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Below are a few of the things that best define me.
 | Stromboli Volcano - This is the subject of my Masters
Thesis, what I spend most of my time on these days. It is a
beautiful, magical place. Check out the STROBE 2001 page and my
photo gallery for more information about Stromboli and Mt. Etna.
For even more info, follow the link below.
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| Mentoring Genesa and her friends - For the past year and a
half, I have been hanging out with Genesa, who I met through
Teens Climb High.
Meet Genesa
and her cousin Bradley or
see pictures of
Genesa and her sister Tylena making puppets. |
| Old-time and bluegrass music - For the past three years, I
haven't been able to get enough of this music. I play guitar,
but my first love is singing harmonies. The Stanley Brothers,
The (original) Carter Family, and Hazel Dickens and Alice Gerrard have
been my greatest influences. As a child I would shout along with
Dolly Parton, Loretta Lynn, Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, and The Oak
Ridge Boys. Today I also love the spirit of
non-traditional bands like the Horseflies, the Holy Modal Rounders,
and the Assylum Street Spankers. All musicians should have as
much fun as these guys do. I long for the souls of Mississippi
bluesmen and blueswomyn as well as the eccentric musical styles of all
those nameless, faceless mavericks on the acoustic frontier. I have a great respect for great song
writers like Loretta Lynn, Townes Van Zandt, Bob Dylan, Iris Dement, Hazel
Dickens, Carter Stanley, A.P. Carter, and the list keeps going. Below are a few record
labels that carry some of my favorite artists.
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| Cooking and Baking - This might be my greatest
passion. I love to cook. I mean I LOVE it. It is
what I do when I am stressed, when I feel scattered, when I feel happy
or creative, when I want to be alone, when I want to be with others
(especially my family) and when I want to express my love for others.
I loathe anything processed. I buy food as fresh and natural as
possible, but I am famous for making "stone soup." I am appalled at
the vegetable-challenged society that we live in. I believe the
obesity of our nation is directly correlated to our philosophy on
food: Quantity over Quality. Please support local agriculture,
eat seasonally, and plant your own garden if at all possible.
There is a revolution going on here: participate! Also, make a
loaf of bread; it is invigorating and incomparable to any you have
ever bought. Perhaps it was a
summer in Italy that inspired me. Here are a few of my favorite food-inspired
links.
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| Self Education - The idea that children
have to be forced to learn, or that anything we learn must be "taught"
to us is simply ludicrous. Learning is life. We can all be
knowledgeable of any subject we desire thanks to libraries and the
internet. For alternatives to compulsory education, check out
these sites.
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| Freedom and Human Rights - If you think that
the US knows all there is to know about Human Rights, you
better take a closer look. Take a closer look at the WTO and
NAFTA. Democracy's greatest enemy is money. Look outside
of mainstream media if you want the whole story. Just for starters,
check out the links below.
Fair Trade
ZMagazine |
| Health and Empowerment of People to Take Control of Their
Own Health - If you haven't noticed, it can get awfully
confusing when trying to decipher the mixed messages that we are given
by the media concerning a healthy diet. My best advice is to
look first to the source of this information. If it is funded by
the government, it probably isn't worth the paper it is printed on.
It can be difficult to get accurate information in a capitalist
economy, but it is not impossible. Heart disease, diabetes,
breast cancer, osteoporosis, and quite a few neurological disorders
have been linked to our massive consumption of dairy products in this
country. The resilience of food myths in this country appalls
me. Please don't drink milk for your bones. Eat greens and
beans, which contain much more readily absorbable forms of calcium
than milk plus many other nutrients. Get the facts. Learn
to decipher labels...or better yet, minimize your purchases processed
foods. A good general rule that I follow: the longer the label,
the greater the evil. Check out these sites. It is your
life. Make the most of it.
Liberate Yourself from
the Dairy INDUSTRY
please educate yourself about cancer statistics,
diabetes, asthma, heart disease. Just try it. Eliminate
dairy (remember its encoded names - casein, whey, etc) from your diet
for six months and see how you feel.
Breast
Cancer Statistics, The dairy industry especially targets
women. It is purely propaganda. Be warned! |
| In light of the September 11, 2001,
terrorists attacks on the US, I
would like to post a few web sites that take a glaring look at the key
issues that we, as Americans, must bring to the table in order to
preserve, not only our safety, but also our future as a society
that values freedom and human rights above all else.
Michael Moore's Homepage
Salon.com News | Terrorists are made, not born
Salon.com News | America the ignorant |
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