Currently Loving...

... the Paris Color Project from the Little Brown Pen. Photographer Nichole captures beautiful details of a colorful life in Paris. If you like what you see, you can even purchase collages of her photos here. I think her gray collection would have to be my pick. For those of you who have seen my wardrobe, that comes as no surprise. 

Some of my other favorites, below.

Last Weekend

I'm keeping this one short since I'm supposed to be going to Safeway to buy bottled water. Hunkering down this weekend, albeit for Hurricane Irene, is welcome after a fun, but commute-heavy, weekend in New York and Princeton last weekend. We had a wonderful time with Pem's family which included a delicious dinner at Mexican restaurant Hecho En Dumbo (what incredible spicy tamarind margaritas!) and a fabulous birthday brunch hosted by Pem's sister and her boyfriend. Here are some photos from the trip...

Weaving Wonders

I don't know about you guys, but I am personally ready for fall to arrive. I can't wait for the colors of fall. Not only do the trees' rich, earthy hues captivate the photographer's eye, but they also are wonderful colors to wrap yourself in against the season's crisp weather.

I just discovered the beautiful, handwoven scarves of fashionABLE. This non-profit organization aims to create sustainable business for women in Africa. Currently their scarves are made by women participating in their first program in Addis Ababa. I didn't realize this until my scarf (like the striped one pictured above) arrived, which has a tag indicating it was "Made in Ethiopia". fashionABLE just released a number of new styles for fall that I highly encourage you to check out. I guarantee - these scarves will keep you warm inside and out!

(sidenote: this discovery is such perfect timing as I'm currently reading Abraham Verghese's Cutting for Stone. This book is a beautifully woven tale of twins, born from mysterious and haunting circumstances, who come of age in Ethiopia during the 1960's and 1970's. I can't put it down!)

En Route

We were in New York and Princeton this weekend to celebrate Pem's birthday with his family. These two pictures (the first one is from my iPhone) are en route to New York on Saturday morning. I just love the colors. More pictures of the weekend to come soon!

 

"A child may ask, "What is the world's story about?" And a grown man or woman may wonder, "What way will the world go? How does it end and, while we're at it, what's the story about?"... I believe that there is one story in the world, and only one, that has frightened and inspired us, so that we live in a Pearl White serial of continuing thought and wonder... Virtue and vice were warp and woof of our first consciousness, and they will be the fabric of our last, and this despite any changes we may impose on field and river and mountain, on economy and manners. There is no other story. A man, after he has brushed off the dust and chips of his life, will have left only the hard, clean questions: Was it good or was it evil? Have I done well - or ill?"

                                                                                                        - John Steinbeck, East of Eden

Unexpected Trends of Telenovelas

So – my previous post didn’t include any pictures and the tone was a little spicier than I had initially intended. But it was a grizzled, stormy afternoon and that sometimes puts me in a certain mood.

This post continues with the childbirth and maternal well-being thread, but instead takes us to Brazil. My dad forwarded along an interesting collection of work from photographer John Stanmeyer (his photo, above). These photos of beautiful Brazilian women (I love his photo of the dental technician wearing hot pink pumps on the job) show the popularity of telenovelas, and their strong female leads, in the country. Furthermore, an Inter-American Development Bank study illustrates that these telenovelas aren't trashy old soap operas, but rather, they have had a direct effect in encouraging women’s empowerment in Brazilian society and contributing to the nation’s rapidly decreasing fertility rate.

How's that for life imitating art?

Developing International Pornography

Oops. I meant to write "International Development Pornography". Certainly caught your eye though, no?

I don't know about you guys, but I've been receiving some interesting envelopes in the mail lately. These envelopes, usually from an organization with a mission to end child hunger, are covered in and contain images of little brown children with dirt-smudged cheeks staring out at you with imploring eyes. The envelope is encouraging- "You can help feed this child for only a nickel a day". But the weird thing is that there's an actual nickel in the envelope! If you tear open the envelope to get the nickel (and to figure out why they are sending you money) – BAM! You come face to face with an even more devastating photo of a hungry child – this time, the kid has even dirtier cheeks, possibly a cleft-lip, and his teary eyes are as wide as saucers.

By now, I've figured out how to open the envelope just enough so I can fish out the coin without seeing any of the actual contents. I've collected about $1.25 in change so far which I’ve re-distributed to some homeless people around Dupont Circle. But that’s besides my point, really.

My curiosity lies in the creation, selection and motivations of such images. Since those billions in aid dollars that were raised for the famine in Ethiopia some thirty years ago with the wide distribution of images of emaciated, naked, black toddlers, the library of so-called “international development pornography” has only grown.

How effective are these images? Have we become desensitized to them as we’ve faced increasing exposure to such pictures? And most importantly, do these images inform our concepts of worthy beneficiaries of aid?

Going beyond the targeted mailing campaigns of select US-based aid outfits, what kinds of images are associated with international development issues being discussed in mainstream media? Given the extraordinary reach of international news networks these days, it is incredible to think of how narrow and shallow most news content is.

I will never forget - three years ago, I picked up the Washington Post Sunday Edition at our neighborhood Safeway. On the front page, above the fold, was a large centered photo of a black woman in the middle of a birthing room in Sierra Leone. Even if you missed the picture, the author paints it for you in the lead paragraph.

The special edition was about maternal mortality in Sierra Leone, voted the lowest ranking on that specific development and global health indicator with one out of every 8 women dying in childbirth. Certainly something extremely important to raise people’s awareness about, but why not mention that the District of Columbia itself, the home of The Washington Post, has a shameful maternal mortality rate for being the capital of the United States? Furthermore, maternal mortality stats across the United States show that black women are three or four times more likely to die in childbirth than white women. But it's certainly easier to commentate on maternal mortality in an impoverished, poorly governed country in Africa.

No pictures for this post. I couldn't find any good ones. Don't even get me started on the Google image results you get if you search for "hungry American kid". I'll give you a hint, anyway. Google asked me, "Did you mean: angry white kid?" or "Did you mean: hungry African kid?"

Oy vey.

Collections for Closure

Get this - apparently there is a Museum of Broken Relationships. Started in Croatia in 2006, this traveling museum exhibits items such as the expected "I Love You" teddy bear to the not-so-expected packet of demined soil. The project reminds me of Orhan Pamuk's The Museum of Innocence.

What, if any, souvenirs of lost love might you exhibit in such a museum? 

Empire State of Mind

Hope you all are enjoying a wonderful weekend. We are having a busy one. Yesterday we saw a play based on the movie Steel Magnolias at the Keegan Theatre. I've never seen the movie so I had no idea what to expect. Some of the memorable quotes, delivered deadpan by the character Ouiser:

"I'm not crazy. I've just been in a bad mood for forty years"

"You are too twisted for color TV"

"I do not go to plays because I can take a nap for free at home. I don't see movies because they're full of trash and naked people. And I do not read books because if they're any good, they're gonna make 'em into a miniseries."

Fantastic. Will have to check out the original movie now. Speaking of movies, we went to see Life in a Day with my friend Pete at West End Cinema, an independent art house cinema in Georgetown. It's truly incredible we can do projects of that scale these days. No naked people, though.

As promised, below are a few photos from our previous weekend around Manhattan...

 

 

Hugs for Trees

My friend Daniel is the co-founder of the Drylands Natural Resource Center (DNRC), a non-profit dedicated to improving natural resource management in Kenya's drylands. Since DNRC's birth five years ago, the founders of the DNRC have developed a comprehensive program to help Kenyan farmers achieve the following:

• improved quality of their soil and agricultural yields
• additional income from tree products
• resource maximization to suit their personal goals and environmental needs
• development and communication of forestry and agricultural techniques suited to arid and semi-arid regions

The DNRC offers farmers access to resources so they can learn more about improving the health and productivity of their land - not only from trainers but also from one another. The DNRC's demonstration farm allows for hands-on learning, in addition to serving as a production facility and seed bank for drought-resistant tree saplings.

Right now, the DNRC is a participant in Global Giving's Global Open Challenge. If the organization is able to reach it's goal of raising $4,000 from 50 different donors, it will earn a permanent place on Global Giving. What is a permanent spot at Global Giving good for? The DNRC will be eligible to receive additional funding via Global Giving from a slew of donors - both private and public - and make significant headway towards financial sustainability.

I urge you to harness that inner tree hugger and donate. You can donate here on the DNRC's Open Challenge site. There are only 18 days left!

Below is a video of Nicholas Syano, a DNRC founder, speaking more about the organization's work.




(photo credit: unknown)

Brooklyn Charm: Part 2

Our Adventures in Brooklyn (cont'd)...

Pem and I returned to Brooklyn on Sunday as I was determined to visit the Brooklyn Museum. The museum's Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art is displaying The Dinner Party, an installation by Judy Chicago which centers around a banquet setting honoring prominent women from history and mythology. There was also a fascinating exhibit on the Hindu god Vishnu. Best of all, our visit turned out to be free! Paying entry to museums is a big deal for us Washingtonians...

We also saw art outside of the museum...

All in all, we had a great time bopping around Brooklyn. It's a big borough though so there is plenty left to explore next time. Thanks for having us Brooklyn, we'll be back!

p.s. - pictures from the other side of the Brooklyn Bridge to come soon...

Brooklyn Charm: Part 1

Many thanks to those of you who sent your recommendations for my first ever visit to Brooklyn. We had a wonderful weekend in New York - a good portion of which was spent in Brooklyn. Though I always love observing the hustle and bustle of Manhattan, Brooklyn's pace feels more like my tempo.

On Saturday, we kicked the day off in Williamsburg with an incredible sunrise-colored beet and carrot juice, freshly made from Lokal. I have vowed to return and try their vegetarian pinto bean-mushroom burger. We then made our way down towards the Grand Army Plaza.

We took a little walk around Prospect Park. We saw plenty of kite flying, some serious barbeques and even a gladiator battle.

After so much excitement, we were hungry. Luckily the Wafels & Dinges Truck was just around the corner and we stuffed ourselves with Belgian wafel goodness. If you think Nutella is good, you must try Spekuloos. Spekuloos is a spread made out of cookies. Enough said.

On our way to the subway, we stopped by the Wolf & the Deer for drinks. They serve up the most refreshing cucumber mint cocktail and their menus are bound into old books with content sure to enliven conversation.

We returned to Manhattan for dinner. I'm not sure how the wolf theme came about, but we enjoyed the rustic intimacy and fresh flavors of Edi and the Wolf. Recommended to us by Pem's sister, this Austrian restaurant has a surprising number of vegetarian options. After a nightcap at a place called Mama's Bar, we called it a night. It was a day full of exploration punctuated by delicious food and wonderful company - it's a tough life, I know.

With visions of the Brooklyn Bridge and wafels in our heads, we planned to return to Brooklyn the next day.

To be continued...

Weekend Getaway!

We're off to New York this weekend to meet some friends visiting from San Francisco. I've never been to Brooklyn, so we plan to spend our Saturday there. Any recommendations of things to (in order of importance) eat/see/do in Brooklyn?


(photo credit: Philipp Klinger, who shares a spectacular set of photos taken in New York. I especially love his abstract photos, like this one)

The B-List

This weekend was full of lovely things like...

....books...    

(I want my house to look like this one day!)

 

...berries....

(these raspberries and their cartons were the exact colours of my friend's wedding!)

 

 ....and brunch where I broke bread with wonderful company. 

Pem had family in town this weekend and we battled the heat by spending most of our time inside a few of our neighborhood's tastiest restaurants. This included cheesy, crusty pies from all-organic Coppi's, a small plates dinner at Cork (their grilled artichokes - to die for) and the richest eggs Florentine at the funky Tabard Inn. We ended the weekend at El Centro D.F. with some salty margaritas and shared their rooftop with Kal Penn on what must have been one of his final days in DC.

Blisteringly hot? Yes. Boring? Never. Stay blissful, my friends!