Bob CollinsWhen a 100-year-old-woman loses her home, laid down and wiped away, the passion of Monday-Friday, hunters and their deer-stand mansions, and a light approach to suicide.
The Monday Morning Rouser…
1) HAZEL’S LESSON
You’re 100 years old and you’ve lived, fished, knitted and raised a family at your Hunter Lake home for decades. Then one night, a flood comes along and that’s that. It’s the Duluth News Tribune story of Hazel Lafler, who has lost her home and didn’t have flood insurance. She’s not going to rebuild the home in which she’s lived alone for 40 years. Not at her age, she says.
Here comes the lesson in perspective:
“I had a good niece and nephew who welcomed me in,” she said. “I guess you can’t expect much more.”
2) LAID DOWN AND WIPED AWAY
Artist/teacher Gregory Euclide sure knew how to use his lunch breaks efficiently. He makes works of art on the whiteboard at Prior Lake High School — it relieved stress, he says — then wipes them away, which seems unfortunate.
Like this…
His students convinced him not to just erase his artwork, so he’s turned them into prints.
“My students were shocked when I would erase the original, because they saw it firsthand, and they were disturbed that it was destroyed. People who do not see the original have no problem only looking at it on a screen or as a print, but once you see the original it is hard to let it go or believe that it could be destroyed,” he tells the Daily Mail.
He did the cover art for Bon Iver’s album…
Read more here.
(h/t: Ben Chorn*)
3) ON PASSION
When I first moved to Minnesota 20 years ago, a (very former) boss told me about the people who live here. “These people…” he said, “all they want to do is put in their time at work so they can get up to their cabins or whatever on the weekend.”
Well…. yeah.
… which is not to say you can’t be passionate about Monday through Friday…
The Inverted Bike Shop from Show Love on Vimeo.
And that brings up today’s discussion point: Are you passionate about Monday through Friday?
4) THE HOMES OF THE RUGGED INDOORSMEN
There’s really nothing that people won’t try to turn into a mansion. The latest: deer stands. “It’s not just a couple of boards slapped into a tree, but tree houses with stairways, decks, shingled roofs, commercial windows, insulation, propane heaters, carpeting, lounge chairs, tables and even some with generators so they have electricity,” Bob Krepps, St. Louis County land commissioner, told the Duluth News Tribune.
No satellite TV?
Mansion might be too strong a word, but still…
(Photo: St. Louis County Department of Lands and Mines)
The hunter, foresters tell the newspaper, should be outdoors, not indoors. They say the hunters are clearing too much forest land to accommodate their dream stands. And they’re planting clover to attract deer.
5) A LIGHT APPROACH TO SUICIDE
Not much seems to be working to stem the suicide epidemic, especially among men. Maybe humor will help.
A campaign in Colorado is aimed at men ages 25 to 64, the New York Times reports. It features Dr. Rich Mahogany.
“It’s not like dental hygiene or foot fungus — it’s something highly personal and very sensitive,” Jeffrey Boal, the founder of the Plowshare Group, a PSA distribution company, says. “This is a very risky campaign, and that’s part of its beauty, but I’d really want to make sure I knew how it impacted the target population.
On the site, people can take an “18 point head examination.”
“Oh, and don’t bull**** me,” the “doctor” advises when introducing the quiz. After you submit it, he “analyzes” it and provides a printed assessment of any warning signs, then points to a red phone which displays a link to a crisis hotline.
Bonus I: The lightning strike in Texas during the Twins game. Some players headed for cover; some defied nature.
Bonus II: Sixty-five years ago yesterday, aliens probably didn’t land in New Mexico.
TODAY’S QUESTION
In June the U.S. economy added only 80,000 jobs, and the unemployment rate remained at 8.2 percent. Many economists expected better numbers. Today’s Question: Who will win the race for president if the economy doesn’t improve by early November?
WHAT WE’RE DOING
Daily Circuit (9-12 p.m.) – First hour: Career counseling.
Second hour: Who owns music in the digital age?
Third hour: The future of international adoption.
MPR News Presents (12-1 pm): From the Aspen Ideas Festival: a discussion about the health care decision and the future of health care reform. Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, Tyler Cowen, Neera Tanden and David Leonhardt.
Talk of the Nation (1-2 p.m.) – Keeping the lights on. Power companies struggled with downed lines and blown transformers after severe storms knocked out power to millions across 11 states, and left frustrated customers to swelter in a triple-digit heat wave. We’re told to expect more extreme weather, and many people who spent days in the dark worry the power grid isn’t ready.
All Things Considered (3-6:30 p.m.) – Most coal miners began to breathe easier about 40 years ago, thanks to new protections from coal dust. Cases of black lung plummeted. But now, the disease is back on the rise, and it’s deadlier. NPR is rolling out an investigation on the resurgence of black lung disease. Part one of the two-part series ran this morning.
* – Perhaps you wonder what h/t is. It’s a “hat tip,” a nod to NewsCut readers who send information that they feel you’d like to have, preferably material that’s a little off the beaten path. If you’d like to share some, click the “Contact Bob” link under my (old) picture on the right.
