Do you know the difference between a harper and a harpist? How about a fiddler and a violinist? If you did not know before, you have probably figured it out already. A harper and fiddler play traditional tunes, whereas a harpist and violinist play orchestral music.

Such interesting tidbits I learn from my friend Markio, who is an Irish harper. She is only in her early 30’s, but is finding herself in a budding career that she never dreamed of.   Read more...

I’m a believer in broadcasting my message. That’s part of the reason all my Ode posts are peace-themed. This week someone sent me an invitation to link to his air shoes site. Air shoes? I checked it out and found the image above. Ah. Peace sneaks. That I can do. Here’s what he says about them:

“Vans recently released the “Peace Pack,” which features a Sk8 Hi, Slip On, and a Old Skool. This pack may remind you of their “Hippie Pack” from last year. But the “Peace Pack” is all about the peace sign logo.   Read more...

We're sitting in a circle in the beautiful back-garden of The Hub in Rotterdam. The 17 students that started this journey. People of all sorts. Entrepreneurs. Artists. DJ's. Jean-sellers. Farmers. Psychologists. All united with our year of common history. Year of highs and lows. Year of extreme experiences. An intense year. And just like that, it's over. I doubt that it had even occurred to all of us that this moment would be the good bye moment. The moment where our paths dissemble for the summer. All our focus had been on wrapping up the year by securing next years beginning; selecting a Team 2. We had forgotten that our year was now ending.

As the birds sang in the trees, birds that I do not recognize, foreign birds that don't live in my hometown, in my country, and a cat tip-toed between our wooden chairs we realized that this was our ending ceremony. Unplanned we just sat in a circle and shared. Shared our concerns. Shared our wins. Shared our losses. Shared support. Shared gratitude.   Read more...

We grew up in a typical hippy environment: vegetables in our backyard, self-knitted sweaters for Christmas and hiking outings with like-minded families, all together in a bus.

The more our parents cooked buckwheat, soy and parsnip, the more pocket money we took to the candy store. Few days went by without protest against our being 'different'. "They never have this at Sandra's place!" "Why can't you wear normal clothes?"   Read more...

Visions of calico dresses and poke bonnets, wagon trains, prairies and the wild, wild west? Me too. Pioneer brings that up. Bizarrely or not, the word comes from Old French and means a foot-soldier. I’m not too enchanted to link the idea of soldiers with peace, but consider this news from The Student Peace Alliance on the Web.

“We are so proud and excited to share this news! Ben & Jerry's, the Vermont-based socially conscious ice-cream maker, announced today at its New York City Times Square Scoop Shop that Aaron Voldman, Executive Director of the Student Peace Alliance (SPA) and Board Member of The Peace Alliance, is one of two nationwide winners of its "Peace Pioneer" contest.   Read more...

My sister Joyce Tannian is my hero.

So many of us, myself included, aspire to help others, to make a difference in the world and often get tied-up in our daily lives. My company manages engineers, producers and musicians, but we’re not solving world peace or providing solutions for the energy crisis.   Read more...

The crowd surges, hands grazing for the dreamscape overhead, its pulse locked into the synthesized loop spinning from the dj's drumkit. Dorothy tends bar, gently rejecting pleas for sex and pouring cocktails for comfort. She stares peacefully at a virtual representation of a Mayan witch-doctor dancing across the club in mid air.

For the past few weeks she has been working double shifts. Turns out her course credits are in direct proportion to her bank's. So she skipped this semester’s exams and allowed herself some time to decide on a Master for next year. But it's hard to think that far ahead. It's hard to think past the case which is about to come to justice or which might boomerang around the corner and stop her dead.   Read more...

For ten years now, I’ve sent a spiritual email every Friday to a growing mailing list. I call the gratis publication Seeds. My Seeds were originally inspired by Emmet Fox, the great metaphysician. His books are compilations of his miniature essays. What I wanted to do was write a sort of reminder of the spiritual approach to life to get people through the weekend. Anyway, ten years is a long time, and I can’t imagine stopping now.   Read more...

First of all ... congrats for Obama! I would have been happy with Clinton running for president, but I always felt Obama had more to offer. And let's face it, the states need a decent president. I have faith in Barak, but that scares me a bit as well. Because we know what frequently happens to charismatic leaders that want and are able to do too much positive change: they get shot by some individual lunatic that has no connections whatsoever with others (that's hard to believe isn't it?!).

But for us all, I hope he wins and changes the world for the better. I hope he can rise above the fear and temptations and make us proud of being humans and that he restores faith in politics.   Read more...

For the most part Japanese people are focused on new things. They are hooked by the latest gadgets, the most recent conveniences, up-to-the-minute fashions, modernized homes, and the newest model cars. The latest. The best. Image. Identity.

On rare occasions, however, I get to meet someone outside that focused desire for material newness. The other day I was invited to a young couple’s home in the country. The husband, Ken, grew up in Tokyo. He was always fascinated by Spain, so after high school headed there for a stint to learn about life and himself. About other cultures, too. And in the process how to cook Iberian dishes. Later he returned to Japan and worked in various offices, even for a local government. But his heart was always in the countryside. He had loved animals and the out-of-doors since he was a child. And the longer he worked in offices, the more he longed for the country.   Read more...