When Men's hearts Change the World Will Know Peace.

No, I'm that is not a quote found from a citizen of the past, who would mean to include women today. No, I meant it how I wrote it:

When men's hearts change, the world will know peace.

I think that women are already fully equipped with the power to know love. It is natural within us to care for the world: the animals, plants, and men and children in it.

Without the soft demeanor women inhabit, men wouldn't know what to do with their lives.

We give them direction as to where to direct their energies.

In true love, peace on earth is known.

When men do not value women the way a women values the earth and its children, the world is torn apart. For, men have a different kind of power. Rather than the all encompassing power for life and beauty in women, men have a brutal kind: they have the force with which they can do whatever they want, really.

So what holds them back from going crazy*?

I use the word crazy, but I don't necessarily mean psychotic. I mean negative or bad, harmful or hurtful to others.

Well there are two answers:

1) It goes back to the direction women give them. A mother's love keeps a son in line. In an elusive manner the soft power of women keeps a hold on the boy in a way he often will never realize. (Women, are the power of life: the source, the vessel, the reason).

And, when the boys love is directed by another woman's it is her energetic pull and promise of life that keeps him "tied-down" or "in-line" or from doing bad things. (Or it may just be the reminder of his mother's love, which does this).

2) In a second instance, the love wasn't there, and couldn't be found in another. There are no restraints strong enough, or meaningful enough. The woman may be so out of touch with her own power that she has no effect on a man. These loveless men are the rapists, the murderers, and the men who enjoy warfare. They do not respect the feminine and instead desire to direct their power against each other or upon other women they do not understand.

Power is a powerful thing.

I recently read an article, which described a type of vegan crusader and outlined some of his views. It was very informative at parts. The man explained that when people began to eat meat, wars simultaneously arose. The Sanskrit word for war comes from a word that means "I want to take your cow." And the eating of meat and the wars were evolving in efforts to control the feminine. He says that in the practice of eating and producing meat products men have been manipulating the female animal's uteri. The baby animals are eaten as a delicacy, the fetus of chickens are a staple and the more animals born the more meat.

It's really interesting. Reminds me of abortion. Some women are out of touch with their femininity as I said before and are against it as well. But, the laws that re being argued over should really have no place in government. The female body is sacred and it is important to respect and most importantly it is hers. How can men feel that they can control the woman's body? It's the same concept as rape, really. It's due to the lack of honest love for or from men's mothers.

Diary Entry

I feel like writing, so here I am doing what I feel. I don't have anything particularly striking to jot down right now. I want to let it flow and see what comes. I guess I'll start by talking about what's been running through me lately. What have I been doing.

Well, today I went to my internship. I drove to the Rockridge area, to part and take the bus into Berkeley, which would be more efficient I have been told. I'm starting to figure my way around this enormous place called the East Bay. It's getting more familiar, but I still don't even know the right exits to take. I just go in the general area and then figure it out....? I don't know why I do this. I guess I like to feel that I know where I am, and feel that I have it figured out, when in reality I only half know the ins and outs of this area. Anyway, I parked and then I went to the store, and bought something that I needed.

In retrospect, I feel so foreign. I'm not sure whether or not I should smile at people. I don't understand why we are supposed to ignore each other, but almost everyone acts like it. And, when I want to smile I think about maybe I am giving off the wrong message, especially to men, because smiling is so foreign to everyone.

Maybe this is why I feel foreign, because I feel good about life, and a lot of other's do not show it. Or our society does not encourage it. We are supposed to be stressed, because our society tells us that life is about getting money! And, getting money is stressful. For me it is that's for sure. Life is not a business, jeeez.

Things are just the way they are, and there is no way around it.

I'm realizing more and more that life is about constantly trying to be comfortable in any given situation. Life is a constant struggle. It is only natural. All animals on earth are constantly fighting for their lives, running for their food, and caring for their families. This is the way it is. So as a human race we must constantly find comfort in our own struggles. If not we become crazy, stressed out, or depressed. Our brains let us figure out the puzzles of the struggle. It's like a maze we've created for ourselves and each other. Yet, we have to do it.

Somewhere, on a documentary about emotions I think, I heard that we need conflict in our lives. This resonated with me. If we do, then we do. And, if we have it so prevalently, then we must need it. I believe that. If we felt that everything was truly perfect all the time, why would we clean our houses or build new buildings? Why would we create without an ounce of conflict, which compels that creation within us?

If the Big Bang occurred, that would have been a harsh convergence of elements, not a gentle melting of them. The earth created mountains when plates of the crust crashed into each other. These are somewhat violent occurrences, which have made our planet.

Conflict is necessary, so we should not be afraid from it, but run deeply into it and understand that it holds the same beauty as love.

Haven't you heard that there is a thin line between love and hate? It's true I've felt it. The conflict and the struggle is like the other side of the yin, which is love and kindness.

Duality.

Isn't it interesting how I could keep writing until I've come to the same point? It's constantly like this. There is so much that we exist with down here on earth, but when our higher minds begin to think about all this stuff, and process it a bit, it begins to become less and less stuff, ending ultimately in a point. This is the same point, which one will always end up at. The conclusion that points up to the sky to the wonder, to the questions of life.

The Haves vs. The Have Nots

"The world's most primitive people have few possessions, but they are not poor. Poverty is not a certain amount of goods, nor is it just a relation between means and ends; above all it is relation between people. Poverty is a social status. As such it is the invention of civilization."

-Marshall Sahlins, Anthropologist.

Medicinal Herbs: Showy Milkweed

I found this plant yesterday and fell very attached to it. The flowers are a beautiful lavender color, and are rubbery rather than thin an delicate. It's a tall plant with ball forms of clustered small flowers. It's called Showy Milkweed and here is it's traditional usage:

Edibility:

Showy Milkweed (Asclepias speciosa) was boiled and eaten as a vegetable in the mid-west and eastern regions by indigenous tribes of America. The flowers, stems, and leaves were also eaten raw, while the buds were often boiled for soups with meat. Almost all tribes of America were recorded as using the sap as a chewing gum, by boiling it down to a sticky substance and adding salmon or deer fat.

Medicinally:

Showy Milkweed sap was used as a cleaning or healing agent for cuts, sores, warts, or ringworm. The silky hairs would be burned away from the seeds, then ground down into a salve for sores. The seeds would be boiled in a small amount of liquid, which would be applied to soak rattlesnake bites and draw out the poison. Tea made from the roots was to aid in alleviating a measles rash, or curing a cough, or even cure rheumatism when applied like a wash. When the root was mashed with some liquid it could reduce swelling.

Interestingly:

Tribes would use the fibers of the plant's stalk for weaving ropes and cloth. By extracting the fibers from dried stalks via a whacking method, the fibers were twisted together to form cord. This cord also formed nets and traditional ceremonial garb.

Here's the beautiful plant:

WORLD CULTURE

"Culture: the totality of what is communicated by one generation of a people to another by means of language and example."

- Daniel Quinn, Beyond Civilization

I'm in the midst of reading this book right now, and this morning I was caught by this quote. It's an interesting thought to turn around in the head. I began to desire deducing what my culture is. What is it that was brought down through my parents generation into me? Quinn says that it is what survives via " language and example."

In terms of language, it's obvious that English is the language of my culture. Yet, more specifically, my parents spoke with a proper, educated type of English with California accents. Some people learn to speak in slang, or with mixed languages, or with accents from their region. I was brought up speaking an educated English without slang, which reflects my parent's backgrounds and thus mine as well.

I am sure I was taught just about all my fundamental life skills through example. I learned how to use a conventional oven, microwave, freezer, refrigerator, stove-top, and knife to prepare food. I also was taught how to think about what I eat, and to choose healthier options rather than what was simply available at the store. I was taught how to play various sports, and that I should stick with things. I learned that school was important, and drugs were bad. I learned a lot of social skills through my parents that make me who I am today.

And, I realize that a lot of kids grow up learning different skills from their parents. Some parents are not educated and teach their children to speak in slang that doesn't work in a professional atmosphere. Some children are taught to never question the foods they can buy at the liquor stores, which are unhealthy for them. The social skills people inhabit are handed down through their parents. When seeing this phenomenon through an anthropological lens it's not really a case of good parenting versus bad. That's more of a social opinion made later on an independent or collective level. In reality, the culture we inhabit from our parents is vastly different in America from town to town, city to city, and region to region. Some traits vary from family to family within any specific community. American culture is much more mixed up than other culture's which are more grounded by their centuries of history. Who we become via cultural skills, handed down from our parents' generation to ours, is just that - who we are and nothing more. I think we choose friends and lovers in conjunction with those traits, we have learned, which we value. Or maybe we are attracted to others who've learned more attractive or better traits.

Thus, cultures are in constant flux, especially in Western societies. There is no real set culture anymore. We try to preserve the cultural codes of other groups, but they aren't really surviving in the pure essences that we enjoy anymore. Nowadays our world culture is full of variety. The question is whether we will create a cohesive world culture, now that we are in affect a world culture. Can we polish it, with a collective set of values?

Skeptical of Skeptics: The Power of Belief

I watched two videos on TED.com the other day, which were very interesting. Each was a fifteen minute talk given by two well renowned skeptics working in America. Michael Shermer publishes Skeptic Magazine. He debunks many superstitions, occult beliefs, and the supernatural. His angle is out to prove that we make ourselves believe in certain things which are not true.

James Randi is an older man, whois mainly passionate about psychic fraud in his speech. He feels that these people who claim they have contact with the dead and the ability to uncover hidden facts are magicians. They have the tools and the knowledge of how to deceive their audience. And, they do this at a high financial and emotional cost to their customers. His foundation offers support to "ruined" psychic customers and a million dollar prize to a psychic who can prove their ability.

As someone interested in the spiritual, supernatural, and the like I was interested in hearing these men's point of views. I felt that an element of my disbelief was cemented for good, especially when Shermer played the clip of Led Zeppelin backwards asking for us to hear the specific Satanic lyrics.

I was at a lecture for one of my college courses in the occult. A guest speaker was explaining how she talks with the deceased through a special technology invented not too long ago in Europe. She records an empty room, or a silent space and then plays it over a chopped up bit of random audio taken from a TV commercial for example. Then, she'll listen to the audio segments, which are put in random order, with the recorded blank space over it. She first played us some of the clips she'd found, to which I heard just mangled sounds. Then she asked us to listen for the sentence she had deduced, and played it again.

"Oh ok, I can kind of hear that, ...I guess," I thought skeptically.

It wasn't obvious at first, but she found what she was looking for. Why? Because she wanted to, and her desire and belief were strong enough to find something meaningful in the garbage and come and lecture to us about it.

Not to be judgmental though, because although her "speaking with the dead" machine was unconvincing to me, I do have some strange beliefs of my own.

Randi and Shermer are skeptical to the core of their beings. They deal with the cold hard facts of life: the tangible, the seen, and the obvious. If something can't be proved under these headlines they aren't viable. Those are their beliefs, and the power of belief is most powerful. Their point of view is more scientific than anything. They need the problem to work over and over again to be true, and most of what they oppose does not work in this way. The power of belief works for them in conjunction with tangible objects and facts. Is it fair to say that psychics etc. are choosing to believe in something unseen, and this extreme opposition disturbs the skeptics?

I'd like to take the section of Randi and the homeopathic pills as an example. He swallows the entire bottle, and still he doesn't falter at all during his talk. He seems to rob the homeopathic industry of legitimacy. It's not a very thorough investigation into it though. This part caused me to pause and think for a minute. I am one who chooses to believe in the power of medicinal herbs. And the power of belief is extremely strong for the human mind. It is the most important element to our lives I feel I can say with almost one hundred percent certainty. Let me argue with the case of placebos standing on my sideline. We've all heard this one: in experiments a doctor will administer a placebo sugar pill, and the actual medicine to two patients within a study. In the end result, both patients say they feel an affect. This is the power of belief in action.

So, in conclusion, there are scientific elements as well as spiritual elements to our world. Both are extremely powerful to our societies nowadays. In some cultures, even when the two contradict each other no one blinks an eye, because both are so real and hold so much clout to the people of that society.

The power of belief people, don't you forget it.

The Banana Leaf Parable by Charles Eames ( American Designer )

There's sort of a parable I'd like to . . . In India . . . I guess it's a parable: In India, sort of the lowest, the poorest, the, those, those without and the lowest in caste, eat very often--particularly in southern India--they eat off of a banana leaf. And those a little bit up the scale, eat off of a sort of a un . . . a low-fired ceramic dish.

And a little bit higher, why, they have a glaze on--a thing they call a "tali"--they use a banana leaf and then the ceramic as a tali upon which they put all the food. And there get to be some fairly elegant glazed talis, but it graduates to--if you're up the scale a little bit more--why, a brass tali, and a bell-bronze tali is absolutely marvelous, it has a sort of a ring to it.

And then things get to be a little questionable. There are things like silver-plated talis and there are solid silver talis and I suppose some nut has had a gold tali that he's eaten off of, but I've never seen one.

But you can go beyond that and the guys that have not only means, but a certain amount of knowledge and understanding, go the next step and they eat off of a banana leaf.

And I think that in these times when we fall back and regroup, that somehow or other, the banana leaf parable sort of got to get working there, because I'm not prepared to say that the banana leaf that one eats off of is the same as the other eats off of, but it's that process that has happened within the man that changes the banana leaf.

And as we attack these problems--and I hope and I expect that the total amount of energy used in this world is going to go from high to medium to a little bit lower--the banana leaf idea might have a great part in it.

....Life

In searching for what to do now that I've graduated college, I've milled over tons of various ideas. My options seem vast. With everything I've done and experienced and with the skills I've gained over the past four years, I feel like I've come to the edge of a cliff. Now is my time to jump into this endless abyss. This is how I feel now, like I have a huge empty void standing before me. There are so many ideas I've worked through, either by applications and interviews, or by way of thought. Yet, I haven't hit the mark. I'm still not getting my unique nail into this piece of wood. And, of course this task would be hard. It's like how a dog walks around in circles until resting in that perfect spot. There's a place for me that fits just right, but I'm still circling it.

I think I'm coming closer though. I applied to work as an intern at the Earth Island Institute, which is an offshoot of the David Brower Center. It was founded in 1982 by the man, as an umbrella organization for the many, many non-profits striving to protect the planet. This method ensures that small organizations have access to the professional services, fiscal administration, program management, office space, and equipment to work well.

This idea is perfect and necessary for change to happen, I believe. It reminds me of a realization I made my first year in college.

When I first went to the University of California at Santa Cruz, I was opened to many different types of grass-roots organizations and student clubs. I remember wandering the central plaza with a friend, passing by tables with representatives behind them calling for our attention. I vividly recall stopping between two table on opposite sides of the walk way. I looked back and forth perplexed. One's sign read "Socialist Organization," white the other read "Student's United for Socialism." I asked one side why they hadn't combined forces, and he said something about one leader having a personal issue with the other. I scoffed at this and decided not to enter a University Socialist group.

Now it seemed like a sad joke to me. How could the socialist group make any kind of change or movement at all, if a few people in the group couldn't get over a minor issue for the sake of the cause? They had no momentum if they lacked force in numbers, and strength of backbone.

I've wondered since, why are there so many little non-profit organizations that work independently of each other. While one is working to save the sea turtles in Costa Rica, and another is trying to eradicate styrofoam from production, aren't they both working to save the planet?

This is what The Earth Island Institute has done: combined like forces, because the man behind it, David Brower, was smart enough to realize that this is what has to be done in order to actually effect change.

SO, this is the organization I'm applying to intern at, in order to become more involved with what I am passionate about. It will bring me closer to what I care about, which is what life is all about. Like a yo-yo we become unraveled, learning, growing, and experiencing. But, we need to become rolled back up to the source, to our original points of view in our hearts, that will guide us on our life's paths whether or not we are aware of it.

TRIBAL CULTURE

Leader of the Asurini (Red People) Tribe in the Amazon Jungle, Brazil.

Asurini material culture includes the following items: ceramics, weaving, basketry, weapons, body ornaments, wooden benches and musical instruments (flutes). Ceramics and weaving (hammocks, slings, headbands and other ornaments made of cotton) are the women’s tasks. Ceramic pots serve as recipients to transport and deposit water, serve food and prepare it over the fire. In the latter case, these are earthen vessels which have become black with use. For other uses, ceramics are decorated with geometric designs.

Ceramics are prepared from a clay that is obtained from deposits two or three kilometers away from the village, located near the banks of the Xingu River. The vessels are made by using the technique of cording, that is, the overlaying of rolls of clay. The form of the vessel takes shape from the fusion of the rolls together and with the help of a spatula made from a gourd. With this also, the potter does the initial smoothing of the piece which will later be complemented during the drying of the piece, using the fruit of the inajá or a rolling stone. The border of the vessels is usually shaped with the fingers or by using a species of lichen that makes it fine and uniform. After drying, the vessel is initially burned, being placed near the fire until its surface appears very dark. Later it is burned in an oxidizing atmosphere with the barks of different types of trees.

The final touches on the undecorated pieces are made by applying a layer of a substance contained in the inner bark of the stalk of a tree, giving them a reddish-brown color. In the painting of the decorated pieces, mineral raw material is used, that is, small stones of three colors: yellow, red and black. These stones are rubbed onto another larger one, thus producing the dye. The yellow one is used as a base, painting the entire external surface of the piece with this color. The black and red are used in the elaboration of geometric designs. These are done with paintbrushes that can be made of small pieces of wood covered with cotton, palm leaf stems, plant stems or feather fiber. After finishing the painting, the piece is left to dry. Afterwards, a layer of resin from the jatobá tree is passed over the external surface of the piece, polishing it and fixing the dye.

Besides ceramics, geometric designs also decorate the gourds (incised), bows and ornaments (traced). From a vast repertoire of motifs and patterns of designs used in the decoration of these items of material culture, there are those that are used to ornament the body, either by tattoing or painting with genipapo. These designs are stylizations of elements from nature, as well as representations of supernatural beings or symbolic elements, such as Anhynga kwasiat (a mythical being that gave the design to men) and Taingawa (a doll used in shamanic rituals and that also means “image, model, replica of the human being”).

Contemporary Influence of Amazonian tribe appearances: Check out these cool music videos.

Basement Jaxx video for their song "Raindrops"

Kelis. Her video for the song "Acapella"

Anthropology

[an-thruh-pol-uh-jee]

-noun

The study of human beings.

I see the world from two different eyes, from two sections of brain, from two points of view, through separate lenses.

On the one hand here we are, struggling for survival in a very human sort of way. And specifically, in an American or Western way, which is quickly becoming a global manner for the younger generations. The massive culture we share is an unknown one that is growing exponentially with millions of faces, and ideas readily available on the internet. We don't know where we're headed, yet we're running full speed into that fate.

It's quite interesting, to say the least.

(Still, on that hand) we are fearful of each other, because we have no solid boundaries our culture creates. How we choose to live our lives is up to us largely. We are given these options, but what makes it hard is the fact that everything is available to us. Therefore, we must create our own sets of values and our individual moral codes. Or, we choose our own sub-cultural clubs to join in attempts to create our tribes.

Is this ability to choose, rather than be taught, which complicates the picture. Today, young people are faced with decisions that are difficult to make, are never made, or are regretted in the end. You see, the world is truly in our hands these days. With the press of a button we have access to most crook and cranny on the globe - the complex and intricate place that is home to nature, and society. Some don't realize the choices they need to make and end up stuck in thick jungles of confusion or vast deserts of emptiness. Others, try too hard to make all the choices they feel are right in the wake of societies informational waves and capsize their true souls.

It's really hard to get it right. Dare I say impossible.

Cultures untouched from our history lived like animals. I say this under the best possible light. Their actions were based upon survival. They utilized what was at hand to function on the basic level. With human ability added they were more adept at creating tools to aid in these functions, and they would decorate them too. People celebrated in particular ways, and cooked as best they had figured out for the raw foods around them. Their basic instincts for life were accentuated by their larger brains providing ingenuity, creativity, and appreciation.

We still live with these things, but we lack the localized simplicity of how it used to be. Technology has made cooking easier, travel quicker, and information, ideas, and faces readily accessible. I think this has left us with more room and time for confusion and boredom. Concepts of the twentieth and twenty-first century. Appreciation for life itself is more easily passed over, because young people are trying so hard to decide or figure out how best to live.

What is presented through the media, and even the government is not always the best route. There are no filters in our societies, which offer the healthy and necessary, while discarding the excessive and harmful. People are confused, and thoroughly saturated with information overload. To young people this can be especially hard, without a strong culture to fall back into.

The ways of old cultures may not have been ideal to our standards or ideas today, but they worked to help their members fulfill basic necessities and feel appreciation for their nature. Confusion and boredom of today, was peace and wonderment of yesteryear.

So, on the one hand, we're lost and confused.

On the other hand, we're hilarious (and fun). The things we human beings do on a daily basis and the way in which we do them, in these westernized societies, is silly. From the other half of my brain I see our society as maybe an alien would.

Look at this interesting creatures as they sing to themselves in their vehicles.

See how they climb mountains just for fun, panting and sweating to pass the days.

Watch as they fuss and argue over the most meaningless things.

So, in the middle is existence, the one from ancient cultures and in life today. We can choose to go in any direction, but deep within are those same basic instincts from our histories and in our present day existence. As we drive massive vehicles to venture through the forests and use credit cards to hunt for food, it can be hard to feel that we are truly alive. Yet, we are and so our existence can sometimes seem like a comedy, ironic in how we've made life so easy we can barely feel it, and sad in how we are still unable to equalize necessities across the globe, and just plain goofy in how our personalities enact day to day.

I see myself as an anthropologist, viewing humanity today from a point of comparison with human cultures throughout our time on earth. I like to explore that deep root of existence that still thrives in us today. I think it comes through the worker, who cuts wood and hauls logs all day long, or the Indian wife who spends the day shopping and preparing for a delicious meal, or the Ethiopian priest who wanders the church all day long thinking about scriptures. Oh yes, just push through the plush, fluff, and unnecessary plastic packaging and you'll find humans thriving with their wonderful basic instincts intact.

The worker, the ceremonialist, the mother, and the maker.

Doing what is necessary with the same efforts of our ancestors, fulfilling basic needs while feeling the wonderment of life - and appreciating the energy of existence.

Texture

Right now I'm interested in texture, particularly of paper. I've been shading the entire surface with charcoal, chalk, or conté crayon. Then I would draw darker lines into the empty space creases that were left. Some I left blank like negative/positive versions.

Yoruba people in Southwest Nigeria und neighboring Benin.

Yoruba religion places a great importance on communication with the other world and establishing a relationship between their deities and their true self, known to the Yoruba as the Ori Inu (Inner Head). This is done through divination and other ritual ceremonies that change one’s outer appearance in order to symbolically connect the performer with his/her specific deity (orisha). These practices demonstrate the fundamental Yoruba belief in mind/body unity in which the mind and body are one. Yoruba are therefore greatly concerned with physical appearance because it allows for “cosmic communication” (Henry Drewal) with the deities and the reflection of one’s inner strength.

Spiritual divination is accomplished through the use of two methods of body decoration: the gbere and the osu. Gbere are hidden inoculations that facilitate worship and encourage divine possession through heightened senses. In contrast, the osu are temporary and visible paintings on the head. Deity- specific colors and patterns attract and direct cosmic forces and open the way for communication between the two worlds.
A key component in their religion is the idea of the inner and outer heads (Ori Inu and Ori Ode). The inner head represents the spiritual self and one’s true identity and destiny. The outer head acts as a shell for the inner head. Harmony is achieved between the two heads by maintaining beautiful outward appearances. Hairstyles reflect many personal attributes: one’s inner strength, taste, status, occupation, power, profession, age, state of mind, and stage in life. Women’s hair is often styled in a crown to honor the inner head. During spiritual ceremonies, men often take on this female hairstyle in order to harness the powers of the female deities.

Many other aspects of Yoruba culture reflect the importance placed on the inner and outer head. While Yoruba art is naturalistic in its depiction of the human body, it stays true to the ideals of their religion by placing disproportionate significance on the head. The head is literally created bigger than the body and often has elaborate crown-like hairstyles along with large, protruding eyes. These elements connect the inner head with the outer head and eyes, stressing the notion of perception and communication as tools to connect with the deities of the other world.

feelin' good.

Stop Driving

It's quite interesting how something so awful and detrimental to life can be so beautiful. This photo captures the browns and blacks that melt over the pelican and into the ocean. It's so odd, so mucky, but nice to look at.
Poetic. Like Edgar Allen Poe's Raven.

Let's try to stop driving, when the waters are looking like this, let's ride bikes and walk instead.

Evolution ~ Incredible

Cool Things I Want.

These are from Urban Outfitters.

Little Wood Block Speakers to attach to a computer (or an i-pod)
Nice Headphones, green and white, and they look really comfy! $70
This is cool. It's a jar with an LED light inside. Open the top to expose a solar energy bit, which will charge during the day. At night the light will glow in your bedroom or home somewhere. Says it "captures the sun," and that's why I love this orange one, because it really looks like a bit of sun got caught in there! Also comes in blue or purple.

My Art Practice

I have been really loving all these women's creative blogs and their communities of other creative bloggers. I've seen A LOT of scrap-booking, which is always fun. And, I've come across the more serious painter's blogs.

Now that I've graduated college (with a degree in studio arts) I am wanting to put my creative juices to work. I'd like to begin my own journey, the solo one, without teacher's opinions or lesson plans or assignments. Now is my time to explore what it is I really want to create for the world.

In order to avoid sitting open-mouthed without a direction and only and endless possibility feeling I need to take small steps.

I think it's time I start collecting. When I'm out I often have idea, but they are only words in the wind and soon forgotten. I should jot down everything and take my notebook seriously back at home. When I am out, I'll start to keep my eyes open for materials that spark my inspiration. I will begin to gather. I am mostly interested in using twice used materials, and natural ones as well.

Painting has been a hard task to maneuver in my small studio apt, which I share! Yet, anything is possible. I have a tarp I can put down now to protect a small corner, and act as a marker. Now, I just need to know what to paint! It's so easy for me to paint my emotions directly, and I can go, and go, and go non-stop, but I am not sure if I am satisfied with those end results. I do enjoy painting people, but I don't have live models yet. I also like to paint on a large scale, which can be costly and space consuming. Well. I have three larger canvasses to start with. I know I'm interested in working with textures and materials into my paintings. I guess I'll start there!

I have come to love sculpture, but this medium can be the most space necessary. I wonder, should I opt for the more crafty or should I manage a sculpture into a small space?

I say both. Once I gather materials and sketchbook ideas I can begin in my place.

Wow, I really feel like a little baby chick just coming out of the eggshell. These are the beginnings of my practice!

It's crazy to think I've done so much work (through school etc.) but now is when I really feel that I am starting out for real.

This is great!

These are materials I like:

Leaves

Straw

Clay

Cork

Chocolate!

Sponge (Natural)

Charcoal (To draw with and to sculpt with)

Sticks/Wood

Color Palate:

light blues

white

beige

light yellow

saffron

crimson

light brown

Subjects:

work

cooking

living

dancing

I like to draw people's faces in a fantastical way

Inspiration:

Essence

Energy*

* I have a lot of internal energy, and my art sometimes portrays that, and when it does I think it is most successful. Therefore, how can I focus my energy so that my art is always portraying my energy. I enjoy seeing multiples of things such as sticks, and sometimes i'll collect them and create a sculpture. I think the mass amount of one gesture portrays the idea of a moving energy.

San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival
My mom and I volunteered last year. It was great. In my mind I'm making it a tradition. So we'll be there again today!

World dance is truly incredible. The spirit of our humanity is felt so immensely and with such clarity, despite the intricate color and detail of movement. The tradition aspect of world based dance, means that it comes from something forgotten, but carried through in only the gesture. Passed down from generations through the ages, things may have shifted, but in essence the dances remain the same. The primordial fire exists in all the performers from all the different countries on one stage in the multi-cultural home of San Francisco.

WAR

Why doesn't Mister Obama opt for these this time around?

Reverse Graffiti

Reverse Graffiti?

Yes, it's graffiti in reverse, because instead of applying spray paint, artists take away material to create the art piece. It becomes a bit political due to it's method. Topics such as pollution come up, when filthy tunnels are wiped clean into shapes of skulls. The authorities may complain, but what can they do when these artists are simply cleaning the city walls? Paul "Moose" Curtis is a pioneer of the form. "Once you do this," he says, "you make people confront whether or not they like people cleaning walls or if they really have a problem with personal expression."

Deep.

Vermeer's Girl With a Pearl Earring. By Scott Wade.

Just as I am a fan of graffiti, I might be a bigger fan of this. There isn't anything illegal about it, and yet artists can spread their messages to the masses. Public art is fantastic, but waiting for commissions and grants can be arduous. There's always a way to speak out and let your voice be heard (1st Amendment anyone?) and I just love that people are so awesome as to figuring out ways to maneuver around certain obstacles that may be in their ways.

Yeah, it's an ad, but the message is great, and here's Moose in action:

More Art

"Today is the tomorrow you were promised yesterday" - Victor Burgin

Words and images as art. Fly-posting 500 copies...

Things I Love

An orange juicer with holes so that it drips into the pitcher. Looks Mexican!

Gorgeous towels. If I had my own house and money I'd get these towels!

I was shopping today, searching for wedding dresses for my half-brother's wedding. He's about forty, and it'll be in Indiana. My mom and I went into Anthropologie, one of my favorite stores. And, as I a sculpture artist I really must comment on how great their creative displays are! In the window behind and surrounding the maniquins is a flowing tubular sculpture of wicker strips, bulging in and out. It looked like an abstract extension form of a tribal fish catching contraption. I am very attracted to multiples and sticks and wood things especially. Inside there was another linear flowing form reaching from the floor to the ceiling. This one was contrived with multiple rolled up pieces of paper. Shaped like trumpets. The ends which faced front had been dipped in different shades of blue. It was watery, delicate and beautiful. Who makes these!?

Anthropologie is like a homestyle country, meets bohemian type of store. The stuff can be pricey, but a lot of it seems to be worth it, when the materials are so soft...you know?

The bedding is the softest, and it seems to be such great material and make. I would love to buy that bedding in a beautiful white.

NOTE: When I think about shopping for my home (to come one day) I see myself going to great big flea markets and finding one of a kind pieces, vintage etc., to put in my home with love and care. I'm out to find the most interesting, and unique bits. I want to surround myself with love, what I really love most. People and things.

Contemporary Art

Yo.

I'm starting a website, and it will include an array of inspiring artists and their art from mostly the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. I want to also include a space to explore crafts and indigenous arts from cultures across the globe, and into historical times from basket weaving, to body tattoos. In my research thus far I've experienced a lot of fantastic art. One piece of the art world I will tap into here today includes a family of artists. They operate together under the name Boyle Family. This clan included. Mark Boyle and Joan Hills and their children Sebastian and Georgia.

Boyle Family aims to make art that does not exclude anything as a potential subject. Over the years, subjects have included: earth, air, fire and water; animals, vegetables, minerals; insects, reptiles, water creatures; human beings and societies; physical elements and fluids from the human body. The media used have included performances and events; films and projections; sound recordings; photography; electron-microphotography; drawing; assemblage; painting; sculpture and installation.

They were also making up the light and stage shows for Jimi Hendrix back in the day.

....in their work they try to isolate and reduce randomly chosen elements to as truthful an approximation as is within their power.

Their work is largely about trying to release themselves and their audience from pre-conditioning or prejudice.

‘We also want to be able to look at anything without discovering in it our mothers' womb, our lovers' thighs, the possibility of handsome profit or even the makings of an effective work of art. We don't want to find in it memories of places where we suffered joy and anguish or tenderness or laughter. We want to see without motive and without reminiscence this cliff, this street, this field, this rock, this earth.’

Today

I started my blog awhile ago, hoping that my posts would attract people eventually. That was long ago, and I had stopped writing. Still, no followers. My brother suggested following other folks', so I clicked on a few last night. Then I started to become overwhelmingly inspired by a lot of, mostly women's, blogs full of clear photos, fashion, cupcakes, and arts and crafts! This morning I felt that I needed to up my anti! Well I am overwhelmed. There is so much to be inspired about. There are a million beautiful photos I could re-post, and numerous bits of information I could write about. So much in this world and beyond that is wonderful. I'd like to blog about what is most meaningful to me, and that is what I have been doing. I realize that my ideas may be a bit controversial. When I get down to my beliefs they may be shocking. Yet, I hope they are inspiring for some. So, I'll just hold off and not get too overwhelmed. I will wait for the inspiration to spark my brain.

Thanks for coming by Today

Africa

Visions of African plains. The sun sets large, round, and red seemingly melting the dusty ground. The acacia trees run parallel to the lines of oily heat in the air. Giraffe profiles become dark as do the tops of the trees. Warm and peaceful. The simplicity creates more space for the awe in our hearts.

The beginnings of humanity will become the end...FULL CIRCLE, always.

This is the way it is, the way it will be. We all come from Africa, it is everybody's homeland. We must care for ourselves. We are all humanity.

NAMASTE.

Namaste is a wonderful word. It is a greeting and a salutation and a meditation. It is an understanding also. The true nature of life is within this word, in a sense. Namaste can be translated in different ways. I believe it to mean that My Inner Essence acknowledges Yours. And, these essences within you, me, and everyone alive is equal and peaceful, beautiful, and perfect. It is also one with the universe!

Speaking of the Universe....I've started to read a new book, just out, called "Before the Big Bang, The Prehistory of Our Universe." It's very interesting. Brian Clegg, the author offers a lot of the scientific history of cosmology, including Greek and Egyptian mythology. The most important aspect to remember, as he explains, is that all science is just theory, even when hypotheses are proven they are still ideas tested within relative limits. Therefore, science has evolved and theories have changed and been replaced. The Big Bang theory, Clegg says, was formulated by a Catholic Priest originally and the concept is very similar to the Biblical Creation story. Very interesting stuff.

And, recently I found this following video on NPR.org. This seems to show a new solar system emerging within our Milky Way. So, a new sun, a new earth may be coming into existence not so far away. Maybe some of us will go over there and help humans not repeat some of our mistakes this time! Check out the whole article:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=125322033

Trauma

Eye do not know everything, and yes, the more I learn the less I know about life. Yet, I have rational thoughts like anyone else, with which I feel that I have an understanding of life. Let me divulge on my current one.

A baby falls down and is shocked. He lifts his head up to look around. His slate is completely clear. He looks around and sees the reactions of those he trusts most. If his parents come with pity, picking him up and say "Aww are you Ok? Are you hurt?" the child will react to their reaction. He thinks he must be hurt, because that is an emotion his parents are expecting him to portray. So he cries. It is what they are wanting, and so he gives it to them so they can comfort him.

Let's take it back. What if the parents smiled and said "oh you are Ok. I love you." The baby would just smile back and think that he is Ok. I have practiced this and it is true. Sometimes things happen, and we are Ok. It's the surrounding issues that make it not.

Something bad happens to you. You can move on, or live with it. A lot of the time it's society that keeps in weighing you down. This is bad, because I have been told it is bad, for example, and then it is that thinking that keeps a pain inside. Yet, if I had decided that something happened, but now it is just a thought or a memory and I no longer am experiencing that then it is Ok. Shock occurs as quick as a lightening bolt. The aftershock is so often a choice.

Have you ever felt emotions so pure that you are sure that they are out of your control? It is actually a very beautiful thing. It is a choice as well, but on the opposite side of the spectrum. It's taking responsibility for yourself, without exceeding the necessary amounts of emotions. The body surges with powerful feelings, that occur separately from thoughts of the mind. To be able to let these flow and feel them without letting your thoughts intervene is quite amazing. The mind comes with all these thoughts that carry a burden of pain, hold blame, anger, frustration and confusion. All these that are held will hurt you in return.

So, in conclusion, be honest with yourself about your feelings. Do not carry around hateful thoughts, or burdensome worries, or burning confusion. If these thoughts are played through conversation, then they will become lost in a false reality. You will be lost in a false reality. The truth is so simple, and so pure.

Let it Happen. Just Let it Happen.

Tribal Fashion

Natural Fashion: Tribal Decoration From Africa by Hans Silvester.

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. In this stunning collection of photographs, Silvester (Ethiopia: Peoples of the Omo Valley) celebrates the unique art of the Surma and Mursi tribes of the Omo Valley, on the borders of Ethiopia, Kenya and Sudan. These nomadic people have no architecture or crafts with which to express their innate artistic sense. Instead, they use their bodies as canvases, painting their skin with pigments made from powdered volcanic rock and adorning themselves with materials obtained from the world around them—such as flowers, leaves, grasses, shells and animal horns. The adolescents of the tribes are especially adept at this art, and Silvester's superb photographs show many youths who, imbued with an exquisite sense of color and form, have painted their beautiful bodies with colorful dots, stripes and circles, and encased themselves in elaborate arrangements of vegetation and found objects. This art is endlessly inventive, magical and, above all, fun. In his brief text, Sylvester worries that as civilization encroaches on this largely unexplored region, these people will lose their delightful tradition. 160 color photographs.

As an artist myself I take great inspiration from the images I have seen from this book already. I am interested in traveling and in photography, and I have great passion and good eyes for doing so. Through these images I have recently discovered on the internet by Hans I am inspired for my own creative project of paintings and sculptures. Tribal Fashion are two words with meanings that I have been drawn towards, yet never did I expect to find the two together. There are so many inspirations here, so how to I begin without displaying an overwhelming array of words? I love nature and the use of what it has to offer: leaves, flowers, palm fronds, corn husks, spices, and more. I love tribes, because they show a true human connection to the earth. This is how I think humanity should soon exist again. They see the beauty in the nature on the planet and display that in their everyday lives. This is a deep spiritual existence that they have. The creativity in these African people's designs shows the fun of life.

Creation

Materials I like:

Hemp/Burlap/Glitter/Rhinestones/Prisms/Glass/Spray Paint/Sharpies/Wood/Metal/Spices/Leaves/Flower Petals/Stones/Feathers/Cloth/Textiles/Coffee/Chocolate/Papier Mache/Hammer and Nails/ Metal Working/ Wire/Acrylic Paint/

The Beautiful, The Spiritual, The Inspirational is what compels me.

Full Circle

The past year brought me full circle. I was on the opposite side of the beginning and I came right back. It's been a shaky feeling to come back to see where I am now standing. I can comfortably see all around me, as if I am standing on a stump stuck in the middle of the sea. And I feel that circle on my back, like a hand of unconditional comfort. Life is a beauty that my rational mind is blind to. It is a like a light that we all must stand alone with. Although, we are all swimming in it's waters. Blessed be I step off the log, and enter the pathways of life. Life is shared between us all, it is like a father and we are his children. Now, I understand the many religions ideas about the God figure. But, it is a metaphor. The rational mind appreciates idols, which are in their own image ("God created us in his own image"). Yet, the spiritual nature of life on the planet, which is understood by humanity, is not known by this method of thought. Thinking about the roots of where our passions lay, we find the truth and light. It cannot be explained to another, but it can be talked about and discussed. It cannot be learned in a church or a philosophy classroom. It is outside of humanity, yet channeled through us. Like, the different sections of our brain, there are different rooms to the homes of our beings. I am one part divine being, and I am another part social human, and in between the two lives my heart, like a fireplace in my living room. I see this metaphor for all people, and their location of warmth is vital to our existence.
Some ask: Why do we exist, what is it for?
Even when the love and peace within us and between us is achieved, that answer will not come. It is a question without an answer, and there lies the wonderment, awe, often bewildered feeling that comes with life.
We are the embrace the unknown and laugh like children.

Song: The Beatles. Across the Universe.

Blindness.

I just finished watching "Broken Embraces," the new film by creative Director Pedro Almodóvar. In it, the protagonist had become blinded by a car accident. It made me think about how life is different when living without this important sense. I've thought about being blind before. I think it was a self-conscious phase in which I almost wanted to be living without other people's stares affecting my ego.
Now after the film, I am inspired to imagine a world of darkness:

I have let go of desiring sight.
I am peaceful in the dark.
I see light instead of form.
I see with my imagination.
I imagine more than ever.
Eye can feel sensations on my skin on a cellular level.
Eye can sense my border-less existence with my environment all the time.
Eye smell and it sets my mind ablaze with wonder.
Eye can hear sounds as individual circular waves.
Eye can see now.

Native Relationship

I have had this on my mind ever since it occurred. It seemed as sad as a hawk with a broken wing.
We had begun a journey with very little plans in mind. I have spontaneity in my heart that makes drastic movement a necessity. I travel naturally. So, I brought my boyfriend on board for a drive down through California.
The trip was a meditation through the desert. The border at a new state, Arizona, was exciting to cross. The sun was setting, and rock of flat tops and orange lines made an impression. I have a profound interest in the earth's land. The formations spoke of grandeur, of Native history, of deep meditation and of nirvana. The desert's harsh landscape has the power to extract a humanly connection to the mystery of the universe. It is the plainest backdrop for discovery, which makes the search all the more motivated.
As we found by road sign, the Grand Canyon was only 200 miles away. That was the destination of this exploration I decided, because New Mexico seemed too many gas tanks away. That night we ventured to the shore of Lake Havasu, and we finally held each other in the distant feeling of our surroundings. Our bodies came close together with love. The sun had set and left a light blue glow to hint through the black shadow of tree and brush. There appeared a silver glimmer across the watery surface. I felt the subtle power of this state's land crawling into my mind's eye.
We felt compelled to a night of gambling in a near by town, which was suggested to us by a nice Arizonan, who had also offered up his couch for the night. We thanked him for his kindness, but opted for another adventure over a hill. Of course, it turned out, we would be going to Nevada for the casino. We laughed, because no one we had talked to had mentioned the fact that this town, so highly regarded by the Arizonans, was in a completely different state!
The colors glistened like candy against the night. So many flavors lighting up the dark desert. A building ignited in a green glow piqued my interest. But, we followed the ant like movement of blue hues crawling in a neon light display of water into another. The casino was as boxed in as it would be. Shiny lights, colors, sounds, little outfits for the thin waitresses, and drinks and cigarettes welcomed guests to put there money on the table or in machines to watch it fade away. I decided after two dollars that I was over the gambling life. My boyfriend found himself in a frenzy, as he was gaining number money in a game of Blackjack. The turmoil of his excitement, left him confused and down ten dollars. Casinos are a bust, let's go.
We slept beneath the stars, but in the warmth of the back of my car and each others arms. It was the best nights sleep that we had after confessing our deep love and appreciation for one another. We awoke early and headed south to Arizona once again.
On the way towards the Grand Canyon, the ride was wonderfully freeing feeling. The wonder of one of the world's "seven" was an excitement that can be described as an emptiness, a peace, and a belief. We traveled up through an Indian Reservation to the Grand Canyon, passing a beautiful canyon along the way. Finally out in the horizon I could see a long expansive strip of purple and red rock, which appeareay along the d to be the sun setting in land form. A mystical layer of mist covered the top of what I saw.
Little did I know that once we arrived, the destination would make me feel that I did not want to be there. We slowly followed a couple cars into a fenced off area. My nose crinkled as I watched old Native American Indian women dancing to a sacred song playing through speakers over a picnic area. We were told our directions and I felt like I was in prison. Huge buses were standing in our way, and silver helicopters, and barbed wire fences also. I felt forced into submitting to a role of tourist with cash in my pocket. I was discerned as we followed form into the building to purchase tickets. We passed up a large white couple taking pictures with a Native man dressed accordingly, and European and Japanese tourists too. We are from California and we wanted to see the nature of our neighbor state. Why am I being corralled into this situation, I wondered? At the front desk we discovered the appalling price given to viewing the natural wonder and the tourist bus we needed to ride. I was disgusted.
The Native tribe was doing all that it could to make money off their land. I understand, that this is what the white people who inhabited America have ultimately forced them to do. They have little money to survive with and are a struggling nation. This innovative amusement park surely puts dollars in their pockets and that is commendable, yes. There was something so wrong with the situation though, and there was a huge fence blocking the what was right.
I was angry, because It feels like the worst wrongdoing that nature be guarded, fenced up and made into an attraction that a human must pay to access. The earth is free. I understand that the land has been marked as reservation land, and so it is not really public. So, now I ask what is the cost spent by the Native tribe? What have they sacrificed for their money making set up?
I think a lot. The principles of their culture have been withheld as they have adopted a (western/European) mode of functioning. They are not sharing or glorifying the land. Instead, they are exploiting it. They leave visitors uninspired by the spirit of nature and unconnected to their Native history.
There should be a shift in consciousness soon where people begin to see the importance of being one with the land, and feeling the spiritual in its beauty. The opposite was being done on this reservation, and I felt that the people were losing themselves by offering the land in such a capitalistic manner.
I admire the Native American's for their culture and beliefs so much. What I know about them seems to be something so ideal in its capacities of being one with the earth and the spirits of the galaxy.

That is something that we all will soon learn as the world continues to turn.