If you are anything like us, we can get real close to the time of whatever-it-may-be and then get what needs to be done, last minute style, done. Don’t get us wrong, we do it well under pressure. The Women’s March tomorrow is no different. We are going to wake up around 7AM to get our signs done. I did some image research and quote digging and came up with 10 good sign suggestions off the World Wide Web.
We go high.
Your silence will not protect you.
Nasty Woman
“Those Who Can Make You Believe Absurdities, Can Make You Commit Atrocities” Voltaire
Hate Kills
“I am deliberate and afraid of nothing.” Audre Lorde
Woman’s place is in the resistance. (in reference to Carrie Fisher…Princess Leigh….Star Wars. You get it.)
I am stronger than fear.
Truth matters.
“The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any.” Alice Walker
Get your recycled pieces of boxes, cardboard, old sheets and get to creating. We will collectively be with every human at every women’s march tomorrow. We love you.
Last week we went to Cucalorus’s opening night party.
The next day I got the flu.
The next day we made a movie.
The next day I was in the ER.
The next day I hurled all day.
The next day we were at the Cucalorus 10×10 Screening and CONNECT Presenters Party.
This was my last week and this is the film we made with our great team (Brianna Okamoto, Josh Stowe, Andy Nielsen, Hillary Scott). I wasn’t sure I was going to make it, the movie that is, but when you have a dream and are given an amazing opportunity you push through it all to get there.
Feeling the autumn yet? Well in North Carolina we are JUST about starting to feel the chill. And moving from the big apple, I cannot complain. It’s a chill that cools my toes, and makes the heart warm.
Our journey in North Carolina has been wonderful so far. Having the art truck open has made me think about life quite differently. Richness comes through other means, other than the monetary. And of course that is the cliche. But one thing is saying it, and another is living it. At first every time a bill would come through our mail, my stomach would turn, and I would start worrying about how is it that we were gonna cover this one. But God always had my back, the Universe made it happen, and we always had money to pay it in the end.
Today another financial conundrum came our way. And that same stomach churning was starting to drag me down. But after shaking myself, I thought, don’t we ALWAYS make it happen some way? I said, yes. We do. And that’s when I things seemed a little more clear. All this life we are living, selling our art. This is why I am here. These moments of financial strains are the small price to pay for living the life I want. And once I learn how to deal with them, instead of letting them smack me in the face, I will deflect them away from me and my environment and put them in a box of with some other papers that hold little value in life that will eventually be taken care of. Keeping the focus on life money, not real money, is the best way to deal. Because always God will have my back. And that box of bills is only a box. And the only box that matters is the box truck where we sell our art. Where we are making our dream happen. And the beauty, the creativity, the human connections that spills out of that box is worth so much more than any pink envelope with a notice.
So in the spirit of the chilly winds, and the beauty that surrounds us in these Carolinas, I invite you to join us to TWO AMAZING events we are going to be at this weekend Nov 21-22.
1. Art for the Masses. Because art that the masses cannot enjoy, is never the intent of the artists. All artists want art for all. So we make it accessible for you.
2. Carolina Pine Music Festival. Because Music + Art + Food is the best combination that humans have been able to create over the centuries, and there is never too much of that.
And with that I will leave you with a little sound to the ears from one of the coolest music makers in Wilmington. Stray Local. Make sure to check them out on Sunday at the Carolina Pine Music Festival’s Art Factory where among other artists, and ourselves, we will all be.
The first week of November is here which means some people are starting their Holiday shopping and others are finishing it. We here at Mushpa + Mensa want to get into the game by offering our super fans a free shipping code on any and all purchases. This code is HoHoHo! It will be in affect until January 1st, 2016. You can start out getting an amazing handmade Gingerbread Peep made of felt created using recycled plastic bottles for your Christmas tree. You’re welcome!
Here’s the skinny on Laurel Hester. She was a 23-year veteran of the Ocean County prosecutor’s office, where she worked on a variety of cases, when she was discovered she had stage 4 lung cancer (Stage four (IV) means the lung cancer has spread to more than one area in the other lung, the fluid surrounding the lung or the heart, or distant parts of the body through the bloodstream. Once released in the blood, cancer can spread anywhere in the body, but it is more likely to spread to the brain, bones, liver, and adrenal glands.). She was one of the first women to achieve rank of Lieutenant in her department and was greatly respected by her fellow officers.
While in Ocean County, where she earned the rank of lieutenant, she
worked behind the scenes on a number of high-profile cases, devoting
most of her career to organized-crime intelligence. She helped develop
information that investigators in New York would later use for
successful prosecutions of mob figures there.
She met her girlfriend in the early 2000s, Stacie Leigh Andree (born 1975) who was 19 years younger than Hester and worked as a car mechanic.
The cancer then metastasized and spread to her brain, leaving her with little time to live. Laurel lived with and jointly owned a house with her registered domestic partner, Stacie Andree, who would not be able to afford mortgage payments upon Laurel’s death. A married heterosexual with Hester’s years of police service would be able to pass on pension benefits to a spouse, but this privilege was not accorded to same-sex domestic partners in Ocean County, NJ.
Hester and Garden State Equality Founder and Chair Emeritus, Steven Goldstein appealed to local authorities to change this policy, and was supported by the local Policemen’s Benefit Association. Instead, in a private meeting on November 9, 2005, the five Republican county freeholders voted against the proposal, with freeholder John P. Kelly arguing that it threatened “the sanctity of marriage.” On November 23, a rally of supporters rallied by Steven Goldstein gathered to protest the county’s inaction.
On January 18, 2006, an impassioned videotaped appeal by a weakening Hester from her hospital bed was shown at a meeting of the freeholders, who then met with county Republican leaders in a teleconference on January 20. The next day, the freeholders announced that they were reversing their stance, and would meet on January 25 to extend pension benefits to registered domestic partners.
She died exactly a month later after sending the committee the video plea on February 18, 2006, in her home in Point Pleasant, New Jersey.
There is a new movie about Hester’s fight for equality coming out October 2nd starring Julianne Moore and Ellen Page, also titled Freeheld.
Happy Labor Day to all! For those who don’t know what Labor Day is all about, here is the skinny. Labor Day, the first Monday in September, is a creation of the labor movement (mostly promoted by the Central Labor Union and the Knights of Labor in NYC). Groover Cleaveland made it official in 1887. Labor Day is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country.
Now on to some interesting Labor Day trivia!
To take advantage of large numbers of potential customers free to shop, Labor Day has become an important sale weekend for many retailers in the United States. Some buyers retailers claim it is one of the largest sale dates of the year, second only to the Christmas season’s Black Friday. Ironically, because of the importance of the sale weekend, some of those who are employed in the retail sector not only work on Labor Day, but work longer hours. More Americans work in the retail industry than any other, with retail employment making up 24% of all jobs in the United States. As of 2012, only 3% of those employed in the retail sector were members of a labor union.
Women were among the earliest factory workers in the mill and textile industries and also among the earliest to organize.
21.3% of women work in service occupations, some of which (domestic work, for example) are not covered by many of the employee protections we celebrate on Labor Day. This lack of coverage dates back to 1938 when Congress passed the Fair Labor Standards Act based on a political compromise by which it excluded domestic and agricultural workers, who were primarily African-American. Today, high rates of Hispanic women work in the service sector (33.2%).
In high society, Labor Day is (or was) considered the last day of the year when it is fashionable to wear white or seersucker.
We here at Mushpa y Mensa strive to contribute to the strength, prosperity and well being of our country, world and universe in everything we do. From the meaning we put into our art, to all the people we come in contact with at amazing events where we end up and through our online presence. We are blessed to have this job that pushes us to learn so many things from others and hopefully we give back as much to them.
Here is something tangible we can give back today, on the 2nd largest sale date of the year! ;] A free shipping promotion code MAYA007!!! This will get you out of shipping charges on any item(s) at our Etsy Shop. Exciting!!! 😀 Click below to get to our shop and check out our original designs on organic cotton tees, tanks and tops, plush pets with felt made from recycling plastic bottles and stuffed with real lavender, eco-jewelry, coffee and tea cozies made from unique, refurbished fabric amongst tons of other cool stuff. Spread the word!
We hope everyone has a chill Labor Day and you are doing whatever it is you want to do today and everyday.
I was power surfing and promoting Mushpa y Mensa last night and came across these photos on the World Wide Web I thought were worth sharing with you all.
