Flustered and Flamboyant

I make the same face when I think about #Florida.

Stay home, mask up, be smart, call your moms and dads and tell them you love them.

As the world tuned into Taylor Swift’s Folklore another, albeit smaller, yet just as mighty debut, took place a few days prior to her July 24th debut. Enter The Avalanches and their new sample LP containing two ethereal mixes that brings together diverse artists, sounds, and samples to create a seamless musical experience.  

Both songs “Wherever You Go” and “Reflecting Lights” take listeners on a journey that together is a harmonious balancing act. Starting with “Wherever You Go,” the song builds and explodes with sound and creates an experience for the listener and viewer if you add in the visualizer video which I recommend for a well rounded experience. 

Accompanying the song is the note from the artist:

“Why do we send music to the stars? Is it because we want our voices to live forever? How else should we become pure spirits, singing forever in the dark? “Our stars are not where we last admired them. Our homes crumble and we don’t know which place to long for.” – Ann Druyan”

“Wherever You Go” is a cultural mashup that starts with a reflection of dreams and ideals (the song samples the “Voyager Golden Record”) but ends in modern day reality and disillusion with the lyric by Neneh Cherry, “The whole damn world's incinerated.” 

Whereas “Wherever You Go” hits a more peppy beat, “Reflecting Lights,” hits a soulful, funky, ethereal note that reflects the current state of affairs in this world.  Semi-mournful and hauntingly beautiful it is the slower and more relaxed of the two songs.  The artist released this note with “Reflecting Lights”

“A Vashti Bunyan record from 1970. The church bells across the street from my house, recorded on an iPhone. They once rang like clockwork every Sunday. Now, in lockdown, they are gone. 

The hiss from a much-loved vinyl record. The static on our television sets: radiation left over from the Big Bang.

What are these sounds that haunt our lives … floating in the static and the noise all around us, just beyond our grasp?

Are they radio waves or hallucinations? Voices from the past? Beginning with the physical, we become the ephemeral. We are changed. Enmeshed in the universal fabric, we are reflecting light.” 

To the federal politicians, the state representatives and governors, to the people who judge the unemployed, to the prospective employers who don’t have the decency to send an email when a candidate is rejected, and above all to those who are still trudging along in the world of unemployment, this message is for you.

I am writing this note on my five month anniversary of unemployment.  A milestone I never wanted, expected, or would wish on my own worst enemy. I am writing this because I think it is important to understand that most people who are unemployed right now would rather not be. There is a rhetoric against the extension of federal unemployment benefits that doesn’t really give the whole picture of unemployment in this country and I want to shed light on a another perspective. 

Two Queens and a Royal Palm 

Twoish years ago I moved to Miami, FL. Since moving to FL I have found a new obsession with poke bowls and palms. I decided to post a blog post because I was feeling lost when it came to adding some green to my house.

I had a dead corner in my house aka a corner next to my bed that was too tiny for a table but needed a little something to pull the room together.

This was an easy enough project, but if I can streamline what is needed to make it easier for the next person, I have done my due diligence.

Items Purchased: 

Royal Palm:  I have a cat (see photo) I needed something safe for her and that would be chic...this fit the bill. 

Depending on your palm leave preference the possibilities are endless, well endless up to what your local garden center has in stock.  

Dirt: Indoor/Outdoor Potting Soil: I went with Vigoro aka the cheapest one.         

Pot: Here is where things get creative, I went back and forth and up and down the pot aisle for 15 minutes. I learned you are more than welcome to put your new plant in the pot to try it out...this is common sense but took me a while to get there so I am just putting it out in the universe. 

I went with this option (see below), to make sure the plant would have some room to grow. It also was on trend with my house and could be moved anywhere if needed. 

//www.homedepot.com/p/Pennington-12-75-in-Wet-Cement-Stoneware-Tall-Egg-Pot-100523362/206310526

Plastic Saucer: You need this to collect water when you water the plant, my pot fit snug in a 10″ but I went with the 12″ option.  

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Vigoro-12-in-Clear-Plastic-Saucer-VS12HBDI/204400692

That was it, four things! And the steps to display it are even easier.

1) Fill pot 1/3 of the way with some soil

2) Tilt plant upside down and place in soil

3) Cover with more soil and water

I did these steps outside to cut down on dirt in the house

4) Place in house (on your saucer) and clean up any dirt that slipped out of the drainage hole.

This is a post for anyone like me that had no clue about doing indoor planting. If you have pets it makes it even more difficult. I have been using this link to decipher what we can and cannot have in the house.

One of my friends from college challenged me to post daily things I am grateful for. With the exception of one day (I fell asleep early) I have kept up with this. I am now switching over to blog format....to A) Use this blog and B) make my friends hate me less for overwhelming their Newsfeed with my political views, unfunny jokes, and sappy stories. This brings me to my next list:

Freedom:

1)Freedom to take the train, the bus, to drive, to walk...pretty much being allowed to get from Point A-Point B on my own free will

2)Freedom to speak my mind, and if someone criticizes me be free to respond how I please.

3)Freedom to pursue my own dreams, goals, and idealistic agenda.

The newest trend sweeping the world, and I mean world is the Ice Bucket Challenge raising money for ALS. This campaign has raised lots of money, and in some cases awareness about the debilitating disease ALS. For starters “ALS or Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), often referred to as "Lou Gehrig's Disease," is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord.” To find out more about ALS or donating to the cause click here.

I had to look up what ALS was because I have been fortunate thus far in my life to not know anyone affected by it. I say fortunate, because degenerative diseases scare me to no end, and the impact they have on the lives of those affected and by extension family and friends is extremely saddening. All this being said, ALS isn’t my cause and that is ok.

To all those people being passive aggressive or getting defensive about those not donating/taking part in the challenge I say, let’s calm down. Just because someone won’t take part in the Ice Bucket Challenge raising money for ALS doesn’t mean they are heartless, it just might not be their cause, and I say again that is OK!

(A side note here as well, I for one would never dump cold water on my head to raise awareness. I feel more comfortable doing this in other methods.)

What I hope the Ice Bucket Challenge does, is ignite the real personal causes of people. Another way to phrase this is as followed: what would be your driving cause to dump ice cold water on your head or donate $100? Or what would you have wanted the movement to be if you ignited it? For some that may actually be ALS, and that is awesome and for some it might not be and that is also awesome. I took the time to make a short list of ice bucket causes in my life:

Diabetes

Liver Cancer

Breast Cancer

Heart Disease

Heart Attacks

Colon Cancer

Ok any Cancer…

Depression/Anxiety

Bi-Polar Disorder

Disability Rights

Female Genital Mutilation

Sex/Human Trafficking

Education for All

Developing World Growth

Economic Equality

Best Buddies

Native American Reservations

  *All topics can be clicked to learn a little more

Now I work for a non-profit, and with that lucrative career (sarcasm) I obviously can’t support all of these causes financially. This also means as a human being I can’t emotionally support ALL causes…and again I say that is OK!  

Another point I would like to make on this topic is that although large monetary donations are important, I think the thought process behind donations is even more significant. In other words, Peer Pressure solves nothing, and I mean this for all fundraising not just the one discussed in this post. I ask my friends and family to donate to my Non-Profit all the time, and if they don’t I can’t get offended. It just isn’t their cause, and that is ok. But I do respect them, and again I have to point out passive aggression, posting articles about how much money has been raised in an attacking manner, or getting in arguments is not helping the cause and is downright rude.