Puzzle Acorns!!! How Keen!

Love the one with the fortune on the inside!

What a ride!

It has been such a joy to have such an audience! Thank you so much, to all my loyal readers! I love Keen Things, and I am so glad that you do, too!

Go Ahead. Die of Kyoot!

CLICK HERE: Cute Rats!

Oh! Wow!

CLICK HERE for more from A. Andrew Gonzales

New Twist on "Poker Face"

via CLICK:Wil Wheaton...yeah, THAT Wil, from Star Trek Next Gen

Nothin' Says "Christmas!" like Furious Vulvas

CLICK HERE (you KNOW you wanna!)

Wet Walk

And, Lo! I Bring Unto You More Kewlness!

World Science Festival 2009: Bobby McFerrin Demonstrates the Power of the Pentatonic Scale from World Science Festival on Vimeo.

Is our response to music hard-wired or culturally determined? Is the reaction to rhythm and melody universal or influenced by environment? Join host John Schaefer, Jamshed Barucha, scientist Daniel Levitin, Professor Lawrence Parsons and musical artist Bobby McFerrin for live performances and cross cultural demonstrations to illustrate music’s note-worthy interaction with the brain and our emotions.

For More CRICKY-CRICKY HEA: http://www.worldsciencefestival.com/video/notes-neurons-full

Uber Keen: Museum of Lost Wonder

CLICK HERE: http://www.lostwonder.org/flashtour/Museum_explore.htm

Three Things Thursday

Mom around 1962 ( I think?)

We all have our family stories, our scripts, the things our parents said to us which somehow "stick" for better or worse over time. Among the things my mother told me, rather consistently, over the years were these:

"The Waltons are NOT real. Families are not like that."

I remember spending time watching the Waltons, and loving every minute of it. I knew it was not real. But I longed for that sort of cohesive unit, and every time the show ended I felt some measure of safety in hearing each character say "goodnight" to one another. There was peace. There was resolution. Her vehement denial of such a family dynamic made me very sad. Truth is, I do know of some families who are like that, though not many. Part of me still longs for that long table, the being there for one another, the "goodnights".


"There is No such thing as Unconditional Love. It is a myth."

This one has bitten me in the ass more than any other. I suppose the Pope, in his Pope-mobile has Unconditional Love. Kelly Rippa seems to have it for Regis Philbin. I have even seen it among people I know. But, part of me is still deeply wounded by this script. I think I am really hard on myself for not being as unconditional with my loving as I feel I should be. I find it difficult to figure out a balance between staying present while someone is making me really uncomfortable (not loving me "well") and leaving the relationship. I have had too many people love me for "what I may become" and not what I am at the moment, too. People have told me they could only love me if I did or was "this" or "that". Maybe I believe in Unconditional Like. But, if you squeeze me really hard, I will tell you that I really have a hard time believing in Unconditional Love, for me, with me. This is something I want to change in my life. It takes a lot of digging to get to that particular nerve, it is so deep in my emotional muscle. I hate this family story.

"'I'm sorry' is not an eraser."

There is no such thing as forgiveness, really. Nothing you can say or do will erase the sin, the hurt or the mistake. It is forever burned into memory. Ouch. I envy the Catholics. I would have preferred kneeling on rice and saying Hail Mary's and making it go away. Even now, when I have been deeply wounded, I have trouble letting it go. I make space around the wound so I can navigate to a healthier place, but some things stay there, indelible, no amount of white-out or rubbing makes it go away. I want to change this in my life, too.

Are there things YOU were told as a kid which still linger in you? Are there stories and scripts that still drive you to do or be or feel anything but the magnificent person you really are, do or feel?

Ha Ha Ha

From Saturday Morning Breakfast Comics

Thank You, Bobby...

Me, climbing Mt. Cadillac 1989

A loyal reader sent this to me this morning, thanking me for my recent posts. I wanted to share it with you.

The Summer Day

Who made the world?
Who made the swan, and the black bear?
Who made the grasshopper?
This grasshopper, I mean--
the one who has flung herself out of the grass,
the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,
who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down,
who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.
Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.
Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.

I don't know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?


~ Mary Oliver ~

Healing

I have been going through a somewhat difficult process recently, one requiring much introspection and exploration of the heart. It is sometimes painful. Yesterday I went to one of my favorite places, Goldsmith Woods, and I soaked in a ton of healing. Here are some images from my time there.

"Sponge Worthy"

Click Here: Brainy Sponges! http://www.popsci.com/bown/2009/product/clearcount-smartsponge

She Gets Me

CLICK HERE: Jen Gray

Family Resemblance

New !!! use for that Spendy Mattress you got from Jordan's that time you went to see "Up!" in 3-D and got sucked into that Whole "Sleep Lab" thing...

Creative Use of a Webcam

Another, um, creative use for a webcam, more creative than, ah...say, hooking up for camsex.

I caught my dog kissing her friend, Juneau

November Visions

Dear Julia,

Dear Me,

I just want to take a moment to tell you how proud I am of you. I have seen you stretch and grow, heal and find your courage, and it is really quite a beautiful thing to watch unfold. Keep up the good work, keep your head up, your senses and heart open and be sure to give yourself plenty of hugs. And water. That is good too. Life feels sorta clumpy right now. But, just as with your clay as a child, it can be mushed into lots of shapes and formations, and will usually go back into it's safe container to stay pliable until the next time. Unless you leave some on the rug and step on it. Then forget it, you won't get that part back. Try not to push some furniture over the spot where it is stuck to the rug though. That isn't very honest.

You are very loved by me,

Julia

Notorious

CLICK HERE: http://www.myspace.com/notoriousfolk

I was really thrilled to see this band in a very lovely art gallery in Belfast, Maine this weekend. It was a phenomenal and intimate concert combined with Sam the Stuntologist (in the beige shirt up there) doing his fun tricks.

Click on the link and take a listen.

One Man's G Flat is another's F Sharp

Ribbons and Sparks

There is a man who lives at the end of my street. He is from Poland. He is round and happy and has fruit trees in his yard, apple, plum, pear, peach, and raspberry bushes. At one time he used to have chickens. I have lived on this street for almost 9 years, and every season I have taken pictures of his flowers, plants, blossoms, buds, and declining flora. There is so much beauty there.

This morning I was on my knees on his sidewalk taking some of the pictures I posted earlier, and he came out to his car. He saw me and waved. The next thing I knew he was beside me.

"Thank you so much for taking pictures of my flowers. I don't know what it is you see, though. Because they are done now and I see garbage. I am always amazed at what you see"

"Oh. Thank YOU so much for being okay with me all strewn out on your sidewalk! And, see (I show him the following picture)...I see Beauty here. Look! A delicate ballerina dress:

Tutu

He shook his head and started to walk away. I went back to my photography. Then, after a minute of sitting in his car, he came back to me, surprising me and he said:

"Um, There is MORE garbage in the back!!! Many more dying flowers. Please feel free to come and go as you please."

What a lovely, lovely moment!

What I See

Give Us Your Lunch Money





Old Man Wilts





Open





Late Season Jesters





Sing Me Blue





Glorious Death





Condensation






Stacked: 2

Stacked

Oh! Thank GAWD!!!!

Click HERE: to see more about this Keen Pushpin Frame

"10 Things" Tuesday

Things I do when I am stressed out that *really* help:

1) Get More Sunlight. I have a room in the front of my apartment which gets full sun in the late fall, through winter at 7:00 until the afternoon. I know where to sit to soak in some Rah. It is a good thing.

2) I listen to more classical music, particularly Baroque period, which is rather cyclical and almost mathematical in it's nature. It also tends to resolve itself, releasing the musical tension at the end. Say Amen, brother.

3) I avoid too much TV watching, in particular the news.

4) I drink more water. Almost hourly from 8am to afternoon I sip water. It gives me a moment of quiet reflection. I often take this moment to think a blessing or feel some gratitude. Maybe ask for a little help.

5) I get more regular exercise. I went back to the gym this week. I think it helped a great deal. Sweat is good. Raising your pulse rate is good. Especially when it is not related to fear or crisis.

6) More Pleasure. N'uff sed.

7)I try to be uber conscious of what I eat, what I put into my body. For this reason, when really stressed I try to have nuts around the house. I seem to under-eat when I am stressy, so a handful of walnuts (especially onaccounta because they have seratonin making goodness) is a great thing to have handy. I also keep a jar of almonds in my car in the winter. You never know when you are going to have to shovel, and you won't run out of caloric fuel if you get stranded in a snowbank somewhere, in, say OCTOBER!

8)I do not reflexively answer my phone. I take time to think to myself "Do I really have the energy, heart-space, time...whatever, to talk with this person at this moment?" If the answer is "No" then I let the voicemail take it. I then batch check at a certain time of the day. That time is best experienced with a glass of wine or after two beers.

9) Hot. Bath. With Seasalt. Repeat as needed.

10)Read. Anything. Cereal boxes if necessary. I find that the simple act of reading (perhaps due to the EMDR like quality of eye movement/) is very balancing. Also, it allows me to embark on journey and be entertained in a gentle but marvelous way. It enhances.

There you go, folks. A handy "Let's-Not-Jump-Off -That-Bridge-THIS-Week" list for you!

November is Here!

Well, October sure whisked it's way by rather quickly, didn't it?