"We are survival machines - robot vehicles blindly programmed to preserve the selfish molecules known as genes. This is a truth which still fills me with astonishment."
--Richard Dawkins (The Selfish Gen)

"Forest Gump's favorite phrase "Life is like a box of chocolates" has entered the language as a way of explaining that one never knows what the next experience will be. It's no wonder the screenwriter chose food imagery to convey his philosophy. Food peppers everyday speech to such an extent that it's practically unavoidable. We fish for compliments, beef about injustice, butter up the powers that be, and ham it up to get a laugh. A pretty woman's a hot tomato, a brainy student's an egghead, a muscled he-man is beefcake, and a coward is just plain chicken. We table discussions, tap sources, cook up new ideas, pull down menus on our computer screens, and offer recipes for success. We toast the bride and groom, roast our fellows at honorific dinners, cajole people who are slow as molasses to wake up and smell the coffee, act cool as a cucumber when we get caught with our hands in the cookie jar, and turn beet red when we are obliged to eat our words. Dollars to donuts you can bet that this week's selection of terms is by no means the whole enchilada." -Edythe Preet (epreet@cox.net)

Learning English idioms and phrases that aren't meant to be taken literally cause such headaches for those trying to learn the language ;) I want to know the origins of those phrases because when I tutor kids who are learning English, they inevitably ask about them at some point. I haven't tutored for a long time, but I only miss it a little. I've been looking at online tutoring lately.

"The happiness of life is made up of minute fractions--the little, soon-forgotten charities of a kiss or smile, a kind look or heartfelt compliment."
--Samuel Taylor Coleridge, poet (1772-1834)

Lake Tahoe is so beautiful. Around here its water clarity is unrivaled. Unfortunately, every year it loses 1 foot of clarity due to pollution, jet skiing, human waste run-off, etc... Right now, we can see about 130 ft down into the lake. I wish a law would be passed to prevent jet skiing at least, like




Lake Mashu in Japan, which is classed (with Lake Baikal in Siberia), as one of the most transparent lakes of the world.

Lake Tahoe Photo (c)J.T. Ravizé

Lake Mashu Photo (C)Komai Masaya (site is in Japanese)

Creative Tip
~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you tend to be a worrier, write your worries down on pieces of paper,
then release them by ripping them up and burning or [tossing] them. Let them
go. Repeat this ritual daily until you feel your worries no longer have a
grip on you.

(c) 2001 Sharon Good

I tore up a photo of K.C. and put it in the bunny poop pile one time. It did make me feel a little better ;)

"Water is patient; it can stagnate and let itself be coated with scum if
need be. It is as gentle as the morning's dew. It is non-confrontational,
even respectful, in circumventing the rocks in a stream. It makes room for
everything that enters its pools. It accommodates by assuming the shape of
any vessel it is poured into. And it is humble, seeking always the lowest
level. Yet along with -- or rather because of -- these adaptive, yielding
properties, it is ultimately irresistible; it carves canyons out of stone."
-- Huston Smith