Jesus Loves You

I Enjoy Being a Girl

Click to see it bigger (and read more easily). I'm experimenting with this!

Pinterest

My sister showed me this awesome new website Pinterest.com. It's an online cork board where you can collect visual images; art, clothing, home decorating ideas, etc, and save it all in one place (more easily perused than your Favorites list), and other people can look at what you've found and "re-pin" it to their own boards. You can have as many cork boards as you want- to be categorized by theme or topic. It's an incredible resource and an amazing way to collect and share images on the web. Each image "pin" includes a link back to the source website. Above is a screen shot of one of my boards- I don't have as much stuff on there as other people who've been using the site longer. Check it out!! In order to sign up you click "request invitation" and then they send you an email a few minutes later with log-in instructions.

Playmobil

When I was at home this summer, we laid out every last piece of my favorite childhood toy across the kitchen table. My sister and I played with Playmobil constantly from the time we were old enough not to swallow it well into middle school. We would build Playmobil tree houses in our Christmas trees (and thus prevent mom from getting to decorate them) and take over huge sections of the living room floor. We collected so much of it!


The Orange Cat was a very important character in many games.

It was really fun to look at all of it again, and I was really surprised how I remembered exactly what pieces went with which set and how things fit together. Looking at all of the pieces from all the sets (ranging from "family road trip" to "water park" to "school room") reminded me of the crazy stories we would make up with these very diverse characters.
The knight falls in love with the One Woman Band (it used to be One Man Band but we gave him/her different hair, and so now she's a babe, apparently).
The wild skateboard kids terrorize the proper Victorian ladies with baby buggies!

The Garden for Wayward Girls

The show went really well! Sorry it's taken me so long to post. Micheline has uploaded a montage of clips from the approximately 25 minute piece onto her website, available here.

I took close-up shots of all of the "Pandora's boxes" I created (used as a metaphor for each dancer's personal discovery and growth), and I will try to post those, too. I am in the midst of a move to Chicago and also bought a new computer! So, things are still a little disorganized.

The Garden for Wayward Girls

Micheline Heal, my friend and fellow Oberlin alumna, is choreographing a beautiful modern dance piece called "The Garden for Wayward Girls". I am flattered that she has asked me to help her with the "static" visual elements of the show- mainly some props (a Pandora's box for each dancer) and set pieces/ installation. It has been really fun to work on so far; the boxes are done (pictures later) and now, with a week left before the performance, I am posting some pictures and drawings to help Micheline and I communicate about the set. She's coming down to Richmond from DC tomorrow to hang out and then take everything back with her. Eeeek! Nervous about how much that needs to be done. Pictures below.

Show information: If you are able to get to DC, I would love to see you at the show! The performances are May 20th at 8pm and May 21st at 3pm and 8pm. Tickets are $10 in advance, The piece will be performed at the Capitol Hill Arts Workshop at 545 7th St. SE, Washington DC. You can learn more about the theater company curating this event here, and view Micheline's website here.

Crazy millwork piece I found and painted

"Vines"?

Bumper Sticker

There are few issues I feel commited to enough that I would actually put a bumper sticker on my car, but the importance of vaccines is an exception. I know, I know, I don't have kids, I've already been vaccinated myself, so I'm not exactly in the average demographic of people who get riled up about this issue. BUT. I am currently reading Denialism by Michael Specter, and one of the chapters is about the craziness (denialism) of people who refuse to vaccinate their kids because they fear that 1) vaccines cause autism or 2) that the methyl mercury used as a stabilizer in vaccines is a potential toxin. Both of the above have repeatedly proven to be untrue, in many large and trustworthy studies. The people who refuse to innoculate their children usually are skeptical of the intentions and integrity of the U.S. government, and don't want to believe in the power and capability of modern science (which has gotten us here in the first place).
For those of you who don't know much about this issue, refusing to vaccinate kids under two years old for basic, mostly eradicated diseases such as smallpox, measels, mumps and polio not only puts their children in danger, but also endangers the health of all children they encounter. Some children cannot be immunized for other health and/ or religious reasons, but they are typically protected by what is called 'herd immunity'. Herd immunity means that if about 90% of the population is vaccinated against a disease, they are unlikely to get it, and will therefore protect the unvaccinated among the herd. The fewer vaccinated people, the more quickly herd immunity disappears, and the diseases we thought were history will come back.
This issue was also the subject of the Jan 31st episode of the Colbert Report. He was interviewing Dr. Paul Otis. The interview, of course, was funny, you can watch the whole show here. I just happened to read the comments left under the video, and this one by MichaelS struck me as being really poigniant.

"I'm kind of offended by anyone who don't get their kids vaccinated because it supposedly causes autism. I'm not offended that they are wrong, I'm offended because I have autism, and I'm a lot happier now than I would be if I had polio. Autism isn't that big of a problem, it's only bad for a small minority."

So, here's my bumpersticker, if someone wants to print it: "Protect Herd Immunity! Vaccinate your children!"