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From Bad News to Actual Happiness

The current news is challenging us. It seems that every day bad things are happening, and that every month disasters are striking. We live in a constant state of Orange Alert — the U.S. Homeland Security designation for a high threat level. That this level of challenge is stressful goes without saying.

When I was in elementary school, we were required to follow “current events,” to stay up on the news of the day so we could become informed members of society. Doing that today can be a full-time job and keep you on twitter all day and night. Then you have to parse the real news from the fake news, identify the spin to see what the facts are, and find out if there’s any “there” there.

To say nothing of trying to fix what is wrong in the world.

How do you find real happiness within this disaster? Continue reading “From Bad News to Actual Happiness”

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MonoNeon

I just discovered this bass player-slash-conceptual artist. Where have I been?!?! I adore the pairing with the tabla rhythms from Manjunath. Wow. The final moments of the video show MonoNeon’s art manifesto. Good stuff.

 

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Incarnation, review by Anya Szykitka

What do an actor, a writer, a journalist, and a computer programmer have in common? And what are they doing in Washington, D.C., in the year 2038? Or in India in 1992? Or in Brooklyn in 1939? This lively novel by Peter Ferko follows the four main characters as they traverse time and place, creating alternate futures for themselves, each other, and society. We know that the smallest action (or thought) can have huge consequences—but do we really know it? Incarnation deals with all the “big” issues—desire, work, politics, creativity, and, ultimately, life and death–but it’s threaded with huge doses of humor, compassion, and optimism. Enjoy the ride!

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The First Lady

I was a Bernie Sanders supporter.

He ran an amazing campaign. Sanders pulled the Democratic discourse to the left, where it belongs. I hope he continues to do that, and that his supporters find ways to keep Hillary tacking that way. The easiest is by voting in more progressives in down-ticket races, so she is not as hamstrung as Obama was. A Democratic Congress plus a Democratic President is necessary now. This is why you need to get to the polls in November and vote in Democrats at all levels, including HRC. This is what Sanders’ revolution calls for next.
Continue reading “The First Lady”

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It all boils down to this

We tend to get very complicated. We live in the era of specialization. We think in terms of expertise. This kind of thinking tempts us to hope that there’s a special, expert, complicated magic bullet that will bring us what we want. And there are a lot of people who offer to sell us such a magic bullet. Almost always, the sales job emphasizes impossible things: eternal youth, great success, unheard-of prosperity, flawless health, better looks, waif-like weight, control.

IMG_7457Yoga proposes an alternative to all that. Continue reading “It all boils down to this”

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The Political Revolution, Working Together

Screen Shot 2016-02-18 at 8.56.20 PMA letter to my fellow Sanders supporters. (Clinton supporters, please peek.)

Hillary continues to gain votes, and delegates, and states in the primary. Many voters evidently are convinced that having the first woman president, a seasoned diplomat, and a strategic policy wonk in the White House is a good idea. I have to admit, it sounds positive.

What Bernie has done, and continues to do, is to keep the focus on the fact that the middle and poorer classes are suffering, thanks to many things, including policies that have failed to more fairly distribute the economic gains of the 80s–2010s. These policies are what Bernie has criticized throughout his career. Continue reading “The Political Revolution, Working Together”

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The first reviews of Incarnation are in!

I was excited to get some initial feedback from readers. You can get your copy here or wherever you buy e-books!

“I laughed out loud … I teared up … It’s just great”

“The language sparkles in that section …”

“… readable and though provoking.”

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Favorite Love Songs

I am just finishing the second draft of a new novel that has the theme of classic love songs running through it. Do you have a favorite? Put it in the comment section below, and if I use it, I’ll credit you in the book!

grapelli