Hello

"I've never wished a man dead, but I've read some obituaries with great pleasure." ~ Mark Twain

Need I say more?  We all know who this quote is referring to, if not, read the text bubbles on the image above or turn on the news and you'll hear all about it.  No need to tarnish my blog with his name!  Good riddance!  However, it is important to note that this doesn't mean the whole terrorist mess will go away, but it's a good start I suppose.

On another note, I am horrified and saddened by the devastation left across Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Tennessee, Arkansas, Virginia and Louisiana by last weeks slew of over a hundred deadly tornadoes.  My heart goes out to the families of the more than 300 people killed and to those whose homes and neighborhoods have been wiped off the map.  I can't imagine the heartbreak of losing a family member in such a terrible way, or coming out of hiding to find that my entire community has been destroyed.  I can't get an image from the news out of my head, it was a video clip of a young girl throwing her arms up in the air in desperation and looking around crying... it made me cry!  

With all that said, I find it quite petty that such horror was overshadowed by the ridiculous obsession with the royal wedding.  Wonderful, great, awesome.  Don't get me started on how preposterous I think it is for the whole world to be SO enthralled with such an event.  To some degree I understand why, yet a part of me is completely disgusted at how much media attention it has received thus far.  Every news channel, fashion channel, celebrity channel, (and so on...blah blah blah) felt compelled to orchestrate some play-by-play or documentary to celebrate the momentous occasion.  Really?  Geez.  I'm sick of it already.  Not to be mean, but there are waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay more important things to be focusing on, especially now.

Anyway, it's Monday and I hope you're having a great day so far.  Give thanks to the universe that you're alive, as the days go on it becomes more and more evident just how precious life is!

(Image via Pinterest.com)

Our Earth

Earthquake zones

Hello world...

I was feeling great today until I just heard the breaking news....  A 7.4 magnitude earthquake has hit near the coast of Honshu, Japan!  As a result, yet another tsunami alert has been issued.  *Sigh*  It's so frightening just thinking about it!  My heart goes out to the people in Japan. 

Also, as if that wasn't bad enough, a 6.5 magnitude earthquake hit Veracruz, Mexico today, though fortunately the reports say nothing major occurred other than buildings swaying for a few minutes (but still, holy cow)!  Oh, and there has been radioactive rain falling in South Korea today as a result of the radioactive fallout from Japan's nuclear disaster after the last earthquake and tsunami there last month.

Anyway, I don't know about you but I'm scared.  Our natural disasters have been getting worse and worse, and that realization takes my mind down a very long and uneasy road of thoughts. 
 

I just wanted to take a moment to acknowledge this terrible news and say how bad I feel for the people of Japan and for all the people around the world who have suffered so much in all the disasters of these past few years.  Also, I'd like to say just because I hardly hear about Haiti or the Gulf of Mexico oil spill on the news anymore does not mean I have forgotten!  

I feel as though one of humanity's greatest problems in an age of so much bombarding technology, information, entertainment, and responsibilities is that it's so easy to forget that we are at the mercy of this planet.  It's so convenient to just go on with one's life, in a little bubble.  But I try my best not to do that, I don't want to be indifferent to the world's issues, because the world's issues are all of our issues, and if we aren't going to think or worry about them then who will?  It's our job.  With that said, we should all find ways, however small, to start respecting and preserving our planet better.  

The current growing environmental movement is typically referred to as the "green" movement, or "going green," but please note that this movement has also brought an onslaught of new "green" products created primarily for profit.  I believe that the big companies knew that this movement was going to be the "next big thing," so they produced tons of new products to feed the fetish (see this New York Times Article called "Buying Into the Green Movement") in order to capitalize on what they knew would surely be a frenzy of human consumption in hopes of helping the planet.  Not to be cynical, but in all likelihood that is the truth and many of us are falling into the trap.  So what I'm saying is, don't go out and buy a bunch of green stuff and buy into the fetish, because initially you'll just be negating your efforts to be green by buying and consuming more than what you already have.  First, figure out free ways to work with what you have, learn ways to become a more responsible consumer and disposer.  Once you've picked up on that, I believe it will be easier to make wise choices when shopping for "green" products without going crazy and spending boatloads of money before knowing what works best for you and your lifestyle.  Just because one buys green products does not necessarily mean they are being green and saving the planet, it could just mean you're buying (consuming) more and spending more if you're not smart about it.

It's a a big challenge and it won't be easy, but it behooves all of us.  With that said, below are some links to help you get started....

Going Green.com

A Brief History of the Modern Green Movement in America

Everyday Pollution Solutions

How to Go Green via Tree Hugger.com

10 Ways to Go Green and Save Green via the World Watch Institute 

Our Earth.org

Inspire Bohemia is carbon neutral, are you interested in making your blog carbon neutral too?  Find out what carbon neutral means and how your blog can join the movement at the "Make It Green" Program website.  You can also check out my post on the program: "Inspire Bohemia Goes Carbon Neutral."

(Image of Earthquake zones via PhysicalGeography.net)

Hello hello

Summer days are here again.... at least here in Miami! After all that complaining during that long bout of winter weather we sure got what we asked for, it's been blazing like an oven outside lately! WI really like the vintage image above that I found on the blog Coco+Kelley and it has a nice warm fuzzy feeling to it, makes you want to get all glamorous like her, put on a hat and go to the beach. And frankly, we all better go make the best of our beaches now before the oil starts washing up! :(

I know it has been a while since my last post, I feel guilty about it but there has been so much going on for me that my ability to concentrate on a blog post has been temporarily plagued. Today's post is purposefully spontaneous because I'm still working on getting a slew of posts about my recent trip to Europe up on here. I am truly baffled by the over 2,000 photographs that I took on my trip, and with that comes the indecision over which ones to post, how to organize them into topics and so on. Argh.... soon....soooooon! How are you all doing?

In other news, this past weekend I went to the Carole King and James Taylor Concert in Sunrise with my mother, my aunt and my cousin who came in from Georgia last week to visit! The concert was great, we had so much fun! It rained and stormed like the end of the world while we were eating dinner beforehand, but thankfully it cleared up for the rest of the night. James Taylor sounded way better than Carole King (she may smoke because her voice sounds a bit raspy)... but we still love her! She was dancing around the stage and jumping up and down, what energy! Anyway, the music was awesome and I feel privileged to have heard them both in concert! Now, if we can just get Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison and The Beatles (John and George that is) back from the dead to go on a kick ass group tour!!! Wouldn't that be something!? Hey, I can dream!

The sunset while walking in to the concert

The stage

Cool spaceship-like light orbs outside of the Bank Atlantic center!

~*~*~

And since I mentioned oil washing up on our beaches I guess now is as good a time as any to come out and say how sad/angry/hopeless I feel about the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The spill is a sore subject with me, as I'm sure it is with many others, and if I were to begin to voice all of my politically and environmentally charged thoughts this blog would stray from its cheery topics. Let's just say this oil spill is an environmental disaster of such epic proportions that I believe most people don't even want to acknowledge or believe what the true scope of its impact on our earth will be.

Up until this point I have refrained from making politically charged posts so as not to muddy the overall mood of my blog and possibly lose readers who are perhaps not interested in seeing all that amongst design, garden and art related posts. With that said, I have been thinking about starting a sister blog for Inspire Bohemia that will cover politics, environmental issues, world issues, social and religious issues and so on, this is something my boyfriend has suggested to me several times as well and I think it's a perfect idea. To date I have six or seven incomplete blog post drafts on issues ranging from the last presidential election to issues on the quality and safety of our water and food, to the very issue of the Gulf Spill which I feel terrible for not sharing with the blog world! You see, I have a great many interests and am passionate about endless topics beyond design, art and travel, hence my college education (nearly complete!): Double Bachelors in Sociology/Anthropology and Women's Studies with minors in Religion and Art History!

So anyway, I'm beginning to get anxious about suppressing all of these other rants and ideas, therefore the Inspire Bohemia sister blog will most likely be coming soon, I already have some perfect names in mind! Stay tuned!