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I am excited to read his new book “The Grand Design” in which he says:

“Because there is a law such as gravity, the universe can and will create itself from nothing. Spontaneous creation is the reason there is something rather than nothing, why the universe exists, why we exist,” Hawking writes.

“It is not necessary to invoke God to light the blue touch paper and set the universe going.”

I read over my early posts about gravity and symmetry, we all exist because of this force, we would not have a planet if not due to this force, nor a galaxy, nor a universe.

I am about to embark upon a wonderful stretch of days of crocheting owl purses, celebrating the holidays with family, blowing glass with Dean, and more crocheting. I have a new idea about a combo crochet/glass concept that needs to be more fully explored and hopefully started or even better – finished! The holidays are the best time to chill out from work and sink into some serious creating.

Oh and, I just stumbled upon Jill Barklem, a childerns book author/illustrator – how have I never seen her work before?? Must find these books somewhere, they are amazing!

Jill Barklem books

So I am in love with little metal sew-on purse frames, they work wonderfully with my fine gauge crochet. Here is my first owl purse, I am working on a green one right now. I am hooked.

I go for refuge in the Buddha, the enlightened teacher; I commit myself to enlightenment;

I go for refuge in the Dharma, the spiritual teachings; I commit myself to the truth as it is.

I go for refuge in the Sangha, the spiritual community; I commit myself to living the enlightened life.

E.O. Wilson – “The Diversity Life”

For the green prehuman earth is the mystery we were chosen to solve, a guide to the birthplace of our spirit, but it is slipping away. The way back seems harder every year. If there is danger in the human trajectory, it is not so much in the survival of our own species as in the fulfillment of the ultimate irony of organic evolution: that in the instant of achieving self-understanding through the mind of man, life has doomed its most beautiful creations. And thus humanity closes the door to its past.

I have started reading this book by Edward O. Wilson published in 1992 – following his opening chapters he describes this books purpose in which he will:

“…describe the formation of life’s diversity as it is understood-with traversals-by most biologists. I will give evidence that humanity has initiated the sixth great extinction spasm, rushing to eternity a large fraction of our fellow species in a single generation. And finally I will argue that every scrap of biological diversity is priceless, to be learned and cherished, and never be surrendered without a struggle.”

Dr. Wilson is the guy that came up with the idea of using the internet to create an Encyclopedia of Life, the purpose of which is to document all species of life on earth. What an immense idea!

I received the most wonderful letter back from Thomas for whom I hat made these crocheted hats. He is undergoing chemotherapy and some of his descriptions are poetic and I would like to share:

When talking about his loss of hair, he says “I’m not bald yet, but my hair is falling like needles from a Christmas tree in February” and when talking about how he feels after 5 of 12 treatments he says, “Every treatment yields unique results with some constants: feeling sick; alternating from need to sleep to sleeplessness; varying levels of interest in reading or TV; and a wholly unique feeling of being “unspooled”. This last thing is very curious, given what these drugs are designed to do, they actually unwind DNA strands, insert new chromosomal elements, then reassemble the strands. Who knew?”

Wow

I think I will do nothing for a time but listen,
And accrue what I hear into myself…and let sounds contribute toward me.

–Walt Whitman, 1855

Pleasantly and well-suited I walk,
Whither I walk I cannot define, but I know it is good,
The whole universe indicates that it is good,
The past and the present indicate that it is good.

How beautiful and perfect are the animals! How perfect is my soul!
How perfect the earth, and the minutest thing upon it!
What is called good is perfect, and what is called sin is just as perfect;

The vegetables and minerals are all perfect…and the imponderable fluids are perfect;
Slowly and surely they have passed on to this, and slowly and surely they will yet pass on.

Oh my soul! if I realize you I have satisfaction,
Animals and vegetables! if I realize you I have satisfaction,
Laws of earth and air! if I realize you I have satisfaction.

I cannot define my satisfaction…yet it is so,
I cannot define my life…yet it is so.

I swear I see now that every thing has an eternal soul!
The trees have, rooted in the ground…the weeds of the sea have…the animals.

I swear I think there is nothing but immortality!
That the exquisite scheme is for it, and the nebulous float is for it, and the cohering is for it,
And all preparation is for it…and identity is for it…and life and death are for it.

—-Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass (1855)

“Extra-human, extra-natural terms divide us from compassion. We have a death-dealing capacity that is without parallel; and, having to a large extent disorganized the gradual, assimilated experience which bound man to place, we have thrown events not only into the hands of unpredictable change but into the unknown capacity of mankind to keep control without appalling tyranny. We are governed by our obsession with means. We have been treating the earth with a recklessness which is no tribute to human genius. The almost total poisoning of the natural environment is only being postponed by fragmentary efforts.

The great danger in a revolutionary world that takes us with it in spreading mobility, forced communication and unprecedented speed, uncertain of the outcome, is that we will take our own risks and live out our own violence as we can. In other words, we may risk the habitable earth for the sake of mere impetus. Perhaps the awareness of disaster will prevent us from bringing on our artificial ice age which could postpone spring for ten thousand years. Perhaps we can, by conscious, continual effort, keep turning the bow aside to save the ship. We will have to try, in this one world. We have come now to the point where we meet the living earth either in terms of fundamental conflict or fundamental cooperation. All our pillaging and presumption have brought us face to face with ultimate limits. We have pushed ourselves and the rest of life on earth to a point where one step more could mean survival or extinction.”

From John Hays – The Immortal Wilderness (1987)

“We put the whole animal kingdom down as being lower than ourselves, but their travels are flexible and they have minds which work according to rhythmic consistencies and recurrences of the earth. That’s about as deep as you can get.”

PRINCIPLE OF SUBOPTIMIZATION

The well-being of an element is dependent on the well-being of the system of which it is a part. It is sometimes necessary for an element to limit its goals and actions in order to preserve the well-being of the system. In acting to achieve its goals one element may come to constrain the actions of another element to the point of serious injury to the other element.