Books for Christmas

If anyone on Blogland Lane can't come to a book signing but would like a signed book for Christmas, feel free to email me leighrussell@live.co.uk and we can sort something out.

It's such a long time since I visited here. My debut thriller, Cut Short, has been shortlisted for the Crime Writers Association New Blood Dagger Award and is now a bestseller, as is my second, Road Closed, published this year. Yesterday I delivered the MS for the third in my series, Dead End, to my publisher. Now I have to finish working on the next book which is due with my agent mid-January. In the meantime, life has gone crazy with newspaper reporters turning up at my events, or even coming to work to interview me - three photographers wanting to snap me this week for different newspaper articles and I hate being photographed! I've been out in bookstores every weekend and as soon as school breaks up on the 17th I embark on a 5 day signing tour starting on the 18th and finishing on the 22nd December. No wonder I haven't had time to visit Blogland Lane for a while!

A Hen-pecked Poem

Point of Inspiration Chicken/Cock

Chickens Were Once Chicks

Chickens have wings but don’t fly.

Chicks are baby chickens.

Chicks are small, soft, and make a gentle peeping sound

And are found in Easter baskets wearing

baby colors; powder blue, pink, yellow and green.

Chickens are domesticated and designed for consumption,

often cultivated with large breasts and small brains.

(He’s a thigh man. I like breasts.)

Chickens cross the road, chicks follow and flatten.

Do you want to play chicken? It’s game where

we drive toward each other at high speed,

the one who wants to survive the most? What a chicken!

Chicken soup, a healing broth,

Chicken Soup for the Soul, a sweet comforting story,

A chick flick, movies made for girls with predictable plot lines,

paint-by-number characters, mostly pink.

Chick lit, not solely romantic, empowering

Jane Austin and Bridget Jones.

And Hen Lit, matrons wearing red hats

and hot flashes. We're no spring chickens!

Chicken Little?   

Walking around like a chicken with her head cut off!

The sky is falling! The sky is falling!

Crazy chick disease, it’s a softening of the brain.

Chick magnet/chicken coop

Many chickens but only one

Cock, a member reference, substantial,

Cock-a-doodle-do!

He’s no chicken, nor is he a chick.

Chick, an American slang term for a young girl.

Cynthia Pittmann


Audio Recording  (Does the recording play on your computer?)

Published on Oasis Writing Link as a Magpie

Autumn on Blogland Lane

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Hello neighbors,

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It's fall on Blogland Lane, in my yard, and I'm making apple cobbler and carving pumpkins. I'm also on the lookout for a miracle or two and I found a couple too good not to share.

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Anybody for poetry slams? Or open studios? Charity events? We've been too quiet lately, don't you think?
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♥

Music

A little music at the art exhibition?
http://www.youtube.com/user/southgateandleigh#p/a/u/0/DKnIg135Dxw

Blogland's Art Fair

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In a little yard in front of a Magic Cottage, an Art Fair (and Yard Sale) will take place.

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I wish my neighbors on Blogland Lane could come.

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I wish there is a way for sharing side by side place in the same way we share the sky and the stars.

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Some of our blogging neighbors will come to the little yard in front of a Magic Cottage.

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And to those who cannot come: we are still a community, together strong.

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I am still the mayor of Blogland Lane.

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I know what I'm talking about!

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love

kj

WHERE WE ARE Southgate & Leigh

http://music.southgateandleigh.com

I'm telling all my friends about a new songwriting duo, Southgate & Leigh, who have released their debut album WHERE WE ARE. Southgate composed the music and the singer Leigh wrote the lyrics.

A Visit from Earl While I was Away

Beauford Delaney, "Throw it in the Creek" c. 1938

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Oasis Reflection;

Turbulence and Change
 I remember standing on a street corner with the black  painter Beauford Delaney down in the Village, waiting for the light to  change, and he pointed down and said, “Look.” I looked and all I saw was  water. And he said, “Look again,” which I did, and I saw oil on the  water and the city reflected in the puddle. It was a great revelation to  me. I can’t explain it. He taught me how to see, and how to trust what I  saw. Painters have often taught writers how to see. And once you’ve had  that experience, you see differently.*  James Baldwin, Paris Review 1984

A lot has been happening lately, and life events are encouraging me to look in new ways.

The painting above references the folk wisdom that if something gets bad enough it should be thrown away, "Throw it in the creek." This is a disturbing thought, because I keep thinking of the Bosnian girl whose brother filmed her throwing black and white puppies in the river. You wonder how could those puppies be bad? I'm making an unsettling connection, but I've just returned from taking my daughter off to college. I don't know quite what to do with myself right now; however, I am delighted that she got into a good school and that she is enjoying her new life. Ultimately, that is what makes me the happiest. Still, we don't realize how our daily lives are shaped by our loved ones until they are away.

My college girl entering Mystic Pizza

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While I was off the island of Puerto Rico, Sr. Earl, the hurricane, came to visit. My husband called me during the storm, which he was driving through, and gave me a blow by blow (pun?) account! I hear the loud wind while I yell, "Don't talk to me! Drive! You might get hurt!" Then he says, "All the lights are gone. I can't see the road." Finally, I told him I couldn't take the stress anymore- and it was making me not hungry-so please hang  up the phone. Oh, I know how bad that sounds! But it was such a surprising response from me that he did get off the phone.

I was at Mystic Pizza when he called. Do you know the restaurant in Mystic, Connecticut? It was the location of the movie, Mystic Pizza with Julia Roberts. The movie features three teenage girls who all work at the pizzeria and are trying to figure out what to do with their lives; one is reluctant to marry, another attracts the son of a wealthy family (Julia Roberts), and one is saving up for Yale University. I kept thinking of the story, while we were looking around the area. I never realized that Connecticut was such a sea oriented society. We stopped at the Portuguese Fisherman, and had a very large breakfast! (but no seafood!) It's only open for breakfast and brunch. (I think it should be called a diner now instead of a restaurant.)

Waffles cannot be contained on the plate! Huge serving sizes!

The entire area seems to be patriotic and though I may be mistaken, it also seemed conservative. The flags were at half-staff because of an officer who was killed in the line of duty. (I first wrote half-mast but I think that term is best used on ships.) When I was seventeen, I served in the US Navy for four years and I think that this coastal area of Connecticut could be called a Navy town- only it's Coast Guard all the way! I felt that familiar but distant feeling of being around many people who are connected to the military in some way, either business or family. Veterans were proud of their service, and one waitress talked about her boyfriend overseas. Everywhere, the presence of the military was strongly felt. I asked a group of young men for directions and one carefully groomed man stopped in the middle of the road to make sure I got the correct directions. A car honked at us for making them wait, but I just thought that guy was so helpful with his southern accent and polite manner, he probably was in the Coast Guard, (Yes, I know all servicemen are not gentleman- I was in the Navy, after all!)
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When I arrived home, the yard was full of hurricane debris; branches and abundant piles of long pine needles. It smelled a bit like Christmas. It took a half day to clean up the yard. I was thinking about hurricanes as I raked and washed.  

A hurricane moves in a wide circle, the outer rings bring light rain, and as it picks up strength winds blow and bend trees. If it passes directly over, there is a time when it's profoundly hot, humid and the wind is still. It's a false calm because the storm is getting closer, but if you understand the hurricane's process, you have time to organize for the next ring of wind and rain to arrive. Usually, it's light rain again but then quickly turns into a dangerous storm. In the mountains, trees fall, mud slides, and a telephone pole may fall. But an amazing thing happens- you find the nicest people out on the road waving flashlights and yelling to passing cars (and complete strangers) that the road is blocked. "Slow down! Turn around! Be careful!" And though you cannot hear them, you know they must be warning you of approaching danger because they are risking their own lives while standing out in the storm. You slow down, see the telephone poll, and turn around as my husband did on the night that Earl brushed passed Puerto Rico. He was saved from a car crash because of those people shining their dim flashlights and yelling to save a stranger with all of their might.
The windy rings of change are turbulent, too, but don't you love it when you find heroes along the way? It's in the difficult times that we know how best to serve each other.These were my thoughts as I cleaned up after the storm. I'm having a storm in my life, but it's good. I have so much to celebrate and be thankful for!

Waiting at the San Juan airport.

Hi Neighbors! Thanks for reading- I'm sending you good thoughts.

*Thanks to writer, Cynthia Newberry Martin, for the quote and inspiration.

Book Recommendation

You've all seen the movie (HAVEN'T YOU????) but have you read the book? Read this book. The movie does not let the book down at all and the reading completely enriches the movie. Lots of inexpensive copies on Amazon.

A Lesson in the Tarot

A good scare is worth more

to a man (and woman) than good advice.

Ed Howe

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When I was barely twelve, at my request my Mother bought me my first Tarot deck. If you don't already know (unlikely), the tarot is a means of looking ahead & providing guidance. I have quite a collection of books on the Tarot, and in every one the death card, welcomed by nobody, talks of rebirth as well as physical or relationship or emotional death per se.
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Recently I bought myself a little pocket book aptly called 'The Little Black Book of Tarot.' I like it alot.
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I read what it said about the Death card and I like the message well enough that I want to share it:

'Don't waste time. The death card doesn't mean that you, or anyone

you know, will die soon. But be a little scared anyway. Be careful

not to squander your precious days, or go numb to the daily miracles

of life. Don't put off your 'I love you's'. Because, right smack in

the middle of the Major Arcana of the Tarot, Number 13 drops in to

remind you that you are mortal."
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Love
kj

Sunrise at Race Point in Provincetown on Cape Cod in New England in the USA

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Dear Neighbors,

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I haven't posted for too long. I love how much sharing there is on Blogland Lane. From all over the world...

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Yesterday morning I pushed myself out of bed to witness a sunrise at the ocean. Sometimes I forget how magical the world really is. We are not really alone. I'm glad I know that.

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Love

kj

Holy Birman Vs. Chihuahua

Nearly ready to go...................:)

Soon I will meet Emma, Bliss and Stella!from #11 and #9
Although I live at #5 it will be the first time in all these years.......
Hope you enjoy these sweethearts I just love to see the difference in fighting skills and approach (playing) between cat and dog.
When they get along there is nothing more heartwarming to watch then 2 different animals accepting, appreciating and loving each other.

HAW to everyone!
♥M♥

Neighbours are more like friends!!

Happy Friendship Day neighbours... After a long time..! How have you been guys..? Hope all of you have maintained a balanced physical and mental health... :) Don't forget to catch me at #602... I'm offering you guys a friendly chat with a cup of tea with a friendly flavour! :) Good luck!

Hey Soul Sista...

<3

Life as an Author

I haven't been to my little purple house on the hill for a long time. I've been away, on an extended book tour, but had to pop back to share my exciting news...
Busy as I am, what would induce me to get up at 5.30 in the morning? The mystery grew darker as I hurried to catch the first train up to London. Was I going on holiday? No, although the reason for my excursion begins with the same letter… Sorry, as a crime writer I tend to think in ‘clues’, but without more ado, I’ll come clean and confess: I was travelling to Harrogate as an invited guest at the ITV3 Crime Thriller Season Launch Ceremony sponsored by Specsavers.
The shortlist for the Crime Writers’ Association John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger was announced at a lunchtime ceremony at the The Crown Hotel, Harrogate during the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival. This award is made in memory of CWA founder John Creasey, for first books by previously unpublished writers.
CWA Chairman Tom Harper said: “The CWA Dagger Awards have always enjoyed huge prestige among crime fiction fans and authors. The shortlists this year are incredibly strong, and that for the John Creasey has some exciting new talents, all working at the top of their game.”
The shortlisted books:
Acts of Violence, Ryan David Jahn (Pan)
Cut Short, Leigh Russell (No Exit Press)
Martyr, Rory Clements (John Murray)
Random, Craig Robertson (Simon & Schuster)
Stop Me, Richard Jay Parker (Allison & Busby)
Rupture, Simon Lelic (Picador)
The Holy Thief, William Ryan (Mantle )
The Pull of the Moon, Diane Janes (Robinson)
And if you haven’t worked it out yet – check the second book on the list!
Here are a few photos taken at the ceremony. The first one shows me dwarfed by two giants of crime writing (and I was wearing my heels!) Ian Rankin is on the right of the picture and Mark Billingham on the left. We were swapping horror stories about book signings. The second photo is courtesy of Ali Karim and in the third you can see Tom Harper, chair of the Crime Writers' Association.

My second book, ROAD CLOSED, has been reviewed in The Times "confirms her promise as a writer... well-written, soundly plotted and psychologically acute" ! I've delivered the draft of DEAD END to my publisher for publication in 2011 and am currently researching my next book in the series. Ain't no stopping me now!

Ella Fitzgerald Too Darn Hot

The S.S. Me

For Sunday Scribbles

I am the S.S. Me - the Steam Ship Me - pushing full speed ahead. My speed is controlled by the power of the coal, the fuel, that I stoke within myself. Yes, I power myself. It is just me that I rely on for the progress that i make.

Work life is a box, a lifetime box that we are all bound in. When I reflect on the me that was, I am not surprised that a lifetime of answering other peoples' demands makes the entrance into retirement so difficult. No matter how prepared I thought I was, I wasn't even close. Oh, sure, the S.S. Me had a direction but it was out there, that-a-way. Or, as Peter Pan said, "Take the first star on the right and go on straight on til morning".

What is the path? Where is it taking me? In fact, what ARE THESE paths? The possibilities are infinite. Each new discovery, step, accomplishment, takes me somewhere else. And then, suddenly I slow, fuel expended and I rest, taking a look around. Where have i landed?

I assess the rocky moments, those moments when the walls of the box I lived in for so long, made the passage harder than it needed to be. Me, I made it harder. I am responsible. Ahead of me now, beyond the rocks I stand upon, is the sweeping beach running north and south and before me is the vast ocean of possibilities. I step forward. A choice can be made. The world awaits. The wind sweeps me up.

"Healthy Soup" Cooking at #70

Healthy Soup Puerto Rican Style

Readers, you may know that I veer from a strict recipe whenever I can get away with it but in making this intuitive soup, serious diversions are cultivated. Consequently, I suggest that you follow these directions with care. I cautiously warn you that only the brave go into the Land of Insight Cooking where great experimentation may equal great failure or success!

Healthy Soup Recipe

Saute a cup of chopped onions in olive oil until transparent and fragrant. Add some smashed garlic and continue cooking until soft- about another minute. Add 6 cups vegetable broth (or water). Chop the starchy tubers and/or large vegetables- any roots or green bananas/plantains-to about the same size (1 inch), and add them to the pot. After about 20 minutes, add softer vegetables-corn, green beans, tomatoes. Season with homegrown herbs if you have any. I like basil, oregano and racao (see photo), which is a flat leafed cilantro. Cook for about 30 more minutes. If you want to add a cup of pasta or even rice, you should estimate the time it takes to cook. (Make sure you don't overcook the pasta.) Add salt and pepper to taste.

In my recent batch, I added cubed homegrown calabasa (photo), which is a green encased but orange fleshed squash pumpkin. It's plentiful here in Puerto Rico and is easy to grow. (It can also be the base of a wonderful squash soup.) I also had some white chayote, Christophine, left over from my trip to the local Farmer's Market in Santurce (la placita de santurce) so I added that, too. (photo)
Looking at this as a creative cooking adventure, I thought about what everyone needed and added/subtracted ingredients based on what you might call, insight. Caution: This type of cooking drives onlookers mad as it looks so imprecise. You may change you mind about ingredients and combination at any time, but I think it's a great way to move into the creative feel of cooking.

~~Child: What are you cooking?

~~Mom: You know I don't like to be asked that question!

A Note on Composition: Think of your cooking as an evolving process so that it becomes a bit like creating a painting. You have an opportunity to combine into your cooking all of your food-life-experience, and you get to share it. I like to bring in cooking colors from the north and south- from my childhood and my adulthood. Though impressionistic, this insight method of cooking requires that you consider who you are cooking for. For me, this means I have to consider that my dear ones do not like heat-spice even if it's homegrown! (I make a hot pepper oil that I keep in the refrigerator exclusively for my use.) I have to forgo my selfish desire to warm up the soup up with ever-so-few drops of hot oil.

Enchant your family with "Healthy Soup"created especially by you!

Thank you for spending time with me in my Puerto Rican life. I hope your garden's harvest is plentiful and that you share your version of "healthy soup" with me!

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Untangling Memories' Vine

My Healthy Soup this week surprised and delighted me. While cooking, I remembered the first time I came to Puerto Rico and was served guanimes (cornmeal dumplings) by my husband's great aunt who lived with her husband in a small house in the Botanical Gardens. What a novelty. My mom was traveling with us and we broke off from the group to go for a walk "in the jungle". We were impressed! The misty heat, piercing unfamiliar sounds and green lush foliage was both relaxing and frightening.
I never before attempted to make guanimes perhaps because the food seemed so wrapped up in the past. Nonetheless, they were a success and I'm glad I let that memory feeling visit me in the kitchen.
My family loved them! If you want to make these "corn dumplings", you would need corn flour, a bit of salt, oil and water, and banana leaf for wrapping. Make a paste, shape and wrap as you would a burrito. Tie and knot the banana leaf with plain white string on each side of the rectangular shape.

Unwrapping the corn dumpling, guanimes, I found that the banana leaf worked well to hold together the corn flour. (photo)

Blogland Lane Neighbors, I wish you well!



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Read the complete post at Oasis Writing Link.

Animal Wednesday: Emily's Garden Update

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Hello Everyone, it's me, Emily. (Hello, Anne. I'm glad you aren't in the cellar anymore and where are your poems because now even I am looking for them and usually as you know I mostly only care about myself.)

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You may know that I had to charge kj $ 15 for use of my garden this weekend. Some of my lollipops and jellybeans were pulled without my permission and even though it was done by a little boy don't you think kj should have asked me first because the whole garden was my idea which brings me to two more points:

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first, I think this may be my break through idea. Don't you think little kids like Mr. Ryan and Mr. Baby Drew and even some grown ups would like to have jelly bean and lollipop gardens of their own? You just go out in the back yard and pull what you want and then eat it. I suppose you could plant donuts that way too if you wanted to.

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I asked my Uncle Bunny, who is a business bunny (and Janis Joplin's best friend, well not any more but he was until she died and who knows, maybe he still is) and Uncle Bunny told me to write a letter to see if some company wants to produce and sell garden seeds like the ones lolo designed and I planted and Jos is going to be my business manager even though she hasn't told me how much of the profits she wants but I think she is very fair so I am not worried about it.

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second, you know kj is a negative nelly, right? She told me no way Jose would the seeds for the Upside Down Cake sprout. She said she researched it and there has never been upside down cake seeds that worked.

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Well it's a good thing I don't usually listen to kj. I know you will agree:

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I am pretty sure I am going to be a millionaire!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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And when I get the money I am going to invite everyone to kj's house for a big party and I am going to give away free seed packets and food, plus I will be glad to give lessons to anyone who wants them in how to properly roll down hills and of course how to fall on the ground and stomp your feet while whining and crying deep from your stomach.

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See kj: sometimes you just have to believe in dirt and chocolate and the power of jellybeans.

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Yours truly,

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Emily Rabbit

Tea . . .

. . . is now being served

at the lighthouse

at 53A.

Stop by and join me.

The tide is out and

the birds are pecking

in the sand

exploring for goodies.

Everyday Views of Puerto Rico

View from my Puerto Rican Oasis

Hi neighbors! Will you please excuse the resident of number 70 who has been out of town for a while? I want to share with you some of my everyday summer views of Puerto Rico. Many people think of Puerto Rico in a traditional somewhat nostalgic way, similar to this Sugar Cane painting that hangs on the walls of a local Old San Juan restaurant, Manolin Cafe but the reality is quite different.

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Last week, I went to Old San Juan with Mr. Oasis where he is teaching for the summer and so much is happening at the Esquella Artes Plastica (Art School). The students have joined in with the University of Puerto Rico students to protest the government wide-budget cuts, and they are camped out on the lawn of El Morro. (Click here if you want to read an Oasis post about El Viejo San Juan.) What a lovely place to camp-even if it is illegal! I met my bff, Ms. D, for lunch at Manolin Cafe- a traditional Puerto Rican restaurant that locals frequent. I enjoyed the mofongo and Yaucono cafe served with hot milk. If you haven't tried Puerto Rican coffee, it's time to be adventurous. In my opinion, it is the best coffee in the world. Confession: When I visit state-side relatives, I find the unopened Christmas present coffee still in storage. Why is that? (My Michigan cousin, Tammy, says it's strong and they prefer coffee-tea! Her coffee drinking quirk is to mix instant chocolate into a cup of weak morning coffee, which apparently gives her more wake-up power.)

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My friend, Ms. D, knows where to go and how to spend money wisely. She suggested lunch at the Manolin Cafe because it has the best local food at the most economical prices. However, the value is not a secret! We had to wait at the door for a few minutes to be seated. And of course we ran into a friend because Puerto Rico is small, and you run into friends everywhere. Deeply immersed in conversation with our former co-worker and now world traveling friend, Mr. G, we completely forgot to compete for our place in line. After noticing we were still not seated, I took the initiative to be the rude one and excused us from an extended talk about the political situation and policy at the University of Puerto Rico. Finally, we were seated and it was well worth the wait. The photo is a half serving of mofongo, served with white rice and a mixed salad. I recommend that you do not order the rice with mofongo. It's too heavy. What was my waiter thinking? I find that being a vegetarian in Puerto Rico is a challenge. Often perfectly nice servers will give me starch with starch served with a side of starch. My growing middle may be blamed on such eating experiences as these!

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Aside: Friends you have to try making mofongo. It's not too difficult as long as you have access to green plantains. Yes, you have to peel them with a knife, but it's worth it to try. Yes, they have to be sliced in one inch pieces, fried in oil until both sides are golden, and then briefly cooked again-but here is where you change your tostones to mofongo.

Place the fried plantain in a container and smash them with lightly roasted garlic until they are broken down into a nicely textured rounded pile. Flip unto a plate and serve with a little salad and Spanish olive oil. Delicious! (Click here if you want to try a more traditional recipe that includes meat.)

What I do differently in this recipe: I allow the plantains to get crisp so that when they are mashed, they continue to have texture. Also, I drop the garlic cloves in oil until they are a bit crunchy as well. Both of these changes make even the meat-eating Mr. enjoy the days when I serve his traditional food vegetarian style.

~~~~~~~~~~~ These Spanish looking baked clay tiles are on the floor of the Art School. Above them, an old picnic table on one side, and just behind the table, a scrap pile of boards and disgarded art projects. In spite of their neglect, I find the tile pattern beautifully arranged and pleasing to the eye. Doesn't it give you a feeling of another time? The art school is losing funding-drastically-and the students continue to work on their projects even though it feels as if the roof is caving in. It's a highly competive art school that produces students who can create in both the classical style art and more modern media, such as computer graphics. What a shame that art is the first to go when money is scarce.

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Blogland Neighbors, thank you for sharing a cup of cafe con leche and some traditional Puerto Rican food with me. If you want to borrow a cup of sugar, please stop by whenever you are near Blogland Lane # 70 -or if you prefer azucar mascabada o negra (cane or brown), come over to Oasis !

I've been Off Kilter

I've been thinking about the boxes we put ourselves in and how these boxes diminish our ability to see people clearly. 

I woke up this morning (spring birds noisy at my window) and knew, just KNEW, that today was my day to write.

Lent this year taught me a lesson on seeing more clearly and helped me find a way out of this particular box.  I'm out the door this morning and walking down the warm soft sandy beach heading for my favorite coffee house for hours of writing and reflecting.

Blogland Lane's Senior Angel

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She's one of our own. She said the F word like it was a prayer, she said "I love you" a hundred times a day and meant it, and she died a few weeks ago after four years of vibrantly living with cancer.

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Renee Kahn Senior Angel and Gypsy Caravan Tarot Reader lived at 9 and 3/4 Blogland Lane, tucked in between her moon sister kj and her raven sister Studio Lolo.

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In her memory there is a collective love affair taking place throughout the blogs, and many of Renee's many friends are planning to write about their relationship with her and make a book for her family and for themselves.

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Every one is invited to contribute to Renee's Book of Love. Visit kj's blog if you want to know how. And if you didn't know her, do yourself a favor and visit http://www.circlingmyhead.blogspot.com/

Start reading anywhere. Renee's blog began in December 2009 and is filled with more endearing and sometimes outrageous qualities than words could describe.

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She is now an Senior Angel and she will watch over all of Blogland Lane. That is for sure.

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Har Har Har Renee. xoxo

custom design and images by Studio Lolo

Happy Spring!

The vernal equinox has brought with it spring flowers. I posted several of them over at my own blog, but wanted to share my first daffodil of the year, which chose the first day of spring to bloom.

Blogging place

I wanted to invite you to check out this new community of bloggers that participate in different projects with posts and comments. Thought some of you might like it. This place is called SpaceCollective, you can check my profile here. If you are interested in participating you can ask for an invitation. Here are some of the projects included:

• The total library: Text that redefines - or - How to redefine the text. Everything related to words, their different interpretations, origins and development.
• Polytopia: The human species is rapidly and indisputably moving towards the technological singularity. As hyperconnectivity increases, our minds are becoming progressively more coupled and cybernetically joined. Polytopia is a space where the newly born Cyberculture of openness and collaboration can be extended by those in pursuit of a combined interactive intelligence. A mind habitat for our multidimensional co-enhancing minds, for we are infonauts in search of a home.
• What happened to nature: The majestic nature that once inspired poets, painters and philosophers with a sense of awe and ecstasy no longer exists. Putting humanity firmly at the top of the food chain we have separated ourselves from the natural environment by adapting it for our own short term needs. Now that we have left our synthetic imprint on every inch of he planet, while surrendering our survival instinct to science and technology, the question becomes, where do we turn for our sense of awe and ecstasy in an increasingly man-made world?
• Start your own revolution: All major institutions in the world today are grappling to come to terms with the internet. The entertainment industry is struggling to figure out how to respond to downloading and YouTube; educational institutions are forced to reconsider their role in the age of the search engine and Wikipedia; and new political models are suggested by grassroots organizations like MoveOn.org. Thanks to the internet, the tools for revolutionary change are at our fingertips, but as of yet this revolution has no name, no leaders and no formal agenda. We have barely tapped into its potential to become the advanced operating system that will allow us to catch up with the future.