U and V are for Unusually and Unnaturally Vain

Okay make-up wearers. Listen to this.

After reading Naomi Wolff's The Beauty Myth, I have started to notice more gender inequalities that once were very ingrained as normal but now just don't make a lot of sense to me. One thing that I have struggled with is make-up. I used to really like make-up and would feel exposed or somehow less than pretty if I left the house without at least a little bit of foundation on my face. I think I particularly began to feel self-concious about this after an old woman told me I looked like "death warmed over" on a day I had forgotten to wear foundation under my eyes. After that, I never forgot to put it on.

But after reading the article What's In Your Makeup Bag? about what is in our cosmetics and about how the FDA does not have any regulations over cosmetic firms, I have begun to think twice about what I put on my face. In fact, I am not so much worried about getting a rash on my face as I am about putting chemicals into my body and into the environment that could have more lasting effects not only on my body, but on the bodies of my children and on the world.

The article states, "According to activists like the Environmental Working Group and the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, these include parabens (used as preservatives), petrochemicals and their by-products (found in skin creams, foundations, lip balms, and more) mercury (found in mascara and eyedrops), lead (found in lipsticks), dioxane (potentially found in shampoos and body washes) and phthalates (found in some nail polishes, hair sprays, and fragrances)."

I don't know what all of these things are, but they all sound less than natural.

Additionally, if I think about it, make-up on men seems totally unnatural. Why is it, then, that it seems so natural to put toxic chemicals onto our skin?

So, yes, I do still wear make-up although I have stopped using it unless I absolutely feel like I have to fit into the gender stereotype- interviews, some of my work, and sometimes when I go out. But if I don't have to fit into that role, I have at this time given up wearing the foundation I used to put onto my face without a second thought because that's what women do...

Take a moment to THINK about what you put onto our bodies. I think we often think more about what we put in our bodies, but the outside is just as important and deserves the same amount of care!



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W is for Water Around the World

Just decided to check out some of the UN's statistics about water. After reading Summer's Blog at "and this time, concentrate!" about drinking a lot of water for detox, I though it would be interesting to take a different perspective about water around the world.

Here's what I found out by visiting UN Water:

1. Only 2.5% of the world's water is freshwater.
2. However, less than 1% of this supply of freshwater is useable for ecosystems and humans.

3. About 70% of freshwater use is for irrigation. Only 8% is used domestically.
4. By 2025, 1,800 million people will be living in regions or countries with severe water scarcity.

5. Globally, diarrhea is the number one cause of death and illness, because of lack of sanitation and inadequate water supply for consumption and hygiene. Simply washing your hands can reduce the risk of diarrhoeal diseases by 47%
6. Every 20 seconds, a child dies as a result of poor sanitation.

 Click here to read an article by Paula Bronstein in the NY Times about what they are doing in Bangladesh to combat this.

7.  Half of the world's wetlands have been lost since 1900.
8. Every day, 2 million tons of human waste are dumped into water courses.

These are just a few statistics. There are plenty to go around.

To think in a more subjective way, water is not only in our bodies, it is also what connects us to all other beings. Everyone needs water to survive. Water weighs our bodies down so that we do not go floating out to outer space. Water grounds us. Water flows with gravity. Water is essential for life.

Let's be grateful for the water than we have, and find ways to make a bigger difference in the ways that we use water.




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New t-shirt design and a Happy Easter to all

Hooooooray! New pictures!

Since it's Sunday, and I don't have to follow the backwards alphabet if I don't want to, I will now post a few of my new t-shirt designs. Photography is again by my lovely friend Lauren, whose blogs on A Minneapple in the Wind. Some really great shots again. She seems to be getting veeery veeery good at this....



It was a lovely day on Friday, as I was not only able to spend time with Lauren taking photography of my new designs, which I am totally in love with, but was also able to hang out on the beaches of Lake Michigan with said Lauren and finace Brandon. We threw back a couple of Goose Island Pale IPA's and walked along the shore.

To be honest, it was pretty windy. The sand kind of turned into a micro-abrasion session when it hit our bare legs, but once we had cracked open our beers, we didn't seem to care as much.

Ah, the beach.

Love, love, love it.

For this Easter, I edited said photography, had a picnic with my boo, and laid around reading about Paris Haute coutre. Although I'm not a follower of high fashion, I do appreciate some of the lines and sense of elegance that coutre fashion offers. I'm using a couple of very simple shirt designs in the book as inspiration for my next few t-shirts- black with white lines. Very elegant, yet with an upcycled touch! Can't wait!

I'll also be posting a few pictures of some dance costumes that I have been working on soon, once I take a few more photos that I am happy with. I can't wait to see them on the dancers. They are made of yellow, green, and orange t-shirts which have been cut at the midriff. I have then taken the bottoms of the shirts and turned them into strips which are then re-sewn onto the shirt to make a kind of sparse hula-skirt feel on the the half-shirts. I've also been sewing some of the strips onto the bodice at a diagonal for some lines on top and have added some strips tied together at the shoulders so that the dancers can tie the long strip around their arm, like a warrior or something!

The dance is being done to the song "Not About Love" by Fiona Apple, and is being choreographed by my best friend since 1st grade, Ashley. I'm very excited to see what she comes up with.

Now, back to bed to cuddle with my book on coutre...

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X is for X-Ray Flowers

I can't believe I haven't discovered the beauty of X-rayed flowers yet.

It sounds so harsh- X-ray- just saying the word sounds like you are cutting something open. But when you combine X-rays with natural beauty of flowers, you get something that is both beautiful and slightly ghostly. Like whisps of smoke coming from the ground. Like ink crawling across a prinstine environment.

The collection above came from Bert Meyer's Fine Art Photography. So simple, yet so beautiful. I want all of these pictures all over my walls.

Check out his website for beautiful X-ray photographs of shells and other man-made objects as well.

I think we often think of flowers as these fragile, feminine things. But an x-ray imge somehow makes a flower also look stronger. I like that as well about these images.

Oh, in addition to my Y blog for yesterday I wanted to add a link to a blog that I really enjoy, as a person who created recycled clothing. I also enjoy knitting and crocheting, but never had money to purchase really nice yarn. However, the Etsy Trashion Street Team had a blog yesterday on how to harvest yarn from old sweaters.

Now is the time to buy old sweaters from thrift stores! Fabulous idea, not only to save money but to save resources as well. I'll definitely be trying this soon. It looks like it takes some patience, but hopefully I will find the time to do this soon.

Happy Easter, one and all! Enjoy those Easter eggs, and have a wonderful time with friends and family. I will be relaxing on the shores of Lake Michigan, that is, unless it rains...


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Y is for Yelling While Doing Yoga, and Yellow

Yes, I would like to yell while doing yoga.

A poem.

(I used to write a lot of free verse, and I stopped doing it for some reason. But as there are many poets who are blogging here it seems, I would like to add my voice to the masses as well.)

Yelling while doing yoga
YES! it would be so delicious
to scream
maybe not scream
but to raise my voice
while flowing into downward dog
or laying in savasana
corpse pose
a yelling yet silent corpse
at least silent in the bones
yelling
while doing yoga
howling while holding my head
high
in tree pose
yoga
it could be transformed into a rebellious movement
of non-moving bodies
yelling
for peace

Hehe. That was fun. And so is this picture.

Don't drink and yoga.

On another note, I am enjoying the new spring weather here in Chicago. Spring here reminds me of flowers, particularly of those beautiful little yellow daffodils and purple crocuses that peep up first. I love suddenly discovering them hidden in some brambly bushes while walking the streets of Chicago. I also am looking forward to the dandelions blooming and blossoming! Yes, I know they are weeds. But I don't care.

And to all the Catholics or once-practicing-but-not-really-Catholics-who-still-celebrate-Lent-by-giving-up-candy, have a great Good Friday. I'll be seeing you in church on Easter Sunday. Maybe. Or maybe I'll sleep in... haven't decided yet...

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A-Z Blogging Challenge- Z is for Zest

First blog of my A-Z Challenge!

I've decided to change things up, as I am often want to do (often to the dismay of my professors and parents, who should start to expect such things from me...). I'm doing the alphabet backwards. I've always wanted to be able to say the alphabet backwards, so now is my chance to practice! Besides, it's April Fool's Day, why not mix it up...

I often focus on eco-friendly practices or ideas on my blog, and so want to return to that focus with today's blog, beginning with the letter Z.

Zest. Lemon Zest, to be more precise.

I also want to take this moment to recognize one of my favorite bloggers in the world, Shauna at Gluten Free Girl and the Chef . She's one of those larger-than-life bloggers, at least, she might seem that way, but she always put so much life and personality into her blogs, as well as a sense of wonder about the world, that it makes all who read her blogs feel like they know her at a personal level. Her post on lemons is wonderful as well.

I appreciate the message of her blog- that you have to live through the lemons to get to the sweetness in life. Without lemons, where would the zest of life be? Life without zest is no life at all. My time in Chicago has not always been sweet and delicious, but the tough times have certainly brought Brandon and I closer together and have shown me that I am so lucky to have him in my life. Through the loss and gain, and loss, and gain, and loss again of jobs, I have also found that I am developing great personal skills that will hopefully help me to gain better jobs in the future. And, I've never had so much time to sew in my life, because of my lack of employment. So, go lemons!

But what to do with that lemon zest? Or the entire lemon, for that matter? Shauna's picture of some preserved lemons made my mouth water, so here is a recipe for preserved lemons. I have always wanted to can something, so this is my chance Use them in cakes, in cooking poultry, or making sauces. YUM!

Preserved Lemons
From simplyrecipes.com

8-10 Meyer lemons*, scrubbed very clean
1/2 cup kosher salt, more if needed
Extra fresh squeezed lemon juice, if needed

Sterilized quart canning jar

1 Place 2 Tbsp of salt in the bottom of a sterilized jar.

2 One by one, prepare the lemons in the following way. Cut 1/4 inch off the tip of each lemon. Cut the lemons as if you were going to cut them in half lengthwize, starting from the tip, but do not cut all the way. Keep the lemon attached at the base. Make another cut in a similar manner, so now the lemon is quartered, but again, attached at the base.

3 Pry the lemons open and generously sprinkle salt all over the insides and outsides of the lemons.

4 Pack the lemons in the jar, squishing them down so that juice is extracted and the lemon juice rises to the top of the jar. Fill up the jar with lemons, make sure the top is covered with lemon juice. Add more fresh squeezed lemon juice if necessary. Top with a couple tablespoons of salt.

5 Seal the jar and let sit at room temperature for a couple days. Turn the jar upside down ocassionally. Put in refrigerator and let sit, again turning upside down ocassionally, for at least 3 weeks, until lemon rinds soften.

6 To use, remove a lemon from the jar and rinse thoroughly in water to remove salt. Discard seeds before using. Discard the pulp before using, if desired.

7 Store in refrigerator for up to 6 months.

Note: You can add spices to the lemons for preserving - cloves, coriander seeds, peppercorns, cinnamon stick, bay leaf.

I have yet to try the recipe myself, so my bad. I usually cook things before I post them. But this will prompt me to really go for it and try the canning thing, so thank you for letting me put it out there before trying it.

And if you are gluten or wheat-free, like myself, do yourself a favor and GO and check out Shauna's blog! Now, off to buy some lemons!

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