I had been doing a bit of reading about the 'hidden history' of Mother's Day (so much of the history we uncritically accept is a horribly skewed and blatantly propagandized version of what actually occurred), but I browsed my way to this very interesting article that summarizes some of the recent science regarding the physiological and psychological changes that accompany pregnancy and childbirth. And not just in women, but also men. (continued...)

I recently came across two mainstream press articles related to anthropomorphizing dead forest creatures for the sake of art. Perhaps it's just a strange coincidence that I find one such account yesterday and then another today, or perhaps this sort of thing is becoming more common. Either way, it caught my attention...

Some of the dead possums and raccoons have been dressed in pet or human baby clothes and have had their claws painted with nail polish. The carcass of a deer has been adorned with gold paint. (continued...)

I've been meaning to post something about the widening crisis among apiculturists in some of the world's most important food exporting nations. For those who havent been paying attention; beekeepers are reporting massive mysterious dieoffs in their hives...hives totally abandoned, without even the bodies of dead bees, yet untouched by foragers, among other strange symptoms. It's been termed Colony Collapse Disorder and I havent read one article about it that isnt quite alarmist (and rightly so), but this article from the Associated Press stood out. Not only is it thoroughly "mainstream", it's probably the most apocalyptic of all the bee extinction articles I've seen. (continued...)

Some interesting news from the neuroscientists at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign... apparently, as many have long believed, 'culture' clearly modifies even the adult brain. Of course the possible ways in which we are altered by our environment are nearly limitless -- if culture alters our visual perception at such fundamental levels then what about emotion or memory, or the very nature of consciousness.  (continued...)

Maybe I'm reading too much into this... in identifying many microorganisms by genus alone the author leaves some ambiguity as to whether or not this piece is actually 'pro-illness' (and from the context she seems to favor a harmonically balanced duality between commensal and predatory or pathogenic forms of life), but in any case I think this is a great poem/prayer and it seems to resonate in many ways with the cultural attitudes of this paradigm-shift toward the 'retrolithic age'. It dutifully highlights our inevitable intersubjective relationship with nature -- even those of us who rarely leave an urban apartment -- and it seeks to approach this relationship in an egalitarian manner (rather than the dominating & one-sided manner that is more typical of our global civilization) in a hope that we may find more beauty & serenity... more grace. I hope you all enjoy this aptly titled poem and, if you're the religious sort, perhaps it would even make a suitable prayer.  (continued...)