Peace & Love & Follow Friday

Hello all.  Well, it's been a pretty interesting week.  I'm learning the ropes of being poor and realizing how many things I took for granted the few times I have had money as an adult.  This is good, because one day, when I do actually have money again, I will know how to make it stretch AND I will be more grateful for all of the things that I will get to do that I can't do now (like... going to the movies or being able to buy craft supplies or going to P.F. Chang's or being able to buy things with cash instead of pennies...)  So yeah... it's definitely a good learning experience.


So what's been happening.  Well, I have been doing a LOT of writing.  Not a lot of sleeping.  And I've been hanging out with friends, cuddling with Ava Boo Boo, and just living my crazy Bohemian life. :)

And the Westboro Baptist Church came to town.  But not in great numbers.  Apparently, there were only about 3 of them outside of East Lansing High School yesterday. (I decided not to go so as not to give them any fuel for their fire.  I really do just want peace and love.)
In any case, the students showed them that we didn't need any hate coming from them in our community by doing their own peaceful counter-protest.  Read more about it here: NBC News Article on WBC in East Lansing

Anyway, on to today.  Well, today is Friday, and as some of you might know, Friday is "follow friday" on Twitter.  So, I, like many others, having been finding new people to follow today and promoting people to follow as well.  In my "follow friday" adventures, I found a lot of interesting websites to check out.  Here's what I came across:

Lake Erie Artists Gallery

Located in Ohio.  Seems like a neat place.  Plus, I gotta represent for anything "Great Lakes." haha

Sow Peace

I get excited whenever I come across people trying to promote peace.  

Enlighten Your World

I'm a follower!  I can't wait to read more.  It seems like there's a lot of stuff here to help people & the world.

The New Pursuit

One Life. One Planet. Live Deeply.  

I am definitely interested in knowing more...

The Peace Alliance

I will definitely be spending more time on this site too.  Check it out if you want peace.

Peace Love World

Clothing for people who love peace and love.

Ecstatic Peace Records

I know nothing about this site yet, but I like the idea of a record company promoting peace.  So yeah... I'll have to look into it more...

Veteran's For Peace

Heroes working for peace.  Awesome.

Tez Osman's Site

He appeals to me because he believes in sharing creativity, thoughts, and ideas on the web.

Jay Hampton Books

If you're looking for a new book, here's an author I came across today.

Lee Stacey

Musician / Geek / Thinker / Blogger

And these next two are not new finds, but two sites I just think you should check out. :)

Google Translate

Google offers helpful tools to communicate with people all over the world; even if they speak a different language.

PonchoMeg: The Modern Bohemian.com

My brand new website.  All about PonchoMeg: The Modern Bohemian on the web & in life.

And I really don't know what else to write about.  So I will leave you with all that for now.  Now, if you have any great sites about peace, love, creativity, giving, writing, hippies, bohemians, etc. that you like, please share them in the comments so I can check them out too. :)

Peace and Love,

Meagan

PonchoMeg: The Modern Bohemian is Getting Read Around the World!

Visitor Demographics for 

PonchoMeg: The Modern Bohemian...     

United States 78.0%

United Kingdom 9.0%

Romania 3.0%

Denmark 2.8%

Russia 2.0%

Canada 1.5%

Brazil 1.1%

Australia 1.0%

South Korea 0.5%

France 0.1%

Apparently, PonchoMeg: The Modern Bohemian is read in all sorts of places around the world.   This cheers me up a little, knowing that I really can reach the world... little by little. I will say, I am surprised at how low Canada is on this list.  Where all my Canadians at?   You all live right next door! haha Just playin' Canada. But seriously, let's see if we can spread this Modern Bohemian love a little further.   I'd like to see a few more countries on this list. :) Like Germany... where's Germany!?!?! Ich liebe dich, Deutschland! Kommen Sie zu meinem blog! Bitte!   What about Italy? Visita il mio blog! Per favore. :) (I hope I said all that right! haha) Keep it coming world. And I will keep sharing with you.  And together we can spread peace and love and understanding and show that all people,  from all walks of life, from all over the world, CAN come together as a community; in peace. Peace and Love, Meagan P.S. - Here are some helpful resources if you want to be a world traveler... or at least feel like one. :)   And/or for if you just want to connect with other people around the world, like I am apparently doing with  my little blog here! haha  Enjoy: World Travel and Tourism Council Journeys of a Lifetime: 500 of the World's Greatest Trips New Concise World Atlas Rick Steves' French, Italian and German Phrase Book Google Translate Top 5 English Words and Phrases to Learn in French Top 5 English Words and Phrases to Learn in Spanish Top 5 English Words and Phrases to Learn in German Top 5 English Words and Phrases to Learn in Italian The World's Best Eco-Lodges: Earth-Friendly Hotels PonchoMeg's Guide to Everything Michigan The Essential Gluten-Free Restaurant Guide

This is NOT a good sign of the times...

"The BoarsHead Theater is canceling the remainder of its 2009-10 performance season because it has run out of money.

The professional theater in Lansing had shut down last month in a bid to save $77,000 between early November and late January. It had planned to reopen early next year with a performance in January, but expected gifts from corporate donors failed to materialize." Read more at The Lansing State Journal Online

This is bad news friends...

If our economic situation doesn't improve soon, we are going to have some serious losses to deal with. The first thing that usually goes, especially when it comes to government funding and donations...are the fine arts. As a music teacher, this troubles me greatly because fine arts do so much to enhance lives, share ideas, change viewpoints, challenge authority, educate, inspire, and entertain. To lose them is to lose a part of ourselves that cannot be replaced with anything else.

As if this weren't bad enough...

Michigan public schools are being forced to make drastic changes in order to survive. (Budget cuts, layoffs, etc.)  And Universities are dropping entire programs! If there is one thing we need to keep funded it's schools, and yet with everything being so bad, schools are not getting what they need. This means that children are not getting the education that they need... and deserve.

Even worse...

"LANSING - The projections for 2010 are in and the funds needed to feed hungry people in the seven county mid-Michigan area are staggering. To continue to serve seniors, families and children the Mid-Michigan Food Bank needs to raise $2.8 million dollars. Up to 18,000 families, including a large number of children and seniors, will be turned away due to lack of food. The demand for food is such that the supplies at the Mid-Michigan Food Bank are depleted every 10 days." Read more at The Lansing State Journal Online

It just makes me wonder. Where are our priorities? We're worried about savings accounts and not being able to buy as many Christmas gifts this year (which are legitimate concerns, of course) but what's worse? Paying a bill late or having to shut down a school? Getting a gift card for your spouse instead of a new HDTV or knowing that 18,000 families will not have food this winter?

All I ask is this... since this is a season of giving, look around your community and see what you can do to help. Every little bit does something! Some ideas:

Donate canned goods to your local food bank

Make a monetary donation to a local fine arts organization

Send your child to school with extra supplies to donate to the classroom. (Pencils, pens, paper, tissue, hand sanitizer, etc.)

And open your mind and heart, and help those around you. If we all give a little, we all gain a lot more.

Peace and Love,

Meagan (PonchoMeg: The Modern Bohemian)

Thoughts of a Modern Bohemian : A POEM

Sitting at my laptop

wondering what to say

can I share my introspection?

can I make it through the day?

Am I lost, or just misguided?

In a world that's misguided too...

Can I save the people like me?

Or do I need the saving from you?

I want to make a difference

I want to make a change

inspire a revolution

to create, reinvent, and rearrange

If I'm pulling at your heart strings

If I'm making you think at all

Consider why your affected

by a Modern Bohemian's blog

Perhaps you too want to change things

maybe save some people too

In this misguided world we live in

maybe the change we need is you