Brummet's Conscious Blog

-- Chatter -- Well I am officially back in the office as of yesterday and spent the last 2 1/2 days dealing with all the communications received during the few days off that I was out of the office. Those of you who are on our mailing list have already received the newly designed newsletter, which was just sent out yesterday. The Brummet's Muse is now a bi-weekly newsletter and will be released around the 1st and 15th of each month. The newsletter will continue to share information on the upcoming featured guests and topics on our two online radio shows, where Dave and I are appearing next and inspiring quotes. I am currently learning all the new tools we have available for this newsletter format and as our knowledge of this program we are using improves, so will the newsletter. We have new sign up widget inviting people to subscribe to the Brummet's Muse on this blog (upper right), on the first page of our site: www.brummet.ca - and on our myspace site - www.myspace.com/c...

-- Recommended Resource -- http://www.solarbotanic.com - SolarBotanic’s work focuses on artificial trees that make use of renewable energy from the sun and wind, they are an efficient, clean and environmentally sound means of collecting solar radiation and wind energy. SolarBotanic Nanoleaves are able to pick up any light, from the visible spectrum to the invisible spectrum, Infrared light, while producing millions and millions of Pico watts day in day out. -- Polystyrene Recycling -- Of course the best way to reduce or consumption of polystyrene (commonly referred to as "styrofoam" and "packaging peanuts") is to avoid the use of it all together. There are many packaging alternatives that are light and affordable for shipping needs, we can choose to use reusable or compostable disposable cutlery, plates and drink cups, we can bring our own container from home when visiting restaurants - rather than asking for their "to-go" container you can use your own....

-- Prize Winners -- Last week's winners are: Lian Gouw's book: Only A Girl goes to Ms Kriz Ms Eastwood the grand prize winner of two books by Robin Marvel: a copy of: Awakening Consciousness - a boy's guide , Awakening Consciousness - a girl's guide -- New Prize Draw -- Announcing our new prize draw contest…we are accepting entries for the following prizes: Myra Lewin's Audio Book (audio): Freedom in Your Relationship with Food ...&... A signed copy of The Somebody Who (paperback) by Katie Gates Email me at: ldbrummet @ yahoo . com (remove spaces before sending) with the word "prize" in the subject line. Deadline will be on Oct 4 - noon (pacific). Find Dave & Lillian Brummet, excerpts from their books, information about their radio shows & free resources & articles at www.brummet.ca

Today is the first day of the three to four days that I am able to take off from work per month! Whew! I do look forward to my "days off"! lol Wish me luck - it is so hard for me to take days off, I love what I do and have soooo much of it to do! But this is a promise I made - to take 3-4 days off per month... so here I am. I've company for the last few days, it has been an incredible visit and I'm so pleased my Aunt & Uncle could make it out our way yet again. Today's post is really just to let everyone know that I'll be away for a few days - out of the office at least - so any communications between now & then will be dealt with on Monday. I encourage our blog readers to scroll through previous posts, and to also check out the archived broadcasts of our two radio shows - look to the right for links to our various sites, radio shows, etc. Don't forget to enter our prize draw this week! (see previous posts for information on this week's contest...

-- Quote of the Day -- “ The aim of life is to life, and to live means to be aware, joyously, drunkenly, serenely, divinely aware.” ~ Henry Miller -- Eco-Events -- Sept. 24 – National Punctuation Day (USA) Sept. 26 - Second Annual Sustainability Fair Location: Evergreen Brick Works - 550 Bayview Ave. Toronto -- Announcements -- Dave and I have visitors for the next few days and as such we have decided to cancel the Positive Eco-News episode that was scheduled to air today on Conscious Discussions Talk Radio. We do encourage you to scroll through the archived broadcasts, however, and listen to any that appeal to you. There are well over 200 broadcasts to choose from with discussions on everything from waste management, composting, gardening, living a fulfilling life, overcoming trauma/illness/loss and much more! -- Prize Draw Reminder -- Just a quick reminder to everyone to enter our prize draw this week for Lian Gouw's book: Only A Girl & two books by Robin Marvel: Awakening Co...

-- Quote of the Day -- “ (People) don’t know that they are actually causing these feelings, they don’t know how to manage them… and so they become victims of their own feelings. …Inner Bonding Facilitators help people learn how to take responsibility for their feelings, what they are doing to cause their pain and how to manage their feelings so they can move into personal empowerment. …They have to get beyond their conditioning. …Our left brain is the Wounded Self – the part of the mind that absorbs our fears and false beliefs, we have to move into the right brain which can access love and truth. …The wounded self’s intention is to try and be safe through some kind of control, where as when we move into the Loving Adult we are learning to be safe through taking loving action. ” ~ Margaret Paul – Aug 18, 2009 The quote above was excerpted from a recent interview that aired on Conscious Discussions Talk Radio show where Margaret and I talked about Healing Fear and Pain . To access the a...

-- Chatter -- Well this last couple of weeks have been insane as far as the schedule goes... between early fall yard and garden chores, lawn maintenance, October radio show outlines and other behind the scene activities, weeding and processing harvests - it has been a lot of work to balance the office and house work in with it all. WHEW! Finally a bit of a break in the crazy pace we've been keeping! :) My Aunt & Uncle are visiting later this week, and I expect that it will be an all-consuming visit when they are here. I so look forward to speaking with them... my Aunt had a health issue recently and to see her again will be an amazing gift. Today finds me in the office for most of the morning before I go out to finish painting the shed (last coat!) and the last few touch ups with stain on 2 boards we had to put on the fence recently. After that - another garden harvest. Sometime inbetween all this I'm to do the yoga excersises & walk the dogs, bake cookies and clean the...

*Help Dave & Lillian continue to offer fun prize contests every week, fresh interesting content in their daily blog, bi-weekly newsletter & their 2 radio shows by purchasing one of their three books that are available in hardcover, paperback or e-book formats - visit www.brummet.ca for information. -- Prize Draw Winners -- Congratulations to Liz & Judy who won a copy of She Wore Emerald Then (poetry on mother-daughter relationships) by Carolyn Howard-Johnson & Magdalena Ball - & - a copy of Shawna Stewart's suspense novel about a woman that is kidnapped, Twisted Lessons -- New Prize Draw Contest Begins Today!! -- This week - Sept 21-27th - we have 3 books offered as prizes: Lian Gouw's book: Only A Girl (www.liangouw.com) & 2 books by Robin Marvel: a copy of: Awakening Consciousness - a boy's guide -&- Awakening Consciousness - a girl's guide (aurasenseguide.com) To enter the draw all you need to do is: Email me at: ldbrummet @ yahoo . co...

-- Interview with Lillian Brummet -- Wow! I am so excited to share with you today an interview that was recently published by AKG Magazine, check it out via the link below: http://www.akgmag.com/article/Dave_and_Lillian_Brummet____Conscious_Writing_Inspires_Change.htm -- Recommended Resource -- Learn about composting here: http://www.thegreengirls.com/blog/?tag=/compost -- Authors Read Radio -- Featuring Shelley Seal today, who will be reading from The Weight of Silence - check it out at: Authors Read Radio Find Dave & Lillian Brummet, excerpts from their books, information about their radio shows & free resources & articles at www.brummet.ca

-- Don't forget - Prize Draw Reminder -- A copy of She Wore Emerald Then (poetry) by Carolyn Howard-Johnson -&- Magdalena Ball - a collaboration on the subject of motherhood & A copy of Shawna Stewart's book suspense novel, Twisted Lessons To enter the draw all you need to do is: Email me at: ldbrummet @ yahoo . com (remove spaces before sending) with the word "prize" in the subject line. Deadline will be Sept 20th - noon (pacific). -- Recommended Resource -- StopWaste.Org is a wonderful public agency that provides waste reduction assistance to mid-sized and large businesses in their region - click on the hyperlink above to find the org. -- Positive Eco-News -- *Source: Japanfs.org Tokyo Gas Co., a major natural gas utility servicing the Kanto area, installed a solar energy system at its branch office located in Kumagaya City, Saitama Prefecture, and initiated its operation in July 2009. The system utilizes heat captured by a solar energy collector to operat...

-- Conscious Discussions Talk Radio -- Today's featured guest is Stan Goldberg who has a vast amount of volunteer experiences working with those who are dying and he is here today to share with us how he has learned to live more fully by working in this venue. Stan is the author of 6 published books including: Lesson for the Living - a compassionate and inspiring memoir of this journey. Professionally, he is a Professor Emeritus of Communicative Disorders at San Francisco State University with a Ph.D. in Speech Pathology, a Masters in Political Theory, and a Bachelors in Philosophy. For over 25 years he taught, provided therapy, researched, and published in the area of learning problems and change. Dr. Goldberg has written numerous articles and delivered over 100 lectures and workshops throughout the United States, Latin America and Asia. In 2009 he was named by the Hospice Volunteer Association as Volunteer of the Year. Join us for this valuable, informative and touching discuss...

- - Quote of the Day - - “That intuition voice popped in my mind and said ‘Jill the world doesn’t have to work that way’ and it was at that moment I realized that I wanted to be somebody who showed everyone to love and embrace who they are and how to look for the beauty in everyone. …Love is the ultimate energy, and that we are all built with certain energies for a reason, and we all can be incredible communicators. …We all have the ability to enter a room and light it up and make everyone feel excited. …We are all so energy-sensitive; we pick up on each other’s energy. …Your thoughts dictate an energy that either disconnects people from you or draws people to you – we are human and we need to feel the full spectrum of our emotions. …So don’t ever stop your feelings but when they come up you can examine them, talk to them and work with them to develop your highest self.” ~ Jill Speigel - June 29, 2009 This quote above comes from an interview that aired on the Conscious Discussions Talk...

-- Conscious Discussions -- Today’s guest – Allison Huke – has a wonderful "green Mom" blog for eco-tips & positive living and because of Allison’s willingness to stand up and be the change she wants to see in the world, we just had to have her on the show! You know we love celebrating individual heroes from across the planet! She refers to herself as “granola on the inside” – Meaning: you don’t have to look like a tree-hugger to be one. Allison believes in taking small steps to green living, adopting one new practice or product at a time. Check out this archived interview by clicking on the hyperlinks here or look to the right for links to the most recent episodes of the Conscious Discussions Talk Radio show. -- Eco-Event -- World Resources Forum 2009 Date: September 15-16, 2009 Location: Davos, Switzerland For further details, please check the following websites. http://www.worldresourcesforum.org http://www.r2009.org/ -- Reduce Carbon Emissions by Gardening -- *Guest...

-- Prize Draw Announcements -- As promised I found some time this evening to post the winners of last week's prize draw. Mrs. Eastwood and Ms. Kriz have won a copy of Jane Stanfield's nonficition: Mapping Your Volunteer Vacation (www.janestanfieldwish.com)-&- an e-book, the recently revised edition of Towards Understanding (www.brummet.ca) --This Week's Prize Draw -- A copy of She Wore Emerald Then (poetry) by Carolyn Howard-Johnson -&- Magdalena Ball - a collaboration on the subject of motherhood (www.HowToDoItFrugally.com) ---&--- a copy of Shawna Stewart's book, Twisted Lessons Find Dave & Lillian Brummet, excerpts from their books, information about their radio shows & free resources & articles at www.brummet.ca

-- Quote of the Day -- “ An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity. ” ~ Martin Luther King, Jr. -- Sunday Gardening -- Join Dave & I on the Sunday Gardening segment of Conscious Discussion s radio today from 10-11 am (pacific) or catch the archive at your convenience. Today we'll share information on irrigation techniques and fall gardening chores. Simply click on the hyper-link above or look to the right for links to recent Conscious Discussion s episodes. *Help Dave & Lillian continue to offer fun prize contests every week, fresh interesting content in their daily blog, bi-weekly newsletter & their 2 radio shows by purchasing one of their three books that are available in hardcover, paperback or e-book formats - visit www.brumet.ca for information. *Prize draw winner & this week's prize draw contest will be announced later today. Find Dave & Lill...

-- Across The Pond Radio -- Barry Eva of the Across the Pond Radio show interviews me - Lillian Brummet :) - about the world of writing. We talked about handling contacts, dealing with emotions, managing friends/family/coworker & spouses... We discussed the importance of setting aside time for your creation process and having the self-discipline to follow through with your goals. We also talked about e-books, audio books and more! check it out via the hyper-link above, or the URL below. http://www.blogtalkradio.com/Across-the-Pond/2009/09/12/A-Book-and-a-Chat-with-Lillian-Brummet -- Purple Snowflake Marketing -- I'm so pleased to share with you that I read an excerpt on an online radio show this morning a few moments ago... from the 2nd edition of Purple Snowflake Marketing - How to Make Your Book Stand Out in a Crowd . The archive should be available in a few moments - do check it out! I'm excited to share an excerpt of my book in this way! www.blogtalkradio.com/authorsre...

** Don't forget to enter this week's prize draw to win a copy of my e-book: Towards Understanding or a copy of Jane Stanfield's book, Mapping Your Volunteer Vacation - Enter by emailing me with the word "prize" in the subject line: ldbrummet @ yahoo . com (*remove spaces before sending) -- Authors Read Radio -- Today on Authors Read radio we have Lian Gouw coming in to read an excerpt from her novel - Only A Girl - at 10 AM (pacific). To access this author's reading simply click on the hyper-link above. -- Positive Eco-News -- Source: Zero Waste San Diego Group I received an article recently that described the actions of a single business who has made a huge step to making the world a better place: " The Rincon Band of Luiseno Indians, which owns Harrah`s Rincon Casino & Resort, broke ground on a solar field that will generate one megawatt of clean energy. "We have a responsibility to join our neighbors in reducing greenhouse emissions. As a go...

-- Time Management -- Today's Conscious Discussions Talk Radio show features Karen Leland, a partner of the Sterling Consulting and Marketing Group – an international management consulting firm. Her knowledge of the world of marketing and time management will definitely appeal to small business owners and entrepreneurs, parents ...and really anyone who wants to manage their time better. The show airs live from 10-11 AM (pacific) and we'll have the chat room open for our live listeners, as always. The archive of today's interview will load shortly after the broadcast airs, and will be available for anyone around the globe to listen to at their convenience. Simply click on the hyper-linked show title (above) or look to the right for links to the Conscious Discussions Talk Radio show. -- Solar - A Hot Topic -- I first heard of this project (below) through a Twitter acquaintance; article location: http://solar.coolerplanet.com "... According to a Bloomberg News report, ...

- - Congratulations to Literacy Bridge Org - - One of our eco-friends, Forrest Carman, sent us the press release (below) about an incredible achievment for a fantastic organization - Literacy Bridge . Those of you who are regular listeners of Conscious Discussions Talk Radio might recall hearing about this organization in the past. Click on - Literacy Bridge -or head over to the radio show and look through the archives from there. This particluar interview aired on Feb 24, 2009. Literacy Bridge, a non-profit organization that provides children and adults with tools for knowledge sharing and literacy learning, today announced the receipt of a $25,000 grant award from Amazon.com. The grant will primarily support Literacy Bridge’s ongoing pilot program in rural Ghana, and will help the organization conduct user experience testing and impact evaluation for its Talking Book program. Since January 2009, hundreds of Ghanaian school children have used Literacy Bridge’s audio computers, or T...

-- Quote of the Day -- “ Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter .” ~Martin Luther King, Jr. -- Celebrating Diversity, Conservation & Eco-inventions -- September is Biodiversity & Conservation Month !! Recently a Twitter-friend put out some information on a great article that was posted on Planetizen - www.planetizen.com " A new study from the UK Royal Society has determined that geo-engineering techniques are technically feasible approaches to address high levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and the resulting global warming. ...The group did, however, caution that the viability of these techniques should not dissuade governments from other policies aimed at cutting emissions and energy use... or divert governments away from their efforts to reduce carbon emissions ." Apparently the group is looking at a variety of inventions from equipment that can scrub the air clean of CO2 and space equipment that can reflect the sun's r...

-- Events & Celebrations -- I hope that everyone had a relaxing long weekend ;) For those of you who are not already aware, here in Canada we just celebrated Labor Day - which is a time when we honor those who strove for a better workplace, better rights and health care for workers. In this time of economic strife, especially here in BC where we have the highest cost of living AND the lowest minimum wage in Canada - we can use this time to re-evaluate where our nation is right now and where we are heading in the future. September is National Prevention Month and National Ovarian Cancer Month - you will likely be seeing many articles in your favorite publications in the next few weeks dealing with these topics. -- Bringing Back Wildlife -- * Source: Japan For Sustainability Organization www.Japanfs.org Sapporo Maruyama Zoo (Hokkaido, Japan) launched the Steller's Sea Eagle Program in autumn 2008 under the Wildlife Restoration Project , with the aim of protecting the environment...

-- Congratulations! -- Congratulations to last week's prize draw winners - Virginia, who will receive a copy of Grooveyard's CD Place in Time - Judy, who will receive an autographed copy of Lily Stephen's novel The El-eventh Hour - Dawn, who will receive a signed copy of Susan Finelli's novel Behind the Shadows -- This week's prize contest has begun! -- Announcing our new prize draw contest... Between Sept 8 - Ending on Sept 13 we are accepting entries for the following prizes: * Jane Stanfield's nonficition book Mapping Your Volunteer Vacation Info at: www.janestanfieldwish.com -&- * a copy of the recently revised edition of Towards Understanding . Genre: Poetry, e-book format, 125 poems in chronological order. Info at: www.brummet.ca/towards.html To enter the draw all you need to do is: Email me at: ldbrummet @ yahoo . com (remove spaces before sending) with the word "prize" in the subject line. Deadline will be Sept 13th - noon (pacific). -- A...

-- Quote of the Day -- “This is the fun of writing, being able to investigate all different arenas. …I love the fact that I have to go do research and discover whole new areas. …Quality of product, to me, is an assistant to marketing – it is so much easier to market a book that you feel good about. …I had to learn so much; I had to figure out the distribution… how to get into stores and do book signings, where to do releases and how to get reviews on line… The best advice I could give out there is to enter awards. I think entering awards is paramount. …the doors that awards open up are amazing… it gives it the seal of confidence – so it says to the reviewer, blog owner, etc that “you are not wasting your time in taking this guy/or woman seriously”. …Don’t think you’re just going to send blog owners a letter to blog owner (etc) and say “hey I have a book out there, take a look at it”. You have to have a whole distribution system in place to get them a copy to them and work with them. ...

-- Writing Article, by Lillian Brummet -- I was invited to provide a guest posting for this writing blog: http://howtogetthinandfamous.blogspot.com - My article shares tips about the practical and organizational side of running a writing business of any kind. In this article, " Common Courtesy & Strong Organization Skills Accelerate Publicity Efforts ", I discuss how to manage your files, the importance of common courtesy and more. Check it out by clicking on one of the links above. -- The Book Cubby -- Yesterday, I was sent a notice by Zetta Hupf, owner of The Book Cubby to let me know that our radio show, Conscious Discussions , is featured on her site. She invited me via email to send some information about us for her site and I thought she might be looking at putting a link to one of our books... but instead she did this lovely featured spot that sits on the left hand side of her site where everyone can see it. You can view it by clicking on the hyper-link above. -...

-- Quote of the Day -- “ A small body of determined spirits fired by an unquenchable faith in their mission can alter the course of history .” ~ Mahatma Gandhi -- Conscious Discussions Talk Radio -- Today’s featured guest, Joseph Malki, is the co-founder and partner of Seven-Star, Inc – www.sevenstarevents.com - located in Asheville, North Carolina (USA). Seven Star Events is a global leader in greening the entertainment industry and has recently been honored with the EPA Waste Wise Award – no small feat, to be sure. Joseph and I had a wonderful discussion about how to the organization is run, the work they do and so much more. We discussed: Greencitiesmedia.com, GlobalExchange.com, Green Festivals, Green America, Coop America, SustainableWaves.com, Mother Earth News, Better World Telecom,...World Wildlife Federation ... and others. Learn how willing volunteers are to participate in green events, how to market the green event and educate the patrons. Discover alternative produ...

-- Quote of the Day -- “You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drop of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty.” – Mahatma Gandhi -- Conscious Discussions Talk Radio -- Today on Conscious Discussions Talk Radio we are featuring a pre-recorded discussion with a self-proclaimed Social Networking expert - Mike Volkin. Mike is the author of numerous successful books including – Social Networking For Authors. Today we learn about Friendfeed.com, Tweetbeat.com, tweetdeck.com, monitter.com, tweetlater.com and stumbleupon.com among others. Find out how to use social networking sites today by clicking on the hyperlink here or look to the right for links to our recent broadcasts on the Conscious Discussions Talk Radio program. -- Few days left to enter our prize draw!!! -- Email me at: ldbrummet @ yahoo.com (*remove spaces before sending*) with the word "prize" in the subject line before OCT 6th - for a chance to win one (or more) of these p...