Skepticism rears its head frequently on the Internet, in ways we may not think about very much in our day to day lives off line, and with good reason. There’s a lot of unreliable or questionable information on the Internet. There are no editorial guidelines, no filtering process. Anyone can post anything they want. This…
Prayer beads II
When I wrote my first post about prayer beads (see Prayer Beads I), almost three years ago, I considered buying a ready-made strand or a kit. I started out wanting sandalwood beads, but my budget was constrained, and it wasn’t as if my prayer beads were a necessity. So I made my own Then I…
The argument for fresh fruits, vegetables, and whole grains
In an interview at Alternet titled “Michael Pollan Debunks Food Myths,” author Michael Pollan discusses his new book, In Defense of Food. He talks about why news of the latest scientific nutritional studies is probably not the best source for nutrition information, and how the best eating advice given to Americans in the past five…
Smuggler of Dreams
The New Moon can’t be trusted. Rather than float her darker face as a shadow dotting the brilliance of the sky, she hides behind a blue mask. Still the glassy surface of my inner pool grows agitated, my vision blotted and obscured, as if a storm should darken the horizon, or a great wave loom…
More art blogs and websites
I’ve found more fantastic art journal blogs, ninajohansson.se, and Laurelines Drawings and Paintings. Links courtesy of Jana’s Journal and Sketch Blog. Laurelines also recently posted links to other Must-Read Art Blogs for 2008.
Black holes, Yin-Yang, the Big Dipper, and the Wheel of the Year
I’ve always thought of Yin-Yang as a purely philosophical or even spiritual concept, one of integration, interdependence, and balance. I never thought of it having any connection to our physical universe as conceived by scientists. But according to two sites I came across today, it may originate from prehistoric observations of the Big Dipper — or the Plough, as the constellation is known in China — as it changes apparent position in the night sky through the course of a year.
Art journal blogs — new links
I’m adding art journal blogs to my blog list as I find ones that I can’t live without visiting regularly. My two newest links are to Jana’s Journal and Sketch Blog, and Princess Haiku (who visited me and commented a while back, leading me to watch her intriguing blog for a while). I hope you…
Drifting between big projects
I’m finally shopping my novel around, so I have more time to take care of the rest of my life. There’s something about a book-length writing project that shuts out too much else from the range of my attention, so I’ve decided that unless I sell this novel it’s going to be smaller creative projects…
After the fires
The local birds seem to think our yard is a good place to visit while the last bits of fire and smoke die down, and they’ve come through in flocks as well as individually. At one moment this morning they seemed to be throwing a bird party in our side yard. I stepped outside and…
Who was the first poet?
I wonder, because reading so inevitably pushes me to write. I wonder, and I even worry. What if I’d never seen a poem? Might I burst apart one day from the pressure of too much held in too long? Could I have learned, even as slowly as I do, how to forge words into a…