During our Warrowong Sanctuary dusk bush-walk I had some interesting thoughts regarding the integration of humanity with our environments. I believe that it should be the case that we attempt to completely preserve natural habitats and instead of disrupting them through our use, to instead reform habitats that are unsuitable to support rich ecologies and pervasive. There are a much greater number of inhospitable ecologies than rich ecologies. For this reason it will always be true that we will be reforming barren landscapes for our own use, upon the earth and beyond. So, rather than disrupt and destroy thriving natural systems, it makes sense to integrate ourselves elegantly with our diverse existing ecologies and to find economic means of terraforming harsh environments. In the long term this type of thinking will enable us to terraformed inhospitable worlds as we expand beyond earth and our solar system.

It is clear that we are not learning from the mistakes of our animal counterparts, that unchecked consumption always results in a cyclic instability in which the consumer eventually becomes the (self-)consumed. We should integrate ourselves intelligently with the natural habitat, such that we are not adulterating its form and function.

Where are all of the street signs? I am sitting outside of a cafe on Tuesday morning and I am still lost for what the name of the street is. Street names seem to appear sporadically along the edge of the sidewalk, sometimes posted on a corner, but mostly not at all. My sense of direction in this city , with the assistance of numerous maps has been fairly impeccable, my internal compass keeping me orient properly. The occasional bump when walking along the river towards the zoo and forgetting the flawless layout of the city. In this way it is similar to downtown D.C., streets laid out in a rigid grid, blossoming out as one gets farther from the city center. Traffic lights, beeping intersections, roundabouts, but much less mess and much less convoluted moving about. The city is small and holds only one million people, far fewer than any metropolitan city within the US that I have experience.

Central Market slowly wakes, coffee shops having been asleep until dawn and the market soaking its feet in the warm early sunshine. The brick street sidewalks see vendors walking between shops, tourists ducking inside the large covered market for a taste of the morning. Inside are some of the best fruits, vegetables, meats, cheeses, and breads that I have seen in a single place. Convenience with a touch of commercial pride, but culture savvy that is poorly lacking the Rundle Mall.

We ate at an Italian cafe at the end of Rundle street last night, where during the previous night we were overwhelmed by the large number of bicycle fans and the desire to sit outside. Three cross-dressed men were making rounds up and down the boulevard, singing classic American tunes in their blue tiger skin skirts and matching tops. Humorously reminding me of Priscilla, they sang Aretha Franklin’s ‘Say a Little Prayer for You’ and other tunes sounding just as ridiculous coming from falsetto voices.

I am surprised at how fit most Australian people are. Fit and trip, reminding me of myself, except that they are usually shorter. More health conscious or just more exercise? For women here being fit almost inevitably means being attractive and as in the states, clothing in the summer months is minimal.

In order to write beautifully one must enjoy the process of pen on paper. I have often foreclosed on this aspect of writing and thus my penmanship has suffered commensurate with my lack of interest.

Pictures. Photography. I find it difficult to judge when it is appropriate to photograph others. My knowledge of copyright and legal issues in this regard within the United States would have me believing that I could not photograph anyone.

Structure. Design. Integration. If we really want our cities integrated then we need to look at implementing more drastic and integrative approaches to design. Watching birds take flight between building make me realize how raw and unsatisfactory our cities are for any kind of animal but ourselves. The bird down not know bad environments from good. They don’t consciously choose. It is just another environment. I ask myself: What kinds of natural selection pressures do we place on our environments? What sorts of creatures do we create through our dismissive approach to environment and our genetically manipulative domestication processes?

The roofs of our structure should be sanctuaries for avian wildlife. Plant modules containing trees, shrubs, and brush. Potentially movable, like large Lego blocks of wildlife.

This place makes it difficult to spend money. Shops are closed when I expect them to be open. It seems that the only time I would have to pick out souvenirs would be during working hours during the week. Cafes close early afternoon or early in the night. shops close at 1700 even though the sun is up until 2030. It seems that this town has no interest in the breakneck capitalism that occurs in the many cities. It would say that this town lacks the nurture that a small town can have for the individual as well as the taste for fueling a city pace for its population. Is service is slow and shops are closed due to lack of business? Or is there a lack of business due the businesses being closed?

One city in one state of Australia is not nearly enough to judge a place. However, I would guess that we can consider ourselves hard pressed to find a similarly beautiful American city. I think that although it is steeped in the same commercial funk as many cities I have known, Australia does not seem to over-systematize its public infrastructure, simplifying complexities when possible and making proficient use of intrinsic mechanisms. For example:

A Hungry Jacks (Burger King) defaults to giving you a coke instead of always asking what you would like. this simplifies the interaction needed by resorting to simple convention. US fast food menus are usually far more complex and used in an unwieldy way. An example of simplicity within this industry in the US is In-and-Out Burger in California.

Taxes are value added to the goods and tips are not given. It is then trivial to calculate the bill and split it.

Crosswalks sound two different tones (walk and go), similar to San Francisco, but the devices are all integrated into the same simple push button for requesting a light change. The pedestrian can easily use their audio sense to determine which is which.

The wildlife parks had very little human management meddling with tourists or animals, letting the visitors explore at leisure. This may partially be due to costs, but it has the effect of enabling a more interactive and personally responsible experience. Instead of ‘Do what you can get away with’, it is ‘Do what you should be doing.’