Blog No. 118: Division of Perceptual Studies, Poem by Ellen Bass, Masaka Kids Africana

March 25, 2023

Division of Perceptual Studies at UVA

After my husband Gert Mathiesen died in 2013, I grew up and began a long journey trying to figure out a lot of things about myself and the world around us--the meaning of life, about existence, about death, about dying. Does our soul survive our earthly experience? I am a natural born skeptic so although I kept an open mind, I wanted some really hard evidence to convince me that this is not all there is. I found it through the work of Dr. Ian Stevenson and his protege, child psychiatrist Jim B. Tucker, working at the University of Virginia's Division of Perceptual Studies. Founded in 1967 by Dr. Stevenson, this established branch of the University of Virginia's medical school "conducts research in which scientific methodology is utilized to empirically investigate phenomena which cannot be explained by the currently accepted scientific assumptions and theories about the nature of mind or consciousness, and its relationship to matter." Although I have had, and family members have had some paranormal experiences that are hard to explain, what finally tipped the scales for me was UVA's work with children who purportedly remember past lives. Hard to explain away when a child remembers their name in a previous existence, who their parents were, where they lived, how they died, etc. etc. and the documented evidence, after meticulous study and documentation, checks out. Here are a few cases where the evidence seems indisputable--I will let you take a look for yourself--it personally has blown my mind. If you have the time to look at these three videos, it should serve as a good introduction to the idea that reincarnation just might exist...

Poem by Ellen Bass for Women's Month

Thank you Marynelle for sharing this beautiful poem with me.

The Sound of Their Names
by Ellen Bass
(for the Women of the 19th Amendment)

Praise their grit and gospel, their glistening
brains, their minds on fire. Neurons, numbering the stars.

the axis, the atlas: I will not and I shall.

Their mouths, praise. Ridged palates
and smart muscular tongues, teeth, sound or pitted,
their wit and will. Their nerve,

and founded within the body. Honor
now their wombs and hearts, biceps and blood,
deep mines of the flesh where passion is tested.

Thank all twenty-six bones of their feet,
arches, heels, bunions, sweat,

marching the streets in high buttoned boots. Praise
the march. Praise justice.
Though slow and clotted.

Their hands at the press. The grease and clatter,
the smell of ink. Feel the sound
of their names in our mouths:

Susan B. Anthony
Dr. Mabel Ping-Hua Lee
Marie Louise Bottineau Baldwin
Elizabeth Cady Stanton
Wilhelmina Kekelaokalaninui Widemann Dowsett

Praise their eyelids that close
and give rest
at the end of each long day.

Praise the work that goes on.

Masaka Kids Africana

According to the mission statement on their website, "There are more orphans in Uganda than anywhere else in the world — over 2.4 million children — due to the AIDS epidemic, extreme poverty, and decades of civil conflict. Masaka Kids Africana is on the ground in Uganda to help as many of these young people as we can. We give children safe shelter, food, clothing, education and medical care. Through us, children gain an education and the life skills they need for future success. Their lives are completely transformed. Masaka Kids Africana sponsored children have gone through some of the worst experiences a child could face — but through dance and song and sharing their love of Uganda, these children connect to each other and the world. They see their own potential — they have hope for their future.

Charity of the Week:
Masaka Kids Africana

Click on image to support and donate to TechLit Africa

Painting of the Week

Mandala Series: Stream of Consciousness, mixed media on canvas, 54” x 54” $7500. This series originated by my copying a drawing I did as a kid.

Boycott Walgreens

Walgreens confirmed to Politico last week it would not sell or ship mifepristone, which is used to terminate a pregnancy, in at least 21 states after Republican attorneys general had sent requests for the pharmacy not to—including in some states where abortion remains legal, such as Alaska, Florida, Iowa, Kansas and Montana.

Walgreens is coming under an increasing amount of scrutiny and a boycott of all their stores (including Duane Reade) has been called. Boycotts are a very effective tool and I hope you will consider staying away until they decide to reverse their policy.

About The Author

New York City based contemporary artist, Pam Smilow, began writing the creative lifestyle blog “things we love” in an effort to foster a sense of community during times of isolation and reflection. To read more about her and her art, visit her website and check out the essay written by the Hammond Museum's Frank Matheis entitled The Sophisticated Innocence of Pam Smilow.

Blog No. 117: Nelly Cheboi, A Pastor's Story, Andy Goldsworthy

March 18, 2023

Nelly Cheboi

I always enjoy watching CNN's Hero of the Year program, where you learn about the power of people to make a huge difference in the lives of many, in places all over the world. Every one of those celebrated are heroes!

This year's grand winner is a woman named Nelly Cheboi, born in 1992, who grew up in a poverty stricken area of rural Kenya and in 2012 won a scholarship to Augusta College in Illinois to study computer science. During her third year of college, Cheboi had already started giving back. Realizing the importance of education, she built a school, Zawadi Yetu, in her home country. And after realizing how much goes to waste in the United States, she started shipping used computer equipment from the U.S. to Africa.

In 2019, after quitting a lucrative job in the tech industry, she founded a nonprofit called TechLit Africa (along with Tyler Cinnamon) which focused on building computer labs in Kenya. Partnering with schools, TechLit presently teaches over 4000 students basic computer skills using recycled technology, providing a curriculum focused on self-efficacy, troubleshooting and internet skills, teaching coding, graphic design, audio and video production. There are currently 10 labs in Africa with their eyes on building 100 more.

A Pastor's Story

Found this on facebook the other day and thought it was worth repeating here.

A pastor transformed himself into a homeless person and went to the church that he was to be introduced as the head pastor at that morning. He walked around his soon to be church for 30 minutes while it was filling with people for service. Only 3 people said hello to him, most looked the other way. He asked people for change to buy food because he was hungry. Not one gave him anything. He went into the sanctuary to sit down in the front of the church and was told by the ushers that he would need to get up and go sit n the back of the church. He said hello to people as they walked in but was greeted with cold stares and dirty looks from people looking down on him and judging him. He sat in the back of the church and listened to the church announcements for the week. He listened as new visitors were welcomed into the church that morning but no one acknowledged that he was new. He watched people around him continue to look his way with stares that said you are not welcome here. Then the elders of the church went to the podium to make the announcement. They said they were excited to introduce the new pastor of the church to the congregation. "We would like to introduce you to our new Pastor." The congregation stood up and looked around clapping with joy and anticipation. The homeless man sitting in the back stood up and started walking down the aisle. That's when all the clapping stopped and the church was silent. With all eyes on him....he walked up the altar and reached for the microphone. He stood there for a moment and then recited so elegantly, a verse from the bible..... “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for the least of my brothers and sisters, you did for me.’ After he recited this, he introduced himself as their new pastor and told the congregation what he had experienced that morning. Many began to cry and bow their heads in shame. "Today I see a gathering of people here but I do not see a church of Jesus. The world has enough people that look the other way. What the world needs is disciples of Jesus that can follow this teachings and live as he did. When will YOU decide to become disciples? He then dismissed service until the following Sunday as his sermon had been given.

Andy Goldsworthy

English sculptor, photographer and environmentalist Andy Goldsworthy is hands down one of my favorite artists and he works with unconventional materials--his medium being nature itself. He uses such things as ice, leaves, sticks, stones, sand, and rain to create his mostly ephemeral work--and because of its impermanence (and unless you are onsite with him when he is creating it), one can experience it through his photographs, videos and books. All photos courtesy Andy Goldsworthy.

Charity of the Week:
Tech Lit Africa

Studio Shot of the Week

Boycott Walgreens

Blog No. 116: Crip Camp, Judy Heumann 1947-2023, Ebinum Brothers

March 10, 2023

Crip Camp Again!

I featured the Obama produced documentary, Crip Camp, in the first blog post I ever wrote over two years ago. I mention it here again because it is a truly amazing film, not to be missed, and because one of the main people featured in the film, Judy Heumann, known as the mother of the American Disabilities Act, died this past week at the age of 75. Crip Camp documents a very important piece of history that began at Camp Jened Summer Camp in Upstate New York and turned into a movement, making a tremendous difference in the lives of countless people with disabilities throughout the world. I highly recommend this documentary

Judy Heumann

1947-2023

click the image above to hear Judy Heumann’s Ted Talk

Judy Heumann talks with Trevor Noah about her book.

It is not every day that I attend the funeral of someone I never met but I did just that, via livestream, last Wednesday to celebrate the life of an extraordinary woman, someone I grew to admire after first seeing her in the film Crip Camp. Her name: Judy Heumann, known as the mother of the American Disabilities Movement. Hers is a remarkable story that began when she contracted polio at the age of eighteen months . As a child, her family fought hard to have her treated as an equal and she took over that fight throughout her whole life, not just for herself, but on behalf of every person with a disability. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in several areas, including employment, transportation, public accommodations, communications and access to state and local government’ programs and services. Thanks to her leadership and fellow disability advocates who fought the good fight, including a month long sit-in of a government building in San Francisco, buildings and buses are in many cases now accessible, children with disabilities can attend schools (she was not allowed as a child), sidewalks have ramps (she couldn't cross the street in front of her childhood home because of curbs, and people with disabilities are required to be treated as any other citizen with the same civil rights. The landscape has changed but the fight is not totally over. In her own words, "Some people say that what I did changed the world...But really, I simply refused to accept what I was told about who I could be. And I was willing to make a fuss about it." Listen here to Rachel Maddow sing her praises and even shed a tear...

Ebinum Brothers

Meet the Ebinum Brothers: Victory Ebinum and Marvel Ebinum. "Brothers, artistic communicators, models and actors born and raised in Lagos, Nigeria."

I just met them myself by stumbling on one of their short videos on instagram. And I looked further. Wonderful choreography, mesmerizing music, tender, pure, original, amazingly beautiful. I am humbled. Their work speaks for itself.

Painting of the Week

Composition in Green Gold with Blue Cone, mixed media on canvas, 52” x 82” This is the color of spring for me. It’s coming….

Boycott Walgreens

Blog No. 115: The Elephant Whisperer, Michael Moore Again!, Some Favorite Proverbs

March 4, 2023

The Elephant Whisperers

I have always been in awe of elephants, these highly intelligent animals with complex emotions, feelings, compassion and self-awareness. They have a life span of 50-70 years, have the longest gestation period of any mammal (22 months), form very close family ties, are matriarchical and have teeth the size of bricks, among many other interesting facts. And they are one of very few species to recognize themselves in a mirror! In fact, when my husband died, I looked to these animals to educate myself about grief.

I think you will enjoy The Elephant Whisperers, this lovely Academy Award nominee for best documentary short film about Raghu and Ammu, two elephants in the south of India. Couple Billie and Bomman successfully raised these two orphans at Theppakadu Elephant Camp, one of the oldest elephant camps in Asia, established approximately 140 years ago. We are all connected and love conquers all...

Michael Moore
Again!

I don't think I exaggerate when I tell you that I think Michael Moore is one of the most important voices America has right now and I want to amplify his wisdom by including his March 3rd Episode 285 of Rumble: Blue Continues to Crush Red in 2023 here. He is not an optimist, as he so aptly puts it, but this podcast will leave you feeling encouraged and hopeful about the future of our political scene. Moore has been no slouch on foreseeing the future--he predicted Trump's victory in 2016 when all the pundits were predicting Hillary and in 2020 he was one of the few to insist that the midterms were going to break in favor of the Democrats, not the landslide expected for Republicans.

Moore has his hand on the pulse and it has been there for a long time, as seen through his outstanding films (Bowling for Columbine, Roger and Me, Farenheit 9/11, Sicko, Where to Invade Next, to name a few). I for one think I am going to spend some time revisiting some of these documentaries.

And if you still want more, here is a vintage interview with Michael Moore given by the indomitable Amy Goodman of Democracy Now where, among other subjects, Moore tells a personal anecdote about an encounter with Donald Trump and also meeting the last surviving prosecutor from the Nuremberg Trials.

Some Favorite Proverbs

Here is a list of some proverbs that have struck a chord in me:

"There is only one beautiful child in the world and every mother has it." — Chinese proverb

"A kind word is like a spring day." — Russian proverb

"Failure is the mother of success." — Chinese proverb

“Fall seven times, stand up eight.” —Japanese proverb

"It takes a whole village to raise a child." —African proverb

“A bird does not sing because it has an answer. It sings because it has a song.” —Chinese proverb

“Got no checkbooks, got no banks, still I’d like to express my thanks. I got the sun in the morning and the moon at night.” —Irving Berlin

“I awoke this morning with devout thanksgiving for my friends, the old and the new.” —Ralph Waldo Emerson

‘Enough’ is a feast. —Buddhist Proverb

Products of the Week

The PERFECT HOSTESS GIFT! Thick laminated wood CHARCUTERIE board that doubles as the perfect size cutting board (the opposite side). Adds a festive note to any table. Made in America $76.00 https://www.pamelasmilow.com/tabletop-kitchen

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egyptian-scribble-series-cutting-board (2).jpg

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maroon-blue-scribble-series-cutting-board+%281%29.jpg

Charity of the Week:
Feeding America

Please click on image to find out ways to help.

Blog No. 114: Temple Grandin Different Minds, Woodstock Revisited, NYTimes Most Notable Books 2022

February 25, 2023

Temple Grandin Different Minds

This is not the first time I have written about Temple Grandin, animal behaviorist and professor of animal science at Colorado State University--she is one of the smartest and most creative thinkers I have come across. As an autistic person, no one can dispute that she is a different kind of thinker. In this Ted talk, Grandin explores different ways of processing information i.e., through patterns, through visual imagery, through mathematics and music as opposed to the more prevalent verbal fact based thinking. She makes the argument that the world desperately needs all kinds of people and in fact, outside the box types, often screened out by our educational system, are quite frequently the biggest contributors to society. I personally did not know that Thomas Edison was autistic, that Einstein didn't speak until the age of 3, that Darwin, Sir Isaac Newton, Michelangelo and Mozart, among many others, were considered to be on the spectrum as well.

Grandin is a prominent author and speaker on both autism and animal behavior. Today she is a professor of Animal Science at Colorado State University and also has a successful career consulting on both livestock handling equipment design and animal welfare.

Woodstock

Anti-Semitism is on the rise all over the world and racism is forever rearing its ugly head throughout America. We have never been more divided as a nation, on the verge of civil war. And to top it off, February 25, 2023 has been deemed "a day of hate" by an ultra-right antisemitic group of Nazis alive and well in the U.S. What happened to the days of Peace, Love and Woodstock?! I thought it was time we were reminded of those days with this documentary about the 1969 Woodstock Music Festival. My hope is that we might somehow imagine that good spirit back into our lives...And to accompany that thought, here is a playlist from Friday's Woodstock offerings.

New York Times Ten Most Notable Books 2022

In case you are looking for a new book to read, here is the New York Times List of 10 Most Notable Books of 2022 chosen by their staff.

Painting of the Week

Charity of the Week:
Earthquake Victims

Blog No. 113: Superhuman Geniuses, Reliable Media Sources, Chicken Marbella Recipe

February 18, 2023

Superhuman Geniuses

If you ever doubt the the capabilities of the human mind, just take a look this video. Meet five of the most mind bending people on this earth with extraordinary and extreme talents most people couldn't even imagine. How do they do it? Where does this come from?

Arkiana Kramarik, self taught art prodigy

Savant Kim Peek, the real Rainman, with an ability to memorize facts and information without equal.

Ainan Cawley, science prodigy from Singapore

Reliable Media Sources

In this day and age where facts are not always facts, it is important to trust where we get our news. Here are the go-to sources according to Robert Hubbell, writer of a daily newsletter about current events entitled Today's Edition, that appears in my inbox every morning.
Hubbell's List:
"Josh Marshall of Talking Points Memo, Ian Millhiser (Vox), Dahlia Lithwick and Mark Joseph Stern of Slate, Charlie Sykes and Jonathan Last (Bulwark), David Frum (Atlantic), Philip Rotner (various sources), Jennifer Rubin and Eugene Robinson of WaPo, Lawrence O’Donnell, Rachel Maddow, Chris Hayes, Neal Katyal (all of MSNBC), Dennis Aftergut and Laurence Tribe (various sources), Democracy Docket, the trio of commentators Joyce Vance, Barbara McQuade, and Jill Wine-Banks of #SistersInLaw, as well as Joyce Vance’s Civil Discourse, and many others.
As to independent voices, I frequently consult and promote Heather Cox Richardson, Dan Rather, Tim Snyder, Judd Legum, and Katelyn Jetelina (all of Substack).
Jessica Craven of ChopWoodCarryWater is in a category of her own for her constant bias toward action.
And despite my frequent criticism, I always check the the New York Times and the Washington Post on major stories."

Chicken Marbella Recipe
(from the classic
Silver Palate Cookbook)

This is a sure bet recipe to make when you are having people over. I am going to make it for my book club this coming Thursday and I hope they like it as much as I do...

CHICKEN MARBELLA
(makes 6 to 8 servings)

INGREDIENTS
½ cup olive oil
½ cup red wine vinegar
1 cup pitted prunes
½ cup pitted Spanish green olives
½ cup capers, with a bit of juice
6 bay leaves
1 head of garlic, peeled and puréed
½ cup fresh oregano, chopped, or ¼ cup dried oregano
2 teaspoons of salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
2 chickens, 3½ to 4 pounds each, quartered
1 cup dry white wine
1 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons finely chopped flat-leaf parsley

PREPARATION
Step 1
In a large bowl, combine the olive oil, vinegar, prunes, olives, capers and juice, bay leaves, garlic, oregano, salt and pepper. Add the chicken pieces and turn to coat. Refrigerate overnight.
Step 2
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Arrange the chicken in a single layer in a shallow roasting pan; spoon the marinade over it evenly. Pour in the wine and sprinkle the chicken with the brown sugar.
Step 3
Bake until the thigh pieces yield clear yellow juice when pricked with a fork, 50 to 60 minutes, basting two or three times with the pan juices once the chicken begins to brown. (When basting, do not brush off the sugar. If the chicken browns too quickly, cover lightly with foil.)
Step 4
Transfer the chicken pieces to a warm serving platter and top with the prunes, olives and capers; keep warm. Place the roasting pan over medium heat and bring the pan juices to a boil. Reduce to about ½ cup. Strain into a heatproof bowl, add the parsley and pour over the chicken.

Painting of the Week

This is an early piece, oil and mixed media on handmade paper, I did way back in the late 1980’s. I always included a Muybridge photograph as part of the collage elements in this series of abstract work.

Charity of the Week:
Earthquake Victims

Blog No. 112: Jim Dine, Valentine Love Songs, Chocolate

February 10, 2023

Jim Dine

Hearts might be cliché but I love them anyway and nobody does hearts like Jim Dine. Of all the abstract expressionists, he is one of the artists I admire most. He paints what he knows with seemingly little pretense, mostly things from his every day life, including his wife Nancy's robe, tools reminiscent of his grandfather's hardware store in Ohio, as well as his own face in self-portrait. He has been at it for over six decades, not just as a painter but as a printmaker, sculptor and also a writer of poetry.

Jim Dine’s version of the Venus de Milo. These scultptures are on Sixth Avenue in New York City.

Click to hear a conversation Jim Dine had with Ruth Fine

Valentine Love Songs

Love makes the world go round in all its glorious forms. Here are a few love songs in celebration of Valentine's Day.

Nick Cave Into My Arms

Cat Stevens How Can I Tell You

Bonnie Raitt Dimming of the Day

Tom Waitts Martha

Lady Gaga Remember Us This Way

Bad News About Chocolate

Mast Organic Dark Chocolate is one of the healthier chocolate bars.

This is bad news for chocolate lovers and I am sorry to bring it to you around a holiday that is so chocolate centered. It appears that most dark chocolate has seriously toxic levels of cadmium and lead including some of the most popular brands. Researchers found that cadmium in cocoa beans naturally comes from the soil and is directly transported to the beans by the cocoa tree. Lead contamination occurs after harvesting, when the wet cocoa beans are exposed to soil and dust during the drying, fermenting and transport phases.

These are the chocolate bars you want to look for the next time you get a craving--they have the lowest levels of heavy metals:
1. MAST ORGANIC DARK CHOCOLATE
In the Consumer Reports study, their chocolate fared better than any other brand, registering the lowest lead level of all the bars tested. Its cadmium content was also under half the maximum allowable level. Made with just three listed ingredients—cocoa beans, cane sugar and vanilla beans—Mast's simple 80% Cacao bar is available from Whole Foods, Wegmans, and other retailers.
2. TAZA ORGANIC DELICIOUSLY DARK CHGOCOLATE
Taza's stone-ground Deliciously Dark variety contained the second lowest amount of lead in the entire Consumer Reports study. The level of cadmium also fell within the safer range. Can be found at Whole Foods, The Fresh Market and other specialty stores.
3. GHIRADELLI INTENSE DARK CHOCOLATE
Commonly found in supermarkets and drug stores nationwide. Its Intense Dark 86% Cacao bar ranked third lowest in lead, according to the study, and also boasted the lowest cadmium level in the whole "safer choices" category. Pretty easy to find in many places.
4. GHIRADELLI INTENSE DARK CHOCOLATE TWILIGHT DELIGHT
Ghirardelli's Twilight Delight bar also fell within the safer range for both heavy metals, although its cadmium content was the highest among this group. Described as "intensely delicious" on the company's website, the 72% Cacao bar contains five ingredients, with vanilla extract and soy lecithin rounding out the combination of unsweetened chocolate, sugar and cocoa butter. Available at Walmart, Rite Aid and many other stores.
5. VALRHONA ABINAO DARK CHOCOLATE
Valrhona, made of 85% Cacao, had the highest levels of lead among all the "safer choices" in the study, though it fared better than several others on the cadmium scale. Look for it at specialty chocolate shops and upscale supermarkets.

And these below are the ones to avoid:

TOP 5 HIGHEST IN LEAD Hershey’s Special Dark Mildly Sweet Chocolate (265%) Chocolove Extremely Dark Chocolate 88% Cocoa (240%) Hu Organic Simple Dark Chocolate 70% Cacao (210%) Trader Joe’s Dark Chocolate 72% Cacao (192%) Endangered Species Bold and Silky Dark Chocolate 72% Cocoa (181%)
TOP 5 HIGHEST LEVELS OF CADMIUM Pascha Organic Very Dark Dark Chocolate 85% Cacao (253%) Alter Eco Organic Dark Chocolate Classic Blackout 85% Cacao (204%) Beyond Good Organic Pure Dark Chocolate 80% Cocoa (138%) Scharffen Berger Extra Dark Chocolate 82% Cacao (136%) Equal Exchange Organic Extra Dark Chocolate 80% Cacao (120%)
>TOP 5 HIGHEST IN LEAD AND CADMIUM Trader Joe’s the Dark Chocolate Lover’s Chocolate 85% Cacao (127% lead, 229% cadmium) Theo Organic Extra Dark Pure Dark Chocolate 85% Cocoa (140% lead, 189% cadmium) Green & Black’s Organic Dark Chocolate 70% Cacao (143% lead, 181% cadmium) Theo Organic Pure Dark 70% Cocoa (120% lead, 142% cadmium) Lily’s Extremely Dark Chocolate 85% Cocoa (143% lead, 101% cadmium)

Painting of the Week

Part of my Yellow Spruce Series—one of my favorites from that series…

Charity of the Week:
Earthquake Victims

Blog No. 111: Architecture and Design Film Festival, Astrologer Leslie McGuirk, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

February 4, 2023

Architecture and Design Film Festival

The Architecture and Design Film Festival is something I look forward to every year in the fall in New York City. I used to go all the time with my sister Judy. I also know the festival's founder, Kyle Bergman, who along with Ultan Guilfoyle, considered making a film on Usonia, the Frank Lloyd Wright community where I grew up.

Once a year, ADFF puts their highly curated selection of architecture and design related films online for everyone to see, especially if you are not near any of the scheduled venues (which include NYC, DC, Toronto, Chicago or Vancouver).

From February 8 - 17, 2023, you can see this year's festival selections which include a film about Maija Isola, one of the original designers of the Finnish design house Marimekko, learn about Alice Street and how two artists in Oakland California help their community adjust to gentrification, and learn about the life and work of Portuguese architect Alvaro Siza, to mention just a few of this year's offerings. I missed it this year because I was in Maine so I for one look forward to this online viewing.

Bergman describes this festival as a celebration of "the unique creative spirit that drives the industry. With a curated selection of films, events, and panel discussions, ADFF creates an opportunity to entertain, engage, and educate all types of people who are excited about architecture and design. With well-attended screenings, legendary panelists, vibrant discussions, and events in six major cities, ADFF has grown into the largest film festival devoted to the subject. The ADFF also programs international film festivals at cultural institutions and private venues.

Astrologer Leslie McGuirk

Leslie McGuirk is a renowned astrologer, artist, author, product designer, who I met a couple years ago at Rancho La Puerta, a health spa in Tecate, Mexico. She was there lecturing on astrology, her longtime love and passion since she was nineteen years of age. Leslie is very genuine--she connects with people and animals in a deeply authentic way without pretense. She has spent years studying the science of the planets and stars and is incredibly knowledgeable. Before I attended the lecture, I naively thought astrology had just to do with horoscopes and birth signs. (Little did I know that this field has been around for millennia and is much deeper than I ever thought). And I never knew that Carl Jung insisted on seeing the charts of his patients before working with them as he found them so useful in understanding a person's psyche.

I hired Leslie to do my own chart and it was an amazing experience. Human beings, like all things in nature, have a design and unique patterns that make them who they are. It was exciting to learn mine through her... and so much of what she told me rang true...

To learn more about McGuirk, you can listen to Traci Stein interview her on her podcast , listen to McGuirk's Ted Talk and visit Leslie's own website, where, if you feel so inclined, you can book a session with her to do your own chart...

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

I don't usually like to mix politics with this blog but this short speech given by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez needs to be heard. It was given on the floor of the House of Representatives this past week on the occasion of the GOP led ouster of Muslim representative Ihan Omar from the Foreign Affairs Committee. Ocasio-Cortez is one gutsy person who speaks out for what she believes and I for one, in this day and age, find this incredibly refreshing.

Products of the Week

Marla Sukoff is an excellent yoga teacher and a friend of mine. Please feel free to contact her directly about her in person and online yoga classes at marla@presentwisdom.com

Charity of the Week: Hudson Link

Blog No. 110: The Parent Test, Pico Iyer, Recipe: Puree of Celery Root Soup

January 28, 2023

The Parent Test

Click above to see a brief segment on the high diving board challenge

So funny how we take classes and have job training for so many things and yet the most important job in the world, raising our children, is not something that most of us ever get any instructions for. So we resort to our own personalities and egos, intuition and often do as our parents did to us (or the exact opposite, as the case may be).

My mom was an early proponent of progressive childhood education and our parents, probably considered on the permissive side, introduced my sister and me to concepts of creative learning, the teachings of educator A.S. Neill and general concepts of free education. So when I saw a show on Hulu specifically dedicated to parenting, I was very curious. It is a subject that interests me greatly.

The Parent Test on Hulu is a reality show--it takes twelve diverse couples (and one single dad) and their families with very different parenting styles and puts them through some rigorous test situations to see how the adults interact with their children and vice versa. What emerges is a picture of what kind of kids come out of differing methods--the strict parents, the free thinking ones, the tiger parents, etc.

I think The Parent Test is worth watching. At times it may seem somewhat superficial (it is a TV show after all), but it provokes deep thought about child rearing practices and how we bring up kids in America. Most parents all have the same goal of providing their kids with the best life they could possibly have but there are so many variables that go into trying to achieve that aim. Do we want out kids to just be happy at all costs? Do we want them to be super achievers and at what expense? How do we handle their fears? How important is structure in a child's life? What type of parenting style encourages confidence? And how does race and religion affect parenting styles and choices? These are some of the subjects investigated as the show presents the families with challenges (i.e., getting your child to jump off a high diving board, letting them cook a dinner on their own, seeing how children handle a fine dining situation...) and we observe their interactions. I personally found it one of the more interesting reality shows--fascinating and with conversations well worth having...

Pico Iyer

**“One of the most soulful and perceptive writers of our time” —**Brain Pickings

Click above to hear an interview with Pico Iyer at the Society in NYC

Pico Iyer, Illustration by Kristian Hammerstad

My old friend Todd introduced me to a lot in life beginning when we met as teenagers and has never steered me wrong all these years later. He recently shared with me this interview with writer Pico Iyer from the podcast Death, Sex and Money, where Iyer talks about his long term friendship with Leonard Cohen, among other things.

Born in England to Indian parents, partially raised in the United States, journalist, essayist and novelist Siddharth Pico Raghavan Iyer has travelled throughout the world and written extensively about it. He currently resides in Japan. Iyer just released his fifteenth book entitled The Half Known Life: In Search of Paradise which I am going to put on my reading list and his writings have appeared in many prominent publications including The New York Times, The New York Review of Books and Time Magazine (to name just a few) on many different types of subjects including Cuba, the Dalai Lama, Islam, globalism, and stillness. Described by Brain Pickings as “one of the most soulful and perceptive writers of our time,” Pico Iyer has been interviewed several times on Krista Tippett's podcast On Being.

Puree of Celery Root Soup

Click to see how to prepare celery root (Celeriac)

This one is recommended from my friend Molly via the New York Times Cooking app. She says she made it without the milk and it was just as delicious. This is the kind of recipe you can fool around with, adding or subtracting ingredients to your desire.

PUREE OF CELERY ROOT SOUP
Recipe from Jimmy Bradley and Andrew Friedman Adapted by Marian Burros from the NYTimes Cooking app
Yield: 4 bowls
¼ cup olive oil
1 small leek, white part only, coarsely chopped
½ medium onion, coarsely chopped
1 stalk celery, coarsely chopped
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
2½ cups peeled, coarsely chopped celery root (about 1 pound after peeling)
3 cups no-salt-added chicken stock or broth
4 to 7 tablespoons skim milk
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons sliced chervil or tarragon
* Step 1
In a saucepan over medium heat, heat 3 tablespoons oil and add leek, onion, celery and garlic. Sauté until softened but not browned, about 4 minutes.
* Step 2
Add celery root and stock, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer until celery root is tender when pierced with a knife, about 20 minutes.
* Step 3
Using a blender and working in batches, purée soup until smooth. Add remaining 1 tablespoon oil and milk as needed to enrich soup. Season with salt and pepper to taste. If desired, soup may be cooled, covered and refrigerated for up to 24 hours before serving. Reheat gently just until steaming.
* Step 4
To serve, divide soup among four bowls. Garnish with chervil or tarragon, and serve hot.

Painting of the Week

Working now on a piece similar to the one above for an office space in Boston…

Charity of the Week: National Dance Institute

Blog No. 109: Painter Gary Komarin, Eva Cassidy, Animal Reunions

January 21, 2023

Painter Gary Komarin

A contemporary artist that I admire a lot is a painter named Gary Komarin. I first saw his work in March, a home goods store in San Francisco, where they were showing a series of his most famous Cake Paintings...I myself like seeing and showing art outside of a pristine, sterile art gallery and actually prefer to show in a more "living with art" type of venue.

Below is a selection of Komarin's work and what strikes me is that although my work does not necessarily look like his, we paint from a very similar intuitive place. I couldn't help but identify with the words of Carol Diehl, who described Komarins' process in a 2012 essay for an exhibition of entitled The Road to Dialoro:
"For most artists there is no eureka moment; instead ideas develop through practice and over time, one thing leading to the next, and Gary Komarin is particularly sensitive to this intuitive process. If his marks appear awkward and childlike, it's because he has learned over the years how to turn off his internal critic and work from a place of detachment that allows for freshness, newness, and authenticity. Komarin has built into his working method ways of keeping himself from over-thinking or becoming too precious — techniques that allow him to get out of the way and almost let the painting paint itself. "When I have to become involved," he says, "is when it can feel burdensome." Komarin keeps things fresh and loose by doing several paintings at a time, working quickly on the floor on large squares of untreated, raw, canvas — sometimes even drop cloths — with big, inexpensive brushes and open buckets of latex enamel and other copious materials such as house paint or Spackle. There's an element of control, of course, but the paint may drip, splash or bleed in unexpected ways, gifts of accident that the artist may choose to keep or not. Those decisions, while still intuitive, draw on a stored knowledge base, a liftetime of observing and evaluating form, color, and line, so that when something happens, for better or worse, he recognizes it. Komarin sees this activity as a direct engagement with his materials, an exchange rather like collaboration, where he's not making something happen so much as encouraging it to happen. As he says, "I like to be surprised by my own work."

Singer Eva Cassidy

Click image to hear Eva Cassidy’s sublime version of Somewhere Over the Rainbow.

Click to hear The London Symphony’s Orchestration of Eva Cassidy’s Autumn Leaves

I am not sure where I heard Eva Cassidy's voice for the first time--I think I was somewhere in California at the time but it was many years ago so I can't be sure--but what is unforgettable is her voice--if there was ever a voice of an angel, this is it. Her most famous songs have been compiled on an album of greatest hits. Here is a version of one of my favorite songs: It's a Wonderful World made famous by Louis Armstrong, which happens to have been one of her favorites too (and incidentally the last song she ever performed live). She died way too young and never had a taste of how famous and beloved she would become. But we do have her heavenly music to remember her by....Since her death, her recordings have sold more than 12 million copies.

Animal Human Reunions

I couldn't resist posting this video--it's for Morgan, whose dog Frenchy gets equally excited to see her again if she has been gone for one minute taking out the garbage or away for three days. These reunions are very touching. Warning: you might shed a tear or two like I did...

Paintings of the Week

My pieces in a gorgeous home in Ketchum, Idaho. Thanks Jami and Mark, two of my favoirite clients, for the photo…

Charity of the Week: National Dance Institute

Blog No. 108: Mark Morris Dance Season 2023, Another Mary Oliver Gem, Songs About Parenthood

January 13, 2023

Mark Morris Dance 2023 Season

The Look of Love celebrating the music of Burt Bacharach

Pepperland: a tribute to the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band

I have written about the Mark Morris Dance Company before because I am a true enthusiast. I have listed below their 2023 performance schedule--I encourage you to attend if you happen to be near any of the following venues. It will be a guaranteed evening of color, exhilaration and joy, especially with this season's current offerings: The Look of Love, an homage to the music of Burt Bacharach and Pepperland, a tribute to the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album. Both of these productions involve the creative work of Ethan Iverson (composer, arranger, piano), long time collaborator with Mark Morris

2023 Schedule:

January 27, 2023 The Look of Love Alice Jepson Theatre Richmond, Virginia

February 7, 2023 Santa Fe, NM Pepperland Performance Santa Fe

February 11, 2023 Manassas, VA Pepperland Hylton Presents Series

February 17-19, 2023 Berkeley, CA The Look of Love Cal Performances

April 14-15, 2023 Urbana, Illinois The Look of Love Tryon Festival Theatre

May 6, 2023 The Look of Love The Granada Theatre Santa Barbara, California — United States

May 13, 2023 The Look of Love Sandler Center Virginia Beach, Virginia — United States

Another Mary Oliver

IN PRAISE OF CRAZINESS OF A CERTAIN KIND
by Mary Oliver

On cold evenings
my grandmother,
with ownership of half her mind--
the other half having flown back to Bohemia--

spread newspaper over the porch floor
so, she said, the garden ants could crawl beneath,
as under a blanket, and keep warm,

and what shall I wish for, myself,
but, being so struck by the lightning of years,
to be like her with what is left, that loving.

Songs about Parenthood

There really are places in the heart you don't even know exist until you love a child. — Anne Lamott

Click on the images below to listen to these songs related to parenthood.

Teach Your Children Well by Crosby Stills Nash and Young

Eric Clapton Tears in Heaven, Illustration by Keetatat Sitthiket

Paintings of the Week

Came across these Tree pieces from many years ago (mixed media on handmade paper) in a cottage on Candlewood Lake in Connecticut a few days ago. Nice to visit with them again after maybe thirty years!

Charity of the Week:

Covenant House was founded in 1972 to protect runaway, homeless, and exploited youth. They operate homeless shelters and youth programs in 31 cities throughout North America and Central America. Click image to donate.

Blog No. 107: Homeboy Industries, Emily in Paris, Rice Bowls

January 7, 2023

Homeboy Industries

Many of the images in this blog are linked to further stories so feel free to click on them…

“Wow, this is it…I am in the right place.!”

The catholic church gets a bad rap these days and a lot of it is well deserved but here is a church story that one can be proud of. When Jesuit Priest Gregory Boyle became pastor of the Los Angeles Dolores Mission church back in 1986, his parish had the highest concentration of gang activity and was home to the largest public housing facility west of the Mississippi. He was determined to service the community (there are currently approximately 120,000 gang members and 1100 gangs in LA County) and what began in 1988 as a way of improving the lives of former gang members in East Los Angeles has evolved into the largest gang intervention, rehab and re-entry program in the world: Homeboy Industries.

People Join Gangs Because of a Lethal Absence of Hope.”

"Nothing stops bullets like a job."

According to their website: "Father Greg popularized the radical notion that even the most demonized individuals can thrive when given a second chance. In the beginning he partnered with local Los Angeles businesses in the Boyle Heights neighborhood, encouraging them to hire homeboys and homegirls. Eventually, Homeboy Industries was established as a nonprofit and began creating and operating its own job training businesses. Now, Homeboy Industries has grown from a single bakery to almost a dozen social enterprises, which provide both a vital training ground for clients as well as revenue streams to support the mission. Expansion of our businesses proves that people can transcend their pasts and become valuable, empowered employees and business leaders." Gregory Boyle is, in my humble opinion, as close to a saint as there is on earth, with much wisdom to spread, as evident in this PBS interview with Kelly Corrigan and in his writings: Doyle has authored six books: his latest, Forgive Everyone Everything, The Homeboy Way, The Whole Language: The Power of Extravagant Tenderness, Creating a Culture of Tenderness, Barking to the Choir, and Tattoos on the Heart.

Emily in Paris TV Series

My favorite character, Sylvie Grateau (actress Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu)

Maybe I should be embarrassed to admit my unabashed love for the series Emily in Paris that many people would find trite and superficial but for the sake of honesty, here goes! I binge watched the whole third series last week and loved every minute of it. It is one stereotype after the next, full of predictable clichés about the Americans and the French. It is a romantic Hollywood style love story, complete with messy complications, superficial characters, and I probably should know better at my age...The New York Times wrote about it recently with the headline; "Emily Is Still in Paris. Why Are We Still Watching?." But what I love about it most is the fashion! The outfits are completely over the top, outrageous in all their glory, adorable, unexpected and oh so cool. Just check out the plaids paired with stripes!

Rice Bowls

Courtesy NYTimes Cooking. Romulo Yanes for The New York Times. Food styling: Vivian Lui.

Rice bowls are all the rage these days and I actually love that way of eating. The plate appeals to my sense of order--all neatly organized delicious ingredients, arranged into little stacks. You start with a base of rice (or quinoa or couscous or anything you want). What goes on top of the first layer is in small portions and you can choose exactly what you want to put in there based on what appeals to you. A rice bowl is a bit more substantial than a salad due to the carb and it is great for emptying out the leftovers you might find it your fridge. Here is a Sarah Copeland recipe from the New York Times Cooking app but feel free to substitute any of her choices for some of yours.

* 1½ cup short-grain or sushi rice
 ¼ head purple cabbage, very thinly sliced (8 ounces)
 ¾ teaspoon fine sea salt, plus more to taste
 1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined
 1 tablespoon chile-garlic sauce
 1 tablespoon brown sugar
 2 tablespoons peanut, canola or grapeseed oil
 1 teaspoon sesame seeds
 3 green onions, thinly sliced
 1 to 2 cups kimchi, to taste
 2 cups raw or cooked vegetables (such as shredded carrot, sliced radish, avocado, edamame, grilled zucchini or steamed spinach)

* Step 1 Rinse the rice and cook in 2 cups water in a heavy saucepan over medium heat, covered, until tender, 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and keep covered 10 minutes more.
* Step 2 Meanwhile, toss the cabbage with the salt and set aside in a colander to drain. (It should be sliced as thinly as possible, so it wilts in the salt.)
* Step 3 Toss the shrimp with the chile-garlic sauce and brown sugar to coat. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the shrimp and cook until just cooked through and slightly smoky, 4 to 5 minutes, adding the sesame seeds in the last minute of cooking. Season the shrimp with a pinch of salt.
* Step 4 Divide the rice between 4 bowls. Top with the shrimp, cabbage, green onion, kimchi and any other vegetables.

And here is another recipe from Kay Chun with salmon instead of shrimp but again, feel free to substitue any protein of your choosing:
Yield: 4 servings * ¼ cup unseasoned rice vinegar
 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
 1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more for seasoning
 1½ cups sushi rice (short-grain white rice), rinsed until water runs clear
 1½ pounds skinless salmon fillet, cut into 1-inch cubes
 ½ teaspoon toasted sesame oil
 ¼ cup low-sodium soy sauce
 3 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
 2 tablespoons safflower or canola oil
 2 tablespoons coarsely chopped scallions
 2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger (from one 2-inch piece)
 3 Persian cucumbers, thinly sliced
 8 ounces green coleslaw mix (about 3 packed cups)
 1 avocado, halved, pitted and thinly sliced
 Torn toasted nori sheets, for garnish (optional)
*
 In a large saucepan, combine rice vinegar, sugar and salt; stir to dissolve the sugar. Add the rice and 1¾ cups water, and mix well. Bring to a boil over high heat, then cover and reduce heat to low. Cook until rice is tender and most of the liquid is absorbed, about 20 minutes. *
 In a small bowl, toss salmon with ¼ teaspoon sesame oil and season with salt. Once rice is tender (after about 20 minutes), arrange salmon in an even layer on top of rice. Cover and steam over low heat until fish is cooked to medium, about 12 minutes longer. *
 Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine soy sauce, white vinegar, safflower oil, scallions, ginger and the remaining ¼ teaspoon sesame oil. Mix well, and season with salt. *
 Scoop salmon and rice into bowls. Top each with some cucumbers, coleslaw mix and avocado. Drizzle with the vinaigrette. Top with nori, if using.

Painting of the Week

In process. Two of my Tree of Life Series mixed media on paper 60” x 22” each

Charity of the Week:

Blog No. 106: Street Art, Documentary Feeling Through, Poet Diana Goetsch

December 31, 2022

Thank you everyone…I am so grateful for all of you and wish you a happy and healthy 2023! And I wish for more peace & love throughout the world.

Street Art

I've always had the utmost respect for graffiti and street artists. It might look easy but it isn't--painting on the spot like that involves a lot of planning, the materials can be unforgiving and often the act of painting on walls can be dangerous due to height and hard to reach places, not to mention breathing in all those aerosols, which can't possibly be good for you.

Take a look at this video above, which shows a complilation of some some really cool street art done by artists from different parts of the world.

Short Documentary: Feeling Through

click above to see full 18 minute documentary

I am really excited about sharing the documentary Feeling Through with you. It is an extraordinary film which introduces many of us, for the first time, to the deafblind community. But most of all, it is an authentic film about humanity at its best...

Feeling Through tells the story of a homeless young man who randomly encounters a deafblind person in need of help crossing the street. It is inspired and based on the real life encounter the director, Doug Roland, had with Artemio, a deafblind man he met one evening in the streets of New York City. Feeling Through won sixteen awards and was short-listed for an Oscar for best live action short film in 2019. In addition to the film itself, here are two documentaries that show a behind the scenes to the film-making process Connecting the Dots, and another entitled The Road to the Oscars: Feeling Through, where you share in the excitement of all those involved, especially for the deafblind actor, who had no idea that he would ever act, let alone be nominated for an Oscar.

Poet Diana Goetsch

Love is love is love...it's what makes the world go round. And for those lucky enough to have felt it once or twice or twenty times in their life, there ain't nothing like the feeling...Here is a love poem that moved me when I came across it recently...

SWIMMING TO NEW ZEALAND
by Diana Goetsch

Once or twice in life you find a woman
you’d swim the ocean for. What are you doing?
friends will ask, as you perfect your stroke,
meantime pitying everyone outside of love.
Your only obstacle, the blue Pacific—
where your sun sinks, she’s dressing in the morning,
and when the dawn comes reaching back around,
turning up the volume in your city,
she’s drawing blinds, removing her make-up.
If you were Gatsby you would build a mansion
in some cove off the Tasmanian sea
and throw parties to lure her in. You’re not
of course—though nothing’s impossible,
except life without her, and so you swim.

The poet, Diana Goetsch, has had an interesting life. To read more about her transition from male to female, her background as a writer and school teacher, her eight other poetry publications, her new memoir, etc. click here.

Painting of the Week

Mitten Series, mixed media on paper, 22” x 30”

Charity of the Week:

Blog No. 105: Octopuses, Hyperrealist Howard Lee, Food Writer Linda Burner Augustine

December 24, 2022

Octopuses

Octopuses (yes, that is the preferred plural) are among the most fascinating and unusual animals on this earth as this documentary entitled The Insane Biology of the Octopus will tell you. Some even suggest that they might not even be from here--and the idea that we, as humans, are superior is challenged big time when you learn the characteristics and capabilities of these amazing toothless and boneless cephalopods.

Here are a few little known facts about them: they have a local brain in each arm, controlled by a central brain that oversees all the others. They are capable of unbelievable camouflage techniques, including disguising themselves as other undersea animals to escape danger. They can recognize individuals outside of their own species, including humans, as you can see in the film My Octopus Teacher about the real touching friendship formed in Cape Town, South Africa between diver Craig Foster and a wild octopus. And their brain-to-body ratio is the largest of any invertebrate and larger than most vertebrates, except mammals. For these and more images and facts, Nat Geo Wild has compiled a short video with some of these astounding facts. And if you are still hungry for more (I for one will never eat another octopus in my life), Christiane Amanpour interviewed Foster Craig Foster on his show Amanpour & Co. and Sy Montgomery's The Soul of an Octopus is on my list of next books to read.

Hyperrealist Artist Howard Lee

Check this out: English artist from Newcastle on Tyne Howard Lee is a hyperrealist who plays with illusion in his two dimensional drawings and videos. Using a wide range of materials, Lee's unique approach and imagination are captivating--I can sit for hours watching his videos and process...

Foodie Linda Burner Augustine

Linda Burner Augustine’s latest collaboration with Chef Jamie Callison

“Food is life, good food is good life” per chef, caterer, food writer, recipe developer and teacher Linda Burner Augustine, who I had the pleasure of meeting on my recent trip to Seattle. I found her inspiring as she talked about her love of fresh seasonal whole foods and family dinners--an appreciation she learned while living in France. She shares ideas and easy to follow, delicious and simple recipes in her food blog "A Year at the Table." "I believe in simplicity in cooking and will do all that I can to make recipes uncomplicated and easy,...keeping recipe ingredients to the most minimal..." Watch her talk about her passion on the morning show Day Northwest.

Painting of the Week

Tree of Life Series: Dove of Peace, mixed media on paper, 60” x 22”

Charity of the Week:

Blog No. 104: Michelle Obama, The Neighbor's Window, Music: Two Songs I Love

December 17, 2022

Michelle Obama on Jimmy Kimmel

Michelle Obama is the epitome of grace for me. Self assured, unabashedly herself, kind, open, so intelligent and now that she is no longer in the fishbowl of the White House, she can show her true colors in full glory. And she is not afraid of color--just take a look at her style! Watch her here on the Jimmy Kimmel Show, talking about her new book The Light We Carry. This woman has class and her own, expressive style...

The Neighbor's Window

In 2020, the Oscar was given to The Neighbor's Window for best live action short film. In the middle of the pandemic, many of us probably missed it. My friend Todd shared it with me the other day and I thought it worthy. It is a modern story about modern life in a big city, with universal truths, and as Marshall Curry, the filmmaker states, "a well told story is a powerful thing! It can change the way we see the world and it can help us to notice other people and care about those other people and maybe love each other a little bit more." He dedicated the film to his mom, whom he credits for teaching him his craft, where he learned his craft: "for her and all the other storytellers out there..."

Music: Two Songs I Love

One of the best things I did two years ago was to make a conscious decision to stop listening to cable news all the time. I have been a news junkie for years, obsessed with politics and gobbling up every dirty detail of human foibles. Maybe it was the guilt of having a mom who grew up in Nazi Germany, knowing that so many people just turned away and ignored what was going on...But I came to realize that I didn't need the 24/7 news cycle and in fact, to say it was toxic was an understatement...I finally did turn away from most of it and instead, turned up the music, which had always been a big part of my younger years. Am I glad I did! I really feel like a changed person because of it...I love to sing along too--something so uplifting about that--even though my voice has a lot of be desired. I try and make sure no one is really listening and I belt it out, mostly in the car or when I am painting...Here are a few songs a good friend shared with me recently--the first is a Stephen Stills, Judy Collins version of Handle with Care that I hadn't heard before and the second is an absolute unknown gem of a song entitled Bluebird of Happiness from an obscure British band called Mojave 3.

Painting of the Week

A little warmth and coziness for winter…

Charity of the Week:

My friend Emma, who lost her dad at 15, is raising money for Good Grief, an organization that helps kids deal with the death of a parent. Please consider donating towards her goal as she runs a half marathon.

Blog No. 103: Human Composting, Lopez Island Library, Sheila Metcalf Weaver

December 10, 2022

In the next few weeks I will be offering a giveaway of a large painting, in honor of the holidays and my 100th blog post. Stay tuned for details…

Human Composting: Return Home

Micah way back when I babysat for him. He was super intelligent and very personable, even then!

I bequeath myself to the earth to grow from the grass I love
If you want me again, look for me under your boot-soles
--Walt Whitman

The idea of human composting, an alternative to human burial and cremation, is gaining steam these days across the country. It is a way to gently transform human remains into fertile soil, give back to the earth and complete the life cycle in a non-polluting gift to the earth kind of way. You might have heard mention of it as it has been in the news a lot lately--it is legal in several states (California, Colorado, Oregon, Vermont and Washington and is being considered in New York State right now) and that number is growing.

Micah Truman the founder and owner of the largest human composting facility in the world, Return Home, a new type of funeral home (based in Auburn, Washington just outside of Seattle) has won numerous awards including Best Funeral Home in Washington State and one of three Best of the Best worldwide. It just so happens that I used to babysit for Micah (and his brother Sean) when he was a young boy.

If you would like to learn more about this method of burial, which actually gives back rich fertile soil to the earth, listen to Micah talk about his passion and business: Return Home.

Lopez Island Library (and Ramen Shop nearby)

Darren Hoerner, Librarian, Lopez Island, WA

For me, libraries are magical places and I try and make it a rule to visit them whenever I go into a new town. I just love being around books in general, as if the knowledge one can get from them literally feels like it is leaping off the pages...

On a recent visit to the greater Seattle area, my friend Lexi proudly took me on a field trip to her local library--a pure gem of one on Lopez Island. If the librarian is creative and visionary, as Darren Hoerner is, it can become a central hub of the locality, a place to gather and much vaster than just a place to house and borrow books. The quality of these institutions says a lot about the values of a community--how much effort and vision they are willing to put into these centers. If the montly newsletter is any indication, the Lopez Library is bustling with all kinds of activities, from lectures, knitting circles, game nights, holiday card making, open mike evenings, etc. They lend all sorts of musical instruments including large drums and bongos, board games, music, movies, and they have a fully stocked arts and crafts room where people can come, use the supplies and make art, often with intergenerations interacting. The library is inviting, filled with art and multiple large comfortable chairs and seating arrangements which give it a feeling of home and "hygge."

The Lopez library has been awarded "Star Library" status several times over (out of 7049 American public librarires, only 259 reach this distinction) and has also been selected as one of 15 public libraries in the nation to participate in the “Small Libraries Create Smart Spaces” grant project led by the Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) in partnership with the Association for Rural and Small Libraries (ARSL).

And if you are hungry afterwards, go check out another gem of the Lopez community, the Setsunai Noodle Bar just nearby, where Josh Ratza and his family Michelle and Noah cook up and serve delectable healthy, locally sourced and organic Japanese inspired dishes including rice bowls, ramen and udon noodle soups, kimchi and other delicious creative inventions. As good quality as any other top quality ramen shop I have encountered...

Top notch Japanese inspired noodle bar Setsunainoodle on Lopez Island, Washington

Chef Josh Ratza, photo courtesy Mikaela Judd, who writes a monthly blog https://www.mikaelajudd.com/

Sheila Metcalf, Weaver

Midnight and Moonlight, my new vest woven by Sheila Metcalf

One of the best things about being an artist is you get to trade with other artists and artisans for some really cool stuff. I was especially lucky this trip to find the wonderful Lopez Island weaver, Sheila Metcalf, willing to exchange with me. The great thing about this type of transaction I find is that both parties end up feeling like they made off like bandits. I defintely felt that way with the vest below and another beautiful light blue indigo shibori longer version. If you are in the market for beautiful woven and hand-sewn one of a kind garments with hints of Japanese influence, please check out Sheila's work on her website: sheilametcalf.com. It is wonderful and very reasonably priced.

Unique Gifts for the Holidays

**For unique gifts, visit our artShop:** **www.pamelasmilow.com/shop-all**

Charity of the Week:

This is the charity closest to my heart in New York City. My daughter Morgan was part of this wonderful dance program in the NYC public schools in fifth grade and then went on to dance with them every Saturday as part of their SWAT Celebrations Team for the following four years. As a young deaf boy, Jon Hine, (pictured here), was an incredible dancer who lit up the stage and has gone on to do wonderful things with his life…This is defintely a charity worth supporting as it literally changes kids’ lives…

Blog No. 102: Our Canine Friends, Singer Songwriter Lily Meola, Dale Chihuly Glass

December 3, 2022

In the next few weeks I will be offering a giveaway of a large painting, in honor of the holidays and my 100th blog post. Stay tuned for details…

Our Canine Friends

My granddog Frenchy! We think she might be a mix of Basenji and pitbull?

I have just become a dog grandmother, and as such, have a new found interest and love for our canine friends. I grew up in a family that always had dogs, but as an adult living in a big concrete city, I didn't think it was practical. My daughter recently stopped listening to her pragmatic mom and adopted a rescue dog from Tennessee. Am I glad she did! Oh boy, do we love this dog and how much pleasure it brings us...

According to researcher Brian Hare, an evolutionary anthropologist at Duke University, we haven't paid near enough attention to the study of our man's (and woman's) best friends--they just haven't been studied as much as other animals, despite the fact that we evolved alongside each other for more than 15,000 years. Here is a very interesting story about Chaser, a border collie, whose extensive vocabulary was that of a 2+ year old toddler and capable of inferential thinking. Anderson Cooper did an interview about Chaser and the underestimated capability of dogs on on 60 Minutes. And if you want to put a smile on your face, watch this longer documentary about dogs entitled Seniors: A Dogumentary.

Lily Meola: Daydream

Here is a little song big on inspiration by singer/songwriter Lily Meola to remind us that life is not a dress rehearsal and to give us the everlasting message we all need to learn to stave off fear...Here's to daydreams...

Dale Chihuly

I have always wanted to visit the Dale Chihuly Museum in Seattle and yesterday it happened. What a wonder! This glass artist is fearless, ambitious and amazingly talented--no project is too big and he has the confidence to know that he will find a way...I watched a few short documentary videos of him at the museum and realized we have a common way of working. He doesn't think when he works (I don't either), he doesn't know where he is going with a piece and finds out in the process, he is interested in the architecture around his art, he often sticks to variations of one dominant color, and he tries to suspend judgment and just get to the point where something simply looks good...In other words, I think, like me, he relies and trusts his intuition and more than anything...

Unique Gifts for the Holidays

Charity of the Week:

Blog No. 101: Elizabeth Cotten, MOMA Favorites, No Knead Bread

November 26, 2022

In the next few weeks I will be offering a giveaway of a large painting, in honor of the holidays and my 100th blog post. Stay tuned for details…

Elizabeth Cotten

Print by JustaJar Design Press available for purchase on Etsy

On November 5, 2022, Elizabeth Cotten (1893-1987) was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Some people thought it was long overdue. Working as a domestic and caregiver for the Seeger family (relatives of Pete Seeger), Elizabeth was discovered in a room one day picking away at the guitar. Totally self taught, Cotten had a very unique way of playing: she was left-handed and held the instrument upside down. "The Seegers hired Cotten, whom they called "Libba," to cook and clean and look after the kids. They were surprised to discover that she was a musician, too, says Peggy Seeger. "When I was about 15 I walked into the kitchen and I saw her playing the guitar that was hanging on the wall. And she was playing 'Freight Train.' Then she started trotting out songs. She knew a lot of songs. We would have been happy to do the cooking and cleaning if she would just play!" The Seeger family recognized right away her talent and eventually helped her to achieve a career in music. Most famous songs include Freight Train and Shake Sugaree but she has written many other great ones as well...For more of her folk and blues roots music, listen here.

A few MOMA favorites

I hate to sound so old and change resistant but in some ways I never really got over the Museum of Modern Art renovation or the return of Guernica to Spain. I liked the old museum! I knew where all my favorite paintings were and now I am lucky to even see a few of them once in a while...Here are a few Picassos that feel like old friends and that I have loved over all these years...

No Knead Bread

I probably shouldn't be eating so much bread but this recipe is so easy, so delicious and crispy on the outside, soft on the inside and totally irresistible! I was graciously invited to a dinner at some new friends' house in Tenant's Harbor and Jo proved to be an amazing cook. The bread was only one of the many good things she made that day and she wasn't proprietary about any of the recipes. A few days later I made this no knead bread myself. Recipe below. You can substitute beer for water if you like...

NO KNEAD BREAD

Ingredients
3 cups all purpose or bread flour
1/4 teaspoon yeast (active dry or instant)
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups water (or beer)
1 1/2 tablespoons extra flour for shaping

First mix dry ingredients together and then add the water (or beer), combining together (with your hands if you like--it will be sticky so put some flour on your fingers). Place in a lightly oiled bowl, cover and let sit out on the counter for 12-18 hours. Preheat oven and pan to 500 degrees (very important that both are very hot), shape the dough (by flouring the counter and your hands) into the shape you want and place in a dutch oven or loaf pan. Cook covered for 30 minutes and then uncovered for 15 minutes more.

Painting of the Week

When you live in Santa Barbara, you can even have paintings hanging outside on your terrace! Here is my friend Barbara Edelston Peterson, jewelry designer (https://projectbemoved.com/foreste-and-hils/) and founder of the Whole Champion Foundation, in her beautiful “tree house” home.

Unique Gifts for the Holidays

Charity of the Week:

Doctors Without Borders

Blog No. 100: Loreena McKennitt, Down to Earth Netflix Series, Vegan Broccoli (Cheddary) Soup

November 19, 2022

In the next few weeks I will be offering a giveaway of a large painting, in honor of the holidays and my 100th blog post. Stay tuned for details…

Loreena McKennitt Dante's Prayer

There are moments that you remember when you hear a piece of music and it just hits you. This is one of those songs for me. I hadn't heard of Canadian singer/songwriter Loreena McKennitt before and was introduced to her by a good friend, who by now knows what I like and often feeds me wonderful music. Maybe it was the setting I was in, not sure, but I remember the moment like I remember other big events in my life...And in some ways, I attribute Dante's Prayer to opening my heart just a little more when I didn't even realize it has been so closed...So here is the song...I hope its beauty and depth affects you too....It starts with a Gregorian chant...Click here for the song and the lyrics

Down to Earth: Netflix Series

Somehow the Netflix TV series Down to Earth, already on its second season, has not been on my radar, probably because instead of a television screen, I have just been gazing at a beautiful vast ocean for the last months. But a friend brought this series to my attention the other day and I wanted to share it with you. The show, hosted by the American actor Zac Efron, has searched the world for creative ways to live healthily and sustainably and as a result, discovered a group of extremely passionate, intelligent and dedicated people leading the way...This is very exciting tv, exciting news for the world, and I wonder why and only wish that the news media would focus on this type of news rather than doom and gloom and humans at their worst. This is truly human beings at their best--finding innovative ways of saving our planet, making responsible choices, and figuring our way out of this mess we have made of our planet.

I started with the second season, episode 1 of Down to Earth Down Under, which describes zero waste in many forms, from new ways to butcher fish with almost no part left over (did you know that with our precious and dwindling fish population on earth, we discard 50 percent of our catch!), to Joost Bakker and family's totally zero waste free new food system home, smack in the middle of Melbourne, Australia.

We are all capable of at least some of these practices so for some good ideas and inspiration, check this series out...

Vegan (Cheddary) Broccoli Soup

I am always looking for ways to eat healthier and this soup is a delicious option on a cold winter's night...It was served to me in Belfast, Maine by my friend Roberta, who shared this recipe from a cookbook she loves: Isa Does It: Amazingly Easy, Wildly Delicious Recipes by Isa Chandra Moskowitz.

VEGAN (CHEDDARY) BROCCOLI SOUP

Ingredients
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 small chopped yellow onion
1/2 tsp. salt
3 cloves garlic
4 cupes chopped broccoli
1/2 cup peeled and chopped carrots
1/2 tsp ground tumeric
3 cups vegetable broth

CASHEW CREAM

1 cup cashews, soaked for at least 2 hours
2 cups vegetable broth
3 tbsp mild white miso
2 tbsp nutritional yeast flakes
2 tsp. fresh lemon juice
ground pepper to taste

In a 4 quart pot, sautee the onions in the oil, adding a pinch of salt, the garlic (cooked about 30 seconds until fragrant), then add the broccoli, carrots, tumeric and broth and remaining salt. Cover, bring to a boil and then simmer for approx 10 minutes until carrots are tender.
In the meantime, prepare the cashew cream. Drain the cashews and in a blender, place the broth, miso and nutritional yeast. Blend until totally smooth (may take 1-5 minutes), scraping sides to get everything blended.
When carrots are tender, add the cashew cream to the soup and puree with an immersion blender. Keep cooking the soup on low for another 10+ minutes until thickened, stirring occasionally. Once thick, add the lemon juice and pepper and serve.

Paintings of the Week

Unique Gifts for the Holidays

Charity of the Week:

Doctors Without Borders

Blog No. 99: Dave Evans, Michael Moore, Poem by Kyle Tran Myhre

November 11, 2022

Dave Evans Wake Up Call

click for a tribute to Evans on W. Virginia Public Radio

Vietnam Veteran Dave Evans is the subject of a beautiful documentary entitled The Wake Up Call (directed by Alison Gilkey and Eric Neudel) which I had the privilege of seeing recently at a screening in Damariscotta, Maine. The film is making the film festival circuit and I am unable to share anything more than the trailer, but be sure to watch for it. Born in the coal mining country of West Virginia, Dave Evans enlisted, like so many young American men, in the Marine Corps as a young man looking for adventure and a way out. And sadly, like so many other men his age, he was rudely awakened to reality when he lost both legs in an ambush soon after he first saw combat.

Returning to West Virginia as a very angry disabled man, Evans soon decided to channel his anger into something more useful: he became an outspoken activist against the Vietnam War and spent a good deal of time talking to young men like himself. Realizing how lucky he was to live in a country where medical care was accessible, he then turned himself into an expert on artificial limbs and directed at least some of his intense anger against the American government into a life of healing for others. He spent the next forty years of his life traveling throughout the world to many remote areas where medical care was completely lacking, fitting fellow disabled people with prosthetics that would utterly change their lives...Evans was a hero and savior to so many in Cuba, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Cambodia, Angola are other places where he ventured to help set up prosthetic clinics.

Michael Moore: Our Nation's Conscience

Illustration by KeithNegley.com courtesy of The New Yorker Magazine

All through this election process, when I dared not look at the news and truly, I am ashamed to say, buried my head in the sand, Michael Moore was my one source of comfort. His frequent optimistic emails entitlted Mike's Midterm Tsunami Truths (there were forty of them) showed up religiously in my inbox, and maybe yours too, giving us a ray of hope through such heavy dark waters and doomsday predictions. And the glimmer was brightened even more when I remembered that he was no sugar-coater--he was correct in 2016 when he almost solely predicted (like me) Trump's victory over Hillary. Well, he turned out to be right again!

This wise caring man, who tirelessly fights the good fight, has documented our nation's shame in over ten important documentaries (including such films as Roger and Me, Sicko, Where to Invade Next and Farenheit 11/9 to name a few). I think I am going to go back aned watch them all again.

Michael Moore is our nation's conscience and a true national treasure!

Poem by Kyle Tran Myhre

VOTING AS FIRE EXTINGUISHER

by Kyle Tran Myhre

When the haunted house catches fire
a moment of indecision.

The house was, after all, built on bones

Everyone who enters the house feels
that overwhelming dread, the evil
that perhaps only fire can purge.

It's tempting to just let it burn.

And then I remember:
there are children inside.

Smilow Mathiesen Swag:
Unique Gifts for the Holidays

Charity of the Week:

Warnock for U.S. Senate