create :: love :: laugh

I may be crazy, but I have decided to start another blog as a place to share my artwork, as well as other visual work that I find inspiring. I've decided to do this for a few reasons, but mainly because I like the way art looks with a white background and I didn't want to change my style here. So, to those of you who were worried that I might not post art here anymore; don't worry...I still will. This other blog is going to be solely dedicated to art and design (including landscape architecture), instead of the menagerie you find here. I'll periodically post things I have been working on and additions to my shops. I'll also try to post works by other people when I can.

If you'd like to visit, the addie is: http://createlovelaugh.blogspot.com.

Give a little hope today

According to Heifer:

• Right now, more than 500 million people are living in "absolute poverty" and more than 15 million children die of hunger every year.

• World Health Organization estimates that one-third of the population is underfed and another third is starving.

• Even in the United States, 46 percent of African-American children and 49 percent of Latino children are considered chronically hungry.

Hunger is something I've never experienced, thankfully, and that makes it hard to sit here and say this is what we should do...I definitely don't have the answers, but it seems doing nothing is not a good solution either.

I realize that the solutions to this problem are extremely complicated. There is an over abundance of food in this world, yet millions (maybe even billions) of people are still starving. The world has changed so much over the past century, even the past 20 years, so that now it's nearly impossible to subsistence farm. People the world over have lost their land to development and large commercial farms. They have been forced to move to cities and slums to find work because they can no longer make a living growing food.

O.K., so this is supposed to be a post about hope, right? So, what can you do today?

• Post about world hunger on April 29.

• Visit Heifer International to learn more about Pass On The Gift.

• Make a small donation or take some other action to end world hunger.

• Join this event and add a badge to your blog before April 29.

• I recently watched the Future of Food again online, and while it makes the problem seem overwhelming, it's a good eye-opener. You can watch the entire video at Hulu by clicking on the link above.

• Support community and small scale agriculture. This, I think, is one of the most important solutions. First of all, this has the direct potential to help feed people in communities that cannot always afford to buy their own food. When people learn to grow food themselves, they are learning a life skill that can help to move them away from hunger and create a community of support. Second, even if you don't grow the food yourself, by supporting a local CSA or family farm, you are giving your money back to the community, and back to families, rather than large scale agriculture and bio-tech companies that do not always have human health at the top of their list. For more information, check out Laurel's post here. It's really a worthy read. Also, you also might want to read about Farmer Frank - it's a happy story :)

Kittens are cute

I've been feeling a bit of a creative drain lately. Maybe this whole thesis thing just sucked the life out of me...while I recoup, I'll post some pictures of cute little kittens to make you smile. Who doesn't like kittens, right? I mean, I can understand if you don't like cats (me, I'm allergic) but everyone loves kittens.

These little guys showed up on N's doorstep a few weeks ago, after some stray mama (unknown at the time) cats made themselves at home in his yard. Anyone want to adopt?

Winner!

By means of the random number generator I chose a winner for the give-away

....drum rolllllllll.....

ShrimpSaladCircus is the lucky winner of the little turtle who can...congratulations!
If you get a chance, pop on over to Lindsay's and Marion's blog to see the great red vinyl "couch-beast" they stumbled upon at the local thrift...or scroll down to see the cute kittens.

If you didn't win, don't worry...I have a feeling there will be more to come soon :)

Happy Earth Day...hope you were able to do some good celebrating...I'm off to bed now after a long and wonderful day...

Tagged

It's late, I'm tired...bleary eyed from working on my webpage. But, I think I have enough energy for this quick little game that Jackie at Smoothpebble tagged me on. After all, it's been quite a few days now and she was nice enough to think of me. I like fun little things like this, it has just been hard to get around to anything lately.

So here's the scoop. I have to post the sixth picture in the sixth folder on my computer. Then I must tag six others to play along. (I'll do this part, but don't feel obligated).

O.k. Ready?

Well, sorry if it disappoints...it is rather unexciting.

I took this picture last year after doing yard work as remembrance of my hard day's labor. Now that I look at it, it's really not so impressive, but at the time it felt like so much brush. I spent hours pruning roses, weeding, and trimming the remains of winter's touch on the plants. It's too bad that the pile couldn't have stayed there for a while because it would have made great compost and some mighty fine lizard habitat in the meantime.

Well, here's a picture from the same bunch that you might find a little more appealing. The result of hard work:

So that's it! Who do I tag?

Jamie at Paint til' you Faint (Who is probably still waiting for me to get to the last meme that she tagged me on...I will do it, I've already got the list in my head)
Warren at Touch the Wind (He always has wonderful photos from around Tucson to share)
Lucy at box elder (such a great photographer she is)
Rachel at Cornflower Blue Studio (I'm in love with her art)
Lorianne at Hoarded Ordinaries (always great commentary to accompany her wonderful photos)
Granny J at Walking Prescott (fun and fabulous)

In Your Opinion

Hi all!
I'd like to get some of your feedback and know what type of posts you enjoy the most when you read my blog, so I've put a survey at the bottom of the blog. I've been feeling like I don't always have a direction for this blog, and maybe that's o.k. But I would like to know what you like reading/seeing the most so that I can keep you stopping by. Your opinion means a lot to me. Also, feel free to comment here if there is anything I missed or if you have other feedback. I'd love it all, positive or negative. Thanks a bunch!
x Kim

An interesting way to say "I love you"

I happened upon this on my bike ride home yesterday. Somebody has a lot of patience...

Tis the Season for Goodwill

I hate shopping, but there is something about going to a thrift shop that really appeals to me. It must be the sense of adventure that arises from searching through all of the tacky or useless stuff to find one small treasure. Yes, I think it is the thrill of the catch. And it's rewarding in more ways then one...it's better for your pocket book and better for the environment.

This week N and I stopped at one particular Goodwill store for the first time and I had really good luck. Take a look at these finds:

N bought me this complete dinnerware set for $25...the whole kit-n-caboodle: 8 dinner plates, 8 dessert plates, 6 bowls, 8 mugs, 1 creamer, 1 serving plate, 1 serving dish...it's a 1978 studio kiln set from Japan

3 small glass containers

a clay vessel from Thailand

1 piggy bank

2 pairs of shoes and a vintage tie

numerous other things including a cast iron skillet, copper plated skillet, glass casserole dish, 2 pairs of jeans, 2 skirts....

.....and a partridge in a pear tree......

Totally Addicted....

I am completely and utterly addicted to this thing called the blog. If you are reading this, you may be able to sympathize. Now, instead of checking my e-mail incessantly, I check my Blogger dashboard to see what all of you are writing out there. I'll compare it to a sugar craving (it's something I can understand because I have never done drugs). You get that itch that you need to satisfy. But once you succumb and indulge, all you want is more, more, more. I guess that is a testament to all of you! You must be writing some juicy stuff. Or perhaps, it's not so juicy, but it's just the sweet stuff of life that we all can relate too. It's a small way of feeling a part of something--a part of this world.

On a different note, I came across this website Ted.com on a blog I follow, Poketo. Ted is a library of videos of speeches and presentations from brilliant people. There is a lot of good stuff here, but this particular one caught my eye today.



I found it to be enlightening and not all about doom and gloom. It's more of a history lesson. I do wish he would have had more time to talk a little more about solutions though. This ending was a little disappointing. Also, please try to get past the comb-over. :)

And Sweva and Granny J- I see a lot of connections to the Panarchy theory and possibly the Christaller Theorum. I swear, Sweva, one day soon I will get back to you on that.

A New Earth

I recently read this book called "A New Earth" by Eckhart Tolle. It has totally changed my life, so I wanted to share it with you. If you are looking for a good book that will guide you towards living a more fulfilling life, check it out.