Responsibly Wild Blog

My Mother and her six sisters have been posting Christmas memories each day this month, leading up December 25, and while I want to join in, I don’t want to over do it, so i will share just one. My most vivid and painful xmas memory.  When I was nine years old I got the coolest gift in the world, a multitrack audio recorder designed for kids, complete with headphone and instrument inputs and built-in noises (think laser and animal sounds). I've received cool gifts since, but that recorder hit at the perfect age to be historically amazing. I don’t remember how much attention it got on the day of Christmas, but had I known it’s fate, I would not have put it down. The day after Christmas I went out to run errands with my mom and siblings. I’m sure the days events were the trivial post-Christmas errands everyone does who doesn’t have to go to work- the things that quickly fade from memory. Kind of ironic actually, because what was awaiting us at home I will never forget.  Our fa

A few weeks ago I wrote a post on my film blog - Filmcast Without a Cause for those who aren't in the know- about three trendy films that came out this year that used time travel in interesting ways ; Looper , Sound of my Voice and Safety Not Guaranteed . As the year is coming to a close, top 10 lists are trickling out and each of these films is getting some love. While I'm not here to rehash my thoughts on these films, I would like to go super nerdy on you and talk about my preferred time travel logic, which can be best described through parallel universes. I could use my wikipedia knowledge of the Novikov self-consistency principle to explain it, but instead I'll go with the poetic words of Jurassic Park's Dr. Ian Malcolm when he said "Life finds a way." Before I go to deeply into this thought, allow me to present one of my favorite illustrations of how traveling back in time to change the past would impact the future. Where do I turn for my ex

Add caption Meet Merv. a snowman ornament who now is warming the heart of one kind, elderly resident of the Green Hills Retirement Community in Ames, Iowa. The story of Merv's journey to Green Hills is short, but very heartwarming.  Merv was born at 10:50 a.m. on Monday, December 3, 2012 with a solitary purpose; to bring unexpected joy to someone endowed with the Christmas spirit. His inception came from a company retreat where embracing change, cultivating a positive mind-set and "Positive Intelligence" were the topic du jour. Before Merv came to be, attendees of the retreat were tasked with finding a partner they don't normally work with, and partaking in an act of kindness exercise; making ornaments. Here is a silly little poem to commemorate Merv. As partnerships were formed and teams descended on the crafting supplies, one duo waited patiently for the ruckus to die. After a 10 minute delay, the partners approached the craft table and set about making a