A Clear Cage Of Entrapment June 8, 2010
Posted by nrhatch in Animals, Humor, Nature, Word Play.comments closed
Every month, the National Wildlife Federation holds an interactive Caption Contest featuring humorous and endearing nature photographs:
June’s Caption Contest Photo (by Phillip Lax)
My submitted caption:
“I’m gonna call my lawyer . . . this is a clear cage of entrapment.”
* * * * *
To see past winners:
Related posts: Create A Backyard Habitat For Wildlife
Ode To My Books June 8, 2010
Posted by nrhatch in Books & Movies, Poetry, Writing & Writers.comments closed
Books are a delightful society. If you go into a room filled with books, even without taking them down from their shelves, they seem to speak to you, to welcome you. ~ Wm E Gladstone
Like Gladstone, our guest blogger, Paula Tohline Calhoun, loves books . . . reading them, stacking them, tasting them, and savoring each morsel of wisdom within.
Ode To My Books By Paula Tohline Calhoun, Guest Blogger
Books in bookshelves, firmly packed
Books on counters, neatly stacked.
Books by every couch and chair
Books on floors and on the stair.
Books for pleasure, books for learning
(Not one single book for burning).
Books for reading, books for show
Books that shine with afterglow
Of days spent telling stories culled
From those same pages read of old.
Books we’d love to give away,
And books to savor, meant to stay
With those who know the joyous taste
Of books embossed and leather-cased
Devoured as the hours pass
While sitting in some boring class.
(Those who say that class was wasted,
Don’t know just how good that book tasted!).
Books by authors known to few
Books so old that now they’re “new.”
Books that nourish starving minds,
Books for everyone, all kinds.
Books that still reside in me,
Fresh, as they will always be.
Should all the world and all within it
Fall away this very minute –
Were there no humans left to love,
Just my books, and God above –
Then list my life replete, well fed!
With all my books, I’ll be well-read.
Ode to My Books
(By Paula Tohline Calhoun ©1997)
For more on Paula, and her writing, check out her blog, Reflections From A Cloudy Mirror.
Her most recent post there, Exactly What Did The Walrus Say, Anyway, and Why?, is a tantalizing romp through shoes and ships and sealing wax, cabbages and kings.
In addition to writing, Paula enjoys making music and seeks “to become the Gospel, even as I live my own.”
Related posts: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland * A Writer’s Life For Me * Eavesdropping on the Rooftop Literati * The Power Of Awesome * Austen & Dickens Had It Easy * It’s In The Mail * Eat, Pray, Love . . . Tie the Knot???
Living Green Tip ~ Lighten Up Your Life June 8, 2010
Posted by nrhatch in Sustainable Living.comments closed
At the The Tampa Living Green Expo, we picked up some new green tricks and reinforced some old ones. To lighten up our lives more efficiently, let’s switch on the savings with CFL’s ~ Compact Florescent Lights.
* CFLs use 75 % less energy and last 10 times longer than standard incandescent bulbs
* CFLs save $30 or more in electricity over each bulb’s lifetime when compared with incandescent bulbs
* Replacing a single incandescent bulb with a CFL will keep a half-ton of CO2 out of the atmosphere over the life of the bulb
If every American home replaced just one light bulb with an Energy Star qualified bulb:
* we would save enough energy to light more than 3 million homes for a year!
* we would save more than $600 million in annual energy costs!
* we would prevent greenhouse gases equivalent to the emissions of more than 800,000 cars! (EPA, 2008)
Just remember, when the bulb does burn out to dispose of it properly:
* Home Depot stores accept spiral flourescent bulbs for recycling
* IKEA accepts unbroken lightbulbs for recycling (incandescent, halogen, and CFLs)
For more recycling tips, check out the A to Z Guide at Pinellas County Recycles.
Let’s work together to make a difference while we lighten up our lives and our energy bills with CFLs!
Related posts: A Trip To The Farmer’s Market * Join a C.S.A. * Health Benefits From Greening Your Life * Gradual Change * Go Solar! * Green America
A Minuet In Time June 8, 2010
Posted by nrhatch in Music & Dance, Writing & Writers.comments closed
Martha Graham’s impact on dance was staggering and often compared to that of Picasso’s on painting, Stravinsky’s on music, and Frank Lloyd Wright’s on architecture. … Everyone from Woody Allen to Bette Davis cites her as a major influence. ~ About the Dancer, Martha Graham
Although best known for her choreography on stage, Martha Graham (1894~1991) recognized that all of life is a dance, a celebration of the creative spirit within us:
There is a vitality, a life force, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique.
And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost.
The world will not have it.
It is not your business to determine how good it is nor how valuable it is nor how it compares with other expressions.
It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open.
You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep yourself open and aware directly to the urges that motivate you.
Keep the channel open.
No artist is pleased.
There is no satisfaction whatever at any time.
There is only a queer, divine dissatisfaction,
a blessed unrest that keeps us marching
and makes us more alive than the others.
~ from The Life & Work of Martha Graham
Quote: Nobody cares if you can’t dance well. Just get up and dance. Great dancers are not great because of their technique, they are great because of their passion. ~ Martha Graham
Related posts: Do What You Love (Dr. Alisa Cooper) * Art as a Way of Life * Do What You Will * Live Your Life * The Roads Are Many * Doubt * Our Deepest Fear * Life Lessons ~ Randy Pausch * The Last Lecture (Randy Pausch)
Spirit Lights The Way 