September 8, 2016 at 11:31 pm (culture, education, environment, ethics, exploring interconnectedness, history, Indigenous People, issues, journalism, Lakota, life, living, Native Americans, nature, people, politics, random, relationships, thinking, Uncategorized)
Tags: "Water", #NoDAPL, Amazon Watch, climate change, Earth, environment, global warming, Iowa, Issues, Keep the oil in the ground, life, nature, Oil, protest, Standing Rock, video, water is sacred, weather
What can I say when the video says it all. AmazonWatch
This is why oil should stay in the ground.
This is why no one needs another pipeline.
This is why protectors are standing strong at Standing Rock in North Dakota and Iowa to protect water and earth.
This matters to everyone on Earth.
May 14, 2016 at 8:22 pm (culture, education, entertainment, environment, ethics, exploring interconnectedness, issues, life, living, Uncategorized, Writing)
Tags: books, city, City By City, education, food, Gessen, Kansas City, KKFI, life, Missouri, music, radio, red lining, Squibb, Writing
Hola fellow web travelers. As a follow-up to my return to the online world I thought I’d connect with my prior post by filling in a gap in the City By City Dispatches from the American Metropolis edited by Keith Gessen and Stephen Squibb with a snapshot of Kansas City, Missouri–with a few side notes regarding some areas PR people like to associate it with, and some it would rather forget exist too close for their comfortably red-lined zones. Please don’t take this missive as a criticism of City By City. Editors have to work with the material they’re given and I am certainly enjoying its varied dispatches from Detroit, Washington D.C. (a brothel, how deliciously appropriate), and Chicago’s Hyde Park. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if Gessen and Squibb either received no dispatches from Kansas City or if they did they couldn’t figure out what to make of them. The latter would be very understandable as Kansas City, Missouri has multiple personalities. Which one you encounter depends entirely on where you are–literally–physically.
If you were to stand on the corner of midtown Kansas City at 39th and Main Street, ground zero for KKFI, a community radio station like none other, your view of Kansas City changes drastically depending on which direction you take from there. Go south and west for money, some of it old and resting very comfortably. North offers old ethnic neighborhoods like Little Italy, and the City Market area working at staying alive north of the infamous Independence Avenue line (former hunting grounds for serial killers). Go east towards the Troost line you’ll find neighborhoods locked in life and death struggles with poverty and crime while contending with everything from a tragically failed public school district to abandoned vacant houses, gangs, and violent crime.
Heading west on 39th Street will take you to what remains of the city’s midtown bohemian neighborhoods. The ghost of the New York style D’Bronx pizzeria haunts the south corner of 39th and Bell while Prospero’s Books holds down the fort directly opposite it on the northern corner. Behind the 39th Street mainly food business line-up is a crowd of densely packed homes of all makes and ages. It’s a cool crazy quilt of unpredictability. Continue westward and you’ll cross State Line and then you’re in the KU Med area–which is on the Kansas side of the street, not in Missouri. Though you might never guess it. PR people like to make the most of what’s good around them.
If you travel south down Main and 39th to Westport Road you’ll wind up in the increasingly yuppified Westport area which currently caters to people who enjoy imbibing copious amounts of the legal drug known as alcohol in their free time. Long gone is the classy independent bookstore, the unique clothing stores, the movie theater and many other business venues unconnected to providing watering holes for the young and senseless. To be fair, the heroic Broadway Cafe remains steadfast on Broadway. As far as I currently know it is the ONLY independent coffeehouse to drive out the invasive species known as Starbucks. Yep, that’s right. Corporate Starbucks came, saw and invaded–and departed without conquering the superior java product. Also, the incredible Tivoli Cinemas remains–after relocating to Pennsylvania Ave. There’s also a newer food gig in the area–a new version of The Corner Restaurant complete with goat cheese, kale and alligator. No bagels and lox there–no way. The area has completely lost the feel of a friendly and engaging one-stop contained neighborhood but it is still alive, though steadily losing the remains of its inviting personality. I still mourn the closing of its independent music store, Streetside Records, which was once a great place to explore an incredibly wide range of music. It’s where I purchased Joan Osborne’s Relish after listening and discovering it offered far more than “If God Was One of Us.” Unless you’re into the drunk and disorderly scene evade the area on the weekends after dark when the partying begins in earnest as there are multiple hardcore drinking establishments all within a minute’s walk of each other from the corner of Pennsylvania and Westport Road. If you’re into drunk and disorderly then by all means go wallow whole hog all night long.
If you continue further south on Broadway you will enter the alternate universe of The Plaza where the fountains flow and so does the money dough. It’s not called the Country Club Plaza for nothing. Years and years ago this was an upscale middle class yet still affordable area with all kinds of interesting independent shops and food venues. These days it caters to those with two hundred dollars to spend on jeans without batting an eye. Dinner can easily cost a hundred dollars a person at some eateries. Most of the affordable housing in this area has vanished, but there’s plenty to be had for the urban condo set. The Plaza offers Thanksgiving lights, fountains, a very uninspiring insipid Art Fair–art which will not offend, raise issues or stretch anyone’s mind–but it’ll work well with your color scheme. So ironic considering the fact that just a few blocks away rests the Nelson Atkins Museum of Art–well, maybe not so ironic other things considered. If you desire more engaging on the fringe art then go north from 39th and Main to the Crossroads area around Broadway and 18th Streets. But visit it fast because the high and mighty are digging in big time with developments with hopes to connect the dots to the Power and Light District (Remind me: urban revitalization for who? Yuppies? Again?) and the real people character is vanishing fast. You’ll know the former Crossroads has been entirely vanquished when YJ’s Snack Bar closes and the jamming ends. Yep, that will signal the end of an era.
Okay,so venturing southwest from The Plaza and you’ll find impressive homes on lots large enough for five or six of the houses east of Troost Ave. None of them will have their garbage or household discards left sitting at curb for weeks and weeks and weeks as happens in the neighborhoods east of Troost where, if you’re not squeamish, you can have your pick of couches, mattresses, and entertainment centers. Even the huge lovely Loose Park is very well maintained. There’s cool green space galore with huge old trees, a pond, picnic areas and rose garden. I wonder if anyone east of Troost ever enters the rose garden contest held at Loose Park? I’ve never seen roses blooming in the parks east of Troost. Seeing a bench to sit on is a find. This is part of the character of extreme contrasts that Kansas City offers. This can easily be missed by staying on the highways when driving in from Independence, Missouri–a former Meth Lab Capital of the World–though who knows what’s really going on in that American drug swamp. If you drive into Kansas City from Independence on any residential street like 23rd or 31st instead of I70 you’ll get a close up view of the multiple urban landscapes of Kansas City from the bottom of the economic ladder to the top from east to west/southwest. You might even be impressed by the bus-stop at the corner of 31st and Troost–it does look like something from this decade, sort of.
Heading south from The Plaza, or from 31st and Troost, you’ll find the University of Missouri which years ago ran into very deep shit with its very diverse residential neighbors when it embarked on a buy and destroy mission to enable expansion of the parking garage ilk–among other things. The good neighbors fought back hard, going so far as to threaten UMKC’s chancellor’s residence with a bulldozer. No joke, these people were pissed off and rightly so in my opinion. Along Rockhill Road were blocks of lawn signs screaming “UMKC Kills Homes.” So much for the Ivory Tower’s idealism when it comes to money matters. This is another area in which the small independent local business flavor has all but disappeared. Perhaps they just don’t make people the same anymore? Just a question. Rockhill Road leads to Brookside and Waldo areas where the older tree-lined streets are narrow and generally quiet and the grocery store offers delights you won’t find in Wild Woody’s store east of Troost on 31 Street. Lamb chops and Green Tea ice cream anyone? Hmm?
Troost Avenue is only one block east of Rockhill Road. Once you get past being impressed by Rockhurst University’s presence on the east side of the street it’s clear straight off that the residences are not on par with those to the west of UMKC. Things are a tad rougher and tougher looking on the east side of Troost for the hard-working poor and their attendant gangs. Just a tad. I don’t think I’ve ever been in another city with such an obvious social economic division designated by a single street running north/south where you can actually stand on the street’s yellow dividing line and see two contrasting worlds just by looking in opposite directions: urban blight versus urban de-light.
I haven’t said anything about barbecue. Yeah, there’s plenty of it in all directions.
Nor have I mentioned the Historic Jazz District at 18th and Vine which is one street featuring the wonderful Gem Theater, the Blue Room and the American Jazz Museum, The Call newspaper–and historic painted storefronts.
Then there’s the Northeast area of Kansas City with its incredible influx of immigrants whose language needs the Kansas City Public library tries to address with ESL courses.
I haven’t mentioned the former mayor who refused to discuss the state of education even when it was front page news.
I haven’t mentioned the ex-school superintendent who insisted that 36 students in a classroom was a good thing.
Nor have I said anything about the decline of a newspaper that first impressed me with its coverage of a suspected serial killer hunting prostitutes and other vulnerable women on Independence Ave.
I’ve only hinted at the vibrant art scene that serves as a huge street party every first Friday.
There are thousands of homeless people in Kansas City.
There’s extreme wealth in Kansas City–and that’s not counting Johnson County which is in KANSAS not Missouri–and there’s extreme poverty with every economic class in between. I wonder if the people working at the Channel 4 news station ever drove down the street right behind their building and saw the houses with plastic sheeting for windows? Yes, there were people living in those places.
I could write a great deal more. I’m trying to stop while I’m ahead. I suspect I might already be behind the eight ball here.
Perhaps the very best thing about Kansas City is the community radio station which is still going strong after more than twenty years of Jazz, Blues, World, Folk, Classical, Latino, Reggae, and Rock music. If anything is truly alive and well in Kansas City, Missouri, it is KKFI–the beating heart of a diverse population which can’t be red lined. If you want a taste of Kansas City then tune in–they’re streaming online world-wide from the corner of 39th and Main 365 days and nights a year.
May 2, 2016 at 6:09 pm (art, creative writing, culture, education, environment, ethics, exploring interconnectedness, history, journalism, life, living, publishing, random, relationships, searching, thinking, Uncategorized, Writing)
Tags: American, books, Chernobyl, cities, City By City, death, disaster, exploring interconnectedness, Francine Prose, history, Keith Gessen, libraries, library, life, Nobel Prize in Literature, nuclear energy, oral history, reading, Russian, searching, Stefan Bollman, Svetlana Alexievich, unplugged, urban landscapes, Virginia Woolf, Voices from Chernobyl, women, Women Who Write, Women Writers, world wide web, Writing
An interesting thing happens when you unplug from the world-wide web–time expands. Yes it does indeed. Time expands in the sense of all the things you can explore OFFline. Consider what happens when you forget your cellphone and you don’t feel the need to answer every ringtone like Pavlov’s puppies. Oh the freedom from the ring, from the keyboard connected to social media, and everything in the info universe. It can be very liberating–and you realize just how much energy, effort and time you’ve been putting into communication technology. Having been almost constantly online since BEFORE Facebook and twitter were even imagined I discovered a real big break from it all was in order. It’s been the kind of break where I’m on the verge of needing to upgrade my cellphone so that it will ‘work’. Aside from personal connections I have not missed the world-wide web much. I don’t enjoy reading books online–but I adore reading. Writing online has its pros and cons. I’ve discovered that the best way to deal with writer’s block is to actually write with a pen/pencil on paper. Yeah, it works. According the research I suspect it’s because more of your brain is stimulated by using your fine motor skills when using a pen than with using a keyboard. Oh and there’s never a problem with power outages or viruses or hitting the wrong key and sending everything into nowhere-land. Yes, being offline has been very good for my writing. It’s also been good for reading, exploring music, and cooking. Virtual cooking leads to virtual food and that’s inedible no matter what it does to your salivary glands.
When you’re exploring books offline in a library setting interesting things tend to happen–to me anyway. For example, an oversize book cover featuring Virginia Woolf’s profile draws your attention to Stefan Bollman’s Women Who Write, a book of profiles of women writers. Reading Francine Prose’s introduction raises the question of what other women have won the Nobel Prize in Literature since the book’s publication. The answer to this query leads to 2015 Nobel Prize winner Svetlana Alexievich’s Voices from Chernobyl: The Oral History of a Nuclear Disaster. I currently do not know where else you can read anything like this in English. Which leads in turn to the translator, Keith Gessen who is the co-editor of City By City, Dispatches from the American Metropolis. The essays therein present diverse perspectives on the American urban landscape–and they’re anything but boring.
I heartily recommend all these books for your reading table or tablet. Warning: Voices from Chernobyl may break your heart with its love stories. What happens to people who know nothing about the downside of nuclear energy when things go terribly wrong? This is an intensely personal record of what happens. Considering the world in which we live we owe to these people to at least make ourselves aware and informed. Because Blue Skies do not mean all is hunky dory in the radioactive universe. Note: this is also a National Book Critics Circle Award winner for General Nonfiction.
Dots:
~Virginia Woolf’s profile
~Women Who Write by Stefan Bollman, Francine Prose
~Voices from Chernobyl: The Oral History of a Nuclear Disaster by Svetlana Alexievich
~Translator Keith Gessen
~City By City, Dispatches from the American Metropolis edited by Keith Gessen and Stephen Squibb
Please do feel free to share wherever these dots lead you.
Thanks for engaging here. Your time, energy and virtual presence is very much appreciated–more than ever before.
About Svetlana Alexievich:
http://alexievich.info/indexEN.html
Women Who Read Are Dangerous~~(select translation):
May 8, 2014 at 12:11 pm (art, culture, entertainment, environment, exploring interconnectedness, life, movies, music, nature, people, photography, random, Uncategorized)
Tags: art, culture, drama, George Davidson, graphics, In the Springtime the only pretty ring time, It Was a Lover and His Lass, La Primavera, life, Marriage D'Amour, Morley, music, off broadway, play, random, Renaissance England, Rite of Spring, Sandro Botticelli, Shakespeare, soundtrack, spring, Spring Awakening, Stravinsky, Sweet Child of Mine, Thomas Morley, Tracy Chapman, video, Vienna Symphonic Library, Vitamin String Quartet, William Shakespeare
“In the spring time the only pretty ring time” ~~~
I can’t quite recall the very first time I read or heard these words by Thomas Morley but they’ve never gone away. That’s pretty damn good staying power for a songwriter from Renaissance England. Never estimate the power of a tune–a poem set to music for entertaining the masses. Spring is all about bringing things to life–contrary to the famous commercial GE has nothing to do with this when it comes to nature and the reality of our own existence. Every time art is created it’s an affirmation of the creative life forces centered in the promises of spring.
&
It Was a Lover and His Lass by Thomas Morley-– http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Morley
Paul Phoenix (now of the King’s Singers) and Barry Holden, then choristers at St. Paul’s Cathedral, sing “It Was a Lover and His Lass” in this 1978 production of As You Like It [ by William Shakespeare], starring Helen Mirren.
&
Sand Animation ~ Spring ~ Marriage D’Amour by George Davidson
&
Sandro Botticelli’s Primavera ~ Music “Sweet Child of Mine” performed by Vitamin String Quartet
&
Tracy Chapman ~ Spring
&
Stravinsky ~ The Rite of Spring, Part 1 ~ Watch at FULL screen for full visual beauty impact. ~ “Jay Bacal performed and rendered this piece using virtual instrument software by Vienna Symphonic Library.”
Click through to watch on YouTube for more information about the creation of this piece and others. Yes, there is MORE. The following is from the creator/uploader:
Each shape corresponds to a family of instruments:
ellipse: flutes (also cymbals and tam-tam)
octagon: single reed (clarinet, bass clarinet)
inverted ellipse/star: double reeds (oboe, English horn, bassoons)
rectangle: brass (also, with “aura,” timpani, guiro and bass drum)
rhombus: strings. . .
In this video, musical pitch (as ordered in the musician’s “circle of fifths”) is mapped to twelve colors (as ordered on the artist’s “color wheel”). With this mapping, changes in tonality and harmony correspond to changes in the color palette. You can read more about this technique here:
http://www.musanim.com/mam/pfifth.htm
Unpitched instruments (bass drum, cymbals, tam-tam, triangle, guiro) are shown in gray.
&
Who is more in tune with spring than young people? Time for some serious education which has nothing and everything to do with the birds and bees aka sex education that really tells where babies come from. What’s the big deal? None of us would be here without the biological act of sexual intercourse–modern science’s efforts for infertile couples et al aside. Education, education– what’s it for really? In so many ways children are at the mercy of the parents, teachers and culture which often shortchanges them with devastating consequences. Where does the shame, guilt and fear come from? Who creates the dysfunction regarding sexuality? Such discussions are increasingly important as is evident by all current news regarding sex, rape and violence. Isn’t it possible to have a society which behaves in a healthy, positive manner concerning sexuality? Newsflash–the Stork crash landed and won’t be bringing any more babies to anyone. Unless, it recovers enough to fertilize its mate’s eggs.
Spring Awakening ~ Full Version Off Broadway
Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spring_Awakening
Full Off-Broadway Spring Awakening.
Spring Awakening is a rock musical adaptation of the controversial 1891 German play of the same title by Frank Wedekind.
It features music by Duncan Sheik and a book and lyrics by Steven Sater.
Set in late-19th century Germany, it concerns teenagers who are discovering the inner and outer tumult of sexuality.
The original play was banned in Germany for a while due to its portrayal of masturbation, abortion, homosexuality, rape, child abuse and suicide.
In the musical, alternative rock is employed as part of the folk-infused rock score.
Spring Awakening received eleven 2007 Tony Award nominations, winning eight, including Tonys for best musical, direction, book, score and featured actor.
The show also won four Drama Desk Awards, while its London production won four Olivier Awards.Cast:
Melchior Jonathan Groff
Wendla Lea Michele
Moritz John Gallagher, Jr.
Adult Man Stephen Spinella
Adult Woman Christine Estabrook
Ilse Lauren Pritchard
Hanschen Jonathan B. Wright
Georg Skylar Astin
Martha Lilli Cooper
Ernst Gideon Glick
Otto Brian Charles Johnson
Anna Phoebe Strole
Thea Remy Zaken
Musical numbers
Act I
“Mama Who Bore Me” — Wendla
“Mama Who Bore Me (Reprise)” — Wendla and Girls
“All That’s Known” — Melchior
“The Bitch of Living” — Moritz, Melchior and Boys
“My Junk” — Girls and Boys
“Touch Me” — Boys and Girls
“The Word of Your Body” — Wendla and Melchior
“The Dark I Know Well” — Martha, Ilse and Boys
“The Word of Your Body (Reprise)” — Otto and Georg (not on the cast recording)
“And Then There Were None” — Moritz and Boys
“The Mirror-Blue Night” — Melchior and Boys
“I Believe” — Boys and Girls
Act II
“The Guilty Ones” — Wendla, Melchior, Boys and Girls
“Don’t Do Sadness/Blue Wind” — Moritz and Ilse
“Left Behind” — Melchior, Boys and Girls
“Totally Fucked” — Melchior and Full Company (except Moritz)
“The Word of Your Body (Reprise)” — Hanschen, Ernst, Boys and Girls
“Whispering” — Wendla
“Those You’ve Known” — Moritz, Wendla and Melchior
“The Song of Purple Summer” — Ilse and Full Company
&
Soundtrack from Spring Awakening
&
I do believe Bear and Johnny will be singing some spring soon. Links when they flower. 🙂
Let the lovely Lisa put some spring in your steps : http://undergroundenergy.wordpress.com/2014/05/08/spring-the-life-of-the-seasons-music-theme/
Whoa, Johnny and Lisa duet–yeah, du-et–that’s what I said. Oh now, yeah they are flirting and making dates online too… Johnny’s place for the spring beat –> http://johnnyojanpera.wordpress.com/2014/05/08/all-things-spring-music-theme/
Hey, hey, Bear is here –> http://bearspawprint.wordpress.com/2014/05/09/spring-music-theme/
Much thanks to everyone sharing their favorite Spring music things. 🙂
April 30, 2014 at 6:00 pm (culture, eating, education, environment, exploring interconnectedness, life, living, nature, Uncategorized)
Tags: business, culture, dandelion, dandelion greens, dandelion tea, dandelion wine, Dandelions, exploring interconnectedness, flowers, food, foraging, free food, free food source, grass, greens, human food source, industry, lawns, leaves, life, living, people, roots, weeds
Do you do the dandelion dance?
I do. I drink them. I eat them. I enjoy their bright cheery yellow “Hello!s.”
Dandelions were made for wining and dining everyone.
There’s an excellent free food source growing at will almost everywhere despite all the billions of dollars spent by lawn growers determined to eradicate it-drumroll please– the Incredible Edible Dandelion. It’s a plant often found in yards and lawns and just about everywhere you look. People tend to tear them out of their lawns without any regard for the food they’re wasting by doing so. How much do leafy greens cost in your market? Then again, if compulsive lawn growers have been dousing their precious grass with chemicals they’ve made the plants toxic–and probably other living things as well. I wonder what bare feet pick on such bright green beds? But, if you’ve got access to a chemical free dandelion zone then you’re in luck–go forth and forage at will–once you’re sure exactly what plant you’re looking for, of course. 🙂
A few thoughts about lawns:
Personally, I’ve never understood the entire lawn notion of fertilizing some grass to make it grow so that you can cut it down again and again and again. Heard the joke about the definition of insanity? Does not the whole concept of lawn care rely on a form of an insane game? This strange game involves expensive lawnmowers, fertilisers, herbicides, gasoline or electricity for any non-reel blade mower, plus a lot water for quenching the thirst of growing grass. And it’s made billions and billions for the manufacturers of all those noise toys and chemicals. Tell me why anyone would grow something which servers no purpose simply in order to cut it again and again and again? All the mowing creates a lot of noise I personally can do without. It’s a chore for whoever the job falls to in any household. I suppose it provides allowance money for children and wages for people who are willing to mow the grass of others who can’t or don’t want to mow their lawns and have the means to pay others to do it for them. Is lawn mowing a form of exercise? Hmm. If you’re using a reel mower which requires human push power, it sure can be. But is that a reason to grow a patch of grass?
Yes, a nice, neat, lush green lawn is very inviting for soccer and other game playing. They’re okay for picnics if there is more than grass and more grass to ‘enjoy’. I guess. Personally I’d prefer a picnic with a meadow view full of wildflowers, plants, bees, birds and insects all doing their things. Anyone who’s ever observed one knows there’s a lot more going on in a meadow then on a bed of grass pumped full of herbicides and pesticides and fertilizers. There’s those plants doing all their planty things in the grand natural scheme of things.
Dandelions are vital in the grand scheme of things despite what the lawn care INDUSTRY claims. Many Americans have been ‘educated’ to destroy this plant every time one perks up their basic green carpet with some bright yellow. Every time a dandelion plant is destroyed so is a prime human food source. Why would anyone want to kill off an edible plant full of vitamins A, K, C & E? (Oh, well, we are talking about the same mentality that killed off the buffalo which is a far better meat source than cattle of any kind. But I digress and that’s another story about industry and monetary profits instead of good healthy food and land use common sense.) And that’s just the tip of this saw-edged leafy green with the bright yellow flowers you can munch on. Oh don’t forget the roots, their edible too–and they make one of my favorite teas. As I have access to a chemical free green area I pick dandelion greens fresh for meals and snap the flowers off for tea at will. I have yet to make dandelion wine. If any of you have, please feel free to share your recipe.
You don’t have to take my word for it. A few other people consume dandelions. Just a few. You’re welcome to join us.
From Wikipedia:
Dandelions are found on all continents and have been gathered for food since prehistory, but the varieties cultivated for consumption are mainly native to Eurasia. A perennial plant, its leaves will grow back if the taproot is left intact. To make leaves more palatable, they are often blanched to remove bitterness.[17] Dandelion leaves and buds have been a part of traditional Sephardic, Chinese, and Korean cuisine. In Crete, Greece, the leaves of a variety called Mari (Μαρί), Mariaki (Μαριάκι) or Koproradiko (Κοπροράδικο) are eaten by locals, either raw or boiled, in salads. Taraxacum megalorhizon, a species endemic to Crete, is eaten in the same way; it is found only at high altitudes (1000 to 1600 m.) and in fallow sites, and is called pentaramia (πενταράμια) or agrioradiko (αγριοράδικο).[29]
The flower petals, along with other ingredients, usually including citrus, are used to make dandelion wine. The ground, roasted roots can be used as a caffeine-free dandelion coffee.[30] Dandelion was also traditionally used to make the traditional British soft drink dandelion and burdock, and is one of the ingredients of root beer. Also, dandelions were once delicacies eaten by the Victorian gentry, mostly in salads and sandwiches.
Dandelion leaves contain abundant vitamins and minerals, especially vitamins A, C and K, and are good sources of calcium, potassium, iron and manganese.[31]
Medicinal uses
Main article: Medicinal properties of dandelionHistorically, dandelion was prized for a variety of medicinal properties, and it contains a wide number of pharmacologically active compounds.[32] Dandelion is used as a herbal remedy in Europe, North America and China.[32] It has been used in herbal medicine to treat infections, bile and liver problems,[32] and as a diuretic.[32]
&
&
&
&
Surf over to Labellestudio where there’s a post about another great plant called stinging nettles. Check it out.
Labellestudio :> http://labellestudio.wordpress.com/2014/04/22/precious-weeds-stinging-nettles/
What’s your favorite edible ‘weed’?
&
The Perfect Lawn: How Obsession Fueled a $40 Billion Industry :>
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=atWbvxYV3vVk
April 20, 2014 at 4:05 pm (art, creative writing, culture, environment, exploring interconnectedness, life, living, nature, poetry, random, Uncategorized)
Tags: art, Below Above, color, culture, energy-scape, energyscape, exploring interconnectedness, haiku, life, nature, poem, poetry, rebirth, renewal, soil, spring, stippling, Writing
~
shedding husks unfurl
shoots curling staff seedlings gasp
silk sheath sun sight spreads
~
Below Above
@eva
April 14, 2014 at 5:12 pm (art, books, culture, education, exploring interconnectedness, issues, life, living, people, publishing, random, searching, thinking, Uncategorized)
Tags: art, artist, artists, Book, book tour video, books, bookstore, business, Creative Life, creativity, culture, Dan Steinhilber, essays, Essays by 40 Working Artists, Intellect, Issues, life, Living and Sustaing a Creative LIfe, Maggie Michael, money, NYC, publisher, random, review, Sharon, Sharon Louden, State of Control Maggie Michael, The Strand Bookstore, video, working artists, Writing
In the box or out of the box?
To gallery or not to gallery — to quest or not to quest?
Shut up and pass paper and pencils. Art wants making.
For the book price of less than a dollar a piece, editor Sharon Louden, working artist herself, invites artists, and any other interested parties, to engage with 40 working artists n what has been an ongoing discussion for as long as creative people have striven to live and thrive in a world at large that far too often is less than supportive of their existence. No, Living and Sustaining a Creative Life, Essays by 40 Working Artists isn’t a book about artists who rock the status quo of mainstream society. Though there are artists within these pages who do so in one medium or another. What this very engaging tome offers is a very wide and diverse range of perspectives based on experiences had by artists who’ve found their own ways to survive, thrive and continue to create over time. There are discussions of quests for studio time, for money to provide food, shelter and art supplies, for solitude and for companionship, gallery representation and new ways of making a go of things with and without galleries. There’s a lot of insight, hindsight, information, ideas and inspiration in these essays written by a very wide range of artists including those raising children and engaged in mutually supportive relationships. Plus, there is an excellent photograph of each artist’s work prefacing their essay. Yeah, that’s a very sweet bonus track in this book–you get some views of art you might or might not have seen yet. So this libro also serves as a visual catalog of artists as essayists. Hence, you get a small visual sense of what these artists invest so much vital energy and time creating.
A few of my visual treat picks:
Michael Waugh’s The American Jobs Act, part 1 (detail)
Peter Drake’s Day for Night
Thomas Kilpper’s State of Control
Maggie Michael’s Swans of Other Worlds ~ (photography by Dan Steinhilber)
Julie Hefferman’s Self Portrait as Big World
Jay Davis’ Please, no more birds
&
Living and Sustaining a Creative Life Panel ~ Book tour video. Yes, this is an interesting and engaging serious discussion among artists, about artists, art and the art world. Enjoy.
Published on Apr 3, 2014Join us for a special panel examining the challenges that artists face in the ever more commercially minded and competitive contemporary art world. In Living and Sustaining A Creative Life, Sharon Louden, an artist living and working in Brooklyn, brings together 40 contemporary artists to reflect on their own personal processes for living life and creating art. Sharon will moderate a panel examining the questions of how artists choose to live their lives and stay true to their creative impulses, featuring some of the contributors.
Here’s a link to Amazon’s Look Inside page for the book – http://www.amazon.com/Living-Sustaining-Creative-Life-Working/dp/178320012X#reader_B00F4AT02K
&
Here are just a few of my favorite quotes from the essays:
Annette Lawrence ~ “I am generally led by curiosity, and nothing is off-limits.”
George Stoll ~ “I LIke to work but don’t always like to start, so I make it as easy to begin as possible. At a restaurant near my house that has good coffee, friendly waiters and an owner who tolerates my long visits, I start most days. . . . I’ve learned that I am especially productive when feeling a bit delinquent.”
Tony Ingrisano ~ “I sleep and eat and breathe drawing, so it’s only logical that I’d do anything necessary to keep drawing.”
Sean Mellyn ~ “Rauschenberg’s Bed made an early and lasting impression on me – that art can not only be made from anything, but material extrapolated from a life lived is a powerful statement.”
Brian Tolle ~ “There are no bad opportunities if you have only one.”
Austin Thomas ~ “There are as many ways to be an artist as there are artists; Lucas Reiner told me that one and it is true.”
Amy Pleasant ~ “And it wakes me up each day. And I follow it. And at the risk of sounding melodramatic, it is the greatest thing I know.”
Maggie Michael ~ “Falling n love was easy. What became labored was managing our bank account after college (when our student loans came due). Artists often pair with someone who has a reliable career and income, but we could not change partners now or in hindsight.”
Dan Steinhilber (Maggie Michael’s partner) ~ “Many people seem to give us extra credit because we involve our child in our life as artists. Clay has excellent conversational skills, yet he does not make a great deal of artworks. Nevertheless, he is imaginative and creative and amazing to us.”
Dan Steinhilber ~ “Over time we learned how to help, support, and appreciate each other rather than be competitive. For example, on days when Maggie is teaching, I often go to her studio and do practical things for her – build stretchers, prime canvases, and keep her supplies organized so that her time in the studio can be focused on painting.”
And
Link for Intellect, Publishers of Original Thinking page –>> http://www.intellectbooks.co.uk/books/view-Book,id=5042/
How do you measure success?
What did you create today?
Okay, now that I’ve done my good book information sharing deed for the day, it’s time to take advantage of the lull in the rain to get the box of sheet music out of the back seat and see what suits my agenda.
April 10, 2014 at 7:56 am (culture, entertainment, journalism, life, music, people, photography, play, politics, random, satire, Uncategorized, Writing)
Tags: Andy Davis, Cell Block Tankgo, Chicago, Chicago Bears, Chicago Bears Super Bowl Shuffle, Chicago City of Shoulders, culture, Dead End Street, I Dream of Chicago, Juno Reactor, Larry Brewer, life, Lincoln Park Pirates, Lou Rawls, Masters of the Universe, Mike Royko, music, newspapers, Number 10 Bus, Paper Lace, Parlours, people, random, Steve Goodman, The Cook County Jail, The Night Chicago Died, The Very Best of Chicago, We're All Crazy In Chicago, Windy City
City of Choice = Chicago so let’s take a bird’s-eye view for a meet and greet.
Chicago Down Town View from the Sky — Juno Reactor’s Masters of the Universe.
&
There’s just something about black and white with a whole lot of grey, literally, that seems to suit an introduction for a city like Chicago, a city known for crime, gangsters, corrupt politicians and a great newspaper columnist by the name of Mike Royko aka “The Man Who Owns Chicago.” If you don’t know Royko’s work you’re missing out on one of life’s truly witty reading pleasures. Royko’s columns provided a massive home school educational opportunity for moi. Political viewpoints are not genetically encoded. Who knew? )
Now to lull you into a false sense of serenity…..
Chicago City of Shoulders ~ Andy Davis ~
Awwww, wasn’t that a sweet beginning for a couple? Well, darker reality often follows close upon such heels in Chicago–the film.
&
Cell Block Tango from Chicago’s Cook County Jail via Chicago the film about murderesses in the city of Chicago. Murder and Chicago go together like snow and winter. The Cook County Jail is a real place with quite a reputation.
&
Then there’s the whole police versus the bad guys scenario–though, all too often the two are one and the same in the Windy City.
The Night Chicago Died ~ Paper Lace ~
&
Number 10 Bus ~ A few city views with Larry Brewer’s own tune. Who says you can’t go home and leave then do it all again?
This is an original song written and recorded by Larry Brewer off of his 2012 album, Waxing Ardent. It is an ode to growing up in Chicago.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/num…
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00A…
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/larrybrewer4
&
I Dream of Chicago ~ Parlours ~ Okay, I just love the sound of this song so it’s here.
&
The Very Best of Chicago ~ by the band Chicago formed and hailed from the city with a stint in LA. See Wiki for more http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_(band)
40th Anniversary Collection
Track Listing:
1. Just You ‘N’ Me 00:00
2. Saturday In the Park 03:42
3. You’re The Inspiration 07:36
4. Baby, What a Big Suprise 11:26
5. Hard to Say I’m Sorry/Get Away 14:30
6. Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is? 19:37
7. 25 or 6 to 4 22:58
8. If You Leave Me Now 27:50
9. Hard Habit to Break 31:45
10. Old Days 36:30
11. Beginnings 40:01
12. Call On Me 46:28
13. Make Me Smile 50:30
14. Love Will Come Back (w/ Rascal Flats) 54:56
15. Feel (w/Horns) 58:44
&
Chicago Bears 1985 Super Bowl Shuffle ~ Enjoy it anyway you can ladies and gents.
&
Dead End Street ~ Lou Rawls ~ I do believe Rawls explains it all.
&&
Lincoln Park Pirates ~ Steve Goodman ~ You know about No Parking Zones, don’t you? Towing cars as a city-wide fundraiser can be very profitable.
&
Yes, it’s an ad for a newspaper hawking its prize writer and vice versa. Where else but in a tavern would you expect to find a discussion of punctuation?
&
Mike Royko quotes with a song, the reason for the choice of which I am very unclear about. But Mike’s words make it all right. Maybe.
&
Who & Why Royko ~ With background music. I wonder why it’s so hard to find a song for or about Royko? Someone needs to write one. Or two at the very least. Maybe they have. If you find one, do not hesitate to share it. Please.
&
We’re All Crazy In Chicago ~~ No, I will not vouch for the veracity of this statement/song. Are you crazy?
&
A list of songs about Chicago compliments of the wonderful world of Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_songs_about_Chicago
~~
Bear has Nomads, oh yeah http://bearspawprint.wordpress.com/2014/04/10/ulaanbaatar-city-of-nomads/
It’s down home in Alabama with Johnny in Mobile http://johnnyojanpera.wordpress.com/2014/04/10/the-music-of-a-city-mobile/comment-page-1/#comment-4197
March 26, 2014 at 4:13 pm (art, buddhism, contemplation, creative writing, culture, entertainment, exploring interconnectedness, life, living, nature, play, poetry, random, Writing)
Tags: art as writing, birds, contemplation, creative writing, culture, exploring interconnectedness, haiku, life, nature, people, poem, poems, poetry, random, Writing, writing as art
little bird blues sings
sweet haiku twitters all day
cites poetry cries
&
dandelions know
roots deep leaves sun eat all wells
no weeding pleases
&
coy moon winks sun spring
Persephone steps upward
below Hades sighs
&
control a strong hold
power princes addiction
brain breast brawn beat down
&
eye pouring concrete
iron bars doors fixing space
no outside options
&
two heron journey
eye guide far sight mindful nest
streaming feeds sole light
&
whence goes March’s Ides
cold shouldering yet blood pours
poppy red blossoms
~
~
~
@eva2014
 | slpmartin on The politics of a tea cup |
| slpmartin on When Boundaries are Cross… |
 | tubularsock on Fresh Air |
 | 47whitebuffalo on Hunkpapa Information Questing? |
| 47whitebuffalo on Hunkpapa Information Questing? |
| 47whitebuffalo on Fresh Air |
 | Jacques Petryszyn on Hunkpapa Information Questing? |
| tubularsock on Fresh Air |
| 47whitebuffalo on Fresh Air |
| 47whitebuffalo on Hunkpapa Information Questing? |
| slpmartin on Fresh Air |
| Jacques Petryszyn on Hunkpapa Information Questing? |
 | Mychal on The Styrofoam Cup Song for… |
| Jacques Petryszyn on 1922 Cherry Creek Name Index,… |
 | Preeti on Tenzin Tsundue’s “… |
click for more scapes
Native America Calling on Native Voice
click for mantra
karuna ki wakan tanka lapis lazuli buddha
Agitate, Educate, and Organize ~OO~
Environmental justice news and analysis for San Antonio and the the South Texas bioregion.
a place for reflective expression.
Warfarin, Coumadin, Jantoven, Eliquis, Aspirin?
National Movement Against Mass Incarceration and Prison Slavery
"Sometimes a person needs a story more than food to stay alive." Barry Lopez
Ideas That Grow and Bloom
'in the picture': Films from everywhere and every era
Wellness Leadership Education
Warning: This site may contain conspiracies
‘Do not be afraid of the truth’ -John Trudell
Jeff Kisling
No new permits for fossil fuel infrastructure. Renewable energy NOW.
Prime my subconscious, one hint at a time
Orpheus
Perspectives on Nature Photography
Reviews of Vintage Science Fiction (1945-1985)
The blog of Canadian author Cynthia Reyes
Uniting the world, One Love at a time. :D
Science, Gardening, Work-Life Balance
Our business is committed to saving energy, reducing emmissions and waste.
Just another WordPress.com site
". . . first hand coverage, second hand news"
Melodic hiphop meets deep reflections about life and death
A blog dedicated to documenting through primary sources, the Army's actions at Wounded Knee
Vague Meanderings of the Broke and Obscure
Nature | Culture | Self
A literary compass for finding your voice..."You turn toward me, your lips move, wanting to speak."--Stephen Dobyns, "Wolves In The Street"
The poet can reach where the sun cannot. -HINDU PROVERBThe greatest WordPress.com site in all the land!
Wisconsin WE VOW
Working together to make the world a better place to live! A fine WordPress.com site
Change IS coming. WE can make it GOOD.
Just another WordPress.com site
Insights for Spiritual Living
Nothing's the Same after October 7th
a space for zen words
a community of people reading & writing poems, moving words
Bringing Social Issues To The Forefront
Sapere Aude
For Peace On Earth In This Generation
You can't stop the waves, but you can learn to surf.
The Blog
News, photos, stories, and trouble from the borderland
Poems and stories of love & heartbreak.
47whitebuffalo's Blog 