We’re Getting More Stoopider May 24, 2013
Posted by nrhatch in Life Balance, Mindfulness, Nature, People.Tags: Ape, Intelligence, Intelligence quotient, Kim Kardashian
21 comments
The idea behind Planet of the Apes is not so far-fetched.
As it turns out, apes are getting smarter while we, their closest relatives, are getting dumber with each passing generation.
Why?
Downward spiraling evolution.
Geneticists cite a number of contributing factors:
* We no longer need to be resourceful to survive. We rely on others for food, clothing, shelter . . . even allowing “them” to do our thinking.
* “Survival of the fittest” no longer weeds out losers in the IQ department.
* Intelligent women have fewer children while women with less intelligence breed in greater numbers.
I’ll add another factor . . . Reality TV, Pumpkin Chuckin, Monster Truck Rallies, and other entertainments aimed at the “lowest common denominator.”
Instead of engaging in intellectually stimulating debate on the “big issues” of the day, we spend time in mind-numbing pursuits causing brain atrophy.
Will our brains go the way of our tails, shrinking from non-use?
Will computers eventually do all our thinking for us?
Will the images from Planet of the Apes become our reality?
Perhaps.
Use it . . . or lose it.
If we brought an average citizen from 1,000 B.C. to the present, they would be far brighter than the average Joe of today:
“I would wager that if an average citizen from Athens of 1000 BC were to suddenly appear among us, he or she would be among the brightest and most intellectually alive of our colleagues and companies, with a good memory, a broad range of ideas, and a clear-sighted view of important issues.”
Gerald Crabtree, a geneticist at Stanford University, whose findings were published in the journal Trends in Genetics.
And, just think, that citizen of Athens is none the wiser about Kim Kardashian and celebrities of like ilk who garner far too much recognition and attention for far too little reason. Sometimes ignorance IS bliss!
Aah . . . that’s better!
What do YOU think?
Related articles: Dumb and Dumber ~ Humans are Losing Their Smarts (US News & World Report) * Leading Geneticist: Human Intelligence is Slowly Declining (Natural Society) * Idiocracy ~ the feel-bad comedy of the year
What You Lose on the Roundabout May 7, 2013
Posted by nrhatch in Humor, Life Balance, Life Lessons, Word Play.Tags: Life Balance, Life Lessons, Roundabout, Weekend Theme, Word Play
41 comments
When I first saw Sidey’s weekend theme ~ Swings and Roundabout ~ I didn’t know what she was on about.
So I decided to sit this one out.
Reading Col’s post, A Really Awful Spin on a Pendulum, gave me a glimmer of an inkling.
He shared an expression that no one had ever expressed or uttered before in my presence:
“What you lose on the swings you gain on the roundabout.”
As it turns out, the expression, and its vice versa, is British/Australian.
Here, in the USA, we tend to say, “you win some, you lose some.”
However you express the thought, it’s all about maintaining balance (and our sense of humor) in the face of life’s inevitable twists and turns.
A swing roundabout Google led me to an intriguing book, What You Lose on the Roundabout, written by a 57-year-old Brit misdiagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease who did just that ~ maintained her sense of humor (and got a tattoo!).
Did ya hear that Rosie? . . . she got a tattoo! 
Aah . . . that’s better!
The Sea of Endless Possibility April 28, 2013
Posted by nrhatch in Life Balance, Life Lessons, Meditation, Mindfulness.Tags: Change, Life Balance, Meditation, Time, Topsy-Turvy
26 comments
Rushing downhill, time rolls on, with change as a steadfast companion. No matter how hard we tug, they refuse to stop and allow us to catch our breath.
Life becomes a precarious balancing act with no net to catch us when we fall.
But we hold the remote.
When life becomes too topsy and we become too turvy, we can press “pause.”
In the silence of not-doing, we step out of the field of time and into the sea of endless possibility.
And our fear of falling and failing fades away.
Aah . . . that’s better!
Terza Rima April 27, 2013
Posted by nrhatch in Life Balance, Poetry, Word Play.Tags: Divine Comedy, Poetry, Rhyme, Rhyme scheme, Tercet, Terza Rima
46 comments
Have you ever written a Terza Rima?
A poem of three-line stanzas in which the end-word of the second line in the first tercet establishes the rhyme for the first and third lines in the following tercet and so on?
No? Me neither . . . until now.
Domenico di Michelino, La Divina Commedia di Dante (Dante and the Divine Comedy). 1465 fresco, in the dome of the church of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence (Florence’s cathedral). Dante Alighieri is shown holding a copy of his epic poem The Divine Comedy. He is pointing to a procession of sin. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
From Amazon:
The first known use of terza rima is in Dante’s Divina Commedia. In creating the form, Dante may have been influenced by the sirventes, a lyric form used by the Provençal troubadours. The three-line pattern may have been intended to suggest the Holy Trinity.
Inspired by Dante, other Italian poets, including Petrarch and Boccaccio, began using the form.
* * * * *
Here’s my first (and likely my last) Terza Rima:
Full Circle
Is reality a given?
How, now, did we arrive here?
To what heights have we striven?
Does clarity conquer fear?
Or leave us quaking in our boots
As we wander far and near?
Letting go and pulling up roots
To explore adventures ahead
We pursue our pursuits
Until we’re buried and dead
Pausing only to fall in love
To fall in love, heels over head
Distracted by heavens, above
Aah . . . that’s better!
So . . . you want to give it a go?
The poem can have as many stanzas as you’d like. The rhyme scheme (aba, bcb, cdc, ded, etc.) continues through the final stanza.
And if you’ve written a Terza Rima . . . share a link below.
The Anchor & The Wind April 20, 2013
Posted by nrhatch in Happiness, Life Balance, Life Lessons, Mindfulness.Tags: Life Balance, Life Lessons, Mindfulness, Sail, Wind
20 comments
Contentment can be an anchor . . . keeping us moored in “safe harbors.”
Discontent can be the wind in our sails . . . pushing us
to keep moving, growing, and exploring.
Quotes to Ponder:
* Because of our routines, we forget that life is an ongoing adventure. ~ Maya Angelou
* Throw off the bowlines, sail away from safe harbors. Catch the tradewinds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. ~ Mark Twain
* Boats are safe in harbor, but that’s not what boats are for. ~ Michael Lillie
* Dear comerado! I confess I have urged
you onward with me, and still urge you,
without the least idea what is our destination,
Or whether we shall be victorious, or utterly quell’d and defeated.
Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass
Here’s to the dawning of a day filled with the uncertainty which arises with all exciting new adventures!
Aah . . . that’s better!
Related post: Happily Dissatisfied (Pix & Kardz)
When Thoughts Turn South April 17, 2013
Posted by nrhatch in Life Balance, Life Lessons, Mindfulness, Poetry.Tags: Abyss, Boston Marathon, Finish Line, Poetry, Thought, Trolls
26 comments
When thoughts turn South
We can follow them to the abyss
Into the mists of doom and gloom
The depths of despair
Where no trace of light looms
But isolated floating thoughts
Of nameless, faceless, ageless trolls
Are seldom compelling enough
To force us to follow their descent
We can turn from edgeless rough
We need not allow night scavengers
To pull us into their world
Where thoughts are bitter and bland
We can shelve the endless questions
The who, what, where, how, when
We can allow night to drift out of mind
So we can go on with our day
Stepping back into the light
Where peace resides
And right is not held hostage to might
Aah . . . that’s better!
Pools of Sadness April 16, 2013
Posted by nrhatch in Life Balance, Life Lessons, Mindfulness, Poetry.Tags: Bombs, Boston Marathon, Explosion, Peace, Poetry, Sorrow
35 comments
Life is filled with pools
of sadness ~ those we love and
lose, we miss and mourn
Senseless killings make
no sense ~ logic stalls when faced
with insanity
The human race will
never win a marathon
against crazed madmen
When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace.
~ Jimi Hendrix
Aah . . . that’s better!
Never Confuse An RV With An ATV April 8, 2013
Posted by nrhatch in Humor, Life Balance, Travel & Leisure.Tags: ATV, Camper, Dirt road, Humor, Recreational vehicle
55 comments
Once, while driving our camper van down a dirt road in North Carolina, the shoulder of the road gave way.
Our top-heavy camper started to topple over the embankment.
ACK!
Before executing a full somersault in pike position, the rear-end snagged a barbed wire fence post and held on for dear life.
We stopped. Mid-air. And breathed.
The passenger door was out of commission, resting inches from the ground.
The van rocked, at a 45-degree angle, each time we shifted our weight.
To get to safety, we clambered out the driver’s door and jumped 3-feet down to the crumbling shoulder.
We stopped. On terra firma. And breathed.
In my haste to evacuate before the camper continued its off-road adventure, I had not grabbed my purse from the bunk over the cab.
Now, back on solid ground, BFF said, “Hey, where’s your purse?”
I pointed at the top-heavy camper cantilevered over the fence post. ”In there. In the top bunk.”
“Think you should get it?”
I stared at our RV, masquerading as an ATV, and shook my head. ”You want it, you get it. I’m NOT going back in there.”
“What if you need it for identification?”
“As long as I’m still alive, I can tell them who I am.”
Aah . . . that’s better!
Let Life Unfold April 7, 2013
Posted by nrhatch in Art & Photography, Life Balance, Mindfulness.Tags: Barbara Hines, Island Gallery West, Life Balance, Mindfulness
39 comments
Fellow sojourners encourage us to map out our lives so they know what to expect from us.
Even the best map in the world won’t make life predictable.
Those hit by the proverbial bus seldom see it coming.
Aah . . . that’s better!
Artwork: Barbara Hines ~ Island Gallery West
Happiness is . . . April 3, 2013
Posted by nrhatch in Happiness, Life Balance, Travel & Leisure.Tags: Books, Happiness, Leisure, Life Balance
64 comments
a warm day
a cold drink
and a good book
Aah . . . that’s better!
