Below The Sun

It looks like there is a huge storm heading straight for New Orleans, and all of the south for that matter. Luckily, this is something we are used to. There is something very peaceful about going to sleep in the rain, even if the thunder is a bit loud outside, its nice cozy-ing up under the covers and drifting off.

A couple of weeks ago was SXSW Interactive. This year the New Orleans people all banded together under the guise of NET2NO, chartered a bus, and rented two houses to all stay in. I couldn’t leave the day the bus left but instead had to fly into Austin the next day. Over all it was a pretty good experience, however, I don’t think the group thing was conducive to the kind of freedom I prefer while out of town for conferences. The houses were no where near the event and the bus came very early to pick people up to drop them off at the convention center about an hour or two before the conference even started.  It is very difficult to be spontaneous with a bus full of people, and there were a lot of things going on that I wanted to do. Most of the time I ended up taking a cab, but I think I should have just gotten the hotel room downtown and walked every where.

Next time it will still be great to have all of the other NOLA people there, but I will probably not be staying in a house in the suburbs or waiting for/riding on a bus to and from the conference. I will have a hotel room  where I can change clothes and drop off my laptop after the conference and from where I am able to walk to the parties. Last year I attended an average of 3 parties a night. This year I only went to 3 or 4 total. Due to the group budget concerns, we also had to cut the conference a day short, missing out on a full day of panels.

It was nice, I must say, on the way back to not have to drive or run around airports or anything like that. I got to get to know some of the people in our NOLA group and fall asleep for a little while, watch a movie, etc. The ride was definitely nice on the way home.

It also feels good to be home. I went for what felt like a week without sleeping properly. Of course when I got back to New Orleans I did run straight back up to Baton Rouge to catch a rock n roll show. When it comes to music I don’t ever shut down.

I came back from SXSWi inspired to get productive. There always seems to be this wave of inspiration that comes from being surrounded by so many creative people who are happy with what they are doing in life. The environment there is truly amazing. Every time you turn around you enter into a conversation with someone who is intelligent, creative and ambitious. It is very much an atmosphere of self-sufficiency and a culture of workplace happiness.

A big buzzword this year was Serendipity, and almost every speaker was preaching the importance of finding happiness in the work place; be it from the standpoint of the managers hiring employees whose personalities fit with the culture of the company or from the standpoint of employees demanding companies to give them a comfortable and creative work environment.

I came home and immediately set up my home office, got in touch with some of my slower moving clients, lined up some interviews for my book and started looking into opportunities to expand my current skill set. I found someone who is going to teach me some dark room techniques for developing more interesting photographs naturally, and signed up for a 3 week block printing program. I’ve also started working on a re-design/res-structure/re-build to one of my current websites that I hope will soon become wildly popular amongst you web folk.  :)

Some may know that I am going to England in May. I will be going to the All Tomorrow’s Parties (vs the fans) Festival. I also hope to line up some interviews over there for my book. If anyone knows anyone between Mineshead and London that would speak with me, I would greatly appreciate the referral.

The thunder and lightening has already begun, so I am going to make a cup of tea and lay down to wait for the wind and rain to knock out the lights.

This is a strange holiday season. I started early this year in preparing my gifts, but it seems like I have more gifts to give for some reason. I am still late in getting them all out, and Christmas is this coming week. Oh well, late as usual.

Down here in New Orleans, it has gotten up to 80 degrees this winter. It has also snowed. Everyone locally has turned into a prophet of doom, insisting that this is a sign of the apocalypse so to speak, the impending next big hurricane that will once again wipe us off the face of the earth.

I, unfortunately, have also inadvertently fallen prey to this manner of thinking. Logically it doesn’t make any more sense than anything else, it just so happens that the last time it snowed, Katrina was to follow on the next hurricane season.

That winter was particularly cold, if I’m not mistaken. This one was uncharacteristically warm, even for New Orleans. It’s only human to get nervous though. We are all still a little traumatized.

As far as work goes, I think I might be close to capacity for the time being. That is, through the next month anyway. It’s a good feeling. I’ve got an artist website to finish building, one contract signed to begin designing, and another contract signing on Monday to begin designing next week. It will be difficult to juggle, but its nice to be busy.

It’s crazy, I have been busy ever since I stopped working full time. I am amazed at how life is working out.

I come from a long line of artists and entrepreneurs, so I always knew from childhood that I would be able to do my art and be my own boss. I just never knew how it would all fall into place. I came to a certain point in life where I decided I would sit back and float, explore my talents and take only the best opportunities offered to me. I floated this far, and finally I am exactly where I always wanted to be. I don’t even have to be rich, as long as I can continue to be creative in a comfortable atmosphere and have the time to continue learning new things, I will be happy.

I always worried that not having a college education would set me back, but so far I’ve come out ahead. I’m probably one of a lucky few that this works out for, but I am young, I have no debt, and I am able to do something I love for a living. I have had the time to get years of hands-on experience, and the major benefit of creativity is that it drives you. Creativity drives you to learn, to explore and to express, and that is the single most important thing I have in my life.

I just got an approval on a proposal for a website. This is always the most exciting part of the job to me. This is the time where creativity is absolutely necessary and rewarded. I love the fact that I can be creative and build another company’s business and still support myself. I really am grateful for all of the turns in the road that made this possible :)

Also, this thursday (December 18th) I will be participating in PhotoNOMA, a portfolio walk at New Orleans Museum of Art. 100 photographers will set up on tables and the public can walk through, chat with artists, look at photos, buy things, network, etc. I think it will be a lot of fun. While I am moderately connected in the New Orleans art scene, I don’t know too many people involved in the local photographic scene. I look forward to being able to meet new people and put myself out there! I just hope the prints I make will work out okay. Kinkos already botched them once, hopefully Lakeside camera will work out better.

The event was actually scheduled for last Thursday, so I had prints made last minute at kinkos, and then had some business cards overnighted to me, and then the event was cancelled due to the snow. The one day it snows in New Orleans. Hah!  So at least now I have the business cards and I will have better prints and I will have time to put matts on them. Hopefully everything comes out alright.

In the mean time I have one website to finish building and one to start designing, so it looks like this is going to be a moderately busy holiday season for me. In good time, cause I still have some presents to buy :)

How funny. No sooner do I post about the south for winter, than do we get our first snow in 4 years. First snow in probably 20 years that is actually anything to speak of/sticking to anything.

This global warming stuff is weird. I was wearing a tank top and jeans literally two days ago.

Snowy rooftops, Uptown New Orleans.

back yard neighbor

Back yard neighbor-beyond

The holidays are upon us, which unfortunately means a lot of rain and cold weather.

Luckily for me, I live in the south. Every couple of days it warms up enough for me to wear a tank top and jeans, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

In order to maintain the summer time level of happiness through the indoor season, I find it’s best to keep busy and social.

Yesterday we had some friends over for a craft party, we made weird christmas cards and drank wine (well, the guests did, I don’t drink) and had a good time. Then followed it up with a rock show at a dive bar down town. It’s nice to surround yourself with people that are happy to see each other.

The move from full-time to freelance is working out well so far. I have a lot of time to see my friends, I have time to work on my photography, I have been continuing my ceramics classes, and I still find the time to sneak some design work in here and there :)

My father came in town from Milwaukee to visit early in November. We don’t see him very much due to the geographical differences but it was nice. My dad and I spent the day riding bicycles, eating lunch, and hanging out at the park. Later on, my sister and I brought dad to the Red Elvises show at the Dragons Den. My sister and I are twins, albeit very different twins. We are pretty much the exact opposite of each other in a lot of ways and very similar in others. She is a massage therapist and also teaches massage therapy.

Later on in the month I went with my mother to Kansas City to visit her side of the family. I have a couple of uncles and cousins who are musicians, so we all got together and played for a little while.

It’s nice having a family full of artists. It’s hard to explain really, but there is a strange feeling of continuity in the bloodlines. Both my mom and my dad’s side of the family are all artists and all work with their hands. As a result I have to feel absolutely everything to every extreme. I have to constantly be stimulated or else I feel depressed. Luckily I am very easily inspired and amused.

Being around so many creative people on a regular basis kind of makes keeping up on my own creativity a little bit daunting. It’s a bit of a double edged sword, because it makes you want to create something beautiful and magical but at the same time it makes you start to question your own talent and skill. I definitely stay on my toes, but sometimes I tend to spread myself a bit thin.

I have found a couple of ways though to buckle down and focus.

1) Sketch it out. Any idea, be it writing, a design, a painting, a photo, a song, map it out somehow. Even the most basic of outlines will keep your project somewhat on track.

2) Eliminate distractions. If you must have the television on, mute it. If you must check your email, your myspace, facebook, etc set up a schedule, only check it once every 2 hours or so.

3) Manage your time. If at all possible, task yourself with phases of your creative process, and don’t be overly ambitious. Go through all of the tasks in order, and never stop mid-task. Finish the task at hand before coming to a stopping point so that it’s easier to pick up when you come back.

4) Finish it! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gotten to the middle of a project and decided that it would be a better idea to stop and forget about it. Terrible idea. Even if you dont feel like it, finish the project you already started. It will give you a sense of pride that you followed it through, and best case scenario, it could come out even better than you imagined.

It’s hard to prioritize a blog sometimes :)

I think I accidentally deleted a comment when I was deleting all of the spam, so to whomever it was that left it I would like to apologize.

I recently left the uncomfortable position I was holding with the company that I worked for. The situation there had been growing increasingly uncomfortable over the last couple of months, so this is the best thing for me.

I am happy now, doing a lot of freelance gigs and I finally have time to focus on some art. I have been featured in a fashion spread in Cue Magazine, i have been going to ceramics classes, i have been taking/manipulating a lot of photos, I have been featured in a couple of movies being filmed locally, and i have been playing music. Most importantly, I have been meeting new friends and reconnecting with the old ones. It is a shame to have to give up so much out of life for the sake of a regular paycheck.

As a matter of fact, I will be playing this Saturday at Voodoo Music Festival, filling in on bass for a friend of mine’s music project called “Deep in the Ninth”! I am especially excited about this.

The transition from full time to freelance has definitely been a strange one, but ultimately a hundred times more fulfilling than toiling away for a bunch of unappreciative jackasses. Pardon my contempt :)

I love being able to make all of the creative decisions in my work, and I love how rewarding it is to present the work to clients who appreciate my style.

Now I am feeling inspired, creative, laid back and happy… I may even have the time to start writing again, so look out for more from me very soon.

Most of you know that with the growing cost of fuel/energy it is cheaper to buy local in-season produce. It also leaves you with a fresher and better tasting product.

What a lot of people aren’t too sure on, however, is when particular produce is in season.

I’ve compiled a couple of lists from around the internet to put here as a rough guide for anyone trying to keep track of when they should purchase specific fruits and vegetabes.
You can write it down or print it out, or just bookmark it. :)

This one is from WiseBread.com:

Listed by season from Foodfit.com

Fall - Vegetables
Avocados, Beans, Beets, Bok Choy, Broccoli, Broccoli Rabe, Brussels Sprouts, Cabbage, Carrots, Cauliflower, Celery Root (Celeriac), Chestnuts, Collards, Garlic, Jerusalem Artichokes, Kale, Leeks, Lettuce, Parsnips, Pumpkin, Rutabaga, Salsify, Snow Peas, Spinach, Squash (Winter), Sweet Potatoes, Swiss Chard, Turnips, Watercress.

Fall - Fruits
Apples, Bananas, Clementines, Cranberries, Grapes, Grapefruit, Kiwi, Kumquat, Oranges, Pears, Persimmons, Pomegranates, Quinces, Satsuma, Mandarin Oranges, Tangerines.

Winter - Vegetables
Artichokes, Avocado, Bok Choy, Broccoli, Broccoli, Rabe, Brussels Sprouts, Cabbage, Cauliflower, Celery Root, Chestnuts, Jerusalem Artichokes, Kale, Lettuce, Parsnips, Radishes, Rhubarb, Rutabaga, Salsify, Snow Peas, Squash (Winter), Sweet Potatoes, Turnips (White), Watercress.

Winter - Fruit
Bananas, Blood Oranges, Clementines, Cranberries, Grapes (Red), Grapefruits, Kiwi, Kumquat, Oranges, Passion Fruit, Pears, Persimmons, Pomegranates, Pummelo, Rhubarb, Satsuma Oranges, Tangelo, Tangerine, Ugli Fruit.

Spring - Vegetables
Asparagus, Snap Beans, Carrots, Fennel, Garlic, Okra, Onions, Green Onions, English Peas, Sugar Snap Peas, Rhubarb, Shallot, Spinach, Swiss Chard.

Spring - Fruit
Apricots, Blueberries, Cantaloupe, Casaba Melon, Cherries, Currants, Figs, Nectarines, Papayas, Pineapples, Raspberries, Rhubarb, Strawberries.

Summer - Vegetables
Arugula, Avocados, Green Beans, Beans, Beets, Collards, Corn, Cucumber, Eggplant, Garlic, Kohlrabi, Mushrooms, Okra, Onions, Sugar Snap Peas, Peppers, Potatoes, Shallots, Summer Squash, Swiss chard, Tomatoes, Zucchini.

Summer - Fruit
Apricots, Asian Pears, Blackberries, Cantaloupe, Casaba Melon, Cherries, Crenshaw Melon, Currants, Figs, Gooseberries, Grapes, Guava, Honeydew Melon, Huckleberries, Lychee Nut, Mangoes, Nectarines, Papayas, Peaches, Plums Raspberries, Strawberries, Watermelon.

And finally, here is a small basic printable guide.

I read an article today titled “Playing Music Makes You Smart.” This should be obvious but for some reason I never fully put two and two together. I had always figured that people who play music are smart in their own field, much like people that do math are smart in math and people who do science are smart in science, but the smarts aren’t always cross platform.

As they watched movies, the volunteers also listened to Mandarin words that sounded like “mi” continuously at conversation level in the background. Mandarin is a tone language, where a single word can differ in meaning depending on its tone. For example, the Mandarin word “mi” means “to squint” when delivered in a level tone, “to bewilder” when spoken in a rising tone, and “rice” when given in a falling then rising tone.

The researchers recorded neural responses from the brains of volunteers during the experiments. Half the volunteers had at least six years of training in a musical instrument starting before the age of 12. The others had no more than three years of musical experience. All were native English speakers who had no knowledge of Mandarin.

“Even with their attention focused on the movie and though the sounds had no linguistic or musical meaning for them, we found our musically trained subjects were far better at tracking the three different tones than the non-musicians,” said neuroscientist Patrick Wong at Northwestern University.

Wong emphasized these results were seen “in more or less everyday people. You don’t have to be a top musician to find these kinds of effects.”

Surprisingly, the researchers found these changes occurred in the brainstem, the ancient part of the brain responsible for controlling automatic, critical body functions such as breathing and heartbeat.

There are also numerous studies that claim listening to music will strengthen your verbal and memory skills, dull pain and relax you during recovery and help you lose weight.

Just about any uncomfortable life situation can be made atleast slightly more tolerable by simply throwing on your favorite song and getting lost for a while.

This post is a little bit of a stray from the norm, thus far. It’s about how to deal with being belittled… be it by friends, family, or professional associates.

This is a feeling I have had to deal with a lot in life. I’ve always been one of the youngest people in my immediate group, I’ve always been a girl, and I’ve always been small framed with a quiet voice.
It can seem hard to overcome at the moment in which you are experiencing the belittling but its important to remind yourself that these obstacles are never insurmountable.

I had an interaction with a coworker in which I felt I was being dragged into a very malignant relationship between he and his wife. Long story short, for months I was uncomfortable going into work every day and going to work related events involving spouses.

I wish that I could say that I had the answers to resolve this kind of situation, but the truth of the matter is that I still feel uncomfortable every day that I come into work now, and every time the company has an event where people may go with their spouses especially.

I’ve seen plenty of other people in less drastic though very similar situations..
An associate tells you that they feel you are overpaid or would not have hired you in the first place..
A coworker down plays all of your ideas or dismisses them..
Being made fun of, harassed, or abused.

You don’t have to put up with it. I am very passive so I ignore it, but I always keep in mind that I am the bigger person for not sinking to those levels.

You can overcome these obstacles by fortifying your confidence in yourself.

If you keep in mind everything in life that you are happy about, and how these things may correspond to the situation, then you are armed to fight it head on.

When it comes to my coworker, I always keep in mind that he was only promoted out of desperation, not based on merit. I keep in mind that I am lucky to have friends who like me, people who don’t need to prove their worth over mine, I don’t need to flaunt my money or accomplishments to prove my own worth, I have a happy and healthy relationship, a family full of wonderful and interesting relatives/stories, and a overactive imagination full of creative ideas and finally the ability to communicate those ideas and share them with others.

I keep in mind everything that I have to be proud of and vow not to let those ego usurpers get one ounce of my own, and that’s how I cope with being belittled.

Boris with Merzbow - Flower, Sun, Rain

Everyone wants to stay young for as long as they possibly can. It’s just no longer in our nature as humans to age. We resist and we struggle with it until our aching bodies no longer let us put it off. The trends in anti-aging and health markets however have a tendancy to actually counter their own claims.

Today I am talking about Oxygen.

It is an essential fuel, without it we would die. But with too much of it we will die as well.
There is oxygenated water, oxygenated skincare products, oxygenated health food, and even oxygen bars where users go to inhale flavored oxygen.

Oxygen being one of the most important components of human life is in itself a very marketable product.

This, however, is exactly what it is. Marketing.
You may also notice that for every oxygenated product out there, you will find two more products containing antioxidants.

These products are formulated to rid your body of free radicals. Free radicals are formed in many ways — Smoking cigarettes, strenuous exercise, many happen naturally through digestion, and through various other environmental circumstances. The process of creating free radicals in the body usually forms a chain reaction of free radical creation and results in damage/disruption of living cells.

Oxygen free radicals are the most important types when it comes to aging. Oxygen is a very active molecule which will readily bond to molecules that aren’t paired or break weak bonds in molecules to pair with their single free electron, resulting in oxidation. When a metal is oxidized it is more commonly referred to as “rust.” When oxidation occurs in abundance in a human body it is attributed to all kinds of diseases from Alzheimer’s and other such neurodegenerative diseases to diabetes and certain toxicities, and in a less catastrophic but sometimes equally as daunting: aging.

Oxidation results in an inflammation in the blood or organ where the oxidation occurs, and every type of molecule and cell in the body can be a target.

In order to prevent such oxidation one must refrain from the overly oxygenated products and consume a diet rich in antioxidants. This consists mainly of plenty of fruits and vegetables and lots of vitamins C and E.

There is no prescribed amount of water that one must consume throughout a day, just drink when you are thirsty but do not force yourself to drink too much water for the sake of health. Everything you eat and drink will contain water, so other healthy alternatives would be coffee, tea, and 100% fruit and vegetable juices.

Eating food rich in Omega 3’s will also help to ward off inflammation and aging, such as salmon and other oily fishes or fish oil supplements.

Aging should not be as scary as we as a culture have made it out to be but there are a few very simple things that you can do to ward it off naturally.

1) Exercise. Cardio and some light weight training should do it to maintain your body. Half an hour - 45 minutes a day.

2) Diet. Most of the guidelines above should keep you on track. Salmon and other oily fish 3-4 times a week. Abundance of fruits and vegetables of all different colors. Nuts and whole grains.

3) Sleep. This is very imporant, your body needs at least 8 hours a night to make it through the sufficient amount of sleep cycles. Sleep is when your cells regenerate and your body heals itself. Sleep is also when your brain works through stresses and problems and finds solutions for maximizing efficiency when taking on the day.

4) Limit sun exposure. The sun usually marks a beautiful day, but it can also mark your skin with the telltale signs of aging. Sun damage can lead to cancer, and while some sun exposure is good for you (about 10-25 minutes a day) any more than that can lead to skin damage. Wear sun screen every day! This is important!

5) Relax. Nothing ages you faster than stress. Take some time to yourself, an hour a day atleast, to settle your brain, wind down, and not think about the things that are bothering you. If you must think about them, reflect and figure out what it is you can learn from difficult situations rather than mulling on the fact that the situation is difficult.

6) Have fun! Happiness can keep you young until the day you die. Make sure to have a rewarding hobby or activity that you enjoy regularly. For some it can be something creative like painting or sewing, for some its as simple as a favourite TV show with friends or going out on saturday nights.

You only have one body and one life, so you might as well make the best use of them and enjoy yourself and your time spent here below the sun. :)