.  Mary Wollstonecraft. English author, d. 1797

83.  Basawan. Indian painter, d. c. 1600

84.  Ci Xi. Chinese Empress, d. 1908

85.  Hans Christian Oersted. Danish scientist, d. 1851

86.  Ella Fitzgerald. American entertainer, d. 1996

87.  Babur. Uzbek/Indian monarch, d. 1530

88.  Rosa Parks. American activist, d. 2005

89.  Che Guevara. Argentinian revolutionary, d. 1967

90.  George Eliot. English author, d. 1880

91.  Bartolome de las Casas. Spanish historian, d. 1566

92.  Annie Oakley. American entertainer, d. 1926

93.  Zumbi. Brazilian monarch, d. 1695

94.  Georgia O’Keefe. American painter, d. 1986

95.  Al-Zahrawi. Spanish physician, d. 1013

96.  Martha Graham. American dancer, d. 1991

97.  Moliere. French dramatist, d. 1673

98.  Eva Peron. Argentinian politician, d. 1952

99.  Jim Thorpe. American athelete, d. 1953

100.                      Elizabeth I. English monarch, d. 1603

101.                      Takenouchi Hisamori. Japanese athlete, d. c. 1550?

102.                      Sappho. Greek poet, d. c. 570 BCE

103.                      Zhang Heng. Chinese polymath, d. 139

104.                      Margaret Sanger, American activist, d. 1966

105.                      Socrates. Greek philosopher, d. 399 BCE

106.                      Hannah Arendt. German/American academic, d. 1975

107.                      Muhammad (represented by calligraphy). Saudi Arabian prophet, d. 632

108.                      Joan of Arc. French soldier, d. 1431

109.                      Michael Severtus. Spanish polymath, d. 1553

110.                      Marie Currie. Polish scientist, d. 1934

111.                      Ralph Waldo Emerson. American philosopher, d. 1882

112.                      Virginia Woolf. English author, d. 1941

113.                      Alfred Russel Wallace. English biologist, d. 1913

114.                      Anna Politkovskaya. Russian journalist, d. 2006

115.                      Wole Soyinka. Nigerian author, b. 1934 –

116.                      Helen Gurley Brown. American author, d. 2012

117.                      Pierre Goudiaby Atepa. Senegalese architect, b. 1947 –

118.                      Tu Youyou. Chinese physician, b. 1930 –

119.                      Pele. Brazilian soccer player, b. 1940 –

120.                      Valentina Tereshkova. Russian astronaut, b. 1937 – 

Two Years Ago Max Called Universal Management

 Max:  The universe is fucked up lately.

 Ross:  Call the toll free repair number.

 Max:  File a bug report

 Ross:  Ask for the manager.

 Max:  Dial or say "0" for an operator.

 Ross:  I'm sorry, I didn't catch that. Did you say 'hero'?

 If so press 1.

 Max:  ZERO.  OPERATOR.  BEEP BEEP

 Ross:  Hello, Universal Manager speaking. What would you like to talk about?

 Please note this call may be recorded for quality purposes.

 Max:  Yeah I think there's something wrong with my universe.

 Ross:  I see. Now, can you tell me so I can handle the right sort of claim - is your universe a solipsistic one,    or is existence granted for other entities?

Max:  Well I can't say for sure.  Hang on... there is a loud thump and 'thud' sound, followed by a long silence.  now he sounds groggy Uhh... I was unconscious for a while there.  Did you still exist?

Ross:  Yes, I'm still on the line. So we'll go ahead and mark your case as 'General'. Now, I must let you know, if your universe is being experienced by others it may mean that alterations on your behalf will affect the lives and well-being of others. What, specifically, is wrong with your universe?

 Max:  Well it just... I'm not sure.  I mean... good things keep happening to bad people, and vice-versa, and, there are republicans all over the place.  And I have this persistent rash... I don't know, it just, I guess it's just not really what I was expecting?

Ross: I want to make sure I heard you correctly, sir. Did you say 'republicans all over the place'?

 Max:  Yeah that's right.  Everywhere, even.  Central park, the tee-vee.  Congress.  I saw one in a Starbucks yesterday.  Can you believe that?

 Ross: Sir, I'm going to have to transfer you to another department. Will you hold?

 Max:  Okay, sure.

 Ross:  Muzak rendition of 'Take Five'

 Max:  sighs, clears throat

 Ross:  Sorry to keep you waiting. My name is Satan. I hear you'd like to report a breach in Hell's security.

 Max:  I beg your pardon?

 Ross:  Your call was transferred to us from Universal Management on the grounds that you reported  Republicans. If there are Republicans in your Universe then we need to clear this up right away.

 Max:  Oh!  Well.  Yes, there are quite a lot of them.

 Ross:  There was a breach a little while ago, according to our sensors. Do you know, off-hand, if there is such a thing as 'entropy' in your universe?

 Max:  Oh, entropy?  Why of course, it's even more abundant than republicans!  We talk about it at meals and conferences.  Very controversial, entropy.

 Ross:  That confirms it then. 'Entropy' is a way of ensuring that if Republicans do get loose they'll be taken care of in the Universe in question. I suspect a decent knowledge of the concept occurred just about simultaneously with when Republicans first appeared. Yes...Good news, sir. I've got a lock on your case and my theory is confirmed. 'Entropy' was defined in 1865, not coincidentally when your Republicans showed up. As that's the case the problem should clear itself up shortly.

 Max:  How shortly?  I mean, you Universe Management folks, I never know if "shortly" means a few minutes or a few aeons!

Ross:  We can, in special circumstances, intervene in a direct fashion, a sort of 'rush order', if you think that's preferable to life with Republicans. In that case you'll have to choose between a few different options

Max:  I'd like to hear them.

Ross:  Well there are broad changes, or target-specific changes. In the broad we can do something like a solar explosion, rogue black hole, or, the ultimate kill switch, popping the vacuum of space. Targeted approaches may be more familiar, such as asteroids, and supervolcanoes.

 Max:  Those all sound rather...messy.  No offense.

Ross:  Well...in the targeted approach scheme, although this is higher-end, we can use species-specific methods, such as genetic manipulations, superbugs, and habitat damage.

Max:  Are republicans a different species?  I suppose it would make sense.

Ross:  Technically they aren't a 'species' at all, since they aren't a part of your Universe's evolutionary heritage, and are, point of fact, escapees from Hell. Yet since this outbreak occurred many generations ago there is the consideration that they've interbred with the human species. I wish to clarify that the targeted approaches will affect both Republicans and humans.

Max:  So let me get this straight... they're literally from Hell, and you guys let them out of there, and now they're all up in our gene pool?  Is this universe still under warranty?

Ross:  We did not 'let them out' - there was a breach in security. This is why all of our universes come equipped with a standard entropy package. Warranty is void if entropy is initiated.

Max:  Void??  Well... who initiated it?

Ross:  Entropy is initiated with the automatic detection of Republicans. The universe no longer functions as intended and as such the entropy is triggered immediately.

Max:  Do we get a refund?

 Ross:  Everyone gets a refund, sir. The question is merely where you'll collect it: here, or up above.

Max:  all-suffering sigh Well... I suppose we ought to just let entropy run its course.  What was your name again, sir?  Do I have a case number in case the republicans get worse?

Ross:  My name is Satan. Your case is a number beyond human comprehension, due to an inconceivably high number of calls. We have you on file. You can call this number direct. We are always here to serve you.

Max:  sounding perturbed but accepting All right then.  You bet I'll call if it gets worse!

 Ross:  Is there anything else I can help you with today sir?

 Max:  No, that'll be all I guess.

 Ross:  Thank you. Have a nice life. hangs up

Max:  turning away from the phone  "HONEY!  THOSE CONSERVATIVES, THEY'RE JUST A DETERMINISTIC PRE-CONSEQUENCE TO UNIVERSAL ENTROPY!  NO NEED TO WORRY ABOUT IT!"

A Fortunate Fellow

By July 4 of this year I will have seen:

10 National Parks

Pinnacles

Acadia

Sequoia

King’s Canyon

Canyonlands

Arches

U.S. Virgin Islands

Redwoods *

Mesa Verde *

Yosemite *

*Also a UNESCO site

11 Wonders of the World:

The Panama Canal

Olympia (Site of the Statue of Zeus)*

Bodrum (Site of the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus)

The Golden Gate Bridge

The Empire State Building

Ephesus (Site of the Temple of Artemis)

The Coliseum*

Leaning Tower of Pisa*

Aya Sofya*

Stonehenge*

Aurora Borealis

* Also a UNESCO site

36 UNESCO World Heritage Sites

The Statue of Liberty

Tower of London

Kyoto Temples

Nara Temples

Prambanan

Vatican City

Angkor Wat

Historic Florence

Venice

Historic Naples

Pompeii and Herculaneum

Independence Hall

Acropolis

Delphi

Mycenae

The Giant’s Causeway

Hiroshima

Borobudur

Itsukushima

Melaka

Historic Edinburgh

Historic Liverpool

Blenheim Palace

Historic Bath

Historic San Juan

Panama Viejo

Himeji

Westminster

I've also been to Costa Rica and Singapore, besides the countries which provided the above locales.

This June I'm stepping out of the States for the first time since living abroad in 2011. Going to see San Juan, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Panama City, Panama. We'll be returning on the third of July. As such the italicized items above are the sites to be seen.

Still, that leaves quite a lot. 49 National Parks to go. 17 Wonders of the World. A host of UNESCO sites from Petra to Uluru to the Galapagos (not that I intend to see all of them, but at least all of the U.S. ones - 15 to go).

Five Stories:

Having eventually gotten a bus out of Izmir, where I was trapped at the station from 10 to 3 in the morning, I initially crashed upon arrival at my hostel in Bodrum. The next day I first went to go see the underwater archaeological museum, housed in a castle from the Crusades. After this I wandered the winding streets of the Mediterranean sea-side town. I got lunch - a chicken breast from an exasperated server - and read at a local cafe. Then I slowly followed my map to the column clear-cut that once was the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus. Not knowing what else to do, I sat upon a column, and had a Turkish mother photograph me.

* * *

A day trip, usually, from Kyoto I decided to spend two nights in Nara, exploring the sites. Nara has a climate not unlike the Sierra Nevadas in California, full of evergreens, picturesque slopes, and higher altitude air. I wasn't entirely sure why the Kasuga Taisha shrine was famous, but all the sites were in easy walking distance of each other. There I met a Japanese man who had some serious photography equipment. After walking around the temple, like a tourist, sort of idly gazing at the painted walls and turning aspen trees, I asked the photographer to take a photo with my camera - an old manual Canon, to which he happily complied, and complimented me on not switching to digital. Nowadays I always have to look for either serious photographers or older people to take my photo when I have my camera bag, seen in the photo.

* * *

Two years after I learned to rock climb I went to high school in Colorado. There I was re-acquainted with a fellow, who was at that time teaching U.S. History, but whom I had known as a rock-climbing instructor at Pinnacles National Monument (now Park). It was a school camping trip that took me there. I was proud to have borrowed my mom's tent, with poles, and been able to set it up. I especially remember an occasion, as the Spring light faded to dusk and twilight, sitting around a campfire, doing a comedy show. We called our bit the Psychologist Sketch, and I was a patient so tedious the psychologist jumped out the window. The first thing I improvised on the couch was "It all began when I was five. The mass murders, anyway..." These were the first real comedy lines I ever created. I have no idea who took this shot, but a good guess is my English teacher.

* * *

It was March break, and I had a month off from Leeds. My classes were going well. I was studying David Hume, the Peloponnesian War, Cultural Geography and Religious Philosophy. My sister was working in Ireland, living in Dublin, and came to visit. We made our way north, taking a bus through the early Spring blizzard to Scotland. Our family had history there, and growing up  in the Bay Area we'd frequently visited our grandparents in Inverness, California - and wanted to see its namesake. In our first stop of Edinburgh my sister snapped this without my knowledge, of me looking out at the Firth of Forth.

* * *

I was in bed, in college, when I heard a knocking at my door. A few scattered footfalls could be heard in the hall, and I rose to see. People, not many, were walking downstairs, quietly, and outside. I watched them go, and after dressing joined them. Outside our dorm, on the soccer field, people were laying on blankets and looking up at the clear, starry Vermont sky - blurred with pastel oceanic hues of the aurora. We lay, gazing at the shifting ribbons of light through the predawn sky, not speaking.