Microcosm of consumer waste creation - overflowing plastic

So much packaging, so much plastic - both are unsustainable

In Beth Gardiner's carefully researched book, Plastic, Inc., the relationship of fossil fuel companies and plastic production is described in detail. Oil and gas from fossil layers are the basis for plastics in myriad forms and performance characteristics, much of which has unknown effects on the human environment and our bodies - let alone effects on the many other life forms we share planet Earth with. All of the plastics, though, break down into microplastics and then into nano-plastics so small that we breath them, we drink them, we eat them, and we accumulate them. As the Green Economy grows and fossil-fueled consumerism shrinks, the oil and gas pumpers see expanded plastic use as a new outlet for their destructive extraction. If people use less oil and natural gas, then they can buy more plastic things and throw more of it away to make room for still more.

Places with small land mass do not have the luxury of piling and burying medical, construction, manufacturing and consumer waste like the volume now flowing in USA. Incinerating the increasing volumes of packaging, delivery containers, takeout containers, and breakable (cheap, disposable) plastic products also has consequences unfavorable for the environment and what lives in it, including us. Various forms of plastic require additive chemicals which are released into the air and water, therefore into the food and drink we consume: whether burned or buried or littered, the plastic and its baked in chemicals break down and roam freely. Rich or poor, all must breath, eat, and drink. Pricey or not, the digestive tract gives the same result. The only answer is to produce less of the single-use (throw-away) plastics: Reduce and Reuse, as the Green Movement declares for all materials, not just plastics.

This photo on Sunday morning, when the city main library is closed during summer hours, is a good illustration of the nature of the plastic problem: too much (quantity) and too dangerous (quality) for waterways and places clogged by litter escaping the landfill pipeline from bin to burial. The sticker price makes plastic seem so cheap as to be negligible. But that is only the market cost for 1000 plastic bags or 100 plastic toys or 10 synthetic tires. The total cost for extracting, transporting, refining, and then producing plastics from the original oil or natural gas is much greater than the day's stock market price per barrel of oil or cubic meter of gas. There is the inherited legacy cost of aging infrastructure, capping old wells, tracing the gas leaks of the greenhouse gases from old or abandoned wells. and clean up or remediation that is passed onto other countries storing our plastic trash. And future generations dealing with our consumerism is an even bigger cost that is not factored into today's sticker price. There is damage from well-field roads and spills. There is the cost of micro-plastics filling the air, land, and sea - including plants and animals everywhere. Worst of all, there is documented damage from untested chemical releases in the microplastic breakdown to act as endocrine disruptors, affecting the hormones responsible for reproductive success of animals, including DNA of humans. Ready or not, unwanted or not, plastic convenience may literally be the death of human reproduction and the species. The Neanderthals had a good run of nearly 350,000 years that we have evidence for. But anatomically modern humans have been going for less than that.

Use Less Stuff as the author, Robert Lilienfeld, wrote in a book by the same name in 1998. Or take the slogan of the War-on-Drugs, "Just Say No" to throw-away plates and cups and knives, bags and extra wrapping.

Visual anthropology above and beyond pretty pictures

 

screenshot with strong compositions, but little social context (labels added here)- source: flickr Explore on 3 April 2026

Pretty pictures is a phrase not intended to be dismissive, since there truly is pleasure and value in the process of composing them and for people to view them, too. But for the purpose of this essay, the visual engagement alone - whether stimulating aesthetic wonder or triggering memories or stirring imaginations, or illustrating a story - is less valuable to social science and functioning as a vehicle that opens up larger frames to understand a subject. In other words, not all pictures are created equal when it comes to portraying cultural features and social processes all around us. While the same lens may well be able to record all the images in the above screenshot, in fact they come from different photographers and the experiences they incorporate into the press of the shutter release button.

Probably the labeling to categorize what is prominent about the images, above, is not comprehensive, since other photographs may stand out for differing emotional responses they activate: a decisive moment documented, an historical happening or something rarely witnessed (news value), or matters not of public interest but yet holding great meaning for just one or a small group who sees it, for example. And with enough imagination and powers of rationalizing, each of the four screenshot images might just as well lend themselves for a writing prompt to illustrate sociological or anthropological observations, too. But at first glance it is the quality of the light (top left) that is most salient; it is the delicate texture and color masses (bottom left) that catch the eye; and it is the powerful geometry of the staircase spiral (top right) that fills the viewers' minds. Only a few people might name the specific mushroom (botanist), describe the water droplet's surface tension (physicist), or appreciate the making and calculations for the staircase (architect, engineer, installer, sales representative). By contrast, the coal mine picture is framed and lighted like a lovingly composed portrait with a lot of art and craft. But also it functions well as a writing prompt for the subject of fossil fuel extraction, the labor relations of capitalist (or state-run) owner versus worker, or the lived experience and arc of a life story for generations of miners. Form and content, form and function serve each other in this photo: the excellent capture conveys the subject in a pleasing and engaging way. The important subject adds weight and momentousness to the photograph.

Expanding on the social science meaning in the colliery picture, it is true that it could just be a lucky snapshot of a passing tourist or a memento recorded by former worker, neighbor, or owner. But more likely, it seems to be a carefully framed and exposed photo by a keen amateur or else a professional picture-taker. And while the same image could appear in a wide range of uses, from advertising to editorial to textbook to scrapbook to souvenir postcard, anything from universal or symbolic statement to personal travelogue, when it comes to the visual medium for anthropological thinking, this one stands out from the others in this screenshot. It conveys something of note for understanding human livelihoods and their relationship to the natural environment in general as well as meanings specific to this location and this moment in history, too. 

The photo of the coal mine property has social science worth not just due to the central subject filling the frame, but also due to the artful way in which it is portrayed. In other words, a clumsy visual record would be encountered with indifference or even rejection by hungry eyes of people that jump from one picture to another without pause. But a well photographed portrayal invites viewers to linger and explore the details at length, possibly noticing something they had not understood or known before, possibly reflecting on larger matters or subjects that are connected to this central idea. By being both a beautiful picture (in the abstract, general, aesthetic sense) and by recording something of the subject and its context, the result is a description of a subject that still may rely on words, but which speaks for itself, as well.

In summary, it seems obvious that "not all photos are created equal." But looking more closely at the many kinds of things that attract the eye of photographers - social scientist or not, certain compositions speak of anthropological or sociological matters better than others; not only do technical expertise and artful framing and timing figure into the viewing/thinking experience but also the intentionality and perceptiveness of the (social science predisposed) photographer will affect the final image that people of the time (and future viewers, too) see. By way of concluding statement, it is safe to say that a table full of photos may have a subset of visual interest or remarkable beauty. And another subset will comprise subjects and portrayals of social insights. Where these two subsets intersect there will be a couple of photos that both express something about the society and life experience of people in their context and which also attract the viewer's attention for their visual delight.

Many meanings of the USA national flag - veteran's funeral preparations

 

Detail from funeral home visitation before tomorrow's ceremonies.

Nearly all military veterans from the World War II era are gone now in 2026, and many from the Korean War have died, too. Even those serving in armed conflicts in the decades to follow in many cases have died. Not all of them opt for the guaranteed death benefit of steel casket, honor guard with USA flag. But many do wish to acknowledge their time serving the USA, as in this example from middle Michigan for a 93-year-old man who had served in uniform, beloved in his community as well as among friends and family.

Symbols like the USA flag (Old Glory, Stars and Stripes, Stars and Bars) can convey several layers of meaning at the same time. This flag is multivalent as national and international identifier for sports, for diplomacy and military, for law enforcement, for official ceremonies and occasions and holidays. It can have more personal connections and meanings at the regional or state-by-state level, and also for people, places, and things seen in cities and villages, as well as the household or company level. In popular culture, too, famous artists and ordinary people can easily fly a flag (or in protest invert the flag) or modify in new colors to suit less patriotic purposes; even in the service of commercial sales.

overview of the open casket viewing (detail magnified, above)

Without talking to the stream of friends coming to greet the bereaved family members it is hard to know which of the many layers of meanings of the flag on the coffin are uppermost in their minds. Is it window dressing of an official nature with nationwide currency and value? Or is it part of the man's self-image and the way that others viewed him in life, too? Certainly during the time in uniform it fully occupied his waking hours and shaped his personal habits, standards, and expectations as a young man and for a few years after being honorably discharged, too, no doubt. But from his early 20s (completion of military service) to his early 90s there were many other concerns and guiding principles. So, on balance, the couple of years during the Korean War only took up a small part of a very long and full life. And yet, in all those years he demonstrated his commitment to order and ethical behavior, public service and duty, loyalty and justice equal for the great and the small. So, in that abstract sense of goodness and mercy, his own life and the positive facets of USA nationwide ideals were coherent and maybe sometimes overlapped his own ideals, too. In that case, the national flag is less about politics and history and more about his personal standards and values.

In any case, speculating about the mix of personal and the many other layers of meaning will be difficult to untangle or document without in-depth and wide-ranging observations and conversations with those who knew him best. But for the purposes of this article, it is enough to acknowledge the many meanings - even contradictory ones - that a symbol like the American flag can stand for, gliding easily from one meaning to another; or expressing all the meanings simultaneously.

After the funeral ceremony is completed and the group of mourners reassemble at the graveside to bury the flag-draped casket, then an honor guard of veterans (occasionally there are ones in uniform who are currently in service, too) will carefully fold the flag to present to a representative for the bereaved family as a memento of the occasion.

Trends in phishing and spam email slop

During late December 2025 and the opening days of January 2026 it seems like 1/3 or more of the dubious, probably illegal (fraudulent, con-artist, phishing) unwanted SPAM messages pretend or presumptively declare a payment declines; or sometimes, a payment has been made to your account; more rarely, claim your reward or gift.

This email inbox screenshot from January 8, 2026 is an example of a spate of similar pitches intended to alarm or provoke an automatic (defensive motion) reaction. Ideally, the person looking through mostly authentic inbox messages will stumble onto one of these - sort of like a buried landmine that explodes when activated - and anxiously search for a "contact us" or "help" button. Once they have demonstrated a living person is attached to the email account and can be lured into revealing name, address, and bank account, then the theft of identity and assets is practically complete.

Thanks to malevolent and perverted use of Artificial Intelligence to craft "truthy" websites, text messages, robocalls, and email messages, the difference between actual senders and bogus ones is sometimes hard to distinguish. It goes without saying that a generation ago - long before the current crop of A.I. and slop that it discharges in volume and in diverse versions - such things were beyond even science fiction. Merely to describe how the psychological games and triggers are engineered would exceed most people's imaginations around 1999. In 2026, though, expectations for decency, honesty, accountability, and outrages of excess and of neglect have shifted. Many people under the age of 60 have very low expectations. Their 'normal' includes abuse, fraud, and corruption at small and at large scale, perhaps in line with the daily lowering of the bar set by POTUS, #TrumpConvictedFelon. Where all these declines in social infrastructure, hollowing out of social capital (trustworthiness), and impoverished cultural capital, and agitation of emotional reserves will lead is an open question. But it does not leave a lot of room for common decency, common sense, common good, or hope.
 

Price of gas low, price of groceries high - topsy-turvy interference

Monday, December 29, 2025 gas per gallon (ZIP 49505)

It seems like gas is about the same price at the end of 2025 as it was in 2010 or before that. Meanwhile, after 11 months of #TrumpConvictedFelon acting unpresidential in the White House, the normal government controls, accountability, analysis and recordkeeping is being obliterated so he can freely proclaim whatever it is that is on his mind via social media and pretend it is lawful by dint of the fingerstrokes on his phone screen: targeting critics with lawsuits, kidnapping immigrants and refugees, rescinding funding made by other agencies and departments, unilaterally imposing tariffs that consumers have to pay, proclaiming the economy is doing very well by looking at stock market numbers instead of consumer grocery, housing, and health bills.

This photo shows a gas station in the evening of late December 2025. Adjusted for constant dollars since the 1970s, the price for burning gasoline should be at least $3 or $4. But the prices are set by world markets, since supplies are available to refineries from diverse sources, not just the oil wells of North America. As a friend to fossil fuel producers of oil, natural gas (including fracking), and coal mining -- and being a short number of years from expiring himself, with no thought for consequences to those who follow and who will face budget deficits created by favoring rich tax payers today and giving no thought for air and water quality of those who live with warming climate and extreme weather destruction -- #TrumpConvictedFelon goes on to encourage maximum production, excess supply, and therefore lower and lower gas prices: short term "wow" for long term desolation.

Increasingly, the rich and powerful inside and outside of USA seem to disregard the wisdom and also the financial sense of stewardship; the idea that current powerholders are only placeholders in a much longer storyline. Instead, the vanity of the superrich seems consumed with self-absorption and disregard for everyone else: "I have gotten mine; let the Devil take the hindmost." And yet, all creatures are on the same ocean liner surrounded by the same icebergs. Merely curtaining off the "First Class Rooms" from the rest might stroke some egos or distract from what is happening in front of the ship, but the curtains will sink just as fast as the rest of the ship. 

The shape of things to come, together with software and day-to-day robots

self-driving inventory robot at grocery store, 12/2025

Not yet a common sight, there is every reason to believe that shoppers will get used to seeing more and more self-paced inventory robots for multi-sited stores having extensive inventory, large floorspace, and little risk of malfunction or human harm. This one is operating during daytime hours in a Midwestern grocery chain in Grand Rapids, Michigan early in December 2025. Perhaps it was piloted after hours to prove its reliability and to work out the obstacles or situations defeating its programming.

Although it is the stature of an adult who is smaller than average height, its lack of facial features or any aggressive, outward pointed appendages makes it big enough for shoppers to steer around and safe-looking enough to avoid anxiety.

As with all electronic innovations, there is a question of use-life; how long its parts and software will be supported by the maker or the distributor. Production and sales cycles seem to run shorter and shorter. Older models are antiquated as shiny new ones are showcased for trade-in, trade-up, or lease (even without 'planned obsolescence' business models). This raises the question about electronic waste - both in production and at end of life (repurpose, reuse, or recycle before landfilling what remains). Similar issues of environmental impact of making, using & maintaining, and disposal come with each technology: medieval shipbuilding, early internal combustion automobiles (now the battery-powered eV fleets), portable Internet communication devices like smartphones, or with spacecraft.

Seeing this photo sparks thoughts of "new normal" experiences of the youngest generation who grow up in this robot+(wireless/hackable) software cultural landscape. Recent and elderly adults, and those in-between, will form impressions and learn strategies for interacting with "facsimile 'sentient' devices" like chatbots online, restaurant table servers, floor cleaners, driver-assist programs in case of heavy traffic or extreme weather information & onboard sensors that sometimes 'know better' than drivers, and in-store robotic clerks. But the youngest generation will see these things as standard, normal, possibly desirable and inevitable, rather than to know that things need not always depend on software and robots.

The Luddites resisted changes in production volume and precedents. So did the French textile workers throwing the wooden clogs (sabot) for sabotage of the pricey and dangerous machines they fed. Maybe people of 2025 will resist robots and apps infiltrating their home and work life, too. But if history is any guide, things did not go well for property offenders of the 1800s. Innovations and "new normal" can be a race to the bottom (per unit cost reduced, radius of markets widened or else market share wrested from competitors) unless thinking people decide not to proceed. There is a long trail of technologies finding no market or those threatening to undermine profitable status quo. But to assume that grocery store robots necessarily will flourish is not necessarily a good bet. Times do change, but in unexpected ways, sometimes. Just like times of upset triggered by warfare: outcomes are not certain.
 

Making music - acapella college ensemble dresses the part

All wearing a combination of blacks & purples - shoes vary

Shoes and the rest of one's clothing say something about the person and the occasion. In this case it is the 15 acapella singers from Grand Valley State University, Euphoria, on the stage of the Grand Rapids Public Museum for the 2025 annual Cultural Heritage Festival on Saturday morning. The group formed a gentle arc to back the featured singer or singers in each of the songs in their set list. There are a couple of observations to make about the visual effect of the college students on the stage, ranging in abilities and musical experience from amateur to enthusiast to almost professional.

One observation is the symbolic meaning of putting so many different kinds of singers and personalities together. Just as they themselves are different to each other, so is their clothing all different; nothing is duplicated or uniform within the loose, organizing color scheme of blacks and purples. In other words, just as they are different on the inside, they are also different on the outside; however, in a loose sense they all fit together under the blacks/purples organizing principle. As with visuals and personalities, also of their sonic roles in the production of blended voices a capella - all of them contributing differently but woven into a whole.

Another observation is the footwear. It is true that it follows the overall plan of black as sign of formal, stage presentation. But there seems to be even wider boundaries or room for personal interpretation of "wear black shoes" by comparison to "wear clothing that is black and or black with purple." At the end of their legs are boots, open-toe, high heels, tennis shoes, perhaps slippers, too. In other words, while the clothing styles and shapes certainly come in many kinds and emphasis, within the shoes visible on the stage somehow the diversity seems even wider than is the case with choice of costume. Again making a symbolic reflection, if the range in footwear stands for the many kinds of personality participating in the music ensemble, then even more than the clothing it is the choice in footwear that illustrates the many kinds of singer, it is the shoes that signal the make-up of this singing group.

Lastly, even though there seems nothing exotic or peculiar about a group of dressed up young adults composing, rehearsing and then today performing a set of songs without the aid of accompanying instruments (other than human voice, including beat boxing), by pausing to study the spectacle more carefully, it becomes clear how truly amazing it is that such different people can share their commitment to group effort and their delight in collectively producing sonic art. One minute they are off-stage milling around. Another minute they are filing onto the stage under the bright lights in their accustomed formation, attending to the tuning note, and then -as if by magic- they are filling the room with harmony, melody, rhythm and emotion (see video clip below). The words may lift some listeners out of their comfort zone or do the opposite, lead them into their comfort zone.

In conclusion, echoed in the clothing, the shoes, and in the diverse personalities the Euphoria choral group from GVSU illustrate the motto stamped on the coinage of the realm in USA, "E Pluribus Unum," from many - one. Humpback whales have long-distance "songs" and birds have melodies that function in many ways for their lives, but homo sapiens sapiens does seem to be strangest of all in thinking up and then practicing and finally performing in front of others (or recorded privately to distribute to others). There is something baffling and beautiful about making the music, of the many brain areas that are activated in making (or hearing) rhythms and pitches (and lyrics) in sync with other voices and/or instruments, and in the experience of being on the stage or in the audience to resonate, respond, and appreciate the whole thing.

Impressions of the "No Kings" Protest, October 18, 2025

 

View at Rosa Parks circle near the art museum, 18 Oct. 2025

Around the USA, and maybe among expatriates outside the USA, there were about 2600 rallies and demonstrations planned. Estimates put the June "no kings" protestors at five million. First estimates for the next "no kings" protest of October 18 at seven million. That works out to just over 4% of the 174 registered voters in the country, more than the critical mass of public dissent declared of 3%. What all this means in the short, medium, and long term is hard to know in the moment, but future observers of USA political and social life will be able to trace a line from this, the avowed largest single public protest in the almost 250 years of national history, to the course of events that follow.

What was it like to attend the protest? In the case of Grand Rapids, Michigan the Saturday morning began with rain showers, but was drying up around the start time of the festival event at Riverside Park from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. inviting young people and families, in particular, but open to all ages. Then the rally of speeches and songs, followed by a downtown circuit of chants, began just before 1 p.m. in the city center at the Rosa Parks open space and stage. The above sign was among the fancier ones. Many others were hand-drawn on cardboard or poster board. Maybe 1 in 10 people had some form of sign, many with a message taken from a common pool of two or three dozen phrases, but others straight from the marcher's own mind. Impressionistically, over 1000 people participated at the morning event and three times as many came for parts or the whole of the afternoon proceedings. Both were well organized, thought through, and had contingency plans for weather, health difficulties, or attacks by agitators. Technical difficulties with sound, documenting, featured acts, speeches, and so on did not appear. All went smoothly in the end.

"The revolution will not be televised" is a famous phrase during the Vietnam War protest years from two generations earlier [attributed to Gil Scott-Heron]. The idea is that you cannot sit in your living room to be a spectator to events taking place around you. So get up and join your neighbors in protest. And yet, now that social media is becoming familiar to young and old alike, it seemed like every other person was taking photos and video at one moment or another, some more than others. Maybe 1 in 20 or 30 carried equipment more professional-looking than a cellphone: enthusiast or professional camera, or rigs to transform their cellphone into something capable of high production values (gimbal to avoid shakiness, tripod, external microphone). In other words, recording self and others, seeing how others dressed, protested (singing in loud or soft voices, joining the call-and-response, dancing, dressing in costumes) and behaved, including how others were snapping photos and capturing video, all this was integral to being present and participating - presumably then to share selected parts online for friends and also for strangers to see and hear, too.

Vietnam Vet (left hat band) snaps protest stage photo

There were several audiences and intended recipients of these demonstrations of disapproval for #TrumpConvictedFelon destroying the social infrastructure for healthcare, supports of vulnerable people, slowing down research and the production of knowledge and criticism, and enrichment of cronies, for example. Protestors both active and passive were there for each other: showing interest in each other's signs and/or costumes, bearing witness to the occasion by paying attention to speakers and entertainers, and watching out for each other so that no one put themselves in a precarious position (breaking property, laws, etc). But attendees also demonstrated solidarity for the hosting organizations such as #IGGR (Indivisible.org in the chapter for Greater Grand Rapids) and for the representatives of like-minded organizations and institutions that contributed expertise, promotional efforts, volunteers, and so on: area churches and non-profit organizations that serve the various demographic segments around the city and county, and so on. Then, too, the legacy news media were identifiable and were welcomed: TV camera person and accompanying Live Reporter, but also people from radio and from print media. City police were also part of the equation: would they interfere with lawful exercise of public protest described in the U.S. Constitution or not. A squadron of officers on sturdy bikes were visible at the edges a few times, but otherwise they could monitor things from overhead surveillance cameras on permanent venue poles downtown; maybe others were watching incognito (undercover). Fellow citizens were also meant to see and hear the protestors, either in person when driving by or later on social media. For every person who showed up, maybe another 5 were interested but lacked the motivation or circumstances allowing them to attend. Speculatively, for each attendee maybe another 20 or 30 were generally sympathetic, but perhaps also were ambivalent about the connection between political office holders and the role of constituents in making change, expressing approval, or demonstrating disapproval. A large bulk of citizens had no particular awareness, interest, or inclination for or against the sequence of slow-motion killing of U.S. traditions of democratic process. Also among the fellow citizens in the intended audience for protesters are those holding the diametrically opposite opinion of the world and the trail of destruction presided over by the "executive order" POTUS. All of these various neighbors were intended audiences of the solidarity being abundantly expressed.

Ultimately, though, the chief audience of the "no kings" events are the henchmen of the POTUS who abet and enable his offenses, crimes, and infringements of the letter and the spirit of the system of federal government: showing them that nationwide there are a lot of displeased people prepared to judge the failures and harms by voting the scoundrels out of office and then prosecuting them for their crimes of commission and crimes of omission - failures to discharge the duties of their office according to the laws of the land. The natives are restless and those pretenders, playing at leadership, but too incompetent to perform basic functions of government, should be afraid of what awaits them.

From the time of the January 20, 2025 swearing in of POTUS #47 to now on October 18, there is nothing but obstruction of government function; destruction instead of creation. By the time of January 20, 2026 no doubt there will be fresh crimes and harm caused. It seems unlikely that the wrongs will slow down or be reversed, and there are absolute limits to the abuse that the voters and citizens of the land will withstand. One sequence of events is impeachment, criminal charges proven, and prison time. Then the business of building the housing, healthcare, and energy infrastructure of the future (not the past) can begin. The decades of litigation for liabilities of the Trump Disaster owed to claimants will also begin. Once full operation of the federal governance resumes, destruction is repaired, and new initiatives have begun, then an accounting for the lost generation of opportunity costs wasted by the nitwits will be documented and published.  

Bifocal vision - when the streets seem familiar and strange, memory-filled and yet foreign

 

County seat of Clinton County (MI), St. Johns (pop. 7000) with fire station mural of 1st responders.

Visiting a place once inhabited for decades after the space of several years, twin visions fill the imagination as memories superimpose the present-day sights and sounds. A few familiar friends and acquaintances add to this bifocal vision: seeing things no longer there but also seeing what is currently in view. Dozens of times I walked or biked past this building before any public art covered it. So I can see it in my mind's eye and also see it today.

Summing up the different experience of a place when you live there versus pass through as a spectator, tourist, or audience member, the local resident wakes up and conducts the business of daily life. He or she considers the grid of streets, the cultural landscape of landmarks and well-known events (seasonal cycles and one-time occurrences, too), and the social terrain (who is connected to whom, which paths offer least versus most resistance to organizing, collaborating, and getting things accomplished) as the field of play; a backdrop to the drama and stories of one's days and trail of decisions. But things are different for the outsider just observing the surfaces or intermittently paying attention to details but otherwise distracted by one's own preoccupations and pending matters of one's own home ground. For the visitor, only the tangible characteristics come into brief focus (buildings, sensory impressions, stories gleaned from readings or local guides or acquaintances residing in that place). All of the daily minutia passes unnoticed. In other words, local people traverse the local sea of meanings to make their lives thrive. All of the surroundings have consequence and value and comparisons to be made. All the surroundings are familiar; the opposite of exotic and strange. But outside people cross the local sea of meanings mostly unaware and uncaring about what lurks beneath the waves, what hazards are well known, and without the local lore that makes things interesting and memorable.

Jumping the elements of Proper Nouns (persons, places, things/events), a similar bifocal distinction occurs. Whereas a person you know well is three-dimensional and is part of many contexts and conversations and memories, a stranger seems only two-dimensional (lacking personal familiarity to the observer). Likewise of an annual event or a one-time occurrence: locals fit it into their quilt of many meanings, memories, and relationships, but outsiders lack these many personal interactions. Using the distinction of know (static: facts, data) versus know (relational: to people, places, software, tools, procedures/processes). The local person knows things in the relational sense of the word. The outsider knows things about the place, people, and things.

But when you are both filled with local lore, memories, relationships AND you are coming back as an outsider, having made daily living experiences for 10 years elsewhere, then the experience is double-layered: both insider and outsider at the same time. In anthropological terms, you have drifted to the middle position between familiar and exotic, between de-exoticized vision and de-familiarized/strangeness, being BOTH active participant and passive observer.

By extension, a similar familiarization process occurs when getting to know a rental car - at first strange, but eventually easily operated and familiar; ditto of a new piece of software (or app); ditto of the encounter of a new genre of food, music, or literature/film. 

In all of these parallel illustrations of the natural/normal/accustomed/automatic versus the strange/unfamiliar/awkward, a person's relationship to the new thing progresses, step by step so that what began as ungainly and static and lifeless can eventually become fluent and an organic extension of one's own body and mind.

The advice to a person traveling to a new place, entering into a new personal interaction, or learning from a new experience is to aspire to the middle position that is bifocal: able to see both the new AND the familiar, to be an outside observer AND an active player in the arena of activity. That way you have the best of both visions: local and outsider, always ready to expand what people say and do when you enlarge the conversation by drawing on your dual perspective.

Church in 2025 - apps, QR codes, and prayer requests

 

Several notes while visiting the venue for art exhibits hosted at a Protestant Church 9/2025 zip 49503

Many churches and their people take seriously the principle to be "in the World but not of the World." So it is not surprising to see similar features of everyday commerce, consumerism, and confusion experienced outside of church now to be applied to the functions of social interaction, coordination, and communication inside the church life, too. These two photos near the entrance closest to the church parking lot show some of the video kiosk messages that cycle through the screen. Several colored highlights later added for this article point out additional notes about the scene visible here.

The lefthand photo shows the "How can we pray for you?" slide in ALL CAPITAL letters for legibility and emphasis (the visual equivalent of shouting or using an 'outdoor voice'). The smaller text explains that your requested concern or joy will go out to prayers of that week to repeat in their daily habit of saying prayers for self and others. The screen message in the righthand photo is about forms of giving money to the church so as to sustain its activities, staff, supplies and other costs. Church-goers can send money by postal delivery (by mail), online (secure website), by app (phone or tablet), or by using the physical Giving Boxes located inside the church building. The QR code in the lower left corner of the video screen is also transcribed as URL that one can type or dictate into a computer or portable device to see how each of the four methods of giving will be handled.

In the righthand photo there are a few other colored mark-ups. The lavender one above the video screen is a video surveillance recorder to monitor the entryway from the church office or maybe from administrator cellphones. In the event of some offense or trespass being committed within view of the lens, the recording allows replay and analysis by city police, for example. Just like real life outside of the church premises, there are good reasons to observe and record the entrance. And yet, it does seem to displace any illusions of innocence or trust among strangers as well as friends. The blue box toward the right edge of the image points to the coffee shop atmosphere in this socializing space adjacent to cooking facilities. Since food and fellowship go together very naturally, it makes sense that the church makes the food and drink one of the first impressions a visitor gets by entering through this doorway. No religious paraphernalia or references seem to be at hand there. The green circle at the midline of the composite image says, "Connect with Us" and has four spokes. These are business card-sized reminders of church groups one can readily fit into (left to right): Students, Support groups, Women, Life groups.

In summary, a generation or two earlier, before the widespread use of portable telecommunication and Internet services, church membership was face to face on worship days (usually wearing "church clothes" - something fancier than everyday wear) and sometimes also on other days of the week, depending on the groups one took part in. But in 2025 many of the various age groups are used to interacting with each other on computer or phone screens and so the boundary of church and non-church is blurrier: some non-church expectations and processes filter into church life. And perhaps the reverse also is true - some church routines and habits figure into one's thinking and reactions to things experienced away from the Body of Believers. With software so ingrained in daily habits, it is hard to imagine how church-goers would think of relating to each other unmediated by mass media and social media. 

High-altitude view of our society these days: 2025 Art Prize prints

 

Fly-over art of timing big sporting event with air traffic, too

Many visitors to the 2025 Art Prize competition pause to peer at the rich detail from something like 3,000 feet above ground level that the artist, Tyler Leipprandt, has photographed in coordination with excellent helicopter pilots to put him in the right position with the right angle of light and the timing to show a passing aerial spectacle above the packed sporting events; all this with required permissions in hand. The entry is called The Art of the Flyover. The adjacent video loop at the left end is also captivating, ending with a link to "the making of" some of the rare sights: www.michiganskymedia.com.

There are many sorts of significance that a viewer can see in the giant prints. Some may have been in attendance at one or more of the mass sporting events that drew the photographer's attention and sparked the weeks of planning to put his lens in the exact alignment for the exact instant that all the elements clicked into place. So there is personal meaning. Then there are fellow (aerial and drone) photographers that marvel at the result so well expressed and in such large prints. Others may have no personal resonance or experiences with this technique, but they simply respond to the novelty of seeing the world in an unfamiliar way. There could be one or two visitors who consider buying a copy for business lobby or for home exhibition. As well, there are social observers and ethnographically inclined viewers who recognize that this frozen moment in time is a kind of mirror for the society in general.

Looking at the patterns visible from a great height there are many things to observe. One is the relationship of people to nature: trees, grass, garden features, and public parks are allowed, but only in their proper place; only after the livelihoods and living places are catered to. Outside of the cities and suburban settings, the ratio is reversed so that farmland and wildland is in the majority while the built landscape is scattered across it in bridges, culverts, roads, and utility lines. Secondly, the phenomenon of mass spectacle (broadcast on TV, livestreamed or recorded online, in person in bleachers): ticketing in priced tiers, parking requirements of vast scale, water and sewer demands during the 2 or 4-hour event, traffic complications before and after the occasion, catering to customer tastes in food and beverages, allowing fans suitable ways for them to make souvenir photos of the venue and teams and crowds and event itself. Maybe things have changed from ancient Greece or Rome, but there are surely common threads then and now. Thirdly, there is the technological wonder: myriad details have to intersect exactly to make the internal combustion engines run, the infrastructure of road maintenance and signage and emergency services; but equally complex are the myriad details going into the moment when the photographer frames and releases the shutter to record the moment when a speeding aircraft passes over the crowded stadium - all eyes looking at it - and also for the weather and piloting of the helicopter to be angled just right, too. From concept to planning & permissions to getting to altitude and recording to finally producing a finished picture is a staggering amount of control and quality assurance. Finally, there is the phenomenon of the ArtPrize.org competition and the many visitors who see the art for the first time, possibly interacting with the artist, and he with fellow artists and members of the news media on site. In other words, imagining and creating the art is only half the exercise. Until someone buys the picture for public display or private ownership, the full cycle of life is not complete. Living in spaces of social media, cameras for recreation and for surveillance to mediate daily experience, and marketplaces for creative work means that buying and selling art, building a public reputation, and engaging with "followers" and patrons who may commission future work is a living part of being a creator in 2025.

Much of one's own life seems to depend on documenting it for self and for others; something much less common during film camera (still and video) generations; something practically non-existent in the days of no consumer-grade cameras before 1910 or 1900. In other words, now in today's social experience and arc of life, failing to take a few snapshots or video clips along the way means that old-school memory and written notes are the only trace of one's experiences. Lack of visual proof is something that has become a source of distress in these times of ubiquitous cameras. This gives new meaning to FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out - something others do and one's own self failed to do). In the case the gallery display shown in this example, which seems to be more real to gallery visitors (or to the people in the stadium at the moment of the flyover spectacle): the large, mounted photo print or the few seconds of roaring jet engine and rare view of famous aircraft buzzing the crowd?

The society is BOTH an aggregated set of individuals of diverse biographical timelines AND a pattern of collective future expectations, past experiences, and present ways of behaving and reacting. Since almost all the spectators filling the seats on these game days arrived in personal automobiles (or shuttle services by bus from remote parking areas), it is safe to assume all of them share the worldview of personal transportation to buy and maintain. And the value of taking pictures during their big day out also is largely shared. Showing team loyalty in choosing colors to wear or merchandise to buy is another feature of mass sporting events that will be familiar to all those in the photo down below. Finally, there is a delight in technological wizardry that makes possible the mysteriously shaped B-2 Stealth Bomber, the magic of electronic warfare in specialized jets, and the deadliness of a formation of fighter planes.

Taken all together, the big pictures in this year's Art Prize competition capture visitors' interests, as well as capturing the flyover subject at the center of the aerial photo project. The big pictures also give social analysts a big picture view of the society in 2024 and 2025 in which mass sporting events still draw people away from their living rooms to attend the competition on the field of play in person.

Community insight 2025: weekly calendar for public information in rural Michigan county

p.3 of Leelanau Enterprise for 9/4/2025 (markup added)

As a rural county miles from the big population centers in the southern 1/3 of Michigan's lower peninsula, the weekly events page of Leelanau County's towns is not representative of the society around the state as a whole, but this list of public happenings, grouped by category, does say something about the local response to local needs. As such it is one kind of mirror for this moment in history when people of all generations and genders are increasingly isolated and independent from each other, even though electronic wizardry makes it possible to know about each other more than ever before.

Counting the number of entries in each category, the most frequent topics fit into SOCIAL EVENTS (16 times) and GOVERNMENT boards and meetings (15x). FAMILY support is least numerous (7 times). The added color for each entry points to the essence of the event. ADDICTION/SUPPORT is mostly centered on alcohol abuses, even though parallel associations do exist elsewhere for substance abuse other than alcohol, too. In the CHARITABLE/COMMUNITY category there is a weekly Rotary Club announced, but the 13 other entries are food distribution and baby supplies. In the neighboring column for FAMILY there are storytime (library), playground time, and parenting guidance and conversations. In the SOCIAL category there is fellowship: coffee hour, creative writing get-together, bridge (group card game), a big-screen event viewing (race cars), Spanish conversation, tap dancing, hiking, tai-chi, garden club, and farmers markets in several locations. Finally, in the heading for GOVERNMENT, there are boards of education, township boards, and fire & rescue governing boards that meet for public audiences. In many cases it is churches (and libraries, too) here meetings and other activities are hosted.

Standing at a distance as an interested outsider, this full page of events suggests a relatively engaged and engaging social fabric; that is, enough people take leadership and enough people turn out to make the get-together worthwhile such that there is mutual enjoyment and profit or meaning derived in these things. But at the same time, the fact that people cannot afford food and baby supplies, and others are burdened by addictions suggests that the system of wages and stressors is not good. This is hardly unique to this particular one of Michigan's 83 counties; nor is it peculiar to rural environments of small towns and the dispersed patterns of living spaces. However, the calendar is a visible record of things that otherwise might go unnoticed in day-to-day relationships and what people see or hear around them, incrementally sliding into deeper debt, desperation, or disease. In other words, this snapshot of early September 2025 is both hopeful (many interactions of people available, even if there are only a small number of active participants in any given week) and worrying (POTUS #TrumpConvictedFelon and his sock puppet handlers call their demolition of democratic practices and supporting structure a Big Beautiful Bill which will take effect AFTER the November 2026 elections are held). Once the full horror of no healthcare, safety regulations removed, federal offices abolished, military forces summoned on a whim --then the calendar page for the Leelanau Enterprise weekly newspaper may double in events, or it may disappear altogether when nobody can pay for anything or use precious unpaid hours to get involved in community socializing.

Genius of ordinary Americans in the USA and elsewhere

 

fast-food table and benches with uneven floor: napkin solution

Stopping for a snack at a hamburger franchise, just after getting ready to leave the booth, this small gesture of kindness caught my eye. It is the unsung solution to a practical problem that a fellow diner identified, took ownership of, and used local materials to fix. And while the immediate beneficiary may have been the person alone or those she or he was dining with, the stability of the table goes on to benefit others for days or weeks; at least until a cleaner goes beyond sweeping and douses the floor in water to mop up. That could dislodge or perhaps weaken the napkin solution to the tippy table.

Why would a customer intervene and fix the problem rather than ignore it, complain to the supervisor directly (or from a distance if going online to lodge a complaint)? It is true that not every customer is inclined to veer outside their lane in the role of consumer. But it happens often enough, that there must be some precedent, cultural expectation, or personal satisfaction in making things work better - big or small. Perhaps the rate of interaction or engagement parallels the findings of Website engagement: estimates of the proportion of website visitors who actually proceed deeper or who respond to surveys and other forms of interchange say that maybe a maximum of 3% of the people go beyond passive consumption of scrolling and actually start clicking and writing. That is something like the proportion of people in civil society in the USA who show up to demonstrate, communicate with elected officials, run for positions paid or volunteer, or who belong to service clubs like Lions, Kiwanis, Rotary, and many others. In other words, even though it is only a thin slice of the demographic pie, these people account for a disproportionate amount of social infrastructure, vision, engagement, and accountability.

Impressionistically, this willingness in certain circumstances to leap from spectator to player on the field may be related to the colonial phases of occupying and modifying the land and water, displacing (or worse) the people and other living plants and animals of the place. When there are few or no authorities and experts to call upon in a frontier setting, it is up to the person and those nearest to hand all to work to fix the problem - both the kind affecting many people (risk of riverbank erosion and flooding; oncoming wildfire; stampedes of buffalo) and the kind affecting just one neighbor, but too big for one person to respond to. That experience for most people residing in 2025 USA is many generations in the past, and yet something of the outlook (dismissing authority, celebrating skillful problem-solving and practical mindset, optimism, and minimizing pretense so that everyone can be equal in the moment) does seem to persist - reproduced in family stories, popular culture (books, movies, classroom projects), and so on. 

No matter what theory best explains local people or strangers passing by to spot a problem and then speak up or directly intervene, the fact is that such things do arise from time to time, normally without public awareness, accolades or other formal acknowledgement: just solving the problem is its own reward in this culture logic. So here is a bow or tip of the hat to all those unnamed people who quietly fix things that many others benefit from.

Seeing the world with new eyes and corrected lenses, too

Ophthalmologist's retail section for eyeglass frames

Seeing so many eyeglass frames on display can be akin to the experience of facing Too Much Information, TMI. But with the experience from earlier frames, the customer can usually narrow the search and only look for something similar, rather than having to study each and every variation on size, shape, color, texture and so on. If it is the first pair ever worn, then the staff can make suggestions to begin with, too. But a larger reflection from seeing this scope of choices and range in prices levels is that good vision is usually available to everyone who has no large visual impairment. Those with insurance subsidy do not have to pay out of pocket for the entire expense. Those with no insurance, and who cannot afford any payment probably will be eligible for basic eyeglasses paid for by the business owner, a local funding source, or possibly a program of the state government or a charitable (service) club with focus on vision, such as Lions/Lioness Clubs.

Besides the fact that modern life allows most people to have some kind of corrected vision, including the well-developed ecosystem or infrastructure (testing, trained professionals and licensing, supply chains and production capacity), there is the philosophical dimension of extending the useful life of vision for most everyone. Centuries ago, a variety of eye problems - congenital, developmental, or by accidents of life and livelihood - reduced the visual powers and pleasures and functionality of people young and old. In addition to the eye conditions at birth or later on in life, the aging process generally results in weaker visual power ('old eyes' or prebyopia). At the same time, literacy was less important to most people's day. So impaired vision was perhaps perceived as normal and less a hindrance than it would be today when oceans of printed matter fill the landscape and mailboxes, too. On top of that are the tiny screens and microscopic text size of Internet portable electronic devices.

In summary, as a practical matter it is good that modern life's literacy-dependent routines and decisions also come with relatively ubiquitous eyeglasses (or contact lenses, or corrective surgical procedures). Being able to see clearly is not simply a quality-of-life issue, it is basic to survival in the Information Age. But good vision is also a philosophical matter, since "I see" means both visual perception but also "I understand." In other words, what we see is often the same as what we know. Naturally, there are times when the meaning of something is NOT what it looks like at first glance ("don't judge a book by its cover," and "looks can be deceiving" since "you only see what you want to see"). However, there is a close relationship between good vision and good understanding. A land of poor vision may well also be a land of poor understanding or incomplete (mental) pictures of life. 

So at this high-altitude, abstract and philosophical level, when looking at this photo of hundreds of eyeglass frames, it is fair to think of all the people now walking around with corrective lenses (contacts or eyeglasses) in modern times who, long ago, may have gotten along in life with weak or even non-functional vision. Stated in reverse: the fact that most people today do have the opportunity to see clearly suggests that most people today also have the opportunity to scrutinize, focus on, and look into matters in such a way that they expect to produce sharp images and understandings; not a blurry or an unknowable grasp of reality. Widespread visual health may be overlooked or taken for granted, but it is more than a mere convenience and a basic condition for living in a word-heavy cultural landscape. It is also a worldview; a set of assumptions that one's surrounding life should be in focus and transparent. 

Landscape photographers far from the madding crowd

 

More than 8 billion persons on the planet, but here are places seemingly free of humans.

This screenshot of photo landscapes in the photo sharing user group called LANDCAPE, https://flickr.com/groups/landcape/pool/ shows a wide variety of locations, lighting, and composition elements. What is in common for nearly all of the uploaded contributions to this international group, apart from the outdoor subject matter, is the effort made to exclude people from the scene. Of course, despite the absence of human figures, there frequently is indirect evidence of people shaping the land, leaving paths or roads, leaving ruins, and so on. 

Clearly, the object of delight in the photo sharing group is the land itself, together with the light and shadow that falls upon it. But pausing to consider the dominance and prominence of humans on all other life forms in the air, land, and sea, these pictures do seem strange: how can such a great number of people covering the planet NOT be found in the photographs? The answer is that the photographer has chosen a season and time to release the shutter when people are outside the frame of the composition. In other cases, the difficulty in reaching the viewing point means few people venture there. In other words, despite the high human population around the planet, it is not evenly distributed: some places are densely lived in, but other places are not. In other words, yes, the planet Earth is heavy with humans and their activities that threaten other animals, plants, and microbes by destroying habitats or directly destroying those non-human lives. But the photographers in this sharing website are recording places - or at least brief moments there - where people are not visible. 

POTUS Ghosts (President of The U. S.)

 

Contrasting Gen. Geo. Washington (L) and DJ Trump (R)

Apart from biological sex, there is almost nothing about George Washington and #TrumpConvictedFelon in common. GW created institutions, systems and processes, much as he did while leading the armed forces of the American colonials against the forces of the British king. DT destroys everything he touches. He is entropy in primate form, forcing orderly things into disorder, civilization into chaos. GW carefully shaped the new office of President to perform executive functions for the benefit of all who rejected the British king's claims of authority. DT continues to try to displace the other two (co-equal) branches of the federal government, the judges and the law makers. One is a fine specimen of human and humanity, the other lacks basic awareness of anyone except himself. 

It takes generations to imagine, create, and improve systems of governance. But it only takes 20 days for #TrumpConvictedFelon to follow the script from his cadre of puppeteers and upend the pulse and progress of monthly cycles and rules for governing. The people who drafted the Constitution and Bill of Rights assumed that anyone fit for office would serve the best interests of the citizens and abide by the oath sworn on inauguration day. But #TrumpConvictedFelon does neither of these things; instead his actions to weaken the national government and its functions abroad and at home can only serve the purposes of hostile governments.

Once the stupefying facts and methods of the law breakers dressed like lawyers and investors are clear, then opposition can begin. If there is no opposition, the past record of gun carrying citizens suggests that one or more people will take matters into their own hands. Already there are signs of distress in quiet residential neighborhoods.

Upside down flag means emergency or political protest or both

 

Comparing worship service live (in-person), live streaming (online), and playback (of earlier live stream)

 

February 7, 2025 Symposium of Worship at Calvin University

The annual gathering of church leaders in music, preaching, as well as lay leaders held five public worship services during the 3-day proceedings in Grand Rapids, Michigan. These screenshots come from the live stream of the fifth and final in the series about the 2025 theme of parables. The recorded version is online at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNw-dGSgZl8. The same images are bundled into a slideset, downloadable in PDF for closer viewing and readability of the subtitle text, too.

Having attended the first worship service on the Wednesday in person, now to experience the same venue on a different parable and preacher and music groups, but now via the live stream offered a good opportunity to compare these two forms of engaging in the worship rhythm and substance. Both the in-person and the live-stream contrast to the playback of the uploaded, finished recording of the worship service. So all three ways of engaging can be examined here.

LIVE STREAM: Demonstrated in the Friday final worship service, there is a risk of technical glitches (audio interference on certain frequencies) having to be fixed on the fly. Events unfold in linear sequence; there is no jumping ahead or behind the present moment of engagement. Unlike in-person, the lens and editorial decisions about which camera position to select is restricted. Viewers see what the live editing team has selected. One cannot look left or right, study one person or another, or close eyes to take in the whole.

IN-PERSON at the worship service: This is a multi-sensory presence, wrap-around immersion; of being there: temperature and seat support, light in one's eyes, sound too quiet or too loud for personal preference, surrounding sounds and 3-D sound waves filling the surfaces, and even the smell of fellow worshipers.

PLAYBACK: One can chose the time and location for playback on demand; stop and start, set playback speed and volume. One can read comments by others and add one's own in reply to others and in response to the recording itself, as well. It is possible to make note of bookmarks (time marks) to revisit later or tell others about, to scrutinize or to excerpt. At times a person might want to engage with certain segments non-linearly, jumping back and forth; like reading a book according to one's aims or habits, not necessarily non-stop from start to finish. There is also the risk of distraction, notifications intruding on screen or one's wandering attention and intention (commitment to undivided attention).

In conclusion, when it is practical to participate in-person at the scheduled time and location, that is the richest form of building memories, sparking ideas, and mingling with others. Nextmost immediate is the virtual, ghostly sense of "being there" (almost) in the online live stream. But maybe the most utilitarian and usable is the recorded version to dissect, share, compare and contrast, reflect upon and digest little by little. It can offer rich rewards, according to the effort poured into it. But for most people that is a high bar and so the in-person experience fills the mind and imagination with least effort and most vivid sources of memory.

Engaging in the moment through one's lens - reality vs. representation

 

Live at the ice piano for the 2025 World-of-Winter festival

The video version of this scene filled with cameras is online. But the freeze-frame is easier to study here. Of the 50 or 60 audience members who came to the outdoor venue in Canal Street Park in downtown Grand Rapids, perhaps 1/4 or more took out cameras (mainly camera-phones) to snap a memento photo or video clip. Maybe 10 people came with tripods or big cameras and external microphones or both in order to record broadcast quality from the evening to share with others. A few of the professional-looking photo & videographers wore lanyards with photo ID, in what looked like a press pass or other credential to do their job here, in some cases blocking the view of the audience members or getting in each other's way to get the right framing for their compositions.

     Despite the mostly quiet and courteous movements of these photographers, it did nevertheless distract from the sole focus on the piano playing and the lyrics of the songs. But so ubiquitous was the picture taking by a variety of people for a variety of reasons, that it raises the question about this phenomenon: in what ways is one's experience (and by extension, memory and the way to share memories with others) mediated by carrying a powerful device for recording sound, video, and still photographs?

Pianist at the left, photographers at the right

     On the one hand taking pictures or video, and seeing others do so, is normal and possibly even expected these days. In a few situations people are specifically requested NOT to take pictures or video (some airlines include their policy during the preflight announcements: out the window is fine, but not staff or fellow travelers as photo subjects). But on the other hand, the attention diverted to the screen and the controls reduces the person's own embrace or immersion in the moment to moment rhythm and breath of the performance as well as the space that the photographer is part of then. Of course there are hands-off recording devices ("life loggers" or POV action cameras) that do not require any intervention from the person: everything is recorded for later review and selection of relevant segments. That approach might be the best of both worlds: recording but not involving the person who carries the device.

     One way of understanding the frequent use of cellphones for video or photos is something analogous to language itself. Just as many people feel the need to put an experience into words - simple description, or maybe more extended reflection and analysis - the same may be happening visually these days: the person wants to own a fragment of the moment which they can share with others as proof of having been present, as a way to replay the moment, and perhaps to give to others who may have relevant expertise or interest, too. In other words, without articulating the experience in words or images, somehow the moment passes when new things displace it. So reaching for one's cellphone in this case is a way to hold the experience closer than merely spectating as one minute passes after another.

     In any case, the sight of cameras popping up again and again is likely to continue for a long time as more and more people get used to picture-taking for self and for seeing others doing this in formal as well as informal settings. Rather than reacting with annoyance, or the reverse, joining in with the other photographers, it makes sense to understand the several reasons why people consider the positives outnumbering the negatives when pulling out a camera in all sorts of situations that seem significant for personal, professional, or avocational reasons.

College students borrowing books then and now

DIY book lending station at Calvin University's Hekman Library

Until sometime in the 1970s library books had to be recorded on the card located inside the cover of the book before the borrower could take it outside the library. Often they took out several books at a time, so the process of stamping the due date and recording the borrower's identifying information took time and effort. Those marked cards then had to be filed so that upon return the book could be reunited with its own card. This was manual labor in the most literal meaning and required many trained student workers. 

     The next stage was to use computer punch cards so the checkout desk could insert the book's punch card into the dedicated machine that recorded the time and date of borrowing, while pairing this with the borrower's campus details. The due date was still stamped in the back of the book for quick reference by the reader to come back for renewal or to return it for circulation to other borrowers.

     After that bar codes were added to the punch cards for optical reading and registration of the book to the borrower. When the book came back to the library then its barcode could be scanned optically with something very much like the one in the photograph, above. In this way the book(s) could be tied to the borrower's ID barcode with just a blink of the light in the scanner beam. And reminders of approaching due date could be emailed to the borrower. As well, the borrower could renew the book electronically (no need to present it at the checkout desk) - if no other borrower was waiting for it.  

     Fast-forward to the February 2025 photo, above. The old ideas continue: build library collections of physical books, lend them to people with library cards, track the book's return (and its condition), and track down any books not returned in a timely way. What is different in this photo is the self-checkout station. Gone are the student hourly employees to receive the book returns and reinsert the correct lending card in the jacket. Gone are the student workers to check out the book. Of course, the books still need to be sorted for efficient reshelving by human hands. But much of the accountability and tracking now is digital and relies on borrower honesty; although, probably there are video surveillance recordings in case anybody seeks evidence of a particular book exiting the building without being scanned first.

     This photo not only shows the absence of library workers and the sign for "self-checkout computer." But also the picture shows the card catalog underneath the countertop. Each title in the collections has a typed card that corresponds to the book or pamphlet. Since a person used to be able to search by author, by title, and by call number, each title must have been filed in several different ways. Since there are unpublished documents like sermons for the campus seminary program, perhaps the old catalog is still in use for certain collections. But probably anything written since 2000 or 1990 is searchable by electronic records, instead.

All in all the photo seems to sum up the present moment in the relationship between college students and the library collections intended for their use. Some content is online instead or in addition to the printed volumes. As a result there are some students who prefer to engage with ideas on their phone, tablet, or personal computer. Others search online for notes and summaries that others have already done, thus offering a predigested impression of the title. And since 2023 the average person has access to a certain amount of Artificial Intelligence bandwidth (search time use) to produce summaries on demand. The upshot is that fewer college students are used to wandering the open stacks in the catalog classification that fits their subject area. So the chance of serendipity to find an unknown and unbidden title is lost. And with less time spent in tactile experience of pages and indexes, college students are less comfortable with flipping around the chapters, skimming and scanning with their eye for keywords or passages that may suit their research interests. 

     The upshot is that fewer books go home with students. Fewer ever leave the shelves for reading while standing or briefly at one of the study tables. Perhaps the old and new books have each other for company, but without the touch of warm human hands, they must still be feeling a bit neglected.