here are some pictures from this afternoon

emergency hurricane housing info

If you are being evacuated from your home due to hurricane Rita and need a place to stay, please visit HurricaneHousing.org or call 1-800-638-4559.

Right now, there are over 265,000 spaces being offered to evacuees all over the country. We estimate that between 15,000 and 30,000 hurricane Katrina evacuees have already found temporary housing through the site.

By all reports, hurricane Rita threatens to be devastating—and after Katrina, we'd hate to see anyone take a chance staying in the path of the storm for lack of another place to go. If you're in the affected area and need a safe place to stay, please take advantage of this resource. (...)

-– Noah, Justin, Carrie, Micayla and the MoveOn.org Civic Action Team Wednesday, September 21st, 2005

tags: evacuation, texas, rita, hurricane rita, shelter

hi folks,

above is a detail from an oil painting I am working on right now.

the photo below is a color-adjusted photo of my latest work in granite. both these pictures feature scenes from the mycelium's opera.

the dogs on trucks experimental robot is code Red today, for the dangerous situation in the gulf area of the US. Hurricane Rita is a monster storm, said to be the third most powerful in history.

new & upcoming content in the loop includes information on an intriguing new web surfing tool called a preference engine. also idec.org will be in the spotlight soon.

have a good day.

--suzy

tags: organic search engine optimization, mycology, bioremediation, design, education, green design, design science, environment, cage, biometrics, click rate, rhythm, biomimicry, our friends the mycelium, conservation, soil, water, tillage, information, cull, aggregate, bread, life, ink, covenant, life, survival, transparency, land management, land rights, constitution, atheism, appropriation, prayer, loss, blood, mourning, design science, iki, ikigai, ikimono, ghost dance, preferred knowledge

- a press release from ideapark.org -

traces is a gallery and reading room in floyd, virginia which exhibits reading materials and artifacts related to sustainability and the human footprint.

the current exhibit at traces includes photography, stone sculpture, ink-paintings, rock samples, books, and objects from farms. artists include David Franusich, M. Koike, Mack Whatley, and Suzy Nees.

a picture from this morning etc.

hi folks,

here is a picture from this morning. the work shown in the background is red granite, painted with sumi ink & natural pigments. Koike just sent me a link about a symposium in St. Paul MN that sounds interesting.

right now I am involved in helping to launch the Sustainable Living Education Center's display space at the Jacksonville Center. Farmers, Green designers, artists, and other sustainability minded individuals are encouraged to watch for upcoming posts & invitations on this subject. SLEC doesn't have a website yet but Billy W. can be reached via the Jacksonville Center site. (He is also head of Association of Energy Conservation Professionals).

Wayne, Billy & I are working to cook up some exhibit ideas for the space...which I need to get back to now so goodbye and thank you for reading.

sustainability etc.

hi folks,

so the rain turned out to be not much of a rain at all but still it has been a very nice end of week. had some good conversations with friends including Wayne about sustainability etc. also put some farm tools up in the Traces space; a currycomb, a barn pulley, various buckets, wrenches etc.

I need to put this on the jacksonville center site but folks should know that there are a lot of sustainable living initiatives getting ramped up in Floyd. SLEC - the sustainable living education center - will be opening a display space soon, and prospective volunteers (concerned citizens, students and businesspersons) are encouraged to contact the Association of Energy Conservation Professionals for details about SLEC and the activities that will be going on there...

which reminds me an eco friendly paint shop opened in Floyd not so long ago and I would like to give them a little wave hello and say, I meant to type your flyer up & put it on the Internet but I forgot...but I hope your business is going well...

so right now I am painting polliwogs on stone using sumi ink. I am also working on a painting of an invisible kitty and his friends the mycelium.

I dont know why I am thinking of this now but I recently heard someone describe google as having invented a prom king/prom queen kind of scenario...in which popularity is the draw and little else is considered...in fact popularity is spread as a sham currency...anyway I don't know if that's true about Google but it sure reminds me how nice it is to be in exile from the contemporary art world.

the moon is very full right now and the cows are mooing now very loudly. it is almost a racket, really.

reading technorati tonight I have to say I did like the rebuild with you mr. president article...

oh! I have been pulling a compound bow for fun. it is VERY fun. good for the posture, too. the whitetail outfitter folks were very very nice and measured me to determine draw length etc. so. ladies if you are looking for a compund bow do not hesitate to go to whitetail I expect they will treat you very nice as they did the same for me.

by the way if there are any goat awareness advocates out there I am interested in collaborating with like minded individuals...one of the SLEC events I plan to propose is called Goat Zoo and it would bring young people in contact with these ever so funny little ambasadors of sustainable agriculture...

well I need to go now. have a good evening.

--suzy

it's finally raining.

...We're the heirs of men and women who lived through...winters at Jamestown and Plymouth...rebuilt Chicago after a great fire...San Francisco...earthquake...reclaimed the prairie from the Dust Bowl of the 1930s...

hi folks
it's finally raining, now. thank goodness. it seems like the first time in weeks.

My car has negative cat pawprints written in its covering of dust.

anyway speaking of tilth below is the Bush speech abbreviated.

have a great day. --suzy

ps. today I spoke with Wayne at the Jacksonville Center today and we tossed around some ideas about the new exhibit on sustainability now being planned at the Sustainable Living Education Center in Floyd. Homesteading and carbon offset were both mentioned as possible themes.

Wayne also has a friend with a great deal of practical knowledge about urban gardening...

So. if you are interested in becoming involved with this initiative get in touch with SLEC or Association of Energy Conservation Professionals.

thanks for reading. have a great day.

click here to help work on the dogs on trucks robot.

Bush's speech, abbreviated:

...speaking to you from the city of New Orleans... millions of lives...cruel and wasteful storm...grieving for the dead, and looking for meaning in a tragedy that seems so blind and random...witnessed the kind of desperation no citizen of this great and generous nation should ever have to know...calling out for food and water, vulnerable people left at the mercy of criminals...the bodies of the dead lying uncovered and untended in the street....

...community of Chalmette, when two men tried to break into a home, the owner invited them to stay...doctors and nurses...carried...patients on their backs up eight flights of stairs to helicopters.....Steve Scott of the Biloxi Fire Department...lost my house...lost my cars...I still got my family...I still got my spirit...

...a core of strength that survives all hurt...faith in God no storm can take away...clear the ruins and build better than before...

...great city will rise again...gather the dead, treat them with respect...prepare them for their rest...

...Our goal is to get people out of the shelters by the middle of October...

...beginning to bring in mobile homes and trailers for temporary use...sending extra doctors and nurses to these areas...money that can be used to cover overtime pay for police and fire departments while the cities and towns rebuild......federal government will undertake a close partnership with...Louisiana and Mississippi...New Orleans...Gulf Coast cities...rebuild in a sensible, well-planned way...goal is to get the work done quickly...taxpayers expect this work to be done honestly and wisely...we'll have a team of inspectors general reviewing all expenditures...

...Governor Barbour, Governor Blanco, Mayor Nagin, and other state and local leaders will have the primary role in planning for their own future...communities will need to move decisively to change zoning laws and building codes, in order to avoid a repeat of what we've seen...as many jobs as possible should go to the men and women who live in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama...

...Our third commitment is this: When communities are rebuilt, they must be even better and stronger than before the storm. Within the Gulf region are some of the most beautiful and historic places in America...

...also some deep, persistent poverty in this region...has roots in a history of racial discrimination...cut off generations from the opportunity of America...confront this poverty with bold action... lrestore all that we have cherished from yesterday...let us rise above the legacy of inequality...When the houses are rebuilt, more families should own, not rent, those houses...Americans want the Gulf Coast not just to survive, but to thrive; not just to cope, but to overcome...want evacuees to come home, for the best of reasons...they have a real chance at a better life in a place they love...

...I propose the creation of a Gulf Opportunity Zone, encompassing the region of the disaster in Louisiana and Mississippi and Alabama..provide immediate incentives for job-creating investment, tax relief for small businesses, incentives to companies that create jobs...loans and loan guarantees for small businesses...minority-owned enterprises...to get them up and running again...entrepreneurship...break the cycle of poverty... we will take the side of entrepreneurs as they lead the economic revival of the Gulf region...

...propose the creation of Worker Recovery Accounts to help those evacuees who need extra help finding work..up to $5,000...job training and education...child care expenses...

..to help lower-income citizens in the hurricane region build new and better lives, I also propose...Urban Homesteading Act....identify property in the region owned by the federal government, and provide building sites to low-income citizens free of charge, through a lottery....they would pledge to build on the lot...either a mortgage or help from a charitable organization like Habitat for Humanity...Home ownership is one of the great strengths of any community...must be a central part of our vision for the revival of this region...

Our cities must have clear and up-to-date plans for responding to natural disasters..disease outbreaks..terrorist attack, for evacuating large numbers of people in an emergency, and for providing the food and water and security they would need. In a time of terror threats and weapons of mass destruction...consider detailed emergency planning to be a national security priority...

I also want to know all the facts about the government response to Hurricane Katrina...

...Four years after the frightening experience of September the 11th...Americans have every right to expect a more effective response in a time of emergency...review every action and make necessary changes, so that we are better prepared for any challenge of nature, or act of evil men, that could threaten our people...

The United States Congress also has an important oversight function to perform...Congress is preparing an investigation, and I will work with members of both parties to make sure this effort is thorough...

...In the life of this nation, we have often been reminded that nature is an awesome force, and that all life is fragile...

Americans have never left our destiny to the whims of nature -- and we will not start now......trials have also reminded us that we are often stronger than we know -- with the help of grace and one another...remind us of a hope beyond all pain and death, a God who welcomes the lost to a house not made with hands...remind us that we're tied together in this life, in this nation -- and that the despair of any touches us all...

...The funeral procession parades slowly through the streets, followed by a band playing a mournful dirge as it moves to the cemetery. Once the casket has been laid in place, the band breaks into a joyful "second line" -- symbolizing the triumph of the spirit over death. Tonight the Gulf Coast is still coming through the dirge -- yet we will live to see the second line..

Thank you, and may God bless America.

the President

tags: civil war, reconstruction, progress, soil science, Jim Crow, legacy, Bush, Dust Bowl, South, environment, ghetto, offer, remediate, plan, poverty, racial discrimination, Gulf Opportunity Zone, Urban Homesteading Act, home ownership, minority, Jamestown, New Orleans, show me the money, tilth, homesteading, carbon, guilt offset