She Who Was Lost Is Remembered: Reflections February 4, 2010
More About The Book
The last time I took a journey through this book, it was 10 years ago, give or take.
I set to a campaign of self-healing, checking out and/or purchasing every book for survivors I could find, processing it on an intellectual level.
Times change, thoughts unfold, we learn more, we re-examine.
As I revisit the pages, and literally re-member, put the memories back together, I’ll share reflections here.
I highly recommend this book to the survivors, creative souls, and compassionate warriors out there.
For Harmony’s Sake,
J
Now Playing: Happy Black History Month – Prince February 3, 2010
Prince muses on art, music, and the history of a culture on Tavis Smiley
State of the Union – Where, When, How to Watch January 26, 2010
You can also watch the address at
http://www.youtube.com/citizentube
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State Of The Union Address 2010: Time Of Speech, When It May End, Where To Watch Online (VIDEO)
First Posted: 01-26-10 01:28 PM | Updated: 01-26-10 01:47 PM
President Barack Obama’s speech will likely clock in at just under an hour based on previous years. His address was 51 minutes last year and no State of the Union Address has gone more than an hour since 2000, when President Bill Clinton spoke for an hour and a half.
The State of the Union Address will air on major television news networks.
It can also be watched online at WhiteHouse.gov or via the Hulu stream below.
The Huffington Post will also be carrying extensive live coverage of the event, including instant Twitter reaction and analysis.
My Gender Is Runway January 20, 2010
My Gender is Runway
Jianda Johnson | Tue, 11/17/2009 – 5:17pm
“The search into the unconscious involves confronting the shadow, man’s hidden nature; the anima/animus, a hidden opposite gender in each individual; and beyond, the archetype of meaning.” – from Abstracts of the Collected Works of C.G. Jung
What’s your gender? What vibrations do you engender? What mascu-feminine or femi-masculine costumes might you be rocking these days? (Why) Does this really even matter?
In the strains of Ani DiFranco’s warbles of love, loss, creation, you feel it. RuPaul and the Queens at Lips’ Sunday Gospel Brunch, shake, shimmy, and channel our inner yin/yang. In one breath, Shepard Fairey tattoos our world with the word OBEY and adds a touch of soft, sweet HOPE.
Your creative mission, should you choose to accept it, will be to channel your inner Anima or Animus, and let her/him fly high and free. What’s the point of this exercise? Just that…an excursion. You may want to exercise or exorcise that deep, sweet, inner you that dresses “too boyish” or “too girlish” for the rest of the world. This is a love letter you can fashion for yourself with your own hands to restore a sense of balance, and heighten your sense of awareness of yourself, and your place in the world.
If you’re not familiar with the anima/animus theme, it’s based on Carl Jung’s imaginative psychology, which defines the anima as the feminine inner personality in the unconscious of the male, and the animus is the a masculine inner personality in the unconscious of the female. Carl Jung spoke of the inner truth and longing we embody but don’t often express, as natural artists, whatever your preferred medium.
Be courageously creative, alone or with trusted loved ones. Experiment in the medium of your choice, whether you work with your head, hands, heart, or any combination. Below you’ll find some delicious suggestions for boldly growing where no woman has grown before.
Practical: Plant a garden “in drag.” If you’re a butch type, then add some frilly, girly plants. If you’re femming it up on a daily basis, make it all about weeding and seeding (no room for a garden? Create a garden box. Do you have a purple thumb? Get help at www.yougrowgirl.com).
Whimsical: If you’re shy, you can make up an interpretive dance to your favorite “opposite-gender” song in the solitude of your own space. I like to move about to Ani, because she’s right in-between any assumptive gender spaces.
Magical: Create a collage about the wo/man within. By yourself, or jointly with your friend, your Honey, or a trusted family member. Why “trusted?” Enlightened witnesses will always have your back. If you don’t feel safe inside, you’re less likely to create, or to create with a whole heart.
Just For The Heaven Of It: Doodle. (On arms, notebooks, poster board, the nape of your neck….) Let the doodle sit for a day, or week. Does it speak to you? Is the voice gruff or fluffy?
Colorfully: You may paint, take photographs (with your cell phone? With a top-notch camera?), anything visual and colorful. If you think that’s too frou-frou, then go chiaroscuro: be all obscure and dark about it.
What about me? “My gender is runway.” This has been my mantra all week. My Honey and I visited Club Lips’ Gospel Sunday last week and saw the Queens in all their finest regalia. I realized that I don’t femme it up enough–so being extra femme, for me, is a kind of “drag show.”
Adding just a smidgen more swish to my days made manifest yet another fun reminder of how a creative thought, a flash of inspiration, could lead me back to balance, wholeness, and a subtle, safe disregard of all the world’s gender-boxes. I truly believe that art frees the soul. Feel free to put that thought to the test. I eagerly await your results.
Jianda is a multi-genre artist, artist coach, health foods cheerleader and Holistic Practitioner (please visit Jianda.net or myspace.com/jianda for more info).
Haiti: A community responds January 16, 2010
Haiti: A community responds
One of the things we love most about the Flickrverse is their passionate response to world events around them. Lane Hartwell has reached out to a number of photographers and created Onè Respe:
“By now you have heard of the devastation caused by the massive earthquake in Haiti. Reports are still coming in, and the full measure of the damage is still not known. Hospitals, residences and government buildings have collapsed or have been heavily damaged. In interviews, Haitian officials have asked all friends of Haiti to please provide any assistance possible to the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. They are in desperate need of medical and disaster relief supplies.
We asked several photographers to donate the use of one or more of their works to help create this issue as a fund-raising photography magazine to benefit Haiti with all proceeds from this magazine to be donated to the International Red Cross. The title Haiti: Onè Respe comes from a traditional Haitian greeting meaning “honor and respect.” — Lane Hartwell
Andy(Shotage) has created a new group, Charity Print Auctions where members can post photographs that they would like to auction for charity. Check out the group for the full details on how you can participate.
Mylens has created SOS Haiti a group on Flickr to “help raise money to the organizations working in Haiti right now.“
If you’re undertaking an endeavour in response to recent events in Haiti, please feel free to share them in this discussion topic in Flickr Central.
Onè Respe image from fetching featuring the photography of Peter Pereira.
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