These Guys Might Be On To Something...

Fun (& Required) Summer Reading

Soul Pancake: Chew on Life's Big Questions This website is a place to speak your mind, unload your questions, and figure out what it means to be human.
http://www.soulpancake.com/

Coffee with a Canine features interviews with authors about their dogs. Coffee and dogs; what's not to love?
http://www.coffeecanine.blogspot.com/

Living with Bears gives you the lowdown on finding bears, avoiding bears, and (more importantly) avoiding conflicts with bears. IMHO, this online brochure from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife should be required reading for anyone who lives in or visits the Northwestern states.
http://wdfw.wa.gov/wlm/living/bears.htm#facts

The Astoria Warrenton Spirit of the Columbia website showcases my favorite Northwestern seaside community. Stuck at home? Take a virtual trip to the beach!
http://www.oldoregon.com/


The U.S. Government's 'How to Renew Your Passport' website for all you adventurous international travelers:
http://travel.state.gov/passport/renew/renew_833.html

I hope you enjoy these fun and informative Internet destinations. They include food for thought, a unique perspective on your favorite authors, and useful vacation information.
I love the fact that Soul Pancake addresses Life's Big Questions. Vacations are a good time to consider What's Really Important in life. Modern life is so fast-paced it's sometimes hard to catch your breath, let alone Think Deep Thoughts. But in the end, what will matter?

ENJOY!

An Edgy Post

I've been fascinated by the edges of things for years. (One of my many quirks. Corners, too.)

Edgelands tend to be dangerous places:
The edge of night.
The edge of reason.
A cliff's edge.
Virgins on the verge.
(A verge is an edge, right?)
The edge of panic.
The edge of insanity.

Do you know that deer prefer to live at the edge of the forest, where trees share space with the lesser plants? Maybe that's why more deer live in Iowa, with it's cornfields and pastures and patches of woods, than in our huge Northwestern forests. More edgelands. Also more roads - and thus (unfortunately), more roadkill. I told you the edgelands are dangerous. Someone should convince the deer.

And what about the edges of a rainbow, where red light slips into infrared and violet slides into ultraviolet? Where does one color end and the next begin? Do photons vacillate between the Seen and the Unseen, like our minds at the edge of sleep?

My limits stretch and blur when I'm on the edge of consciousness. In that twilight land between the world of dreams and the everyday world, creativity blossoms; present, past, and future co-exist; anything can happen - and usually does.

My stories begin in the Edgelands.

I Don't Know Much for Sure...

I don't know much for sure, but these guys might! Here are a few things you may want to check out:

Best Selling Author Seth Godin's Blog about doing work that matters, how technology impacts the arts and transforms their associated industries, marketing in the Digital Age, and more at http://www.sethgodin.typepad.com/ Concise, thought-provoking, and relevant.

TED began as a small nonprofit devoted to 'Ideas Worth Spreading'. Begun in 1984 as a conference bringing together people and ideas from Technology, Entertainment, and Design (TED), it's scope has broadened considerably. On http://www.ted.com/ , they make the best talks and performances from TED and its partners available FOR FREE. These videos are presented under a Creative Commons License, so they can be freely shared and reposted. I urge you to mine this 'clearinghouse of knowledge and inspiration from the world's most inspired thinkers,' and decide which ones you want to spread.

That should keep you busy for a while!