Alison*s Blog & Website has a new home in high end design. It has a new look and a new structure.
The place to house new information, both curated and original needed to be better. To me, it is essential to present information in an environment of high end design. It is not just for looks. High end design includes the best functionality too.
The team of Wasmer & Huen understand the importance of high end design. The firm of tsdesignuk realized they needed a new look, as well.
High End Design by Wasmer & Huen
From the inspiration of both high end designer firms, I realized that Alison*s Blog and Website needed to be a whole new look, a whole new structure and an additional website for Alison*s Heirloom Projects. I hope you like the results and find everything works better. Please let me know what you think.
Good wants to be more, like in the footsteps of Ghandi whose magnificent example was to “be the change you wish to see in the world.” Easier said than done. But somehow the inspiration on these pages helps alot.
This is thanks to the curated posts and photos on today’s issues of Alison*s Art Online Magazines. They appear under the blogs link. From them, one draws inspiration to create original material accompanied by the feeling that good can be more. Organizations like GOOD also help remind us that there are many people with minds and hearts like ours.
Give A Damn and Act Accordingly Image Credit: Josh McManus
GOOD: Give A Damn and Act Accordingly
One of my favorite publications is GOOD. It is all about doing good. Good that wants to be more. It is so refreshing, an inspiration for me, especially when I wonder what it’s all about.
And check out these images of Scheldt, a 700 year old deserted town in Belgium. How can these buildings be torn down now that they are works of art? Once again, good wants to be more. The source of these photos is oddstuffmagazine.com.
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See how many things you can think of that are good and want to be more. Your comments, suggestions and questions are always welcome.
Words of wisdom, information about weight loss and nutrition are the major topics of Alison*s Art Blog today. All are essential to feed the body and the soul.
Words of Wisdom from Deepak Chopra:
Information about the Raw Food Diet and Weight Loss Surgery:
Raw Food. Photo Credit: http://www.huliq.com/13314/
Some of the content of this blog post so far may come as a surprise to those of us who lean more towards what is holistic and away from what is considered medically invasive. A good rule of thumb is to take the least invasive action first, in chronic situations. That is a balanced practice.
Annemarie Colbin, My Food and Healing Mentor:
I learned this over two dozen years ago from my ‘food and healing’ mentor, Annemarie Colbin the founder of what started out as the Natural Gourmet Cookery School. It is now The Natural Gourmet Institute and is celebrating 35 years as the innovator in the field. I had studied with her at the Omega Institute for Holistic Studies in Rhinebeck, NY around 1988 and later lectured on nutrition at her school in NYC.
Our Mission:
My mother’s words of wisdom were, “Everything in moderation”. This is also a good rule of thumb for non-acute circumstance. But sometimes situations do call for extreme measures. When they do, it is very important to become as informed and educated as possible. This means knowing about options, holistic and mainstream medical ones. This is a major piece of the mission of Alison*s Blog: to inform and educate as well as to awe and inspire.
More
Read more issues and stories related to our mission about ART | FOOD | HEALING on Alison*s Art Online Magazine published by RebelMouse and paper.li. Both are a feature of Alison*s Blog and appear in the right hand column.
It’s fair to say that from the name of today’s blog, Some Thoughts from the Aspen Idea Festival 2013, that there will be some positive notes to share on Alison*s Blog post. There are quite a few features that confirm this.
Although the Aspen Ideas Festival 2013 is over, the swag bag designed by Tory Burch, is the biggest status symbol of the event. It is also the envy and curiosity for those who did not get one to wonder what was in it, according to the article written by LinkedIn Editor, Chip Cutter. My favorite item is Steve Case’s Message in Chocolate Form. Steve Case’s Message in Chocolate Form. Photo credit: LinkedIn
“Entrepreneurs, Steve and Jean Case emphasized Thursday that Americans need to take more risks — in both business and philanthropy. Hence, their gift of a ‘Fearless’ chocolate bar to attendees. This one, produced by a Berkeley-based chocolatier, combines organic dark chocolate with ginger and hibiscus flowers to create what the company describes as ‘playful proclamations upon your palate.'”
Then there’s the amazing curated story story about how a man lost over 100 lbs in a laboratory experiment. “The researchers, who were microbiologists, had simply put the man’s gut microbes on a diet”.
The Flower Essence, Mimosa. Photo credit: http://www.flower-essence.co.uk/ If that is not enough positive notes, there’s the flower essence Mimosa, introduced by Channel Island Flower Essences. The company reports that it “carries the vibrational energy of empowerment. It resonates with the solar plexus chakra. It supports a feeling of personal power and belief in one’s own ability. It enables a very rounded approach to all life issues and promotes warmth of personality and persona.”
There are still some positive points to explore. But you get to browse them on you own. In the right hand column are today’s Alison*s Art Online Magazines published by RebelMouse and a feature of Alison*s Blog.
Let’s take a virtual tour and look at some art for Saturday, pleasant, uplifting, creative things. Pretend we are taking a gallery tour. We can travel all over the world since we are on the Internet.
Our first stop is London and the studio of a very talented young lady. I found her lovely artwork thanks to another paper.li publisher, Angel Ceballos’ Art & Design.
Through his online magazine, I was introduced to her work. She is creating some magnificent art work that has morphed into tapestry design. It’s very exciting to see the artistic process at work.
Her name is Hannah Waldron. She was interviewed by designboom.com. Her creations are impressive. They are also light-hearted, colorful and usable.
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Now let’s head back to the US to take a look at two of my other favorite styles of art on our some art for Saturday tour. These styles are graffiti inspired illustration and tattoo art.
My two favorite artists who started out doing graffiti/comic book style illustration are located on opposite coasts of the US. L’amour Supreme is from NY. He is pictured (the image is from his website, www.lamoursupreme.com) with some of his creations as the featured image at the beginning of our tour. Man One is from LA. Below are some of my favorite examples of his work. One is a mural of Rita Hayworth who is one of my favorite film gems. Here’s some Rita trivia. She was born in Brooklyn and started out as a dancer. She was married to Orson Wells, foreign royalty, a popular singer and two other men.
Man One LA
Man One LA
Man One LA
Man One LA
Both L’amour Supreme and Man One have produced prolific amounts of work. So I am going to suggest that you return and visit their virtual studios on your own. That way you can take as much time as you like to explore their very creative careers and stories. Do let them know I suggested you stopped by.
As the last stop on our some art for Saturday tour is one of my favorite local places to visit, Empire State Studios, a tattoo art gallery on Long Island. There are those who might not consider this a form of art. But keep an open mind before drawing any conclusions. Take a look at the work of these artists. Then tell me what you think. In fact, if you are in the area, they have art shows that change every two months. The banner from the ESS website, www.empirestatestudios.com
I hope you have enjoyed our relaxing, virtual trans-Atlantic and back tour of some art for Saturday. Let me know if you would like to take another one some time soon. I certainly would.
Indigenous cultures are rare, precious, fragile, and quickly becoming extinct. Is this progress or a form of genocide? Is this the price we pay for planetary technological advancements? What happens when there are no civilizations left who dance to the rhythms of the earth and thrive on a daily, intimate relationship with nature?
A story in the current issue of the Global Oneness Project Magazine, photographed and told by Jane Baldwin (the above and other photos), is about an indigenous culture, the Kara Women of Ethiopia. Her photographs and the interview of her encourage readers to ponder these questions. Ms. Baldwin’s story is about her eight year developing relationship with the Kara women. Map of the Omo River with dam projects highlighted in redThey are inhabitants of Ethiopia’s Omo River Valley and the Omo River-Lake Turkana watershed. The areas that they and other groups have inhabited for hundreds of years are threatened by the continuing dam building of the Omo River dam project. This one is Gibe III.
The residents of the river valley have had no say in these projects. The projects clearly do not benefit these agro-pastorialists, the indigenous people who have lived in harmony with their river. They are its victims and will be the casualties again, of this half finished project, Gibe III. The dam will benefit those whose priorities differ drastically from theirs. Their flowing relationship with the Omo River will stop. The lives of about a half a million people will be impacted and their traditional way of life will be affected. The consequences will be a disaster.
These people do not read or write. Marriages have traditionally been arranged although that is changing. The women’s lives are based primarily on child bearing and telling their stories through oral tradition. This is current life of the Kara Women. They are subservient in every way to the patriarchy they live in except for one essential responsibility. They are the keepers of their culture’s stories.
They make up songs that they sing to their children from the time they are babies. This is part of how they pass on their stories. What will become of their lives in the river valley when they crash, head on with Gibe III? They will still have their stories. But they will be bloody nightmares not happy memories.
At right, discover more about the Kara Women and other stories about ART | FOOD | HEALING in today’s issues of Alison*s Art Online Magazine, a feature of Alison*s Blog and published by RebelMouse and paper.li.
Developing food growing and selling trends are resulting in some fascinating, untraditional farming and distribution activities. These movements are making food more available and more affordable.
GROWING Eat the City: The Art of Urban Farming reintroduces farming into the city is a truly unique way. The ‘truck farm bed’ feature photo is a creative example of this idea. Urban farming, other types of local farming and local farmers markets have created a new class of eaters, locavores. Deciding between organic or locally grown food. Photo Credit: Flickr Corey TempletonThey believe that eating locally grown food is the best way to go for several reasons. This food tastes the bests. Food can be freshest when eaten. There is a huge savings in transportion and distribution costs. It has even been said that locally grown food can be just as beneficial as organic food. In a variety of situations, each has advantages.
SELLING
A novel idea in a weekend only, makeshift outlet supermarket in the Netherlands has caught on like wild fire. Nearly ‘expired’ packaged foods are sold at a huge discount. One often sees this on certain perishable items in US supermarkets. But in the case of this ‘past its prime’ concept, the entire store is filled with these items.Willem Jan Stamm, the owner of Outlet Stam in Schagen,The Netherlands. Photo credit: Christopher F. Schuetze
A recently discovered facebook page shines a light on a new way of selling and distributing food. It is reminiscent of the food co-op. It is called WholeShare. According to their facebook page, “Wholeshare is a website that helps you get access to good quality, affordable local food by organizing group purchases. www.wholeshare.com”.Wholeshare, the facebook page Another fascinating concept is something called, Pay It Forward. It is practiced by a restaurant called Karma Kitchen. The staff are volunteers. The customers pay whatever they want. In other words, they pay the bill for the next group of people who come to eat. They ‘Pay It Forward’.
Karma Kitchen practices, ‘Pay It Forward’. Photo credit: www.goprojectfilms.com
CONCLUSION
Due to personal choice, as a political statement about food waste, or out of necessity, some people have taken to off the beaten path to obtain food. These include food foraging, dumpster diving, food banks, food kitchens and food stamps and bread lines. However one acquires one’s food, it is important to be conscious of the the choices we can make. Some people in this country do go hungry. The options discussed here are intended to help everyone find resources to have enough to eat.
Continue to read other posts about ART | FOOD | HEALING on Alison*s Art Online Magazines from RebelMouse and paper.li, a feature of Alison*s Blog.
Building 3D is organic and the way nature does it. It is not with straight lines and 90 degree angles, the way man has traditionally done it. What man will do it?
Who will be first architect, engineer, or builder to accomplish this feat of 21st century structural technology? That is the question at hand.
Nature has always defined its structures through a system of weaving and construction that man has wondered at. The closest anyone came until now was the geodesic dome. But even it used straight lines with angles. It is not organic either, the way nature is. Building 3D, or using the latest 3D printing technology, will allow man to come as close to building like nature in history.
This comment, ‘Do not eat animals, take care of them instead’, comes from three year old Luiz Antonio and is explained by him in this video.
I think he would be delighted to see this field of quinoa, one of nature’s super foods, bountiful and beautiful.
Luiz Antonio is considered one of the rainbow children. Rainbow children are explained in the link provided. For those who question or wonder if we are evolving in consciousness, this post is a very interesting study.
According to Doreen Virtue’s AngelTherapy.com, there are three levels of children on the earth today who have evolved consciousness, rainbow children, crystal children and indigo children. People who are familiar with these children would not be surprised to hear a three year old say, ‘Do not Eat Animals, Take Care of Them’.
To eat meat or not to eat meat is an age-old discussion between omnivores and various types of non-meat eaters. Documentation about meat consumption is provided in this post by NPR.org. The United Nations has been in the forefront of discussions, suggestions and endorsements about various foods of late. A post from TakePart.com included a video featuring Stephen Colbert and the suggested ‘UN endorsed bugs for protein diet’ or comically called mini-livestock.
Another more palatable and much less controversial declaration has been made by the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization, ‘International Year of the Quinoa IYQ-2013’. I plan to get into a much more in-depth conversation about ‘super foods’ like quinoa in future posts.
For now, enjoy this post and the accompanying Alison*s Art Online Magazines, at right. Be sure to let me know what you think in the comments area.
Prevention or mutilation? This is the question being asked. Angelina Jolie’s dramatic decision to have a double mastectomy as cancer prevention, rather than because of the existence of the disease, has the holistic pundits up in arms.
It also begs these questions. What is prevention? What is treatment? What is unnecessary or mutilation? This information filled video gives the holistic perspective on the ramifications of such a severe decision regarding prevention or mutilation.
Here is an article from People Magazine about her story. It does not go into any medical details or explanations for her decision.
Here is another People Magazine article that sheds no further light on the topic. The only additional information is that she plans to remove her ovaries as well. Is this prevention or mutilation?
This New York Times op-ed piece sheds some light on the story. The piece is written by Angelina Jolie, herself, and explains both her decision and a bit of the process.
The Pink Lotus Breast Center is mentioned as the place where she was treated. I wonder how many of the women who decide to follow her example would have access to such luxurious facilities and care?
Continue to ponder this important issue and read other stories on Alison*s Art Online Magazines, at right, curated features of Alison*s Blog.
