Every Day a new Dream a New Hope Exists.. Today I Choose to Dream.. I Sing My Song and Share My Heart
Monday, December 24, 2012
Friday, November 23, 2012
A Chance of a Lifetime
Such an exciting opportunity! My oldest daughter whom for web purposes I refer to as Word Girl has been given the opportunity to spend her summer in Peru. Yes Eight entire weeks discovering the mysteries of the rainforest! She will be traveling with Operation Wallacea
Where she will be PP101 Biodiversity Monitoring in the Pacaya Samiria National Reserve
Research Assistants on this project will be based on the research ship and will need to be prepared for the hot and humid conditions of the Amazonian rainforest. Whilst some respite can be found on the boat where the fan-cooled cabins, showers and food provide a retreat from the tough working conditions, the main reward is the opportunity to see and work with such a huge range of birds and animals, including the larger, and more rare, animals such as pumas, primates and tapirs.
There is a large team of mainly Peruvian researchers based on the research ship with nine different research programmes running. Research Assistants signing up for the various projects will help on all the projects over the course of their stay. There is a strong research atmosphere on the boat with teams coming and going at all times of day and night on various research tasks.
Research tasks which require volunteer manpower include:, spotlight surveys for caimans and diet studies of this species (which necessitates capture of the caimans through noosing), transect surveys for the abundant Pink and Grey River Dolphins and an elusive population of manatees at this site, mist netting surveys of the bird communities utilising the forest understory, transect counts of wading birds, point counts of macaws as indicators of forest fruiting, gill net surveys of
fish communities, standardised searching surveys to characterise the amphibian communities, land based transect counts of primates, large mammals and game birds as indicators of levels of exploitation, checking 20 camera traps run at a variety of habitats and depending on water level. In addition to these surveys there are dissertation studies where assistance may also be required - for example assisting with behavioural data observations on the primate species.
After her "official" trip is over she will be stopping in Machu Picchu to explore the ancient ruins..
Does this sound like the most fantastic of trips? Well I am sure it will be.. Of course there are expenses involved and we have started a fund raising push to help her cover those expenses. If anyone is interested in donating.. please click on our donating button.. It will show here in this post as well as on the side.. Thanks for all your support whether it be verbal or financial
Shauni
Thursday, November 22, 2012
Monday, October 1, 2012
Support Banned Books
Did you know that this week is Banned Books Week? It's a week that has been set aside for the last 30 years to promote reading. To stand up against those who would make our choices for us. It is for those who choose to proudly say I READ..
I grew up in a house where books were plentiful.. where more often than not when we were at sporting events, if you wanted to find my mom, you looked over to the nearest set of trees and there my mom would be in her chair, reading a book. Not watching the game, reading a book. The thought of not having a book on me at all times is inconceivable.
My mom always said, it didn't matter if your child would only read comic books, at least he is reading. Of course that didn't pertain to her children we read classics.. *rolls eyes* She still hasn't forgiven me for my love of romance books.. but that is another story. I do know, more often than not if she had heard that a book was banned and she felt it was age appropriate, we had to read it. I tried to raise my children in a similar manner. I can say with great pride, all four read.. they have unique and interesting tastes but read they do.
Sadly, not all people are afforded that right.. schools, governments, churches all for one reason or another choose to challenge or ban a book.. How can that possible be right? Sure some books are graphic, some books are extreme, some books are *gasp* bad.. but it is not the right of State to make that choice for us. Parents need to guide their children, encourage them to read and question what they are reading.. to make their own choices...in short to LEARN..
I found this list on Rebecca Ryals Russell's Website and thought it needed to be shared..
SOME of the 2011 challenged or banned books were:
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie
Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson
The Flamingo Rising, by Larry Baker
The Notebook Girls: Four Friends, One Diary, Real Life, by Baskin, Newman, Pollitt-Cohen, Toombs
Running with Scissors, by Augusten Burroughs
My Mom’s Having a Baby, by Dori Hillestad Butler
Betrayed, by P.C. and Kristin Cast
Staying Far for Sarah Byrnes, by Chris Crutcher
Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl, by Anne Frank
The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky
Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America, by Barbara Ehrenreich
Water for Elephants, by Sara Gruen
The Awakening, by Kate Chopin
The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, by Jonathan Safran Foer
In 2010 the top 10 most frequently challenged books were:
1. And Tango Makes Three, by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson
2. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie
3. Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley
4. Crank, by Ellen Hopkins
5. The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins
6. Lush, by Natasha Friend
7. What My Mother Doesn’t Know, by Sonya Sones
8. Nickel and Dimed, by Barbara Ehrenreich
9. Revolutionary Voices, edited by Amy Sonnie
10. Twilight, by Stephenie Meyer
But it’s not just contemporary books that get banned, classics get banned and challenged, too.
*The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
2. *The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
3. *The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
4. *To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
5. The Color Purple by Alice Walker
6. Ulysses by James Joyce
7. Beloved by Toni Morrison
8. *The Lord of the Flies by William Golding
9. *1984 by George Orwell (This one is the most ironic as its theme is suppression of books and thoughts)
10. The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner
11. Lolita by Vladmir Nabokov
12. *Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
13. *Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White
14. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce
15. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
16. *Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
17. *Animal Farm by George Orwell
18. The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
19. As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
20. A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway
21. Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
22. *Winnie-the-Pooh by A. A. Milne
23. Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
24. *Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
25. Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
26. *Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
27. Native Son by Richard Wright
28. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey
29. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
30. For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway
31. On the Road by Jack Kerouac
32. *The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
33. *The Call of the Wild by Jack London
34. To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
35. Portrait of a Lady by Henry James
36. Go Tell it on the Mountain by James Baldwin
37. The World According to Garp by John Irving
38. All the King’s Men by Robert Penn Warren
39. A Room with a View by E. M. Forster
40. *The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien
41. *Schindler’s List by Thomas Keneally
42. The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
43. The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
44. Finnegans Wake by James Joyce
45. The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
46. Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
47. *The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
48. *Lady Chatterley’s Lover by D. H. Lawrence
49. *A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
50. The Awakening by Kate Chopin
51. My Antonia by Willa Cather
52. Howards End by E. M. Forster
53. In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
54. Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger
55. The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie
56. Jazz by Toni Morrison
57. Sophie’s Choice by William Styron
58. Absalom, Absalom! by William Faulkner
59. A Passage to India by E. M. Forster
60. Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton
61. A Good Man Is Hard to Find by Flannery O’Connor
62. Tender Is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald
63. Orlando by Virginia Woolf
64. Sons and Lovers by D. H. Lawrence
65. Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe
66. Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
67. A Separate Peace by John Knowles
68. Light in August by William Faulkner
69. The Wings of the Dove by Henry James
70. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
71. *Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
72. *A Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
73. Naked Lunch by William S. Burroughs
74. Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh
75. Women in Love by D. H. Lawrence
76. Look Homeward, Angel by Thomas Wolfe
77. In Our Time by Ernest Hemingway
78. The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas by Gertrude Stein
79. The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett
80. The Naked and the Dead by Norman Mailer
81. Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys
82. White Noise by Don DeLillo
83. O Pioneers! by Willa Cather
84. Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller
85. *The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells
86. Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad
87. The Bostonians by Henry James
88. An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser
89. Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather
90. The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
91. This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald
92. Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
93. The French Lieutenant’s Woman by John Fowles
94. Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis
95. *Kim by Rudyard Kipling
96. The Beautiful and the Damned by F. Scott Fitzgerald
97. Rabbit, Run by John Updike
98. Where Angels Fear to Tread by E. M. Forster
99. *Main Street by Sinclair Lewis
100. Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie
To read the entire article click HERE
You want to support banned books, share what books you have read that have been banned.. shout it loud and proud!!
Shauni
Friday, March 2, 2012
Happy Birthday Dr Seuss
Over at Speculative Fiction they are doing celebrating Dr Seuss' birthday by doing Seuss style blog
Here's my attempt
If I had my way
You'd be here to stay
writing writing every day
maybe even writing a play
If you were here
I would stand up and cheer
wishing you well
with my silly spell
but you are not
things aren't so hot
you've been gone a while
But I still smile
when I hear about ham
and someone named sam
whenever a hoo let's out a shout
or a screech is out and about
I miss you today
All of the way
But at least we know
what you tried to show
that you were you,
that is truer than true
and there is no one alive, who is Youer than You!!
Here's my attempt
Happy Birthday Dr Seuss
you'd be here if I choose
you'd be here to write a book
you'd be here to meet a zook
you'd be here if I choose
you'd be here to write a book
you'd be here to meet a zook
If I had my way
You'd be here to stay
writing writing every day
maybe even writing a play
If you were here
I would stand up and cheer
wishing you well
with my silly spell
but you are not
things aren't so hot
you've been gone a while
But I still smile
when I hear about ham
and someone named sam
whenever a hoo let's out a shout
or a screech is out and about
I miss you today
All of the way
But at least we know
what you tried to show
that you were you,
that is truer than true
and there is no one alive, who is Youer than You!!
@Shauni
hey don't laugh it's a poem
Friday, February 17, 2012
The Road
The Road less traveled
The Poem does say
The one to choose
To find your way
Until you find
It's been traveled
by many who dared prevail
A torturous path
doomed to fail
Unless
One dares to fly
To chance the faults
To learn to fly
To refuse default
Beware the danger
The distrust and dismay
Avoid the lies and deciet
stay true to the Way
To walk this path
You will oft dispair
You may get lost
The weather not fair
and yet
Once traveled
You will find
A joy,
A peace of mind
A Dream complete
Avoid the pitfalls
step over the faults
A hope to all
is beyond it's vaults
Stop if you choose
to explore the view
Allow life's journey
to empower you
Life is not easy
But the way is true
Just follow the path
Set in front of you
Is life the journey
or the end
It matters not if
You live it my friend
@Shauni
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Promises Lost
A Child is born
talented and gifted
full of hope
A Promise
A Vow is made
a gift of tomorrow
love that lasts
A Promise
A contract is signed
ambition and nerves
hope for something
A Promise
A Friendship is formed
touched by laughter
shared experience
plans for fun
A Promise
The Child falters
The Vows are broken
The Contract torn
The Friendship shattered
Promises broken
laying on the floor
like shards of glass
Sharp, painful,
Destructive
Hopeless
A Promise is broken
no hope of repair
A covenant mocked
complete despair
@Shauni
Monday, February 6, 2012
Invisible
Can you see me
Do you know
that I am here
Can you see me
Do you know
that I feel
When you walk
past do you hear
me crying out
Do you understand
my plea?
Do you hear me
an almost silent voice
whispering
see me..
Or to you
am I not worth
your notice
Silent, lost
alone,
Invisible
@Shauni
Saturday, February 4, 2012
A Rolling Rage
Sometimes when the wind blows
You can hear the
Rolling Rage
More than dancing clouds
An internal battle
sound and fury
waiting to erupt
Sometimes the wind calls me
Creating that furor inside
A Twirling Swirling
Mass of Anger
Contained
Behind clouds
Ready to Burst forth
and Release Rain
Amongst the Heavens
Sometimes...
I dream of letting go
Watching the Damage
Gleefully dancing in the storm
Sometimes...
I want more than sound and fury
I want to see destruction
in my wake
Sometimes...
I think I deserve
to let loose
But...
Storms destroy
Disconnect and Damage
More than what is around me
If let loose
The Rage would
Destroy Everything
@Shauni
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Tears
I do not cry
Pretty tears
No gentle rain
For me
No single teardrop
slowly trailing
down an alabster cheek
No soft sigh
No, I sob
A wild Thunderstorm
Wracked with Grief
I Grieve
I sob
I hurt..
No beauty queen
tears for me
Emotion grabs me
shakes me
controls me
I do not cry
pretty tears
rather inelegant
gulping gasping sobs
Tears falling off
spiked lashes
Like a waterfall
Dashing to the rocks
The pain engulfs me
strangles me
controls me
purges me
Leaving me empty
destroyed
ruined and lost
@Shauni
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Words
I love Words
The way they
trip along the tongue
The way the wrap
themselves around
you, creating
delight
Wonderful, wicked words
that make you see
new things
Think new thoughts
I love words
they create a tapestry
of delight
showing us images
in our minds
wonderful, wicked words
I love words
they wreak havoc
and mend souls
they dance on air
and sludge in the mud
the twirl and twist
confuse and bemuse
I love words
Wonderful Wicked Words
@Shauni
Friday, January 27, 2012
God's Eye
Be silent
speak softly
bow down
God is watching
Always aware
always present
Don't dismay
Don't wonder
yet let wonder fill you
God is there
Always
Listen to the wind
Listen to the seas
Listen to the very birds
In their trees
God is watching
God is Here
Be Joyful
Be Awed
Be Humbled
God IS
@Shauni
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
On the Edge
on the edge
insecurity wrapping around
me
a slow sinuous snicker
taunting
ready to escape
on the edge
of dreams just escaped
promises lost
despair beckons
on the edge
take that step
will the despair win?
or does hope survive
on the edge
a fragile belief
in what can be
not what was
of innocence lost
and found
Of Hope betrayed
and faith renewed
take the leap?
will I fall?
or will I fly?
On the edge of laughter
and life
of simple joy
On the edge
of everything
@Shauni
Sunday, January 1, 2012
A New Dawn
A New moment
A new Dawn
A New Chance Revealed
A New hope
A New Dream
A New time to dance, unconcealed
Promise of today
Just today
A heart fulfilled
Promise of Fate
A Story untold
A Fear Stilled
Rejoice
Renew
Respond
Every Day
A New Hope
A New Chance
A New Dream
A New Promise
A New Dance
@Shauni
I know sloppy work, but I just needed to get something no matter how amateurish back on paper.. more to come
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