Please care…

About others and read this…

Imagine each day you wake, you live with the possibility of feeling ill. Your throat gets scratchy, your ears plug, your sinus’s have painful pressure and your eyes water. Imagine everyday feeling like you have a cold…that will never go away. Not enough? Take your right hand and with your index finger and thumb, pinch them together over your nose and hold. It’s at  this point you begin to breath through your mouth. Now, with your left hand, place your flat palm over your mouth and hold tight. Imagine the weight of a 30lb child standing on your chest in the center between your nipples. Can you feel the weight pressing? Now wait until you have to breath…until you’re actually scared…and then… don’t let go. Not enough. Dig a hole… in the ground…and place yourself in it. Let a friend cover you over with fresh, heavy earth, until there’s no light and no air. Get the picture?

Asthma facts and Statistics

Every day in America Alone:

• Every day in America Alone:
  40,000 people miss school or work due to asthma.
•  30,000 people have an asthma attack.
•  5,000 people visit the emergency room due to asthma.
•  1,000 people are admitted to the hospital due to asthma.
•  11 people die from asthma.

An estimated 20 million Americans suffer from asthma (1 in 15 Americans), and 50% of asthma cases are “allergic-asthma.” The prevalence of asthma has been increasing since the early 1980s across all age, sex and racial groups.

Multiple Chemical Sensitivity 

Chemical-based products are all around: in the clothes we wear, in the food we eat and in the air we breathe. It is not possible to escape exposure. Many people have become sensitized to the chemicals around them. It is estimated that as much as 15% of the population has become sensitized to common household and commercial products. For some people the sensitization is not too serious a problem. They may have what appears to be a minor allergy to one or more chemicals. Other people are much more seriously affected. Such people have a condition known as Multiple Chemical Sensitivity or MCS.

Symptoms of MCS 

• asthma or other breathing problems  • autoimmune disorders  • behavioral problems  • bloating or other intestinal problems  • cardiovascular irregularities  • chronic exhaustion  • disorientation or becoming “lost”  • dizziness  • dystonia (paralysis)  • eye, nose and throat problems • fatigue and depression • flu-like symptoms • food allergies and intolerances • genitourinary problems • headaches • increased sensitivity to odors • inflammation • irritability • learning disabilities • mental confusion • movement disorders • muscle weakness and joint pains • numbness and tingling in limbs • persistent infections, especially yeast  • persistent skin rashes and sores • seizure disorders • short or long term memory loss • visual disturbance

MCS may result from a single massive exposure to one or more toxic substance or repeated exposures to low doses. Some people become chemical-sensitive following a toxic chemical spill at work or in their community, or after exposure to pesticides. Or, individuals may develop this condition from spending time in a poorly ventilated building, where they breathe a combination of chemicals. MCS may be brought on by a wide array of chemicals found at home, at work, in hospitals, in parks, and at school.

Now, the next time you splash on that aftershave…or the next time you spray your body with your favorite brand of perfume…to go to work, a restaurant, a club, a sporting event, a play or concert… think about this…

Did you know that perfume is made of toxic chemicals that can injure your health? Many of the chemicals in perfume are the same chemicals in cigarette smoke, and yet there is no regulation of the fragrance industry. Many people are “bothered” by perfumes – developing headaches, sinus problems, and even asthma from exposures. Many have gotten sick or even disabled from wearing (or being exposed to) fragrances and using other scented products. And fragrances are now used in almost every cleaning, laundry, and personal-care product on the market! These chemicals go directly into the bloodstream when applied to our skin and are also absorbed into the skin from our clothing. We also inhale the chemical fumes, which then go straight to our brains where they can do major harm. Many even have a “narcotic” effect, which is why some people seem “addicted” to their perfumes.

The problem with scented products is not so much the smell itself as the chemicals that produce the smell. Nearly all scented products currently on the market are made largely or entirely of synthetic chemicals, usually derived from petroleum or coal tar. Nearly one-third of the chemical additives used in perfumes and other scented products are known to be toxic, and it’s not safe to assume that the other chemicals are safe just because they aren’t yet known to be toxic. (Keep in mind that most of the chemicals used in this country, including 90% of the pesticides, have never been tested.) And just one perfume can contain more than 500 chemicals. Expensive products are just as likely as cheap ones to contain synthetic chemicals. And words like “hypoallergenic,” “natural scent,” “floral,” and the names of various flowers don’t mean that you can trust the product under the label–they just mean that the manufacturer wants you to think that the product is safe. Even “unscented” may actually mean that a masking fragrance has been added to the product to disguise the smell of certain ingredients.

The only safe assumption about scented products is that they contain numerous toxic chemicals which constantly vaporize into the air and attach themselves to the hair, clothing, and surroundings of anyone who wears them. These chemicals are skin irritants, suffocants, eye and respiratory tract irritants, and neurotoxins. That’s why being around someone who’s wearing a scented product (or who’s wearing clothes that have picked up smells from past use of scented products) can cause an chemically sensitive person to develop obvious allergy symptoms (sneezing, coughing, watery eyes), to have an asthma attack, to develop a headache, to become dizzy or nauseous, to have trouble focusing or thinking or remembering, to experience sudden mood changes, to develop muscle cramps or spinal subluxations, or even to have a seizure or lose consciousness.

And that’s why wearing scented products isn’t just a personal choice. It’s a choice to impact the air space of others–and in ways you may not be able to predict or control. And that’s why “I’m just wearing a little!” or “It’s not perfume, it’s just my soap” are irrelevant responses. The chemicals don’t care. They don’t care how much you’re wearing or in what form you’re wearing it–they’re going to vaporize into the air around you and do their chemical thing, even if you weren’t planning to harm someone.

I don’t own these statistics and words. They belong to these wise and caring people and Foundations:

Thanks go to Roberta Rigsby, the World Asthma Foundation, the Asthma Foundation and the Chemical Sensitivity Foundation for all this great info and for trying to make the world a safe place for everyone.

Party Time

I took a few shots early on as people started arriving for our opening…and then had to put my camera down to eliminate bodily harm in the mayhem. A few people picked it up towards the end and took some of me and my fat cheeks. I wish I had more to show you just how many beautiful people came to see and enjoy the Studio. We had such a great time. Everyone…

June 5th

If you are going through hell… keep going.
Winston Churchill

I need anyone and everyone that reads my blog (and those who just happened upon it) to get up on Thursday and simply say “Keep going”. I believe in Karma and the power of positive energy sent from others…even when they don’t know why. I promise to write an “Erma Bombeck” explanation in exchange for those blindly given positive thoughts.

June 5th Folks. Please remember…It’s important.

Anuvue signage

And so it begins…

I have sat in this room both literally and figuratively until I can see it finished in my mind. I sit in total quiet and stare until it materializes right in front of my eyes. I have made tweaks here and there by mere inches, changed drawings over and over and traded older ideas for new ones with all the tradesmen that have a part to play in the building. I only get one first impression so it has to count…and it has to stick in the visitor’s mind.

Yesterday, my talented Carpenter Tim and I sat on the floor and made paper patterns. It allowed me to see the exact position and sizes in relationship to the floor space and walls. It also allowed my Electrician George to see where the lighting would need to be placed. Tonight I watched as 2 x 4’s, ladders, drywall and paint were all carried up. Tomorrow, I will be present and accounted for at 6:30 am for the delivery of my new sliding glass doors. Less windows, more walls.

With each check I write, each time I pull my credit card out, my stomach muscles tighten and clench. I no longer sleep at night, what with this worry or that thing I might forget… unless I get up to write it down. Both my Family and Friends have a blind faith in me that I will make this happen and it will be good. I feel tremendous pressure (actual terror on occasion) to not let anyone down, including myself. But each time I meet a new Artist and see that light that come into their eyes and hear the excitement in their voices, I feel something that words cannot express. It’s something I lost a while back, something I’ve been searching desperately to re-gain. If Anuvue doesn’t kill me before I get it open, I will have one heck of a write off this year…and be a very excited, very busy, women…with a dream that came to life.

The chance to dream…

I worked for for 33 years, gave everything I could possibly give, working hours that could scare a CEO…Then one day, when I was really listening… reality spoke up and that was the first day in the rest of my life. That was about 6 months ago. I decided that life really is too short not to see some of it lived happily, doing something you only think about in dreams. I have since sacrificed a few comforts, gave up a demanding but well paying job and stepped into a new one that allows me more freedom…to be who I really want to be. And in the long run, I realized that I never really needed any of that other “stuff” anyway…

I have found a little studio. It’s about 1/2 mile from my house as the crow fly’s and it’s there that a long time dream will come true. I don’t intend to make alot of money…in fact, I may lose some. But what I sincerely hope is to bring people of like minds together, to create something that not only teaches, shares, creates…but gives something back to the community I live in. Anuvue Studio will be born in a small 650 square foot loft in a very old 1970’s building (what i can afford). It will be a place where people can learn to create art, limited only by their own imaginations. It will be a place where people can learn how a sculpture was actually formed…or what inspired a certain painting…or allow someone to actually purchase something original, created by a driving vision, at a price that is within their pocket book….for the first time in their lives. It will be an opportunity for Artist’s to show their work and share their dreams with the community, for possible the first time in their lives as well. And all in an atmosphere that is friendly and open…

And as in all things I do, nothing happens without the involvement of Family and Friends…a patient Husband that allows me my “Ideas”, Family to pitch in no matter what lunacy I dream up, Friends to create things to fill up the space, teach classes, build my website, offer helpful insight, inspiration or moral support…whatever it is…and in that, I could not be more blessed.

The present tenants are 2 really nice guys and they have been so gracious in my little visits to see “this wall” or “that window”. (I never knew I had stocker potential in me..but have been proved wrong). Below, I thought I’d share a few very bad photos of my new home away from home so my family and friends would know it’s really going to happen… and soon!

1. The first picture shows the 1972 building , not very glamorous, but the price is right…and it’s 1/4 mile from the ocean! Anuvue will be on the upper right corner, above the big white banner. There’s a long row of windows and a small balcony on the side. If I cut a tree down (which I won’t) I might see the ocean.

2. The second picture shows the blond hardwood floors and the vaulted ceiling with planks. That thing running along the right edge is a little half wall that divides the area from the current tenant’s desks. I think it would make a wonderful place for the main Artist’s statement at an opening.

3. The third picture shows the wall of windows (currently covered by white blinds), the entrance area (between the two walls) and kinda an overall view of the room. I intend to build movable walls that can hold art but also be rolled away to allow space for both art classes and photo shoots.

4. The fourth picture shows the little balcony. Can’t you just see the people sipping wine and nibbling snacks. The street light ahead is Pacific Coast Highway with the beach just beyond…

My posting in the next 2 months will not be everyday, as I have tried to do in the past. Dreams can be busy stuff and what the heck do I know about running a business anyway? Funny thing is, I’ve just met my new CPA Daryl…who happens to be one of the 2 moving out! He couldn’t have been a better match for me! He’s sweet, honest and he get’s it! One over, several more hurdles to jump!

Facing 50 Head On

Yes, that is 2 puns in one line… TDB

Self Portrait

TAKING A NEW VIEW

I’m remodeling my home office to accomodate Anuvue Studio… my next life adventure. I have 4 piles. Those that must go. Those that may go. Those that I will cram into my new office. Then there’s the 4th pile. Those that I’ve asked myself “what in God’s name were you thinking?” At this point, as I look around my entire house, I think it would have been easier just to light a match…and begin again. Yep.

I have decided to stop for the night. I am sitting here eating a bowl of grapes, wishing this would all just be put away, neatly and orderly…kinda like Bewitched use to be able to do… you know…just wiggle your nose and everything starts flying around to places where you can find them when you need them. Maybe tomorrow, with fresh new eyeballs looking at the task ahead, it will all come clear.

Pray for me…cause I’m really doubting it.

Coastal East

My Dandelion Wish