thanks Beth for making this cute card......

12 - 12 - 12

 

 

wow!!

this date won't happen again for 100 years

 

 

have a cosmic day

last night of the month
 

this is the post where I get to share with you all the photos that caught my eye this month

 

 

sort of a blogterest...

 

 

"free your mind and think"

is a lot like thinking for myself

 

after the election

 

 

 

Italian solar wind turbine bridge

this is the coolest thing I have seen in years

here is another view

 

wow so functional and so ascetic



why is the rest of the world so far ahead of us on clean energy

 

 



this photo going around facebook is a HOAX

though before sunrise on December 3, 2012, 3 planets will align

they will be vertical on the horizon

Mercury, then Venus (the brightest) and on top Saturn

I don't know how often it happens

 

ie - don't believe everything you see on the internet

 

 

 

I didn't believe this, but they say it is real

an Indonesian Vine Snake, I checked it out





wait til they find this thousands of years from now

imagine what they will make up for what it was used for

 







 



take that you non supporters of social programs!!

support of society is not the same as socialism, gez

 

 

no pressure

 

this is called a "Cuterus"

 

have ovaries?

 

 

 

 

 



in case you were thinking of running out

and buying a Powerball ticket for the $500 million

 

 

 remember

the chance of a ticket winning a Powerball jackpot is 1 in 175,223,510

 

 

you have a better chance of becoming a saint
which is only 20,000,000 to 1

or of being attacked by a shark, the chance is 1 in 11,500,00

 

or of becoming president 1 in 10,000,000

 

or dying from a bee sting 1 in 6,000,000

 

 or being stuck by lightning, a 1 in 3,000,000 chance

 

the chance of your getting killed by an astroid is even smaller: 1 in 700,000

 

or getting a royal flush in poker on first five cards dealt: 649,740 to 1 

 

 

 

the chance of dying in an airplane accident: 1 in 354,319

chance of dying from choking on food: 1 in 370,035

 

(wow - who would have thought those last 2 would be the same)

 

 

Odds of bowling a 300 game: 11,500 to 1

Odds of getting a hole in one: 5,000 to 1

 

Odds of writing a New York Times best seller: 1 in 220

 

(not bad....)

Chance of getting the flu this year: 1 in 10

 

the chance an American home has at least one container of ice cream in the freezer: 9 in 10

(now your talking!)

all those things are more possible than you winning the lottery



 

 I heard someone say that the Lottery was a tax for people who can't do math

 

 

but let us not forget the following story

 

 

One day a man walked into a church and starting talking to God.  God, he said, I am at my wits end, the end of my rope, I have lost my job, and am about to lose my house.  I know I have not been the most faithful but please I am desperate and I need your help.  He hears a calm voice from above saying, you will win the lottery.  Wow, he says, that's great, thank-you and he is out the door.  The  next week he comes back into the same church.  God, he says,you have let me down and now I am really in trouble, I believed you and you let me down.  He hears a calm voice from above, you will win the lottery.  The next week the same man comes in and he is pissed.  God, he says, you lied to me, I trusted you, I am in such deep trouble now and you have not helped me.  He hears a calm voice say, buy a ticket.





 



 



 

I came across this film tonight on netflix

 

WOW

 

what an interesting story

not just the movie itself but the story of how the movie got made

 

in 1930 the famous Russian director Sergei Eisenstein

 (Battleship Potemkin and The Ten Days That Shook the World among others)

 

 

came to Hollywood to make a movie

it is said it did not work out well as his and Hollywood's vision diverged greatly

Charlie Chaplin introduced him to the socialist writer Upton Sinclair

the Sinclair's decided to finance Eisenstein to make a movie in Mexico

 

 

 Eisenstein in Mexico during the filming

gotta love this guy

 

he shot hundreds of thousands of feet of film in Mexico

the movie was way over budget and way over it's time limit

and Sinclair pulled the plug

the film was sent to LA and Sergei planned to follow it and edit it

 

Upton Sinclair was so pissed that the movie took too long and was still not finished

he made sure that Eisenstein was not allowed back into the United States

in addition his foray into the West had made them suspicious of him back home in Russia

a suspicion that never went away

 

Sinclair had some of the footage made into shorts and a feature in 1933

 not very successfully

 

in the 1970's Russia finally got the footage back

Eisenstein died in 1948

but the cameraman who had worked with him in Mexico, Gorgori Alexsandrove

 

 

 

put the film together - true to what he thought Eisenstein was trying to do

 

it is a series of vignettes,or as Sergei called them "a sequence of short novellas"

a loose history of Mexico

the old footage is fascinating, the faces, the cloths, the houses, the instruments, the music 

and the graveyards

 

 

 

narrated in Russian, English sub-titles, black and white, very powerful

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



some photos from the conference

 

 

Sanibel Island is very nice, they have taken care of it

this is a dead end street with no parking just a biking or walking beach access

 

 

 

white sand

 

 

lots of shells

 

this is the island that Anne Morrow Lindbergh lived on

when she wrote, Gift from the Sea

first published in 1955

I bet the island was very different then

in fact I think you still had to take the ferry from Fort Myers

 

 

 

here was my home for the conference, I loved it

 

see the bike seat through the window

I should have taken a picture of my bike

all the main roads on Sanibel have bike paths

nice wide paved off the road bike paths

it was an easy 2 miles to the conference from the campground

and a half mile to the beach

it felt so free to ride my bike back and forth

 

 

this is the campsite of my new friend I told you about

pretty sweet

she is from Maine and she spends the winter on Sanibel and has for over 25 years

 

 

here is my photo of Susan Orlean

I know

and I am so bummed out I did not get a photo with her when I had the chance

I did not have the heart, she looked so tired

 

I did however manage to

 

 

get a photo of the handsome Mr. Dubus and myself

he was the perfect gentleman

 

so I look like a groupie

I was hoping that some of his genius and magic

 

will rub off on me

 



Day 3 - Writer's Conference - Sanibel Island

 

 

great day

 

the first workshop with Andre Dubus III was fabulous

( The House of Sand and Fog, which if you have not read is also fabulous)

 

he is brilliant, funny, articulate and he hates hand held digital devices

he thinks they are putting us in a trace and they are making us rude

hard to argue with that

 

here is his definition of art:

 

"transferring feeling from one heart to another"

 

 

I went to the social hour before tonight's talks

hoping I would see Susan Orlean

(actually I did see her walk across the large patio when she first arrived,

then she disappeared)

it was hard to find a seat, but my new friend B and I spotted a bench from someone leaving
I left my stuff and went to get a plate of food, (the poo poos were really good...)
as I was walking back to our seat with my goodies, someone says Deborah
then again someone called my name, who knows me here I am thinking
I turned around and this lovely young lady said, excuse me I have been wanting to talk to you
since you were in one of my workshops
she wanted to tell me about this blog she knew of that I might like based on something
I said at the workshop, we had a great chat, just what I had hoped would happen at this conference

when I got back to my seat someone was sitting in it
not someone but Andre Dubus
and he was signing a book for the lovely young lady who I had just been talking with
we all talked together and again it was just what I had hoped would happen at this conference
 when he was signing my book, well his book I guess
he wanted to know all about my book, he seemed genuinely interested
I was so lucky to get that one on one with him, better than I could have hoped for


finally Susan Orlean
seeing her made my night

her presence smaller than I thought, and more fragile
flaming red hair against white skin
but a powerful speaker, confident of who she is and her ability to write
her ability to follow her curiosity and to make us curious too

she did not say specifically but I would say her definition of art would be
curiosity

and when she was signing my book, I told her how "The Orchid Thief"
really opened me up to how non-fiction can read even better than fiction

and she said I made her night








 

 

 

Day 2 - Writing Conference - Sanibel Island

 

 

do you want the bad news first or the good news?

 

ok the bad news

brushing my teeth this morning my new fake tooth fell out

the first time I had it fixed it lasted almost 20 years, this time 2 months

it is in the front,  I considered going home

then I found I could hold it in with my tongue, which I did most of the day

 

 

the good news

she liked it - I think

the literary agent I met seemed to like my proposal

(well how mean are they going to be at a writer's conference....)

she pointed out several parts of it that she liked and had very good things to say

we discussed how to finalize the structure, what to add to the proposal

she clarified several things for me, it was very helpful

and then she said to send it to her

send it to her! I am pretty sure that is what she said

 

 

oh and my favorite new author is Steve Church

here is some good non-fiction

 

(sorry you can not actually click to look inside, here is the link)

http://www.amazon.com/Day-After-My-Atomic-Angst/dp/1593762615/ref=la_B001IYVMUY_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1352515367&sr=1-1#_

 

and here is what Amazon says:

 

 "Combining interview, personal essay, film criticism, fact, and flights of imagination, Church’s richly layered and darkly comic memoir explores the meaning of Cold War fears for his generation and their resonance today."

 

he was a very interesting presenter in the small workshop I was in

very much a free thinker, all about his truth, very inspirational

 

also very adorable and very young

 

or am I just feeling old among all the young people at the conference

there is a good number of white hair too, but no one presenting is older, just wannabes

 

it is also way harder than I thought to come to the conference by myself and not know anyone

people are polite but not friendly

if I join a group that is talking I can tell they think it is weird

no one has approached me at all, or tried to include me

ok one lady I sat next to said Hi and someone did respond a little

while waiting in the line at the bathroom

Sanibel is an old money, upper class, our island kind of thing

the university crowd was at the conference

I'm a nobody

 

the closest I have come to community was tonight when I was sitting at the concert*

 

*(great poet/singer/storyteller Taylor Goldsmith http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RXCiXbeUXU

check him out if you haven't heard him)

 

and my new favorite author happened to come in and sit behind me with his friends

and we laughed and clapped and dished how rude people were to keep going in and out,

well sort of together....

 

he signed his book for me during cocktail hour earlier in the day 

Dear Deborah, Thanks for reading and writing.  Great to meet you.  Keep writing.

Don't ever stop. 

 

wow

 

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Day 1 - Writing Conference - Sanibel Island

 

I am actually in my tent and writing this

 this is the first time I have ever been in a campground with wifi

pretty sweet

 

late winter and spring I camped out near my parent's

so I could be available but not living there

I discovered the beauty of staying in a site with electricity

light, computer, fan

a fan was essential for camping in Florida in the spring

 

now we are having some rare below average cold spell

I have not worn this many cloths all at once since last January

people are here from like Maine and running around in shorts

I'm freezing.....I think it is like 63!

hey, it's relative

 

last night I got here before dark and picked a nice site in the back

near a small little creek, lots of trees

after dark I realize there was some strange noise

some big mechanical roaring noise that never is going to stop

oh no, I tried to ignore it, took a long walk to the beach, came back

yep still there

what, do we have to take down the tent and move to get peace?

yes, so late last night

I put everything back in the car, put the bike back on

 drove around to the other side of the park where I knew there were lots of empty spaces

drive around several times can't decide and debate and debate

finally pick one

as I am setting up my tent a woman comes over, she is staying in the tent part

but is plugging her computer in at  "my" electric post

, we start talking, she is here for the workshop too

wow, I made a friend, she is very cool and we hung out at the conference today

what are the chances in this huge park that I would move to the one site

that had her computer?? 

 

I love this planet

 

 

 

here is my thought for the day from the workshop:

 

art is a lie that makes us see the truth

 

 

and now go out and read everything you can by Tim O'Brien

he is the one who said it - he's a great liar


ps the photo on the top of this blog is from Sanibel Island

here is my last comment on today's election:

 

let it be known for the record

 

that I think it is not a tight race

 

the bought and sold media in this country just want you to believe that

 

(- cause you can't steal an election unless it is "close"......)

 

I think it is Obama by a landslide.......

 

 

 



interesting facebook photos from October

 

 

this one from superstorm Sandy

 

 

 the perfect example of why not to build on the beach

 

 

how many examples do we need?

 

 

 

 

thanks Albert

(do you think that was his pick-up line??)

 

 

 

love this photo of Port Townsend

 

we lived there from 1982 to 2003

you can almost see my uptown house and the V street house in this photo

we lived in 8 houses in those 20 years!

who can name them all?   L.?

 

it's beautiful there and I miss the community we had

but the weather

 

for example

we use to say that we hoped summer would come on a week-end....

 

 

 here is one for the election

 

the other super storm

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and my personal favorite:

 

 

 

ok, on to more serious things

 

 

 

 

 

 

 I am not sure about the words, but the photo is inspirational

 

 

 

 

 

 I leave you with happiness

 

 

 

 

 

 



happy scary day

 

 

 

from my witches to yours



wow

 

this blog has had 5,000 hits

 

as of today!!

 

 

 

thanks for reading

wanted - new owners to love our house
in Cuyutlan, Colima, Mexico

 

back on the market - price reduced

 

 

 large corner lot, livable house, water and electricity, coconut palms, walk to the beach!

 

now only   $25,000 USD
 

 

here is a link with photos  http://ddmichel-beachhouse.blogspot.com/

 

if you are interested and want to know more please contact   http://www.abbott-realestate.com/


here are some comparable properties in Cuyutlan  http://www.cuyutlanrealty.com/index.html

so what are you doing this winter??

 



tonight

watch the October Orionid Meteor Shower

 

 

 

the Orionids are one of two annual meteor showers produced by icy pieces of

Halley’s Comet

 

Halley’s Comet - the most famous comet of all time

 passing earth every 75 to 76 years

 

 the last time it passed earth and was visible with the naked eye was in February 1986

(where were you?)

 

the debris field is so large it covers the distance between the earth and the moon

 

 

 

 

 

The Orionid Meteor Shower is named after the constellation Orion because

the meteors seem to come from just north of Orion's bright star Betelgeuse

 

 

 

 

 

the Orionid Meteor Shower can be seen around the world

between midnight and dawn

 

(if you are in an area that does not have cloud cover or too many lights)

 

it is active from October 3, 2012 through November 13, 2012

this week-end being the peak

 

here is a link to watch a live stream of the meteor shower

 

http://mygreenbucks.net/watch-free-orionids-meteor-shower-2012-live-streaming-video-download-online/

 

 

 

happy viewing

 

 

another day cram packed with celestial events

 

 

 

 

 

 

danza de los voladores

 

that was what I had been wanting to see ever since I had heard about them

years ago

 

dance of the fliers

 

 

this is an ancient ritual/ceremony

that is still performed today

 

5 men climb a 30 meter pole (almost 100') to a platform on top

the man in the center plays a flute and drum

as the other 4 fall off the platform

 

 

to spin out on ropes

 

it was evening in Vallarta and there is a permanent pole just off the malecon

los volvadores fly on a regular basis for tips

the tips are used to keep this tradition alive in their hometowns

 

 

they were very sweet about letting us take a photo

 

here are some photos from the web that are way better

than mine

 

 

 at the top

 

they represent the 4 cardinal directions - east, south, west and north

as well as the 4 elements - earth, water, fire and air

 

 

throwing themselves off

 

 

flying down

 

 

it so looks like fun

 

 

we had a great time

thanks A. for knowing about the pole on the malecon

it was a wonderful surprise and gift to see the fliers

 

 

 

on my last evening in Vallarta

finally in the right place at the right time

 

 

ah, Mexico

thanks for your magic

 so hard to leave - I will be back