Whole Grains

http://www.care2.com/greenliving/7-whole-grains-to-add-to-your-diet.html?&page=8

This was a nice article about whole grains. I've always been a rice enthusiast, and added a lot of barley to my diet lately, and had heard of a lot of these grains, but this article got me excited to try adding a few more to my diet. It also has some good, solid guidelines on how to prepare them, which I think will prove useful.

Sounds Tasty

http://www.care2.com/greenliving/curried-potato-soup-recipe.html

A bit of a departure for me, but this just sounded like it would taste good.

How to Use Up Food

http://www.care2.com/greenliving/50-ways-to-never-waste-food-again.html

I kind of knew many of the things this article talked about, but it did have some new ideas, as well as links to how to do some of the things I knew about, but didn't know how to do. Since I often have food spoil on me, it's good to have some ideas how to avoid that in the future.

Interesting...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091016/ap_on_sc/us_med_tasting_fizz_2

So there's finally a reason why I like fizzy drinks. I'm surprised somebody bothered to investigate it, but I find it interesting, nonetheless.

"Amusing Article"

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33425617/ns/technology_and_science-games//from/ET

My wife sent me this story today, after spending last night running around Fable II. It was an amusing article, and we have had some success in a similar way, playing video games together to spend time together. It doesn't always work out that way, but it was nice to hear someone else talking about it... and it was fairly amusing to read.

Crows

http://www.utne.com/Environment/As-the-Crows-Fly-Urban-Nature.aspx

This was an inspirint article about the presence of crows in an urban environment, and on nature in urban areas in general. These are ideas I've had for some time, but it's nice to hear someone else talking about them.

Releasing Self-Image

http://www.care2.com/greenliving/stop-defending-your-self-image.html

I read these Deepak Chopra articles now and again. Sometimes, they appeal to me, sometimes they don't. This one did. It was timely, in that I've been plagued with anxiety and self-image issues lately, so I felt it might be worth sharing. It wasn't anything I didn't already know, but it was a good reminder, and fairly eloquent.

Political Morality

http://www.utne.com/Politics/Liberals-Arent-Un-American-Conservatives-Arent-Ignorant.aspx?utm_content=10.1.09+Politics&utm_campaign=Politics&utm_source=iPost&utm_medium=email

This was a very interesting, well-balanced look at how both liberal and conservative political tendencies are influenced by moral reasoning. It provided surprising insights into understanding the other side (whichever side you are on), and was rather hopeful about dissolving some barriers in that regard. It's definitely worth reading if you are at all interested in those things. It is fairly long, but definitely of interest.

Animal Wisdom

http://www.care2.com/greenliving/the-wisdom-of-whales.html

I just enjoyed this article. It seemed like it would be kind of sappy from the title, but it was nice and understated. It was just what I needed today, too.

I think we all knew this...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20090713/sc_livescience/catsdocontrolhumansstudyfinds

This is an article on how cats control the behavior of humans. I found it kind of interesting, even though my cats don't use this behavior... at least not to get fed. Just an interesting tidbit.

Dancing Saints

http://www.utne.com/Spirituality-Forget-Marching-The-New-Saints-Are-Dancing-in.aspx?utm_source=iPost&utm_medium=email

I was drawn to this article because my brother is an iconographer. This is not at all like something he would paint. It's similar in style, but very different. It takes a number of people that the artist thought were good role models (some of whom are role models for pagans, even... like Margaret Mead and Black Elk), and paints them in an iconographic style, complete with halos. They are not all recognized saints, which could cause some issues for some, and neither do they all share the same religion. This painting is in an Episcopal church, and it's not the first time I've heard of Episcopal churches causing controversy. It's a bit out there, and even out there for me, but I find it refreshing, and humorous at the same time. The humor is mostly in the images, which are oddly juxtaposed images of people from different eras. Very post-modern... which is not what you'd expect from icons at all. An interesting conversation piece, if nothing else.

Psychedelic

http://www.bohemian.com/bohemian/01.21.09/cover-highschool-0903.html

So, I've never taken acid, but I have had very vivid imaginings. This is a story about a teacher in an alternative school who had a student slip him some acid on a field trip. It sounds like a pretty bad time, but it is either very well written, or my imagination is incredible (or both). Just reading this story made my brain do all kinds of things, and it was kind of hard to come back from it (particularly having read it at work). It's pretty interesting, and can really change your outlook, if you let it.

Ancestry

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Hopkins_(politician)

This is just an article about a signer of the Declaration of Independence. My grandmother tells me that our family is descended from him. My grandmother is very old, and it may not be true, but at the same time, I finally feel good about it, having read about him. I'm not sure why it took so long, because I was told this a long time ago. He actually did some pretty good things. I looked it up because some friends at work had visited the National Archives and saw the documents, but were commenting on their slave ownership, and I was curious about my own ancestor. I'm glad I was, because it made me feel a good bit better. It's actually something to be proud of.

Makes Sense

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28540927/from/ET/

This was kind of a cool story. It's about the acoustics of ancient Stonehenge. It says it created echoes at the tempo that induces trances. It totally makes sense, if you consider that it would be a ritual site (which I can't really imagine it not being). It could be a happy accident, but somehow I don't think so. There were so many other seemingly planned things about Stonehenge that I think they probably intended this one, as well.