The Snakehead: An Epic Tale of the Chinatown Underground and the American Dream by Patrick Radden Keefe

Truly fascinating. Keefe did an awesome amount of research, and organized the overlapping stories on different continents so that the pacing was right on this multi-decade tsunami of immigrants from China. Epic in scope and mouth-dropping in detail, these interlocked stories touch so many lives and so many parts of the world, it must have been difficult to know where to begin. The characterizations are rich, however, and Keefe gives us a human-scaled drama. What struck me at the end was how persons of every ethnicity, political stripe, and religious persuasion could find justification in these stories for holding a particular view about immmigration. Let it also be said that people who usually react one way on immigration turned 180 degrees when it came to a boatload of Fujian refugees dumped on Rockaway beach in a storm. Political arch enemies joined hands to save these folks, most of whom undoubtedly had absolutely no clue why anyone was trying to help them. Law-sy, I'd like to see a film made of this. Great reporting.

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The Urban Forest Project

Call for Artists: Participate in the Urban Forest Project

This spring, The Urban Forest Project will plant 100 street banners by local designers and students in downtown Washington, DC. Each banner will use the form of, or metaphor for a tree, to make a powerful visual statement about the environment. This project is being brought to Washington, DC as a platform to engage the public in the District's environmental efforts.

The banners will be hung on light poles in downtown Washington, DC during the spring of 2010 in celebration of Arbor and Earth Days. They will then be recycled into unique one-of-a-kind totebags designed exclusively for the project. Proceeds from the sales of the totebags will go to nonprofit environmental efforts that help make Washington, DC a clean, green and sustainable city.

This project, conceived by Worldstudio, is being presented in Washington, DC in collaboration with the District Department of Transportation (DDOT), DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities (DCCAH), AIGA DC and Corcoran College of Art and Design.

• Download the application*
• View the specifications*

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Katzen Mama rettet beschützt Ihr Baby

Ja die Mama passt immer gut auf :D

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Fette Katze

also auch wenn die Katze bettelt, lieber nicht zu viel zu essen geben...

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Katze spricht zur Motte

Wenn Katzen mit Motten sprechen. hihi

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Growing Up Bin Laden by Najwa & Omar bin Laden

This book was interesting. I did not expect that it would be. I learned things I didn't know about Arab culture--hearing from Osama's first wife, Najwa, and Najwa's fourth son, Omar, gave two distinct points of view into an Arab household. More to the point, perhaps, we see into Osama bin Laden's household. At first I was perplexed that a son, an Arab son no less, would discuss internal family affairs so publicly. The more I read, however, the more I understood that Osama bin Laden sacrificed his privacy with his acts of war, and even his family members felt alienated from his peculiar view of the world. His son tells us that he hated his enemies more than he loved his family, and it saddens us, for then destruction is his only goal. Osama has given up his life for...not his family, not his country, not his countrymen. To ruin his enemies. Can there be anything more impoverished than that sad fact?

When Osama married the first time, he was a wealthy young man with a bright future. His wife moved to Saudi Arabia from Syria to live in relative comfort with Osama and his extended family in Jeddah. By the end of the story told here, his wife was living in a cave in Afghanistan, suffering untold deprivations. Osama began as a serious young man who sought to raise the approbation Islam received in the world. But he was exceptionally humorless in his approach to life. He expected such seriousness from his growing family of sons that he would not allow them to smile enough to reveal their teeth. "...my father actually counted the exposed teeth, reprimanding his sons on the number their merriment revealed."

This is a fascinating memoir of unusual candor which deserves to be read widely.

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Weihnachten lustige Katzen Bilder

Passend zur Stimmung ein paar Bilder. Erholsame Festtage!

 

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Frohe Weihnachten Katzen

Wünschen euch Frohe Weihnachten und passend zum Thema ein paar Katzen Videos dazu. Merry Christmas!

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Katze in der Zeitung

Man sollte echt aufpassen wo man sich hinsetzt, wenn man eine kleine süsse katze zu hause hat.

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Katze liebt das Wasser

Selten aber kommt wohl vor. Katze spielt im Wasser :-)

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Surprised Kitty Katze Cat Kitzeln

soo süüüüüüüüs :D

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Katze und Ratten

Freundschaften sind immer Möglich :-)

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Fights

Katze vs. Katze



Katze vs. Hund

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Engelchen und Teufelchen

ein freundliches "Hallo" :-)



Und ein "lass mich in ruhe" ;-)



und ich dachte weiß ist immer Engel ;-)

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4th annual booty market at design within reach in adams morgan

update:
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Due to the snowstorm and that both rania and are are mouring the death of a kitty we recently started taking care of, we're not gonna be at the market today.

it is still going, so if you're up by adams morgan, which is walkable from the woodly park metro, please stop by.
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4th Annual Holiday Booty Market

Saturday, December 19, 2009 -- 10am-5pm
Design Within Reach - Adams Morgan
1838 Columbia Rd. NW
Washington, DC

The last D.C. craft show of the year is happening at Design Within Reach in Adams Morgan, Saturday, December 19th! Shop for awesome handmade goods while hanging out in the coolest home furnishing showroom in DC. This is your last chance to get your hands on fabulous stuff from 20 of your favorite local indie crafters and designers. Check out a slew of handmade gifts from local vendors such as Jaime Zollars prints, Red Praire Press tees, and recycled leather wristcuffs from Fisticuffs Leather. Get Zombie Plague Holiday cards from Tina Seamonster or handmade soaps from Biggs and Featherbelle. Complete vendor list below! Email tinatheseamonster@gmail.com if you have questions. Invite your friends using our Facebook event page! There will be free snacks and temporary tattoos!

Vendors

Woolarina Woolarina is a two-woman operation aiming to provide color and warm fuzzy knits to the east coast. Our yarns are delightfully soft and our knits and patterns are fun and functional! Knit some rad mitts today, or pick up a merino-cashmere hat – can’t go wrong with the soft luxury!
Red Prairie Press Hand drawn design, screenprinted in small runs on sweatshop free apparel. All made in our cozy basement studio in Baltimore, MD!
Jaime Zollars Jaime Zollars is a painter inspired by Folk Tales and Flemish Painters. She paints pictures for children's books and gallery walls, and loves to make stuff when she's not painting for clients. Her art is available in fine art Giclee prints, silk screen prints, t-shirts and cards.
60 Bugs "60 bugs" is a punk rock song written by a 5 year old. 60bugs is the line of awesome hand-embroidered and gocco-printed stuff inspired by it. Sometimes funny, sometimes absurd, mostly always cute, Debbie Lee of 60bugs makes fun items for all ages like tee shirts, pins and reusable coffee sleeves.
Tina Seamonster Tina Seamonster is all about helping you destroy Christmas with her line of Zombie Plague Holiday cards. And her Obama vs. Zombies shirt is the must have gift this holiday season.
Tigerflight tigerflight makes animals from recycled sweaters and other upcycled materials. She is inspired by flora, fauna, puddles and candy wrappers. She also makes the best rhubarb pie. Possibly ever.
this chickadee this chickadee is on a mission to create all sorts of magical things for you and your home. Aprons, totes, and table decorations are one-of-a-kind creations, stitched with love. The aim of this chickadee is to provide an alternative to mass-produced items and to inspire, educate and brighten.
Biggs and Featherbelle handmade natural body care products created by two sisters including soaps, lip balms, bath soaks, body butter bars, body scrubs, belly balm and gift sets.
Fisticuffs Leather 100% recycled leather and found object cuffs and watchbands...soon to have dog collars too!
goshdarnknit Ghost writers, imaginary friends, runaways, unite! Goshdarnknit is illustrated notebooks for your pockets and knit paintings for your walls, all by DC artist Rania. She knits, paints, and gocco prints every surface imaginable with swirly tales of cherry swallowing, bunny spinning, arm doodling fun.
De*nada Design & Kelly Towles De*nada Design is a design boutique specializing in knits, bags and graphic tees that are comtemporary, fun and energetic. Kelly Towles is a DC based visual artist ("street-style"), whose work includes limited edition prints, original drawings and illustrations.
George Ryan My craft is to make accessories for your life. I specialize in found object jewelry, applique and sowing. My style is silhouettes, fun animals and things that will make you smile.
Sweet Pepita Sweet Pepita is one-of-a-kind children’s clothing that’s hand-crafted using only recycled fabric and 100% organic cotton. The result is a visually appealing and texturally irresistible product that is just as unique as the child wearing it.
{craftgasm} At {craftgasm} I create reclaimed paper goods with a sense of history using maps, found materials, & my vintage typewriter. I cut, fold, & assemble stationery sets with map envelopes; I use junk mail, picture books, & other ephemera to create upcycled cards, journals, & pins (with & without snark).
Mary Ellen Doran DC based artist Mary Ellen Doran has developed a unique line of hand linked chains and gemstone jewelry. Her "wrapped" neck pieces incorporate tiny top-end gemstones to create a monochromatic splash of color as an alternative to a single larger stone.
The Littlest Bean Jen's work is driven by a curiosity about color, shape and texture. Using randomly cut fabrics, intricately cut felt, and an assortment of found media, she creates one-of-a-kind accessories for women and kids. Each piece is hand-cut, hand-stitched and embroidered - to add some color to your day.
oh ginger Oh Ginger is about fun, simplicity, whimsy and accessibility. Using interesting textures, vintage ephemera, bold and exciting colors and affordable materials, Oh Ginger's jewelry and accessories are perfect gifts for loved ones (and yourself)!
The Garbologist's Wife Women’s clothing and accessories created from an eclectic collection of upcycled and vintage materials in sizes small to 3X.
Sean Hennessey DC artist Sean Hennessey creates beautiful wall sculptures from upcylced glass combined with concrete and steel. Using common and slightly nostalgic imagery, he presents work as archeological remnants of our present world and ways of thinking, with hopes to inspire and make your life better.
Moonlight Bindery I am a bookbinder who mixes my traditional skills with fun and funky materials. The books I create are made from LEGO® pieces, wallpaper, Shrinky Dinks®, cork, and unique papers. The antique presses and vintage fonts in my home-based studio inspire my creativity. I can make a book out of ANYTHING!
Daisy Lacy I make cute dresses and shirts for ladies using thrifted materials.

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Katzen und eine Kleenex Box

Was man so mit einer Taschentücher Kleenex Box alles machen kann :D

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The Places In Between by Rory Stewart

I had access to a hard copy of this book as I listened to Rory read it on CD. I am completely in awe of his heroic walk through the mountains from Herat to Kabul in war-torn Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban government in 2002. I learned more from his journey than from many other things I have read about Afghanistan, excepting perhaps Didier Lefèvre's book The Photographer, which is a excellent visual accompaniment to this volume. Stewart managed to distill the thousands of interactions he experienced on his month-long walk into revealing vignettes that amuse, instruct, terrify, and sadden us. That he developed a deep and abiding respect for Afghanistan and it's people is obvious and infectious. I was pleased to learn of his return to Kabul, and of his role as Executive Director the Turquoise Mountain Foundation of Kabul. I'd give much to be there with him.

An NPR story in June 2010 gives us some information on the movements and present thoughts of Rory Stewart.

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Katzen müssen schlafen

Katzen müssen viel schlafen. Das weiss jedes Kind :)

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Katzengeschichten von großen und kleinen Träumen

Der geschwätzige Kater

Es war einmal ein Kater, der, wie jeder ordentliche Kater gerne durch die Gegend streifte. Abenteuer erleben war das Größte für den kleinen Kater. Und so war ihm keine Hecke zu dicht, kein Gestrüpp zu undurchdringlich. Denn dort raschelten und wuselten die Mäuse, die Vögel und allerlei anderes Getier.

Und wenn der Kater von seinen Streifzügen zurückkehrte, ein wenig zerzaust und zerrupft, dann erzählte er seinen Menschen mit großem Mautzen und Schnattern von seinen kleinen und großen Abenteuern.
Und die Menschen freuten sich und antworteten, vor allem aber wurde der Kater gebührend gelobt und gestreichelt. Natürlich war es schön, gelobt und gestreichelt zu werden, aber der Kleine fühlte sich unverstanden. Zur ganzen Geschichte

Foto: aus der Serie "Katzen-Kunst" von Wolfgang Schwerdt

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Annual Open Studios and Holiday Sale This Saturday

Green Light Bulb
available for purchase HERE

8th Annual Washington Glass School Holiday Party/Sale and Open House!
Time: 2 to 6pm
Date: Saturday, Dec. 12, 2009
Where : 3700 Otis Street, Mt Rainier, MD

This Saturday is our 8th Annual Holiday Party/Sale and Open House! Always our biggest event of the year! Dozens of glass artists will be showing in the studio....plus holiday food and music. Sculpture, video, bowls, jewelry.......tons of great artwork to purchase!

Plus this year, we have joined with all the other Mt. Rainier artists....so all the studios in our complex will also have their doors open. Painting, sculpture, ceramics......its all here at the largest cluster of professional artist in the area!

Time: 2 to 6pm
Date: Saturday, Dec. 12, 2009
Where : Washington Glass School (ground zero) and all surrounding studios of the Gateway Arts District
3700 Otis Street, Mt Rainier, MD

more info on the other open studios in the gateway arts district HERE

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The Opposite Field by Jesse Katz

Katz is so capable--of involving himself in so many things & keeping so many balls in the air--that one wishes he would take on something bigger. But one can hardly say that creating a baseball league and safe place for young people in a marginal town near a dangerous city is not an important thing in these times. Katz is passionate, and inspires a passionate response in the people with whom he has contact. His writing is good enough to keep one skimming the passages even when one has begun to question his choices. That may be the reason for his success: though we might not make the same choices as he does, we are willing to hear him out and allow him to lead--he is better than most, honest at least, and not a bad sort, at heart.

It was bittersweet to discover what the title, The Opposite Field, meant when I got an explanation, finally, in the Epilogue. Katz didn't appear to hold anything back in telling us of his life, his thoughts, his feelings. At times I wondered if indeed, he was telling us a little too much. Sometimes his choices did not seem fully considered, but whose are, in the moment. It is only with hindsight that we can say what we perhaps should have done with that opportunity. I suppose there wouldn't be much of a memoir if he didn't tell it all--after all, he didn't run a country, a state, or even a city. He was a father trying to grow a boy. In the process he grew up himself, along with a boy to be proud of, a solvent and hugely successful Little League, and a community. A world away from my life and very valuable to me for that.

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The Geography of Bliss by Eric Weiner

The subtitle of this book is One Man's Search for the Happiest Places in the World, and I am going to cut to the chase and discuss his conclusions. You're going to want to read the book anyway, to figure out how it can be true that a very unlikely country comes in first in the happiness lottery. But do get the audio of this book. The author reads it, and as an NPR commentator, talking is his trade. He is very good at it, and is as funny as David Sedaris in parts of this reading.

"Happiness is one hundred percent relational," is the conclusion of the author, who quotes Karma Ura, Bhutanese scholar and cancer survivor. We can only be happy with other people, because happiness does not exist in a vacuum. We knew this, but we need to be reminded, perhaps. And there may be basic ingredients that compose happiness, but the final composition will vary around the globe. The author compares happiness to the atom carbon: arrange it one way and it is coal. Arrange it another, and it is a diamond.

I think this (audio)book is a great gift. It makes one laugh and think. It's cheaper than a therapist, safer than drugs or alcohol, and a lot more fun, perhaps, than doing the trip oneself. Although I just might buy a ticket to that place I wouldn't have expected to find on top of the list...

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i can't shake this song from my head.

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