Luxurious, organic and fairly traded felt textiles by JA Felt.

It is always inspiring to learn about businesses who are committed to global change. JA Felt is no exception. As stated in Interior Design Magazine, “Renewable and biodegradable and manufactured with a zero-impact process, these solids are offered in a rainbow of hues and are perfect for upholstery, wall coverings, and carved accessories.”

As stated on the website, “Since 1999 Janice Arnold has been working with low income artisans in Central and East Asia to share knowledge, techniques, and skills that lead to creating marketable products worldwide.”

Bonus: The proceeds (of felt sales) benefit the artisan collective in Nepal that creates the felt. We love that.

For info on JA Felt, click here.

I love a man who can cry. It shows the soft vulnerable side of the masculine presence and is profoundly heart opening. It is not often seen in American culture and so when I was recently turned onto this photographic art exhibition by Sam Taylor-Wood on famous men crying, I was deeply moved. Here are some of my favorites…

Daniel Craig

Kris Kristofferson

Laurence Fishburne

Forest Whitaker

Paul Newman

For more info on the exhibit click here.

This beautiful and adorable kitchen was previously a 100 year old barn.

I just saw this in Cottage Living (love that magazine!) where I read about Cassandra Naylor who recently renovated her family’s barn in Skyfield, Maryland, and according to the article, “to live as close to nature as possible.” What a sweet, fabulous kitchen.

“For a spacious kitchen, cattle and horse stalls were removed to accommodate a step-back cupboard and a cabinet with sinks, both coated in milk-based paint. The grain chute is now a spice cabinet.” ::Source: Cottage Living. Inspire me more, please….

Cassandra and her dog Norie in front of her home, once a barn that housed her grandfather’s Maryland Hunt Cup steeplechase winners earning it the nickname, “the bank-barn.”

In Feng Shui to live in a space that has had positive financial associations is very good for the current occupants’ money energy. That’s great for Cassandra.

What a sweet happy bedroom….

For more on the eco-details on the re-modeling of the barn, click here.

Texas oil billionaire T. Boone Pickens (shown at right) is investing millions into a wind farm.

I just love hearing fabulous, passionately eco-positive news like that which I’m about to share. By the way, thank-you Josh and Jen for forwarding this to me. Ok, so here’s the deal. This guy (in the above photo) T. Boone Pikens from Texas, and worth 3 billion US dollars, is sinking a ton of f***ing money (many millions) into a wind farm in Texas. As CNN reports, “It (the wind farm) is likely to become the biggest in the world, producing enough power for the equivalent of 1.3 million homes.” That’s a huge step in a very positive direction.

When asked by CNN about his view on wind power, Pikens responded, ” The Department of Energy came out with a study in April of ‘07 that said we could generate 20 percent of our electricity from wind. And the wind power is — you know, it’s clean, it’s renewable. It’s — you know, it’s everything you want. And it’s a stable supply of energy.”

We’re doing the ecstatic dance right now. Want to join in?

Thank-you Carolina of the Peace Aparicio for turning me on to these images. They are moving and speak volumes about American consumption in a way that statistics simply cannot provide. The following images were photographed by Chris Jordon whose project “Running the Numbers, An American Self-Portrait” can be seen at the Von Lintel Gallery in New York City.

Plastic Cups, 2008 60×90″ - Depicts one million plastic cups, the number used on airline flights in the US every six hours. ::Source: Chris Jordon Photography

Partial zoom of Plastic Cups 2008

Detail at actual print size: Click on image for larger view.

Barbie Dolls, 2008 - Depicts 32,000 Barbies, equal to the number of elective breast augmentation surgeries performed monthly in the US in 2006. ::Source Chris Jordon Photography

Partial Zoom of Barbie Dolls 2008

Detail at actual print size…Click on the image for a larger view.

Plastic Bottles, 2007 60×120″ Depicts two million plastic beverage bottles, the number used in the US every five minutes. ::Source Chris Jordon Photography

Partial Zoom…

Detail at actual size…

Kind of makes you think, huh? For more amazing images, click here.