dennis

Meet Dennis--"Dennis the Menace," as the guards at the Parliament Building call him. Dennis comes when he is called and takes peanuts from the guard's hand.

(taken by my sister)

He do love him some peanuts.

You knew I had to find a squirrel in Victoria, didn't you? Look how much darker he is than the ones at my house.

Guess I need to see if I can train mine to eat from my hand. How long do you think it will take me?

Oh, and by the way--Happy Spring everyone. It couldn't get here too soon for my tastes.

rest in your work

(big fat snowflakes falling in Victoria on March 16th)

Renewal does not come before mission, but in mission.

~ Mortimer Arias ~
Protestant church worker in Bolivia

Love Thursday ~ 03.19.09...love your mother...earth & sea

(next to the drain in the street in Victoria)

What hurts the victim most is not the cruelty of the oppressor but the silence of the bystander.

~ Elie Wiesel ~
Holocaust survivor and Nobel laureate

agatha and the teacup

(tea at The Empress)

One is left with the horrible feeling now that war settles nothing; that to win a war is as disastrous as to lose one.

~ Agatha Christie ~
Autobiography (1977)

In perusing my photos, I now realize I didn't get that many good shots. I guess we were laughing too hard. No worry. I would rather have the memories and the laughter than the photos. I can always get more pics. Can't always laugh with my sister.

I have a few to share. Fear not....

homeward bound

(the mocha we bought in order to get "free" internet time so I could upload my pictures)

Today we travel south. We must get in line for the ferry at 9:00 a.m. then wait an hour and a half before we sail.

My sister came along to play with me (while SO was at a training) and we laughed all over town. Sometimes we laughed so hard we had to find a place to sit down and catch our breath. Was it funny? Most of the time, no one else would think so. But who cares? Laughter is good for the soul and our health. We yucked it up and soaked it in. Ahh.

Have a good laugh today...you'll be glad you did.

bubbles anyone?

(@ Navarre)

I had to look it up. Now that I know, I must say...yes, please. I don't know if it would be considered to be one (technically) but my favorite is sparkling Shiraz.

Note: "vin mousseux" is a sparkling wine, not from the Champagne region.

no one is too small

You just need to be a flea against injustice. Enough committed fleas biting strategically can make even the biggest dog uncomfortable and transform even the biggest nation.

~ Marian Wright Edelman ~

having a wonderful time...wish you were here

The truth is these crocuses are in my front yard. I was having trouble uploading pictures from the internet connection in my hotel room so I went to an internet cafe and uploaded the pictures for the week while I am here. I saved them for the day they will be posted. I will probably post the Victoria pictures after I get home. Oh, well.

We have been shopping and taking pictures. We toured Parliament today. It's a beautiful building. They budgeted for $500,000 in 1871 and actually spent $922,000...in today's dollars? A lot.

We may get rain tomorrow. Perhaps snow.

Please...no.

Hold tight. Some Victoria pictures will follow...eventually.

friday the thirteenth

(the wine bar at Navarre)

We must be prepared to make the same heroic sacrifices for the cause of peace that we make ungrudgingly for the cause of war.

~ Albert Einstein ~

Love Thursday ~ 03.12.09

(on the ferry to Victoria)

Love is an act of sedition, a revolt against reason, an uprising in the body politic, a private mutiny.

~ Diane Ackerman ~
A Natural History of Love

Victoria

I am in Victoria for a vacation. It seems that I cannot upload photos from my hotel room. I'll figure out if there is a way for me to do it before the week is out.

I am tired from the experiences of the last few days and will have to catch up later.

Thanks for coming by. More to come.

spring is coming

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.

~ Martin Luther King Jr. ~

crocus

No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.

~ Eleanor Roosevelt ~

humility

(Inji)

Humility is what gives us the vision to look upon our world with fresh eyes. Humility enables us to respect others enough to put down our spurious images of ourselves and open our arms, as individuals and as a nation.

~ Joan Chittister ~

ganesh

To the true servant of God every place is the right place and every time is the right time.

~ Catherine of Siena ~
St. Catherine of Siena as Seen in Her Letters

love of money

To take usury for money lent is unjust in itself, because this is to sell what does not exist, and this evidently leads to inequality, which is contrary to justice.

~ Thomas Aquinas ~
Dominican friar and theologian (1225-1274)

honored i am (Love Thursday ~ 03.05.09)

(a new award at Realizing Ordinary)

Thank you, Kathryn Grace, for honoring me. I look forward to hearing stories of Ordinary Heroes every week because, quite frankly, not enough has been made of all the good things people are doing to save us all...one little bitty (or huge) step at a time.

And just to be perfectly clear, the whole idea of Love Thursday comes from chookooloonks. Karen is one of my favorites as shares her beautiful images and wit and wisdom, bringing bright spots and love into my life and the rest of the world.

So, Karen, I hereby bestow upon you, the Ordinary Hero Award. Thank you.

done

Just a brief announcement:

My taxes are done.
And mailed.

Hallelujah!

tag...you're it! (plus a tip for picking photos of yourself)

(shutter sisters challenge)

1) Sit down.
2) Take a picture of yourself right now--don't primp--just snap one!
3) Upload it.
4) Tag 3 people to do the same.)

I tag:

Rebecca

Kath

Margie...

and you.

Oh, come on. I was brave--you can be, too. Create the post then come on back here and leave me a link.

Do you know anyone who really likes pictures of herself? Most of us cringe when we see ourself reproduced by a camera.

Have you ever wondered why? Well, I happen to know so I am going to share my secret for picking a self-photo that you like. I can't even remember now where I learned it. Either I read it in a magazine decades ago or I learned it from the photographer who took my high school yearbook photo...decades ago.

Nobody's face is completely symmetrical. Some of us are moreso than others, but not one of us is totally even side to side. When we look in the mirror, we get used to that view. Some days when I look in the mirror, I think that what I see is really okay. But if you were to take a photo of me on that same day, I very well might not like it because what I see in the photo is the reverse me. The assymetry I see in my photo is opposite what I see when I look in a mirror--unless, of course, I took the photo of myself in the mirror.

Next time you want to know if you really like a shot of yourself, hold the photo up to the mirror. It's that simple. You will look more like yourself to you. Or open the shot in your photo viewer and do a horizontal flip (it will be the same as looking at yourself in the mirror).

Give it a try. Tell me what you think.

peace, truth, justice, and the cia?

Peace is the experience of justice, and you can't have justice without truth.

~ Ray McGovern ~
Activist and former CIA analyst

intolerable injustice

I have come to believe that the one thing people cannot bear is a sense of injustice. Poverty, cold, even hunger, are more bearable than injustice.

~ Millicent Fenwick ~
Speaking Up

all one system

(moso)

We are all bound up together in one great bundle of humanity, and society cannot trample on the weakest and feeblest of its members without receiving the curse in its own soul.

~ Frances Ellen Watkins Harper ~
Proceedings of the Eleventh Women's Rights Convention (1866)

now is the time

How lovely to think that no one need wait a moment, we can start now, start slowly changing the world!

~ Anne Frank ~

love thursday ~ 02.26.09: love your neighbor as yourself

For us to spend our time pitting neighbor against neighbor was a sacrilege.

~ Judith Camp ~

a city councilwoman in Oak Point, Texas, who voted to kill the city's English-only resolution in December. Her vote is part of a trend of local lawmakers repealing or modifying heavy-handed measures against undocumented immigrants, citing such reasons as the cost of implementation and the negative publicity and racist abuses associated with such laws. (Source: USA Today)

compassion

Does the compassionate life not demand that we be present to those who suffer; does it not require that we enter into solidarity with the poor, oppressed, and downtrodden; does it not motivate us both to move into the thick of life and to experience the hardships of existence in solidarity with the outcasts?

~ Henri Nouwen ~
Compassion: A Reflection on the Christian Life

walk your talk

(st. francis)

Watch how you live. Your lives may be the only gospel your sisters and brothers will ever read.

~ Dom Helder Camara ~
former Archbishop of Olinda and Recife, Brazil

share

(hydrangea)

The bread that you possess belongs to the hungry. The clothes that you store in boxes, belong to the naked. The shoes rotting by you, belong to the bare-foot. The money that you hide belongs to anyone in need.

~ Saint Basil ~
fourth century theologian and monastic

tagged: 3's about me

(shutter sisters: "Show us a photo that's a tease of what you want the most.")

She tagged me. Not just any random she...but She did. Check out her blog. I love reading her and I hope you do, too.

With no further ado...here's my list:

Three names I’ve been called:
1. Wonder (because I am a wonder you know!)

2. Bhagwandananda (my name as a guru...purely in jest, but it stuck)

3. Leolani (given to me by a Hawaiian friend--it means "voice of heaven")

Three jobs I’ve had:
1. Gas station pump jockey (a summer job in college--mostly I read books between customers!)

2. Book store clerk (I've worked in two college bookstores--talk about Heaven...)

3. Volleyball coach--I had never played competitively, but when I got my first teaching job, they needed someone who could/would also coach something. I agreed. I enjoyed it immensely and, fortunately, had a talented head coach who believed in me and taught me as we went along.

Three places I’ve lived...only in Oregon:
1. Tillamook (yes, where they make the cheese)

2. Salem (the state capital where I attended college)

3. Portland...one of the best cities on the planet

Three hobbies:
1. Photography--while I have always been interested in it, only in the last year have I started to work on my skills in earnest. Digital is great--immediate feedback...no film to buy and process so I can shoot with abandon. (All the photos on this blog are mine unless otherwise noted.)

2. Playing guitar--I have moved away from this for a number of years, but the desire is building in me to pick it up again. Maybe I will even take up ukulele.

3. Writing--through much of my life I journaled. None of it was great writing, but the process was important to me. Now I blog. Maybe some day I will be able to collect myself to do more again. I keep looking toward that day and taking advantage of the opportunities that arise.

Three Things Most People Do Not Know About Me:
1. When I was in junior high I set a weight for myself that if I reached it I would have to kill myself. I have long since surpassed that weight and I am still here. What a cruel pressure our culture places on us to look a certain way--not be too...anything.

2. When I do my laundry, I fold my underwear into packets...fold each side in by thirds; then fold top down and bottom up in thirds; tuck the bottom into the top. Voilá!

3. I'm a grammar snob. When I was in sixth grade, I would rather stay in and diagram sentences on the blackboard than go outside for recess. In eighth grade I was the county spelling champion. I taught English at the high school level. And while I am discreet about speaking up, I sometimes cringe internally at mistakes I hear and read. (On another note, I am not nearly as perfectionistic in my own speaking and writing as I used to be--mainly because my memory isn't good enough, but also because life is too short to worry about it that much...so I guess that means my snobbery is being transformed. Oh, hallelujah! Good for me.)

Three TV shows that I watch (on DVD after the season comes out--I hate commercials):
1. Ugly Betty

2. Grey's Anatomy

3. Bones

Three Places I have Been:
1. Belize

2. Hawaii (Oahu, Maui, Kauai, Hawaii)

3. Nassau, Bahamas

Three Places I want to Go:
1. Australia

2. The other Hawaiian islands

3. More tropical islands in the South Pacific and Caribbean

I gotta tell ya--you're getting close to knowing everything there is to know about me.

Now, I tag Rebecca and Kapuananiokalaniakea...and YOU, of course. (Put your list on your own blog and leave me a link OR leave your list in the comments below--your choice.)

together

We must stand together; if we don't, there will be no victory for any one of us.

~ Mother Jones ~
in Linda Atkinson's Mother Jones (1978)

choose ye

Cowardice asks the question: Is it safe? Expediency asks the question: Is it politic? Vanity asks the question: Is it popular? But conscience asks the question: Is it right? And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular -- but he must take it simply because conscience tells him it is right.

~ Martin Luther King Jr. ~
from his address, "To Chart Our Course for the Future" (1968)

Love Thursday ~ 02-19.09

If one had taken what is necessary to cover one's needs and had left the rest to those who are in need, no one would be rich, no one would be poor, no one would be in need.

~ Saint Basil ~
fourth century theologian and monastic

eagle

Man’s capacity for justice makes democracy possible,
but man’s inclination to injustice makes democracy necessary.

~ Reinhold Niebuhr ~

On Sunday we went for a top down drive in the country. It was beautiful and sunny. We needed to get out.

A huge bird flew over...an eagle. A bald eagle. Incredible. I am so glad they chose the eagle instead of the turkey for our national bird.

Happy Birthday, Thithter!

In The Music Man, the Winthrop Paroo (the little boy played by Ron Howard) speaks with a lisp. When Harold Hill comes to town, he brings hope and excitement to all the boys, telling them that they can be in a band. Winthrop, who is normally shy and withdrawn, becomes animated and runs to his sister, Marian, to tell her the news: "Thithter! Thithter!"

For years now, that is how we address each other..."Hey thithter!"

Say Happy Birthday to my Thithter...Okay?

Thanks.

bonus: counterpoint to "what's so bad about feeling good?" OR now for some really good news...

FDA Approves Depressant Drug For The Annoyingly Cheerful

i got to do a photo shoot

My first shoot! A friend asked me to take pictures of his hand blown glass items so he can post them in an etsy shop. It was really fun and I already know some things I will do differently next time...like adjust the white balance. My bad.

Anyway, I really like this bead. I think it would look great with my snakeskin boots. Don't you?


I'll let you know when his shop is up and running. He'd appreciate your stopping buy. (Oops. Freudian slip.) I mean stopping BY.

dawning of the age of aquarius

This is too good not to share:

We measure our global sense of both space (latitude and longitude) and time (universal time - UT or GMT) from the prime meridian located at Greenwich, England. So we can perceive the collective influence of this momentous astrological event by looking at the alignment from this globally ‘centered' perspective.

When we do something extraordinary and exquisite emerges

At dawn on 14th February the day dedicated to St Valentine, the patron saint of Love, the Moon in Libra enters the seventh house of relationships. And Jupiter and Mars are aligned in Aquarius in the twelfth house of spiritual transformation.

for the whole page, go to: Jude Currivan, PhD

because i love you (valentine's day bonus)

because i love you...
because i love the planet...
because it's valentine's day...

i'm sharing this movie with you:

View this movie at cultureunplugged.com

...and in the spirit of the series on anger--

it should really piss you off...
in a way that motivates you...
of course.

love is about action.

others' anger

Dealing with my own anger is one thing. Dealing with someone else's is quite another--especially if it is directed at me.

I grew up with an angry parent. We walked on eggshells to try to protect ourselves from the emotional lashing out. None of us wanted to incur wrath and have the potency of the anger directed at us. We learned through this that we were responsible for others' feelings and that we had to try to manage their behavior.

Wrong! Dead wrong.

Each of us is responsible for our own feelings and our own behaviors. Period.

If you get mad at me, I am responsible for my behavior. What did I do that contributed to your anger? If I was unconscious or insensitive or uncommunicative then I need to look at that. To the degree that I missed the mark in my interactions with you (or about you) I need to own up and, where necessary, apologize, change my behavior, and do what we need to repair the relationship.

You bear the responsibility for what you do with your anger. If you tell me about it, I'll work with you to repair the situation. If you swing at me, I am outta there. If you vent on me, you will come up against my boundaries. If you vent in my presence and let me be with you in your anger, that is part of the process of righting what went wrong between us.

In a family, if only one person gets to do all the anger, then that person usually carries all the power creating an imbalance. In a relationship where only one person gets to be angry, the power is out of balance, too. Unilateral power is unhealthy--whether in couples, families, or governments.

Everyone has a right to his feelings. Everyone has the responsibility to make decisions about how to express those feelings. And if someone chooses an expression that hurts others, we have a right to set boundaries and protect ourselves.

It's taken me many years of training, experience, and therapy to figure that one out. Just because the other person is angry, it doesn't mean he is right.

(Wouldn't it be great if we, as a culture, learned to feel, express, and celebrate our anger like in the story told by Something Cheeky?)

"no kill" pills redux

You asked, so I will tell you. First, however, I have to give you my disclaimer.

Disclaimer:

I shared with you my experience with this supplement. Your experience might not be the same as mine.

I am not diagnosing or treating anyone here. I am only taking care of myself and sharing my hope and success with you.

Please do your own research on this supplement. Check it out to see if it is a good thing for you to take. I do know that pregnant women should not take it.

Phosphatidylcholine (PC). It's a lot harder to say than "no kill pills" so I just keep it simple.

PC is an essential phospholipid that is important for cellular integrity and structure. It is good for the brain, heart, and liver. In fact, it is one of the most important support nutrients for the liver. Choline is grouped with the B vitamins and is a precursor to acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter. So, it is important to our nervous system, too.

Since PC supports and encourages detox, pregnant women should not use it because it stirs up the system and that might not be a good thing for the baby. For the rest of us, however, it is good to get the trash out of our systems and PC helps.

Do some reading. Get a good quality supplement (pharmaceutical grade) if you decide to use it. If you do decide to try it, let me know if it works for you.

Oh, if only we could have something like this in our water instead of fluoride!

Love Thursday ~ 02.12.09

The final word is love.

~ Dorothy Day ~
The Long Loneliness

"no kill" pills

(no kill pill)

Do you ever feel like you want to reach out and strangle someone...anyone? The next person who crosses your path will do? Lately I've experienced many such days. And that brings me to the next point about anger...

Anger sometimes has a physical cause. In Chinese medicine the liver and anger correlate closely. In today's environment, toxins constantly bombard us through our air, water, and food and the liver's job is to clean it all up. I don't know about you, but my liver gets overwhelmed and can't keep up. I get cranky. I want to scream. Often, I just want people to get the hell out of my way.

At times like that, I take a supplement I call my "no kill" pills, because they keep me from wanting to kill someone or something (don't worry; I am really not violent). No kidding. They really work. Within 20 minutes of taking them, my whole system calms down. The anger dissipates.

Next time you feel angry for "no apparent reason," consider in your self-scan whether your liver might need a "treat." Your nervous system will thank you. And so will the next person who comes along.

a good use of anger

(a rock in my front yard)

I don't believe that the big men, the politicians and the capitalists alone, are guilty of the war. Oh no, the little man is just as guilty, otherwise the peoples of the world would have risen in revolt long ago!

~ Anne Frank ~
The Diary of a Young Girl

follow up #2: anger is not bad

(best shot monday)

I've introduced the topic that "anger is not bad" and I've talked about "anger is a feeling (not a behavior) that can be a motivator." Today I have something more specific in mind.

Anger is information.

That's right.

Have you ever found yourself getting angry at questions from someone? Or at their uninvited commentary on you and your life? Maybe you feel irritation rather than full blown anger. Have you ever then berated yourself for your feelings because, after all, they are "just trying to help."

If you are female, you have probably been taught that "It isn't nice to be angry." Even if you didn't get it as a direct lesson from your parents, you may have picked it up simply by being a member of this culture. "Nice girls don't get angry." "People won't like you if you... ." Taking away our right to be angry also disempowers us and encourages us to allow others to take advantage of us.

Perhaps that anger or irritation deserves another look. Sometimes anger or irritation is an indication that the "well-meaning" individual just crossed your boundaries--or is about to. That feeling can be an alarm of sorts to get you to pay attention.

You have a choice in behaviors at this awareness, but maybe all that is required is that you shore up your boundaries and be prepared to protect yourself and your limits. Just because someone asks a question, you are not required to answer it. Just because someone offers advice, you are not required to take it. Just because someone comments on your person or your life doesn't mean they are right.

And just because you are angry doesn't mean you need to rip them a new orifice...even though in the moment, it may feel like a very satisfying option.

Once, in my ignorance, I asked a question that was none of my business of a friend. Her response was silence, followed by a change of subject. I got the message. I learned that my curiosity was invasive. I never made that mistake again--although I know I have made plenty of others.

So next time you find yourself being angry, check in. See what it is about. Once you know, a world of options open in your choosing a response. Chances are you will feel more empowered by having those options.



(If you have questions or aspects of this topic--or others--that you want to discuss, please send me an email at whatwouldwandado AT comcast DOT net, or leave it here in a comment.)

follow up: anger is not bad

A couple days ago, I posted a quote from Joan Chittister: "Anger is not bad. Anger can be a very positive thing, the thing that moves us beyond the acceptance of evil." That quote seemed to strike a chord with people so I wanted to do a follow up.

Anger has taken a bad rap in our culture because so many people do it (express it) so badly. We whine. We rage. We rant. We tantrum. We explode. We wreak havoc and pursue vengeance. We just flat out behave immaturely and inappropriately when we're angry.

OR we don't do anything for fear of doing all those bad behaviors. Instead we become passive. We turn into doormats. We become apathetic. We take on and express our powerlessness because what has been modeled for us is so unpalatable. It should be, yet we don't know an appropriate alternative expression.

Anger is not behavior. Anger is a feeling--and emotion. Everyone has it. What many of us don't know is that the feeling does not determine the behavior. It may instigate our taking action, but we have choice. We get to decide what we will say or do.

Rather than being controlled by our anger, we can be moved by it.

Remember the line in Network (a movie from 1976)? "I'm as mad as hell and I'm not going to take this any more!" spoken by the character, Howard Beale (played by Peter Finch). Take a look at this clip:



Some things aren't so different 33 years later. We deserve to be angry. Howard Beale doesn't tell people what to say or do with their anger. Just first, get angry and say so. Feel it. Acknowledge it. Allow it to be the motivation to figure out what to do next.

Sometimes, getting angry is the first step...a step to regaining our power.

(More to come on this topic. Let me know if you have particular questions or if you want me to cover certain aspects of anger.)

5 more things you might not know about me

I took the challenge from Chookooloonks.


1. I am one degree of separation from Barack Obama. I was sure my friend would be invited to the inauguration and I would get to go as her escort. (NOT.)


2. I love sailing. While I have no desire to be a boat owner nor captain of the ship, I make a pretty good first mate and an even better masthead.


3. I consider myself an adventurous person and enjoy doing new things--going new places. I try never to say never, but I gotta say I never want to jump from anything high. Bungee jumping and sky diving are at the bottom of my list of things to try before I die. They might be the last thing I do before I die if I did. Not that I would hit bottom without a 'chute--I would die of fright as soon as I stepped over the edge.


4. When I was in high school and college I journalled almost every day. I still have a lot of them in a box in the attic. I'm sure that filling all those pages helped keep me sane.


5. We just finished our Christmas celebration this evening. With the snow and ice and illness and everything that has been happening, the last Christmas dinner and gift exchange was finally scheduled for this evening. We had macaroni and cheese and caesar salad.



How about you? Tell me 5 more things I might not know about you. Leave them here in a comment or add a link to your own blog.

Can't wait to hear....

anger is not bad

Anger is not bad. Anger can be a very positive thing, the thing that moves us beyond the acceptance of evil.

~ Joan Chittister, OSB ~

Love Thursday ~ 02.05.09

Love needs to be proved by action.

~ Saint Therese of Lisieux ~
Story of a Soul

Song running through my head: Rosa Sat by Amy Dixon-Kolar

a bridge to somewhere

(Fremont Bridge)

You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing which you think you cannot do.

~ Eleanor Roosevelt ~

Song running through my head: Bridge Over Troubled Water by Simon & Garfunkel

some photographic "mistakes" are worth keeping

(Misi)

Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.

~ James Baldwin ~

writer and civil rights leader

Metzger Myron

(this was not taken on Ground Hog's Day and Myron is not a ground hog)

Happy Ground Hog's Day! Tradition says that if Punxatawney Phil sees his shadow on this date, there will be six more weeks of winter. Let's see...February 2nd. Add six weeks and that puts us at mid March. Right around the time of Spring Equinox.

So if Phil sees his shadow, we will have six more weeks of winter. And if he doesn't? We have about six more weeks of winter--maybe seven. At this point, I'll take six instead of seven. Bring on the sun!



Song running through my head: Look, Here Comes the Sun by The Sunshine Company

humility: a good quality in a politician

(I'll drink to that!)

"You want to know my philosophy?

One day a peacock.

The next day a feather duster."

~ Pat Quinn~

(the governor of Illinois, on his turn in the spotlight)