Weekly Blog Round-Up - Part II

An illumiated letter image from Idle Speculations.

I don't think I should let la Prima see this death map from Buzz Feed. She's having trouble falling asleep at night because she's worried about natural disasters.

The Carnival of Green at Christian Environmentalist.

Uses for former big box retail stores - fill w/ recyclables?? From Treehugger.

From this week's horoscope by Rob Brezsny:

Happy Holy Daze, Pisces! My gift to you is advice about the coming year. First, read this quote from W.H. Auden's book The Dyer's Hand. "A daydream is a meal at which images are eaten. Some of us are gourmets, some gourmands, and a good many take their images precooked out of a can and swallow them down whole, absent-mindedly and with little relish." With this as your touchstone, I urge you to be a gourmet in your approach to daydreaming during 2009. It will be time for you to make your fantasy life into an art form instead of a chaotic, unconscious diversion. If you put more intention into your generation of mental images, you will find yourself better able to create what you really want.

"It's Gettin' Hot in Here!" fight global warming.

Five stories of former slaves via Monte Asbury's blog. Inspiring stories, though it is distressing that we are still fighting the scourge of slavery.

Remembering "Feed the World" at To Miss With Love. Snuffy talks about how there aren't many people of color in the video - not many women either.


An Advent calendar w/Modern gargoyles. Check out the Yuppie Gargoyle. There's even a Darth Vader grotesque!.

Solar tiles are currently available for residential buildings! From Treehugger.

A Sami woman from Finland. NY Public Library has uploaded tons of photos to Flickr.

According to the BBC Vampires no
longer scary. I'm surprised, as a British news source, that the BBC never mentions their famous (luscious) vampire impersonator, David Bowie, from The Hunger.

Jay's photos of St James the Less clean up day - a beautiful altar icon of Mary holding baby Jesus and a Lily.

Brief Weekly Round Up

Isn't this language map beautiful? Thanks to Book of Joe for the link.

I'm sad to know that Odetta died. I listened to Odetta for the first time with my friend Lenore, freshman year. I miss her. And I'll miss Odetta. What a great voice!

Megan Powell mentioned a Swedish Vampire Movie on her blog. Sounds good!

Here's a Google book about Vegetable gardening during WWI. Perhaps we should take note in these dire times. I think I found this link at Boing Boing, but I can't remember. My bad.

Pure Awesomeness from the Fug Report.

My new favorite movie is Slumdog Millionaire. You gotta see it!

As always, I love Idle Speculations for the BEAUTIFUL religious Art. I don't know how Terry does it, week after week. But wow! My favorite Religious Art blog out there. Now I want to visit this church (La chapelle de la Vierge, Cathédrale de Saint-Louis, Poitou-Charentes La Rochelle). Go to the blog to see more!

And, in closing, I'm sorry I missed this before Thanksgiving day, but how awesome is it to see WKRP again? I ask you. Thanks to BlogHer for the link to Hulu.

Weekly Blog Round-Up

Here are some beautiful photos of small African American churches - "cathedrals" in Chicago, by photographer Dave Jordano. Found on Pruned.

A NYT article in the travel section about staying in monasteries in Europe.

"Yes We Carve" Pumpkins for Obama on youtube.

And in the "big picture," a discussion of the visual impact over course of election of Obama posters & design.

"Let them eat cup cake(s)!" - Kirsten Dunst with a cupcake from the fabulous Sofia Coppola film, Marie Antoinette. I loved that she used 80's music to set many of the scenes. Somehow they worked perfectly. Photo from Cupcakes Take the Cake.

Maureen Dowd on Powell's endorsement of Obama, Muslims in America, and I can't believe I agree with her.

Greenspan recants. Great. What a jerk. This is just like McNamara book finally admitting the mistakes made in Vietnam.

Obama votive candle

A new (to me) goddess site.

A hilarious piece from Larry David about how tough to wait out election from HuffPo.

And as a counterpoint to Larry David, I leave you with a note from my guy, Rob Brezsny on how to get through this election:

Dear Readers,

Before the last U.S. presidential election in 2004, What Is Enlightenment? magazine posed the following query to five religious leaders: "Many people argue that the upcoming presidential election is the most important in our lifetime. Do you agree?"

Four of the respondents said, in effect, "Yes, because George Bush is bad for America and the world."

But the fifth religious leader, Zen Buddhist Jan Chozen Roshi, replied, "I don't know. Our existence is so short, it's like a dust mote in the eye of God. To say that the time in which my dust mote existed was the most important is a self-centered view."

Roshi's wisdom reminded me of an anecdote told by Henry Kissinger, an American politician who was Secretary of State in the 1970s. Kissinger once asked Chinese premier Zhou Enlai what he thought of the French Revolution, which had happened two centuries earlier. "Too soon to tell," Chou answered.

I always like to keep these ideas in mind, even in times of relative peace and calm. But I'm especially fond of focusing on the very big picture when divine chaos is whirling around -- like now. It helps keep me humble, and discourages me from any temptation I might have to believe I know the Whole Truth about anything, let alone about the mysterious long-term processes at work in the evolution of the human race.

There's another factor that makes me cautious about getting embroiled in partisan politics and the narrow-minded hostility that fuels it. One of my main goals in life is to love everyone with passionate intensity -- no exceptions. Not just the people I find beautiful and helpful and interesting and attractive. But also the people I don't like and the people who don't like me and the people I disagree with and the people who can't or won't do anything for me.

In order to become the gorgeous genius I aspire to be, in order to fulfill the unique destiny I came to Earth to embody, I have to hold EVERYONE in my heart with compassion and empathy. As I contemplate how every single part of creation is interconnected, I've got to be aware that the creatures I'm allergic to and inclined to feel alienated from are also part of the great web of life.

That's my spiritual goal; it's essential to awakening my best self and cultivating a connection to Spirit. It's also my selfish goal; it's critical to my physical and mental health. Hatred always sickens me. Love always invigorates me.

Icon of Christ Sophia, by Robert Lentz, from Trinity Stores

Afghan Women

I put the women's health donation widget on my blog after reading the blog post on BlogHer about Afghan women and the substandard health care they receive. I had first read about this issue in A Thousand Splendid Suns. The harrowing description of one of the characters' deliveries was truly horrifying. Anything we can do to help these women, families and the Afghan society is worthwhile.

I wasn't the world's biggest fan of the book. I thought it was written for me, and not really in the "true voice" of an Afghan woman. I wished there was a real Afghan woman who could tell her own tale and achieve the acclaim and broad appeal that Khaled Hosseini, a man who has lived in the US for the past 20 or so years, has attained. But I guess, through his work, people like me know the plight of the Afghans.

Speaking of Afghanistan, I have read, and agree, that the image of the young Afghan woman from the cover of National Geographic (back in 1983) MUST have been the inspiration for Robert Lentz' icon of Mary Magdalene. They are visually too similar to be a coincidence. And the photograph stays with you... through the years... just like the icon.

Green Round Up - no April Fools

It's all about the environment for me today. And that's no April Fools. Lots of stuff out there on the interwebs to round up:

First, WE launched its website and campaign yesterday, and so, that's something to check out. I take issue w/the baby-boomer-focused-ness of their video, but that's my hang-up, and doesn't stop me supporting the cause. Let's hope they can get some momentum going with this climate crisis thing.

The NYT tells us on its dotearth blog that solar power really is the future. For real. Like this is news?? But whatever, it's good that this idea is getting some play in mainstream media. I mean, I think I remember President Carter talking about the benefits of solar power, back in the day. But YES, let's move FORWARD with solar. Totes!

In honor of April Fools Day, It's Getting Hot in Here announced the Fossil Fool of the Year award.

Apparently, if you shock plants, they will produce chemicals. A practice that could bring us lots of power or medicinal advances. Interesting!

Interfaith Power and Light reminds the Christians in the room why it's not an option to be an environmentalist, especially at Easter. We can't wait. The time is now. From Sirens Chronicles:

Of course, the epitome of revolutionary consciousness was Jesus Christ. Now, there's a guy who stirred a nation (actually nation after nation) to action. He woke up minds, got people asking questions, shook up the status quo. He did this not by force, but by personality. Very, very scary concept to those who despise inspection and crave hierarchy.

And, finally, the Quote of The Week from Framing Science:
From E.O. Wilson's appearance last year on PBS Bill Moyers talking about the common moral obligation among atheists and evangelicals to take collective action on the environment:

Let us-- in the service of a transcendent moral obligation and concern put aside our differences for the time being and not fuss with each other over evolution. In other words where it all came from. Let us agree looking at the evidence that is disappearing. And let us, dare I use the word, gather at the river.

Come together on common ground where we can exercise the extraordinary power we have jointly. And I argue and few people disagreed with me that science and religion are the two most powerful social forces in the world. Having them at odds at each other all the way up to the highest levels of government and-- the popular media all the time is not productive.

Have a great day out there!

Top 5 Spiritual Movies Meme

I just found this meme-ette at BlogHer, which I figured I'd do, and all, I thought I'd share the love! So, here goes: the top 5 movies that have inspired me spiritually, enjoy:

Top 5 movies that inspired you spiritually?

The Last Temptation of Christ - I saw this movie when I was in a pretty non-Christian phase of my life. As in, I didn't call myself a Christian. I was v. upset about the whole "Jesus' death conquers Death" idea and thought that Christians were using an elaborate theology to evade the realness of death. That (they) were focusing solely on the afterlife ("heaven") instead of trying to make life better here on Earth. So, to watch (even!) Jesus struggle, the way that humans do, daily, with temptation, and understanding the "Higher Power's" plan, made sense to me. The story goes that Jesus is BOTH human and divine, and is tempted, sorely tempted, by the devil. That comes across, loud and clear. As does Jesus' compassion for the sick and the poor. The film made me realize that Christianity could be something I could get behind and maybe actually believe in.
Mists of Avalon - I had read the book in high school and liked it. But in the film, the last scene where Morgaine sees the statue of Mary in the convent sealed the deal for me. As with the next film, resilience is a v. human trait that I admire above pretty much all others.
Latcho Drom - Again, resilience. People, including the gypsies, it turns out, survive through all sorts of things, and sometimes, come through the other side with grace and art that surpasses all expectations. The music in this film stays with me, and I listen to it a lot. The similarities of styles. The emotion of the songs is amazing.
Elizabeth - I hate to admit it, but I didn't know much about this period of British history until I saw this movie. I know, I know. But it was through this that I got sucked in. I saw this and realized that the old Book of Common Prayer is actually based on something! It may not have actually achieved all it set out to (which was a mammoth undertaking - trying to unite Catholics and Protestants in England through prayer in the midst of a blood-thirsty civil war!) but it was a start. And it's still with us today. Who knows, it may actually get us through our current Anglican problems. And watching Elizabeth work through it all, watching her manipulate (a loaded word, I realize) the idea of the Virgin Queen, was fascinating.
The Miracle Maker - I just saw this movie recently, and it's a "children's movie" but it's really good. It tells the life of Jesus in such a compelling way - even though it uses PUPPETS! The scenes of Jesus' life use the words, pretty much verbatim, from the Gospels. And it sticks with you. Somehow I keep thinking about this film and remembering details that I have missed from the stories before.... so, I'm including it in my top 5.

How about you?

La Segunda's interests

I read this morning on Green Mom Finds about how to figure out if your kid is eating seafood safely. [wtf - what kind of world are we living in!?!] And I thought of La Segunda. Yeah, she eats fish, but she loves the ocean, or at least the IDEA of the ocean, thanks to Ariel - you know the one, La Petite Sirène.

We call her our little mermaid - LOVES to swim. I mean, she will stay in water way past when it's good for her. Her lips are blue and she still argues to stay in the water. And she's fearless around it. Pools, lakes, seaside. Doesn't matter. And she loves to lie in the sand, just like her auntie, Angie, while we make a sand sculpture of a mermaid over her.

La Segunda also loves cake. Every night we need to read "Bunny Cakes." She saw this beautiful cupcake on Cupcakes Take the Cake, and couldn't stop talking about it. Me neither - I adore Peeps! Easter is just around the corner, time for my second-favorite Easter candy to make an appearance.

Well, all, "Keep your stick on the ice. We're all in this together."

Wow! Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth!

Cool sculpture, huh? It's called, Schurenbachhalde, and it's near Dusseldorf, Germany, but it reminds me of some of the places I visited in Eastern Europe back in the early `80's. I must admit that while it's a scary aesthetic, and not one I that I hope comes to fruition, there is something familiar and even a tad comforting to me in these kinds of post-apocalyptic statements. Not sure about the handstander though!

And since tomorrow is such a BIG day (Super Tuesday + Fat Tuesday (Mardi Gras) = Super Fat Tuesday), I thought I'd share this awesome post I found via my favorite cupcake blog. The "King-Maker" cupcake. How fitting. And they're Vegan too!

Global Warming & Al's Speech

I saw this great photo on one of my favorite Art Blogs (no, not Bob's this time) but Das Artes Paslticas. It reminds me of how things WERE back in the day. It was hard to take photos like this, but the borders all across Eastern Europe looked like this.

Perhaps everyone will catch on to what Al Gore is saying about global warming, and we can change the outcome of the crisis. Just like we did during the Cold War. Here's hoping.

Romania

Romania (and Bulgaria and Turkey) are fascinating to me. I traveled to all three, and more as a teenager during our family's wacky tour through Eastern Europe in a camper. [I'll have to tell about that whole trip sometime.] Basically, we drove through Eastern Europe from (then) East Germany to Turkey.

I've had dreams recently of doing a shorter revision of that trip with my family, now that La Segunda is old enough for travel, and La Prima would remember it. Josiah seems into it, especially if we could find the cash to pull it off.

I think we could start from Bucharest, do something like this suggested tour from the Romanian Travel website. Then, drive to Bulgaria - doesn't it look amazing?? And end in Turkey, with some extra time for AT LEAST one visit to a hamam. Of course, time in Istanbul would be essential, and maybe a trip to Ephesus, too.

There is so much about the history of these countries that is unknown to me. But, from what I understand, the cultures and languages are both products of ancient mixing and fighting. Why Romanian is Romanian, and Bulgarian is Bulgarian ends up being a fascinating question. Why is one a Roman alphabet, and the other Cyrillic, for example? The music, and the food, and, of course, the Religious Art (Romanian & Bulgarian), are all affected by their geographic place in the world, and the people who have crossed paths there.

I want to go back!

Thanks to Wikipedia for planting this seed in my head!

style icons

In High School people thought I looked like Martha Quinn. I was mistaken for her on the streets of New York, and was even asked for an autograph. When I searched for current pictures of her, our look still appears to be similar (based on the head shot).

As far as I can tell, part of determining my own style is figuring out whose style I admire. This is tough, because most of the images I see in magazines or on the web are of the glitterati. Harsh because most of them are young, rich, and famous. I am none of the above. And, N.B., I Do Not subscribe to the theory that "50 is the new 30" [this from the people that brought us, "Don't trust anyone over 30!" What is this, New Math??]. What nonsense! I want to "act and look my age" which was probably what my dad was getting at (see earlier post).

Anyway, historically, who have my style role models been? And who are they now? I can answer the first question easily. I looked like Martha Quinn, but I dressed like Stevie Nicks. I hung out with all the Dead Heads in High School, even though I hated the Dead. I was more into Led Zeppelin and New Order, but that's another story. I loved all Stevie's ultra-feminine clothes, the scarves, the eye make-up, and the witchy imagery. I must also tip my hat to the punks of the 80's. I just loved their style. I miss seeing punks around, and whenever I do I get a little teary-eyed. They seem so romantic and idealistic. And I love the hair color choices.

In College I admired Edie Sedgwick's look. I know how unhealthy that is.... I just wanted to be skinny back then. Also, I had been reading lots of William S. Burroughs, and was into the Heroin Aesthetic.

After college the grunge debacle happened. I was working temp office jobs and so had to look reasonably professional. On the wages I earned that was a ludicrous idea, but I wore dresses I bought at Buffalo Exchange and must have had some footwear, I just can't remember what look I had back then for my feet.

As far as style icons, I really didn't have any, but I admired Winona Ryder - those Eyes! Still, after all her troubles (which really make her more charming than ever) I think she's beautiful and fabulous.

And then, of course, there's Bjork - if only I could wear fuzzy sweaters like her!

So those are the famous people who I think are beautiful, and whose styles I admire. I think the common characteristic that they share, besides their fame, is their eyes, which they accentuate in their various ways.

What kinds of clothing do I want to be wearing? I can't tell that from any of the styles of these women. They don't dress the same way as I do because we don't do the same things. So, I have to forge my own path.

my current style

The personal style authors* talk about figuring out what physical attributes I want to accentuate and what colors I look good in, and take it from there. They suggest going through the closet and make sure everything fits. Do this at least once a year, and donate anything you haven't worn in 2 years or more. I don't like getting rid of clothes, a trait I've inherited from my mom, but it's a good practice. And I didn't want to do it until I got down to a size, post-delivery, that I felt comfortable about.

I started going through this style process, in earnest, after I got down to my original pre-pregnancy weight. It IS possible! Truly. Before I got there it seemed impossible. And I will give a plug right now for the book that helped me get there: "Healthy Woman" by Rodale Press.** So great! I read it and started going through and doing their suggestions right away. Within 5 months I had lost 10 - 15 lbs, and, more importantly, at least 2 inches around my hips, 3 around my waist, and toned my upper arms and jowls. That kind of change had a huge impact on my outlook, on my self perception. That's how I am more able to talk about my "assets" with apparent ease. I wasn't there a year ago. Who knows if I even would have been blogging. My image and understanding of myself is so different now than it was a year ago!

An additional thing I've learned through this process is that there's no time like the present. In order to be the person you want to be, you have to start somewhere and BE that person. That's true of my physical state of being, my mental health [be present and live in the moment, without the weight of the past or worries of the future seeping in], and my spiritual life. Be the person you want to be now.

I went through the clothes. I knew I owned and loved lots of black, but I went ahead and followed the authors' concept of putting each outfit on and figured out how many "looks" I could get out of each combination that could go together. They call these "capsules". In each capsule you have, let's say, slacks, a skirt, a couple of tops that could match, or jacket, and then accessories: shoes, scarves, jewelry that go along or complement.

I organized about 4 robust capsules in black, brown, green and purple. I had my "colors done" back in high school - sheesh I'm so 80's!!! And I was a "winter" - "with gold highlights". Anyone who has "had their colors done" has as vague an idea of what that means as I do. But basically, I look better in stronger, darker colors than I do in neutrals or pastels, with my skin tone. But then my hair and eye color tend towards the golden. So I need to take that into account when figuring out what looks good on me.

The authors also get into how to withstand fads. If you've taken the time to figure out what hemline works for you, don't cave, just because a fashion trend says that micro-minis are in. They suggest finding a tailor and riding out the fad looking good in what works for you. And even show a graph of the life-cycle of a fashion trend. When to buy as the trend is still going on, and might be on sale, but also how to determine when it will bottom out so you're not stuck w/last season's fashions looking silly.

My "look":

• I like solids. I wear a lot of solids. And mostly dark solids, up by my face.
  
• I've made the switch from regular hose to fishnets - now they come in neutral, skin-tone colors! Ingenious!
• When it comes to patterns, I adore plaids! Skirts or slacks. Maybe it's the British heritage? Or the tweedy academic upbringing?
  
• Texture. I like texture. Anything that looks woolly - but not mohair since I'm allergic.
• Big cowl necks are a fave too. Sweaters in general are good.
• No button shirts - they always gap in the middle. Embarrassing.
• No more mini-skirts. No denim skirts either, just don't like them.
• No crew neck shirts.
  
• A couple of years ago, after a huge sock purge, I made the vow that the only socks I will buy are argyle. So, now I have a bunch of wacky color combos of argyle socks and wear them with whatever color family I choose. It's fun.

I guess this is my homage to punks - fishnets, argyle and tartan - God Save the Queen!




* Looking Good: A Comprehensive Guide to Wardrobe Planning, Color & Personal Style Development (Paperback) by Nancy Nix-Rice (Author), Pati Palmer (Author) "Looking wonderful is less about fashion-designers dictating what's "in" and what's "out"-than about function-what works best for YOU..."

** I've had trouble actually finding the book that I originally bought because it was a supplement to a Prevention magazine edition (hence no ISBN). I've linked to the DVD, above, but I'm more of a 20th Century gal myself, and prefer the book. You can get a sense of the program by using this link to a Rodale article. I bought the "book" at the local grocery store, and recently saw it at Target. So, it's out there. The cover has a pink title with a svelte young woman in white workout shorts and a green jog bra.