Wednesday, October 21, 2009

“Your bisexual philosophy - AfterEllen.com” plus 4 more

“Your bisexual philosophy - AfterEllen.com” plus 4 more

Your bisexual philosophy - AfterEllen.com

Posted: 21 Oct 2009 12:45 PM PDT

This is how I see it:  I don't base my attraction on what is inbetween a person's legs.  I base it on how well I get along with them, how well they treat me, how well we hit it off, how comfortable I feel around them, whether or not they give me those butterflies, whether or not I enjoy spending time with them, and whether or not I find them attractive.  And no, my attraction is usually not based solely on whether that person has a penis or vagina.  It's based on how they carry themselves, how they dress, how confident they are, etc.  And I've found that I can find all of these key things in both men and women.  Sure, most of the time, I tend to find those things in men just because I haven't met many women who appeal to me in more than a platonic way, but that's mostly based on my limited experiences and where I live. 

 I just don't like to limit myself to one gender because I feel like I could be missing out on something really amazing, especially when I feel like I'm capable of finding that with either a man or a woman.  Sexuality is a very, very complex thing and it's far from being black or white.

 And no, it doesn't make me a slut or more likely to leave the person I'm with for someone of the opposite/same sex.  Despite the fact that I acknowledge that I have been attracted to people of either gender, I'm still a very committed person and when I really like someone, I tend to only be interested in them.  It really bothers me when some lesbians say that they could never date a bisexual person (even though I don't really like labels) because they might leave them for a man.  You know what?  If the girl you're dating cheats on you or leaves you for someone else, that has more to do with their character than their sexuality.  It would still really hurt if she left you for another woman, right?  I just think it's a really ignorant thing to say. 

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Old farmhouse reflects philosophy of Galesburg artist and poet - Enterprise

Posted: 21 Oct 2009 11:55 AM PDT

Old farmhouse reflects philosophy of Galesburg artist and poet

Artistry, poetry and a focus on process have infused new life into an 1890s farmhouse on South Lake Storey Road in Galesburg.

What was once a modest central Illinois farmhouse is now home to Alex and Deborah Moreno and their five children. It's a house of natural materials, light, textures, angles and shapes strongly influenced by life experience and philosophy.

It is not a house filled with purchased, commercially manufactured items but one that reflects the philosophy of poet Deborah Moreno and the vision of Alex Moreno, an artist and owner of Moreno Tile & Stone.

The couple both graduated from Knox College. Deborah Moreno now teaches at Knox.

Alex Moreno grew up in Mexico and California. He recalls moving to California and being surprised to discover hot water was available instantly with the turn of a faucet. In Mexico, hot water entailed a bare-footed walk to the river, carrying water back to his dirt-floored home and finally using a wood fire to heat the water.

"Growing up was all about process," he said. "That gives you connections."

He has taught his children to build mugs on a pottery wheel.

"I don't want them to think you go to Target to buy a mug. No, I want them to know digging clay, shaping and forming," Moreno said.

"The Industrial Revolution changed our aesthetic values. It severed our connection with processes. Connections are what give life more flavor and depth."

A sculptor by training, Moreno's clay pieces are displayed throughout the house.

"Clay is so sensitive to touch," he said. "It can capture feeling which is intangible but the lightest emotion of fear or anger can be impressed in the clay."

Deborah Moreno said the couple was attracted to the original house because of its connection with the natural landscape and its sense of history.

"We are a relatively young country, and we need to build our appreciation of history," she said, recalling her extensive travel in Europe and the pervasive sense of history there.

The couple bought a barn slated for demolition. Alex Moreno took the structure apart plank by plank, stone by stone. The wood, stone and even the old square-headed nails were used in their home renovation.

Work began within days of buying the home in 1997. Moreno tore down a wall separating the kitchen and dining room and replaced a small kitchen window with a large picture window with views of Lake Storey.

He built a free-formed kitchen island, designing the counter top with Mexican Saltillo tiles in a "Tree of Life" mosaic with leaves representing family members. He designed and built the base to look like old wooden refrigerator-freezer doors.

A computer desk in the kitchen was made with the old marble inking table from The Galesburg Post.

The original house was 1,100 square feet. An old attached garage that was literally falling apart was renovated into a family room, second bathroom and teen's bedroom.

The couple had two children when they moved into the farmhouse. They had five children in 2006 when they began work with Merle Banks on design and architectural plans for a major 2,900-square-foot addition.

Trillium Dell Timberworks of Knoxville built the addition, which expanded the kitchen, added an upstairs master bedroom suite and additional bedrooms and bathroom.

The master bedroom has solid white oak timbers and a vaulted ceiling. One side of the room has a loft space for yoga practice or family reading.

The center of the room is a large tiled shower that separates the sleeping space from the bathroom space. Stacked windows facing the lake bathe the room in sunlight and moonlight.

Moreno designed the shower in an egg shape that represents life and water. Diffuse lighting set into the shower walls furthers a conceptualization of returning to the womb, he said.

The new spaces all have richly colored cashmere raja slate floors with radiant hot water heat from a geothermal system. Two of the new bathrooms have tubs Moreno designed and built in a form that doubled the depth of a standard tub. He surfaced the tubs with small tiles in a mosaic pattern.

"You can feel the unevenness," he said. "It feels like you're in a river with rocks versus a smooth porcelain tub."

Interior doors for the addition were purchased from an antique dealer.

"Old wood has life. It has a story to tell. You can't touch vinyl and steel and hear a story," Moreno said. "I'm constantly looking for interaction with the environment. I appreciate the process of creation."

When new wood was purchased for the project, Moreno looked for timbers with knots and worm holes.

"Nowadays, people don't want that. Big business has defined what is valued. Everything is uniform and standard," he said. "Very little work is done with mud setting and floating. If we don't use those old methods, they'll be lost."

Instead of putting up concrete board and tiling it in the bathrooms, he used lathe and membrane and built up the surface.

"Today everything is valued in terms of time, not quality. I'm in the middle of the generation that's losing the old skills that take time and attention to process," Moreno said. "Stone and tile should last generations. Stone and tile connect us with nature."

From the outside's cypress siding treated with linseed oil to the inside's stone, tile and wood, the Moreno home is an expression of values and philosophy that connect family and visitors to nature and history.

Clare Howard can be reached at (309) 686-3250 or choward@pjstar.com.

Moreno Tile & Stone does work throughout the Midwest for both residential and commercial properties. For more information, call (309) 343-4634.

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Toyota philosophy works in the ER - Reuters UK

Posted: 21 Oct 2009 09:39 AM PDT

By Amy Norton

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Emergency rooms may be able to give patients faster and better care by applying some of the same principles that have worked in Japanese car manufacturing, a new study suggests.

The study looked at four U.S. emergency departments that have tried out their own versions of a process improvement strategy pioneered by Toyota in the 1970s.

The principles -- commonly known as "Lean" -- seek to minimize waste and inefficiency and produce a higher-quality product. In recent years, there has been increasing interest in whether the same philosophy that creates a better car can also create better health care.

"We have a fundamental problem in the U.S. health system, and it relates to delivering value to our patients," said Dr. Eric W. Dickson, the lead researcher on the new study and a professor of emergency medicine at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester.

In the ER, he told Reuters Health, patients' biggest complaint is the long wait time to receive treatment.

According to Dickson, roughly a half-dozen U.S. health care systems, including somewhere between 20 and 30 ERs, have adopted Lean-type principles to try to slash inefficiency and improve quality.

In their study, reported in the Annals of Emergency Medicine, Dickson and his colleagues found that the degree of success may depend on how closely ERs adhere to the original Toyota thinking.

Dickson said that there were two key factors. One was that ideas for improvements came from the "front lines" -- the doctors, nurses and others working in the ER -- and not from management. The other was that management, while not dictating change, was actively involved in making sure all employees tried to implement changes.  Continued...

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Stars Gather to Celebrate Stella Adler - BackStage.com

Posted: 21 Oct 2009 02:32 PM PDT

On Monday night, masters of acting arrived at the home of Antonio "LA" Reid to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Stella Adler Studio of Acting. Among them, the honorees Debra Wasser, Bennett Zier, Suzanne Shank (presented with The Harold Clurman Corporate Award), Whoopi Goldberg (presented with The Marlon Brando Award), and Elaine Stritch (presented with The Stella Adler Award).

Wasser, a board member of the studio, praised Stella Adler's humanitarian philosophy. Actress Ruby Dee finds this compassion in the evening's honorees, particularly Whoopi Goldberg. Presenting the Marlon Brando Award for "a life committed to social activism and excellence in film art," Dee said of Goldberg, "She's a concerned artist, she's an activist and that's part of what this studio is about."

While Goldberg and Dee aren't close, Dee said that she sees Goldberg as a caring human being with an incomparable sensitivity about her. In this vein, Goldberg said of her award, "I'd rather have Marlon back, to tell you the truth, but it's great to have it [the award] for the moment."

Goldberg was not the only honoree to recall the late actor's talent. Stritch remembered her days studying with Brando at the studio. "What young actress gets to have Stella Adler as their teacher and sit next to Marlon Brando?" said Stritch, acknowledging her good fortune. A student of the legendary Stella Adler at the New School, Stritch reminisced about her role model and teacher, "She made everything so exciting and she was so glamorous."

An aura of true reverence and modesty permeated the house, as the stars exuded a unique appreciation for Adler and her legacy in the craft. "Anyone in the theater gets a lot of stuff, But this isn't just a lot of stuff." Stritch said. "This is the real thing."

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Atheist ads to adorn New York subway stations - Democratic Underground.com

Posted: 21 Oct 2009 12:23 PM PDT

You're stating that you plan to destroy and/or deface private property because you disagree with the religious views of the owners of that property.

Given that a legal dictionary defines "hate crime" as "a criminal offense committed against a person, persons, or property that is motivated, in whole or in part, by the offender's bias against a race, religion, disability, national origin, or sexual orientation," given that you are proposing a criminal offense against property, and given that your motivation is the religion of the property's owners, how is it that you're not declaring intent to commit a hate crime?

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