06:33 am: emmanuela

04:27 am: emmanuela

10:16 am: emmanuela

video

“Collaboration and research form the foundation for the 234,000-square-foot Engineering Research Building, the last of three College of Engineering expansion projects and the centerpiece of the Research Quadrangle” at UTA.

Watch at 1:40 for 3 seconds of Emma intensity

11:08 am: emmanuela

quote
Start by changing yourself, then inspire other people to change. Maybe, just maybe, we’ll manage to change the world in the process.
11:55 am: emmanuela

Link
Got bicycle?

My mom used to tell me a wonderful story about the “bicycle” quality…. 

10:20 pm: emmanuela

Link
You Route the Steam

Union Pacific's Great Excursion Adventure

Click to vote for Dallas to Baton Rouge route!

04:16 pm: emmanuela

quote
Keep close to Nature’s heart… and break clear away, once in awhile, and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean.

John Muir (1838-1914) 

Muir popularized a radically new concept of American land use and conservation. His writings moved presidents, congressmen, and ordinary Americans to action. He founded the Sierra Club to conserve our greatest American treasure, the National Parks. 

 

07:46 pm: emmanuela

video

Alone is not alone if you are happy

By Tanya Davis and Andrea Dorfman

07:27 pm: emmanuela14 notes

Link
The simple meaning of Christmas

To me, Christmas doesn’t mean Christ. I am not religious nor do I pretend to be, but I do recognize the historical significance of the national holiday and its unfortunate marriage to commercialization and capitalism. 

To me, Christmas doesn’t mean “mas” or more. I don’t need more things because I have all that I need (I try to remind myself of this often, although it’s difficult to practice minimalism in quotidian society). It’s nice to receive gifts. I can’t argue that. But I feel most joy from presents that are gestures of true thought and care: time spent with family, a heartfelt note or a shared meal and a bottle of wine.

To me, Christmas is a time to slow down. A time to share. A time to show appreciation to the influential and important people in my life. I wouldn’t say I have the authority to rename a holiday so familiar yet still unrecognizably meaningless (to some). But for myself and to clear any ambivalence in my message, I’ll name my brand of the most popular holiday season SlowShareShowmas or maybe just Simplemas.

Here’s Leo Babauta’s Case Against Buying Christmas Presents from zenhabits. He makes a much better argument than I do for the simple meaning of the season. To spend more time with family and slow things down for a change, ignore the last minute “buy buy BUY now and save!” alerts in your inbox and turn off the TV to never ending commercial jingles (these aren’t the bells that make a child giggle or the warm’n’cozy hot chocolatey feeling of the season). 

A PS to friends and family: This doesn’t mean I won’t be giving gifts this year. I’ll give handmade treats, (re)gift recyclable goodies, and show you some good old fashioned .

04:18 pm: emmanuela

picture
by Beth Tacular accordion/vocalist for the Bowerbirds

by Beth Tacular accordion/vocalist for the Bowerbirds

04:17 pm: emmanuela

quote
What religion of humankind could bless the travesty that is the U.S. federal budget?
Barbara Kingsolver, “In the Belly of the Beast”; High Tide in Tucson 
03:04 pm: emmanuela

picture HD
“Simplify your life and the laws of the universe will become simpler”
Photo taken on a stroll in the park with my family in observation of Buy Nothing Day/National Day of Listening (The day most familiarly and dreadfully known as… dun dun dun… Black Friday)

“Simplify your life and the laws of the universe will become simpler”

Photo taken on a stroll in the park with my family in observation of Buy Nothing Day/National Day of Listening (The day most familiarly and dreadfully known as… dun dun dun… Black Friday)

11:12 am: emmanuela

quote
Want is a thing that unfurls unbidden like fungus, opening large upon itself, stopless, filling the sky. But needs, from one day to the next, are few enough to fit in a bucket, with room enough to rattle like brittlebush in a dry wind.
Barbara Kingsolver, High Tide in Tucson
07:09 pm: emmanuela

picture HD
Overjoyed to be able to ride my bike to work    ♥    One less car, one happy Earth(ling).

Overjoyed to be able to ride my bike to work    ♥    One less car, one happy Earth(ling).

01:04 pm: emmanuela