Grab Bag Silver Lining:

For those who do not know her, let me introduce you to a really incredible woman named Hollye Jacobs. I met Hollye a couple of years ago through our mutual friend, Roxie. I was pretty sure I would love her from everything I already knew about her: She was an R.N., so we could talk medical stuff. She was a mother, so we could talk mom stuff, and she was funny and fun-loving, and, well, so am I :-).

But there was a great deal more I would come to learn about this woman, and just how her walk through life could benefit us all.

Here are the details:

Hollye is a Pediatric and Adult Palliative Care Nurse and Social Worker with graduate degrees in Bioethics and Child Development. She has made it her specialty to help deliver tough news in the best possible way. This would prove to be ironic.

Hollye is the mother of 4; 3 adult men and a lovely young girl, now about 8.

In 2010, Hollye VERY SUDDENLY (mere months after an exam that had no abnormal findings) developed multiple, aggressive tumors in both breasts.

The steps she took, the documentation she has registered and posted, and the perspective she shares is nothing short of miraculous inspiration. It is a story well worth digesting, because one hopes that by doing so, we might all share in the flavor of her wise and lusty spirit.

And the funny and fun-loving? They come into this story, too. As in GANGBUSTERS.

Hollye’s latest major accomplishment is the release of her new book, 

Click on the image above to order Hollye’s book.

And whether you’re colliding with cancer or healthy as a hobbit, do yourself a favor and read her story here at TheSilverPen.com.

Grab Bag Garden Gasp:

Here’s a little eye candy of garden art in China… throw one of these in the front yard and make your neighbors up their game 🙂

Go full screen for sure…

Grab Bag Life Hacks:

Grab Bag Skinny Rules:

I’m not too stoked with this title, as it connotes that SKINNY should perhaps be the goal.

I disagree.

Skinny could be one of many side effects resulting from a healthy lifestyle. 

But these rules are, indeed, a comprehensive list of a healthy habits, and can benefit us all. The side effects will be positive, noticeable and life-giving. If skinny is among them, so be it.

Grab Bag Rakin’ in the S’mores:

Total genius… as long as the rake is clean… and metal.

Grab Bag Brain Game:

As in the last few weeks, this is more of a brain exercise, found on Gethighnow.com

Fraser Spiral

View a fullscreen version.

Try the follow the spiral by tracing just above it with a pen or the tip of your finger. You can’t. Why? Because what you’ll be seeing is not a spiral but a set of circles. Yes, really. Check it out.

How It Works

This illusion was created by British psychologist James Fraser, who first published it in 1908. When you look at the Fraser Spiral it appears a single line is twisting its way into the center, spiraling into a funnel. Your eyes, Judas-like, are deceiving you. The Fraser Spiral works by guiding the eye through a sequence of counter-angles. The eye and brain are not accustomed to processing images this geometrically complicated, and thus try to normalize the circles by imagining them as a single line, a phantom spiral corkscrewing its way to the center.

Grab Bag Funny Stuff:

Then and now… inspiring me to want to recreate iconic images from my past…

Go full screen to enjoy all the subtle nuances :-)