While you can click just about anywhere on the web for some richly informative bleakness, today I just want to make you smile.To begin I simply must plug a piece on Australia and Papua New Guinea's bowerbirds (http://.ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2010/07/bowerbirds/laman-photography). The males construct ground-based nests, some of which stretch to considerable heights, depending on the courtier's industriousness. Some even mash plants with their beaks and paint the bower's interior with the pigment. If the towering domicile, doorstep offerings (anything from flower petals to discards), and male's fervent calls all pass muster, a nearby female may declare it a love connection. The Planet Earth series has captured the ornate mating dances of the male birds in this region, but these nesting images must be seen to be believed... and snickered at, so enjoy the photo gallery.
And for those of you coming down from a long day, there's the movie Office Space--I do have "flair" in the post's title, after all. If you've labored for a not-so-great boss, endured a bit of career immobility, and seen the film (under five times), the mere mention might elicit something approaching amusement.
So hopefully I've provided some comedic contrast to life as we know it. And if not, oh well; I tried... and with flair, no less!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
What's Lush in Your Life?
Okay, don't tell me. One of my reminders arrived courtesy of a vivid dream in which I was attending a raucous party at last week's US Social Forum. I loved the music but the volume obscured the conversation I was trying to have with a new friend and the tempest of my irritation instantly engulfed everything, flipping my surroundings like contact cards in an old Rolodex while I remained stationary. When the dust settled, I found myself in a quieter, still populous setting with similarly soft lighting, finally able to hear all about Seattle's latest environmental initiatives.
I awoke with a clear sense that I had thoroughly enjoyed that situation and was just about to switch to another as one might do with a remote control. I consulted a few dream interpretation references and my virtual party-hopping fell under Order, warning me of the potential pitfalls of imposing it with rigidity. Taking the admonition to heart--I can go a bit overboard with everything from my yoga regimen to my daily objectives--I also noted the silver lining. While I'm no efficiency guru by any estimation, I have a slight knack for organization. I'm currently writing a book and the process would never have taken flight without a clear visual framework for each vignette and chapter.
By the way, I count the rollicking dream as a gift but I also have Apple to thank. The new iOS4 operating system offers a function that allows the grouping of iPhone apps into folders. To say that I've taken to the new option would be a vast understatement and the Great Rearrangement went on until I succumbed to sleep; after the sandman my subconscious took over. Dream interpretation is often inexact, tricky business but evidence exists suggesting the influence of the avocation immediately preceding sleep, which certainly proved instructive for me. So if you need some pointers in divining your personal lushness, (just once... or twice) deviate from your pre-bedtime ritual and see what happens.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
I awoke with a clear sense that I had thoroughly enjoyed that situation and was just about to switch to another as one might do with a remote control. I consulted a few dream interpretation references and my virtual party-hopping fell under Order, warning me of the potential pitfalls of imposing it with rigidity. Taking the admonition to heart--I can go a bit overboard with everything from my yoga regimen to my daily objectives--I also noted the silver lining. While I'm no efficiency guru by any estimation, I have a slight knack for organization. I'm currently writing a book and the process would never have taken flight without a clear visual framework for each vignette and chapter.
By the way, I count the rollicking dream as a gift but I also have Apple to thank. The new iOS4 operating system offers a function that allows the grouping of iPhone apps into folders. To say that I've taken to the new option would be a vast understatement and the Great Rearrangement went on until I succumbed to sleep; after the sandman my subconscious took over. Dream interpretation is often inexact, tricky business but evidence exists suggesting the influence of the avocation immediately preceding sleep, which certainly proved instructive for me. So if you need some pointers in divining your personal lushness, (just once... or twice) deviate from your pre-bedtime ritual and see what happens.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Monday, June 28, 2010
My Turn as a Villainess?
My dear friends in town for the US Social Forum have departed for their respective stomping grounds and I'm tidying up in more ways than one. As I collect towels and linens, I consider truly actualizing the cavalcade of ideas that came to me last week. Dare I say it but if only inspiration slowly trickled my way, one impression at a time, instead of the biweekly deluge.
Two documentaries I've absolutely adored of late, The End of the Line (http://www.endoftheline.com/film) and Blue Gold: World Water Wars (http://www.bluegold-worldwaterwars.com/index.html), point to an interesting culprit: me. I do shop, after all, and notwithstanding lax governmental regulations, the corporate powers that be have derived some of their might from me.
In imparting the projected collapses of both the seafood industry and oceanic biodiversity due to overfishing, The End of the Line avoids preachiness and pessimism. And Blue Gold: World Water Wars makes a concerted effort to end on a positive note, leaving the viewer, well me, to wonder why I didn't know the name of my area's watershed. I follow the news of domestic droughts and potable water shortages in other nations but the film points to a necessary update of our relationship to all our resources.
So I thought I was fairly conscientious in my spending; even my comics are printed on Forest Stewardship Council-certified paper. But unlike my gregarious comrades whom I already miss, hubris is a deceptive house guest, leaving behind trinkets and I need to tighten up my game if I am to find them all. I gave up all meat one year ago yet family and friends continue to rely on me as a resource when we dine together so I am calling in reinforcements from the Monterrey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch for some on-the-go, planet friendly decision-making. For you iPhoners, you may want to download the app at http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/SeafoodWatch/web/sfw_iphone.aspx (or iTunes) and for all other mobile phones, visit mobile.seafoodwatch.org. And while we're on the subject of eating locally and in season, there's also Locavore for iPhone (http://www.enjoymentland.com/locavore/).
Well, to bring this musing to a close, I'm adding "how long" (as in how long I let the faucet run, among other gleanings from the film) to the "what", "how much", and "where" of my shopping... at least until I set up shop in a self-sustaining homestead in which the procurement of virtually every resource involves my own labor. I have a feeling frugality won't be difficult then.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Two documentaries I've absolutely adored of late, The End of the Line (http://www.endoftheline.com/film) and Blue Gold: World Water Wars (http://www.bluegold-worldwaterwars.com/index.html), point to an interesting culprit: me. I do shop, after all, and notwithstanding lax governmental regulations, the corporate powers that be have derived some of their might from me.
In imparting the projected collapses of both the seafood industry and oceanic biodiversity due to overfishing, The End of the Line avoids preachiness and pessimism. And Blue Gold: World Water Wars makes a concerted effort to end on a positive note, leaving the viewer, well me, to wonder why I didn't know the name of my area's watershed. I follow the news of domestic droughts and potable water shortages in other nations but the film points to a necessary update of our relationship to all our resources.
So I thought I was fairly conscientious in my spending; even my comics are printed on Forest Stewardship Council-certified paper. But unlike my gregarious comrades whom I already miss, hubris is a deceptive house guest, leaving behind trinkets and I need to tighten up my game if I am to find them all. I gave up all meat one year ago yet family and friends continue to rely on me as a resource when we dine together so I am calling in reinforcements from the Monterrey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch for some on-the-go, planet friendly decision-making. For you iPhoners, you may want to download the app at http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/SeafoodWatch/web/sfw_iphone.aspx (or iTunes) and for all other mobile phones, visit mobile.seafoodwatch.org. And while we're on the subject of eating locally and in season, there's also Locavore for iPhone (http://www.enjoymentland.com/locavore/).
Well, to bring this musing to a close, I'm adding "how long" (as in how long I let the faucet run, among other gleanings from the film) to the "what", "how much", and "where" of my shopping... at least until I set up shop in a self-sustaining homestead in which the procurement of virtually every resource involves my own labor. I have a feeling frugality won't be difficult then.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
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