The "E" Word

I read this piece at the NYTimes' site today. (You may need to sign up, I had to log in to read it in its entirety). I was surprised but thought it rather nice of the children to have been supportive. What's your take on it?

I believe partaking in that route should be a personal choice. But the danger of it being a choice is that not everyone has the capacity to process this sort of decision. This kind of quagmire isn't new to our species though, is it.

Sorry for the downer of a post, folks. But it is what it is for today. Cloudy days are my favorite, but they also put a melancholic spin on the day, I'm afraid.

Chris Jordan: An American Self-Portrait

Sobering images to go with sobering subject matters. Chris Jordan is an American artist who, in his series "Running the Numbers", uses a composite of photographs to show us the ugly side of statistics. How else could we visualize the two million plastic beverage bottles consumed in the U.S. every five minutes, or the 60,000 plastic bags used every second in America alone? A quick calculation later, that's over three million bags in a minute, and in an hour - gulp - just over 200 million used! How many end up in landfills, not really degrading back into the soil? Scary scary thoughts. 

Go here to see more.

Top  Packing Peanuts, 2009, , 60" x 80"

Middle  Plastic Bottles, 2007, 60" x 120"

Bottom  Shipping Containers, 2007, 60" x 120"

(images from Chris Jordan's site)

via picocool.

Homelessness

An illuminating read on homelessness. I've often wondered about the state of homelessness and if it's as easy a state to fall in as I fear it is. After all, not everything is in our control all the time, is it? I remember, on one of the numerous occasions that we walked past men sleeping in cardboard tents on the sidewalk, a co-worker exclaimed that she will never allow herself to reach that level of desperation. It was said with such force that it's left me pondering ever since -- is determination all it takes?

Healing Gifts by Hyggehouse

Nobody I know is recuperating from surgery. The only reason I'm posting this is because I like the suggestions on alternative gifts (as opposed to the usual bouquet of flowers) to consider for surgery-recovering patients by Alex Beauchamp of Hyggehouse. 

This is my favorite of her ideas:

Do a DVD/Magazine/Book run and have all that waiting for them at their house. If they’re into cooking, grab some unique and different cooking magazines. Do they love home? Stock up on all the latest. Pick some DVD’s to go with it and they can lay in bed and read and watch until their hearts content.

Lazy, thoughtless gift-ing has always been a pet peeve of mine. The motto is always to give from the heart and mind, and not just from the wallet. If no thought goes into the person on the receiving end, I'd rather skip it. And I'd rather others do the same for me. Just mah two-cents!

P/S: Boo-hoo, my ISP has not been my friend the past week, connection is very very poor. Keeping my fingers crossed that it'll sort itself out soon.

Love the Fool

This is too good not to pass around. It's for those of us who are bumbling through life, trying to figure out our place in it. And especially for those like me, who is letting the tyrant win with every passing breath.

"I must learn to love the fool in me--the one who feels too much, talks too much, takes too many chances, wins sometimes and loses often, lacks self-control, loves and hates, hurts and gets hurt, promises and breaks promises, laughs and cries. It alone protects me against that utterly self-controlled, masterful tyrant whom I also harbor and who would rob me of human aliveness, humility, and dignity but for my fool."

 -- Theodore I. Rubin, MD

via Cup of Jo via Creature Comforts; image from lilorain at Flickr.

Operation NICE

Can you tell? cicak's in a desperate mood for something nice to reaffirm will to live. I used to scoff at peeps who read Chicken Soup, but these days, I can see the appeal.

via A Little Hut.

Remembering Miriam Makeba

Let us rejoice in her legacy to us all -- her voice which uplifts.

Mbube 

by 

Miriam Makeba 

(4 Mar 1932 – 9 Nov 2008).

Barack Obama

This is old news by now, but I was out of town for a funeral and was unable to post. However, I don't want to miss out on marking the occasion in this blog, and so here it is, better late than never, I say.

I had returned to the hotel room late afternoon after what felt like a full day of kneeling at the funeral parlor and watching others prostrate. I was bone-weary and my knees were bruised. The U.S. election had been on my mind the entire time, so I ignored the welcoming bed and switched the TV on instead. Upon seeing the word President-Elect under Barack Obama's image, euphoria took over and my mind commandeered the body to release its last dosage of adrenaline and I ended up bouncing on the bed, full of enthusiasm.

What is it about the man that manages to capture the minds and hearts of folks even 9000 miles away? That he is able to embody a sense of hope and to inspire lesser people like me to want to continue the fight to give voice to the seemingly small and insignificant issues on a daily basis in our everyday lives? Surely it can't all just boil down to a campaign well ran, or a team well assembled?

Personally, what impresses me when watching him speak and address the public is the integrity that he projects. Also, to me, his eloquence, like Hillary Clinton's, is the kind of stuff that legends are made of. However, unlike Hillary Clinton, who never failed to project the image of the consummate politician, Barack Obama somehow reminds me of a man, just a man, but a thinking man who is going to do his best and his most, and always for the better good, and that in turn, inspires me to be a better person.

Thank you, and Godspeed, Mr. Obama.

image via hoping for happy accidents.

Snow Leopards

I was reading June's issue of National Geographic (yes, I have some catching up to do!) and they featured snow leopards, a species of cats that roam the high mountains in Central Asia. The writer, Douglas Chadwick, and photographer, Steve Winter, did such a great job that I fell in love with this truly beautiful animal. 

My favorite part about the snow leopards is how they sometimes use their super long fuzzy tail like we would a scarf, wrapping it around themselves when they're curled up to sleep. I can imagine it being oh-so-adorable. Mind you, though, these are 60-120 pound mammals with claws, so yeah, adorable, but not the cuddling type.

It is also, unfortunately, an endangered species. Sigh, doesn't it feel like that list is a never-ending one?

Good news is, conservancy efforts have been making some headway with their programs to help preserve the animal's natural habitat and to find ways for locals to survive without hunting the animals.

One of the groups mentioned was Snow Leopard Trust that also has an online-shop selling products hand-crafted by the locals. When I went to check them out, I was truly amazed. Here are all these gorgeous things I would love to buy for myself or my home, and you're telling me they're not only handmade, but that I will be helping impoverished locals in that region make a living AS WELL AS SAVING SNOW LEOPARDS?

I'm giddy with joy all of a sudden.

image of snow leopard by Steve Winter for National Geography.

Hasankeyf, now you see it…

but soon you won't. Hasankeyf is a historical city in southeastern Turkey that will be submerged in water once the Ilisu Dam is underway. GOOD writes about the city as it prepares itself for the change in a mini-series entitled "Village of the Damned". Be sure to check out Part 2 where comparison is made to other controversial dam projects around the world.

As with any development that alters so much of our landscape (what more those that are archaelogically rich), damming is a controversial subject. Should we sleep better knowing it's a necessary evil?

Soil and Us

An eye-opening read on the state of our soil titled "Our Good Earth" over at National Geographic. Hopefully, no one went MEGO.

wise words

Ignorance is liberating
Start where you can: never say can’t
Imagine first: reason later
Be reflective: waste time
Embrace serendipity: get muddled
Play games, serious games
Challenge consensus
Look for multipliers
Work backwards: move forwards
Feel good.

– from the book "Small Change" by Nabeel Hamdi.
Looks like a book I might enjoy reading. As it is, going through the fuddle is like sailing in the vast ocean looking for a horizon. This code of conduct that Mr. Hamdi prescribes for city planners is like a sagely knight in shining armour.

Classic Photographs in Lego

by Mike Stimpson. Not exactly sure how I feel about the more serious subject matters, but the lighthearted ones are refreshing. Check out the rest of his Lego sets.

via kakiseni.

“Wandering”

What is the difference between assent and denial?
What is the difference between beautiful and ugly?
What is the difference between fearsome and afraid?

The people are merry as if at a magnificent party
Or playing in the park at springtime,
But I am tranquil and wandering,
Like a newborn before it learns to smile,
Alone, with no true home.

The people have enough and to spare,
Where I have nothing,
And my heart is foolish,
Muddled and cloudy.

The people are bright and certain,
Where I am dim and confused;
The people are clever and wise,
Where I am dull and ignorant;
Aimless as a wave drifting over the sea,
Attached to nothing.

The people are busy with purpose,
Where I am impractical and rough;
I do not share the peoples' cares
But I am fed at nature's breast.

verse from Tao Te Ching,
as interpolated by Peter Merel.