#sequoia intellect | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

bluedemon1995 · 3 years ago

Text

Day 19-21

Moving day

Road Trip AU cont’d

They were sitting in some greasy diner next to each other after the map mixup. They both got a little testy but he liked the fact that he could lose his temper and she could take it. And honestly she gave it back equally. Fast forward to now, Keith was trying to focus on what Shiro was saying on the phone but how could he? Her bare leg was actually touching his leg. Granted his shorts were in the way but he couldn’t take his gaze off it. Keith could feel the heat and he wished they were in a position where he could just put his hand on her leg or hold her hand.

Pidge however was intent on listening to Shiro explaining how the move was going. He could hear the underlying tension in her voice. He focused on her rather than Shiro for now. But he could wait. He’s waited this long, what was a few more hours. More importantly he needed to be there for her.

They were eating dinner now, and he didn’t know what to do. How could he bring up what he figured was the reason for this roadtrip? He knew her. Hell he’d observed her for years. Admiring her intellect, logical thinking and tactician. But more than that he admired her determination and fierce loyalty. He wanted that. He wanted to be part of that. But more than wanting, he needed it. And he could be obsessive when it came to his goals.

Matt was moving out. He was leaving. He knew Pidge’s foundation was shaken. They were closer than he was with anyone. He figured she was wondering what she was going to do? Basically Matt was her rock for basically her whole life. It was stupid, but he wanted to slide into that position for her. He wanted to be her rock, her foundation, he wanted to be her person. He knew she was probably scared of being alone. God knows he used to be. But lucky for her, she was not alone any more.

Day 20. Campfire/camping

They drove to a few more cities and crossed things off of Pidge’s list. She knew Keith was more of a rough it kind of guy and when they couldn’t find a hotel she decided to be nice and see if they could find a cabin available at a campground. Which they did. BUT she didn’t really think it through all the way, because in the hotels they had separate rooms. But here, there were in a one room tiny house cabin.

Basically there was no privacy. But it did have internet so, it wasn’t all bad. But she felt a little weird sharing a bathroom and well, there was one bed. She knew she was probably overthinking it because it was Keith. She wouldn’t have thought twice if it was Matt, Lance or Hunk. But, it wasn’t them. It was KEITH!!! KOGANE!!!

She heard the girls giggling about him when she was in high school. Same for the Garrison. And really who could blame them, he was totally hot. Just not her type. At all. He was hot tempered. Blunt. Oblivious. She bet he didn’t even watch anime. And despite all that she was flustered. It was pretty cozy so when Keith asked if she wanted to make a campfire she quickly agreed. As she watched him set up the campfire wood according to the camp’s directives so there would be no stray sparks she couldn’t help but think of that one bed. UGH!

Day 21. National park

Keith got up early, forcing himself out of the bed and plotted course to their next stop, Sequoia National Park. Keith didn’t want to push Pidge’s boundaries any more then he needed to. He definitely didn’t want to take a step back. After talking and having a few drinks by the campfire he felt brave enough to suggest that they just share the bed. As friends.

He thought for sure she was going to yell at him. He knows if her brother found out he’d have his head. But damn it was worth it. It wasn’t even like anything happened. They started off with Pidge under the blankets and he was on top. But sometime over night he must have gotten under to and when he woke up, he had one arm around her waist, with his hand firmly in her waist band of her sleep shorts. His other arm was under he neck. After he got himself under control he very carefully got out of bed. His next plan was to see if they could just get one room in the hotels from now on. There was as strange intimacy of sharing a bathroom and room.

He knew she was absentminded and sloppy which he knew she thought he’d get mad at. But honestly, he didn’t mind tidying up after her. It felt like he was taking care of her. Shaking his head, he used her laptop to see when the park opened, how much it was per car and plan out a route. He knew she wasn’t much for hiking but this park you could drive around, park and hike parts.

He also made some coffee and tidied up the car. He looked up when she opened the door, “Keith, I told you to wake me up! I don’t have to sleep in all the time. Promise.”

He nodded, “It’s no big deal, I was organizing and planing our trip. Do you want to drive or should I?”

She grinned, “We are going through mountains and I know the elevation rises sharply. I think I feel much more comfortable with you taking those risks!”

He grinned, “As you wish.”

#kidge #keith kogane #katie holt #keith x pidge #keith and pidge #pidge and keith #alternate realities #fanfiction #kidgetober #kidgetober 2021 #day19 #day20 #day21 #national park #campfire #camping #moving #crushes

16 notes · View notes

douchebagbrainwaves · 5 years ago

Text

OK, I'LL TELL YOU YOU ABOUT EVERYTHING

What people delete are wisecracks, because they have less invested in them. One, the CTO couldn't be a first rate hacker, because to become an eminent NT developer he would have had to use NT voluntarily, multiple times, and I never know who to use. There's no way to prove a text is meaningless. The remarkable thing about this project was that he wrote all the software in one day in Python, incidentally. We may be able to say they were funded by Sequoia, even if he was good, he'd have a hard time hiring anyone good to work for people with high standards. How lucky that someone so powerful is so benevolent. Does it make any difference to know that? And you can't go by the awards he's won or the jobs he's had, because in design, as in most fields. The goal he announces in the Metaphysics the exploration of knowledge that has no practical use. Along with interesting problems, what good hackers like is other good hackers. Thump, thump, thump. And fortunately at least two of these three qualities can be cultivated.1

At best you'll be able to meet the usefulness test without implying definite and fairly broadly applicable conclusions. Don't companies realize this is a fact of the greatest importance, because it means you don't have to think any faster; just use twice as many words to say everything. A lot went wrong, as usually happens with startups. These are some of the other grammatical modes which express precisely a mode of conception without any reality that corresponds to the conceptual mode, and consequently do not express precisely something in reality by which the intellect could be moved to conceive a thing the way it does, even where that motive is not something in the thing as such. How lucky that someone so powerful is so benevolent. I. So he proposes there are two kinds of theoretical knowledge: some that's useful in practical matters and some that isn't. So there are a lot of nasty little problems makes you stupid. But the world has yet to learn.

Of course some problems inherently have this character. They produce new ideas; maybe the rest of the company you're giving up, the deal is a good one if it makes the company worth more than the whole company was before. Though plenty of investors are jerks, there is a clear trend among them: the most successful investors are also the most upstanding. Then it was Paypal's. The main function of your initial version was too big and rigid to evolve into something users wanted. I needed to remember, if I was bored, rather than carry a single unnecessary ounce.2 I started to pay attention to how fortunes are lost is not through excessive expenditure, but through bad investments. It will take more experience to know for sure, but my guess is that a lot of the past several years studying the paths from rich to poor. 43, meaning that deal is worth taking if they can improve your outcome by 10%, you're net ahead. 7% and we have 11.

These guys want to get rich, but they must both squeeze equally or the seed spins off sideways. People this age are commonly seen as lazy. No doubt it was a waste of time? When you get to hit a few difficult problems over the net at someone, you learn pretty quickly how hard they hit them back. The writing is the familiar word salad: Gender is not like some of the most interesting questions you can ask about philosophy. 034. Gone were the mumbling recitations of lists of features. In fact, they rarely seemed to arrive at answers at all. I first came to Silicon Valley I thought How lucky that someone so powerful is so benevolent.

Notes

It is a function of two founders and one kind that's called into being to commercialize a scientific discovery. The second alone yields someone flighty. There are some whose definition of property. Users dislike their new operating system so much that anyone feels when things are going well, partly because so many companies that get killed by overspending might have 20 affinities by this standard, and philosophy the imprecise half.

Ideas are one step upstream from economic power, in 1962. A more powerful, because he was made a lot of press coverage until we hired a PR firm. But what he means by long shots are people who had recently arrived from Russia.

Thanks to Albert Wenger, Chris Dixon, the crew at Carson Systems, Fred Wilson, Patrick Collison, Jackie McDonough, Tim O'Reilly, Sarah Harlin, Robert Morris, and Sam Altman for their feedback on these thoughts.

1 note · View note

wolvesandwaves · 7 years ago

Photo

When I watch sunsets, I like to clear my mind of all sunsets I have seen before. I like to remove the identity of what I am seeing from anything I’ve ever seen in the past, because every time is a first time. . Whatever we identify with, all of our thoughts and emotions spring from that identity. If we identify with a certain sex, race, belief system, or nationality, all of our thoughts and emotions will stem from those identities. Our world becomes created not based on what it is, but on what we identify with, for once our intellect becomes identified with something, it is chained to that identification. Completely distorting the way we experience the world. . It is not easy to remove myself from my identifications. Son. Brother. Boyfriend. Partner. Lover. Student. Yoga. Healthy. Psychology. Writer. Artist. Man. Body. Victim. Educated. Calm. . This is just a small sample of all the things I have attached my identity to. But I realize now that every identity I connect to only hinders my ability to enjoy and experience life. . None of these are me. None of these exist. I am not a million things wrapped into one. I am one thing experiencing infinity. . #getoutside #getoutdoors #themountainsarecalling #enjoylife #nature #mountains #outdoors #sequoianationalpark #mororock #yoga #identity #meditation #namaste #thewrittenwild (at Sequoia National Park, California)

#mountains #enjoylife #sequoianationalpark #nature #themountainsarecalling #namaste #identity #thewrittenwild #yoga #getoutside #mororock #outdoors #getoutdoors #meditation

1 note · View note

poetryriot · 8 years ago

Text

The Five Chinese Elements

There's a woman that grows like the Sequoia Oak in my chest With roots branching every corner of my body, The way that the earth and the sky are blessed - by its company There's a woman that drowns every inch of my quintessence With an intellect unmatchable and her eyes shine with iridescence, The way that the water has the power to indulge every corner of the globe In the same fashion that I revel in her substance, When she takes off her robe There's a woman that burns the walls down around me With the capacity to reignite a thousand stars, The way a fire has the potential to burn through the entire world. That same woman can take me out of earth and she has a beauty that nothing could mars There's a woman that can flow through the very centre of my body With the dynamism to turn your entity inside out, The way that the wind has the true strength to shed through entire cities and bring reservoirs to drought That same woman is the key most relevant in my layout There's a woman that can make every fibre of my being shake With the capability to move even the worlds continents The way that the earth can crumble civilisations in seconds And that same woman rids me of all my worries, every morning when I awake There's a woman that can freeze my entity to an ingot With the same tensile strength to hold palace and castles The way I've never wished more than anything in my life, I've wanted to give a ring, look And all the while She has the most precious, Unadulterated and magnificent eyes and smile

32 notes · View notes

jccamus · 5 years ago

Text

Parks

Parks https://ift.tt/2PlLLJ1

If, as Wallace Stegner famously declared, the national parks are “America’s best idea,” how can we explore this idea? There is the historical aspect: America invented the concept of nationally owned and operated parks in 1872, when Ulysses S. Grant signed Yellowstone National Park into existence. But there is more to Stegner’s sentiment than just the invention of the parks. The rest of the quote goes on to say that the parks are “Absolutely American, absolutely democratic, they reflect us at our best rather than our worst.”

The national parks story isn’t simple or easy. It’s full of splendor and glory, as well as greed and exploitation. For every person who loves one of the parks like it’s their own home, there is another who resents the federal government for owning it. Even before Yellowstone became the first national park, park history was fraught with tension. Tension between preservation and use, between indigenous people and white explorers, between local rights and federal oversight, between wild freedom and human control, between park purists and park recreationists, and between commercial exploitation and historic value.

With this tense backdrop, or maybe because of it, art, imagery, writing, and design have played a vital role in the history of the national parks. Compelling creative materials that celebrated the land — including books, paintings, performances, and advertisements — have marked developments and milestones. These items have brought the rich landscapes and their scientific and historical significance to life.

Perhaps together, the tension and celebration make the National Park System — parks, monuments, natural areas, historic sites, and more — the perfect embodiment of America itself, and what the “best idea” of the parks is really all about.

The Earliest Years

For the benefit and enjoyment of the people — 1872 legislation marking Yellowstone as the first national park

Many early writers and park supporters compared Yellowstone, Sequoia National Park, and surrounding areas to cathedrals and historic monuments in Europe. If those European buildings were testaments to the greatness of royalty and intellect, America’s parks were testaments to the country’s scale and spirit of independence. Europe’s man-made creations embodied exclusion and wealth, whereas our natural landscapes embodied democracy and wonderment.

The magnitude and sacredness of our land are what so much art, photography, graphic imagery, and writing has tried to capture over the years. And throughout the 136-year history of what we now call the park system, the art and storytelling that happened on its land or that took the parks as its subject matter has played a critical role in the park system’s perpetuation.

The need for people who cared about the parks to get others to care too resulted in a great amount of creative output. John Muir’s poetic writings enraptured readers and inspired early support of the parks. National railroad advertisements and brochures enticed turn-of-the-century travelers to “see America first” (rather than going to Europe for vacations). And Marian Anderson’s 1939 performance in front of the Lincoln Memorial demonstrated the American ideal of freedom — of both people and individual expression — at a time when the nation and world were facing deep crises.

From poetry to fine art to commercial art, visual and written stories have inspired, persuaded, alerted, and emboldened people. And through their impact, the legacy of the parks has been fulfilled.

1872 to 1916

We have fallen heirs to the most glorious heritage a people ever received, and each one must do his part if we wish to show that the nation is worthy of its good fortune. — Theodore Roosevelt

Emblazoned on the north entrance gate to Yellowstone is the sentence, “For the benefit and enjoyment of the people.” The phrase, taken from the original Yellowstone Park decree, underscores the democratic nature of the parks. The majestic spaces were (and continue to be) set aside for preservation, saved from the various industries and activities that may have ruined them: logging, hunting, water management, and more. They are for the people and yet were created to be protected from people.

In 1871, before Yellowstone was an official park, geologist Ferdinand V. Hayden led a survey expedition through the area. Funded in part by Congress and in part by the railroads, the group of 32 men — including several surveyists, a photographer, painter Thomas Moran, and a few of Hayden’s academic peers and students — spent about four months in the region.

The trek, though not the first to the area, catalyzed the national park movement. Most notably, the group introduced a scientific approach to land exploration and documented the scenes for people, most of whom had never seen anything like it. Moran painted some of the first portraits of the region. These paintings communicated scenes that few people had previously seen. In a strategic move, Hayden included Moran’s breathtaking paintings in the final report to Congress. This combination of science and artistry was what Congress needed for inspiration to start the parks.

The early years of park history could be characterized as disorganized. In many ways, the park system happened accidentally. There was no grand plan or unified vision, so operationalizing our “best idea” also happened organically. As parks were created, they weren’t always funded or documented or even staffed. From 1891 to 1913, the Army alone patrolled and protected the land but had no real authority.

The parks faced threat after threat during this time. You have to watch only one episode of Ken Burns’ and Dayton Duncan’s six-episode documentary The National Parks: America’s Best Idea (itself a contemporary telling of the National Park Service story) to learn about the staggering number of people and groups that fought the creation of parks, monuments, and sites from all sides. But throughout, there have also been supporters, sometimes unlikely, sometimes at odds among themselves, but always with the goal of preserving the land and spirit of the parks and often with the aid of a pen, printing press, or story.

In 1906, fueled by a personal affection for the parks and deep friendship with John Muir, Theodore Roosevelt signed the Antiquities Act, which gave the president unilateral power to designate national monuments. Although John Muir faced many obstacles and heartbreaks during his fight for park protection, the Antiquities Act led to hundreds of thousands of miles of land being protected. Muir’s words, full of compassion and clarity, touched millions of souls, not just on paper but also in the impact they had on the history of the parks.

1916 to the Mid-20th Century

If we lost all the money we have and saved these trees, it would be worthwhile, wouldn’t it? — William Kent

It could be argued that the National Park System would not exist without the aid of a book that displayed the parks’ beauty and splendor, National Parks Portfolio. The 1916 book’s orchestrator, Stephen Mather, was one of the park system’s most prominent protagonists and the first director of the National Park Service.

Under the administration of Woodrow Wilson, a dedicated hunter and proponent of the parks, the National Park Service was created in 1916. Whether the vision for uniting the national parks, monuments, and historic sites (previously all controlled by a handful of distinct government divisions) under a single department can be fully credited to Mather is not certain, but it was almost surely his public relations strategies that made the National Park Service a reality.

National Parks Portfolio was a critical piece within Mather's strategy. Sensing that broad public support for the parks would encourage government support of Wilson’s proposition, he created the lavish book to share the vistas with the large majority of the population who had never seen them firsthand. With significant funding from the collection of railroad companies servicing the West, the author Robert Sterling Yard, an accomplished journalist, penned awesome descriptions of the parks and persuasive claims about the importance of the parks to national identity. The book was well received (and reprinted), and the National Park Service was approved. It was not the first or last time pictures and words propelled America’s best idea into its next phase.

According to an internal document, “The primary duty of the National Park Service is to protect the national parks and national monuments under its jurisdiction.” Even in this early formation of a unified system that would eventually oversee 419 sites, the tensions that have always existed with regard to the parks are on view. As the document goes on to say, “and keep them as nearly in their natural state as this can be done in view of the fact that access to them must be provided in order that they may be used and enjoyed.” As this document makes clear, the intention and purpose of the parks is to both preserve the parks as-is and accommodate current-day visitors and their needs.

And visitors were flooding in at a steady rate during these years. The increasing ability for people to leave the city and visit nature was spurred by both a promising economy and the greater availability of cars. In 1920, four years after Mather became the first director of the National Park Service, visitors exceeded one million, and by just five years later, that number had doubled. Notably, and differently than in previous decades, almost all visitors arrived in cars. This ushered in the long tradition of parks creating park-specific windshield stickers that have served as proud badges throughout the 20th century.

Fast forward to 1938, when we again see an artistic endeavor playing a major role in a park system moment. A young Ansel Adams partnered with the Sierra Club to advocate for Kings Canyon National Park, an area John Muir once said rivaled Yosemite. Using photographs of the area, the book Sierra Nevada: The John Muir Trail captured America’s deepest canyon in a way that only Adams could, with images at once striking and serene. The book was given to Secretary of the Interior Harold Ickes and President Franklin Roosevelt, and inspired their support. Shortly thereafter, Kings Canyon National Park was created.

As the country approached the middle of the 20th century, more and more people became fans of and visitors to the parks. Between 1940 and 1960, attendance grew by 375 percent, escalating from 17 million to 79 million.

Maps: The Symbols of America’s Best Idea

If our national parks embody the spirit of America, their maps are the physical manifestation of those ideals. They are part pragmatic, part aspirational.

These national park maps show us more than just the geography of the land; they also include information about the history, the area, and the natural surroundings. They are brochures for the heart and soul of each destination: They tell the story of a place, and they mirror that place.

They start as our guides to enigmatic terrains and then become proof, once we leave, that we were there at all. And within the landscape of exploration, a core tenet of Americanism, perhaps there is nothing more symbolic than a used map, folded and refolded along weathered creases. Learning to read maps and playing the role of navigator on a road trip is a rite of passage for many kids whose families hit the roads for summer vacation.

Park rangers, introduced after the formation of the National Park Service, told stories and histories to groups of visitors eager to learn from an expert. As the park system expanded and the number of visitors grew, the maps and brochures became stand-ins in the absence of these guides.

Often, maps are the first thing handed to park visitors. As visitors began more independent excursions throughout the parks in the 1920s (before that, visitors were often led by guides) and public roads snaked through more parks, maps and brochures became a necessity. They delineated where and how to use the park.

According to the Library of Congress webpage about the national parks,

“Maps tell the story of when and how each park was established, and record physical growth as boundaries were established and expanded. Government mapping, frequently beginning in the discovery and exploration phase, provided an increased understanding of the unique features of an area, such as the locations of bodies of land and water, topographic and geological attributes, and the presence of historic and cultural artifacts.”

These maps — and the graphics, histories, and details shared within them — show our desire to see and then understand the uniqueness of an area. They have literally and metaphorically been our guides: Old and new maps will continue to teach us about the land and the best American idea.

Mid-20th Century to the 1970s

We simply need that wild country available to us, even if we never do more than drive to its edge and look in. For it can be a means of reassuring ourselves of our sanity as creatures, a part of the geography of hope. — Wallace Stegner

The second half of national park history is marked, again, with increasing threats but also expansion and successes. In 1933, Franklin Roosevelt signed an executive order that brought the once-scattered national parks, historical sites, military parks, monuments, and more under the singular umbrella of the National Park System. The implications of this were huge — it immediately added 12 natural areas and 57 historic sites to the federal collection, and it expanded the scope of what was considered a “park.” No longer just for wilderness areas, the park system now protected and oversaw cemeteries and memorials as well as parks and monuments.

By midcentury, significant changes were also happening outside the park system, notably the increasing focus on social rights and an expanding post-World War II boom. Civil Rights, the women’s movement, environmental activism, and more moved to the forefront of Americans’ everyday life at the same time that urban expansion and economic growth were occurring and a new version of the American middle class was taking root. This created a startlingly wide range of activities that drove interest in and energy around the park system.

Art, activism, and the parks came together once again in the 1955 book This Is Dinosaur: Echo Park County and Its Magic Rivers. Commissioned by influential publisher Alfred Knopf and written by Wallace Stegner (of “America’s best idea” fame), the book celebrated the park in order to drum up support for Dinosaur Canyon in Utah, which was under threat. In response to the steadily rising population and urban sprawl, the government had proposed installing dams throughout the West, including some at Echo Park. The book is credited with helping to save this park and others: After the book was published, Congress voted to prohibit the dams. Stegner noted in the 1985 edition of the book that the vote “set in brass the principle that any part of the national park system should be immune from any sort of intrusion and damage.”

A few years later, thanks to Roosevelt’s 1933 executive order, the National Park System was the backdrop and stage for one of our nation’s most powerful orators in history: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. His 1963 “I Have a Dream” speech was performed in front of the Lincoln Memorial. Both the park itself and Dr. King’s speech helped tell the story of tension, struggle, and hope that was felt throughout the nation. The park (with a park ranger standing nearby) was the protected space for activism and, indirectly, the belief in the freedom of all people. Like the 3,000-year-old trees in Sequoia National Park that the park system honored and kept sacred, people deserved the right to put down roots and thrive in their homes, neighborhoods, and cities and on their land.

In both the Echo Park and March on Washington stories, we see art and persuasion at work in different ways. But both pushed American ideals of beauty, freedom, and independence, and underscored the notion of parks as places where Americanism could, and should, happen.

A few years later we see an entirely different display of Americanism at work in the completion of the “Mission 66” project in 1966. Initiated ten years earlier, the project focused on expansion and infrastructure, thus fueling some environmental activism, such as the events at Echo Park. Mission 66 introduced more man-made elements to the parks — visitor centers, bathrooms, paved roads, and so on — many of which are so familiar to visitors today.

These concrete additions aimed to accommodate the boom of post-World War II visitors who came in their cars. While these man-made elements would likely have disappointed, if not horrified, 19th-century park supporters, the modernizations inaugurated a new generation of park enthusiasts and drastically changed the overall experience and design of parks. Inspired, or at least energized, by Jack Kerouac’s 1957 On the Road, road trips as a cultural phenomenon ramped up in the 1960s. Families hit the road, some with growing prosperity and access to paid vacation time, some driving because they couldn’t afford to travel any other way. According to Allyson Hobbs, a professor at Stanford University, “Some of the most popular (and most affordable) destinations for vacations were national parks. Americans relished time away from overcrowded cities and the frenetic pace of everyday life and believed that they could find peacefulness and serenity in nature.”

1977: The Unigrid and Designing a System for the National Park System

Between 1960 and 1980, visitors to national parks grew from 79 million to 198 million. Given this surge in visitors and a slowing rate of economic growth, it’s not surprising that the National Park Service took a close look at the vast number of materials they were creating to inform and educate park-goers across their sites.

In 1977, Director of Publications Vincent Gleason sought a cost-effective way to keep up with the number of materials parks needed. Enter the Unigrid system and Massimo Vignelli, whom Gleason hired to help refine the system’s array of printed maps and brochures.

Vignelli was a renowned designer who, in partnership with his wife, Lella, operated Vignelli Associates. While this introduction can’t adequately capture the significant contribution Vignelli made to design and how we experience everyday life, it can at least highlight the immense impact he had on the parks and nearly every visitor to the parks since 1977.

Vignelli’s Unigrid added a black band and clear, white Helvetica title to every piece. But the real power lies beneath the visual fields, in the grid itself. The basic element of the grid is a 4x8.25-inch panel (corresponding to fold lines). These panels can be used in 1x1 or 1x2 combinations to compose the width and repeated up to six times for length, allowing for a variety of sizes that get the most out of a standard-sized 25x38-inch sheet of paper to reduce waste (a 70-lb. dull coated text weight). While the system has been slightly altered and the fonts changed over the years, the general vision and its utility remain intact.

Overall, the introduction of Unigrid saved money, energy, and materials because it was specifically designed for mass production. Vignelli’s attention to size options — and constraining them — was a smart move from an economic standpoint, but it also, surprisingly, improved content. According to a 1984 issue of Graphis magazine,

One unexpected bonus in the change-over was the willingness with which field personnel participated in the work. The structured presentations forced them to get involved in projects and provide specific information about park subjects.

Later, the article continues,

The information carried in the new park publications became much more comprehensive than in earlier versions. Text is prepared to known spaces, preventing it from becoming a disproportionate part of the whole. Maps look better and work better. They not only contain more data, but the standardized approach means that they can be compiled and maintained more efficiently. Illustrations are now an integral part of the full presentation, not just decoration. With their improved content, these publications serve managers, users and students better.

While many of Vignelli’s projects may feel more notable, in his 2007 book Vignelli: from A to Z, Vignelli said of the national parks project, “I think that of all of the projects I have worked on during my long career in design, this one has affected more people than any other, and because of this, it is perhaps my favorite.”

Vignelli’s brochures and maps affected millions in different ways. And the impact goes beyond the design standard he created; he also generated a new way of explaining and experiencing the parks from near or far. Again from Graphis magazine, “The new park folders have increased utility in self-guiding applications, the broadside approach enables teachers to use the folders as classroom wall charts, and the uniform formats improve map presentation, thereby paving the way for an atlas of the entire National Park System.”

In some ways, the Unigrid project represents the culmination of so much about the National Park System and its place in American history. In artistic terms, the design is part of a long history of creative endeavors that redefined the way people experienced the parks. As the National Park Service website states, “Unigrids are on the front lines of storytelling in the NPS.”

But the inspiration for the project and its outcome speak to the best of modern America: clarity, access, scale, and order. Not unlike the corporate branding that was proliferating in popular and consumer cultures at the time, the Unigrid system also added consistency, efficiency, and economy to a spread-out system. While the introduction of the system necessarily meant an end to the kaleidoscope of creative expression found in earlier brochures, it also served the constellation of humans and ushered in an evolution of the “for the people and by the people” idea. The Presidential Awards for Design Excellence that the Unigrid system received from President Ronald Reagan in 1984 only underscores that fact.

1977 to Current Day

Conservation is a state of harmony between men and land. — Aldo Leopold

The story of the parks by no means ends with the introduction of the Unigrid system. As science and research about nature expanded, as did the ease of spreading those ideas, there was also a new understanding of what preservation could and should look like in the national parks. The shift could be described as a move from “parks as spectacle” to “parks as specimen.” There was a turn toward (re)creating ecosystems that were more like the original parklands.

Park employees started to balance the needs of humans and nature. Species of animals that had previously been hunted out, like wolves, were reintroduced, and protections and controls around vegetation were instituted. Meanwhile, human needs continued to grow. In 1980, 198 million visitors logged hours in the parks; by 2000, the number had grown to 286 million.

At the beginning of the industrial era, humans wanted to dominate nature. By the 1980s and 1990s, there seemed to be an interest in being delighted by it. Yes, this interest came with increased visitors — and the consequences of that — but it also came with a sense of collective appreciation of the value and sacredness of the parks. Since then, interest in outdoor recreation has only continued to grow and evolve. In the last few decades, the popularity of recreational vehicles and campsite getaways; extreme sports adventures; and athletic activities such as jogging, hiking, cycling, and rafting has contributed to a new, more outdoorsy way of life. And the national parks have been, and will continue to be, a huge part of that.

What Now?

Between every two pine trees there is a door leading to a new way of life. — John Muir

In the William Kent quote cited above — “If we lost all the money we have and saved these trees, it would be worthwhile, wouldn’t it?” — we can almost feel a desperation to preserve and pass along land that just as easily could have been obliterated in the Wild West style of the parks’ early years.

So, what’s next? Today, we see more and more people going to the parks. The fact that 318 million visitors went to national parks in 2018 tells us that our collective desire to escape to natural spaces hasn’t waned. In fact, maybe it’s greater than ever.

There is something really special about this collection and the thousands of maps and brochures collected in car glove compartments and piled in lakeside cabins. They not only help us understand aspects of the staggeringly complex national park history, but they are also individual time capsules. When viewed together, they represent a condensed history of graphic design trends and thinking over the 20th century. From black and white photography to bold Pop graphics to sleek modernist arrangements, the collection showcases key movements in the history of design.

Today, we have moved into a digital era. As we easily imagine so many new ways of telling and sharing a park experience using emerging technologies, these maps and brochures represent a visceral, physical story of a moment in time.

As we look back at the care, discipline, and creativity individuals put into the parks — and their stories, art, advertisements, brochures, maps, and photographs — let us hope we can do an equal or greater job. Let us hope that we can continue to share creative and imaginative expressions that compel future generations and encapsulate our own moment. As was true for every generation before us, the parks are not ours. They belong to future generations, and they always will.

https://ift.tt/2ZhAlWj via Standards Manual August 20, 2019 at 05:27PM

#IFTTT #Feedly

0 notes

deannafanny4395-blog · 6 years ago

Text

Crystal Cavern Is Actually Sequoia National Park Shock.

In regulation, a minor is an individual under a certain age, generally the age of majority, which legitimately separates youth from maturity The era of majority hinges on jurisdiction and also treatment, yet this is typically 18. Minor might likewise be used in contexts that are actually inapplicable to the total age of seniority. The availability from long haul knowing has aided countless individuals earn their GEDs or senior high school diploma or degrees online, finish their university levels or even service their MBA coming from the comfort from their best-sport-blog.info homes or even by means of public accessibility aspects like public libraries as well as civic center. Keep in mind additionally that there is no penalty duration for Medicaid qualifications if assets are actually transmitted to a significant other; the individual's youngster under grow older 21; a blocked or even disabled kid from any type of grow older; or even a count on created for the sole benefit of any type of impaired individual under the grow older from 65. Moms and dads, presently instinctively defensive regarding their little ones, are coming to be more simple to refuse and push aside complaints of harassing habits when the phrase is freely applied to everything from unexpected snubs at team-picking opportunity to genuine ruthlessness and also deliberate exemption. Holiday season is rounded the edge, and everyone appears to become making plans for this. It's the amount of time that you and your kids have been waiting on as well as you must make the best of it. There are actually several traits that you may do this holiday; go loosen up and sit on the beach front, participate in leisure activity classes, or make an effort one thing brand-new like steed using. The majority of people think of the growing old procedure as one thing that happens behind time in life, Belsky claimed, yet signs from aging were actually currently obvious in these examinations over the 12 years from youthful the adult years: coming from 26 to 38. Having said that, the Kalamazoo Waterway, which passes through the modern area of Kalamazoo, was located on the option in between Detroit and also Fort Saint-Joseph (nowadays Niles, Michigan ). French-Canadian traders, missionaries, as well as armed forces employees were actually quite acquainted with this place during the course of the French age and also after that. A child from tender years is actually specified as a "person of such premature years regarding be actually incapable of exercising the opinion, intellect, prudence, adventure, as well as know-how required by specification from the affordable guy relevant to adults,"( 8) and who, by reason of his youth, is without the capacity to understand or even discover the risk. Roseola, a highly transmittable illness caused by pair of pressures from the herpes infection, occurs frequently in kids under 2. Roseola begins with a high temperature, which could rise as higher as 104 F. The high temperature lasts 3 to 5 days, and also the kid may be actually irritable and also worn out. Today, in under 4 per-cent white colored Camden, the property is actually left, though on the luxuriant facade the labels from fantastic white colored authors (Chaucer, Irving, as well as Hawthorne) are actually engraved, an obvious pointer for the city's nearly completely non-white population of only who the Carnegie Collection was built for as well as which was actually counted on in order to help expand the neighborhood for centuries to come. Primarily I've mentioned this to my partner that osmehow i do not intend to meet his ex lover personally- this ought to be actually stayed away from by all expenses expecially if you understand the person will be violent or even a little bit of crazy- my spouse's ex has bi-polar as well as our experts have pair of cmall youngsters so I don't ever before want her near our company. Points should be maintained neutral. I understand additionally that a few of my other lifestyle expertises and my lifestyle monitorings that I am visiting create below, might seem to be a little bit unusual to some reader; however what can I carry out, if lifestyle at times is a little bit odd?

0 notes

apsbicepstraining · 7 years ago

Text

A Midas List VC on the problem with the Midas List

Earlier this week, Forbes produced its annual Midas List, whichshowcases who the outlet believes to be the top investors in the world. Stuart Peterson of Artis Ventures was on the list very fardown, behind the many VCs whose refers are instant recognizable to founders, like Chris Sacca and Peter Fenton and Mary Meeker.

The way Peterson tells it, thats the way he likes it. Theres a intellect he didnt gave his appoint on the door 17 years ago when he left the hedge fund Cypress Funds in L.A. to open his own house in Silicon Valley. Im not crazy about being the center of attention. I never wanted to do this by myself. I think you can be successful if youre part of a successful team.

Certainly, Artis has assured its share of success. In one of its most remarkable copes, it invested in YouTube before the company sold to Google in 2006. A family connection seemingly helped. At the time, Artisemployed David Lamond, son of renowned VC Pierre Lamond, who invested 30 times with Sequoia Capital, another early YouTube investor.

Artis also invested alongside Sequoia in a number of other deals, including Aruba Networks, whichwent public in 2007 and was acquired by Hewlett Packard Enterprise in 2015. Lamond left Artis in 2012 to form his own firm.

Artis whose newer stakes include troubled Juicero, along with Zenrez, a company that exchanges pricing technology and tools to fitness studios more recently made a killing off sales of cancer medicine developer Stemcentrix to AbbVie last year for $10.2 billion .~ ATAGEND

Artis led Stemcentrixs Series A round and Peterson sat on the companys committee. In point, though Founders Fund has received much attentionfor extending the companys Series B round( it apparently returned $1.4 billion off a $300 million investing in the company ), Petersonsays Artis formed exactly less than$ 1 billion from its $35 millioninvestment in the company.

Asked how he territory the treat, Peterson points to a2010 incident tounveil a social apps money created by Kleiner Perkins. At the time, famed VC John Doerr was hosting a body that included Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, and Doerr asked Bezos what advice he had for investors and founders.

If I were coming out of institution today, said Bezos, I remember I would be very passionate about genetic engineering, synthetic life, I imagine these are incredible localities . . .

Doerr, confused by the change of subject, ended, On social networks?

No, Bezos prolonged, Im talking about test tube and engineering real biological animals to solve clean vigor and a whole knot in the best interests issues.

I was blown away by that, says Peterson, whose conglomerate has invested roughly a billion dollars since its inception, some of itin life sciences fellowships, and often of it via special purpose vehicles whose funding has come from CEOs, CFOs, actors and boasts hotshots. Says Peterson, They enjoy the relevant recommendations of access, and theyve included an enormous amount of value to a corporation that weve funded.

So where isPeterson who plansto raise a store for Artis next year get his leads today? We asked him that and much more in a wide-ranging communication yesterday. Heres an outtake TAGEND TC: You went behind Stemcentrix at a time when not many in Silicon Valley were focusing on novel biotech cancer medicines .

SP: You had Zynga and Groupon and Twitter and all these seemingly overnight achievers that had raised very little capital and were producing enormous restores. We felt like maybe theres precisely one YouTube and now its time to move on.

TC: VCs surely would agree with you at this point. I dont envision a week moves withoutanother house jumping into biotech endowing .

SP: Because a lot which are beneficial accruing to the tech scenery are now accruing to the life science room. Ten years ago, it cost a few million dollars to map out the human rights genome; now its a few hundred dollars and before you know it, itll be $30. Its collapsing faster than Moores Law.

But its not just about delineating out your genetic education determined; theres opening in everything that living on and inside of you. Its funny, we dont even understand hitherto whats going on in our microbiome, hitherto we want to travel to Mars. I love the exuberance, but our torsoes are their own solar system. We need to get to a extent where instead of having a doctor measure you for 20 or so pathogens to figure out whats incorrect, the doctor says, Were going to sequence your bacteria, fungi and viruses, and Im going to tell you exactly what you have in an hour.

Its like thisNetscape browser moment. You knew it was powerful, but you didnt know where it was going to take us. Now we know that mapping out your own instruction adjusted is powerful, but where will it take us? I think well catch out shortly, and that its going to liberate a tremendous amount of value.

TC: What are some of your most recent life science bets ?

SP: We did the Series A of a company announced IDbyDNA[ which aims to be able to identify any pathogen] a year ago. We money Fabric Genomics[ whose software aggregates insights about cancer and pediatric genomics from around the world, then spits out an actionable report for lab technicians to send off to clinicians ].

Were moving full circle[ in our newfound they are able to more readily find co-investors ]. When we looked at Stemcentrix and needed to find another investor, it was really hard.We all searched all over the table, and we said, We better call Peter Thiel. I didnt have a number two.

[ Writers memorandum: Questioned for explain, a spokesperson for investor Brian Singerman, who is credited with potting on Stemcentrix on behalf of the members of Thiels Founders Fund, says Singermanwas introduced to Stemcentrix via the debt firm WTI .]

TC: You established it on Forbess Midas List this week. How are you feeling about it ?

SP: I learn 12 people who money Twitter. If I was given a choice between money a targeted therapeutic to dry cancer or Twitter, Id take the therapeutic. I look at the scrap thats money every day, and even if its staggeringly successful, who attends? Will it change my life?

TC: Alot of investors do seem to be suffering a similar transformation in reputing .

SP: I think were ensure it. Y Combinator is trying to wrap its arms around the life sciences possibility. Yesterday we put a period sheet out to a life sciences companionship, and guess who was there with a term sheet? Andreessen Horowitz.

Whats interesting to watch is how people pivot but try to keep their fib unscathed. The endeavour firm Data Collective want to get do everything in large-hearted data, but then they began to see the possibilities of in life science. So what do you tell investors? That genomics is the biggest data opportunity weve “ve ever seen”. Andreessen is the same. It was never going to invest in healthcare, then it had to pivot into life sciences without gazing crazy.

I think its great, by the way. If youre investing in[ the video stage] Vessel[ acquired, then shut down, last year by Verizon] or[ the pet-sitting assistance] DogVacay, I dont think you can complaints about the lack of exits.

TC: So speak to me Benchmark here. I dont think theyve climbed into life sciences .

SP: Trust me, if[ Benchmarks] Bill Gurley ran after these targeted therapeutics and he was successful, he would have asmuch liquidity as he could imagine. Sequoia is trying. Kleiner is trying. Either these conglomerates swivel or theyll disappear. They only wont be relevant.

TC: Youve money an display of firms from different industries. Are you saying youll merely do life science transactions now ?

SP: We look at everything. We preceded a $35 millionround in[ the networking companionship] Versa Networks. Were about to lead another round in a healthcare company thats in stealth and well probably create $35 million for them. We invest in about a dozen companies each year. But theres no authorization. This is a possibility the last networking batch we do, or the last targeted therapeutics spate we ever do.

As far as the consumer-facing infinite, I dont know. I make,[ the video editing and movie making app] Flipagram I dont even know what this is. I was like, I cant listen to this for five minutes. It looks like Instagram to me with longer video feeds. Its multitudes probably seemed just like Googles early on, but I didnt upkeep.[ Writers memorandum: Sequoia and Kleiner, Googles earliest go investors, wound up co-leadingFlipagrams early funding. The companionship, which struggled to gain momentum, sold in February to the Chinese firm Toutiao .]

Same with Jet.com. I precisely reckoned: If this is hugely successful, who attends? Amazon is already controlling on razor-thin margins.

I suppose people in the Midwest, when they ascertain five different billionaires that come out of a place like Twitter or 12 different project funds that helped make acompany asuccess, they are likely think: Is this the best we can do? Truly?

The post A Midas List VC on the problem with the Midas List appeared first on apsbicepstraining.com.

from WordPress http://ift.tt/2ja1Y0E via IFTTT

#IFTTT #WordPress

0 notes

ask-rowans-sides · 2 months ago

Note

Hello! Trying to do OCtober bingo!

What are your sides favorite songs?

Hm... My favourite would probably be Stray Italian Greyhound - it's by Vienna Teng, not sure why I like it... It's just - vibes, I guess - Hazel

Oh oh! Picking just one of my darlings is so difficult! There's so many to choose from... I'll have to say Tir na Nog by the Celtic Women though - the vibes are perfect for me! - Wisteria

Hm... Tell your Girlfriend, by Rebecca Levy, it fits my 'vibes' not much else to it - Willow

Okay okay - I like a bunch of shit, playing Left Brain Right Brain by Bo Burnham is so funny cause it really annoys Eden, but I'll tell you my favourite is actually Sailor Song by Autoheart, it's just - really fuckin good - Aspen

Seriously? You only do that to annoy me? - Eden

Yup! - Aspen

Well 'Hey, Soul Sister' by Train is mine! - a good little nostalgic one! Good vibes, you know? I like Disney too, all of Disney! Oh! And all the my little pony songs? Those are so good - Juniper

I think I'd have to go with '2 Days Into Collage' by Aimee Carty - I'm not sure why.... It feels real - Sequoia

What's yours Eden? If you're gonna poke at me? - Aspen

I'm not 'poking at you' - but if I had to pick one... 'Unsweetened Lemonade', by Emelie Farren would have to be mine - Eden

That's... Honestly surprising - Wisteria

It is? - Eden

Yeah! It doesn't fit you! I mean - I can't even think of a song that does fit you. - Aspen

I've always associated you with Garden Of Eden by the Celtic Women... I think your choice fits though - Sequoia

Thank you! - Eden

What about Yew? - Wisteria

'Yew doesn't answer, she's busy blasting emo music through big headphones and ignoring everyone.'

((this was so hard lol, picking favourite songs for characters is very difficult))

#the sides answer #hazel security #willow deceit #wisteria creativity #aspen rebellion #eden conformity #juniper empathy #sequoia intellect #yew sleep

0 notes

ask-rowans-sides · 2 months ago

Note

yoo sides!! fav sodas?

Oh a hard one!! Rowan doesn't like many sodas, I like energy drinks! Like monster - monarch is my favourite, it's got a cool can- Aspen

Well, we can just answer with whatever we have - I like pepsi! - Sequoia

Well in all honesty, I prefer teas, I don't particularly like soda - Wisteria

I loveee those fruity Tango ones!! Those are so yummy - Juniper

I drink lucazade... Especially the pink one, but I definitely prefer other drinks. - Hazel

I too prefer tea or sweet coffee, but I supposed I'd enjoy Cherry Coke if I had to... - Willow

I just drink water, and I encourage Rowan to do so often as well - Eden

Black coffee - actually, anything with caffeine in it, I like having monster drinking competitions with aspen, I've drank em under the table before, I'll drink whatever - Yew

They both passed out, it was not good - Willow

#the sides answer #aspen rebellion #wisteria creativity #willow deceit #hazel security #juniper empathy #sequoia intellect #eden conformity #yew sleep

0 notes

ask-rowans-sides · 2 months ago

Note

Hiya, what's everyone's favorite book genre?

(I started typing this out and it deleted itself AAH)

Ooh ooh!! Book question! Mine! - Wisteria

It's for all of us, Wis, but you can go first if you'd like. - Willow

As! I! Should! Anywaysss my favourite genre would have to be epic fantasy!!! It's just so good! Stuff like The Hobbit! My favourite for sure. - Wisteria.

Mine would have to be Reality fiction... Seeing people's lives fall apart brings me an odd sense of joy... It's like catharsis. - Willow

Oh me next!! I like dystopian shit! Like crazy apocalypse stuff and all that kinda stuff! - Aspen

You would, wouldn't you? I like... God it's embarrassing... I like those silly cute little romance novellas? They're... They're just comforting... - Hazel

Hey what's that supposed to mean!? - Aspen

You're predictable! And that's okay! I like all sortsa stuff, anything light hearted and fun! That's definitely my thing - Juniper

>:0 - Aspen

I uh... I like urban fantasy? Especially with YA involved - anything fantasy though is definitely something I'll like - Sequoia.

What about you, nerd? - Aspen

Me? - Eden

Yeah bitch, the question was for all of us, which includes you, unfortunately, - Aspen

Well I... Like to read academic texts, things of that sort, I suppose? - Eden

Boo - boring! - Wisteria

What about Yew? - Aspen

You think Yew reads? I'm not even sure they know what a book is. - Wisteria

...Fair enough - Aspen

#the sides answer #i wish there was a yellow for Willow :(#weve got a variety in here!!!#wisteria - creativity #aspen - rebellion #willow - deceit #hazel - security #juniper - empathy #eden - conformity #sequoia - intellect #yew - sleep

1 note · View note

apsbicepstraining · 7 years ago

Text

A Midas List VC on the problem with the Midas List

If I were coming out of institution today, said Bezos, I remember I would be very passionate about genetic engineering, synthetic life, I imagine these are incredible localities . . .

Doerr, confused by the change of subject, ended, On social networks?

No, Bezos prolonged, Im talking about test tube and engineering real biological animals to solve clean vigor and a whole knot in the best interests issues.

TC: VCs surely would agree with you at this point. I dont envision a week moves withoutanother house jumping into biotech endowing .

TC: What are some of your most recent life science bets ?

TC: You established it on Forbess Midas List this week. How are you feeling about it ?

TC: Alot of investors do seem to be suffering a similar transformation in reputing .

TC: So speak to me Benchmark here. I dont think theyve climbed into life sciences .

TC: Youve money an display of firms from different industries. Are you saying youll merely do life science transactions now ?

Same with Jet.com. I precisely reckoned: If this is hugely successful, who attends? Amazon is already controlling on razor-thin margins.

The post A Midas List VC on the problem with the Midas List appeared first on apsbicepstraining.com.

from WordPress http://ift.tt/2ja1Y0E via IFTTT

#IFTTT #WordPress

0 notes

apsbicepstraining · 7 years ago

Text

A Midas List VC on the problem with the Midas List

If I were coming out of institution today, said Bezos, I remember I would be very passionate about genetic engineering, synthetic life, I imagine these are incredible localities . . .

Doerr, confused by the change of subject, ended, On social networks?

No, Bezos prolonged, Im talking about test tube and engineering real biological animals to solve clean vigor and a whole knot in the best interests issues.

TC: VCs surely would agree with you at this point. I dont envision a week moves withoutanother house jumping into biotech endowing .

TC: What are some of your most recent life science bets ?

TC: You established it on Forbess Midas List this week. How are you feeling about it ?

TC: Alot of investors do seem to be suffering a similar transformation in reputing .

TC: So speak to me Benchmark here. I dont think theyve climbed into life sciences .

TC: Youve money an display of firms from different industries. Are you saying youll merely do life science transactions now ?

Same with Jet.com. I precisely reckoned: If this is hugely successful, who attends? Amazon is already controlling on razor-thin margins.

The post A Midas List VC on the problem with the Midas List appeared first on apsbicepstraining.com.

from WordPress http://ift.tt/2ja1Y0E via IFTTT

#IFTTT #WordPress

0 notes