one life in amsterdam

2009-04-15T12:05:00.001-06:00

this is way too good...

courtesy of failblog.org

New blog for work and amsterdam

2009-04-15T09:17:00.002-06:00

Hi there all!

I know there are many of you back in the US that are still checking this blog. If it weren't for facebook, you would probably think i am dead. such is not the case. i was consumed by work, and then moved, switched to a new project, and am still trying to keep all of my balls that i am juggling in life off the ground. as you can imagine, this does not always work for me and this ball of a blogsite dropped for a bit.

I have just created a new blogsite that is really for my work and for events here in the city of Amsterdam. over the past several months, I continue to get invites to openings, parties, events, etc. that are great to connect others to. in fact, this has become kind of a thing for me and i am becoming known for doing this. so i decided that rather than fill up people's email boxes, that it would be best for me to create another blog (dear lord) that i can put all of this information that i receive from people asking me to put it out to my network. yay!

here is the site: embellish amsterdam

it will inevitably become linked to my website, so that will be fun and i will let you know when that happens. what is great about this is that people are really contributing and making a community out of this! it is really exciting to see the art community underground really wanting more connectivity, and those outside the community, wanting to be a part of it! I hope you check it at least once just to get an idea of what is going on here all the time and what i end up spending my days and nights doing and who i am connected with.

thanks for your support and for putting up with my lack of posting!

ps - here is the site that i was working on with mediamatic that i posted ages ago...
travel.mediamatic.net
if you want to travel, look no further - this is becoming the best site to use for just such a situation!

2008-12-16T15:37:00.002-06:00

this is the new project that i am working on at the moment with the infamous Mediamatic - great project, great people and more to come.... i am writing the actual trips that people will be subscribing to and taking! just finished working on Naples and onto Budapest... check it out, join the Mediamatic website and become a fan!

http://www.mediamatic.net/index.php?lang=en

Mediamatic Travel

Trips to the cultural underground

Nile River Cruise

Next year Mediamatic will release the new 2009 Mediamatic Travel Guide. Mediamatic will help you travel the world and see the best contemporary art while you do it. Mediamatic will facilitate trips to the cultural scene in the less accessible places of the world.

The travel agency will operate from Mediamatic’s new location on the Vijzelstraat and facilitates real trips. It has an international website where locals can introduce themselves to you. All participating artists and travellers will help with providing content and keeping the website up to date. This way Mediamatic travel does not only work for Dutch travellers, but will become a global sensor network for cultural development.

The printed travel guide will show that there is more than pyramids, the big five, old temples, camels and folklore. Contemporary art is around the world. And around the world there are people who want to share it with you.

The international network will become the start of the first DIY travel agency in the world. The site will be compiled and edited by travels and artists together. Travellers can make their own dates with artists and cultural institutions. Unlike a normal travel site, Mediamatic Travel is focussed on discovering, promoting and financially supporting artistic destinations.

Sustainability

The travel agency and the website are based on the idea that cultural groups and individual artists who will receive the travellers will receive a decent salary. This seems obvious, but somehow is still far from common practice in cultural travel.

With Mediamatic Travel we would like to contact a broad audience and make them aware of the contemporary cultural production in post-conflict areas, politically or economically sensitive areas or developing nations. We would like to stimulate and support this production. Furthermore, Mediamatic Travel will aim for worldwide cultural engagement. We envision the development of a sustainable model, which will be a self-renewing digital network for international cultural exchange.

Destinations

The unconfirmed list of destinations: Cairo, Damascus, Novosibirsk, Tbilisi, Beirut, Durban, Dubai, Nairobi, Shenzhen, Shanghai, Budapest, Mexico City, Gaza, Istanbul, Tirana, Prague, Kyoto, Rio, Cape Town, Iran, Argentina, Naples

Partizan Publik

Mediamatic Travel is being developed in collaboration with Partizan Publik

Girlfriend Experience follow up

2008-12-13T07:25:00.007-06:00

Here are the pictures from the Girlfriend Experience that took place on Friday and Saturday evenings in Nova Gorica, Slovenia for the pixxelpoint New Media Festival last weekend -
http://picasaweb.google.com/aliwats/TheGirlfriendExperienceDoesSlovenia#

the 'experience' went very well! Thanks to all of you that helped spread the word and came to play while we were online! The Dutch Embassy in Slovenia (our sponsor) and the people curating and putting the festival on were very happy as well. It was really fun to see the people there figure out that they could mess with their friends in the room through the avatars! I am sure that we will do the experience again this next year and I will keep you posted so that you can play too!

Check out the other works that were featured at this as well....

The exhibition, distributed between Nova Gorica and Mostovna, is the result of a difficult process of selection of the more than 110 applications arrived this year; a selection that should take into account not just the quality of the proposals, but also their ability to embody the suggested theme in a different way, and to integrate effectively the projects shown by the invited artists. The exhibition consists of 30 works by 30 different artists. Among them, etoy’s Mission Eternity project, described as a “digital cult of the dead”; the network of meditating computers set up by the German artists Ute Hörner & Mathias Antlfinger; the Empathy Box by the Italian collective Io/cose, which helps building a spiritual community based on the sharing of pain; the anti-institutional, new media rituality suggested by Otherehto; Martin Conrads and Ingo Gerken’s conceptual work, an
interrogation on the ritual use of communication technologies; and then Gazira Babeli and Patrick Lichty’s video-installation 7UP, a research on the meaning of an avatar life, and Janez Jansˇa’s remake of Koyaanisqatsi, which uses Google Earth as a source. The video screening, situated in the Galerija Tir in Mostovna, collects all the videos on show at the festival, putting together some brand new works with recent “classics” such as Negativland’s The Mashin’ of the Christ (2004) and Eddo Stern’s Deathstar (2004) , an exploration of the relationship between religion and violence.

'The Girlfriend Experience' is coming to Slovenia!

2008-12-02T09:38:00.004-06:00

Martin Butler's project 'The Girlfriend Experience' has been invited to the For God's Sake/Pixxelpoint Festival in Nova Gorica, Slovenia this Friday and Saturday!!! The G-F Experience is produced in partnership with Mediamatic and is sponsored for the festival in Slovenia by the Dutch Embassy!

Click on the Mediamatic link here for all the information you need to watch it from the comfort of your own computer! This is going to be big, and we have emailed and notified people from all over the world to log on Friday and Saturday to 'play' with the avatars that will be performing for this event!

yes, please take a couple of minutes out of your day (you know, a break from checking the Superficial or bbc - whatever time-wasters you usually check when you need a mental break from work...) and play on the Girlfriend Experience!

Martin has invited me to work production for this event and I am very honored and excited to have been brought along on this excursion! Check it out and there will be little updates along the way of the trip, the festival and other new, if not cheeky, developments!

Shoes garage sale for another week

2008-12-01T10:37:00.003-06:00

The sale at the Shoes Garage is going on for another week! If you haven't had the chance to come by and check out what we have, come by this week! We still have many models left and want you to give them good homes!
Thanks and see you this week!

the turkey that ate thanksgiving

2008-11-28T08:31:00.004-06:00

i hope your Thanksgiving was amazing and spectacular! ben and geraldine were kind enough to host a large Thanksgiving feast at their home this year and we had the great pleasure of having this feast with 15+ people, most of whim were enjoying their first Thanksgiving!

here is the turkey that caused the household to shake..
.
10 kilo!!!!! seriously almost broke my bike
and this is the end result

and then more of the festivities...

a note to the idiots that stole my computer

2008-11-22T09:15:00.002-06:00

I must say that while your breaking into the house on 19 november was remarkable considering the fact that you broke in from the BACK which is not accessible from the street, stealing my computer was really irritating. the fact that you didn't take much else is great, but showed me that you are indeed ameteurs. and shame on you for taking my friend's cufflinks - those were special to him. not that you care, considering the fact that you are heartless and lame. thanks for making my week difficult. if i find you, i am under strict instructions to harm you in the bollocks - don't think i won't.

new opportunities

2008-11-10T15:13:00.002-06:00

At the risk of exploiting friends, colleagues and others that check this site, I am looking for some part-time or full-time work to supplement the business I am operating... While dealing art and working in the art industry is my passion and will remain a life-long ambition/endeavour, monetarily, I am needing some other work to enable survival and other facets of life for the time being. If there are any in the community here in Amsterdam that know of anything that could work, I am more then happy to hear of it and chase it down. thank you thank you and thank you for your help and understading in this matter.

In the meantime, I will keep the updates and word-on-the-street coming at you a few times a week :) Because God forbid we miss something that could turn out to be interesting and entertaining... thanks!

my brother is a rock star

2008-11-07T16:17:00.001-06:00

http://vimeo.com/1367285

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AntERR4lt90

for some reason i can't embed this.... but it is super cool. our friend katherine is the star and the video is great...

enjoy!

NEW gallery premiere in Amsterdam 8 november

2008-11-07T06:40:00.003-06:00

my friend Justin is is hosting the grand premiere of his new gallery on the Lauriergracht here in Amsterdam tomorrow night! please come out - fabulous work and a good partie with all of the beautiful people...

TEN HAAF PROJECTS

Bruce Gilden ‘’Coney Island’’

November 8th –December 31st 2008

Opening reception and book signing by Bruce Gilden: Saturday the 8^th of November 5-8 pm.

www.tenhaafprojects.com

Ten Haaf Project is pleased to announce the exhibition ‘’Coney Island’’ by Bruce Gilden. The New York based Magnum photographer Gilden is known for his dynamic way of documenting city life, of the eccentric and the unusual that inhabit the city.

His close ups, often with a flash give the viewer a sense not looking at a picture, but being part of the picture themselves. In Bruce Gilden his own words: ‘’ I am known for taking pictures very close, and the older I get, the closer I get.’’

The pictures on display in the gallery are from Gilden his body of work: ‘Coney Island’’ All images are shot at the famous beach in New York, between 1968 and 1986. Coney Island was one of the first places Gilden went to photograph, and a place where he still goes.

From its heyday in the early 20^th century when every New Yorker went the celebrate summer to the 70ties where the poor that could not escape New York went to relax, Coney Island has changed. Also today Coney Island is changing rapidly.

The photos on display in the gallery are also shown in the book: ‘’Coney Island’’ available in the gallery.

Bruce Gilden was born in 1946 In Brooklyn. Since 1971 he has been exhibiting in numerous museums and galleries worldwide. Gilden has received numerous grants and awards for his work including three National Endowments for the Arts fellowships (1980, 1984 and 1992), a Villa Medici’s Hors les Murs (1995), New York State Foundation for the Arts Grant (1979, 1992 and 2000), the European Award for Photography (1996) and a Japan Foundation Fellowship (1999).

Ten Haaf Projects
Laurierstraat 248
1016 PT Amsterdam
The Netherlands
Tel: 020-4285885
info@tenhaafprojects.com

Gallery hours: Wednesday- Saturday 12-6 pm, and by appointment
Download the digital invitation here

2008-11-05T01:57:00.005-06:00

OBAMA WON!!!!
see the way things went down here
and the Bruce Springsteen song has never been truer... I am very proud of the country I come from today - we managed to elect the first African-American President in US history and just having him in office will change the face of relations and influence for the US the world over. in a good way. Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. President-elect! Thoughts and prayers are with you now more than ever - you are going to need it ;)

EDIT: to all of my chicagoans - i hope you had the time of your life last night! could there have been a more exciting time to be in chicago other than this? well, maybe the world fair of 1893, cubs winning the world series in 1908, the fire (not good) or perhaps that time radiohead played for free in grant park in 2003... either way, i am really really jealous and hope you enjoyed the sweetness of the victory to it's fullest ;)

Election Night!!!

2008-11-04T11:14:00.002-06:00

Alrighty friends, compatriates and celeb-junkies!

Election Night is here! On the European continent, it is now almost 8pm and there is a buzz of people all over the city looking for the bar or house or screen-only-used-for-video-games-on -a-regular-basis that they intend on gluing themselves to until 3 or 4 in the morning. In this way, we can do our small part to rally support for all of you in the US that are fulfilling your American rights and duties. Update to come tomorrow on who the winner of tonight's major decision will be! Complete with pictures and hopefully some videos ;)

In the meantime, I have updated the picasa pictures and there will be more coming of Halloween and some times out with friends from other corners of Europe!

here are some live feed sites for you...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/pda/2008/nov/04/uselections2008-twitter
http://www.ustream.tv/
http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/cnn/cnns_election_night_plans_99141.asp

have a great night, happy voting and GO OBAMA!!!!

on a lighter note...

2008-10-24T07:28:00.002-06:00

I have to briefly pay homage of the only celebrity blog that i follow.... mr. www.thesuperficial.com, you have saved me from many a too-serious moment with great and much-needed laughter at the expense of celebrites that enjoy exploiting themselves. everyone that enjoys sarcasm with a side of crass, please check out this site. i promise you will thank me for it later.

today's post complements the post I just made about the elections... some things are just too good to pass up. please excuse the language, but anyone who makes americans look this ignorant can be spoken of in no other tone. so we'll let it slide this time.

'Heidi & Spencer, Goddammit...

Before everyone births a walrus, I've been avoiding these two like the plague. That said, I've been bombarded with e-mails today alerting me to Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt's latest, and most shitass, photo shoot yet. In an obvious effort to get my attention, the Douche Twins posed in Sarah Palin shirts while holding a shotgun, six-pack and Harry Browne's book "You Can Profit From a Monetary Crisis." This, of course, comes extremely close to meeting condition #2 of my criteria for post-worthiness:

However, to show that I'm not an unreasonable man and for the sake of journalist integrity, I will make the following exceptions in allowing you on this site:
1. Heidi wears a bikini.
2. Heidi covers her topless chest in maple syrup while stumping for Sarah Palin at a Klan rally.

Granted, there's no Aunt Jemima or Klansmen, these two asshats couldn't be more gay for Sarah Palin if they started throwing Bibles at poor people. Anyway, to all my conservative readers, feel free to thank Heidi & Spencer for officially costing you the election. In fact, you can pinpoint the exact moment John McCain loses in these pictures: Right when someone forgot to load the gun. Smooth.

Update on VOTING!

2008-10-24T07:26:00.002-06:00

this just in...

It is NOT too late to register to vote in some states!

You still have time to register to vote in:
Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Connecticut, , Illinois (military voters only), Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin (military voters only)

The deadline for Guam is today October 24th!

And if you were already registered to vote in a state, it may still be possible to request a ballot. Check OVF's State Specific Voter Information: https://www.overseasvotefoundation.org/state-voter-information-directory
See the same pages for options to send your forms or ballot to your election office too.

For those of you who just received your ballots and want to return them as quickly as possible, go to https://www.overseasvotefoundation.org/overseas/ExpressYourVote.htm
to take advantage of "Express Your Vote" to FedEx your ballot home at a reduced rate from Europe -- and at no cost at all in some regions.

courtesy of marina.... thanks for the info! Sadly, most of the people that I have talked to here in Amsterdam have shirked their responsibilities and chosen not to cast their votes. If you are one of the darlings that DID vote, comment and let your beautiful voice be heard! perhaps it will serve as an encouragement to others for action in the future... at the very least, it will encourage me ;) thanks friends!

it's official - harry potter books are crack

2008-10-22T11:09:00.002-06:00

so i have been sick for a couple of days (coming off a long couple of weeks :) ) and my friend's house that I am staying at has all of the Harry Potter books. i needed something brainless and entertaining to nurse my sickiness and i didn't feel like rotting all day in front of the tv - so i chose Harry Potter. I love the movies, and this is my first stab at reading the books. I tell ya, they are crack! I seriously can't put them down! i know this has been the plight of many a reader before my time with these terrifically popular and mildly controversial books, but seriously... at this point, i need to get through the rest of them as fast as possible so that i can be done and become more addicted to answering emails (yes, in the wake of the Harry Potter adddiction, quicker responses have waned). they are really great though, and i relish the idea that i will havve read the final two before they come out on the silver screen. in other news, projects are coming, proposals are being written and exhibitions are being created. but this is way more interesting for the moment. now, to find a new series for the next time i fall ill... any suggestions?

this is all her fault, by the way... thanks a lot, ms. rowling!

salmon salad

2008-10-14T14:28:00.004-06:00

As many of you know, my greatest love in this city resides at a place called 'Puccini' - a sweet little cafe behind the University of Amsterdam and just before you hit the Waterlooplein market. The salad served at this place is one of the best meals I have ever had in my life. Seriously - no exaggeration. This salad has been the 'reset' button for many a moment in my life here in Amsterdam. When you come out to visit, please please please make sure that we go there to expereince this culinary wonder. If you are not able to make it out here for whatever reason, here are the main components:

baby field greens
1 small quartered tomato
1 quartered hard-boiled egg
4 sun-dried tomatoes
2 halved artichoke hearts
handful of seed mix (pinenuts, sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds)
2 blanched asparagus spears
filet of smoked or fresh (but cooked) salmon
dallop of creme frâiche/dill/pepper/salt/paprika mix

Toss the lettuce, SDT and seed ingredients with a simple white wine vinagrette (dallop of whole-grain mustard, bit of honey, salt, pepper; mix together and add 2 Tbsp of white wine vinegar. then add 2-3 Tbsp of olive oil while stirring all the other ingredients). Around the edges of the salad, place the artichokes, tomatoes and eggs. Place the salmon atop the salad, with the asparagus spears crossed over it. Finish with the dallop of creme frâiche mixture and a bit of ground pepper. (can you tell I have had this a couple of times?)

ENJOY!!!

Presenting...

2008-10-13T00:25:00.001-06:00

As promised, here is the cast of the oh-so-talented people that were involved in the 'Geboeid' production that is now going to tour Holland and beyond...

Suzanne Marx - Senior coreographer and Director. More coming from her soon... very lovely woman that had the vision for this piece and surrounded herself with very talented people to pull it all off beautifully!

Francis Sinceretti - Dancer in the role of the Shiek - part of the Nationale Balletacademie and the Nationale Ballet in Holland. Classical background and was hemmed into the 'hip-hop' fold very well

Martin Tint Barnes - Dancer in the role of the 'Love interest' - from Manchester, England, has been here in Holland for 2 years and is with the ISH dance company - amazing perforrmance and the first queation I got from people was 'how does he do that with his body?'... seriously, watch for this guy...

Sarita Keilman - Dancer in the role of the 'Turkish girl' - recently graduated from dance academy here in Holland and is very soon coming out to LA to fulfill a scholarship with the Millenium Dance Studio! I will be contacting some of you soon to hook up with her out in Cali! Extremely talented girl - watch for her as well...

Martin Buter - Assistant Director and Advising - my dear, dear friend that really helped bring polish to the show and can visualize and insert powerful emotion into an already good performance, thereby making it magical. It was great working with him and I sincerely hope there will be more of that to come.

Streamer/DJ Alec Smart (Gary Shepherd) - Very talented DJ that mixed the music for the show, held it together and applied that push to turn it into a great preformance. He does other shows, parties, all kinds of projects - great man to have on your side.

Maximillian Erhardt - Harpist - another darling friend that brought the blending of the classical with the 'hip-hop' feel and made it WORK. From Germany, he is in his final year that the Conservatorium van Amsterdam and will be a world-famous harpist before you know it.

Rosa Ana - Rap and Song - this girl is fabulous - wrote the raps that glued the whole show together. Like other rap divas, she owned the story and made it come alive with edginess and glamour. More coming from her very soon as well...

Kirsten Schötteldreier - Soprano - a sweet woman from Germany, she has performed in operas here in Holland, Germany and Italy. She is pursuing more productions like this and was very kind to work with.

And Beyond... - Yoland and Brigitte - Costumes - These girls have a great place in the middle of the red light district and made innovative costumes that worked really well for the show. Check out their stuff @ www.andbeyond.nl

Overall, it was a lovely production, very privilaged to have worked with these people and I wish them all the best in their upcoming endeavors. They are going to tour around Holland and I am hoping to join them, but we will see if that ends up materializing.... More to come (of course)
pictures of the production will be on picasa soon...

'Geboeid' premiering TONIGHT!!!

2008-10-10T05:31:00.004-06:00

Of all weeks that I should be blogging...

Here is reason for hiatus - I have been working as production manager ('production bitch' has become the affectionate term - long stroy involving Britney Spears...) for a show that is opening TONIGHT at Podium Mozaïek

for a hip-hop and classical dance and music blend called 'Geboeid'. I am very very proud to be a part of this production - everyone involved is fabulously talented and we have had a really great time working on this. It is the story of a young Turkish girl that finds herself torn between the hip-hop life and boy that she loves and the obligations of family and culture. Beautiful... I will list the first and last names of the lovely people that involved tomorrow for you so that you can follow their careers ;) Martin Butler and Maximillian Ehrhardt are my dear friends that got me involved in this and it has been really wonderful working with them!!! I think I adore them even more, if that was possible!

Show starts at 9pm tonight and Saturday - come out and see it!

Overseas Voting - DO IT NOW!!!

2008-10-03T07:05:00.002-06:00

For all of the lovely Americans overseas that need to vote before it is too late (like tomorrow), here is some info that can help you get this done... the ladies at the American Women's Cllub Amsterdam pointed me to all of this info - thanks Ruth!

First, the deadline for us to register for the absentee is SUNDAY!!! Take a couple of minutes and do this NOW if you haven't already...

- For the registration and write-in https://fawco.overseasvotefoundation.org/overseas/FwabStart.htm
or https://www.overseasvotefoundation.org/overseas/home.htm
After you fill this in, you still have to MAIL IT IN... you can find the office that you need to send it into on the assitance guidelines site below...

- Voting assistance guidelines (if you need a notary or anything like that...) http://www.fvap.gov/for-voting-assistance-officers/vote-guide/index.html

Also, I heard the US Consolate is doing something on tomorrow or Monday (you would have to call them...) to help people if you feel that you need the extra bit of help.
I am not the most politically-active person on the planet, but i think we can all agree that this is pretty important...
Good luck and happy voting!

ps - for a good laugh, check out Leo DiCaprio's youtube commercial trying to get people to vote...

silly celebs...

Amsterdam is awesome

2008-10-01T07:55:00.003-06:00

and here is a wonderful little article from the New York Times online magazine to prove it.

http://www.nytimes.com/indexes/2008/09/21/style/t/index.html?WT.mc_id=TM-D-I-NYT-AD-BIG-TRV-HP-0908-RF&WT.mc_ev=click#pageName=21intro

A good friend of mine here in Amsterdam that is a fellow international forwarded this to me - reading articles about the city you are currently residing in is always fun and slightly weird at the same time. There are several places, restaurants, sights and shops mentioned that I have had the pleasure of frequenting or at least visiting. Very fabulous to hear that someone else the same opinion of many of these places, and I find myself wishing there were some other places that are note-worthy as well. The weird part is reading another person's take on it - especially when it is written with language like 'scenesters', 'avant-gardists' and 'beer and babes crowd'. I abide just near the '9 straatjes' and have been in/ridden past those shops a million times. Truly is one of the best neighborhoods in the city. The funniest is the timeline of 'things to do' - I would LOVE to meet the person that can pull all that off on that timeline!

Enjoy getting to know this lovely city in the way I have always wanted to be able to tell it...

Linkedin updated!

2008-09-29T10:57:00.003-06:00

In the on-going effort and desire to network and connect with as many lovely people as possible, I have finally updated my Linkedin profile! Just what you were all waiting for, I am sure.

Where's the art?

2008-09-26T02:50:00.004-06:00

In soaking up all of the information and innovations being offered here at PICNIC 2008, new questions are starting to develop in my mind. As an agent seeking to sell, promote and propel artists and galleries, searching for greater networks and exposure to get in front of collectors and companies is a neccessity. How can web presence and connectivity impact and change the face of business in the art world?

There are many ideas that are rolling around about webwork for the arts: 'virtual museums', galleries selling their work online rather than face-to-face, artists relying on their blogs and website to do the selling for them. How can we make these ideas work better for us? How can we make it more personal? And how are we supposed to find all of this information?

A couple of things have stood out -
Blogging and using tools to make the visual stand out (Zemanta and Visualblog), using keywords for easier searching, copyright protection for the artists and galleries through Creative Commons, etc. These are all tools that can bring great exposure to the artists and galleries, make them easier to find, and protect the value of their work.
How can all of these tools be tied together and keep the connectivity personal for the collector?

Check out networking sites like ArtLimited, ArtOlive and the big-wigs like Saatchi Online and others. There are loads of places you can gain information on the market: Luxury Culture magazine, EYEMAZING, GUP, and many more. These are all great resources for gaining a better idea of what type of work is out there, the quality and background on the artists and what is on the horizon for 'the next big thing'. These are webs that are incorporating comprehensive images, information and background on the work that is showcased. But in the end, most people want to SEE the work in person, they want to MEET the artists or connectors. How can we get them there?

An interesting idea presented yesterday here at PICNIC by Fiona Romeo from the Maritime Museum in London - mapping artifacts and artworks to tell a story about the items they have in their collection. Using Google topigraphical maps, they insert images of the pieces from specific collections in meaningful patterns that create context for the objects. This makes the work come 'alive' on the web! There is a way to find where these pieces came from, why they are important and what makes them distinctive. What if we could do the same with mapping for galleries and artists? Give context and access to these places that look intimidating to new crop of collectors? What would that look like?

Considering the overwhelming amounts of information on the internet and the intimidation factor many percieve galleries to have, one can conclude that most are not terribly motivated to dive into finding the work they want. What if by mapping these galleries and artists we could reach collectors and companies more effectively? By personally working in partnerships with galleries and artists to create 'virtual walking tours' we can provide context and information and invite them into these places that they would not have ventured into on their own. This could also serve to give access to people in other cities and countries to find context in a place where they had none. This way, when people choose to visit the galleries or contact the artists, they will already have a connection to the work they are asking about and would be more prone to purchase work in a shorter time frame.

Saying this will take work is an understatement, but it is work worth pursuing if it can connect more collectors and businesses to valuable and emerging artworks.

PICNIC 2008!!!

2008-09-26T02:25:00.002-06:00

Please forgive the next-day blogging...

Thursday Sept 25 was a great day here! Loads of great people, connections, learning platforms, innovation and fun... the onslaught of media has been mind-boggling. Cameras everywhere interviewing unsuspecting passer-bys; corporate CEO's hanging out with fresh entrepreneurs, and all the visual eye-candy you can think of.

I have spent the majority of time here in Europen Bloggers Lab learning more about the world of web-journalism, connectivity and better tools available to enhance and create better practies in these areas. Major sites of interest were Creative Commons (www.creativecommons.org), Zemanta (www.zemanta.com), We magazine (www.we-magazine.com) and Wobbing. There were also some speakers touching on internet presence in Italy and other corners of the world. In terms of tools, I am really excited to start using CC for the artworks that I represent through my company, Embellish. And Zemanta will make my life a million times easier once I figure out how to make it work for me....

Also, for live links and more visual enjoyment of PICNIC 2008, check out www.livefrompicnic.com in addition to the www.picnicnetwork.org link

(pictures aren't uploading... i will post some visuals when i can ;) )

TRIPPEN and VEJA Shoes on eBay!!!

2008-09-22T03:23:00.002-06:00

Amsterdam and all of Holland! Friends! We are selling shoes from the Shoes Garage (the shop owned by Ben and Ge)!!!! They are really nice shoes, and we are selling them for far below what they are worth - we are working on liquidating the stock in hopes of new ventures with the business and taking this space in a new direction!

Please check them out and let me know what you think or if you have any questions!

http://search.ebay.nl/search/search.dll?sofocus=bs&sbrftog=1&dfsp=17&from=R40&satitle=TRIPPEN&sacat=-1%26catref%3DC6&sargn=-1%26saslc%3D3&sadis=200&fpos=Postcode&fbfmt=1&sabfmts=1&saobfmts=insif&ga10244=10425&ftrt=1&ftrv=1&saprclo=&saprchi=&fsop=17%26fsoo%3D1&coaction=compare&copagenum=1&coentrypage=search

http://search.ebay.nl/search/search.dll?sofocus=bs&sbrftog=1&dfsp=17&catref=C6&from=R40&satitle=VEJA&sacat=-1%26catref%3DC6&sargn=-1%26saslc%3D3&sadis=200&fpos=Postcode&fbfmt=1&sabfmts=1&saobfmts=insif&ga10244=10425&ftrt=1&ftrv=1&saprclo=&saprchi=&fsop=17%26fsoo%3D1&coaction=compare&copagenum=1&coentrypage=search

GREEN GRAFFITI!!!

2008-08-27T04:46:00.002-06:00

These guys are colleagues here in Amsterdam that have a very very cool marketing company watch the link below for a demonstration - don't worry, most of it is in english ;)

Scroll down to "Emergency Earth: Planet Meltdown - Report 8" and watch the video

http://www.mtv.nl/artikel.php?article=8160

Basically, they use templates and a high-powered cleaner (street cleaner, something of the like) and create and image on the street! it is "reverse graffiti", earth-friendly, and clean! depending on the area, the image can last from 2 weeks to 7 months depending on the traffic! In some cases, they will come back in a few weeks time and clean the whole street so that it can be 'fresh' from the marketing.

www.greengraffiti.nl

We are partnering with them for our Reckoning projects, future projects and a clean air campaign coming up here in the Netherlands in october. their work is great, they are really wonderful and exciting guys to work with and we are excited about the possibilities in the future! check them out, hire them yourself, spread the word!

up-coming openings

2008-08-26T06:39:00.002-06:00

my friend and colleague, jimmy rage, is holding an opening on the 29th august - showcasing his work, other islanders, specifically highlighting aruba! http://www.arti.nl for more information... sculptures, paintings and photography are in the bill, along with caribbean bites and specialty drinks!

also, a gallery that i am working closely with in recent months is hosting an opening here in amsterdam - the witzenhausen gallery (www.witzenhausengallery.nl) proudly presents stefan á wengen 'nightology' - paintings that are dark, structurally-focused and done with ghostly showdowing effects - incredible work! check their site for more images... and the folks at witzenhausen are also opening a couple more galleries in NYC in september! but more to come on that as we get closer...

blogging-a-go-go

2008-08-21T08:53:00.002-06:00

hi there all :)

it has been a nutty summer and i have learned that i have to be keeping this thing up everyday - yes, yes, this is something that most people understand, and i 'got it' before, but now i 'get it'. now that i am a bit more established here in Amsterdam, life is taking off, getting businer, actually feel like i live here and am not getting kicked out of the country anytime soon, i need to be on top of this thing. so, more updates and i hope that there are still those of you that read this :) please check my picasa page at www.picasaweb.google.com - all my pics are updated, and there are little taglines that lead you through the story of things that have been going on, with people and all that good stuff. that will be the easiest way to get caught up for the moment :) there are some other blogs that will be coming out from me soon, so i will keep you on the horizon for that :)

peace out

a week in the life.... man, weeks are too short!

2008-06-28T06:58:00.003-06:00

things happening all the time here... it has been a busy week!

- for Reckoning (the non-profit) we were invited to participate in the Bos en Lommer festival in the neighborhood of Bos an Lommer here in Amsterdam. We put up a giant canvas for people to paint on, we made artist trading cards (art on playing cards) with kids, and gave everyone that stopped by a chance to do something creative! It was very well received by the city office that invited us to participate as well as all of the kids and parents that stopped by. Hopefully this will be a strong part of our getting to know more people in the community of Bos en Lommer so that our upcoming project in Oktober can have a significant impact! very cool...

- I am working on some potentially big projects with my business, Embellish. I have been doing sales and overall marketing assitance with our friends, Ben and Ge, and their "Shoes Garage" - sales of up-scale shoes by Trippen and Veja (Brazillian fair-trade smeakers)! Great to be working there, but this week has been a bit slower than had hoped... next week! I am also talking to a couple of galleries in the area about some strategies for them and growing them in the international markets. looking very promising.... keep you posted on that. Overall, locally, i think my work needs to be focused more in event planning and catering if need be. So July is going to be spent strategizing and making the most of the connections that i have :) and making more!

- shawna and the kids are leaving for russia on tuesday and i will se living at friends Ben and Ge's house while they are in France for the summer! this means I get to live alone for over a month! our friend Alycia Lee just moved out here as well, so she will be holding down the fort at the Snow house. good times this month and really refueling for a busy busy fall!

that is all for now - i am using a computer that is not mine at the moment, so i will upload some pics soon.... and the picasa site is coming together in regards to updating :)

hope you are all well and will be keeping you posted on more developments!

WOW... to say the least

2008-06-09T07:49:00.002-06:00

Ok, so i am still alive (VERY alive, indeed) and have completely shirked my responsibilities in keeping this updated. please accept my most sincere apologies. enough of that.... EXCITING THINGS ARE AFOOT!!! please let me give you a reader's digest version of the past 6 months (wow... again) *** for a VISUAL tour of life, please click on the picasa link on the right***

DECEMBER
you saw a bit of the beginning, but there was a ton more...
- mom and dad came out (soooo great)
- my business to keep me here in the NL was officially registered
- there was a ton of company at the house the whole month - old friends and new, so it was really fun

JANUARY
- honestly, really spent really recovering from december
- shawna and i did a cleanse (jackie, i am sure you would have been happy not to be there for that :))
- i prepared for my trip to florida and chicago

FEBRUARY
- went to florida to connect with the international mentor network (by alex mcmanus) and be a part of their humana conference... met some really spectacular people that are in different corners of the USA working hard to live "missionally" and be major connectors and impactors in the name of God in their communities. rad people.
- flew to chicago to be with the family, connect with friends and supporters, take the rest of my stuff from mom and dad's place. it was really wonderful to truly RELAX with mom and dad and fall back into our family rhythm for a bit (i am tearing just thinking about it.... you all know how great my folks are) and have some really excellent time with them. with friends and contact in chicago, i met with TONS of people (booked end to end daily while in the city) and made more contacts for some cross-continent connections for my business, Embellish (more on that to come soon). very good time, lots of really great intentional conversations with dear friends that i care about deeply. my only regret: not having enough time to see everyone and call everyone. silly 24 hour days...

MARCH
- shawna was gone for the first part of the month in seattle for a class, so i hung out with the kids and decompressed from my trip
- the whole snow clan went to switzerland with our friends and neighbors, wanda and paul. they have a chalet in the mountains near martigny - wow. so cliche 'swiss chalet' it was incredible. such a fun expereince and made more friends up there - particularly a darling gentleman by the name of jean-françios who opened up his home us - best raclette ever.
- we worked really hard on RECKONING stuff (the non-profit started in shawna's name) and putting together a project for the beginning of may in a small village called nieuwkoop
- embellish (my company) had 2 catering jobs in one night! one for galery wm, the other for a birthday party for 80+ people - great success!

APRIL
- hitting the ground hard with RECKONING - meeting daily to finalize and execute the business plan, strategies, marketing materials and other pertinent information - maximizing contacts...
- the snow house was full again - family, friends, work.... shawna's mom, step-sis and her daughter came out (very fun to hang with the girls) followed by our dear friend, christine, who came out here to teach a class to us, the RECKONING team, on transformational team-building, followed by a class on transformational education (more friends - deborah and donna from portland flew out for this class, as it is part of the master's program shawna and deborah are a part of. the rest of us were invited to be in this since it is THEIR teams that will be afftected by these learning tasks and strategies). this information and intense time will be INCREDIBLY VITAL to the development and sturcture of RECKONING - sooooo great and it was an immense privilage to be a part of this.
- david young came out which was awesome (i you don't know this character, you should).
- april 30 - queen's day and ari's birthday - some of you may know about queen's day, but until you have seen it, there is little i can say to describe it. the city was a veritable madhouse and it was a great time. if you can, come out for it sometime soon.... it is really something not to miss.

MAY
- ending of the class with christine and more really good conversations and insights with her
- alycia arrived to join the RECKONING team!!!! very exciting and she is proving to be a very very needed part of the group (as we knew she would be :) )
- i turned 28... woohoo. please see the video that my AWESOME brother made for me... http://youtube.com/watch?v=BW6YqC-uMp8
could he be any cooler?
- our friend dave bart was out visiting - good times.
- did some grasssroots marketing for embellish - walked with a tray of food to all the ateliers participating in the "open atelier de jordaan" to get my name out there... good times.
- our project in nieuwkoop ended up getting postponed, but it is for the best
- finished applications for funding for RECKONING to a couple of major funding groups - we shall see! but the bigger thing, is that we are finding favor in the city here with RECKONING - the people that we are meeting with are not only on board, b ut they are pulling strings and inviting us in further to make this a reality! they are ally see the need for it and really beileve that we can make a true diffference in the city by combining public space art and transformational education!!!!!! this is so great!!!!

JUNE
- here we go.... working more on RECKONING with finalizing marketing materials and researching more funding avenues, etc.
- working on embellish and some potentially big projects with some cross-continent art exchanges... we shall see and i will keep you posted. this month is all about streamlining the business, maximizing contacts and really identifying key connectors for my business so that i can make a living here and stay in the country to continue to live in this community and LOVE the people that God has placed in my path here
- shawna and i had a meeting this morning with some culture and art planners for the city to participate in a festival in 2 weeks that will give RECKONING a presence in the bos en lommer area (the first neighborhood here that we are going to do a RECKONING project) - very excited to see what will come of that!

in the middle of all of these things that i have described above (if you are still reading this ;)), there has been really deep and maeningful changes in the lives of friends of ours here, in our own lives and in the shaping of the community of people that we have become connected with. We are finding favor in the city as a whole, and beyond that, the deep soul-changing building of relationships is taking place in very real and beautiful ways. i can't describe to you how much i feel the support and prayers of all of the people that i have been connected with thoughout this whole process - you have carried me and us and i am deeply thankful for you.

big stuff coming through little changes - and daily "fighting the war on boring" as my new friend elijah would say. i think that we are fighting more than boring, but i can tell you that life here is anything but boring as a result! if you made it to the end of this email, i hope that you are NOT bored, but rather encouraged and hungry to learn more about what is going on here - i would love to hear from you and hear more about what is going on in your corner of the world! i know that there have been big changes in your lives, and things get crazy and it is hard to keep up - but let's not let that stop us :) please know that you are always close in heart and mind.
much love and peace.... more to come soon ;)

please check my picaca site over the next couple of days... i am putting up pictures there, but am waiting today for more GB space! they should be up and with notes on them tomorrow so that you can get the visual tour of life here over the past couple of months ;)

so much going on

2007-12-09T16:50:00.000-06:00

the wall party... and a poem by alycia

we look really gross and wet because we are really gross and wet. eww... but we did it! this was brigitte's first race!

the food, the girls

esmond and sebastian.... the party

friends, there has been a ton going on in just the past week! since the first, we have had a dinner party in which we drew all over a wall in shawna's dining room, i have registered myself here in the city (residence registration), i have registered the business of 'Embellish', we ran a 10k race in 1 hour and 2 minutes (it would have been under an hour if it hadn't been pouring rain and really windy out), and we catered another event last night. please look at the pics that i have on picasa - http://picasaweb.google.com/aliwats/December - or click on the link to the right here - so that you can see all of the pics of the past week and a half! it has been really fun - so happy that the business is registered and now it is time for all the admin stuff to be set up and get the residence permit settled on the 17th of this month! hanging out with our friend, Alycia Lee, while she is on sabatical has been wonderful... and she is still here in the country for another couple of weeks! in terms of hanging out with people, the wall painting night was awesome (people are still talking about it) and the party that we were invited to cater for last night have been the highlights. the wall painting really felt like a family event... many of these people that we love and care about here were putting dreams and images on a wall here in the house and really being pushed to create... so beautiful. please look at the images if you have a chance - they are well worth it! the catering job last night was a gift to sebastian, wanda's son, for his graduation/birthday party. wanda and sebastian's girlfriend, arianna, spent so much time and energy on this party and it was a really good time. being invited to be a part of it was really great, and the fact that they loved the food, almost to the point of being afraid to eat it, was and even better experience. i think giving away food to the bartenders at the end of the night was particularly fun. everyone had a great time, and hopefully we got some good contacts out of it! this month is going to be packed, so please keep checking in!!! oh... i almost forgot... we did sinterklaas in all of this too! ester and james helped us with that... all of the kids, shawna, myself and they exchanged little gifts and wrote poems about the people that we gave gifts to.... it is intended to be a bit of a roast, but it is really fun. ester is dutch, james is american, and they loved being able to share all of these traditions with us. earlier that morning, noelle and i went with shea and her school to watch sinterklaas come up the canal to come and see the kids. that was a trip all by itself... good times in the nederlands on dec. 5!

dude...

2007-12-04T17:13:00.000-06:00

today, i registered EMBELLISH! my business here in Holland is official! and i received a letter today from the IND (immigration) to come to their offices on monday the 17th of december to get all of that taken care of and get the residence permit! now i have to send in all of this information to my lawyer, to the tax guy that i am working with here, get an administration set up, get a tax number for me and the business, wait to receive my sophie # (like a SS#).... ok, i am stopping now. that is starting to look overwhelming. but, the important thing is that i am in! i live here! this is so insane! please believe me when i say that i can hardly believe what is happening and that this is my life. it is almost as though i wasn't entirely sure that i could pull it off, but decided to think i could anyway..... and now it is actually happening! for those of you that have culture-shocked before, you know about this, i think. for those that have not moved to another country.... let's just say that it is one of the scarier/more exciting things i have ever done. i really should have my head examined. oh, wait.... i think i have. yikes. thank you thank you thank you thank you a million times over for your love and support in this... i think of you all all the time. i am sorry that i have not called as often as i should or emailed enough, but please know that i do think of you all the time.... you are very missed, and i would love to hear from you when you have a moment ;)

official (almost)

2007-12-03T11:30:00.000-06:00

so, i am officially registered at Elandsgracht 33 here in amsterdam. the city knows that i am here. all of my paperwork has been sent into the IND (immigration services here in Holland) and i they didn't give me any trouble when i went in to register the address that i am staying at. THIS IS AMAZING!!!! and i really am having a hard time realizing that this is really happening! craziness... hard work is starting to pay off.... big.

thanks for your prayers and encouragement. i can literally feel them sometimes.

turkey day in a country without much turkey

2007-11-29T08:32:00.000-06:00

funny thing about thanksgiving is that it is a holiday to celebrate all that the earth gives us in the harvest. the harvest here in Holland is a little bit different than it is out in the USofA. most of what we LOVE in the Thanksgiving feast is food that is really not natually occcurring here in Holland. so, it was a little expensive, but, we had some help from a friend back in the states come over and visit and pitch in for the big feast! we had a great time... i think the final count was 22 people in the house. it was so much fun! shawna's back room (not attached to the house... kind of an atelier) looked gorgeous - very warm and inviting, twinkle lights on the ceiling, tons of candles all over the room.... it was wonderful. we ate sitting on the floor on pillows - not normal, but very family-ish from the standpoint that we sat really close to each other and had to pass the food all over the room. it was a lot of fun. as ever at thanksgiving, we made WAY too much food, but we made the most of it and utilized our leftovers very well (quiche for the neighbors). 2 of the people that came to the house had never been invited to a thanksgiving dinner before, so it was really great to see how much they enjoyed themselves. everyone interacted as though they were all friends already.... even the 2 people who came with other friends who we had never met before. tons of laughs, food, wine, friends. it was wonderful... nice to have my fav holiday in another country and have other people that are not americans love it too ;)

"what in the name of ME is going on here?"

2007-11-26T17:18:00.001-06:00

i just watched jesus camp and it scared the hell out of me. and not in the way they meant it to. if you have not seen it, i recommend it. watch it here http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7168860244966080667

i had to consider carefully where in life i have seen this, where i have been prey to it and especially where it gets twisted. my heart breaks for these poor kids. they deserve to be loved better than this. again, read "listening for the heartbeat of God".... way better filter for life, i think.

i don't really want to be called a christian anymore... any other ideas for a different title? i don't want to be associated with these people at all...

YIKES.

not cultural news

2007-11-20T18:03:00.000-06:00

this is short and without pictures.... because it is about the work that we are doing here and i don't really take pics of me on the computer and on the phone. you have all seen this before.

big things in regard to getting the business set up! as i mentioned before, my business will be called "embellish" and there have already been asked to work with people on more projects! more on that as it develops and the company is officially set up in the country... this is a PROCESS, to say the least, and i am happy to have as much forward movement as i do right now in it. please keep praying with me through this!

in regards to working on forming reckoning with shawna... we have had some really great meetings with many different people that are connecting us in ways that we could hardly have thought possible. the master plan to retool and work from is finished, and there is SOOOOOO much to do, but it is really coming along very well and i am so looking forward to seeing where this is going to go.... sunday was a really good day for us in terms of conversations.... more and more prayer, please!

i have started dutch classes with a woman named daphne that i met on the tram on the way to some other friend's house here in the city. she is a very dutch woman, kind and we are meeting twice a week for 2 hours per session. this has been really helpful and i am already getting better and i can sctualy nderstand some of what people are saying to me! every store i walked into today, i was able to do it in dutch (given, there were not that many words exchanged, but the ones i did know were the only ones i needed)! this will go through december and then we will see from there....

MY PARENTS ARE COMING OUT FOR CHRISTMAS!!!!! obviously, i am stoked about this. so is the Snow family :) being here this year rather than going somewhere is going to be hard, and having a warm house full of people is going to be really wonderful for all of us. Shawna's parents-in-law might come out, and another friend from Cali is coming out as well. this is going to be a good time!

i am looking to come back out to visit chicago after being at a conference in florida for a couple of days in february. what is looking the best right now is feb 10-26....

more to come, sorry all of this is so delayed and i hope that the pics help. it has been really busy..... really good. thank you for checking in, saying hello when you have a chance and i hope to hear from you soon!

much love and peace

Sinterklaas!!!... part I

2007-11-20T17:33:00.000-06:00

it is almost christmas here... but they do sinterklaas here. christmas is not that big, but it is gaining attention. here is the wikipedia explanation of sinterklaas...

SINTERKLAAS is a holiday tradition in the Netherlands and Belgium, celebrated every year on Saint Nicholas' eve (December 5) or, in Belgium, on the morning of December 6. The feast celebrates the name day of Saint Nicholas, patron saint of children. In the Netherlands, Saint Nicholas' Eve, (December 5) is the chief occasion for gift-giving. The evening is called pakjesavond ("presents' evening"). Traditionally, presents are ingeniously wrapped, and are therefore called surprises. Also, presents are traditionally accompanied by a poem from Saint Nicholas.

so, what they don't well you here is that sinterklaas enters the city about 3 weeks before the 5th (so this past sunday) in a huge parade, and he is accompanied by "swarte piete"s... people in black face that are essentially elves. ...oh. my. gosh... needless to say, this is a real culture shock. doesn't seem quite right somehow... if do some research, there is actually some interesting history behind it, but it is still really awkward.

note the contrast in this picture...

so, all of the little kids are looking at sinterklaas as he is riding into town, and yelling "Piete! Piete! Piete!" so that he will come by and give them UNWRAPPED cookies and candy FROM THEIR UNGLOVED HANDS and put it into their bags to take home and eat. too funny. we laughed a ton and shea got a ton of cookies. welcome to sinterklaas.
dude... a whole float.

very impressive wheeling, and some form of princesses....

More to come after the 5th of December on that...

bollywood

2007-11-20T17:27:00.000-06:00

noelle went to a party for the church that she goes to called the Zolder (planted by GEM, i think) called "Bollywood" for the intention of raising money for a community in India. we had a great tie getting her all ready. I couldn't tell her that it is really downhill after the dress. but, when she came home, i think she actually had a better time than getting ready! she said it was a great party and really just lights up when she gets to be around people :)

Mia the starlette

2007-11-20T17:06:00.000-06:00

one of the pics that we sent into the casting director

so Mia was in a dutch movie! it is a movie based on a dutch teen book called "how do i survivie myself" (but think of it as though you were listening to someone speaking dutch)... she was one of the main extras as the lead character's alter ego that is a talented in-line skater!

mis is the one in the hot red wig!!!!

she had such a great time and it the casting people have offered to contact her for future stuff!

about a week later, she was in a competition in Rotterdam at Skateland in which she was the only girl competeing and made it to the finals!!!! she did really well... many of her friends were in the competition and placed really well too! we had a great time... Noelle and Shea came too, so it was a girl's day ;) mia did great and things are going really well for her at the moment. some of her friends are coming over to the house for dinner this friday so, it should be pretty fun getting to know the people that are a big part of her life ;)

you say it's your (princess) birthday

2007-11-20T16:35:00.000-06:00

the party-goers

on the 8th of November, it was SHEA'S BIRTHDAY! the darling little munchkin turned 5... and has not let us forget it since :). it was the cutest thing... Shawna decided to let her invite 5 friends over for the the party on the 7th. The back room (separate apartment, basically) has been finished for the time being, so the party was back there. sidenote: this room is going to be our work room/guest room/my room/whatever else we need. it was so cute... all of these little girls speaking dutch, all from different backgrounds.

noelle being beaten mercilessly by.... 5 year olds. with balloons.

here is the thing... we were expecting a room full of really off-the-wall girls, and they were super mellow. they played well, didn't fight, sat and listened to our friend Harmine read a book to them, sang to Disney Princess Music... it was adorable and really wonderfully low-maintainance. so fun. by the way; our friend Harmine totally came in and saved the day - she is dutch and was soooo good with all of the girls. she really made the day and was such a great person for all of the girls. Such a fun day... different from what i was expecting, but such a fabulous time hanging out with these little princesses :)
this little one was having a particularly hard time... harmine was so sweet to keep reading to her :)
Andrew smuggling cake

Embellish...

2007-11-20T03:34:00.000-06:00

OK!!!! it has been too long since the last post.... much has happened, so i am going to break it down into bite-sized chunks for you. we'll start with the 3rd of november....

the company that i am working hard to set up, called "Embellish", had it's first job on Saturday the 3rd! We were asked to do the catering as more of a promotion for our work and and the exhibit... the exhibit was called "ViceVerse" and is an exhibit that has been done in Cadiz in Spain and featured over 20 artists. The exhibition poening was held in the Oude Kerk ("old church") in the middle of the red light district. the exhibit it really beautiful, man talented artists including our friend, Wanda (connector for this event and our biggest cheerleader :) ). The food really centered around an idea of bright veggies, spanish-style hors d'oevures that were presented in a "horn of plenty" presentation for all to share. it was really fun to set up, prep was easy, and THEY LOVED IT! we had a number of people thank us profusely, saying that it was a work of art in itself and asking WHAT OTHER WORK WE ARE DOING! mission accomplished! it was really great to have it be well recieved and give the artists an experience of really feeling taken care of and showcasing their work. sidenote: people are amazing. they absolutely annihilated the table... i am not kidding. we saw a woman towards the end of the opening actually pick up one of the cabbages that the dip was in and start eating it with a serving spoon. they ate the decor, for crying out loud! very hilarious. it was pretty interesting to see people practically climbing over one another to get at that food. it was a great time, we are fielding requests for more work in the wake of still working to get it all set up through the country... we had a great time and can't wait to do more to expand the businesses of these people...

wanda's son sebastian and his girlfriend Arianna
our darling wanda and friends
this is the beginning...

halloween backwards

2007-11-02T03:27:00.000-06:00

so halloween is not done in this country. since this is a household full of american kids, naturally they attempted trick or treating of some kind anyway. so shea dressed up like this...

which was too cute for words. since the trick or treating thing was not really going to work out, given that people didn't buy candy or anything to pass out, we went to the store and bought candy to pass out to people on the street...

this little girl dressed as a princess being pushed in a stroller through the streets of amsterdam telling people happy halloween and giving them candy for free... it seriously made people's night. it was the cutest thing.... these people would be so confused. but after accepting the candy, they would get these big stupid smiles on their faces and say things like "how cute is she?" or "isn't that sweet?". we actually got a "what the f***?"... soooo funny, and so great to see people responding in such a great way to the reverse american holiday. i am thinking we should do the same thing with thanksgiving, but walking the streets passing out turkey is a bit odd... not to mention messy.

here are some pics of dam square at night, courtesy of our friend rachel radford...

hope you had a fun halloween ;)

a slice of the city

2007-10-28T09:05:00.000-06:00

shawna's friend Christina Sharp is here right now... having a good time getting to know her and talking through how we both can't believe that we didn't know each other in California since we knew all the same people. we have been walking around the city a bit and she has been helping remind me to take pics of things that will help everyone who reads this to see what i am seeing everyday. so, here are some sensory pictures... :)

in vondelpark... i run here as often as i can. it is a huge park in the middle of the city with tons of trails and open spaces. this time of year it is especially beautiful... the 2 girls are christina and noelle

on herengracht at dusk.... "gracht" means canal in dutch. you have to say the "g" and the "ch" with a gutteral spitting sound (sort of like in german). really pretty to listen to (ha ha).
beautiful night... a bit cold, so we went home not long after this ;). i run the canals pretty often too... really when i get bored with vondelpark. keeps things interesting.

back in action

2007-10-24T01:53:00.000-06:00

sunset at Scheveningen beach in den Haag

so, i have been in den Haag for the past week and working on Field Orientation with CAI. Not only running logistics, but participating as well. it was for all of the people that have been on the field for 6 months to a year. pretty intense time, tons of sessions and meetings. god stuff though. took even more personality tests, so now i can really excuse all of my actions behind these tests (JUST KIDDING!) but seriously, I am an ENFJ, SPATE, an activator, developer, includer, have positivity and woo and am accomodating. so... there were a bunch of tests that outline personality, conflit management skills, strengths and giftings. and then what to do with all of that, what that looks like in team dynamics, models for work, etc., etc., etc... all good stuff, but so much to process and work through. so, i have been out of contact with the rest of the world for a bit. but, we were let out on occasion to go into the city to hang out :) logisitcs went well and there are many ways that we can tweak it for next time...

some really cool building in den Haag

sidenote: i love this country. reason: most people are as tall or taller than i am. it is stinking great. i was on the train yesterday and there was a guy sitting next to me that, i kid you not, had to be about 6' 7''. this is so not normal. i learned last week that many of the people that are just adjusting to culture are really missing american food, little differences between here and the US, but i can't get over how tall people are here. too funny.

more to come. here are some pics of the end of the 2 weeks (i couldn't find my battery charger until the end of the 2 weeks. classic.)...

at de Oude Mol in den Haag... this little bar down the street from the monestary we hung out at the end of the night when sessions were over. Met some really cool regulars and the bartender is wonderful. her name is Daphne and she is getting her masters right now in art curation for corporate companies. we are planning to get together for lunch or dinner sometime when i am in den Haag during the week! Daphne is the girl in the pic by herself below... Klaus is another guy that we met... German guy who is a higher-up in Shell, which is based out of den Haag. some very cool conversations with him. He is the gentleman in the pic next to the candle. all the rest of us were part of FO.

celebration dinner at the Graf's house the night before everyone went home to the countries they are currently residing in. Kerri is attempting to feed Laina's chickens, Hud (our soul care man) and Al (my boss) trying to talk, and as many people as possible fitting into the kitchen to help make dinner for the 30 people that are at the house... good times!

Vondelpark

2007-09-29T04:37:00.000-06:00

on saturdays, I have gotten into the habit of doing a very intense form of journaling with Shawna and a couple of other ladies of Dutch nationality, Esther and Harmine. this journaling has been so good, and a really good tool to get in touch with getting my subconcious congruent with my concious life. in addition to the fact that it has been so great to get to know these other ladies on such a deep level. Shawna is in Poland right now, and i have been here at the house with the kids and Dan's mom, Linda for the past couple of days. we have been having a good time taking Shea to ballet, among other things... SO much pink.

but i am side-tracking... yesterday, Harmine and I had lunch and got to know each other a bit better - exchanging life stories and all. this morning, she showed up (i think esther spaced it out... she has a lot going on at her house at the moment) and since the other 2 of our little tribe were not present, we decided to go for a walk and talk more about faith and life. it has been a very damp morning, and fortunately we didn't get caught in the rain. we walked over to vondelpark, walked in and out of all these muddy little walkways. our conversation was one that was so life-giving and challenging for me. in the past 2 years, she has come to know and trust God and is in such a beautiful place. we talked about the problem of evil, the realtionships that exist between people, attitudes towards hetero- and homosexuality, the role of women, churchianity as opposed to christianity ... so many things. many of our topics covered things that cannot be answered easily, if at all on this earth. there are so many things that we don't have answers to, but i think that it is the pursuit of trying to seek deeper understandings for those things that we are drawn into a deeper understanding of God and of the world around us. needless to say it was a good conversation and we had a great time walking for a couple of hours. she is becoming a close friend and advocate for the work that i am doing here.

speaking of what i am doing here, i went to the PICNIC '07 on wednesday and yesterday... slightly disappointing. my intention was to go to some of the free workshops on marketing and business models, in addition to seeing the cutting-edge technology-meets-art and music stuff. the workshops were mostly just a platform for companies to advertise themselves, and the tech-and-art was minimal, but what was there was really good. made a connection with a guy the created something called "the girlfriend experience" (check it out at www.mediamatic.net/girlfriend) which is something that is MOBILE and he has gotten backing from Rabobank! i am meeting with him and another guy (Miguel) that is helping me make connections at festivals, crafting the business plan with me. so, at least there was something good that came out of it. ;) Miguel and Noelle (Shawna's oldest) are going to go to the Amsterdam Underground Festival (http://www.amsterdamunderground.nl/index.php?id=english) tonight, so hopefully that will be a bit more cultural and helpful. more connections perhaps. that is the hope anyway.
so, that is life here... going to Crossroads Amsterdam with Ari tomorrow to hear Ari speak about Russia to the youth group, working on crafting my business plan, working on Field Orientation with CAI, meeting with people and spending time community building with the people that have been placed in my path.

not the best pic of my friend Phenny and i...

auto free day

2007-09-23T16:53:00.000-06:00

i will post more real information tomorrow, but i had to write about this today... one of the greatest ideas ever: Auto Free Day here in Amsterdam! it was amazing! i had no idea this was going on (i don't speak dutch yet, so the signs all over the city that made this clear were totally lost to me) there were tons of people riding in carriages and on horses - like a parade, but without the marching band and stupid banners.

even people in period clothing... really interesting to see how much work people had put into this!

Shawna and I went to meet our friend penny for lunch near the amstel canal and the nieuwmarkt and there was another impromptu parade of rollerbladers! these guys were great though... not only did they say THANK YOU for moving out of the way (if you have ever been here, you know that this is unheard of from the dutch), but there were a couple of guys that had what appeared to be stereos strapped to their backs! way too funny.

it was such a peaceful day... riding all over the city, running through vondelpark and not having all of the noise and hassle of cars. it was also nice to not have to be concerned about getting run over... by a car, anyway. chicago: please consider this. a moment of peace in chaos is so welcome :). auto free day rules.

the PICNIC

2007-09-20T03:48:00.000-06:00

so, shawna and i decided to start looking into festivals and things here in the city to be a part of to start networking more effectively within the arts and culture community. there is SO much to do in this city.... there is no way that any one person can do all that is available here in this city. I also want to go to every museum, and this city has more museums than any other city, so this is going to be something to tackle! anyway, this next week, there are som really exciting things going on... we looked on http://www.iamsterdam.com/visiting_exploring/what's_on/what's_on_text/2007/global_warning and found this http://www.picnicnetwork.org/set-5958-en.html.... it is a convention/festival that is geared for the most cutting-edge/innovative

/creative/cultural/tech and science/arts/music orgs adn companies in the world. you register for it like you would a myspace and people become your friends and invite you to their "pitches" (for new ideas), workshops, etc. the first guy that invited me to be his "contact" is a guy that is pitching a motor oil that you never have to change that is earth-friendly! i have no idea what on earth he could have created, but that is the king of stuff that i am talking about. the cost for this thing is almost 1000euro, but for all of us poor people, there are over 50 workshops/discussion groups, a huge party for two nights that presents many of the newer music, dance companies, audio/visual technology, who-knows-what-else (this is at http://www.discovery07.nl/), a network of city games that is being put on that is ageless and interactive using the CITY as your playground, and a free screening to see the latest in coming cinema... the CineGrid 4k!!! All of that is FREE!!! So, I have signed up for all kinds of workshops ranging from web marketing and business development, to global communities and the CineGrid 4k. going to the party (hopefully bringing my friend Dieuwke - pronounced doo-ka) and dragging the kids to some of the games that are going on. that is just one festival before the end of the month. i think there are 2 others that need to be checked out. and of course, shawna will be in poland with wanda, the art-gallery neighbor, so i get to fly solo... should be interesting and fun! (she is really not-thrilled that she can't go ;) ) so, we are receiving affirmation that what is going on here is good, right for the moment, and God is opening doors for us to take this to the FRINGE of the cutting edge! very encouraging! more on this later as it progresses...

finally

2007-09-13T05:49:00.000-06:00

friends, I am here. finally. so, this is the inagural post for the next... however long i am here. i hope you have all received the last email i sent out. if you are reading this, chances are you did. yay!

i am in den Haag right now, which is about a 40 minute train ride from amsterdam. this is where the christian associates international (cai) headquarters are. i am working here on tuesdays and thursdays, helping out with organizational and administrate needs here in the office. right now, that means that i am helping plan and orchestrate the coming of all of our most-recent missionaries to den Haag for the Field Orientation. I am also helping a bit with the Staff Candidate Orientation for those that are still looking into joining the forces here. so that is my "day job".

due to my monetary situation (many of you know that when i left the states, my intention was to come here fully funded. that has not happened for whatever reasons...), i am in a place where i am still support-raising, but needing to get creative about how to stay here and work with cai/other groups/people. lucky me: Holland happens to be one of the most strict countries in the EU when it comes to the entrance of ex-pats, so this is going to be good... presently, i have met with an immigration lawyer here who is offering some helpful suggestions and creative solutions to be here and have it work! more to come on that when i have a better idea of what that is going to look like.

presently, my habitat is at shawna snow's house with her and her lovely children, among whoever else is coming in and out of the house at the time. it has been fabulous; getting to know her neighbors (friend Phenny and the other great people at the thai restaurant next door... wanda, the polish photography art gallery owner on the other side... eddie, the bar owner down the street who is self-declared neighborhood watchdog...french friends Geraldine and Ben who own another gallery not too far away... esther and james, andrew, ian, brigitte, dieuka, others that come by the house...) such a great place of community and developing friendships... as well as great contacts in the community at large! there is more to come, but i have to bolt for the moment!

starting... now

2007-02-05T19:17:00.000-06:00

Friends, this is the space that you and i can connect through from wherever :)
i am hoping that this will be the best way to keep in touch and continue to catch up on life. any questions comments or smart remarks can be placed here and i look forward to hearing from you!

all my love,
ali