Andrew Schroeder

It appears that within American culture, there are three times it is acceptable for a man to be an enthusiastic gardener: either when young in rural Nebraska, when in one’s late 60s, or when one is British. Although I am technically none of the above, I am incredibly thrilled by the variety of things growing this summer.
I’ve been somewhat of a flake when it comes to the actual work, but I have had the extreme pleasure of sharing a community garden plot with two good friends. The concept of urban gardening is truly something that any resident of a major city should not take for granted. As I was walking around the garden this afternoon taking photos, I started to wonder about the evolutionary effects of our species movement to urban areas will have on the plants we bring with us. Will we engineer and come to favor planting pollution resistant variants of spinach? Or, instead of changes to the plants we tend, will our cities take on the positive qualities, biodiversity and egalitarian aura of the average garden?

Perhaps one of the greatest things about trying to work minimalism into my life is the practice of curating all the objects in my home. Although nothing is overly luxurious or rare, each of the objects I am exposed to daily has some actual significance. In a society that makes consumption inescapable, this tiny act of concentration makes an enormous difference.

An oldie but goodie from the days when George W Bush was still president. Somewhere in central Minneapolis, there was an enormous sculpture/installation of sorts depicting all of the evils of the administration. Nothing says political protest piece like baby heads and astroturf.

Powerful people often act at will, even if the resulting behavior is inappropriate—hence the famous proverb ‘‘power corrupts.’’ Here, we introduce the reverse phenomenon—violating norms signals power. Violating a norm implies that one has the power to act according to one’s own volition in spite of situational constraints, which fuels perceptions of power. Four studies support this hypothesis. Individuals who took coffee from another person’s can (Study 1), violated rules of bookkeeping (Study 2), dropped cigarette ashes on the floor (Study 3), or put their feet on the table (Study 4) were perceived as more powerful than individuals who did not show such behaviors. The effect was mediated by inferences of volitional capacity, and it replicated across different methods (scenario, film clip, face-to-face interaction), different norm violations, and different indices of power (explicit measures, expected emotions, and approach/inhibition tendencies). Implications for power, morality, and social hierarchy are discussed.

Breaking the Rules to Rise to Power: How Norm Violators Gain Power in the Eyes of Others
Gerben A. Van Kleef, Astrid C. Homan, Catrin Finkenauer, Seval Gu ̈ndemir, and Eftychia http://spp.sagepub.com/content/early/2011/01/20/1948550611398416.full.pdf+html

Something really amazing happened to me today. I was headed to the Northern Lights Tea Shop (link) when I was stopped by three people attending a conference about using technology to organize information, notes, etc… I couldn’t resist when they inquired if they could ask me a couple of questions about the ways that I organize information and make lists in my life. Really, how could I? This is something I obsess about; something that kicks into high gear all the archivist tendencies I try to suppress throughout the day. I am obsessive-compulsive when it comes to organizing data and it often takes all my strength not to completely reorganize the database I manage at work. (more…)

"October 18, 1977", Gerhard Richter, 1988 from the series of 15 paintings.

It has been two weeks since Osama bin Laden was killed by US marines in Pakistan. There has been an enormous amount of healthy discussion on blogs and news sites about the importance of seeing images of his body. I’m going to refrain from joining in on this discussion of “seeing is believing” and instead look for a way to analyze the images that have emerged in broader art context. (more…)

When I came across this image in the news this morning, I couldn’t resist. It appears that everyone’s favorite source for marriage and morality advice, Newt Gingrich, has officially announced his bid for the presidency of the fine crap-hold known as America. Now, don’t get me wrong here, I’m a liberal (AKA in the USA: a gay-communist-anti christ-abortion/death squad leader) but now I’m having second thoughts. LOOK AT THOSE CHINS! Yes, plural: C-H-I-N-S. Seriously! Look at all the gloriously lustrous, bulbous bags of fat under that man’s mandible. Just think of the sweat that accumulates there on a warm Washington DC day. I’m ready to see some gravy dribbling down this man’s grossly over-indulged chins as he takes us back in the 19th century. God bless the USA!

I was headed into work this morning when I noticed yet another giant white truck selling food items in downtown Minneapolis. In the past, I’ve made the decision to judge every city I travel to/live in by the quality of its street food. For example, New York introduced me to the beauty of spicy squid on a stick. In Mexico City I had the distinct pleasure of having a five-course meal of nothing but delicious nibbles found on the street. Montreal and Sofia, Bulgaria both rocked the bagel-like items. Istanbul made me squeal with an amazing grilled mackerel sandwich on the Galata bridge. Street food truly is an indicator of the health of a city, its people’s participation in the public sphere, and a commitment to the exchange of energy and life which can only happen in public.

Back to Minneapolis. If I am to apply my criteria for evaluating street food, Minneapolis gets little more than a D-. The effort is there, but the joy, the spontaneity…. the people…. are no where to be found. Instead, I am greeted by the rather gruesome display of a giant, flaccid turkey drumstick roasting in the morning haze inside a pristine white snatcher van.  Yippee.