Forests; or, My favorite Smokey the Bear commercials

My new favorite fictional character

is Dr. Stephen Maturin, the ship’s surgeon on Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World.

He’s the voice of justice, truth, reason and dissent. He criticizes power and condemns corruption, even to the Captain’s face. He calls it like he sees it. (“You’re the predator.”) He’s not afraid to contradict to the Captain, and he’s not afraid to be his friend. He rejects the “us/them” dichotomy (“What is it with this man? Did I kill a relative of his in battle, perhaps? His boy, God forbid?” “He fights like you, Jack”). His speech is seasoned with a healthy dose of anarchy and mutiny, and he plays a mean cello (and I mean really. Paul Bettany learned how to play it). He’s a dreamy idealist having a hard time reconciling his big ideas with the small minds he encounters on a military ship. He’s in love with the Galapagos Islands. He’s a naturalist living in the blessed era when to explore natural history and new theories with a sense of wonder and excitement didn’t make you a heretic. He’s quite passionate about living creatures of all kinds and the ways they adapt to protect themselves (“Does God make them change?” “Does God make them change? Yes, of course he does. But do they also change themselves? Now that is a question”). And when he’s shot, he performs his own surgery, removes his own effing bullet. Could there be a more perfect male human being? The correct answer is no. No, there could not.

Happy Earth Day. Happy birthday.

To me, anyway! I am now no longer restricted to a vertical drivers license! 

Our birthdays are feathers in the broad wing of time. -Jean Paul Richter

Happy birthday also to all these grand folks:

-Glen Campbell, 1936, actor/singer
-Margaret Pereira, 1929, forensic scientist
-Victoria Opoku-Ware, 1929, Ghanaian queen
-Yehudi Menuhim, 1916, violinist
-Isabella I of Castile, 1451, Queen of Spain 1479-1504 

Real birthdays are not annual affairs. Real birthdays are the days when we have a new birth. -Ralph Parlette

On this most auspicious day in history, these events occurred:

-1056: Supernova Crab nebula last seen by the naked eye!
-1370: Building of the Bastille in Paris commences!
-1500: Pedro Alvarez Cabral discovers Brazil and claims it (of course) for Portugal!
-1509: Henry VIII ascends to England’s throne!
- 1823: R.J. Tyers patents roller skates!
-1861: Robert E. Lee named commander of Virginia Confederate forces!
-1864: U.S. mints 2 cent coin! (Also the first appearance of “In God We Trust”…)
-1876: Tsjaikovsky completes his ballet “Swan Lake” !
-1889: Oklahoma land rush officially *nudge nudge* begins!
-1884: Thomas Stevens embarks on first bike trip around the world! (Accomplished in 2 years & 9 months.)
-1906: New rule puts umpires in sole charge of all game balls!
-1914: Babe Ruth’s first professional game as pitcher!
-1922: South Ossetian Autonomous Region forms in Georgian SSR!
-1927: First performance of Roger Sessions’ “Symphony in E”!
-1937: NYC college students stage fourth annual peace strike!
-1945: Concentration camp at Sachsenhausen liberated!
-1952: First atomic explosion on network news in Nob, Nevada!
-1955: Congress orders all U.S. coins bear motto “In God We Trust”! 
-1969: Robin Knox-Johnston ends 312-day nonstop sailing! 
-1969: First human eye transplant performed!
-1970: Flat Earth celebrated!
-1970: First Earth Day held internationally to promote conservation of natural resources!
-1976: Barbara Walters becomes first female nightly network news anchor!
-1983: Stern mag announces major historical find: discovery of 60-volume personal diaries of Adolph Hitler! (Hoax!)
-1988: Women are now allowed to compete in Little 500 bicycle race in Indiana! (Um, what took you so long?)
-1994: Ice skater Tonya Harding sues ex-husband Jeff Gilloly for $42,500! (Tonya Harding! Don’t even get me started on Tonya Harding!)

 I’ve been around for a little over twenty years, and for anyone who needs advice on getting here, well, don’t ask me. The path I took was not exactly by the book. -Jon McLaughlin

 Twenty-one and strong as I can be. I know what freedom means to me, and I can’t give the reason why I should ever want to die. Got no cause to be afraid or fear that life will ever fade ’cause as I watch the rising sun I know that we have just begun. -The Eagles

Let me just take a second to pause and reflect, check the cause and effect. I find myself askin’ how did this happen so fast? Can’t imagine. Man, I remember back when I thought I knew the deal, but I didn’t understand it was never in my plans to become a grown man. Hopped on a plane, destination Thailand, where nobody was there to hold my hand. And that’s when I believe it started. See, I became part of a culture. Meanwhile my partner was guarding the sacred gardens and it’ll take that inspiration to create an artist. And through the hardships, I grew regardless of how much I was still stuck in the ways on the sidewalk, some duckin’ the strays, some repeating the mistakes their own parents made. Look, kid, you don’t even know the half. True, but it’s you I will outlast. I’ma be around to see what’s to come, ’cause at twenty-one I’ve only just begun, I’m told. Look, kid, you don’t even know the half. True, but it’s you I will outlast. I’ma be around to see what’s to come, ’cause at twenty-one I’ve only just begun. Twenty-one times around the sun. Take it in. I knew this day was bound to come. Illmatic had told me that the world was mine, and I realized it was way before halftime. Listen…I’ve done what some couldn’t. Given a chance all because of one woman who taught me knowledge of self, always prayer books on the shelf for me to delve into myself. Trained my voice and my soul from an early age. Gave what I can take with me through the pearly gates. Fought for opportunities for me, mentored me even when it didn’t make sense to me. I never knew who to blame. See, there’s a lot more significance to the name because he once did the same, so why would I bother to be anyone but Badí, spiritual descendent of the Pride of the Martyrs? -Badí

Any young man who is unmarried at the age of twenty-one is a menace to the community. -Brigham Young (Ha! That’s me, the rabblerouser! I know where you sleep at night!)

Youth is happy because it has the ability to see beauty. Anyone who keeps the ability to see beauty never grows old. -Franz Kafka

My father told me all about the birds and the bees, the liar–I went steady with a woodpecker ’till I was twenty-one. -Bob Hope

In the brave days when I was twenty-one… -William Makepeace Thackeray

At twenty-one, so many things appear solid, permanent, untenable. -Orson Welles

The most prolific period of pessimism comes at twenty-one, or thereabouts, when the first attempt is made to translate dreams into reality. -Heywood C. Broun

+: Some Earth Day links & information for you. :]

earthdaynetwork, Wiki, .gov, Earth Day 2009, EPA, top 10 Earth Day movies, books, International Earth Day, Earth Society Foundation, EnviroLink, ways to celebrate, Earth Day Canada, Keep America Beautiful, AMAZING amount of links, teaching resources & lesson plans, WWF, Every Day is Earth Day, PlanetPals, NG, Earth Day facts, fun facts, and more facts, DisneyNature, and info on Disney’s Earth. Yay! :]

We’ve got the dreamers’ disease.

Prayer for Dreamers by Vienna Cobb Anderson

We pray for the dreamers of this life, O God,
for those persons who imagine new possibilities,
who long for what others cannot perceive,
who spin dreams of wonder and majesty in their minds.
Defend them from ridicule and harsh criticism,
from self-doubt and lack of faith in their dreams,
and from abandonment of this call to make things new.
Grant that from their dreams
may come forth blessings for humankind
to enrich the quality of life
and the wonderment of us all.
Amen.

I love you, e.e. cummings!

We go find our Christmas trees Thanksgiving weekend. Here’s a lovely poem to celebrate finally being allowed by the general public to listen to Christmas music without scrutiny and funny looks: “little tree” by e.e. cummings. Enjoy! <3

little tree
little silent Christmas tree
you are so little
you are more like a flower

who found you in the green forest
and were you very sorry to come away?
see   i will comfort you
because you smell so sweetly

i will kiss your cool bark
and hug you safe and tight
just as your mother would,
only don’t be afraid

look   the spangles
that sleep all the year in a dark box
dreaming of being taken out and allowed to shine,
the balls the chains red and gold the fluffy threads,

put up your little arms
and i’ll give them all to you to hold
every finger shall have its ring
and there won’t be a single place dark or unhappy

then when you’re quite dressed
you’ll stand in the window for everyone to see
and how they’ll stare!
oh but you’ll be very proud

and my little sister and i will take hands
and looking up at our beautiful tree
we’ll dance and sing
“Noel Noel”

Having trouble Thanksgiving/Christmas/Hanukkah/whatever shopping?

Here’s some neat things. :] All of these sites are either Fair Trade, organic or vegan–many are more than one of these.<3

The Fair Trade Federation has an enormous amount of categories you can browse, including but not limited to Africa, Asia, children, chocolate, coffee, custom orders, fabric, Latin America/Caribbean, organic, pottery, toys, woman-owned business, wood, worldwide, yarn and yoga.

The Hunger Site is offering tons of gifty items for sale, such as Peruvian sheepskin slippers, recycled rice tote bags, Afghan Pakol hats, Guatemalan coffee, handmade journals, and nativity scenes from around the world.

Fair World Gallery sells some really unique and fun things. Like gift bags and cards made out of elephant dung (I’m not kidding. There’s also a company called The Great Elephant Poo Poo Paper–they donate a portion of their profits to elephant welfare and conservation programs), AMAZING musical instruments from places like Peru, Kenya and Chile (*jealous*), really beautiful toys and games and yes, they sell Putumayo cds! 

Mercado Global has some gorgeous jewelry and scarves and…

Taraluna has all sorts of things: winter sets, Christmas ornaments (apparently featured in Good Housekeeping), teething toys, Hairy and the Xeko Eco-Pals, really beautiful shawls and scarves, children’s clothing and furniture, picnic supplies, organic pet toys..

Perfectly Natural has eco-apparel, safe toys, sippy cups..

Organic Fair Trade has everything: food, decor, clothing, jewelry, teething toys, organic supplements. My favorite items here: African girl doll from Uganda, “my worries” notepad, animal puppets from Brazil, “don’t worry” dolls :], organic veggie toys in a wooden crate, haha, and CIVIO, the civil rights card game.

The Groovy Mind hurts my eyes a little bit but they do have some fun things. They’ve got Kenyan finger puppets, a loooovely scarf/hood (“In the Hoodie”), bags made from recycled tire inner tubes and trash bags, license-plates-turned-purses-and-cd-holders, and gift boxes full of themed goodies.

And of course, everybody’s favorite coop: Frontier! Basically you can buy anything here. You can buy all the food you want. You can buy clothes, shopping bags, Glad Rags, makeup, gift baskets, cds of chanting monks. :]

Tea: Stash Tea, Art of Tea, Ambassador Organics, Equal Exchange, Mountain Rose Herbs, Friends of the Third World, Spotted Leopard Teas,  Coffee-Tea-Etc., Harney & Sons, Sacred Grounds, China Mist, Cafe Moto, Enchanted Teas, SerendipiTea,  Arbor Teas, Honest Tea, Steaz, Octavia Tea, Numi, Sympathy for the Kettle, The Groovy Mind, Taraluna, The Republic of Tea, and oh my lord, Zhena’s Gypsy Tea, which I must with my totally unbiased opinion proclaim as The Best. But okay, I like Stash and Steaz and Republic of Tea too. But oh my heavens. Zhena’s!

Chocolate and cocoa: check out Theo Chocolate, Equal Exchange, Dean’s Beans, Sweet Earth Organic Chocolates, Ithaca Fine Chocolates, Sojourn, The Groovy Mind, Nspired Natural Foods, La Siembra/Cocoa Camino, Omanhene, Yachana Gourmet, Divine Chocolate, Fair World Gallery, Nirvana Chocolates, Shaman Chocolates, Taraluna.

Coffee: check out Global Exchange, Equal Exchange, Cafe Campesino, Peace Coffee, Dean’s Beans, Larry’s Beans, Higher Grounds Trading Company, Cafe Moto, Cafe Mam, Just Coffee, American Joe, Higher Ground Roasters, Thanksgiving Coffee Company, Grounds for Change, Fair Trade Coffee Co., Intelligent Nutrients, Cafe Canopy, Morning Glory Coffee and Tea, Pura Vida Coffee, Coffee-Tea-Etc., Nectar of Life, Fair World Gallery, The Groovy Mind.

Beauty products: check out Ecco Bella, Wild Earth, Taraluna, Refreshingly Free, The Organic Makeup Company, Global Exchange, Perfectly Natural, ONEwithEarth, Mmmm…Handmade Soaps and Lotions, Origins, Mineral Fusion, Hard Candy, VeganStore, Different Daisy, Saffron Rouge, Afterglow Cosmetics, All Natural Cosmetics, Pink Quartz Minerals, Lavera.

Other socially conscious gift ideas: Bead For Life sells beautiful jewelry made by Ugandan women–when you support them, you’re supporting entire villages. Sojourners offers beautiful handmade cards crafted by orphans in Rwanda, handbags made from recycled materials by women who used to live on the world’s largest garbage dump, and journals made by men and women in a fair trade co-op in northern India, supporting remote villages and empowering women. And here’s a grand list of other companies that support social justice.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAND here’s some lovely coupons for you. :] Good deals for EO, Spirit Beauty Lounge, The New Green Company, Nimli, The One Eyed Turtle, Sweet Organics & Naturals, Hip and Zen, Bring Your Own Bag, Udderly Kid, Green Nest, Eco Lips, Imagiplay and more.

Let me light up the sky, light it up for you.