Brummet's Conscious Blog

-- Quote of the Day -- "The Greatest Gift You'll Ever Learn...Is Just To Love And Be Loved In Return" ~ From the movie Moulin Rouge -- Authors Read -- Jan 9th on Authors Read we featured Chris Ringler - a writer for twenty years; he tends to specialize in short story writing, generally dark fiction with a few children’s stories as well. Chris is currently based in Michigan (USA) and has 2 short story collection books so far, the first being Back from Nothing . He has just released the second book of short stories titled This Beautiful Darkness , which is a compilation of 13 dark short stories that lay on the borderlands between dark fiction and horror. He is currently working on a children's series and a novel while balancing work with several magazine publications. Along with writing, Chris is a painter and photographer. Drop by to hear the archived episode of Chris reading from Like Cracks in Still Water - click on the hyperlink here or look to the right for rece...

-- Authors Read Radio -- Jennifer Swanson is the award-winning author of the Penny and Rio series, which has two books to date already published and has already received the prestigious Mom's Choice Award for excellence in family friendly media. The first book in the series: Penny and Rio: The Mysterious Backyard Meeting is also a recipient of the Dove Foundation's Family Approved Seal. Jennifer’s second book Penny and Rio: The Locked Doghouse Mystery was recently released. The series focuses on a dynamic canine detective duo, as they set out to solve mysteries from their own backyard. Access today's episode by clicking on the Authors Read radio hyper-link here or look to the right to find recently aired broadcasts. Find Dave & Lillian Brummet, excerpts from their books, information about their radio shows & free resources & articles at www.brummet.ca

Thank you all for the incredible out-pouring of condolences and well-wishes during this time of family tragedy. We have been so moved by your kind and thoughtful letters, emails and messages. The family is doing better, handling this difficult issue very well despite the raw emotions - and we, Dave and I, hope to be back in the office for you all by Jan 11th. In the meantime I'm trying to keep up with the emails as I have time, please allow me time to get to your messages while I play catch-up in the office thru to the middle of January. Well, I'm 40 now... the big FOUR-O - which has me feeling a little differently, that is for sure. all the birthdays ending in O tend to have a big impact on me... the others not so much. :) Well, I've got to rush off again - appointments and duties call - I will, however, be back in the office almost daily now and will be back to normal by Jan 15th. In sincere appreciation, Lillian Find Dave & Lillian Brummet, excerpts from their book...

Apologies to all blog readers... however over the next few days I will not be in the office much - due to a terrible family tragedy. My terminally ill parents committed double suicide and we are conusmed with the loss and the official things one must do at this time. Please be patient with us over the next few days. We'll be back to work as usual as soon as possible. Find Dave & Lillian Brummet, excerpts from their books, information about their radio shows & free resources & articles at www.brummet.ca

-- Quote of the Day -- “ Volunteers, like I do, find deep joy and meaning in this work. We require volunteers to be 12 years old… some of the work is very heavy, such as in the barn – you know, bales of hay can weigh 40lbs. But there are a million and one things that people can do to help. …Some of our older volunteers will write thank you notes, a lot of the men will help with carpentry and vehicle maintenance and road repair. ...People sign on a 4-hour shift for the same day each week. …What I’ve had to learn (as director) is have my eye on a bunch of things at once. We now have 6000 members in 48 states, members in 18 different countries; we have up to 150 volunteers and 10 staff. I find the very best person for the various roles – my job is to support them, clarify the expectation and support them, be encouraging be there for them – and to ensure that everything that we do is in line with the focus. …We have a 9-page waiting list because of the economy – so who is going to die if t...

-- Metal Recycling -- According to a recent press release: “ The latest figures from APEAL (the Association of European Producers of Steel for Packaging) show that 70% of steel packaging are recycled in Europe .” Over 2.5 million tons of food and drinks cans and other steel containers were recycled in 2008, which is a much higher return rate than any other packaging material (plastic 29%, beverages 33%, glass 62%), saving 3.9 million tons of CO2. Belgium attained the highest recycling rate for food and drink cans at 93%. The fact that steel is magnetic makes it the easiest and most cost effective material to sort and recover. Steel does not lose strength or inherent qualities in the recycling process. -- Recommended Resources -- Information on the fascinating world of recycling: Recycling International : www.recyclinginternational.com The Worldwide Orphans Foundation - http://wwo.org - transforming the lives of orphaned children by helping them to become independent, productive membe...

-- Quote of the Day -- “… If we take a step that is away from who we are then our energy is drained away… we really only feel overwhelmed when we think it all has to be done at once and it really is a matter of …shifting perspective so that you can start to go in the direction of your well-being. …For social occasions, I like to serve a sweet potato or sweet pumpkin pie; you don’t want to cook honey, because cooking honey actually causes it to change into a toxin for our system. But you could use something like a maple syrup as a sweetener… or applesauce …when we choose food that has a lot of life force in it in the first place, it doesn’t need sweeteners .” ~ Oct 29, ’09 – Myra Lewin Today's quote was taken from the Conscious Discussions Talk Radio show interview that aired on Oct 29, 2009. This discussion focused on a Wholesome Relationship with Food - check it out by clicking on the hyper-links here :) -- Zero-Waste Navigation -- Source: www.japanfs.org The "Zero-Waste Na...