Private Sector Job Creation Under Obama

Just saying - if you want a job creator, elect a Democrat.   Facts are facts.

No Skyscrapers in DC

I agree often with Matthew Ig  but not on this!  Decidedly not on this -

America Needs Skyscrapers in the Capital

He forgets to compare the Washington Monument to the Eiffel Tower - both of which would be lost amid other high buildings.

No. No. No. No.

Just saying.

Swimming! Swimming! In My Swimming Pool!

I love swimming.  I have Lynn Sherr's book Swim: Why We Love the Water to a very dear friend, the actor Erik Todd Dellums.   I wrote about him on my blog last year after he was featured in the Washington Post.   Erik is a swimmer too.   We compare our swim routines and coaches.

Here is an article at The Daily Beast by Lynn Sherr Swimming to Health which discusses all the benefits of a swim routine.

I couldn't agree with this more -  the skin is our largest organ, so swimming is our most sensuous sport. Little wonder poet Paul Valéry described the sea as his lover: “In it, I am the man I want to be.”

Some other money quotes:

Movie star Esther Williams adds flatly, “Swimming is the only thing you can do from your first bath to your last without hurting yourself. When you’re in the water, you’re weightless and ageless.” No knees pounding the pavement. No joints slamming against a ball or a wall. Buoyancy protects the most vulnerable parts of our skeleton.

My swim coach is so young she had never even heard of Esther Williams!  I sent her this video last year.

And this I didn't know about Lord Byron:

For people with certain disabilities, swimming feels like a miracle. The poet George Gordon, better known as Lord Byron, was born with a club foot, a contracted Achilles tendon that gave him a pronounced and debilitating limp. In the water, he moved like an eel. 

She concludes her excerpt with this poem (I love this!)

Consider the poetry of Dr. Edward Baynard, from 1764:

Of exercises, swimming’s best,Strengthens the muscles and the chest,And all their fleshy parts confirms.Extends, and stretches legs and arms,And, with a nimble retro-spring,Contracts, and brings them back again.As ’tis the best, so ’tis the sumOf exercises all in one,And of all motions most compleat,Because ’tis vi’lent without heat.

I am a proud Pieces.   That's enough for me!

I Heart NY

Over the weekend I rewatched the Sex and the City episode, I Heart NY.

This video is another homage to my other favorite city

BBC History Magazine Posts Antique Maps

So cool!

Here.

Great Podcasts to Enjoy

Here's a list of top 10 podcasts.   I'm already fan of the top two - Bloggingheads.tv and Slate's Political Gabfest as well as the Economist's on this list.   I'm interested in checking out some of the others.

I also like BBC 4 In Our Time - which covers history, philosophy, culture, religion and science.

BBC History Magazine
"BBC History Magazine’s podcast comes out each month, featuring interviews with notable historians talking about topics ranging from crusading knights, Tudor swimming, or the D-Day landings."  It's so British.  And really cool.  

and Sounds True Insight's at the Edge Interviews with leading spiritual teachers and writers about their latest challenges—the "leading edge" of their work.  I always learn a lot and her questions are good.  


A friend told me the Monocle podcasts are also good.  Any one try them?

Love this British LOVE Magazine

I don't know what exactly this British magazine is for but I do know it's very cool!

check it out here - LOVE.

Shadow Stories

Who didn't do this as a kid?  Create puppet stories with the shadows of hands on the wall.

But this is just amazing.  I've never seen anything like it.

Fantastic Flying Books!

Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore.   Now available.  It's just AWESOME!

And it won the Academy Award for best animated short!

It's all about how books and stories can heal and be curative.   My life philosophy!

Enjoy this.  You are in for a treat.

Snow Circles

Wow!  so beautiful.  And really makes me miss cross country skiing in Vermont.

Snow Circles from Beauregard, Steamboat Aerials on Vimeo.

British Library Assembles Famous Love Letters

I just love the British Library (though I prefer the old one with the museum, with the old reading room).

Now they have collected famous love letters in this book Love Letters 2000 Years of Romance.

And The Daily Beast excerpts a good variety in this essay, 'Love Letters' Anthologizes 2,000 Years of Passion Put to Paper.   Love letters may be becoming extinct, but I still write them.  I love them.  

These excerpts are fascinating to read as a reminder that love, longing, pain, jealousy remains the same whether now or 2,000 years ago.  The human condition remains.

3 Year Old Recite Billy Collins Poetry

I learn about this on NPR - with this story, Love of Words Brings Child, Poet Together, which concludes with -

For the poet to affect a reader — well, that's the point. But for a reader to affect the poet, it took a small exceptional boy.

Indeed.

Here is the video of the astonishing child reciting our former US Poet Laureate.   It made me teary!  I love poetry and I love children!

You can follow along with the text of the poem from Poets.org here.

Best Political Ads Ever?

In the aftermath of the Clint Eastwood Superbowl ad, Roger Ailes, Joe Trippi, Mike Murphy and Pete Snyder pick the best political ads ever in this article in Ad Age.  

Of course the Daisy Ad is there.  The windsurfing of John Kerry.   And Will.I.am's Yes We Can.  

But not Willie Horton, which I find a big omission.  

Body in Ballet as Art

From Oprah----

OWN Original Shorts: Ballet

Take a moment to watch these dancers create fine art with their bodies. Enjoy!

Awakening Possibility

Boston Terrier in Obama Sweater!

We had three Boston Terriers while I was growing up - Ebenezer, Hester and Woody.    And this Boston Terrier is wearing the Obama dog sweater I sent to my dad for his dachshund Leopold to wear as he prances around on the Upper East Side of Manhattan.

Love this photo from the Obama campaign Flickr photo stream:

Books Come Alive at Night!

This reminds me of the Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore, which is the best iPad app ever as well as a short film.  

Enjoy!  It's just a delight.

The Trees of Buenos Aires

a slide show from my trip:

Beauty Blooming

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Oak Park Access Rd,Fort Lauderdale,United States

From There To Eternity

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Location:N Ocean Blvd,Fort Lauderdale,United States