spring habit.010

It's Earth Day now.  I'm just up late thinking.  I rode the bus today for two hours.  Did I affect change?  Does it matter?  All the plastic I recycle at home, companies throw away without thinking.  To be quite honest I throw away so much at work as well.

Why do others not care?  That's not it.  As the status quo of my work area is now, we don't have the system in place.  I hardly have time to finish all the routine tasks let alone sort the plastic from aluminum...and that's basic recycling.  Systems are beautiful.  I know it seems odd, but think of ecosystems and the intricate systems of biology.  That said, we need more systems in place for the environment to make recycling easy and convenient, not a luxury for those who have time.

Tell me there is someone out there who cares, too. Enjoy your Earth Day 2010!

spring habit..easier on the eyes.

my version of beauty is kinda vague and very encompassing.  it's not just makeup and white teeth, it's everything. okay, that explains nothing. i mean simply that the bluebonnets on the highway are pretty and i want them to stay there for Lady Bird Johnson's memory. buses are amazing since using them is the best way to reduce air pollution in our city.  don't be scared of the homeless, if you know how to stare at your feet you should do fine.  plus it's fun to run into Leslie.

that said, it's easier said than done to devote 2 hours of your day to beauty. riding the bus kinda makes it easy: one hour there, one hour back = done. the day before that i sewed and finished a pretty bag, and right now i'm still working on my last hour for today.

i'll give you something prettier to look at; however, it is intricate to the deaths of those faraway sea birds. i speak of caps. #5 plastic bottle caps. "Plastic bottle caps are one of the top 10 items found during marine debris beach clean-ups and the second most littered item after cigarette butts" (Beach Environmental Awareness Campaign Hawaii).  when looking at the photos of the Midway birds that's what i saw primarily. fortunately Aveda recycles them and because of that i'm switching my skin care regimen to their products. so today i am going to promote beauty with Aveda.  how's that for pretty?  stop by their shop at Barton Creek Mall and drop yours off.  have a good night, best wishes for a beautiful day tomorrow.

Earth Hour 2010

We've made it my dears! It's another year and I didn't forget Earth Hour this year! Cheers!

Okay...so what is Earth Hour? Well, it's an hour that the whole world turns off it's lights. Sadly it's not one fall swoop of the switch. Each time zone turns off its lights at 8:30pm. I'm hoping that the pub I'm going to tonight joins in.

The point? We rely so much on electricity - try an hour without it. Last year I had a week without internet to much the same effect. It's kinda crazy how much we need it. So give it a try. You can use it as an excuse to cuddle up. Have fun!

Capital Metro

Hi there. Haven't written in a bit, and I apologize. It's getting harder to write about modeling when you aren't doing it as a full-time job. For those who are, I know the pay rate and how hard it is. I remember filling my gastank a quarter of the way or half tank if I was lucky. We depend on buses.

Capital Metro is taking a survey of all the riders and their routes from February through April. Surveyors will be identified with a nametag as representatives of Capital Metro, so there is no need to worry about creepy guys asking where you live. Look for the CapMetro nametag.

Tell them what routes you need in place to make traveling easier. East/West routes? I personally want the #9 to go to Laguna Gloria on weekdays. There are a lot of classes at Laguna Gloria and the #9 only goes there on Saturday, a day in which I've never model there. Tell them what you think. Collectively we can make art modeling a sustainable career. I have some more ideas, but patience is key.

The Model Schedule

A good planner can be the best asset a model owns. With a schedule that fluctuates like Austin's weather, having a calendar or planner pays for itself with one days work. Needless to say, having one helps with one's reputation as a model. Planners keep a model from forgetting any gig.

What I wanted to talk about was something a bit larger in scope. Art models in my experience are part-time. When I was working full-time as a model I didn't realize how bad financially I was doing. All bills were paid, and I don't want to get into details, but I was scraping by. I'd love to work the job I am now, model a little, and in my spare time work on the guild. The guild would provide so many dreams come true, perhaps not in my lifetime but eventually.

My question is this: Does anyone else want to art model full-time if it were possible financially and had health care benefits? Would you volunteer your time to make it happen? Feel free to email me or comment.

without

Hey, I'm back. I've been without internet for about two weeks. It's a bit odd for me. I bet it would be odd for anyone in urban America to go without internet for a half a month. Just makes me think of Earth Hour. Have you heard of it? It's an hour where the whole world turns off the lights.

I remember making my father participate in it last year. He wanted to go to a movie, but I insisted that we play chess by candlelight. I felt a bit mean, but it made us realize how dependent we are on electricity. If you like, participate in it next year. It's March 28th of each year.

Meetup Group

So sorry for the delay!  We have a new meetup.com group!  Please visit us here, and join as an Austin art model, if you like.  Take care.

Together All Can Be Attained

"There never is a shortage of suffering."  Really there isn't.  This quote is from Victoria Moran's book where she discusses volunteering and developing compassion, however, and the limit to all of it.  There is a limit to each of us.  I can't watch the news; I have to read or listen to it.  The last thing I want to be is apathetic and desensitized.

This photo was serenity in relation to the other images taken from South Africa last year in May.  Apparently, the native, black South Africans "armed with clubs, machetes and torches," attacked immigrants from neighboring countries.

The point is: get out of your house and help.  Volunteer somewhere.  Really, it's kinda like religion but a little more tactile.  I'm drained from working on the guild stuff, but it felt so good this morning to help some other organization out.  If we only think of ourselves or our own little problems, we swallow ourselves up and forget there's a world out there.  There is truly a whole world of problems, yet focusing on a part of it brings me joy, not despair.  Help out where you can, but at the very least be conscious of everything you do and how it affects others.

These hands are not fighting.  They're enjoying the common good . . . together.

Give.

Every week I give you a mudra, or hasta, that signifies an emotion for me that particular week.  This picture of hands is worth a million words that don't need to be written in Sanskrit to be holy.  Just give.