“Forever is composed of nows.”
— Emily Dickinson
* * *
Archive for the ‘Other’ Category
Enjoy Now
Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, Thoughts on July 20, 2024| Leave a Comment »
Like a Kid in a Ball Pit
Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, Thoughts on July 15, 2024| Leave a Comment »
It’s Monday and all but here’s wishing you at least one moment of pure joy today.
* * *
Adventure, with Trolls!
Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, activism, adventure, art, creativity, inspiration, magic made real, nature, sculpture on July 11, 2024| Leave a Comment »
This is just all kinds of delightful:
Giant Trolls in Detroit Lakes Bring the Public on a Fairy Tale Adventure
The Danish artist has continued to expand his work in America and has just completed his most ambitious project ever with Alexa’s Elixir. Located in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota, the exhibition takes people on a journey to solve a riddle and find a Golden Rabbit.
Sculptor, recycling artist and activist Thomas Dambo makes giant trolls and shares them with the rest of us. And when they say “giant,” they mean it!
If you happen to be in the Detroit Lakes area of Minnesota, this looks like a lot of fun.
WHERE ARE MY TROLLS ? LOST 9 SCULPTURES IN MINNESOTA! – YouTube
* * *
The Beauty and the Mystery
Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, inspiration, Thoughts on July 7, 2024| Leave a Comment »
Here’s wishing you a wonderful day, one where you can see past the sharp edges of the world to the beauty and mystery that surrounds us all.
* * *
Watch, Now
Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, goals, kindness, Thoughts, Writers on July 3, 2024| Leave a Comment »
“Hello, sun in my face. Hello, you who make the morning and spread it over the fields. … Watch, now, how I start the day in happiness, in kindness.”
— Mary Oliver
* * *
Feeling Silly
Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, artists, creativity, inspiration, Thoughts on June 25, 2024| Leave a Comment »
“If people did not sometimes do silly things, nothing intelligent would ever get done.”
— Ludwig Wittgenstein
* * *
On the Topic of Rainbows
Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, Thoughts on June 23, 2024| Leave a Comment »
“Try to be a rainbow in someone’s cloud.”
― Maya Angelou
* * *
Happy and Proud
Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, #pride, Thoughts on June 22, 2024| Leave a Comment »
I enjoy Pride Month because it’s great to support family and friends, because rainbows are pretty, and because if 2SLGBTQI+* peeps can’t be themselves, neither can anyone else, not really.
Here’s to embracing our true selves.
* True, the acronym is long and changes a lot and is easy to mess up, but that’s because inclusion is important. Don’t be afraid to be an ally.**)
* Taking my own advice here. Have I made a misstep somewhere? Maybe, but instead of worrying about it, I think I’ll just wave that rainbow flag high.
* * *
Para Sol
Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, climate, heat, heatwave, hothothot!, summer, Thoughts, weather on June 18, 2024| Leave a Comment »
Millions are under extreme heat warnings today as we begin a multi-day heat event, myself included. Because climate!
Public health officers across the continent are speaking out, hoping to keep people safe. A lot of outlets have dramatic headlines about this heat wave, and rightfully so. Here’s one from my locale:
Ottawa Public Health prepares for ‘life-threatening’ heat event
If you are young, old, pregnant or on diuretics, be extra careful. If you have air conditioning, you’ll probably definitely need to use it. If you do not have air conditioning or a temperature-controlled cave / subterranean lair, it makes sense to find a place to cool down.
Options: Head to a library, mall, museum, pool, rec center or coffee shop. A lot of cities have their own cooling center maps (here’s Ottawa’s, and New York’s and Austin’s, for example). You can also search for “cooling centers near me” or find more info by US state here: Cooling Centers by State.
If you have to spend time outdoors? Hats, sunblock and shade are your friends. Stay hydrated, and maybe pack a parasol.
Fun facts:
- don’t use a fan to blow extremely hot air on yourself. This can cause heat exhaustion to happen faster (OPH)
- Pets need to stay cool, too! (citation: common sense). For tips, see Keep pets safe in the heat.
- Avoid or minimize drinking alcohol and caffeinated drinks (coffee, tea, and some carbonated drinks) (aww, you’re no fun OPH, but mocktails are a-ok)
- parasol: borrowed from French, “screen or canopy shielding from the sun,” going back to Middle French, borrowed from Italian parasole, from para “(it) shields, keeps out” (3rd singular present of parare “to prepare, adorn, avert, shield”) + sole “sun,” going back to Latin sōl (MW).
* * *
No Flaming Moats Required
Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, taxes, Thoughts on June 17, 2024| Leave a Comment »
/Hmm, I drafted this piece around tax time but don’t seem to have posted it. Now seems like as good a time as any.
There are a lot of ways to make a difference in the world. Recently, I was finishing up a ream of paperwork and thinking about taxes.
We saw a Stephen Colbert skit about billionaire doomsday bunkers and the bit that caught my attention (aside from the flaming moats and water cannons) was the idea that these billionaires must at some level feel that they have no control over the future.
Note that I said “feel.” It’s not that they don’t actually have power. Because they do. The rich have spent decades ensuring that economic power equals political power, and they are happy to exercise that power in ways that further enrich and otherwise benefit them.
Let’s be real. Not only are they doing just fine, they could do more to benefit others as well.
How? Support democracy, work to reduce inequality, or, if all that seems like too much work and time away from their flaming moats, they could pay taxes like the rest of us.
As Warren Buffet has famously noted, he paid a lower tax rate than his secretary.
If more of us were doing fine, then billionaires would be better off too. Because you only need a flaming moat if someone is mad at you.
And if you have the power to make a mess, you also have the power to clean it up.
* * *
-
Recent Posts
She Said, He Said
-
-
Favorite Posts
Archives
Categories
It’s All So Random
What I’m Reading
You must be logged in to post a comment.