Sunday, March 31, 2013

Henry Has A Most Excellent Window Safari Capture


Photo;Shandra Beri

Of course there is never really a bad window safari. I mean out is out. There could be dogs, beach aromas (which of course would mean THE BEACH...) around any corner could be any thing.You just have to stick your head out, let your tongue hang loose, keep your eye sharp and your nose in the air. Don't forget about always facing forward because god knows, you don't want to miss a thing. 

 Photo;Shandra Beri

When your drivers spot something that might be of particular interest to you (they're not always right...), they will slow and often stop- letting you out when appropriate to fully immerse in doggie pleasure.

                                                                      Photo;Shandra Beri

 Of course chasing a doe and her fawn (as exhilarating as that may be from your canid perspective...) is NEVER on the menu. But though the bipeds make the rules, they do not own your thoughts. You will dream tonight (legs galloping in your sleep) of running down that little fawn and dispatching it without mercy while it's mother cries in despair. While in REM, your lips will curl, you will growl, twitch and dream-bark (a softer, cuter version of your ear splitting, body cavity filling day bark) until you have fulfilled all your best animal instincts. You will then settle into a deep sleep under your own down comforter until morning upon which you will rise before I am fully awake, pretend you are no more ( or less!) than my 'widdle' baby and immediately demand your organic, raw, hand-made breakfast be served- which I will happily do, fully aware that you are actually my little doggie Dexter.
                    

The Ultimate Beaded Curtain

                Photo;Shandra Beri
Photo;Shandra Beri

I don't know you, but oh how I adore your aquatic up-cycling obsession!

 

Tesla's Wisdom

My Tree In The Morning Light


My Hands Are Bananas


The Montana children; they are my people.

Saturday, March 30, 2013

Glass Beach
















                                                                        All Photos;Shandra Beri

Я∃DЯUM

We were tired because we drove much farther than we should have and found ourselves in the pitch black middle of the redwoods with our gas gauge dwindling and one vintage neon MOTEL sign blinking. When we pulled in and walked into the office, the unsmiling guy behind the counter said almost immediately, 'Nobody stays here unless they have to.' The BF and I looked at each other and said, 'Thanks, we were just looking for something to eat.' and high-tailed it out of there. We figured if we ran out of gas and had to sleep in the car we'd at least have a chance of not being murdered.

Back in the relative safety of the car, after a few miles we laughed nervously and shared a sigh of relief when we saw a dome of light in the distance indicating a likely town. 

Was it our earlier brush with the Norman Bates doppelganger that made me think of The Shining as we made our way to our room? You be the judge.



All Photos; Shandra Beri



Friday, March 29, 2013

You Are Perfect...

                 Photo; Shandra Beri

...but you don't know it. Because everything is still new, there are so many bumps and pushes and scrapes that it's easy to get knocked off your pony and take it personal- but don't. The truth is, hardly anyone thinks that much about you at all unless you are directly in their field of vision. There aren't that many actual villains in real life, mostly just awkward (or to the other end of the scale- self absorbed) humans careening around absently knocking into each other with their own baskets full of  'issues'. Thinking about them too much (even after a metaphoric kidney punch...) is about as productive as sitting on the 405 at rush hour; fruitless. Sometimes it's good to hang low for a hot minute if you are too smart or funny or shiny as some people get mean and try to knock you down so they can keep their groove going (what ever that may be....), but again, nothing personal- just part of having to deal with the hominids. The important thing is remembering to shake it off and always go in for the next round.

Having said all of that, nothing really matters except the good stuff- and you will always know when that is happening.


It Began As A Fleeting Glimpse


 Photo;Shandra Beri


 Photo;Shandra Beri
 
It must be the rocks, or industrial run-off, or a figment of my imagination. Okay, you see it too? Let's find a place to stop and get a closer look.

Derp. Hoofing it definitely a better option than getting the miniscule car rental stuck in squishy mud in the middle of... really no idea where.

 Photo;Shandra Beri

The marine layer has wiped the sky white. This is no reflective phenomenon. Am I having a brain aneurism or am I at a spa having an incredible massage and that insufferable New Age music has finally floated me into some vivid and pleasurable dream state?

  Photo;Shandra Beri

A fake 'natural' water feature in Las Vegas?

 Photo;Shandra Beri

Uh, no. I think (can't be sure yet...) this is actual, true, 3D N A T U R E.

  Photo;Shandra Beri
 Photo;Shandra Beri

The color and clarity of this water is flooding my eyes with so much BEAUTY that I feel actual humanity beginning to course through nearly atrophied internal channels.

  Photo;Shandra Beri
  Photo;Shandra Beri

It. Is. REAL.


  Photo;Shandra Beri

It is truly this shade of blue.

  Photo;Shandra Beri

What is wild is now rare for most of us. What can smooth out our worries, so few and far between...

  Photo;Shandra Beri

See for yourself and imagine this transparent Tiffany Blue body of water pushing itself lusciously before you. Pure luxury, babies...

 Photo;Shandra Beri


 Photo;Shandra Beri

And last but not least, here is a perfect and lovely micro-succulent presenting itself as a bow on a nearby moss covered boulder.

Peace.

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Obama Signs 'Monsanto Protection Act' For Benefit Of GMO Industry

I TRY to look on the bright side. You know, vibrate on the higher levels and be one of those beautiful 'glass half full' souls, but christ-on-a-cracker, sometimes there is just no way to keep that grove going unless you stick your fingers in your ears, close your eyes and yell , 'LALALALALALALALA' at the top of your lungs.

Sorry to pass along sucky news, but I (unfortunately...) am one of those people who thinks we at least have to stay informed as we go to hell in a hand basket.

Thanks to Brett Wilkins for his excellent (and heart-breaking...) article.

P.S. I should be used to it by now, but it still hurts my feelings when Obama pulls moves for the Evil Overlords...




By Brett Wilkins


Washington - Hidden inside a short-term congressional resolution that averts a government shutdown is an alarming rider that protects genetically modified seeds from lawsuits in the event of potential health risks.
Last week, the House of Representatives voted 318-109 to accept the Senate's amendments to HR 933, the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act of 2013, a resolution that approves short-term funding of the federal government through the end of the fiscal year. President Barack Obama signed the measure on Tuesday, avoiding a government shutdown which would have occurred on March 27 when the current funding runs out. But tucked away inside HR 933 is section 735, officially known as the Farmer Assurance Provision, a biotech rider that critics have dubbed the 'Monsanto Protection Act.' According to the Austin Chronicle, the provision "essentially deregulates genetically modified organisms (GMOs) by allowing the US Department of Agriculture to override judicial rulings and grant temporary permits for conventional farmers to plant and grow genetically modified crops while pending review." The New York Daily News reports that the measure limits the ability of judges to stop corporations or farmers who purchase their genetically modified seeds from either growing or harvesting their crops even if courts find evidence of health risks from consuming them. Although the rider will only remain in effect for six months, critics claim that it sets a troubling precedent. "This dangerous provision... strips judges of their constitutional mandate to protect consumer and farmer rights and the environment, while opening up the floodgates for the planting of new untested genetically engineered crops, endangering farmers, citizens and the environment," the group Food Democracy Now!, which led efforts to strike the Farmer Assurance Provision from the Agricultural Appropriations bill, wrote on its website. Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO), who worked with Monsanto to draft the bill, defended the measure. "What it says is if you plant a crop that is legal to plant when you plant it, you get to harvest it," Blunt told Politico. But Sen. John Tester (D-MT), who opposes the measure, called the rider a form of corporate welfare. "These provisions are giveaways, pure and simple, and will be a boon worth millions of dollars to a handful of the biggest corporations in this country," Tester told Politico. Particularly alarming to opponents of the measure is the way in which it was anonymously introduced as the larger bill progressed through the Senate Appropriations Committee. RT reports that groups such as the Center For Food Safety are accusing lawmakers of making a "back room deal" with the biotech industry, accusations that appear credible considering Sen. Blunt's admission that he worked with Monsanto to write the legislation. The Washington Times links the passage of the 'Monsanto Protection Act' to vigorous lobbying by the biotech and agribusiness industry and to generous campaign donations made by corporations and political action committees (PACs) to members of Congress. According to MapLight, a nonpartisan research organization that reveals the influence of money on politics, PACs that support GMO crops have donated $7.5 million to current members of Congress since 2009, $372,000 to members of the Senate Appropriations Committee and $71,000 to Sen. Blunt, the second-highest amount received by any senator. Among the most prominent donors are: American Crystal Sugar, Monsanto, Syngenta Corp., Cargill, Archer Daniels Midland, Scotts Miracle-Gro, Minn-Dak Farmers Coop, Southern Minnesota Beet Sugar Coop, National Cotton Council and the American Farm Bureau. Monsanto and other corporations and lobby groups also spent more than $45 million in a successful effort to defeat Proposition 37, an initially popular California ballot initiative that would have required the labeling of many GMO foods. In 2009, President Obama appointed former Monsanto Vice President for Public Policy Michael R. Taylor as Deputy Commissioner for Foods at the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Agricultural Negotiator Trade Representative Islam Siddiqui, a pesticide-pushing executive from the powerful lobbying group CropLife, which according to Mother Jones advocated permitting pesticide testing on children, is a former Monsanto lobbyist. Lidia Watrud of the EPA and Roger Bleachy of the USDA are both also former Monsanto employees. And while Obama's pick to head the USDA, former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack, never worked for Monsanto, he is a staunch supporter of GMOs and cloning. The Organic Consumers Association called Vilsack a "shill for agribusiness biotech giants like Monsanto."




Sunday, March 24, 2013

Dear Z


I realized just today that the quality of a facet of my life has improved since you have met your son. You are happy and that happy makes me happy. It's like the buzzing of a little light in a big dark room.

I heart you.
And him.
(and by association and excellent behavior, the 'other' him as well...)


Your bff,
s.

Saturday, March 23, 2013

Dawn In Thousand Oaks

Photo; Shandra Beri
Photo; Shandra Beri
 Photo; Shandra Beri

 Photo; Shandra Beri
 Photo; Shandra Beri
 Photo; Shandra Beri
 Photo; Shandra Beri
 Photo; Shandra Beri

Photos: Shandra Beri