Expanding World

Daylight Hours Explorer

2010-06-21T09:57:00.003-04:00

What a cool little application: a Daylight Hours Explorer. Plug in your latitude and the day of the year you are interested in, and the graph will show you how many hours of daylight you have that day. What a great way to calculate play time! (click on the image below to launch).

Daylight Hours Explorer

Dect Phones and Microwave Radiation on the Electrosensitive

2010-04-12T16:04:00.000-04:00

Study shows, unequivocally, that microwave radiation from a cordless DECT phone immediately affects the heart causing arrhythmia and tachycardia (irregular and rapid heart rate) at non-thermal levels well below federal guidelines.

The Illinois Presidential Inaugural Gala

2009-01-28T08:54:00.006-05:00

Here are some video snippets of my night at the Illinois Presidential Inaugural Gala at the Renaissance Washington DC Hotel on January 19, 2009 - the eve of the inauguration of our new president and vice president, Barack Obama and Joe Biden. What a treat it was to go. Special thanks to The Southern Winds Band and Chad for the comp ticket. ;-)

Bush: A Review of 8 Years

2009-01-26T10:42:00.015-05:00

Keith Olbermann: I love him. Here's his succinct, emphatic, and heart-wrenching list of the travesties wrought by GW Bush, Dick Cheney and those with whom they colluded at incalculable expense on inconceivable levels.

What do these crimes and violations against our citizenship, the world's people and nature say about our nation and our system of justice? If money and power can so readily supersede truth and accountability, do we have real democracy?

Olbermann / Bush Years: 8 In 8 Minutes (Friday, 16 January, 2009)
Full transcript

Proposition 2 is Passed in CA

2008-11-11T12:18:00.016-05:00

Fantastic! California's Proposition 2—the Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act—won 63% of the votes on Nov 4, so the statute passed. The proposition will prohibit confining some farm animals in a manner that does not allow them to turn around freely, lie down, stand up, and fully extend their limbs.

Unfortunately, the animals that will benefit from this—calves raised for veal, egg-laying hens and pregnant pigs—may have to wait until January 1, 2015 for any change in the deplorable treatment they currently receive. Farming operations have until that date to implement the new space requirements. Also unfortunately, a failure to comply will result only in misdemeanor penalties, including a fine not to exceed $1,000 and/or imprisonment in jail for up to 180 days.

The good news is that farm animal treatment is gaining exposure as an issue of tremendous importance. When we understand that the way we treat farm animals affects us directly and indirectly in multiple and significant ways—health, economy, and environmental sustainability, to name a few—we will make choices more circumspectly. Everyone gains, and most importantly our animal friends are accorded a life more worth living.

Photo by Phillie Casablanca. Creative Commons.

Fighting to Keep Food Local at Polyface Farm

2008-09-21T22:18:00.007-04:00

Joel Salatin is an amazing writer, speaker, community-based agriculture advocate and owner of Polyface Farm in Swoope, VA. In this short video, he succinctly explains the methods he uses to farm. I've been a customer of Joel's for roughly a decade, and I continue to appreciate the many gifts he gives, including the best eggs, poultry and pork I've ever had. Joel informs as well as inspires, and you'll see why in this video. (Apologies ahead of time for the commercials in the video - I wish I could take them out...)

Also below: a video about a measure being proposed in California - Proposition 2 - to require more humane treatment of factory farm animals. If it is passed, it will be a great boon for animals, farmers, and consumers.

Update on Yoo-hoo Creature

2008-05-12T22:16:00.034-04:00

This afternoon I received a letter from the Consumer Relations department at Cadbury Schweppes "America's Beverages" in Plano, Texas. They apologized "for any inconvenience this
situation may have caused," and stated that "we have forwarded your comments to our quality assurance team." As a gesture of good will, they enclosed two coupons, each worth "up to $4.29" for any of their regular or diet drinks.

I do appreciate them sending the letter. However, I wonder how they arrived at $8.58 as an agreeable gesture of conciliation for a consumer who imbibed a rancid, bacteria-laden drink of theirs with a dead snake in it (or worm, leach, salamander, newt, fluke or whatever it was) and its egg sac.

I also wonder how many other people around the world have unwittingly consumed tainted beverages from their factories. I wonder what their factories are like - what their "food" production system entails. I wonder where they get their water from. I wonder how rotten that drink would have to be in order for someone to get seriously sick from one sip. I wonder if Erica has been subjected to something insidiously disease-promoting. I wonder if the company is more aware than they may let on about serious quality issues.

I believe Cadbury Schweppes cares about our experience, and I will tell them this. But I wonder if it will change anything. I hope so!

Yoo-hoo Critter

2008-05-07T16:30:00.028-04:00

Here are a few photos of an amphibious creature and her egg sac that were in the Yoo-hoo bottle Erica took a swig from on Tuesday, April 29, 2008. Evidently the critter was alive when it entered the Yoo-hoo food prep system, but was dead by the time Erica popped the bottle top.

How disgusting: bacteria-laden, dead-animal filled Yoo-hoo!

Erica seems to be fine, although she'll never forget the shocking taste of the rancid liquid and her subsequent horror in realizing what was in the bottle.

If you're tempted to buy Yoo-hoo, please think twice. And check out this CBS story from Nov '06 of a woman with a similar encounter: she found a human appendage in her Yoo-hoo.

Here's a video of Erica and Alexa describing the experience.

And here's most of the report I filed with the US Food and Drug Administration, after speaking with Yoo-hoo ("We've received a few similar calls"), Erica's doctor (who wouldn't see her because she had no overt, related symptoms after 3 days), the Anne Arundel County Department of Health ("We only license the stores and handle out of date products"), and the Maryland Department of Health ("Call the FDA").

Description of Complaint/Injury: On Tuesday, April 29, 2008, my daughter, Erica, took a sip of a Yoo-hoo drink directly from the bottle and encountered a horrendous, offensive, toxic taste. Her friend, Alexa, looked in the bottle and said, “There’s something black in there.” I looked inside the bottle and noted the same, so I took the bottle to the kitchen sink and poured out the liquid so that I could detect what the black object was. Into the sink poured two objects: 1) a 3” snake-like animal, and 2) a jelly-like substance with multiple black bumps in it – presumably an egg sac.
Amount Consumed & Date and Time Consumed: Erica swallowed perhaps 1-2 mouthfuls of the tainted Yoo-hoo liquid that was in the bottle. Date consumed: Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Initials Symptoms: Erica’s immediate reaction to swallowing the liquid was one of extreme distaste. She spent a good deal of time washing out her mouth to try to alleviate this. After we discovered the animal and its sac, Erica was horrified (as Alexa and I were as well); Erica fell on the floor in disgust. The following day (Wednesday, April 30, 2008) Erica had a stomach ache. On Friday, May 1, 2008, her school nurse called me to say that Erica was sick and needed to return home from school. Erica went to her doctor.
Brand Name of Product: Yoo-hoo Chocolate Drink
Size and Package Type: 9 FL OZ (266mL) glass bottle
Name and Location of Store where Purchased: Unknown store; bottle came from a 6 pack and was purchased in Maryland
Package Code/Serial Number: Inked number on face of glass bottle: 305236-2035 CT897
Expiration/Use by Date: None indicated
UPC Code: 723584
Toll free phone numbers or e-mail address listed on labeling: 1-800-966-4669
Contact information made with manufacturer, distributor, or place of purchase: On Wednesday, April 30, 2008 I called Yoo-hoo customer service at 1-800-966-4669. Crystal S. opened up my case #[xxx]. I reported the incident in detail. She related that she had received a few other similar calls. She apologized on behalf of the company and said there was nothing really that they could do since I had disposed of the liquid. She said that if my daughter got sick that I should call.

If this isn't enough to sway you to not drink Yoo-hoo, then consider this list of ingredients. It doesn't exactly say "yum yum."

Water, dairy whey, high fructose corn syrup and/or sugar, non-fat milk, corn syrup solids, cocoa (processed with potassium carbonate), soybean oil (partially hydrogenated), sodium caseinate (protein source), salt, tricalcium phosphate, dipotassium phosphate, xanthum gum, guar gum, mono-and diglycerides, vanillin (an artificial flavor), soy lechitin, calcium ascorbate (vitamin C), natural flavor, vitamin A palmiate, niacinamide (vitamin B3), vitamin D3 and riboflavoin (vitamin B2)

Sweet Misery - A Poisoned World

2008-04-20T08:52:00.011-04:00

Sweet Misery - A Poisoned World is a compelling documentary about the toxic effects of aspartame, one of the most widespread chemical food additives in the world. WATCH THE MOVIE BELOW.

"Narrator Cori Brackett had a strange cause-and-effect experience with the diet cokes she was drinking and quickly found herself disabled and diagnosed with MS. Slowly able to walk and speak again, she believes her illness is linked to aspartame. After 7000 miles, and 25 hours of footage, Sweet Misery will reveal one of the most pervasive, insidious forms of corporate negligence since tobacco." imdb.com

Some facts about aspartame:

Aspartame was approved for widespread use in the U.S. in July 1983. Within six months, brain tumor rates climbed 10%, diabetes went up 30% and brain lymphoma tumors skyrocketed 60%.
Aspartame is also sold as NutraSweet and Equal.
The National Institutes of Health in 1991 listed 167 symptoms and reasons to avoid the use of aspartame.
Some of the most common symptoms caused by aspartame include headaches, migraines, dizziness, seizures, nausea, numbness, muscle spasms, weight gain, rashes, depression, fatigue, irritability, tachycardia, insomnia, vision problems, hearing loss, heart palpitations, breathing difficulties, anxiety attacks, slurred speech, loss of taste, tinnitus, vertigo, memory loss, and joint pain.
Aspartame is made up of three chemicals: aspartic acid, phenylalanine, and methanol. Prescription for Nutritional Healing (James and Phyllis Balch) lists aspartame under the category "chemical poison."
Some resources indicate that aspartame may be found in more than 9000 consumable products. It is becoming increasingly difficult to avoid.

Resources:
Read some consumer reviews of the movie
Aspartame: What You Don't Know Can Hurt You
Could You Be Suffering from an Aspartame-related Illness?
Alternative site for viewing the movie

From Sound and Fury Productions Inc., 2004 (89 minutes)

Why I Eat Organic Foods

2008-01-25T16:22:00.003-05:00

Photo: Warren Wilson College (Asheville, NC) where students grow organic foods that are served on campus

Needing a label like “Certified Organic” is an indictment of our ill society. We shouldn’t need a label to tell us that the foods we buy and eat are viable. All foods should be produced in balance with nature. All foods should support optimum health and well-being. And all foods should be ethically grown and distributed.

But the industrial agricultural system in the United States is so far removed from reasonable, health-promoting, sustainable and ethical that a label like “organic” is indeed needed.

In legal terms, organic means crops are grown “without the use of conventional pesticides, artificial fertilizers, human waste, or sewage sludge,” and are processed without ionizing radiation or food additives. It means animals are “reared without the routine use of antibiotics and without the use of growth hormones. In most countries, organic produce must not be genetically modified.” (Wikipedia)

In philosophic terms, organic signifies respect for nature’s wisdom. It shows appreciation for the foundations of health and for the basics of good food production and consumption. And it illustrates what is critical in our society for our health and well being—particularly since both are statistically rapidly declining.

Most of the food I buy and eat is organic. This is because I want to be healthy in body, mind, and spirit. The chemicals used in so-called “conventional” farming are neurotoxins—polychlorinated bromides, herbicides, pesticides, dioxins, antibiotics, and furines—all poisonous to our nervous system. So if you eat non-organic food from the average American grocery store, you are putting these toxins in your body bite after bite, day after day, year after year, decade after decade.

All of these toxins are traceable to neurological disorders, whether or not the FDA, the EPA, the USDA and the AMA acknowledge it. We don’t have to look any farther than our homes and workplaces, schools, churches and gathering places of any other sort—not to mention doctor’s offices and hospitals—to see the plethora of neurological disorders that toxins cause: Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, autism, epilepsy, migraines, hyperactivity, attention deficit, etc. Many studies show that these disorders have increased manifold in the last 50 years, since we began our industrial agricultural practices. Before then, the major causes of disease were pestilence and contagion.

I also eat organically because I want to help protect the earth. When I eat organic foods, I feel pleased and proud that I am supporting change in the way Earth and nature are treated. Organic agriculture works in harmony with nature: it protects water sources, it builds and protects soil, and it enhances the diversity of animal and plant species, all of which are essential to maintaining a balance in our ecosystems.

Water, air, animals, vegetables, fruits, grains and soil are all part of our natural resources, whether or not we consume them. So when we squander, waste and destroy these resources, as industrial agriculture does, everyone and everything loses. But as we build up the resources and respect their value and sustainability, we provide for ourselves in both the short run and the long run. And we can have a sense of pride that we are being good stewards of the Earth.

Organic food tastes better, too. Flavor isn’t a deal breaker for me, but it’s a strong motivator because I want to eat tasty food as well as healthy food. One of my most sensory memories from childhood is sitting on my front porch eating a ripe, whole tomato. It was sweet, salty, juicy, crunchy and bursting with flavor. How delicious! It’s not often that a tomato like that can be found anymore, especially with genetic engineering, where your tomato might even include flounder fish genes. Who is this benefiting? When I eat organic, I feel the essence of health in every flavorful bite. And I feel like I’m nurturing myself and anyone I’m cooking for with the simplicity and perfection of nature’s brand.

With all these benefits, why not eat organic? Price? Other quality issues? If we examine true cost, we can see that the extra cents we may pay per pound for organic food is monumentally less than what we ultimately pay in hidden costs as our health care is affected, the environment degrades, crop variety diminishes, animals are exploited, antibiotic resistance increases, hormone disruption takes its infertile toll, CO2 emissions are worsened globally, small farmers are trampled…the list is extensive. To me, the most serious issue of all is that with genetic engineering the miracle of life, regeneration, is being removed from seeds! We don’t have to peer far into the future to see the catastrophe that this forebodes.

As I eat organic foods, I feel that I am doing more than just putting good food on my plate. I feel that I am supporting my health and well being and that of my family, the environment, the farmers who are freed from toxic chemical handling, our economy (which depends upon our natural resources, with citizens being part of those resources), the animals, and all the leaders in the organic foods movement who have, much at their own expense, helped guide consumers and fierce industrial foes to look at the benefits for all in returning to some of the basics of respecting, valuing, appreciating, and honoring each other and nature in its infinite expression.

We can move forward as consumers by buying and eating organic foods. We also need to encourage elected leaders to put our true welfare ahead of donor interests. The USDA and members of Congress are heavily influenced by the multi-billion dollar industrial agriculture industry, and are moving to lower organic standards and seize control of the organic label. We must work to keep the integrity of the label. Organics need strong and reliable political and institutional support in order to flourish.

Enjoy your health and happiness!

Happy Today!

2007-12-29T18:00:00.000-05:00

Photo: Erica in Pennsylvania; Art: Chad

There is no tomorrow, there is only today:
the moment, the present, the presence of spirit,
the divinity of life, the love of life.

May I live in love in this moment, always.

Expanding World 2007

2007-12-11T21:54:00.001-05:00

Here's a photo reflection of 2007 in my life, dedicated to Laurie, my sister, who passed away on January 5th. May 2008 bring peace into our world and much joy into our lives! Sending love and best wishes. Linda

"Rhythm & Roots Fest" Revelry

2007-09-07T22:03:00.001-04:00

Here's a movie of my photos from this past weekend at the Rhythm & Roots Festival (Charlestown, RI).

Some related photo libraries:
Beth Fridinger
Alex's Zydeco Pictures

Real Love Makes the World Dance

2007-08-29T15:05:00.000-04:00

This weekend is the Rhythm & Roots festival in Rhode Island, with Donna the Buffalo and a host of other excellent bands. What fun it will be to share friendship, music, dancing, good food and great weather in the lovely outdoors! Erica painted this vibrant poster for our trip (thank you Erica!) with lyrics from DTB's "Love and Gasoline" (Tara Nevins):

"Sunrise and the whole world sees
All that lays before is made for you and me
Real love makes the world dance
Universal language stands a fighting chance"

Here's to unity in our world. May we love one another and be in peace -- a dance for living, a dance for life!

Life Force

2007-07-07T11:51:00.000-04:00

Sun, you are my lover.
River, you are my brother.
Trees, you are my closest companions.
Earth, you are the cradle of my life force.

(Photo: Brighton Dam in Maryland)

For James

2007-06-27T22:10:00.000-04:00

God bless you, Jaime, on your new soul path. May it be resplendent with joy, wonder, beauty, happiness and health. You enriched my life with your friendship, your music, your heart full of love and your openness always. Thank you. I send love and hopes that our spirit paths will cross again.

James passed away on June 25, 2007 (Photo courtesy of Roy)

Uniting to Solve a Problem

2007-05-23T09:21:00.001-04:00

Al Gore was at UMBC a couple of weeks ago to give his inconvenient truth presentation. The audience was 4000 strong and included MD Senators Mikulski and Sarbanes. He was an excellent speaker—engaging, inspiring, reflective, and warm. I’m so glad Erica, Eric, Lindsey and I could be there together. It was a beautiful and exciting spring evening!

If global warming will be our children’s greatest challenge in their adult years, how will our world be different then? Will the scientific community be united on key issues? Will advocacy groups be adequately represented? Will researchers have access to unbiased resources? Will politicians put health and welfare ahead of donor interests? Will businesses respect the precautionary principle? Will laymen embrace knowledge-seeking with zeal? Will skeptics be receptive to new ideas about change? How will we unite as the community of mankind to help solve a shared problem?

Information about global warming streams daily from newspapers, the Internet, books, speakers, friends, magazines, etc. It’s easy to amass information and questions about how humans impact the Earth and what Earth’s natural rhythms are apart from our human influence.

All questions, though, ultimately seem to point to our relationship with nature, Earth, and the universe. It seems hard to deny that we are one and that one of our greatest human challenges is to respect, value, and appreciate our role in nurturing one another.

For our children, Laurie David and Cambria Gordon have written The Down-to-Earth Guide to Global Warming to help understand why global warming happens and how we can work together to stop it. It’s scheduled for publication by Scholastic, Inc. in September 2007.

(Photo from Apollo 11, July 16, 1969)

Mother's Day

2007-05-14T20:49:00.000-04:00

Laurie:
You will always be Mom to Kevin and Bob,
always Aunt Laurie to Erica
and always Laur to me.
We're thinking of you now,
everyday missing you.
Where are you in spirit?
We feel you here forever.
We love you. God bless you.
Let us know how you’re doing in your new life.

Happy Birthday, Mom

2007-05-06T09:51:00.000-04:00

Today is Mom’s 75th birthday — happy birthday! We celebrated at Ceiba last night, an enticing Latin-American restaurant in DC named after the town in Puerto Rico near where Mom, Dad and Laurie lived when Laurie was born. Dinner was excellent: albondigas, beef empanadas, pork feijoadas, crab torrejitas and black beans with margaritas, pina coladas, and sangria — so good! We toasted Mom and remembered Laurie, who was with us at the restaurant some months after it opened in 2003. A bright and colorful mural of tropical birds was our backdrop, an image of joy and beauty that is always Puerto Rico. Check out the photos of a magnificent 300-year old ceiba tree on the island of Vieques, off PR's east coast near Ceiba.

Goodbye Violence

2007-04-27T12:50:00.000-04:00

“By age 18 an American child will have seen 16,000 simulated murders and 200,000 acts of violence.” -- Senate Committee on the Judiciary

In 1999 the Senate Committee on the Judiciary published its report on "Children, Violence, and the Media." It had reviewed more than 1,000 studies on the effects of television and film violence conducted since 1960, and found that the majority had reached the same conclusion: TV and film violence leads to real-world violence.

How wonderful it is, then, that this week has been TV-Turnoff Week. The idea started in 1995 by the Center for Screen-Time Awareness in order to “raise awareness about the harmful effects of excessive television-watching, and encourage Americans to replace TV time with activities that lead to more literate, productive lives and engaged citizenship.” The Center estimates that since ’95 more than 30 million people have taken part, with 20 million more taking part this year.

"American children and adolescents spend 22 to 28 hours per week viewing television, more than any other activity except sleeping. By the age of 70 they will have spent 7 to 10 years of their lives watching TV." -- The Kaiser Family Foundation

What a perfect time it is for parents, schools, religious organizations, and anyone wanting our focus on violence to be diminished, to promote alternative activities not just for children but for everyone. Here’s an exciting and helpful list of ideas from the TV-Turnoff Week group to help us say goodbye to violence and hello to activities we can fully enjoy:

Volunteer in a school to teach reading, math, computer skills. Learn to play the guitar or another musical instrument. Attend community concerts. Organize a community clean-up. Put together a puzzle. Attend library activities. Borrow a book. Go ice skating or roller skating. Paint a picture, a mural or a room. Attend a high school sporting event. Find out about your area's community center or park's activities. Go swimming. Join a community swim team. Read a book aloud to your younger sister/brother. Plan a picnic or barbecue. Go bird watching. Volunteer for a community organization or charity. Play with your pet. Go dancing. Write a letter to a friend or relative. Cook. Plant a flower, vegetable or herb garden. Read magazines or newspapers. Plan a slumber party. Start a neighborhood basketball, soccer, or kickball game. Go camping (even if it's just in the backyard!). Join a singing group. Go through your closets and clothes and donate surplus items to Goodwill, the Salvation Army or a local rummage sale. Start a diary/journal. Go to a museum. Take a nature hike. Collect seeds and leaves, then make a collage with the materials you collected and give it to someone. Play cards. Start a community exercise group that power walks, runs, or bikes. Read a story to a family member. Get out the family photo album. Research your family history. Go listen to a local band. Make crafts to give as gifts. Make up a story and write it down. Learn to say simple phrases in a few different languages. Ask a family member to tell you a story about his or her childhood. Write about it. Learn some new riddles or jokes. Bake two batches of cookies, one for your family and one for a neighbor. Watch the night sky through binoculars; identify the different constellations. Observe the moon. Visit a local bookstore. Walk to work or school. Start a kids bowling league. Train for a 5K race. Teach a neighbor about a computer program. Go fishing. Begin a family project. Have a party to celebrate a TV-free week!

(Photo: Baltimore, Maryland)

Trip to Brazil

2007-04-19T18:09:00.000-04:00

Here's a movie of my March trip to Brazil with work colleagues to meet with a group of participants in a public health training program. How wonderful it was to connect with everyone face-to-face after working online for a year. We celebrated our shared accomplishments and affirmed our interest in understanding, protecting, and preserving the health of people around the globe.

(Photo: Sao Paulo)

Virginia Tech Inspires Change

2007-04-17T23:04:00.000-04:00

Yesterday’s tragic shooting at Virginia Tech is profoundly saddening. Thirty-three people lost their lives through seemingly-senseless violence. Families lost beloved children, sisters, and brothers. Friends lost loving friends. The campus lost a sense of trust. Our country, our world is wounded deeper. Dissonance resonates as we try to understand how God, ill fortune, fate, or caprice could launch such a gruesome assault.

Some may feel that understanding is out of our grasp. In today’s Washington Post, for example, a writer says, “We always want there to be an answer, except there never is. We always want there to be a solution, and there is never one of those, either.”

I feel much truth in what the writer says, in light of the brutality. I wonder what possesses a young person with so many prospects for a meaningful life to be so commanded by fear and anger. What accounts for weapons being so readily available and desired? What drew 33 people together in this event and to the attention of the world? What as a society do we want to change to ameliorate our pitfalls? How can we cooperate with one another to achieve our ideals?

As confounding as the Virginia Tech event is, I still believe it’s valuable and necessary to examine all the questions we can think of. Through probing and searching, we can better understand why it happened and what patterns it conforms to. None of the influences in our complex world can remain hidden if we look closely with an open eye.

What I see in the elements of this event:

1. Violence: Our culture is obsessed with violence. We write, sell, buy, listen to, and sing violent songs. We do the same with ubiquitous television shows, movies, and video games that depict people hurting one another. We’re drawn to newspaper and other accounts of violence as it abounds the world over. And we support all the advertisers. At times this saturation makes us inured to violence; at other times it provokes us to engage our own angry and violent behavior. If it’s true, though, that we become what we think about, then why do we allow ourselves to think and breathe so much violence? Why not behave with the idea that peace on Earth and good will is a right of all mankind? By reducing our exposure to the energy of violence, we make a change in the energy of us.

2. Disease and Ill Health: As a nation we have one of the highest disease rates and health care costs of any country. Why? Are we eating real food anymore? Are we nourishing or abusing our bodies and minds with chemical compounds that we can barely pronounce in foods as simple as bread and butter? Are we pharmaceutical-happy? Does our medical establishment care more about detection and treatment than prevention and cure? If we learn more about the importance of pure water, clean air, and whole food, and release our dependence on substances foreign to Earth and to our physical bodies, then we can restore much of our health, our well being, and our overall ability to think clearly and in positive ways. Our behavior will always be tied to our thinking, and our thinking will always be dependent on a nervous system that ideally functions optimally.

3. "Rescue Me" Mentality: An ancient belief that we still collectively seem to hold still hold is that someone in a better position to help us than we are will make needed changes for us. This may not be a conscious thought, but if we look at society’s behavior, we often see its effects: rampant pollution that maybe someone else will clean; corporate fraud that maybe the public or the government will bail out; ill health that if the insurance company comes to the rescue then the medical establishment will cure. Who have we made responsible for our lives—the FDA, EPA, and USDA? industry executives, religious leaders? What is it we hold most dear—money? sexual image, food, power, big houses, big cars, big guns? If we want to create change in our society, I feel we could make a big impact by taking more responsibility for our own lives, giving new attention to what’s inside our minds and hearts (good will and love), getting more involved in activities that help promote and sustain health and well-being, and de-emphasizing some of the more materialistic aspects of our lives that may not serve us as well as we'd like. Ultimately, if each of us assumes a sense of being equal to and worthy of change, then change will extend deeper in our own rich lives, and we will be all the more rewarded.

What happened yesterday at Virginia Tech is stirring in so many ways. I am deeply sad about it, but I’m also encouraged and excited about the possibilities for change that it illuminates. Violence, fear, anger, destruction are emblems of our culture, elements of who we are as we grow and change. But they are also the flip side of peace, love, respect, and creation, which are all parts of us, too.

If we focus on the latter, we can transform the former, and be a shining light for all to see, an inspiration that begins at home.

NOTE: "States with higher levels of gun ownership consistently have higher levels of suicide, and that is not because of differences in poverty, unemployment, drug addiction or mental illness," according to a study led by Matthew Miller at the Harvard School of Public Health, published in The Journal of Trauma. More than 30,000 people committed suicide in 2004, Miller and his colleagues noted in the study; guns were used in more than half of those cases. -- (Shankar Vedantam, The Washington Post, April 16, 2007, published the morning of the shootings before they took place)

(Photo: Siler City, North Carolina)

Kurt Vonnegut Letter

2007-04-13T19:20:00.000-04:00

Yesterday Lia sent me a scanned copy of a Kurt Vonnegut letter. She works with a woman whose husband teaches at Xavier High School in New York City, where the author was invited to visit this year (2007). While Vonnegut declined, he wrote the letter to the students, closing with an illustration of himself (left). It’s an inspiring letter; I hope it’s okay to share it here. His zest for life, his playfulness, and his enthusiasm for creating are inspiring.

“I thank you for your friendly letters. You sure know how to cheer up a really old geezer (84) in his sunset years. I don't make public appearances any more because I now resemble nothing so much as an iguana.

What I had to say to you, moreover, would not take long, to wit: Practice any art, music, singing, dancing, acting, drawing, painting, sculpting, poetry, fiction, essays, reportage, no matter how well or badly, not to get money and fame, but to experience becoming, to find out what's inside you, to make your soul grow.

Seriously! I mean starting right now, do art and do it for the rest of your lives. Draw a funny or nice picture of Ms. Lockwood, and give it to her. Dance home after school, and sing in the shower and on and on. Make a face in your mashed potatoes. Pretend you're Count Dracula.

Here's an assignment for tonight, and I hope Ms. Lockwood will flunk you if you don't do it: Write a six line poem, about anything, but rhymed. No fair tennis without a net. Make it as good as you possibly can. But don't tell anybody what you're doing. Don't show it or recite it to anybody, not even your girlfriend or parents or whatever, or Ms. Lockwood. OK?

Tear it up into teeny-weeny pieces, and discard them into widely separate receptacles. You will find that you have already been gloriously rewarded for your poem. You have experienced becoming, learned a lot more about what's inside you, and you have made your soul grow.

God bless you all!
Kurt Vonnegut”

Happiness, Enthusiasm...

2007-04-11T09:53:00.000-04:00

If at my truest core I am a composite of thoughts, loving emotions, and infinite senses, then how can I adjust the way I use these aspects of myself in order to enhance the goodness in my life?

My affirmation: Today I will use my loving emotions (happiness, enthusiasm, excitement, joy...) to perceive all who are around me -- my fellow commuters, coworkers, people walking by me, family and friends, dancers in dance class, everyone! As I expand my awareness of my loving emotions and use them more freely, I feel the magnetism of love draw me to those of like mind. Good things come from expanding my awareness of the loving part of me.

TV Room

2007-04-10T23:00:00.000-04:00

Sleep, dear sister, quietly sleep.
Drift away from the waking limbo,
the pseudo reality of quacking reporters,
Philip Morris promos and cigarette smoke.

Sleep, dear sister, gently sleep,
remembering what used to be
in fresher days, cleaner days
of no toxins, tainted food,
polluted water or choking air --
a world in our dreams of what was.

People sleep, walk in sleep,
wallow in the oblivion and stupor
of ignorance, fear, and compulsion.
Why can’t we see the signs of destruction?
How can we learn to love ourselves, our world, and each other?

I think, pray, dream, believe
that we can wake into the dream of loving,
respecting our shared promise with Earth
to protect one another.

Sleep, dear sister, sleep one more day,
or two or three. Sleep as long as you can
until it’s time to be renewed, relieved, restored.

I love you, Laurie. Sleep in peace.

(December 12, 2006)
Laurie passed away on January 5, 2007