Thursday, February 23, 2017

We all need a brain re-set right about now

You’ve had enough of the constant news. I know. I’m right there with you. Everything seems to be bad and getting worse. You’re sad and angry and deep down you’re even sort of scared. You’ve just read that the American dream is a myth and that certain lesser-known nations are threatening to arm wrestle anyone who comes near with their new nuclear muscles. You feel like whimpering in the corner and sucking on the ends of your sweater sleeves.

You know how every once in a while you have to shut down your phone and let all the applications and whathaveyous go back to reset? You might even need to do a total factory reset. It happens.

Sometimes, you need to do that with your brain. A walk in the woods might be the answer, or hunkering down with a good novel, or my favorite - kayaking on a gentle and beautiful and quiet stream.

But there is another way to reset your mind that won’t even take you away from your computer. Move your cursor over to a sleek, smart website called Atlas Obscura and hang out there for a little while. You'll learn things, interesting things. You'll smile, even laugh maybe. Or cry. You might cry. But what you won't do is think about the news.

Today, here on "I Like It," I am recommending a website of alternate and interesting facts about our world, our universe and the people who live here with us. It’s not one of those ad-heavy sites which appeal to our lower natures with stories about "celebrity plastic surgery mishaps" or “best clothing malfunctions.” No. Atlas Obscura is a serious place and a marvelous place, a place where you can lose yourself in strange little known facts as you click from one link to the next. And soon you’re lost and the real world out there is forgotten.

Do you know why people in the early 2000s starting painting the interiors of their homes beige, beige, and nothing but beige? Read about it here.

Maybe it’s because I’m a mystery writer but I have long been intrigued by Philadelphia’s Mütter Museum which is described as "America's most famous museum of medical oddities, and home to the remains of Einstein's Brain.”

The pictures at that site are worth the price of admission. But, it's more than pictures. You'll also learn about the strange and convoluted history behind the museum, and why it’s even there. It's still on my bucket list to visit, and now even more so.

I would maintain that Atlas Obscura, itself is like its own Mütter Museum

Do you like ghost towns? The site abounds with pictures and stories.

How about ghosts themselves? Again, take your pick.

How about a house made entirely of bottles? Put that in the Atlas Obscura search engine an you'll come up with a long list. Seems lots of people are building out of bottles these days.

Here’s one I visited back when we lived in western Canada See - I’m not the only one who can come up with alternative facts and interesting places to visit. And that's what the site gets you doing, thinking about all the creative people and oddities in the world, and the fun places that you have traveled to.

So, despite all the bad news, I can report that there are still dreamers and inventors, creators and poets. There are joys and oddities and fascinating histories. Animals? Looking for something other than your standard zoo animals? How about the practically impossible-to-kill microscopic 'water bears' Yes. There is such a thing. The photos alone are worth the trip to the site. 


Ever wonder why actors in old time movies seem to talk so differently than we do? Well, this is also explained is here, too. It offers quite a fascinating look into what we thought was important and upscale back then. 


Oh, and did you know that the Mall of America is looking for a Writer in residence? Ah, there’s a job I could apply for. Hmmm. 

Our world is indeed a wonderful place, full of nature and wonderments and good people who invent and create all sorts of machines and poetry and books and libraries and scientists and animals. Head on over to Atlas Obscura for a mind feast.

NEXT TIME  - Five Quarters of the Orange by Joanne Harris of Chocolat fame.

Sunday, February 19, 2017

...And Peace to his people on earth.

Glory to God in the Highest...

My husband and I have been attending an Episcopalian/Anglican Church while we’re down here in Florida. And with that, learning an entire new and very beautiful liturgy. It took me three Sundays to figure out in which part of the Book of Common Prayer, the following hymn is located. I just figured everyone had this beautiful anthem memorized. Today, we were a little bit early to church, so I had a lovely chance to sit down and look through the Book of Common Prayer as well as the hymnal. And lo and behold, it was right there. 

I’m sharing it here today as my SUNDAY SONG because in song, it explains the entire Christian faith. Click here to hear it sung by a choir, and then follow along with the lyrics below.


Glory to God in the highest 

And peace to His people on earth

Lord God, Heavenly King, Almighty God and Father

We worship You

We give You thanks

We praise You for Your glory


Lord Jesus Christ, only Son of the Father

Lord God, Lamb of God

You take away the sins of the world


Lord, have mercy on us

You are seated at the right hand of the Father

Receive our prayer


For You alone are the Holy One

For You alone are the Lord

For You alone are the Most High



Jesus Christ

With the Holy Spirit

In the glory of God the Father

Thursday, February 9, 2017

In Times Like These - Make Art

And in a recent Facebook post Canadian singer/songwriter Steve Bell encouraged his Facebook Followers to do just that. 

It is in times of uncertainty that artists should write songs, sing them, paint pictures, create stories, weave cloth, make pots and rugs and poems and gardens and loaves of bread. Show them that there is grace in the world. Show them that injustice can be overcome by beauty and creativity.

This week, long overdue in my roster of media to endorse, I am recommending Where The Good Way Lies, Steve Bell’s newest CD. His music has had an impact on my own spiritual journey (and if you are a follower of this blog, you know I am on a profound one.). I am an unashamed and self-proclaimed Steve Bell “groupie.” (I even have the t-shirt to prove it!)

My husband and I saw Steve Bell in concert for the first time some years ago at a Baptist Convention in the maritimes. There was something so simple, so plain, so true about him and his songs. At a time when I was hungering for authentic Christians, His honestly and realness spoke to me right away. He is also an amazing musician!

After his evening concert at that same convention, my husband and I bought every single one of his CDs from the table out back. (Well, how could we not? They were all on sale!)

As a writer, I am constantly striving to be authentic, to be real, to tell it like it is, as they say. And yet, there are voices urging me to do otherwise. Your stories should be about how people should act, not how they really do act. That makes no sense to me. That’s why I find Bell’s music and concerts so refreshing.

I’m not your typical music reviewer and this won’t be a typical music review. I don’t focus on the technical aspects of a recording. I can’t tell you who played bass and who was on vocals and why Choice A for backup vocals was better than Choice B. What I do, and what my blog above says I do, is share how the music moved me along on my journey. That’s what I share.

Here are a some of the songs from Where the Good Way Lies which I could listen to over and over. (And I do.)

One of my favorites is a simple song, the second to the last track - O Love Come to Us - something we need. Have a quick Youtube listen here:

Another is A Better Resurrection. I think we have all prayed:

My life is like a faded leaf. O Jesus Quicken Me.

Wait Alone in the Stillness could be torn right out of the headlines. To indeed prove that the more things change, the more they remain the same. The lyrics are straight from Psalm 62:

The enemies of love in vain rehearse
A plot to undermine the hope of nations
With tongues they bless
But with their hearts they curse
And lie in wait to bait love’s termination


The title track is an interesting one and fuses old with new, ancient music from First Nations, and modern hip hop. I know. I know. But give it a listen. It works, proving that no matter the skin we are in, or when we were born, we are all pretty much the same..

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention his instrumental Freedom Road. A century ago the Shoal Lake indigenous peoples near where he lives in Manitoba, were left isolated when the city of Winnipeg constructed a water pipe, which left the Shoal Lake people with no clean water of their own. They needed a road. They were shut out, cut off from the rest of Canada, and under a boil water order for eighteen years.

I have a friend who calls Bell, “Canada’s Bono”, and he worked hard to urge the government to finally build this long awaited road.

Here's a news article explaining it all.

Bell has taken his own advice to make music during perilous times. And not, he adds, to be tempted by ‘celebrity’ but just to make art for its own sake.

And maybe that’s what we’re all supposed to do.


This just in! Where the Good Way Lies is up for a Juno Award nomination! This is a big deal in Canada! Congratulations Steve!

Next time: Something completely different, I will be recommend the fun and interesting website/media outlet - Atlas Obscura 

Sunday, February 5, 2017

A Reminder of Who We Are as Christians



Today I have chosen as my Sunday Song, the hymn, Today We Are All Called to Be. And today, this day, this Sunday, we need the words of this hymn more than ever. I need to be reminded of my calling as a Christian - to feed the hungry, rescue the poor, make farming tools out of spent ammunition, give welcome homes to the refugee and the immigrant, and care for the land.


Click on this link.
And then follow along with the words:

Today we are all called to be
Disciples of the Lord,
To help to set the captives free,
Make plow-shares out of swords
,
To feed the hungry, quench their thirst,
Make love and peace our fast,
To serve the poor and homeless first,
Our ease and comfort last.


God made the world and at its birth
Ordained our human race
To live as stewards of the earth,
Responding to God's grace.
But we are vain and sadly proud,
We sow not peace but strife,
Our discord spreads a deadly cloud
That threatens all of life.

Pray justice may come rolling down
As in a mighty stream,
With righteousness in field and town
To cleanse us and redeem.
For God is longing to restore
An earth where conflicts cease,
A world that was created for
A harmony of peace.

May we in service to our God

Act out the living word,
And walk the road the saints have trod
Till all have seen and heard.
As stewards of the earth may we
Give thanks in one accord
To God who calls us all to be disciples of the Lord.