LOVE ANGELES PROJECT®

Bring on the Learning Revolution!

Source: TED - Why don't we get the best out of people? Sir Ken Robinson argues that it's because we've been educated to become good workers, rather than creative thinkers. Students with restless minds and bodies -- far from being cultivated for their energy and curiosity -- are ignored or even stigmatized, with terrible consequences. "We are educating people out of their creativity," Robinson says. It's a message with deep resonance. Robinson's TEDTalk has been distributed widely around the Web since its release in June 2006. The most popular words framing blog posts on his talk? "Everyone should watch this."

A visionary cultural leader, Sir Ken led the British government's 1998 advisory committee on creative and cultural education, a massive inquiry into the significance of creativity in the educational system and the economy, and was knighted in 2003 for his achievements. His latest book, The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything, a deep look at human creativity and education, was published in January 2009.

"Ken's vision and expertise is sought by public and commercial organizations throughout the world." - BBC Radio 4

One Man’s Trash…

Source: EcoFabulous - Reusing old items (like furniture) tops the eco-list of planet conscious peeps everywhere, no question. But as much as we’d love to add a little pre-loved flavor to our home, the challenge often lies in picturing that discarded dresser or crumbling credenza living in your place when it’s just so… trashed. After a trip to Brooklyn based home décor company, Nightwood, it makes the visioning process a breeze: they gather, recover, and repurpose unwanted pieces and offer beautiful, one-of-a-kind goods.

Founded in 2008 by Nadia Yaron and Myriah Scruggs, Nightwood was born out of a necessity for furnishing their own apartment without busting the bank. The ladies soon discovered a knack for artful deconstruction and reconstruction of vintage furniture, using salvaged wood scraps, low-VOC paints, water-based finishes, and organic, natural fabrics. Today, Nightwood offers the best of what repurposing furniture should be: low-impact, natural, and downright gorgeous!

Check out their gallery to browse past projects; if you see something you like, contact them and they’ll customize a piece that’s perfect for you!

The Art of Creativity

Source: Forth Magazine - The Art of Creativity is Jim Wooden’s new video series devoted to exploring and revealing the workings of the inner artist. These profiles are a fascinating look at the artisan’s world and are a powerful way to connect the audience to the art.

Those already documented by Mr. Wooden include painter Yvette Gillis, 2009 Edward Albee Playwright Award Winner Neil Wechsler, and established collector Dallas Price-Van Breda. Check back weekly for updated installments of Mr. Wooden’s work.

JK Rowling Harvard Commencement Speech

Source: TED - A single mother who battled poverty and depression as she struggled to launch her writing career, Joanne "JK" Rowling was to become perhaps the most famous contemporary fiction writer in the world, with her Harry Potter series of children's books -- a chronicle of the adventures of an adolescent wizard of the same name. The fourth volume of the series, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, was the fastest-selling book in history.

Since completing the series, Rowling has put her fortune toward philanthropic projects dealing with poverty, multiple sclerosis and other issues through her own Volant Charitable Trust.

"I'd give a lot to know how many teenagers (and preteens) texted this message in the days following the last book's release: DON'T CALL ME TODAY I'M READING." -Stephen King

Watch the clip below:

iPad Has Arrived

Source: Wired - It’s finally here. Apple’s most anticipated device since the iPhone, a touchscreen tablet dubbed the iPad, has landed. We had some time to test drive it. First impressions? It’s great for what it does, and we’re hoping it’ll expand to become so much more.

Thanks to clunky user interfaces, durability issues and limited utility, the tablet has been filed away as a niche device again and again. Has Apple, the leader in industry and interface design, finally nailed the tablet?

Take a dive into our gallery while we give the device an early critique.

Entrepreneur of the Year: Kevin Surace of Serious Materials

Source: Inc.com - The founder of Serious Materials wants to save the world and make a billion dollars. And he just might pull it off.

The Secret Service wasn't thrilled about a last-minute addition to the group sharing the stage with the Vice President. But Kevin Surace was insistent. Upon arriving at his company's Chicago factory on that warm, wet morning in April, Surace had glanced through the speaker lineup and noticed a gaping hole. Where was a union member? How could the resurrection of a union shop be celebrated without an actual worker?

A few minutes later, the motorcade rumbled up a ramp and into a cordoned-off, sharpshooter-patrolled section of the cavernous plant. As Joe Biden toured a production line, earnestly absorbing the esoterica of superinsulating windows, Surace corralled one of the Vice President's aides. The aide was doubtful. Everyone onstage needed clearance, and it was late in the game to perform a background check. Surace didn't care. "It's the right thing to do," he told the aide. "I want it to happen."

Shortly thereafter, Armando Robles, a maintenance worker and president of Local 1110 of the United Electrical, Radio, and Machine Workers of America, joined Surace, Biden, U.S. Senators Dick Durbin and Roland Burris, Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, and plant supervisor Frank Edwards onstage. Speaking before a bank of news cameras and an audience of about 100, Robles related the saga of Republic Windows and Doors, whose rescue they were marking. In December 2008, the company abruptly shut down, cutting workers adrift with just three days' warning and no severance. Furious, employees engaged in a riveting, six-day sit-in that drew national media attention. When it was over (the workers won severance and vacation pay but still lost their jobs), the cameras drifted away, leaving the plant for dead.

That's when Surace, founder and CEO of Serious Materials, which makes carbon-frugal construction products, swooped in. A white knight as well as a green one, Surace bought Republic's crippled assets out of bankruptcy and pledged to restore the factory and eventually rehire all the workers at their old pay levels.

When Robles finished, Biden took the podium. He praised Serious Materials for making "the most energy-efficient windows in the world." Then he turned to Surace, thanking him for "your faith in the people here at this factory, your faith in the country, your willingness to invest here in America." Surace stood silently with his hands clasped before him, taking it all in.

For most CEOs, such a high-profile backslap would be the unquestioned highlight of any year. For Surace, Biden's visit was certainly a highlight. But there were so many other peaks to choose from.

The Biden event occurred just six weeks after Surace basked in comparable accolades from Pennsylvania Governor Edward Rendell during a March ribbon cutting at another Serious Materials factory, this one in the steel graveyard of Vandergrift, Pennsylvania. In Vandergrift, the collapse of Kensington Windows the previous October had stranded 150 workers until Surace bought the factory and committed to bringing everyone back. Also in March, Barack Obama publicly cited Serious Materials as among the "innovators creating the jobs that will foster our recovery and creating the technologies that will power our long-term prosperity." Colorado Senator Mark Udall delivered similar plaudits during his visit to Serious Materials's Boulder plant in April.

And politicos aren't alone in showering endorsements. In November 2008, Popular Science draped a best-new-product sash around EcoRock, the company's environmentally friendly drywall. The following September, The Wall Street Journal named EcoRock the most innovative environmental product of the year. Revenue at Serious Materials, which neared $50 million in 2009, is up 50 percent over 2008. And though other entrepreneurs are running on fumes, Surace in September closed a $60 million round of financing, doubling total raised capital to $120 million.

"It's been a hell of a year," acknowledges Surace, 47. "But it's not like I have a choice. For this to work, we have to be on a world stage. We have to make people care about what we're doing. It's part of the plan. And my job is to execute the plan."

Headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, Serious Materials is a dirt-under-its-fingernails business situated among such giants of the virtual as eBay and Yahoo. Serious Materials aims to save a billion tons of carbon each year by reinventing, of all things, windows and drywall. Those may not sound like environmental supervillains (though tainted Chinese drywall has caused a panic over sulfur emissions). But after crunching some Department of Energy data, Surace estimates that the construction and operation of buildings -- heating; cooling; lighting; the manufacture of cement, drywall, and glass -- produce 52 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. In other words, says Surace, the "built environment" presents a far greater opportunity than oft-demonized cars and light trucks, which produce 9 percent of emissions. "What we're doing is brand-new-materials science," Surace says. "This is the big play." Continue reading here...

Ms. Spider & The Case For Expressive Arts

Source: JenniferLothrigel.com - As many of you know, art is a very important part of my life. The creative process has always been one my most dear methods of transforming the unconscious material that can sometimes come up to 'bite' us. Last year I completed my certification in Expressive Arts and through that process I began to integrate art into my work more and more. When I say art, I speak of creative expression in all of its many forms. I view creative expression as an essential part of being a whole individual. Further, I would say that I view the creative process as a powerful way to obtain wholeness. It has certainly been so in my personal experience. I wanted to share an example of this with you from a recent 'Intuitive Painting' experience that I had. You will find the painting below (at the end of the note) along with the writing that I did about the painting (this is a way that I process what has 'shown up' through my intuitive creative expression.) Following, the writing I share an example of how I work with the creative process when working with clients and in workshops.

This is the writing that I did about her. What I do, is once I have painted I sit down and dialogue with the painting. I simply ask that the painting reveal why it has come to me. I don't try to 'figure it out' rather, listen to what it has to say as if it is a wise messenger who has come bearing valuable information.

This is what Ms. Spider had to say: "I have come creeping out of your unconscious womb space to let you know that there is debris down there that is getting in my way of maintaining a beautiful and vibrant web. I want this cleared because my web is being weighted down.

Please listen to me seriously, because if you do not, I will bite. And my bite is very painful. I am not afraid of dark places, or what I find there and this is how I am a gift to you. I do not fear what I may find or doubt my ability to face what seems to be too scary to look at. I do not doubt my ability to take on the largest of monsters. I can see in the dark. This is my advantage."

Additionally, I had been having dreams that mirrored the message of this painting. The process that I used with this painting is what I teach in my classes when we use 'Intuitive Painting'. Everything is energy and symbols hold so much energy for us. There is so much in symbols for us to dive into. In intuitive painting, I teach how to pay attention to energy and then the painting process becomes a listening exercise where we listen with our hands. In this process, we are following the energy throughout the entire painting. It is very exciting and curious to wonder what will appear. What symbols will reveal themselves to us? In the painting above, I had no intentions and this wonderful, very feminine spider came with such a valuable message for me.

I should add that prior to painting this, I prayed, I meditated and I did a ritual to connect with my deepest aspects of myself as well as my most Spiritually connected parts of myself. I use this process also in my classes and my individual session work. Following the dialogue with the painting there is much more exploration to be done. I often will use Voice Dialogue with painting and discover parts of myself or my clients that are similar to the painting and listen to what they have to say. I often will have clients dance the painting and discover how it feels in their bodies. Or write a poem about the painting.

By spending time with the painting we can see where there is personal growth that is beckoning us. And this gives us a place to work from. With this, I may then, use Shamanic work such as Soul retrieval. And I most always do a ceremony to initiate the arrival or the exit of what has been painted in or out of my life. Sometimes paintings are parts of us that are dying and other times, they are parts that are being born into our experience.

In individual sessions we don't do large paintings such as the one above due to time constraints but we will use watercolors or acrylics and then work much like what I described above.

Thanks for allowing me to share in my process. If you have any questions about the process or working individually this way I am happy to answer. For more visit www.JenniferLothrigel.com

Israeli Village Mashes Up World's Largest Hummus

Source: Yahoo - Fifty chefs in the Arab-Israeli village of Abu Ghosh on Friday mashed up over four tonnes of hummus, beating the Guinness World Record set in Lebanon just months ago.

"This is a new record," said Guinness adjudicator Jack Brookbank as the massive dip, dished out in a six-metre (20 foot) satellite dish provided by sponsors, weighed in at 4,087.5 kilos (8992.5 pounds).

That is about twice as much as the previous record set in October in neighbouring Lebanon, Israel's political and culinary rival.

"I've heard Lebanon is already planning to strike back," Brockbank told AFP as a band struck up a traditional Arabic tune to words hailing the humble hummus.

A simple but tasty dish of chickpeas, sesame paste, olive oil, lemon juice and garlic, hummus stirs passions and rivalries across much of the Middle East.

Lebanon recently sought to have the European Union register the dip as a Lebanese speciality, drawing hoots of derision from Israeli afficionados, who claim that would be like claiming intellectual ownership of bread.

Hummus, sometimes described as one of the oldest known prepared foods, is enjoyed in much of the Middle East and has probably been around for centuries.

Most hummus pundits agree its historical origins are lost in the sands of time, with various theories mentioning several areas of the Middle East, Rome, Greece and the Crusaders.

For Jawadat Ibrahim, who organised the event, the roots of the popular dish are irrelevant.

"It's something we all share and enjoy," said Ibrahim, who owns the Abu Ghosh Restaurant in the heart of the Arab-Israeli village of the same name which every weekends attracts hordes of hungry visitors, many in search of the perfect hummus.

About 50 chefs worked side by side to prepare the massive plate of hummus set up on a specially erected platform outside the restaurant located just a short drive from Jerusalem.

The Guinness official was impressed.

"It's really very good," Brockbank told AFP.

"I was a little worried they might sacrifice quality for quantity, but that was not the case," he said.

Ibrahim was beaming.

"Abu Ghosh is the town of the biggest hummus plate in history," he shouted out to cheers from a crowd of several hundred.

He acknowledged that Lebanese hummus "is very good" but boasted that "Abu Gosh is the hummus capital of the world" -- fighting words to rival fans.

With Lebanon apparently determined to one-up Abu Ghosh, Brockbank is convinced "it's going to be a long battle."

"But a nice one," he added.

Carolina Cerisola Opens the Floor

Carolina Cerisola (shown left) and Sascha Escandon, originally met in Los Angeles in 1999 in the Salsa dance scene. But it was years later in 2007 that they decided to collaborate - The Floor was born and is quickly becoming the place for LA's creative talent to share, celebrate, express and oftentimes get discovered.

"We felt inspired to create something in our own culture, which too often can be overloaded with technology, rapid information, short attention spans, and the need for instant gratification, but not a lot of everyday soul-filling culture."

"So, knowing how much talent this city of L.A holds (with a bit of a selfish need to fill our own souls), we decided to see how we could unite the artists of our city and beyond, to facilitate events where we could regularly celebrate our own culture of diversity that everyone can be a part of, enjoy and hopefully get in a little soul-filling of their own."

I bumped into Carolina over five years ago, where she was headlining at forty duece, Ivan Kane's extremely popular Hollywood burlesque bar which since closed. With Rod Stewart in the house, and Carolina performing on the stage, I remember that it was the perfect place to celebrate my best friend's birthday. When I introduced myself to her, (don't ask me how I had the courage to do so) I will never forget how polite and classy the artistic dancer truly was. We chatted a bit and then she kindly mentioned to me that she was out the door and on her way to Rome! I went home that night telling my buddy that I made up my mind that one day my future wife would certainly need to know how to dance!

Carolina was born in Buenos Aires and early on she trained in gymnastics, competing  nationally and in the Pan-American games. By the time she was 16, her gifts as a dancer became known throughout Buenos Aires and Argentina and soon enough she was touring with the famous Venezuelan singer, Jose Luis Rodriguez.

At 19, she moved to the US and became successful dancing partners with world class salsa dancers, Johnny Vazquez, as they traveled the world performing and competing. After six years as a renowned salsa dancer, Carolina decided to team up with Ivan Kane in Los Angeles, to create Forty Deuce and even starred in a hit reality show covering all the action.

Carolina’s unique talent and dance style prompted many acclaimed artists like Prince, Sting, Justin Timberlake, Heath Ledger,  Fiona Apple and Daniel Lanois to collaborate with her on an array of artistic projects including music videos and a recently completed tour as a guest headlining dancer with Sting.

Currently, Carolina is using her specialized dance and entertainment experience to produce and direct her own projects all over the globe including hollywood's The Floor which host's Improv Night - a live jam session with musicians AND dancers of all genres.

"The Floor Improv Night has gone from a one-time only event into a monthly night that has grown tremendously over a year. It is due to everyone that has walked through our doors that has made it the most unique night out in Los Angeles and has created an energy incomparable to any other place in Los Angeles."

"We have created this night to fill a void that we have been feeling for a long time. We live in a city that holds so much incredible talent and much of it comes from friends that we have met over the years from all over the world. So we’ve opened THE FLOOR to you - to come play, dance, enjoy yourself freely and expressively, and hopefully experience something magical that is truly organic and completely in the moment. It is an environment conducive to expression; a blank canvas that we put our art to - no rules, no egos, just all of us creating a rollercoaster to ride with one another."

This is huge for LA, not only because it provides an "open floor" to new, yet to be discovered talent, but more importantly because it is a vortex of cultural expression, a microcosm of what the city of LA is all about! I love it and I hope to see you on THE FLOOR!

The next event will be held on Monday January 18th!!! For more info, see www.thefloorproductions.com.

Check out the following clips including a performance by Carolina and a recent night at The Floor:

Paper Airplane Virtuoso Tests Record Aloft

Source: World News - In the world of competitive paper airplane throwing, a 20-second flight is exceptional, 25 or better is world class. "Thirty is the stuff dreams are made of. Only one man — Japanese paper airplane virtuoso Takuo Toda — has ever come close to breaking the 30-second barrier. On Sunday, he set a world record for a hand-launched plane made with only paper, but fell just short of the 30-second mark.

Toda, flying a 10-centimeter-long craft of his own design, made 10 attempts to break his own record of 27.9 seconds set earlier this year in Hiroshima but failed to best his previous mark, settling for a 26.1-second flight.

That was still the best ever recorded for a strictly paper-only craft. His 27.9 record was set with a plane that had tape on it.

"I felt a lot of pressure," he said after his paper airplane fly-off at a Japan Airlines hangar near Tokyo's Haneda Airport. "Everything is a factor — the moisture in the air, the temperature, the crowd."

Toda, an engineer, is the head of the Japan Origami Airplane Association and is virtually unmatched in his ability to fold paper aircraft.

In keeping with traditional rules of the ancient Japanese art of origami, he uses only one sheet of paper, which he does not cut or paste.

He flew two variations of his world record-setting paper airplane Sunday — the one he used to set the duration record in April and an updated version with a fin. His April mark was recognized by Guinness World Records.

He did not use tape Sunday, which is allowed by Guinness. He chose to forgo tape because he wanted to follow traditional origami rules. His 26.1 mark was the best ever for a plane without cellophane tape keeping it together. Toda had that previous best as well, just over 24 seconds.

"I will get the 30-second record," he said. "It's just a matter of time."

Toda said that the secret to throwing a paper airplane is to aim upward — not straight — so that it has time to gain altitude and slowly circle back to the ground. Toda appeared to be on his way to a record Sunday, but his second and best throw was ruled a foul because it hit a passenger jetliner parked nearby.

"It's really a sport," he said. "The throwing technique is very delicate."

Along with breaking the 30-second barrier, Toda said his next goal was to launch a paper airplane from space. With funding from Japan's space agency, JAXA, Toda and a team of scientists have designed a plane they believe can withstand the intense heat of re-entry.

One of Toda's designs was scheduled to be released from the International Space Station this year, but that plan fell through in part because of problems with devising a means of tracking the planes as they fell back to Earth.

Toda and his colleagues are currently trying to interest Chinese or Russian space officials in reviving the idea.

At 79, Clint Tackles Mandela in Invictus

Source: LA Weekly - "On a late March morning, the sun sits high in the Cape Town sky, illuminating the trapezoidal monolith of Table Mountain in the distance, while down by the city’s busy waterfront, the players of South Africa’s national rugby union team — the Springboks — go for a training run. Only the careful observer might notice that, on this particular morning, the team’s signature green-and-gold uniforms aren’t of the most recent design, and none of the cars passing by on the waterfront thoroughfare bears a model year newer than 1995. Upon closer inspection, he might also notice a familiar if incongruous figure standing off to one side, tall and slender in a golf shirt and chinos, watching the scene transpire on a small, handheld video monitor. After a moment, the figure looks up and almost imperceptibly signals his approval, not with the traditional “Cut! Print!” but rather a small nod of his head and a whispered “that was good. Let’s move on.”

It’s the 24th day of filming on Clint Eastwood’s Invictus, the 30th film he has directed in a career that now spans more than a half-century — and, as usual on an Eastwood set, if you didn’t know they were shooting a major Hollywood movie here, you’d be none the wiser. No trailers and equipment trucks line the streets — they’re parked at a “base camp” a few miles away — and by the time a small crowd of onlookers begins to form, Eastwood has gotten what he needs and is on his way to the next location. Of his storied speed and efficiency — the discipline of a veteran actor who knows that long stretches of waiting around can wear out a performer — Eastwood says it’s simply a matter of trusting his instincts. “If you have five answers to choose from on a multiple-choice test, usually your first choice is the right answer,” he tells me during a break between shots. Later in the day, Matt Damon, who sports a prosthetic nose, heavily muscled-up physique and a spot-on Afrikaner accent to play the Springboks’ captain, François Pienaar, says that working with Eastwood is “the top of the mountain for every department.” Then he jokes that he’s having such a good time he feels guilty about cashing his paychecks.

Continue reading at LA Weekly...

'Tis the Season with Ryan Farish

Our friend and inspiration Ryan Farish recently released a sneak peak into his new holiday album entitled Spirit...

Sample and download the album on itunes now and keep up to date at RyanFarish.com

National Geographic's International Photography Contest 2009

Boston.com - "National Geographic's International Photography Contest attracts thousands of entries from photographers of all skill levels around the world every year. While this year's entry deadline has passed, there is still time to view and vote for your favorites in the Viewer's Choice competition. National Geographic was kind enough to let me choose a few of their entries from 2009 for display here on The Big Picture. Collected below are 25 images from the three categories of People, Places and Nature. Captions were written by the individual photographers. (See all 25 photos here)

Actress Zoe Saldana Says Avatar Will Match the Hype

LA Times News - "AVATAR" COUNTDOWN: 26 DAYS - Our daily coverage leading up to the release of "Avatar" continues today with a chat with Zoe Saldaña, who may be the sci-fi actress of the year with her spirited turn as Uhura in "Star Trek" and now her "Avatar" performance. She talks about her role, her fellow cast members and also boldly declares that, with "Avatar," James Cameron has gone where 3D and motion-capture rival Robert Zemeckis has never gone before.

Shine on, Taylor Swift

Whenever a magical, illuminating light glows, darkness looms in wait, hoping to stifle or dissolve the brightness. To witness such acts play out once again on a massive stage is a reminder of the importance of positivity and faith, a faith based in knowing that goodness always triumphs.  After spreading her beauty and talent nationally and internationally with poise and grace, and, yes, a cosmos of light, it was inevitable that the naysayers and the negative ones were going to appear at Taylor Swift’s door.  With her recognition at its highest point thus far, in the past few months, the firings of the attackers have increased. Yet, though wobbly from the direct hits, she manages to continue walking on a path of love and truth, accepting and understanding her greater purpose.

Standing on a stage at the MTV music awards, shaken by Kanye West’s disrespectful and shameful behavior, Taylor Swift managed to send a message that no one can take our power away unless we let them. With Kanye informing her and the world that she shouldn’t have won the award, Taylor might have believed him, deciding in that very moment that she wasn’t as good as Beyonce.  If her self-worth was coming from her ego, that’s probably what she would have done.  However, when Beyonce, showing lots of class and integrity, invited Taylor back out on the stage to rightfully own her special moment, and I watched as she thanked everyone, I knew then that the only person who could destroy Taylor’s power was Taylor, for her heart is driving her car, and her ego is riding shotgun, where all of our egos should ride.

More than a few prominent people have recently made statements in the form of criticisms that Taylor’s music isn’t country music.  Being from the South, I grew up listening to all the legends, Hank Williams, Kitty Wells, George Jones, Tammy Wynette, Loretta Lynn, Dolly Parton and Johnny Cash to name a few. What made all of these great people country music singers wasn’t their accents or the fact that certain instruments such as the fiddle or banjo could be heard in their songs. It was the fact that they wrote, sang or played simple songs of life experiences as interpreted by their hearts and souls. Country music has a confessional nature to it, too, and I don’t think anyone can argue over how honest, true and heartfelt Taylor’s music is. Songs of good love and good love gone bad are dominant themes in country music, as is songs about Mama and Daddy.  Both of Taylor Swift’s albums are filled with these themes, and she even has a song about Mama and Daddy. Though “The Best Day” isn’t a classic yet like Dolly’s “Coat of Many Colors” or Loretta’s “Coal Miner’s Daughter,” Taylor has managed to write and record an ode to her parents, acknowledging their sacrifices and their love, in the same vein as these classics.

The other day I read an article stating that some are complaining that Taylor Swift’s voice isn’t strong enough and is “embarrassingly weak.”  If I were a betting man, I’d wager a top dollar that Taylor Swift doesn’t think she has the most perfect or most robust voice in music today. However, I’d bet even more that she has the most far-reaching and most powerful voice in music right now, for she is the voice of millions of girls and young women in America and abroad.  She is writing and singing about their emotions, their feelings, their thoughts and their experiences.  And we are all humans with a need to love and be loved, so even older women, boys and men can relate to the subjects and stories in her songs.  I pose the question then of how can you label a voice of such importance and power as one that isn’t strong enough or is too weak?

The 70s had Joni Mitchell and Carole King. The 80s had Madonna and Cyndi Lauper. The 90s had Alanis Morrisette and Sarah McLachlan. All of these women used their writing and singing to capture the attention of the world, for they were saying something we wanted to hear, maybe something we needed to hear.  This decade has Taylor Swift doing the same. At a younger age than any of these icons were at the height of their fame, she’s performing the same demanding and formidable job, and she’s doing it with sophistication, maturity and dignity.

Whenever visibility seems non-existent, continue to shine on, Taylor Swift.  Be the beacon you are, the leader you were meant to be, the leader who lets her open heart guide.

By Jerry Lee Davis
Love Angeles Staff Writer
jerrylee@loveangeles.com