Brain research is clear – our thoughts trigger the neurochemical flood of emotion. Think negatively and you will feel anxious or fearful. Think positively and you’ll be flooded with the neurochemistry for happiness, contentment or love.
Hug a seal
give it a kiss
all love is real
not hit or miss
Charlie O’Shields’ water-color
Charlie O’s watercolor “Hug a Seal” is charming (Charlie is charming too . . . as is evidenced by the stories he writes to accompany his water-color paintings).
Check it out (there’s a sweet video of a seal hugging a dog) and click here DOODLEWASH
I admit I’m obsessive about steering clear of people who are sick. I’ve been “known” to remove my groceries off the counter and go to another check-out if I see a clerk sniffing or coughing. With fibromyalgia everything lasts longer and is more severe so I go to great lengths to avoid people who even appear to be sick.
My husband caught a cold 2 weeks ago and I’ve assiduously washed everything down – counters, door knobs, light switches and my husband – with disinfectant.
Turns out I was disinfecting the wrong person.
I woke up yesterday with a scratchy throat, a headache and feeling even less chipper than I usually feel in the morning.
“But at 90 . . . she is exercising caution as she recovers from a heavy cold which she’s had for at least 12 days, (12 DAYS!!!! ) and which is bound to have left her feeling pretty miserable. (tell me about it).”
“She hasn’t yet had an opportunity to go outside and explore her 20,000 acre private Norfolk estate. (So true, so true)”
LONG LIVE THE QUEEN . . . and me too!
P.S. Wash your hands after reading this post – I’m contagious . . .
Goodness, I feel sorry for the poor man in red his weary reindeer and sled Don’t blame me cuz I’ve never participated in dragging that man from his bed The worst you can say is I’ve not enough candles and therefore can’t light All my eight menorahs, yes, count ’em, eight Hanukkah for eight days of light Tell Santa to give up the late ride and eat chocolate coins wrapped in gold foil Safer to spin driedles, tell stories of brave Maccabees and the miracle of oil And he’ll feel much better when he rises well rested at the end of this year Not having delivered gifts heavier than a wish for peace and good cheer
Happy Chanukah!!
*Disclosure: Printed without permission from the author . .
Besides being soft and cuddly a mission of mine is to bring poetry to the masses, of which you are some. And I am here to bring you the truth . . . even though it might hurt.
Santa was frantic at the North Pole
Finances in the red, he was in the hole
Mrs Claus couldn’t afford sugar
For her cookies sublime
Dear old hubby didn’t have a dime
North Pole employment had exploded
and Santa’s credit had eroded
He’d spent his last cent on black Friday deals
and turkey with the trimmings for thanksgiving meals
The night before Christmas he no longer had clout
When all the elves threatened a walk-out
Elf-union held all the chips
As evidenced by the grin on all the elf lips
For every elf in all the land
Had won a pay deal without tipping their hand:
Double pay all December
a free thanksgiving meal in November
Finally fringe benefits for elves was real
For Santa and the Mrs, there was no appeal
Santa had bitten his nails to the quick
Both right and left eyes developed a tic
All Santa could do was self medicate
So he stuffed his mouth from the cookie plate
And downed all the rum from a hot toddy cup
his blood pressure sky-high, went up and up
His big fat belly shook like a bowl full of lead
While visions of bankruptcy danced in his head
So all you children and adults too
Have compassion and learn to make due
STOP asking for presents and things you don’t need
If this isn’t the cutest, weirdest little critter I don’t know what is!
A Puggles Pome
Puggles are the puggliest
Their little snout the ugliest
Cuddle them quick
for when they’re grown
they’ll claw you
and won’t give a lick
“Sydney Zoo is celebrating the arrival of the first baby echidnas, known as puggles, in almost 30 years. The tiny (cute), and incredibly rare Australian mammals, hatched in the summer weighing between 250 and 500 grams. Echidnas, sometimes known as spiny anteaters, lay eggs – which hatch after 10 days. They’re then carried in their mother’s pouches for up to two months.”
Sharon Bonin Pratt is a writer, an artist and a dear friend. I think she also is psychic. I’ve been not feeling great and the subject of her last post was just what I needed. AND it’s dedicated to ME!!!! What an honor!
Shari inspired me to look for a smile (SEE THE VIDEO).
“Who can laugh without relaxing? Isn’t that why some of us (not me of course, and certainly not you, but other unnamed folks) pee their pants when laughing raucously? Losing all control is not a bad thing, even if you must change your whitie-dities, because when you’re having that much fun – who cares about all the rest? Oh, and it’s contagious! In a good way, not like the flu, but like having enough cup cakes for everyone in the world. So now I not only feel good inside my own world weary bod – I feel good because everyone around me also feels good. Motto for today: Spread cheer – laugh out loud.”
A video of a diver in Thailand rescuing a porcupinefish caught in a net got my attention. I posted it on The HeART of Spirituality to get your attention. (verrrrrrry clever)
It’s not for survival
when I take a drink
It’s for my revival
she says with a wink
This isthe black-blotched porcupinefish. These fish not only can swallow water and raise their spines to make themselves look bigger and fiercer, but they also harbor in their bodies a neurotoxin that contributes to self-defense.
Porcupine Fish sez: “Here’s looking at you, kid.”
Take a look at a Porcupine fish being rescued while its fish friend watches. Who said fish don’t have feelings!
“Some species are poisonous, having a tetrodotoxin in their internal organs, such as the ovaries and liver. This neurotoxin is at least 1200 times more potent than cyanide. The poison is produced by several types of bacteria obtained from the fish’s diet.[4] As a result of these three defenses, porcupinefish have few predators, although adults are sometimes preyed upon by sharks and killer whales. Juveniles are also preyed on by Lysiosquillina maculata, tuna and dolphins.Wikipedia
Want to monkey around? just blow with your nose to create a sound that tingles the toes
However, it’s said if a monkey you bed your kids will be hairy swing from the trees blowing their noses and hang by their knees
Whoops, WRONG picture. Sorry Charlie O’ . . .
“Unfortunately, like many of this unusual creatures, this species is classified as endangered. Though an odd face, they’re generally good natured with each other, but due to extensive loss of vegetation, there are only about 1,000 of them left. The government of Borneo has instituted strict penalties for those who kill them in an effort to protect what’s left of the dwindling population.”
If you want to see the PROBOSCISMONKEY’S picture you will have to click here: DOODLEWASH
The Peacock mantis shrimp
is no wimp.
Its rear sways
while the front prays
that its glow
doesn’t go.
4 inches is enough
to strut it’s stuff
Watercolor, Peacock Mantis Shrimp by Charlie O’Shields
“Some mantis shrimp species are rather romantic, meeting their dream shrimp and staying together for life, which is up to 20 years. These lovebirds share the same burrow, protect their eggs, and help each other in hunting. When particularly aroused during mating rituals, the mantis shrimp will start to fluoresce. This means, you guessed it, they have glow-in-the-dark sex, which more than qualifies them as an uncommon creature.”
Click here to find out why the shrimp is no wimp: doodlewash
“Along with its spiky reddish-brown hairdo, it’s quite a sight to behold. It’s also a bird that you are better off viewing from a safe distance due to its other key characteristic that has earned it’s rather insulting nickname. But it’s an accurate one, as the stinkbird actually does smell like poop.”
judy’s stink bird pome
The Stink bird, if you will is a walking, pecking still Its cow poop smell is just a cover for a liquor lover.
Found a grrrrrrrrreat new blog doodlewash. The artist CHARLIE O’SHIELDSis good AND his subjects are weird and wonderful critters (at least the ones I’ve seen so far) My kinda guy! To make it even better the information he posts about the animals he draws is fascinating.
As those of you who follow my blog know I’ve been in a slump – physically, mentally and creatively. The minute I saw Charlie’s drawings and read about critters . . . well . . . it inspired the poet in me.
judy’s jerboa pome
Long-eared jerboa picky diet of insects nibbles on their feet but spits out their toa
Watercolor, Long Eared Jaboa by Charlie O’Shields
“Caught on video for the first time in 2007, this little creature may look like an odd little rodent, but it’s really quite distinct. There’s no other animal of its exact type on the planet. Looking a bit like a mouse-sized kangaroo, it’s humorously long legs give it the ability to jump over 3 feet (1 meter) high.”
To read the part that inspired my pome ya gotta click here: DOODLEWASH
Assignment from my writing class – “An incident when you were treated unfairly or you treated someone else unfairly.” I think I covered both . . .
Unfair Treatment – Body, Mind & Me
By judy westerfield
“More! More!” my mind screams at me. Her desire reverberates throughout my body. Once again, I’m caught in the middle between body and mind, between hedonism and health.
The three of us — body, mind and me — have been together a very long time. Over the years the mind has grown bolder, louder. To keep the peace I usually do what she says, even though it’s often based on want rather than need. Today is no exception.
For the second time in less than an hour I retrieve the half-gallon carton from the freezer.
“More! More!” She is unrelenting.
“Calm down. “I’m scooping as fast as I can.”
I ladle from the carton to the soup bowl — 1/3 less fat, 120 calories, $2.99 on sale — spoonfuls of vanilla, chock full of chocolate chunks and ripples of golden caramel. Hard, too hard. I like it soft, just this side of starting-to-melt. Ten seconds in the microwave will do it. I’ve perfected the timing.
“More! More!”
“You will just have to wait 10 seconds.” I can be firm.
It’s creamy, cold, sweet and glides deliciously from the lips all the way down to the stomach.
“Ahhhh. Mmmm,” the mind purrs and declares it to be an invention ranking right up there with the discovery of fire, the wheel and Tampax.
The bowl is empty. She points out that there’s more in the carton, purposely left out on the counter, which is now just the right soft consistency.
“120 calories per serving . . . 12 servings per carton . . .1,440 calories,“ she calculates. “We’ll just skip dinner.”
* * *
“Why? Why?” My distended stomach cries out, pushing painfully against the waistband of my pants. Hips expand, thighs grate together, intestines grumble while impolitely relieving themselves of gas as I walk to the trash to throw away the empty carton.
The body unfairly treated, yet again, by me. And the mind . . . she’s still screaming . . .
The Golden Rule originates in a well-known Torah verse (Hebrew: “ואהבת לרעך כמוך”):
You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against your kinsfolk. Love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD. —Leviticus 19:18
Baha’i: Deal ye one with another with the utmost love and harmony, with friendliness and fellowship . . . So powerful is the light of unity that it can illuminate the whole earth. Baha’u’llah, Teachings on Spiritual Reality
Christianity: All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them. Matthew 7:12
Judaism: What is hateful to you, do not to your fellowmen. That is the entire Law; all the rest is commentary. Talmud, Shabbat 31:a
Hinduism: This is the sum of duty: Do naught unto others which would cause you pain if done to you. Mahabharata 5:1517
Islam: No one of you is a believer until he desires for his brother that which he desires for himself. Sunnah
Buddhism:Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful. Udana Varga 5:18
Confucianism: Surely it is the maxim of loving-kindness: Do not unto others that you would not have them do unto you. Analects 15:23
Zoroastrianism: That nature alone is good which refrains from doing unto another whatsoever is not good for itself. (Dadistan-i-dinik 94:5).
Jainism: Killing a living being is killing one’s own self; showing compassion to a living being is showing compassion to oneself. He who desires his own good, should avoid causing any harm to a living being. Suman Suttam , verse 151
“Each of us carries around millions of microorganisms – including bacteria, fungi and viruses— on the inner and outer surfaces of our bodies. Most of them aren’t dangerous. In fact, growing evidence indicates that they help us in lots of ways. Scientists call this collection of organisms our microbiome.”
‘”A lot of the recent work on the human microbiome has revealed that we’re kind of spilling our microbial companions all over our houses and our offices and the people around us,” Meadow says.”
“Meadow says the findings raise a number of possibilities, including, maybe, one day being able to identify a criminal by analyzing the microbial cloud he or she leaves behind at the scene.”
“We know that if you live with people, and even if you just work with people, your microbial communities come to resemble theirs over time,“ Knight says. “And in the past we used to think that was due to touch. It may be just that you’re releasing microbes into the air and some of those microbes are colonizing the people you’re with.”
My inner 7 year old slightly rebelled at this assignment from my new writing class.
A Serious Assignment for the Deserving
(prompt: start the story with “I deserve . . .”)
By judy Westerfield
I deserve to be punished for my sins which are the following — Jennifer stopped writing. She mindlessly scratched Trotter, curled up next to her, behind his ears with one hand while the other hand pushed the eraser end of the pencil in her cheek — the part of her cheek she checked every day to see if she had a dimple yet. Like the dimple her best friend Carmen had.
She read “which are the following” out loud. Grown up words, and sin was a grown-up subject. A good way to start so the teacher would know she took the assignment seriously.
Deserve . . . she thought hard, rearranged the pillows, propped herself up on the bed startling Trotter who rearranged himself and curled up again.
I deserve to be punished for my sins which are the following–
#1. I ate my brother Josh’s Jelly Bellys and said he was lying when he told Mom.
#2. I hit my brother Rick and told Mom he hit me
#3. I watched my brother Sean kiss his girlfriend.
Carmen agreed with her, it was a stupid assignment writing ten things you “deserve”. The teacher said it had to be about “deserve”, not about what mattered, like what you want or what you need. Carmen called it estúpido. And it was hard to figure out what qualified as a sin. Jennifer squinted wondering if calling the teacher’s assignment stupid was sinful.
#4. I deserve to have my own room and not have to share it with my s stoopido sister Becca.
#5. I deserve to be punished if it’s a sin calling my sister and this assignment stupid.
She flipped open her i-pad and Googled “deserve” — “to merit or have a claim to reward, punishment . . . because of circumstances: to deserve a pay raise; to deserve exile.”
#6. I deserve a pay raise because I need more money to buy things.
#7. I deserve to have my sister and brothers exiled so I can be an only child.
She added exiled to Alaska.
Trotter nudged her, rolled over on his back, signaling time to scratch him on the stomach and think some more — If her mom and dad really loved her they would give her everything she deserved. It wasn’t fair her sister and brothers deserved a bigger helping of dessert, or deserved to stay up late or deserved their own room, just because they were older. It wasn’t fair and proof her parents loved them more.
#8. I deserve to get a good grade for this assignment.
Scratching Trotter with one hand, she tapped out a text message to Carmen with the other: need 2 mor deservs txt me yurz
“Nanoengineers at the University of California, San Diego, have developed 3D printing technology called “microscale continuous optical printing” that can print hundreds of microrobots within seconds, each one smaller than the width of a single hair.“
“Wei Zhu, a nanoengineering Ph.D. student who co-authored the report, wrote that “the microfish can doubly serve as detoxification systems and as toxin sensors.”When the researchers incorporated toxin-neutralizing nanoparticles into the microfish bodies, they found that their powerful swimming ability allowed them to efficiently clean out toxins from the solution. When the particles interacted with toxins, they emitted a red glow; the greater the presence of toxins, the greater the intensity of the glow.”
“The researchers are exploring the possibility of using this as a medical tool.They want to incorporate medicine into the microfish so that they can be injected into someone’s system in order to distribute drugs.”
Since I spend a lot of time (off and on) writing this blog and attending a writing critique group I figured it’s time to learn the tools of the trade. I signed up for a free Emeritus writing class from the local junior college. (“emeritus” is a sophisticated word for anyone who qualifies for Social Security.)
The first assignment was to write a two page SHORT story about being unfairly treated or treating someone else unfairly.
(Names have been omitted to protect my image)
Unfair Treatment – Body, Mind & Me
By Judy Westerfield
“More! More!” my mind screams at me. Her desire reverberates throughout my body. Once again, I’m caught in the middle between body and mind, between hedonism and health.
The three of us — body, mind and me — have been together a very long time. Over the years the mind has grown bolder, louder. To keep the peace I usually do what she says, even though it’s often based on want rather than need. Today is no exception.
For the second time in less than an hour I retrieve the half-gallon carton from the freezer.
“More! More!” She is unrelenting.
“Calm down. “I’m scooping as fast as I can.”
I ladle from the carton to the soup bowl – 1/3 less fat, 120 calories, $2.99 on sale — spoonfuls of vanilla, chock full of chocolate chunks and ripples of golden caramel. Hard, too hard. I like it soft, just this side of starting-to-melt. Ten seconds in the microwave will do it. I’ve perfected the timing.
“More! More!”
“You will just have to wait 10 seconds.” I can be firm.
It’s creamy, cold, sweet and glides deliciously from the lips all the way down to the stomach.
“Ahhhh. Mmmm,” she purrs and declares it to be an invention ranking right up there with the discovery of fire, the wheel and Tampax.
The bowl is empty. She points out that there’s more in the carton, purposely left out on the counter, which is now just the right soft consistency.
“120 calories per serving . . . 12 servings per carton . . .1,440 calories,“ she calculates. “We’ll just skip dinner.”
* * *
“Why? Why?” My distended stomach cries out, pushing painfully against the waistband of my pants. Hips expand, thighs grate together, intestines grumble while impolitely relieving themselves of gas as I walk to the trash to throw away the empty carton.
The body unfairly treated, yet again, by me. And the mind . . . she’s still screaming . . .
“More! More!”
Bob Blobfish sez: “. . . I prefer ice cream cones – they’re easier to hold in the water”
fast-casual, adj.: denoting or relating to a type of high-quality self-service restaurant offering dishes that are prepared to order and more expensive than those available in a typical fast-food restaurant
cakeage, n.: (informal) a charge made by a restaurant for serving a cake they have not supplied themselves
beer o’clock, n.: an appropriate time of day for starting to drink beer
hangry, adj.: (informal) bad-tempered or irritable as a result of hunger
wine o’clock, n.: an appropriate time of day for starting to drink wine
snackable, adj.: (of online content) designed to be read, viewed, or otherwise engaged with briefly and easily
barbacoa, n.: (in Mexican cooking) beef, lamb, or other meat that has slowly been cooked with seasonings, typically shredded as a filling in tacos, burritos, etc.
cupcakery, n.: a bakery that specializes in cupcakes
“I love a mouthful”
The Two-Way challenged their colleagues to see who could use the most new additions in a single sentence. Here’s Lauren Hodges, THE WINNER!!!
“Hey bruh, NBD and I don’t want to bants or act all butthurt, but I will straight-up rage-quit our lease over your fur-baby, who is rly not awesomesauce, despite your repeated attempts to mansplain its resting bitch face as “pensive,” or its constant theft of my frozen barbacoa burritos because it was hangry and craving something melty even though you get all cheffy for it three times a day, or its butt-dialing my ex because you didn’t see my phone sitting there while you were getting it to kayfabe all over the table for your rando friends, or my swole eyes being from my constant celebrations of beer o’clock and wine o’clock because we both know that dog manspreads all over my pillows when I’m not home, so stop with your weak sauce deradicalization and attempts to make this a skippable topic and by the way, you might want to get it to stop chewing my shoes before it gets hit on the head with this mic drop, mkay?”
For the complete list of new words – tech related, silly, political/social developments AND other mouthful-entries clickHERE
Don’t think that because I picked out only the food related new words to share with you I am a rando (randa?), mkay?
A Daddy-longlegs spider lives in my bathroom.It might be a Mommy-longlegs as she’s quite petite. My eyesight isn’t good enough to tell her gender. Even if I could I’m not sure what to look for . . .
I let her live there peacefully since we have a lot in common. She’s discrete,I’ve never seen her entertain overnight visitors and quite tidy as I’ve never found any droppings of left-overs from digested meals. She leads a very monastic existence as do I (on occasion).
A Daddy Short-Legs Spider
I’m not afraid of spiders (except those bigger than my thumb). I try to steer clear of them because when I get bitten by one I have a painful, very painful, allergic response. There is a legend that Daddy-longlegs are deadly venomous spiders which, after careful research, I found not to be true:
“Daddy-longlegs spiders (Pholcidae) – There is no reference to any pholcid spider biting a human and causing any detrimental reaction.If these spiders were indeed deadly poisonous but couldn’t bite humans, then the only way we would know that they are poisonous is by milking them and injecting the venom into humans. For a variety of reasons including Amnesty International and a humanitarian code of ethics, this research has never been done. . . . Therefore, no information is available on the likely toxic effects of their venom in humans, so the part of the myth about their being especially poisonous is just that: a myth.”http://spiders.ucr.edu/daddylonglegs.htm
I hesitate to get too chummy or name her because one day, should she decide to venture down from her post on the window near the ceiling and try to share my counter space, I might have to kill her.
(And with that, I sound like much of the world fighting for and protecting territory. Perhaps it’s not so mysterious why we don’t have world peace?)
I’m so smart. I’ve been employing this strategy for years! The only problem is when I remember what I forgot, I forget why I needed to remember what I forgot to remember.
“A new scientific model of forgetting is taking shape,which suggests keeping multiple memories or tasks in mind simultaneously can actually erode them.”
“Neuroscientists already knew that memories can interfere with and weaken each other while they are locked away in the recesses of long-term memory. But this new model speaks to what happens when multiple memories are coexisting front and center in our minds, in a place called “working memory.”‘ “It argues that when we let multiple memories come to mind simultaneously, those memories immediately lock into a fierce competition with each other.” When these memories are tightly competing for our attention the brain steps in and actually modifies those memories,” says Jarrod Lewis-Peacock, a neuroscientist at UT Austin.”
“The brain crowns winners and losers. If you ended up remembering the milk and forgetting the phone call, your brain strengthens your memory for getting milk and weakens the one for phoning your friend back, so it will be easier to choose next time you’re faced with that dilemma.”
It’s a strain on my brain
to remember
whether it’s June, July or December
Multiple memories,
lots of tasks
my brain crowns the winner
which I reward with dinner
Eats I never forget
Food being a permanent mind set
P.S. I forgot to tell you that you can read the entire article by clicking on the title above.
Scientists have grown the entire forelimb of a rat in a lab . . . and it moves!
Hidden in plain sight
God’s miraculous secrets*
Waiting to be found
Bernhard Jank, MD/Ott Laboratory, Massachusetts General Hospital Center for Regenerative Medicine
Dr. Harold Ott, head of theOtt Laboratory for Organ Engineering and Regeneration, and his team at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston were able to “engineer rat forelimbs with functioning vascular and muscle tissue,” . . .
“This may be an important first step leading to the eventual creation of functional, bioartificial limbs that could be used in transplants.”
Ott says this work “finally proved that we can regenerate functional muscle.” (They know because they ran an electrical current through the muscle tissue — and the little rat limb began to twitch).”
“They’ve since applied the first part of this technology — stripping cells from the framework — to the arms of primates, showing the process might work on the human scale.”
Dear Human-beings and other creatures,Those of you who follow my posts know how frank and fundamentally illuminating they are (not to mention how fantastically informative about the human condition). This post is no exception as my story The Tree has an important lesson for all to heed.
Here ismy first (and possibly only) draft of the story. Those of you who appreciate and are knowledgable about this genre your “critique” would be appreciated before I am sought out by publishers.
Once upon a time, a long time ago, there lived a tree. (I frequently start my writing with “Once upon a time” as it lends a universal appeal to readers young and old) Its trunk was crooked and all its bark was peeling. Big roots spread all around the tree, some deep in the earth and some growing above the ground. The Tree lived in a park with other trees of its own kind on the far edge of town. Every day many dogs of differing sizes and persuasions came to claim the tree as their territory.
One day, after years of being claimed, the tree yelled at a big black dog with pointy ears and a black nose sniffing around its roots, “I am NOT your territory!” The big black dog didn’t care what the tree thought, claimed it for its own and walked on looking for more territory.
Within minutes a little white dog with floppy ears and a wet nose sniffed out where the big black dog had been. “I am a tree not a fire hydrant!,” the tree yelled at the little white dog who ignored the tree, claimed it for its own and walked on looking for more territory.
The tree, ever alert for impending indignities, spotted a medium-sized dog with shaggy brown hair and a pink nose approaching. Finally, after many years of being claimed by many dogs, the tree figured out that actions speak louder than words. So it picked up its roots and walked away.
The end of my tail
Frankly & Faithfully yours,
Freddie Parker Westerfield, Canine Dog Therapist RET, Author
For those of you new to my blog read the beginning of the story below to learn how Stroppy and her lonely astronaut ended up in the black abyss of outer space.
_______________________
Writing challenge #3 – A 10-word story using the following 5 words: Fedora, Patagonia, pink, melancholy, and Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis (apparently the longest word in the dictionary, meaning a lung disease caused by inhalation of very fine silica or quartz dust –which, as we all know, is easily contracted should you find yourself untethered in space)
Patagonia*, adjusting her pink fedora, cured her melancholy astronaut’s pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis.
*”Patagonia” is one of Stroppy’s nick-names, which she often uses when feeling a bit frivolous.
Writing challenge #1 – A 20-word story, using the words, ‘fairy’, ‘tomato’, ‘stroppy’, ‘nuzzling’ and ‘astronaut’.
Nuzzling the alien Stroppy, the lonely astronaut watched the tomato-earth rise. Stroppy comforted him. It’s no fairy-tale in space.
_____________________
Writing challenge #2 – use the following sentence in a story of any length: “I can’t believe I’m actually going to do this, I thought.”
Stroppy eyed her lonely astronaut tethered next to her in space I can’t believe I’m actually going to do this, she thought. Now that we’ve nuzzled it’s time. She bit cleanly through his safety tether and taking his gloved hand in hers pointed the jet thruster toward home. With a twinkle in her eye and terror in his, they zoomed off into the vacuum of space to meet Mom and Dad.
The Pacific Northwest tree octopus (Octopus paxarbolis) apparently was first sighted in the temperate rain forests of the Olympic Peninsula on the west coast of North America.
However, since octopi, or more grammatically proper, octopuses (crediting Maggie Wilson , The Zombies Ate My Brain, for this important research) , are extremely intelligent (“Some evolutionary theorists suppose that ‘arboreal adaptation’ is what laid the groundwork in primates for the evolution of the human mind.”) it appears tree octopuses are acclimating to harsher and milder climes in their quest for survival.
I can’t believe I’m actually going to do this, I thought, as I wrote Stroppy and the Astronaut, part II for this writing challenge from Esther Newton. The sentence (in red) has to be included somewhere in the story:
Click here for my first “Stroppy Story” which might, or might not, help you understand this one.
Stroppy eyed her lonely astronaut tethered next to her in space I can’t believe I’m actually going to do this, she thought.Now that we’ve nuzzled it’s time. She bit cleanly through his safety tether and taking his gloved hand in hers pointed the jet thruster toward home. With a twinkle in her eye and terror in his, they zoomed off into the vacuum of space to meet Mom and Dad.
Bob Blobfish: “. . . I can’t believe she actually wrote this, he thought. . . “
I fall asleep when I try to meditate. Doesn’t matter what type of meditation, I fall asleep. So I’m now practicing my own form: “Meditative Amusement” (or should I call it “Amusing Meditation” or “Mindful Amusement”?).
This week’s challenge is to write a 20-word story, using the words,‘fairy’, ‘tomato’, ‘stroppy’, ‘nuzzling’and‘astronaut’.
alien Stroppy by j
My 20-word story:
Nuzzling the alien Stroppy, the lonely astronaut watched the tomato-earth rise. Stroppy comforted him. It’s no fairy-tale in space.
Try mindfully amusing yourself – having your own Stroppy is optional.
*”A practice of concentratedfocusupon a sound,object,visualization,thebreath,movement, or attentionitself in order to increaseawareness of thepresentmoment,reduce stress, promoterelaxation,andenhancepersonalandspiritualgrowth.”
Recently two very close and dear friends died. They were both younger than me – by at least 10 years. I was hit by painful sadness and simultaneously comforted by a belief:
Several years ago I was depressed. Life was the color of dirty grey. I was in a fibromyalgia flare and feeling helpless. I wasn’t suicidal, just weary, really weary, of pushing through the pain and exhaustion. Half jokingly I wrote to my Baha’i friend and mentor something to the effect: “I’m ready to leave this earthly plane. Beam me up into eternity”
He wrote back four words which rocked me to my core: “You are in eternity.”
Looking Beyond, a judy-journal page, mixed media
You see, I had always assumed life here on earth as a human was separate from the “eternal realm”. I thought that after I died I would then be in eternity. It was a paradigm shift for me. It is strangely comforting to know we are all already in eternity – you, me, my friends.
The scientific name for the species, Vampyroteuthis infernalis, translates to “vampire squid from hell,” but the animal’s behavior isn’t all that intimidating.
“Vampire squid drift in chilly, dark waters with low oxygen levels up to 9,800 feet (3,000 meters) below the surface. They have a low metabolism and they eat low-calorie foods — mostly “marine snow,” or clumps of particles, that sink down the water column.”
The new findings were published in the journal Current Biology.”
“An army of huge carnivorous “terror birds” — some as big as 10 feet tall — ruled South America for tens of millions of years before going extinct some 2.5 million years ago.”
“Llallawavis likely lived around 3.5 million years ago, near the end of terror birds’ reign, according to the researchers. It stood about four feet tall and weighed about 40 pounds.”
Have you noticed that I’ve been amusing myself writing poems lately?(If you haven’t noticed that is evidence you are not reading my blog as often as you should be!)
My chronic fatigue has reared its “rear”. Sitting and moving my fingers on the keyboard, one at a time, is about all the physical energy I have had to expend. (mental energy is another matter . . .)
“. . . plucking 200 hairs in a particular density and pattern can generate 1.200 hairs to grow . . . “
“From a circular patch of mouse skin the investigators plucked 200 hairs. The circle had a medium density of 5mm in diameter. Scientist also tried low-density pluck (6mm circle), but the regeneration did not occur. In higher density pluck they tried extracting the same number of hairs from a patch of 4mm but only 780 new hairs grew.”
“Neither pulling out all the hairs was useful. All the hairs grew back but there were no extra hairs. So the best results were obtained when the circles had diameters between 3 and 5mm. This led to a regeneration between 450 and 1.300 hairs.”
“The mechanism behind their pluck-to-thicken method is called “quorum sensing,” or how a system responds to targeted stimuli that affects select members.”
“. . . the immune cells secrete molecules that, in large numbers signal both the plucked and un-plucked follicles to grow hair.”
“The team of researchers was led by Cheng-Ming Chuong, Principal Investigator, University of Southern California Stem Cell and their research was based on the “quorum sensing” principle.”
The underlying principle of “quorum sensing” is what the regenerative process relies on. “Quorum sensing” refers at the way in which a system responds to a stimuli which only affect some of the member, not all of them.”
