fossils found

Last week, a construction crew from Southern California Edison, accidentally unearthed a collection of fossils dating 1.4 million years back. They were drilling in San Timoteo Canyon to build a new substation.

"If you step back, this is just a huge find," says Rick Greenwood, a director in SCE. "Some of the things I personally find fascinating are the prehistoric camels and llamas and horses and deer. I don't think most people even have the concept that those types of animals were roaming around here more than a million years ago."

They also found a rich assortment of plant life like birch, pine and sycamore, indicating that the area used to be a marsh land, which probably preserved the fossils well. Aside from the animals mentioned, they also found bones of a ground sloth, an ancestor of the saber-toothed tiger, frogs, salamanders and rodents. Scientists are still examining the fragments but its possible that some of the bones may even belong to some new species we didn't know existed.

According to Tom Demere, a paleontologist from the San Diego Museum of Natural History, the fossils could provide a more comprehensive view of what it was like in Southern Cali a million years ago.

"We have a fuzzy view of what this time period was like in terms of mammal evolution," Demere said. "A discovery like this - when they're all found together and in a whole range of sizes - could really be an important contribution."

Some of the bones will be displayed in Western Science Center in Hemet. Scientists and researchers can also be granted access to the collection.

Sources:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100921/ap_on_bi_ge/us_fossil_find
http://www.latimes.com/news/science/la-sci-fossils-20100921,0,3128425.story
http://www.thestate.com/2010/09/20/1475249/calif-utility-stumbles-on-14m.html
http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories/PE_News_Local_D_fossils21.2bc5f26.html

in bloom

My mom bought these flowers made of recycled materials at a bazaar. They look better than plastic flowers. I'm trying to find out who made these. My sister said they came from Baguio but she didn't know the actual name of the shop that sold them. I found a blog entry here; it's about paper roses created by Women’s Livelihood Organization of Imelda Village in Baguio but I wasn't sure it was them, but still, kudos to them as well!

If anyone out there knows please tell me, so I can give them proper credit and an award! Very creative!

phone cords, styrofoam
and magazines

vase made of recycled paper

paper hibiscus

straw roses

flowers made of Coke, Royal
and Sprite wrappers

happy birthday, andrea bocelli!

When Andrea's mother was pregnant with him, she became sick and had to be admitted to the hospital.  Doctors made a mistake with the diagnosis.  They thought she was having appendicitis.  She received treatments, like having ice applied on her stomach.  After it was over, they advised her to abort the child.

"They told her it was the best solution because the baby would be born with some disability," he says.

She refused to listen and chose to keep the baby instead, and so in September 22, 1958, world-class tenor Andrea Bocelli was born.

There are many good arguments on why people choose to abort or even abandon a child, but there's so much more that we do not know and understand.  There's a lot of things we cannot foresee.  Life has its reasons too.

Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrea_Bocelli
http://www.christianpost.com/article/20100623/renowned-singer-andrea-bocelli-tells-abortion-story/index.html
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1285058/Andrea-Bocelli-praises-mother-aborting-doctors-told-born-disabled.html

when it rains, it pours

I'm still not over celebrating the news that I won a storywriting contest, when I received an email yesterday saying that one of my poems have been included in a collection to be launched this Saturday! Whew, that was long! :D. The collection is entitled "Tag-ulan" (rainy season, the one we're having right now here in Pinas) and I think most of the poems (I know mine is) will be about the rain.

Each experience, each move, each mistake made and lesson learned, is a step closer to my goal.  Have faith everyone!  Never stop trying!

the seed of good

“Search for the seed of good in every adversity. Master that principle and you will own a precious shield that will guard you well through all the darkest valleys you must traverse. Stars may be seen from the bottom of a deep well, when they cannot be discerned from the mountaintop. So will you learn things in adversity that you would never have discovered without trouble. There is always a seed of good. Find it and prosper.”

- Og Mandino (American Essayist and Psychologist, 1923-1996)

by lova_03