My Clippings File

\Col`lec*ta"ne*a\, n. pl. [Neut. pl. from L. collectaneus collected, fr. colligere. See {Collect}, v. t.] Passages selected from various authors, usually for purposes of instruction; miscellany; anthology. Webster's 1913

From a passage selected at random

The Trespasser's Eyeshine

She put the butt end of the flashlight against her forehead, just above the space between her eyebrows. It was something she'd learned long ago about seeing at night. A light shined from there would reveal nothing of herself to a trespasser, and from that spot on her forehead a beam would go straight to the retinas and return to her own eyes the characteristic color of the trespasser's eyeshine. If it had eyes, of course, and if they were looking at her directly.

Prodigal Summer, Barbara Kingsolver

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Mother's habit of clipping stuff rubbed off on me early and it stuck. She clipped mostly recipes but I'm more of a generalist. I'll clip anything that grabs my fancy.

We Are Clearly a Species Worth Saving

Our world is entering a time of profound and perhaps catastrophic change. My hope is that by getting people to care about and learn about what is in their backyard, they can be made to realize that while it seems like we are destroying the planet in out greed and excess, what we are really destroying is ourselves. The planet and life in general has dealt with catastrophe many times before. Cataclysm on Earth is a creative time and evolution can handle it. Culture is much more fragile and we as individuals are more fragile still. I think that it is time for people to come to terms with the fact that our own behaviors put humanity at risk. While people have always done atrocious things, I believe that we are a species capable of beautiful, amazing and important things as well and we are clearly a species worth saving.

Jon Piasecki

From Focus on Jon Piasecki by Cindy Kelly, The Artful Mind, June 2007

clipped July 29, 2007

Collection: Natural Science