I’m psyched. Why? Because I just spent the last fifteen minutes consuming a website that just launched.

Wait – what? Yes, consuming.

It’s no secret that I have a love of words and language. And we all know that a picture says a thousand words. But what happens when the two marry and words create an image?

Meet TEKST Artist

TEKST is a 366-day experiment where each piece is a one-of-a-kind create made up completely of words.

Like this one he created for the band, Pepper, with the lyrics to their song, Wake Up; this video is the official music video for this song. And this one he created for Apple fans everywhere using the text from Steve Jobs’ opening keynote in 1983.

He creates each piece by doing what you and I do every day on our blogs, on Twitter, Facebook, and even the archaic action of ‘forwarding’ an email – by “remixing” ideas. In TEKST’s words:

This “remixing” of ideas can even be seen in each and every art piece. I use quotes, audio tracks, even imagery originally created by others. I have gone to great lengths to credit each source along the way. I believe that every facet of each piece has been created under what would be considered “fair use”. At no point was/is it my intention to outright steal content that doesn’t belong to me. I will happily add/adjust proper credit that is found to be incorrect or missing.

366 One-of-a-Kind Works of Art for Sale

Want to know the best part? He’s selling each TEKST art project for the price of the day of the calendar – that’s $1 on January 1, $2 on January 2, $3 on January 3, etc. with original text-inspired artwork that he’s already created for the first half of the year and artwork commissioned by you the second half of the year.

Why I dig TEKST

TEKST Artist is a dear friend of mine. When we met last March, this project was an idea and didn’t even have a name yet. I love how it’s evolved over the past year and I admire TEKST’s decision to launch this project and invest everything he has into it:

Leaving a steady job to “shoot for the moon” and pursue a career as an artist (especially after almost a decade away from the craft) is something else entirely.  I decided there was only 1 way to get up to speed- I’m going to make and sell art for 365 days straight in 2012, create a video for each one, and feature it right here on the homepage.

But as with most successful people, he didn’t do it alone. Art Alternatives sponsored every single one of his canvases and made the 366-TEKSTs possible. He also has an amazing wife, mentors, and friends. We’re all bought into this project when it was still an idea. And now that it’s launched, we’re all glad we did.

Time to get your TEKST on

Seriously, go check out the calendar. January 1 to June 15 are pieces of artwork that he already created. And starting June 16, you can commission TEKST to create your own piece for $168 – which is a pretty amazing price for a commissioned art piece!

Go, before the entire calendar has been purchased.

You can purchase the classic Macintosh piece that was created in the video linked above on June 15 or a modern “Fail Whale” ala Twitter on May 19.

I just chose and purchased my TEKSTs, have you?

This year, like every year, has been one filled with ups and downs, events that went down as planned and events that went awry, things that happened for a reason and surprises that revealed themselves at the most opportune times.

Today was perhaps the most perfect Thanksgiving ever. It started by John and I going out last night to the 10pm showing of The Muppets and coming home to finish making Pumpkin Whoopie Pies (thanks to a delicious recipe from Bill the Butcher). Then this morning started by going to CrossFit and doing a team WOD with two of my best CrossFit friends. Participating in today’s WOD was a big deal since I’ve been doing solo workouts and rehabbing my shoulder due to tendonitis and bursitis that I’ve had for a year and a half.

For Thanksgiving dinner, we went to my in-laws’ house. They were the hosts and we dined with them, my sister-in-law, her fiancé, John, my parents, and a family friend. The feast was complimented by laughter and now I’m home on the couch, blogging, while John and I are watching Harry Potter, which is kind of a tradition in this house.

It was the perfect Thanksgiving Day.

Thirty Reasons to be Thankful

In the tradition of last year, here is what I am thankful for this year:

• John – my support, my rock, my heart
• Building strength, physical and psychological
• New friends
• Old friends
• Friends who have moved from professional to personal friends
• Twitter BFFs and blogging buddies
• You, my reader
• My blog
• My new job
• My old job
• Mentors
• My family – my parents, my in-laws, my sisters, my brothers, my nephew
• Going to celebrate my nephew’s first birthday next week.
• Having control over my own schedule
• CrossFit
• My acupuncturist and my chiropractor
• Celebrating hump day
• Being a writer
• Mustaches
• Hipsters and the hipster-way-of-life
• Dancing, just because we can
• Cooking and baking at home
• Cuddling (even though my husband has dropped 50 pounds in the past year thanks to CrossFit, his hipbones are still fun to cuddle with)
• Listening to my gut
• Putting things in motion
• Not settling
• The ability, drive, and ambition to fix things that aren’t right
• Big ideas, implemented
• Do-ers
• Being comfortable in my own skin and appreciating who I am.

That last one is probably the biggest way to summarize all that has happened so far this year. 2011 has been a “building” year – personally, professionally, physically, and psychologically.

Thank you – for reading and being here; lamiki.com would not be what it is without you.

Thank you.

Now, I’m going to do what I told you not to do yesterday and log off to spend time with the first item on this list.

]]> http://lamiki.com/2011/11/i-am-thankful-for-you/feed/ 2 http://lamiki.com/2011/11/how-to-cheat-with-impress-and-support-your-friends/ http://lamiki.com/2011/11/how-to-cheat-with-impress-and-support-your-friends/#comments Mon, 07 Nov 2011 01:22:15 +0000 Laura Kimball http://lamiki.com/?p=1107 Last night I cheated, twice. This first was by not posting a blog when I’m participating in National Blog Posting Month (and at this time I’m trying to figure out if I’m going to back-date this post or just make up for it later). The second was I ate non-paleo food and drinks.

But I have a good reason why – John and I spent the evening at a friends house helping them choose their signature cocktail for their wedding this spring.

And while I could have chosen a paleo-friendly drink recipe, what good would my taste buds have been if I didn’t taste all the other cocktails and vote for my favorite? And then, what kind of friend would I have been?

That’s right, I cheated last night because I was being a good friend. And when we came home past the stroke of midnight, I was in no place to be blogging.

Mojito Mixology

Earlier this year, I decided to make homemade mojitos for the annual BBQ we host for our CrossFit friends. What I didn’t know was how impressive this skill would be until I posted a photo from the ‘dress rehearsal’ on Facebook and received a ton of comments about how hard it was to make a mojito at home and awe that I took on such a challenge.

I’ll let you in on a little secret – all I did was crack open a bar book that I received as a gift for my 21st birthday and choose the mojito recipe that was the easiest to make. I bought key lime and mint from the corner produce market, a gallon of Bicardi Rum at the liquor store, and everything else at the grocery store. Turns out that the key limes were key in making the drink sweet and not sour (which would have been the case if I used regular limes).

The recipe (parenthetic commentary are my own)…

Mojito

1 ounce fresh lime juice (fresh squeezed from key limes is best)
1 tablespoon superfine sugar
6 to 8 fresh mint leaves (roll each mint leaf in your fingers before dropping into the glass)
2 ounces light rum
3 to 4 ounces chilled club soda
Fresh mint sprig

Shaken, not stirred – Shake the lime juice, sugar, mint leaves, and rum vigorously with ice. Without straining, pour the entire contents of the shaker into a highball glass flamingo glass, and top with club soda. Garnish with the mint sprig. Complete with a straw.

Other than the mint sprigs, measure out each of the ingredients to keep the ratio (and taste) perfect.

Recipe adapted from the The Ultimate Bar Book: The Comprehensive Guide to Over 1,000 Cocktails (link to recipe).

The Secret to Impressing Your Friends

The thing that surprised me the most about serving about a gallon’s worth of mojitos at my party was how much people are in awe of special skills like cooking or following a recipe. I experience this whenever I bring a homemade pie to a dinner party.

From what some of my friends tell me, it’s like this – people who can follow a recipe usually can because someone showed them how to at one point in their life. And as I’ve learned from making pies and now cocktails from scratch, if you want to learn how to do something, all you need to do is find the directions and learn how to do it.

Violà! Instant party trick!

What’s the best cocktail you’ve mixed at home? And what’s the recipe?

One night recently, a friend asked a group of us a question that I didn’t have an answer for. It was one of those questions that you ask when getting to know someone and it’s one of those questions that you either know the answer to right away or you don’t. And while everyone in our group shared, one by one, I was scared that by the time it was my turn, I wouldn’t have an answer to share myself.

The question was: Who inspires you?

It’s a simple question, one that you can easily answer by choosing someone close to you who’s made an impact in your life or someone throughout history who has a quote that’s listed on a mug they sell at Barnes & Noble.

But sharing the name of someone who inspires you is like revealing the recipe to your secret sauce. It tells your audience—who honestly may be your best friends—who makes you tick, who motivates you, and who kicks you in the ass and tells you to get the fuck moving forward. And it gives your enemies the plans for how they can take you down.

So here’s another way to think about answering that question. My friend, Mouyyad Abdulhadi of Magic Carpet Blog, gave a talk at IgniteDallas about this subject. His talk is called “24 Years, 24 People, 24 Lessons” and is a snippet from his Ebook of the same name. The premise is he shares stories about 24 people in his life who have taught him something and inspire him daily.

The difference about how Mouyyad answered this question is that he found inspiration from a place that we all know but we always undercut – those we know in our daily, real lives. He also helps bring the question of “Who inspires you?” down from the podium that question has been cast upon. He shows that you can find inspiration not only from one person, but also from multiple people, and each can provide their own kernel that can move you.

I like this. I like that I don’t have to search for one person for all of my strength. I like that I can look to people in my real, every day life and I can admire things that they have done as a way to challenge myself.

If you ask me that question today, I will answer it differently than how I will answer it tomorrow, because inspiration has the ability to change, just like my goals, thoughts, and fears.

So now I turn the question to you, who inspires you? Or how do you see inspiration?

Photo Credit: Louwuselchen

Everyone knows the saying, “Behind every successful man is a woman.” And then I see an article that one of my friends shared on Facebook about the 10 women who secretly control the Internet (aka “the world”), and I have to ask – what’s with all the secrecy here, people?

The answer is obvious and it has to do with which pair of pants we put on in the morning and how we conduct ourselves in a room full of strangers. It’s the way we shake hands in public and how we introduce ourselves using only our first names. It’s the question of whether our actions are dictated by society or if it’s from the very nature of the “g” word – gender.

Learning “F”

I was 17 when I learned the “F” word. I had heard the “F” word before, but I never really understood what it meant and especially what it meant to me.

It came to me from the most obvious of places; a class called Introduction to Women’s History at the community college. I was still in high school and especially impressionable. So I did what every teenager did and I shared it with my best friend.

My best friend and I were revolutionaries without a revolution. We were like every single teenager on the planet who was looking to be a part of something but we weren’t too sure what that ‘something’ was. (This was also before Facebook.)

To us, feminism was an identity that we could wear proudly on our arm and let it stand that it stood for being who we as it is true to ourselves. It stands for knowing that we are strong, represents the gutsy, and tells us it’s not only okay to strive for what we want out of life, it’s required.

How this Feminist celebrates International Women’s Day

As a girl and a woman growing up in the U.S., a glass ceiling has never prevented me from achieving what I want to accomplish in life. But I know that’s not the case for everyone.

The role of women and girls in the world is constantly on my mind. I am fortunate to work for an organization that holds these values close to the core of their business. But there is so much left to be done and so much to do. Which is why today, on the 100th Anniversary of International Women’s Day, I’m proud to help power the launch of Give 2 Girls, a campaign that turns activism into action by empowering the women of tomorrow by giving to the girls of today.

Seriously, you should check it out the campaign and see how the Jolkona community is supporting this movement.

So as I clean up my desk, load this blog, and head to one of the few celebrations of International Women’s Day in Seattle, I need to send a few text messages to the women in my life who helped inspire and support me throughout my budding “F” word years. These are women who share their strength, knowledge, and beauty when I needed and when I didn’t know we needed it.

Happy International Women’s Day, Feminist Coming Out Day, and good ol’ Tuesday!

I’m going to celebrate with 100+ ladies and gents in Seattle. What are you doing to celebrate this momentous day?

Photo Credit: ego technique

When I read last week’s #reverb10 prompt on friendship, one person entered my head immediately. But I don’t want to pull out and highlight how one person’s friendship has really ignited me this year because 1) I don’t want to sound gushy, and 2) I’m a nice person. And in keeping with the trend of thank you speeches at the Oscars, I don’t want to leave anyone out.

Let me tell you a story. You know that I admire people who open up, are vulnerable, and share their ideas about world domination with me. Ideas are infectious and inspiring. When I see someone I care about achieve greatness, it launches me down the same kick ass adventure as them. No one does it alone, and that is so true, especially in my life.

It takes a village

It takes a village to lift an individual to the next degree of greatness. A village made of people who share common interests, speak the same language, and weave in and out of each other’s lives. There are the regulars, the newbs, the tourists, the every-once-in-awhile’s and the causal acquaintances. This village may also be known of as a community.

Every once in a while, the every-once-in-awhile’s and casual acquaintances drop by the village on a more frequent basis. They take a liking to you and you to them. You open up to them and they open up to you. You reveal ideas to them and they reveal the most honest feedback back to you.

You become better because of your conversations with them, or worse. Either way, you’re different from how you were before and a stamp of them is left on you (whether you realize this or not).

It takes my own village

This past year my life has been touched by my true blues, mentors (new, unrecognized, and those from my past), new friends, old friends, quick friends, deep friends, idea-shakers-and-makers, online friends who I’ve never met, and those who are stronger than me but believe that I can do it, too.

Who believe I can do anything. Who make me believe I can do anything.

Belief. That’s the kind of friendship that has made an impression on me this year. There have been a few people throughout 2010 who have paid special attention to me, listened to my dreams and goals, and found a way to help me achieve them in a way that’s not pushing but encouraging. This position is held by a handful of people and some of them may not even know they’re included (others better damn well ).

These friends, if you were to meet them, know what I write about between the lines of this blog. They know what I want more than anything in the world. And they know what drives me.

They have helped me move from one level of Laura-ness to the next. They’ve helped me move from “I have an idea…” to “I can totally do this.”

And one by one, I will show my appreciation to them and for all of this.

How has a friend helped elevate you to the next level of yourself? Has it been just one person or a village of your community?

Photo Credit: Mark Setchell

The word wonder makes me think of a cave where you can find everything you want and everything that you desire. Once you find this cave, however, you have to be smart and not be tempted by all of the wonders that lay in the way between you and what you want to find most. This cave is of course fiction, a la Aladdin.

This is the first #reverb10 prompt that came through and I didn’t know my answer right away. This question is large, deep, and vast, like all wonders should be. And the author is asking us not to find one wonder but to share the recipe for how wonder existed in our lives over the past year.

Kind of a hard prompt if you didn’t march through the past year searching for the marvelous somethings that exist in life.

So I went to Twitter to look for inspiration, read a few posts to see how others interpreted the prompt, and I found my answer.

How did I cultivate a sense of wonder in my life this past year? By walking into a room where I knew nobody and introducing myself.

Networking. Meeting people. Building relationships online and bringing them offline. Asking questions like, “What are you passionate about?” and “Would you like to meet for coffee?” and caring what their answers are.

I find inspiration in connecting with others—from learning about their experiences, sharing how they interpret the world, and emphasizing with their ideas—everything. Even if it’s a brief conversation in line at a coffee shop with someone I will never meet again, they spark my curiosity and offer a new perspective, be it small or VERY LARGE.

Their impact can present itself in an immediate “ah ha!” moment or they can simmer and reveal over time.

Some of these connections have grown from mild curiosities into deep friendships; some have brought me into new social circles and introduced me to incredible experiences; and some have weaved their way into the very core of who I am.

People have the power will surprise you—good or bad—because they are not you. That’s why going through life curious and open is so important to me, and I plan to keep marching through life that way at opportunity that I can.

How have you cultivated a sense of wonder this past year?

Photo Credit: left-hand

Every so often someone on Twitter or Facebook boldly declares that they are unplugging this weekend, going dark. Usually they’re on their way up the mountains where there’s no cell phone reception. Other times they’re staying in town and just need to mentally unwind. And sometimes they don’t announce it at all and they fall

off the blogosphere.

And it takes awhile before we notice.

Falling off

A friend of mine, Andrew Swenson, recently “fell off the face of the social media earth,” without announcing it (or if he did, I completely missed it). A few of us piped up in between that we missed him. And when he resurfaced, he explained what happened and what he had learned. I admire what Andrew did. He had a lot of things going on in his “real” life and he needed the space to really figure it out for himself.

Being silent & holding back

When someone says that they’re doing this, it is just noise. But when someone just does it, it leaves me wondering what’s going on, what’s really going on in their life. Going dark without letting someone know is like staying out past your curfew when you were in high school; those who care about you get worried.

Being silent online means that something is happening that you can’t quite articulate. There have been a number of things that have happened since I’ve been social-media-ly-social that I have held back from explaining or taken a few days to figure out the right message to deliver the news with. Most of the time it’s about things that don’t matter in the scope of the universe but that matter a lot to me, otherwise I wouldn’t care and would just say it.

That leads to a series of questions—if we are extra social, why do we hold back when life is the most out of our control? Why do we develop these relationships when we’re feeling on top of the world and retreat offline when we aren’t?

Simple: we want people to view us in the way that we want ourselves to be viewed. We are attracted to people who are attracted to us. We want to surround ourselves with safe, positive energy and ideas. It’s human nature. And if we expose ourselves as anything but that then we leave ourselves open for something else—an unknown.

And this unknown is pretty damn scary because it’s our heart that we have bared from our chest and we don’t know how you or anyone else is going to react to it—if they’re going to dance around in it or stomp it out, leaving it and all our ideas pulsing, waiting for the blood to stop flowing and dry out.

If you look across the blogosphere, the “unknowns” we blog about are things that are exciting and exhilarating. We write about challenges that we’re ready to face, how we’re living a life according to our own rules, and how we’re crushing it.

Being affirmative is sexy; being vulnerable with a purpose can be too.

Photo Credit: Leah Makin Photography

This is one of the gentlest videos I’ve watched about CrossFit, but the message is compelling all the same. There is no blood, sweat, or tears in this video, but it gives me chills all the same. And it shows the one thing that keeps me going back to my gym.

My Gym from Patrick Cummings on Vimeo.

Community

Community is a word that we throw around haphazardly. Sometimes it’s an adjective, a verb, a noun; other times it’s a goal, an objective, an obstacle. But rarely do we use it to mean the definition we learned in fourth grade: a group of people living in a particular local area having common interests.

At My Gym

At my gym, when they don’t show up, I call them.
At my gym, when I don’t show up, they call me.
My gym is different than other gyms. And I am different because of my gym.

At my gym, we celebrate birthdays by doing handstands.
At my gym, the mayor makes me my own jump rope.

At my gym, we scream when we accomplish personal records.
At my gym, we write those records on the wall.

My gym is Lynnwood CrossFit, and I am better because of my gym.

I admire vulnerability. The kind that flashes across a friend’s face for an instant — then they blink, realizing what happened, and it’s gone.

I love it when someone lets me in. When they open their ideas, their heart, and their soul to me because they want me in there. When they share ideas in a whisper that fills a room that wraps around your body like smoke. The kind of ideas that change how a person looks — when you’re home and you notice that there’s a flicker, a flicker of something that’s stirring inside you. Something that embodies something that’s bigger than the original something; something that whispers, loudly — share me.

Photo Credit: FotoRita