inspiration and stimulation for our current projects
Are there really plans to discontinue Elf on a Shelf? Terrible news and rotten timing - 2024 has been rough enough without this downer.
Has humanity lost its sense of humor? Elf on the Shelf was intended to create cheerful holiday moments and precious family memories to last a lifetime.
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| Russ Toys vintage troll elf |
The Elf on the Shelf is the title of a 2005 American picture book for children. Written by Carol Aebersold and her daughter Chanda Bell - comes complete with a scout toy elf.
It's Thanksgiving Day in the US - as the nation grieves the loss of an imagined future we held such high hopes for. Hard to count blessings in grateful thanks under the thunderous revenge rhetoric of Republicans hollering their hate and democrats spewing their disappointment.
As the world quakes and crumbles in the wake of yet another Trumpian win - we are forced to root deeper in search of source and spirit. It is here, always and eternal - hard as it is to reach for and realize in the haze of too much smoke and mirrors of late.
wonder | wander | world willfully puts together a gratitude list - as we mindfully recreate time honored traditions of thanksgiving. Remember those special moments when families gathered around the Thanksgiving table?
At its heart, Halloween is an astronomy holiday. It’s a day rooted in Earth’s orbit around the sun. It’s a cross-quarter day and a testament to our ancestors’ deep understanding of the sky.
October 31 marks the approximate midway point between the September equinox and the December solstice. This means Halloween also an astronomy holiday, and one of the year’s four cross-quarter days.
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| Learn about the four seasonal Quarter Days in the ancient Celtic calendar. |
Some historians are divided as to whether the ancient Celts observed the solstices and equinoxes (quarter days). Some believe that the Celts divided the year into just four major sections: Samhain, Imbolc, Beltane, and Lughnasadh (cross-quarter days).
Our wonder | wander | world pick of the week is the latest bestselling author Malcolm Gladwell's "Revenge of the Tipping Point." Building on a familiar idea from his books, he continues doing what he does best - poking the bear.
You may think you know how the world works, but you're wrong! The provocative Gladwell talks with correspondent David Pogue about why he's refused to change his approach, his work ethic, or his contrarianism.
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| the latest release |
Its title proclaimed an alluring idea - a social trend or behavior might spread slowly until a tipping point, when it reaches just enough people, and then suddenly it's everywhere, like an epidemic.
Businesses and activists loved this, even as critics questioned some of Gladwell's findings. Recently, he started an update to that book and decided instead on a total rewrite.
"The job of a journalist is to go and talk to people who know something specific that the rest of the world needs to know about and to translate what they say in a way that makes sense to a broad audience. That is the job description. I'm like, yes. Of course. That's why I wake up in the morning, to do exactly that." ~ Malcolm Gladwell
Equinox has arrived, 22nd September. It marks the entry into a new season and chapter of life.
Dorothea Lucaci image
Equinox is a day of balance, and when we come into stillness, to deep listen and align to the natural laws that govern the orbit of the earth around the sun, the orbit of the sun around the galaxy, the orbit of the galaxy around the universe, the orbit of our protons, neutrons and electrons around the nucleus.
We begin to see lasting change.
When we are in flow we are no longer swimming against the currents.Colors have been used to stand for major human traits of love, purity, innocence - as well as death, destruction, and loss by artists, poets, and authors throughout the ages.
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| seven & twelve color circles - 1708, attributed to Claude Boutet |
These are basically similar to the original symbolism of colors, like red stands for love, yellow stands for energy, green for a new life as well as jealousy, blue for beauty, and purple for royalty.
It is meteor shower season and summer skies are ablaze in their glory - where it's clear of thunderstorms, that is.
The final, infinite frontier of space has captured the imagination of humanity since the days of prehistory, and it seems the more we learn about the universe, the more we realize just how little we actually understand it.
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| the expanding universe - NASA image |
From black holes to giant stars to distant planets, there are innumerable celestial objects out there for us to study, probe, and marvel at. Certainly, the most visually beautiful and awe-inspiring of all, are nebulae.
