This past weekend, I hosted a concert in my backyard for a friend and singer-songwriter, Brooke Brown Saracino. It’s the second house concert I’ve hosted, and I’m becoming a huge fan of this kind of intimate, cozy listening experience. It’s so different to hear a song played against a backdrop of noisy bar patrons! We were arranged in a little semi-circle around Brooke and her touring-mate Hazel Starling as the two serenaded their listeners against a backdrop of my garden and the sultry summer sky. It was quite lovely.
Brooke just came out with a new ep of songs on July 9, called Architecture. Her music can be soft and sweet, but often with a salty, melancholy texture. I think Brooke’s sense of rhythm is unique in the world of folk-music, and it shows in her masterful guitar and tenor ukulele playing. The spare recordings on Architecture also feature a xylophone and the percussion of popcorn popping. (No really! Check out Track #2, Taxidermy Heart…)
I wanted to blog about Brooke because, well for one thing, I want everyone to hear her music, but also because Turtle Love Co. loves to support independent artists. I remember when Brooke was making her first album, Treading Water. As a culmination of her senior year at college, she recorded, edited, and produced the entire album herself using our school’s small recording studio. She enlisted the musical talents of our friends to fill out the sound of her quiet, thoughtful songs, resulting ina beautiful first album that was a truly grassroots effort. What an amazing accomplishment!
Brooke’s music is available at CDBaby – do check out Architecture. I can’t stop humming In the Bar Light and Your Body Lost…
It really does exist! Right now, there are plenty of people getting busy making generating good news about nature and the environment. We just discovered a jackpot of info about all this positive change on the aptly named The Good News Gazette. There’s a great story about the guy in South Portland, ME who practices 24 hours of kindness (without sleep) every year to raise awareness of the power of kindness. We also found out about a surprising whale-related material that is actually lowering CO2 levels. The good news even covered how cows can help make an eco-friendly floor finish. Even though there was no news about turtles, it is inspiring to find out how other people are busying themselves with positively affecting the planet.
We here at Turtle Love Co. love our extra-curricular activities. Amy likes to put on her wetsuit and swim in the ocean, Rachel spends time at her family’s camp on a lake, Adrianne has a garden and a three-year-old daughter, and I (Xander) am a disc jockey at Portland’s community radio station.
Born in the dorm room of a University of Southern Maine student back in the 70’s, WMPG broadcasts all kinds of eclectic music and talk radio shows. The musical preferences of the community station’s djs range from acoustic folk to blues, hardcore metal, indie rock, and a show dedicated entirely to Frank Zappa. There really is something for everyone at WMPG, and I’m really proud to be a part of such a diverse, grassroots, music-loving family!
My own eclectic music show, called Vox Pop Radio, airs on Mondays from 1:30 to 3 pm (you can actually listen to all of our fabulous djs by streaming WMPG online!) and travels through geography, time, and genre willy-nilly. Well, it’s usually not willy-nilly to me, as I hear all kinds of threads connecting kora music from Mali to, say, the soul music of Otis Redding. It’s sometimes hard to explain why I like the music I like – so maybe I’m not a typical dj. I just hope the music I play will resonate with someone else out there. Sometimes a song just hits you, wham! like it reached inside of you and plucked a string that makes a beautiful note. Those are the songs I try to play.
Here’s a song called La Llorona by Beirut, one of my past and current musical obsessions. I like this song, from the album March of the Zapotec, because Zach Condon plays with a 19-piece band from Oaxaca, Mexico. I’m a big fan of genre-bending musicians!
A lot of towns have great community radio stations. Get involved! All of those dedicated djs who volunteer their time deserve dedicated listeners.
..on the environment. That’s right: we are firm believers in not only having the right bling for every occasion, but also having the right bag. But most of the time I just bag the bag-shopping because it gives me bags under my eyes. Thankfully, I just read a post on Eco-chick about DIY bag-making.. out of things you can find scattered around your house and in your recycling bin! No need to leave the coziness of your own home, and you can create the exact bag for that snazzy tube-dress you’re wearing to that sangria party this weekend. Thanks Eco-Chick, now I have an excuse to ‘collect candy wrappers’.
We’ve got a lot going on over here. One minute, we are playing with the office beach ball (it generates creative thought- seriously), and the next, we are finding out how our prospective artisans source their metals. Recycling precious metals is kind of old news at this point, but what about recycling weird stuff like pond liners and greasy fish and chip papers? Yes, people actually ask these questions. For those serious about lowering their impact, there is an answer: How Can I Recycle This? Not that any of us are losing sleep over the gum wrapper we accidentally put in the trash, but its good to know that there are ways to reuse or recycle or ‘repurpose’, well, pretty much everything.
When Michele Scholnick was a kid, she may have dreamt of being a ballerina, but jewelry designer didn’t cross her mind ‘til some years later. She had passed a major deadline in her political science grad program, and decided on a whim to take some art classes. She tried glassblowing, graphic design, and jewelry. Somehow, even though she didn’t wear much jewelry at the time, Michele got hooked within two weeks.
Michele designs and creates her fabulous pieces in her studio in Venice, California. Within a two-minute walk from her studio, she can find any three of her current favorite meals: sushi, Argentinian tapas, or freshly-made, cinnamon-sugar-dusted mini-donuts. In her spare time, Michele likes to dance salsa, read fiction, and walk her dog, June, on the beach. Michele describes June as a “terrible guard dog, but nobody knows.”
We love Michele’s jewelry for a lot of reasons! The matte-finish on her pieces is simply luscious, and the designs are whimsical and unique, calling to mind the world of fairy tales. She also uses conflict-free diamonds in her work, which are certified as having eco- and people-friendly origins.
Well, at this point it’s no shock that the TLC crew tries to befriends with the earth. From the disheartening oil spill to the trash vortex afloat in the northern Pacific, we humans are really taking a toll on this beautiful planet. Sitting here in front of this computer, it seems kind of impossible to neutralize the effect we are having on the environment because the problem seems so insurmountable. The fact of the matter is (hopefully this won’t sound too Pollyanna-ish), the little things we do every single day make a sizable impact on planetary health. A lifetime of throwing out plastic bags instead of recycling them, of trashing disposable coffee cups, and of buying products from companies that utilize harmful chemicals (which eventually make their way into our bodies) is adding up. Taking just a few moments to research where products come from/how they are made is just one small but powerful way to lighten the load on the environment. It’s something we can do right now and even if we don’t see the effect immediately, the effect still exists. We just found this eco-friendly site to help us get right with the world with our daily purchases for ourselves and our families. Since life requires supplies that we have to shop for, we might as well shop smart.
After years of exploration and travel, Maggie Bokor landed in Maine in 2006, where she started taking metal smithing classes. “Every day is an adventure in the studio,” Maggie told us, “and I never know what direction my work may go next.” Before finding her niche as a jeweler, Maggie spent time as an interior decorator, a career that followed in the footsteps of her childhood love of Legos and “anything involving making spaces.”
Maggie is passionate about creating with her hands, and teaching Nia. This “barefoot bliss” is a form of movement that combines dance, breath, and voice, and encourages self-expression. When she’s not teaching or creating, Maggie can be found on one of her daily walks in the woods with her dog, Toby, or at the beach searching for the perfect rock to bring home. She also loves dancing to live music (Maggie used to be a singer in ska bands!) and sharing a meal with good friends.
Maggie’s love of pearls and silver is evident in the jewelry she makes for Turtle Love Co. Pearls “are classy and classic, and go with anything,” Maggie says. The artisan’s love for design and her ability to take risks lends a unique flavor to her work. See for yourself!
If there was an online dating site to match people with places, this imaginary online business would certainly match me up with Portland, Maine. We are a match made in heaven, because this place is heaven (see pics). It’s got the ocean in the air. It’s got red brick sidewalks and cobblestone streets. It’s a mecca for environment-lovers. It’s a hotbed of creativity in all forms, from musicians to jewelry designers (wink, wink) to installation artists. I recently discovered an interesting article in Portland Monthly about other creatives (Yoko Ono, Tippi Hedren) who have been similarly affected by this magical locale, so I guess I’m not alone. I think I’ll stick around forever.
It’s no secret that I love cool designs, whether it’s a piece of paper, a pair of earrings, or a handbag. If it’s new and different, send it my way! That’s why I love Design Crush – this blog is published by Kelly in Oklahoma City and she has an awesome eye for all things cool. Check it out!
"THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! you're helping to make the wedding that we were dreading (big fluffy white dresses and rings with huge rocks on them are not our thing) a bit more 'us'. " - Cheryl F.
This past weekend, I hosted a concert in my backyard for a friend and singer-songwriter, Brooke Brown Saracino. It’s the second house concert I’ve hosted, and I’m becoming a huge fan of this kind of intimate, cozy listening experience. It’s so different to hear a song played against a backdrop of noisy bar patrons! We were arranged in a little semi-circle around Brooke and her touring-mate Hazel Starling as the two serenaded their listeners against a backdrop of my garden and the sultry summer sky. It was quite lovely.
Brooke’s music is available at CDBaby – do check out Architecture. I can’t stop humming In the Bar Light and Your Body Lost…
