There is grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers, having been originally breathed into a few forms or into one; and that, whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved.
When you have bad thoughts like "I am so dumb!" you look for evidence to support this, and you find it — in little mistakes you make, in things that go wrong, in every awkward pause or forgotten detail. You become your own prosecutor, building a case against yourself with every dropped key and wrong turn.
When you have thoughts that are positive like "I am brave and confident," you look for evidence to support that instead. And you start to see it — in the times you spoke up even when your voice shook, in the moments you tried something new, in the fact that you are still here, still showing up.
Depending on how much you have indulged in the negative, you may have trained your brain to be very good at collecting evidence against you. But brains are flexible. They can learn a new brief. They can be trained to look for signs of courage, creativity, compassion, effort — whatever it is you want to nurture.
It takes time. It takes noticing. But it’s not about lying to yourself — it’s about choosing to recognise the whole of yourself, not just the worst bits.
And maybe forgiving yourself for believing the worst for so long.
I spend a considerable amount of time thinking about evolution. It stems, no doubt, from my apitude for natural sciences. I really am a follower of the religion of Darwinism.
Often these days my physical-anthropolgist-self ponders about human evolution. What form does this take now? We have obviously surpassed the whole issue of stronger, faster, handsomer, bigger, better in terms of selecting the other partner for our childmaking. All our 'advances' in medicine and genetics and science and hygiene and vaccinations and policies and dental care and food production etc etc have all led to a range of what would have previously been unproductive gene contributors who are now actually contributing genes and carrying on their lines (so to speak). The weak, the small, the obese, the cancerous, the dentally challenged (to bluntly name a few) breed. The bald, the big nosed, the short armed, the computer fingered, the blind, the paraplegic... I'd rather not go on in the event that my seemingly flippant mingling of serious afflictions and non serious may cause offense when that is not at all my intention so let's carry on with my point. Which is, really, that physical traits and abilities have been surpassed in evolutionary terms and things that are less practical/physical/tangible and more etherial and have become the deciding factor in human gene bequethment. And thank goodness for that (?!) So, human evolution must be shifting. You can pass on your genes if you are (for examples sake) unable to hunt, and be strong and/or fit. Our weak and weary can pass on their genes making the intangible just as important a contribution to human genetic diversity as the afore mentioned strong fit thing. Alison Lapper, British artist, was born in 1965 without arms and shortened legs, the result of a medical condition called phocomelia and her son, Parys.
So I ponder - what drives human evolution now? Today I am pondering that it could well be choice.
Gary Zukav says in his book "Seat of the Soul" that choice is the engine of human evolution. I gravitate strongly towards his idea that the centre of the human evolutionary process now is choice. I think that the goal (and I will anthropomorphise the whole process of evolution so I can call it a goal) up until now has been to develop our physical skills and our innovative brain to exploit** the things we identify around us for our own advancement in a species selfish way. We have certainly reached that goal. We know how to do that and when you have attained a goal, it is time to set a new one. We have been so ferociously good at accomplishing our goal we are at a point when the appropriate next goal for our species would be to work on our compassionate and mindful side potential. You might say.. but that is not how evolution works. We don't get to decide. And I would say.. before humans came along I would have agreed with you (although the specifics of that argument best not be dwelled upon on the grounds that it might well seem impossible).
We control evolution. We control, either inadvertently, accidentally or on purpose, the evolutionary process of other species in an accelerated way. We cause the extinction of species and alternatively, we are the only thing stopping some species from becoming extinct.
(must note that Todd interupts here with "WE. ARE. IN. CONTROL. WITH. OUR. SHIPS." which, no doubt, is reference to the aliens that were meant to unmistakably visit last September, or was it October? and then he notes, somewhat more relevantly "because we have suspended natural selection for others as well").
The world's heaviest parrot. The kakapo. A flightless ground nesting noctural slow breeding marvel of a bird that is all but defenseless against the myriad of introduced mammal species that have devastated New Zealand's native species. 90 of these birds exist currently (up from 54) and only because of the efforts of a dedicated and commited (certifiable?!) bunch of kakapo heroes! (such as Daryl Eason, also pictured)
The humans species has been so good at the evolutionary process we have developed a few traits to an extent which really does set us apart from other species in a number crucial respects. We make choices and have the ability to weigh up the consequences of those choices, we use increasingly complex tools, we have empathy, we co-ordinate others through sophisticated communication, we practise medicine and tend to our sick (and sometimes the sick of others), we deliberately innovate (rather than mutation related accidents), we modify the environment to suit our needs, we have a concept of a spiritual life and spiritual beliefs, we collect luxury items not directly related to our survival (then pay to put them in a storage unit...!!), we are artists, we bury our dead.
With the exception of perhaps the spiritual life, all these other traits are exhibited in varying amounts among some other species. Otters and primates (for example) use tools, beavers modify waterways, chimps eat a particular combination of soil with a certain plant that combined combat malaria, chimps and african wild dogs both have sophisticated communication for co-ordinated hunting parties, elephants recognise the bones of their dead and at times bury their dead family members, elephants, whales and dolphins tend to and support their wounded.
However, in humans, the very essence of what makes one of those traits different has developed to such an extent we have the choice of what to do our other developed traits. The conscious choice. We have the ability while flexing this choice muscle to utilise our aquired knowledge (thanks Karma) operate in a more spiritually aware, compassionate and mindful way. We can weigh the consequences and fix our intention. That is the part that relates to this new proposed goal for the next phase of human development - the intention behind that choice. There is an intention behind every action we have and it is those intentions that shape our individual paths through the world and influence how we see the world and others in it and how we intepret the actions and attitudes of others. In 'Seat of the Soul', Zukav says
...each choice that you make is a choice of intention. You may choose to remain silent in a particular situation and that action may serve one of these intentions * penalising * showing compassion * exacting vengence * showing patience * loving Alternatively you may choose to speak forcefully - with the one of the exact same intentions.
What you choose with each action and thought is an intention, a quality of consciouness that you bring to your action or thought.
And it is that consciousness and intention that creates not only our immediate individual realities through attitudes and the way we deal with things that happen to us, but also the future of our species and just as importantly, increasing numbers of other species.
I have yet to take pondering to a further level to actually provide proof of how choice manifests in human evolution past what I am saying because I only conglomerated most of this today heehhehe! So, stay tuned I guess. It's all part of my whole "all roads lead to rome" theory on life the universe and everything. It's the part of me that would like to use my past life regression training as a scientific method to amass anthropological information of the mundane details of lifetimes of the past.
(Todd interupts again to say "Once when I wore metal skirts and brushes on my head..." - which is a throw back to a character from the Curious Case of Benjamin Button, the lightning guy whose stories of times he was hit by lightning have integrated themselves into his and my daily culture...)
Todd uses this moment to also coin a term for that predilection of mine... "spiritual archeology!" (That archeology degree had to have a use sometime! Roll on PhD!)
Shine Kelly: Spiritual Archeologist It's field work without the field!
Maybe in my next life *giggles*
** I understand that exploit here is a very subjective term that really already doesn't relate to a lot of species working in the realm of everyday normal, has-been-going-on-for-millions-of-years, evolution. But it does, to be honest, fit in quite well with the nutshell description of what humans do to the earth as a species. And furthermore, I am not preaching scripture here or delivering gospel - I'm blogging, give me a break.
1. We saw a kereru quite close above the track on the tour this morning (and by we I mean the special children and I, well except the one that was blind and mostly deaf...) 2. All four inside caterpillars look to be cocooning safely (when I say look to be, I mean two have made J shapes on the plant and one has a silk platform on a high shelf and the other one is not sure what he's doing but I left him well provided for and I don't suppose he will hang from teh lower shelf like one of the previous ones who was lost in an unforuntately squishing incident involving the cleaner...) 3. Went for bike ride (although I did not take my gloves so I might have jiggered arms later!) 4. Gate I usually have to stop at to lift bike over, at top of one of the wee hills I bike up, was open and the cows were all lounging about in the shade lookign all mellow and lowish. 5. I did not get a jolt from the electric fence at the gate I did need to lift my bike over (and I mentioned this because last time I DID - although i woudl have worked out a way to be grateful for that as well!) 6. Saw Rain at the river one way back from biking (I saw him on the way bikign as well, and waved to him across the river, it was funny because he was the only one that saw me heehheeh) 7. Ely's little legs unbent (watched Echo of the Elephants with Todd)
AGAIN I SAY: If you plan on seeing a much better than reviewed Will Smith movie and don't want it to be spoiled by finding out what happens then skip reading my blog today.
''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' I reckon I'd be super pissed if I had a rare blood type and a congenital heart defect and this amazing man came into my life who was good and kind and smart and caring and he told me he loved me and talked about marriage and having kids with me then he went home and lay in a bath of ice with a poisonous jelly fish so I could live a longer life with his heart and woody harrelson could have his cornea.
I reckon I would be so pissed I would turn my printing press into a tardis and travel back in time and kick his arse really hard. ''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
With Obama being inaugurated today I think ... there is a return of reverence to the office of President ... he will be a gracious president ... his example will empower us by showing us all how to use what we have in a positive way to move forward rather than a negitive way looking back and blaming others ... he will use language in a positive and inspiring way that will be a wonderful role model for a leader of others ... his presidency will contribute to the feeling that we are all family and that the planet is our home
. . Have decided to give myself some professional development (upskill myself in something because I feel I am just not learnign enough new stuff) so I picked Photoshop cs3 seeing I have it and just am not utilising it to it's full potential AND there are some excellent tutorials easily found online!
These pics show my first effort at two things I have created over the last few days.
The movie I saw last night was Garage Warrior.... amazing film, by Oliver Hodge, about a 'sustainable futures' architect, called Micheal Reynolds, who has been experimenting with self sustainable housing design in New Mexico for 30 or so years. He has designed and been part of the building of "earthships" and earth ship communities in a place called Taos in New Mexico (which looks like a dry godforsakenly wretched barren place to me!).
At the end of the 90s he was stripped of his architectual license because experiemental housing does not fit in with the codes, rules and regulations in most places. He then spent 8 or so years trying to get a bill passed in New Mexico to allow people to create and experiment with new sustainble housing concepts on test sites (we test all sorts of other things like BOMBS.. so why not housing...) his houses are great - they need no power or sewage or water lines. They incorporate greenhouse features to grow a range of vegetables and fruit.
His designs are very popular in other places in the world and after the tsunami he was asked to go and help people rebuild sustainable housing - also in places hit by hurricanes. When the architectual board in the US saw the work he had done for the boxing day tsunami people they gave him back his license and soon after that the bill passed in his state to allow sustainable housing testing.
He builds the houses with earth packed tyres, earth and plastic bottles and beer cans. They are amazing structures (although some are pretty 'ugly' I guess as they are free form structures and very unconventional). You can check out the website and watch the trailer here
I am seriously considering sending him a wee thankyou card after watching the frustration and resilience he showed through the whole process of dealing with the senate over the experimental housing bill in New Mexico. GOODNESS!
The more I live life the more I lean towards truth being irrelevant. Perception is all important and it is an individual thing.
Something that is true for me exists as truth in my perception. You can have a totally different perception that can still be true to you at the same time my totally different and seemingly contradictory truth is true for me. I think it is cool when people argue that their perception of truth is truth because then these two or more different truths exist simultaneously. I like to live in a world where simultaneous truths exist. I don't think one person's truth means another person's truth is not true! If it is the perception they are living by it is certainly true for them!
Facts are human perception of truth and not the truth itself.
I think (without having spent too much time thunking on it) that even science doesn't prove real truth. It concludes a best guess at truth based on the knowledge and technology of the humans percieving it. Many of the things science is not able to prove currently are because we as perceiving humans have yet to invent the knowledge, method or technology to perceive it. That does not prove something is not true. When we create new technology (eg: better microscopes or whatever) a new "truth" emerges.
"All roads lead to Rome" and I believe sciences and religions are some of those roads that will lead people, via their own perceptions, to the same destination.
This is my truth. If it differs from your truth that just proves my truth *winks*
I must admit I have been surprised lately that surprizingly few people are talking about the imminent impending doom that could happen, rather inauspiciously, next Wednesday.
Bigger than tax increases, bigger than inflation, bigger than world food shortages, bigger than Ben Hur (and the Titanic), and even bigger than *gasp* ‘global warming’.
What could be bigger than global warming I hear you ask…
how about NO GLOBE at all!!
Next week scientists, in an underground lab in Switzerland, will switch on a machine that has been created with the involvement and funding of 85 countries, 8000 scientists and bas been 20 years in the making - namely the large hadron collider (LHC)... a massive atom smasher designed to recreate the big bang, (the moment when the earth was formed).
In light of this some people are pretty worried.. what do you think?
Personally, I am so distractingly awed looking at this picture by it's scientific symmetrical beauty I am not really compelled to think of the impended doom part right now
These days Shine is extremely aware and, in fact, wary of what she consumes (and generally what she buys and uses, truth be told). I seek out and purchase organic or free-range produce where I can, fully scrutinize labels and research products online.
One could certainly not make a solid claim that I am one of the masses living in apathy and denial that just because someone is allowed to sell it/buy it then it must be good for you (or even ok for you for that matter).
However there are certain things that one knows are just horrid but one finds it rather hard to resist them at every juncture.
One of these things is the good old humble meat pie.
A piping hot, readily available traditional NZ meal on the run.
Behold; The Pie.
When I was young I liked pies but they were easier to avoid then because the majority of them had PEAS in them. Now days I like peas but that is mostly because I can cook them how I like and how I don't like them is steamed-to-crap* all day in a boiling hot pie until they are mushy and bring to mind the texture of perished elastic.
These days most pies I happen to encounter at most junctures do not contain peas.
Most of us think of pies as gloriously lush meaty goodness encased in delicious pastry and feel very little inclination (in an ignorance-is-bliss kinda way) to limit one's consumption of said (alleged!) meaty goodness.
Some of us are more educated (ie: not in denial) and are fully conscious of the fact that pies probably (in the very least) contain at least a golf ball of fatty lard per hand sized pie (and know that this does not include the pastry...) *drool*
And some of us (and when I say us here I actually mean me) are not apathetic to the wily and consumeristic nature of the business world and have an inkling that there is much darker business at hand than this and generally like to not dwell on this as we know if we did we would eat them even less than we already sensibly do (or don't as the case may be!).
Well... for the sake of an interesting blog entry I must dwell and you should listen.
In the olden days, pies and sausages and such were actually made with up to 85% MEAT, with some bread crumbs and herbs and such thrown in. Now days these kind of pies and sausages are more for the high end market and the general everyday mass produced pie are made very differently.
Excuse the pun but I am not going to MINCE words here... in NZ and Aussie, for a meat pie to be a meat pie it must only contain 25% of actual MEAT and (it should be more disturbing to note) the species of animal from which the meat is derived must be identified in the ingredients list (the reason for adding this wee snippet will become clearer down further...).
This in itself is quite a thought when one thunks on it but it is actually (and rather sickeningly) not the worst of it and not even the worst of it when you find out that most pies actually don't even have THAT much meat.
Tests have been done and consumer watch dogs are monitoring pies and weighing and recording the MEAT content of MEAT pies down under.
Yes. I did say that was not the worst of it... I am compelled (and I do not apologise!) to put this thought in your head...
There is the horrible and quite disgustifying fact that the vitally critical and important factor here (and if you are determined to continue enjoying your MEAT PIE treats please look away RIGHT NOW) is that the very DEFINITION OF MEAT needs to also be pondered upon and considered!
AND I AM NOT JOKING.
If you are an in-denial-pie-eater and you have gone as far as to accept the fact that pies contain at least a golf ball of fat and still indulge yourself every now and then accepting consequences and such, please keep in mind that you would not be silly to assume that the very least percentage of the MEAT in the food industry's definition of meat** (which the pie makers, who are, after all, out to make money NOT actually provide you with a good wholesome healthy nutritional meal) is actually the thing YOU consider to be >>MEAT<<.
NB: This is so much of a concern that currently there is an application before the food standards board of Australia to amend the Definition of Meat Pies "to ensure that meat pies can only contain ‘meat flesh’ and not just ‘meat’."
This is obviously one of those tough issues to resolve (bringing to my mind the similar but on a vastly more grand and sinister scale issue of the sugar industry conspiracy) because the application is dated as being received Sept 2003...
* steamed-to-crap is not at all swearing and is, in fact, a technical culinary term...
**meat means the whole or part of the carcass (the whole carcass including, you know... BITS) of any buffalo, camel, (CAMEL!!!!!!!) cattle, deer, goat, hare, pig, poultry, rabbit or sheep, slaughtered other than in a wild state, but (thankfully...) does not include –
(a) the whole or part of the carcass of any other animal (umm... after reading that I am too flabbergasted to actually call to mind ANY other animal...) unless permitted for human consumption under a law of a State, Territory or New Zealand; or
(b) avian eggs, or fetuses or part of fetuses.
(Part of the retro blog recovery series...also posted at original retro date July 15th, 2007)
So… it’s been a while - believe me, I know it has and it grates on me, but here I am.
I was talking this evening, with someone more definitely worthwhile talking to, about the latest Pixar release. The details of that part of the conversation is not pertinent at this juncture, but what popped up during that, is.
Pixar was a little fish. Pixar was eaten by The Big Fish; Disney.
Now there are some, quite seemingly, valid arguements to make this actually a good idea. Almost, actually quite possibly, a case where the small fish steers the big fish in a positive direction. But I don’t care, on principal.
What got me ranting today was when I found out that Pixar/Disney has now gobbled up another smaller fish; Zemeckis’ CGI house “Imagemovers”.
I don’t like conglomerates. Conglomerates are bad.
The argument was made to me that Lasseter wanted to aquire some talent because he needs more people and I am not at all denying that is the case but I don’t care. And I don’t care in a 'quite frankly' kinda way.
Conglomerates are bad. And here is why.
Because mediocrity sucks.
Conglomeration is how everything gets sucked into being the same. It is how one person/mindset gets to own everything and everything we get is a filtered down version of the same one mindset. What they like, what they believe in, what they think is ok for us to see. It is how great shows like Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip get canned after one season.
Conglomeration is how The Big Fish gets to eat all the little fish and the uniquely special parts of the little fish are disseminated and filtered through to become just parts of the big fish and the small fish is no longer around to be appreciated and compared to other fish and the big fish gets all the credit for those little tiny sparkly bits that were much bigger on the small fish and quite unexpectedly beautiful.
Do you know what the land does? What the wind and erosion and the rivers and the rain do? The ultimate goal of those processes is to smooth out the land. To remove the variations and this is what I am talking about here.
Conglomeration is what wrecked Route 66. It is the antithesis of “variety being the spice of life”. There is a reason that saying was invented you know! Because variety is good and great and just and supports our growth and development as people. Conglomeration is the creation of mediocrity. Conglomeration is mediocrity.
A mediocre man is always at his best.
And that is BAD.
Conglomerates suck on principal I don’t care that I love Pixar. racism sucks too and I don’t think any individual racism is ok even if it serves a good purpose.
mass controlling and buying up and driving towards mediocrity is bad. mediocrity is bad
For your own sanity you must give up this ego need to understand people. You can't ever really understand the thoughts and motivations of others and you don't need to. Heck - I have enough trouble working out and understanding my own motivations a lot of the time - let alone trusting that someone else has any sort of honest concept about why they do what they do.
You don't need to understand people.... you just need to be you. Other people's crap is their own and not something that is your responsibility or that you need to understand. If you can manage to react to and approach everything that comes your way from a foundation of good intention that is the very bestest thing you can do. Give up that struggle to understand others. Release yourself from that task. Give responsibility for other people's stuff back to other people. It's not yours. You really are of no real good to anyone else if you are no good to yourself and that is only a decision away. I say this in an EMPOWERING way - the only thing you can control in this world is you and your reaction to the stuff that happens.
Sometimes when you are in a place in your life where you are ready to move forward into something more than you have experienced - that can feel like a struggle when the people we are attached to are not moving or at least not going in the same direction. Sometimes moving forward can mean you need to let go in order for the things that are trying to get into your life, and make it less of a struggle, can come in. It's challenging but there are always choices - (sitting on the fence is one by the way and if that works for someone and makes them feel fulfilled and at peace, then it's valid and where they are meant to be for the time being).
Some things to remember What other people think is none of your business What other people think OF YOU is none of your business. You can't control it, so give up living your life trying to. People are gonna think what they want no matter what you do because - and this is the imporant part to under stand - what they think of you (and the things you do) has NOTHING to do with you or the things you do! The way people perceive things is based on their own emotional baggage and past experiences.
You can't be the you who you are meant to be when you are busy trying to be what you want other people to think you are.
I was at a seminar on Friday where a panel of local people (MPs, local government, business, “green teens”) spoke on the question “What does a sustainable future look like?” It was an interesting thing to listen to – as what seemed to emerge out of all the different people’s comments was the need for a change in the way ‘we’ (as a collective modern western society kind of entity) think. A change in the very nature of what we habitually do, what we hold important, what we strive for. It made me think about how there is a growing movement around the world of people that believe there will be some sort of an “event” near the end of 2012 (some even narrow this down to Dec 21 2012, in conjunction with what equates to the final entry of the Mayan calendar). Some people believe this will be heralded by calamity – a huge series of natural disasters that will devastate the entire infrastructure of the modern ‘western’ world – a situation many of them refer to (somewhat ironically in my opinion) as a “reboot”. Some of these people believe that this event is actually about a shift in consciousness. I have been pondering what important components of this consciousness shift might be or rather, what I would hope they might be. So far I have loosely come up with; • becoming more mindful of why we think what we think and do what we do • living more meaningfully • practising what you preach/being the change you want to see • sharing more of self (ideas, believes, actions) in local community
On deeper delving I have come up with the following. This consciousness shift is something humans are capable of. I think the general (and increasing) lack of this now is easily attributed to the society we have created for ourselves in the modern world**. In a culture where money and stuff is the measure of success it PAYS to complain, take things personally, be defensive and/or aggressive and have almost a victim attitude. It does not pay, in that materialistic way, to be compassionate and forgiving to those people you judge to have transgressed against you. You can sue, you can be recompensed, you can get newspaper articles written about you and get a gang of followers supporting you with an atmosphere of "poor you" further perpetuating your disempowerment and literally keeping you down. This, in my opinion, tends to be a negative way to live, the way most people do it (which is in that disempowered victim type way and not the positive empowered standing up for your own rights way). Perhaps this is one of the options for the consciousness shift - coming to terms with this balance between standing up for your rights/being compassionate to the motivations of others (positive) and whinging about everything that seems unfair and taking everything as a personal attack (negative). I see it even here on this website and of course it is a natural normal human reaction and if that is where you are in your personal development and you are happy and content to be that way, that's fine and dandy (and normal) - we do what we know how to do and when we know better, we do better - and this is what we are discussing here - the opportunity to transcend the natural normal human reactions and utilise the new abilities that evolution has brought to this human creature. Mindfully becoming more than we have been before and are now. This is the new evolution.
Feeling empowered and positive is a far more energy efficient way to live than having a negative, poor-me, everyone-is-against-me, look-it's-happened-to-me-again, oh-I can't-do-that-coz-I’ve-got-< insert condition here> attitude.
The human being is equally able to choose to take a positive compassionate attitude as they are to choose a negative attitude. I know which one puts a genuine sincere smile on my face and gives me more energy and motivation to get out in the world spreading the love and being of meaningful use to others.
And that is what it is... a choice - meaning that YOU are in control of you, learn to be worthy of that and live up to all that it means. I would like to see more people choosing the positive on a more consistent basis and in the very least take a NEUTRAL stance, if you can't assume the positive at least do yourself a favour and don't assume the negative. If you perceive someone is being an arse to you * firstly, remember that that IS your perception and it could well be that they aren't even talking about you and it's just your ego and perceptions of your self that make the cap fit (so to speak) * secondly, detach yourself from you ego and actually look at what they have said and see if it has any merit or is even an attack and not just a comment of fact that you have taken a dislike to because of your own emotional baggage (something helpful here coudl be - does this situation occur with other people, is it a familiar thing that always seems to happen to you whereever you go?) * thirdly, if they are in fact, without a doubt, abusing you, that's THEIR problem and, of course, says screes about them and has nothing to do with you personally (especially in the anonymous environment of the internet!) and don’t let yourself be drawn in to it (don't dignify it with a response).
What people believe about you is their business.
Please use your power to choose.
**This 'modern world' humans have created (the 'developed" world) is like most human led schemes - it was not well thought out for the long term and to quite a degree indulged the percieved wants and needs of the people with the power rather than the people with the appropriate intelligence. (eg: one such scheme is european colonisation of New Zealand - a very unique ecosystem dominated by birds with only ONE kind of terrestrial mammal (teeny insect eating bats who prefer to scurry on the ground than fly) and birds who have evolved many mammalian traits and fill the niches that mammals do in other places. This influx of people led to the introduction of many mammal species that have devastated our environment. One of the things these european settlers thought was a good idea was to introduce possums to start a fur trade. Possums directly compete with our native birds for food and also eat eggs and females birds on the nest and have led to the local extinction of many native plants and creatures. Another 'bright idea' not well thought out was the introduction of stoats with the intention that they would eat all the rats. No one bothered to think from the stoat's point of view... why on earth would they bother to chase agile wily fast rats around when there was a wealth of flightless birds who's idea of defence was to freeze and camoflage.... but I digress!!!) We really strived to create this modern 'western' society where we have all this stuff but we have not thought throughand put processes in place to constructively and purposely utlise the benefits this modern world has created for us and do in in a sustainable way that will leave the world in a better state than we found it.
fat cat sat hat fat fat fat cat cat cat sat sat sat hat hat hat
A fat cat sat on a hat, saw a rat on the mat, got a bat, had a chat with a gnat that he'd pat in a vat that was flat, oh yeah! oh yeah... sorry about that
small ball tall wall small small small ball ball ball tall tall tall wall wall wall
see a small ball on a tall wall see it fall in a hall see it crawl give it's all and call hi y'all! see it stall, wear a shawl oh yeah! oh yeah...
red head fed bread red red red head head head fed fed fed bread bread bread
see a red head being fed bread on his sled made of led as he speed to be wed he fled instead out ahead up to Ted in his bed and he said
Red, head, fed, bread Small, ball, tall, wall Fat, cat, sat, hat And that's that!
I work in education in Nelson, New Zealand. I am a gamer. I like to hike and have intrepid cups of tea. The last films I saw that I really loved were Dead Pool and and Ocean (David Attenborough). I am often out and about with my phone playing Pokemon Go and finding Geocaches.
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