Even in absurdity, sacrament. Even in hardship, holiness. Even in doubt, faith. Even in chaos, realization. Even in paradox, blessedness
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"Life expands or shrinks in proportion to one's courage." ~Anain Nin
"The Happy Wanderer" And so, I'm off... possibly to Graveyard Fields, maybe to Mills River. We'll see. I'm all fired up and eager to catch up on 'mountain time.' What am I packing? Water, wine, coffee, nuts, and peace of mind. After a fitful sleep of errant dreams, I feel light and breezy, and not particularly drawn to dragging out my time in 'civilization.' It's only an overnight in the Earth's cradle, but these experiences always last me much, much longer. Here's a polka we sang today at church... appropriate enough: The Happy Wanderer Chorus: I love to wander by the stream I wave my hat to all I meet Oh, may I go a-wandering jaybird found this for you @ 13:00 in Journaling the Infinite | | permalink
New species uncovered in Venezuela New species uncovered in Venezuela Among the new discoveries, revealed by US-based Conservation International, was an armoured catfish whose spiky head earned him the nickname "punk" and a piranha that eats fruit as well as flesh. jaybird found this for you @ 07:37 in Science, Quantum & Space | | permalink
Voting and impropriety? Quelle surprise! Voting and impropriety? Quelle surprise! The head of a company vying to sell voting machines in Ohio told Republicans in a recent fund-raising letter that he is "committed to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the president next year." jaybird found this for you @ 07:18 in News, Opinion & Politique | | permalink
Baghdad Burning is Riverbend's 'girlblog' Baghdad Burning is Riverbend's 'girlblog' from Iraq. Increible firsthand reportage. jaybird found this for you @ 22:02 in Blogosphere, Tech & Internet | | permalink
Feast of history found No Feast of history found No one tidied up afterwards, which was fortunate, because the remains of the ancient Gallic feasts were still in Le Puy de Corent, in the central Auvergne region, when the site was searched by archaeologists led by Matthieu Poux. jaybird found this for you @ 13:28 in History, Civilization & Anthropology | | permalink
A mythical bird no longer A mythical bird no longer After 60 years the Chinese crested tern -- nicknamed the "mythical bird" for its elusiveness -- is a myth no more. jaybird found this for you @ 11:30 in Forteana, Phenomena & the Bizarre | | permalink
Ancient stone circle discovered An Ancient stone circle discovered An ancient stone circle, buried for thousands of years, has been uncovered by archaeologists at a site in the Outer Hebrides. Experts say the discovery is second in importance only to Stonehenge. jaybird found this for you @ 10:47 in History, Civilization & Anthropology | | permalink
"Crossroads of Destiny" Thy love lives at the edge of a wing, jaybird found this for you @ 02:37 in Posting Under the Influence | | permalink
Tom Feelings, an African-American illustrator, Tom Feelings, an African-American illustrator, author, and historian, has passed. "I had used the functional form of a narrative without words, it is open to all people, especially those who have difficulty visualizing what Black people describe as racism from the past and its lingering presence in the present." I met him last month during a discussion on Haiti and slavery. Simply a wonderful human being who has brought much light to a dark subject. Crossposted to MeFi jaybird found this for you @ 18:12 in Art, Music, Theater & Film | | permalink
Robert Anton Wilson For Governor Robert Anton Wilson For Governor First order of business on assuming office: Fire 33% of the legislature [names selected at random] and replace them with full-grown adult jaybird found this for you @ 15:42 in High Weirdness | | permalink
Sage herb 'can boost memory' Sage herb 'can boost memory' Centuries-old theories that the herb sage can improve memory appear to be borne out by modern research. jaybird found this for you @ 06:53 in Health, Medicine & Bio-Happiness | | permalink
Oh dear, here we go Oh dear, here we go again: Photo shows elderly Elvis Professor David Perrett and Dr Bernard Tiddeman used ageing software to reproduce the natural effects of ageing, taking into account changes in skin texture, hairline and hair colour. jaybird found this for you @ 06:47 in High Weirdness | | permalink
Mike May regains his sight Mike May regains his sight after 43 years of blindness I suddenly realised that I could look out of the window, so I did. jaybird found this for you @ 16:37 in Consciousness, Psychology & Philosophy | | permalink
THe Universal Giggle: Appreciation of THe Universal Giggle: Appreciation of humor doesn't change with age jaybird found this for you @ 16:21 in Consciousness, Psychology & Philosophy | | permalink
Toward the 'synthetic human:' Machine Toward the 'synthetic human:' Machine Thinks, Therefore It Is jaybird found this for you @ 16:20 in Science, Quantum & Space | | permalink
Justify my craving: Dark chocolate Justify my craving: Dark chocolate may be good for you jaybird found this for you @ 06:48 in Health, Medicine & Bio-Happiness | | permalink
Ooooh, this will be big: Ooooh, this will be big: US Republican Party outsources fund raising to India via MeFi jaybird found this for you @ 21:24 in News, Opinion & Politique | | permalink
"The Visitors" We took the kids to the baseball game today. McCormick Field was packed with endless variation of bobbing heads for the uniquely American spectacle of baseball ritual. The mascot was adored and jostled by a sea of cotton-candy sticky fingers, home runs were hit, and everyone went away happy. One moment sticks out for me though; bottom of the 5th, there's a huge black butterfly with an iridescent blue fringe that lazily bounced and cruised the wind. I watched it for a timeless five minutes, as it skimmed across unnoticing fans glued to the tally of runs hits and errors. It would come to a slow glide, and nearly alight on a baseball hat, then surge upwards, and weave curiously around. Then the magic moment... it flies into the press box, and everyone- the announcer, the stats people, maybe even the press, stopped to watch as it ambled through, then out, and over the stadium to infinity. The sound of thousands of children and the ubiquitous din of a stadium were for that fleeting flight lost to me, as the upturned gaze of the pundits and aficionados tried to asses this new player... what might she bring to the team? I couldn't help but wonder if this was a scout for some celestial Big League, sizing things up and reporting back to HQ. Who is ready to cocoon? To metamorphose? Who wants to fly? While the Asheville Tourists gave the Hickory Crawdads a run for their money, I would have to say that the butterfly scored a grand slam for the Visitors. It was her odd flight of familiarity, the out-of-placeness of her oversized wings and slow careless saunter through the hallowed pastime that stole my bases and ran straight to home. My client asks me "What are you starin' at, Mr. Jay?" "Oh, you know, all the fans." Not long after, I watched an insect approaching from the outfield, to become a huge grasshopper, to land on my shorts, hang out for a minute, and dash off to land on a little girl's head. Those visitors sure are a wild team. jaybird found this for you @ 21:12 in Journaling the Infinite | | permalink
Arnold gets smutty I'm only Arnold gets smutty I'm only going to give a tame snippet here: I was living in Munich at the time, hanging out with night people--entertainers, hookers, and bar owners--and I had a girlfriend who was a stripper. Anything to say about moral highgrounds, Arn? Not to say I disapprove, but I do disapprove of politicos that drone on about ethics and morality when their own slate is at least a bit smudgy. Lord knows mine is. But gee heck, Arn, sexual free-for-alls with bodybuilders? (No, I've never even considered it). jaybird found this for you @ 19:23 in News, Opinion & Politique | | permalink
Resident Bush's forays into grey Resident Bush's forays into grey and dark legal areas: Not Up to Code? Embellishing the Flag, Then the Web Site "It's inappropriate. It's a government Web site. It's the use of government property for political work, which is illegal. They have to be careful." jaybird found this for you @ 16:55 in News, Opinion & Politique | | permalink
Hubble Captures Mars Close-Up  Hubble Captures Mars Close-Up The Hubble Space Telescope's newest picture of Mars shows summer on the Red Planet just as it makes its closest pass by Earth in 60,000 years. jaybird found this for you @ 16:37 in Science, Quantum & Space | | permalink
In a Long Presidential Race, In a Long Presidential Race, Dean Sprints The staggering, seemingly spontaneous crowds turning up to meet him — about 10,000 in Seattle on Sunday and a similar number in Bryant Park in Manhattan last night — are unheard of in the days of the race when most candidates concentrate on the early-voting states of Iowa and New Hampshire... jaybird found this for you @ 06:43 in Howard Dean for President 2004 | | permalink
"Playground" We begin small jaybird found this for you @ 00:14 in Journaling the Infinite | | permalink
The End of Evolution? Given The End of Evolution? Given all the possibilities for human evolutionary change, it is hard to know which path our distant descendants will be constrained to tread. jaybird found this for you @ 20:35 in Science, Quantum & Space | | permalink
Roadmap to Peace 
jaybird found this for you @ 18:47 in News, Opinion & Politique | | permalink
Burning Man rises again... I Burning Man rises again... I swear I'll be there next year. jaybird found this for you @ 17:11 in Art, Music, Theater & Film | | permalink
Oh, you pretty thing: Skywatchers Oh, you pretty thing: Skywatchers wait for Mars encounter Mars and Earth are about to pass closer together than at any time in almost 60,000 years. jaybird found this for you @ 06:49 in Science, Quantum & Space | | permalink
Defining Dean ...any rivals for Defining Dean ...any rivals for the Democratic nomination hoping that he would soon implode -- through inexperience, or overconfidence or the weight of his supposed liberalism -- wouldn't have found much encouragement. jaybird found this for you @ 01:16 in Howard Dean for President 2004 | | permalink
What day is it? Depends What day is it? Depends who you ask... how we measure the passage of time varies in wonderfully elaborate ways worldwide, past and present. Some folks want to create a uniform calendar, and you may recall Swatch's quixotic attempt at "Internet Time." Colorful heuristics aside, there's always timelessness as an option. Crossposted to MeFi jaybird found this for you @ 19:19 in Science, Quantum & Space | | permalink
Overheard in the London tubes, Overheard in the London tubes, via MeFi This eternal truth is above the logic of force, the concept of environment, or the terminology of society. Go figure. She was at the party when an ant fell out of her nose. No-one knows where it came from. I am composed of thousands of tiny pixels. Everything Morrissey predicted in the 80s is coming true. That girl in the leather coat has an Adam's apple. jaybird found this for you @ 16:56 in Culture, People & Customs | | permalink
Questionable Weirdom: this month's odd Questionable Weirdom: this month's odd searches from the referrer logs: and my personal favorite, But curiously, one of my top referring sites, at 107 visits, is the International Atomic Energy Agency. Odd. jaybird found this for you @ 16:40 in Blogosphere, Tech & Internet | | permalink
For Sale: How King Shaped For Sale: How King Shaped the Dream Occupying 20,000 square feet — nearly one a floor — of the auction house, the sprawling exhibition opens to the public tomorrow and runs through Sept. 8. Sotheby's is offering the collection for private sale — not at auction — on behalf of the King estate. jaybird found this for you @ 06:55 in News, Opinion & Politique | | permalink
'Peace' orchestra makes Arab debut 'Peace' orchestra makes Arab debut An orchestra made up of young Israeli and Arab musicians is to play its first concert in an Arab country shortly. jaybird found this for you @ 18:56 in Art, Music, Theater & Film | | permalink
New Moby Dick? Boat crasher New Moby Dick? Boat crasher a rare white whale The 14-meter-long cetacean, known as Migaloo, is thought to be the only known albino humpback whale. jaybird found this for you @ 12:47 in Forteana, Phenomena & the Bizarre | | permalink
Neuroscience Art Gallery Images from Neuroscience Art Gallery Images from the edge of 'sanity.' jaybird found this for you @ 11:22 in Art, Music, Theater & Film | | permalink
Hola, Huya: New planetoid named Hola, Huya: New planetoid named after rain god Remember Quaoar? jaybird found this for you @ 10:46 in Science, Quantum & Space | | permalink
From the ‘Song of the Open Road’ By Walt Whitman I FROM this hour I ordain myself loos’d of limits and imaginary lines, Here is the efflux of the Soul; |
