This is what I've done today....
Never taught so please hold the catcalls... 
So very nice to be out in the sun braiding grass...
My hands smell magically sweet - guess that's why it's sweetgrass...

I really hope this works and catches on...  creative problem solving rocks!!!!!

SMIT Design was founded in 2005 by the brother-and-sister team of Teresita and Samuel Cochran. In the past four years they developed GROW, a hybrid energy delivery device inspired by bio-mimicry which was developed at the Pratt Institute’s Incubator for Social and Sustainable Enterprise in New York City and supported by a grant from the National Collegiate Inventors & Innovators Alliance (NCIIA).

The problem GROW addresses is that alternative energy devices are considered unattractive. For example, Cape Wind is a proposed wind farm project that has been highly debated because a portion of people living closest to the proposed site feel that the wind farm would be unattractive and decrease their property values. GROW provides power via the sun and wind, and takes the form of ivy leaves growing in an organic pattern on the façade of a building. It is an attractive energy delivery device that combines wind and solar energy in a well-designed product that appeals to aesthetic
preferences, thus filling a market niche.

First seen in Ode Magazine.  Here the link to their business site and what it can look like on a building.  Very cool.

Hello all... here’s a little something I’d like to try if you’d join in and send others to play too.  The actual “blog” is in the first comment below AND if you want to play you have to follow these directions first.

1)  Follow the link and watch the short (40 sec) video.  The video is of six people passing basketballs back and forth.  Three of them are wearing white t-shirts and three are wearing black. Count how many times the white team passes the ball back and forth and then come back and leave your number in a comment.  You can’t really get it wrong so don’t go looking for other peoples numbers to compare too – lol.  (For all the friends who say they’re reading yet have chosen not to join ZNG bypass the “post a comment” part of the directions and you’re on your honor.)

 Count white t-shirts passes.

After you complete the above read further and in sight will follow.

Synchronicity brought a quote from Winston Churchill:  “Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak.  Courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.”

It’s on ZNG if you want to link it.

When I get back I want to create a couple of these in the garden.  Something to look forward too.

I've avoided so much of the blips and blurps from this election campaign.  Thus I've never heard Obama speak.  Zo put up this blog and it was well worth a listen.

"Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it."  

Once upon a time (and likely again) I thoroughly enjoyed making music with a guitar and my voice.  Wrote a bunch of songs and recorded them with a great friend (Nice little duo called Disentanglement) which seem more fitting for me today than the day those songs were recorded or written.

Anyway...

The very last song I really studied and performed was this by Ani DiFranco...  Lyrics here 'cause the video gets a little LIVE.  After this and the happenings in the world - well performing has not been the same.  I continue to be an artist on many levels and we'll see how that plays out.

Today I say this; also by Ani...


Thankful for all artists speaking there peace in creative ways which give us all more to think about.

Still loving Bob Brezsny and the stuff he writes.  My Horrorscope for this week...

"Ice cream is both innocent and erotic," writes Klintron on Technoccult.com. "Coffee promises to be both stimulating and relaxing." These examples illustrate the idea of "paradessence," or paradoxical essence, which was developed by Alex Shakar in his novel The Savage Girl. I suspect that you'll specialize in paradessence in the coming days, Capricorn. Will that make you feel tormented by crazy-making contradictions or will it excite you with an expanding sense of complex possibilities? It will be largely up to your intentions. Which would you prefer?

And Julia's...
According to Harper's Index, 97 percent of us believe that following our own conscience is a sign of a strong character. On the other hand, 92 percent of us think that obeying authorities shows strong character. What that apparently means is that most of us feel we can and should heed the dictates of our own conscience and please the people who control things. In the coming weeks, I think that might be possible for you to do once or twice. But most the time, I suspect you'll have to decide between being either an impeccable rebel or loyal devotee.

Sounds right on all and all.

WHOOOAAA David that’s not smart!!!

Putting a pic of your debit card up.  Haven’t you heard how prevalent fraud and identity theft are?

Yes I have heard and that’s why this card is no longer functional.

This is a blog which I intend to update as the story progresses.  Someone’s been buying stuff with my dime(s).

My intent in this process is to hopefully accomplish these goals:

1)  Get my money back

2)  Track the person down

3)  Find out how my security was compromised

4)  Inform others

5)  Am I a “more likely” target in the future because I’ve been hit before?
 

So here’s the story.  Running around last weekend going to my drill for the National Guard – new unit and prepping for deployment to Iraq.  Lots on my mind and lots to deal with.

When I get home FRI evening (7/11) I have a message from my banks security folks saying to call them.

At the liquor store (7/12) my debit card is declined.  WTF?  Someone is messing with my beer drinking!

SAT evening (7/12) I call the bank and get the scoop.  My Debit card number has been cancelled after being used all over the place for all sorts of stuff.  GULP!  Looks like approximately $500 in charges will be going through and many thousands more denied.  They went through the list item by item with me saying yes/no whether I did that or not.  A report is being filed, forms are being sent, new card enroute, etc.

Now I know this issue is HUGE in todays world yet it’s the first I’ve had to personally deal with it.  I’m wondering if from here on out it’ll all be legalize and a right off for the folks that lost money or if anyone is gonna try and track down the person whose doing this.  I also haven’t felt any anger toward this individual.  I’m pissed and sad for the situation yet feel everything will be alright for me and wonder what brought this person to the point of stealing from another.

Sooo... 7/15 the first charge shows on my online bank statement.  Hottopic.com $40ish.  Apparently it’s a latino porn/meet & greet sight.  I now have an account yet I don’t have access.  I call the number and am told the personal info regarding the account can be given to a police officer but not to me.  Hmmm....   My money, my account (supposedly) yet a police officer needs to call and get further info.

So I call and begin the process of filing a police claim.  They’re to call back in 24 hours.

Next:  PCNation left a message on voicemail regarding my order...

I call and after being on hold for 20 minutes talk to Ben.  He tells me the account has already been flagged by security so he’s not surprised the order was fraudulent.  It was made online and they had my special – super secret – three digit identifier from the back of my card.  The order was to be sent to my address – apparently it’s not to hard to follow the tracking info once the order is placed and just wait for the delivery guy and sign for it.

I also, nicely, told Ben I was on hold for 20 minutes and voiced a complaint he could push up to his boss regarding that.

Present:  7/15 – waiting for police to call back and take a report.  Thinking/hoping this is not someone I know who somehow gained access to my wallet and is screwing me over.  Thinking this is someone local or they could never recover the package meant to be delivered to my house. Thinking they know by now they’ve been found out.

One of the charges denied was someone punching in the number at a gas station --- wonder if there’s video of that?

Watching and waiting.

Always been an ever shifting fine line in my life on how to take in the great offerings and creations other people have out there and still get the dishes and laundry done.  When I first joined Zaadz one of my goals was to get a library card so I would quit using half.com to add to the bookshelves full of great unread books in my house.  I did get a card yet have trouble with the pickup and return dates... obviously I need books to sit for awhile before they grab my attention to be read.

My current periodical pile is down to one which hasn’t happened in my recall.  I think because recently I’ve not been bringing my laptop to work.

Netflix has a great thing going which I wish libraries would pick up on.  Though I’ve repeatedly had netflix movies in my possession for months (many months) without being moved to watch them.  I even bumped up to five at a time thinking more choice would motivate me... wrong.

So add into that blogs, googlereader hits for news, email links from friends, and now 5 pages of required reading in prep for deployment.  Well the point is the world is a creative place and it’s hard sometimes to choose where to put attention and what info to take in and what info available to just let sit there and wait.  Any of these choices are great and I enjoy them... just can’t find time to do them all and go smell the flowers.

Julia’s answer for me was to bring me another movie from her netflix cache.  She said she hoped it wouldn’t still be sitting around here several months from now.  Ha haa.

So I watched it yesterday.  Nice flick.  Lars and the Real Girl.

Lars seems to have a bit of trouble relating to folks including his family.  Suddenly a life size blowup doll arrives.  Her name is Bianca and Lars passes her off as his girlfriend.  Instead of laughing the majority of his small town supports him in this delusion as he goes to therapy, purportedly to help Bianca with her issues.  Bianca’s connections with others allow Lars to connect and Lars working through his issues forces others to deal with their issues.  It’s a win – win – win.  Except of course Bianca doesn’t know she wins ‘cause she’s not real. 

Lots of touching quirky characters and scenes.  While Bianca is very ill and on bed rest the woman come over for a knitting circle to show their support.  “That’s what people do when tragedy strikes, they come over and sit.”  In a bizarre way it reminded me of the nonjudgmental witnessing and support Amber mentioned here.

Anyway... all the offerings still are piled on shelves and end tables and in cyberspace.  From time to time one gets experienced and a gem of an idea is carried away from it.  That’s how it is right?  Blessings my friends.

 

Heyya all.  When you follow serendipity and synchronicity everything has a point huh?

This morning for no known reason my speakers wouldn’t work on my computer.  I was trying to watch a youtube posted video on this site... Have you heard of Article V?  Apparently many of our elected leader haven’t. Maybe they should!  If your a memeber of Congress shouldn’t you KNOW what the oath you took is all about?

Anyway I had NO SOUND on the computer – ZERO, ZILCH, NADA...    WTF?

So I rebooted my computer and opened iTunes and clicked on the first thing the cursor moved over which was a 3 Doors Down song Away from the Sun.  Sound works again now... hmmm & yeah!

The song speaks to a place I’ve visited before and not so recently too...  Reminds me of one of my all time favorite quotes by Thomas Hoving.  (I need to look into that guy further – mine is the only quote posted by him.  I first heard it from a wonderful woman I was enamoured with on a retreat in H.S. a (gulp) couple of decades ago.)

Anyway life’s not all that bad at present.  The sun keeps working to get through and I keep working to see it.  Literally today I’m doing backflips that the sky is gloomy and it’s raining... the garden SOOOO... needed it!

Blessings are where you find them.

I just thought this timely reminder was good for me and might mean something to some of you.

Posting the video – the Thomas Hoving quote is the real tear jerker – and of course the fact that the founding fathers of the U.S. built into the constitution a clause specific to these times.  It’s all good.  E Pluribus Unum - right????

Lyrics are here...

 

By the way MAGIC is real!

 

My boss at work has been sending out excerpts and discussion points from this book.  Thought I'd share this one.  Looks like another book to put on the stack.

   How to Discuss What Matters Most

Review of Three Mistakes in Difficult Conversations:
1. That "What happened" is factual and my view of the matter is right. We must have a curiosity about the other's view and shift to a learning conversation.  Shift to a "and stance" acknowledging both your view and their (differing view).

2. The second mistake is that we assume we know what the other persons intentions are.

3. The third mistake focus on blame rather than mapping each persons joint responsibility in contributing to the situation and changes that may need to be made to resolve it.

Feelings
Difficult conversations are difficult because there are feelings involved. Expressing emotions is risky, however. Thus, many people frame difficult conversations in ways that ignore their emotional content. Unexpressed feelings can leak back into conversation, and can preoccupy people so that they are unable to be good listeners. The solution is for the parties to identify and understand their feelings, negotiate them, and share them clearly.

It can be hard to know what one is feeling. Simple emotional labels can mask complex bundles of feeling. Often people translate their feelings into judgments, characterizations and attributions about the other person. The need to blame often indicates unexpressed emotions. Understanding and reevaluating the thoughts, perceptions and beliefs that gave rise to the emotions enables us to negotiate with our own feelings, shifting or moderating them. The first step in expressing feelings is to acknowledge that they are an important part of the situation, whether they are "rational" or not. Parties should convey the full range and complexity of their feelings, and they should avoid rushing to evaluate the feelings expressed. To be effective sharing requires that the parties acknowledge each other's feelings.

Wikipedia is continues to be my favorite online info hotspot!!!  Link below for the author of this quote.

The idea that we are “stewards of the earth” is another symptom of human arrogance. Imagine yourself with the task of overseeing your body’s physical processes. Do you understand the way it works well enough to keep all its systems in operation? Can you make your kidneys function? . . . Are you conscious of the blood flow through your arteries? . . . We are unconscious of most of our body’s processes, thank goodness, because we’d screw it up if we weren’t. The human body is so complex, with so many parts. . . . The idea that we are consciously caretaking such a large and mysterious system is ludicrous.

Lynn Margulis

First seen in Sunbeams!

Also in The Sun try this... Describe Your Grief.

In reference to the dialogue here...  which I hope to return to and comment on soon.  My current point in life feels less like a precipice and more like this.

Not really feeling conflicted or confused lately.  Just trying to track how the next step is inevitable, and where the momentum for it came, and where it might lead...  and after all that what steps will return me to where I am now.

Reading the latest issue of National Geographic (AUG 2008) and found this great info – also an incredible article on Iran.

It’s all summed up IMO by this artwork I have framed on my wall and blogged long ago.  Click it to make it BIGGER.

 

 

 ANYWAY the Peace Symbol:

Pic of marchers

More info on another website here.

As for Iran the picture and article are wonderful.

For more info and a personal perspective this is a great book.

An overview of Being Muslim if you’re interested. 

Currently I’m reading The Modern History of Iraq as it’s on my required reading list and I was given a free copy.  Very interesting. 

 

EEERGH... while searching for a link I accidentally ran up against one of the, as yet unfixed, eerghs of ZNG; if I accidentally add a book to my bookshelf I can’t delete it.  I’ve never heard of or read this yet!  Maybe I should – then my bookshelf would relay truthful info.  AND now I get the message that there's no more than 10 tags allowed.  Has someone been misusing the TAG system?  Eeergh.

 

In the end back too this!              

Hee hee (for Nishtha)...

May get in trouble for my verbiage on this especially with my twist to question/answer and tag game.  

My Take:  Julia wants to Blog yet hasn’t brought herself to join a community currently.
Soooo...  I’m blogging this for her.

A book gives the following eye opening facts on how some people live.

Banker-Poor-Micro-Lending-Against-Poverty

Muhammad Yunus  a Nobel Prize recipient.  

Here’s his list followed by my real life facts.  Maybe this will become a new tag game???

Ten indicators of a poverty-free life:

1.       Having a house with a tin roof

2.       Beds or cots for all members of the family

3.       Access to safe drinking water

4.       Access to a sanitary latrine

5.       All school-age children attend school

6.       Sufficient warm clothing for the winter

7.       Mosquito nets

8.       A home vegetable garden

9.       No food shortages even during the most difficult time of a very difficult year

10.   Sufficient income-earning opportunities for all adult members of the family

 

AND MINE (you tell me am I poverty free – it’s ludicrous when compared isn’t it?): 

1.       Having a house with a tin roof – I don’t have a tin roof yet I own the house I’m in as long as I pay the bank every month.  Huge house too – well 1600 sq ft is a lot for one person.

2.       Beds or cots for all members of the family – I figure I could sleep six by the acceptable standards of the society I live in.  Point... I live here alone.

3.       Access to safe drinking water – the past few months MPLS water has had a foul taste and smell (really nasty actually) --- yet NOT ONCE did I question safety when turning on the tap and drinking it.

4.       Access to a sanitary latrine – two bathrooms which are supported by the city infrastructure to carry away any sewage I flush.

5.       All school-age children attend school – I have no children yet also know of NONE who don’t have access to school.

6.       Sufficient warm clothing for the winter – I have clothes up the wazooh.  I have clothes to layer for particular weather.  I have tons of clothes to stay warm in the winter AND Central Air for the summer.

7.       Mosquito nets – not a notion here as mosquitoes are not a huge disease carrier – YET.  If they were I have ample access to insecticides, repellents, screened porches or can just go in the house.

8.       A home vegetable garden – I know how to grow my own yet currently get vegies from a farmer just outside the city... delivered fresh every week.

9.       No food shortages even during the most difficult time of a very difficult year – No one I know knows what FOOD SHORTAGE  REALLY means.  My grandma speaks of Onion and mustard sandwiches (real too her yet a joke to me).

10.   Sufficient income-earning opportunities for all adult members of the family – I work and have no late outstanding payments on my multiple bills.  My job options are open.  As long as I stay healthy then I’m fine.

I couldn't get them all...
The inbox today brought these great images from a coworker I rarely see...
Good break from the Health Department Survey at one job and all the difficult "codes" at the other which were juxaposed with deployment and identity theft.

Folks making each other laugh...  That's pretty much why I'm here (IMO)...

Somethings to laugh or smile at...

We're living in Funny Times:

Hmmm... anyone hear another Twin Cities bridge is dropping chunks of concrete onto passing cars.  Thankfully no one hurt this time.  I wonder if that inspection last AUG was scheduled or because of this... collapse.
 

After an inspection in August, officials knew the bridge deck was breaking down, but nothing suggested that pieces would break off within the year, said Dan Dorgan, state bridge engineer with the Minnesota Department of Transportation.

Hmmm... I also read that statement and say, “OK Dan Dorgan.  I believe you didn’t know chunks of concrete would fall on passing cars just one year later.  Ummmm... there was a ‘breaking down’ occurring right?  What exactly was being done about that?  Was this bridge moved up on the fix it list?  Is it moved up on the fix it list now?

There’s stressed bridges everywhere.  It’s time to be a little scared.  Scared enough to start calling your elected officials and asking where the Tax money is actually going.  And I’d say this bridge thing is just the tip of the iceberg...

Funny / Sad spin on an old saying ---

We’ll close that bridge when we come to it.  

Seems to me that’s how business has been going lately.

Wanna know if the bridges you use every day are deficient or obsolete.

States cutting corners...

If even ONE engineer who used to work inspecting bridges in MN has been contracted out to build bridges in Iraq I’ll be even more pissed.  Don’t know how to track that info down though.  I was on the Maryland span over 35E with Julia yesterday after dropping Grandma off from the family reunion.

One of my mentors and teachers (Ron Moor) would often quote his grandmother as saying, “there’s nothing new under the sun except what’s been forgotten.”

I was thinking of this the other day when I heard of John Wilkes.  I’ve so often heard, and said myself, that politics has become such a dirty, dirty business.  All the negative ads and mudslinging.

Well look at the history it grew from – though they didn’t get to edit and reedit ads it was all on the spot and then spread by hearsay.

John Wilkes from wikipedia:  He was well known for his verbal wit and his snappy responses to insults. For instance, when told by a constituent that he would rather vote for the devil, Wilkes responded: "Naturally". He then added: "And if your friend decides against standing, can I count on your vote?"

On another occasion, in an exchange with John Montagu, the Earl of Sandwich, who declared "Sir, I do not know whether you will die on the gallows or of the pox." Wilkes replied "That, sir, depends on whether I embrace your principles or your mistress."

I think that’s a funny comeback... your mistress or your principles.  For the Sandwich dude it’s a slam wrapped in a slam, topped with a slam then served with a heaping side order of slam.

Hmmmm...   next topic.

 

First sing the kids to sleep and then get the laundry done quick.

 

Geesh... (new word for Amber :)  - )  I’ve uploaded 1600 photos to Flickr... what the hell were they?   Thinking most of them are flowers --- smile.

Here’s the new ones and a story:

Last weekend Julia and I are heading North for my family reunion.  She’s met most of these folks briefly before yet the tension is real and appropriate.  Meeting the FAMILY.

I’m babbling about whether I should surprise twelve folks with the knowledge that their name and address has been used fraudulently.  Julia is playing an EXPERT devils advocate.  She’s really, really, really, really, really good at that.  Let’s you know you are heard and then WHAM – have you thought about this???  (Side note – if you don’t want another legimate perspective then don't bring up the conversation.)

Aside from her bountiful beauty and humor that’s another thing I love about her.!

We saw a sign on the way that cracks us up and vow to take a pic on the way back.

We didn’t know then that after the fun and festivities.  ALL Aunts and Uncles stating they’d like to retire yet can’t afford healthcare – does that mean something’s wrong with the system or just with my family???

Drinking, skiing, tubing, eating, laughing around the fire...

After all this we were driving Grandma home.

My Grandma absolutely rocks BTW.  Funny, been there done that attitude, says she’s ready to “be done” yet will keep on keeping on while she’s still here.  She knows what’s up and can crack a joke in a conversation.

So when we said we needed to stop and take a pic of a sign she said great there’s a Dairy Queen across the street I’ll pay for the treat.  I haven’t had cup of Corn Syrup in a while so I was all for it.

Anyway here’s the great bit of advertising & the establishment that cracked us up.  If you’re wearing a mullet we’ll cut it off for free.  If you want your head shaved/or another haircut it’ll be five bucks or more.  Fuzzy pics... I've lost my touch in transfering from a phone.

 

So very long ago yet it seems just yesterday I was just finding out about the possibilities of networking sites.  Full of questions like:  How come some people highlight random words in there blog posts.  What do you mean a link?  Hee hee.

I still have posts hanging out at Vox, Multiply, Google... sometimes a memory flash prompts me to repost them here.

Like this cartoon.

 

 

In extreme situation the concept can seem too simple yet in the end isn’t it true that how we feel about a situation, any situation, is dependent on which way we’re looking? Where we’re putting our focus?  How we’re approaching it?

BLUF:  Bottom Line Up Front

My friends... not trying to bore you, scare you, or looking for comments.  Just trying to get the info out.  Feel like I’m climbing a very steep slope.

Again... it seems with all the hyped up warnings that the system is actually built to perpetuate this type of fraud.

WHO LOSES?  The thief gets the product they order be it gas, clothes, computer parts, etc.  The credit bureaus get my payment for a statement over the next several years, the big companies write it off as fraud....  Hey it’s just what I always wished for a Win – Win – Win....  Excellent.

Well folks the saga continues yet I’m feeling my sense of equilibrium has returned – this too will pass.  Nothing I’ve heard or been told leads me to believe that the system isn’t allowing and perpetuating identity theft.  NO ONE loses except for the little guy so there’s absolutely no reason to stop it.  The Credit Bureaus make money on purchased reports and everyone else writes off the losses.
I received a letter from Equifax stating they received notice from Trans Union (two of the three big credit reporting bureaus – the third being Experian) and have added the AD (active duty – as in I’ve been called up to deploy) alert to my file for the next 12 months.

This would be the AD report no one I’ve ever known whose deployed has ever heard of other than “vaguely” – this per my contact with many deployed troops and the people who deploy them.

A quote from Equifax’s short note to me, “In addition, your name has been removed from promotional offers for credit for two years.”

At the bottom is a box with BIG BOLD LETTERS...  “The FBI has named identity theft as the fastest growing crime in America.”

AT this point I’m tired of being told “as a service to me” my name is being removed from mailing lists I never asked to be on in the first place. 

I’d also point out that if removing me from the mailing list is one of the first actions taken “as a service to me” then maybe the credit bureaus think that’s a possibly window for fraud????

DUH...  Maybe shut that window down BEFORE I or others are a victim???

So... I called my new Case Manger Molly... she was out and I got voicemail with an option to talk to someone else so I sat on hold and talked to Dotty.

Dotty was flummoxed by my request for a number to Opt Out off preapproved mailings before being a victim of fraud.  She hemmed and hawed about a number for cell/ home phone numbers YET not for mailings.  Dotty also told me about the possibility of “freezing” all accounts.  Meaning what? 

Every time I talk to a new person during this saga I find out a new option.

Where’s the list to make this stop?  Dotty referred me to the Identity Theft Hotline...  “no go”, I said it’s an automated system which provides great info yet hangs up on you when it’s done.

In fairness --- Dotty really was as helpful as she could be and very nice.  She’s another cog in the big wheel.  Just like me.

You can call each of you creditors and state you don’t want free checks in the mail but there’s no number to opt out of preapproved credit;  unless of course you’ve already been a target then it’ll be done as a service to you.  Geesh thanks!

My friends... not trying to bore you, scare you, or looking for comments.  Just trying to get the info out.  Feel like I’m climbing a very steep slope.

Again... it seems with all the hyped up warnings that the system is actually built to perpetuate this type of fraud.

WHO LOSES?  The thief gets the product they order be it gas, clothes, computer parts, etc.  The credit bureaus get my payment for a statement over the next several years, the big companies write it off as fraud....  Hey it’s just what I always wished for a Win – Win – Win....  Excellent.