Beyond the Laughter

#1 & 2– In my early 20’s I remember wanting what Ani DiFranco had – not to be a musician, but to be able to express my deepest self. The soul made visible. That is my kind of power. Last Thursday I wrote a song that for me comes close to that. I’m really into it. It was fun because it mostly came easily/all at once. However, originally I had a list of names in the song. When I played it for a cousin on Saturday he had a couple great suggestions, one of which was to add more than just the name.

On Monday I was feeling sad and I started playing this song. Then I made this recording and the song lifted me from the sad place. Whenever I have a spare moment now I’m researching the names in the song (never had a song that needed research before) or rearranging the names in the song. So that part wasn’t finished in this recording. If you have a name you think should be in there let me know, I’m still figuring it out. I don’t think I’ve ever enjoyed working on a song as much as I have this one. And since much of that work is a result of a suggestion, I guess it’s my first song with a co-writer. Thanks Ryan.

#3 – I have a quart of coconut milk that I am not using fast enough. Today it occurred to me to try making my steel cut oatmeal for breakfast with it instead of water. It neither tasted better or worse, but still fun to change it up.

#4 – I debated whether to bike to yoga as it looked rainy and cool. I didn’t want to drive as I just went to an Earth day rally at the capitol yesterday. It wasn’t raining when it was time to go, so I just wore a raincoat and accepted it may be when I came home. When I left the studio, there were just the barest sprinkles. Once I was inside again, it began to rain.

#5– I told the owner of the yoga studio about the non-chemical pool being built in Minneapolis. I knew she would be excited as she talks about the environmental impacts of chlorine bleach and had me do research to find someone to wash their towels who didn’t use it.

The Elite: Voice of Generation-Y

 #1 - Stopping what I was doing to harmonize with Leonard Cohen's "Show Me the Place."  Then replaying the song and doing it again.

#2 - A friend recommended this.  I had a spontaneous dance party the first time I heard this song too.

I've never been to "Elite Daily:  The Voice of Generation-Y" before, but I scrolled down the page and these other two videos caught my eye.

#3 -  

 #4 -An on a lighter note.  I have not seen the original video this refers to, but I'd rather see the non-actors anyway.

#5 - It's possible I've had this as a gratitude before, but I heard the song again today and this line still expands my heart.

 

“I’d like to be those flowers

 open to everything.”

Birdsong

By: Wailin’ Jennys

Upon Further Reflection

I was thinking this morning about kids and

#1 - How much time they spend sitting - in desks, in a vehicle, in front of screens and the health consequences of this inactivity.

#2 - Riding around in vehicles with distracted drivers. I just did a "cell phone use and driving" google search, landed on the Wikipedia page, and found this -

"A 2003 study by the U.S. University of Utah psychology department measured response time, following distance, and driving speed of a control group, subjects at the legal blood alcohol content (BAC) limit of 0.08%, and subjects involved in cell phone conversations...

As the study notes; "... this is the third in a series of studies that we have conducted evaluating the effects of cell phone use on driving using the car following procedure (see also Strayer & Drews, 2004; and Strayer et al., 2003). Across these three studies, 120 participants performed in both baseline and cell phone conditions. Two of the participants in our studies were involved in an accident in baseline conditions, whereas 10 participants were involved in an accident when they were conversing on a cell phone." However zero (0) drunk drivers had accidents in any of the tests. After controlling for driving difficulty and time on task, the study concluded that cell phone drivers exhibited greater impairment than intoxicated drivers.[9]"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_phones_and_driving_safety

#3 - the cleanliness of the air they breathe and the water they drink

and I have to add to that children's safety in many ways, could use some overprotectedness.

For the young who want to

#1 - My favorite kind of exercise - not yoga, not soccer, not swimming - functional exercise, especially in place of the use of prehistoric plants and animals. It takes a lot less motivation to use decomposed prehistoric plants and animals, but today thanks to winter's transition to spring, I had the inspiration to jog to the monthly poetry group at the library.

#2 - The cover of this magazine, which appealed to me immediately. http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/ I didn't read the whole article but I completely agree with the opening sentiment. "In the past generation the risting preoccupation with children's safety has transformed childhood: stripping it of independence, risk-taking and discovery. What's been gained is unclear: rates of injury have remained fairly steady since the 1970's, and abduction by strangers was as rare then as it is now. What's been lost is creativity, passion and courage." Atlantic Monthly April 2014 Article by Hanna Rosin

#3 - Being able to share the two poems that have most touched me in the last month with an appreciative audience. They are Marge Piercy's "For the young who want to," and Carl Dennis's "Candles".

#4 - I've been meaning to get a baseball cap for probably a year or so. I have a couple hats I wear in the sun, however I've wanted something with a more snug fit for a situation like canoeing when I'm concerned my hat will blow off. I found one tonight and the best part of the gratitude is that I didn't make any effort to find it. I stopped in the store because I had a half an hour between the library closing and the bus, and there one was.

#5 - Someone asked a man, whom I consider to be the epitome of wisdom, the question that most troubles me.

https://www.eckharttolletv.com/free/?j=1#/805943863/Q-A-SAMPLE--How-can-we-resolve-overpopulation

The video is on his website and if it is possible to embed it here I haven't figured out how, so it will just have to be a link.

Mraz Medicine