SCADstyle REVEAL

I attended SCAD's design discussion series at SCAD in Atlanta this evening.
The topic was From Magazine To Monitor-The Rise of The Blog.

The panel of experts JAITHAN KOCHAR and EDDIE ROSS, co-founders of Eddie Ross Inc.
RITA KONIG, designer and writer for T : The New York Times Style Magazine,  "Inside Out" .
NICK OLSEN, designer on a dime blogger and writer.

A point that was made was the "instant gratification" of blogging-there is no waiting for editing or publishing.
It is a good source of inspiration for alot of people.
Blogging for a bigger audience base, such as a magazine or industry is a way to get more readers to your blog.
My thoughts on the panel discussion:
I was really looking forward to being fed juicy morsels of what it is like to blog~blog BIG!
It fell short but I had the opportunity to meander down the hallways at SCAD. What an inspiring experience, in and of itself. So many pieces of art to admire-in all mediums. I couldn't help but stop at the cutting room and admire the unfinished works of the students. There are fine examples of completed fashion on display. I could spend all afternoon perusing the halls touching fabric of the original "one of a kinds" on mannequins-turning over the seams to inspect the good workmanship and careful attention to detail. Paintings and photography that are the prelude to some really great careers.

Why do I blog?
I got really tired of "emo" wordy "diary" entries. I hope I inspire by sharing what's on my mind. I look for it in others~it's extremely rare to find. I am unconventional and don't follow one particular subject. Life is unconventional and multi-dimensional. At least any life worthwhile. So follow me or don't. You won't get sugar-coated middle of the road. It isn't good enough for me.
Until next inspiration.....................
Yours Truly,
Brooklyn

Easy Sophistication

pamella roland

Tokihiro Sato~photographer

Future of Energy

While watching the President speak in Iowa today, I thought of these new inventions that could help us in our search for renewable energy sources.

sOccket soccer ball
A soccer ball that generates and stores energy as players kick it, then provides energy at home. 15 minutes on a soccer field captures enough energy to power a cell phone or a small light for three hours.

Spray On Solar Panels
Applied with a spray gun, it allows builders and homeowners to turn doors, roofs and windows into power generating solar panels.

ThermalCORE
A wall panel filled with paraffin wax capsules that melt and absorb heat, keeping room temperatures around 73 degrees. At night, if temperatures drop, the wax solidifies again, warming the room by releasing heat.

Innovation

I posted an earlier piece on Innovation (see Innovation posted Tuesday April 13, 2010) .
This Economist article goes deeper into where we , as America, are in global positioning and what to expect in the future.

http://www.economist.com/opinion/displaystory.cfm?story_id=15908408

Fashion Short Films

I saw this for the first time two years ago while dining at Sketch in London. They played a loop of the videos by Nick Knight in the gallery dining room.

Hot Look & Sound

A Master at her Art

Inspired Interiors
Suzanne Kasler

A Turn On

Zegna

Ermenegildo Zegna

ZZegna

spats

ankle skinny pants

trenches without shirts

haberdashery

vests and coattails

ZZegna Spring/Summer 2010

He Called Me Baby

Sweetwater Festival 2010

Sad to say the only fun at Candler Park today was watching this.

Atlanta Dogwood Festival 2010

Today
April 17, 2010
Atlanta Dogwood Festival
Piedmont Park
Atlanta, GA

People watching reveals other worlds I forget exist. The entertainment was quite good today.... Soulphonics, Rouzbeh Hoshmondy & Danny Stern, and Ralph The White-painted Acoustic Guitar-playing man :) who had an excellent day. They are great material but what I found really entertaining were the girls dancing, without a care in the world, just dancing to the music. Having fun. There were couples holding hands, children and old folks all colors, all people. A good place on this earth. There is peace and harmony here. A helicopter whirling above. Birds in flight. What a view. I hate to move on but my story doesn't end here. Life, it's a beautiful ride.

NARS summer collection

Burn It Blue Duo eyeshadow & Coup de Coeur lip gloss are my favorites.

NARS Cosmetics

Skinny Living

I have rules to keep me loving my bikins.

1. I eat what I love to eat everyday. The only catch is that I must enjoy every bite and I stop eating it the second I stop enjoying it. I eat the things I love to eat whether or not Im hungry so that I don't "pig out" on "off limit" foods.

2. I don't eat when I want to feel better. When Im waist deep in the refrigerator and don't know why I'm there-it's usually because I'm "feeling". Overeating is a distraction from stress, loneliness and other uncomfortable emotions. No emotion is so bad that I need to fight weight gain too.

3. I don't diet. The longer I diet, the longer my body will hold onto it's extra pounds. Eating less and increasing exercise trigger's my body into ancient survival instincts to keep every inch on at all costs. It's basic survival skills when food was scarce. Times have changed so it doesn't do me any good when food is abundant and I want to look my best.

4. I got in touch with my appetite. We're really tight now. I eat only when I am hungry and stop when Im full. My body then releases my extra pounds. Sweet!

4. I commit to a weekly workout baseline  that I keep no matter what crazy thing is going on in my life. I usually do more but as long as I know I did my bare minimum I am sure to stay trim and toned all year.

Innovation

No matter how far ideas go, one idea remains constant. Education is key. We are at a stage in world development that has never been seen before.  Many nations are competing at a global level that could have never even imagined being in  the arena. So then how do we enable innovation? What is our "unfair advantage"? How do we leverage it? Investment in our universities and schools are of the utmost importance. Technology and science should remain in the forefront of industry as these are leading R&D. Cultural intelligence should be taught. We can no longer think in insulary terms and need to teach our children in this way to be able to compete. I recently heard maritime navigation used as a metaphor for where we are, in the process of enabling innovation in the world today. It was said that we lacked a cartography like the first explorers, so in essence we are navigating and drawing the maps as we go. I was raised in a generation that believed in specialization with all of its acronyms. The future is cross-disciplinary. Younger x-gens are annoyed by the older model of specialization. In the perfect, it will be about prospering not just winning.  I've been following a bill The StartUp Visa Bill. Link to article in Buisnessweek below. Its a step in the right direction of collective and co-operative collaboration.
businessweek.com/technology

A Prayer for Tolerance

I heard this tonight


Teach us to treasure the differences that distinguish one person from another.
Fill us with the strength to overcome senseless fear and hatred.
Open our hearts to the radiance that shines forth from every human soul.
Inspire us to shed our apathy;
remind us that it is our obligation to be responsible for one another.
Open our ears to the cries of all who are in need of our assistance.
Give us the courage to combat prejudice and intolerance wherever they exist.
Teach us to see eachother through your eyes, G-d.
In your eyes all people are equally loved, equally precious.
Bless us all with compassion, with kindness, and with peace. Amen
                                                                         ~Rabbi Naomi Levy

Interior Inspiration

Kreiss Collection

Kiss The Sky

Has anyone seen my "one"?

Tiger, Jesse, Charlie, John, Marc..........

I have cheaters overload.
I am in need of good male role models. Strong men with strong convictions who aren't easily seduced into making fools of themselves and their families.
I reach into the anals of my mind and there in the dusty corners are faint recollections of real men that I heard of that were made of this fabric. Is this man a rational reality? Could it be an urban myth? Am I without any real knowledge of the type of man that can make a wife proud? My answer is yes. When I sit and think about the married couples that I know there are only a handful that I can say are true companions. You know, the kind of couples that look at eachother from across a crowded room and know what the other is thinking. The couples who always call to say goodnight even if the day didn't go as well as they would have liked. You know, the two who always stick up for eachother even when they know they are wrong and then in private give it to 'em. Easy, comfortable and just right.
The biggest frame of reference that I have to go by is my own marriage of 15 years. Married once divorced once. Divorce was inevitable. I hate how I learned about all of the nasty things he did behind my back even after I found out about the ones that finally caused me to say, "I'm done". Who would have thought there could be more "crimes" against my trust. Ah, but there were. Its good that he can't do those things to me any longer. I am learning things about myself that I never knew. I like it. I like who I am. There are things about him that I refuse to "broadcast" but I'm so grateful for not having them in my life. Infidelity is not the end-all to a marriage-there are plenty of couples who get through it without a divorce. What is a deal breaker is when you take respect and dignity out of a relationship. It's the collapsing bimbos that will do ya in-it happens everytime. No woman scorned melodrama here just the truth. No hypocrisy, sloppiness, humiliation, endangerment to the emotional stability of children or destruction of the nurturing environment that advanced his career/greatness.
I know there are honest and good men I just haven't met one yet-you know my "Neo".....also commonly referred to as "the one". Must be weirder than science fiction. God, I hope not because I love that feeling. I love the feeling of being wrapped up in the arms of my love. My one.

A Good Read

The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell

"the moment of critical mass, the threshold, the boiling point at which the momentum for change becomes unstoppable."

Food & Wine

(this is a third post in a series of posts on wine tasting. The second in this series A Nose Is A Nose 3-16-2010 and the first Wine Tasting At First Sight 2-13-10)

Food and wine pairings are a dichotomy-they are either too simple or too complex. Food and wine are meant to be savored since one enhances the other.
The basic idea is to fuse two flavors to create a third, as simple as that. I think that the only wrong choice of food and wine is serving no wine at all. Wines follow a natural progression. Here are some guidelines to keep in mind when planning a large multicourse meal. This is a favorite verse to remember which comes first:

Old before Young

Dry before Sweet

White before Red

Light before Full 

Simple before Complex 

Champagne anytime and with anyone!

Wine and cheese..what can I say? Its like peas and carrots, George and Gracie, a wink and a smile. Soft cheeses are usually creamy and milky in texture so they can be served with demi-sec Champagne, Moscato di Asti, Riesling and Sauternes. Hard cheeses pair well with reds due to the fat and protein content softening by the tannins of the red wine. Bordeaux,Cabs, Barolo (my personal favorite) Burgundy, Merlot or Barbaresco. They pair well with fresh meat, sausages and breads. If you would like to serve a white, stay on the heavier side with a Chardonnay, Viognier, Meursault, or even a full bodied Blanc de Noirs Champagne. Blue cheese pairs well with sweet wines. The powerful flavor of the cheese dominates dry white wines while their creaminess cannot stand up to the light tannins of medium bodied red wines. Sauternes, Moscato d'Asti, Vin Santo, Greman Kabinett and the classic match of Stilton Bleu and Port (I always serve almonds with this) For a red, try Pinot Noir, Merlot, or Dolcetto. Goat cheeses go well with crisp young whites or reds such as Savignon Blanc, Sancerre, or Chianti and Sanviogese. (I serve with toasted buttered baguette slices)

Picnic or grilled food over charcoals can be paired well with wines that have a lower body and alcohol content due to the warmer temperatures of outdoor parties. Try Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Grigio, or Alsace for whites. Beaujolais, Grenache, and although I haven't paired these myself yet, I am told that a slightly chilled red wine from the Rhone Valley or Languedoc-Roussillon are perfect for a beach picnic.  I like a light freshly mixed Sangria for outdoor functions. 

Meat and fish cooked over charcoals require a somewhat heavier body. I like Syrah or Pinot Noir with grilled hamburgers. Bordeaux or Zinfandel with steak. Grilled fish can be served with Chardonnay (One favorite pairing of mine especially when oak is noted in the wine, it pairs nicely with smokey overtones in grilled food including grilled portobellos or vegetables) 

Dessert wines are ,to me, the "nectar of the gods". They pair well with alot of startes such as foie gras and various pates. (I pair these wines with Thai and Szechwan food). Dessert wine rules are easy-match the color of the wine to the dessert. Deep dark desserts will go best with dark dessert wines like Port or a lesser known wine Banyuls. Lighter colored dessert wines match better with fruit desserts. There is always the option of choosing a dessert wine as the dessert.
Here's to the warm weather and good friends sharing good things. Cheers!