Not all who wander are lost: The Value of Genealogy

Ethnography meets Autoethnography

Met two women for coffee this morning. Having traveled from diverse parts of California, and here to conduct genealogical research, they are part of an old El Paso family. They will visit the main public library downtown, UTEP special collections, and their family's graves at Mt Sinai Cemetery, which is adjacent to Concordia. I believe it is the only cemetery I've not visited or captured headstone images. So, I've posted a couple of images from my local cemetery flickr album. 

Percy Frank Thomas, Concordia Cemetery
and the L&J Cafe in the background.

Before my dad died, I researched their family as dad had been a childhood friend of their relative, the youngest son of a large and vibrant family. To help answer my dad's questions, I created a public Ancestry tree containing his friend's parents, siblings aunts and uncles data, then triangulated information using newspapers dot com, city directories, and US census data. It is the only public tree i have let loose. I did this for dad (and me, too) because of dad's funny stories about their brief friendship and how he wondered what had happened to his younger friend. I think they were about 2-3 years apart in age. Dad always marveled at how smart his friend was. Evidently, he had skipped two grades, and I found he attended University of Colorado and majored in engineering. I found pages of his college yearbook and learned what fraternity he joined. Eventually, Dad's friend worked as a satellite engineer in Arizona, and was a university professor. Newspapers dot com helped me view and save newspaper articles about his projects.

After dad and his friend moved apart from their houses on North Florence near El Paso High School, his friend's father died, and this part becomes more interesting from a feminist standpoint. Although the family was involved in retailing, his mother became an immigration counselor for people seeking asylum here before the US entered WWII. She set up an immigration information center on Olive street where a housing development now stands.

It is interesting because the family originally fled the pogroms in eastern Europe and somehow landed here by way of Mexico, as have many other families who settled here. I found articles in the El Paso Herald-Post about his mother, who spoke to women's groups about her work and how those seeking asylum were needing assistance.

She was very instrumental in helping people enter the states because of Hitler's rise.

As the children grew, his sisters remained here, became teachers, and his brothers served in the military. And now, they are almost all gone from El Paso. It is amazing to me how many different souls from various parts of the world have passed this way, stayed a while, and then moved to other parts of this country.

"Immigrants, we get the job done."

For the love of a nib and a pen

Brian Goulet's vlog entry from earlier today was about his attitudes that differ from the broader FP community at large, and he touched upon appreciating broad nibs. This video allowed me to reply (first time) to one of his newsy and low-key review and Q & A videos. Fun stuff. Speaking of broad nibs, Goulet noted that broad nibs are not great sellers and not favored by the wider fountain pen community.

To me, broad nibs allow for a more personalized signature and tend to emulate an oblique or flex nib (thick and thin line) easier.I fi nd extra fine nibs, which i like, too, but they tire my hand sooner. Right now, I have a Platinum Preppy in Extra Fine that I use with my Hobonichi Techno 2017 Planner. My tired hand issue probably stems because I keyboard and text a lot versus handwriting. And, that's my issue. If the issue is the paper, then it's the paper's problem, or the writer's choice of paper used.

Lamy Safari with Platinum Preppy in Extra Fine looped to a covered Hobonichi Techno 2017 Journal

It could also be the time taken to dry and that it uses ink faster. Moreover, if the signer is initialing or signing paper printed on laser stock (as would an office worker or lawyer), that certainly would cheapen the feel and aggravate the FP writer--that stuff sucks for handling fluid inks.
Years ago, our fourth grade (I think) teachers took such care to instruct us on prepping our desks (and surrounding flooring) with scrap paper so we could replace our old school student-grade Parker (15) or Shaeffer cartridge pens for the first time.

Today, I always have with me even the inexpensive Varsity or Platinum Preppy FP for my students to sign in to my university composition classes. For many, it is the first time they've used a FP, or they say they haven't used one in years. Always fun to hear and see their reactions to using a FP.
While I don't see fountain pen use and exploration/collecting of the writing implements as a hobby, I find it more as a way of communicating method, process, and a part of life (care and feeding of a valued object.)

Terrel A. Jackson (1925-2015)

 

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Sidebar: If only I could locate my dad's Parker Titanium FP he bought soon after they were released that would make my year. Dad either asked for it back after he gave it to me, or I've misplaced it. (Again, that's a sadness shared with you today.) The good thing is I have the roller ball from that set. 

Here is dad, who taught me the value of dogs, fountain pens, and film photography.

Spring to Summer: Deer and their Fawns

A young white tailed deer stopped by one summer afternoon to rest beneath 

the shade of our backyard tree near a bedroom window. More images here. 

Thanks to The Judge for retrieving my Nikon soI could capture the little 

fellow without him immediately fleeing.

As witnessed since the time of this fawn's visit, mothers of young mammals leave their babies in a safe place while they hunt or look for food. Another time, we saw a little fox cub resting one night about 2 a.m. in our back courtyard. Two in the morning is rush hour for many desert mammals. 

One night while it was raining softly, an adult (possibly male) skunk was bumping around in that same courtyard. Somewhat confused, he eventually exited the space and went back into the yard. He then kept waddling around (yes, they waddle) until he was around a corner and out of sight. Another night, he returned to hoover up the sunflower seeds I had scattered on the concrete courtyard pad for the birds. He proceeded to eat every morsel that night (twice!)

We have about 6 or more deer that forage for greens in the arroyo behind the house. Good friends who live up the street said that the deer (usually in groups of 3) like to look over their fence to watch their dogs.

Campus: Cotton Memorial and Old Main by T.A.Jackson

The black and white image below was captured at the former Texas Western College of Mines campus (now University of Texas El Paso) with a medium format Kodak Medallist. The other digital images shown here were taken with an Apple iPhone.

Standing in front of Hudspeth Memorial building (was a dorm and now houses English) with Cotton Memorial on the left and Old Main in center rear, dad's image reminds of what a radical change this is compared with today's center of campus, especially since the Centennial Plaza project is complete. What a change!  

Compared with his image from the mid-40s, the grade in front of Cotton now runs several feet below the entrance to Cotton (which now has several sets of steps), and the Union has not been built in addition to the Main Library and the Liberal Arts buildings. Usually, such images can be dated by vehicles, so I'm going to ask my resident authority what year the cars are in this picture. I'm guessing my dad took this picture before his trip to the Western National Parks (pre 1950).

Today, the campus has a wonderful greenscape with water features now encompassing an area previously taken up by the Geology Building (was main library), and an older knoll that fell away from the entrance to the Union Theatre. That knoll is now a confabulation of boulders tumbling down to the green pitch. A knoll where I once sat upon its green, played my guitar, and sang the songs of Joni Mitchell.

My father went on in-town photographic journeys with a friend named Mr. Miller. Miller worked at the El Paso Herald Post and was a bit older than dad. After Mr. Miller died, I accompanied dad to visit his widow, so dad could help her value her husband's photographic equipment collection. The Millers lived in a big house on North Loop, near Farmer's Dairies, and they had two dalmatian dogs. I think I was 7 or 8 at the time. 

Today, I have dad's two Medallist cameras, which unfortunately use Kodak's proprietary 620 film and not the more readily available 120. He also left a nice Leica R4, which he traded for using a Leica M2. Towards the end of his life, we both agreed it would have been better to have held onto the M2. But, no matter. All are beautiful pieces of the mechanical reproductive arts. 

Before my father passed away, I gave him the Medallist to hold and examine. The medium format camera is heavy and I cannot imagine hauling it around today. 

At right, dad is carries his Medallist and Leica at Fort Bliss National Cemetery to visit the grave of his brother, Clinton Wesley Jackson (1927-2006). At the time dad was 80, and later died in February 2015.

Deer have been coming down the foothills

And I hope they don't need to go as far as the river.

With Paisano in construction mode, I've not driven on it in a while. However, during an NPR news-brief today, I heard that El Paso's border fence segment is one of the first locations to be "modified, "added to," or "changed." I shudder to use the words, "improved," "strengthened," or "walled."

Railroad Bridge at Executive and Paisano near El Rio Bravo

Why begin such work here?  It is always the "vast" areas along the Arizona border and the unfenced lands towards Big Bend that people feel the need to "demand" a wall or fence instead of consistent patrolling as is done here. All this is quite idiotic to me and know that will harm native animals more than any other creature.

How is it possible that people having nothing to do with these lands see fit to grab hard working, vulnerable people, along with our tax dollars stolen from healthcare, education, environmental protection, and alternative fuel research to build such an ugly and sad wall/fence? Slicing families apart while claiming "their" immigrant elders came here "legally" when in fact there was no legal or illegality in that quotient of the time. Only specific groups were allowed to enter at certain times. Immigrants hustled themselves into a ship and prayed they would be allowed into this country. Hoped they could stay healthy enough to pass inspection. At least that was how my great gran Jacksons did it during the pre-Revolutionary era Massachusetts from Yorkshire via White Chapel, just as likely for the same reasons my Gonzales/Gonzalez great grans who came here from Aquascalientes, Mexico in the 1880s for ASARCO—for work, for industry, for capitalism, for a better life.

Such a waste of stale air emanating from this spawn of immigrants, spewing infuriatingly and nasally xenophobic speeches. This kleptocrat. This con. This racist. This man who brags he would sexually assault women who pass his orange muster. His karma wall is mounting high, and i hope it falls on him soon.

O hurry. Set a course now to impeach this narcissistic thief of vulnerable lands, frightened people, and ecological fragility.

Mail Art: A Valentine Remailing Project

The great news today is that several cards arrived by Wednesday and in good order.

2011 Postmark on a card received
from Austin friend

2017 Postmark received

2016 Postmark from Valentine, Texas

Outing for Sunday: A Valentine Remailing

MJ and I made a quick trip to the main post office on Boeing so we could send off my Valentines package for remailing by the post office in Valentine, Texas. The package holds addressed and stamped Valentines cards. Once there, the Valentine Postmaster will, as a courtesy, hand cancel your stamped envelopes, and then remail your letters/cards to the addressee from their station on or before Valentines Day. This is something that keeps the little station on the map.

Prada Marfa 

In 2012, the USPS threatened to close the office, but too many people shouted it down. Quietly, the idea was dropped. This is but one example of how how speaking up and making a noise about a potential change in public policy can sway or at least awaken elected state and local representatives.

Where is Valentine?

Valentine, Texas, is on the road to Marfa, near the Prada Marfa sculpture. To get there, drive east from El Paso on I-10, and exit East onto US-90 at Van Horn; from there, continue 36.5 miles to the sculpture. Valentine the village is there, too, but you would be hard pressed to see it. From there, you can continue on to Marfa proper and stop for lunch. The Prada Marfa sculpture is 2 hours and 20 minutes from the UTEP campus.Unfortunately, my Valentines went out late Sunday afternoon, and may not make the remailing on time. Here's hoping the Valentines reach people with the special cancellation applied. Shown above is last year's cancellation. The other image is of the Prada Marfa, an example of a “pop architectural land art project."

For both envelopes, the street address
has been covered. Rest assured, they arrived safely.

MAIL ART? 

Protocol for sending any remailing Valentine includes a "thank you" card addressed to the postmaster or postmistress. In the art mail community, you also should add more postage as a thank you to the local and delivery postal workers who will decipher the envelopes. This linked article, by the way, provides a lot of information about sending artistic envelopes and includes many inspirational examples. I grovel at their feet.

As far as these sorts of embellished envelopes go, it has not been decided whether or not postal workers like or hate processing/delivering them. But, from what I've heard, at least one postal worker likes the mail that my friend in Austin receives.

Cryptoquotes, matchbook covers, and where the puzzles went: A remembrance on the occasion of their son's birthday

In the garage on his workbench, Lucille stacked his to-dos. There were the crossword puzzles and cryptoquotes she saved for Stanley while he recovered from joint or pacemaker replacements. The saving stopped the morning after he went by ambulance to Sierra. He suffered a cerebral hemorrhage while his aide dressed and attended to his feet.

He loved a well-ordered garage and puzzles of all kinds. Lucille secured Family Circle and Better Homes and Gardens magazines tied with twine into neat bundles. The inside of the pantry door held neat paper bags saved from the commissary. The magazines were worthy of safekeeping because they contained interesting knitting patterns and recipes. Each side to the marriage reflected a life of service, whether to family, church, or country in an orderly way. His was of service in the Army, at work in telemetry at WSMR, and at the VFW hall having beers with his sons. He taught them how to care for the home and vehicles. He propagated geraniums for school fundraisers, and stood guard with fellow Knights of Columbus for the departed faithful (also known as the

"Knights of Columbo" by one particular granddaughter). Lucille’s service was keeping the home, sewing prom dresses, presiding as deanery president, baking for church and school fundraising bazaars, and crocheting and knitting afghans and sweaters that we all still use and wear. The warmth of Lucille's skills remains scattered across the Pacific to Hawaii, up north to Minnesota and Colorado, across the country to Brooklyn, with many remaining here in El Paso.

Next to the workbench on Skyline in Northeast El Paso, a funky pine nightstand once stood. The small chest had three deep drawers. One drawer held a plastic bag of matchbooks, acrylic 3-D puzzles popular during the 70s, a Rubric’s Cube™, and a small green cover with "Bridge"  embossed in gold script to hold score pads. The matchbooks were the kind restaurants and bars once given freely to customers. Another drawer held cassette tapes of Big Band music Stanley had recorded. He played the tapes on a small cassette player kept on top of the bench. Part of a bedroom set used by more than one child, the nightstand now sits, stripped of lavender paint, and next to a small teak desk in our bedroom. We kept one puzzle we liked best along with the often-solved Rubric's Cube™, and the matchbook collection. A favorite matchbook is from The Iron Tender where VED once worked. It was well-known for its steak soup. Before the steakhouse closed, a family friend appealed to the newspaper to reprint its recipe and that clipping how holds a place of honor on the kitchen bulletin board.

Recycled newspaper rubber bands help keep the clear acrylic puzzles fixed and complete until they dried out and failed. Elastic rubber band pieces collected at bottom of the drawer—short, pale green worms. Miraculously, the puzzles continued to remain solved and refused to fall apart in solidarity for the five years between their deaths. In one case, however, masking tape continues holding our favorite puzzle together—a diabolical apple. Except for the transparent fruit, all the puzzles went to the originally named Crisis Nursery for its thrift shop.

Founded by Mary Russell around 1977, I recall her first appeal for support. Since it was after Fr. Vonder Haar's sermon, it must have happened anytime excepting summer. That priest never could give sermons as he feigned an aversion to the heat for the parishioners. But we knew better—he being from a wealthy Philadelphia St. Louis family. He kept a large number of parakeets in the parish front office, and co-officiated my parent’s wedding at Cristo Rey in Smeltertown. He instructed, baptized, and confirmed my father.

But on that cool Sunday, morning after his sermon, Mrs. Russell began her appeal by explaining that there was a need in the community for a nursery. The need was both great and personal for her—a grandchild was blinded in one eye due to child abuse. She explained that a child crisis nursery acts as a go between for emergency after hours care, how the children and infants would be found and accepted into temporary care. She next asked for both monetary and volunteer help.

Blessed Sacrament Church and the diocese lent use of a house that had long been used for storage. It was around the corner nearer to the parish grade school. A standout memory was how an old donated buffet held diaper, baby bottle supplies, blankets, and onesies. I used to volunteer after mass on Sundays and initially took Michaela with me to play with the toddlers and babies being cared for over the weekend until they could be transferred to Child Protective Services. That was the case, until Mary told us that a recent child was found to have lice. Perhaps it would be best that we kept our children home while we volunteered, she suggested.

Since it first opened that year and thereafter to its new constructed facility on Stevens, it sadly has never gone vacant. However, children remain safe, and over time, many uninitiated parents have been allowed short respite. Mrs. Russell, as my in-laws and parents, were children of the Great Depression. In them was instilled the life of service, daily acts of faith, decency, and love for family and country. 

A bird for Valentines Day

Valentine Pyrrhuloxia

Who says only English sparrows, grackles,

and doves wing here. Female Pyrrhuloxia,

the Desert Cardinal (Cardinalis sinuatus)
shows otherwise. She and her guy feast on sunflower

seeds and corn outside the courtyard door.

To be in love
Is to touch with a lighter hand.

In yourself you stretch, you are well.

You look at things
Through his eyes.

A cardinal is red.

A sky is blue.

Suddenly you know he knows too.

He is not there but
You know you are tasting together
The winter, or a light spring weather.

His hand to take your hand is overmuch.

Too much to bear.

You cannot look in his eyes
Because your pulse must not say
What must not be said.

When he
Shuts a door
Is not there
Your arms are water.

And you are free
With a ghastly freedom.

You are the beautiful half
Of a golden hurt.

You remember and covet his mouth
To touch, to whisper on.

Oh when to declare
Is certain Death!
Oh when to apprize
Is to mesmerize,
To see fall down, the Column of Gold,
Into the commonest ash.

by Gwendolyn Brooks

Drawing advice for a friend

This modified post is based on an email I sent to a friend, and focuses on drawing and writing. Not all encompassing, it is a short explanation on how I see beginning a creative project. It is meant to get both of us out of the funk we are in now.  Onward to better days.

Everyone can draw, or doodle if you must. I free draw, meaning it may turn into an identifiable animal or object, or it may not. It just IS. Any drawing (for children) does not need to be anatomically "correct," just appealing and fun. Cats and dogs are fun to draw because they are made up of several overlapping circles and ovals.

Free writing connotes similarly. Yet, we often encourage students to brainstorm, free write, and draft. These activities are not the same, but all encourage creativity without the prospect of having a finished document at the end of a day's writing. But, their outcomes are neither valueless nor the results of time wasted. Any time devoted to a quiet or quick period for writing or drawing helps keep the brain elastic, the senses quick, and reflexes warm.   
Drawing does not need to be perfect or “correct.” You just need to relax and have fun. The more you draw, the easier it may get. For cats and dogs, start by drawing ovals and circles. Here is a beautiful and old-fashioned step-by-step collection of images from les animaux tels qu'ils sont, kindly scanned by pilllpat (agence eureka) on Flickr.

Practice

Hyènes & Chacals

from les animaux tels qu'ils sont

 

Write and draw as much as you can, when you feel the need or encounter inspiration. Practice stories in your head, and write those in a notebook. Start in the middle, think of how it ends, and write that first if you want. Write down the funny things as they happen with your pet or things you see around town or school. Recall odd or funny things that happened in the past. Think about writing your pet's life story from her or his perspective. If you have a female cat, say, do you know where she came from? Think about when she was a kitten. Think about any other cats you have owned. All cat stories combined into the Le Petit Chat Pour Les Enfants/The little cat for the children. Write for your child, niece or nephew. Think about Beatrix Potter. She wrote for the children in her family. Children were her first audience. 

Sketching
Draw your pet using whatever tools you have now. Strike while the iron is hot. Use grocery paper bags opened up and go to town with crayons. You will work best when you want to work. Later, you try different papers, pencils, charcoal (sticks or pencils), and even ink with a pen with a Crow Quill fine line nib. Speedball Crow quill pens are very inexpensive and flexible. 

Pencils
If you are fortunate to have Blackwing 602 pencils, or the newer Palomino, they should be soft for sketching and blocking. However, if an older pencil seems too hard for sketching, filing in, and details, then try it for blocking in shapes.

I hate it when you can't change the dream channel

©carolyn rhea drapes 2015. 

Prismacolor markers and Micron .005 pen

Lightly sketch and then switch to another pencil for shading or detailing with another pencil you like. This is when it pays to get yourself to an artist supply store to try out the products. Finishing pencils should be softer to allow for fewer streaking and better, consistent coverage. The lower the number, the softer the pencil.

When you sketch and draw, many times you may find that you can go directly to a finished product without guidelines, but other times you need to lightly sketch and then use softer, darker pencils. Blackwing pencils could be good for that. If you want to add color, try Prismacolor or Pantone markers. They offer a variety of point shapes and sharpness.

Rotring Art Pen, fine point and catridges

For pens, I prefer Microns, but they will run out of ink quickly. Rotring has a great cartridge art pen that comes in various widths.

Currently, I have two Rotring art pens in fine point. Its cartridge system allows for a very fluid line and the ink is long lasting, even though I live in the desert.

For color, DESIGN Spectracolor pencils were once the gold standard for intensity, blending, and softness, but have been out of production since 1999. For excellent pencils now, Derwent offers several styles of color pencils with a wide range of colors.

Books and online resources 
Try practice drawing your cat from life and by copying pictures of cats that look like her. Try drawing other animals, too. I used to do this, and am still trying to find the little cat book i liked the best. But there are many drawing books you can use. 

Back in the day were two books I loved, gendered of course, entitled Sketching and Drawing for Girls and Sketching and Drawing for Boys. I replaced mine a few years ago and now, the book has been combined and retitled to, Sketching and Drawing for Children. Combined book includes the same pages and content as the two original books. One simple change, great results. 

Here are a few terrific Pinterest pages about drawing cats. 

• https://www.pinterest.com/source/dailycatdrawings.tumblr.com/
• https://www.pinterest.com/explore/cat-drawing-tutorial/
• https://www.pinterest.com/pin/39828777931060637/ 

Inspiration

When I was very young, my father bought me a couple of portfolios, which were marked $1 for 10 or 12 large prints of dog and cat portraits by Gladys Emerson Cook’s 

"X" ©carolyn rhea drapes 2015
Pantone markers and micron black pens.

pastel drawings of cats and dogs.

I hope to soon locate these portfolios, as I don’t think I would have given them away. They are lovely and an excellent example of how evocative and affective simple tools like pastels, colored papers, and the animals themselves create an excellent subject to capture. 

Summary
All too often, doodling is considered as wasting time or dumping your daydreams onto paper. Many see them as not being true drawings or art, whatever that means. The attitude toward such creativity is condescending; and, similar to saying that improvisational music is not real music. But, to get to the improvisation some practice is necessary. Whether doodling is an end unto itself or practice towards a goal is up to you. In either case, drawing, drafting, and writing for yourself can be relaxing and fun.

Teletype, Scotch® tape, X-ACTO® knives, and laser paper: Adventures in old school news clipping services for corporate decision makers

Note: this was originally began and then saved from 2013.

On October 4, 2013, NewspaperTree reported results of an inquiry to the Texas Legislative Reference Library (LRL) on how it selected articles for its Daily Legislative Clipping Service (DLCS) news briefing and if it had documented its selection process. What impact does the DLCS have on El Paso/Juarez region (including Fort Bliss) news and information state elected officials? Sounds simple, right? It should have been, yet the Tree encountered umbrage, drama, and delaying tactics after its initial questions were rebuffed, which then led to an open records request, which led to bargaining by the LRL. With all that you'd think they didn't want people to know that the DLCS,

1. Exists at all.
2. Holds no written documentation about its selection process or its policies and procedures.
3. Overlooks or unconsciously ignores borderland (and its constituents') stories, articles and issues.
4. Receives undo influence outside the LRL to select only news affecting a small group of large cities and/or topics that will only affect specific people, interests, and groups. 

Common sense dictates that we should understand how DLCS chooses its news articles. Yet, judging from the blowback received and information finally obtained, one has to wonder why the Tree encountered such obstruction and digital drama from the good people at LRL. In their article, "Out of sight, out of mind: Capitol news clips keep El Paso stories below the fold" the online weekly notes that,

On August 13, 2013, Newspaper Tree submitted an open records request to the library seeking any documents reflecting its policies on their clipping service. (Legislative Reference Library director, Mary) Camp responded to the request by phone, saying she would only talk on the record if Newspaper Tree withdrew its open records request. 

Newspaper Tree declined to withdraw its request.

Under the Texas Public Information Act, responses to requests must be made within 10 business days. Ten days following Newspaper Tree’s request, Camp responded by mail with a $51.80 invoice for the requested materials. Her letter arrived on September 3.

The LRL refused to provide an invoice via email to expedite the payment process.

The responsive documents were mailed to Newspaper Tree on September 9 and arrived September 11—nearly a month following the initial request.

NewspaperTree rightly investigated how DLCS articles are being selected and distributed to politicos in Austin and beyond. As the Tree is part of the fourth estate too, it has a right to know why or why not their stories are selected for the daily briefing.

However, it is safe to assume (not really, but follow me here for a bit), that many people, including elected officials and their staffs could simply Google "El Paso," "Juarez," or "West Texas." But, the kicker is that officials (or aids/interns) must first chose to query El Paso/Juarez borderland news and information.

The delaying tactics and reaction to that simple question makes me wonder if the staff fears for their future. Yet, no small an audience can offset its practical, political, and potentially influential effect upon those who could receive the DLCS. On the other hand, Bob Moore, editor for The El Paso Times believes, as do I, that such a service may have already begun its endgame, when he noted that, "The whole notion of a clipping service in a social media world is really antiquated. It’s just not how human beings share information anymore.”

Yet, if certain parties or influential groups are not truly interested in reading about what's going on here, then how likely are they to be persuaded to ask about and understand our issues? Not very, if history serves. What if they could receive something regularly that provides them with news and information about our region? Because if a team of news sniffers and clippers exists, at least for now, the chances are very good that our issues will be acknowledged and read. That is why we should demand that they explain how their selection process works and is implemented. Once received, what were those results and what does it mean for us?

The "back in the day" moment

This made me recall how a small team of women used to prepare and publish a daily new briefing for the mostly male executives at the company formerly known as El Paso Natural Gas Company (EPNG), El Paso Energy (EPEnergy), and in its end days, El Paso LLC (El Paso). Hm. Seems that the closer you get to one's total corporeality elimination fewer keystrokes make up your moniker. But that's a story for another day. Concerning the corporate method of informing decision makers, here is my take on news clipping process and procedure. While we selected from any and all sources of information daily available, I see little bias or politics in how the articles were chosen. If there was any it was slight because our time to gather, cull, index, assemble, print, and deliver was so short. There was simply no time, unless that bias was unconsciously made, which is possible in any case when quick decisions are made.

Daily Newsbriefs

From about 1994 until around 2000, Lee Byrd daily edited and indexed, while I sourced and laid-out (cut and paste from hard copies) the daily Newsbriefs clipping service for the executives at EPNG/EP Energy. Previously, a long-time analyst edited the daily briefing until she retired. Goodness only knows how many years she worked her publishing magic as she compiled the stories herself, indexed, and published with the help of a paraprofessional. After Lee and I departed the company, the clipping service continued, and evolved into a digital service developed by their in-house IT personnel and used until the company was sold to Kidder-Morgan, Inc. (KMI) in 2012.

I must say that my stint as a "clipper" was truly fun and fast-paced as we worked every morning to provide the original from which copies of the executive news report had to be to the EPNG copy center in the basement of the Blue Flame Building no later than 11:15-11:30 each day. The report usually ran approximately 20-35 pages and contained energy industry and general news and stock information (double sided, not reduced in size) each day, depending on how the news went that previous evening until around 9:30-10 am the day it was distributed.

Our daily default sources included Oil and Gas Daily, energy sector stock prices, which for its time included Tenneco, SoCal, PG&E, and the dread company Enron. Due to its specific audience, we rarely included op-ed pieces unless written by someone in the company with a specific persuasive bent. Sections within the briefs included (transmission) rates, public policy, and environmental/science, petroleum/gas engineering and transport articles as well as the occasional think piece covering exploration, the environment, and world energy/political stories from US News & World Report, The Economist, the pink Financial Times, The Los Angeles Times, and San Francisco Chronicle. Interestingly, we usually did not select stories from Mexican papers, such as El Diario de Ciudad Juárez or other regional papers outside papers in Farmington or the Permian Basin unless a breaking story warranted its selection. In addition, the NewsBriefs was faxed to company executives in its San Francisco, Farmington, Midland, and Houston offices. With that many dispatched pages to so many readers, we committed arborcide weekly.

Lee decided the order and which stories, while I pitched non-industry and trendy-type stories that could be of tangential interest to the audience, which was from the President to the director level. The idea was to have the copies distributed during the noon hour so that the (mainly male) recipients had the report on their desks by 1:00 (after lunch). If someone was flying out on one of the Gulfstream jets (as when Bill Wise, another Executive VP, or perhaps a Director/VP combo, we made an effort to publish earlier. This was at a time when the Teletype machine was giving way to Internet published articles. When I worked with the long-time editor before Lee, she had the stories compiled and indexed and I did the paste-up. When Lee and I worked together, I was compiling stories at home late at night just when the NY Times, Washington Post, Houston Chronicle and The El Paso Times were beginning to publish their editions online. I cut and pasted the texts and then emailed the stories to the office. Overall, we had no guidelines, just stuck to industry related stories that affected their work in the Gas Transmission industry. Later I heard that electronic versions were made available, but interestingly, many executives preferred the hard copies, as they were the most portable and sharable with their managers and administrators. Like cash, the Newsbriefs circulated and recirculated within the offices.

Long time, no see

One of the problems with experimenting and writing for social media (from blogs, to microblogs, to inbetweeners like Tumblr) occurs when projects go dark. In the case of my photoblog, this has happened to the extent that I've not posted anything here for a while. That's not to say that I've not wanted to add to the site, but that I have not had the chance to create a new post.

A lot has happened since my last post (which perhaps I'll detail sometime in a blog page here), but here I am on the other side, and wanting to write again. To help with this, I have a new project that I hope can work with this site.

For at least this semester, I want to experiment with the form by adding additional pages to see how such offshoot pages affect navigation and how they function when posting related topics and images off the main blog page. The impetus for this project is so I can show my students how Blogger could work with their e-portfolio project.

I don't know if it will be fully successful, but it is worth a try. Instead of publishing a student paper, I'll post drawings, photographs, short non-fiction essays, and poems.

In this way, I can see if additional pages will work within the framework of the Blogger blog format. For today, and because this is a photoblog, I offer this recent image taken in my backyard. I believe it is a sapsucker and s/he hung out at the feeder all day long last November.