This lens is based on lessons I taught when I was an English grammar and composition teacher and when I was teaching grammar and composition to homeschooling students. (And also from experience from my studies of linguistics and foreign languages and 27 years as a published writer/editor) Rudolf Flesch, in his book, "The Art of Readable Writing", stated that most folks learn to write from Aristotle. Huh ??? In the history of English grammar, composition, and rhetoric teaching-centuries ago... Read Full Story

With the price of fuel going through the roof and with more and more concern about the environment--as well as the traffic congestion with all of the world's city streets and highways, trains are becoming a viable and attractive alternative to cars and trucks. Shinkansen or Bullet Train, Osaka, Japan Photographic Print Ross, Nancy &... Buy at AllPosters.com Some of my first memories of train rides were the express trains, commuter trains, and bullet trains (aka "Shinkansen") of Japan... Read Full Story

The papaya, Carica papaya, is a fruit native to the tropics of southern Mexico, Central America, and northern South America. However, it is now cultivated in most countries with a tropical climate--including Brazil, India, South Africa, Thailand, Sri Lanka, and the Philippines. The papaya tree is small, with a single, unbranched stem growing from 15 to 30 feet (5 to 10 meters) tall. The leaves form at the crown--and the leaves and fruit originate from the trunk. When the papaya fruit is ripe... Read Full Story

The Octopus--this alien-like, multi-tentacled creature caught my attention when I was a kid watching Jacques Cousteu's presentation on it many years ago. The animal--a cousin of the shell-fish phylum, Mollusca--is closely related to squids, cuttlefish, and the chambered nautilus. As such, it's one of the rare members of the Mollusca phylum that can swim--with jet-like speed to boot! There are more than 300 species of octopus--which makes up more than a third of all of the Cephalopod class... Read Full Story

If you are a teacher, a homeschooler, a writer, or an artist (or someone who just wants to make a MARK on the world), this lens is dedicated to you and should give you many moments of browsing for that perfect marking tool. Be sure to visit regularly--because the selection of pens, pencils, and markers is set to change weekly! From the first time a caveman used a piece of charcoal to make pictures and paintings and other marks on the wall of his cave... then the Babylonians making their marks... Read Full Story

Two seasons of the television reality show "Survivor" have been filmed here in Palau--the Republic of Palau (including the most recent current season 16!). Check out the Survivor Micronesia Website -- you can see more sights of the beautiful Rock Islands of Palau as well as you can vote for your favorite "Survivor" and you can participate in a Fan Forum!. On the most recent episode, the two "tribes" merged and had a feast on the beach. One of the delicacies they had a chance to sample was... Read Full Story

No, you do not need a passport (at least not from the United States!) to visit New Mexico!  Yes, you can drink the water!  Yes, they have things like airports, trains, freeways, and cars in New Mexico (most of the stagecoaches are in the museums!).  And yes, you can get by with speaking only English in New Mexico (although if you'd like to learn Spanish, Navajo, Apache, or Hopi, you can learn those here as well)! Maybe the average US citizen might not know much about this state, but many... Read Full Story

Those fleeting images you get in your mind, in your imagination, in your dreams, in your experiences... do they whoosh off and disappear? Or, have you been able to capture these images? These mental images are moments of time. If you don't capture them, they whoosh off and are gone forever.  Sure, if you have committed them to memory, you may be able to retrieve enough of those mental images to recreate them with words or art. However, for mental images associated with moments of your... Read Full Story

Kokopeli (known also as "Kokopelli" in American English--for linguistics basis of this, see some of my other lenses)--a hunchbacked little fellow with a few feathers in his cap and playing a flute. Boogying to some ancient tune.  Found mostly in Nevada, Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico petroglyphs--the ancient art carved onto old sandstone walls or on the volcanic escarpments or painted on kiva walls. There are all sorts of mysterious tales surrounding this fellow. Seems that he was somewhat... Read Full Story

Perhaps like you, thoughts occur to me all the time. The problem is that many times before recently I've not had a pen or pencil and pad handy to catch that thought.  I've always been an avid reader. I like reading other folks' writing. But I also like to recapture some of my own memories and reading the writing later.  So, a few years ago, I invested in a blank book. It was sort of pricey.... but it was beautiful. The paper on the inside was high quality--it gave a nice feel to the pen when... Read Full Story