http://forouresmeb.blogspot.com/?spref=fb
I am very sorry to have to post this, but as an Austin community member I feel the need to. We have lost a wonderful, vivacious, creative woman due to a terrible offense, and we must help her family any way we can. If you can donate, please do. Esme left us far too early. Thank you for your support.
Bluebird here! I’m pleased to announce that my lovely friend, the amazingly talented L.A. designer Andrea Spratt, will be in Austin Sunday only for a very rare trunk show. Come say hello to your little bluebird and pick out some amazing threads.
www.kucoondesigns.com
www.facebook.com/kucoondesigns
30 Oct 2011
2.00-6.00 pm
1614 Lavaca St.
Austin, TX 78701
enter raffle to win something lovely
refreshments provided
Picasso said, “Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.” Fashion is art, but some would say it’s better because it’s a part of our everyday life. We truly live in it. If you love fashion and haven’t seen Bill Cunningham New York, you must! The documentary decadently tells the story of the art of fashion through Bill’s lens; allowing us all to sinking into each of Bill’s photographs that drip with history and grandeur.
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/850756398/help-us-edit-call-me-kuchu-a-film-about-lgbt-ugand
Take a look at this link and help if you can. David, who you see in this documentary preview, was murdered while I was in Kampala. It makes me sad to see Uganda revert back to the Amin years, but I fear that it’s already started. Help if you can, do what you can to take a stand against hate.
These photos are from our first trip out to the West. We were in and around Lake Mburo and Queen Elizabeth State Park.
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I just got these photos developed, but they are the children we worked with. They were so fun and eager to learn.
Taking a boat ride in the mouth of the Nile.
Feat—A noteworthy or extraordinary act or achievement, usually displaying boldness, skill, etc. A specialized skill, profession.
I thought about this word a lot in Uganda. Oooooh, the simple things in life. Hot showers, cold drinks. I tried to will my beer to chill!!! What could I do? Dig a hole in the ground? Bury it? Submerge it in the cool water we “bathe” in? Limited resources cause a girl to be a lot more dexterous than she typically is. I know it sounds silly, but these are the little things that started to drive me crazy by the end of it all. What? No refrigerator? No ice??? Oh man.
The “bathing” was rough as well. I like being clean. I don’t understand how all the Ugandans look spic n span pretty much all the time and I’m a mess. They wear white shoes and they actually stay white. The men wear suits and they don’t sweat. My favorite beautiful white skirt is now the reddish color of their dirt. There was a shower where we were staying, but the water was so cold!!! (The only place to find cold fluid) So because of this Natalya and I opted to “bathe” in a basin we each had in our rooms. These basins were about 2 feet wide by 1 foot deep. I warmed water three times in the teakettle to fill it. I felt like that guy in the cartoon that dives off the diving board into a tiny bucket of water. Trying to sufficiently clean oneself in this TINY vessel proved to be a feat as well.
Natalya, two friends and I took a small weekend trip to Lake Mburo National Park (google it, it’s lovely) and were very happy to see big showers and (generally) clean toilets (Sometimes toilets are just holes in the ground…I got used to it) WITH TOILET PAPER! Hooray. The four of us went for a jog in the morning, which was so lovely, and when we returned to our lodging Natalya and I wanted to hop in the showers as SOON as possible so that the cold water would cool us down instead of shock us into hypothermia. As girly girls, we had all of our lovely smelling toiletries and soaps and razors to shave our legs sufficiently and there was even decent water pressure. Boys on boys’ side and girls on girls’ side all showering at the same time. Half way through this, soapy hair and body, the water reduces to a trickle, and then finally stops all together. Natalya and I immediately start screaming and complaining—soap in our eyes. “This sucks! Do you have water???” “No!” The boys, however, still had water in their showers. “Are you all finished yet?! Hurry! We don’t have any water left!” After 15 minutes of Jude saying, “Don’t come over here! I’m not finished yet!” and Natalya and I trying different faucets and sinks, they finally finished. They got their butts out of their bathroom so Natalya and I could rush in to finish up. As soon as we got into those showers—low and behold—the water stops! Shite. We ended up having to rinse each other’s hair out with our last water bottle. After that fiasco we were back on the road again……
One Tuesday nights there is live music and dance at the National Theatre in Kampala. Great start to an evening filled with good food and dance.
