Today I’m excited to interview Tarie, book reviewer and blogger extraordinaire! Tarie started the blogs Asia in the Heart, World on the mind, as well as Into the Wardrobe. Both blogs focus on multicultural literature for children and young adults, with a generosity of information about Asian writers and illustrators through book reviews and interviews. Tarie is also a staff member for Color Online, a website dedicated to empowering women writers and readers. Tarie is a grad student in Anglo-American Literature, an editor of EFL instructional material, as well as a former (and future) English teacher. She currently lives in the Philippines. Her websites are a living illustration that multicultural books know no borders!
Hi Tarie, thank you for joining us today!
Tarie: Thank you so much for having me, Nathalie. It’s great to be here at Multiculturalism Rocks! =D
Please, further develop the statements implied in the names of your blogs, and tell us what prompted you to start them.
Here is my blog story:
I started Into the Wardrobe in early 2005. Even though it was a personal blog, many of my posts were about children’s and YA books because I started reading a lot of children’s and YA books around that time. (But I didn’t know the kidlitosphere and YA blogosphere even existed!) I named my blog Into the Wardrobe because a book takes us to a different world, just like the magical wardrobe in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe took the Pevensie siblings to Narnia. I love traveling to different worlds by reading books and The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis are some of my favorites.
In late 2007, I received an email from an author in the UK asking if I was interested in reading and reviewing her YA fantasy novel for my blog. I was really bemused. I thought, “How does this author know about me and my blog? Why is she sending me her novel and wow, she cares about what I will think of it???” I said yes to the author because I love fantasy novels for young readers and because reading and reviewing a book for my blog was a new and exciting thing to do.
Then the personal assistant of an author in the US contacted me about reviewing a picture book. A YA fantasy author, also in the US, invited me to be part of her blog tour. I had a lot of fun reviewing books and participating in a blog tour. I also discovered that there was an entire community of people blogging passionately and seriously about children’s and YA books. I discovered blogs like A Fuse #8 Production, Chicken Spaghetti, and Big a Little a and was so inspired by them that I decided to blog passionately and seriously about children’s and YA books too!
In 2008, I started searching for a blog just on Asian children’s and YA books. I couldn’t find one and told myself that I would wait until such a blog was created and fully support it. In 2009, I discovered and was inspired by Color Online and Reading In Color, but there was still no similar blog for Asian children’s and YA books. Of course there are many, many blogs that feature Asian books, authors, and illustrators. But I couldn’t find one that was WHOLLY devoted to Asian children’s and YA books. And I was looking for an international blog. I wanted to read interviews of Filipino and Filipino American children’s book authors. I wanted to read reviews of YA books by Japanese and Japanese Canadian authors. I wanted to see the work of Chinese illustrators from Sydney and Melbourne, not just from Hong Kong and Taipei. I was interested in Indian kid characters in India and Indian kid characters in the UK. I was interested in Persian teen characters in Tehran and Persian teen characters in Paris.
So I started Asia in the Heart, World on the Mind in 2009 because I wanted to celebrate, share, and promote Asian children’s and YA books, authors, and illustrators from around the world. I love my Asian heritage and Asian cultures and I love children’s and YA books. My second blog allows me to combine those loves.
I started Asia in the Heart, World on the Mind because it was needed.
If a Djinn were to appear and tell you he would grant any wish regarding Asia in the heart, World on the Mind and Into the Wardrobe, what would you ask? (note: this is a twisted way to ask you what you wish to accomplish through your blogs, lol)
I would wish that both my blogs would inform, entertain, and inspire readers. And I would wish (I get more than one wish, right? =D) that Asia in the Heart, World on the Mind would become an invaluable resource and help the development and visibility of Asian children’s and YA books around the world.
May your wishes be granted, though if you ask me you’re well on your way to experience them. As a member of Color Online, what are your functions?
For Color Online, I can contribute any reviews of books by women writers of color and interviews of women writers of color. The books can be for children, teens, or adults, but I try to focus on books for children.
This is a strange question, but I need to ask. In America multicultural books are not considered mainstream. Is this the case in Asia, meaning from your experience would a teen in the Philippines easily pick up a MG or YA book with characters from a culture other than his? Hispanic for example ?
A young reader in the Philippines would easily pick up a book from another country, especially books from the U.S., the U.K., and Japan! I think that in some ways Filipinos are open to other cultures. This is partly because of our history (we have been under the Spanish, American, and Japanese governments), partly because of the Filipino diaspora, and partly because geographically the Philippines is at a global crossroad.
Now the problem is that a young reader in the Philippines would not easily pick up a book from his own country. This is mostly because there aren’t a lot of Philippine books to choose from. Philippine picture books are going strong, but there aren’t a lot of Philippine middle grade and YA books – yet. We’re working on it! =D
I look forward to MG and YA Filipino books! What is the latest book that made you cry?
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin. It is just so beautiful, moving, enlightening, and inspiring.
And laugh?
The Teashop Girls by Laura Schaefer.
I knock on your door one evening, in the middle of a life crisis, an unprecedented emergency: I have nothing to read! Without skipping a beat, you slap a book in my hand. What’s its title? (And why that one)
Ha! If you knock on my door, that means you are in the Philippines. I would give you Naku, Nakuu, Nakuuu! written by Nanoy Rafael and illustrated by Sergio Bumatay III. You’d have to spent the night of course. Naku, Nakuu, Nakuuu! is a touching story about a boy who is about to become a big brother. We would oooh and aaah over the playful and surreal illustrations. I would explain to you the Filipino words and details in the illustrations. And we’d eat all the dried mangoes and durian candy in the refrigerator!
I am so coming to visit you, now! Which Filipino children’s book author would you recommend?
Candy Gourlay! She has a fresh voice and a wonderful combination of Filipino humor and British dry wit. Everyone should watch out for her debut novel for young readers, Tall Story. Tall Story is set in the Philippines and in the U.K. It’s out in the U.K. and in the Philippines this year, and next year in the U.S. Note from MR: Amazon.com lists the release date of Tall Story as May 27, 2010, so the book might be available online at that date as well.
And regarding a Filipino picture book?
Check out Naku, Nakuu, Nakuuu! written by Nanoy Rafael and illustrated by Sergio Bumatay III.
Favorite Asian MG and YA?
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin. Note from MR: Where the Mountain Meets the Moon is the winner of the Newbery Honor. Don’t miss a chance to read it!
Tarie, thank you so much for your time and for sharing your knowledge with us. I look forward to your reviews and author/illustrator interviews on your blog. Thank you for highlighting multicultural books and their authors!
Nathalie, thank you for making multicultural children’s books so much fun through your blog!
For more information about Tarie and her blogs, visit
o Asia in the heart, World on my Mind
o Into the Wardrobe
o Tarie’s Review Policy
o Color Online
o Follow Tarie on Twitter
o To contact Tarie: asiaintheheart@yahoo.com
Paul D. Van Hoy II, an MFA in Fine Art Photography from the Rochester Institute of Technology, is a professional photographer who won the Grand Prize in the Microsoft Future Pro Photographer Competition in 2007. A wedding photography specialist, he co-founded Wedding Photography Workshop, a web portal where he shares his expertise in the field of wedding photography to new and veteran photographers for them to improve their businesses.
His work has been featured in numerous high-profile publications including Brides and Bridal Magazine, Wedding Style, PDN, Digital Photo Pro, and Professional Photographer, just to name a few, and has worked for several well-known clients such as Forbes, Fossil Inc., Food & Wine Magazine, and Adidas. Paul was very kind to discuss with me about his entry in the competition, his work and his thought on some issues on photography. Starting with his winning entry Apocalypse.
I’m curious if that is rain or a spray of water from something else. What was happening when this photo was made?
The photo ‘apocalyptic summer’ was an image made in Rochester near the end of summer in 2006. While driving around in the city I observed a group of young children playing in a fire hydrant. Initially, I was ambivalent about pursuing a subject matter that has been so heavily exploited by others, so I challenged myself to represent this scene in a way that replaced cliche with intrigue.
Instead of contributing to the continuation of this subject’s sentimental posterity, I, chose to subtract and isolate the subject from its context/environment and make my image at an awkward moment of digression. The retreating gesture of the child combined with the sublime beauty and chaos of a scene abstracted by its stillness portends or implies rather, a consequential peril and undermines the playfulness otherwise, classically, associated with photographs of children playing in the rain or beneath the misty canopy of a geysering fire hydrant.
Do you still remember your first interaction with a camera?
I grew up poor. I was a free lunch kid and part of the ‘Coat-A-Kid’ program that provided low-income families with clothes for the winter months. Weekends were usually spent with my mother, scouting out rummage sales and sifting through other’s orphaned possessions. My first camera was the Polaroid One-Step. I was six years old at the time, and discovered the camera near the bottom of an antique latch-trunk filled with old issues of TIME magazine and vintage cookbooks. Rarely did my mother splurge on items that weren’t rudimentary, i.e. clothes, shoes, school supplies. It was a memorable occasion marked by exception; one that stayed with me for sentimental and nostalgic reasons but now one that stands distinct as a pivotal point in the development of who I am today. We couldn’t afford film for the camera, so I was content with just framing scenes and subjects and activating the flash.
Tell us how you established your first photography business when you were only 16.
I wasn’t like most other children who wanted to be presidents, police officers, or super heroes; I wanted to be a photographer. I started working at the age of 13. I mowed lawns, bussed tables at a local diner, and did telemarketing for the Indiana State Police Alliance on the weekends; by the time I was 16 I had saved a substantial amount of money. Some people chance their money in the stock market or gamble it away at a casino, I chose to bet on myself. I bought a Nikon F5, an assortment of 2.8 lenses, a portable lighting kit, and a few ad spots in a few regional bridal magazines. My age was a bit of an impediment; as it called into question my experience and competency. However, the challenges it presented me with only hastened the rate at which I excelled and outperformed my competitors. In order to win the favor of brides I had to be better than the best, and that’s precisely where I put all of my focus and energy. That ethic and awareness has never left me.
Running your own wedding photography business, what do you find most challenging about being in this industry?
Being a professional wedding photographer is more than just a full time job; it is, essentially, a lifestyle. Our job description encompasses many roles, from being our own business’s CEO, Marketing and Advertising Specialist, Accountant, Public Relations Officer, Consultant, Customer Service Rep, Art Director, Graphic Designer, Digital Archivist, Webmaster, to Shipping Clerk. For anyone seeking to have a career in professional wedding photography, they better be ready to sweat and bleed for it because this is a highly competitive industry. The biggest challenge is not only getting to the top – it’s being able to maintain that position once you get there.
When doing photojournalism and I suppose wedding photography as well, do you prefer your subjects to be posed or unposed?
I’m a subscriber to Judith Butler’s ideas on ‘performativity’; the concept that we are all performing the conventions of ‘reality’ i.e. gender, race, class, etc. at all times – so philosophically speaking there is no difference to me between a posed and an unposed subject. Unless you’ve mastered the art of invisibility – subjects are always camera conscious and subsequently self-aware. However, to more directly answer your question, I prefer making images of my subjects that appear to be unposed or ‘candid’.
How has the PPA membership from the award’s prize enhanced your career?
I was actually a member long before winning the Microsoft award, and have absolutely nothing but great things to say about the PPA – anyone who is even the slightest bit interested in professional photography stands to benefit tremendously from the wealth of resources the PPA offers.
A lot of your gallery images have reduced saturation. What part does color (or lack thereof) play in an image’s emotional appeal or artistic expression?
We revere black and white images as being more voracious medium than color since the first photographs made were monochromatic. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying the Pete Turner’s work strikes me as dishonest or inauthentic in any way. However, black and white possesses a poignancy that harkens to a history of contrived actualization. Simply put, photography has unequivocally determined and defined us and our ‘reality’ – this began not with color imagery, but with black and white.
Personally, I was never really interested in color. I dream in black in white, which I found out isn’t all that rare or unusual. Black and white, resolves the distraction that color creates for me. I am most interested in shape and form and black and white allows me to meditate on these basic, but yet defining attributes.
If there is a common theme or message among your photographs, what would be it?
Making images is a very peculiar thing. As image-makers we re-present something already present in the world. We don’t take (as in taking photographs) we replace and re-present what already is. What we do is completely irrational when you stop to think about it. I consider myself an existentialist whose intentionality as an artist is fraught with contradiction. I hold firmly to the belief that man creates his own purpose and that meaning is owed entirely to construction —it is an arbitrary advent of consciousness.
The contradiction begins with having any intention/s if, in fact, it is my belief that all intellectual contributions are, in fact, equally arbitrary and meaningless. This is not an attempt to obfuscate my motives or evade the apprehension of my audience. I find myself equally perplexed and confined within the shrinking space of my own incredulity.
I am beset with beliefs that undermine my artistic passions and impulses. I attempt to make sense while all the while I am mocking sense-making. I use a constructed system of language and meaning to apprehend an existence that is entirely owed to construction. The cycle of contradiction is endless. My work for example, is never conceived for the purpose of telling my audience anything at all. The intention of my work is not to wipe away obscurity but to contribute to it.
What new and upcoming technologies in photography (e.g. camera equipment, digital workflow, etc) excite you the most?
I absolutely love digital photography, as it allows me to capture images almost as quickly as I can discern or conjure them. I’m obsessive and carnivorous when it comes to image consumption and image conceptualization; every word, sound, taste, color, scent, and remembrance exists as an image to me – without images I would be unable to speak or ascertain meaning at all. Image is my consciousness.
The new technologies that are most exciting and impressive to me are the advancements camera manufactures are making with image sensors and the incredible reduction in noise at expanded ISO’s. With acceptable ISO’s reaching 102,400, we’re suddenly seeing an aesthetic within photography that more closely resembles how the human eye sees.
Do you still work with film nowadays? Anything about film photography that you miss with digital?
I used to be a staunch formalist who mixed my own chemistry and slaved in the darkroom until my pupils practically popped – there was no question about it, I was totally enraptured with film. It’s been seven years now since I last exposed a piece of film, and I hadn’t even thought about film until I read this question. I can’t say that I’m sentimental about film, not one bit.
Have you considered exploring other forms of art medium like videography?
Before I completely turned myself over to photography I was an illustrator, I loved to draw. However, I couldn’t create images as quickly as they came to me so I switched to photography to satisfy my need for instant gratification. I love motion picture – I own over 2k movie titles and watch at least one movie every day. I can’t stand television however. Movies provide a lot of inspiration for many of the still images I make, but I’m not at all interested in making films. My memories, attachments, and association are all embedded in frozen moments of time, not linear motion. Even while I’m watching a film, I make photographs of what’s moving in front of me.
Do you think documentary photography and fine art photography are mutually exclusive?
No, to me there is absolutely no difference – every photograph ‘documents’ and I have yet to behold a photograph that possesses any scintilla of objectivity.
The discipline of photojournalism is a process of indoctrination. The photojournalist, if formally educated, is taught to believe that news can be reported without bias, as ‘objectivity’ and detachment are the photojournalist’s core values. Subjectivity is entirely antithetical to the aims of the photojournalist, because, for the photojournalist, news is not subjective nor should it be. Those who are fundamentalists and purists vehemently believe that a single photograph or series of photographs can represent the objective and unadulterated truth.
However, since the advent of digital photography, the genre of photojournalism has been in crisis, as the role of the photojournalist has been co-opted by every civilian in possession of a camera phone and an alert sense of interest. Digital photography has, no doubt, revolutionized the way we see, record, and report news, but it has also helped further blur the lines of distinction between, art, advertising, editorial photography, photojournalism, and even the pedestrian photograph.
I have many dear friends who work as photojournalists and, for a brief stint, I worked as a photojournalist as well. I certainly took great pleasure in challenging my friends and colleagues about their beliefs, but reserved, for my own beliefs, a degree of scrutiny from which they were spared. I have always been, and still remain, most critical of my own ideas and beliefs, which accounts for my fascination with photographers who fail or refuse to question their beliefs with regard to their medium.
One particular conversation I’ll share with you took place between a co-worker and myself while hovering over a light table at a daily paper in central Illinois. I said to my workmate, “If the objective of photojournalism is to tell the absolute ‘truth’… then why do we make images with cameras that observe and record monocularly?
I mean after all… (unless you’re a Cyclops) don’t most of us see the world with two eyes?” Additionally, I said, “We should stop shooting monochromatic film, unless our readership is predominantly color blind. And, oh yeah, we should probably sell our wide angles and telephotos and shoot exclusively with 60mm lenses?” (the focal length that most closely resembles the human perspective). The list could go on and on, but you get the point…
As successful as you are now, what is the next level that you are aiming to achieve?
I’ve been thinking a lot about that lately. Last year I signed a publishing agreement with Amherst Media and will be releasing my first book on wedding photography this fall. Additionally, my close friend, and now business partner, Brady Dillsworth, and I have just recently launched a free online resource and sharing community catering specifically to wedding photographers. Wedding Photography Workshop (WPW) www.weddingphotographyworkshop.com was created with the needs and interests of aspiring professional wedding photographers in mind. It is, in my opinion, the most comprehensive and relevant online resource for those new to or already established in this profession.
Beyond my professional endeavors, I would like to get back to what I love most, creating art. Graduate school was a cruel tease; two years of immersion and total freedom and privilege to play with pictures and words day in and day out. Well, now I’ve got to pay the tab, so that means putting all of my energy and present focus on commercial work and abandoning ‘art’ for the time being. Ideally, I would love to have a career as an artist, but the reality of that hasn’t yet and may never be realized. The reality is that people would rather buy my wedding photographs rather than my art.
End of interview
Thanks Paul for sharing your thoughts and your time here! I’m sure readers will appreciate the story about your winning photography and the photography knowledge you have shared here.
Paul’s story - his other works
Coney Island Alchemist
This may sound funny coming from me, but…
this image, for me, is very spiritual… It’s as if the woman in the paper-bag colored coat is summonsing a celestial force – an inversion of the genie in the bottle myth, if you will. To me, she is not the product of theories; ‘big bang’ or biology.
Rather, she is the punctum of all creation…and with each gesture of her arm outstretched, birds and boardwalk pour from her wind rippled cuff. I like to imagine that her bag possesses magical powers, not unlike mary-poppins when she pulled the most inconceivable items from her purse.
And, like a weight used to keep important papers from scattering in a wind, her stance and gate are solid and absolute. To her right, further down on the boardwalk, a once patriotically painted trash receptacle stands faded and anchored in the illusion of this accidental allegory. This image reminds me that god (the god concept) is real, but no less a construct than man himself.
the view
I suppose with the parking lot photo (which was shot through the glass window of my hotel room) I was confronting the symmetry and banality of a life without a view – the constancy of yellow lines indicating the ‘parked’ status of something stationary… I was full of
fear and sorrow, self-loathing and loss. To me, the photo was about construction and complacency – about the way we build walls…
Unremarkable walls, walls that could easily be destroyed or scaled, and how we literally park ourselves outside of those walls (most, for the entirety of our lives) gazing at obstruction as if it were a scenic view or vista, some sight to behold, something sublime. But, the only thing sublime in the view is the lack thereof, the imposition of our own confinement, self-incarceration…
You can learn more about Paul at Wedding Photography Workshop.
The land mark Smart Studios is closing here in Madison. Wendy Schneider is under way with her project highlighting the journey of the iconic studio and it’s historic musical contributions here in Madison.
The good sister wishes Ms Schneider all the energy and insight in putting this profoundly important documentary together.
For the benefit of new readers, I posted the following in 2008. They may be helpful if you are preparing questions to ask a company during an interview.
Aaron LaCrate, a big-time DJ/hip-hop mogul, is an SU Alum.
Each Monday, 20 Watts is poised to feature a new exclusive artist interview! Here we present our WORDS OF THE WEEK!
PREVIEW: Aaron LaCrate’s MySpace and his website.
AUDIO HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE INTERVIEW COMING SOON!
From the age of 10, Aaron LaCrate has been a prolific music talent from the streets of Baltimore and went onto launching his record label and clothing line, while also collaborating with Jay-Z, Lily Allen, The Cool Kids, Gorillaz and Mark Ronson–oh, and I did mention he went to Syracuse University? He’s been a secret famous alum until now, and the stories of his DJ days at SU are eerily familiar and fascinating. After rising to the top of the underground DJ/hip-hop scene, the fellow orange wanted to reach out to share his story.
20 Watts: Talk a little bit about being a young DJ in Baltimore when you were a kid…
Aaron LaCarte: It was great. It was nothing like it is now. There were no DJs back then, there were these electronic stores that sold records, stereo equipment and car stereos, so for me I had to assemble a mobile sound system. I had to go to the Goodwills and the flea markets, whichever way, I had the two different turn tables. It was really exciting back then because it was uncharted territory. There was no way to learn how to mix, no way to learn how to do anything, but to go on your own journey and find people that would like you enough to share that information with you. It was almost a very subculture thing. It was a testament to your personality and your character to how far you would get, in a lot of ways.
20W: You’re a ‘Cuse alum. What major were you, which year did you graduate and what kind of impact did Syracuse have on you? Also, what was the SU music scene like back then?
AL: I graduated in ‘97 and I was a speech-com major and a music industry minor. It had a huge effect on me because I was able to spread my wings there. It came at the perfect time because I got started with DJing when I was 9 years-old, so by the time I was 18 years-old, I had already moved into DJing in D.C. When I got up there [at SU], it started all over again. In Baltimore there’s nothing, I was DJing house parties, a few clubs, but there was still very little of a music scene in Baltimore. Growing up in Baltimore, being a hip-hop/graffiti kid, I was obsessed with New York. To be upstate with a bunch of kids from Manhattan in 1993, it was a great time to be up there. It was a great time for hip-hop.
20W: So back then, SU was really hip-hop heavy?
AL: Hip-hop was still very much an underground thing. It was a lot less mainstream than it is now. It was a little underworld of people on South Campus. I don’t know how it is now. There were the Schine parties and of course house parties.
20W: Where was your favorite place to perform?
AL: I had two radio shows. I had a show on WAER called “The Milkcrate Show.” That eventually grew into a whole bunch of other things. I used to really doing the south campus parties. They would have a garbage can with a trash bag filled with jungle juice. I don’t know what it was, pure grain alcohol and something else. I’d come in with my turntables and set it up on the kitchen counter. I liked that a lot. I also did a few fraternity/sorority parties. I was all over the place; I was usually opening up for whatever band came into town, like De La Soul or A Tribe Called Quest or Wyclef, I’d be the opening DJ. There was a big club called “The Spot”, which was one of the big night clubs on Gennessee St. There was always a Thursday night party where all the athletes went to, and I was in a lot of classes with those guys. [Donovan] McNabb would come and host some of the parties, so as a DJ, you got to meet all the coolest people on the campus.
20W: You have a record label and a clothing line. Did you foresee yourself being this kind if entrepreneur?
AL: Kinda, yeah. I was making t-shirts when I first started Djing, and my parents opened up a skateboard shop in our basement around 1988. We just basically sold skateboards out of the basement of our house. It was just the environment I grew up in–Djing, skateboarding and graffiti. It wasn’t all separate. A lot of kids go through it separately, but I stayed in all of it for quite some time. Eventually I started making my own mix CDs and selling t-shirts at shows I was DJing when I was 19 years-old. I had three or four lines before I graduated. I had to reinvent myself three or four times before I graduated college. If you look back on music careers and what its like to be in the entertainment business, you’re constantly reinventing, you’re constantly entertaining, so it was something I was destined to do since I was kid.
20W: It’s odd that SU has so many famous alumni, and yet I had never even heard of you until a couple days ago. It seems odd, doesn’t it?
AL: I’m just always going and going. I never even established contact. I never even let anyone at Syracuse to know what I was doing. I just ran into a girl in New York who works for Dr. Jay’s online retail, and she was like “you should make contact and tell them what you’re up to,” because she had just read my bio at the time. I’ve been doing a lot of big mainstream kind of things, but I’m still underground. I do it for the right reasons, I’m not doing it for the glory. I hope people are paying attention but you never really know.
20W: We just covered a show recently where MNDR performed with YACHT at Hamilton College. I know you’ve collaborated with her recently. What do you like about her?
AL: She comes from the underground music world–that’s her background. She built all of her own synths and all of her own drum machines, and I think she’s just a super original girl. She’s very similar to myself. She’s been out there, and she’s been doing it for the fun for a very long time. The momentum has built naturally and now she’s at this point where she’s confident and comfortable with who she is creatively. I’ve worked with her in the studio and I’ve been supporting her ever since she came to New York. I don’t know how much help she’s going to need very soon.
20W: What do you have coming up? Any new exciting projects?
AL: I just released the first HBO: The Wire clothing line, which is pretty exciting. There’s also a girl from Baltimore I just signed called Midstreams, a real strong-willed female MC. I just finished up her mix CD, which I’m really proud of. It’s going to up the floodgates for more of my production style, her as an artist, and the city of Baltimore–putting it on a creative level with a lot of other famous cities. Then I have my album coming out this year called Ignorant Heart. That’s going to feature MNDR, The Cool Kids, Mr. Vegas, and a number of new artists.
Deepak Chopra is been asked why the heart is so important. The interviewer says, probably because spirit resides in the heart. Deepak answers, spirit is time and formless, everywhere en nowhere and spirit expresses itself in time and space, here, through the heart.
He talks about the physiologic heart and the spiritual heart.
Beautiful wisdom and knowledge to use in everyday life. Just by knowing it.
Saturday, February 13, 2010,Feeling the crafty community spirit...
This just in….
I just want to say thank you to Diana Beard for this unexpected and delightful write up on her blog at DianaCouture.com. There are so many wonderful and creative people on Etsy , and it truly is a community. Many thanks, Diana. Peace out!
Marg (enjoying community and feeling humble)
Catch the Diana Couture Interview!
The land mark Smart Studios is closing here in Madison. Wendy Schneider is under way with her project highlighting the journey of the iconic studio and it’s historic musical contributions here in Madison.
