Chasing Clean Air

Inclusion

I'm delinquent posting, as I've been in a family-induced fog of buttons pushed, memories reignited, and that yearning feeling of love me, love you, and let's do our best to get along, which keeps me in the trenches of the Thanksgiving family spirit of isn't this great, not really, oh-yes-it is great! after all.

Inclusion.

Thursday morning, I went with mom to the Unitarian Church in downtown San Francisco, where the African-American Methodist preacher flanked by his beautiful Samoan wife, spoke of growing up in the South when segregation was the thing, and "inclusion" became his thing.

That resonated with me.

We all want to be included.

I want to be included, too.

Inclusion.

A family that includes. There exists in my family certain family members (2) that exclude others based on appearances & money.

Low level people really when I stop to think about it, which I shouldn't, for there are loftier compassionate spirits in the world.

The Methodist preacher spoke of a broad inclusive family, which, naturally, the Unitarian Church embodies and embraces.

And his word "inclusion" echoed through the Zen leader's meditation, the rabbi's story recounting Yom Kippur, the Cantor's melodic singing, and the priest's... we left about then to have lunch at Fisherman's Wharf (we had a reservation) but the notion of inclusion of others' ideas, ways, religion, and lifestyle choices stayed with me.

I wish more people would do more than reflect on inclusion, but  rather would make non-judgment and inclusion of others as part of their way.

Going a step further, and maybe it's an oxymoron, I wish if anyone were to be excluded it would be those vocal meanies who judge and exclude others for base reasons.

I'm at my dad's now. I traveled to San Francisco without my computer (an experiment unlikely to be repeated) so I'm using one of his photos from a recent trip to the Galapagos. It's my stand-in photo that says, despite our differences...

Inclusion.

2009 Altima Hybrid

I'll be driving the 2009 Altima Hybrid this week.

So far, I sat in the luxurious driver's seat and got familiar with the basics and the perks.

Very easy to do, for it's quite comfortable.

Once I discovered XM satellite radio, though, and the nine speakers, I was distracted with world music. So when I'm focused and driving down a California road, I'll let you know how it goes. Looking forward...

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Ready Set Read Kindle

It's most exciting, under the cover of clouds promising rain, rain! RAIN! I've chosen the following books, blogs, and magazines to download to my Kindle for "tree-less" reading.

Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell $9.99

Hot, Flat, and Crowded by Tom Friedman $9.99

Freakonomics Blog (2 weeks free trial, then $1.99 monthly like the rest of these blogs/magazines/newspapers)

Huffington Post Blog $1.99

The Clutter Diet Blog $0.99

Web 2.0 Blog

Opionionated Magazine $1.49

Salon Magazine $3.49

Slate Magazine $2.49

Atlantic Monthly Magazine $1.25

Now all I have to do is find the time.

GM's Advanced Hybrid Cars

In defense of General Motors, they've been turning out pretty good cars, I'd say, great, when it comes to the Chevy Malibu Hybrid.

It won the Car of the Year at the 2008 Detroit Car Show.

I drove the Chevy Malibu Hybrid earlier this year. I drove it to Malibu and around town. I loved it so much I didn't want to give it back.

So while the big three in Detroit are taking criticism, let's give credit where credit is due.

The Chevy Malibu Hybrid turns off its engine at lights, and then an electric motor kicks in for about 1/4 mile until the gas engine takes over again.

GM's Chevy Volt isn't ready yet but it will draw on lessons from the EV1, according to some, the most efficient electric car ever made.

The Volt battery pack will offer 40 miles on one charge, at which time the gas engine will take over, going 300 more miles.

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Amazon Kindle - For The Reader Who Doesn't Want To Cut Down More Trees

I just received my first Amazon Kindle, my attempt to get used to reading without using more trees.

The Kindle is an electronic device shaped like a book, with a USB connector to download books, newspapers and blogs from the internet.

I love to read books as much or more than anyone, and while technology sometimes gets to me, like this computer with its bright-lights-glare, I'm giving the treeless Kindle a shot and will report back here.

To read estimates on how many trees are cut per ton of paper, click here. 

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MyBlogLog

I'm learning MyBlogLog.

Visitors--like you--can leave a photo or an avatar on Chasing Clean Air, which can be hyperlinked to a page with your information.

Currently, mybloglog is located on the bottom right side bar here.

Undergoing MyBlogLog Verification