Dear Blog.




It's been a long time since we shared stories.
Oh the many we could tell!




RSW.

I made this the other day with the work of a photographer I'm a fan of called Laurent Nivalle - I sent it to him and he loved it! Any way, that line: "Go to sleep and try again tomorrow" is pretty darn poignant for me - especially as I figure out my own next steps. Blah! So yeah, don't know how I thought of it, guess it's something I've been easily reminding myself at the end of the day. If today didn't work, get trying again, this life has so much to show us. EASY. Go!

Click image for larger version.

[Photography by Paul Octavious.]

Rise

Such is the way of the world, you can never know

Just where to put all your faith & how will it grow

Gonna rise up, burning back holes in dark memories

Gonna rise up, turn mistakes into Gold

Such is the passage of time, too fast to fold

And suddenly swallowed by signs, low & behold

Gonna rise up, find my direction magnetically

Throw down my ace in the hole

- Eddie Vedder, 'Rise'

Noodsberg, Zululand, KZN, South Africa.

A game of soccer with the gentlemen of Noodsberg, a few years back. What a day. I will be returning, very soon - then we'll share stories. Long live my homeland. [Click image for larger view.]

Invisible Children + La Blogotheque

See invisiblechildren.com + blogotheque.net

Charity:Water | Jennifer Connelly Public Service Announcement

Design + Living it

IDEO are doing some grand things. Living Climate Change, for one.

Nelson Mandela, Our Own Two Hands

Official Artwork of Nelson R. Mandela.

"[This artwork] was made by accident when Mandela placed his hand in wet ink. The idea of hand prints however intrigued him and he began to make several images. Only later did an assistant point out the iconic image inside the right hand print of the painting now in front of us. In the center of Mandela's right palm shows a clear silhouette of the African continent." from the Wild River Review.

And,

+ the Nelson Mandela Documentary:

Laughing with..

This is lovely. And even better when you really really listen to the lyric (which is why I posted it of course.) Video by this girl Sylvia w/ 'Laughing With' by the lovely Regina Spektor.

I like this Eike!

"That's my profession too - to have a good life! Jah hahahaha!"

My friend, Mr. JP Brouard (+ Flickr) recommended this interview of Eike Koenig from Hort, and I just rolled with intrigue into this guys insight. One because it's incredibly inspiring & he really just get's it, and two, since being jaded myself by the culture of overindulgence of pride with the designers out there, this guy echoes my own hope for goodness-in-design + my own dream to pioneer & collaborate with the people in the creative realm who also really do get it - which my own radar will always anticipate. I want my creativity to be used to create change in our world, and it's starts with myself..

I said to JP, "Bro, I liiiike this Eike guy! I'm even laughing with him! Man, he's so positive and open - i like that. Every point he made got me. He's got it right.. he's loving building other people "how can i help this person to become someone who's standing in the world like this (confidently)" + he fully respects the trade "Graphic design is very powerful and you have to take care that you use it in the right way." We can use it for such great things eh. Sheeeesh, thank you for this gold mnr! This is how i wanna work with people."

Golden. Eike, designer & teacher @ Hort.org.uk + see another interview at Kspace.

+

Others designing for good: Greg & Janelle ".. two who partner with many." at We Have Worth.

Africa on the Map

I love this Interactive Map of Africa (from the Katine: It Starts With A Village Project in Uganda) particularly because of it's gorgeous references of Flickr photography for each country on the continent. Enjoy.

The Katine Project is a beautiful thing that Amref and Farm Africa are working on, together with the Guardian, in the village of Katine,Uganda. They're investing themselves into developing Katine in it's education, health, water, governance and livelihoods, which is great because it will eventually "offer a unique insight into the world of international development".

And yummers! I love that you can take a Virtual Village Tour of Katine and the region, which is just wonderful.. AND 'Katine on Film' has a whole heap of fantastic footage of it's development, even: how they brought cinema to Katine.

Jon Foreman: Goodness precedes Greatness

I write songs for a living, which is to say that writing songs helps me to live. The song becomes a place where melody and tempo can cover some truly volatile topics. God, women, politics, sex, hatred, disillusionment- a song or a story can be a deeper vessel and more forgiving than most conversations. Poetry can get under the skin without your permission..

>> continue reading article by Jon Foreman of Switchfoot,

for The Huffington Post, 15 Oct 2009.

Sometimes you just need to get out.

Even, out of your own issues,

and just step outside [of it all] for a bit.

"We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience." - Pierre Teilhard de Chardin.

Take some time out to feel what I mean.

Picture from '4058' by Jesús Olmo - watch on Vimeo.

I love this. And oh how I love seeing those giving back some love to our homeland with their photography.

This is a photograph taken near to Bulshoek Dam, a place I am very unfamiliar with, in the very far away lands of the Western Cape. It's now on my to-do list.

by South African Photographer 'Drublic'.

The William Kamkwamba Story:

"We have enough wind in Malawi,

and I was thinking.."

Before you read further, watch this:

The William Kamkwamba Story

Also see his talk at the TED Conference:

William Kamkwamba: How I Harnessed The Wind

A few books, a handful of hope and people like William is the change that our Africa is so thirsty for.

At 14 years old he went to a library, picked up a book and in two months, changed his family's lives. He built a windmill. From scraps.

Then he changed his village.

Then came a news article, an invitation to the new African Leadership Academy, a flight to America, and then an invitation to speak at the Ted Conference. Then came a book, a documentary.. and the story became a movement. So inspiring!

More at Moving Windmills.

A Lovely Day

I'm not a JM fan,

but this is just wonderful: It's A Lovely Day.

From La Blogotheque.

We're All In This Together

See the trailer: We're All In This Together

+ The I Heart Revolution

Hope Project

Wesley's Hope Project. Durban, South Africa.

I was just listening to Newton Faulkner + came across this beautiful image.. and so I thought I'd get my design on and add a little pzazz to it with a typeface* or two. [Other earth-tilting designs at ryanwynncreative. Pah ha.]

It's exactly where I'm at.. this song.

And I really don't mind any more. Phew.

* typeface = 'font' but we hate this word. Grr.

Onward & forward

So glad we've moved on.

South Africa, 1956.

Brooke

- Brooke Fraser

Clean and easy to navigate.

Release Me

- Oh Laura.

I like the black & white version too.

Voyage

My friend Warwick [the Great] sent me this.

It really does give you a good feeling.

Next..

Landing > London > 13 July 2009.

Release me

I went out side tonight, and saw the most beautiful thing. Between the stars were these gorgeous glowing moons just drifting gently through the sky. At a closer look I realised that they were Sky Lanterns or 'Paper Moons'. People here are releasing them into the sky because of the 'Festa Junina' (June Festival) which is based on the festivities that the Portuguese introduced in the Colonial period.

I will have no way of understanding what the Brazilians feel for this festival and what significance it holds for them, but one of my first thoughts was, maybe it's a tribute to those who have gone away, those who have passed. This was beautiful to me.

The Rescue

Invisible Children are getting there. I urge you, watch this interview on Larry King Live.

I have rarely seen something so informative & so full of potential as is the movement called Invisible Children. I've been a part of this movement for five years, and we are increasingly seeing hope.

It's moving.

"Last week, senators introduced the LRA Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act of 2009 to help end LRA violence in northern Uganda and neighboring countries. The bipartisan act would require the Obama Administration to develop a strategy within 120 days to "apprehend or otherwise remove Joseph Kony from the battlefield." The bill also authorizes funding for humanitarian assistance in LRA-affected areas, as well as additional funds for recovery efforts in northern Uganda. " - Invisible Children

Towards the end of this month [ June 22-23 ] you can (if you're in D.C) go to the lobbying event and let your voice be heard, or for us over the seas and far away, you can go online with the live feed that will be telling you what's going on> you can advocate from your couch - we can actually participate in this. So make sure you watch The Rescue, then see How It Ends by participating via the Live Feed online over June 22nd & 23rd. I'll be doing just that.