Thursday, April 19, 2007

Sunday, April 15, 2007

100 Mile Diet

See more Product Details at Amazon.ca

Local Eating for Global Change
A Year of Local Eating experiment born on the first day of spring in 2005. Eating only food grown and produced within a 100-Mile radius.

What has me interested in this book? What caught my attention? What places importance?

I'm half-vegetarian (re: I don't eat beef, does that count?). The bike's cute :) I really like the tree at the end of the road!

However, it's none of that, it's something else...

It wasn't the word diet. No way! What's that?! It wasn't 100-Mile. Are you kidding?! You'd never last on a diet. It wasn't a year. 'Cause Time is short enough. It was local eating.

YES! Local Eating! An idea that's environmentally responsible and promotes sustainability...

"The average American meal (and we assumed the average Canadian meal is similar), according to World Watch, reports that the ingredients typically travel between 2,500 and 4,000 kilometers, a 25 percent increase from 1980, and has attracted responses from as far away as Norway, France and Australia.

This average meal uses up to 17 times more petroleum products and increases carbon dioxides emissions by the same amount compared to an entirely local meal."

Links:
BC couple 'eats locally, thinks globally'
CTV.ca News

100 Mile Diet Book
Official Website
See more Product Details at Amazon.ca

Saturday, April 14, 2007

By the Side of a Road


By the Side of a Road

Veiled in dust by the side of a road
wanders and gathers, heedfully so
a hush, and an essence linger there
quiver petals of passion, parted everywhere.

A sudden shimmer in light alone
acreage and lanes, and rock unknown
a time, then a moment slowly slip ahead
descent flutters of a kind, but weeps instead.

What odd footings this day cross?
Divine and waits, unearthed by loss
a stark, and an inkling once to adorn
entwine at the edge, a reminiscence torn.

A power known without a face
near and far, which hold will embrace?
a call, then a sorrow broke a fall in flames
breaks ground with truth, brushes wet with blame.

To where will go a path as such?
Wonders and wakens, surrenders to touch
as once, and before a searching place
finds hope with love, leaves fate with grace.

A clear sky envelops with a beauty so deep
devotion and patience find a love will creep
a rhythm, and a soul on guard unfold
in ones own grasp by the side of a road.

  • Veiled in dust by the side of a road... favorite line I've ever written. An image that mysteriously haunts every time I read it, as though I'm to bring her to life in a forbidden novel.

Morning Wakes


Morning Wakes

wakened by a whisper
enveloping her nape
near to the center
by a touch, escapes

entwined with a sigh
exposing her soul
deep to the bottom
for a smile, unfolds

captured in a breath
forcing her back
far to the edge
to a stare, awakes

  • About the eyes and mornings.

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Earth Day 2007

Celebrated every April 22, Earth Day is the largest, most celebrated environmental event worldwide... read more

"Take the Next Step"
Find out about Events, Action Guides, School Kits, Merchandise, Tree Planting Festivals and how to get involved.

They have coffee :)
"Help the Environment: One Cup at a Time"
Earth Day Canada and Merchants of Green Coffee have teamed up to bring you Earth Day Coffee, a medium-dark blend of three distinctive Fair Trade and organic Arabica beans from Africa, Southeast Asia and Latin America. Buying Earth Day Coffee guarantees you the freshest, best-tasting coffee, while at the same time supporting organic agriculture.

The Measure of a Man


When I get a chance I'd love to read this...

The Measure of a Man: A Spiritual Autobiography
by Sidney Poitier (Paperback)

Recommended by Oprah's Book Club

About the Author:
Born in Miami 1927 and raised in the Bahamas, Poitier began acting after the war, and soon made his debut in Hollywood with No Way Out. He became the first black actor to win an Academy Award for Best Actor. In 1968 he was knighted by H.M. Queen Elizabeth II and is the recipient of four honorary doctorate degrees, the last from New York University. He has starred in over forty films, directed nine, and written four. He has received three Golden Globe Awards; an American Film Institute Lifetime Achievement Award; the Kennedy Center Lifetime Achievement Award; and the Screen Actors Guild Lifetime Achievement Award, among many other awards and honors. In April 1997 Poitier was named the Ambassador to Japan from the Bahamas. Sir Poitier is currently president and CEO of Verdon Cedric Productions. He is married, has six daughters, four grandchildren, and one great-grandchild.

The book description can be read at the link above.

I recommend this book already - the book description alone inspired me. I have no doubts Sidney Poitier is a very special man.

Planet Earth: The Entire Collection 2007 (DVD)


Planet Earth: The Complete Collection 2007 (DVD)

Pre-order Now: Releases on April 24, 2007

Join! ASW Network

A quick reference guide with further information to come.

ASW Book Reviews
ASW Writer's Scroll (you are here)
ASW Film Reviews

Where's yours?!

Did You Know? Site Tools

This post is dedicated to useful technical information to assist you in utilizing this site efficiently. To refer to this post on return visits, just click on "Site Tools" in the Label Cloud (Label Cloud is located in the sidebar of this site titled "Words show...").

Did You Know?

  • You can also feed on specific labels. The URL format for label feeds is: http://ascreamingwriter.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default/-/labelname This is useful when you are interested in reading only specific material (i.e. such as preference to read only parts of a newspaper like sports, news, etc). Note: Be sure to substitute labelname with any label you are interested in that is listed in the Label Cloud located in the sidebar of this site (i.e. Book Reviews) and be sure to include the hyphen (-) in the URL. That's not a typo! See the full example below:
http://ascreamingwriter.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default/-/Book Reviews

Tuesday, April 10, 2007

Links

All Links will be listed here in this post rather than as a Links widget in the sidebar.

For your convenience, a Links label will be listed in the Labels widget sidebar instead to get to this post quickly. The sidebar is accessible on any page you visit - just look for the Labels widget in the right-hand column of this site, near the bottom titled "Words show..." where all the labels/tags/categories are listed.

As more links are added to this post and the list grows, categories will be made and sectioned in a colourful table.


LINKS:

Janice Harayda - Novelist, Journalist, Editor, Speaker

One-Minute Book Reviews - One-Minute Book Reviews is an independent blog created by Janice Harayda, an award-winning journalist and critic. It consists exclusively of brief reviews of new and classic fiction, nonfiction, and poetry for adults and children. One-Minute Book Reviews does not cover literary or publishing news, trends, or gossip. Janice Harayda writes all the one-minute book reviews. She is an award-winning journalist and author of the comedies of manners The Accidental Bride (St. Martin’s, 1999) and Manhattan on the Rocks (Sourcebooks, 2004). She has been the book columnist for Glamour, book editor and critic for The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer, and vice-president for awards of the National Book Critics Circle.

Planet Peschel by Bill Peschel - Mystery writer, Editor and Book Reviewer. He's been a newspaper copy editor, a bread truck driver, a shipping clerk, a magazine editor, a computer developer and a role-playing game designer. He won second prize in the Mark Twain Writing Competition for the continuation of Mark Twain's "A Murder, A Mystery and a Marriage." He lives with his family in Hershey, PA. You MUST READ his short story comic "Groundhog Day"... "about a man, a woman and a dead groundhog." It will make you laugh if you haven't yet today! I love it! I'm hoping he creates a continuation for Carmelita! Read it, you'll see what I'm referring to!

Guy Gets Married by GuyGM - A 35-year old Guy's Dating Quest To Get Married

Phydeaux3 - Packed with powerful tools and resources, including code and highly organized simple-to-follow instructions for creating your blog. The site that provided me the Code for New Blogger Tag Cloud/Label Cloud for my site! It was simple AND FAST! I felt the breeze through my hair :) WOW! Here's the direct link to the Label Cloud instructions but be sure to read "Code for New Blogger Tag Cloud/Label Cloud" first (the above link). Other resources listed on his site that helped me in picking my Label Cloud colors: RGB Color Codes (also shows the Hexadecimal color codes) where I chose Dark Khaki and MistyRose4

Accordion Crimes


Accordion Crimes
by E. Annie Proulx
Pulitzer Prize Winning Author of
The Shipping News
and New York Times Bestseller


For every persons dreams, struggles and difficulties...

Accordion Crimes follows the travels of an accordion over a century concentrating on the surrounding events of people's dreams, struggles and difficulties. About torn families and lost homes; roads many people encounter in a lifetime. And at one point, it becomes involved in a most scrupulous drug scandal.

This book begins at a time when people of different countries were looking for their freedom; on a journey to a land they desperately believed would give them hope. Author E. Annie Proulx, captures the unsympathetic shouts of racism in a country where a people must survive and during a time in the late eighteenth century when illnesses were inescapable and detriment.

Her ability to sketch words of a people who are rough on the edges but inside have the souls of an unworn book - displays such power of orthodoxy in her scriptures that you are forced to realize: Though we are all of a different people - we are still all God's people.

I am truly amazed by the boldness of E. Annie Proulx's writing style and precise use of different languages and attitudes... a literary journey that moves with the essence of those living and lost. I greatly admired her courage to explore the realms of such an epoch in time. She has this uncanny ability to create believable, individual characters of different races and cultures and, as well, draws out such poignant scenes of turmoil and separation.

Through different chapters, E. Annie Proulx reintroduces you to the accordion, and at one point it becomes involved in a most scrupulous drug scandal. And from that scandal, the rewards of many a thousand become hidden, and soon lost, as the accordion once again must fold its secrets and pass through; yet, another moment of discord.

Accordion Crimes is about ignorance, destruction and ploy. However, it is also about strength, survival and acceptance.

Racism was very much a part of what immigrants had to adjust to and they had to give up a part of themselves to pass by. But as we follow a little green accordion that encounters much corruption in its own path, we discover how it is able to save lives and bring much fortune.

So, like the accordion in E. Annie Proulx's book, we not only follow its path, but we follow the path of many people; genuinely fighting for a distinct place in society, and in a community where they must learn to save their own lives, and make their own fortune.

An Unfolding Adventure...

In a book - not yet published, she writes:

…her strength can be seen in the most blinding of snowstorms, in the small, steady footprints she leaves behind. But the greater discovery is with every season... for hidden in her tracks is the mystery of the snow that never melts around them - as though winter was touched by her growing strength - and waits as a sign of her determination to save it.

Read more about the writer and this inspirational mystery and unfolding adventure story...

Fantasy-Tainted Thriller: Secret of horror novelist's lineage is broken as book wins acclaim


Whois? Joe Hill

Hill, 34, took on his secret identity to test his writing skills and marketability without having to trade on the family name...


Meet Stephen King's son...

For the last ten years, Joe Hill has been writing short stories and wrote an unpublished novel under his pen name. Now he brings us a fantasy-tainted thriller that Warner Bros. has already bought the film rights to six-months before Heart Shaped Box hit the market!

Facts:

The moniker he chose did not come out of the blue. He is legally Joseph Hillstrom King, named for the labour organizer whose 1915 execution for murder in Utah inspired the song, "Joe Hill," an anthem of the labour movement. His parents, who came of age during the 1960s, "were both pretty feisty liberals and looked at Joe Hill as a heroic figure," he said.

"Heart-Shaped Box," a title drawn from a song by the rock group Nirvana, is a fast-paced tale of another man with dual identities. Judas Coyne, born Justin Cowzynski, is an over-the-hill heavy metal rocker with a strange hobby: amassing ghoulish artifacts. The choice of title was pure serendipity. Hill's initial idea, "Private Collection," went by the wayside when the 1993 Nirvana song popped up on iTunes as the author was getting ready to write the episode in which UPS delivers the haunted suit to Coyne. It was then that Hill decided to package the suit in a heart-shaped box.

As excitement percolated about "Heart-Shaped Box," so, too, did lingering questions about its author. Inklings about Hill's family background started appearing in online message boards in 2005 when his collection of short stories, "20th Century Ghosts," was published in Britain.

Still, his pen name had a good ride. The editor of "Heart-Shaped Box" was unaware of the King connection and Hill's agent remained in the dark for eight years before the author spilled the beans two years ago.


More Info:
Mar 17, 12:27 PM EST
By Jerry Harkavy
PORTSMOUTH, N.H. (AP) - Joe Hill knew it was only a matter of time before one of the publishing industry's hottest little secrets became common knowledge. He just wished he could have kept it under wraps a bit longer... read more

Related Site:
Joe Hill Official Website

Monday, April 9, 2007

Destiny

Destiny

Old flame so cold and dieing,
fighting not to smother.

Searching for the breath
that won't ignore its sacred burn.

So weakening not,
this trying bed of scattered blankets.

And suddenly,
a familiar source.

Brings life to bony fingers,
so strange.


  • Haiku. Needs editing. My past writing collection. Add your comments if you'd like to note what you think it's about.
  • Do you Haiku?

My Father's Hands

Photo credit: Internet search/Artist unknown

My Father's Hands

My Father, thou art here,
with my spirit of heaven.
In all my days I needed you,
you failed me not.

It is often not enough said,
of the impression you leave,
I, in my heart,
do solemnly believe.

I have grasped for the wind,
and tried to hold it palms tight,
but only a God, like you,
could part those waters with your Might.

There was a time,
I was deeply afraid,
in my own troubled waters,
I could not have made.

Openly you would listen,
Graciously you would give,
only a Son, like you,
could walk on those waters and Live.

Now on my way,
palms open wide,
I am feeling the wind,
cleanse through my eyes.

In all my days coming,
and since my birth,
only a Man, like you,
can save thy heaven on Earth.

  • Do you see the question? Started with one message, resulted in two, three actually.
  • Thought this poem also fitting with my concerns of global warming. Even now it still stops me and makes me think about this planet we abuse and the environment.

Note: Artist embedded moving water and sound, I can still hear the waves and birds overhead. I hope to find the artist one day as I couldn't recall the site where I found the photo. The text you see on the photo is what I included as part of a Powerpoint presentation for a writing class.

Sunday, April 8, 2007

Easter Sunday Message

Photo Source: History.com
Like the way Thanksgiving is my favorite celebrated family holiday, so are the moments of Jesus for which he gave us all, leading up to Easter Monday - these are the 'Time' for which I am most thankful.

The Bible is poetry to me in the way Shakespeare is poetry to many. Have you ever considered the same about the Bible? It really is so beautiful. Sometimes I become so overwhelmed by how sensible and aware their minds back then when I see the meaning in the words of the Bible. It really is not hard to understand and a lot of it requires an intuition you may not even know you surely have. I am sure everyone would love it. Here's a great website and resource, Bible Gateway, where you can read and research scripture online all in the language or translation of your choice! I also love Billy Graham and his website... he reminds me so much of my Grandfather and the way he used to share the gospel.

Some of my favorite Biblical Phrases from King James' Version I've included below from the Bible given to me by my mother, which my Grandmother gave to her - and I will pass down for generations to come. It is the only thing of this earth I keep as all other material things I've ever owned have never been important to me and I always give away to someone else in need (and forgive me to say, toss!).

Have a beautiful and memorable weekend everyone...


The lad Jesus in the temple
Luke 2: 49
And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business?


Sins of the natural man
Romans 1: 16
For I am not ashamed of the gospel,
for it is the power of God
for the salvation of every one who believeth.


The Lord's Prayer
Matthew 6: 9-13
Our Father, which art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done
in earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us this day
our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil:
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
forever.
Amen.


A Psalm of David, the Twenty-Third Psalm
Psalm 23: 1-6
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.


Creation of Man. The Seventh Day. Eden. Creation of Woman.
Genesis 1
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.


Photo Source: History.com
The Ten Commandments

Exodus 20:1-17
And God spake all these words, saying, I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: thou shalt now bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; and shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it. Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. Thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's.


Sermon on the mount
Matthew 6: 19-21
Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.


Jesus pays tribute; teaches humility
Matthew 18: 2-6
And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, and said, Verily I say unto you, except ye be converted; and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me. But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.


On faith and prayer
Mark 11: 23-25
For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.


Jesus and the Jews: his claim
John 9: 5
As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.


"If ye love me, keep my commandments. Love one another, as I have loved you."
John 15: 9-17
As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love. If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love. These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you. Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. These things I command you, that ye love one another.

Sonific Songspots


Mato (Bear)
by Arvel Bird
Album: Animal Totems Release Date: 2002-07-30
A spirited, contemporary instrumental, Native American-inspired album about animal totems that blends a powerful classical technique with bluegrass and Celtic.

Use Sonific SongSpots™ with:
AIM Pages, AOL Journals, BlackPlanet, Blogger, Bolt, Date-o-mat, DotPhoto, Facebook, Flickr, Friendster, Fotki, Freewebs, Google Gadgets, Google Pages, ILCU, LiveJournal, LunarStorm, MovableType, Multiply, MySpace, NetVibes, Piczo, ProfileHeaven, Slideroll, SmugMug, Squarespace, Squidoo, Sulekha, Tagged, Terapad, TypePad, WebShots, WidgetBox, WordPress, Wretch, Xanga, Yahoo!360 and any site where you can enter HTML.

An Inconvenient Truth

What are your thoughts, whether you saw this powerful message on DVD or read the book?

A wonderful contribution to our climate and planet from Al Gore - and above all, leading our world of generations to come by encouraging greater responsibility from all...




Browse Amazon.ca

Canadian Taking Lead in International Polar Year

From CTV News Staff
Thu. Mar. 1 2007 11:24 PM ET

Thursday marked the official start of International Polar Year (IPY) 2007-2008, a worldwide program that will be the most intensive period of research on the polar regions in half a century.

More than 50,000 scientists from 63 countries will be conducting and sharing research during the two-year program, assessing the Arctic and Antarctic and making forecasts and recommendations for the future… [read more]

Web Links:

Intuition: You Just Know

A novel I'm writing:

Deals only happen where the truth is hidden.
Change only happens when the truth comes out.

I had to write legal documentation a night in November 2004. In early Summer 2005, I started writing a letter to myself - always a form of clarity, organizes priorities, strengthens focus. What started out eight pages became over eighty pages of compelling evidence, scandalous ways and immoral truths.

Pre-order: The Poison Diaries


Everything about this book compelling.
It's sure to require some insight,
in order to see the full impact.
A gift.
What are the chances of signs? It's released on my birthday.

Read the book description by following the link below.

Book Release: March 1, 2007
Pre-order this book at Amazon.ca!

Why Mr. Right Can't Find You


The expectations of women.
enough said.
lol
Funny, had to post it!

A New Release.
It also has a 5-star rating...
What do you give it? (if you've read it)
What do you give it? (if you haven't read it)

I give it a 5-star too (haven't read it).
For making me laugh.

Better Single Than Sorry

"Jen Schefft won 2003's The Bachelor and starred in 2004's The Bachelorette. She walked away from one engagement and turned down two proposals and has never looked back. She now works in public relations and lives in Chicago."
Here's what I love and relate to about single woman and author Jen Schefft and her new book Better Single Than Sorry: A No-Regrets Guide to Loving Yourself and Never Settling...

Soon I will be reading the pages to see how happy Jen Schefft really is. Why? I am a woman content and happy in being single and in who I am.

However, within the text of Harper Collin's book description it starts like this:
"Let's be honest. No woman really wants to be alone for the rest of her life."
Already I've noticed that doesn't stack up with her claim of being content and happy in who she is and life and my "reason" for buying the book...

  • How can a woman say she's happy and content if she can also say she doesn't want to be alone the rest of her life?
  • Quite simply: She can't. Period.
So far I am the only girl from my childhood and woman I know that doesn't desire the "fairy tale" story, no dreams to get married, none of that. I know people have a difficult time understanding it, but those who know me know I'm happy and confident with that and always have been.

I've never believed in marriage. Even when I was a little girl. I have bigger things I want to accomplish in my life. It's that simple. For me. How can marriage possibly be real or genuine if it's not an eternal commitment? I'm real. Marriage isn't. Why waste my time? And that's how I honestly see it.

However, I have no doubt Jen Schefft is being true to herself when she says she's not willing to settle--obviously--she walked away from one engagement and turned down two proposals. Congratulations Jen! I sincerely mean that.

Photo: Rockit Ranch Productions, Megan Teela

  • So can we say Jen Schefft's book is fact or fiction?
That's what I'm going to find out and as I mentioned my reason for purchasing this book. I'll be back here to write a book review (and report) on Better Single Than Sorry...

  • What are your thoughts? Have you read it?