Thoughts from Alison that might at least entertain you!

Always Be Batman

Because this has made me chuckle a few times on Facebook, it needs to be shared here:

Circle Of Art 2012

Today I find myself thinking about the Circle of Art auction to benefit Food Gatherers, that I presume will happen again this year in May - although I can't find a date posted anywhere yet.  I've got a couple of collage ideas brewing, so I think I'll try to get a jump on them.  The COA auction at the Saline Picture Frame Company has become one of my favorite events of the year!

Circle of Art 2011 - Fabulous Finds!

The Circle of Art fund raising event was hosted last weekend by the Saline Picture Frame Company, raising money in support of Food Gatherers.  They announced early this week that about $20,000 was raised.  Hooray! 

John and I came home with four pieces of artwork.  The pastel work pictured here, titled "Nobody's Home" by Bob Palmerton, is destined for John's office.  We were both taken with it, and decided during the bidding that this was the piece we wanted to focus the bulk of our bidding on.  We are fortunate to have a pretty fantastic collection of art on nearly every wall in our home, but John's office can offer great space for this one! 

We also came home with two ceramic pieces that I particularly love.  I started with interest in the Chalice piece (the one with a handle) during the online bidding, but realized when I saw the pieces in person at the auction that I really coveted the two together.  These are a collaboration by two artists (they titled themselves "D&J Fusion") from the Yourist Pottery Studio where I have taken my own ceramics courses.  They had four pieces on the auction, but these two - a chalice and a goblet - seemed to want to come home with me.  I LOVE the bright colors of the glazes.  These don't yet have a specific place in our home, but they'll have their place before long. 

This year at the auction, there was also a large collection of hearts decorated by second graders at a local school.  All the hearts (dozens of them, at least) were displayed, and all available for any cash donation.  We brought home this "Underwater Heart," which looks a bit like a cat to both of us.  This heart is looking over us for the time being at our little kitchen table-for-two whenever we dine.  I only noticed after we had chosen this heart that the artist is named Allyson! 

Yet again, I am impressed with the souls at the Saline Picture Frame Company who dreamed up this event, put it together every year, and pull in the support of a large group of volunteers and an even larger group of community who bring their personalities and wallets to support the fine work of Food Gatherers in our county.

Wool Dryer Balls

Well now there's a title I never would have guessed I could find a reason to use, but there you have it.  Wool Dryer Balls!  I have just received my new wool dryer balls in the mail, and I'm so excited about the prospect that I'm telling you before I even test them out! 

These are indeed, a set of balls made (in the USA) of 100% natural wool - felted with no chemicals, no dyes, and only biodegradable soap.  Dryer balls are an alternative to fabric softener dryer sheets.  If the concept doesn't ring any bells, how about the plastic dryer ball things (in my memory they were blue, and sort of nubby in texture) marketed pretty aggressively a number of years ago?  I ordered these from The Stoney Mountain Farm in Burlington, NC.  I learned about them from an ad on Facebook - which I generally ignore, but this one drew me in.  The idea behind dryer balls is that they create loft in the dryer along with your laundry, helping to distribute heat a little more evenly which can reduce drying time (and the associated electrical costs).  The ones I ordered cost $20 and should last at least year - if I'm using them several times a week, but I suspect they'll last longer than that since I'm usually a 1-2 load per week launderer.  The wool also helps to reduce static and soften clothing fibers naturally instead of with the really scary list of chemicals found in most dryer sheets.  Yes, really scary.  You can read a rundown of some scary components of standard dryer sheets here on the Stoney Mountain website.  You can also read about their whole farm business and the gorgeous Navajo-Churro Sheep that they raise.  I'll report back once I get to using these and let you know what I think.

I almost forgot this important part - I got a hand written note along with my promptly-shipped order: "Hello Alison - Thanks so much for your order!  Our farm thanks you, our sheep thank ewe!  Let us know what you think."  This speaks volumes to me about their farm and business, and not just because they spelled my name right! 

Betty LaDuke - Heifer Murals

When we visited the Heifer International headquarters last week, I was thrilled to see many of these murals installed in the learning center, and then another at the Ranch!  My folks gave me a book for Christmas this year called "Dreaming Cows" - all about the paintings and murals of Betty LaDuke celebrating Heifer International.  I can't possible give a good synopsis of the nearly 200 page book here, so I'm just sharing the brief "liner notes."  (I don't know what that's called - the description inside the flap of a book?)

"Dreaming Cows is about a journey of transformed lives.  The life of Betty LaDuke was affected when she took her first Heifer International Study Tour to Uganda and Rwanda in 2003.  On that and her many subsequent trips, this widely celebrated and prolific artist has captured the hardships, beauty and dignity of the people Heifer helps.  These people - more than ten million families so far - have been transformed by the gifts of livestock and training provided by Heifer.  Lives that were once ruled by hunger, poverty and desperation are now eased by the ample nutrition, income and dignity provided by the Heifer model.  Through the brilliantly colored images of Betty LaDuke and the compelling and empathetic narrative of Sue Bumagin, Dreaming Cows takes the reader and art lover on a journey from the Bronx to Bolivia, and from Vietnam to Kosovo.  The journey, like Betty's art, is enjoyable, colorful, uplifting and inspiring." 

The mural panel shown first above - "Mrs. Nanfuka Teopista's Goats" is from LaDuke's Uganda series of work, and I think this version was hanging in the dining hall at the Heifer Ranch.  The rest here were in the Learning Center adjacent to the headquarters building, and I believe the painting shown last (from Poland, "Brzezowka Village Hen Project") was hanging inside the headquarters if I remember correctly.  The second photo above is the "White Earth Reservation Wild Rice Harvest" from LaDuke's work in the Americas.  The two photos of several pieces together in the Learning Center include several pieces from almost all continents served by Heifer.

Heifer International Headquarters

Last week as part of my Arkansas adventures with great friend Deborah, I got to finally visit the Heifer International Headquarters.  I'm going to share several blog posts (probably 4, but maybe more) about my Heifer experiences last week - and I'll ultimately add a photo album here to my blog with many (90-ish) photographs.  I can't possibly use all my pictures in blog posts alone - so if you like, you'll get the whole story in an album!  All the pictures here should open into larger versions if you click on them.  The Heifer headquarters building is next to the Clinton Presidential Center in Little Rock, on a former brown field that Heifer purchased and rehabbed.  (I'll mention now that we didn't actually visit the Clinton Center/Library - not because we weren't interested, but we simply couldn't fit it in!)

The Heifer building itself is a completely green building - built of recycled and recyclable materials, as many local materials as possible (Mississippi Delta pine & Arkansas limestone), cotton and soybean insulation, highly renewable bamboo flooring, a long narrow curved structure with lots of glass and an open floor plan for almost all natural work lighting, and highly efficient ventilation, heating, and cooling.  And did I mention the cistern that collects all rainwater from the roof, which is used to cool the building and operate the toilets?  Or the gravel and sand-filter parking lot that collects rainwater and funnels it from bio-swales into a retention pond and to the created/restored wetlands surrounding the building?  The headquarters office building along with the adjacent Learning Center building (with gift shop, cafe, and a great Heifer Village display center) is a lovely campus.  Our fantastic Volunteer tour guide (Sybil, I believe - but I can't guarantee I'm remembering quite right) showed us the up-high view of the grounds from a balcony on the third floor of the headquarters building.  She explained that the architect, who had been relatively unfamiliar with Heifer International before working on their building design, said after spending time learning about Heifer and what they do that the organization's work was like ripples - change spreading out from the center.  The entire area is designed with walkways and landscaping laid out in rings or ripples.  I only wish we had gotten to see it all when it was a bit greener!  The headquarters building is seen in the picture above behind the sheep/lady/dog statue.  There is a good writeup on Heifer's green headquarters building here on the Heifer website.  It's a great writeup, far better than I can offer here. 

Inside the headquarters (which is an open, staffed, and busy office building - so tours need to be quick and relatively quiet) there are beautiful pieces of artwork including the photo at the top of this post.  The piece is a painter mural reproduction of a tapestry or woven piece of artwork encountered by Jo Luck (President/CEO, although I believe she has recently shifted into a slightly different role?) when visiting one of the countries supported by Heifer projects.  The fabric panels seen hanging in another picture are several sets hanging in an atrium setting on each floor level, all the way down to the ground floor.  There are many panels, maybe 24 at least, each from different countries Heifer serves. 

The Learning Center is filled with terrific exhibits and lots of media point to stop and hear Heifer project stories.  There are are also more than a dozen of Betty Laduke's murals (as seen in the fantastic book my mom gave me for Christmas) in the Learning Center, and even at least one at the Ranch.  I'll share a whole post about those at some point.  The cafe food smelled terrific (we didn't partake) and the gift shop is awesome (we did patronize the shop - twice, and then also the gift shop at the Ranch once or twice).  The sheep statue in front of the building is so charming, and the view of downtown Little Rock is great! It was especially fun for Deborah and I to find the sheep statue there since we were headed out for our Lambing Experience at the Heifer Ranch.  More to follow on the lambing soon.

Be Well, Friends - may some of your dream adventures find you, and may you go out and find them if you have to!

Adventuring

And so I am really, truly on vacation!  Following the weekend of lots of driving and singing for Masterworks, plus a short work shift, Monday morning brings my actual vacation.  I escape this afternoon on a plane bound for Arkansas. 

Have I mentioned I'm excited?  I'll meet up with super friend Deborah for the week.  We will spend a few days with some of her extended family, and then head off for the true adventuring - the Women's Lambing Experience at the Heifer International Ranch in Perryville, Arkansas.  I will return to my beautiful husband and Prune Ridge late next Sunday night and plow back into work Monday morning, but I wouldn't have it any other way for this particular adventure.  I've been waiting a long time for this one!  Many pictures and probably more than a few stories will come home with me for sharing - and through the miracle of technology, I won't even be fully out of touch while I'm gone.  Be well in this week ahead, friends.  I can smell spring creeping into southeastern Michigan this morning!

How Can I Keep from Singing?

Good Evening, All.  Recently, I've been thinking on something I wrote several years ago for a Masterworks Chorale newsletter.  This writing had been on my mind for a few weeks already before this week of horrific tragedy in Haiti, and now I find myself thinking on it again with such a heavy heart for Haitians.  I wrote this short piece for publication in our December 2001 newsletter.  It was written early that fall, just a few weeks after September 11, 2001.  (Please note, I am copying my own text from a very poorly edited reprint by the Otto Guide Arts Calendar since I can't find an original.  I will get a copy of the original in a few days from a fellow singer, but I'm impatient and want to post this now!) 

For the last several weeks my mind has, of course, been focused on the terror and chaos and fear that have grown out of those few short moments in September.  I can't seem to sort my own thoughts and opinions about what we ought to be doing now, let alone the facts and viewpoints of the larger world.  I have trouble even guessing what I might be able to do to improve the state of things. 

And now, I find myself sitting here, trying to put together some brilliant words about singing and how it has affected my life.  I wonder When did I become a singer?  I sang with my parents as a child, and then in choirs through school.  Before I knew where I was headed, I found myself studying voice in college. 

I went to a Lutheran school where I was quickly immersed in the Lutheran choral tradition.  I am not Lutheran, and in fact, I'm not sure I consider myself to be religious.  I do consider myself to be immensely spiritual, and the music I discovered with the Chapel Choir at Capital University was nothing if not spiritual.  I learned in that choir what it feels like to create music of the spirit with a group of singers.  We didn't all come from the same background, and we didn't believe the same things.  We all, however, believed in singing. 

I have learned to love the rituals of learning music in a choir; the repetition of rehearsal, the changing direction until we get it just right, the amount of time spent working for a single performance.  I have also learned to love the performance.  The joy of offering music to an audience and the interplay between performers and listeners are some of the reasons I sing with Masterworks.  How could I possibly not? 

As for the larger world, I can't leave work and go to New York to help.  I can't donate even close to what I would consider to be an appropriate amount of money.  I can't even really make a significant difference in the lives of my friends who are more directly affected by these events.  I can, however, sing.  I can gather with folks from several walks of life and create glorious sound where there didn't used to be any.  I can focus on the text, dissect its meaning, and choose the interpretation that speaks to me.  I can feel my soul stretching to go to places it is pulled by the voices that surround and blend with mine.  I can help to present the sounds we create to the communities we love.  I have to believe that this is an offering the world will embrace.

Alright, Just Watch It. This one made me cry!

If you click on the "YouTube" icon @ lower right corner you can see the explanation there, or just watch this lovely 4 mintues and be charmed!

Homeless to Harvard

Good afternoon to you on this Happy Father's Day!

If you haven't read this article about Khadijah Williams yet (I saw it in the Ann Arbor News this morning), please take a few minutes and check it out.  It's one of those pieces so filled with hope and promise in spite of adversity...  if you are prone to tearing up, you probably will.  It's worth it, I promise.

Ms. Williams graduated from highschool in Los Angeles this past Friday - after spending nearly all of her life to this point homeless, and attending 12 different schools in 12 years.  She graduated 4th in her class and is headed to Harvard on a full-ride scholarship.  Please read her story - I can't do it justice and won't try!  There are some similarities to Liz Murray's story (you may have seen the "Pass it On" billboards featuring Liz) and both deserve to be heard and celebrated.  These two young women are beautiful examples of the reasons I can believe our world will be ok in the long run. 

To Be A Child

John gave me a card this morning (yep, it's somebody's birthday).  It's a UNICEF card, and it's beautiful.  The back of the card has a mission statement piece from UNICEF that ends with "...where every child is free... simply to be a child."  Amen.

And, on that note, this child is certainly free to be a child.  If you have time (it's short), watch this 3 year old talking through her version of Star Wars, Episode IV:

China

Good Evening, All!

It IS a good evening - even though I'm just reading now that the Chinese program headquarters of Heifer International (one of my most favorite charities in the world - the one I'd give up a lot to work for!) - are in the city of Chengdu in Sichuan Province, which is the city 50 miles from the epicenter of this past week's unbelievably devastating earthquake.  Heifer is working hard at restoring communication with their China programs offices, and to begin assessing the damage to their programs.

I'm struck by the fact that their work in China will now be more vital than ever, with potentially thousands of people who might now need their assistance - and didn't before.  I'm also struck by the fact that I can't even fathom "thousands of people," or surviving an earthquake like China saw this week.

If you are in a position to do so, perhaps consider a little donation to Heifer to help with their work in China?  Food Gatherers can, of course, help locally - where there are (unfortunately) more than a few people who could use our support.

The cyclone in Myanmar/Burma...  The earthquake in China...  The tornadoes in our own country - in a polluted town that will likely not even be rebuilt...  And even the challenges locally that we can hardly afford to address!

Life sure is good here in our new home in Ann Arbor.  What in the world did I do to deserve this life of luxury, this job of challenge and fun, these cats of questionable behavior, and this husband of incredibly beautiful love?

Be well in this world, Friends - and be taking care of yourselves in these moments of challenge to our world.

English Retreads, etc!

Hello and Happy Nearly-Next Year, Everyone!

First a quick note especially for those of you who were with us at the DIA (Detroit Institute of Art) yesterday to see me drooling over the $209 bag I successfully talked myself out of buying:  The manufacturer was English Retreads, and the company just gets cooler!  This is a company (an artist, really - Heather English is her name) making amazingly beautiful handbags, totes, and a few accessories out of recycled inner tubes!  Actually talking myself out of buying a $209 bag wasn't difficult, but I was smitten.  So...  John helped me remember the name of the website, and I'm still smitten.  So much so that I just ordered a different bag from the same company (but off of Ebags.com for slightly less $$)!  The pic is the "Coupe" bag that I just ordered!

We had a great (and exhausting!) day at the DIA yesterday with John's family!  The DIA might be mildly disappointed to know that my favorite experience of the day was walking into the "great hall" of the museum that was hung with thousands (at least - I can't imagine how many there really were) of tiny mirrored discs on nylon string.  The effect was breathtaking - sparkly, shimmery circles all the way to the ceiling - a little like being under water and in space at the same time.

Tonight is New Year's Eve, of course - and I'm going to be working my first NYEve show at the club.  Some of you will appreciate that part of the job tonight (for someone - hopefully several of my brave and experienced volunteers!) will be corking about 6 dozen bottles of champagne.  The rest of you will appreciate knowing that I am TERRIFIED of champagne corks!  I'm also thrilled with the fact that there's a winter storm watch for tonight with 5-8 inches of snow predicted.  Whee...  driving home after midnight on New Year's Eve in the snow AND with merrymakers on the road?!?

All will be fine and I will be careful, but I sure won't be overly calm.

And so I end this year filled with gratitude and happiness.  Work is exactly where I should be (even on a stressful day), and Home is even more exactly where I should be.  Family are ever-present in our lives, music is ever-engaging, and Scrabble is ever-challenging.  To my Husband: I love you! 

In the new year I aim for perhaps a move of our home into Ann Arbor, a LOT of collaging that has been neglected these last several months, continued growth and focus at work, and better sleep! 

Happiest end of this year to You, Friends.  I'll see you in the New Year, we'll elect a new president (!), we'll have plenty of good times (regardless of the new president's identity), and I'll continue to report on the silly and sometimes pointless points of my life here.  Be Well and Be Taking Care of Each Other!

Food Gatherers!

Hello All!  I'm pretty sure I forgot to share this bit of news here.  If you didn't know already, you should know that Food Gatherers (the agency John works for!) has been ranked by Charity Navigator as the Top Rated Food Bank in the entire COUNTRY!  I already know they're remarkable people doing remarkable work - but the rest of the world should know too!  If you're stumped on any holiday giving this year, consider a donation to Food Gatherers.  (You can do it right through their website!)

Environmental Working Group

Hello, Friends!

At the risk of sharing something fascinating that you might not really want to see...  here you go!  I've discovered the following website after hearing an interview this past Friday on NPR, and I suspect a number of my friends and family might appreciate knowing about it.  The NPR clip I heard was specifically about chemical ingredients (troublesome ingredients, in particular) in commercial cosmetic products. 

The expert in the show referenced the Environmental Working Group website, and I've been very impressed with what I've found there so far.  The site is enormous - it will take some time to unearth everything they offer, but here's a snapshot:

You will find the Cosmetics Database with a listing of over 25,000 products and a simple analysis of their ingredients (for instance, "this product contains ingredients known to cause or raise cancer risks").  I have (honestly) already pitched my existing skin-care line and replaced it with something they say is better!  Here's one feature I appreciate: when you search for a specific product, they rank exactly where the product falls in relation to other similar products in the database.  If you think immediately you'd be interested in checking out something better for you, you can go to the beginning of the list and see what's listed as the "best."

You will also find information on other toxins in our environment, and where/how you might encounter them; farm subsidies and where/how much they are in your communities; a chemical index with references to the latest research info on zillions (my term - not theirs) of chemicals in the products we use and our natural environment; links and information to contact legislators directly regarding issues that are up for debate and that you'd like to voice opinions on; a large list of items of interest specifically to parents; subcategories on energy policy, water subsidies, natural resources, and the like.

Again, this is the sort of information that might prove more uncomfortable than informative on some subjects, but I am thrilled with the discovery and wanted to pass it along.  (For the record, so far I have found everything in the cosmetics database from actual makeup to skin care products, deodorant, shampoos, and others  - it's awesome, and a little bit disturbing - but things I would rather know than not know, you know?)

I guess I'll say "enjoy" - and I'll continue to try to pass along info I think might be of interest to my readers!  Be Well and Be Taking Care of You!