Books and other stuff I feel like discussing
By education and experience - Accountant with a specialty in taxation. Formerly a CPA (license has lapsed). Masters degree in law of taxation from University of Denver. Now retired. Part time work during baseball season as receptionist & switchboard operator for the Colorado Rockies. This gig feeds my soul in ways I have trouble articulating. One daughter, and four grandchildren. I share the house with two cats; a big goof of a cat called Grinch (named as a joke for his easy going "whatever" disposition); and Lady, a shelter adoptee with a regal bearing and sweet little soprano voice. I would be very bereft if it ever becomes necessary to keep house without a cat.
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Mt Rushmore and Crazy Horse
I was in the Black Hills about a week ago, on an Elderhostel trip. We visited both memorials in the granite mountains in the area. Rushmore has been finished for over 60 years, of course, and Crazy Horse is still a work in progress. The Crazy Horse operation makes much of the fact that they take no public funding.
To my mind, that has the unfortunate result of rampant overcommercialization, and makes an hour or two spent there more than a little wearying.
I was inclined to accept the huckster like atmosphere as part of the price paid for remaining staunchly private, until our group moved on to Hill City, SD, and the Black Hills Geological Institute. Before we arrived there, I was thinking "rocks." What it was, was "dinosaurs." Their excavation projects are entirely on private land, with the permission of the landowners, and all operations are funded by private grants and by judicious model making of their finds, and by loans and sales of the models and skeletons they have already found.
The have the requisite gift shop. All items for sale are closely related to their overall purpose, of archeological research and skeletal restoration. No fake costumes, headdresses, or other cheap trinkets. All items quite tasteful and "dignified" for want of a better word.
Their museum display space is small, filled with displays of skeletons and models of various dinosaurs, and diorama type displays depicting the history of some of their most spectacular finds. {They are responsible for two complete T Rex skeletons, one still in their possession, the other displayed at the Field Museum in Chicago.} All the displays are laid out with obvious forethought, and with essential good taste.
Reading over my words so far, I find "taste" and "tasteful" have recurred quite a few times. Perhaps not what a writing group would advocate for style, but it's clear to me as I write that I found the Crazy Horse memorial lacking in "taste" and as a result, more than a little demeaning to its stated mission.
Whereas the little geological display room and workshops seem the epitome of good taste, which is shared by the displays and shops at Mt Rushmore.
This was my first extended solo trip, serving in the car as both pilot and navigator. I enjoyed myself and was very glad I went. And not in the least to discover that my powers of observation and analysis are intact, and the emotional upheaval of the past three years don't seem to have left any lasting scars on my spirit of discovery.
To my mind, that has the unfortunate result of rampant overcommercialization, and makes an hour or two spent there more than a little wearying.
I was inclined to accept the huckster like atmosphere as part of the price paid for remaining staunchly private, until our group moved on to Hill City, SD, and the Black Hills Geological Institute. Before we arrived there, I was thinking "rocks." What it was, was "dinosaurs." Their excavation projects are entirely on private land, with the permission of the landowners, and all operations are funded by private grants and by judicious model making of their finds, and by loans and sales of the models and skeletons they have already found.
The have the requisite gift shop. All items for sale are closely related to their overall purpose, of archeological research and skeletal restoration. No fake costumes, headdresses, or other cheap trinkets. All items quite tasteful and "dignified" for want of a better word.
Their museum display space is small, filled with displays of skeletons and models of various dinosaurs, and diorama type displays depicting the history of some of their most spectacular finds. {They are responsible for two complete T Rex skeletons, one still in their possession, the other displayed at the Field Museum in Chicago.} All the displays are laid out with obvious forethought, and with essential good taste.
Reading over my words so far, I find "taste" and "tasteful" have recurred quite a few times. Perhaps not what a writing group would advocate for style, but it's clear to me as I write that I found the Crazy Horse memorial lacking in "taste" and as a result, more than a little demeaning to its stated mission.
Whereas the little geological display room and workshops seem the epitome of good taste, which is shared by the displays and shops at Mt Rushmore.
This was my first extended solo trip, serving in the car as both pilot and navigator. I enjoyed myself and was very glad I went. And not in the least to discover that my powers of observation and analysis are intact, and the emotional upheaval of the past three years don't seem to have left any lasting scars on my spirit of discovery.
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