Brummet's Conscious Blog

-- Quote of the Day -- "Every walk to the woods is a religious rite, every bath in the stream is a saving ordinance. Communion service is at all hours, and the bread and wine are from the heart and marrow of Mother Earth." ~ John Burroughs -- Conscious Discussions -- An award-winning, nationally published journalist, Daniel P. Smith left his career as a high school teacher behind in 2004 to pursue the writing life. Less than five months removed from the classroom and 23 years old, Smith teamed with Lake Claremont Press to pen On the Job: Behind the Stars of the Chicago Police Department, his first book and one inspired by his roots in a Chicago Police family. On top of all of this Daniel is also a noted speaker and is presently working with photographer and fellow Chicagoan Brian Palm to share the stories and images of Chicago's fading buildings. Daniel also serves on the Chicago Writer Association's board of directors. It was a sincere pleasure listening to all the...

-- Quote of the Day -- “You have faced the worst; you have had cancer – now prepare for the best. Get on with your life! …The whole thing is don’t wait for tomorrow. …Make the best of the day, get on with it and prepare for the best.” ~ Bobbie DeCordova-Hanks 03/20/08 Today's quote was taken from an interview on Conscious Discussions on March 20, 2008 with Bobbie DeCordova-Hanks. During this interview we discussed how we can overcome adversity, finding peace with chronic illness and making the most of our remaining days on this planet. To access this interview simply click on the hyper-linked show title here or look to the right for a link to the Conscious Discussions talk radio show. From there look for the archives in March, 2008 to find this interview. -- Positive Eco-News -- There is nothing worse than seeing garbage blowing down the street of your neighborhood, or finding broken shards of glass at the local swimming hole where children play. Wildlife is just as vulnerable t...

-- Conscious Discussions -- President of Super Sized Cycles, Joan Denizot, shares how plus-sized people now have the opportunity to access bicycles that easily support heavier weight, while providing a comfortable and safe ride - encouraging healthy lifestyles rather than undermining their efforts. Did you know that 1/3 of the US population is obese... and another 1/3 is overweight? Similar numbers can be found for the UK, Australia and Canada. Super Sized Cycles allows bicyclists of all sizes and physical abilities to do their part to improve the environment and save money on commuting while spending time with their family and friends and improve their health. Find out more by clicking on the hyper-linked show title here or look to the right for the link to the Conscious Discussions talk radio show. Click "play" beside today's episode... -- Events this Week -- This week we are celebrating - Brain Awareness Week (BAW) is an international campaign that began in 1996, t...

-- Quote of the Day -- A lot of people are doing stay-cations (staying at home for vacation time) or touring within their country's borders, rather than facing the larger expences involved in international vacation travel, and the environmental impact that incurs. Today's quote is in regards to "Volunteer Travel" - meaning using the vacation time to volunteer in a important organization to delve deeper into the culture, learn incredible new things, experience things from the hands-on level and leave a lasting legacy at the same time: “Volunteer tourism involves a wide array of options. If someone wants to hammer nails… become a part of a conservation effort – they can do that. But you can also do things like teaching English to little kids, they can give bottles to little kangaroos or do what I did recently (in Bali with volunteering in Sumatran Orangutan Society’s office) which was all office work and didn’t involve hard labor at all. You don’t have to have experienc...

-- Quote of the Day -- “…Writing has always come so naturally to me. I’ve been writing since I was ten years old. It always made me feel really good. …Writing has always consumes my time – You know, I have 4 published books, but I also have 4 self-published books and I have written a movie and I have, like, 4 other books that I am writing… My grandmother was so supportive and every single teacher at every single level at every single school I went to have encouraged me to pursue writing. …I wanted to be many things when I was growing up - I wanted to be a doctor and a classical pianist, but writing always came up. …When I was first looking for a publisher I looked at the Canadian Directory of Publishers - because I know that there are so many people who do horrible things online to take advantage of people.” ~ Ali Marsman – Jan 29, 2009 The quote above was taken from an interview on the Conscious Discussions radio program with Ali Marsman that aired on Jan 29, 2009. You can easily a...

-- Quote of the Day -- “…(Re: saying thanks to paramedics)… the very first thing is common courtesy. A lot of times people have a hard time making eye contact – it is the little things that mean a lot. One of the things I do is if I go into a restaurant somewhere and there is a paramedic crew in there somewhere… the crew doesn’t have to know, but I will by them their lunch. It’s a gesture to say ‘hey – we appreciate you’ …When things go bad in a situation and the worst case scenario happens people tend to want to blame someone because the outcome was not what they wanted it to be – but there are limits in medicine and rescue. …The gesture of them coming out and going into a burning building or going up on live wires to get somebody down… the fact that they showed up, took the equipment and did the best they could to try and save a life – ...that really needs to be recognized more.” ~ Morgan Lawrence 11/27/08 The quote above was taken from an interview with Morgan that aired on November...

-- Quote of the Day -- "To cherish what remains of the Earth & to foster its renewal is our only legitimate hope of survival." ~ Wendell Berry -- Brummet's Conscious Discussions Blog wins Award -- I am proud to announce that our blog has been given the PREMIO DARDOS Award by the Memosaic team - http://memosaic.blogspot.com in Feb, 2009. I just found out about this award! The Premio Dardos Award is given “ in recognition of cultural, ethical, literary, and personal values transmitted in the form of creative and original writing .” -- Eco - News -- The information & topic below originated from a very interesting discussion through the San Diego Zero Waste Group that I am a member of: Although toilet tissue can be made at similar cost from recycled material, it is the fiber taken from standing trees that help give it that plush feel, because the longer fibers allow manufacturers to create that fluffy, plush feel. Unfortunately, they also feel consumers desire a brig...