Merry Christmas! It’s that time of the year again, and this year, it’s going to be bigger and better than ever- bigger donations and better understanding of the need to solve challenging social issues, that is.  Advent Conspiracy says, “This year, give presence.”

Water! Advent Conspiracy has joined with Living Water International again this year to promote and supply clean, drinkable water sources all around the globe.  If Santa wasn’t so busy with supporting avarice, he could get in on this, too.

I think a kitchen should be painted yellow.  This is mostly because my favorite color is yellow.

What color is your kitchen?  and why do/don’t you like it?  For those who want to make an immediate change but are on a budget, Sue Bennett, an interior designer and CEO of Bennett Design said to CTV.ca today: new paint is the key.

The Detroit News agrees with me: “There’s no need to stick to the pale shades of yellow most often used in kitchens,” she [Margaret Walch, director of the Color Association of the United States] says.  “Instead, try Spanish bloom yellow, such as Benjamin Moore’s Banana Yellow (2002-2). “People like their kitchens to wake them up a bit in the morning. A deep, bright color helps make the kitchen more eye-opening.”

I like tall ceilings but my little rambling rambler ranch has 8 foot ceilings throughout.  So I am going to have the walls in the front room repainted, and I will bring that color 4 inches up onto the ceiling, and then paint the rest of the ceiling a light arctic blue/white.  To bring the yellow (again, my favorite color!) from the kitchen, at the back of the house, into the front room, l think l will add white to my bucket of yellow paint and ask the hardware store paint department to shake it for me in the shakey-machine.  That will keep the hue but change the tone (?? I think!)  Since the yellow l picked is called Behr brand ‘manila tint’ it is very yellow, don’t let the ‘tint’ fool you!  I like that.

The Secret of Wellington’s Map, written by Mollie Kehl Penrod, mixes history, science, suspense, fiction and adventure into a wonderful story for children and adults everywhere.

Penrod’s first published novel, The Secret of Wellington’s Map features two friends, Nicole and Jaime, just trying to enjoy their summer vacation in their small town, Pauls Valley, Oklahoma. But trouble and adventure arises when they uncover a mysterious and ancient map. The best friends soon start to realize that there’s more to this map than meets the eye. Now, in a desperate struggle for their lives and everything dear to them, Jaime and Nicole must face an entirely different world that neither of them ever imagined to exist. Though the friends are ready for exploration, will it be too much for the teenagers to handle? Wrought with suspenseful adventure, an invigorating plot and skillfully written dialogue, Penrod tells a life-like and believable tale that will leave you wanting more.

An interesting mixture of history and science really brings this story to life with it’s truly one of a kind plot and memorable, vivid characters. The theme of brave heroines gives the story a classic touch of determination and resolve.

Filled with authentic and talented illustrations by Adam Penrod, true to life history and the excitement of science-fiction, The Secret of Wellington’s Map is simply a joy to read and a great addition to anyone’s library.

Fashion Week in New York began with the Earth Pledge Creates Future Fashion Show, which included a hemp-based pant suit by Calvin Klein, a dress made of recycled cashmere by Michael Kors, and a Donatella Verace hemp-silk gown. Earth Pledge, a non-profit organization, which originally began as a United Nations committee and promotes sustainablity, produced the Future Fashion event.

So why is there a need for ‘green’ clothing? PBDE (flame retardants), synthetc dyes and fibers are one concern, due to the pollution caused by textile manufacturing. Even when cotton, wool, silk, or cashmere are used (all essentially natural fibers), they are often gathered using processes that harm the environment along the way, and then have to be transported all over the world for refinement and clothes production, and I’m not the only one who thinks this is a big deal. According to the Organic Trade Association, sales for organic fiber linens and clothing climbed to 203 million in 2006, up nearly 27% from 2005.”

I’ve told ya’ll before to ‘look at the labels’, so here’s a list of what to look for on clothing tags:

• bamboo fibers (aka sasawashi) – bamboo grows back quickly and few additives are needed to make it into yarn and cloth
• modal - made of beech trees’s celluose, often a rougher material and useful for bedding and towels
• ingeo – trademarked process of fermenting corn sugar to create a biopolymer
• tencel – aka lyocell, also from vegetable cellulose; often softer than rayon and used in clothes and blends
• hemp – tried and true, creates a sustainable and durable fiber, has become softer over the years
• soy – cloth from soy is often silky and very durable (triple the strength of wool)
• peace silk - allows the silk to be harvested without any harm to the silk worm
• abaca fiber – made out of the leaves of the abaca plant, which is native to the Phillipines

You can find eco chic clothing at various prices and stores. More traditionally, Patagonia, Nike and Timberland have environmentally friendly clothing in stock, but organic and sustainable clothing can also be found at Edun, Loomstate, Banana Republic, Gap, Old Navy, Wal-Mart, Target, Nordstrom, Levi Strauss & Co, H&M and Barneys New York.

With all of the variety in style and price, you have no excuse! Make your next textile purchase a sustainable one. And for good measure – take the bus or shop with a friend!

 The American Institue of Architects’ (AIA) Committee on the Environment holds a contest for the year’s Top Ten Green Projects.  You can see details of the last several years winners at their website.  This picture above is of the Carnegie Institution of Washington Global Ecology Center
(Global Ecology Research Center), a winner for the 2007 competition.  Some of its environmental aspects included reductions in carbon emissions during the building process and the with the materials used, as well as a focus in water use efficiency, and innovative ventilation and lighting systems throughout the building. If you or a freind have a green project you’d like to enter, there’s still time!  The deadline is February 14th.

I’ve put together some health tips that will work for you during Superbowl Sunday, the World Cup, the Olympic Games, the Kentucky Derby (here in my home state, I’m proud to say), and all the days in between, in fact. Read on for information on healthy hearts as well as avoiding domestic violence/anger issues on the big day. We want you to be healthy enough to enjoy the party when your team brings home the win!! And if the score doesn’t go your way, well, all the more reason to read on…

HEART SMART
In a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, German researchers found that Bavarian soccer fans more than doubled their risk of heart attacks and cardiac trouble while watching matches of the 2006 World Cup soccer championships. In short, viewing a stressful soccer match more than doubles the risk of an acute cardiovascular event. The recommendation is, in view of this excess risk, particularly in men with known coronary heart disease, preventive measures are urgently needed.

Here are signs that can mean a heart attack is happening:
(The American Heart Association)

As with men, women’s most common heart attack symptom is chest pain or discomfort. But women are somewhat more likely than men to experience some of the other common symptoms, particularly shortness of breath, nausea/vomiting, and back or jaw pain.

Learn the signs, but remember this: Even if you’re not sure it’s a heart attack, have it checked out. Minutes matter! Fast action can save lives — maybe your own. Don’t wait more than five minutes to call 9-1-1.

GAME DAY ANGER
Despite what many people believe, domestic violence is not due to the abuser’s loss of control over his behavior. In fact, violence is a deliberate choice made by the abuser in order to take control over his wife or partner. Game day anger — winning scores or losing scores– is one of many possible excuses that an abuser can use to try to justify abusive behavior.
Workers at women’s shelters, and some journalists, have long reported that Super Bowl Sunday is one of the year’s worst days for violence against women in the home: says FAIR (Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting)
The backlash articles, which accused the reports of abuse as being misleading, bore all the traits of typical coverage of domestic violence: They belittled the victims, minimized the crisis and missed the point–which is that, according to FBI averages, a woman is battered every 18 seconds. That is enough to deserve attention all year long.

The “debunkers”, led by Ken Ringle of the Washington Post (1/31/93), claimed that FAIR, in coalition with women’s groups, slanted the facts in their effort to get NBC to run the PSA. Ringle (and journalists at AP, the Boston Globe and the Wall Street Journal) asserted that the coalition had claimed “national studies” linked Super Bowl Sunday to increased assaults. No such claims were made. In fact, FAIR made the point repeatedly that domestic violence movement is gravely underfunded and understudied.

FAIR hoped that the broadcast of an anti-violence public service announcement on Super Sunday, in front of the biggest TV audience of the year, would sound a wake-up call for the media, and viewers across the nation.

If you’re afraid for your immediate safety, call 911. For help and advice on escaping an abusive relationship, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) or 1-800-787-3224.

I pity those who “hate” reading. I really do. Life is absolutely nothing without the gift of literature. And, like I said before, books are a gateway drug to knowledge. When one is engaged in a book, (that means reading) one may feel inthe book. What I mean is, actually thinking through the characters eyes and sparking one’s imagination.

So who needs TV? Ok, there is the Lord of the Rings Trilogy that started out as books, evolved into classics, and then they filled up the big screen. Cinema and TV are totally different. Ok, then there is Masterpiece Theater and anything else by station WGBH. These are the exceptions that prove the rule.

Remember when the internet first was getting popular, some urban legend got started that it was going to replace all books and any or all printed material? Actually, the opposite is true, that people just would rather find what they need online, then PRINT IT OUT to read, AFK (away from keyboard.) Result: there are more books than ever. P.s. Don’t forget the books about how to use the information technology effectively!

What are you reading? I’m working on the Bartemaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud for my fiction selections, and for non-fiction I am getting a jump start on spring by reading a library copy of The Victory Garden Landscape Guide.

Finally, speaking of library, let’s go!

Do you consider yourself a nature-lover? An appreciator? To get the most out of your view, try nature journaling. Now is a good time to start so that you can really appreciate the change is season. Here are some simple steps to make your own nature journal:

1. Start by opening a window and taking note different types of species, colors, cloud types.

2. Choose a notebook and spend ten to fifteen minutes writing about your observations.

3. Draw (preferably with a pencil) what you can see as accurately as possible.

4. Buy plant and bird guide books for your local area, so you know what you’re looking at.

5. Keep it up!

Another tip: Keep a camera around to capture wild things in action. Thomas Haney, a photographer from Austin, Texas has taken landscape and micro nature photography. To see more photos like the one above, check out Thomas Haney’s website. Of his photos, Thomas says:

“One thing [photography] has certainly taught me,especially macro photography, is how much beauty and complexity there is everywhere, if you just look closely, of course that’s nothing a little serious contemplation couldn’t teach you. I’d say the most positive influence it’s had on me is just to get me out in the wilderness and paying attention.”

A great book I own:

Keeping a Nature Journal: Discover a Whole New Way of Seeing the World Around You by Clare Walker Leslie and Charles E. Roth