Foie Gras

Make the pledge to yourself to never, ever, ever eat Foie Gras. Here is a link to some other pictures if you are brave enough to view them.

http://www.hsus.org/farm/multimedia/gallery/ducks-geese/

The Sorenson Database is the foremost collection of genetic genealogy data in the world. Search by DNA results or surname and find your place in the worldwide genetic family tree.

Audrey, this is free so lets do this together??

1. Request a Kit
2. Take a DNA Sample
3. Prepare Your Pedigree
4. Read and Sign the Consent Form
5. Return the Completed Kit

http://www.smgf.org/index.jspx

Office Software

In the spirit of frugalism, download your open office applications here . Word processing, spreadsheet, etc. Works great.

The "3 Rs" of BookCrossing...
1. Read a good book (you already know how to do that)
2. Register it here (along with your journal comments), get a unique BCID (BookCrossing ID number), and label the book
3. Release it for someone else to read (give it to a friend, leave it on a park bench, donate it to charity, "forget" it in a coffee shop, etc.), and get notified by email each time someone comes here and records a journal entry for that book. And if you make Release Notes on the book, others can Go Hunting for it and try to find it!

That's all there is to it. It doesn't cost anything to join, there are free bookplates but you can order a kit with bookplates, sticky notes and bookmarks and pay for it as a donation. I really enjoy doing this and would recommend it to anyone.

Woo Hoo! I released my first book into the wild on Sunday at Walmart: Beloved by Toni Morrison and it was "caught" already.
http://bookcrossing.com/journal/4345581

Asian Grocery

After a trip to an asian grocery to buy some "sweet rice" for a gluten-free dish I was so inspired by all the ingredients and possibilities that I started looking for recipes. The website I found is wonderful. It has a Asian Food Glossary and recipes with links to the glossary so you can lookup what, for example, sweet rice might be. Click the link and see.
http://www.asiafood.org/recipe_home.cfm

Light Pollution

A very good article about light pollution:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4794249.stm

Here is a poem by Ellen Bass http://www.ellenbass.com from "The Human Line", forthcoming in 2007 from Copper Canyon Press. It struck me to the core of my heart where the memory of people in Lebanon lives on.

Pray for Peace

Pray to whomever you kneel down to:
Jesus nailed to his wooden or plastic cross,
his suffering face bent to kiss you,
Buddha still under the Bo tree in scorching heat,
Adonai, Allah. Raise your arms to Mary
that she may lay her palm on our brows,
to Shekhina, Queen of Heaven and Earth,
to Inanna in her stripped descent.

Then pray to the bus driver who takes you to work.
On the bus, pray for everyone riding that bus,
for everyone riding buses all over the world.
Drop some silver and pray.

Waiting in line for the movies,
for the ATM, for your latte and croissant, offer your plea.
Make your eating and drinking a supplication.
Make your slicing of carrots a holy act,
each translucent layer of the onion, a deeper prayer.

To Hawk or Wolf, or the Great Whale, pray.
Bow down to terriers and shepherds and siamese cats.
Fields of artichokes and elegant strawberries.

Make the brushing of your hair
a prayer, every strand its own voice,
singing in the choir on your head.
As you wash your face, the water slipping
through your fingers, a prayer: Water,
softest thing on earth, gentleness
that wears away rock.

Making love, of course, is already prayer.
Skin, and open mouths worshipping that skin,
the fragile cases we are poured into.

If you're hungry, pray. If you're tired.
Pray to Gandhi and Dorothy Day.
Shakespeare. Sappho. Sojourner Truth.

When you walk to your car, to the mailbox,
to the video store, let each step
be a prayer that we all keep our legs,
that we do not blow off anyone else's legs.
Or crush their skulls.
And if you are riding on a bicycle
or a skateboard, in a wheel chair, each revolution
of the wheels a prayer as the earth revolves:
less harm, less harm, less harm.

And as you work, typing with a new manicure,
a tiny palm tree painted on one pearlescent nail
or delivering soda or drawing good blood
into rubber-capped vials, writing on a blackboard
with yellow chalk, twirling pizzas--

With each breath in, take in the faith of those
who have believed when belief seemed foolish,
who persevered. With each breath out, cherish.

Pull weeds for peace, turn over in your sleep for peace,
feed the birds, each shiny seed
that spills onto the earth, another second of peace.
Wash your dishes, call your mother, drink wine.

Shovel leaves or snow or trash from your sidewalk.
Make a path. Fold a photo of a dead child
around your VISA card. Scoop your holy water
from the gutter. Gnaw your crust.
Mumble along like a crazy person, stumbling
your prayer through the streets.

Animals Triumph on Captial Hill

HSUS works hard to get these petitions before congress: Animals Triumph on Capitol Hill

http://www.hsus.org/legislation_laws/federal_legislation/companion_animals/animals_triumph_on_capitol.html

Chinese Kill Dogs Due To Rabies

Please take action and sign a protest messsage to the Chinese Embassy for killing dogs due to a rabies outbreak and offer of help to vaccinate instead.

http://www.hsus.org/about_us/humane_society_international_hsi/hsi_asia/blood_curdling_dog_killings.html

A Route Of Evanescense

I found a dead hummingbird and buried it beneath the hibiscus with an upturned hibiscus flower to mark the spot.

A Route of Evanescence
With a revolving Wheel --
A Resonance of Emerald --
A Rush of Cochineal --
And every Blossom on the Bush
Adjusts its tumbled Head --
The mail from Tunis, probably,
An easy Morning’s Ride --

~Emily Dickenson~

http://www.ubcbotanicalgarden.org/potd/
In case you missed it and equally fascinating is the link to cochineal at wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cochineal

Petition

Take time to sign and petition your state representative to pass the Farm Animal Stewardship Purchasing Act (H.R. 5557). It asks for humane treatment of animals which are supplied to the federal govenment. https://community.hsus.org/campaign/FED_2006_stewardship_act

Art That Changes

Here is what I need to be able to read "him": Artwork that changes to suit mood.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/5242060.stm

Visions of Two Lebanons

Visions of Two Lebanons (with some pictures of Broumanna). Click on photo gallery.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5594662

Baby Seals

If you care about animals as much as I do, you can sign the pledge to stop the killing of baby seals.

http://www.hsus.org/protect_seals.html

Why I love fat!

http://www.earthsky.org/shows/listenerquestions.php?date=20030203