In my household we capture and release, except for spiders (auspicious portents of wealth) and crane flies (so beautiful and so harmless to humans.) In the front parlor in the winter, ladybugs hatch - also lucky omens of wealth and happiness - and in warm weather we open windows and encourage them to fly away, fly away.

But mosquitoes? Dead. With a prayer for a good rebirth as we swat them splat.

Very very cool! Thanks, Sun Space, for sharing your k.d. with us.<3

The ARRP sounds great, team! I just hope that we can - together, yes, we can! - keep the plan intact; each part of it is integral to the other parts - they cannot be separated. The coast of healthcare is what is driving up the cost of living and of doing business; if automakers and self-employed did not have this major expense, they could be profitable. If employees were guaranteed healthcare no matter where they work, job satisfaction and productivity would skyrocket - folks would feel free to make a living doing what they want and are passionate about, not merely stay in a dumb job for the benefits as so many do. Retrofitting our buildings and highways and transit systems will reduce our dependence on foreign oil (Hello, Vilsack! Organic, local, sustainable agriculture is cheaper and safer, and more nutritious and tasty!)

So on with the show. Here in northern California we are organizing our neighborhoods, holding house meetings to discuss our issues and to support the ARRP once it begins to wind it's way through Congress. Barack is already winning over the potential road blocks, those who fear change and lack confidence. The American people are behind you all the way - we can do this thing if only given half a chance; you guys are making it possible to have the whole chance, a second and possibly last chance to create a sustainable, fair and progressive future for America, the world and the planet, before Earth has the final word.

I've watched the videos you're posting - Larry Summers and Carol Browner, you don't look trustworthy, I gotta just say, and Tom Vilsack, you need to kick your Monsanto, corn and oil addictions - but overall you have it goin' on and I'm with ya!!! Thanks for all the hard work. Now let's go party for a few days before the big job begins on Wednesday. Love you guys!

My 2009 goals are to work for a better country, beginning here in my Gerstle Park neighborhood of San Rafael (Marin County), northern California. While I am fortunate to be a middle-aged white male with a childhood, education and life experiences that afford me confidence and opportunity, not all Americans – not even me – share equally in the potential that has been called “the American dream”. Due to a disabling accident in which a speeding SUV driver on the mobile phone struck me as a I walked across the street in front of home, I no longer have a job or health insurance. Many Americans – too many – don’t have jobs, healthcare, education, adequate or safe housing, or the opportunities that I have had. It’s time to change that and we will, under the leadership of President Obama and his team. As a gay man married to a wonderful, amazing African American guy, I am not pleased with the state of civil rights in America, or the tone of the debates on social issues, but I appreciate Barack’s aloha spirit in bringing folks together and in not leaving out anyone regardless of their views. It’s time to come together; the state of the planet is giving us one last chance – we cannot afford to stand divided. So, Yes! My goals for this new year are to work for the change we believe in, to raise hope for the disenfranchised and forgotten, and to communicate with my neighbors and friends and folks I might disagree with that We, the People can do this thing!

I belong to the Shambhala community, a buddhist meditation community with centers throughout the world dedicated to the creation of enlightened society and to working to train individuals in self-generated peace. Without peace inside, aggression and war will be perpetuated no matter how noble one's intentions and motivations. Besides teaching people how to meditate and how to work with both the traditional buddhist teachings as well as contemporary perspectives on human potential, we educate children, promote diversity and respect for the feminine principle, run livelihoods that don't cause harm or disrespect workers or the environment, foster sustainability and good governance, and so forth. Our retreat centers in North America and Europe provide refuge for burnt out activists and professionals, and others, and Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado affords a sane education geared to personal responsibility in the world.

Personally, I have been nurtured for more than 30 years by my practice of buddhist meditation and training in a clearly defined path of service to others in the Shambhala tradition. Through working not only with others in that community but in reaching out to others in the community at large, the advice of the Buddha that all beings have buddha-nature is seen as vividly real and practical. Yes, we can! Si, se puede! Oui, nous pouvons!

Working on the Obama campaign this year has shown me that anything is possible, a favorite encouragement of my teacher, Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, leader of Shambhala and author of "Ruling Your World: Ancient Strategies for Modern Life" (and of the beginner's meditation manual "Turning the Mind into an Ally." I believe that Barack Obama's community organizing and its emphasis on each f us telling our story - and listening to others tell their stories - is also a model for enlightened society, one where problems and issues become opportunities and challenges for us to be fuly who we are capable of being, as individuals, as communities, as a nation and as world citizens in a planet home to many species.

Being a member of Shambhala has provided me with a place and a personal practice that makes it possible for me to face fear with fearlessness, confusion with certainty, and doubt with confidence, and to smile continually. Like sister Maya Angelou, to wake up each morning and say aloud, "Good morning!" Being a member of the Obama movement, I feel empowered to take responsibility not only for my choices and my life but to be my sister's keeper and my brother's keeper as a part of that larger family. Being an American at this moment and in these times of great transformation, I feel that the planet breathes a sigh of relief, that we may actually make it through this global dark and narrow passage of climate disruption whose symptoms include famine, war, poison and societal disarray. Yes, we can! A la la! Ki ki! So so!

Two years ago this month, as I was walking across the quiet residential street in front of my home, on my way to work, I was hit by a speeding SUV driven by a neighbor; she was in a hurry to get her daughter to school and hadn't bothered to clear the ice off her windshield. (And she was on her mobile phone.)

I blacked out, was thrown into the air and landed on my skull; when I came to, I didn't realize how hurt I was until I tried to move - I couldn't see, initially, nor move, but I could feel the warm blood gushing from my head, and then see it in a pool on the pavement around me. I suffered two fractured knees, a fractured shoulder and numerous deep bruises. For four months I laid in bed at home, served day and night by my husband, who stopped working in order to care for me. (We had married the year before.)

Initially I wasn't interested in taking legal action - I just wanted to walk and to have my life back. But friends urged me to talk to a lawyer and that led to a lawsuit against the driver. Turns out, she was underinsured, but my good coverage and my health insurance through my employer took care of the immediate medical expenses, including $85,000 for a three-day hospital stay.

A month after the accident, my employer - a big name national corporation - terminated my employment "due to inability to perform duties". That initiated another lawsuit, resulting in a five figure settlement. In both lawsuits the lawyer took 30%. I had to find my own health coverage after the COBRA coverage ran out, but at least I had long-term disability coverage through my former employer.

Six months after the accident, I began having cognitive difficulties. Memory loss, visual and auditory problems, fatigue, disorientation and the like. I couldn't read or watch TV or a movie for more than a few minutes. I could walk but would get lost or confused or fearful in my own neighborhood. Driving was scary and so I stopped driving. Getting to the doctors or just going someplace meant getting help. The neurologist and neurosychiatrist told me I would be disabled for life. None of the physical therapy, gym training or other medical work was making any difference and physical pain slowly became the norm rather than exception.

The long term disability provider - another well known national insurance company - summarily cut my benefits without notice for four months; it required my lawyer's intervention (and payment to him) to get the coverage reinstated. They have investigated me twice in less than a year, attempting to discontinue my benefits in spite of all of the medical and neurological reports from my doctors. The only treatments that do help - acupuncture, cranial-sacral, osteopathic, Chinese body work and so forth - aren't covered by health insurance.

Now, on the anniversary of the accident, I've used up my savings and 401(k) investment, pay close to $1,000 a month for medical insurance that doesn't really do anything for me, and continue to have other medical expenses not covered by insurance. Please, Barack Obama, we can do better than this!