Don't Pee on the Bee

Across the River

"When you row another person across the river, you get there yourself." --Anonymous Author

And you are "exposed vulnerably to the transformative events of an engaged human life."

Quotes for the know-it-alls!

So some kind of funk got me the last day or two, but I think I've squashed it and am ready to roll! 

I was going through a ton of old emails yesterday (while my kids did art in the hallway--not a very good idea!  But sometimes we gotta do what we gotta do if we want to get things done!  At least they didn't argue about cleaning it up!)  Anyway, I found a few quotes about intellect so figured I would share them since I have officially finished A.J. Jacobs' book, The Know-It-All.  I believe that I do, in fact, feel smarter!  If nothing else, I'll always look at duck wings in a different light!

"No one is wise by birth, for wisdom results from one's own efforts." --Krishnamacharya
I would guess that A.J. would wholeheartedly agree with this quote, having read the entire Encyclopaedia, you know!

"To be educated, a person doesn't have to know much or be informed, but he or she does have to have been exposed vulnerably to the transformative events of an engaged human life."
--Thomas More
Again, just guessing, but I would think that good ol' A.J. might disagree with the first part of this quote, but he might agree with the second half as he did acknowledge throughout the book that he knew it was somewhat counter-intuitive to just be reading about life and not experiencing it directly.

Let's all be engaged today!  (Slightly ironic from the woman who turned down a coffee date with her friends so she could get home and get on her computer for a few hours!  It's just so much easier when there is not art being created just over the door jamb!)

Post script:  Thomas More is a Catholic saint who also coined the term "utopia."  Krishnamacharya was an influential Indian Yoga teacher, healer and scholar whose students included B.K.S. Iyengar.

On a more somber note

I sat down last night and was reading the January/February 2010 issue of Spirituality & Health magazine and was completely blown away by one of the first things I saw.  Photographer Chris Jordan recently photographed dead albatross chicks on Midway Atoll in the Pacific Northwest.  Sounds gross, I know, but the photo article presented them as a sort of Stations of the Cross, where you stop at each "station" and reflect on the experiences of Jesus, or in this case, the state of the birds. 

Each photo of these dead babies, decomposing back into the Earth, had loads of plastic pieces where their bellies had been.  I'm not talking just one or two pieces, but literally handfuls of brightly colored bits of plastic.  The crazy thing is that these babies live nearly 2000 miles from the closest continent in one of the world's most remote marine sanctuaries.  The photos are beautiful and haunting at the same time.  I wish that I could post one here, but there are no links to the magazine, and the photographer's website doesn't have anything about these photos on it.

The phrase "A picture is worth a thousand words" is most apt here.  One look at these photos, and you will feel like you need to do something about what we are doing to our world.  If you are at a magazine rack, look for this magazine and check out the pictures.  If you know me, just ask, and I'll bring the magazine the next time I see you.  That's how much it impacted me!

Nannies Galore

I was fortunate last week to meet and interview an amazing woman, Tamara Mickelson.  She recently started a website called Nannies Galore where nannies and babysitters in the U.S. can register their profile for free, and then prospective parents can review the site, looking for a caretaker.  If parents find a match they like, then there is a small fee for further information which includes a background check.  This mom is also a cop, so she knows that background checks are important!  She's the kind of person you want to be friends with because her energy is so infectious!  Plus she cries when watching American Idol--just like me! 

Check out her website, and if you know anyone looking for a nanny or babysitting job, or if you know a family who is looking, let them know about her site.  It's new, so there aren't a ton of listings yet, but if more people check it out, it will get bigger and better!

You'll be able to check out my article about her in the March issue of Sacramento Parent magazine.

Note:  Oops!  I wasn't clear about the background check.  The nannies can choose to have a background check done, and Nannies Galore will post their score.  It is up to the nanny as to whether or not she or he wants to have their clearance posted.  If they DO have a background check done, the one that Nannies Galore uses is one of the most thorough ones that can be done.  (Nannies Galore does NOT conduct the background check.)

A few Know-It-All facts

I swore to myself as I read this book, that I would not fill up blog posts with interesting facts/tidbits/whatever that I read.  But I just can't help myself!  (And as I keep reading, I can think of several of you whom I know who would absolutely love this book!)

Anyway, two things I am compelled to post . . .

inherited traits
I've been reading a lot of intriguing theories about heredity recently.  The ancients believed in something called "maternal impressions"--that the baby's personality is affected by experiences the woman undergoes while pregnant (this is why Eskimo mothers eat ducks' wings while carrying; they hope to make their babies good paddlers). . . .

liar paradox
The ancient paradox goes like this: If the sentence "This sentence is not true" is true, then it is not true, and if it is not true, then it is true.  I feel very lucky I am not stoned, because if I had read this after a bong hit, my head would explode.

The paddling thing is so cute and oh so different from the things that we want for our kids today!  And the bong hit thing is just stupid, but I hope that someone else besides me laughed out loud!  Please tell me if you did!

The Know-It-All

Like I need to have another book to read, but here I am with another one going!  I've never read like this in my life!  I have always been a faithful, one-book-at-a-time sort of girl, so this is like a mini-rebellion of some sort!  Or else it's just the result of Don't Pee on the Bee and that thrill of writing and knowing that at least a few of you care!

The day I banished all to their bedrooms for some "quiet reading time," I eagerly anticipated what I would read.  I knew I didn't want it to be a magazine.  I'm learning to read those at any time, through whatever chaos ensues around me!  I don' read Nurture Shock for pleasure, so that didn't qualify.  And I didn't really feel like starting a novel because I'm just not that into them lately.  So I picked up bird by bird by Anne Lamott.  I really like her writing, and this book is about writing and life.  How could I go wrong?  Under lots of covers and in my quiet bedroom with no children, I hunkered down.  But it just wasn't working for me.  After the first chapter, I went into my office and immediately grabbed The Know-It-All,the book written by A.J. Jacobs as he read the entire Encyclopaedia Brittanica from cover to cover.

THATwas the answer!  And I have been reading as voraciously as I possibly can!  Got everyone (including my husband!) in bed by 7:30 last night and read on the couch for quite some time.  Eventually I had to stop and start watching American Idol (recorded) because, yes, on some weird, primordial level,  I love that show.  I had decided to not watch it this year, and then they went and offered Ellen DeGeneres the missing judge's seat.  That did me in.  I love her and can't wait to see how she does on the show!  But I digress. . .

The Know-It-All is hysterical!  I love what Jon Stewart had to say about it. 

"The Know-It-All is a hilarious book and quite an impressive achievement.  I've always said, why doesn't someone put out a less complete version of the encyclopedia?  Well done, A.J."

It is written like an encyclopedia with Jacobs' comments and reflections about some of the topics.  He also weaves in stories of how this task and the accumulating knowledge affected his daily life.  I have burst out laughing several times!  He is witty and just downright funny!  Plus I'm learning all kinds of weird things as I read--but I only have to read the book, not the entire encyclopedia!  I know now that I am going to have to read the rest of his books.  You'll feel smart and laugh at the same time!  Kind of an odd combination!

If you want to check it out, here's an excerpt.  It's actually the Introduction and the entire first chapter!  Check it out and let me know what you think!  I would love to talk with someone about this book!

Include Yourself

Include Yourself

"If your compassion does not include yourself, it is incomplete."--Jack Kornfield

This struck me today as I am beating myself up, sitting here at my computer.  The snow is falling up at my dad's house, and so my husband took the kids up there to drink hot chocolate and go sledding.  I have been home, working on an article that is due, and feeling like a crappy mom  because I am here working and am just going to get to watch the video my husband took (if he wants to remain married!) instead of being there watching it myself.  I know I need to banish the Bad Mother Police from my head.  I'm the one who has been outside every afternoon in the pouring down rain, checking the rain gauge, making sure that none of the bridges will float away, and finding the perfect Pooh sticks! 

Aaaah . . .Compassion arrives!