water prayer

From Dr. Masaru Emoto, Messenger of Water:

"Let's send our thoughts of love and gratitude to all water in the nuclear plants in Fukushima"

Day and Time:
March 31st, 2011 (Thursday)
12:00 noon in each time zone

 The water of Fukushima Nuclear Plant, we are sorry to make you suffer. 

Please forgive us.  We thank you, and we love you.

The water of Fukushima Nuclear Plant, we are sorry to make you suffer.

Please forgive us. We thank you, and we love you.

The water of Fukushima Nuclear Plant, we are sorry to make you suffer.

Please forgive us. We thank you, and we love you.

Dr. Masaru Emoto Peace Project here

wonderful wednesday

I love Wednesdays. Lucky me, it is my day to play parent helper in J's kindergarten class. The kids are bright, spunky, and all-around adorable. Their teacher, Mrs. H, is not only a fantastic teacher but also a really, really wonderful woman and has become a dear friend. Plus, I get to spend the morning with my precious girl. Wednesdays are by far my most favorite day of the week.

Each week, the kids are focused on learning one letter of the alphabet - along with math, geometry, spelling, numbers, social skills, reading, etc etc etc. "W" is the letter of the week. Today was extra special. It was "W"ednesday. The kids made and ate "w"affles and strawberries for their snack. And one of their "w"ork stations today was playing with the "w"ater table. That's what I got to supervise this morning. Lucky, lucky me.

waffles

water

During make-up time, the kids who had already finished their work got to choose what they wanted to do with their free time. They chose to create a feast!

the feast

all photos via my iPhone

Lucky, lucky me.

inspired

Would love this outfit for Miss J.

From Charleston designer Barbara Beach of B.b. Inspired.

Anyone up for a road trip...

via Hip Hip Hooray!

happy ending

Shane and Kamata-san

"Meet Shane and Kamata-san. Hoping to return for the dog after alerting his neighbors to the impending danger, Kamata-san found his way blocked by the tsunami. Six hours later at his evacuation center in Miyagi Prefecture, a dog was seen lingering outside. There Kamata-san found his Akita a bit battered and tired from his long swim through debris laden waters, but alive and well. A little rest, some antibiotics from JEARS to help heal his infected legs, and the support of his best friend brought Shane 'round in no time."

Japan Earthquake Animal Rescue and Support

on facebook

blog

ooh la la

photo by Mario Testino

styled by Grace Coddington

Gangs of New York - Vogue US February 2011

Always had a thing for lace dresses - especially Ralph Lauren. These touch my soul...

evolution...

...of a gift. Or, perhaps, more accurately, a journey of stupidity...

Friday, the 25th, T had a "0" birthday. You know, one of those - thirty, forty, fifty... After T suddenly, unexpectedly, and without explanation dropped out of my life a couple of months ago, I wasn't sure what I should do about his birthday. I held no ill will toward him. Well, other than a wee bit of hatred, but nothing that would stop me from wanting to note his birthday in some way.

At first, I was going to put together a mind-body-soul gift. I like to give in three parts. For him - a letterpress Aries print (mind), a baseball cap with Nascar logo (body), and a red agate sphere (soul).

I intended to go through with this, mailing it to him, for a few weeks. Then, as time passed, I decided that it was really too much for someone who had treated me very badly. Not to mention a little stalkerish. I decided to design and print a card for him inspired by the Aries print above. My little girl and I have one or both been sick for the past six weeks or so - I've lost count - and I didn't have much time to put it together. This was my intention up till last weekend, when J had been well for a few days - before she caught a cold which turned into pneumonia this past week. As I sat at my computer a week ago to design the card, it hit me how stupid I was acting. Why should I take time away from my own projects and those waiting to be done for others, to make and give a very special card to someone who is a virtual stranger at this point.

I sent an email on his birthday. I know, I'm an idiot.

You can delete someone's contact information from your phone.

You can delete their email address from your computer.

You can delete their voice mails and emails.

How do you delete someone from your memories and your heart...

crowning glory

photo by Heather Culp

nothing absent

absence of you

by Sabrina Cichy

"Darkness isn't the absence of light, it is the absence of you."

gallery of images here

via That Weird Costumed Kid

whose clues?

Remember Steve, the original Blue's Clues host? He's all grown up, working as a musician and voice-over actor, and living in a rockin' pad in New York City - a garage converted by Eric Liftin of MESH Architects, featuring salvaged materials and a catwalk. That's Steve in the photo on the right, balancing a chair on his chin!

featured in New York Magazine
via desire to inspire

with love update

When Henny and Lucy of utterly engaged and Lydia from ever ours first conceived of a fundraiser for shelterbox to aid those in need affected by the earthquake and tsunami in Japan and a blogger day of silence to raise awareness of the situation, they had no idea how successful their efforts would be. On her blog, Lydia wrote "what started off as "i hope we get 50 bloggers involved" and "i hope we do raise $5,500" turned into something far beyond what i had ever imagined." Over 1200 bloggers from around the world joined in the blogger day of silence. And, as of 11:30 pm on March 20, $53,940 had been raised, with 11 more days yet to go to raise even more.

Blessings to Lydia and utterly engaged for thinking of and organizing the fundraiser. And may the money raised and the energy of love fly to Japan on the wings of angels.

FOR JAPAN WITH LOVE

love knows no bounds

source

read the story here

on her lips

from designer Tim Van Steenbergen's

Spring/Summer 2011 campaign

on our minds, in our hearts

Caper Acres Children's Park

Chico, California

March 17, 2011

respectful silence

FOR JAPAN WITH LOVE

For more information or to join in, go to ever ours or utterly engaged

purrrrrrr purrrrrrr

On the last day of January, I came across a tipi for kitties (this post). Of course, I bought it...

It arrived in a few days. J and I put it together. And, precious little girl that she is, J had to give it a try herself. She tried to climb in, got only her head in, and decided to try it out as a hat.

Giovanni and Rosie each gave it a sniff, but neither were overly impressed. Although, given a little time and without the presence of the other cats, I think Rosie would have ended up loving it.

White Fluffy Love took to it immediately. She runs in and out of it, runs around inside it, pokes her paws through the opening in the top, and naps in it.

Joy was next to check it out. She decided it was pretty cool.

Unfortunately, when White Fluffy Love realized Joy had taken over her space, she - ummmm- evicted Joy.

The tipi is pretty much White Fluffy Love's domain. Joy, however, often takes a nap in it when WFL isn't paying attention. No one pushes Joy around!

xxx

Paul & Joe Beaute Lipstick

available here

fashion cats

Elisabeth Moch

for Chelsea magazine

via fieldguided

look

I love love love this look...simple, but so put together...

source

via Rock Paper Scissors

slow burn

From this...

to this...

Art installation titled 366 (Emily Dickinson's Miraculous Year) by Spencer Finch

For Finch art....can "ignite our capacity for wonder."

Spencer Finch

366 (Emily Dickinson's Miraculous Year)

via Design Crush via ali loves curtis

mother's love

photographer unknown

from Giant-Panda

via Bear Naked

monkeying around

photos by Leo Fuchs

taken to promote the film The Nun's Story

via Patterson Maker and the neo-traditionalist

cat island update

The latest news from Japan on the fate of Tashirojima - or Cat Island - is very good. Reports say there have been no human casualties and at least most of the cats have survived the tsunami although all are short on food. There has been extensive damage to buildings and infrastructure and much help and work will be required to return the island to a safe and economically viable place to live.

Three no-kill animal welfare organizations in Japan - Heart-Tokushima, Animal Friends Niigata, and Japan Cat Network - have joined forces to create the Japan Earthquake Animal Rescue and Support. There is a facebook site set up to raise funds to help animal victims and to deploy aid to stricken areas - including Tashirojima.

great mind

photo by Ralph Morse

Albert Einstein's desk at Princeton University, taken hours after he died on April 18, 1955. From a series of photographs taken by Ralph Morse for Life magazine. Other than this photo, the others were not published out of respect for the family's wish for privacy. The full series was published in April 2010 and can be seen here.

...till the cat lady sings

While searching for information on the web about the earthquake and tsunami that has devastated Japan, I came across an article about Japan's "Cat Island" - officially known as Tashirojima, or Tashiro Island. Cat Island is home to 70 - 100 human residents (depending on the source), all but one over 60 years old and over 100 feline residents. The island has become a tourist mecca for both cat lovers and the curious.

It is unknown at this time the fate of the residents - human and feline - of the island. Communication is cut off, but it's hoped that most, if not all, were able to make it to the higher ground on the island.

source and source and source

Read about "Cat Island" here and here.

Wishing Light, Hope, and Recovery to all the people and animals affected by the earthquake and tsunami and wishing Peace to our precious traumatized Earth.

giraffes, again

Giraffes Masai Mara Kenya

photo by Niko Saunio

National Geographic

naturally

Few delights can equal the mere presence

of one whom we trust utterly.

George MacDonald

Cindy, photos taken October 2010

My most precious niece, Cindy, has been visiting these past few days. She came to visit even though I was sick and it was raining. We hung out on the sofa, watching crime shows - NCIS, Criminal Minds, Law & Order: Criminal Intent - during the day and Adult Swim and Futurama at night. We were a little more active when J was around, but not much. We talked and laughed and cried. Mostly we were just together.

We have a very special bond. One truly of unconditional love. There is nothing she could say or do and I would love her less. And the same goes for me. Thus, there is never any reason to pretend things are okay when they're not or not to revel in the joy when things are going well. I wish I could say for us, it is more often the latter, but sadly that's not the case.

She left this morning. I'm alone again.

I remember as a child, teen, and in my twenties, lying balled up on the floor sobbing and asking my mother, "Why am I always alone? Why doesn't anyone like me?" My mother would answer, "It's going to be okay. Someday you'll grow into yourself and things will be different." I believed her. It still makes me a little angry. It wasn't said with any basis of conviction but only to make me feel hope. Futile hope. Sometimes I still ask her those questions. Now she answers, "Oh, I don't know why. You're such a loving person, but some people are alone and always will be. I guess you're just one of them." At least, she's honest now. I really could use a little of that hope. I am so blessed to have my precious daughter, my beloved furry friends, my mother, and my niece. I am grateful. Truly. My daughter and cats, I care for. My mother, I protect. My niece has her own life. At the end of the day, it is always just me - with no one to talk to, no one to listen to, and no one to lean on. Just me. And I'm not enough.

celebrate!

Fat Tuesday ... my kind of day ...

52 and calling

photo by Atli Haroarson

There once was a whale...

There is a baleen whale roaming the North Pacific all alone. She (or he) sings her whale song at a higher frequency (52 Hz) than the other whales (15-25 Hz), so high that no one responds to it - possibly the other whales don't even hear it. So she travels alone, calling to others, and no one responds. Can you imagine?

The whale's song was first heard in 1992 by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Researchers at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution have been tracking her for the last two decades. To add to her problems, not only does she not communicate at a frequency that her own respond to, she does not travel regular migration paths. It has been hypothesized that she is either a hybrid, a mutation, from two other species, or perhaps the last of an unknown species. No one knows for sure.

The story was written in a 2004 NY Times article and resurfaced recently when a novelist shared it on a podcast and the whale's sad story has been traveling the blog world since. I first read it on This is Glamorous!

I have two thoughts - submitted humbly...First, is technology not advanced enough that some kind of device could be rigged so that her song could be heard by other whales? Second, could animal communicators help this situation? I have a third thought...if there is a gift in everything we encounter and experience, what is the lesson here? What is this precious whale trying to show us - collectively and individually?

Everything I've read seems to be pretty much the same thing just rewritten, but for more information try here, here, or here.

Hear her here.

why did the giraffe cross the lake?

The Universe is amazing.

I was having one of those days - rainy weather, sick, missing J, bruised heart, empty wallet - the usual. Certainly not worse off than anyone else, just not feeling it - happy, I guess would be the word. I was wandering around the internet, avoiding chores and work, cruising tumblr sites which I can always count on to distract me. Ummm, sometimes for hours. And, there, posted in front of my face a reminder that not only is this world and the people in it incredible, but there are things happening that are not only wondrous but also rife with hope and kindness.

here

Endangered Rothschild giraffes are trans-located to Ruko Game Conservancy by barge, making this the first ever attempt to carry giraffes across water in Kenya. The project, supported and executed by The Northern Rangelands Trust and Samatian Island Lodge - a luxury camp situated on a private island in Lake Baringo - took four years to plan as, according to NRT director Ian Craig, giraffes are some of the most difficult animals to move.

The Telegraph UK

Read about The Safari and Conservation Co and the whole amazing story here.

via good memory via planet mabel

maybe i could live here

Okay. I know I can't. First, I'd have to really downsize. Oh, and it's located in Australia. Minor details...

So cute, though.

here

via desire to inspire