Home for the Holidays

Hi Folks:

Perry Como famously sang, “There’s no place like home for the holidays!” A similar message is expressed in other seasonal songs, like Chris Rea’s “Driving Home for Christmas” and Jim Brickman’s “Coming Home for Christmas”. The video below, however, is perhaps closer in mood to the Charles Brown classic, “Please Come Home for Christmas.”

We won’t profess to know much about the complexities of the current war in Columbia and how it affects people as disparate as the army, the guerrillas, the coca farmers and other ordinary citizens… but at least one group is working to open lines of communication, to go beyond prejudices and fears and to get people on both sides to see each other as fellow humans. It’s a start, and getting people to meet, to talk with one another, is an important step in an overall goal of peace. That is something we can all celebrate.

Hugs,
M&M

Free Hugs for Devonte Hart

Hi Folks:

You’ve probably seen this image floating around the net, but if you haven’t it’s worth sharing again. We highly recommend you click on the photo to read the story behind it. We’ll wait.

Portland Police Sgt. Bret Barnum hugging 12-year-old Devonte Hart

Portland, OR Police Sgt. Bret Barnum hugging 12-year-old Devonte Hart – click on the image to read the story behind it from The Oregonian/OregonLive.

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Happy Birthday to Us!

Hi Folks:

Well, today marks our blog’s 5th Birthday! We’ll be toddling off to Kindergarten soon, although we’ll have to maneuver the process of registration with the local school boards… maybe something online instead… Hmmm… 🙂

Anyway, we wanted to take a moment to say thank you to you, our readers for continuing to drop by our little corner of the ‘net, for your shares and your wonderful comments. You’re the reason we write this stuff, after all! In the past 5 years we’ve had nearly 78,000 sessions, with over 110,000 page views from people in 177 countries. That may be small by some standards, but it’s absolutely incredible to Us!

Above all, thanks for you! Creare diem!!

Hugs,
M&M

Happy Birthday to Us!

Happy Birthday to Us!

(we didn’t actually buy a cake for our blog’s birthday – young’uns and too much sugar, you know – so I had to borrow an image from one of Marcia’s)

The Digital Divide

Hi Folks:

It’s been a while since I wrote a long, rambling blog post, so it’s probably time for another one. If you don’t have time to read it all you may wish to skip directly to the P.S. at the bottom… 🙂

This post was inspired by two posts that I came across on the same day, and as thoughts are wont to do (at least for me), once planted they began to send out roots in various directions and attracted others, and so on, and so on… The first post I read is titled, “Restaurant Watches Old Footage Of Customers And Uncovers A Shocking Truth“. Essentially the restaurant was looking for ways to circumvent or overcome customer complaints of ‘slow service’. What they discovered (as hinted by the title) was a surprise to everyone. The second post (at least in the order I encountered them) is titled, “The Digital Divide“. I took the liberty of borrowing their title for this post; it fits well. This second post is about Waldorf schools, and a question that plagues not just them but educators all over – should we keep our children from technology? That question is the essence of this post. Continue Reading →

Hugging James Bay

Hi Folks:

Okay, we’ll admit it. We’d heard the rumours, of course… spotted people converging in the area… we’d even overheard the conspiratorial whispers of those who claimed to have glimpsed a sighting. We’ve done the research, read the news reports and arranged our own observations with great anticipation, all for naught. Until yesterday. We can now confirm the truth, and we have incontrovertible proof! Victoria has (yet) another ‘Free Hugs’ person!

Hugging James Bay

Hugging James Bay

Who is this (unmasked) woman you ask? Well, you’ll have to wait and ask her yourself. We can tell you, by her own admission, that she comes out to James Bay Square at least once a month, so you’ll have to be patient if you don’t see her on your first foray. She shares great hugs, so your efforts will be well rewarded!

Hugs,
M&M

Hugging hitchBOT

Hi Folks:

Last Thursday was our ninth hugging session this year. So far this year we’ve hugged people from 41 countries (that we know about): Australia, Austria, Argentina, Bahamas, Brazil, Cambodia, Canada, China, Columbia, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Honduras, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Latvia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Mexico, Peru, Philippines, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Scotland, South Africa, Switzerland, Thailand, Ukraine, the US, Venezuela, Vietnam and Wales – and we always welcome more!

Free Hugs

Hugging Victoria!

Thursday was special in another way, however, because after our hugging session we headed over to Open Space to meet hitchBOT!

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Through the Looking Glass at AGGV

Hi Folks:

Earlier this month we went to the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria to view the Kimono Exhibit, and while we were there we stumbled upon another exhibit titled ‘Through the Looking Glass‘. This exhibit is both a wonderful romp through the world of Alice and Lewis Carroll and an exhibit of some of the gallery’s contemporary art, tied into the theme. While the exhibit may be viewed (and toured) from any number of perspectives, it’s clear that someone had a lot of fun with this. Continue Reading →

Waving to Bogey

Hi Folks:

The other day we were driving south back to Victoria when an SUV passed us. In both the front and rear passenger seats were two boys who were waving to other vehicles as they passed, and they were both quite excited when I waved back. It reminded me of another day, another highway, and this story:

Before we continue, we need to introduce Bogey. He’s the oldest of our (currently 317) kids, and Bogey and Mike have been traveling together for more than thirty years. Bogey has been to Europe, several US states, and across Canada from one coast to the other. He’s been stuffed in backpacks, ridden on ferries and when sitting in the back seat always wears his seat belt, of course.

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2014: The Year of Hugging Exuberantly

Hi Folks:

Well, this is our fifth year of hugging Victorians (and others); mid-July and we’ve already had six free hugs sessions this year!

Marcia's Hugging Stance

Basic Hugging Attire – Poster, Sun Hat, Winning Smile…!

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