If you're planning on traveling in the United States or Canada in the coming year then a trip to a butterfly conservatory is certainly an interesting way to spend a day. I'm talking real live butterflies here, not ones pinned to some sort of display board in a museum somewhere. No, these are butterflies alive and flittering in all their magnificent color and design.

Two excellent examples of butterfly conservatories are those located in Key West, Florida and Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada. Traveling to Key West is going to give you the great Florida tropical experience, with sun and sand, along with a chance to see flittering butterflies in all their finest. Traveling to Niagara Falls gives you the opportunity to see the thundering American and Canadian Waterfalls, a host of other attractions, and of course…those butterflies.

The Niagara Garden Trail Butterfly Conservatory features over 2000 tropical butterflies of varied sizes and color. Their facility has these butterflies roaming through the air amongst vibrant floral blossoms and lush greenery. It really is a rainforest setting that you will experience complete with ponds and waterfalls. Of course, there's that balmy temperature inside on a year-round basis, especially nice if you're looking for something to do if traveling in the winter.

The butterfly conservatory in Niagara Falls features an "Emergence Window". This is truly a beautiful sight to behold. Here, through this window, you can watch butterflies emerge from their pupae and take the initial flight of their lives. It's akin to seeing a newborn baby take their first steps into the world before them. This conservatory is open everyday of the year except for Christmas.

The Key West Butterfly and Nature Conservatory has 75 different species of butterflies. They also keep their conservatory in the temperature range of 85 degrees Fahrenheit with a relative humidity of 80 percent to mimic true tropical conditions. This can actually feel cool sometimes to Floridians. They have a computerized controlled weather system, which constantly monitors and controls temperature and relative humidity.

The largest butterflies at the Key West Conservatory are the Owl butterflies. The smallest there are the Pygmy Blue. In the Owl butterfly category, the female Queen Alexandra's Birdwing is considered the world's largest butterfly. It has a wingspan measuring up to 11 inches. The smaller Pygmy Blue's wingspan measures approximately half an inch.

With trips and holidays sometimes involving frantic paces and over-hyped modern attractions, it's sometimes good to get back to nature. Butterfly conservatories offer peaceful, tranquil, and at the same time exotic experiences. They certainly will expand your knowledge base, add some color into your life, and encourage you to appreciate the simple beauty around you.

Posted by Mike.

Do you have a geek in your life that has a split personality?  Sure, he loves the tech. He loves the gadgety goodness of a laptop or a cell phone.   But, he’s also into the retro look and feel of the Victorian age with all the Jules Verne fun you can have in that world.  We often forget that the Victorian age was a time of science and technological change just as much as our own 21st century world.  Yet, how is a marriage of the two possible?

Enter the Steampunk Laptop. 

Steampunk is modern technology with a late Victorian aesthetic.  “Sure, it’s time to build technology,” says the Steampunk aficionado, “but it’s time to build beautiful technology! Instead of the black or gray plastic that one expects from a computer, what’s the matter with beautiful woods or brass?”

The Steampunk Laptop is a real, working laptop with all the components you’d consider necessary to get the job done.  But, it has been modified with a wood case, brass keys, leather padding, a brass keyboard and brass feet to help with the cooling process.

The Steampunk laptop embraces the idea that while futuristic technology is a wonderful thing, it’s also important to embrace one’s aesthetic roots and enjoy the beauty one can find from our Victorian ancestors. 

Posted by Noel.

Sand painting is known to have been practiced by three early cultures: Tibetan monks, Australian aborigines, and Native Americas. In the Southwestern U. S. sand painting was originally developed by the Pueblo Indians. However as the Pueblo integrated with the Navajo during the time of Spanish conquest, it is likely that they transferred some of their art to the larger tribe who then enhanced the complexity and artfulness of the end product.

The Navajo Sand paintings, or dry paintings, are the most widely known form of Navajo ceremonial art and considered by many to be the most beautiful representations of the form in the Southwest.

There are two forms of Navajo sand paintings. The first is used in the traditional healing ceremony conducted by a Singer or Medicine Man, a hataalii. The sand painting is completed in one day and destroyed later that night. This type of sand painting is rarely viewed by non-Navajos.

The second form is sand painting as art, created on a piece of particle board or plywood using finely crushed colored stone to representative Navajo symbols. It is an artistic presentation done in such a way that it would not be considered disrespectful to the Navajo people.

Joe Ben Jr., an award winning sandpainter, offers his work through the website Tribal Expressions. Ben is from Shiprock, New Mexico which is located on the Navajo reservation. In addition to his sand painting, he is also known for calling the Phoenix Suns' home games during the NBA finals for KTNN radio. 

Joe Ben's sand paintings are distinguished by their intensity of color using natural materials from throughout the world including: Lapis from Afghanistan, diamond dust from Australia, coal from the four corners region, gypsum  from Cuba, and greens, browns and reds found on the Hopi and Navajo reservations. You can view his art and that of other sandpainters on the Tribal Expression site.

Posted by Barbara Brown.

Barbara also writes for Quality Dog Resources.