Lisa Napoli's Blog, page 60

Butterflies in Bhutan

Just reading this story makes me wish I'd stayed forever in Mongar this fall….And oh, the pictures:

Excerpt:

"Bhutan has made a well-deserved place for itself on the biodiversity map; it ranks in the top 10% of countries in terms of species richness per area unit. This natural endowment is under no threat from a government committed to conservation of the natural environment. In fact, in Bhutan, 26% of the country is protected land, with another 9% designated as biological corridors that connect the protected areas. The government has also decided to leave 60% of the country under forest cover.

Given this green splendour, birds love Bhutan and ornithologists therefore consider it a prime location for catching glimpses of a long list of feathered species. In fact, the Kingdom of Bhutan sits at the heart of 221 official 'endemic bird areas' and the number of bird species identified in Bhutan is 670… and counting.

Even for travellers not lured in by winged friends, the lush ecosystems of Bhutan promises plenty of wildlife spotting. Snow leopards and Bengal tigers reside in the high-elevation forests, and the southern tropical jungles are home to the clouded leopard, one-horned rhinoceros, elephants and a rare primate unique to Bhutan and near environs – the golden langur.

Fluttering Beauty

Bhutan is also a fabled haven for butterflies. There are between 90 and 120 species of butterfly in Bhutan; approximately 28 of these are endemic to the eastern Himalayas. For lepidopterists, little can rival the enchantment of a flittering butterfly rising and falling among the lush plant life of Bhutan."

The Longevity Project

Just clearing through mail during my first full weekend home in months and found this story on NPR about a book called The Longevity Project. It's based on an eight-decade study. It proves what that earlier post about mothers being happy making you happy did: That studies are just studies!

Excerpt:

Take disposition, for example. Cheerful and optimistic children are actually less likely to live long lives, they found."The most cheerful, optimistic kids grew up to take more risks," explains Martin. "By virtue of expecting good things to happen and feeling like nothing bad ever would, they predisposed themselves to be heavier drinkers, they tended to be smokers, and their hobbies were riskier."

So, she concludes, "some degree of worrying actually is good." And, in fact, adds Friedman, "the prudent, persistent, planful people — both in childhood … and then in young adulthood we measured that — that was the strongest individual difference, or personality predictor, of long life."

And it's not just about risk aversion. The study found that conscientious people developed better social relationships and accomplished more at work. Think all that responsibility sounds boring? Not so, says Martin. "Because of those qualities, they tended to get nice opportunities in life, and so they went on to live some of the most exciting and interesting lives of anyone in the study."

It's all about your mother

A new study in Britain shows that your mother's happiness greatly influences that of a child's….and that personal connection trumps the boob tube.

Excerpt:

"….in families where the child's mother is unhappy in her partnership, only 55 per cent of young people say they are 'completely happy' with their family situation – compared with 73 per cent of young people whose mothers are 'perfectly happy' in their relationships.

The Understanding Society research examined the relationships between married or cohabiting partners, and relationships between parents and their children. Professor John Ermisch, Dr Maria Iacovou, and Dr Alexandra Skew from the Institute for Social and Economic Research found that the happiest children are those living with two parents – either biological or step – with no younger siblings, who do not quarrel with their parents regularly, who eat at least three evening meals per week with their family and whose mother is happy in her own relationship.

Commenting on the findings, Dr Maria Iacovou said: "At a time when there is widespread political concern about 'Broken Britain', these findings show that family relationships and the happiness of parents are key to the happiness of young people. Contrary to the popular belief that children only want to spend time playing videogames or watching TV we found that they were most happy when interacting with their parents or siblings."

Unfinished business

Lee Kravitz's book is called Unfinished Business. I met him last week at the Ft. Lauderdale Literary Feast and have been reading up a bit on his own personal transformation after losing his gig as editor of Parade magazine.

"After losing his job, Lee Kravitz – a man who had always worked too hard, too long, and too intensely – took stock of his life and realized just how disconnected he had become from the people who mattered most to him: his wife, his children, the circle of friends whose ranks had thinned over the years. Instead of rushing out to try to find a new job, he committed an entire year to attending to the most important things in his life, to reconnecting with those dear to him and to making amends.

In Unfinished Business, Kravitz takes us along on ten transformational journeys, among them repaying a thirty-year-old debt, making a long-overdue condolence call, finding an abandoned relative, and fulfilling a forgotten promise. Along the way, we meet a cast of wonderful characters and travel the globe—to a refugee camp in Kenya, a monastery in California, the desert of southern Iran, a Little League game in upstate New York, and a bar in Kravitz's native Cleveland. In each instance, his act of reaching out opens new paths for both personal and spiritual growth.

Lee's website is filled with tools for anyone who wants to turn their life around or make amends. Read the excerpt here and see if you see yourself in Lee.

Cool bookstore of the day: Longitude Books

Not just because Shangri-La is featured as book of the week, but because this is a beautiful site/store that offers interesting reads for travelers: http://www.longitudebooks.com/

Shangri-LA Times Bestseller list

Thanks to Ted for tipping me off that Radio Shangri-La's on the LA Times list again this week. Whee!

http://projects.latimes.com/bestsellers/lists/2011/04/03/#radio-shangri-la

The other latest book about Bhutan

Married to Bhutan by Linda Leaming, who didn't literally marry the country but married a Bhutanese.

Here's an excerpt:

http://www.scribd.com/full/51338678?access_key=key-mphhng91y1giojft8a3

Review of Beneath Blossom Rain by Kevin Grange

The article's titled Semi-Roughing It by Michael Ybarra, and it's about Kevin Grange's foray on the three-week Snowman's Trek in 2007. (While I was hanging out at Kuzoo in the city, he and a group of others were trekking along.)

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704438104576219541952447586.html

#3goodthings

*drinking a McCafe while returning phone calls during the busy lunch hour downtown

*making that lentil soup

*running into George at the pool

#3goodthings

Pauline Frommer/The Travel Show

Here's the link off the website for WOR, one of the stations where it airs. It's in hour two. Pauline Frommer paid me the ultimate compliment: She said she missed her stop on the subway while she was reading Radio Shangri-la!

http://www.wor710.com/pages/8379275.php

Thanks to Arabelle who heard this and wrote to say hi!