WYD - 3

The last part of Sophie's talk in Rio, HUMANISING ECOLOGY.

 Taking all of this into account, it means that we need a humanistic ecological vision that takes account of the special nature of human beings, as well as the ecosystem in which we belong. This vision, as Pope Benedict said, should take in “not only the environment but also life, sexuality, marriage, the family, social relations”; that is, our “duties towards the human person” (Caritas in Veritate, 51). For all these things are part of what we mean by the nature of human beings. We are social by nature. We are born into families. We find meaning in our lives through loving and serving others. We have a dignity that can be expressed in the form of rights and duties.

Pope Benedict taught us that Christianity tries to balance the value of the human person with the value of nature as God’s creation. The Book of Genesis – as well as the Psalms and many other parts of the Bible, which praise the glories of nature – teach Christians to be responsible and gentle and wise in the way we behave towards the world around us. The virtue of
Prudence instructs us to take special care to preserve the natural resources on which our lives and those of our children depend. The other three “cardinal virtues” that are part of the Christian life are just as relevant. Temperance tells us that we must not become greedy, addicted to consumption, living a lifestyle that depends on having more and more. The virtue of Justice reminds us that many of us in the richer countries of the world support our lifestyle at the expense of the poorer countries. And we need the virtue of Fortitude or Courage to strengthen us for what we have to do – to find ways to change the way we live, to be kinder to the earth, fairer to our fellow human beings, and merciful towards the animals and plants that God has created out of his love and wisdom.

Pope Francis recently condemned our culture’s unrestrained greed, saying: “Man is not in charge today, money is in charge, money rules. God our Father did not give the task of caring for the earth to money, but to us, to men and women: we have this task! Instead, men and women are sacrificed to the idols of profit and consumption: it is the ‘culture of waste.’”

We need to escape this culture of waste that we have created: it is our duty as Christians.

Pope Benedict said that, while Christians have a host of compelling reasons to become ecologically responsible, nevertheless “modern Christianity, faced with the successes of science in progressively structuring the world, has to a large extent restricted its attention to the individual and his salvation” (Spe Salvi, n. 25). That means we have been too concerned about “me”, about my personal situation, my salvation, or mine and that of my immediate circle – not enough concerned about the rest of the world. But as Christians we shouldn’t separate the two, because the world has been given to us by God to look after. We can’t hope to save ourselves without trying to fulfill this mission with which we have been entrusted. So the other reason that prevents us getting involved in ecology is “individualism”. It is a disease of our culture, and it is this that makes us isolated, and prevents us working together for the sake of others.

Here are some final statistics. In 1960, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency, the United States produced approximately 88 million tons of municipal waste. By 2010 that number had risen to just under 250 million tons. This jump reflects an almost 184 percent increase in what Americans throw out, even though the population increased by only 60 percent. Everything we buy these days is produced to be cheap and not to last, wrapped in layers of plastic packaging that more often than not ends up in landfill sites. As a culture we seek quick fixes and easy options, but these quick fixes are costing the planet – and subsequently future generations – a lot. The production of clothes, for example, has a major impact upon human lives as well as the environment, for the most part not seen or considered by the average shopper. “Prices rarely include the real social and environmental cost,” says Safia Minney. She is the founder of the successful ethical fashion line, People Tree. In fact, once again, we see that the environmental and human elements cannot be separated. The World Health Organisation believes that around 20,000 farmers in developing countries die a year as a result of agricultural pesticides used in cotton farming.

I said that I was going to speak about how environmental ecology connects with the Theology of the Body. Well, ethical fashion is an example. Remember that clothing is a huge industry worldwide. Remember also that it is all about those fig leaves and those coats of skin in the Garden of Eden, the protection and ornamentation of our alienated human bodies. The clothing industry is only one among many, but it demonstrates exactly how a pattern of consumer choices that seems very trivial at the time adds up to create a huge impact both on our fellow human beings – such as the workers who are employed to make the clothes as cheaply as possible – and on the environment that is partially transformed, for better or worse, by our actions.

As young people we are consumers of clothing, and most of us would agree we should try to make sure we are not supporting unfair businesses, or buying things whose negative impact on the environment is hidden from view. If we are running a business, it is easy to say that we must not exploit our workers unfairly, or use immoral or illegal business practices to destroy competitors. That’s easy to say, sometimes less easy to do, in a fiercely competitive economy. We need ethical consumer organizations and corporate whistleblowers to help us. One thing we mustn’t do is assume that what we buy, what we wear, what we eat, is somehow unconnected with what I was saying earlier about the planet. If there is one thing ecology has taught us, it is that everything is connected.

In his speech to the German Bundestag in September 2011 called “The Listening Heart”, Pope Benedict said this: “We must listen to the language of nature and we must answer accordingly. Yet I would like to underline a point that seems to me to be neglected, today as in the past: there is also an ecology of man. Man too has a nature that he must respect and that he cannot manipulate at will. Man is not merely self-creating freedom. Man does not create himself.”

The Theology of the Body by Pope John Paul II is all about what we find when we understand our own nature as created by God. The Pope talks about the “spousal” or “nuptial” meaning of the body, about the fact that we were made for love, and that there is a “way of living the body” in its authentic masculinity and femininity. This nuptial meaning has been limited, violated and deformed over time and by modern culture, until we have almost lost the power of seeing it, but it is still there to be discovered with the help of grace, like a spark deep within the human heart. The “language of the body” is part of that “language of nature” that Pope Benedict speaks of. The way we live, the clothes we buy and wear, the work we do, the way we treat each other, and, yes, the way we treat animals and the whole of nature, should reflect our understanding of that language – the fact that we are put here not to destroy and exploit but to love and cooperate.

***
By way of conclusion, I want to sum up very briefly the difference between secular and Catholic environmentalism.

The extreme secular attitude to climate change and ecology could be represented by this short and snappy quote from the environmental organization Greenpeace: “The earth is 4.6 billion years old. Scaling to 46 years, humans have been here for 4 hours, the industrial revolution began 1 minute ago, and in that time, we’ve destroyed more than half the world’s forests.” Humans, in other words, are the enemy of the earth.

Standing here in front of you, more than halfway through my first pregnancy at the age of 25, you could say that I physically embody the fundamental difference between secular and Catholic understandings of ecology and environmentalism. The secular environmentalist might say, on the basis of the Greenpeace quote I just read, “Don’t have children if you can help it! Or if you must, have one or two at the very most. Humans are to blame for environmental damage, and it would be better if we had never existed.” But the Catholic environmentalist says something different. The Catholic might say: “Yes, it is true, and terrible, that we have let down the rest of creation by being bad stewards of its treasures. But we are the greatest treasure of them all – the natural world’s most precious resource – and we still have the power to turn this around, with God’s help. It is by continuing to have children, and by teaching those children well, that we can help clean up the mess that we have made.”

In our families, and with our children when they come, we must draw on the love that opens our eyes to reality, as Pope Francis says in his encyclical Lumen Fidei (2013): “Faith knows because it is tied to love, because love itself brings enlightenment. Faith’s understanding is born when we receive the immense love of God which transforms us inwardly and enables us to see reality with new eyes” (n. 26). In turn, by revealing the love of God the Creator, faith “enables us to respect nature all the more, and to discern in it a grammar written by the hand of God and a dwelling place entrusted to our protection and care. Faith also helps us to devise models of development which are based not simply on utility and profit, but consider creation as a gift for which we are all indebted” (n. 55).

Stratford and Sophie Caldecott, 24th July 2013, Rio de Janiero, Brazil

NB. Sophie has an interesting article on beauty on her own blog.

WYD – 2

Sophie's talk in Rio continued.

One of the symbols of the ecology movement is a famous photograph of the earth from space that was taken by one of the Apollo spaceships on a lunar mission in the late 60s. It showed people very vividly that we all live on one extremely beautiful and delicate planet. It tells us that all creatures on the earth are dependent on the ecology and resources of planet earth. Political boundaries between one nation and another are invisible from space, and so the image also came to represent a way of transcending our national differences and our enmities in order to work for the preservation of the planet we share.

But the image also teaches us something else. We are just one among many
millions of animal species – but it shows us that human beings are special. It is only the human animal that can venture into space in order to take such a photograph. And like it or not, we play a central role on the planet. Even secular ecologists admit that we are more capable than any other species of destroying the entire ecosystem. This means that we have a heavier responsibility than any other species. And our Christian faith tells us that this responsibility is part of what we were created for. The Book of Genesis (2:15) tells us that “God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it.” That vocation to cultivate and look after the earth continues after our exile from the Garden of Eden; that is, after we began to sin. All that changed was that the job suddenly became more difficult. God told Adam: “cursed is the ground because of you; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth to you; and you shall eat the plants of the field” (Gen. 3:17-18).

This looks like a punishment, but really it is just the natural consequence of what man had done and what he had become. He had run away from God, tried to hide in the forest, ashamed of his own body. He had become alienated from God – no wonder everything had become more difficult for him! And the thing to underline is that in becoming alienated from God, he was also alienated from himself, from his wife, and from his own body. When God quizzes him about what had happened, he admits eating the forbidden fruit (whatever that means – it isn’t necessarily an apple!), but he blames his wife for giving it to him. And his own body (and hers) is now an embarrassment to him. He is aware of himself as a lonely creature in a dangerous world that he can never quite understand. The return to God is going to be a long and difficult road.

And yet man remains special. Even in disgrace, he has a unique relationship with the world. He and the woman together, who were made to help each other in this, are not abandoned by God just because of sin, since God now clothes them with skins so that they will survive outside the Garden, and sends them out to “till the ground” (again) from which they were taken (Gen. 3:23). They are given the same job they had before they fell from grace!  [Continued here.]

World Youth Day 2013

Sophie Caldecott (now Lippiatt) is representing her family at WYD this year, having been invited by Creatio to speak on Faith and the Environment to the young people there. It is a talk she and her dad wrote together, representing the concern of two generations for the world that we will hand on to the next. Ecology should be part of everyone's education. Taught the right way, without the intrusion of ideology, it can help to awaken a deeper appreciation for God's creation in its complexity and interdependence, as well as a sense of moral responsibility. In fact a concern for ecology and conservation runs deep in the family. Her uncle Julian is a professional conservationist. Leonie, her mother, also has a deep interest in the subject, and her great-grandfather, an artist, was involved in setting up the Kruger National Park in South Africa. Sophie's talk on 24 July began like this:

Through the pontificates of John Paul II, Benedict XVI, and Francis, ecology has become an important part of Catholic social teaching. In 2011, Pope Benedict said, "The importance of ecology is no longer disputed. We must listen to the language of nature and we must answer accordingly.” In his
inaugural Mass, Pope Francis asked us to become “'protectors' of creation, protectors of God’s plan inscribed in nature, protectors of one another and of the environment." We have been reminded over and over again that, as Pope Francis also said in a Tweet on 5 June: “Care of creation is not just something God spoke of at the dawn of history: he entrusts it to each of us as part of his plan.”

What I want to do in this talk is reflect on the “plan” that the Pope speaks of. In particular, I want to show how ecology is part of a much wider plan that includes something you may not think at first was related to ecology at all – namely the Theology of the Body. But in fact, the Church’s teaching on the environment and on the human body, on cherishing the natural world and cherishing our human nature, belong together. They cannot be separated.

Of course, in some ways the natural environment is easier to talk about. Our generation is at last waking up to the beauty, the richness and diversity, the fragile complexity, of the environment on which our lives and societies depend. We are waking up to it because it is evaporating in front of our eyes. Philip Larkin’s poem, "Going, Going", sums it up in a very moving way. “I thought it would last my time - / The sense that, beyond the town, / There would always be fields and farms, / Where the village louts could climb / Such trees as were not cut down…” he begins, going on to say that now he is not so sure: “For the first time I feel somehow / That it isn’t going to last”. Suddenly all of these changes seem “To be happening so very fast”. Another of my favourite poets, Joni Mitchell, in her song “Big Yellow Taxi”, says something similar. You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone!

My uncle Julian has been working as a conservation biologist all over the world for more than 30 years. During that time, he has seen so many landscapes devastated and so much of the world depleted and degraded that he finds it hard not to be depressed. He tells me that around 70% of the millions of land-based species on the planet used to live in areas that were particularly supportive of life (rainforests, for example). These areas amounted to about 16% of the earth’s land surface. But since 1950, around 86% of that rich habitat has already been destroyed, mostly by human farming and industry. You can imagine the effect on biodiversity.

Don’t worry, this talk is not going to be full of statistics. The point is simply this. My uncle has dedicated his life to trying to save as much as he can, but he is doing it without the support that our faith gives us. He is defending God’s creation without even knowing who God is – just because he knows it is the right thing to do. Not only is he defending the beauty of nature, but he is trying to help preserve human life on earth, which depends on the survival of the “ecosystem”. As Catholics, we have even more reason to get involved in this issue. [... read next section ...]

Communio

The Spring 2013 issue of the international review Communio is on the topic of education. It includes a classic article by philosopher Robert Spaemann called “The Courage to Educate”, which presents a series of important questions about the state of education. “Why has it become necessary to point out something self-evident? Why has it become necessary to be courageous to educate?” Spaemann asks. He sketches an outline of what education really is—a formation of the human being—and then points out a number of ways this idea has been mistreated. It seems we no longer believe that education is about an affirmation of the future—in a word, that it is worth truly educating our children. He writes that “we must ask ourselves what resources we are actually living on, and the questions of how our children should live can only give impetus to do so. Many things that are being said publicly today can actually be said only by people who have no children or who have written off their children.”

CHRISTMAS TREE DECORATING

Some of the most creative and unique christmas tree decorating ideas are actually the ones that are the cheapest. Don't think for a minute that decorating a tree, whether it be an artificial tree, a wall mounted tree or a real tree has to be boring! The key is to use your imagination to come up with ideas that will reflect your interests and personal style. When it comes to christmas tree decorating ideas, necessity really is the mother of some great inventions!
Here is some inexpensive and creative christmas tree decorating ideas for revelers on a budget.

Christmas Card Images - This is one of the simplest of christmas tree decorating ideas. Cut the images that you like from last year's Christmas cards and color the back with gold or silver magic marker. Then hang it from the tree with a shiny ribbon. This look is especially nice on a wall mounted christmas tree that is placed next to your main entryway.
Colored Glass or Plastic Balls - Embellishing common colored glass balls with glitter paints or aerosol flocking (fake snow) is one of the most tried and true of christmas decorating ideas. You can also glue on glitter or craft store jewels and attach braids or ribbons on a cheap glass ball and turn it into the dime store equivalent of a Faberge egg. Stickers, sequins and ribbons can also be used to make inexpensive decorations look more unique. A bit of glue and some glitter is also a great way to refresh the look of old or scratched xmas ornaments.

Cookies - Decorating your tree with cookies is as old as the tradition itself. Simply make gingerbread or shortbread cookies and decorate them with icing. Make sure to leave a little hole in the confection so you can hang it from fishline or a ribbon from the tree. Gingerbread men or shortbread snowmen look great, especially on a natural green tree.
Glitter Decorations - Just about any tiny object, sphere or disk can be dipped or painted with glue and then rolled in glitter. This is one way to transform "junk" into xmas decorations that can be hung from the tree. Glitter is very inexpensive and it can be used to transform everything from old antique keys to cereal box prizes to golf balls into xmas décor.
Origami - Origami is the fine art of paper folding. You can find instructions for making everything from snowflakes to storks out of Origami on the Internet. There are many sites that specialize in offering origami christmas tree decorating ideas. One idea is to make larger and smaller versions of the same design to create a balanced and minimalist look.

Party Streamers: simply strewing the ends of its branches with party streamers can create a very fashionable and minimalist looking tree. A strand of Chinese lanterns from the dollar store also very nicely compliments this look. This type of look is also very attractive on an upside down xmas tree or a wall mounted christmas tree as a bit of a breeze makes the tree come alive with movement.
Pipe Cleaners - This is one of those christmas tree decorating ideas that is great to do with the kids! Chenille pipe cleaners have to be one of the most versatile craft items ever invented. Simply twist them into the shape of snowflakes, stars, angels or anything that you can imagine. Best of all pipe cleaner xmas decorations can be wired directly onto the tree. This makes them ideal for trees that can't, for reasons of safety, have too many dangling decorations such as the wall mounted christmas tree or the upside down christmas tree.
Popcorn Christmas Tree - There is nothing cheaper than popcorn and it is a great source of inspiration when it comes to christmas tree decorating ideas. Any type of christmas tree including the real, artificial or wall mounted christmas tree looks great decorated in garlands of popcorn. Popcorn can also be shaped into balls and hung like gigantic snowballs from the branches of a tree. Don't forget too that you can easily dye or paint popcorn using food coloring.

Ribbons and Lace - One of the simplest christmas tree decorating ideas is to simply tie bows made out of scraps of ribbon and bits of lace and tie them to the boughs of a tree. This is also the safest way of decorating a tree if you have a wall-mounted or upside-down christmas tree. Decorating a christmas tree in ribbons that are securely tied to a tree is also safest for a toddler.
Snowflakes - This is one of those christmas tree decorating ideas that are great to do with the kids. Remember the folded paper snowflakes you made as a child? You can decorate them with any color of glitter. For the best results hang the smaller paper snowflakes at the top of the tree and the larger ones at the bottom.
Toys - If you are on a budget then you can find lots of christmas decoration ideas in the toy section at your local toy store. As long as it is miniature, it will probably look great on a tree. You can wire heavier items to the branches and hang lightweight items with colorful bows. Trains, little dolls and fish look especially nice on an xmas tree. This idea is also good for a small wall mounted tree in a child's room.
Wired Translucent Bows - This is one of the more minimalist christmas tree decorating ideas but the effect is absolutely beautiful. Buy wired translucent ribbon on in two colors - silver and gold are hot right now - and simply tie them to your tree. The wire keeps the bows big and stiff so they look really attractive. This look is also perfect for a tree that you don't want people to bump into such as a wall mounted christmas tree or upside down christmas tree.

FASHION NEW WOMEN

Are you the type of person that loves to go shopping but usually ends up staring at a whole collection of wardrobe but cannot find the suitable one for you? Are you tired wearing the same outfit over and over again? Do you turn down invitations to special occasions just because you do not have a presentable dress to wear? Then you really are stuck in a fashion rut.
No matter what age you are or even your body size is it is important that you always look good and feel good. In fashion, there are 2 golden rules that you should keep in mind. First, being stylish does not mean that you need to have a slim body. It has nothing to do with your size at all. Being stylish is making the most of your body shape. Second, trendy clothes need not to be expensive for fashion is not about the money. Fashion is about style.

A great fashion style always comes with an attitude. It is important that you are confident to face people with what you wear. Actually, it is easy to learn the appropriate cuts and colors which are most suitable for you. You just need to make some few internet researches and the web will certainly can provide you the things that you need. As mentioned by a Coco Chanel designer, fashion can be likened to architecture where proportion does matter.
Most people will think fashion as high class, sophisticated and for high profiles. If you are not comfortable using the word fashion, just keep the word "style" in your head. As Jacqui Ripley, the author of The Makeover Book (2004), using the word style may be less intimidating or more "wearable".

Even though you are a full time housewife who spends most of the time at home, it does not exclude you from updating your fashion sense. You also need to make an effort to make yourself look good. Doing so not only boost up your confidence as a woman, but feeling beautiful and good as always can also make you look younger. It creates that positive attitude that can help you lift up your spirits to face your everyday challenges as a mother and a wife.

You can start out by cleaning out your closet, removing all the outdated clothes as well as those pieces that you are not comfortable wearing. Make room for new fashion wardrobes. You do not need to fill it instantly. You may take it slowly and piece by piece.

In choosing new clothes, you need to start building a set of new outfits that is versatile and timeless. You need to have a classic piece, trendy outfits, well cut and some few cheap and fun clothes. It is also important that you treat your clothes as an investment, purchasing those that are must haves rather than those "will do" pieces. This includes a little black dress, a good coat, a pair of jeans, black pants, a wrap dress and a white shirt. Adding up a few fashion accessories can definitely update the style thereby enhancing its looks.

Nail Design

Seriously. If you have spent the last 10 years, or 10 months simply painting your nails you are missing out, or worse, if you can only afford a professionally designed look for your nails twice a year you are not rewarding yourself. Discover how to do your own designs whenever you want in the comfort of your own home.
Showing off simple nail designs is no longer confined to the first few days after dropping $50 for a manicure (hoping they don't chip before you can show both your friends as well as total strangers). You should be creating your own designs at home - not only are they cheaper, but you can achieve some very creative and unique looks that last just as long as salon designs - without spending your weekly allowance.

Easy nail designs to start with fall into the following general categories:

• Two tone nail polish treatments - basically doing your nails half one color, and half another color. Fairly easy to do and can create some very abstract patterns, but be careful in terms of having a steady hand in getting the lines right.


• Adding a shattered affect to your nails with Crackle Nail Polish. Easy, and creates totally unique designs, especially with the almost-infinite variety of color combinations between the solid base coat and the top crackle polish.

Doing your fingers one color, and your thumb a different color [an alternative is having your pinky finger be a different color instead, or your thumbnail]. This is tricky, as if the colors don't complement each other well it simply looks like you started a nail polish job and got bored half way through!

Drawing designs like flowers, ladybugs, stars, etc. This is truly easy to do and involves using a toothpick as your brush and your nails as the canvass. The problem is if you aren't careful the flower design you just completed may look too similar to some others you see around town.

Magnetic nails - this is the latest, somewhat high tech trend, and is pretty easy and creates very unique designs using special magnetic nail polish and what looks like stamps - but are magnets that arrange the metal particles in the nail around a design.

Nail art pens - these are fun, and are like drawing on your nails with markers [except these have nail polish in them!]. I personally like doing abstract patters and swirls on my nails with these as it doesn't require the same level of precision as trying to draw a picture.

Nail stickers - special "tiny" stickers that will adhere to a properly applied polish or nail, and not run or otherwise get distorted when coated with a clear nail polish. Kind of messy if they get scratched or torn and then have to be taken off, but this can be a quick design that doesn't take a lot of time.

Gel or gelish nails - these are not strictly nail designs, but when used properly gel nails can last up to 3 weeks without chipping or cracking, dry super fast under a UV light, and doing designs with them will result in a longer lasting design. The speed is often faster as well since a UV light is used to dry the polish in under 2 minutes.

I hope this gets you started thinking about the wide variety of nail designs you can do at home!

Talia is a talented high tech professional by day, and a nail fanatic by night. Often accused of only seeing the nails on people she meets, she captures designs and stories from almost any environment she is in - all related to cool nail effects and how they were achieved.
Beginners need to start with simple nail designs, and as you gain experience expand into more complicated designs. Have fun, experiment, and sport a new look on your nails (without dropping a fortune).

HOME DECORATION

 For the first nineteen years of my life I lived in the same town in my parents home. Whatever home decor there was interested me little, it was just there. Then I went to Italy for a year and lived with an Italian Duke and his family. They lived in a villa in Rome. There I noticed the home decor. The rooms were huge. The Duchess had a penchant for elaborate baroque wall mirrors. They were everywhere, with the rest of the home decor to match. Most days the gardener cut arms full of fresh flowers. I often helped to carry them because I liked to follow him around so that I could look at the classical art statue sculptures and fountains. They, and marble benches, strategically placed between the trees and flowers, were the garden decor. Since I liked to do it, it soon became my job to arrange the flowers in decorative vases. I had a free hand in placing them on tables, cabinets and plant stands. It wasn't exactly decorating, but it gave me a satisfying feeling to contribute something to those marvelous rooms.

After one year I moved to Paris, France. Not much scope for home decorating there. I lived in a tiny furnished room, where the home decor consisted of a narrow bed, a pine wood chair, a wardrobe and a wood cabinet with a washbowl. A bare light bulb hung from the ceiling. All I added was a decorative mirror, a reading lamp and a crystal vase, which I kept filled with fresh flowers from the market.
After that it was exciting to move into a house near Los Angeles, California, which I shared with my sister. Without much planning, we decided what we needed and went out to buy whatever appealed to us. As nice as the furniture had looked in the showroom, somehow, in that house it did not seem right. For one thing, it was much too massive and the colors clashed with the paint colors and window coverings. We did not have much time to stew over it since we both carried a full load of courses at the college and worked four hours after class and eight on Saturdays.
The day after I graduated, I got married and my wonderful husband and I moved into an apartment near his work. At first I had fun buying new furniture and making the place look nice, but soon I realized that apartment living was not for me. I missed wandering between the flowers and sitting on the garden bench under the open sky with that first cup of coffee,
As soon as our lease was up, we moved into a house on a steep hillside. We used the furniture we had, even though it looked out of place. Going around to flea markets and buying items without thinking whether they would fit in with what we had, did not help. At the same time my husband inherited his uncle's collectible knives, swords and sabers. They presented a real challenge for me. What was I to do with home decor like that?

Mother Nature soon took care of my dilemma. The house and most of what we owned was burned in the Bel Air fire. Of course I was very sad about the loss, yet I was excited.
Here was my chance to start all over again and this time I intended to make the home decor match the house.
We rented a bungalow with a slanting roof, dark, exposed beams and lots of windows. We moved in with just a few borrowed necessities and stacks of home decor magazines and books. As I saw pictures of things that appealed to me, I would sit in different corners of the empty room I wanted to furnish and envisioned imaginary items in place. It was a great method to decide on my selection. Lime green and lemon yellow were very much in fashion then and probably would have looked ghastly in any of the other dwellings we had had. But in that house, with the dark beams, dark oak flooring and big windows framed by citrus trees, I could envision that it would look nice. And it did. It was a delightful home.

A year later my husband decided to go back to college for his Masters Degree. We loaded what we could into our Volkswagen Bus, sold the rest of our belongings and headed for Austin, Texas, accompanied by two babies and a cat. Money was tight and home decor took a back seat to all else. Like so many student accommodations, ours had a lot of make-do furnishings. The bricks and boards book shelves, the milk crate and plywood tables and second hand sofas and beds. Our newborn slept in what used to be a packing box for toilet paper, nicely lined with colorful fabric. It didn't seem to matter. I devoted my time to my children. My husband devoted his time to his studies .
In less than twelve month he got his degree and was recommended by his professor to a company in Pasadena, California.
We found a lovely cottage style home. Once again I was absolutely thrilled to be able to start decorating from scratch, since we had brought nothing with us. I went through the routine of sitting in different corners of the empty rooms and envisioned what, of the things I had seen in magazines and home decor stores, would look good in that house. I settled on country cottage style home decor and in the end, of all the homes we had lived in, this one, still today, was the one we felt most comfortable and at home in.
Our bliss lasted for almost two years until my husband was transferred to Atlanta, Georgia. Fortunately the company let us fly there ahead of time to check the place out and I could see right away that in the colonial style homes we looked at, country cottage home decor would never do. My husband came to an agreement with his company, that instead of paying for the movers to transport our furniture, they would give him a lump sum.
With great pleasure I acquainted myself with colonial style home decor, sat in the empty rooms envisioning what to put where and in the end came up with a truly elegant period masterpiece. What a delight it was to entertain in that house.
I should have known that it would not last but must admit that I said yes faster than my husband when his boss offered him a job in Nepal.

We had no idea what to expect in that country. Things seemed primitive compared to what we were used to but we loved it. We found a rather grand looking house where the water pipes and electrical lines were all outside the walls. The fuse boxes were right by the entrance so that everybody could see that this house was modern enough to have such luxuries. The floors were naked cement and there was no heating. Sitting in corners of the empty rooms to envision them furnished did not do it here either, since there were no stores where one could just go and buy furniture. Simple beds, with hemp cords strung between the sides and badly made whicker chairs were all one could buy ready made.
Other expatriates advised us to get pictures of home decor we would like to have and take them to a carpenter who may or may not come up with something similar. We did and also found a place in the bazaar where we could order coir carpeting. It did not look like much but felt invigoratingly rough under bare feet. Dishes, cutlery and whatever else one needs in a home also were of ghastly quality, but it did not matter, nobody else had anything better, except for embassy staff, who got everything shipped in. Slowly the pieces of furniture we had ordered were delivered and little by little the place started to look like a home. Finally we could reciprocate for all the many invitations we had accepted from ex pats and local people alike. We might not have had the home decor we would have liked but since the electricity often failed anyhow, by candlelight it did look delightful. Besides, we had one of the best cooks in Katmandu and visitors told us that they would have come to eat his food, had the house been empty.

We were supposed to go back to the United States after my husband's contract was up but even before that, his boss wanted him to transfer to Madras, India. By good fortune we found
an almost new bungalow which had been build on stilts so as to not disturb the roots of a huge holy tree in front of it. The house was built in a square around a courtyard with a mango tree in the middle and all rooms had big glass double doors opening out to it. When I saw the place, I could immediately envision a garden theme and was glad to find fabrics with a lattice and bamboo design for the curtains and matching green upholstery for the sofas and chairs we had made. Even though it took many trips to the bazaar, and frequent reminders to the carpenters, eventually all the home decor complimented the garden feeling I had wanted to achieve. It was like living outdoors.
After that we moved fourteen more times, always to different countries, all over the world, without ever bringing any furnishings with us. Each time I went through the same process of sitting in the empty rooms, envisioning the results I wanted to achieve, then finding the right home decor. The results were always perfect for that particular house.
Few people move as much as we did. For them it is even more important, right at the beginning, to decorate their home to suit it's character. Having chosen what looks right then will still look right years later.

Elisabeth Mcgill is now living in Arizona. To put her experience with home decorating to good use, she has an online home decor business. [http://www.buyhomeandgardendecor.com] She especially would like everybody who does not have a fireplace now, look at the ventless, portable, no installation required fireplaces, and add one to their home.

BIRD TATTOOS

No matter what kind of bird tattoo designs you are looking for online, there are many choices to consider. There is a lot of foul, rancid artwork out there that you need to watch out for, though. It's generic art that might look good on paper or your computer screen, but this stuff won't look even half as great once inked on your skin. That's why we need to go over a few simple things.
The web seems to be tainted with a lot of "less than" artwork that should never be settled on. This holds true even for a niche like bird tattoo designs. It's not that the material you are finding is unsightly, because some of it can look very pleasing to the eye. It's the fact that they are cookie-cutter pieces and the fact that they were not truly drawn to be made into real tattoos.

 You may have already noticed all of this when looking for bird tattoo designs, and if you have, then good for you. If you haven't, then you will need to know this next point. It's the fact that search-engines are very inconsistent with helping you find the quality artwork on the web. Notice that I typed the word "quality". You see, search-engines are indifferent to the type of websites it locates for you. This is especially true when it comes to websites with galleries of tattoos. You are most likely using engines to locate bird tattoo designs. It can sometimes be revolting how many generic, cookie-cutter places pull up in search results. They all seem to have the same exact content as the next place, even when it comes to bird tattoo designs. The web is soiled with this type of website. Most of the artwork for bird tattoo designs these places have is well over seven years old.

 You don't want to waste you time sifting through so much generic content, so I will show you a great way to bypass most of the cookie-cutter stuff out there. This will also be the way to locate the quality bird tattoo designs you are after. The way to stay away from a lot of the untrustworthy websites is to take a couple of minutes to sift through internet forums. They are not even close to being as inadequate as search-engines. They are usually filled with honest people who share their findings with others. Most generic websites can be eliminated from the equation when you read posts about tattoos from forums.

 You will be able to locate the hidden websites that have quality bird tattoo designs, or any tattoos you might be considering. The last thing you want to do is make some knee-jerk reaction and settle on tattoos that you might end up hating. Forums are your way around those kinds of bird tattoo designs. There is just so much unique insider information in forums that is untapped for the most part and it can help you on your journey to find tattoos that fits your particular tastes.

It's pointless to keep looking through the same generic bird tattoo designs, so it might be in your favor to expand your searching options.

Want to know where to find the largest, most original websites to browse for the perfect bird tattoo designs [http://tattooartdesign.wordpress.com]?
Adam Woodham is the author of this article and runs the blog Tattoo Art Design [http://tattooartdesign.wordpress.com], which features the 3 top websites, with the absolute largest gallery of artwork you can imagine, along with tons of great bird tattoo designs. Finding the perfect tattoo has never been easier.

TATTOOS FOR GIRLS

Girls all over the world get tattoos on different parts of their body to adorn it. Initially a girl getting a tattoo was a taboo issue. Any girl having a tattoo was prejudged for her character and moral values. But as the art got spread, the opinions of people grew softer towards tattoos for girls. Now a girl can get a tattoo without having to be categorized.
A tattoo is made by using needles to get colored pigmentation into the skin to leave a permanent design there. This process is painful but the end result is well worth it. Girls are used to the concept of a little pain for beauty.

Getting a tattoo is a good investment of your money towards the expression of your fashion sense and style. Finding the right tattoo is the key to a lifetime's satisfaction with your body art.
Girls get these tattoos made on different places on their body. You can have one made at the back of your neck, on your abdomen, anywhere on your arm, on your calf, or on your ankle, on your lower back, it can be made on the back of your hand as well.

The most common site for tattoos for girls is the ankle. It gives the bearer to flash the tattoo on her own will. Combining the tattoo with a pair of chic sandals can work wonders for your style. The tattoo and your sandals will complement each other and both will draw attention to the other.
But getting a tattoo on the ankle is probably the most painful due to the nature of the ankle. It doesn't have a single layer of fat beneath the skin. The skin is simply stretched over the bone. As it goes, the closer to the bone the needle gets the more painful it is. A little variation in the location, to make a tattoo a bit upward from the ankle can help to reduce the pain.

 You can also get a full sleeve tattoo, but it's not very common among girls. The tattoos for girls are usually small in size; delicate and petite just like the girls getting them. But of course it's not a standard, just a norm. Some girls too get larger more elaborate tattoos.

The most common tattoos for girls are little symbols of natural things like daisies, rose, lilies, ladybugs, phoenix, peacock, seahorse, strawberries, and water signs. Almost all of these tattoos have some associated meaning and their meanings have roots in the ancient time. Most of these symbols are synonymous with the female sex and femininity. They also symbolize love, purity, and loyalty.
Other tattoos for girls are inspired by love; like different designs of hearts, cupid, Venus and Eros tattoos. You can also get a favorite phrase or a line from the lyrics of your favorite song written as a tattoo. Your tattoo can say a lot about you so choose the one for you that reflects your true personality.

D.C. = Daily Commuters

I recently got to spend some time in our nation's capital, Washington, D.C. It turns out this is sort of like a bar mitzvah for people who are interested in law and politics. How do you know you've come of age as someone interested in policy? You've interned in D.C. at least one summer.

It's a great city - it's kind of quaint (the Washington Monument is basically the closest thing to a skyscraper ... and it's an obelisk), it's laid out on a confusing grid system (letters, numbers, states, and "words of the Republic"), and if you look closely, you can see Nicholas Cage stealing the Declaration of Independence.

Is that the Declaration or a telescope? 

Sadly, the Metro system is NOT an excellent part of D.C. Oh sure, it gets you around town, and it's very clean, and you feel kind of like an alien in a space portal. But the pricing system is really quite mean.

"A long time ago in a galaxy far,
far away ..."

Let's establish some backstory here. I went to college in New York City. As a poor student who would rather spend money on shoes and dessert than basically anything else, I walked nearly everywhere. I was too cheap to take the subway, and taxi cabs were chariots of the gods. IF I took the subway, it was because I had a long way to go - probably to another borough. In NYC, the subway is a flat fee. It costs the same amount of money to ride one stop down as it does to ride to the end of the line. That meant that I could really get my money's worth by only riding when I was going to use a significant amount of subway services. As you know, getting my money's worth is practically a full-time hobby for me.

But the D.C. Metro, in all of its bureaucratic glory, had outsmarted me. How? Because the farther you ride, the more you pay. To add insult to wallet-conscious-injury, the bus is a flat fee. What did this mean for me?

Well, I commuted from West Falls Church, VA, all the way to the Hill. I was in Falls Church because a dear friend let me sleep on her futon, practically rent-free—thus proving either that miracles DO

Life goal: be this kid, as cheaply
as possible. 

happen, or that you should make friends with people who own futons and live in expensive cities.

Every day, I took the bus to the Metro station ($1.60 flat fee with a SmarTrip Card, $1.80 flat fee cash - no change given), then took the Metro all the way to the Capital South stop. It cost about $5 ... each direction. Can I tell you that spending $10 commuting every day is THE WORST? Happily I caught some rides with my aunt, and my roommate would usually pick me up from the Metro station so that I didn't have to bus twice. BUT STILL.

Why does D.C. do this? Well, I have three theories, which I've laid out below:

Tie consumption to price - this theory says that fewer people are going to need to haul themselves out to West Falls Church than to Gallery Place/Chinatown. The Metro is a public good, so if you can charge people based on how much of the good they use, that's actually more efficient in the long run. Of course, you'd have to make sure the supply and demand met and that the pricing structure accurately reflected the elasticity of the need and use. Presumably, the farther away people live, the more likely they are to have cars, which makes the farther stops more elastic. The farther away people are, the more likely it is that they're routine uses —their consumption patterns aren't going to change, unlike the

They'll be gone soon - only
to be replaced. 

tourists who are in and out of D.C. all the time, and really only use the Metro around the monuments. It's theoretically unfair to make the concentrated, one-time users subsidize the dispersed, routine commuters.

Vindictively punish people trying to save money in the 'burbs - D.C. is an expensive place to live. So people live in surrounding cities in Virginia and Maryland to save on rent. But if you don't live in D.C., you really need a car, which brings costs of gas, insurance, and occasional repairs. You also now have to pay more for the Metro. Your commute is longer, which translates into sunk costs commuting (though these can be recovered through reading or listening to music/books on tape). Even though people COULD theoretically drive in, that translates into even more sunk time commuting, plus the need to pay for parking, or move the car around every

Not really a viable alternative ...

few hours. The bureaucrats know that these are both terrible options, and that pricing isn't really as elastic as it could be, so they can have a pay-more-for-more-riding system.

Blindly institute a system that punishes repeat customers the most - let's face it. The D.C. Metro is a public project, and even if it's run by the most competent business mind in America, it doesn't have to answer to the market; it reaps the benefits of monopoly. In most industries, it's very rare to see your customers twice a day, five days a week (even most loyal Starbucks drinkers are only in

"Fourth Coffee: Buy 10, don't get
fourth one free."

once a day). This kind of routine, repeat business would typically garner thank-yous and benefits, because it's far more profitable to keep an existing customer than to acquire a new short-term one. Instead, the repeat customers end up paying more than new, briefly-acquired ones.

Overall, the D.C. Metro is probably priced accurately for use. But as someone who was using it more, I sure would have liked to free-ride on a flat fee a bit more.

I paid my own way in:
White and black polka dot skirt, black cami, black suit jacket, black figure eight earrings, black and purple statement necklace, black and silver watch, and black patent pumps.

TATTO DESIGN

 Tattoos are used for uniqueness, religious reasons, and also for good luck, happiness, and love. When you decide to get a tattoo for luck, happiness or love, you always think of foreign languages. Everything we do in today's life is related to our culture, so, for a change, you think of foreign words that give you luck and more. One of those foreign style is called Kanji that contains Japanese text. If you think about it, there is a stereotype about getting Japanese letter printed as they look cool and very different from the everyday tattoos. The Kanji style tattoos are always written in vertical manner because there is no other way to write Japanese.

 All different kanji tattoos have different meanings. You can get a tattoo describing your personality, something that brings you luck or even just your name in Japanese. Finding what kanji tattoo is the best for you is the hardest part. You can find some kanji designs on the internet, but if you want the real deal, you can always go on to the Tattoo Review site, where they offer the reviews of the best tattoo design sites that offer your unique Kanji Style tattoo design. The site also compares the prices and quality of the site, so that you can get the tattoo design at the best deal.

 Famous celebrities from all around the world get these Kanji style tattoos, so they can be more lucky, happy and more in love. One of those many famous celebrities is Victoria Beckham, wife of David Beckham and the owner of Victoria's secrets. She has a Kanji style tattoo on the back of her neck. Another world famous celebrity with a Kanji style tattoo is Britney Spears, who has a kanji style tattoo on the back of her neck. One last, but not the least, celebrity who has a kanji tattoo is Pink. She has a kanji tattoo above her left ankle for luck.

After learning this much about Kanji Style tattoos, I believe that now it is time for you to get your own tattoo. The best part after getting a kanji tattoo is that everybody is going to start asking you for the meaning of your tattoo and you can tell them anything you want.

Looking for printable tattoo flash? The three largest tattoo sites have thousands of quality original tattoo designs, read these impartial reviews to find the webs best tattoo gallery.