Fair Trade: Jewelry with Heart

A group of Washington women visited the mystical Lake Atitlan, Guatemala, several years ago and had the great good fortune to meet Lily Jacobs, a British ex-pat, who lives with her Guatemalan husband in a unique and colorful compound - pastels and lush tropical greenery set against mountain terrain on the mysterious lake that can only be described as Eden-like.

Lily, an artist, had noticed the fine handwork that went into the creation of the native dress of Guatemalan women - whose Mayan heritage is preserved in the vivid colors and detailed handweaving of native design - including the resplendent native bird, the quetzal - into blouses called huipils in colors native to specific regions of the country. But the time involved in weaving made it unprofitable to the women weavers to outfit more than their community.

Lily, seeing their artistry, was determined to help build an industry that reflected the talent and aesthetics of the local peoples, while building a business to profit the families - mostly poor and undereducated - by creating art that could be exported for profit.

Hence, Lilybeads was born. Lily designs new patterns regularly in her studio, then trains local women to create bracelets, earrings and necklaces using native patterns and colors. Lilybeads incorporates Fair Trade practices to marketing the finished product and returning profits to the community so local families can build a sustaining industry based on native traditions and available to the world.

In her own words, "Lilybead comes from my own deep creative drive and from my desire to help the young women of Guatemala improve their lives now and in the future. Together we make the perfect product—Jewelry with Heart."

"Three Months" Morphs to Take "The Blue Line"

After playing a benefit for LiveStrong in Howard Co., the band formerly known as "Three Months to Live" has beat the odds for survival into its fourth month. Hence, same band, new name: The Blue Line.

The Blue Line is showing strong signs of life as headliners at The Red and The Black, Thursday, May 28. The club, a cozy tavern and live music venue is located in the H Street Atlas shopping district of Northeast, Washington, DC. Check them out - doors open at 8:30 p.m. with a modest cover. Then kick back and listen to the "Line's" originals, including "Lately," "A Poem for I Don't Know Who," and "My Enemy."

Come early and bring your friends to support the band and check out this emerging arts district - as the Off-Beat Blogger will be doing that evening. When you hit the doors, tell 'em you're there to hear Ben and the guys, in The Blue Line.

In Five Words: Submit Your Favorite Washington Places

A friend told me about a new trend for anyone with a story to tell. Reviewers have dubbed it a new art form: American Haiku. It's the Six-Word Memoir and there's a book to that effect, Not Quite What I Was Planning, by Larry Smith and Rachel Fershleiser, containing many more than six words, available at Amazon.

So, why not create a local literary contest with a hometown theme? Better yet, if we can mix and mingle words to compose lyrics to an original musical composition, we gain an Ode to Washington. This launches our new Five Word Challenge: "Favorite Spot in Washington Area"

Only rule: Tell it in five words. You can submit as often as you like and the winners will go on to either celebrity or anonymity. My contribution? Northwest Branch reflects autumn's palette.

The AWWK Aria

Last night at the Kennedy Center for the Washington National Opera's Rigoletto (oh, I did say this would not be about mainstream arts, didn't I? Well, read on...), I noticed that people do not dress for opera anymore. And when I say "do not dress," I mean, anything goes. Sneakers and skirts -- yes, this is the Washington woman's work uniform -- jeans and tees. Not that I lament the "good old days" where Dior and dinner jackets were de rigueur, but it is nice to see afficionados make an effort.

It reminded me of my first exposure to opera as a kid growing up in Cincinnati. Women strutting in long gowns and peacocks spreading their splendid green and purple tails. Awwk! yes, peacocks! The Cincinnati Zoo Opera was absolutely a one-of-its-kind phenomenon, where the likes of Beverly Sills's coloratura soprano could be punctuated by the unscripted contrapuntal basso profundo trumpeting from The Elephant House. The Zoo's Pavilion fronted the aptly titled (and accurately labeled) Swan Lake. I vaguely recall long giraffe necks peering over at the singers to see what all the squawking was about. The stars of the Met absolutely clamored to play the house for the primates on Monkey Island!

Anyway, it occurred to me, watching Rigoletto, that this was exactly the kind of production that would be punched up by some monkey business. The supernumeraries in the crowd scenes actually seemed herded here and there. While Rigoletto sang his impassioned Act 2 aria about the townspeople abducting his beloved, innocent daughter, the sumptuously clad extras were clumped stage right, staring offstage. We the audience, in our sweats and hoodies, were not impressed.

This would not have happened at the Zoo Opera. As Time Magazine noted in a 1942 review: " Occasionally a lion roared; silver-haired Tenor Giovanni Martinelli roared louder.... Cincinnati's Zoo offers the only summer season of first-rate opera in the U.S. As first presented 20 years ago, scraps of opera vied with an ice show, merry-go-round, two dance floors. Gradually full-length opera muscled in. The inevitable deficits were met by the inevitable angels, Mrs. Charles Phelps Taft, wife of the half brother of William Howard Taft, and Mrs. Mary Emery, whose father-in-law made one of Cincinnati's first big real-estate fortunes. In 1934 the musicians themselves took over."

Of course, the beauty of the Zoo Op was its completely democratic appeal. Still, back in the day, even plumbers and gardeners dressed in dark suits replete with white hankies. If the likes of a former first family, the Tafts, could pull on girdles and stockings to dress in regal finery during Cincy's sweltering summers to mix with Metropolitan Opera stars and the King of the Jungle, shouldn't Washington's A-list, attending no less a landmark than the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, step out of their day-to-day skins as combatant elephants and donkeys? C'mon, D.C. -- show off your peacock walk. AWWK!

Transform Yourself

Wise Eastern gurus have known for years what science is just recently catching onto: the practice of yoga offers multiple health benefits. Now, scientists are proving it. No less an august scientific institution than the National Institutes of Health is offering a glimpse of yoga's power to heal as scientists and practitioners gather on the campus of the National Institutes of Health for NIH Yoga Week, May 19-23 at various NIH venues. The week's events are open to the public, featuring classes, workshops, exhibits and demonstrations suitable for everyone: longstanding practitioners of the art of yoga, wannabe desk yogis, and the just-plain curious who may want to learn more about emerging health benefits. Experts will address topics ranging from research showing benefits in cancer treatment to practices geared towards managing stress and easing lower back pain. Yoga classes will be held both outside (weather permitting) and indoors to encourage as participation by as many people as possible.

Check out a full listing for events on their splash page.

Namaste.

"Name that Band"

No one was "Leavin' on a Jet Plane," on the last Friday in March, as five rockin' folkies who make neuroscientific discoveries by day at the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), and make music every chance they get marked their live cafe debut at Caribou Coffee. The live concert featured the smooth vocal stylings of Jennifer Elcano, her husband Tomm on bass, NIDA's Joe Frascella and Curtis Balmer, with special guest vocalist Dorie Hightower. Original compositions played by the group have a fresh coffee house flavor that could usher in a neo-indie-folk rock revival.

Every month is a new gig, with new musicians and new material. So check out the talent on Friday nights (fourth of each month) and celebrate. It's the weekend!

Where: Caribou Coffee off Norbeck Road in Rockville in the Rock Creek Village Center
Who: "Sex [deleted]..." and other area musicians
Sponsored by: Caribou Coffee and The Songwriters Association of Washington

DC Dreamin'

For those who have never participated in a "Dream Circle," I highly recommend the experience. To share images and symbols conjured in the oneiric state with a group of friends can offer unexpected insights into the way your friends' waking minds work -- never mind the Freudian.

Eight of us gathered at a friend's home recently to examine our dreams in this way. Our host shared a dream she had recorded recently where a pale green python (a global post-modern harbinger of spring, perhaps?) was in her house and encircling her dog, although she didn't feel the dog was threatened. The moment of decision in the dream was whether she or her husband, who had charged downstairs carrying a sword, should kill the python before it harmed their family pet. What was going on here?

A fellow dreamer immediately jumped in with her own interpretation -- this dream was clearly about Hillary Clinton and our conflicts about choosing a candidate in the coming election, she said. Immediately, others in our circle nodded their heads. Yes! More than one person recounted then that they had dreamt about Barack Obama, as had colleagues and acquaintances with whom they had discussed sleep or lack thereof since the primary season ramped up.

Wow, I would have thought the dream was about snake charmers, or something. Oh, but wait...

Ambivalence over this long presidential primary courtship has apparently crept into the collective subconscious and crawled into bed with us at night.

Hmm...I wonder what Freud might have to say about this.