Looking for a new design.....

.....any recommendations?

I just received word that I'm losing my free template, but I guess it's been awhile and this blog needs a new outfit. Does anyone know a good blog designer?

Please hang in there with me as I try on some new threads.....

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Here it is - The Story of Solutions

I'm a week late with this, but here it is - Annie Leonard's 9 minute follow up to The Story of Stuff

The Story of Solutions

What I really like about Annie Leonard is that instead of pointing a finger at factories or governments, she's helping us take a closer look at our daily choices. It's not really about Walmart bags......

What changes have you made recently? Do you reuse things that make people think you are weird?  I remember being told I needed to buy some Tupperware when I was eating lunch out of a "repurposed" cottage cheese container.... That was ten years ago - does that make me a hipster? Reusing containers before it was cool???????

What happens when IBBUGGIN' tries to slay dragons....

waiting for the wrecker

Poor lil' IB came home on the back of a wrecker yesterday. Fortunately for me, I did too. 

 Sadly, as I was leaving campus last night, my car stalled. When I tried to restart it, it just kept cranking, but as I noticed the accelerator was stuck to the floor someone walked up and said, "Hey, your car is smoking - it's on fire!" So sad to stand there and watch my fun little car burn. A couple guys got fire extinguishers and put it out and the firetrucks came and cleaned up all the fuel it had leaked.

some days the dragon wins....

 Such a bummer.............

    

A sneak peak at the Story of Solutions....

Full 8 minute movie coming Oct 1st!!



Join Annie's community HERE or copy/paste this URL:   http://act.storyofstuff.org/page/s/growing-solutions

What do you know about "stuff"?

     One thing's for sure in Bozeman, people embrace sustainability. That's a big word for not adding or taking from the earth, just borrowing what's replaceable. Or another way to describe it is nurturing plants because they give us oxygen, or living off the grid, or solar energy panels to heat water.  So often lately I see more and more projects being tested out. People drive around in a corn oil powered bus and d eliver vegetables from their garden. Or bike a load of compost somewhere. Even this week, I had to giggle when suddenly a guy dropped out of a tree by the road with an armload of apples. I even see the students at school picking crab apples. 
     So, what motivates them? What would make you climb a tree to get a apple by the road you are biking on rather than drive your car to the store, put one in a plastic bag, and have that bag put into a shopping bag for you to take back to your car?? It's movies like this one. I've been wanting to share it for awhile. In October there will be another one called The Story of Solutions.  It's such a relief to know we can think about solutions and not just the problem.

Will you think of this video next time you are shopping?

BritLit - Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly

   

 Although not British, this one is still part of our BritLit trip. For me - this one caused a reading revolution! Revolution is actually written by an American author about the French Revolution - get ready for fireworks!
     Jennifer Donnelly has captured the essence of the struggles of the "citizen" of the French Revolution and intertwined it with a modern angsty-teenage musical prodigy from Brooklyn to the point that two characters become one soul. Andi and Alex (Alexandrine), two strong-willed teenage girls whose hearts ache for a young child whose lives they wish to save meet through Alex's 200 year-old journal. Andi becomes obsessed with Alex's personal account of the revolution and how it affected the innocent. Both Andi and Alex find that they must complete a monumental task to mark the importance of just one life.

     The thing about reading Revolution is that Jennifer Donnelly makes you feel like you are there. You don't just read the scenes. You smell the stinking city of Paris - devoid of all sanitation and personal hygiene, you feel the hunger that the citizens endured and the fear, pain and anger they endured trying to bring "Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity" to France. Through Andi, you journey through Alex's journal and relate to her quest to let little Louis-Charles know she still cares, that he is not forgotten.  
     Revolution is not just about the past, but about the present revolution going on inside Andi and Alex. Both girls are struggling to know their inner-selves. What do they stand for? What are their lives really about? Andi continually struggles with finding her self-worth and teeters on the brink of suicide. Several times I felt genuine fear for Andi. Would she do it? Would she take that "one step" and give herself the punishment she thinks she deserves? And Alex - she's so mixed up trying to do what everyone demands of her, will she find the strength to do what she needs to? Will she be true to her own heart - even if she's killed for it?

   

Notre-Dame

No other book has gripped my heart like this one. Sure, books have made me emotional - why else would I read them? But this one, these characters, have grabbed my heart. I claim Andi and Alex for my own - my literary sisters and BFF's. I want to ride mopeds in Paris with Andi and watch Alex perform at the Palais-Royale at night when she's only performing for herself, without an audience. I want to be there for them when they reach rock-bottom and tell them to hang on just one more day. When we asked Jennifer on Skype which character was her favorite, she said it was like being asked which one of her children she loved more. I agree, they cannot be weighed against each other -without Alex, there wouldn't be an Andi and without Andi, we wouldn't know what Alex wanted us to know!

Revolutionary Paintings-J.David

The beautiful streets of Par-ee!

 The triple-bonus of Revolution is that you are taken all over Paris - up, under, across in both centuries. If you want to know what it's like there, this one will take you there. I stood in all the same places as Alex and Andi, visited the Eiffel Tower, stood at the door to the catacombs, watched a horse-drawn carriage as I ate at an outdoor cafe, ate baguettes with meat and cheese, rode the Metro with crowds of people and pick-pockets, climbed the steps to Sacre Coeur, and walked behind the chapel to watched the artists paint in Montmatre.

The Catacombes

Walked through the gates of Versailles

Sacre Coer

     

225+ steps

The sunset at the Sacre Coure

     A first for me, I read this book in three formats - started with the digital download, but it expired, so I switched to the audio version which was killer! Alex and Andi were read by two different readers and Alex was read with a strong French accent! Then I re-read it in print. So protective of how I use my limited, precious reading time, until this one, I've never re-read a book in the same season. 

Rather than a 5-star rating, I give Revolution 

This one's for the Green Man!

Fireworks!!!

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Brit-Lit: Out to the coast of France

He took all eight of his kids here and was so engrossed
in painting before the light faded, he was knocked
over by a wave and lost his art for the day!

   

 There's more to France.....













      Not to say that Paris is lacking, but there's even more to France than the city. After getting a taste for interacting with the people in remote areas like Vernon and Giverny, we were  excited to check out the coast. We visited Etretat where Monet painted The Manneporte 

Monet's manneporte

    We dove into some great children's books Monet Paints a Day and Linnea in Monet's Garden. One thing about children's books is they do a good job of explaining the obvious that, in our typical rush to snap that picture, may to take the time to think about.

  
 









 Mont. St. Michel
 













         .....   And Mont. St Michel - the monastery on the beach.This place is so huge, you have to look at the tiny dot of black at the bottom to compare it to people. It was cold and windy there. I don't know how the monks live there with no real heat.  This landmark dates back so far in France's history that it's on the Bayeaux Tapestry showing William the Duke of Normandy defeating King Harold.   While we were there, they were building the boardwalks for the Tour de France that was just about to start.

 Of course there's always a gift shop and the bottom of the island is a town wrapping around the monastery. Crepes and trinkets everywhere!  

     In relation to this place, we read A Time of Miracles by Anne-Laure Bondoux about a refugee suffering from civil war in the Republic of Georgia. His guardian always told him that his real mother lived at Mont. St. Michel. It just added to the mystic feeling of refuge - especially in the garden at the top of the monastery.






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Paris at last!!

     Paris!! It was even more amazing than I expected it to be. The lifestyle is more relaxed - even the landscaping runs wild without borders. On the first day, we had a bus tour and saw all the standards - The Arc du Triumph (whoa - no traffic laws there!), Notre Dame, and of course the Eiffel Tower. It is HUGE! In this picture, I am standing on a raised marble platform about a city block away. 
     We also saw things from high up like above-ground graveyards  and crossed the tunnel where sadly, Princess Diana's accident happened. My favorite things in the city were the street side vendors selling used books out of these little huts. Oh I wanted to buy some alright, but I can't read in French! I already had way too many books in my backpack by that point, too.

 

Most people know this one...

 My favorite museum was the Musee d'Orsay - all the works from the Impressionist Era are in there. You walk into a room and BOOM! There it is jumping off the wall - Van Gough's Starry Night. Not the Starry Night on all the laptop covers you see, but another version of it. All by itself. Worthy of an entire wall.

The other Starry Night
(the real one, not my postcard!)

      This piece is hypnotic. The bright yellows contrasting with the black and blues and then those stars....You can see the reflection of light off the thick paint strokes. This one proved the case that seeing a painting in person is a much richer experience than looking at a digital copy. Since no pictures were allowed, I painted my own rough image on a postcard - it made me look more closely at the original and how he makes your eye go around the entire painting.

Another dream realized - biking in France

     

Next, out to the country. We rode a train out to Vernon for a biking tour to Monet's garden in Giverny. The countryside is so beautiful, it reminds me of Napa Valley in California.

meat, cheese, cider

This is how you have lunch in the country. You go to the bakery, the meat shop, and the cheese shop and spread it all out at the park and relax for an hour or so.... No 30 min lunch-breaks!

     This was an incredible experience - painting Monet's garden. He built this garden just so he could paint it and obsessed over the light and water lillies. Over and over he painted it. You can see his final product at Musee de l'Orangerie and take in a larger than life 360 panorama of the lillies.
      Instead of taking pictures the whole time, I used water colors. It was so funny, here I was using Crayola water paints and people were taking my picture like I was some real artist or something! It happened a couple times - people see what they want to see.....I see my work as globs and splotches, but to me, it flips that switch in my mind reminding me of what it really was like to look closely at each plant and arrangement of trees.....

I'd say at least my kindergarten teacher would appreciate it!

Here's just a sample of the garden.....it goes on and on!

Back to the train....

Have you ever tried putting down your camera and sketching or painting??? 

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BritLit - Private Peaceful and wrapping up London

     I'm wrapping up London with our last British book, Private Peaceful by Michael Morpurgo. Private Peaceful is a gut-wrenching story about a soldier narrating his life in WWI. He's counting down to an event that will change everything that matters to him. He tells all about growing up, falling in love, and joining the Army with his brother.  Both Tommo and Charlie are sent to fight for Britain in the trenches in French western front, but when one is injured, the other must choose to follow orders or defend family. Little known to the rest of the world, the punishment for soldiers falling asleep at their post or defying their commanding officers is death.
    Private Peaceful blindsided me just like when I read The Giver. I jumped in with both feet - never reading the summary or looking up any background or setting information and I had no idea what was coming. Out of 15 people in our group, Private Peaceful was a top pick for many of them. I think everyone was moved by the love, honor, and sacrifice in the story. I wish it had been given the attention War Horse was. I would have loved to see this on stage, but I'd need a BIG box of tissues for the ending.  I recommend this one for older teens, including boys because the main characters are young brothers coming of age as soldiers. I think they could relate even though it is set in WWI and they'd be getting a dose of history without even realizing it.

Locks for lovers...just like in Paris

     Last little bits of London - So much to do, you could go every day and never run out of things to see. 

Millineum Bridge and St Paul's
where Charles and Diana were married

 

Millenium aka "Wibbly-Wobbly Bridge"

   

The Eye - 15 people in one capsule!

One of our tour guides pointed out the bridge where Princess Diana crashed. It was so sad crossing over it. I remember the night it happened, exactly what I was doing and how I didn't believe it at first. In the morning, I thought it was a mistake until I turned on the news.  I remember watching her wedding, too and seeing Will and Kate get married, standing in Westminster Abbey, was surreal.

     We spent some time in the British National Museum and guess what - it's FREE to the public! Can you imagine going in there any time you want?  So many treasures - lots of Monet, a few DaVinci's, some J.W. Turner....so huge, there's no way to see
everything you want. It would take months. We finally saw Monet's Japanese bridge and some of his water lillies.

The Metro
"Mind the Gap"

Proper tea with my buddy Nadean

Covent Garden - site of
Punch's Puppet Show

Charlie Chaplin

Covent Garden, London is still the site of choice for street performers. This guy is doing Charlie Chaplin and he's amazing.

Jammy Dodgers at the British National Library

So excited to see the British cover of Insurgent.

British Music Experience at the O2 Arena
Interact with instruments, video, and
their collection of memorabilia. Freddy Mercury's
white suit, Spice Girl Costumes, Beatles, etc.

British National Library - where you
can't touch the books, but you can visit
their collection of illuminated manuscripts, original
Bibles, Jane Austin's manuscripts and desk, and
some of the Beatles original drafts.

Nothing like riding on the top of a double-decker bus!

On our way under the ocean on the Eurostar through the chunnel.
Paris - here we come!

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BritLit-Mary, Bloody Mary

Let's look at the dark and sparkly side of England....

The Tower of London

The beautiful Tower Bridge

   Have you ever played Bloody Mary as a kid?  Did you ever wonder what was so scary about her?  Mary, Bloody Mary by Carolyn Meyer is historical fiction, but it's specifically focused on factual events. It's like a spoon full of sugar helping you swallow a bitter pill. Mary's life was supposed to be one of a princess and future queen. She should have been pampered and honored. Instead, when her dad, King Henry III gave up hope that he'd have a son, he started looking elsewhere for a new wife and heir. Back then they didn't have that decree that says a child of a king and queen can rule no matter if it's a boy or girl. Poor Mary was stuck changing the "royal nappies" of her half-sister Elizabeth, daughter of Henry VIII and Ann Boleyn.  
     Mary, was sent to live out in one of their country homes and her finances cut off because she still believed her mother was Queen. Her father kept trying to force her to accept Ann and accept him as head of the church, but she stood her ground and survived on the provisions of the nearby common people. This girl had chutzpah!
What happened to her????  How did she come to be Bloody Mary?
     Her father tired of Anne and needed a new wife to give him a son, so what's a king to do?  Off with her head!!!

   

 Seriously, we stood at the place where Ann was beheaded. In the book, she walked to the chopping block with her head held high even though she was terrified. This was before the guillotine so she made nice with the ax-man beforehand and got him to hide a really sharp double bladed ax. Apparently, these events depended heavily on the ax-man being sober and accurate. Mean ol' Henry, made sure she wasn't even buried with royalty. Her grave is right there in the Tower of London chapel.

     Back to Bloody Mary - how did she get that name? After every possible heir died and she finally became queen, she wanted to put everything back the way it was. She reinstated the Catholic church and anyone opposing it or having to do with her father's turn to the Protestant church would be burned. There are martyr monuments in Oxford where monks were burned.

     There are also other prison's nearby like The Clink Prison which we toured. Torture was the means of forcing confessions and yikes! They even had a face helmet with spikes that poke the tongue - what a way to shut people up!  You can read The Remarkable Life and Times of Eliza Rose if you want to learn more about this weird prison society - imagine living in squalor, but ordering out for food?

 

     Oddly enough, the Tower of London is so secure, it houses the Crown Jewels. You can ride a people-mover and get a three second glimpse of all the crowns and treasures of the Royal Family.




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