Writers Unbound

Mary, we’re approaching the end of the wisdom series, here’s ‘Walking’

http://www.mymillionairebuddy.com/ebooks/wk77-walking/wk-77-thoreau.zip

Crnr Greville & Perth
Prahran
Victoria 3181
Australia
–

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PD9Gl8IxlQM

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_David_ThoreauJust a bit more background:
Henry David Thoreau (born David Henry Thoreau; July 12, 1817 – May 6, 1862)[1] was an American author, poet, naturalist, tax resister, development critic, surveyor, historian, philosopher, and leading transcendentalist. He is best known for his book Walden, a reflection upon simple living in natural surroundings, and his essay, Civil Disobedience, an argument for individual resistance to civil government in moral opposition to an unjust state.

Thoreau’s books, articles, essays, journals, and poetry total over 20 volumes. Among his lasting contributions were his writings on natural history and philosophy, where he anticipated the methods and findings of ecology and environmental history, two sources of modern day environmentalism. His literary style interweaves close natural observation, personal experience, pointed rhetoric, symbolic meanings, and historical lore; while displaying a poetic sensibility, philosophical austerity, and “Yankee” love of practical detail.[2] He was also deeply interested in the idea of survival in the face of hostile elements, historical change, and natural decay; at the same time imploring one to abandon waste and illusion in order to discover life’s true essential needs.[3]

He was a lifelong abolitionist, delivering lectures that attacked the Fugitive Slave Law while praising the writings of Wendell Phillips and defending abolitionist John Brown. Thoreau’s philosophy of civil disobedience influenced the political thoughts and actions of such later figures as Leo Tolstoy, Mahatma Gandhi, and Martin Luther King, Jr.

Thoreau is sometimes cited as an individualist anarchist.[4] Though Civil Disobedience calls for improving rather than abolishing government – “I ask for, not at once no government, but at once a better government”[5] – the direction of this improvement aims at anarchism: “‘That government is best which governs not at all;’ and when men are prepared for it, that will be the kind of government which they will have.”[5]

Contents [hide]
1 Early life and education
2 Return to Concord: 1837-1841
3 Civil disobedience and the Walden years: 1845–1849
4 Later years: 1851-1862
5 Death
6 Beliefs
7 Influence
8 Critique
9 Works
10 References
11 Further reading
12 External links

[edit] Early life and education
He was born David Henry Thoreau[6] in Concord, Massachusetts, to John Thoreau (a pencil maker) and Cynthia Dunbar. His paternal grandfather was of French origin and was born in Jersey.[7] His maternal grandfather, Asa Dunbar, was known for leading Harvard’s 1766 student “Butter Rebellion”,[8] the first recorded student protest in the United States.[9] David Henry was named after a recently deceased paternal uncle, David Thoreau. He did not become “Henry David” until after college, although he never petitioned to make a legal name change.[10] He had two older siblings, Helen and John Jr., and a younger sister, Sophia.[11] Thoreau’s birthplace still exists on Virginia Road in Concord and is currently the focus of preservation efforts. The house is original, but it now stands about 100 yards away from its first site.

Portrait of Thoreau from 1854.Amos Bronson Alcott and Thoreau’s aunt both wrote that “Thoreau” is pronounced like the word “thorough”, whose standard American pronunciation rhymes with “furrow”.[12] In appearance he was homely, with a nose that he called “my most prominent feature.”[13] Of his face, Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote: “[Thoreau] is as ugly as sin, long-nosed, queer-mouthed, and with uncouth and rustic, though courteous manners, corresponding very well with such an exterior. But his ugliness is of an honest and agreeable fashion, and becomes him much better than beauty.”[14] Thoreau also wore a neck-beard for many years, which he insisted many women found attractive. However, Louisa May Alcott reportedly mentioned to Ralph Waldo Emerson that Thoreau’s facial hair “will most assuredly deflect amorous advances and preserve the man’s virtue in perpetuity.”[15]

Some how haven’t read her books yet? The psychological character development and excellent regional settings creates a profound narrative.

Annie Proulx at UNM Summer Sunset Series
Annie Proulx will present Coming Out of the Mountains, a lecture about life and writing. Prouix’s “The Shipping News” won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, the National Book Award for Fiction, and the Irish Times International Fiction Price. She has written two other novels and three collections of short stories. The lecture is FREE and open to all.
Lecture Saturday, June 20, 6pm
Zimmerman Library on UNM Campus
(505) 277-5627
Sixty Water Weaving Women at La Orilla Canal
This ritual performance place the afternoon of the Summer Solstice is intended to express and encourage gratitude and awareness of the water source that flows through the city - a constant presence to a life force that is rarely noticed. The performance will take place on the west side of the canal. Inspired by the tradition of women as water bearers, each woman carried her own pitcher in the ritual as a symbol of her personal commitment to guard and conserve this precious resource. The combined waters carried by these 60 women represent the collective impact of their individual commitment.
Special Event Sunday, June 21, 2:30pm Albuquerque Open Space, near the Visitor Center
6500 Coors Blvd. NW, Albuquerque
(505) 897-8831
cabq.gov/openspace
11th Annual

Life on the Rocks: Katherine Wells
Katherine Wells talks about her life and her exploration of the petroglyphs on her new land from her book “Life on the Rocks: One Woman’s Adventures in Petroglyph Preservation”.
Book signing/reading Tuesday, June 2, 7pm
Bookworks
4022 Rio Grande Blvd. NW
(505) 344-8139
bkwrks.com

Time: Tuesday, June 2, 2009 7:00 p.m.
Location: Bookworks
Phone: 505-344-8139
Life on the Rocks: One Woman’s Adventures in Petroglyph Preservation (UNM Press, $21.95)

Katherine Wells’s obsession with petroglyphs (images pecked on stone) began in the 1960s. Three decades later, after careers as a teacher, a businessperson, and an artist in Southern California, Wells and Lloyd Dennis, her partner, purchased almost two hundred acres near Espanola in northern New Mexico. The large boulders on the property contained many examples of rock art from previous Native inhabitants and the lure was overwhelming. Wells describes the beginning of her new life and her exploration of the petroglyphs on her new land. Meeting New Mexico archaeologists and local rock art aficionados, and locating previously published information about petroglyphs and the prehistoric inhabitants of the Espanola area, Wells learned to identify the time periods when the glyphs were made and to understand many of the motifs found among the more than six thousand petroglyphs on the site.

Life on the Rocks: One Woman’s Adventures in Petroglyph Preservation(Trade Paperback)
by Wells, Katherine
Format: Trade Paperback
Price: $21.95
Published: University of New Mexico Press, 2009
Inventory Status: Usually Ships in 1-5 days

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Katherine Wells’s obsession with petroglyphs (images pecked on stone) began in the 1960s. Three decades later, after careers as a teacher, a businessperson, and an artist in Southern California, Wells and Lloyd Dennis, her partner, purchased almost two hundred acres near EspaAola in northern New Mexico. The large boulders on the property contained many examples of rock art from previous Native inhabitants and the lure was overwhelming.
Wells describes the beginning of her new life and her exploration of the petroglyphs on her new land. Meeting New Mexico archaeologists and local rock art aficionados, and locating previously published information about petroglyphs and the prehistoric inhabitants of the EspaAAola area, Wells learned to identify the time periods when the glyphs were made and to understand many of the motifs found among the more than six thousand petroglyphs on the site.
In addition to discovering all she could about her surroundings, Wells worked with Dennis to design and construct three buildings on their property, each constructed of straw bales. Each of their experiences introduced these transplanted New Mexicans to the oft-cited definition of “maAAana”: “not today.” However, …

“One night about eleven years ago I had a dream, more like a vision, so real and stunning in clarity I never forgot it. Although I knew it was extremely important I didn’t at the time know what it meant in terms of my life. I’ve shared this dream with only three close friends. However I now feel a need to more fully claim it as I begin to understand how it relates to my life path.

THE VISION: It’s a late night, very dark and quiet outside, peaceful. I’m sitting cross legged before a warm fire inside a small teepee. It’s barely big enough to hold four people, but I’m alone. My hide dress is adorned with paint and beads and my hair runs in two braids down my shoulders. I cuddle into the warmth of the fire and watch its orange glow dance over the teepee walls. I know, without being told, that I’m supposed to wait. Something life altering is about to happen, something private and sacred. I feel at ease, as if I’ve known all my life that this moment would happen.

Suddenly the entrance flap is pushed aside and the oldest woman I’ve ever seen enters. She too is dressed in soft hide. Thick dove-white hair hangs in two braids tied with leather thong. Her ancient face is creased by thousands of emotions that tell the history of humankind. As she kneels on the ground beside me I notice a glowing white hoop held reverently in her weathered hands. I gasp in awe and instantly feel the beauty of the world passes through me. I’m overcome with love. The elder slowly shakes her head knowingly and extends the hoop towards me, watching my face with her black raven eyes. She speaks: “For as long as I can remember I have been the Keeper of the Circle, but my time has come to an end and I go on a different journey. Now you are the Keeper of the Circle. Never let it be broken. I am counting on you.” Before I could respond she rose and vanished into the night. I sat holding the glowing circle and asked, “But what am I supposed to do? What does this mean?” I heard her voice, “You will know when the time comes. You will know.”

The dream ended and when I awoke I felt energetically altered, filled with love and compassion so expansive it encompassed the entire world. I was so in love I wanted to weep for all of humanity, all life. However, it was only recently that I began to grasp what this vision means in terms of my life path. Last month I gave a talk about my life in the Australian rainforest at the Institute of American Indian Art (which was videoed). A few days later, while editing the film clip I share below, my vision of eleven years ago came hurtling back to me, out of nowhere. I was stunned that I had called this part of my talk “The Great Circle of Love”. Pieces of a puzzle began to fall into place. I still have a long path to walk, but then I have seen myself living as long the elder in my vision. And I see more clearly where I’m headed. Robin Easton www.nakedineden.com

This week I have posted a portion of video about my music. Many of you already know I can’t read or write music, but dream it at night, as well as often hear it in my head while going about my day. It is all original music that just overcomes me and demands to be expressed. I’m compelled to sit at the piano and play what is moving through me. I’ve no idea what keys I’m playing; my fingers just seem to have a life of their own.

When I was four years old my mother sent me to take piano lessons, but after the first lesson the teacher told my mother that I had no “aptitude” for it. Then my mother tried again when I was eleven and on the first lesson I refused to play and the teacher became angry, called my mother and said (through clenched teeth Lol), “Do…NOT…send…Robin…back.” (With the word EVER silently attached to the warning. Lol! ) However, I must have had a good ear because when I reached high school I’d occasionally play something on the piano that I’d heard on the radio. I was proficient enough that friends thought I could read music, but that only happened a handful of times, and there ended my piano playing days until I started to dream music in the Australian Rainforest.

Music is one of the truly great gifts in my life. It came to me after much deep personal growth and has stayed with me every since. I still don’t read or write music and have had no training (and still have no desire to), yet I play piano or flute almost every day. I believe that music isn’t something separate from us; it’s who we are. We must be aware of a culture (especially USA) that tends to “can” music and consign it to stereo-types, professionals, “famous” people (chuckles) and those with music degrees from Robin’s blog www.nakedineden.com

Film Producer/Personal Manager

http://bronzeword.wordpress.com/2009/05/09/nhcc-latino-writers-conference-faculty-marilyn-r-atlas/

An award-winning producer and personal manager, Marilyn R. Atlas is equally at home in the worlds of film, television, and live theater. Among her credits as film producer are “Real Women Have Curves” for HBO, which won the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival, “A Certain Desire,” starring Sam Waterson, and “Echoes,” which won the Gold Award at the 1991 Texas International Film Festival. In addition to producing a variety of programming for the cable/ pay TV market, Marilyn has served as a production consultant on the film “Call Me.” She was also involved as a producer in the development of the MOW “Nightwalker” and “Playing for Keeps.”

In live theater, Marilyn co-produced the West Coast premiere of the musical “God Bless You Mr. Rosewater” by Ashman and Menken, writers of both “Little Shop of Horrors” and “Beauty and the Beast.” She also co-produced the award-winning play “To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday,” which was made into a film starring Michelle Pfeiffer and Peter Gallagher. Her additional credits as a producer in live theater include “Today’s special” and “As I Sing.”

Marilyn has served as Casting Director for feature films, including John Frankenheimer’s “The Equals” and “The Whiz.” She is a founding member of Women in Film’s Luminas Committee which supports the portrayal of women in non-stereotypical roles in film and television. Along with director and actress Dorothy Lyman, Marilyn founded ADT, a director’s theatre, and served on its advisory board.

Marilyn is a member of NALIP, the National Association of Latino Independent Producers. She has spoken at their Writers’ and Producers’ retreats, the DGA-sponsored LA Asian Film Festival, as well as various other symposia for the Sherman Oaks Experimental College, Santa Fe Screenwriters Conference, and Richard Krevolin’s USC Screenwriting Retreat covering such topics as: “Creating for the Actor: Carving Memorable, Inhabitable Characters” and “Ever-Evolving Marketplace: What’s Hot, Why and for How Long…” Marilyn has also taught several actor workshops on creating “Multiple Viewpoints – One Core” for actors as well as “Acting and Auditioning for Producers.” She has spoken at the Texas Bar Association and was a guest lecturer at Whittier Law School.

Marilyn has spoken at various colleges, including Skyline, Stephens, and at the University of Texas – San Antonio’s Adalante Latino Film Festival. She has served as the professional-in-residence (in theater and film) at Ball State University, and was the guest speaker at the International Writer’s Conference at Hollins University. She structured an accredited, intensive course at Skyline College in San Francisco covering the inception, development and promotion of a script in “The Business of Screenwriting: The Idea – and its Execution.”

Marilyn is working on a development slate that includes “Lola Goes to Roma” and “Loteria.” For television, she’s in development on the pilot “MacArthur Park,” first developed for Showtime, and recently sold the pilot “Untitled Posse Project” to ABC Family. She set up the MOW “Bitterroot” at the Hallmark Channel and Starz. “Suburban Turban” is set for late Spring 2009 production. She is also presently developing a musical adaptation of “Real Women Have Curves” with the Goodman Theatre in Chicago to be part of their Latino Festival in 2009.

In addition to Marilyn’s film/TV credits, she has sold the novels “Chasing the Jaguar” to HarperCollins and “Hungry Woman in Paris” to Grand Central Publishing.

Marilyn is committed to projects that reflect diversity and portray non-stereotypical characters.

“How may I serve?” Dyer
Want an extensive course on love and spirituality? Go to youtube to find many more videos from these aauthors and other people reflecting on the realm of spirit and love in the world.

You may not really need to have such homemade instruction. Ultimately the journey grows from within where you can connect deeply with your faith and beliefs. Life proides you with a glorious opportunity to explore spirit. If you already have much to share, then write and organize these feelings for others. I enjoy videos such as these simply because they are uplifting, and help me move out of my narrow preoccupation of daily circumstance.

Create a tone for your work. What vibration do you choose to carry with ou? Does love outshine fear and worry? Does faith grow strong in face of hardship? Does reflection and prayer become misplaced during lifestorms fury? (All those who say no, jump for joy!)

snap dragons blossom
early cool sunny morn
birds sing choirs to God

cats cry for breakfast
wind tickles their ears
walk barefoot upon the earth

i pray with gratitude
for flowing love within
i plant seeds that may
feed the hearts of those i meet
smile with earth and goddess
reach out unto the world
and heavens
poem by mary macintyre 5/17/09