2019 plan

Dear Democrats, assorted liberals, wannabe socialists and Republicans who want their country and party back from the madness that is consuming all of the United States.

I’m a moderate-wannabe-independent-fool who tends to vote Democrat. The tool that I have is 'the "pen", not 'the sword'. In 2019 I am writing a climate change fiction political parody, not good descriptive fiction, but a goal to save the world/postpone the apocalypse, in a paper-thin wrapper of fiction.

Last weeks post, May 16th, 2019, Un-Un-Cat, Episode 20. -- FORWARD!!! is in the future. In the story, it is Monday, January 20th, 2021 and I inaugurated my metaphorical Cat-person as president.

The Cat is a symbol to unite the nation. What is important is what she stands for. In the story, her slogan is ‘Sort the data and do the math!’ I wrote this slogan over a year ago. Since then a very interesting thing has happened. A candidate has emerged who has the slogan MATH (make America think harder). This candidate has done a ton of policy work to make a plan to heal the situation we are facing in America right now.

Tho, I sincerely want our next president to be a woman and believe that the Nation needs women in leadership to heal our divide, it is my opinion that this man has a plan that could actually flip the status quo.

His name is Andrew Yang, here is a link to the policy page on his web site to read and judge for yourself.

Yang2020 Policies --  https://www.yang2020.com/policies/

In my fictional political parody, a group of candidates band together to take on the presidency as a team. The vice president is Bernie Sanders, the Secretary of State is Elizabeth Warren.

The 5th in line Secretary of the Treasury is Andrew Yang. He is keeping his promise to empower the people directly with a freedom dividend of a thousand dollars per month to every American over the age of 18 by serving as the US Secretary of the Treasury.

In my imagination, I also have Kamala Harris as Attorney General, “dang she would be a kick-ass Attorney General.”

Energetic people person Corey Booker as the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and super intelligent Pete Buttigieg would be an incredible Secretary of Education. Also, can you imagine how much work would get done adding Climate Change activist Governor Jay Inslee to the team as Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency?!

I do not name anyone specifically in my fiction, but I am inspired and grateful for all the hard work each of the candidates are doing by reaching out to the American people with issues that matter for everyone as they campaign.

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The plan for 2019 is to post a story, one episode per week for 52 episodes. The story is science fiction prototyping and a parody of the mess of current politics.

A Cat is befriended by a Dog from a galaxy far, far away. Together they plan how to save the world. Tho, the cat is less optimistic and she hopes to postpone the apocalypse.

There is also a WikiBook started, March 2019, with the same ideas I have been working on for decades. It is called 'How to postpone the apocalypse' it is a list of ideas for everyone interested in working together to save the world.

Here are links to story episodes posted so far.

Episode 1. Not a chicken, Not an egg.

Episode 2, 'Hello, World' (live long and prosper)

Episode 3. The House That Uncle Jack Built 

Episode 4. Nothing to fear, food, and point of view

Episode 5. Lonely Dog from a galaxy far, far away learns how to make friends on the internet. 

Episode 6. — Dog never gives up hope for his people to one day become friends with the people of Earth.

Episode 7. Dog's Point Of View on How to Save the World. 

Episode 8. -- Farewell

Episode 9. tl;dr (too long; didn't read).

Un-Un-Cat Episode 10. Money, Politics, and Stuff.

Un-Un-Cat, Episode 11. Cat's Don't Understand Bad-guys.

Un-Un-Cat, Episode 12.-- Cat's don't understand romance. 

Un-Un-Cat, Episode 13. -- What Utah Robin Green really wants.

Un-Un-Cat, Episode 14.--Wake Up America! The Millennials are coming!! The Millennials are coming!!!

Un-Un-Cat, Episode 15. -- How a Cat became the HUMAN candidate.

Un-Un-Cat, Episode 16. -- Home is where the heart is.

Un-Un-Cat, Episode 17. -- A WARNING from an Asperger's Spectrum Point of View for the 2020 Primaries.

Un-Un-Cat, Episode 18. -- The Untimely Impeachment.

Un-Un-Cat, Episode 19. -- Poetic Justice a.k.a. Level Orange Catharsis. 

Un-Un-Cat, Episode 20. -- FORWARD!!!

Un-un-Cat, Episode 21. -- The White House Lawn.

Un-Un-Cat, Episode 22. -- Freedom and Integrity in Journalism.

Un-Un-Cat, Episode 23.-- Heal the Digital Divide for the Humans. Cat-Versus-Dog Way of Thinking.

During 2019 the story will be Un-Un-Cat (Unedited Unapologetic Catharsis). At some point when I feel this story is complete and edited, possibly with more or better illustrations, the series Un-Cat (Unapologetic Catharsis) will be posted.

About the www.Medium.com paywall, you can read three episodes for free each month. The odd-numbered episodes are free to read. The even-numbered episodes are behind the paywall. So, even if you start later in the year, a reader could possibly catch up, with the story eventually and those who had a Medium account can help support future projects.

Thanks to all for reading.

Q: Why am I pushing the Un-Un-Cat story out there now?

A: Because I will never forgive myself if I don't post this story during the year 2019.

Q: Why "unedited" it seems to be somewhat edited?

A: I have been torturing folks who know me for editing help and beta reading for years. I know from writing groups and online editing websites that I take more than I give. I just need to stop, push forward and get past this catch-22-thousand.

Also, after 2020 I have made a promise to my loved ones to focus on art or non-political fiction purely for entertainment.

P.S. Please feel welcome to ask questions in comments either here or after the posts on Medium and I will do my best to add to the FAQ.

how-to-save-the-world ~ draft 4

To recap, Expulsion posts with #drawfool #doodles posted here, from Dec. 2017 to April 2018. (see list). Then I began the work of setting up my pottery studio to make ceramic art. Did I mention I am a fool artist/writer? Anyways, after a while of scribbling, the fiction book has started to take shape. August 2018. Promises, promises, don't believe me, fine. Intentions pave the way to, you know. Blog posts of fiction story from out-line posting goal for episode 1, Jan 2019.

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list of 50 daydreams

(links to full posts in order, as blogs scroll in reverse)

1. Revolution level passive energy redesign and upcycle of all buildings, home, business, storage, all construction from dog houses to skyscrapers.

2. BYOM (Bring your own mug) water bottle or thermos.

3. Eliminate the digital divide and simultaneously save millions off of print cost across the economy.

4. to-save-world -- end junk mail via the internet for every home and an official USPS current resident/local news, services and sales email.

5. Stop using use-once throw-away plastic bags.

6. Re-shippers -- Reusable mailers for all shipping companies to eliminate cardboard boxes, and paper (SASE) envelopes.

7. No more toxic chemical roof run-off - anywhere.

8. No more asphalt or cement parking lots.

9. People and living creatures first, automobile road design second.

10. Replace monoculture mown and trimmed grass lawns with native grasses and other low maintenance ground cover plants.

11. Plants, plants and more plants -- everywhere. Gardening is the number one hobby worldwide, everyone should have access to fresh fruit, vegetables and herbs.

12. Crowdsolving save-the-world with the collective intelligence.

13. Goats and sheep, lama, etc... in movable fences, to clear brush and trim landscaping near paths and roads, fertilize and aerate land - instead of herbicides, controlled burns, machines and chemical fertilizers.

14. Organic food by default should be - stickerless and crude oil packaging free and pesticide produced products should wear the warning labels.

15. Compost. -- Inspired by the giant rats I watched roam the streets in Portland in the 90s.

16. eating meat with lower cost to the planet than factory farmed pork or beef.

17. Life on the planet dead-serious how-to-save-the-world via our oceans and rivers -- sustainable harvesting of fish and shellfish in tandem with habitat restoration.

18. Improve the human diet by body type, age and physical activity levels - not about losing weight, but for a healthier people and planet.

19. Fibers, dyes and the production of cloth, all types, baby clothes to potting soil “bags” and boat tarps, weighed for environmental impact.

20. Plug-in electric vehicles connected to smart microgrids that run on solar & wind power to replace our crude-oil dependant system.

21. People power paths everywhere -- walking, bicycle, unicycle, wheelchair or skate etc.. - as alternative transportation to roads.

22. End plastic packaging. Stop all plastic use-once-throw-away-trash by designing it out of production.

23. Standardised refillables. For all types of products currently sold in throw-away plastic.

24. Water efficient redesign of all toilet and bathroom plumbing. Flush grey-water or better yet, don't poop and pee in water at all.

25. Solve money. How do we reach that Star Trek utopia where money isn’t?

1. Housing and buildings for small businesses (individual mortgages).
2. The arts, culture, and literature.
3. Postage, packages, and snail-mail.
4. Communication media.
5. Food.
6. Education.
7. Healthcare and medicine.
8. Transportation and shipping.
9. Industry and production for larger businesses.
10. And last Government (I break that one into three parts). A. Politics, B. the work of leadership and C. the military.


26. Oh yeah, I almost forgot. Social currency for the arts, culture and literature is daydream 26/50.

27. Remove money from politics.

28. Truth in journalism and news via peer and public review plus writing credits. Some issues balanced with the rights to publicity and privacy.

29. Drugs and illegal substance laws need to be reevaluated weighing the most current research on the physical harm to the individual health of the users and each specific substance socioeconomic damage and possible benefits to quality of life for populations.

30. Prison reform - the US has the highest documented* (China is not documented) incarceration rate in the world = big complicated problem.

31. Electronic medical records that belong to the patient for safer more accurate and efficient healthcare.

32. Recognise Physical Characteristic Discrimination of ourselves (like racism, misogyny, homophobia, and ageism all rolled into one).

33. The Right to Privacy and the Right to Publicity in the digital age.

34. Family medical history as preventive medicine: as recommended by US Human & Health Services - The Surgeon General's Family Health History Initiative.
 http://www.hhs.gov/familyhistory/

35. Crime preventions plus access to health care make the human race's most dreaded 'A' word a solvable problem.

36. Outdoor lighting -- all upcycled and replaced with solar-panel plus light-sensor lamps.

37. Copycat crime and blood guilt of the entire news media industry.

38. Clean-up how we clean ourselves, our homes and our workplaces.

39. An answer for the middle-class (about global economic leveling).

40. Ridding America of unnecessary paper trash, eliminate paper napkins/paper towels, etc... (Define necessary paper :) i.e. no milkshakes sans cup, etc…)

41. Stop planned obsolescence - and make accidental defective designs repairable.

42. Understand the limitations of the human lifespan and live for people who will be here long after we are gone.

43. Economics based on production/profit need to become a thing of the past.

44. Make sure to focus on yourself sometimes.

45. Upcycle the tradition of the Christmas tree to better suit the time we live in.

46. Protect and expand “parks” (p.s. Why do we have to keep calling these areas parks?) - National and state forests and wildlife refuges to tiny urban green spaces with one tree, a green roof or a bench planter at a corner bus stop.

47. Helping families and individuals die with dignity. Stop pain meds epidemic.

48. Birds, window glass birds can see, Window angles 20% away from the sky works, how about less? 7-10% tilt plus an awning to block the reflection of the sky that they dive into and die.

49. Meatless / machineless Mondays.

50. World Wednesday -- every Wednesday.

Looking for #drawfool doodles? more doodles are posted here, and here 2018 doodles and more doodles than...

9 #drawfool doodles for May 19, 2018.

alternate reality daydreams

Jan. 29, 2018.

Idea number 6. Re-shippers

Reusable mailers for all shipping companies to eliminate cardboard boxes, tubes, and paper (SASE) envelopes. Shippers belong to and automatically return to the nearest sender location, USPS, UPS, FedEx, Amazon, Mac, whomever. "Rent" of shipper included in postage/shipping cost. Especially for high-cost goods like laptop computers, the reusable shipping containers will easily pay for themselves after a specific number of trips from warehouse to homes and businesses.

Plastic last “forever” why not use it for a durable product that could be easily cleaned of road grime etc… The chips-stickers we now use only once could be installed in the box and another reader-sticker could be placed on the address strap that seals the shipper. A record of the distance traveled by each shipper and weight at scanning could be both fun to see how many miles/kilometers and how many trips each re-shipper travels before it gets worn-in to a state that requires it to be up-cycled.

The cardboard we now use for shipping boxes could be better used for packaging of perishable goods, like milk cartons or ice-cream tubs etc… Because cardboard is compostable or burnable. Plastic is not.

If you wonder what these plastic crates might look like, the USPS and other companies that handle bulk sorting of mail/packages. Use tubs in mail centers all over the world right now. But, I bet everything I ever wanted and don’t have that there are a few hundred designers out there twiddling their thumbs that would be entertained for several lifetimes by designing the most efficient reusable shipper for all types of products, and I also bet some of them are already designed right now, just waiting for the world to realize they need them.

I'm just going down my list 6/50 posted on this blog so far this year, 2018.


I know this doodle/draw fool for, Jan. 30, 2018 is a completely unrealistic green roof urban landscape - it's my daydream, let me lose my mind and find peace there.

Idea number 7. No more toxic roof chemical runoff -- anywhere. 

Green roofs, solar panels and roofing gutters and drain pipe materials proven to have a positive interaction with stormwater (i.e. More base, less acid). Okay, before I get lost in the ph changes happening in the world’s oceans and the depletion of groundwater. I beg for forgiveness because this, replacing roofs is not cheap, this is a multi-billion dollar problem. Many banks will not finance solar panels, even on new construction, and green roof design requires structural design not just for the extra weight, but to safely get people up there and enjoy their new spot of green space. People aren’t motivated to install a cash cow they can’t enjoy. But, imagine it. Be crazy with me. Imagine all those miles and miles of flat rooftop houses in the Bay Area of California. People tending their grey-water-filtering-roof-edge-garden-boxes. A small pretty tree with a circular bench next to a rooftop greenhouse and miles and miles of solar panels slowly tilting to follow the sun.

I thought this daydream every day when I walked the streets of Inner Sunset San Francisco or rode the trains and stared out the window at all the houses and shops going by. I knew the reason people didn’t do it, couldn’t do a green roof/rooftop living area, was money. But, SF is the second densest population in the US after New Jersey. I know people wanted that green space away from the street.

The roof has three vectors of climate impact. The first is chemical runoff in water. The second is soaking up heat and radiating it back. The third is our buildings are taking up space on the planet that used to be part of the ecosystem. We can’t give our cities back unless we lived in subterranean dwellings with a forest or a prairie growing on top. But, we can reduce our impact, maybe even grow some wildflowers for everyone, including the bees.

P.s. in case you think I just make this crap up. Runoff chemical leaching from roofing materials has been studied for decades and they are working to improve what we install on top of our buildings.

Here's a couple images from a study done by Washington State Department of Ecology.

Speaking of toxic chemical run-off and pollution caused by cement kilns.

Doodle for Jan. 31, 2018.

Daydream number 8. No more asphalt or cement parking lots.

From city corners to small town strip-malls, wouldn’t it be great if all those square mile, after who know how many million square miles of parking lots and parking spots, were converted to flexible public green spaces with EV (electric vehicle) charging! Actual parks on the roofs at the top with planter boxes and benches to pause and take breaks or eat lunch outside sheltered from sun and rain under solar-panel roofs, tilted to collect both rain and sunshine.

In front of stores, no more curbs, I hate curbs. Instead bench-high planter-boxes on the expanded sidewalk where the parking spots used to line the streets, making extra room for carts and perhaps a seating area or two for people waiting.

Of course, pick-up/drop off spots near the entrances would be nice with handicap only parking. Everybody else uses public transit or parks in the towers.

Number nine continues where this daydream leaves the parking spot.

Daydream number 9/50. People and living creatures first, automobile second road design.

All paved roads for slower traffic under 35 miles per hour, could be designed to breathe. Light in color in most climate areas, dark only in extreme polar roads that are heated to keep them clear of ice. Roads made of pearled glass (i.e. big grains of sand) native gravel and recycled plastic (i.e. No tar, no asphalt, no cement). The entire road surface has tire groves, drainage and is designed to prevent road kills.

When a sidewalk runs along a road or crosses it, pedestrian and bike paths are separated from the tire grooves. The median has markers for self-driving cars to keep traffic in the grooves.

Around schools and urban shopping hubs, the entire drop off/pick-up areas could be textured brick/cobblestone-like a speed bumpity bump. Automatic photograph tickets of anybody speeding past children and school buses or shoppers. City center areas should be pedestrian first, automobile-second ergonomic designed safer for people than cars a.k.a. pedestrian-first spaces, with underground mass transit to parking structure hubs and burgs.

The fast roads are all underground. It doesn’t even have to be deep, it could be a tube with the top at the surface where the highway used to be. Or a tube under a city.

P.s. Fast highway tubes under cities is not my idea. Do a search for Elon Musk underground LA, tube highway designs.

I did doodle something today, but I decided to start mixing things up. This mutant gnome is a stand-in for today's #drawfool P.s. Yes, it has 8 limbs/tentacles 5 feet, two arms and a tail. Feb. 1, 2018.

I spent all morning and afternoon outlining a 5 book science fiction series that keeps burbling up in my dreams, again. No joke, the first book I started when I was 16, it's somewhere around draft 5 progress wise, tho only 3/4 written and printed out double-spaced for editing notes, in two boxes (one box with notes from a beta reader). Then a prequel happened, a novella or short book via various dreams I kept scribbling on in-between other projects in 2015. It's also mostly drafted. I have decided that if I'm going to embark on another novel series, this time it's going to be completely outlined with storyboards and maps before I get lost in the details.

Comically bad #drawfool doodle for Feb. 2, 2018. 

I wrote this idea out as a joke in a blog post last year, in 2016.


Here’s a link if you would like to read that post.

The next paragraph is a synopsis if you would rather skim the gist. Bellow the gist is my opinion of grass.

10. Replace monoculture mown and trimmed grass lawns with native grasses and other low maintenance ground cover plants.

Save water and end lawn mowing machine noise, weed whacking, edge trimming and mowing machine fuel/energy consumption and cease fertilizer/pesticide/weed killer related runoff pollution of surrounding water systems, i.e. lakes, creeks, rivers, oceans etc... Restore native habitat for birds, bees, frogs, toads, moles, field mice, and insects. Only, athletic areas for playing sports should be maintained by mowing: soccer/football fields, golf courses, baseball diamonds and other athletic fields used by many people.


As for me? I love grass. But, just like cut flowers. I love grass uncut, wild, gently changing color over the seasons, pale green and light purple, yellow, straw white, brown peeking out of the snow, the green tips of sprouting bulbs, the round or interesting pattern forbs, plant like clover that nitrogen fix the soil, and are the preferred diet of grazing sheep. Then the grass, all types, grows tall and blooms. There are more species of grass than any other type of plants on Earth. Each grass has its own grain or seed pattern. Some grow along the stem, some cluster at the top like wild oats or those tall fluffs of Pampas grass that grow all along the California coast, or the native bamboo grass, red and green that grow in South Carolina swamps. Bluegrass the plant is in its own life as musical as Bluegrass the music. As long as no one cuts it. Tallgrass dances in the rain and the wind. One of my childhood memories is wandering through a field in Oklahoma that once was prairie, following a turtle to a cattle watering hole. Real prairie is not as dense as the bounce of the tundra of Alaska. When we went to a wildlife refuge, real prairie is lumpy and uneven, several layers of grass and plants matted but it is beautiful. Like a painting, endless texture and patterns to follow. We can’t easily replicate prairie in the grass areas of our yards. Our yards are not vast enough, and there are too many plants all woven together. But, if we each learned to “paint” with a mix of a few native plants, starting around our own homes, we would change the world.

I continue this thought on my leisurely Saturday, Feb. 3, 2018.

Daydream 11/50. Plants, plants and more plants -- everywhere.

#doodle #drawfool for Feb. 3, 2018.

Gardening is the number one hobby worldwide, everyone should have access to fresh fruit, vegetables and herbs. From urban hydroponics and gardening field trips to rural gardening clubs. This is happening more, in recent years. We just need to step it up, get creative. Every sunny wall should be a green wall. All courtyards should be full of plants, carefully planted, for where the plants would be happy. Office plants should be succulents and non-smelly or non-blooming plants that clean the air and don’t add pollen or allergens to the air. Alternatively grow fragile or perishable salad & herb foods in rooftop greenhouses and humidity controlled window boxes. Neighborhood gardens should be available for local populations everywhere, just like city parks and playgrounds are now. You have to get your team on the schedule for little league. Or your gardening group has an area in the dirt and a shift of yearly gardening work. Not like communism but social. Are you unemployed? This gardening group could use some help harvesting or weeding or planting spouting beds etc… You put in some hours per week and earn a basic income by helping improve everyone’s quality of life. Yeah, I said, it "basic income". There is a ton of work that needs to be done and the US has a big enough GDP to spread "it" around. Work is the opposite of the stagnation of amassed hoarded profits. Technically, no one should be unemployed or homeless and gardening work and plant care is a great place to start improving the quality of life.

Sunday, Feb. 4, 2018. I am resting and meditating on "things".

The spaces between my daydreams and my reality is an abyss of depression, full of holes/bubbles bursting or defuse with half-way solutions. An answer to one problem creating 11 or 12 more complications or at least one step forward half a step back, over and over, every day. Many of the ideals I imagine and weigh are like the road to hell, paved with good intentions. But, the source of that proverb or aphorism may be a duel between two Popes in 1150. Maybe the Serenity prayer by the American theologian Reinhold Niebuhr, 1951 is more fitting.

God, give me the grace to accept with serenity
the things that cannot be changed,
Courage to change the things
which should be changed,
and the Wisdom to distinguish one from the other.
Living one day at a time,
Enjoying one moment at a time,
Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace,
Taking, as Jesus did,
This sinful world as it is,
Not as I would have it,
Trusting that You will make all things right,
If I surrender to Your will,
So that I may be reasonably happy in this life,
And supremely happy with You forever in the next.
Amen.


It's very nice, but I'm no Evangelical either. I think my "religion" may be art and my philosophy may be fiction, so much so that to me Serenity is the name of a spacecraft in the TV show Firefly. Even the prayer copy and pasted above, came to mind from a few lines repeated in TV show we just binge-watched.

Guilt is no motivation but in the time we live in, as the artist, Douglas Coupland Quote/art "Knowing everything turns out to be slightly boring." IMO isn't ignoring everything and expecting things to change also quite tedious?

recurring daydream 1 and 2 of 50 ways to 'save the world'

Doodle for January 16, 2018.

Recurring daydream -- Yep, this is a biofuel system, like LooWatt only with additional passive and renewable energy modules working together. Seems like a fair joke to admit that this could be the 'cold fusion' humanity has been searching for, for decades now, but, it's been coming out of our asses the entire time.

Recurring daydream as in a lot, here's a paragraph copy and pasted from a list of 50 ways to 'save the world' that got written into my November 2017 NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month).

1. Green housing & building , experimental engineering and design neighborhoods in every state & climate region in the US - working with colleges, community colleges & trade schools, to build & test prototypes, promote fair competition of best designs, keep zoning laws and building codes up to speed on the safest most efficient local designs, train and certify trades people in how to best install and construct everything ( smart micro-grids, energy storage, gray water systems, passive solar window boxes etc..) and get the best ideas into the market and to the people most efficiently.

So there's the idea, and here's why it isn't happening... Well besides the obvious reason. Money. I.e. passive energy doesn't make big energy money. 

If I had a shit ton of money, I'd have a company that designed systems for small houses. I looked for our house, multiple times for more than one place we lived over the years. So far, I've only found estate sized systems on the market and even those were in parts. The solar tubes sold separately from the tank system etc... 

A passive energy revolution would create a lot of jobs. It's also so expensive to design and maintain custom systems, very few are able to do it. 

The garbage industry plus septic engineering job isn't something many people want to spend their lives "processing". Picking up tanks of effluent and bins of byproducts, checking filters and catalytic converters, not glorious work unless you have an 'unsung hero' complex. 

Also, gas lines, tanks, and energy generating systems require space that is separate from living space, both to maintain air quality in the living spaces and for a contained blast wall for normal combustion chambers and accidents.

Onwards ☮ + 💚

P.s. I ended this on a low note because this is 'expulsion of the fool' - not a How-To blog. If you have a company making any part of this passive/renewable energy system for small homes, in the US, I'd love to hear from you. Even just a tweet at @Uva_Be would be super.

Doodle for January 17, 2018.

I can not even convince some of my most beloved friends to stop buying plastic bottles. This is either my third or fourth blog post on the topic of throwaway beverage containers and I confess to complete environmental duh-fatigue, so I'm just tacking BYOM onto the blog post from yesterday.

2. BYOM (Bring your own mug) water bottle or thermos.

Instead of a soda machine, a small commuter cafe would be nice. Or even a corner store with a hand washing sink or a small beverage container cleaning station and a rack of new beverage containers beside soda fountains, juice bars, coffee stations etc… Not only to stop the obvious pile of use once and throw away beverage containers but stop the fuel used to transport water.

Water is heavy at a pint per pound, for miles and miles, to then be stored in plastic bottles in large glass door refrigerators running 24/7.

How is our use-once throw-away plastic-culture not the very definition of social insanity?

Just google BYOM or plastic trash or plastic gyers in every ocean on planet earth!

Okay as for a solution to bad water. The most affordable house or small business sized water filters are those sold for commercial ice machines.

Also, there are some nice counter top models. I know, nothing worthwhile is cheap, and it takes a little effort on your part. To make your own damn cup of filtered water or tea/coffee. But, please people, for you and me and all the fishes in the sea. BYOM is a good place to start making a difference.

P.s. I feel really bad, guilty even for the increasing number of communities who have water poisoned by fracking or lead and other chemicals. I write this, in the hopes that good water filter systems and cup washing stations will be installed in all schools and neighborhood markets, especially those with contaminated water.

BYOM this is about plastic trash and if you have good water at home or work please appreciate it. Thanks

Jan. 20, 2018

We are the wall, today's #doodle (really more of a scribble :) #drawfool inspired by Jan. 20, 2018 Woman's march and Brick x Brick performance art/protest a human wall CA to VT to end misogyny. I wonder how many million were out there worldwide today? Sea to sea, Canada and UK as well.

The news feed got me down, but an image search, Twitter and YouTube show you can't hide the truth. Check out the reTweets from marches all over the world if you need some cheering up. https://twitter.com/Uva_Be  (P.s. there are a ton of photos there today, I don't know what will be in the tweet stream tomorrow, it's twitter. :D

wish I was a tree

I recognize it's a bad time to wish to be a tree. I don't mean winter. So many trees are burning. Other tropical trees and shrubs, having never experienced ice are being frozen, buried under the weight of snow and broken. Around the globe drought and flooding is moving in never recorded biome confusing patterns significant enough to weaken entire forests, leaving trees vulnerable to pestilence and disease. 

All this doesn’t change my wish. Because I find psychology amusing, I looked for a dissociative disorder to classify my persistent dream. The closest I found was far, Depersonalization/Derealization Disorder (DDPD). It seems some folks wish they were animals? I didn’t find anything about trees.

Trees look at time differently. Each turn of the planet is a single breath. They exhale as the wave of daylight passes over them, and inhale with the turn of the planet away from the sun. Critters flit by like dust particles. They breathe and reach and pray, their dance music is the wind and clouds. Lightning strikes very quickly. The most difficult part of being a tree might be knowing how other trees around you decay or fall tangled in the dance. But, to know their lives purpose, without doubt, seems the very definition of nirvana. I still wish.

Two continent wide lawn mowing ban

The Americas: North America, Canada and South America unanimously agreed yesterday to cease the practice of mowing private and public lawns for non-sporting use. Only, soccer/football fields, golf courses, baseball diamonds and other athletic grass fields will be maintained by mowing, effective immediately.

Native Georgia grass, planted in Atlanta, USA along the 'belt-line' walk/bike path.

It was a trifecta of reasons: water, pollution and habitat, but all from the same source, climate change. “Stopping lawn mowing is one way we could take a bite out of climate change, without adding any expensive infrastructure.” A spokesperson from the American committee to protect vital pollinators, cheerfully reported.

Removing lawns from the equation saves water, especially those lawns grown in climate areas that require a sprinkler system to grow and stay green. 

2. Pollution. If we all stop lawn mowing (and machine-powered weed-whacking, leaf blowing and edging etc...), it cuts an unnecessary use of non-renewable energy i.e. gas and electricity (plus batteries), fertilizers and weed killers that leach into our soil and water systems and lastly, stopping use of lawn maintenance machines cuts one of the main sources of neighborhood noise pollution. 

3. Habitat. Grass as a mono-culture is not a good base for disappearing natural habitat for bees, native plants, birds and all creatures above and below the topsoil. Lawns as they are being used now, as some sort of machine maintained outside carpet, simply do not belong in nature.” Imagine instead of lawns, small yard shaped fields of wildflowers, clover or native climate region appropriate ground cover plants. 

Flowers next to a sidewalk in San Francisco, CA

This is a vital first step, and we are hopeful that other countries will follow the Americas example, replacing mowed lawns with native plants, ground cover, and gardens.  

P.S. Leaf blowers were last month. If you still own a leaf blower turn it in, to a machine up-cycling location near you.