EYE CANDY: Falling Garden

Click on the image to learn about the Falling Garden by Gerda Steiner and Jörg Lenzlinger.

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

I debated whether to include this in my blog - it's been written and waiting as a draft for a while. I try to stay away from politically polarzing subjects, but I think there's a message here that spans political, religious, and philosophical ranks.

I have to admit that I have mixed feelings about the Martin Luther King, Jr holiday, mainly because I feel that it is being abused and taken for granted. I think kids should be IN school, dedicating the day to understanding the Civil Rights Movement and the Peace Demonstrations led by Martin Luther King, Jr. To teach children that there is a way to fight back against inhumanity without raising fists, without loading guns, and that it's important to take a stand against injustice and discrimination. I think that rather than dedicating this day to one person, it should be dedicated to the Civil Rights of all people, which is what MLK, Jr. stood for.



Though the world that MLK, Jr. lived in was primarily concerned with Black & White - we fail to recognize what the fight was REALLY about. The problem was much bigger than race. The problem was poverty, and that wealth and opportunity were not balanced between the members of society. Blacks were poor because they weren't given opportunities, because they were ignored and cast aside as second-class citizens of our society. This discrimination still exsists, but it is no longer reserved for people who have dark skin. If you're poor- you cannot feed your children healthy foods, you cannot pay your bills or afford heat, you cannot provide basic healthcare for your family, and you cannot afford daycare to watch your children while you work 3 jobs just to clothe your family.

POVERTY is the biggest injustice we face in the entire WORLD. Impoverished people have long been the SLAVES of society, no matter what their heritage. Terrorism is not the act of any particular religion, it is the act of people who have nothing left to live for. People for whom dying is more rewarding than living. People who want basic freedoms and to feel as though their life has purpose. Because they have been cast aside by society, they seek to destroy the very society which has neglected them and failed to provide them with basic civil liberties.

I believe that terrorism is not just something that comes from outside of our society, it exists right here in the form of rapists, theives, serial killers, gangs, fatal disease and epidemics. Poverty and disease are what we should be fighting against because they are the biggest threats to a productive society. A society with an imbalance of power and wealth will always be at war with itself. A nation which relies on the poverty of other nations in order to sustain itself will always be at war with the rest of the world. Right now we are taking out huge debts with foreign countries in order to sustain our comfortable way of living. These resources are being taken for granted with no contigency plan in sight. If we don't start fighting the larger problems of poverty and disease that silently kill our society, we will ultimately end up destoring the very freedoms we crusade for in the rest of the world.

If you'd like to find out how you can help, here are a few organization dedicated to solving these problems...
Thirst Relief International - Providing Safe and Clean Drinking Water
Grameen Foundation - Using Microfinance to Defeat Global Poverty
Doctors without Borders - Providing quality Medical Aid across the World
Gates Foundation - Innovations in Health and Learning for the Global Community
Room to Read - Creating Educational Infrastructure across the World

The worst thing you can do is to not do anything at all.

4 Great Wedding Resources Online

Even though I'm no longer a bride, I still keep my eyes and ears open for great wedding resources to help my brides out. There are some awesome online tools out there that I only wish were available when we were in the midst of wedding planning!! Here are some of my personal favorites:

eWedding
Wedding websites are a great way to keep your guests, family, and wedding party up to date on your wedding plans, and to fill everyone in on the FAQ of how you met, your engagement, honeymoon plans, etc. There are a lot of options for you to host a wedding website, and many of them are tied to a wedding planning website, but they all end up looking the same and they are often searchable by anyone who knows your name and wants to learn your wedding details. Great for family- bad for your fiancé's jealous exgirlfriend. The really awesome thing about eWedding.com is that not only do you get a website that looks different and is fun to update, but you can have your very own, easy-to-remember URL. No more asking people to type in a long address that they couldn't remember if you didn't send it to them in an email, just a short and concise link for your wedding guests. I was first introduced to eWeddings by Megan, who created an awesome site for her wedding, called Sweetness Follows. She's even continued to update it after the wedding with pictures and extra links, which is also a great way to let your friends and family know your new address if/when you move after the wedding!

Wedding Mapper
I would have looooooooved to have a tool like this when I was planning our wedding! We had lots of out-of-town guests and our hotel, rehearsal dinner, ceremony site, cocktail site, and reception site were all over the city! WeddingMapper.com is awesome because it allows you to add photos, icons, and descriptions about each location, and it uses google maps and satallite images of the city! How awesome is that?! The best part? It's free. I still can't believe it's free. You can add your own attraction and entertainment listings, favorite restaurants, and airports. It's printable, it's emailable, and there's even an alternative view that prints out like a mini program! Seriously, if you haven't seen this site, you need to check it out! See how one couple is using it for their wedding.

Nashville Wraps
Whatever your needs are for gift giving and gift packaging, do yourself a favor and check out NashvilleWraps.com before going anywhere else. Not only do they have an awesome selection of bags, boxes, stickers, and pouches, but the prices are VERY reasonable and some orders can be placed in small quantities. If you're really into personalization, they can do that as well, and you're sure to find beautiful, fun, and fashionable colors with lots of different packaging options (including houndstooth and leopard print!!) Seeing some of these boxes makes me want to buy things just to put in the boxes to give to people!!! Of course you could also decide to put nothing in them and instead use them for something totally different, like making a card box! They even have my signature chartreuse green - do you know how hard it is to find that as a standard option?!

Wedding Podcast Network
Wow, talk about wedding planning resources! The WeddingPodcastNetwork.com is dedicated to adding regular blog and podcast content on various wedding topics. The website is broken up into several different content areas:
Newlywedcast interviews couples who were recently married, and shares their love stories and wedding experiences. Meet the Masters interviews prominent wedding industry professionals like Darcy Miller, Editor of Martha Stewart Weddings; and Preston Bailey, Famous Floral Designer. There are many more podcast topics on the site including relationship advice, and workout tips. Why not make your own wedding podcast!?

Do you have any great resources you'd like to share?? Is there a wedding website that every bride should know about?? If so, leave a comment about it!! I'm always looking for more!