I live on the Planet of Awesome and Forever. I have proof. Sometimes my planet is real and physical: I revel in the sun and rain, the dark and stormy, the people and the beings who make me laugh and think while challenging me to be my best, no matter what. Always my planet is […]
Living
How an Eagle Kachina Accidentally Helped Build a Community
My mom loved Southwest art. My dad loved my mom. I loved them. When the eagle kachina dropped into our lives, I was greedily snatching as much time with them as I could, building memories. One day my dad called and said he’d found an art piece for mom. “Not like yours,” he said wryly. […]
How a Company’s Raffle Prize Helped an Animal Shelter
On the weekend before the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show back in February I attended a pet writing conference in New York City, the day before I won the Merial Human-Animal Bond Award for my book, Bridging Species: Thoughts and Tales About Our Lives with Dogs. Yay! It was a fun weekend and I met […]
How We’ll Make the Economy Work Again
We’ll get the economy rolling again when we start taking it—and ourselves—seriously. That means we start saying ‘NO’ because we should have said that way back at some crazy point when buying things became convenient, and price and ethics didn’t matter. What is a fair price? What is a fair profit? How do we exchange […]
It’s Summertime: Lavender and Good Business Are Both In!
It’s been a strange summer in Seattle, in fact, two stranger summers in a row. Cooler than normal, and damp when it’s usually dry. But all’s well because the lavender is here! I use lavender for my business. I keep huge bunches of the grosso variety everywhere, clumped in vases, draped over towel racks, and […]
Hug Sale: Get Yours Now!
Yesterday I took the afternoon off to have some fun. I loaded up on tasty candy at my local food co-op and headed off to see Cowboys & Aliens with a new friend. Sure, Wall Street was acting up big time (again, and pointlessly, really, how should we handle a spoiled brat?), but I had […]
Yellowstone: It’s Why I Buy Canon USA
Sure, I love my Canon printers. Even the non-techies among us can use them, and if you can’t, they have excellent customer support. I should know: this summer the kind folks at Canon have had to help me install my printer drivers for two printers on three different occasions, as I dealt with computer issues. […]
The Camperdown Elm: What Are We Doing to Nature?
Copyright (c) 2011 by Danny L. McMillin I’m staring at a Camperdown Elm as I write this. I’m in my car, at Port Gamble, Washington. The dogs and I are going to see our vet (yes, we drive a minimum 5-1/2 hours to see the vet). Every time we do that, we stop at the […]
We’re Cat’s Eye Writer’s First Guest Writer
I was Cat’s Eye Writer’s first guest poster! Judy Dunn is Cat’s Eye Writer. Back in June she ran a contest looking for her first guest poster. I decided to join in the fun and won, even though Judy writes about blogging (and she’s an expert, so check her out). It was a great experience […]
Lending a Hand … or a Leash
I’m clumsy. I survive by assuming everybody else is, too. Despite the obvious (and frequently embarrassing) hazards, it’s a pretty good way to live. Really. Don’t take me wrong. Injuries, hurt feelings, creepy people and events: not into them. But I am into building community, and for me that can sometimes mean being clumsy. Lending […]