The jewels of Christine J. Brandt are nature inspired, power infused, works of art. I just fell in love with her ability to guide each precious stone into a perfect wearable manifestation of itself. Each stone is imbued with particular qualities, I have my on The African Black Ebony and Azurite, wouldn't it figure this stone helps to sooth nerves, promotes concentration, helps with making decisions quickly and recognizing priorities. Wow, and here I thought I needed a personal assistant, turns out some fabulous retail therapy should clear it all up in no time.

Design collectives amaze me, their commitment to the collaborative process and underlying manifest truly ignite the idea behind the "collective unconcious." I recently came across this tribe of savvy Swiss designers called POSTFOSSIL and loved their penetrating glimpse into the everyday object.

Their credo goes a little like this:

POSTFOSSIL provides a platform on which designers can regularly get together and discuss the current issues surrounding design and the ways in which they can respond to these issues. A recurring theme began to emerge, centering around the handling of resources in a post-fossil fuel future.The objects designed are intended to encourage everyone to reconsider their own behavior and to be more responsible for their actions.

Here is a peek of how that makes manifest...

TORRE is a pot that grows with the plant. The user therefore saves the cumbersome task of re-potting as it is possible to attach new elements with fresh earth. By stacking the elements each pot can adapt to the growth of the plant.

 
Design: Christine Birkhoven
The concept for the lamp is based on the archaic hand-lamp, which was used for illumination moving from one room to another at home in the dark.


Branch Series
Branch Series is composed of connecting elements which allow us to bring nature to our living rooms in an easy way.

In New York yesterday the editorial press was kept out of Palin's meeting with Afghanistan's President Karzai. Looks like the McCain camp is attempting to contain any unscripted meetings regarding Palin and one can easily see why. Palin's meetings with world leaders is just one big photo opportunity choreographed to try and convince uniformed voters that Palin has a lick of experience regarding foreign affairs.

McCain's political theater was really wearing on my spirits yesterday, so today I was so elated to get this email regarding an Alaskan anti-Palin Rally organized by a small group of women in Alaska. The rally turned out to be the biggest in Alaska's history and although the event went mostly uncovered by major media (surprise, surprise) it has gained unbelievable visibility on the internet.

Please let this event lift your spirits but not weaken your fight.

I just love when design, green-ness, community interaction and the notion of giving back can actually all converge without the result being some watered down, half baked, bureaucratic marginal design nightmare. The Good Envelope Party represents all that is down right positive about collaboration and the power of a creative community. The brain child of Jenny Rask a graphic designer come green no-it-all, (I am not kidding, she also has a green info website called www.askwoollym.com) who decided to host a series of Tuesday night fetes at her home where the lovely ladies of Silverlake and beyond come together and make one-of-a kind beautiful handmade stationery. The envelopes are all hand-made with recycled books and magazines, each includes a 100% recycled fiber content note card and label. Proceeds from all this handy work go to non-profits, local Los Angeles schools and families in need. So grab a stack from her online store and keep the good vibe alive. If you are like me, you will struggle to figure out which ones to keep and which ones you are willing to part with.

http://www.thegoodenvelopeparty.com/









 

Tim Wise is an accomplished, and I might point out, white author who has something to say about this political race...


THIS IS YOUR NATION ON WHITE PRIVILEGE

By Tim Wise

For those who still can't grasp the concept of white privilege, or who
are constantly looking for some easy-to-understand examples of it,
perhaps this list will help.

White privilege is when you can get pregnant at seventeen like Bristol
Palin and everyone is quick to insist that your life and that of your
family is a personal matter, and that no one has a right to judge you
or your parents, because "every family has challenges," even as black
and Latino families with similar "challenges" are regularly typified
as irresponsible, pathological and arbiters of social decay.

White privilege is when you can call yourself a "fuckin' redneck,"
like Bristol Palin's boyfriend does, and talk about how if anyone
messes with you, you'll "kick their fuckin' ass," and talk about how
you like to "shoot shit" for fun, and still be viewed as a
responsible, all-American boy (and a great son-in-law to be) rather
than a thug.

White privilege is when you can attend four different colleges in six years like
Sarah Palin did (one of which you basically failed out of, then returned
to after making up some coursework at a community college), and no
one questions your intelligence or commitment to  achievement, whereas a
person of color who did this would be viewed as unfit for college, and probably
someone who only got in in the first place because of affirmative action.

White privilege is when you can claim that being mayor of a town
smaller than most medium-sized colleges, and then Governor of a state
with about the same number of people as the lower fifth of the island
of Manhattan, makes you ready to potentially be president, and people
don't all piss on themselves with laughter, while being a black U.S.
Senator, two-term state Senator, and constitutional law scholar, means
you're "untested."?

White privilege is being able to say that you support the words "under
God" in the pledge of allegiance because "if it was good enough for
the founding fathers, it's good enough for me," and not be immediately
disqualified from holding office--since, after all, the pledge was
written in the late 1800s and the "under God" part wasn't added until
the 1950s--while believing that reading accused criminals and
terrorists their rights (because, ya know, the Constitution, which you
used to teach at a prestigious law school requires it), is a dangerous
and silly idea only supported by mushy liberals.?

White privilege is being able to be a gun enthusiast and not make
people immediately scared of you.?

White privilege is being able to have a husband who was a member of an
extremist political party that wants your state to secede from the
Union, and whose motto was "Alaska first," and no one questions your
patriotism or that of your family, while if you're black and your
spouse merely fails to come to a 9/11 memorial so she can be home with
her kids on the first day of school, people immediately think she's
being disrespectful.?

White privilege is being able to make fun of community organizers and
the work they do--like, among other things, fight for the right of
women to vote, or for civil rights, or the 8-hour workday, or an end
to child labor--and people think you're being pithy and tough, but if
you merely question the experience of a small town mayor and 18-month
governor with no foreign policy expertise beyond a class she took in
college--you're somehow being mean, or even sexist.?

White privilege is being able to convince white women who don't even
agree with you on any substantive issue to vote for you and your running
mate anyway, because all of a sudden your presence on the ticket has
inspired confidence in these same white women, and made them give your
party a "second look."?

White privilege is being able to fire people who didn't support your
political campaigns and not be accused of abusing your power or being
a typical politician who engages in favoritism, while being black and
merely knowing some folks from the old-line political machines in
Chicago means you must be corrupt.?

White privilege is being able to attend churches over the years whose
pastors say that people who voted for John Kerry or merely criticize
George W. Bush are going to hell, and that the U.S. is an explicitly
Christian nation and the job of Christians is to bring Christian
theological principles into government, and who bring in speakers who
say the conflict in the Middle East is God's punishment on Jews for
rejecting Jesus, and everyone can still think you're just a good
church-going Christian, but if you're black and friends with a black
pastor who has noted (as have Colin Powell and the U.S. Department of
Defense) that terrorist attacks are often the result of U.S. foreign
policy and who talks about the history of racism and its effect on
black people, you're an extremist who probably hates America.?

White privilege is not knowing what the Bush Doctrine is when asked by
a reporter, and then people get angry at the reporter for asking you
such a "trick question," while being black and merely refusing to give
one-word answers to the queries of Bill O'Reilly means you're dodging
the question, or trying to seem overly intellectual and nuanced.?

White privilege is being able to claim your experience as a POW has
anything at all to do with your fitness for president, while being
black and experiencing racism is, as Sarah Palin has referred to it a
"light" burden.?

And finally, white privilege is the only thing that could possibly
allow someone to become president when he has voted with George W.
Bush 90 percent of the time, even as unemployment is skyrocketing,
people are losing their homes, inflation is rising, and the U.S. is
increasingly isolated from world opinion, just because white voters
aren't sure about that whole "change" thing. Ya know, it's just too
vague and ill-defined, unlike, say, four more years of the same, which
is very concrete and certain?

White privilege is, in short, the problem.