Elaine in front of Monrovia

I went to St. Peter’s Church in Midtown Manhattan today to view Cities of Peace, a collection of paintings organized by Dr. Ellen Frank and created by a group of painters from all over the world. I’m proud to say that my sister Elaine was one of the painters, and she worked long and hard for 3 months at the “Illumination Atelier” on Long Island.

I’m not usually one to go to galleries to look at art, but I really do admire the idea behind the Cities of Peace project. It’s all about working together to build and repair what other humans destroyed. There aren’t many things much more noble than that.

Are you working your butt off, but still don’t have what you want?

Annie Leonard spent 10 years traveling around the world to find out what’s really going on in the way of manufactured goods and the impacts on people and the environment.

Click on the link for a really awesome explanation of how our consumer culture really got its start (hint, hint, our government during the ’50s). It’s interesting and not overly preachy. You’ll be motivated.

Story of Stuff

From the banks at Juno Beach

I had a really hard time adjusting to Florida when I first moved here from Brooklyn. I lived in Park Slope, right next to Prospect Park, and felt that any place else wouldn’t have the right mix of culture and beauty to make me happy. I had friends, family, and any type of food I wanted at my fingertips. I was set in my nature lover in the urban jungle ways.

Well, I was correct; I’m not living in the same type of place here in Jupiter. The snowbirds drive super slow, and the pelicans create attack formations for our amusement. But it’s different, and the main thing I’ve learned from moving far away from home is how to see things for what they are and not what other people say they are.

I’m happy I left my comfort zone, and I’ve become more collected and calm away from the hustle of the city. The star shine more brightly here, and I can walk around at night or take a swim in the pool in the middle of the winter. I feel lucky.

There’s something about Miami that pulls you towards it. It might be the fact that it’s considered the cultural hot spot of south Florida, the center of a Top Chef competition, tropical flora, music conferences and scantily clad women. But there’s something about the city that alternates between stylish and sad. A street lined with homeless people during the day is lined with expensive cars at 2 a.m. People drop 20’s like raindrops on a palm tree. The art deco architecture harks to the impending depression more than a boom. It’s all quite strange to a girl from New Jersey.

One way or another, I wound up at the Miami Style Wars this past Saturday. I went to go meet Roman and MJ at their hotel room at the Intercontinental Hotel. Roman had a hearty handshake and a smile, and I was hypnotized by the sunglass lens necklace he wore around his neck. MJ was amazing, and spoke about her distain for the wealth that it takes to make it in the fashion world as opposed to talent.

The first male competitor shook my hand, but I noticed that he kissed the hand of every other lady competitor once they entered the room and the heat of battling turned up.

Then I saw the guy with the fabric shears tattooed on his forearm.

How serious were these people about this event? Quite serious, it turned out. But it didn’t deter me from attempting to have as much fun as possible.

The event was held at the White Room, a club with walls the color of its name and 3/4 under the stars. They’re also quite liberal about smoking down here.

I was fortunate enough to have a coterie of fabulous women (all writers or artists) who were willing to assist me on stage. Wendy, Jana, Cathay: you are all wonderful, thank you. We took my red theme and blew it up into fashion. In 5 minutes.

After getting off the stage, the four of us were asked by a nervous fellow about to go up with “Which one of you bitches took my scissors?”. Bitch, please.

The trance music pounded, the photographers shot, fabric from old wedding dresses were snowflakes in the tropical breeze. A winner was announced, my original competitor. I know now that she’s one of the “it” designers of Miami. Good for her – but the 2nd runner up was so skilled he gave me renewed respect for fashion.

So here’s our result:

After a long Sunday of programming, I decided to help out my coworker with promoting a contest for Style Wars. The above photo is the result! I took recycled paper towels and soaked them in dark purple grape juice. After the towels dried for a few hours, I constructed the shirt with some thread (and 2 pins). Very fun and Mike did a great job as my photographer.