The Bamboo Housebus...

Whatever lurks beneath the beautifully crafted bamboo exterior of this housebus is a mystery.

Anyone know anything about it?

Money Doesn't Grow On Trees But In Israel Electricity Does...

The seed of a great idea
has germinated and taken root.
Sologic has grown the very clever eTree.
They'll be sprouting up everywhere soon, but for now they're being planted in Israel's public spaces and will allow visitors to take a break, charge their devices and connect to the world wide web. Users will of course be able to do their online banking which could add value to the idea that money does grow on trees...

France Isn't Very Happy About Their Scary Clowns...

Clowning about in France isn't funny anymore.
Coulrophobia, the fear of clowns
is gripping the country.
Youths dressed as evil clowns are terrorising towns especially in the south of France where police recently arrested fourteen teenagers who were carrying pistols, knives and wielding baseball bats.
There's more about what has become a scary phenomenon here but according to the police the clowns antics are no laughing matter...

Goodbye World. Today Is The Day I've Chosen To Pass Away With Dignity...

Goodbye my dear friends and family that I love. 
Today is the day I've chosen to pass away with dignity in the face of my terminal illness... Goodbye world. Spread good energy. 
Pay it forward.
In April of this year Brittany Maynard was given six months to live.
Mid year she made the decision to move with her family from California to Oregon to access that state's Death With Dignity Act.
Oregon's law gave her the option to take life ending medication if her dying process became unbearably painful and before the tumor took over her mind.
Yesterday, before it did, this very brave and beautiful twenty nine year old woman died gently and peacefully at home in the arms
of her loved ones.
There's more about Brittany as an advocate for the right of the individual to die with dignity here.
Goodbye brave Brittany and thankyou.
Rest in Peace...

This Little Road In Niton On The Isle Of Wight Was Paved With Good Intentions...

Welcome to Undercliff Drive.
The little road on the Isle of Wight that was paved with good intentions.
Eight months after a landslide wrecked their little street in Niton and forced the evacuation of eight families from their homes, the local council hadn't lifted a finger to help.
So a group of volunteers got together and rebuilt the road in two days at a cost of twenty five hundred pounds.
That was when the council did extricate their digit from the proverbial to do more than just finger pointing. They who had sat for months on their hands, accused the locals of breaching health and safety issues and even trespassing.
The road that had become the one least traveled has become a battle zone between the wights and the wrongs...

This Young Family Living Their Dream In A Caravan Are Having The Time Of Their Lives...

Jessica and Aaron have been on the road in their funky little caravan for a few months.
They could have waited as most people do before they followed their dream but they didn't.
They wanted to escape the rat race and they knew how important it was to live in the now.
They wanted quality time together and to grow as a family. It wasn't that they could really afford to financially but they decided that they couldn't afford not to. Finances they decided, had little
to do with their chosen way of life.
Giving their gorgeous little girls Ayla six and Skye five a life worth living was what they desired. They wanted a quality life and they wanted to be together.
Chasing the dollar to pay for a mortgage was not for them. They were not going to live lives of quiet desperation thankyou Mr Thoreau.
Home schooling takes up an important part of the day and then there's the rest of it which invariably turns into an adventure.
Aaron, a sought after Sommelier is able to get work at top restaurants and so they may be in one place for a time while he replenishes
the family purse.
Jessica, a graphic artist in another life, now makes children's clothes and beautiful wedding dresses which she sells in New Zealand
and overseas.
They've dreamed of a life worth living.
They're living their dream...

More Than A Century Ago, Frances Jennings Found Happiness Through Simplicity...

The young artist Frances Jennings became a semi-invalid and was advised by her doctor to spend as much time as possible in the outdoors.  Being a Victorian lady at loose ends she chose to take to the road.
Her simple rig and good spirits served her well.
Frances was one of many enlightened souls who've found through the ages that the way to happiness is through simplicity.
Her delightful story appeared here on Paleotool's wonderful blog recently.
I build immense fires she said. 
That constitutes a great happiness for me.
I have a kettle-hook and a hanging pot and 
I buy food in the villages.
At the farms I find a plentiful supply of milk, fruit, honey, nuts and fresh vegetables. 
I build the fire by the cart with the donkey 
near at hand.
She admitted though, her Walden experience
was not always easy.
I find great excitement in the winter in hearing the storms raging about me in the black of the night but it's by the skin of my teeth 
that I'm able to exist.
But sit by her fire she did and dreamed also...