I took a lot of tips from Tdogmom in preparing for my talks. There were lots of good tips in the thread you read. As I am not actually teaching, my talks are shorter--30-45 minutes to garden groups. My talks in schools take at least an hour. I speak directly to students and bring lots of realia. I call my livestock my "butterfly zoo." So I'm Mrs. S- and her Butterfly Zoo. Kids love it. I have developed a powerpoint--simple--to show photos and keep me on track. I keep my talk to the basics, stressing how BFs are beneficial and a gauge of how healthy our environment is. My handout lists 10 host and 10 nectar plants that are best for our area, plus websites including TDogmom's blogs, Monarch Watch, Journey North, and the GardenWeb. I have photos on the powerpoint of each of the plants I talk about. A lot of these photos show BFs on the plants. I cover the BFs most likely to be encountered in our area. I do life cycles on these BFs so that people can recognize any one of the cycles they might find. I always bring potted plants to show. As Sherry mentioned, the concept of host plants can be hard for some people to grasp. They think that BFs lay eggs on any plant and don't realize the specific needs of each species. I spend quite a bit of time explaining this. I don't spend a lot ot time on container raising as most people are not interested in this. If I was presenting for teachers, this topic would be very important. I may be doing a workshop on this topic this fall, as I've let it be known I wouldn't be providing caterpillars to anyone that hasn't been trained to take care of them properly. When talking to kids, they want to know how to raise BFs. So gear your talk to your audience. I have 3 photo albums that I take with me. One shows the building of my garden and the plants. One shows pictures of the different species that have appeared in my garden, and the third is a life cycle album of the BFs I've raised. I also take my camera as people are interested in what I used to take the photos. I bring field guides, The Lifecycles of Butterflies book, and Wagner's Caterpillars of Eastern NA. And, finally, I have run off the pamphlet from Monarch Watch on becoming a Monarch Waystation. I think it's great you have the opportunity to speak. I find it very enjoyable and rewarding. I've gotten lots of wonderful feedback. I include my BF email address on yahoo so if people have a question, they can contact me. I have a return engagement with one of the garden clubs for next April. They've called me and want to come see my gardens. HTH, Sandy

Actually, I would say that most humans try to do whatever they think is best for themselves and immediate family, without seeming to impinge too outrageously upon others. Just short of official censure, IOW. Obviously a significant minority are utterly selfish and do not stop even at directly harming others and/or their prospects. I agree that every bit of extractable fossil fuel will be extracted and used, presuming our capacity to do so persists long enough. I don't think it will, for a large number of factors: climate change, environmental degradation, costly conflicts over land and resources to name a few. These will likely reduce human civilizations to subsisting on annual sun-fall before we get to all coal and shale deposits. The richest societies will likely manage a partial shift to renewables via best technology but that savings will be engulfed and then some by the ravening horde. It's gonna be a wild ride.

My glasses arrived this morning. Good news and bad news. Rob, thank you for linking Eyebuy Direct, they did a GREAT job! The good news is that my vision is crisp, clear and much better than it has been for several years, with the glasses. A real difference. The bad news is that now when I look in the mirror using the new computer glasses (I got a pair of bifocals and a pair of computer glasses) I can see every eyebrow hair, pore, and unevenly applied makeup job and what I thought was an acceptable makeup job clearly is not, so I'll be spending a tad more time applying stuff.

I don't think they are any more ridiculous than those lamp chain scruncies! These are functional things.. same with TV's... I see no reason to be obsessive about hiding them...people go overboard with painting any sort of thing that is one the walls... a functional thing to have it blend in, and disappear. There is areason, light switches stand out.. it is so you can find them.. and even find them in an emergency. Your guests, as well. They will not be familiar with where they are, the same as would. Although, you would be surprised how little you really know your house in a fire, or a blackout...