Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Nothing Gained

I saw this video posted on FB, via Almir Imsirevic a professor at the Preforming Arts Academy in Sarajevo. I love this kind of documentation, this type of subject.Of course to think of the ramifications...that not one thing had really changed since 1914 - that is pretty devastating. Interesting.

Monday, February 27, 2012

Traveling with Anima

I was born in an ambulance on the way to the hospital and with few breaks in between never really stopped moving except for my last fifteen years in Colorado. I traveled with my family till I went to university and after that traveled the continents on my own. Even when my son was born, as soon as it seemed 'safe' we headed for Mexico, his first trip abroad at four months old. Many trips since then, 21 years ago but not nearly as many as I had planned while pregnant. Life slowed down a little bit as it invariably will and I concentrated on raising my children in a happy single parent, mulit-generational home with adventurous travel as often as possible.

aka 'Little Dragon'

Along with my daughter Anima Chiara , who is now eleven  we have been to many places here in the United States and to Italy and Germany twice.Our wanderlust hasn't been stifled by the recent downturn too much but we have entertained ourselves more readily with armchair travel and adventure books in the last few years. Until now.

We are moving to Italy,  Anima and I. The whole process of getting ready to go, not just on vacation but to actually live in another country is exciting and challenging at the same time.  When you take a trip somewhere and know you will come back in a few days or weeks time it's a little less daunting. Both Anima and I are very much looking forward to our new adventure and have decided to share our experiences in this blog, Traveling with Anima. We expect to share our experiences once a month about our move and consequent travels once we are settled in the beautiful and beckoning Val d'Orcia.


Just recently I started following Silvia Ceriegi, a very energetic woman who writes a blog called Tripando in Italian.  Silvia is from Pisa, Italy which is where I spent my teens and reading her travel blog really opened my eyes to all the places I had been missing. Tripando is really one of those wonderful and  enthusiastically written blogs that are chock full of  information and excellent local tips. Silvia just recently became the mother of a baby boy and has put together an association of  "mommy bloggers" who love to travel and do so with their children in tow.

  I am excited to be part of  "Il Circolo delle Mamme Viaggiatrici"  or  The Traveling Mothers Club.

The Circolo is made up of Silvia with her Tripando site, Alessandra who writes at LaliViaggi, Valentina Cappio who writes The Family Company blog and Melissa Muldoon who blogs at her website Diario di una Studentessa Matta. Sign up with us to get the latest news on what we are up to next!

 Travels with children. Come along with all of us. We look forward to engaging you in our travels and transitions. Ciao Ciao! Silvana e Anima Chiara

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

The Ritual of Tea


Such a goreous ritual is focused on in this video I had to show it.    via Kari Anita Moe

Sunday, February 19, 2012

Sunday Poetry

 Gorgeous Poem by David Whyte that I found through Kari Mo this morning. Very touching & pertinent to what, at least my, adventurous heart look like.Inspired now to post a poem every Sunday. Weather permitting.

Horizon

Mameen

Be infinitessimal under that sky, a creature
even the sailing hawk misses, a wraith
among the rocks where the mist parts slowly.
Recall the way mere mortals are overwhelmed
by circumstance, how great reputations
dissolve with infirmity and how you,
in particular, live a hairsbreadth from losing
everyone you hold dear.
Then, look back down the path as if seeing
your past and then south over the hazy blue
coast as if present to a wide future.
Remember the way you are all possibilities
you can see and how you live best
as an appreciator of horizons,
whether you reach them or not.
Admit that once you have got up
from your chair and opened the door,
once you have walked out into the clean air
toward that edge and taken the path up high
beyond the ordinary, you have become
the privileged and the pilgrim,
the one who will tell the story
and the one, coming back
from the mountain,
who helped to make it.
  -- David Whyte
      from River Flow
      ©2007 Many Rivers Press

Saturday, February 18, 2012

Green

The Queen bought herself a pretty piece of antique silk fabric in Strange Green. There to unwillingly model this luminous thing was le Girl herself..



















Friday, February 17, 2012

Beauty

Found on Pinterest - linked back to this blog about artists. Look is so naif and soulful. Love the sous spilling out from the hair..

Astrobazooka

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Do You Facebook?


 Sharing my February article from my monthly column at the Denver News

"In December, The Denver News set up a Facebook Page and Twitter account to interact more readily with Denver area readers who are already active in Social Media. I thought it would be fun and interesting to write about some Social Media Etiquette. It doesn’t really matter who you are, what kind of job you have or how old you are, you’ve probably heard of Facebook and Twitter.


 Now my daughter, who is a 5th grader, tells me that most of her girlfriends are on Facebook which, on some level I find appalling. On the other hand, I also know that there are millions of people that will have nothing to do with the social media site because ‘it’s a waste of time’, which I disagree. For a number of years I’ve used social media for both business and personal reasons and I can’t imagine not having these very powerful and useful social-media tools available to me every day.

According to Mashable, an independent news outlet dedicated to covering digital culture, a full 42.3 percent of the entire American population uses Facebook at least once a month. That’s a heck of a lot of people and it’s going to grow bigger according to Ken Burbary another professional web marketer and technologist. And just in case you were wondering, it’s certainly not just for twenty something hipsters. Burbary writes that about 27.5 percent of Facebook users are between 35 to 64 years old. That is roughly 50-million users. That means average people; grandmothers, farmers, sales clerks, painters and paramedics, janitors, teachers, librarians and all the people in between.

via inkhead.com

I use Facebook to keep in contact with friends in the Denver area and family and acquaintances from around the globe. I also manage several fan pages for others. I realize though, that a lot of people still don’t know why they should dedicate any time either professionally or personally to this kind of thing.

When I was invited to participate with an entrepreneurial group of writers, producers and journalists last year, one of the things I took away from that connection was that each entity intertwines social media into their daily business dealings. It brings them a chance to open dialogue with their customers on a more personal basis and eventually, done with the right intent, it will make them more successful and better paid.

And of course, let’s get real, spending time on Facebook looking at pictures, making comments and watching the latest cute kitty video gone viral is totally a fun factor that adds allure to unaccounted for time.

Since Facebook recently changed their format, you can choose who will see what you post which means that you have control over what information you give whom. If you want to show off pictures of your new born or your most recent girlfriend, you can post it to your “close friends” list but leave that info off your “acquaintances” list. You no longer have to worry about mixing personal and professional boundaries unless that is your strategic intent. The most important thing as my father says is: when all else fails, read directions.
Twitter is also a tremendously useful and fun tool but does not have such a huge following lagging behind with only 400K new accounts opened daily as compared to Facebook’s skyrocketing numbers.

According to @TweetSmarter, 20 percent of the Twitter elite attract about 85 percent of the attention and it’s interesting to note that Media Outlets are really the most active users on Twitter. If you are like me and want to know what is going on around town at any given moment most restaurants, stores, events and sports teams have their own twitter handle. All you have to do is start following them and they are happy to let you know about specials, openings and menus.

A little bit about Facebook etiquette: Common sense dictates that you should remember that you are on a public site. It is called social media because the point is to be social, but not stupid. Engaging in conversation is the whole point but it isn’t necessarily where you should spill your guts, talk about you next door neighbor in a disparaging way or let on that your wife is having an affair with your boss.

There are scores of Facebook and Twitter etiquette sites with the 10 most important Do’s and Don’ts. Follow those and get into it. In moderation it can bring you a whole lot of fun and open up rewarding conversation and dialogue with people you would normally not have a chance to know otherwise."

Silvana Vukadin-Hoitt, is a creative entrepreneur and advocate for sustainable living. She currently lives and works in Denver and is also a contributing writer for The Denver News

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Love Birds or..

Pigeons are a reoccurring theme in my life this week, so I'm exploring that for a moment. Is there  a deeper meaning to be discerned on Valentine's Day regarding pigeons...

In my bag of imagery pigeons are letter carriers. Also they remind me of war, though I was never in a war nor do I know anyone who kept messenger pigeons in any war. Idk.

Pigeon songs sound like gurgling water. More precisely, it sounds like people struggling underneath bath water to get air.

Not very pleasant so far, no.

What associations does the universe want me to take away here. It being Valentines Day today and everyone rushing around getting  pigeon love cards with premade words only waiting for a signature. No thought. No heart. I haven't received a card in years. (should I be admitting this?)


 I think too, that people, even me sometimes -  mistake pigeons for doves, seemingly lovely creatures bred for peace rallies and weddings -  so that at a minimum pigeons illicit confusion. A conundrum for sure (if you are a pigeon): universally hated for shitting on car windshields especially by the citizens of Florence but simultaneously adored by foreigners who take pictures of themselves in stupid poses with pigeons on their heads in said city.

 Funny.

Which reminds me that I never want to be part of the tourist hordes but also, why I have hardly any pictures of us as a family traveling to famous places. Like 'Pigeon Tower' in Sarajevo. I am a Pigeon Snob.



In the end, I suspect it might just be subliminal pigeon voodoo I am feeling today. The next door neighbor keeps them, as well as koi fish and on occasion, the cooing couple (the pigeons not the neighbors) come and sit on The Queens window sill. She fawns and gets misty eyed, telling me that maybe there is a message for her. I think it reminds her somehow of an old flame and if that warms her heart on this day assigned to love and chocolates, so be it.

Look at this guy. Cute as a dove. Mr. War Pigeon

Saturday, February 11, 2012

Srebrenica Mothers

Mothers of Srebrenica 2/11/12
The eleventh of every month the Mothers of Srebrenica meet in Tuzla to protest the lagging investigations into the Genocide of their people, families, children, sons, husbands, fathers, brothers. Find more information at the Bosnian Genocide WP site.

Friday, February 3, 2012

Evocative Pieces

 Artist Jill Ricci says in her bio 'I want the pieces to evoke an old wall in Morocco, a Renaissance Church, a NYC subway wall and Malibu Barbie all simultaneously existing on one canvas.' and that is exactly what it evokes in me. Rambling through Pintrest (shhhh, don't tell everyone) I found one of her pieces and was immediately smitten. Below are a couple examples but obviously go to her site and see for yourself. Lovely.

Hugh - Jill Ricci

Zebra - Jill Ricci

Tribal - Jill Ricci