WORD :: Encoutering Life's Endings.

Plato said, "If you wish to live well, practice dying."

Tune in to understand why ...

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"All that lives is transitory, and will depart this life."

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Louis Silverstein is a transcendental/holistic philosopher and practitioner, and multi-cultural and interdisciplinary educator. Currently a Distinguished Professor of Liberal Education at Columbia College Chicago, he teaches courses in Peace Studies, Dying & Death, Education, Culture & Society, and Social Problems In American Society. Louis has presented on a variety of topics at meetings of professional associations, including: the Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education, the American Council on Education, the Association for Humanistic Sociology, the American Association of Higher education, the American Educational Research Association, the National Adult Education Association, the Third World Studies Association, the Alliance-Association for External Degree Programs for Adults, the National Social science Association, the International Society for Exploring Teaching Alternatives, the Creative Management in Higher Education Association, the Popular Culture Association, the Coalition To Increase Minority Degrees, the Midwest Philosophy of Education Society, the American Society On Aging, the Humanities Education & Research Association and the World Forum On Education. Topics presented by Louis include: "Teaching A Culture of Peace & Justice," "Breaking The Silence: Drugs, Culture & Truth," "Sex As Curse & Blessing," "Aging Stories," "Emotional Intelligence," "Death & Dying," and "Embodied/Experiential Spirituality." In addition, he is the author Of "An Oral History of Columbia College, Vols. I-V," "Deep Spirit & Great Heart: Living In Marijuana Consciousness" and "Encountering Life's Endings." Louis is also co-founder and co-director of the Life Arts Society, dedicated to the healing and uplifting of mind, body and spirit. His studies, theoretical and experiential, of transformative consciousness and alternative realities have been of long duration, encompassing four decades-1960's to the present, and have taken him to settings throughout the U.S., and to Jamaica, Costa Rica, Canada and numerous European countries. 

CAPTURED :: For My Bia On Her Birthday.

WORD :: We Prey in Different Ways.

She's a cat and I'm a cougar.


A + J

THAT'S NOT ME!

I have decided that I do not like the quotes on my FB page...and I am going to erase most of them now. When I read over them a little while ago, I realized they make me out to be an extremely intense, romantic at heart, jaded woman...and that is not who I am, so it is time to let them go. 

GOODBYE...

Things do not change; we change.  - Thoreau
A kiss, and all was said.  - Hugo
If music be the food of love, play on.  - Shakespeare
We are shaped and fashioned by what we love.  - Goethe
If you were what you were, then you always will be.  - Me

HELLO... 
???

STEEZ: TORCH & SOLDER.

KATHY BRANSFIELD

"Distinctively meaningful silver and gold jewelry"

Kathy sprouted in the backbone of America's Midwest; Cincinnati Ohio, where she spent her childhood outside climbing trees, fishing for bluegill, and pursuing any and all craft projects that came her way. Always a creative person by nature, a turning point came at the tender age of 11 when she had the opportunity to meet and paint along side the legendary TV artist Bob Ross. It was the first, as well as the last time in her life that she was speechless. After meeting her frizzy haired mentor, who was the master of giving little friends to lonely trees, she knew she wanted to devote her life to art. At the age of 13, she befriended a man from Nigeria who was selling African trade beads at a flea market. That began an obsession that started her on her jewelry path. 

Having attended the prestigious School for the Creative and Performing Arts, she left home at 15 and began selling her wears to finance her travels across the country while following the band The Grateful Dead. It wasn't long before she hit a creative ceiling with beadwork and sought out metal-smithing classes along the way. After receiving a $6 letter-stamping set as a gift, she went at it with a creme brulee torch and cadmium laden solder. She was inspired by a love poem that hung behind her workbench and out of that sprung the first 'Book Necklace. It was a tiny adornment with hand-stamped pages that held the world for her. It was also the foundation for many pieces to come that would pay homage to the luminous writers whose quotes helped her to find solace and strength through the toughest of times. 

Some of her other early pieces were kinetic and largely inspired by found objects. The 'Time Flies' necklace held a vintage watch face and riveted wings that moved up and down, there were anatomically correct people pins that featured interchangeable clothing, hats and hair, car bracelets that raced around the wrist with wheels made of 150yr. old Venetian glass beads, and even miniature sprinkling cans that when tilted sideways poured out streams of sterling water. But alas, it was the power of language that superseded and brought the jewelry line to where it is today. 

Kathy now lives in Los Angeles, where she works hard to play hard. Camping, gourmet cooking and boating are just a few of the things that make up playtime in and around her work schedule. A lover of travel, she feels that her journeys to other lands and experiencing other cultures has been a primary resource for inspiration. Within these travels she is almost always on a mission to indulge her rivaling passion of scuba diving and underwater photography, which opens up yet another world of inspiration unto itself. She hopes she can share History's most brilliant visionaries with you through her sterling silver work. 

Most pieces open to reveal hand-stamped quotes or images that capture her trust in human faith, life's complex beauty and all its diversity. Each item embodies an essence of her quirkiness and unfalteringly cheerful spirit. All are cherished by their wearers and many hold them as a sacred personal amulet. 

Kathy's distinctively meaningful jewelry continues to evoke passionate responses from long time collectors and new fans alike. They can be found in the finest galleries, catalogs and exhibitions across the country. Almost 25 years later, somewhere, somehow, Bob Ross has got to be smiling.

(Portfolio)

 ORIGINAL CONTENT: Artfully Elegant

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LOVE NEVER DIES

 18kt Gold plated bronze and brushed Silver

18" Bar link chain

5/8" pendant

$68.00 

COMPASS

“I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul” 

- William Ernest Henley -

 

18kt Gold plated bronze and brushed Silver

18" rolo chain

3/4" pendant

$68.00

LOVE IS MY RELIGION

  

18kt Gold plated bronze and brushed Silver

18" bar link chain

3/4" pendant 

$68.00 

GOETHE TREE

"Whatever you can Do or Dream you can, Begin it. 

Boldness has Genius, Power, and Magic in it"

- Goethe -

 

18kt Gold plated bronze and brushed Silver

18" snake chain

7/8" x 7/8" pendant

$76.00

CREATE

18kt Gold plated bronze and brushed Silver

16" Bar link chain

3/8" pendant

$52.00

VAN GOGH SUNFLOWER

“I know nothing with any certainty, but the sight of stars makes me dream” 

– Vincent Van Gogh - 

 

 18kt gold plated bronze and brushed silver 

18" rolo chain 

1" pendant

$72.00

TREE OF SERENITY

"God grant me the Serenity to accept the things I cannot change

Courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference"

 

 18kt Gold plated bronze and brushed Silver

24" Snake chain

1.375" x .75" pendant

$80.00

GHANDI IVY

“Be the Change you Wish to see in the World” 

– Gandhi - 

 

18kt Gold plated bronze and brushed Silver

16” Ball chain

5/8" pendant

$64.00

DIFFERENT WAYS TO SPEND A DAY.

While my best friend from high school celebrated her engagement with her family and friends (minus me - I wasn't invited), I was reuniting, yet again, with a boy she and I both have a past with. Theirs was very short-lived, while ours, at this point, seems neverending. But it does make me reflect on the past, ponder the present and daydream about the future. I wonder who's happier with their life right now...or maybe we're equally satisfied with our current state of being, even though we are in such different places in our lives. Which brings me to my hypothetic reason for her not inviting me to celebrate, even though we were (and until this point thought us to still be) very very close friends. I don't fit the "mold"...never have. I don't conform, follow the "rules," or live a "normal" life (and I mean this in soooo many ways). She is now beginning her WASPlife and I accept the fact that she had to let me go in order to do so. I'm not angry. I accept her for who she is and the choices she makes...that's what friends do. I hope she had a magical night.

WORD :: About A Boy.

Normally I wouldn't put myself out there like this, but it's almost three and the only person I can talk to at this time of the night is myself. I started crying about half an hour ago and I just cant seem to stop. My head hurts, I'm tired, and I want to go to sleep, but I can't. I'm so angry and confused right now; angry at myself for being so stupid and careless, and confused about how this thing between he and I went from so right to so wrong and why I could do nothing to prevent our relationship from spiraling out of control.

Its not like I loved him. Really, I didn't even know him. Aside from the uncanny number of things we had in common, he was just another boy to me. Someone to focus my attention on, someone to daydream about, someone to adore me and all my flaws and perfection.

Maybe I cared about him more than I know because it takes more than just some boy to make me cry. I tried not to, fought hard, but couldn't hold it in. He said all the right things, touched me in just the right way, confided in me, kissed my forehead, dressed like a pro, and best of all, like me, was the perfect mix of hip hop and hippie. 

He got me. I wanted him to be the one to call...and he did. But, then the calls stopped. He disappeared and I blindly chased after him. I don't know why; he enthralled me. He had so much potential and I wanted to show him that. He was so young and I wanted to help him grow up. What can I say, I'm a hopeless, hopeless romantic with the heart of a saint. 

After ending a two and half year relationship, it's hard to deal with the loneliness that comes along with separating yourself from someone who you shared all of yourself and your life with. For a long time I thought I was fine, that everything would be ok, that I would find someone else to fill the void. But now, I realize this will be much harder than I had originally thought. 

I never kiss without undying passion. People say having sex is the most intimate way you can be with a person, but for me its kissing. This is a recipe for disaster. When I kiss someone, I feel like I give them a part of myself. The challenge that arises from this, is that I somehow have to find a way to regain the part of me that was lost when they are finally gone. As Nine Inch Nails sings, "There is no you. There is only me." 

See it worked. I stopped crying. Writing brings me great happiness.