Monday, November 29, 2010

Mastermind

With our thoughts, we make our world — Buddha


The thing always happens that you really believe in; and the belief in a thing makes it happen. — Frank Lloyd Wright


We are designing the lives we want to lead by living and working where we’re happiest on projects that call to us. — Jessi Arrington


I have been reading Napoleon Hill...
I am searching for my Chief Aim, my own meaningful work.
I have been examining my beliefs about education, about trying new things, experimenting, making mistakes - learning from them, and trying again.


Dive into life with gusto, learn from  mistakes, create new ideas, rise up to challenges, and set high goals.


What gets you up in the morning?




Learning Lab

Check out my favorite nonprofit, Learning Lab, in Boise, Idaho.
Imagine how you would feel if you couldn’t read to your child, fill out a job application, understand your bills, or use your medications correctly?   Those feelings are a reality for 20% of adults because they are barely literate.  


You can help!

I am asking you to click on: Learning Lab/Donate to donate to Learning Lab’s literacy programs.  You can give low-income adults and families the power to break the cycle of illiteracy and lift themselves out of poverty and despair.

Every contribution allows Learning Lab to unleash the amazing potential in each student.  Your donation will pay for the books, educational software, staff and facilities needed to continue this important work.

Do you believe in the power of literacy like I do?  All it takes is one click to help someone learn. You can change their lives, their children’s future, and strengthen our community.  Join me and support this terrific organization’s work!

Donate here: Learning Lab/Donate

For more information about Learning Lab and their great programs, check out their website at www.learninglabinc.org.

Thank you!

Friday, November 26, 2010

silence of humanity

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I just finished the book, "Every Man In This Village Is A Liar : An Education in War" by Megan Stack.

You will be left to wonder... are the "heroes" really heroic and are the "villains" really evil... maybe everything is a lie or an illusion of perception.

A quote from Every Man:
"You can overcome the things that are done to you, but you cannot escape the things that you have done.
Here is the truth: It matters, what you do at war. It matters more than you ever want to know. Because countries, like people, have collective consciences and memories and souls, and the violence we deliver in the name of our nation is pooled like sickly tar at the bottom of who we are."



"... but up close the war on terror isn't anything but the sick and feeble cringing in an asylum, babies in shock, structure smashed. Baghdad broken. Afghanistan broken, Egypt broken. The line between heaven and earth, broken. Lebanon broken. Broken peace and broken roads and broken bridges. The broken faith and the years of broken promises. Children inheriting their parents' broken hearts, growing up with a taste for vengeance. And all along, America dreaming its deep sweet dream, there and not there. America chasing phantoms, running uphill to nowhere in pursuit of a receding mirage of absolute safety."

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Monday, November 15, 2010

Tree of Codes

For book and paper lovers everywhere...
What do you get when you take your favorite book and cut out chunks of text?
It's part sculpture, part story telling, and part magic!
Jonathan Safran Foer (of Eating Animals and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close fame) has done the amazing with his new book, Tree of Codes. This brilliant project is created by cutting out large sections of text from Foer's favorite novel, The Street of Crocodiles.

Check out the interview with Jonathan in Vanity Fair.

Finally a book that simply doesn't translate to Kindle :)

Sunday, November 14, 2010

free hugs




"I have been astonished that men could die martyrs for religion - I have shuddered at it. I shudder no more - I could be martyred for my religion - Love is my religion - I could die for that. "
John Keats 

Saturday, November 13, 2010

patti digh

Life is a Verb: 37 days to Wake Up, Be Mindful, and Live Intentionally...
a great new book I'm reading!

It's funny and wonderful and inspiring. I plan to buy more as gifts this year.

Here's my favorite part so far:

"Go to the grocery store today. Buy five packages of birthday candles. Use them with wild abandon... Never be without your candles. I travel with a pack because you never know when a celebration will break out."


In a nut shell: be generous, speak up, love more, say yes, trust yourself, and slow down.

Thursday, November 11, 2010

... but I'm not the only one

Imagine there's no Heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace

You may say that I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world

You may say that I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one.



Happy Veterans Day

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

i love readers :)


Everyone has the right to read. 
Here's a good example of a Reader's Bill of Rights to help you make the most of that right:
Readers have:
·     The right to read.
·     The right to skip pages.
·     The right to not finish.
·     The right to reread.
·     The right to read anything.
·     The right to escapism.
·     The right to knowledge.
·     The right to read anywhere.
·     The right to browse.
·     The right to read out loud.
·     The right not to defend your tastes.

Sunday, November 7, 2010