Hundreds of autos pass this sight at the intersection of Richland Avenue and 682 in Athens, Ohio, daily. It is on land owned by Ohio University. It’s a sad sight to me, possibly because I so easily identify with it.
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All posts by Nan Mykel
Nikki is for Nickname
Published April 11, 2021 by Nan Mykel
I named her when I was 6 and she was just born, because my mother didn’t like being called “LARGE Allie.” Nikki of course was beautiful, blue-eyed and “petite Allie.”


After surviving polio and Rocky Mountain Spotted fever as a child, stomach cancer got her at age 40. I was not a caring big sister, so at least I try to make up for it a little by remembering her on her birthday. She had a great sense of humor. She graced the planet from April 11, 1942 – April 13, 1983. Her husband Bob died February 28, 2021.
Dear little sister, I miss you.
FIFTH GRADE LESSON SHEET
Published April 10, 2021 by Nan Mykel
These particles are unbelievably small. If
you could count the water molecules in one tablespoon of water at the
rate of 1 million molecules every second, it would take you 20 billion
years to count them all!
These particles are unbelievably small. If
you could count the water molecules in one tablespoon of water at the
rate of 1 million molecules every second, it would take you 20 billion
years to count them all!
THE “MAGNETIC MOMENT” described – reblog
Published April 9, 2021 by Nan Mykel
“The particle you thought was a bare muon is actually a muon plus a cloud of other things that appear spontaneously,” said Chris Polly, another leader of the Fermilab Muon g-2 experiment. “They change the magnetic moment.”….
“A muon constantly emits and reabsorbs temporary “virtual: particles. This entourage affects the muon’s magnetic moment, or how much torque it feels while moving through a magnetic field.”
One-Photon correction: “The simplest scenario occurs when a muon emits and reabsorbs a virtual photon. This is the most common possibility, so it has the largest effect on the muon’s magnetic moment.”
(As often occurs in real science, a counter theory has been offered.)
From Muon g-2 Experiment at Fermilab Finds Hint of New Particles | Quanta Magazine by NATALIE WOLCHOVE
I’VE NEVER – a reblog
Published March 30, 2021 by Nan MykelI’ve Never
I have never encountered racial and ethnic insensitivity in my graduate program. . .
. . . except when a professor talked about how Asian students are not fit for philosophy.
. . . except when students have asked me (more than once) to please tell them where I am from, because they “just cannot figure it out.”
. . . except when a student joked in the middle of class about me not having immigration papers.
. . . except when I had faculty member in a private meeting bluntly say that if I want to get a job I needed to specialize in Latin American philosophy. I do nothing of the sort. I work within M&E.
I love philosophy, but sometimes these little things are really, really annoying.PHILSTRUGGLEASIAN AMERICAN, GRAD SCHOOL, LATINA/O AMERICAN
Sorry- Having great difficulty traversing the two editors. The above originally appeared in the 2015 beingaphilosopherofcolor@wordpress,com
I want to ask a question: While eating at a church free luncheon on a university campus I found myself sharing a table with two black men who were presumably students. I did not want to insult them but I was curious what country they were from. Now, that could have been taken as rude and prejudiced, whereas I just hoped for a little friendly dialogue. They told the country and we ended up by them proudly showing a smart phone photo collection of their family back home. What should I say or not have said to start the conversation?
THE THRILL
Published March 30, 2021 by Nan Mykel
Who was that masked man waiting
one line over at the grocery?
He looked familiar.
He turned and she thought he smiled.
“Hello, Agnes!”
“Oh it’s you. Alister! Hello.”
“Had your second shot yet?”
“Yes…And you?” His line moved,
their pleasantries at an end.
While waiting for her On Demand
ride she froze. Had she greeted her
old friend by the wrong name?
Was he too polite to correct
her? What must he think? That she had
forgotten their halcyon tryst?
Why had she called him Alister?
Alister was her second cousin,
not this handsome old devil.
At least she thought this one was
handsome, she couldn’t tell. Agnes
smiled. And he remembered her…
Nan
Dancing the Strange Antiquark
Published March 27, 2021 by Nan Mykel
You put your right foot in, you take
your right foot out, and you shake it…
With old age comes deafness, sometimes,
allowing for Music of the
Spheres to be heard. If you have not
heard it, lissen up.
Called the Rightfold Way…(Is it life?
It’s moving)…it is weighted down
by a language too gross for words
(ha). Would you care for 6 flavors
of quarks or 6 flavors of leptons?
Perhaps a strangelet, a strange quark,
a hadron, kaon or pion?
(Pee on? Chuckle). To the right is
a universe, to the left a
microverse, and we’re either in
it or it’s in us, and/or both.
And the space,,,All that space between!
One could get lost in the tempo
of the song of waterfalls in
the rhythm of dancing fireflies.
A soul could hide inside
this mandala in motion for
ever.
Nan 3/27/2021
Image: Katiemiafrederick
HERE? NOW?
Published March 25, 2021 by Nan Mykel
I exist because I have an echo.
No, that won’t do
because wolves have echoes too.
I didn’t say wolves do or don’t
exist. I know they exist, But
are they there, inside themselves?
Am I? Are you? Are we?
Image: wallpapercave.com
Nan from the past
I WAS DISAPPOINTED TO DISCOVER…
Published March 24, 2021 by Nan Mykel…that while it is Disability Awareness Month, there are scads of other causes claiming it for themselves. Oh, well, it’s not the first thing I was gullible about, nor the last, I’m sure…
I stumbled on the topic when I received a letter from Caroline Lahrmann, about the Arc of Ohio Attack on Choice
From Caroline Lahrmann:
In their recent newsletter:
the Arc of Ohio attacks the ICF system, and by extension the vulnerable people who rely upon it. The national Arc is behind a proposal for a new federal bill that will effectively eliminate nursing homes and the ICF program. It has a friendly sounding name, the HCBS Access Act, but do not let the name fool you. It is meant to remove choice from people with disabilities and the elderly. It amends the Social Security Act as follows:
1. Establishes in federal law an “individualized” assessment to determine the services an eligible person will receive.
2. The bill requires that the assessment is administered with the presumption that “each eligible individual, regardless of type or level of disability or service need, can be served in the individual’s own home and community.”
The bill ends choice of care for the elderly and individuals with disabilities by forcing everyone into community settings and financially disincentivizing states to offer nursing homes and ICFs. It is deeply concerning that the Arc of Ohio would lash out at the DD community in this way. Providers of all kinds and families have faced a stressful year and should be congratulated for rising to the occasion. Proposing such divisive legislation is concerning at anytime, but especially now.
3. Establishes a new service for nursing home and ICF residents called “transition services” — meaning transitions to community settings.
4. Provides for a federal medical assistance percentage (FMAP) of 100% for home and community based services, but not for nursing homes or ICFs. (The FMAP is the amount that states are reimbursed by the federal government for Medicaid services.)
The bill ends choice of care for the elderly and individuals with disabilities by forcing everyone into community settings and financially disincentivizing states to offer nursing homes and ICFs. It is deeply concerning that the Arc of Ohio would lash out at the DD community in this way. Providers of all kinds and families have faced a stressful year and should be congratulated for rising to the occasion. Proposing such divisive legislation is concerning at anytime, but especially now.
Caroline Lahrmann
Disability Advocacy Alliance,
==========================
Sorry, I can’t translate all the letters for you. Been struggling between classic and guttenberg for 3 hours…Yes, I have a 49 year old daughter in a skilled and loving state institution very happy where she is. Couldn’t get along in the community …So I admit I’m biased. Reports of resident abuse in community group homes in 49 states, where staff are undedr paid and not well trained.
LIFE CAN BE UNFAIR-and voting rights
Published March 23, 2021 by Nan MykelINNIT?
Photos and reading the news as metaphor…
An example of reading the news as metaphor:
A 6-weeks old baby boy drowned during baptism in a church. (Multiple news sources, 2001)
(and) The pope says priests cannot bless homosexual unions (NYPost Mar 15 2001)

