A little about Sam who was hanging out in the studio today as we pondered and plotted the next chapter.
- At age 24, Richards was hired to teach a cybernetics course called “Cybernetics and Human Ecology” at the University of Toledo. The first class session was starting only fifteen minutes after he signed the contract – and he didn’t even know what cybernetics was. So the first thing he did when class started is to ask if anyone knew. Today he still recalls that as one of the most amazing teaching experiences of his life.[4] (source: wiki)
- On the list: The 101 Most Dangerous Academics in America
- > 700K views on his TED talk a Radical Experiment in Empathy
- My co-conspirator in making the best paella east Valencia and west of Portugal
If you haven’t heard of the World in Conversation Project, then definitely check out the peace via conversations he and his posse are facilitating around the world–literally.
Odd as it may seem, but this time every year the cactus that we have growing around the studio blooms with hundreds of flowers like they’re the grand finale at the 4th of July. Honestly, being a northerner I couldn’t imagine a yearly bloom for an outdoor “Pennsylvania Cactus,” but it’s true.
About 4 years ago we planted several small plants, each with roughly 4-10 paddles. They seem to winter extremely well and have in some areas grown more that 20 times their original size. These hardy succulents are covered in snow and ice at least 4 months of the year. In the summer they sit in lava rock beds and get pounded by the sun. I believe this plant is Cactus Opuntia Humifusa and are not only spectacular but gets me craving the south west.
