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All Blog Posts (696)

Hall of Mirrors

photo by Michael Levin, Pier 60 shop, Clearwater, FL

The best way to cheer yourself up is to try to cheer somebody else up.

– Mark Twain

Often, when a low mood is coming on, sometimes it is because the mind has started to brood upon itself. The things that formerly seemed exciting now elicit no response. In a sense, we have closed down. A friend can talk to us and we will not hear; we can go to a movie and may… Continue

Added by Michael Levin on April 18, 2009 at 12:00am — No Comments

New Research on Brain Chemistry

(photo by Pete Korhonen)

Subjects were studied who had been "madly in love" for an average of seven months. Once inside the MRI machine, subjects were shown two photographs, one neutral, the other of their loved one. When each subject looked at his or her loved one, the parts of the brain linked to reward and… Continue

Added by Michael Levin on April 17, 2009 at 10:30am — No Comments

Bob Sh’mal Ellenberg 11329 8th Ave. NE Apt 106 Seattle, Wa 98125 Sh’mal@zoobird HESTER’S LAST SMILE AND CAN OF ROLLING TOBACCO In the nursing home where I work people dying is go…

Bob Sh’mal Ellenberg

11329 8th Ave. NE Apt 106

Seattle, Wa 98125

Sh’mal@zoobird

HESTER’S LAST SMILE

AND CAN OF ROLLING TOBACCO

In the nursing home where I work people dying is going on regularly; it’s nothing new to me, but now people are being admitted, in their forties and fifties, who are terminally ill with one critical illnesses or… Continue

Added by Sh'mal Ellenberg on April 16, 2009 at 2:11pm — No Comments

A CLOSE ENCOUNTER WITH CHARLIE MANSON

A CLOSE ENCOUNTER WITH CHARLIE MANSON

While my 12 year-old son and I were waiting for our flight from Miami to Los Angeles I was browsing a magazine rack and came across a article about Charlie Manson and his perennial parole problems. My mind immediately flew to that ominous afternoon I spent at his Topanga Canyon commune outside of Los Angeles. The picture, indelibly imprinted on my consciousness, of Manson jumping back into an attack mode crouch, his fists clenched, wanting to… Continue

Added by Sh'mal Ellenberg on April 16, 2009 at 1:30pm — No Comments

THE LEGACY OF ROSE PEARL

THE LEGACY OF ROSE PEARL

I’m always amazed, how after committing to an action out of love, we never know how the re-actions will reverberate through our life. This story is an instance of that reverberation.

Rose Pearl called me, reaching out by telephone, making a connection to tell me she was dying. She made it clear it wouldn’t be that very moment, but in the near future. Rose said she was calling because she needed some one to take care of… Continue

Added by Sh'mal Ellenberg on April 15, 2009 at 9:37pm — No Comments

BEING ON WITH THE OTHER

Bob Sh’mal Ellenberg

725 NE 3rd St.

Gainesville, Fl. 32601

352-378-8735

cityofpeace@citizencircle.com

BEING ONE WITH THE OTHER

STORIES OF BEING WITH THE HOMELESS

Harry was on the ground half conscious with about 15 people, mostly men, uncomfortably standing around looking down at him; the Listerine bottle knocked over on the stone table, its distinct odor wafted… Continue

Added by Sh'mal Ellenberg on April 15, 2009 at 9:27pm — No Comments

The Weekend I Quit Hitchhiking, by Bert Woodall

The taillights of the black Cadillac disappeared and the sudden quiet gave way to an ambient, deafening screeeee. Treefrogs or cicadas in the dark trees resumed a clattering conversation interrupted when the now vanished car pulled off onto the gravel so the driver could, yet again, get out to open his pants...

Read the rest… Continue

Added by Michael Levin on April 15, 2009 at 6:18pm — No Comments

A MEETING ON THE TRAIN

A MEETING ON THE TRAIN

There is always a potential romantic adventure, however slight and passing, when one is open and allowing life to unfold for us.

I watched attentively as a woman, one among many, but a particular woman, walked down the isle of the train I was on. I casually watched as she put her baggage on the overhead rack, with a sigh, signifying, “well, this is it, it’s all okay,” then sat across from where I was sitting on the Amtrak train from Buffalo to NYC.… Continue

Added by Sh'mal Ellenberg on April 14, 2009 at 11:05pm — 2 Comments

Rock and Roll Never Forgets

True love grows by sacrifice and the more thoroughly the soul rejects natural satisfaction the stronger and more detached its tenderness becomes. – Saint Thérèse of Lisieux

If somebody is kind to us ninety-nine times and then does one hurtful thing, we are likely to forget the ninety-nine good things and remember the one bad thing. We can watch it happen in ourselves – no matter how absurd we know it is – when our parents or partner or… Continue

Added by Michael Levin on April 11, 2009 at 11:00am — No Comments

Blue Moles

They're out of the dark's ragbag, these two

Moles dead in the pebbled rut,

Shapeless as flung gloves, a few feet apart-

Blue suede a dog or fox has chewed.

One, by himself, seemed pitiable enough,

Little victim unearthed by some lsrge creature

From his orbit under the elm root.

The second carcass makes a duel of the affair:

Blind twins bitten by bad nature.

Read the rest… Continue

Added by Michael Levin on April 10, 2009 at 11:57am — No Comments

A Great Day at the Garden!

What's the big smile about? That's Ron Chandler smiling at me at the McRorie Community Garden on the 24th. Ron's been in Asia, as you all may have read on his blog. I've been in the thin air of Crested Butte, CO. You can click on the photo above to see the set.

Here's my… Continue

Added by Michael Levin on March 29, 2009 at 3:00pm — 2 Comments

I am so R-A-D!

Dear Diary,

this morning I took my first fixed gear ride to work. I survived. It was pretty fun.

Added by pete korhonen on March 27, 2009 at 3:32am — 1 Comment

Coming back to the Garden

I've been out of town a good while now. Just got back. Today, I'll head out to the garden and see how my plants have fared. I hear rumors that it's like armageddon. Spring planting here I come.

I needed a Gibson fix yesterday when I got here but the lib was closed, so I tried Google Books Good thing it's there - not complete books, but enough to take the edge off…

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Added by Michael Levin on March 24, 2009 at 9:00am — 4 Comments

Food for the Heart

Lisa DeLoach gave me a copy of Food for the Heart: The Collected Teachings of Ajahn Chah at the hostel in Portland. She said she'd finished it and liked to pass things like that on. I have enjoyed it ever… Continue

Added by Michael Levin on March 22, 2009 at 1:30pm — No Comments

Gators, Jon boats and Kayaks!

Springtime is coming! The snow is melting (not in Florida!). I biked down to Lake Sybelia, here in Maitland, FL yesterday and caught this sunset photo with an iPhone camera. Click on the photo to see more sunsets from this ride and other days...

A neighbor had a garage sale and look what showed up! It's a 10' Jon boat. Weighs in at… Continue

Added by Michael Levin on March 21, 2009 at 1:30pm — No Comments

Biking in Florida

The orange blossoms are in bloom. And, the weather is spectacular. Sunsets? Like you've never seen before...

A bicycle is one of the best ways to experience nature at its fullest. After a long days work, I rode out to a nearby lake to watch the sunset. No fancy camera necessary. I caught this fiery sunset with an iPhone. I was recently in Crested Butte, Colorado... Read the rest… Continue

Added by Michael Levin on March 20, 2009 at 9:30am — No Comments

Perhaps the spring is coming after all

Howdy all,

nice Wednesday afternoon was turning into the evening and I had decied that I will take my Single Speed Atala to the streets of Helsinki for the first time 2009. I was in our buildings bike cellar filling the tires, when a neighbour, apparently moving out from the building, rushed in to the cellar. He greeted me, took a quick look around, sighted and mumbled: "... oh that one, dammit, I cannot fit it into my cargo any more, I guess it has to go the garbage then".

I… Continue

Added by pete korhonen on March 20, 2009 at 4:30am — 2 Comments

The Workingman's Friend

In honor of St. Patrick's…

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Added by Michael Levin on March 18, 2009 at 12:00pm — No Comments

Field of Greens

"Last year, Googling “Houston” and “organic,” Marcella Murff found the Last Organic Outpost’s Web site. She admired the photos and the philosophy, but it was Joe’s poetry that really caught her attention — poems that praise “planting seeds of change” and “building micro-communities of living soil.” Who was this guy?

She drove to the Emile Street farm, the biggest of Last Organic’s two… Continue

Added by Michael Levin on March 17, 2009 at 1:30pm — No Comments