RenoVous

  Today is International Women's Day, and this year's theme is to inspire inclusion. Women make up less than a third of the workforce across science, technology, and engineering. But we're going to meet five women who have been selected by the UN's Environment Programme to receive the Champions of Earth award. Wildlife biologist, Dr. Purnima Devi Barman, founded the Hargila Army to protect an endangered bird species, the greater adjutant stork. Wildlife veterinarian, Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka, founded the Conservation Through Public Health, and has been safeguarding mountain gorilla communities across East Africa. Engineer and inventor, Nzambi Matee, founded Gjenge Makers, a company aiming for a solution to plastic pollution.  She developed a prototype for a machine that turns discarded plastic into paving stones. Xiaoyuan Ren founded MyH2O, a data platform that tests and records groundwater quality across a thousand villages in rural China into an app that lets reside...

  The snow in the yard is mostly melted now but we enjoyed it. And I caught a wave.

  In the room the women come and go Talking of Michelangelo. That's from "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" by T.S. Eliot, but signore was a poet as well. Not to mention, as we all know, a painter and sculptor, one of the greatest Italian renaissance artists. He was born on this day, 1475. He had an obvious talent and became an artist apprentice at age 13.  Soon after, he caught the attention of Lorenzo de' Medici and was brought to live in the palace, where he learned poetry, science, philosophy and art. Over the course of his life, he wrote more than 300 poems, writing his deepest thoughts, his conflict between passion and guilt. In the last years of his life, he was chief architect of St. Peter's Basilica.  One of his most important early works, the Pieta , resides there.

  Okay, so I finally started this book from my sister. I'm about 1/3 through so things are starting to happen but you don't really know what yet. Well, Teddy has a friend. You know I like a thriller! So what are you reading?

  Gucci Kirsten Dunst Julia Garner Dior Natalie Portman Jisoo Saint Laurent Lily Collins Milena Smit Balenciaga Renata Litvinova (Oversized everything) Adut Akech Tom Ford Iris Law Sharon Stone

  The Seabin can remove around 8.6 pounds of garbage each day, including microplastics up to a size of 2mm.  It can collect a 5 gallon container alongside due to the inflow of water. The device can also be fitted with oil-absorbing pads to collect surface oils. The most common caught item?  Cigarette butts. 117,647 plastic utensils a year. 90,000 shopping bags. The program launched in Darling Harbour, Sydney.  Since its success, it is being implemented across the globe, including recently in Marina del Rey, CA. uvex

  Leap Day happens every four years, so maybe it's no surprise that "This Day in History" has very little going on. But in 1940, it was the day of the Academy Awards. Gone with the Wind  won eight Oscars, including Best Supporting Actress for Hattie McDaniel. Hattie was not just the first African American to win an award - she had been the first African American woman to sing on US radio and to perform at Club Madrid, near Milwaukee.  She was also the first to have a leading role on a TV sitcom. But due to racial segregation, upon her death in 1952, she was denied burial in the Hollywood Cemetery. So, on this final day of Black History Month, we honor her.