Cactus and Tropicals

It’s time I make a plug for one of my favorite places in the world, the one and only Cactus and Tropicals. That’s right, this veritable paradise of plant life has drawn me in all too many times to not deserve a post expressing my feelings.

Before Cactus and Tropicals, I didn’t know succulents. I didn’t know bonsai. I didn’t know what it was like to stand for a half hour in front of a row of sansevierias, not able to make a decision. But now that I know the place, it’s hard for me to stay away.

I first bought a ficus retusa bonsai tree there, and that hobby is still going strong. Then I discovered succulents, and an additional fascination began. I just love these little things. The different forms and shapes just keep the eye occupied for hours. I especially like the haworthias and agaves. Anything with a point really. I remember in Mexico being intrigued by the giant agaves, so maybe that has something to do with all this. Whatever is this unseen force that has pulled me in, it will take much discipline to contain.

My mom always told me I would appreciate plants and trees one day. She was right.

Thoughts on Cambodia and Singapore

About a week ago, April and I returned from the MBA International Context Tour in Cambodia and Singapore. It was an experience neither of us will soon forget. I thought I would take a minute to get down some of my thoughts on what we saw.

Siem Reap

We stopped first in Siem Reap, Cambodia, where we saw some amazing ruins. My favorite was probably Angkor Thom (the smiling faces), though Angkor Wat and Ta Prohm were amazing too. The tree roots at Ta Prohm were just fascinating. They have grown so large that they hold up many parts of the structures and can’t be moved. And they were BIG. We could see how a some roots were just entering holes in the stone wall, while others were starting to get so big as to begin breaking the stone around it. And then some were so thick that they had broken through the wall long ago.

Looking up at the faces at Angkor Thom gave me the same feeling I always get when I visit other ruins. I feel this strong sense of the humanity of the place, as it once was. I wonder what kind of life these people led, that they would spend so much time carving these structures. Who walked at the very spot I was standing, and who carved the face? Why so many smiling faces? Whose face was it? I suppose that’s what I love about history; I visit these places and it’s more than stone and ruin. It was a place that I would love to just step back and observe, as it was at it’s peak.

Phnom Penh

In the capital of Cambodia, Phnom Penh, we visited a children’s surgical center, a prosthetics manufacturer, and a artisan school. It brought us out of tourist mode and right into Cambodian life. It was tragic to see that a business like a prosthetics manufacturer has so much business, due to the frequency of land-mine injuries and child deformations stemming from the effects of gasses spread during the Vietman War. The artisan school showed us children learning a craft, and they were very good at it. Their products were beautiful, with prices to match.

Later in Phnom Penh, we visited the killing fields and S-21. The killing fields is home to the genocidal center that stands on ground once reserved for mass graves. The bones are gone from the graves, but they remain open as a reminder of what happened there. There’s a large monument in the middle of the grounds that houses the bones of many victims of the Khmer Rouge. Wooden signs were placed in spots telling exactly what kind of horrible things happened there. I was familiar with the Khmer Rouge before this tour, but I didn’t realize how many millions of their own people they killed in this genocide. It was sobering to say the least.

The neatest part about that day was when we got to meet one of the only seven survivors of Tuol Sleng, or S-21 prison. He walked us around the site, even showing us the very cell where they kept him. This man was kept alive because he had a skill that the Khmer Rouge wanted – he was a mechanic. Listening to him amazed us all because of our view that it would be too hard to talk about. But he told us that it was therapeutic for him, much like other survivors of events like this. They want people to know in hopes that it will never happen again.

Singapore

Our final stop on our trip was Singapore. What a difference it was to go from Cambodia to such a rich and advanced place like Singapore. While we were there, we visited a landscape architecture business and an electronic component manufacturer. Both very enlightening visits. We also got to see the sites; the Merlion and the Singapore flyer were among our visits.

The most interesting thing about Singapore is that so much of life is strictly regulated. It seems like there is a fine for everything you could possibly do wrong. Our tour guide did a great job of explaining how these things were just a part of life there. She also made it a point to assert that their city was advanced in every way because of the regulations. It’s true – they have a beautifully groomed, clean, and incredibly green city. It’s also very expensive. I wondered at what point would I tire of the regulations and want some good old freedom of the kind we enjoy here in the U.S. I agree with a lot of the strict rules they have there, but I agree with personal choice even more, and that’s something that I didn’t see much of in Singapore.

All in all, it was a great trip. I would visit each place again in a heart beat if given the chance. The people in Cambodia were very kind, and invited us all back again as soon as possible. We chose this trip because we weren’t sure if Asia would ever again be on our places to see list, but I liked it so much I think I’ll make it a point to go back.

A Bunch of Words

I love cool fonts. I also love tag clouds. So naturally I love cool fonts in a tag cloud. I created this one on Wordle.net from my very own blog tags.

George Washington on religion and morality

Sometimes I get this feeling that our country is at the edge of some important precipice that will determine our success or failure sooner than we think. Being a religious person myself, I believe that morality is at the root of it. When the majority of us have lost all sense of what is decent and right, we are in trouble as individuals and as a country. On that note, I want to share this very good George Washington quote. The man knew what he was taking about. Here it comes:

“Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of men and citizens… Let it simply be asked, where it the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation desert the oaths which are the instruments of investigation in courts of justice? And let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education…reason and experience both forbid us that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.”

It seems clear enough for me. Morality can’t be maintained without religion, and our country can’t be maintained without morality. I guess we’d better rethink that quest to get rid of all things religious in our culture.