Awesome Stories 195

/ November 1, 2014

This week Awesome Stories brings you ocean reform, flashmobs, inter-species play, compassion and potato power!

Ocean of ReliefPacific Ocean reserve, Awesome Stories

President Obama recently created the largest ocean preserve in the world by increasing the protected waters south of Hawaii by 500%! Thankfully, we are realizing how important ocean health is to our overall planetary health. Marine preservation is experiencing a surge around the world. Even better, the actions are being taken proactively before the problems get out of hand. I know this decision isn’t popular with commercial fishers, but overall it’s a critical step to preserving habitat and species for marine life. I applaud the decision. What do you think?

Photo source: US Fish and Wildlife Service.

Flashmob Wedding Proposal

I’ve seen several flashmob wedding proposals circulating the web, but this one by Jammin Love takes the cake! It helps that he and his friends are dancers. This is a fun and touching marriage proposal, though truthfully, I wouldn’t want my proposal to be this public. Would you?

Compassion in Action

Jacob George left a legacy of compassion. After serving three tours in Afghanistan, he became a dedicated activist for veterans suffering PTSD and other effects of war. I admire his dedication and commitment. Besides touching hearts and making music, Jacob founded an organization called Operation Awareness. Then he dedicated 2 years to riding around the country on a bike, fundraising and sharing his music and stories in service of peace and veterans. Sadly, he recently gave up the struggle and took his own life. How much more suffering are we willing to accept in the name of the war machine? I encourage you to promote peace in your heart, community and country. War No More and Imagine Peace are two of my poems that I dedicate to peace and Jacob.

Unusual Companions

Most days the hotel labrador can be found swimming in the harbor. What’s unusual is that he swims out into the harbor to play with a dolphin that routinely visits. I believe there is much about animals and communication that we don’t understand. Maybe the heart doesn’t need to be explained. 🙂

Potato Power!

I guess this is what happens when you don’t take science classes in high school. I’ve never heard of what apparently is common knowledge about a potato being able to conduct electricity if copper and zinc poles are inserted in the potato! Now, Israeli researchers have discovered that boiled potatoes conduct the electricity about 10 times more efficiently meaning that potatoes could be used as a power source for people in developing countries. Their research suggests that this method would be cheaper than kerosine or other methods currently used. Wow!

Compassionate Children

I love this idea! It started when Carmel High School sophomore, Sean Butler, decided to offer tech talks to seniors. Now there is a club of students who offer one on one mentoring seniors on their tech devices or anything related they want to learn. Many of us who didn’t’ grow up with computers are far less comfortable and agile with tech. And many seniors, including my Mother, are completely overwhelmed and fearful. I love how the students are trained in “sensitivity” to better understand what the seniors might be going through. They smear vaseline on their glasses and put tape on their fingers as two ways to get a perspective on typical senior challenges. Beyond the tech knowledge, friendships and understanding are growing between these pairings. Awesome!

May all our days be hallowed and fun. XD Here’s a photo from Halloween 2 years ago. 

All Hallows Day, Awesome StoriesHappy All Hallows Day.

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22 thoughts on “Awesome Stories 195”

    • Thanks Brad for stopping by the Exchange to brief me of your strategic employment quest update.
      Keep me post on your results, and shifting gears of progress.
      Hope my minimalist Halloween costume (who would guess) Dr. Who (?) lightened your day
      with a bit of understated humor (ergo sum …laughter is some of the best medicine) 🙂

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  3. Great stories once again, Brad! I loved the video of the dog and the dolphin swimming together. ❤ I'm with you on preferring a more private type of marriage proposal, but it was so touching to watch the bride-to-be's reaction. 🙂 I'll have to read the article about the ocean reserve more in depth, but I'm always a fan of anything that helps preserve our earth!
    Fun picture of you in the black light!

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  4. Thanks Julie. 🙂 I appreciate that you explored so many of the stories. I’m with you on preservation. The proposal video really touched my heart too. Hopefully, I’ll figure out a costume for tonight’s party and may have other fun pics to share. XD

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  5. Awesome stories indeed, Brad! I am partial to the initial one about the preservation of oceans. And I might even take it a step further to encompass more of our natural environment – forests, national parks, oceans, etc. For the number of times that Mother Nature has provided solace in a time of need, I have come to the realization that we are the only ones who are going to protect these personal sanctuaries, for ourselves and for future generations. Thanks for sharing, as always!

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  6. Thanks Dave! I totally agree about preserving more of nature. I have been blessed to visit most of the US National Parks and found great beauty and peace. Years ago I had the realization that if we humans don’t learn to live more in harmony with nature, we may perish as a species. Our choices are key.

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  7. You’ve done it again, Brad…turned on the waterworks, that is! All great stories — but, as one who loves everything about love, I thought the public proposal was magnificently heartfelt. That kids these days still believe in marriage thrills me to pieces. And the dolphin/doggy friendship???? Gulp, blink, blink…I so agree the heart doesn’t need to be explained, but oh how I adore anyone willing to throw themselves soulfully into the world, engaging so completely they don’t need to worry with trivial thoughts (what will they think of me?)/apprehensions (will I appear foolish or be hurt?) — like a child’s mindset — fearless, driven solely by curiosity and LOVE! Thank you for great shares!! xo

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  8. Sounds like you know more about love than me! XD Though I’m glad my heart can be touched by these stories too. Maybe I’ll let myself be that wide open again, throwing the doors open without care for mind and other’s opinions. Thanks for sharing your wide open heart Shauna. 🙂

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  9. I don’t think I’d want a public proposal either, I’m sure I’d find it way too personal to share with everyone and anyone, but for those who enjoy that kind of thing, I don’t have a problem with it. The slightly worrying thing about those public proposals though, is they appear to make the whole experience a heightened emotion, I’m not sure that’s a good thing. Relationships of any kind in most cases are quite a hard experience to get right and making it feel like the ‘happy ever after’ has arrived is a huge illusion. But anyway, they looked like they were having a fun time, I can’t really blame anyone for wanting that!

    I remember that potato battery experiment as a child, it’s always seemed very bizarre to me that a plain old potato could act as a battery! 😀 The video was interesting, but I’m wondering quite how that would be available to people. Are companies going to provide wires with connections to plug into a potato or will they make a battery from a potato? If they make a battery from it, I’m not sure that is really much different to what we have already. Maybe they could make a refillable battery, like the refillable ink cartridges for a printer? That might be cheap and environmentally friendly. Could be a bit messy though! 😉

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    • Thanks for expressing what was percolating for me about such a bold public proposal. I wonder similarly Suzy if they aren’t creating a high standard to live up to. And heaven forbid your partner says no, or they’re afraid to say no due to the public spectacle. Many interesting variations. XD

      Obviously you had some science or chemistry classes, unlike me. I understood the article to say that wires could be easily found/ bought, potatoes are readily available even in third world countries. And the power produced would offer light duty use like powering a light bulb for cooking or studying in the evening. Thereby offering an accessible, affordable solution that also reduced environmental impact compared to burning kerosene and wood.

      Thanks for your participation in my stories. I appreciate your thoughtful comments.

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  11. Brad, thank you for sharing these stories and your heart so tangibly. I agree with you about the public proposal. Ours was actually more public that I would have liked, but also intimate and “ours”…if only for a moment.

    With thanksgiving,
    Dani

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  14. Our aquatic life is paramount to ALL our our survival Brad.. So I was pleased to read about the ocean preserve.. I hope you had a good Halloween too Brad.. You photo shot of you very Happy! 😉 And loved the share of the video of the dog and dolphin..
    May you have a wonderful productive second half of the week.. And take care..
    Sue 🙂

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