Motherly Advice...

Me: 15
He: 16
She: You're too young to go with boys who drive.

Me: 19
He: 21
She: And just what exactly are you gonna be doin' while he's out at the bar or club with his buddies?! No daughter of mine waits by the phone for some knucklehead to call!

Me: 25
He: 37
She: Are you sure? Men that age are usually ready for more, and want something different out of life...

Me: 35
She: You need someone around 50, these men your age today act like overgrown children, they'll never be enough "man" for you.

*sigh*

#BoycottZara

Image: courtesy of AdamJK

ZARA, the world's largest apparel retailer, and notorious 'fast-fashion' copycat brand, is at it again this summer ripping off popular independent artists around the globe and selling their poorly-fabricated, illegal / unauthorized reproductions across their main, and subsidiary companies.  When confronted they clapped back at one LA-based, indie artist, Tuesday Bassen, with a very neaner-neaner we're more popular than you, so we can steal your work kind of response.  Which, I'm sure she was thrilled to receive after dropping 2k on a professionally drafted Cease & Desist letter to the company informing them of their misstep.

She Loves in Color

She Loves in Color - Acrylic on Canvas

                                "She sees
                                 in black and white
                                 thinks in greys
                                 but loves in color"
                                                      -JmStorm

Waiting to see if my submission for the 2nd annual Michaels Art Challenge has made it into the *top ten* is excrutiating ... I'm not exactly holding my breath, but waiting isn't something I'm particularly good at, and an extra vibe or bit of luck thrown my way wouldn't go unappreciated!  A jury of 5 art experts has the laborious task of narrowing down the thousands of submissions (I think last year's contest brought in 11k) to just ten semifinalists based on overall creativity, technique, subject, and individuality, that will then be released to the public to vote for the winner beginning July 5, 2016.  Frankly, at this point I don't know if I've hit any of those marks, but I did walk away with a painting that I'm not totally ashamed to hang on my wall so, in that regard it's been fun to play, and see this little project come to completion.

Browse all submissions here (you really should take a peek, there's some great stuff happening over there, I've already got several favorites!).

***

Well, I didn't make the cut, but no one ever wins the game by warming the bench.  At least I got up and ran around on the field, so to speak, whether they wanted me there or not ... Does that make me the streaker of the art world, because I'm totally okay with that!

Voting is live until July 19, 2016 so, if you're interested in helping any of these artists win a trip to London here's your chance.  The page is now showing only 8 of the 10 initially chosen finalists ... One was disqualified in the first 12 hours for an alleged copyright violation, which seems odd to me in the first place since the jury of 5 had two weeks to narrow down the selection and vet each piece before voting was opened to the public, add to that the piece in question was never replaced by an alternate because of "unfairness" even though this entire leg of the competition is based on how hard you can rally on social media to get votes so, a 12 hour delay really isn't that big of deal when the entire voting span is 14 days.  The second has vanished for some unknown-to-me-reason.  Frankly, this entire contest looks like it's unraveling at the seams.  No sour grapes, just plain observation.  Maybe they'll have all the kinks worked out by next year, but it's not looking entirely hopeful based on how this has been handled.  

Breaking The Cycle Of Peddling The Pill

Since its inception, the Pill (oral hormonal contraception) has been almost synonymous with freedom, and a huge player in the women's equality movement, so much so, that now to come out as a woman and renounce this form of birth control (or hormone "balancing / regulating" agent as it's prescribed for some) is to be labelled "anti-feminist" or seen as someone fighting against the hard earned rights of women to look after ourselves as we see fit, and the necessary access to what we need in order to accomplish that.  Ok, ok some of our sisters are fighting on the wrong side, I'll give you that.  We see it everyday on the news, especially in an election year; women keeping other women down because ... well, I don't exactly know why, and I'd wager neither do they.
There is, however, another completely different anti-Pill (or more accurately anti-hormonal contraception) movement that's been rumbling for decades but is recently getting a little more recognition thanks to women voicing their concerns about the ravaging effects hormonal contraception (and other hormone based medical treatments) is having on women's bodies, and it has absolutely nothing to do with taking choices, or rights away from any of us.  Quite the opposite, actually, it's about empowering us to make healthy decisions for ourselves instead of relying on governments worldwide that could NOT care less about a single one of us (says the disgruntled ex-PoliSci major ... Just ask Flint, MI), a misogynistic, not to mention corrupt, medical system (especially in America, think AMA the Rockefeller Drug Empire, et al) that still seems to be thoroughly befuddled by female anatomy, and its intricate functions even in 2016 where we continue to be treated as hysterical little girls, and "prescribed" marriage and babies to fix us. Really?  When's the last time a man went to the doctor for a real physical problem, and was told to go have a baby? This is real.  This is the nonsense women have to deal with just trying to get legitimate medical help ... still.  Partner this with a wildly out of control pharmaceutical mafia that really doesn't care if each of us sprouted two tails as side-effects from the poison they fence just so long as they'll be allowed to create and manufacture a new medication to make it fall off, and then another after that to help us grieve the loss of the tails their side-effects created, and I think anyone could begin to see why women white-knuckle their freedom to choose the Pill as a form of contraception so ferociously even if it's probably not the safest, healthiest, and most accurate choice for hormone management, family planning, and cycle correction available to us.

Raindrops on Roses

Is there anything more beautiful than a cool summer morning?  I seriously doubt it.  I love a good break in the heat when everything seems to exhale, and recharge itself.  Things feel fresh again, and it seems as though all the cares that clung to you in the rising temperatures have all been washed away.  Ok, ok so it may have taken a thunder and lightning storm that lasted hours into the pre-dawn morning, and sent shock waves through the very marrow of my bones, and left me with a splitting headache (as all electrical storms do for some reason), but like all others before, it too passed, and left everything / one waking with a new, and much needed sense of calm this morning, I think -- I mean, I can't speak for every living thing in the entire Universe but, for me it was a welcome interruption to the sweltering stagnation of late.

So today, I will say goodbye to an old friend that tugged on my heart for many years, taught me more than he probably ever imagined he had, and who was desperate to convert me into a cultural anthropologist.  The sky has already opened up and released passionately, and more eloquently everything I could've possibly said.  Bon voyage, my darling ... Maybe I'll catch you at a Yuwipi ceremony sometime, and who knows?  You may just find me in the ethnography and ethnology publishing business in the future, and thanks to you I'll know the difference.

xoxo

William Willard 1926 - 2016

"The trouble is, you think you have time"

-Buddha

A lesson I'm surprised I'm still learning...

Calling All Geeks!

It's that time again ... (my favorite) Author, Pat Rothfuss, and crew are at it again.  They're celebrating his birthday today by kicking off a week long charity fundraiser through Worldbuilders over here.  We all remember coming together last Christmas to raise over a million dollars, and where I *won* this little gem out of the lottery, right?

Well, if you're bummed out you missed the last go 'round of this, and the opportunity to help people Pat's blog to read more about how you can help out while getting your paws on some super-duper swag, and wish him a happy birthday if you want to.
dig themselves out of crippling poverty, now's your chance!  Hop over to

xoxo 

I Leek You A Lot

My gorgeous, although, non prize-winning Musselburgh Leeks

I was fussing with my family tree a few years ago (yup, genealogy nerd too!) around the time I was planning my first solo-garden, and while I sat dreaming of my heirloom seed wishlist I came up with the idea of growing vegetables that my ancestors would've harvested for their dinner tables, or varieties that either originated in or were popular near locations my ancestors inhabited; a few of my favorites have been my Jaune Paille Des Vertus Onions, Weathersfield Red Onions, and since I have both Dutch, and Scottish ancestry I found the Giant Musselburgh Leeks to be totally appropriate.  As it turns out, they're also some of the easiest things I've ever grown in my entire life aside from weeds, and just when I thought my leeks were really cool I googled around a little bit and stumbled upon competition growers *sigh* ... But really, who needs a 20 lb. leek anyway?  I mean, once you're outside of the "Goldilocks Zone" taste really goes downhill on most fruits and vegetables like my Tyrannosaurus Zucchini that's basically only good for grating up for bread recipes, so why bother?  The bragging rights can't be that satisfying can they?  Maybe they can, I've never grown the biggest leek in the county, state, country, world ... So, I wouldn't exactly know, but I happen to grow tasty leeks, and that's all I do need to know!

Ok, so I've got my Giant Musselburgh Leeks, now what?  Did I mention I didn't grow up eating leeks, and had literally no idea what to do with them (if you're like me, you'll probably have to learn how to clean them as well)?  As it turns out, the heavens opened up, and gifted me this recipe for a leek gratin with coconut milk created by Sophie from A Squirrel in the Kitchen.  And yes, in case you are wondering, it did in fact answer all of my leek-related prayers.  Seriously, try it.

Bon appétit!

You Gotta Have a Gimmick

"When deep space exploration ramps up, it will be corporations that name everything: The IBM Stellar Sphere. The Microsoft Galaxy. Planet Starbucks." 

-Chuck Palahniuk, Fight Club

Brand (noun)
 
1.  Kind, grade, or make, as indicated by a stamp, trademark, or the like:

the best brand of coffee.

2.  A mark made by burning or otherwise, to indicate kind, grade, make, ownership, etc.
the letter M was branded on each animal 

_______________________________________________________________________________

"What's your brand?  What's your brand?  Yeah, but what's your brand?!?  You gotta have a brand!"

I keep hearing this barked as if it really means something beyond a new catchphrase to spew, kind of like "Actionable (and literally ANY word you put after it)." Everybody's got to have a brand these days, it seems, if not BE a brand.  Even not having an overt "brand story" can be in and of itself part of your brand-identity.  Can this get any more annoying?  Only if it comes with a new and improved Kung Fu grip, which I'm sure it does ... somewhere.