Times are changing, or is time changing?

OK, you can rake me over the coals for taking way too long to update my blog, but since the folks who actually read this don't own up to it, I'm not going to spend more than this sentence on an apology. Onwards.

I'm quite caught by this little conundrum: are the times changing (like global warming, it's all happening relative to how we grew up) or is time itself changing? A few milliseconds (in rotation or in travel around the sun) really could make a signficant change in how this planet behaves. Who's to say that 10 of our minutes haven't been stretched or shriveled, imperceptible to us because it's all so "relative"?

There you have it, my thought for this week.

A New Start Day For Royalty

Getting up at 4 a.m. for royalty is no easy feat. The Duke and Dutchess of Cambridge (aka Prince Williams and Catherine, aka Will & Kate) were married today at 6:15 a.m. (ET) with 2 billion people watching from across the globe. This very choreographed event had a few loop holes, which were encouraging to those of us who live for the unknown, unplanned moments.

Here are some of my own observations:

>28,000 tulips planted for the event, bloomed too early.
>Depite forecasts for rainy weather, the sun came out just as Middleton's vehicle pulled up in front of Westminster Abbey.
>The postman, pub owner, and butcher were invited to the wedding; heads of states were not.
>Proof that life goes on in so many different ways. Traveling the long road from that sad, sad day in August 1997, when Princess Diana died, her unseen, staying influence on today: from her life lessons to modernizing the monarchy--wearing more of their feelings on their sleeves and remaining visible to their public. Also, the preparatory time for her son with his future wife (vs. the 13 times Diana met Charles before their wedding day), who began as friends.
>Will not seeing his future wife until she was at the alter.
>The occasion gave me a fresh sense about weddings, as a symbol of new birth, when the bride (egg) is delivered from the father (sperm)to the younger man (a younger sperm).
>They are marrying on her saint's day (Saint Catherine of Siena).
>Catherine is no longer wearing the engagement ring of Princess Diana, but the ring William put on her finger. [She didn't put one on his during the ceremony? Or did I miss that?]
>A new beginning for the monarchy in the 21st century. A sense of foregiveness for their past.
>The "gold" fixed traditions of the monarchy complement the "silver," fluid, ongoing changes of government.
>2 kisses by the royal newlyweds from the balcony of Buckingham Palance.
>Next great occasion of pomp and circumstance: Prince of Wales' coronation.
>Acknowlegment and support sent by wedding guests, also part of Will's search and rescue unit, to the efforts going on in the southern parts of the U.S. (especially Alabama), ravaged two days earlier by tornadoes.

Suggested sources:
>TIME magazine article about Will & Kate [March/April 2011--find date].
>Lifetime movie, "William & Kate," which skirts around all the former boyfriends and girlfriends, and focuses on their relationship's highs and lows.

Ropes!

A curio-ponder: It seems the Aurora Borealis are visual evidence of a direct link between the blue (planet) earth and yellow (star) sun, via magnetic "ropes" that connect through the solar winds to the upper atmosphere.

Much to wonder about here.

Proof of this comes from the legendary NASA itself.

Closing the cracks

Today, I learned that two of my rental properties are within 15 miles of a nuclear power station that IS on a fault line. Soooo, I personally got interested in Dr. Richard Besser's demonstration of HOW to seal a door on Good Morning America (ABC.COM, 3/18/11). (With my luck, something might happen in the once a year appearance to see the properties and how the tenants are doing.) The good doctor used plastic sheeting and duct tape (stretching it across the opening to about 2" around its periphery). Just remember to seal yourself in with everything you need--enough for 3 hours. (No one has mentioned it, but bring something that can serve as a potty seat w/toilet paper.)

I withdraw all my cracks about the useless expense on duct tape in the face of certain death. Besser says you can reduce your exposure to 5 percent by doing this simple thing. (I've also come of age to admit that anything that gives you a shot at staying alive a few extra years cannot be entirely nonsense.)

March Madness Has Been Going on Since January

Every once in a while, someone who actually reads my blog tells me I've not been updating it lately. This, I tell myself, is a compelling reason to do so, but will that/those persons come back anytime soon to read it? Will they know their observation did, in fact, affect me, and therefore whomever else is reading this? Interesting business this law of cause and effect. Caused and affected by what, we can ask?

I've been working on a blog entry that was drafted in early January--and yes, will edit it into my previous posting since it's still sadly apropos--but let's take stock of what's gone on since January: From shootings in Arizona, to revolutions in the Middle East, demonstrations in U.S. state capitol, to the Japanese earthquakes and tsunamis in the Pacific Ocean. This is all big stuff! Stuff that is causing a real change in behavior, actions, and reactions.

Now stop to consider how all this has affected you. What part of your life? Have you had second thoughts about living or dying? How long did they last? Did they recede like low tides? How lasting were they? Maybe it's supposed to be that way? We are really only left with the shells and flotsam that wash up on our shores, or are we?

Continuing along this theme of radar, in many respects, it acts as a personal "comfort" zone. Anything new could lead to a weird reaction, a sense of "Why should I care?" or "I have more important things to think about," PTSD, ADD, or any number of "disorders" to those balances.

The Japanese may have something right, now that they lived through an earthquake and tsunami that was way beyond what they anticipated or prepared for: The forces of nature are empowered and are not necessarily controllable.

Maybe there's a way to join hands with those forces. Maybe the human race is in for some changes that are bigger than we ever "planned" for in our everyday lives. Keep an eye on that shoreline.

Cheers.

P.S. For the practical-minded, here are some suggestions for being prepared:
*Understand how to deal with radiation (washing off, clothes & jewelry, etc.)
*Preparedness kit (American Red Cross has a backpack kit)
*Wind-up radio and flashlight (doesn't require batteries or electricity, $35)
*Food not requiring water to be cooked (i.e., canned beans, tomatoes)
*Family ICE (In case of Emergency) plan
(Source: Tues 3/15/2011, Good Morning America, ABC.com)

What's Up? What's Not? God's pharmacy & welcoming in 2011

I was amazed at the juxtaposition of stories on morning television in early January. First, there's the story of African-American honors student, Phylicia Barnes, a 16-year-old North Carolina girl who was visiting relatives in Baltimore and disappeared three days after Christmas. The police, lawyer, and family were baffled/dismayed by the low media visibility of the story, not receiving any national attention for nearly two weeks, only to be overshadowed by the assassination attempt on Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords when it did finally surface. I still need to find out what's happened as of this writing, but last time I looked (early March) she was considered missing and/or dead from foul play. (She could have also been sold to a human trafficking ring.)

This was followed by the news story about thousands of birds, fish, and crabs found dead in the US, Brazil, UK, and New Zealand. A guest researcher/commentator suggested it wasn't so unusual, but "what was once below the radar, is now above the radar," with the vehicles of FaceBook, the Internet, and global television.

That last point is a poignant highlight of human behavior. Some how, a missing youth--even one with a stellar education and reputation--is less newsworthy than natural phenomena, less deserving of being "above the radar."

Humans are, and always were, empowered to choose, but are we challenged with using that power?

Today's blog excerpt is also dedicated to the well-being of that thoughtful lady who has managed to survive living in New York City, keeping herself intact against all odds, including a close call with homelessness.... My hat goes off to you in this new year.

In the absense of having anything else prepared and woefully out-of-date while I remain on deadline, here is what that lady emailed to me, clipped, no doubt from another source, but why shouldn't we be the purveyors of thoughtful information?

Soon coming... my philosophical views and recent revelations from my recent book research into global issues concerning women's rights. If you think this is too much of a heavy-read, or stupid, then don't come back to read my blog.

Happy new year and new decade.

~Tasha


A sliced Carrot looks like the human eye. The pupil, iris and radiating lines look just like the human eye... And YES, science now shows carrots greatly enhance blood flow to and function of the eyes.

A Tomato has four chambers and is red. The heart has four chambers and is red. All of the research shows tomatoes are loaded with lycopine and are indeed pure heart and blood food.

Grapes hang in a cluster that has the shape of the heart. Each grape looks like a blood cell and all of the research today shows grapes are also profound heart and blood vitalizing food.

A Walnut looks like a little brain, a left and right hemisphere, upper cerebrums and lower cerebellums. Even the wrinkles or folds on the nut are just like the neo-cortex. We now know walnuts help develop more than three (3) dozen neuron-transmitters for brain function.

Kidney Beans actually heal and help maintain kidney function and yes, they look exactly like the human kidney.

Celery, Bok Choy, Rhubarb and many more look just like bones. These foods specifically target bone strength. Bones are 23% sodium and these foods are 23% sodium. If you don't have enough sodium in your diet, the body pulls it from the bones, thus making them weak. These foods replenish the skeletal needs of the body.

Avocados, Eggplant and Pears target the health and function of the womb and cervix of the female - they look just like these organs. Today's research shows that when a woman eats one avocado a week, it balances hormones, sheds unwanted birth weight, and prevents cervical cancers.

And how profound is this? It takes exactly nine (9) months to grow an avocado from blossom to ripened fruit. There are over 14,000 photolytic chemical constituents of nutrition in each one of these foods. Modern science has only studied and named about 141 of them.

Figs are full of seeds and hang in twos when they grow. Figs increase the mobility of male sperm and increase the numbers of Sperm as well to overcome male sterility.

Sweet Potatoes look like the pancreas and actually balance the glycemic index of diabetics.

Oranges, Grapefruits, and other Citrus fruits look just like the mammary glands of the female and actually assist the health of the breasts and the movement of lymph in and out of the breasts.

Onions look like the body's cells. Today's research shows onions help clear waste materials from all of the body cells. They even produce tears which wash the epithelial layers of the eyes. A working companion,
Garlic, also helps eliminate waste materials and dangerous free radicals from the body.

Significance of names

Don't ask why this occurred to me just now, but it's amazing how some people use the same name all their lives, while others (like me) are constantly changing them. I had a baby name, a girl name, my real name, my new real name, and my latest name. (Not publishing the names for privacy reasons.) Is this something to hide or, on the contrary, is it about growth and wanting to move on with a new feeling by being called something slightly different. Okay...as you see this is my excuse for updating the blog. You wouldn't know that I feel like I have so much to express and little time to do it in, would you?

Inner Mirrors and Outdoor Drama

A useful thing about blogging is how it reflects the author back to themself.
Not just in the writing--style, word choices, mistakes--but in character: how often entries are made, choice of topics, sophistry or not, meaningfulness on a personal level, or not, and how they relate to the outside world. It says a lot about a person and, like most forms of writing, can serve as a mirror unto oneself.

That's the reflection for today and a meager attempt to distance myself from what I simply can't imagine: Who would bother to read all this? As far as I know, no one reads this (or owns up to reading it). I've learned in recent years that this sort of self-assessment is quite common among artist and not to be paid attention to. Funny thing is, I often sense that there are people watching and just waiting for one more thing to pick on me about. This, supposedly, is another hallmark of artistry and is the reason so many writers go into seclusion when they write, to evade those feelings. Does this make anyone question the process of creation?

Okay, enough on that stuff. Now the sharing of the goods...

Just found out about an outdoor musical drama in the southwest Virginia mountains: Trail of the Lonesopme Pine. This romantic true story about June Tolliver and Jack Hale--a kind of Hello Dolly meets Romeo and Juliet wrapped up in one--was penned by author John Fox (with whom I am not familiar, at all!). Fantastics move over! This one has been running for 46 years! Somewhere off of I-81, just north or south of state boarder town Bristol, one can drive on a four-land highway all the way to Big Stone Gap, VA. So, as soon as I get the specifics, I'll pass these along.

LEVERAGING—A WOMAN’S SKILL?

Never mind asking why this country isn’t ready for a woman to be president, when it’s rare someone will ask why it was so difficult for women to achieve the right to vote in the U.S., a self-described land of the free, and how they managed to overcome that resistance.

One theory that started to burble in my brain while conducting research in 2006 for a reference book, Global Issue: Women’s Rights, was that women, overall, were perceived as conservatives. The women’s suffrage movement, which quickened in the late 1840s in the U.S., was largely made up of advocates left over from the 19th/early 20th century temperance movement. Men did not want to see their lifestyles—namely centered around work, family, sports, and pubs—dictated to. Many women didn’t either, but they were, of course, the discrete minority on that one.

What I just read in the May issue of the Smithsonian magazine presents yet another set of angles on this.
The mover and shaker behind the Anti-Saloon League, whose cause evolved into what became legislated and known as the Prohibition amendment to the U.S. Constitution, was, in fact, a man—Wayne B. Wheeler. (Read the article for more information about him.) One of the ways he gained momentum for this unpopular gesture for change was to recruit women.

Here we encounter a series of ironies. Renown suffragette Susan B. Anthony was originally rooted in the temperance movement. Being denied the right to speak at a temperance convention in Albany, New York in 1852, because of her gender, launched Anthony on the long road of the suffrage movement. By 1899, she leveraged the two causes for one another, while speaking with an ASL official: “The only hope of the Anti-Saloon Leagues’ success lies in putting the ballot into the hands of women.” The few women who could vote in any of the 16 U.S. states in 1917, helped to push through the 18th Amendment, which banned the right to manufacture and sell alcohol in the United States, through both houses of Congress. Another irony: Senate hearings, which began on September 27, 1918, after fulfilling the three-quarter requirement of state ratification, were heavily influenced by anti-German sentiment—ultimately silencing consumers of Pabst, Schlitz, Blatz and Miller beer (and we can imagine who they were).

Prohibition went into effect January 17, 1920. The women’s vote became possible on August 26, 1920 when the 19th Amendment was ratified. Two wins, two causes, after very, very long hauls. That’s not a bad record. Anthony can come back to be my president any day, even if I don’t agree with her.

One, final irony: Utah—now a territory for non-drinking Mormons— became the 36th state to ratify the 21st Amendment, which ended Prohibition on December 5, 1933.

How can a new town be new 50 years later?

Just attended a Founder's Day celebration in Reston, Virginia.

It was interesting to see there weren't too many people my (middle) age around... most of my peers have also left this "new town" of the 1960s when we graduated from school.

Many of the parents of my peers from these pioneering families--now in their 70s and 80s, as well as founder and visionary Bob Simon, who turned 96 today, whom I had the pleasure of sitting next to--were wondering how to kickstart growth of the place, which is centered not around one but five (originally seven) villages.

I only recently learned that Reston is neither a city or town, but a community in Fairfax County, Virginia, which apparently is also a hot topic that thankfully wasn't raised here. (One of the issues is deciding what kind of government "fits" this community.)

What interested me--for personal reasons, as an associate member of a newer community in East Tennessee, the Template Homestead--was what the guest speaker (Alex Garvin, urban planner, Yale educator, and author) offered as a strategy for moving forward:

(1) Decide who you want to attract (people)
(2) Put aside the money to do that (secure finances)
(3) Identify what they will need (transit within and outside the community, coffee places, street life, find the best form of government, a good map to find the place
(4) Start putting those things in place for when the economy gets better and be ready to receive (1)

But most importantly, he said there is no "correct" way to do this.

For me, Bob Simon's quiet comment was apropos and simple: "He's good."