The Alien Next Door

One day away from “Darwin’s Paradox” Launch at Amazon (and other bookstores around the world)…I’m kind of beside myself, looking on and whispering: “Hey! Comb your hair, girl!”… Oh, in honor of the book, Karen Mason, created the really neat widget of “Darwin’s Paradox” over to the right there. If you like the book, or what I write here, or just plain like “me” (embarrassed grin) … and want to support/advertize the book, please go ahead and put the widget on your site. I thank you so much for your support, dear reader.

Well, speaking of recognition, that impeccable woman over at Climate of Our Future has done it again; waged MEME! This time, she’s awarded me with an incredible award, “Bloggers with Integrity” with an added tag of “Keeping it Real”:

Deborah, you have no idea what this award means to me. I humbly thank you. Deborah received the bloggers with integrity award for “social conscience”. Here’s what she had to say about it, quoting Edward Abbey: “It is not enough to understand the natural world; the point is to defend and preserve it.” And Deborah is doing an impeccable job of raising awareness and providing solutions with her excellent blog, Climate of Our Future.

The Oxford Dictionary defines integrity as: wholeness, entirety, soundness, uprightness, honesty. These are all traits that I strive to achieve in my daily life. And keeping it real is perhaps my calling, particularly here on the blogosphere, considered by many non-internet users and non-bloggers as a vacuum or nonsensical black hole (which it couldn’t be further from). As both scientist and artist, I interpret my world through my unique filter, integrating disparate-looking items and weaving them into a tapestry of meaning.

This integrity award came originally from Shinade at the Painted Veil, another cool lady who practices integrity. Here’s her mantra: I am interested in everything that God has created within this universe. And I have an almost unquenchable thirst for knowledge. And my grandest dream and prayer is for peace in the world and that no-one lack for any need.

I nominate the following bloggers with integrity:

WalksFarWoman for bringing so much “Love and Understanding” to the blogosphere

Princess Haiku for bestowing us with “Beauty and Refinement”

Somerset Bob for tirelessly and cheerfully sharing his “Humble Wisdom”

Jean-Luc for warming the blogosphere with his “Kind Heart”

Tricia Ares for teaching us with her “Impeccable Words”

Karen Mason for bestowing her “Selfless Devotion and Gift of Knowledge” to so many members of our community

Ilker Yoldas for firing us with her “Passion for Blogging and our Community”

Adria for providing us with a “Mirror of Ourselves”

Jon for astutely providing us with a “Sense of Place”

Melanie Faith for bringing her “Quiet Symphony of Hope” to the blogosphere

Joel Gruber for lighting our Community with his “Faith and Inspiration”

There are so many more bloggers with integrity out there … Go find them, guys! Off you go!