#love it when clouds come through and highlight individual trees on the mountain

[landwriter]

a ponderosa pine through binoculars

#outside the cabin #nature #woods #love it when clouds come through and highlight individual trees on the mountain #does take not seeing the forest for the trees to a new level #can't see the trees for trees honestly #they're simply too tall up close to be recognized by their canopies from afar #maybe i've been to this tree! maybe i haven't! #great example of spiral grain as well - the twisting of the branches #it's visible on the barkless stems as well & considered an adaptation in harsh environments - stronger against snow load #based on the crown and growth plates in this pic i would hazard it's >100 years old #pretty neat! that's a lot of storms and fires to survive #ponderosa pine i love you <3

[pondwriting]

On The Subject of Kenku

by Jarvis Ipan

5th of Olarune 1288 0900

I'm starting this journal to chronicle my latest research into the Kenku. This race of humanoid bipedal birds is the subject of many stereotypes almost all of which negative. I'll summarize my past studies here.

1. A strong desire to fly and for high places. Either due to evolution or (as stated by the common man) by an old god of the Kenku they have lost their ability to fly over the last 50 generations. Because of this the Kenku are most comfortable up high in towers or trees.

2. A love for shiny things. Most Kenku will "collect" any shiny bauble within reach. Mostly used for trade among themselves because of the next fact.

3. Complete lack of creativity and craft. Kenku do not have the ability to create or express themselves in anyway. All tools, food, clothes, and objects must come from trade or theft which unfortunately is very high among their race. Many Kenku become highwaymen in order to feed and clothe themselves. This lack of cognitive function doesn't stop at creating art and objects.

4. Inability to form words and sentences without external stimuli. Kenku are not able to form or create words. They communicate with a complex set of mimicry. Words are learned based on the individual experience of a Kenku. For example one may learn the word "Bird" from someone on the street and begin using that. Another Kenku may hear a bird chirping and will mimic the chirp to mean the same thing. Once I've witnessed a Kenku purchasing a sword from a blacksmith. He couldn't request a sword for he didn't have the word to express it but he was able to mimic the sound of a hammer hitting steel with shocking accuracy. The blacksmith was familiar with this particular tribe of Kenku and was able to continue the transaction.

5. Almost perfect memory and mimicry. Once a word or voice is learned the Kenku can perfectly mimic it. The accuracy of this impression can fool most ears. Words and sounds are rarely forgotten by the Kenku. Most can mimic sounds they learned as a hatching. While the Kenku cannot produce for themselves they can learn from others. They are very adept at taking orders and carrying out repetitive tasks. Let me offer this as an example. If you give a man a hoe and a field he'll instantly know that he can farm the land. A Kenku will never come to this conclusion. You must teach him the technique, the spacing of the plots, and to what depth to dig down into the earth. After this the Kenku will be able to perfectly mimic this action for the rest of his life. It has not been concluded as to if the Kenku know "why" it is doing this task. I hope to answer this question in my upcoming studies.

My goal for this experiment is to see if, given proper training and guidance, a Ken is able shrug off these stereotypes and create for his or her self. I've recently acquired a fertilized egg from one of the local groups in town. The Kenku mother seemed to have no problems parting with the egg and I was able to collect it for only a few gold coins. I'm sure to get some criticism and complaints for this action but I assure whoever reads this that I have only purest of intentions. I've grown fascinated with the culture of the Kenku and wish to assist them in finding a more meaningful existence. Currently I have the egg incubating under a create light spell. I can see some movement within so I believe the hatching will soon be with us. I'll be sure to update as soon as the first cracks in the shell emerge.

8th of Olarune 1288 1300

Egg dimensions

Weight: ~15 lbs.

Height: 20 in.

Diameter: 18 in.

The young hatchling is quite compacted in this shell. I can already see cracks running along the perimeter of the newborns cage. It seems we’ll have a new Kenku in the world any time now. 

8th of Olarune 1288 2235

After much work on the part of the young hatchling he has finally broken through. A young boy 1 foot and weighing only 12 lbs. A tad small for their race but healthy which is all an old wizard can ask for. I must admit I was a bit… discouraged when I finally met the poor creature. I cradled him in my arms to keep him warm. Once his eyes opened I peered in deep and saw… nothing. Any empty vessel of a being showing no signs of life or consciousness. He just glared straight ahead unblinking. I was tempted to stop the experiment there but staring into those black eyes I saw something else. A kind of spark from deep within. Maybe it was the dilatation of pupils or the deep unblinking glare he gave me but I could sense he was absorbing everything. My speech and breath. The room and objects. The crackle of the hearth nearby. This young boy was taking in and trying his hardest to understand this new world around him. 

I’ll try to stick with what parts of the Kenku culture I can. As such I won’t be bestowing a name on the young hatchling until he’s older. Kenku are unable to come up with names for their young. Most are given a name after their first birthday after they “learn” a skill or interest. Kenku will usually adopt a name from what others call them. I once meet a stonemason and his Kenku assistant Clang. Named so after the sound of chisel hitting stone. Once taught Clang could mold and fire bricks better than the stonemason himself. 

I must say having a young companion here has brought warmth to this old tower. It’s not quite so lonely up here anymore.

28th of Olarune 1288 1030

Not even a month has gone by and the boy has already started with his first steps. I’ve read about the advanced growth the Kenku exhibit but I couldn’t imagine it being this quick. Just yesterday the young squire attempted to imitate the high pitch squeal of my teapot. I think it may be time to start some training exercises. Some things are harder to adapt to. He’s taken up roosting in my beard during naps and I’m still not quite used to chewing up his worms for breakfast….

12th of Dravago 1288 1800

It has been just over three months after the birth of the young squire and he’s now fully mobile. He tends to stay on top of the bookshelves and other high places. Why I had quite a fright when I went I went to make my midday tea. I opened the upper pantry to fetch the teapot and out tumbled the young hatchling. He landed square on his feet and pranced off like nothing was off. I do say I almost saw the great library in the sky. This one is quite nimble and surefooted to be sure.

He seems to have the first developments of speech. I talk to him quite frequently and I think he’s started to mimic my more common phrases. Mostly “Get down from there!” and “Tea time!” The youngling adores his times outside. The weather has been agreeable so we sometimes take walks around the garden. He’s always trying to scurry up any tall object he can find in the yard. He seems to be able to adequately observe the things around him. As I’m writing this the young boy is admiring the shooting stars and when there’s a cool breeze coming down the mountains he waits. Letting the cool air wrap around him. I do enjoy his company and admire his curiosity.

 18th of Sypheros 1288 1300

    Studies have had mixed results with the young hatchling. He now has a word for every object in the kitchen but can’t seem to form sentences that express what he wants. I fear I’ll need to teach him every word in the dictionary and every common sentence. Mathematics may be the death of us both.

20th of Vult 1288 1215

    I say. This boy has gone completely mad. I left a ladder out while trying to reach a book from the upper shelf and the young squire seems to have claimed the rafters of the tower for his own. He refuses to come down and has stolen every shiny object that wasn’t nailed down. Of particular importance was my pocket watch. A family heirloom and dwarven made. I suppose I could move some more boards up there for the poor boy. It’s not his fault the desire to fly is so strong. I’ll be sure to move a bed roll up there for him.

8th of Olarune 1289 0900

    What a year it has been. I’ve gained countless pages of research and insight into the Kenku. I can’t express my joy for this wealth of knowledge. Training time has quickly become the highlight of the day for both of us. I tried teaching the boy the structure of grammar but he just doesn’t grasp it. It seems that spark of creativity inside all of us accounts for much more than we give it credit. I’ve gone back to having him mimic common phrases for the time being. Mathematics may be a lost cause. He can correctly answer any math problem I throw his way but only if he’s seen it before. 2+2=4 but 2+3 is a mystery to the poor boy. I’ll teach him what I can and hope that one day he can begin making connections.

    Art is also a struggle but from no fault of his own. I’m no artist myself so during painting time he draws the same stick man and shapes I’ve shown him. He’s started to decorate his space with these drawings as well. I was bringing him his morning tea when I noticed he had swiped the white paint and a brush. Stick men and stars littered the walls and ceiling of his nook. I let the boy have his fun and left the drawings alone. We sat in his loft and sipped tea when I brought up the fact that he didn’t have a name yet. He was partly leaning outside the window near his bed roll watching the clouds roll by. His black feathers rustling in the wind. When the wind would pick up he would mimic the sound of the breeze running through the trees. I’m not sure if that was him telling me something or if I was imaging it but that’s what stuck. He seemed to enjoy it and gave me a smile.

 I think Breeze is a fine name. Happy birthday Breeze. You brighten my every day. (A few lines mark out this last sentence)

24th of Barrakas 1293 1500

    Breeze’s vocabulary has grown to be quite robust. He can speak and write quite well. I think it’s time to move to more complex studies. I want to see how the boy does with magic and alchemy. My theory is with the advanced memory of the Kenku they would be quite adept at casting spells. Think of being able to cast any spell without first memorizing and preparing it first. A very powerful skill indeed.

1st of Zarantyr 1294 0930

    Magic may have been a mistake for the poor boy. He made quite a critical error when trying to cast lightning. I instructed him to change the spell slightly in order to increase and decrease the power. I never showed him how to do this. My hope was after all this training he may have picked up some kind of self-motivation. I pushed the boy too far. The affect was a very strong lightning strike right on himself. It’s not all lost though. Breeze did successfully increase the power of the spell with no direction from myself. He’s in his loft healing from the minor burns. Other than some scotched feathers he seems fine. Another… unexpected outcome from this is his voice. After the strike his voice seems to have been pitched up and he’s talking much faster than he used to. Before he was, more or less, using my voice as his own. He adopted my way of speaking for his own needs. I don’t see this new development as a negative though. I see it as taking on a voice of his own. He’s not talking through me anymore. He’s talking for himself as an individual. It’s also quite humorous listening to him recall his adventures outside in such an… enthusiastic tone.

For now I’m going to halt all attempts at magic. Without the proper magical safe guards a spell can go wrong in an instant. It would take years to teach him every scenario for a spell going wrong. I don’t want to take that chance again.

8th of Olarune 1294 0900

    Happy birthday Breeze. I think we’ll have your favorite meal tonight. Night crawler stew. You’re so large now you can barely fit in my lap. Of course that doesn’t stop you from trying to roost in my beard.

2nd of Barrakas 1294 1500

   You talk about your adventures in the garden often. I hang at your every word as you tell me how you slayed dandelions that looked like dragons. I always know the plots and endings because they’re from the bed time stories I tell you. I cherish them all none the less.

8th of Olarune 1295 1800

Happy birthday Breeze. You tell me more and more about leaving the tower and seeing the world. I have to say selfishly I wish you never leave. This time with you has been a blessing and I don’t with it to end. I dread the day you finally leave.

11th of Zarantyr 1297 1500

I fear my time left with you is growing short. You talk of exploring the world every day and I have nothing left to teach you. 9 long years we’ve been together. You haven’t reached maturity yet but I know come spring I won’t be able to keep you here. These walls are your cage. You must go out and explore. I just hope one day you’ll come back to visit your old wizard father. It’s the best job I’ve ever had and the best of my 104 years. I’ll remember them fondly.

8th of Olarune 1297 0900

    Happy birthday Breeze. When I came to bring you your morning tea I noticed you weren’t in your loft. I know you’ve gone to explore the world and have great adventures. I hope you find everything you ever wanted out there and ride the winds back to me one day. Since you’re not fully grown I was quite worried. I wish you had stayed just a couple more years but I saw your goodbye note. Two things I never taught you. Painted on the wall of your loft was a stick man with a large bushy beard and under that the three words I never had the courage to say…

I love you.

I’ll need to put this away before the ink smudges.

8th of Olarune 1297 0910

My pocket watch seems to have gone missing.

#d&d backstory #dnd backstory #dungeons and dragons #Breeze the Kenku #kenku

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Exclusive excerpt of Rudy Rucker's new novel: Million Mile Road Trip

Rudy Rucker's 23rd novel is out today! It's called Million Mile Road Trip. Rudy is one of my all-time favorite authors and he has kindly given me permission to run an excerpt here.

“Stratocast”

An Excerpt from Million Mile Road Trip

by Rudy Rucker

[email protected]

2,300 Words

April 22, 2019

==========

Villy’s brother Scud and the Szep alien Pinchley are in front seat of the highly modified car that they call the purple whale. Zoe and Villy are in back.

Villy’s two-thirds-size Flying Vee guitar is alive. Basically the instrument is a female alien. She stretches her neck so she can nuzzle Zoe’s black guitar, who is male. The instruments chime softly to each other. Villy thinks of them as a pair of race horses that he and Zoe are about to ride.

“Or magic broomsticks,” says Zoe inside Villy’s head. The guitars seem to be giving them telepathy.

Scud uses his powers to levitate the purple whale high into the air. Pinchley guns the engine—and nothing whatsoever happens. Oh, right, the gigundo tires are spinning in empty air.

“You’ll do that stratocast thing now?” says Scud. “Is that the word?”

Zoe stares into Villy’s eyes. She looks zonky and vamp. Like a goth rocker. They poise fingers on their frets. Each of them holds a triangle of seashell for a pick. Zoe nods her head once and: Zam deedle squee.

In her head, Zoe’s leading the way, sailing the sonic sea, and Villy’s close behind. The two of them do a virtual dance in music-space, orbiting each other like strands of DNA, growing a heaven-tree of sound. Sweet. Villy didn’t know Zoe could play guitar like this. But, um, the car’s still not moving. It’s just floating there.

Zoe breaks off, embarrassed, and begins tuning her guitar, or trying to, except that it doesn’t actually have tuning pegs. The car hangs in the air like a ripe fruit, very slowly drifting forward.

So now Villy and Zoe eat some of their curiously energizing caraway seeds, pretty much a whole teaspoon of them apiece, crunching the seeds with their back molars. Villy definitely feels a lift. He sees colored shapes from the corners of his eyes. Like virtual pastel caraways. When he turns his head, the quick bright crescents scoot out of sight. They’re hella shy.

“I see the colored things too,” says Zoe. “Smeel boomerangs. We’ll chase them with our notes. Stratocast a goblin march.”

“That’s not science,” says pedantic kid brother Scud.

“Shut your crack,” snaps Villy.

Zoe strikes a fresh chord. She goes for a bluesy beat, a cycling rhythm beneath jai-alai scribbles of smeely grace notes. Villy gets into it as well, gazing towards the horizon as he plays. In his peripheral vision the smeel crescents creep forward. They’re like frail, lace-winged insects edging the cones of his eyebeam headlights. He gooses them with pecks of his pick.

So, yaaar, Villy and Zoe are playing at a new level now, into the flow, elaborating riffs like logical syllogisms, and where the hell is Villy getting words like this.

The purple whale begins moving. Slow, then fast, borne upon the stratocast of sound. They rush across the Jell-O-salad expanse of the Harmony basin, swifter than a strafing jet. At the wheel, pilot Pinchley tweaks their path, trimming the flaps, sloping a route that crosses the basin’s far border much sooner than seems possible. Scud levitates for all he’s worth, barely making it above the ridge between Harmony and the next basin.

“Close shave,” goes Scud. “Those mountains came up fast.”

“Hundred thousand miles per,” gloats alien Pinchley, talking like a hillbilly the way he likes to do. “Make some noise, Zoe-Villy. This new basin is called Wristwatch, I do recall.”

Villy peers down, putting his guitar fingers into a reptile-brain ostinato mode. The Wristwatch basin is cogs and gears, a vast array of them, slowly turning, with levers and springy coils and, weirdly, big patches of honey here and there, clogging up the works. Ants in the soft honey, timekeeper ants. How can Villy be seeing such tiny details with them careening past so fast?

“Frog tongue eyebeam,” goes Zoe. She looks very cryp and glam, with glowons highlighting the outlines of her far-gone face. She’s playing Coptic seven-tone crescendos, accompanied by teep images of, like, jackal-headed gods marching into a pharaoh’s tomb, and semi-unwrapped mummy-girls shaking their booties beside the curly purling of the river Nile.

Villy harmonizes, making a sound like the argle-bargle of man-eating crocs. As he plays, he comes to understand what Zoe’s remark meant. That is, even though they’re topping a thousand miles a minute, it’s possible, what with their caraway-seed-enhanced mental powers, to shoot out an eyebeam quick as a frog’s bug-catching tongue, and to leave your eyebeam in place for a few secs, and thereby to vacuum up a mini video of what is/was happening there. Frog tongue eyebeam, yes.

Goofing on the Wristwatch basin, Villy notices independent little batches of cogs and worm-gears bustling around on their own, rooting at the planetary timepiece and prying off toothsome wheels to take unto themselves. For its part, the basin-wide master-clock is of course eating as many of the ticking freebooter assemblages as it can—sometimes trapping them in the ants’ honey-ponds.

Lots of time down there. And then the time’s up. They squeak over another ridge.

“Cuttle Scuttle Swamp,” intones Pinchley.

A flying cuttlefish thuds against the grill of the car, sending them into a wrenching 3D tumble. They’re in danger of blacking out from the centrifugal gees. Zoe bears down on her guitar and gets into feedback mode. The internal amp drives the strings that drive the amp that drives the strings—a jitter of skronks and wheenks. Dark energy on parade. Somehow the way-sick bleat sets their yawing vessel aright. Thank you, primordial chaos.

Scud in the front seat has become wary. Looking far ahead, he zaps the next incoming cuttlefish before it arrives. Not that the cuttlefish are attacking them, per se. They’re into some intramural scene of their own. A civil war?

Two populations of cuttlefish inhabit Cuttle Scuttle Swamp: red ones and green ones. The red ones fly, beating their skirt-fins, and the green ones disport themselves in the shallow, smeely waters. The air cuttles dive down at the water cuttles, and the water cuttles power themselves into the air like breaching manatees. When two cuttles collide, they tangle their tentacles and—are they biting each other?

“Making love,” says Zoe, and she segues her solo into a steamy, insinuating beat. “Gettin’ down. Like you and me, Villy.”

Villy crafts a squalid bass line to match Zoe’s mood. He’s never played this well. Basins flit past. For half an hour, he and Zoe are fully zoned into the stratocast. And then they happen to notice the landscape again.

“Gold Bug basin,” goes Pinchley. The dude has the whole sector mapped inside his head.

Shiny black beetles are excavating galleries and crafting lacy mounds. Beetles like the living cars of the Van Cott streets, but less citified. More tribal. Their antennae bear rows of sideways branches. The beetles fart explosive gas to help with their excavations. Ftoom. They’re digging for lumps of gold. A midnight-blue beetle displays a large nugget in triumphant mandibles. Villy’s focus twitches forward from the prize nugget to the next highlight—a crater filled with dome-backed beetles waving their fringed June-bug antennae and worshipping a golden beetle-god the size of a blimp. Glowons add to the graven idol’s luster.

The appreciative Villy and Zoe glide into a shimmering musical fantasia of lush flourishes. Scud torques the car up over the beetle basin’s onrushing ridge. Pinchley trims their onward course. The four travelers take a feral pleasure in their phantasmagoric speed. More basins and more.

“How do you know which direction to go?” Scud asks Pinchley.

“Thar she blows,” goes the Szep. “See the plume out yonder?”

Villy slits his eyes in order to do a mental zoom—and he’s able to see a downy upright feather on the far horizon, a thunderhead of clouds that must tower a thousand miles high.

“The cloud over Szep City,” says Pinchley. “That’s the one we call Sky Castle. You’ll go there later. But for now, here comes the li’l ole basin that we call Funky Broadway.”

Zoe chimes a downward arpeggio, and Villy stays in teepful sync. Funky Broadway is a world of living cities, blocky hives trundling across a fruited plain. The cities are inhabited by races of monkeys. Here and there pairs of cities batten onto each other. Their primate passengers clamber from one metropolis to the other. Ape-men brandish exquisite works of art in offer for trade—only to be taken prisoner by brutal lower orders who feed the unfortunate captives into meat-grinder gear-trains embedded in the lowest foundations of the towns.

Zoe plays the sounds of stabbing cries, and Villy styles moony evocations of wasted lives. A heart-searing duet. And that’s just a start. Zoe and Villy lose themselves in ever-richer stratocast harmonies, sailing across more basins and more.

“Paramecium Pond.”

It’s a five-thousand-mile puddle that is a luminous shade of yellow-green, vibrant with algae, shiny with microorgasmic tides. Paramecia, amoeba, volvoxes, rotifers—teeming, breeding, and consuming their fellows when they can.

“An octillion in all,” says science-boy Scud. There’s quite the teepy vibe inside the car by now, what with the living Harmon guitars, the saucer pearl, the kids’ mental acrobatics, and Pinchley’s off-kilter state.

As they fly above Paramecium Pond, Zoe and Villy spin a sludgy mat of notes—a recursive musical fugue. Right about now the microorganisms’ population count seems to be dropping at a logarithmic rate. The individual cells are eating each other and getting bigger—like rivals climbing up through the brackets of a tournament tree. A mere billion of them remain. A thousand. A hundred. And then—but one. A paramecium the size of a continent.

The slimy titan lolls in the planetary pond. A plutocrat in a bathtub. Suddenly the glowing waters slosh. Something’s wrong? A dark spot has appeared upon the tyrant’s ciliated pellicle hide. A raging infection, a rogue colony of his erstwhile lower companions. The master paramecium springs a leak and—pop—he’s back to square one. An octillion rivals in a planetary pool of goo.

Inspired by the scene, Zoe and Villy craft a bombastic rock anthem. More and more worlds strobe past.

Trumpeting the thousand names of the alien god Goob-goob, elephants carry smaller elephants to and fro, building elephantine mounds that stretch into the sky. Pinchley steers among the wobbly columns, and, where necessary, Scud zaps a grabby trunk.

Milk-spurting udders flop in high green grass. Towering flowers chide the udders in snobby British accents. Vines sprout floating cucumbers like miniature zeppelins. Tiny uniformed airmen gather on the taut hulls to dance hornpipe jigs.

Mermen and sirens loll beside a glassy black sea. Loch Ness monsters ply the inky waters, their heads like prows of Viking ships.

A sky full of barking dogs, with a suburban grid of doghouses below. Sinister rabbits slink from doghouse to doghouse eating puppies, quite heedless of the fruitful carrot patches in the doghouse yards.

Wee gnomes juggle bristly ogres in the air. Steaming cauldrons of porridge await. The ogres dwindle to raisins in the mush.

Flying jellyfish carry shrimp-people. The treacherous shrimps set the jellies to lashing each other with stinging strands. Beneath the fray, striped sea snails cheer and toss bouquets to the shrimp.

Hopeful pigs join snouts in pairs, disk to disk. They spin upwards like helicopters, shedding rashers of bacon that settle onto slippery, overcrowded streets.

Hippos in a basin of braided rivers that cascade from the cliffs along the basin’s edge. Flying bales of alfalfa appear. The hippos roar in joy, showing stubby peg-like teeth.

A herd of sinister eyeballs rolls across a plain, forever watching a commanding central figure who feeds upon attention.

All along they’ve been moving in parallel to Groon’s jet stream. If Villy squints his eyes, he can make out the steady flow of saucers within. The Szep City cloud called Sky Castle is no longer so impossibly far. Onward.

Zoe and Villy stratocast the purple whale across a watery basin rife with whirlpools that split and merge. Above the sea, tornadoes fill the misty air, as if mirroring the maelstroms below. Small, isolated thunderheads scud among the tornadoes, exchanging lightning bolts like phrases in a ceaseless conversation.

In the next basin, crystals sprout like hoarfrost ferns, then snap loose and tumble, transforming themselves like shards in a kaleidoscope. Arpeggios ring from the crystals, rising towards an elusive climax. Zoe’s and Villy’s rhythms push the swelling harmony over the edge. The crystals shatter into specks that spring into the sky.

And now comes a basin that’s entirely filled by a single, planet-sized human corpse. Pygmies and homunculi feast upon it, like fiddler crabs on a dead dolphin.

Gray light, a drizzle of steady rain. Fish walk on pairs of legs. Chickens in mortarboards declaim from ladders.

Crawling naked brains play cards and promenade in patterns. A supernal book of wisdom takes shape amid the brains. Living pairs of scissors dart forward and snip the book’s pages to confetti.

“One last basin before Szep City,” says Pinchley. “The Pit. It’s like a deep well with Groon at the bottom.” The dark Pit’s walls are vertical, like the vent of a volcano. The jet stream they’ve been tracking—it makes a turn here and dives into the Pit. A wailing drone sounds from the abyss.

Pinchley pumps his arms as if he’s dancing a jig. “Groon’s music,” he says. “He’s a giant bagpipe. Levitate your ass off, Scud. No way we want to be sucked to the bottom of the Pit or, worse than that, end up inside Groon’s sack.”

Naturally, life being the way it is, the purple whale ends up in a downward death spiral around a whirlwind that runs into the Pit. It’s like they’re moths around a flame, or kids around an ice cream stand, or hayseeds around a county fair burlesque show.

========

Get Million Mile Road Trip at www.rudyrucker.com/millionmileroadtrip

https://boingboing.net/2019/05/07/exclusive-excerpt-of-rudy-ruck.html

[listenbang]

TO THE KINDNESS OF GOD

It was with high expectation and emotion that I began my first listen-through of Michael Card’s latest record, To the Kindness of God…

I discovered the music of Michael Card when I was six years old. It was on my father’s CD rack, a compilation album called Joy in the Journey. I remember listening through that CD and being enchanted by the songs. It was the beginning of my adventure with this awestruck troubadour, encountering with him the wonders of God’s Word. Michael has a gift for songwriting: a unique way of weaving the truth and beauty of Scripture into a song. But Michael has given us more than individual songs. He has given us albums; a discography covering nearly the entire Bible, Old and New Testaments. Concept albums, in which the songs are able to tell a greater story collectively, than each could on its own. The beauty of a concept album is that it can approach the subject organically, from multiple angles, taking time to explore and develop an idea.

So why was this particular concept album such a big deal for me? Word has it that To the Kindness of God may be Michael Card’s last album. Listening through it felt like a goodbye of sorts. But if this is Michael’s last album, it definitely makes for a grand end to an era. There is grandness in its soft yet sweeping musical landscape, and in its lyrical theme, hesed: an untranslatable word denoting the inexpressible kindness of God. A theme that spans all of Scripture and in fact, all of history.

A word on hesed (kheh'·sed): it appears in the Hebrew Scriptures nearly 250 times, mostly in the Psalms. In English it’s often translated mercy or lovingkindness, yet these words fall short. King David, in Psalm 23, described hesed as a mercy that would follow him all the days of his life. A mercy that would never let go. Hesed is used in Psalm 136 in the recounting of Israel’s exodus. The phrase “His love endures forever” is chanted over and over again. The Christian Standard Bible translates hesed in that passage as faithful love. Elsewhere, I’ve also seen loyal love.

In To the Kindness of God, the listener is drawn, song by song, into the glorious story of hesed: how God’s matchless might has been revealed in his transformative, covenant love toward his broken creation. Can there be a more epic theme on which to write an album?

Come as You Are

Hymn to the Kindness of God

The Shelter of the Shadow

That Kind of Love

When Dinah Held My Hand / Jesus Is on the Mainline

Gomer’s Song

This Is My Father’s World

I Will Be Kind

Why Not Change the World

The album opens with ascending piano chords, and an invitation: “Come, come as you are, Broken and scarred…” There’s a quiet boldness in Michael’s voice. “…Surrender your fear, It is safe, there is comfort here.” The instrumentation embodies the call. The refrain gives the purpose in the call: “For the LORD is good, And his love is everlasting… Won’t you come?”

A simple message, yet deeply profound. This is what Michael has been approaching in his songwriting for all these years. Hesed is the heart of “El Shaddai.” The power behind the prayer, “Jesus Let Us Come to Know You.” The object of “Joy in the Journey.” This album is the culmination of decades of study in Scripture.

 * * *

 "Come as You Are" is followed by "Hymn to the Kindness of God." In this delicate piece, Michael seeks to express the inexpressible. Attribute after luminous attribute is named, filling out the nature of hesed. The nature of God. "Relentless tenderness, Hope of humankind."

There's a graceful wind and string arrangement (real instruments!) blending with voice and piano. It hearkens back to orchestration on early work such as The Final Word and The Beginning. Beautiful and, for me, nostalgic.

“Who you truly are, we hardly can believe; You know what we are, yet you refuse to leave.” Read the Scriptures and you will be confronted by a God whose goodness and love are so much purer than ours that he may seem, at times, too good to be true. Or maybe as Andrew Peterson says, “too good not to be true.”

* * *

“LORD, please show me your glory.” What a request! What was Moses thinking when he asked it? But there’s a desperation in his plea. To know God in a closer way, he disregards the danger. “The Shelter of the Shadow” recalls the history of hesed, starting before history: “From before the beginning Was a Word that was living…” Next is recounted the event portrayed in the book of Exodus; God revealing his glory to Moses on the mountain in the wilderness. A grand and soaring orchestral and chamber choir arrangement accompanies. Fitting for the events being portrayed…

“The LORD descended in the cloud and stood with Moses there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, ‘The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in hesed—steadfast love and faithfulness.’” (Exodus 34:5-6, ESV)

That shadowy cleft: what peril, and yet, what safety. For God’s glory was shown through his kindness. And that was just the beginning of God’s revelation…

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth… For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” (John 1:14, 16-17, ESV)

* * *

“That Kind of Love” is by singer-songwriter Pierce Pettis. It’s a beautiful song, musically and lyrically, and a natural fit among the other songs on the album. The lyrics are capturing. Michael’s voice is clear and bright.

“It can’t be kept unto itself, It spreads its joy, it casts its spell, Till no one’s safe this side of Hell—That kind of love." The last lines of the song brought the message close to home for me: “So how can anyone deny That kind of love, Knowing every heart is measured by That kind of love…”

“He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love hesed—mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8, ESV) “…O may we be remembered by That kind of love.”

* * *

Not often will Michael share a personal story in one of his songs, but “When Dinah Held My Hand” is quite personal. Listening to it, I felt like I was right there. It’s an important song because it addresses the issues of pain and evil. It does so looking through the lens of God’s kindness. The God who showed kindness to Moses and the people of Israel is still in the business of kindness. A banjo and a fiddle start out this simple story-in-song: “She was haloed ‘round in kindness, I was nervous and alone…”

Here, hesed takes on flesh and bone, and the kindness of God is seen on a common face. I’ve known people who shine that way. When with them, I felt safe. Ofttimes, the sweetest and kindest people are those who have gone through deep suffering. Instead of the hurt hardening them, by God’s grace, it makes them kinder, more able to comfort and help others who are hurting. Here we see the art of God’s providence: it will take what evil intends for a destructive end, and make something beautiful.

“She reached across three hundred years of suffering and pain, She reached across the great divide of the color of our skins; When she reached across that empty pew, then I understood, That all the hate that meant to harm, The Lord had used for good.”

At the close of the book of Genesis, Joseph says to his brothers, “You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good” (Genesis 50:20, ESV; emphasis added). What a comfort it is, that the Lord is working all things for the good of those who love him. Whether Joseph’s slavery, or the slavery of African Americans, no evil or injustice of man can thwart God’s good intentions.

“Life is made of moments we don’t always understand, Sometimes the meaning isn’t clear, there’s no specific plan; Each moment has been set in place before the world began, Like the time that Sunday morning, when Dinah held my hand.”

“Jesus Is on the Mainline” makes for a perfect outro to Michael’s story. Three instruments—a bluesy piano, a bass guitar and a tambourine — back up the vivacious singing of an African American choir! I love the diversity in the choirs featured in the album; international, like God’s hesed which reaches out to all mankind.

* * *

“Gomer’s Song” is from Michael’s Ancient Faith Trilogy, but it’s found a new and fitting home on this record. Gomer is graceless. Even her name sounds unattractive. But is this not the story of every Christian? Where would any of us be if not for the love that called us out of our shame and darkness? Hosea’s love for his unlovable wife is one of the clearest illustrations of God’s love for his rebellious people. Gomer’s story is my story. “Gomer’s Song” is my song.

* * *

“This Is My Father’s World” highlights yet another important facet of God’s hesed. Look around you. The trees, the animals, the blood in your veins—all creation tells of a sovereign, loving and faithful Father. “This is my Father’s world: He shines in all that’s fair; In the rustling grass I hear Him pass; He speaks to me everywhere.”

Those beautiful words are by Maltbie D. Babcock. Many who love this hymn have never heard of the hymn writer. Still fewer know of his tragic end by suicide. I don’t know what darkness brought Maltbie Babcock to take his life, but this I know: No dark demonic power can overshadow the covenant kindness God has for his children.

Michael introduces a couple small yet meaningful changes to this classic hymn text. I first heard Michael sing his version of “This Is My Father’s World” at a concert a few years ago. I was moved by the profound tenderness he had brought to the song. “This is my Father’s world, Why should my heart be sad? He is just and kind, he’s love defined, His grace all the hope that I have.”

This album arrived on the heels of a profound event in my life. In January of this year, my wife gave birth to our first child, a girl. Almost overnight, my understanding of God as Father—as my Father—was transformed. I now see how little I understood dependence, and how far I have to go to be broken of my pride and self-reliance. I see more clearly the pure joy it is to be a child of God, and to rest in his love. The other day we were going for a walk—my wife, our daughter and I. As I was looking up at the sky and the trees overhead, all at once, a thought entered my mind: “this is my Father’s world. My Father.” And it astounded me.

Again I must mention orchestration: the strings on this song are breathtakingly beautiful, like a towering cathedral forest of fir trees. I sense dedication and passion behind its arrangement.

 * * *

 “I can’t explain the mystery, Before I called, you answered me, And showed so great a love That set me free.”

As the album comes to a close, the mood becomes one of reflection. God has shown me kindness. Given his own precious Son, for me. What now? In the stillness, this kindness compels a response. “I Will Be Kind” is that response.

“So now I come and ask of you, To speak the word, to tell me true: In light of all you’ve done, what should I do?” The question is asked, and the response is given. It comes from Jesus’ sermon on the mount, and specifically his instruction to God’s children, on how they are to react to evil.

“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.” (Matthew 5:38-42, ESV)

My first reaction to Jesus’ words is to recoil. To give up all my rights, to basically let my enemy run all over me—it seems too much to ask. But this song, “I Will Be Kind,” has helped me better understand the heart behind Jesus’ words.

“I’ll forgive as I’ve been forgiven, I will love my enemies, I’ll be gracious to the ungrateful, That’s the grace you gave to me.”

Christ has set the example for loving my enemies, in loving me while I was his enemy. He loved the unlovable. He died for the unlovable. The greatest act of kindness. This is what it all comes down to. This is hesed. How can I not love as I've been loved? I must love my enemies.

To the proud and selfish heart, Jesus’ way is utterly abhorrent. But when that heart is broken by the love of Jesus, it gladly lays down all its rights. It becomes a conduit of his love. I will “turn the other cheek.” Jesus did first, and he did it for me.

“I gave my back to those who strike, and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard; I hid not my face from disgrace and spitting.” (Isaiah 50:6, ESV)

* * *

To the Kindness of God goes out with a paradox of a song. A light and cheerful melody carries these weighty words: “Why not change the world? Why not set it free? Why not let the change Begin with you and me?”

And so the album ends like it began: with an invitation. We’ve come full circle, and the one invited is now extending the invitation to those around him. A chord modulation, then a choir picks up where Michael left off—a Korean choir! Their voices are warm and so beautiful. “…Why not change the world, Why not make a start?”

* * *

To the Kindness of God is a joy to listen to; lyrically and musically, it’s insightful and refreshing. Just over 30 minutes, this album is short yet so rich in meaning. Truly, if not for the kindness of God, I do not know that I could bear to live. How I long to know it more!

“Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance? He does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in steadfast love. He will again have compassion on us; he will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea. You will show faithfulness to Jacob and steadfast love to Abraham, as you have sworn to our fathers from the days of old.” (Micah 7:18-20, ESV)

* * *

Michael Card's new record, To the Kindness of God, can be found here: http://store.michaelcard.com/preorderhesedcd.aspx 

And here’s where you can find Michael’s accompanying book, Inexpressible: Hesed and the Mystery of God's Lovingkindness (which I have now begun reading!): http://store.michaelcard.com/preorderhesedbook.aspx

And Michael, thank you. Here’s hoping for more music…

#christiany #hesed #bible #music #folk #orchestral

[trippinglynet]

Buring Man 2019 Art Preview | What We Are Most Excited to See

See our 2019 Burning Man State-of-the-art coverage for more information on the art coming to the playa. We rely upon artists submissions for most of our articles, so many projects are not covered. Burning Man has a list of all installation art here.

The day is almost upon us, and we’ve been watching the art shape up from early conceptual drawings, to pre-builds in warehouses and now to installations on the playa.

Here are some of the pieces we are most looking forward to seeing:

Chakra Cannon — Joshua Pipic — Oakland, CA

Josh has been making extremely cool art for a profit in his personal life; in our opinion some of the best commercially fund art in the world. (Check out a highlight reel here).

From Josh: “Chakra Cannon is interactive installation revolving around a large-scale "Light Cannon" powered by the human voice. The light source is a massive custom LED spot light with a liquid-cooled core. The cannon will generate a super bright beam of light that will blast upward into the sky when participants collaborate, making sounds into microphones to create a shared vibration. The installation encourages releasing one's individual chakra energy and using the sculpture as a conduit to channel the group's vibrations that will be visualized as a beam of light. This sculpture aims to communicate the true potential and beauty of our collective voice.”

The Wheels of Zoroaster Resurrection — Anton Viditz-Ward — Telluride

Welder, architect, artist, Anton Viditz-Ward works out of an abandoned mine several miles outside of Telluride Colorado, which is pretty bad ass. His work, often accompanied by a fire performance, is something we have loved in the past. He’s returning this year with a new take on a prior project and we’re thrilled to see how it shapes up.

Corpus — Michael Christian — Berkeley, CA

Michael first attended Burning Man in 1996. Since then he has created icon large scale sculpture on the playa. And this year he won’t talk to us. He won’t share a single bit of what he’s creating. He’s pretty much the only artist that doesn’t even respond to our messages. And we respect that. So based on past work, we are excited to see what he has in store for us this year.

Desert WAVE — Anthony Rowe and Squidsoup — Cheltenham, UK

Squidsoup has done a variation of the Wave several times now, and it’s cool. Sonic Runway won’t be back this year, but Desert WAVE may push some of the same buttons.

The Folly — Dave Keane and Folly Builders — San Francisco, CA

We love large scale art, and the Folly fits that bill. “The Folly is an old shanty village of towers, bridges and little western store fronts. Cobbled together from salvaged and reclaimed lumber from old San Francisco victorians and reborn in the desert, The Folly will afford shelter, entertainment and visual perspective to Black Rock City residents.”

I.L.Y. — Dan Mountain — Portola Valley, CA

I.L.Y.. is a 35 foot tall sculpture with many surprises hidden inside, from Burning Man alum Dan Mountain. Daily fire shows and a large pyrotechnics display one evening will cap off the installation,

Mariposita — Chris Carnabuci — Cold Spring, NY

Chris has previously created a smaller scale egg as part of the Fabergé Big Egg Hunt New York in 2014. He will bring a larger version of this concept to the playa in 2019.

Mariposita, or Little Butterfly, is a 26 foot tall sculpture depicting a female figure emerging from a newly hatched egg, grasping the edge of the shell and propelling herself forward. The piece represents transformation and rebirth.

Paraluna — Christopher Schardt — Oakland, CA

Paraluna is always one of our favorites, and it’s back this year. Haunting music, beautiful visuals and suspiciously cuddly people laying below it.

The Man’s Army — Michael Ciulla — Los Angeles, CA

The artists report that “The installation opens with 100 life-size human figures arranged in a 10x10 grid. The project draws the seed of its inspiration from the terracotta warriors of china. Each artisan put his face on a statue generating individualism in a sea of conformity. This inspires the first phase. At a distance, they all look the same but once among them you can see that they are individual. Each figure’s face is made with a scan of a person’s face or a combination of the scans of a group of people. This is achieved with point-cloud scanning and 3d printing. The body is constructed of sealed wax so that paint can be applied. The shape combines a point cloud scan of a man and a woman, creating an androgynous form.”

Phoenix Rising — Lisa Nigro and Draka Arts — San Antonio, TX

A wonderful artist brings large art and larger pyrotechnics to the playa in 2019. From Lisa:

Phoenix Rising is an interactive fire sculpture made of steel and repurposed materials. She will look much like the mythical bird - a hybrid between rooster and peacock - and contain a complex flame effects system, so that visually one will see and feel the heat of a giant Bird on FIRE! The interactive element involves the placement of a pulse sensor to one’s finger in order to detect the heartbeat. This sensor remotely triggers a signal to the sculpture’s fire effects system and causes the flames of the bird’s wings to pulse in unison with the beat of the participant’s heart. There will be two people at a time participating, and if at any one moment their hearts beat in unison, the large flame emanating from the bird’s mouth will be triggered to go off.

Serenity — Flaming Lotus Girls — San Francisco, CA

The Flaming Lotus Girls are among our favorite art collective, and they are back this year with Serenity. From the artists website: “SERENITY is an immersive sculpture made of metal, fire, light, and sound. A large broken jar supports three giant fireflies, featuring interactive fire and LED illumination at night. Around the jar pieces are smaller fireflies that glow with LED light in a coherent color pattern and add to the whimsical nature of the piece. Cozy wooden benches are nestled in the jar pieces, offering sheltered places to linger, while subtle sounds permeate the space, adding to the immersive experience, both at night and during the day. Interacting with these fireflies feels magical, it brings you a sense of warmth and belonging.”

O NOME DA ROSA – Solar ignition fire & mechanical energy generator — Nuno Paulino & Artelier? TNR Studios— Loures, Portugal

We’ve been watching this piece shape up for almost a year, and we like what we are seeing. These folks do fire well, and this project will be doing fire in grand style.

Fire Kethedral — Kevin Clark - Reared in Steel, Petaluma, CA

Kevin Clark brings big art to the playa, and 2019 will be no exception. From the Burning Man website:

The Fire Kethedral will resemble a cathedral organ as a colossal fire instrument – a shrine to fire. The structure will be fabricated from steel tubing and CNC cut sheet metal standing forty feet tall and fifty feet long. The Fire Kethedral will be an ornate and powerful instrument capable of choreographing fire as music through a full keyboard as an instrumentalist plays sitting on an ornately decorated piano bench. Pipes mounted into the structure will shoot fire up into the air coordinated with every keystroke. The Kethedral will be adorned with stained glass lighted by flame rail pilots creating a tabernacle of fire and light. LED lighting will amplify the visual effect of the fire and sound.

Niloticus — Peter Hazel — Reno, NV

Peter Hazel will return to the playa in 2019 with a 40 foot long mosaic crocodile. Prior work: 2017, 2015 His past work has been fantastic, and we are excited to see how this year’s project shapes up.

No Place Like Home — Trey Watkins, Mara Greenberg, Alan Becker and Frogma — San Francisco, CA

In prior years, the artistic team has brought fire to the playa in the form of kinetic sculpture. (see 2017, 2015, other work).

In 2019, they intend to expand their work with an installation featuring a farm house in poor repair, with a whimsical path leading to a fire feature.

The Shrine of Sympathetic Resonance — Tyson Ayers and Sympathetic Resonances — Oakland, CA

The Shrine of Sympathetic Resonance immerses participants in the phenomena of 20,000 musical strings sympathetically resonating the sounds they make while inside. The wonder & joy induced by this experience invites participants to play with their own sounds by singing, laughing, crying, or howling.

Electric Dandelions - Abram Santa Cruz

Electric Dandelions are three 23-27 ft tall dandelion sculptures that double as fireworks at night. They come with a sound reactive controller and are iPad controlled. Checkout the videos and pictures below.

The Head Maze - Matthew Schultz, The Pier Group - Sparks, NV

Head Maze is a 4 story mediating mind, resting on one hand and ripping its face off to reveal a crystalline stained glass being. Inside of the mind is an immaculate interactive 4 story, 18 room maze of our subconscious and dreams.

The Tree of Life — Tyler J. Rivenbark & The Institute for Human Creativity — San Francisco, CA

The Tree of Life Project is a long term art, innovation and environmentalism project with the objective to transform and improve our relationship with the natural world. The project includes the creation of a large scale interactive art and architecture piece, and the long term activation of programs that are focused on environmentalism. The 10-story art piece, reminds us of our deep connection with each other and all life on this planet, while inviting us to participate in opportunities of transformation and creative interactivity. This large-scale art installation will be showcased at Burning Man 2019, and placed in a permanent location after. We are grateful to have received an Honorarium from Burning Man Arts and thankful for all the volunteers helping with this vision. 

#Arts #Installation Art #Burning Man Art

[accuhunt]

My Search for Stories of Digital Empowerment Across India.

Under the grey clouds and golden light of the setting sun, I found myself amid the lush rice paddies of Kerala, listening to enchanting folk tunes by India’s first “bamboo orchestra”. The young men – radio jockeys, carpenters and farmers in their everyday life – came together to revive their lost music traditions and handcrafted their own bamboo instruments by learning from DIY videos on YouTube (Also read: Offbeat Kerala: 11 Travel Experience to Inspire the Artist in You). They’ve gone on to perform with their innovative instruments at national and international shows, laying the foundations of fusion music based on sustainability principles.

Time and again, I’ve met people on my travels across India, who’re leveraging the power of their smartphones and the internet to transform their way of life. Recently, in Himachal Pradesh, I hiked for a couple of hours to reach a remote village perched on a hill and was surprised to see two elderly women huddled over a smartphone, browsing a Facebook page, exploring new designs for the clothes they planned to weave! In Uttarakhand, I came across a passionate conservationist building a network of conscious locals through a WhatsApp group, to monitor forest fires.

Also read: Awe-Inspiring Homestays in the Uttarakhand Himalayas to Tune Out of Life and Tune Into the Mountains

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For 400 rupees a day, they carry stones, mix cement and literally build the extension of the majestic Ki Monastery in Spiti. When we see a grand site like Ki, we’re wowed by the monks who call it home. But the real “wow” happens behind the scenes – by guys who work their asses off for 400 rupees a day. . . Quite aptly, I met them when I wandered down a little path behind the monastery, where they live in tiny makeshift homes and were washing up at the public tap after a long day’s work. They were shy at first, as was I, but when we got talking, they told me that Spiti isn’t like their home in Jharkhand. It’s nothing, they said, barren, brown, no trees. Unlike our Jharkhand, they said, with greenery, fields and pure water. . . Two years ago, when they began visiting Spiti over the summer to help build the new extension of Ki Monastery, their mistry (contractor) told them he was the one who had built the original monastery! How old is he, I asked amused. 40 or 50 years, they said. Well my friends, the monastery was built in the 14th century, then almost rebuilt in the 19th century, I doubt your mistry was alive at either of those times . . At that moment, surprised and then amused, they looked at each other and laughed heartily at their innocence and how they were going to call out the mistry’s bragging – and I clicked this . . Shot on #iphone8plus . #theshootingstar #incredibleindia #storiesofindia #voicesofruralindia #portraitphotography

A post shared by Shivya Nath (@shivya) on Jun 2, 2018 at 8:38pm PDT

Technology is at the core of my own digital nomad life too. So I’m delighted to partner with Airtel – the telecom network that has kept me connected all these years – to bring you inspiring stories of digital empowerment from around the country!

A personal connection with Airtel

My digital nomad life.

Way back in 2007, I was at university in Singapore and travel blogging was nowhere on my radar. Airtel came to our campus to offer a lucrative internship, and the idea of working for a company set up by a visionary first-generation entrepreneur briefly drew me back to India. In retrospect, that experience exposed me to the many opportunities and challenges in the country, and paved the way for my eventual return to India, even as most of my friends settled into comfortable corporate lives in Singapore.

In 2011, I decided to quit my full-time job in Singapore and slowly began solo travelling across India. That was when Airtel became my network of choice. It offered far more widespread and reliable connectivity across India – especially the Himalayas – than any other operator, and empowered me to share many incredible encounters on the road.

Also read: What Solo Travel Has Taught Me About the World – and Myself

The changing world of rural India.

Now, in 2019, life has come full circle as I partner with Airtel 4G in my capacity as a travel blogger, to highlight positive stories of how technology and network connectivity are fueling business, passion and everyday life in India, especially in non-urban areas.

Also read: How Responsible Tourism Can Challenge Patriarchy in India

Digital empowerment stories in India

I’ll be travelling across India to find inspiring stories of people, especially women in rural India, who are using Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Google, WhatsApp, text messages and other phone tools to solve everyday challenges, find a market for their products or connect directly with the outside world. I’ll be documenting these stories on Instagram with #ConnectedbyAirtel and on this blog – and hopefully going a step further by asking you to support these individuals in creative ways.

Searching for digital empowerment stories across India.

Perhaps you’ve met an artist on your travels who recently learnt to use YouTube to innovate a traditional craft; perhaps a mother in a countryside village who is using google to help her children study; perhaps a rural family running their business through WhatsApp? I’d love to hear about these stories, find the people in them and document their lives – in the hope that the digital revolution in India will continue connecting people, bridging the urban-rural divide and creating new economic opportunities across the country.

Have you come across someone in non-urban India using technology in a positive, empowering away?

*Note: I wrote this post as part of my digital empowerment campaign with Airtel. Opinions on this blog, as you know, are always mine.

Join my adventures around the world on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

Order a copy of my bestselling book, The Shooting Star.

My Search for Stories of Digital Empowerment Across India. published first on https://airriflelab.tumblr.com

[thesweetblossoms]

The Palm Trees Pretending To Be Stars

🌴🌴🌴If you make someone else feel good you make yourself feel good as well. This is a very important lesson, I hope to share with my children. One of human natures intractable flaws is that unfortunately, we often feel better when we realize the misfortune of others. The premise of gratitude is thankfulness for what we have often in comparison to what others lack. Yet, at the same instance, it is a design of reality that no person has everything that could possibly be desired; one cannot find the unequivocal solace of home, while also intoxicated with the maddening delight of travel, or, it is generally rare to be both very young and financially successful, or both a cosmonaut as well as a Oscar winning musician, or to be able to sit comfortably in a commercial plane while also possessing model tall measurements. Thus while I try to separate the knowledge of my abundance and immense privileges from the fact that it is a standard measured at the misfortune of others, I find it easier to attempt to share the happinesses, charms or graces that have been bestowed to me by chance, hard-work or determination. It is a suspiciously easy act to smile and acknowledge another persons presence, offering a smile, a light comment, or even the pleasant companionship of silence. When we interact with people, creating a cloud of contentment, peace or comfort, may benefit the outcomes of the unfolding stories that occur past the encounter. The interaction might highlight positive emotions, hopes, ideas or goals. A conversation itself could be a form of therapy: soporific, analgesic and healing. The magical element, is sometimes, not knowing for sure, who is the healer and who is the wounded.

The Language of Sweet Alyssum

There is an art of reading the subtle, wordless, language of energy and movement, it is a nuanced dialect, with characteristics ranging in stillness, breath, gestures, gait, flow, habits and other physical exchanges with the natural world. I notice the quiet conversations of blossoms in the garden; the way the marigolds teeter over the edge of the balcony in a reckless drive to cavort with solar illumination, or how the gentle natured and fragile sweet alyssum stubbornly survives another year in its black widow fabric grow pot, whereas the more enthusiastic and vivacious Maria Callas roses fail to make another appearance in time, or how the soaring palm trees tightly wrapped in fairy lights during Christmas seem proud of being ornamented as such, briefly pretending to be stars, or how the dramatically swooning peace lilies leaves perk up immediately after a sip of water, or how my betta fish, Rufus, rudely turns his back on my fish flakes after I’ve left him for a few days.

The Bengal Tigers

My grandfather hunted tigers and now there are only 400 tiggers left in the Sundarbans. Often people in the moment are ridiculously unaware of the tremendous cost of their actions. Thus I remind my self that the future may audit the choice I make, the work I accomplish, the policies I encourage, the ideas I disseminate and the reality I manipulate. We must savor the last Bengal tigers roaming our earth, and bow our heads in shame at the fallacy of mankind. Yet, we mustn’t repeat the mistakes of our ancestors and attempt to preserve the diverse, magnificent and awe inspiring creatures that share our earth during our time.

Lilies At The Office

There were oriental lilies in the office, a few weeks ago. Somebody has placed the burgeoning, scarlet tipped, freckled lilies in the break room, as if they were a plate of cookie or the breakfast bagels one of the senior attorneys brings in for the firm. Though we couldn’t nibble on these, or use them as an excuse to take a break from our billing to snack, chat and commiserate, they deepened the brief reprieves from our matters, allowing us to realize that there is another language beyond words, analysis and writing, of the enthralling loveliness inherent in the delicate and ethereal botanical parallel, outside our freezing, artificially lit offices. Being in the company of flowers is a healing balm, we should uncompromising rise up from our desks to encounter the unfolding, whispering and mesmerizing petals. No matter our professions, we conspire with other sentient beings, especially those who unfailingly provide, solace, understanding, graciousness, peace and allows us to travel past gossamer veiled realms as we match our breaths to theirs.

Memoirs

To recognize the significance of an events occurrence, as its happening, is harder to do without the necessary element of time. Yet by reading other individuals experiences in memoirs or diaries we may recognize common foibles, or seemingly random yet actually repeated patterns, or gain insights into human behavior that provide the benefit of hindsight in the present. Thus, I reliably reach for a memoir when I have a chance to read, whether it is about itinerant and exhausting travels in Africa, or tiny rooftop gardens in the city, or of artistic minds, surmounting the walls that attempt to obscure true discovery and expression.

Magical Notes

The world of magic offers us a window to escape the unrelenting mundanity of being, it is a space devoted to fancies, madness, whimsy, charm, imaginations and emotions. On some fraught, heavy, dark hours, I cast spells to heal my troubled heart, as often, at the peak of distress, the natural and mysterious magical realms offer solace. A random spell, joined with prayer, meditation, yoga, or bathing in the moonlight, eases sadness, with its potent, mesmerizing, entrancing, distracting and ephemeral power.

My magical arsenal includes the common, simple yet exquisite. I rarely need to fetch anything esoteric or scarce, the ingredients, often comprising of elements that linger in nature, that poetically, magnetically, intrinsically and tangibly find themselves near me, dwelling upon pallet wood coffee tables , or on French café wood bed side tables, or on much scratched and paint splattered blond wood stools, upon surfaces that, the objects I find, or those that find me, are laid to rest in my environment.

I use candles for fire, to represent light, the stars.

I pick up bird feathers to swirl the air, and to manifest lightness, the ability to float, or to escape.

I light Palo Santo wood smoke to perfume, twist and turn reality and to change its course.

I use my tears to add a life force to my incantations.

I use garden blossoms, generally fragrant white blossoms, such as rose petals, jasmine, orange blossoms, tuberose or magnolia to extract the inexplicable ability to love, inherent in all sentient creatures.

I use seashells to pummel depths, to symbolism earthly forms, to fuse the power of the seas and the moon.

I use silver, copper, gold, cotton, ceramics, pink salt to fasten the earth.

I do not like to use blood, unless I am already cut and in dire need of a healing spell.

The Art of Writing

Darling readers, when feeling intense emotions, sad, happy, peaceful, distressed, or even angry, use the energy within you to work with the twenty six letters of your instrument, use the time to craft music, using the black and white keyboard to compose your symphony. For what we share, in written form, leaves clues about out our time to the future and the future responds in kind.

Often, when I write I have a inkling that I must conceal my secrets, that I mustn’t disclose my tricks, or show my hand, yet, I immediately realize how futile it is to hide any discovery, idea, method, theory or thought, for writing it down, is the surest way to receive more ideas, or to come up with more solutions, for writing is a channel for understanding our consciousness, the universe and reality. I am certain, that thinking only accelerates the pace of new, innovative and good ideas. When we decide to share our knowledge, to display our wisdom or to generously dissipate answers, we enhance our ability to divine these, providing a fertile terrain for them to germinate in our mind, percolate through our hearts, before blossoming on paper, or, staining the electronic tablet, typed, by our open hands.

Forget Me Not Blue

The reality unfolding before us would be heavenly, if every new sentence we wrote were more beautiful than the previous, and if every new moment were more breathtaking than the past, where, our pains would follow a reverse correlation and our tears would be outnumbered by our joys. This morning at work, around 7 am, I stole away to our attorneys outdoor seating area, bordered with oleanders, lantana, pink grasses and bougainvillea to witness the painfully gorgeous and emotionally rendered desert winter sunrise, I saw the particular drama of the rising sun, over inky, low mountains and merry clusters of date palms and palos verdes trees, finding it, a far more symphonic revelation; distinct, brilliant and enthralling in its own lighter, early morning way than the haunting, night beckoning and

cathartic sunsets. Against a faintly lit forget me not blue background, high, debutante clouds of feathery pink, shy peach, anklet silver, English mist gray, divorcee lavender and edged with absconding navy borders, lingered, the vivaciously, tantalizingly, exuberantly and expectantly, bejeweled clouds, organic, attenuating forms, seemingly saluting a never to be repeated, sui generis day. Later, returning home early, due to an elementary school early release, exhausted and stripped of vitality, I took a nap, only to wake up with that strange, melancholy, despairing, teary mood that befalls, in the half way space following, a brief, yet deep sleep that begins in the afternoon and commences when it is already dark. To rid myself of the blanketing and despondent stupor, I ventured into the petite desert balcony garden. I bent to inhale the bewitching, creamy, dramatic, poetic and ecstatic perfume of graceful, elegant and pristine tuberose blossoms adorning a single, perfect, slender stalk, with graduating layers of open, double buds tapering to a pointed crown of tightly wound unopened flowers. As I let the molecules of its hypnotic fragrance drift up my nose, I practiced slow, measured, drawn out yoga breathes to hold in its essence within me, heavily flowing to the olfactory centers of my brain, but further into the unexplained corners of my heart. The redolent petals enthralled and eased my troubled emotions, cleansing my palate of stinging doubts and showering me with an otherworldly perspective that lifted beyond the trifling blocks of self, mind and consciousness.

The Last Day

If today were my last day of earth, I would likely spend it in nature, by the sea, collecting seashells, learning about different varieties for mushrooms, messaging old friends, jumping, skipping and cavorting in the lacey, foamy, infinite, unconcerned waves, or I would rise early in the morning, to gaze longingly at the constellations, floating like idle, silver dust in the ceaseless universe, I would try to paint the tantalizing, balmy flowers that grow in my garden, the cosmos, Mexican sunflowers, roses, sweet alyssum, chrysanthemums and black eyed Susan’s. It would begin with coffee but I would also add a rich, arsenic green tinted pistachio muffin, I would listen to Bach, dance to Bruce Springsteen hits slowly, the ones saturated with the simmering pain and woven cast of despair that annotates many of our experiences, such as, “Hungry Heart” or “I’m on fire”, I would reread indelible stanzas of poetry such as “The Highwayman” by Lord Tennyson, I would take a hike to collect wildflower and to ponder more fungi, poppies and lichen, I would go to a bookstore and read satisfying and pleasurable books on gardening, design or consciousness, I would perform yoga by candlelight and meditate in a room with an awakening tuberose blossom perfume, languorously imbibing the sunlight, in a calm, pale blue apothecary vase, to bloom quietly and ravenously at dusk. But, if it were truly my last day on earth, I would venture to my garden, clear spaces on my soil, pick up leaf debris, use my husbands pliers to clip the old wood of the dead honeysuckle branches, that I couldn’t bear to discard before, I’d rake the squid ink particles of loam, clay, sand and manure to aerate the earthly womb, I would take a bamboo stake and annotate the surface inches less then our own final material resting places, meditatively scatter hummingbird and butterfly seed mixes, use my English garden trowel to obscure the inanimate, latent particles, trail a cloud of blush pink pebbled plant food, before decanting water into the vessels for masses of flowers in the future, for a bouquet.

Subtle Errors

Imagine if once in a while there are mishaps in the force of gravity or glitches in the speed of light, would our dreams become reality and our reality fade further into our reveries? Would the candle flame separate and set off musical, fragile, mini fireworks in our room, or the piano play it self in a delicate frenzy, or would the botanicals in the painting animate and release their perfume, or the lines of the book float into the space for us to read and grab and insert into our own program, maybe the world would be shaken upside down and we would walk on clouds and and the meadows would be our sky, or for once, we would be able to see with our brains as well as our heart.

Albino Peacocks

I have been uninspired lately, unable to conjure even minimal ideas to discuss further on the page. Perhaps it’s the excessive work hours combined with family obligations that’s led to burnout, or that the crucial point where I finally stop frittering my time surfing the web and social media is increasingly more difficult to surmount. Yet while I know that I must write, to think more carefully about my world, to mine the mysteries of reality, to help me understand myself, to further my entanglements with words, to heal those times of anxiety, restlessness or mundanity, to enrich the moment by creating sentences or to send messages into the future, I unfortunately push aside this calming activity, by being blatantly lazy or finding innumerable excuses to not sit down and write. But, upon further consideration, I realize that every day invariably carries inimitable charms, that the hours often contain transformative moments, brief recesses, simple joys or half hours of peace to linger, contemplate and partake in those activities that improve the living experience upon this tiny azure droplet in space and time.

These happinesses sometimes consist of daily observations in my garden, noting optimistic orange calendula blossoms from seeds I forgot I planted, while imagining also designing, a Saturday morning bouquet of calendula, Mexican sunflowers, orange African marigolds, debutante pink cosmos and summer cloud white roses in an old strawberry jam jar, or, they include eating a dark chocolate gift from my husband, with raw walnuts, while sipping Tetleys Orange Pekoe tea that I brought back from Toronto, savoring the muted, honeyed tones of the tea liquor, in the gentle filaments offered by ivory pillar candles, while reading the compelling and disarming narrative of “The Tigers Wife” by Tea Obrecht, or cooking barely seasoned wild caught salmon with pink salt, pepper and shallot oil, accompanied with a provocative watermelon, feta and basil salad, or taking walks around a mountain, palm, mesquite tree bordered desert lake feature with a few attorneys during a brief adjournment from our practice, or discovering that African Shea butter is a graceful and luxurious way to temper the ravages of dry Arizona winter air, or being thrilled by the mesmerizing images of albino peacocks against an emerald green meadow, or imagining owning a small plot of land to grow a field of marigolds, sweet peas and dahlias, or waking early to go to work before sunrise when the new moons faint light is subordinated by the intoxicating vista and performance of stars, or returning early from work on a Friday to witness a preternaturally gorgeous sunset with drifts of lavender nimbus clouds, pink lit and beribboned with silver charms.

Pearls & Black Ribbons

For my trip to Bangladesh at the end of the year, I intend to be very minimal in my approach and to convey a sense of style in thoughtful, considered pieces, including a few evocative and striking dresses, skinny jeans, white cotton blouses and dresses, ballet slippers, open toed gold and nude sandals and nude wedges, delicate, dainty and shimmering jewelry including tiny diamonds, pearl, emerald, opal and amethyst studs, pearl and emerald pendants and elegant pearl and brass bracelets. By premeditating a few dedicated hairstyles, including double Dutch brains, singular French braids, messy buns, high black ribboned ponytails and half up bouffant styles, and eschewing to a shimmering, glowy, blushed, smudged eyeliner and bright lipped face, clean and classic ballet slippers, lavender, peach and alpine snow white toned manicures and pedicures, plus coconut oiled skin, Ill have rescued some thought space to how to spend my hours, anticipating, meeting the people who positively intensify the experience of visiting a place, selecting riveting books to read, strategizing on value creating projects, and manifesting new connections while nestled in a beguiling, history soaked and distinct corner of the globe.

Never Stop Dancing

Meeting friends and sharing old memories, catching up, contemplating our current adventure, and deliberating upon future plans is one the happiest palliatives of any season. I recently hung out with an old friend visiting town who is a mesmerizing, talented, intense, inordinately gifted and emotionally captivating dancer. She noted that she loved Arizona as she felt closer to the earth, felt the palpitating and alluring vibrational pull of the desert, and that she enjoyed encountering the Native Americans who originally dwelled upon this terrain. As we discussed our love of creating, whether gardening, writing poetry or dancing, she said that we must unfailingly set our work into the universe, even if merely one person reads our words, or watches our dance performances. I believe that when we create we feel better about our selves; sharing what has given us solace, or eased our anxiety or made us forget our woes, might also help another, in form or in content. 🦋

#design #healing #lifestyle #love #gypsy #style #bohemian #flowers #perfume #wellness

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The Ultimate Guide To test brand

Ecuador is the next smallest place in South The usa, with Colombia to its north and Peru towards the south. The Galapagos Islands, which lie a little bit about 600 miles to the west during the Pacific Ocean, are a Component of Ecuador. The place enjoys moderate, tropical local weather within the coastal locations and the lowlands of your Amazon, and cooler temperatures during the Andean highlands. With all the equator passing appropriate through it, Ecuador would not working experience temperature fluctuations or incredibly chilly climate. That's why, the ideal time to go to can be nicely, at any time! All you need to know is that you need to be properly Geared up with the rains or perhaps the significant heat on the Sunshine. Are you aware that Ecuador is without doubt one of the megadiverse countries of the planet, due to its astounding ecological diversity? Being a vacationer, the region will enthrall you with its mix of unique plant and animal existence. By using a loaded cultural heritage, Ecuador has ample issues in retailer to satisfy your cultural thirst. And for The journey freaks out there, the nation delivers loads of prospects for an adrenaline rush. Quito The funds and the next-most populated city in Ecuador, Quito was declared as being a Globe Heritage Site by UNESCO for its well-preserved architectural web sites courting again on the Spanish colonial period. Nestled in the Andean valley, Quito is simultaneously a city with a quaint attraction, in addition to a present day, bustling metropolis with high-rises and crowded streets. Quito is quite perfectly-noted for its church buildings. Pay a visit to the Basilica del Voto nike bot partial Nacional, certainly one of the largest church buildings on this planet! The other immensely well-known churches are Church of La Compania de Jesus, the Metropolitan Cathedral, Church of El Sagrario, as well as the Church of Santo Domingo. Into the north of the town lies the Mitad del Mundo, which means Middle of the entire world. The monument There's built to denote The purpose over which the equator passes via Ecuador. The put is brimming with vacationers who uncover it thrilling to really stroll in both of those hemispheres simultaneously! It is usually the very best location to invest in lovely souvenirs and flavor some nearby Ecuadorian fare. Quito is likewise home to various parks, Using the Parque Metropolitano Guanguiltagua acquiring the distinction of currently being the biggest public park in South America. Parque la Carolina, El Ejido, and La Alameda are some other parks you'll be able to take a look at, not just for character viewing, but routines such as boating, picnics, and biking. Correct mother nature fans really should make their solution to the Mindo, which is residence to a cloud forest and constantly protected with mist, and teems with a wonderful range of crops and trees endemic to the position. The Pichincha province, where Quito lies, also boasts with the Rucu and Guagua volcanoes. The Pulalahua Geobotanical Reserve also features a crater which travelers can watch since it is easily available by highway. This region, interestingly ample, Regardless of becoming close to a volcano, continues to be inhabited by individuals. Quito also features a lively nightlife, so for those who need to check out stylish pubs, clubs, and cafes, head to La Mariscal Sucre, a colourful place extremely popular with Global holidaymakers. It is additionally fondly referred to as gringolandia by the locals, the phrase gringo which means foreigner. You will certainly not would like to skip the aerial tram ride TeleferiQo, which will take you from the city Heart to Cruz Loma, a hill just exterior Quito, where by you could find numerous places to eat and procuring retailers, and which also provides a breathtaking perspective of the town from best. Have a journey up north for the compact town of Otavalo, famed with customers, where the indigenous people in the town manufacture and provide colorful conventional clothes, musical devices, jewelry, local spices, and picket statues. Guayaquil The country's premier city, which lies around the financial institutions from the Guayas river, is witnessing a gradual shift, quickly emerging as being the number 1 Intercontinental vacationer destination in South The usa. Guayaquil is the commercial capital of Ecuador, and to witness town's transformation from a small town to a world tourist scorching spot, it's essential to take a look at the Malecon 2000, a river boardwalk, and the ideal location to see both of those the historic landmarks and fashionable higher rises of Guayaquil. You normally takes a leisurely stroll and dine within the eateries lining the pathways. Parque Seminario is a large park in town, the exciting feature staying it can be dwelling to many iguanas, so you are allowed to feed them fruit slices that happen to be marketed by nearby sellers. A statue of Simon Bolivar on horseback is additionally a outstanding landmark during the park. If you're an artwork lover, you should have a journey to Las Penas, the creative hub of Guayaquil. There are plenty of art galleries. When you are interested in purchasing (who is just not?) head towards the Bahia, Mercado Artesanal, and Urdesa localities, and try to remember, these are generally destinations in which you can haggle! A climb to your Cerro Santa Ana will go away you weary, but the journey is worth it. There are in excess of 400 stairs (which might be numbered!) foremost up on the watchtower from wherever you can find some gorgeous sights of the city underneath. Vividly coloured residences and cafes line either side of your measures, so be sure you prevent at one of the eateries to appreciate genuine Ecuadorian Delicacies. There isn't any dearth of botanical reserves in Ecuador, and you also are sure to stumble upon various of them, whichever Section of the place that you are in. So head into the Cerro Blanco Guarded Forest, situated over the outskirts of Guayaquil, which hosts more than three hundred plant species and five hundred animal species! Banos This one particular is definitely to the adrenaline junkie! Extremely preferred with international vacationers, persons from everywhere in the environment appear right here to take pleasure in outdoor routines. People today confer with Banos given that the gateway into the Amazon forests, as well as the town is positioned at the base with the Tungurahua volcano. You could wish to rent a mountain bicycle and take a hike during the mountains, or hire an ATV and roam round the position. Banos is heaven for those having a sweet tooth, since it is environment-renowned with the taffy it produces, recognized locally as melcocha. Llanganates Countrywide Park, A different haven for admirers of wildlife, is found close to Banos. A pay a visit to to your San Martin Zoological Gardens provides you with an insight within the wildlife located in the Amazonian jungles, and it is a Middle for nursing injured animals again to health and fitness. These gardens also offer you safety to endangered Amazonian species of wildlife. Look through the small retailers lining the streets for silver jewelry and local handicrafts. A short length from Banos is Puyo, plus the roads main you'll find dotted with amazing waterfalls, not to be missed by travellers. Do not forget to experience along the Ruta de las Cascadas (Highway on the Waterfalls), and Pailon del Diablo. Cable autos (regionally referred to as tarabitas) are operational around the hills resulting in the waterfalls. You usually takes a trip in them to see the amazing check out of the cascades operating below. The other highlight with the town could be the hydrothermal springs, Along with the drinking water getting heated naturally via the volcano. These are identified through the entire town, and folks flock to them to appreciate thermal baths. Galapagos Islands And eventually, we arrive at the earth-renowned Galapagos Islands, exactly where Charles Darwin designed his observations, main him to think of the revolutionary concept of evolution. Teeming with many species of flora and fauna, a trip to Ecuador is incomplete with no checking out the Galapagos Islands. San Cristobal, the second of the biggest inhabited island, homes the Frigate Chook Hill, the most beneficial put to observe frigate birds in all their glory. The street downhill will lead you to Las Tijeretas Bay in which you can love snorkeling! Playa Cabo de Horno, another place on San Cristobal island is actually a haven for surfers. With some Excellent breakers, you will certainly Have got a intellect-blowing surfing experience. For that scuba diving fanatics, Kicker Rock is definitely the spot! Notable for its scenic attractiveness, this rock reminds one among a sleeping lion suitable in the course of the ocean, and divers from all over the environment come below to dive. Check out the Charles Darwin Exploration Station to the Santa Cruz island, named following the islands' most popular customer. Experts Here i will discuss associated with conserving the biological variety of the world, especially in the treatment and breeding of huge tortoises. Tourists also delight in browsing the lava tubes, underground tunnels made by molten lava movement. Wildlife explorers can appreciate seeing animals in their purely natural habitats, like equally land and marine iguanas, Galapagos tortoises, Galapagos penguins, Galapagos environmentally friendly turtles, endemic species of Darwin's finches, as well as the Galapagos sea lions, which can be extremely curious. Punta Cormorant, over the Floreana island, is bestowed with two vastly different beach locations. A person is actually a dim, sandy Seashore, that is definitely scattered with olivine crystals, remnants of a volcanic eruption. The second 1 is a virginal golden sand colored Seaside with crystal apparent h2o, and also the encompassing hills carved outside of black volcanic rock are a stunning distinction along with a delight to view. The area is perfect for recognizing reef sharks, stingrays, shiny pink sally lightfoot crabs, and various colourful fish. Ecuador, a relatively tiny country has a little something in keep for all types of vacationers, whether It truly is the warm and inviting Pacific coasts, the Amazonian rainforests, or even the Andean highlands, never to forget about the splendid Galapagos Islands. So pack your bags and be with your way, for the reason that a magical and actually unforgettable holiday getaway knowledge awaits you in Ecuador.