art

My sister arrived home for the holidays with stories from her new life in the midwest. One story acquainted me to an old, sprightly woman whose hobby filled her house with yarn and plastic board structures, signs, and kleenex box covers. While the yarn creations awed my sister by their complexity, they were kitsch.

Is this art? Is art the act of creating, the act of creating something expressive, or the act of creating something expressive which contains other ambiguous words: beauty, love, and inspiration?

I am inclined to identify art from the creator’s standpoint. How was it intended? Did the act of creation lend itself to self-discovery and pronouncement, or to hobby and output. I knit. My socks and scarves are beautiful and my stitches very straight, but knitting is not my art. A friend of mine’s quilting, however, reveals her art. Let me realize, that by assigning art to the intention, I renounce accidental art. Can art be an accident?

Voting & My Rant

I was just thinking about a world in which every Tuesday was Voting Day and what it would be like if that was our culture? What would it be like if every Tuesday, we always went to our local voting booth to cast our vote about local, state, and even national issues? With technology today, I don't think it would be over burdensome - hey (aside from the computers doing most of the work) it may create new jobs for the American people. But just imagine that kind of world. It would be as natural as getting up in the morning, or getting your coffee or tea or sitting down to your Wheaties or Frosted Flakes. It would be natural to have an active voice.

How would our politicians differ? Being more active in putting our voice to the issues, we would become, I would hope, on the whole, far more aware of what kind of people we need in office. The government should be OF THE PEOPLE. The USA got a great deal, we're spoiled, but GOOD kids. We don't argue much. We don't really agree with our parents (the government) but only a few of us are going to cut up and say something. On the whole, if we aren't realizing HOW policies affect us...everything's going fine, right?

I think that's just it. Our leaders don't really invite us to understand. There is so much smoke and mirrors that continually dupe anyone trying understand what's going on. My question is, and maybe it's too simplistic, why can't we understand "what's going on." What's wrong with that?

I don't want to know every detail behind National Security, the CIA, and stuff like that, but I do want to hear more about domestic and foriegn affairs, the environment, etc. I know we can seek out our own info. But as LEADERS, they should be more inclusive and involved with the people they are representing instead of making policies from up on their pedastals. This is a gross generalization, but I do feel that overall politicians lose touch with their consumer, their public, and what the public really wants.

Here's another odd one for me:
The fact that leaders are elected to the highest position in the world and can nominate, appoint and "work the system" to put certain people in a position bothers me because they don't have to be held accountable to that appointment. In a few years, they'll be out of office and it'll be some other dumb fool's headache.

The environment.
What the hell is up with our leaders who have just GIVEN up! I'm really really getting tired of being talked to like I was born yesterday. All this nonsense about Bush doing great stuff for the enviroment when all he does is REDUCE the damn standards is ridiculous. Obviously money is what our future needs...not a home (EARTH) in which to spend it!

My other beef and I will stop for today:
Tom Delay and jerks like him (and there are many out there). These guys need to be treated like serial rapists and murderers. What they do is far worse and harms more people than a couple of murders or rapes and those are HORRIBLE CRIMES. But people like Tom Delay AFFECT people's democracy.

I could go on and on...but i'm actually in a good mood today! even if the world has always been like this (to some degree) I still don't find it as an excuse.

WE, as people of a country, must be vocal about what our leaders are doing with our country. WE have to hold leaders accountable because they send a message about what leadership is, what is considered appropriate...they are teachers whether we like it or not. Especially because they are teachers we need to be more careful about who we let MOLD our nation. We have to start thinking WAY DOWN THE ROAD. This world, technology, and everything is moving so fast, we HAVE TO THINK AHEAD.

This totally started as a simple thought and I just let the rest of my brain unfold.

MIA

Whew, it has obviously been a while since I visited my own blog. I have been just about 100% focused on one thing: freelancing. Once people find out you do graphic design for a living, inevitably a job offer comes along. Par for Generation Y, who grew up with the internet. I just read that of the last 4 generations, the Y Generation (1979 - 1994) has seen the most economic boom, has had available to them the most material possessions, and therefore is the least likely to have a sustained attention span.

Where was I?

Oh yes, I read this sociological commentary in the context of volunteer recruitment and retainment. We're bright young whippersnappers, but if we don't get the immediate gratification that we're used to, then we move on. I'm paraphrasing somewhat, but this struck me as very interesting. I thought that I just had a million interests and a frustrating lack of follow through. But maybe I am not alone?

Come On Lucy, Let's Stomp Some Grapes!

In the episode: "Lucy's Italian Movie" from I LOVE LUCY, Lucy goes to Italy to "soak up local color," stomp some wine...and stomps on a local wine stomper!! While travel to Italy and France for the vendange may not be on your list of places to jet set this weekend, grab a friend and head down to one of VA's best kept secrets - Irvington, VA between Richmond and Kilmarnock - and stomp some grapes at White Fences Vineyard. Try not to stomp on the locals...I hear they are really cool!


"White Fences Vineyard (804-761-4866) is a relatively new addition to the area, but it's already added a thoroughly entertaining annual event to Irvington's town calendar. The Irvington Stomp, a grape-stomping harvest festival, takes place this year on Saturday, Sept. 3. Dance on barrels of grapes to the tune of live beach music, while also enjoying tethered hot air balloon rides above the vineyard, farm animals, a petting zoo, face painting, hay rides, delicious barbecue and the vineyard's first-ever batch of wine." -Katherine Houstoun from Richmond.com's ONE TANK TRIPS: Irvington: "Do Nothing, or Do It All"

Richmond.com features a cool page: ONE TANK TRIPS at http://www.richmond.com/travel/index.aspx.

When gas prices aren't astronomical, this is usually a good deal and still could be if you get a group and carpool. There may be an entrance fee to partake of the wine and stomping festivities. But it's all for the fun of smushing grapes between your toes, right??

Living Green

Yesterday I was reading Utne Magazine and I fell on an article entitled "Home Chemistry: Do you know what's really in your cleaning products?" The more I am opening my eyes to being environmentally friendly, as well as friendly to my own body, articles like this POP off the page to me since my answer to the title's question was, "No." I've noticed more and more articles popping up in magazines and not just in publications like Utne but even in mags like Glamour and Real Simple all concerning being "green" in your home. According to the article: "The average American household uses 40 lbs of these chemicals [synthetic chemicals hiding in popular cleaners] each year....Consumers have little to go on beyond mandated signal words like 'danger, warning, and caution.' These words tell us what will happen with acute exposure, but nothing about long-term exposure." A friend of mine who just moved to Colorado has been a huge inspiration to me. She makes all her own cleaning products. Thinking of her I hopped online to further research making my own. I found some great sites (some easy to navigate, some filled with oodles of info that I didn't know where to click first). Check out these great sites:

Healthy Living
http://www.care2.com/

Natural Home and Garden
http://www.naturalhomeandgarden.com/

How to Make Your Own Non-Toxic Cleaning Kit
http://www.care2.com/channels/solutions/home/344

Seventh Generation-Get $10 in Coupons
http://www.seventhgeneration.com

Utne reprinted "Good Housekeeping" tips from Natural Home and Garden (March /April issue) seen below:

All-Purpose Cleaner
1 qt warm water
1 tsp liquid soap
1 tsp borax
1/4 cup undiluted white vinegar
Mix ingredients and store in a spray bottle. Cleans: Countertops, floors, walls, carpets, upholstery

Scouring Powder
3 parts baking soda
1 part borax
Use as you would any powdered cleanser. For lighter jobs, use baking soda alone

Glass Cleaner
4 tbs lemon juice
1 gallon water
(Or use 1/4 cup vinegar and 1 qt water) This recipe came out by Consumer Reports in 1992!

Toilet Bowl Cleaner
1/4 borax (Pour into toilet bowl and let sit overnight. Then scrub)

Look Mom, we made the news!

RICHMOND, Virginia (AP) -- A rush to purchase $50 used laptops turned into a violent stampede Tuesday, with people getting thrown to the pavement, beaten with a folding chair and nearly driven over. One woman went so far to wet herself rather than surrender her place in line.

We're all feeling mighty proud 'round here today. Sigh.

Read it on CNN: http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/08/16/computer.frenzy.ap/index.html

Shoe Fetish, or How A Grad Application Got Me to Plug A Shoe On This Blog

A dear friend is applying to a marketing graduate program, and as part of the application she is interviewing several people on their shoes. What are we wearing? What attracted us to the shoes? How do they make us feel?

I wrote a small essay on my current love, the Earth shoe. (Many thanks to Lara and Alyssa who have again inspired me to follow in their, ehem, shoe buying footsteps.) I ended up doing a little research myself, and uncovered amazing little tidbits about this brand.

• The creator, Anne Kalso, was a Danish yoga instructor who had spent time in Brazil admiring the posture of the natives. When she realized that their footprints in the sand showed their heels sinking significantly deeper than their toes, Kalso designed a shoe with a negative, or "minus,' heel that would keep the toes up and the bodyleaning slightly back, the belly pulled in, and the spine straightened into proper alignment.
  
• Apparently they were THE shoe of the 70s! The shoes got to the United States by way of a New York couple, Eleanor and Raymond Jacobs, who discovered them in creator Anne Kalso's store in Denmark and then opened their own in lower Manhattan on April 1, 1 970. That date also happened to be the first Earth Day celebrated in the United States, and to attract the crowds of eco-minded hippies cavorting in the streets, Eleanor Jacobs stuck a hand-painted sign in the window that advertised "Earth shoes." A name, and a fad, were born.
  
• After a some 20-year hiatus from the market, French-born U.S. shoemaker Michel Maynard bought the rights and resurrected the shoe in 2001.
  
• The company markets that their shoe "effectively makes you walk at a 3.7% incline on flat ground. [They] say the unique design provides a more strenuous workout that burns more calories.
  
• I thought of my dear pregnant friend Jenna, when I read this article: "Now that you are carrying such precious (and heavy) cargo, your shoes not only need to be cute - they have to be comfy, too. We tested all six pairs of slip-ons and made sure there's no need to bend down-and once she arrives, no need to put the baby down-to get dressed. Just step into them and be on your way."

I bought my first pair the other week and have been loathe to ever take them off again. So I thought I would spread the word.

Girlyman

Girlyman plays at the Gravity Lounge, Charlottesville, September 13th at 8pm. Give them a try; it certainly did not take me long to fall in love with their harmonies. They used to open for the Indigo Girls, if that gives you any indication!

67th National Folk Festival

Also, beginning this year from October 7-9, and for the following 2 years, Richmond will play host to the National Folk Festival! This is a big honor, folks, and we're going to get to hear a lot of great music. Find out more here.

VA Sustainable Future Summit

I thought this looked cool! September 13-15 at the Greater Richmond Convention Center. Find out more here.

Good Food

Have I told anyone how much I LOVE Good Food? "Sure, Lauren, we all love good food." What I mean is Santa Monica, CA- based radio station KCRW's Good Food broadcast. Check out the site for all sorts of fascinating stories about food and drink and the people who are obsessed with cooking and consuming it. The best part is that you can subscribe to their podcast (I find this sublimely easy to do through iTunes) and listen to it whenever you please. Give yourself an hour, and be prepared to be inspired to cook up all sorts of creative meals. And drink fine wines and unpronounceable beers.


This broadcast is what finally got me up early enough before work to head down to the farmer's market and pick up all sorts of fresh local produce. This morning, as Deb ladled cucumber-and-tomato-salad-marinated-in-balsamic-vinegar-and-olive-oil into her lunch container, she peered over at this morning's chilled cilantro cucumber soup concoction and tentatively asked for a taste. She loved it, and as she added some to her lunch, she informed me that fine, I won, I had convinced her that vegetables are divine, and meat does not necessarily a meal make! :> Just wait, I've got a plan for grilled portabellos and manchego cheese up my sleeve...

Another Limited Rebellion

So much cool info that I don't know where to start. So go to the source, Richmond designer Noah Scalin's rebellion newsletter. Check out any one of the issues and feel that silly grin spreading across your face as you realize just how many motivated, creative and (x)-conscious people there are out there.

Floyd Fest '05

This past weekend I attended my first ever music festival, the kind where great bands play nearly 24 hours/day and loads of grimy people pitch their tents and settle into a makeshift town in the middle of the country. Ohhhhh... I was in heaven! I never knew how much fun this could be! The cherry on top was headliner Ani DiFranco asking FloydFest organizers if they could fit her in their schedule, ending her tour with us in an intimate, rainy setting. I will be there next year, and am on the lookout for other fests if anyone has any suggestions. In the meantime, check out FloydFest here.

Chocolate T-shirt

Ooh, who can resist... just in time for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: www.ChocolateShirt.com. No, you can't really eat them, but beware of people who will try...

Zero Emissions Research and Initiatives

So, doing another environmental-esque post is not to say that this is the only topic we can cover in the Café... but this site is too cool not to share!

I think a lot about waste reduction. Why do we make things that are designed to be thrown away? (Check out Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things by William McDonough and Michael Braungart.) Take a clue from nature, who recycles herself endlessly. That's the purpose behind ZERI, Zero Emissions Research and Initiatives.

The Monfort Boys Town school for boys in Fiji has teamed up with ZERI to make beer into fish. Working together they have set up program where the boys collect sludge left over from a local brewery and plant mushroom spores which break down the barley protein so that it becomes a nutritious food source for pigs. The school then collects the pig poop and run it through a biodigester which allows them to collect gases that can be stored and used for heating and cooking. Finally they spread the remaining material over shallow pools to disintegrate and act as food for algae that in turn feeds a wide variety of fish in the ponds. ZERI has this and other waste reuse case studies on its site at http://www.zeri.org/.

What does a tomato taste like?

Ah! Eating locally is such a great issue!

Every state can grow most of its own produce, but it doesn't, due to today's commercial agricultural practices. Almost everything we buy in the grocery store is shipped over thousands of miles. Before it was shipped it was hybridized so that it could have a long shelf life, and then it was harvested before it was mature. While travelling, the taste doesn’t get any better. So you think you know what a tomato tastes like? Wonder about that when you read this: the flavor in a ripe tomato peaks within 3 minutes of picking it off of the vine.

Resources
Another good article: http://odemagazine.com/article.php?aID=4080
A fantastic book: This Organic Life by Joan Dye Gussow
Look up Alice Waters, Chez Panisse and The Edible Schoolyard project
Find your local CSA! http://www.localharvest.org/

How do I post to the Café?

So far I'm the only one posting, so I thought I would offer this handy advice!

Check out: http://help.blogger.com/bin/topic.py?topic=13

Solar Decathlon : October 7-17 : The Mall, Washington, DC

For 10 days in October, 18 university teams from around the world will turn the National Mall into the nation's most environmentally responsible neighborhood.

It's the Solar Decathlon, a Department of Energy-sponsored competition that challenges engineering grads to build a 100% solar-powered home for less that $400,000. Contenders must generate enough energy to run all aspects of an average household for at least three weeks, including powering the family car. By combining existing solar technologies with student innovations (insulation made from salvaged blue jeans, soy paperboard walls, windows as tv projection screens), some of the homes don't just power themselves; they can feed power back to the grid.

See more here: http://www.eere.energy.gov/solar_decathlon/

The Much More Sparkly Station

Here's a thought: The Much More Sparkly Station, where we showcase good news that didn't make it on your local broadcast.

Today's lead story
Treehouses! Who doesn't want one? I've now seen Jake Jacob and Pete Nelson profiled on CBS Sunday Morning and in the most recent issue of Readymade magazine, and every time their lofty designs flash on the screen/page I get an immediate happy high. Talk about a positive vibe. Get your own right here: http://www.treehouseworkshop.com/favorite.htm. And if you want to build your own, try this resource: http://www.treehouses.com/.