Dear Editor:

There are a large number of significant and even dramatic changes occurring in Sedalia. Recently, Linda Christle stepped down as Economic Development Director and was replaced by Jessica Craig. I am leaving the Sedalia City Administrator position and will be replaced on an interim basis by Finance Director Kelvin Shaw. A permanent City Administrator will be named late this year or early next year. Also within City government there have been several recent upper level staff changes. Normally, there is very little movement with all of these positions.

A City foundation, The Sedalia Democrat, was recently sold and the papers format appearance is substantially different and there is a new Editor. After almost 45 years, KDRO Radio recently changed formats from country to talk. Additionally, there is a new morning personality.

Also noteworthy, the ongoing change in Sedalias retail landscape with the addition of large national chain stores. After being in the same location for about 45 years, and after the construction of a fire station a few years ago, a new police station soon will be under construction in downtown Sedalia. All of these changes and some not listed here, seem to bode well for the City. All of the new people coming on board are of the exceptionally high quality usually seen in Sedalia.

Extraordinarily, all these changes are happening at about the same time. Normally, such large shifts are spread out over several years. Philosopher Alan Watts said: The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it and join the dance. That certainly applies to Sedalia these days.

Gary Edwards

Outgoing City Administrator

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Extraordinary changes in Sedalia - Sedalia Democrat

Yass Valley Writers member Alan Watts is set to launch his latest book at Tootsie on August 26.

POETRY LOVER: Alan Watts, author and member of Yass Valley Writers, will be launching is latest book at Tootsie on August 26 at 2pm. Photo: Photo: Kim Pham.

Yass Valley Writers member Alan Watts is set to launch his latest book at Tootsie on Saturday, August 26 at 2pm.

Watts will be joined by group coordinator Jane Baker to launchThe tracks we leave,his ninth published book.

The book consists of selected poems from his years of writing. Itcovers a range of topics from mans early settlement in Mungo, NSW, through to the advent of thecomputer.

His style is varied (conventional or prose poetry) and he adopts a style to best suit thetopic. The poems also cover: nature; the interactions between moon, music and mood;philosophies, romance and human nature.

When asked why he writes, Watts said he needed a change from the rigor involved in mathematics.

Watts wasa mathematics teacher who became a mathematics consultant in retirement. He said he needed some creative activity in his life, which he had found inpoetry.

Watts is a poet and a 15-year member of Yass Valley Writers.He has a life-long love of poetry and still quotes poetry learnt in his school years.

The 79-year-old said he regardedYass as his literary home.

He considers his approach to writing as one of smorgasbord.

He has been in a number of writersgroups and has had poems published in magazines and newspapers. His work has been read in public, at meetings and on radio stations.

His published work consists of sevenbooks about poetry and one novel:

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Prolific writer Alan Watts to launch latest poetry book - Yass Tribune

This week, For Honorbrings Gladiators and Highlanders into the fight;Everything surrounds you with philosophy; and LawBreakers andTacoma are available to play. But first, revel in the cartoon chaos that is Agents of Mayhem.

In Agents of Mayhem, a new third-person shooter released today (August 15), the antagonist is Doctor Babylon, the Minister of Pride for LEGION, an acronym for League of Evil Gentleman Intent on Obliterating Nations.

That alone sets the tone for the open-world game, which is a rollicking adventure available for PS4, Windows, and Xbox One.

It was developed by Volition, which also created the Saints Row games, and it shows. Mayhem has the same over-the-top crazy, wrapped up in the neon-tinted cartoon version of futuristic Seoul that is the setting of the game.

You get to pick a squad of three agents from a roster of 12 antiheroes that run the gamut of wisecracking, ass-kicking troublemakers that rip up every stereotype you can think of. You play one agent at a time and can swap out who you've embodied with the tap of a button. You can change out your squad between missions, and you should take the time to find out the strengths of each.

In doing so, pay attention to the banter, because each of the agents has a back story that is revealed in the dialogue interactions between the characters.

There's role-playing elements here, too. You level up your agents and can apply upgrades to abilities and a wide range of weapons.

Never taking itself seriously, Agents of Mayhem relishes its humourous take on what it's like to be a superhero that tries to save the world and ends up destroying everything in the process.

For Honor, the game that brings such madness to the melee, is entering Season 3. Ubisoft, which developed and published the game, is calling it "Grudge and Glory".

Two new playable heroes are being introduced with this update, available today (August 15):

There are two new battlefield maps, and Grudge and Glory also introduces one-on-one-duel tournaments complete with season-long leader boards.

Ubisoft will be bringing 4-v-4 ranked matches with another update later this fall.

"Grudge and Glory" runs until October, with Season 4 of For Honor planned for November.

It's difficult to describe what Everything is all about. In the game, designed by David OReilly and distirbuted by DoubleFine, you start by taking on the guise of an animal. As you move around the landscapea diverse natural geography that includes things like forests and plainsyou'll see other creatures.

And after a while, you'll discover that you can become one of those other creatures. Or plants. Or even inanimate objects like pebbles. But you soon realize that there's nothing inanimate in Everything.

A while later, you gain the ability to slip into objects that are smaller, or larger, and you can go progressively smaller or larger as you desire, finding the universe in a grain of sand, for example, or going full cosmic.

Available on OS X, PS4, and Windows, Everything is procedurally generated, so each experience is going to be different. What doesn't change are the audio recordings of philosopher Alan Watts that are peppered throughout the environment and which are uncovered by simply exploring, creating sometimes uncanny juxtapositions.

The more time you spend with the ecosystem, the more it opens up to you. You can communicate with other things by "singing", you can form groups with other objects, you can "dance" to create new lifeforms.

And all the while you are unlocking entries in the game's encylopedia. You'll find yourself compelled to try and collect, well, everything.

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This week in video games, August 15, 2017: Agents of Mayhem brings cartoon chaos - Straight.com (blog)

Democracy evolves like an endemic species. It is sustained in social environments where it has the space and time to grow. As a political ideology, it is the ideal of individual freedom. When democracy is cultivated by the people, its manifestations are tangible. Ecological preservation sites such as urban parks and national forests are essentially extensions of democracy. When natural conservation zones balance the needs of people with the vitality of local plants and animals, they foster the universal and indiscriminate right to life and liberty.

Parks are an integral link in the chain that binds city-dwellers together. People are ultimately united by the local lands on which they depend for communal wellbeing and the national good. Most importantly for modern societies, industrial urbanization has raised questions about long-term sustainability for future generations. When a park is maintained in an overburdened urban sphere like Istanbul, it is not only significant as an example of ecological justice. It is also a flagship development of social progress.

Making the central, downtown districts of major cities like Istanbul more green is a way of meeting the popular need for material independence. The pressure to exploit the commercial real estate market is released in a park. Natural spaces also foster social democracy as they allow people to assemble beyond the condensed, profit-driven infrastructure of the city. Despite underlying values, the history of Maka Park prior to its rebranding as Democracy Park, is controversial.

In the 1970s, the park was neglected by city officials. It was overrun with gangs and the tragic tales of orphans who ran between them and the homeless who gathered there in increasing numbers. By the early 1990s, its streams had turned to sewage but the park had gained a secret reputation among the bold youth who called it "the Love Park" on account of it being out of range of law enforcement. The legacy of homelessness is sometimes still seen as the steep hills to the north flatten toward Taksim Square. When the park became a symbol of Turkish democracy in 1993, its restoration included the opening of sports facilities, playgrounds and an impressive cable car stretching across the preserved valley.

Maka Democracy Park is the "Central Park" of Istanbul. It is crowded with pedestrian commuters and day-trippers every day of the week. Along its many pathways, Istanbul locals converse over drinks and samovars of tea. They discuss the political globalization of populism while wearing the latest trends from the nearby fashion district of Nianta, only a short walk from the columned, northernmost entranceway into the park.

On many weekends throughout the year, sound speakers blast from the outdoor concert venue in adjacent Kkiftlik Park as Maka fills with the freewheeling ambiance of a music festival. And, more frequently, the danceable rhythms and strains of Middle Eastern music descend into the valley from the Arabesque Cafe situated in its northwestern highlands. Across the street from its southeastern entranceway, the proud fans of the Beikta Gymnastics Club (BJK) spill into Maka, waving flags, burning fires, rattling throats with the pure love of competitive sport.

In May of this year, the city announced the building of an ecological bridge connecting Maka Democracy Park to Gezi Park. It is still under construction, with signs visually depicting its completion standing beside piles of sand and orange tape. Despite passing its originally planned unveiling for June, the impetus to join parklands with a migratory, conservation corridor in an urbanized ecosystem is not unfounded. The efforts imply a conviction that democratic processes are not limited to politics, but that they are akin to the naturalist philosophies of free will and common reason.

Democracy is part of a natural evolution toward a more human ecological system, despite what current urban trends suggest. Environmental integrity is possible for cities that strive to live in an ecosystem of equity between man and nature. The late British philosopher Alan Watts spoke of the Chinese concept of nature as being democratic. In the traditional school of thought that is indigenous to China, as he expounded, nothing in nature is forced to behave the way it does. And this freedom is the cornerstone of a living democracy.

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The democratic naturalism of Istanbul's Maka Park - Daily Sabah

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Alan watts | Etsy

The Middle Years (1939-1959)

In 1940, Alan published The Meaning of Happiness, a book based on his talks. Ironically, the book was issued on the eve of the second World War. After a brief time in New York, Alan moved to Chicago and enrolled at Seabury-Western Theological Seminary, deepening his interest in mystical theology. Alan was ordained as an Episcopal priest in 1944, but by the spring of 1950, Alans time as a priest had run its course, and he left the Church and Chicago for upstate New York. There he settled into a small farmhouse outside Millbrook and began writing The Wisdom of Insecurity: A Message for an Age of Anxiety.

In early 1951 Alan relocated to San Francisco, where, at Dr. Frederic Spiegelbergs invitation, he began teaching Buddhism at the American Academy of Asian Studies (which later became the California Institute of Integral Studies). Drawing quite a crowd, his classes at the Academy soon blossomed into evening lectures open to the public and spilled over to local coffee houses frequented by Beat poets and writers.

Alans career took to the airwaves in 1953, when he accepted a Saturday evening slot on BerkeleysKPFA radio station. That year he began a broadcast series titled The Great Books of Asia followed in 1956 by Way Beyond the West which proved to be quite popular with Bay Area audiences. Re-broadcast on Sunday mornings, the show later aired on KPFK in Los Angeles as well, beginning the longest-running public radio series nearly 60 years at this writing.

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Life of Alan Watts | AlanWatts.org

Airy Los Angeles singer Sunni Coln is touched by a love that goes beyond the surface in his new song, "Little Things." He coasts over the funky Kaytranada-produced track, crooning about his blossoming bond, and comparing the magnetic attraction between him and his muse to the power of the night sky's constellations. "It's the little things that matter, to me/ When you make me feel important/ When you make me feel like matter, pull me," he sings.

"When I first heard the chords on 'Little Things' I immediately grabbed my guitar and jammed out over it for about an hour,"Coln told The FADER over email. "A week later, l sat in my room with my electric guitar and began writing. The lyrics stem from mindfulness while living in this beautiful yet chaotic world. Around the time I wrote this song I dived pretty deep into Alan Watts and would only listen to him and play guitar."

He continued, "This quote by Alan Watts really stuck with me when I would get caught up into bullshit: 'I have realized that the past and future are real illusions, that they exist in the present, which is what there is and all there is.'

"Im having a conversation about love and appreciating the present moment, without fixating on the past or future. Its the little things in life that we as humans sometimes take for granted, and I decided to create a song that enables us to see through a conscious lens."

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Sunni Coln Loses Himself In The Subtleties Of Love On Little Things - The FADER

Advice

Mercury in Virgo turns (stationary) retrograde Saturday, August 12th, at 6pm (west coast time) and lasts three weeks (till September 5th). For five days, as September begins, Mercury retrograde back to Leo. Mercury retrogrades from 11 degrees Virgo back to 28 degrees Leo. Where are these degrees in everyones charts? That area of life is affected.

To understand how to use retrogrades, we use re words. Redo, review, re-visit, re-frame, re-think, re-examine, re-evaluate. Which we do with all ideas, thoughts, plans, studies and agendas created since Mercurys last retro, (April). We look back, re-assess, refine, while also resting and recuperating from a mind exhausted with too many facts.

Lets review our (non) actions during retrogrades. We dont create new plans or projects, purchase important items (cars, houses, appliances, clothes, gifts, etc.), contracts arent signed, agreements arent made, money isnt borrowed or loaned and we dont expect clear communication or many aware drivers. We know everythings overlooked, messages arent received, details are neglected, keys are misplaced, informations off-center, minds constantly change, thoughts turn inward, and questions arent answered. In other words, possible havoc everywhere with everyone.

During Mercury retro, we display Virgo tendencies, becoming internally analytical, mentally organized, discriminating, detailed and practical. However, none of this externalizes because our minds are inwardly reorganizing, evaluating and reflecting.

How do we respond? We consider Mercury retro an experiment everyone is participating in. Its a magical mystery time to observe with intelligence, knowledge and, above all, humor.

ARIES: Everything concerning daily life is re-evaluated. Review daily plans, surrounding environments and those around you on a daily basis. Assess in what way you want to shift, change and adapt to make life more orderly and pleasant. You realize you must think differently from now on how to bring forth more beauty and perfection. Careful communication is needed with coworkers. Also assess the state of your health, diet, exercise and how you awaken each day.

TAURUS; Interesting situations and communication may occur with lovers, children, and your own sense of creativity. Issues not yet resolved in relationships will reappear. Try to listen to the core message of all communications. Dont react or defend. These destroy. Instead, learn to listen carefully. The unresolved issues must be dealt with or there will be a dissolving and dissolution of important connections soon in the future. Assess everything with care.

GEMINI: Everything about home, family, early life, mother, real estate, things domestic, comes into focus and will need careful evaluation and assessments. Make no important decisions unless an emergency occurs. Remember everyone in the family is experiencing the present astrological transits. And everyone is experiencing them differently. Use your Gemini mind and heart to observe and discern the differences. You remember to be non-judgmental, non-critical and loving (your purpose).

CANCER: Cancer (sign of the crab) always circles a situation, entering the center from every direction. They do not walk a direct line to anything for they are always wary of prey. Thus, they have a very developed intuition. In the next three weeks that intuition will take on a different tone and focus. Care needs to be taken with communication, thinking, writing and driving. Something from the past reappears. Be aware of forgetfulness. In the meantime, you make home beautiful

LEO: Do not create any shifts or waves in your financial picture. No loans (given or applied for), for example. Take this time to review finances, create new budgets (to be applied after three weeks), assess the flow of money (whats coming in, whats going out), the hows and whys of these transactions and review if everything monetary is proceeding as planned. Include a review of precious metals, your values. And tithe.

VIRGO: Are you feeling somewhat distant and unable to communicate feelings? Are others saying youre difficult and distant? During this time, youre very internally focused, assessing all aspects of yourself who you are, why you are, what your values are, your everyday actions, who youre with and why. You review previous choices asking if they reflect your present values, wants, hopes and needs. Hold on. Things change within the month.

LIBRA: Thoughts, ideas, beliefs, decisions and issues not tended to for a long time appear in the present seeking attention and needing re-assessment. Much of your communication may not be heard or understood by others. Therefore, try to be very clear when communicating, speak slowly, listen well. Be non-judgmental, call forth compassion, retreat for a while. This retrograde for you is a time of deep quiet, prayer and understanding forgiveness.

SCORPIO: With friends and in groups all plans may be delayed, changed or not happen at all. Those close to you may seem distant (remember everyones internal during retrogrades), quiet or confused. Friends, places, ideas from the past make contact and you consider returning somewhere, to a place, a group or to friendships from long ago. Allow no heartache or anguish from the past to remain in your heart. Visualize, instead, warm tropical waters.

SAGITTARIUS: Notice if there is sensitivity (extra) around these subjects: money, partnerships, join resources/finances (something from the past?), speaking with superiors, thinking about career choices, communicating with co-workers, being misunderstood while in public, your life path, your future. It seems like every subject is sensitive. During Leo, we stand in the burning grounds, tested. Say over and over, Dont worry. Be happy. Know that youre perfect.

CAPRICORN: Rest a bit for the next four weeks, make no promises or important decisions, refrain from the following signing anything into permanence (it wont be), making travel plans, traveling long distances. Realize thinking, communications, interactions and especially (people) tending to your money (watch carefully) are internally focused so outer orderly realities wont make sense. It will be a crazy, mixed up, topsy-turvy time. Only you will know why. Dont be lonely. Or sad. Continue to do the Alan Watts meditation of laughing all the time.

AQUARIUS: You want to be practical with money and resources. After the retrograde travel would be good. For now, consider new goals concerning money and resources, reaffirm what is of value to you. Eliminate what is no longer useful or what you havent used, touched or looked at in the past several months. Use this retrograde time of Mercury in Virgo to research, order, organize and visualize new ways of living, building community and finding your like-minded companions. Consider all dreams as practical.

PISCES: Maintain clear a communication with partners, intimates and those close to you. All relationships may enter into a phase of mis-understanding, perhaps disappointments, criticisms, over-reactions, mixed messages and perhaps the need to call upon mediation for understanding to occur. Pisces also at this time must begin to assess the value of their own thoughts, decisions and needs and discriminate between the self and their beloveds. A difficult task, but necessary. A new home might be necessary.

Risa writer, teacher, mentor, counselor, astrologer, esotericist

Founder/director Esoteric & Astrological Studies & Research Institute

Email risagoodwill@gmail.com

Website http://www.nightlightnews.org/

FB Risa DAngeles & Risas Esoteric Astrology

Note all FB posts are also on NLN under Daily Studies.

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Topsy-Turvy World Murcury Retrogrades in Virgo | The Free Weekly - The Free Weekly

A new biography of James Rose explores his difficult brilliance.

Words! Can we ever untangle them? reads James Roses opening salvo in Pencil Points. Appearing in the definitive journal of modernist design thought, the landscape designers 1939 essay rejects preconceived ideas of formal or informal design and makes the case for an organic and materials-based approachan argument approaching revelation at a time when Beaux-Arts methodologies held sway.

Reading the text today, Roses words cut through the decades, carrying with them equal doses of wit, creativity, and frustration with the status quo. An uncompromising designer from his time in and out of Harvard (he was expelled in 1937, later returned but never graduated) to his death in 1991, Rose is the subject of the latest volume of the Masters of Modern Landscape Design series published in association with the Library of American Landscape History and the University of Georgia Press. Its the first biography dedicated to the landscape architect, who although a prolific writer throughout his career and author of four of his own books, has yet to receive the kind of canonical recognition bestowed on his Harvard classmates Garrett Eckbo and Dan Kiley.

As director of the James Rose Center for Landscape Architectural Research and Designa nonprofit located at Roses Ridgewood, New Jersey, homethe books author, Dean Cardasis, FASLA, is well-placed to untangle the competing forces of Roses career. Few of Roses works survive in their original form, and a spare eight are presented as illustrated case studiesa fraction of the more than 80 projects produced in his lifetime. Much of the book is devoted to advocating for Roses achievements while trying to account for the designers disillusionment with the culture of postwar landscape architecture and his eventual self-imposed exile to suburban New Jersey. Although these two threads are not in opposition, they do place a strain on the narrative, suggesting a portrait of a man whose increasing radicalism over the course of decadesfrom modernism to ad hoc material sensibilities to environmentalismcontributed to his own isolation. He was a rebels rebel from the start, an incisive critic destined to follow his own path, Cardasis says.

Early in the prologue for the book, Cardasis describes his first encounter with a 76-year-old Rose (just a couple years before his death). The passage is clearly loving, but also disconcerting. A disheveled and mismatched Rose steps out of a rusty, egg-yolk-colored 1970s VW van, and Cardasis writes: An incredibly long, almost wizard-like straw hat grazed his shoulders and shaded his face. As he looked up I could see he was wearing glasses, but one frame was empty, and the remaining one held a tinted sunglass lens. In that instant I had my first silent lesson from the iconoclastic modern landscape architect James Rose: Have no preconceptions.

A view nearly without boundaries from inside to out at Roses house in Ridgewood, New Jersey. From Progressive Architecture (1954).

Its from this point that a revolutionary must be nudged into the historical fold. The task isnt easy, though it is most successful early in Roses biography. Cardasis, unpacking Roses interest in modernism, finds parallels in the spare poetry of William Carlos Williams and the easy spatial flow of Rudolph Schindlers Kings Road house, which serves as a precedent for Roses home in Ridgewood. In both projects, the use of outdoor rooms and landscape features illustrates Roses maxim that landscape design falls somewhere between architecture and sculpture.

Indeed, Roses own writings referenced modern artists such as Pablo Picasso and the Russian constructivist Naum Gabo. Rose even wrote that a Georges Braque still life and Kurt Schwitterss Rubbish Construction are interesting suggestions for gardens. The book describes that fascination with collage and assemblage, tracking it through Roses work, where it appears initially in the model Rose made of his future home while in the navy, the materials scavenged from around his military station, or in the scrap metal fountains he improvised in the 1960s and 1970s. The author continues this line of argument to suggest Roses use of recycled railroad ties and asphaltused for the steps and terraces of the Averett Garden and House in Columbus, Georgia (1959)as an example of Roses affinity for found objects.

But later, as modernism gave way to countercultural influences, it is harder to pin Rose down. Cardasis chronicles the designers withdrawal from mainstream landscape architecture and, more generally, American culture, citing a growing aversion to the impact of postwar suburban development on the existing landscape as the cause. He quotes from Roses 1958 book Creative Gardens as evidence: The recipe is simple: first, spoil the land by slicing it in particles that will bring the most dollars, add any house that has sufficient selling gimmicks to each slice, and garnish with landscaping.

Perhaps as a respite, Rose began traveling regularly to Japan and eventually began practicing Zen Buddhism. He went to Japan in 1960, and that started a love affair with the country that went on for his whole life, Cardasis told me by phone. Rose found inspiration in the Eastern tradition, especially in the attitudes to the natural world.

Rose and a carpenter confer during roof garden construction in 1970. Courtesy James Rose Center.

Given Roses then-radical understanding of landscape architecture as an integration of spatial and natural conditions, the banal blanketing of suburban conventions across the United States would surely account for his retreat; however, Rose was not alone in his critique. Other writers, designers, and artists of the period shared his early environmentalist stirrings, so it is strange to find few references, especially given the wealth of parallels drawn in support of Roses embrace of modernism. The book makes brief and tantalizing allusion to significant countercultural figures: Timothy Leary (Rose apparently dropped LSD with him but wondered what the fuss was all about) and Alan Watts (Rose studied with him but then renounced Wattss teachings). It would seem that his cantankerous personality instigated isolation as much as his ideology.

The biography doesnt hide that Rose was gay, though the narrative doesnt put emphasis on the designers sexuality as an overt source of his outsiderness. As you know, Rose lived in a time when being gay was extremely difficult, and I can only imagine how that influenced his life and work, Cardasis said in an e-mail. Because of this and in deference to his expressed wishes not to belabor the fact, I did not explore the issue further than a simple reference to his sexuality in the book. More (or less), I thought, would be inappropriate. The result of this tact, however, is that the biography seems a bit closetedthe queerness in Roses methods left for others to explore at a later time.

Despite his iconoclasm, there were moments that suggest possible connections between Rose and other practitioners. For the 1960 issue of Progressive Architecture, the editors asked Rose, Lawrence Halprin, and Karl Linnthe environmentalist, activist, and pioneer of urban gardeningto review each others work. Roses Macht Garden and House in Baltimore from 1956 was subject to strong critique by the others for its expressiveness, particularly what was termed the incessant angled terraces. While Cardasis characterizes the grouping of designers as something the magazine cooked up, as if it were a bit of a stunt, there was clearly editorial intent here to make alignments between three landscape architects operating outside the conventional mien, with anticipatory ties to social and ecological movements. As Roses work reenters the canon, more research is needed to better situate it historically.

Eleanore Pettersen, the architect for the Paley house, brought Rose on to design the garden. The site was a rocky, sloping woodland. Drawn by R. Hruby (1994); Courtesy James Rose Center.

Did Rose deliberately push away his contemporaries and potential allies? Its likely. He was never shy about getting into arguments with clients, but he also had his defenders. In the 1970s and 1980s, he collaborated with the architect Eleanore Pettersen on some 30 projects. In addition to sharing his design sensibilities in terms of fluid relationships between inside and outside, she often acted as Roses advocate, especially when he put off clients and building officials. There seems to be more to explore here between the iconoclastic designer and his champion. Pettersen apprenticed with Frank Lloyd Wright and was the first woman architect to start her own practice in New Jersey in the early 1950s. One cant help but wonder why someone who probably had to fight against social norms throughout her career would willingly stand up for the volatile Rose. The answer in the biography points again to Roses possessing an irascible genius, the nature of which compelled others to be forbearing. This was a period of his practice when he would meditate in the morning and then go build improvisationally on site without drawings. Pettersen, interviewed in 1992, is quoted in the biography simply telling clients: It will be worth it.

Justification for that value is elusive and impressionistic. Because of that lack of documentation, the James Rose foundation has a limited record of projects to refer to for backup. Although he published regularly early in his career, writing essays and three books from the 1930s through the 1960s, Roses pace slowed afterward, and he published his last book, The Heavenly Environment: A Landscape Drama in Three Acts with a Backstage Interlude, in 1987. Ultimately, it is Roses own home, now the James Rose Center for Landscape Architectural Research and Design, that serves as an interpretative text for understanding the work: handmade, iterative, and as quixotic as its author, with courtyards, roof gardens, and a Zendo, each in various states of repair.

The biography puts forth a belief that understanding Roses later oeuvre comes mostly through understanding his singular methodology. Words are left behind to untangle. You can feel it when you go to the site, Cardasis says. As you move through, the garden seems as if it could go on forever. There was no plan as an approach; he just moved through, adjusting things to make people aware of their connectedness to things larger than themselves.

Mimi Zeiger is a critic and curator based in Los Angeles.

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TRACES OF SELF-EXILE - Landscape Architecture Magazine

Together with Vlad Tenev, second-generation American Baiju Bhatt founded the stock brokerage service Robinhood, which lets users trade public stocks from their mobile devices without paying a commission or maintaining a minimum balance. Their app has over 2 million users. Baiju started Robinhood, his third company with Vlad, when he was just 27. Heres how he works.

Location: Palo Alto, CACurrent gig: Robinhood Co-Founder and Co-CEOOne word that best describes how you work: Scientifically.Current mobile device: iPhone 6SCurrent computer: A 2013 MacBook Pro that is covered in stickers

Im an only child and the son of two immigrants; my parents moved to the United States when my father was accepted to a PhD program in theoretical physics at University of Huntsville Alabama. I grew up in a small townPoquoson, VAand went to school at Stanford, following in my dads footsteps to study physics. In college, I met Vlad Tenev, who at the time was a long-haired, string-bean kid with a quirky sense of humor and a penchant for late-night games of chess. The two of us would become the best of friends and go on to co-create two companies in New York together before starting Robinhood in California.

My ballpoint pen and my Moleskine notebook.

Its pretty simple: an external monitor and my laptop.

I run outside almost every day of the week. Ill usually step out during lunch for an hour-long jog around the neighborhoods of Palo Alto and through Stanford campus. It helps me clear my head and put all the things Ive been thinking about back together in creative ways. Also, by the time I get back, Im energetic and generally feeling awesome.

I use the Notes Mac app. Its simple and gets the job done!

I have always had strong willpower. Over the years, Ive overcome challenges when Ive set my mind to them, which has proven especially relevant as Ive created Robinhood and grown as a leader.

A personal but very important example comes from my childhood. As a kid, I had always struggled with being overweight. When I was a sophomore in high school, I decided I wanted to change that once and for all. That spring, I started exercising every single day, and by the time I started junior year, I had lost nearly 70 pounds. I looked and felt like a completely different person.

Lately Ive really liked the new Arcade Fire tracks, Everything Now and Creature Comfort. Im usually listening to music while I work, though mostly instrumental stuff since its difficult for me to hear lyrics and write or read at the same time. A few albums on heavy rotation are Moon Safari by Air & Selected Ambient Works 85-92 by Aphex Twin. Oh, and for a fun fact: In college I played guitar in a jazz/funk band and I DJed under the moniker Thelonious Moustache.

Last week I read a graphic novel called Head Lopper which just has awesome artwork. Last month I took a trip to Japan and read The Way of Zen by Alan Watts. That was fantastic too.

I spend so much of my time either using technology or thinking about building technology, so I like to spend my free time on old-fashioned, analog activities. Two of my favorite ways to recharge include going for long walks in the forests behind Stanford and playing cards with my friends.

Im usually out of bed by 7AM. I like beating the Bay Area traffic by getting into the office early, plus I get at least an hour most mornings to work on personal projects before Im pulled into meetings.

Alexander Hamilton

Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you havent found it yet, keep looking. Dont settle. As with all matters of the heart, youll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Dont settle. Steve Jobs, Stanford Commencement Speech 2005

This interview has been lightly edited for clarity.

The How I Work series asks heroes, experts, and flat-out productive people to share their shortcuts, workspaces, routines, and more. Have someone you want to see featured, or questions you think we should ask? Email Nick.

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I'm Baiju Bhatt, Robinhood CEO, and This Is How I Work - Lifehacker