pile of . . . .

Dogpile has existed since it was established in 1996. I have been using it since I first moved to the US in 2001. In May 2023 for reasons unknown to us they decided to pull out of many Asian regions. 

Dogpile is a meta search engine created to enhance search results. It facilitates the search for links to web pages, videos, music, news, and other online content. 

no longer available in the Philippines & other regions

Dogpile offers more content than services that only use their indexes because it uses results from multiple search engine indexes rather than just one. Among these are from Google, Yahoo!, Yandex, Bing.

It has also scraped content from several defunct search engines, including AltaVista, Infoseek, and HotBot.

Dogpile has made a name in internet history as one of the first metasearch engines. Dogpile was a cutting-edge search engine then, and we see many benefits to using it as your primary search engine over the other options 

Maybe it's for the best to go now. Dogpile hasn’t always kept up with new trends, unlike its more recent rival, Google. Although it provides a wide range of search results, it isn’t as functional as Google and isn’t as private as DuckDuckGo. 

We've had a good run and now it's time we went our separate ways. It was great while it lasted. 

view from my room

I pray to the birds because I believe they will carry the messages of my heart upward. I pray to them because I believe in their existence, the way their songs begin and end each day... the invocations and benedictions of Earth. I pray to the birds because they remind me of what I love rather than what I fear. And at the end of my prayers, they teach me how to listen. ~ Terry Tempest Williams, Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place

10th Anniversary Edition book cover

I lie in bed nursing my battered psyche and renegade body, feeling like such a failure for succumbing to COVID-19 so unexpectedly. This is a first for me - after years of careful dodging and concerned management I am just another casualty of this abominable pandemic.

I was supposed to be spending my time writing an article about our local island birds - for submission before I fly off to Bali for a sound healing workshop. Instead, I loll around in a daze - my fevered brain pounding savagely, eyes hot and bleary, unable to focus.

heart & soul nebulae

For Mother's Day we celebrated with this gorgeous collection of images of two emission nebulae - aptly called the heart and soul. 

When we honor all mothering guardian spirits - the carers and nurturers who birthed and raised us - those who brought us into being and enlivened our world.

Heart &Soul nebulae - infrared mosaic from NASA’s
Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) 

The Heart Nebula (IC 1805) is an emission nebula located at an approximate distance of 7,500 light years from Earth, in the constellation Cassiopeia. It is also known as Sharpless 2-190 (Sh2-190). 

The Heart Nebula forms a famous complex known as the Heart and Soul with its smaller neighbour Westerhout 5, also known as the Soul Nebula, which lies just 2.5 degrees to the southeast. 

Bless blessed blessings from the heavens above and around us! 

stolen work

World Intellectual Property Day takes place every year on April 26. It was established by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in 2000. 

Each year, the campaign is rolled out around a topical theme:

• 2023 – Women and IP: Accelerating Innovation and Creativity
• 2022 – IP and Youth: Innovating for a Better Future 
• 2021 – IP and SMEs: Taking Your Ideas to Market 
• 2020 – Innovate for a Green Future 

The purpose of the holiday is to raise awareness about patents, copyright, and trademarks. People can learn more about how these laws impact our daily life. 

It helps us to celebrate talent and creativity which makes us able to recognize the contributions that creators and inventors make to our world. 

writing tools of creative revolution

My work was recently so blatantly and publicly plagiarized. Accidental or not it made me feel violated and vandalized. The fact that it was done was surprising enough. That it was perpetuated by someone who should have known better was a brutal shock. 

May Day

This year Beltane falls on May 1, Labor Day. Lunar Beltane falls on May 5. With a Scorpio lunar eclipse occurring as well. Be prepared for change - the great awakener. 

wishing all a blessed Beltane

May the nourishment of the earth be yours,

may the clarity of light be yours,

may the fluency of the ocean be yours,

may the protection of the ancestors be yours.

And so may a slow

wind work these words

of love around you,

an invisible cloak

to mind your life.

~ John O'Donohue ~ (Echoes of Memory)

Give yourself the space you need. Find comfort in what brings you joy. Be the witness observing and objective - distanced and unattached. Be the explorer going into the deep unknown. Shine and emanate love and light - inside and out. Get creative. Simplify. Commune with Nature. 

Be the You you truly are and are constantly becoming. 

shades & shadows

Even spirituality has its shades and shadows. As cocreators in our universe we may not be in control of what happens but we are accountable for our response. 

This starts with the acknowledgement and acceptance of our emotions and feelings. Not bypassing either with any pretense or avoidance. Easier said than done, right? The energetic impact can be scary and devastating. 

transmuting trauma

From Catholicism to Tibetan Buddhism, Sufism to yoga - spiritual leaders have been brought to task for excessive behavior - particularly abuse in any form.

While all trauma can have a detrimental impact on survivors - those who experience it at the hands of the authorities they honor and revere may experience a multiplied wounding.

When the very tools and beliefs we draw upon for support to heal are thrown into doubt - the disillusionment has a profound impact.

The individual at a physiological personal level and the organization and community as a whole - have cause to question their beliefs and experiences.

We come to realize the ways our direct spiritual connection are clouded due to our dependency on the teacher. But through direct connection the teachings and practices can become our own.

Rather than bridging or borrowing through the relationship with a teacher or lineage we are empowered - as both person and practitioner.

That is how we not just come to our own terms but also learn to thrive as we breakthrough our trauma.

EcoDeo duo

Happening tomorrow! Join us! 

Immerse yourself in a healing soundscape that will soothe your mind, relax your body, and restore your inner balance. 

Silent Sage on IG

We are having another sound healing session at a new venue in Bacolod - we will be at Silent Sage Yoga Center. Join us on Friday April 14th - for a transformative sound healing session. 

Sound healing can be traced back 40,000 years to when indigenous healers created and used native instruments for healing.