Revisiting DweezelJazz Blog

This is the 70th post. A small landmark. It seems a fitting time for me to stop and take a look at DweezelJazz blog. I started writing for it back on May 14th.

I've written about all sorts of things. Many of the posts I wrote directly for my benefit as I was working through things that I wanted to learn how to do better, such as communication, how to get things done, setting goals....

It has been great and I've made some friends and am very grateful to be part of a community sharing ideas and thoughts on the Internet. I read a fair number of blogs now. Before I threw myself into the world of blogging I didn't know anything about it. I'm utterly blown away by the fabulous quality of blogs that are being written. I really enjoy them.

As you may have noticed, I have artwork on my web site: DweezelJazz Art. None of the artwork is priced because I haven't started selling it yet. I hope to start my art business within a year to a year and a half from now. In the meantime, I'll work to build up a portfolio and a set of paintings for sale.

Now that we've moved into our new apartment, the art priorities are calling loudly to me. Here is a new painting in progress in egg tempera that I started recently of a lighthouse in Geneva on the Lac Leman.

I've struggled with some anguish in the recent weeks, having to make a choice about the frequency of posting to the blog and dedicating more time to artwork. Time constraints are forcing me to opt for a reduced number of posts.

There are many serious things in life, but I prefer to concentrate on fun, cheerful topics with lots of bright colorful pictures. I'm a beginner in art and have no formal training. My photographs are those of a novice. But I love and enjoy how doing these things, and talking about them, makes me think and see so much more the beauty around me.

From now on, I plan to concentrate on lighthearted, creative topics in DweezelJazz blog. The one exception to this is that I may continue now and then to post information about chemical sensitivity. It's surprising how much more information is being published lately in mainstream newspapers and magazines on this topic. I have acute chemical sensitivities and it has a huge effect on my life. I hope that in sharing information about it, it may be helpful in some way to you.

I'd love to hear from you if you have any suggestions for the blog or increasing artistic creativity, or anything else. Thanks.

Cheers,
Nat Wildish

Jasmine's Model Pose

Sometimes when Jazzy is on my hand, she just swings herself backwards. When she does this I know to take a slightly stronger hold on her feet so she doesn't slip. We call these "upside downs".

Usually she likes me to gently lower my hand to the floor until she can touch it with her beak and then I bring my arm up gently but with some building momentum until she's up at my head height, by which time she rights herself again.

Sometimes when we're playing like this I just put her down gently on the top of her cage.

At other times, when she's perched on the top bar of her cage, she'll roll herself under it, squishing herself between it and the cage and then lay flat on her back. She doesn't seem to mind the consequences to her wings or feathers.


You can see here where she's still holding on to the bar with her feet.

Getting up out of this position can be somewhat challenging. Here she has reached over so, that with her beak gripping the bar on the left hand side of the photo, she can begin to pull herself upright.



The rest is sheer muscle work, pulling herself up and out.








Her cutest pose of all is this one below, where she puts her foot up behind her head near her eye.

She does this sometimes also on the side of her cage, holding onto the cage with one leg while she rolls tummy up. Then she puts her free leg up around the back of her head just like this.

Listening Is Vital To Effective Communication

Listening is one of the most important parts of effective communication. No matter what method we're using to communicate there are a couple of things it's good to keep in mind:

• First: we understand who we're trying to communicate with
• Second: we know what we want to say before we say it
  

It doesn't make sense to think of what we want to say if we don't know who we're saying it to, or what frame of mind the person we're saying it to might be in. Do you ever get so caught up in the tasks of the day that you become less aware of your surroundings? Sometimes this is beneficial to getting the work done, but if it becomes a habitual state we can miss what's happening around us and this can impair our ability to communicate well.

It's easy to express what's important and relevant to us, without fully considering the person we're expressing it to. This can lead to some frustrating moments for people we spend time with. By observing and listening to someone we can determine what's the best approach or response, or even if it's an appropriate moment to speak.

It requires concentration and effort to listen properly. We might find ourselves replying before the other person has finished talking. By not hearing them through, we may misunderstand what they were trying to say and it's very likely that we leave that person feeling unheard.

Body language and tone of voice are good indicators of meaning and feelings. Trying to understand how another person may feel allows us to remain open to possibilities we may not foresee. It gives us an additional opportunity to open communication in a way that we may otherwise miss.

Just as when we're writing someone a letter, when we write an article, a book, or we speak, we first need to consider if the person receiving it will enjoy reading or hearing it, find it interesting, fun or useful? Sometimes we write or say something for ourselves. If this is so, we need to be extra careful to assess whether it's relevant and interesting before presenting it to someone else.

How we interact flavors our life; it can often even determine what happens in our life and what choices become available to us. It's worth understanding how to communicate effectively to optimize our possibilities and have as much fun as we can in the process.

How Safe Are The Products We Use?

A BBC News article, "Office printers 'are health risk'", published July 31st, reported that an investigation of a range of printer models. The study showed that almost a third of them emitted potentially dangerous levels of toner into the air which can cause a range of health problems, including respiratory irritation and other chronic illnesses. The article states that a team of Australian scientists has found that the "humble office laser printer can damage lungs in much the same way as smoke particles from cigarettes".

As illustrated in a previous post, "Becoming More Aware of Toxins In Our Environment", it would benefit us all to be more aware of what products we use in our daily routine. While it's not possible to know which products are not beneficial to the health, we can minimize the use of those that are known or suspected to be harmful, and we can take measures to ensure that our local environment is well ventilated.

On August 16, Science Daily reported on an article published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine that states researchers in Taiwan have demonstrated for the first time that urban pollution simultaneously affects key indicators of cardiovascular risk in young adults. The lead author of the study, Chang-Chuan Chan, Sc.D., of National Taiwan University's College of Public Health wrote: "This study provides evidence that urban air pollution is associated with systemic inflammation/oxidative stress, impairment of the fibrinogenic system, activation of blood coagulation and alterations in the autonomic nervous system in young, healthy humans."

Another article published in the same journal and also reported on August 16 by Science Daily: "High Pollution Linked To Poor Lung Function Growth In Children In Mexico City" states that "Children who are chronically exposed to higher levels of air pollution show marked deficiencies in lung growth and function, and not just short-term breathing problems." The lead author, Isabelle Romieu, M.D., M.P.H. of the Instituto Nacional de Salud Publico in Mexico wrote: "In addition to the important impact of lung health, early lung deficits may increase the risk of developing chronic obstructive lung disease later in life, as well as cardiovascular morbidity and general mortality."

A BBC News article published July 13, "'New tests needed' for chemicals", states that scientists writing in the journal Science say that about one-third of organic substances (which could amount to approximately 10,000 substances) in commercial use need re-testing for possible toxicity to human and environmental health.

Conventional tests for toxic substances involve measuring how effectively a substance dissolves in fat versus water; the measure is called Kow. This works well to estimate the accumulative potential in food chains involving fish, shellfish and plankton. The scientists performing this study concluded that a different measure is needed to estimate the accumulation of toxic substances in air-breathing animals, that would measure how well a substance can be absorbed across the lung membrane during respiration. This measure is called Koa.

The article states: "Classes of compounds possessing low Kow but high Koa include endosulfans and HCHs, which are used as inseciticides, musk xylene, an ingredient of perfumes and soaps, and the tetrachlorobenzenes." These substances would pass the conventional tests for toxicity. It's interesting that these substances very commonly present respiratory and other problems for people with chemical sensitivities. See previous post "What Is Multiple Chemical Sensitivity?"

As discussed in post, "Chemical Sensitivity and the New EU Chemical Law", there are, in addition to the omissions in the conventional measuring system, great gaping omissions in what substances are being studied at all. As individuals we can try to protect ourselves as much as possible from the hazard of the many chemicals that have found their way via products into our daily lives. There are a number of other articles here in the DweezelJazz blog, under Chemical Sensitivity, Asthma and Allergy, that you may find helpful.

What Makes Something Art?

In whatever form we take to express ourselves, if we include in it something unique about the way we see the world, it's an art. There are all types of art and countless mediums of expression for it.

Two things are vital to creating something that will be especially appreciated and valued:

1. some knowledge and mastery of the medium in which the expression is being made
2. instilling within that medium something unique to the way we interpret or see the world

A painter may distinguish himself or herself by perfect execution of painting technique and if it's exceptional it may win significant popularity based on that alone. But, if it contains something of its creator, it's more likely that a work of art will achieve greater meaning even if the technique used is mediocre. To be truly successful, a painting or drawing must be infused with a style particular to the individual.

This is also true, and perhaps even more obvious, for a writer. If a person writes very well, this will most definitely help to convey meaning in a more effective manner, but the meat of the art is in the message and how its delivery enhances that message. For that to be of interest to others it needs to contain some element, even if only a small one, that makes it new and appealing.

A photographer presses a button on a device that records a scene. Everyone can do that. Some can perhaps manipulate the camera technically better than others. But once a certain level of technique is achieved, the distinguishing characteristic becomes style, topics chosen, angle and emphasis.

Dancing and ballet are also extremely involved in technique and the importance of learned execution, but what makes one dancer stand out among others is what that person brings to the dancing. Acting is another example, where learning is extremely important, but the overall effect that the actor provides for the audience is very individual and entirely dependent on their ability to portray their character roles in a novel way.

It's very convenient that each one of us is unique. We may have many characteristics that are similar to others, but the mix and proportions of those elements make us who we are, and they belong to us alone. If we can hear and know that person who is us, and allow ourselves to freely draw on that essence, we all have art within us waiting to be expressed.

Apartment Living, Part II

All buildings convey character of some kind and affect us when we see them. Houses, apartments, office blocks: they all have some impact. The external part of an apartment building can very much influence how we might feel about living there.The colorful shutters, as we also saw in the Apartment Living, Part I post, brightens this facade and gives the otherwise somewhat worn look of the building a community feel and friendly atmosphere.

This front is well maintained and the focus is strongly on the balconies and windows. A balcony makes a huge difference to the experience of living in an apartment. If the balcony catches the sun then this gives the residents an opportunity to be in the sun in the relative privacy and convenience of their home.

A resident's selection of an apartment can depend strongly on whether it has a balcony, its size, and when that balcony is in the sun.




Some people decorate their balconies with lots of flowers. Tables with sun shades enhance a balcony's use as a living space in the outdoor air.








Other buildings have more of a stately look to their exterior. There's almost the impression that these balconies are more for show or giving the odd speech to passersby than for any real practical use.


The insides of apartment buildings vary enormously, even from one identical layout of apartment to another. Sometimes a modest outside can yield a beautiful indoor living space. It's impossible to guess what a person's home looks like from the appearance of the outside.

Some apartments are very high, with their window space looking down on most other buildings. The tops of trees are far below, and the ground looks amazingly distant.
Sky panoramas can be quite magnificent in such apartments. The view is almost cinematic. High apartments can be both exhilarating and also isolating because they're so remote from the ground.

Apartments that are constructed like very large houses can also be very nice to live in. Looking out, the views are similar to what they would be from an upper floor in a house. With the windows open there are all the familiar sounds of birds, people walking nearby, car doors shutting, and all the more natural sounds of being close to the earth.

There are many different places to live and many different ways to live. In crowded regions the majority of people live in apartments. Some apartments are bigger than some houses. And there are all kinds for whatever circumstances and tastes a person may have.

Basilique de la Visitation, Annecy, France Part II

Continuing from where we left off in Part I, Francois de Sales and Jeanne de Chantal are buried in the Basilique de la Visitation.











Here you can see both sides of the Basilique, with the mountains on the left, the extension of buildings on the right, and the big circular drive in front. Click on images to see larger.





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There are interesting stonework and archways, with ornate wooden doors.

















The steps leading up to the front door are impressive, as is the huge stone archway.




Looking all the way up gives a sense of the scale of the building.












The carving in the stone is beautiful.


The main door is decorative while maintaining a pleasant simplicity.









The Basilique has a grandeur that projects solidity and grace. It's possible to almost imagine a lion sitting there in its form, with the two front legs as the structure on either side of the huge front archway and the body behind as the central part of the building.






On the right of this photo is the side entrance into the Basilique. This is the one we entered. There are fabulous, huge marble columns spanning the inside. There is a feeling of large space and luxury of attention to every detail and yet there's a simple basic atmosphere to it. The coolness inside was extremely nice after our walk up the hill in the summer heat.

Part of this extension is used as a shop.






The Basilique is well worth a visit if you're in Annecy.

Jasmine Loves Attention

Jazzy loves to get head rubs.

If you ask if she wants a head rub, she'll put her head down to indicate she does. There are times when she's too busy and doesn't want to stop for one. But usually she's eager.




She's extremely cute when getting a head rub because she goes all quiet and fluffed up.
Jazzy gives kisses. She reaches out with her beak to your hand or arm or face and makes the sound of a kiss. She makes the sound often, blowing kisses from the distance, but it's heart-melting when she actually reaches out and gently takes hold of a finger, pulls it towards her, and then gives a kiss sound.


Jasmine loves receiving kisses too.

She's happy to be alive, has a huge loving heart and gives loads of love and joy (especially if she's not being really noisy).

Apartment Living, Part I

Apartment blocks are a common feature of modern times.




They provide a compact means of housing many people on one relatively small piece of land.


In areas where there's a shortage of space it's inevitable that there will be many apartment buildings.

Large numbers of people live under the same roof often knowing only a very few, if any, of their immediate neighbors. Society has come to be segmented with many people living in relative isolation to those around them. Communities used to be bound by the proximity of families, business and friends. These days many of these elements of a community are scattered over large distances and aren't necessarily present locally.

There can be great advantages to living in apartments. Some blocks have pleasant grounds where children can play safely. Heating and maintenance are usually more economical than they are for a house.Shops, schools, community centers and public transport are often located nearby.

Apartment blocks come in all sizes, shapes and colors. Some are very modern looking, others have been around a while and retain an old city look.










Some are quite glaringly dashing and impossible to overlook.








Others have a simple, quiet homely appearance.











Some apartments are mixed right in with businesses in the main part of a city.



These look more like large town houses rather than apartment blocks. And even though they're in the center of a city they have a charm that adds to their convenience.






These apartments are more in the tradition of the old town style, with shops down below. The colorful shutters add a great flavor to the outside, making it bright and fun to look at. It's surprising how the quaintness of this gives the scene a feeling of calmness; there's little clue that just round the corner is one of the busiest streets in the city.

The exteriors of apartments, and the types of buildings they're in, greatly influence the feel of a neighborhood.

For more about apartments, stay tuned for Part II.

Managing Tasks, Time and Balance

What do you do when you have more to do than you have time? Today many people live pressured lives at home and at work. If a person also has hobbies or some endeavor they wish to accomplish independent of their work, life can become very full and high-paced.

New technology was expected to reduce the amount of time people worked. Instead it has made many more things possible, and so we often spend more time on something than we would have in the past. The product of our efforts is usually more polished than its previous equivalent.

The general public is more sophisticated these days and more and more is required of businesses and employees. As the competition for jobs increases, completing work tasks often spills into what would otherwise be a person's leisure time.

A recent article in The Independent: "High-stress jobs 'double chances of depression'" illustrates the importance of managing our time and expectations of ourselves. The article reports that a "survey of young people in their early thirties has found those in high-stress jobs run twice the risk of suffering serious depression or anxiety as those in lower-stress occupations". Researchers from the Institute of Psychiatry at King's College London say that time pressure is the single most important cause of stress and of the illness it leads to.

When we have more to do than we feel we have time for, and this continues for long periods without being addressed, it definitely creates pressure. A person is induced to work harder and harder, becoming more and more tired, until eventually they're also less and less efficient. Things can spiral out of control in a cycle for which there seems to be no solution.

It can lead to a struggle in which the person doesn't ever seem to win: the accomplishments become less meaningful in light of the many things still remaining to be done.

In our high speed modern life, it's very important that we maximize our productivity. In addition, it's vital to know what our priorities are: in our daily tasks and also in our lives. Having a list of short and long term goals sets our sights on what's important to us. Once we actively pursue our goals, we need to regularly assess whether we've set ourselves reasonable aims and timescales.

Some things that can be done to manage our time and tasks:

• maintain a healthy balance between work, or serious pursuits, and relaxed leisure time
• get plenty of sleep
• exercise regularly
• figure out more efficient ways of accomplishing repetitive menial tasks
• prioritize goals lists and move some goals to a later time
• ask others for help
• if within means, hire help to do the tasks that don't need to be performed by you
• decide what aspects of life are most important and make changes to avoid blatant and ongoing conflicts of interest

Occasionally there are high pressure times, and these can be very beneficial for motivation. But if we find we're constantly pressured for time with no end in sight, and perhaps crotchety in the process, it's most likely that we need to figure out how to change our expectations.

Striving to accomplish our dreams can make for a fulfilling and happy life, but the joy of it needs to be in the everyday working towards it, otherwise it's not much use. For best results all round, life is best if it includes some fun most days. This largely depends on our choices in thought and action.

Basilique de la Visitation, Annecy, France Part I

A couple of weeks ago we had family visiting, and one of the places we went to see was Annecy. This time we also went up above the town to see the Basilique de la Visitation. (See DweezelJazz blog posts, Parts I-V for more about the town of Annecy.)



Surrounded by lots of greenery and trees we walked up the hill towards the Basilique.













It was a warm day and the cool shading over the steep stairs was very nice.











Looking up from the stairs we caught a glimpse of the Basilique.



Emerging at the top into clear sunlight this is the view.










At eye level, the stonework and arches are interesting.This section almost feels like a moat with its circular walls.















Walking a little further out and back, more of the building can be seen.


It was built in the early 1900s alongside the original monastery mother-house of the Order of the Visitation, founded in 1610 by Francois de Sales and Jeanne de Chantal.

Stay tuned to see more of the Basilique.

How Do You Want To Help The Environment?

There are all sorts of ways to do something to improve our environment. Some are easy, some are a lot of fun, others may be difficult or possibly not even feasible depending on our circumstances. But there's always something that each one of us can do. Every little bit helps, more than might at first seem so.

There are the commonly routine things that can be done, such as recycling, taking reusable bags for our shopping instead of using plastic throw-aways, changing to low-energy light bulbs.

We can remove appliances from the mains which, when plugged in, remain on and pull energy even when we're not using them: such as remote control televisions, hifis. This can be done easily by plugging these appliances into an extension cord with a mains switch on it, allowing the appliance to be easily cut off from drawing current without having to bother with pulling the plug out each time. This way the convenience of the remote control can be enjoyed when the appliance is being used, but does not remain on all the time.

When there are alternatives, we can avoid buying electrical devices that use higher amounts of energy to run than another brand or technology that performs the same function. A BBC News article on July 4th entitled: "Gadgets 'threaten energy savings'" reported that much of the electronics being bought is less energy efficient than older technology, with flat-screen TVs and digital radios being the worst offenders. When we have these devices it's clear that it's even more important to turn them off when we're not using them.

On July 25 another BBC News article reported that The Energy Saving Trust has urged retailers to stop selling outdoor patio heaters as a report shows that their use will almost double over the next year. These are being used privately outdoors at home and also people are choosing to preferentially go to cafes and pubs that use them outdoors.

These are consumer choices. If we're consumers, we can help the environment with our decisions on what and where we buy.

We can use non-toxic cleaning agents when we're cleaning. For more information see previous DweezelJazz blog posts: "Cleaning With Non-Toxic Substances" and "Chemical Sensitivity and the New EU Chemical Law". Powerful cleaning agents contaminate our air and water systems. If we minimize our use of them, there will be far less polluting of our environment.

There are lots of fun things that can be done. If you like to garden, you can set up a garden that will benefit the wildlife around you. Recently there have been a number of articles about the decline of bees; a good starting point for reading about this is a post at Patagonia's The Cleanest Line blog "Precarious Predicament for Pollinators?" Some plants are beneficial to bees, others to butterflies. And in many places both bees and butterflies are endangered. There are many varieties of gardens that can be set up. You can see a very nice example of a drought tolerant garden at Mooky's Hood in a post called "A Small View of my Garden".

If you like to go on outings, another thing that's fun to do is to volunteer to help with an environmental project. On 2nd Star To The Right there's a really great article called "SOS", which stands for Save Our Seahorses describing, with fabulous photos of the seahorses, a volunteer project to help save seahorses in Malaysia. Today another article has been posted reporting that this same area is in danger of development in petrochemical and maritime industries. If you can spare a few minutes to read the article and sign a petition for the seahorses requesting that this area be conserved, that would be another great way to do something to help the environment!

Is there something you like to do that could be combined with some effort to help our environment?