Tuesday December 30th

"Cogito, ergo sum" I think therefore I am.
René Descartes

So ergo; therefore I dream.
There are things in this world that are worthy of our dreams and are worthy of our desires.

I believe that there are things that occur that are just meant to occur. I believe that there are people that we are meant to meet and to include into our lives. And some of those people are meant to have a very important role in the path that our lives are to follow. Even though there are so many choices that we are faced with everyday, but even with those choices I think that there are just some things that are meant to happen and some people that are meant to know.

Stand in one place; look at the roads that have been trod upon in our lives. Each intersection is a choice, if there had been any deviation of the path chosen, had we taken a left turn instead of a right, we would not be at the place that we are now. In considering the path of our lives imagine what it has taken to meet even the most recent addition to the inner circle of people that you now know. Who was it that introduced you to this new individual and how did that person come into your life. If you take time to lie out the path of your travels in this life it is amazing to comprehend.

Just think of the random lunch you had years ago with a friend who introduced you to an acquaintance who became a friend and they later introduced you to your future partner. Think about the path of your life that led you to that first friend that you were having lunch with? That path will be just as amazing as the jumping off point of the lunch that led to you meeting your future partner and how an acquaintance can change everything.

These are the patterns of my life that I consider and ponder as the most amazing parts of our lives. It is a fantastic thought that all of our choices lead to interactions that have a direct impact on the lefts and rights that will be before us. These paths ultimately lead to our dreams and our desires, never blindly choose a direction. Do not go forth without a thought of what brought you to this choice.

Monday December 29th

Today was a wonderfully warm, sun filled and promising day. I was very restless and very distracted today. I found it difficult to focus on the several tasks that needed to happen, so I drifted in and out of productivity. I spent the afternoon pondering all that has the essence of possible and all that which could be lovely.
The pondering can make hours slip away like the passing sun.
Several prospects are forming and I continue the search.


Sappho
XLVI

I seek and desire,
Even as the wind
That travels the plain
And stirs in the bloom
Of the apple-tree

I wander through life,
With the searching mind
That is never at rest
Till I reach the shade
Of my lover’s door.

Sunday December 28th

Today was a trying day of travel. I was up at 4am and I have to say that the Dayton International Airport is one of the worst run that I have ever traveled through. It is not that busy and I can see NO reason why it took an hour to get through security. I am not even gonna talk about getting my luggage checked in. Now I do realize that this is a very busy time of year but even when I go back for my mom’s birthday in August the lines are still out of control. I got home had a nice lunch out and came home to some very loving fuzzy creatures.

The saving grace of a day of travel like this is my iPod. I have several books and loads of music that I love to just play on shuffle. I get some very fun surprises with songs that I have forgotten about. I have been on a HUGE Tom Waits jag lately and even with that I got to hear a song that I love right before I landed this afternoon.

Song Lyrics

I am taking stock of all of the stuff that I need to get done before the end of January and the Gem Show here in Tucson. I have a list that is as long as my arm and I have got to jump on it first thing in the morning. I just hope that I can get it all completed and have a good show. I am in the process of ordering some new display stuff from Rio Grande. That is the fun part. I love the catalogs.

I am getting ready to have a few house guests for New Years and Tucson is having a First Night Celebration that I think that we all might participate in. I think it sounds like a great time. The last one I went to in Monterey was awesome.

Scorpio
In 2009, don't just tune in to your hunches now and then. Be more diligent and intense than that. Check in with your intuition at least three times a day on all 365 days of the year. Be precise in the questions you pose it. Gather its clues craftily. Have fun as you joke and play with it. Conscientiously experiment with the suggestions it provides. This will be the year you can establish a steady, reliable connection with your inner voice. Be devout in your dedication to the cult of your intuition!


In just a few days it will be the start of 2009…can you believe that we are just days away from a brand new year? It was exactly one year ago today that I was faced with the reality that what I had spent almost 4 years of my life believing in, striving and working for was a lie and it was a deliberately perpetrated and calculated deception. In just a matter of days it will be a new year with a new list of what is important and what is desired. Let's hear it for "Out With The Old and In With The New!"

Tom Wait's - Hold On

Song Lyrics

Saturday December 27th

I leave for Tucson before break of day tomorrow morning and will be back in my home before 2pm Tucson time. (barring any weather incidents or delays.) I have become accustomed to the travel requirements of our times. But I swear that the hardest time to travel is the holidays. This is the time of year that the once-a-year-traveler comes out by the thousands and they are ALL on my flights. This is the time when the girl in line does not understand that she cannot carry-on the 48oz bottle of shampoo and matching conditioner. This is the time where a person still thinks that they can carry-on 5 bags of wrapped presents as well an overnight bag. And the list can continue on and on for as long as I can type. All I can do is get there as early as possible and keep breathing as deeply as possible. The continuing mantra…In with the good air…out with the bad air.

Sylvia Plath

Mirror

I am silver and exact. I have no preconceptions.
Whatever I see, I swallow immediately.
Just as it is, unmisted by love or dislike
I am not cruel, only truthful –
The eye of a little god, four-cornered.
Most of the time I meditate on the opposite wall.
It is pink, with speckles. I have looked at it so long
I think it is a part of my heart. But it flickers.
Faces and darkness separate us over and over.

Now I am a lake. A woman bends over me.
Searching my reaches for what she really is.
Then she turns to those liars, the candles or the moon.
I see her back, and reflect it faithfully
She rewards me with tears and an agitation of hands.
I am important to her. She comes and goes.
Each morning it is her face that replaces the darkness.
In me she has drowned a young girl, and in me an old woman
Rises toward her day after day, like a terrible fish.


I have decided that my goal is to live the definition for the sublime in life.

As I wrote on the 24th the actual definition for Sublime: The things that are of such excellence, grandeur and beauty that they can actually inspire.

I am on a noble quest for that kind of excellence in certain corners of my life. I desire the amazing and the possible. I want to be intrigued, enchanted and whimsically captivated? When that happens I will make sure that it is never ignored and I will treat it with the reverence that it deserves.

Thursday December 25th

It was excellent to see my family these past 2 days. I have the most excellent niece, 2 amazing nephews and to get to spend this time with them each year is a true joy. I hope that all of you have had a wonderful holiday.

This is a picture I took in Chicago of '07 right after B&B, looking straight up at the Bean in Millennium Park. This was an amazing day, I actually got to stand on the top of the Marina City Building, outside and everything and see the entirety of Chicago with the wind in my hair and the soft summer breeze that came off of the lake. It was one of those moments and one of those days!

We are in a search for the wonderful and the sublime; the things that are of such excellence, grandeur, and beauty that they can actually inspire. When we get a glimpse at the slightest possibility of such a moment it is our responsibility to do everything in our capability to grab hold and make the most of it.

When we realize that these are the moments that we continue our journey for and that these moments can take you farther and mean more if you can only see and acknowledge the importance of them.

If you get to have one of these moments or are lucky enough to experience several in your lifetime, you have been blessed. Make sure that you can recognize and realize the importance of each of these experiences. The biggest problem that I see with most is that they just think that life linear; it is has a beginning, middle and an end. I believe that our lives are spherical; and need to be lived in all directions at once, with great abandon and with childish joy. I have tried to live by this life lesson; It has been my hope that I can see when I have something fantastic with-in my grasp and take it for all that I am able to.

For all of us that have a bit of a theatre background I was sad to read that Harold Pinter has passed away. He may be most known for his play, The French Lieutenant’s Woman.









Let us pause!

Merry Christmas to all of you, all of you on the good Earth.

My mom and I are in Ft. Wayne to see my sisters kids and to have a family Christmas. The drive from Dayton was just rainy and only a little slick. I'll have pictures of the kids by tonight. They are great and it is really hard to believe that the oldest is gonna be 21 in a few months.

So, to continue on in the vain of what around us is really cool. Did you all realize that 40 years ago today we as the race of human beings saw the far side of the moon for the first time? We are in synchronous orbit with the moon and only see the same side. 40 years ago tonight, for the first time, Jim Lovell, (Apollo 13 fame) Frank Borman, and William Anders were the first humans to EVER witness the Earth Rise. The image below is the first image of the earth taken in a horizon shot from the far side of the moon.





















Below is the cut and paste of the article that I read this afternoon.
40th Anniversary of seeing the dark side of the moon

By Matt Ford | Published: December 24, 2008 - 11:48AM CT

Humans have been going into space ever since the Russian Space & Aviation Agency launched Yuri Gagarin into a single orbit about Earth on April 21, 1961 aboard Vostok 1. In the intervening 47 years, there have been 292 manned space flights; 182 by NASA, 105 by Russia, two by China, and three by private company Scaled Composits. Out of all of those missions, the majority—in fact a full 283—never really did anything more than go around the block, so to speak. Only nine manned missions have ever truly left Earth and entered the gravitational influence of any other celestial body.

The first time this happened was the Apollo 8 mission, during which Jim Lovell, Frank Borman, and William Anders put their Apollo command module into lunar orbit 40 years ago today, December 24th, 1968. 1968 is considered one of America's most tumultuous years in the 20th century. Beginning with the Tet offensive in Vietnam, which saw heavy American casualties, it was followed up by Rev. Martin Luther King's assassination in Memphis and ensuing riots across the nation, then saw Robert Kennedy get assassinated two months later. Finally, the battle between police and protesters in the streets of Chicago at the Democratic National Convention left a black mark on 1968. However, on December 21st, Apollo 8 launched three humans on the first-ever voyage to the moon.

The crew of Apollo 8 spent Christmas Eve orbiting the moon, becoming the first humans to ever see the dark side of the moon—due to the synchronous rotation, we only ever see the same lunar face from Earth—and the first ever people to witness the Earth rise. William Anders' famous photo was named one of the 100 photos of the century by Life magazine.

On their ninth of ten orbits of the moon, NASA did a live television broadcast from the crew in lunar orbit. During this broadcast, the crew read passages from the Book of Genesis, specifically the story of creation, and ended with Frank Borman's historic phrase, "And from the crew of Apollo 8, we close with good night, good luck, and a Merry Christmas to all of you, all of you on the good Earth." The mission ended safely with splash down in the pacific ocean, where the crew—now the first humans to ever travel to another heavenly body—was picked up by the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown. My father was serving on board that day as part of the honor guard when they picked the three up and welcomed them back to Earth.

Seven months later, on July 20th, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin would finally land on the moon, which became—at least in my opinion—one of the most important events in human history. It brought the entire world together, even if just for a moment. While the achievement of Apollo 11 gets the lion's share of the credit, it is important that the first time we truly left Earth not go unrecognized.

I traveled all day to get to Dayton. Tomorrow I am driving to Ft Wayne so the whole family can be together. It is rainy, icy and really cold. Brrrrrrr. But is is really nice to see my mom.

This is gonna be a really short post as I am beat from flying in cramped planes and waiting through delays.

I found 2 of the cutest images to share to try to make up for this crappy post.

Being helpful is a good thing!

















I'll Tumble 4 ya!
I'll Tumble 4 ya!

Monday December 22nd.

I promised pictures of the Moss Agate pendants in the sunshine today. It would have helped if the sun came out today in Tucson. I should not have promised, I know but the sun usually does shine here everyday, but not today, I will post as soon as I can. Thanks for your patience.

What do you do when something enters your sphere of reality that totally takes you by surprise and smacks you up side the head and gives you reason to… pause? What do you do when those kind of events make you just as little happier and have just a bit more bounce in you gate? When something so excellent occurs that you are totally engaged in what equates to a matter of moments and the occurrence can change the way that you view things around you, do you turn away? Do you put blinders on and not see the possibilities that are before you? Jeez, I hope not. I hope that you grab the opportunity and make the most of it, let it wash over you and take you to the places that you have dreamed of and hoped for! These are moments that you hope for, wait for and actually ask for.

This is the season for these moments. This is the season for children’s dreams to take shape. This is the time of the year that adults are kind of required to take stock of last 12 months, if not the entirety of their life and to choose what to bring along and what to discard as non-essential. When something amazing smashes into you…grab it and go along for the ride…make sure you pay the fare for you may not know when the bus will stop and drop you off at a destination.

I could not be more pleased with the amazing things that have happened to me in these past months. I am pleased with the creative journey that I have been on as well. For as hard as this year has been, it has been just as rewarding on the flip side of this coin. I am hopeful that I have paid the correct fare and that I am on the right route. This next year has many goals and hopes. The future is unknown, it is this “unknowing” is the wonder of living. Greet every day with the optimism that is ready for the unexpected and spectacular to enter your life.

The end of one of my most GEEKY times is coming to a close. I posted a few months ago that I only had the Alaska and Hawaii quarters to collect to fill my Quarters of the United States Collection. The Hawaii coin has been released and I am now waiting for it to fall into my hands. Since 1999 I have been collecting these coins with ABSOLUTE GEEKY DEDICATION, now, as soon as I get Hawaii what the hell else can I do for the next 10 years. Yea! I AM A GEEK!

Now, I am here to tell you the best news of the day. I learned of this about 2 weeks ago and have been smiling ever since. Starting in 2009 there will be a 24 hour network dedicated to the greatest of all pastimes…if you know me…you know that I am going to type before I type it. I am pleased to announce the addition of the MLB Network to the cable lineup. Can you believe it? 24/7-365 Baseball News on the dial. I am pleased! Life just got better.

I am leaving for the Holiday tomorrow morning traveling to the mid-west and will post as I travel. I am off to see my mom and my niece and nephews. Have a wonderful and safe holiday season.

Sunday December 21st

I had an excellent day at my bench today. I finished up 8 moss agate pendants that I have been working on for the last several days. I will post all of the images tomorrow once I can get some sunshine on them…This is the only way to get good images of these things. This was the first prototype and I have made some leaps with the next 7 technically that I am very happy about!

















Today is the shortest day of the year, the longest night of the year and the start of winter.

Happy Winter Solstice to all and to all a warm night.

There are so many ancient sites around the world that are dedicated to the passage of the sun and each has a special part of that site made especially created for the Winter Solstice.

The heavens were everything to the ancient world. Every ancient society from each continent gave honor and tribute to the movement of the stars, the sun and the moon. It assisted in picking the dates for planting and harvesting crops; they were used as a guide on how to measure out the winter stores of foods. It was used as a guide to procreation and as a way to give back to the earth. There is a mysticism and grandeur to the creations that man has come up with to honor the celestial events.

I could go on for so many paragraphs and bore the living daylights out of all of you. These monuments have been a fascination to me for as long as I can remember. So, instead of that I will just post some of my favorite images.

Sunset on the Solstice












Stonehenge












Solstice Room in Ireland

















Aztec Alter at the entrance to a ritual temple












An Aztec series of rooms that are orientated to observe the Solstice

















A Mayan Celestial Observation Temple

Saturday December 20th

I had to use up 2 hours and 80 dollars of my life at the DMV today. Yea!...(not)

I had a amazing work breakthrough that was sort of a huge DUH moment for me. It was one of those times that you look at and say..."And why didn't I see that sooner?" Well, I saw it and I am pleased.

•••Jill....just wait for photo's they are coming...I promise.•••

This time of year is very hard for me, I am sorry to say, I lost my father 3 years ago Christmas.
And that is not the only reason the holidays are such a hard time...
Everything I crave to type out here would so very wrong, so I will not.

I choose instead to ponder all of the times around this season that are truly wonderful.
I give to the Salvation Amy bucket every time I leave the grocery store.
I remember all of years growing up and running out to see what Santa left under the tree for me.
I remember the Christmas I grew to tall to walk under the fancy dining room table and smacked my head.
I remember the hot sweet rolls and juice that we would have for only those special occasions.
I remember my father and I going out every year and at times spending ALL day finding the PERFECT tree.
I remember each Christmas that I had got to welcome a new niece or nephew. (I have 1 niece and 2 nephews...they all are amazing)

I choose to remember this...I choose to embrace this...
I choose to recall the wonderful memories and honor the others in there rightful time.

Please choose to focus on the special, on the wonderful and on what is actually worthy of you.
That is what actually matters!

This is my day today...Whatever!

Read this for giggles!

The Covering - VI The Lovers

You may be faced with an important choice at the moment, and it is likely that one option will appear much easier than the other. Think carefully, though, before making your decision, as it is important that you act in an unselfish way. In matters of the heart, the Lovers bring hope, and they may also indicate positive relationships with friends and colleagues.

Chinese Astrology
You’ll have the chance to live a stable love relationship with a person on whom you can lean unreservedly. Good ambiance in your family: you’ll run the risk of being confronted with a dilemma! You’ll be in a position to achieve the project dearest to your heart. Your edginess will make your gestures ill-controlled and will lessen the rapidity as well as the precision of your reflexes.

Scorpio
A new person has been trying to get into your life recently, and you should start to consider letting them in! They will bring some new complications for sure, but they will also bring new concepts and new ideas! So make some time soon to meet with this person and toss ideas back and forth. It will be more fun than you think, not to mention a great way to grow your relationship and take it to a deeper, more intellectual level. The two of you could become a very good team.

Friday December 19th

As we approach the end of 2008 (good riddance, on so many levels) it is now time to take stock of our self-truths. It is these self-truths that define us, mold us and make us what we have become.

These truths start out as simple likes and dislike and then transform themselves into the total package that makes us what we are. What are the things that truly bring you joy, make you smile, and simply please you to your very marrow.

I am a total sap. 2 of my favorite movies are "84 Charring Cross Road" and "Enchanted April". Each of these movies is a testament to self-truths and self-discovery. I have been known to stop dead in my tracks and alter the course of events in my day to take time to watch either of these movies if I see them listed. Because each time I view these movies I understand what I learned the last time around and I see a deeper and more important truth revealed.











I find that poetry can be an insight to the soul. Poetry comes in many forms, not just the classical but also from the lyricists of the music that we listen to everyday. I got the necessary kick in the ass required last night to totally remember that there are other poets in the world. Since I gave Tom his props last night I have to give equal time to the classics this time around.

Henry Butler Yeats
Had I the heavens' embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half-light

I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams

Chapter 63
Act without doing;
work without effort.
Think of the small as large
and the few as many.
Confront the difficult
while it is still easy;
accomplish the great task
by a series of small acts

The Master never reaches for the great;
thus she achieves greatness.
When she runs into difficulty,
she stops and gives herself to it.
She doesn’t cling to her own comfort;
thus problems are no problem for her.

Just a Few of the Things That I Love
•the feel of glassine and soft cotton shoelaces
•the smell of fresh cut grass and a hot summer monsoon rain
•the way a cats hair grows around its eyes and face
•when a song that I had forgotten about plays on my iPods Shuffle sequence.
•the sound of laughter and giggling (especially of children)
•seeing colors that I have never seen before
•meeting people and just knowing that you were meant to know one another
•sunsets and moonrises
•learning
•long meals with friends that last for hours
•excellent and random conversations

The Rachel Maddow interview I promised to share

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

The Ghosts of Saturday Night.

I was reminded this evening that these are some of the best lyrics ever written

Song Lyrics

Thursday December 18th

I am having a REAL hard time not resorting back to my political ranting today. No matter my desire to find the good and honorable in each day. Today, I have been bombarded by CRAP.

I watched as an invitation to an individual who equates same sex marriage to people who participate in pedophilia, incest and polygamy was extended to give the Invocation at the Inauguration of President Elect Obama.

Rick Warren? What? I thought about it ALL day and I tried to understand the reasoning behind this choice. I even listened to the concept that in Mr. Warren’s accepting this invitations invited discussion and actually reduced his impact with the Religious Right. I am not convinced. I am not opposed to dialog, I applaud the desire, but to have this man front and center at the opening of a ceremony that was to invite a new voice to the 21st century makes me not want to watch a moment in history that I was SO looking forward to. I openly wept the night we elected Mr. Obama and now I feel rather betrayed by this choice.

I watched Rachel Maddow this evening, as I try most evenings to do. Gavin Newsom was a guest on the show discussing just this issue. Yee Gads this man is SO awesome. I got to see him speak live during his first run as Mayor of SF. Within moments of taking office he allowed same sex couples to get marriage licenses and to marry in SF. What a time to live in SF. This is a man that has openly and honestly campaigned for equal rights for all.

When the post is available, I shall share it with you.

(For those who do not know, Ms. Maddow is an openly gay commentator for MSNBC and can be heard daily on Air America. She is intelligent and witty and has been in a committed relationship for many years.)

There has been some excellent stuff happing as well and I guess that I need to share that with you as well.

The Antikythera Computer

With a lot of dedication and research, THIS















Can become this!










Watch this dry but interesting video


Lastly, Jilly sent me this and it made me giggle enough to want to share!

Wednesday December 17th

As I type this entry, my computer alerted me to an approaching winter storm and believe it or not it is here. The wind is picking up and the rain has started to fall and the temperature is dropping.

I went out for a celebration dinner last night. A friend of mine has done a great job getting really good grades and I thought that she deserved a good dinner to feed her brain for the rest of her tests. On the way back to our homes we took a side trip to the Tucson institution of Bookmans, a used bookstore that is the size of the Super Dome. (Not Really)

I recently decided that I wanted to re-read Ovid’s "Metamorphoses". Now being the total GEEK that I am I wanted to find the Loeb’s Classical Library Editions only because I love the size of the books and that they have the Greek translations right next to English. It is that perfect handy size that travels well, either for a walk or on a flight. But I had to settle for the Penguin paperwork version. Someday I will treat myself to the 2 volume set from Amazon.

But the true discovery of the evening was a book of Poetry, it’s title…
“ The Albatross Book of Living Poetry”
This is a blue died leather bound book of poetry ranging from the 13th to 20th centuries but the best part was that the person that read this book filled it with newspaper clippings and quotes that captured their imagination. All of the clippings were from the early 50’s. And the best part is that the book is that perfect size that I love to hold.

Here is the one that fell out as I flipped through the pages.

Sheltered By Your Light Once

~I knew love as the wind.
Versatile, undisciplined,
~Like a flute, liquid note
From a bird’s untutored throat.
~Then you came, and suddenly
A new world awoke in me.
~Love became the bred we broke
Together and the words you spoke
~And the everlasting grace
Of knowing you in time and space
~Sun-borne, windward, day or night,
My life sheltered by your light.

Hannah Kahn

I slipped the clipping right back in its proper place and placed the $4.50 treasure into my small pile of books that I just HAD TO HAVE. What a most excellent treat for the end of my day. I look forward to discovering every hidden clipping that is tucked in its pages.

I had a very productive workday, I got several new pieces done and in the works and am thrilled with the way that they are turning out. I’ll post images as soon as I have a nice handful to share.

As I read all of my required news sites I got very distracted by some very excellent images that I thought I would share.

Each of these images made me smile today, I hope that you enjoy them.














































I am off to read some 13th century poetry and listen as the storm arrives.

Tuesday December 16th

Happy Birthday Beethoven…On the same track as yesterday, I am looking for beauty every day and the realisation of this occasion has had me listening to several of the Beethoven recordings that I have in my collection. I guess that my favorite would be his 6th Symphony. I could not find a recording of it that I am able to share with you so please enjoy his Moonlight Sonata.



I had a great play-date with my new rolling mill today. I have opened up an entire new list of objectives for a few projects that I am working on over the next few weeks. I am really looking forward to working out several of the details that I see forming in my mind. I have had a very productive year for technique and innovating ways of making my designs more fun for me to make. I love the process of “figuring” out problems and fine-tuning the nuances of the process. Now I get to add this most excellent new gadget into the mix. I am excited…I just have no idea why it has taken me this many years to add this tool to my arsenal.

This just made me laugh out loud the other day and I have been looking forward to sharing it with all of you!



















I accomplished a good deal today but not much of it was on my list. I hate that when that happens. Really, I had a morning of catching up with people that I have not had spoken to in a very long time. That was good but it put my schedule way off of the “plan” you all know what it means to have a plan and to see it go to hell in a basket. Well, these things happen and we must just take it all in stride.

I actually had to TRACK Ms. Jill Wiseman down this morning and that one actually worked out for me. But one of the several subsequent conversations I had today were rather informative and insightful.

But, a friend of mine from SF had some interesting insight and what was passed on to me just reinforced my own deductions more than I could have ever thought possible and to boot I got to see the effects of those insights first hand.

It is amazing the efforts that some will go to in order to hide aspects of their personalities from the light of day…It can only go on for so long because sooner or later the layers of the onion will fall away and what is left is the ugly truth of the matter. I despise the cowardly and vile person who refuses to accept the mess that they have made of their lives and try their best to drag the innocent down along the path of self-loathing and self-destruction. In the long run these individuals will have nothing left but the isolation that their cowardice deserves.

Monday December 15th

Even among all of the crap that we are witnessing these days there are some amazing things that are happening around us if we remember to just look. This is what I found just today…

No. 1
Today the Electoral College met and officially elected Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States of America. Now, the final formality of the election, Congress has to ratify the Colleges election and then we can proceed to the party of 2009. I am very much looking forward to seeing what has been planned for us to witness.

Gumprechts Green Pit Viper
No. 2
In the past decade there have been 1068 new species identified in the Greater Mekong Region of Southeast Asia. Including the Huntsman spider that is as big as a plate and the Loatian rat that was thought to have been extinct 11 million years ago. The new species highlighted in the report include 519 plants, 279 fish, 88 frogs, 88 spiders, 46 lizards, 22 snakes, 15 mammals, four birds, four turtles, two salamanders and a toad -- an average of two previously undiscovered species a week for the past 10 years.

Bill of Rights
Today in 1791 the first 10 Amendments of the US Constitution, know as the Bill of Rights was ratified.

* First Amendment – Establishment Clause, Free Exercise Clause; freedom of speech, of the press, and of assembly; right to petition
* Second Amendment – Right to keep and bear arms.
* Third Amendment – Protection from quartering of troops.
* Fourth Amendment – Protection from unreasonable search and seizure.
* Fifth Amendment – due process, double jeopardy, self-incrimination, eminent domain.
* Sixth Amendment – Trial by jury and rights of the accused; Confrontation Clause, speedy trial, public trial, right to counsel
* Seventh Amendment – Civil trial by jury.
* Eighth Amendment – Prohibition of excessive bail and cruel and unusual punishment.
* Ninth Amendment – Protection of rights not specifically enumerated in the Bill of Rights.
* Tenth Amendment – Powers of states and people.

Voyager 1
No 3
We continue to look to the heavens to discover and fill our minds with wonder. We are taking the time to fix the most amazing view to the heavens that we have the Hubble telescope has open up the universe beyond what all could have ever hoped for and we continue to look.

Make sure you look at the NASA site, the Hubble site & the Cassini site...each is an excellent look at what we as a species are capable of.

Golden Record on Voyager
On September 5, 1977, Voyager 1 was launched from Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida. It has reached the edge of our galaxy, has entered the Heliosphere and it continuing it’s lonely journey ever outward. Contained on the spacecraft is a Golden Record, our greeting to the Universe to let anyone out there know what and who we are.

(Just think, in 1977 all we were capable of was recording a record yet still this craft has reached the edge of our galaxy. Well Done NASA!)

We are an amazing species, capable of great wonder and great cruelty. Let’s choose to guide our world towards wonder and let’s ditch the latter shall we? Just think about everything that we can accomplish and every thing that we have right at this moment that holds such promise.

Learn to let go!

Sunday December 14th

I had the worst nightmare that a teacher could ever have the night before last. The long and the short of it is that I showed up to teach a class and I did not take the time to make the kits for the students. It was one of those dreams where you spend all of your time spinning your wheels and running around making no progress towards goals that should have been very straightforward.

If that is not my brain telling me to get it in gear then I think I need a more progressive subconscious…don’t’ you?

Today is rainy and gray. It is an indoor day for making great accomplishments and doing laundry. I get to pick which one is of greater importance…I am of the mind that they hold equal importance.

I was sad to see that Bettie Page passed away a few days ago. She was an absolute icon of the 50’s pin-up era. No one has ever brought more prominence to bangs than Bettie did. She will not be forgotten.




















As GWB tries desperately to create some sort of positive legacy for his presidency, here is the response that he is likely to receive from a majority of the world population. I am sure he is glad that he has quick reflexes.

Saturday December 13th

Time: the days grow shorter as the winter Solstice approaches in just a few more days. And for one more night the full moon is bigger than big in the night sky. The Solstice notes the beginning of winter and the shortest day of the year and after the 21st we can look forward to the days getting longer. the sun rising earlier each morning and the setting later each evening.

Time is such and interesting phenomena.
Think of all the sayings that we have that are linked to time:















"Time marches on."
"A watched pot never boils."
"Time heals all wounds."
"Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana."
"Time nor tide wait for no man."
"A stitch in time saves nine."
"Time the subtle thief of youth."
"Time is money."
"Tempus fugit." (time flies)
"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times."
"Veritum dies aperit" (Time discovers the truth)
"I recommend you to take care of the minutes, for hours will take care of themselves"
"The times they are a-changing."
"Time is on my side, yes it is."
"Potius sero quad numquam"(Better late than never)
"Time spent laughing is time spent with the gods."
"Time you enjoyed wasting is not wasted time."
"Who forces time is pushed back by time; who yields to time finds time on his side."
"Time is like the wind; it lifts the light and leaves the heavy."
"Time is the only thief we can't get justice against."
"Time is the longest distance between two places."
"Years of love have been forgot, In the hatred of a minute."
"Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that is the stuff life is made of."

All of these and the only thing that I can ponder right now is how this year has gone by more quickly that I could ever have imagined. I watched the moon rise tonight behind a thin covering of clouds and it is so beautiful. I cannot wait to see how it illuminates the back yard as it peaks in the sky.

I listened to my horoscope today and just had a laid back day…
~This is the perfect day to just relax and go with the flow, because that flow will take you to some wonderful places. So try not to push back or control things. The less effort you put into directing how things will go, the better everything will be. You have got to start trusting the people around you to make the right choices -- they know what they are doing. While they might have a different style than you, they still know how to get the job done.~

I finished up some very serious yard work today…the front yard is all DONE and all I have to do is just "carefully" work around some very dangerous looking cacti to finish up the yard before the winter rains start again.

I spent my day today in a taking care of my time and enjoying the moments as they unfolded before me. I paid close attention to the how time flows and how the winter days accentuate this flow. The winter passage of time is more pronounced.

Friday December 12th

So, I know that yesterday was short, sweet and really to the point. It really struck me as very poignant and oh so very, very true. So, after that I really had nothing else to say that meant anything to me. After spinning my proverbial wheels over the last decade and for those of you that have been reading along this year, introspection is the word for 2008. The other word is self-respect!

I am looking at all of the quotes that have meant something to me over the years of my life. I made a list of my favorites and published them as a "match the quote to the author" as the dedication to my Chain Making Techniques book. Even with that, I still made the amazing mistake of actually dedicating the book but even still, the quotes still mean everything to me.

So today: Ayn Rand - "I swear, by my life and my love of it, that I will never live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine." If you look closely at the Ovid quote you can see how it completely connects with this quote.

In order to truly love you have to respect and honor yourself first and then you can love another with everything that you and they deserve. Nothing more…nothing less...


Tonight's Moon!
















I am sitting here on this most amazing celestial evening. The strange part of this lunar event is that we have a very overcast and cloudy night. The moon is this fuzzy illuminated ball of cotton behind a very light cloud cover. But for the rest of you… the moon is approaching its nearest point to Earth, so it should look about 14 percent bigger and 30 percent brighter than this year's other full moons. Tomorrow's approach will be the closest the moon has come to Earth since 1993. I am hopeful for another chance to witness this event tomorrow evening.

Enjoy this moon tonight because I do not know when we will be able to see it again. This moon reminds me of the scene around the kitchen table in Moonstruck. The family is talking about how Cosmo was courting Rose and came to her window on the night of a really HUGE full moon? "Cosmo’s Moon - La Bella Luna."

















Snap Out Of It! LOL!