Monday, October 13, 2008

Etsy.com : Handmade Creations You'll Adore

If you're looking for a green-friendly place to shop for clothes or gifts or purses and jewelry check out etsy.com It's the coolest place! Crafty, talented folks from all over the world now have a way to sell their handmade goods at a reasonable price and still make money because they don't have to go through a retailer. Many artisans make skirts and bags and dresses from second hand goods, reusing the material to sew up a modern design. By using the geographic map you can find etsy groups close to where you live to reduce carbon footprint shipping. And what makes this site really wonderful is that the owners don't take advantage of their sellers. A person can actually do what they love and make some money. www.etsy.com You will love this.

My site is here: www.portlandia.etsy.com

Podcast Review

You might have heard how much rain we get in our beloved Portland, and most of us kind of like it. When the rain pours, we get to stay inside and work on our DIY projects, write novels, practice yoga, and eat lots of chocolate. That means we need to find podcasts to listen to, so we don't have to turn on "As The World Turns" or "Racheal Ray."

In this blog, I will write a podcast review whenever I find one I absolutely have to tell you about. NPR.org has more than six hundred free podcasts. The most recent program from "WBGH Forum Network Book Tour" helps you combat Palin fatigue with brilliant evolutionist Lynn Margulis. In this talk, Margulis tells stories from her latest book Luminous Fish: Tales of Science and Love.

You need to have a fascination with science and bacteria and vivid descriptions like "spirocetes munching on Nietzche's braincells" to enjoy Margulis weave the story of Nietzsche's struggle with syphilis to the facts about the disease your doctor won't tell you. She describes our modern day delusions about the syphilitic cells doctors claim to be killing with antibiotics, while in reality the spirocetes lie dormant in cysts waiting to reawaken. And Nietzche's genius may have been partly caused by the illness. He did some of his most brilliant work the year before he was taken over by thrid stage madness. Take that story of evolution Miss Palin

Margulis has a strong enthusiastic voice that leads you through a "red shoe" dilemma she found herself in while pursuing her passion for science while trying to keep her family happy. . . and her hatred of the word, "role model."

You've got to hear this podcast. It's really interesting!

Sunday, October 12, 2008

The First Frost

Last night, I heard a flock of geese at 10 pm, and then again at midnight, and I went outside to see the huge silvery wings in the moonlight, drifting through city lights reflecting off low clouds. It was a global-warming, fall-too-hot, frost-too-early feeling. I felt concerned about the geese because their calls sounded troubled and frantic until I felt the strength of their wings, and the rhythmic pulse of their calls. A train clattered onto the bridge across the Willamette River, and in the quiet, the vibrating tracks and tons of steel, turned the geese calls into misty whispers. I watched the geese angle toward downtown Portland and wondered if they fly between skyscrapers or find their way around them and how many night owls were quietly witnessing their courage.