show opens tomorrow

Joe's Jeans

urban wildlife -the pigeon-
wearing a feather design in a limited palette, and so worth seeing.

I was in Macy's a few days ago. My bus stops outside the door which makes it a convenient 'rest stop.' The ladies bathroom is in a sea of women's wear, but of course! so i look for signs of creative design, something inspired as i walk through the racks . I have been disappointed more times than not, maybe it is just hard to surprise me or maybe because real design has been tanked by "what will sell."

This focus on sales over design changes the dynamic just as the pursuit of profit has resulted in loss of other values. Energy goes the way of the focus and that squashes diversity. This is bad for ecosystem health and design health . Bio mimicry of the disastrous appears a silly patten that we best change.

Ok this in my head along with the cost of production, aka real costs ( human, environmental, health et al) so I went up to a clerk and asked her where the sweatshop free clothing was. She took me over to a rack of Joe's jeans that are supposedly eco friendly though label says made in Mexico and i looked at the company site and saw nothing to validate that idea.

The aha side of this story is that we conversed after she had seen Zeitgeist and was in need of knowing that changemakers are running around in the real world. The moral of this story is: speak up, get out in public and show yourself. This will build our cosmic capacity and sets the change in motion from all points of energy, especially when and where connections spark it forward. This is good for you, me, us and all living things, including the living universe.

Kucinich at Hempfest

2011 Collector Poster by Cory & Catska Ench.

And so was the mayor, however Metro wasn't. The online bus planner told me that i could catch a #15 and walk 0.2 miles SW to Myrtle Edwards Park. However all the buses have been funneled down 3rd avenue and the stop wasn't just farther away but was in a creepy (to me) industrial part of town) It was ok for the coming but might be dicey on the exit.

I found out this stupid was the symptom of a bigger stupid, the tunnel. Tunnels on fault zones are a bad idea- humans cannot control the movements of Earth and we apparently disconnect old ideas of "progress" with new fangled "global warming." It is time that the wealth making of the few is exposed for the charlatan it is. Ever promoted as public good actions, they have instead led to fiscal imbalance, fraud and other economic ills that tie into all other health and welfare issues. Which leads back to the Hempfest. (medical marijuana, prison populations, fiber crops that use pesticides, synthetic fertilizers & herbicides harm all of us eventually)

Hemp is a fast growing, water friendly, pest lacking weed that makes for eco sane fibers These fibers can be woven and knit into clothing that makes sense. Like solar and wind power, some things have more plusses and fewer side effects than others, that is where technology can add to the benefits while spending less energy on mitigating the fall out. The focus and aim is better from the get. That is smart, however a lot of money still rides on the old agenda which is why some of us are feeling like Alice in Blunderland.

Line Drying is Simply better

Line Drying is an easy to accommodate, better choice than machine drying.

Fresh air dried clothing is a healthier, saves energy ie watchces personal and family carbs (carbons), is sun sanitized and scented by nature. It is widely acknowledged throughout the world that line drying clothing is far gentler and wiser than tumbling them around in metal drums .

This photo was taken at last Sunday at the Sustainable NE Seattle Festival. It was a small but cheerful event that was patterned much like others before it. These local sustainable festivals lack a sophisticated urban edge that i appreciate. I do not hold that a return to farming need be everyone's cup of tea. I endorse fresh, local, organic farm produce but would rather find an urban farmer to till my backyard then do it myself. That way we both win and if the garden is prolific, so will others.

As for livestock, the goats, ducks and chickens are cute from a distance but my grandparents had a farm and there is a lot more to it than meets the novice urban eye. I appreciate them for their natural services and pet-ability but have other plots to tend, thank you very much,...really.