Back with a Whole New Story!

I last wrote in this blog on February 13, 2008 which, coincidentally, was my husband's 43rd birthday. At that time I had decided that if Oprah wanted to know about iCREATE and the Texas Legacy Arts Incubator, I was better served by stepping away from the keyboard and showing the world what it was all about. Since that time, quite a bit has happened. iCREATE will be part of the STELLAR campus in Manor Texas, I've gotten married and I have a new story to tell. And, yes, I still want to be on Oprah to tell it!

Let me begin by telling you that my husband, Keith Hogan, is a remarkable man. He is 43 and has Spinal Muscular Atrophy. He's outlived his doctor's predictions by about 30 years at this point. His form of the disease is Spinal Muscular Atrophy Type 2. And, his film tells a lot of the story.

He entered South Austin Hospital with pneumonia on February 18th and, due to his inability to use his hands or legs, there was somebody with him 24/7 to be sure his needs were fully covered. Any night that I didn't stay with him, his mother did. For the most part he received excellent care from caring staff. There were some notable exceptions, but that's to be expected I suppose.

Keith did not return home until May 27th bringing new accessories: a trache, a ventilator and the need for 24/7 personal care attendants. This automatically doubled our PCA expense to almost $9000/month. We attempted to get help from the state of Texas, but don't meet the poverty level necessary for Medicaid and are not wealthy enough to continue paying out of pocket.

This is where the real work became clear and where our new story begins. The story I want to share with Oprah and the world is about the shameful, unarticulated public policy of impoverishing and marginalizing people with disabilities. To deny access to all the things that make life worth living so that a person might receive moderate support from an uncaring authority is patently un-American. There is no life, no liberty and no pursuit of happiness. We provide more support to visitors to our shores than natural-born productive citizens whose only limitations are physical.

At the present time many potentially productive members of society are being warehoused in nursing homes which are funded by Federal dollars, little of which is spent on quality patient care. This can be changed by the Community Choice Act which is based on the concept that the funding follows the patient, thereby empowering the individual. We are in an election year and have two Presidential candidates who have come down on opposite sides of this issue. Senator Barack Obama is for the Community Choice Act; Senator John McCain is against it.

With her early endorsement, Oprah Winfrey brought Senator Obama to the forefront of the American political scene. Keith and I are grateful for that for many reasons, including the fact that Senator Obama has shown by his actions that he is committed to creating opportunity for all citizens whether they can raise their own hands in support or need assistance.

This is the story we want to tell Oprah.

Okay, It's Really Over....

I am not renewing my website for all kinds of reasons, mostly because my work with iCREATE is really picking up steam and I figure Oprah will hear all about me soon enough!

Ruth

A Message from Keith Hogan

I am writing to ask you for your help to bring Tariq Baig to justice.

My name is Keith Hogan and I'm a 42 year-old man, with a physical disability. I was born with a form of Muscular Dystrophy known as Spinal Muscular Atrophy, Type II, which makes it difficult for me to move on my own. The fact of the matter is that I cannot use my hands, arms or legs, so I need assistance to do everything. To accomplish this, I employ Personal Care Attendants (PCAs) to assist me in all of my daily activities. Late last year, I hired Tariq Baig as a Personal Care Attendant.

Due to my inability to use my hands and write, I have a stamp of my signature, which I use as my legal signature. Recently, I learned that Tariq Baig had taken several checks and stamped my signature to them without my knowledge or consent. He also attempted to commit identity theft. I reported him to the Austin Police Department and he was arrested & released on bail. Afterwards another warrant was issued and in fact there are now three outstanding warrants for his arrest: a felony in Austin, a felony in El Paso and a misdemeanor in El Paso.

I cannot stand the thought of Tariq Baig taking advantage of other people living with circumstances similar to mine. Any help you can offer will be greatly appreciated. Please spread the word, he must be caught!

Thank you.

Keith

The Little Enzo That Could

About a month ago my friend Pete Monfre told me about his son Enzo's new show on YouTube called Enzoology. Well that little show has really taken off and it will be getting national attention very soon!

Here's the first episode from Enzoology...be sure to check them all out :-)

It's Time for Tessa's Tale to be Told!


In 1999 I was scheduled to speak in front of a group of educators in Austin Texas about creating fantastic presentations. Like most people, I was nervous and didn't sleep well the night before the presentation. In the pre-dawn hours I had a dream about a little girl who was scared of making a presentation and how she overcame that fear. After I awoke, I wrote the dream down and saw that it was a pretty cool little story.

Five years later, in 2004, I met a very talented artist named Margaret Burns. At the time we met she was pregnant with her first child and excited about bringing a little girl into the world. About 6 months after Mia was born, Margaret noticed the lack of books with the kind of messaging that she wanted to share with Mia as she grew older. I told her about my heroine, Tessa, and she became inspired to illustrate the story.

Fast forward to 2007. Margaret has another incredible daughter named Clara and our book is written, illustrated and ready to be brought to the world. We estimate that it will take $5000 to create the final press-ready proofs and develop a website from which Tessa can tell her first tale....with many more adventures to come!

I have created a Fundable project so that Tessa's tale can be told.

Margaret and I would appreciate you checking it out...and contributing if you can!

Thanks,

Ruth

Show your Love to the World!

We have set up our first store! Now you can tell the whole world where you go to get your own hot cup of cool: CafeCaffeined.

BILLY STEVE KORPI FUNDRAISER 7.7.7

CAFE CAFFEINE, 909 W. MARY, AUSTIN 78704

Introducing The Members ProjectSM, an exciting new initiative that brings American Express® Cardmembers together to do something good for our world. Join fellow Cardmembers to dream up, and ultimately unite behind, one incredible idea.

On August 7, American Express will bring it to life with up to $5 million. Will you send vital vaccines to India? Sponsor schools in the inner city? Or fund a next generation hydrogen car? The possibilities are endless. The decision is yours.

Visit membersproject.com.

I have posted a basic summary of the iCREATE vision for the Texas Legacy Arts Incubator, a/k/a Project number 5658. Please check it out and, if you are an American Express cardmember, sign in and show your support by giving us 5 stars!

Thanks for your interest...and support.

Ruth

NadaMoo! has reached another major market....

I was shopping in Central Market tonight and was excited to see that Amy's incredible NadaMoo! is in the frozen case at the Westgate Central Market in two of the most popular flavors: LaDa Mint Chip and GaDaDo Chocolate. Which means it is in your local Central Market too!

NadaMoo! is also available in Whole Foods in the Rocky Mountain/Southwest region. We'd love to see it everywhere. So, if you've been looking for a frozen taste treat that's non-dairy, agave-sweetened, organic with the taste of premium ice cream...tell your local grocer that there is an incredible product that you deserve!

Flaunt-a-Friend Friday!

The one and only time Niya and I shared actual space was about 10 years ago in our mutual friend Alexis Kuta's converted-garage office. Although we never were in the same place again, we stayed in contact.

It was one of those meetings I'm sure you've all had. You absolutely know that you have met someone from your energetic tribe. From the first moment I met her, I was blown away by her creative energy. Then I saw her work...omg, she rocks beyond description: Fine Art, Graphic Design and personal observations on life.

Over the years, we've stayed connected through my move to Austin and her path that took her from LA, to Portland and finally to Boulder. I could go on and on about Niya, but I'm going to let her share it in her own words:

I’m interested in beauty. I love how the Italians will tolerate imperfection in most aspects of their culture except the art of the beautiful; the furniture, churches, architecture, food and wine, glass, paintings, sculpture and the men and women. They take great pride in the beauty of the country and language and want to document it as much as possible—as though it’s the last trustworthy frontier. I feel this way when I paint. It’s a place of peace; a trustworthy mirror that reaches past media, cultural impositions and my own interpretations.

I paint in themes; narrative. I don’t use brushes. I use my hands. I find that I get to the core of the subject much more easily and I enjoy the intimacy with the work that is helped by not using brushes—how easily form, line, color, and the sensuality of the paint finds its little pools of stillness and perfection. I react to color as though it is a form being sculpted. I’ve come to appreciate texture as the webbing, the undertow of feeling in the painting. The content exists through my response to the formal elements and their relationship to one another. The act of color is content enough for me.

New Year's Eve...

Well, today is the last day of the 4th year of the journey to iCREATE.

Tomorrow, April 17th, marks the 5th anniversary of my first meeting with the Texas Commission for the Arts. Since most of you haven't been here for the whole story, I thought I'd take the opportunity to give you the background today and then the update tomorrow.

Believe me, a whole lot has happened just in the 7 weeks since I submitted the contestant video to Oprah's "Big Give"...though no call from Oprah yet. But there is still 24 hours till the official anniversary time...LOL.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

RISKING IT ALL.

Here's my story:

On April 17, 2002, in a meeting at the Texas Commission on the Arts, I was asked what was missing in the Austin cultural arts landscape. I promptly answered, "an architectural artisan school." And from that simple exchange a 5-year mission was born.

Since then, I have pursued, researched, & otherwise wrangled a whole world of information into a model that has become the basis for my contribution to the social entrepreneurship arena: cultural strategy. As I define it, cultural strategy is the creation of economic development opportunities that balance community, culture & commerce. The key is to develop projects articulating how all those elements work together as the basis for sustainable growth based on shared cultural values. Example projects:

**Working to refine an economic development project in which iCREATE hopes to add to the Manor Education Foundation's vision for the STELLAR campus in Manor Texas. The overarching message of the project is "Science from the Playground to the Planetarium", promoting a creative campus model that reconnects art & science at long last!

**Invited to Kristiansan Norway in 2006 to participate in a discussion of potential cultural incubators in alignment with the iCREATE model; also developing the sister city relationship between Austin & Kristiansand beginning with an filmmaker & musician exchange program.

**Developing an urban teahouse concept which will be a one-stop shop for inner & outer health, with 10% of all proceeds committed to supporting the iCREATE model & programs.

There is quite a range, but they all capture the winning combination of community, culture & commerce, the 3 elements needed to create sustainable opportunity for all global citizens. The ultimate goal is to have this program become part of the UN's War on Poverty. I have no doubt that it will happen.

A Great Way to Fund All Kinds of Projects!


Earlier this year Molly Ivins, a local writer with national impact passed away from cancer. She had a great impact on her community and some of her neighbors are putting together a campaign to raise money for a bench in her honor in a local Austin park. I heard about this when it was posted on the HerDomain listserv last Friday and it triggered a vague memory of an online site that helps people organize that kind of fundraising.

Fundable lets groups of people pool funds to make purchases or raise money. Similar to online auctions, Fundable's pages, called "group actions," are created by people who use this site. Each group action has a description of how much money needs to be collected and what it will do. Once enough pledges (not payments) have been collected, Fundable turns them into real payments and sends the total to the group action's organizer.

No one takes a risk when making a pledge: if a group action expires before reaching its total in pledges, Fundable deletes all pledges and never charges money. This lets you participate in a group purchase or fundraiser without worrying about what other people will do. No one pays until and unless everyone else makes a pledge.

While there is no cost to set up a group action, once the group action is complete and the funds have been raised, Fundable charges a 7% handling fee for acting as the escrow agent.

I don't know if the neighborhood group will use this for the tribute bench for Molly, but I'm glad I was reminded of the organization.

rg

Flaunt-a-Friend Friday!

Today I'm super-excited to introduce all of you to my incredibly creative friend Chris Moujaes. I met Chris at a networking luncheon when he was was a mild-mannered University of Texas RTF student by day...and an animation mogul by night. Well, that's not true...he's never been mild-mannered ;-)

That was 7 years ago and he's now a creative mogul 24/7.

Chris's team includes his wife Leila Moujaes who is as charming as she is talented [in other words, incredibly so on both counts!]; Aaron Romo, creator of Fairview High; and Chris's brother Eric who keeps the whole circus in popcorn...or whatever feeds their creative muses, lol.

The Chris Moujaes Company is a complete studio enterprise, providing the best in brand communications, creative services and original entertainment content and products. They create brands, entertainment and experiences for people around the world.

Their true product is unbound creativity delivered to clients through brand communications agency, an original entertainment studio, and through our online media concerns. They are artists, designers and professionals who understand how the spirit of great storytelling coupled with inspired design can create amazing brands, products and entertainment for eyeballs everywhere.

Over the 7 years that I have known Chris, Leila and Aaron, I have been entertained by their stories, amazed by their talent and proud of their commitment to the integrity of their products. I am happy to flaunt them anytime, anywhere... especially here and now!

rg

Another Doorway to the Kind of Knowledge Shared in "The Secret"

I have worked with Lauren O'Connell here in Austin since January 2005 within the holographic repaatterning discipline. In that time I have personally experienced quantum growth in all areas of my life. I have happily recommended the process to all kinds of people, usually after they ask me what I'm doing that is making my life work so well! Each person has their own experience of the repatterning work, however all who try it feel the difference their lives and notice how people & situations that are no longer on their energetic vibrational level just seem to disappear, lol.

Chloe Faith Wordsworth is the creator of Resonance Repatterning [also known as holographic repatterning] which evolved after more than two decades of experience working with clients in her private practice and teaching students in her seminars in the U.S. and abroad, Chloe believes that we can "self-heal" for attaining extraordinary possibilities in our relationships, health, and vitality, and that we can apply the Holographic Repatterning model for tangible results in any field of endeavor.

A Message from Gail Noble Glanville about A Timely New Book

What people say about writing a book is true: there is nothing that clarifies your thinking more than having to put your ideas into words that will stand the test of time. While Chloe is in India for a well-deserved retreat, I’d like to tell you about her new book and the inspiring gifts its creation will bring to you.

The visionary writer and teacher, Barbara Marx Hubbard, wrote in her latest newsletter: “We have discovered that “resonance,” that is resounding or echoing back the highest consciousness of our being to one another, is vital to our conscious evolution.” In other media, even on Oprah’s TV show, I have read and watched as people discuss the theories behind The Secret, What the Bleep and the Law of Attraction. Wayne Dyer in his new tour titled “Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life,” discusses the benefits and wisdom of aligning yourself with universal energies, i.e., moving into resonance with the coherent frequencies of the unified field.

All of this activity means that Chloe’s new book, Quantum Change Made Easy, is coming to market this June at a perfect time in our history. What makes the book, and our sophisticated Resonance Repatterning system, so very timely is the way they anchor the theories described above, showing everyone how to put them to practical and effective use and align with universal energies whenever they need.

Chloe’s discovery that people actually resonate with what they don’t want and don’t resonate with what they do want, directly affects the Law of Attraction. Positive thinking and visualizations become even more effective when an unconscious resonance with the frequency of limitation is neutralized; when resonance with the open and flowing frequencies of love are activated through the sound, color and light of creation, in other words, through our modalities. Then the door is opened wide for the grace of quantum change to enter.

What I really appreciate about this book is how clear and grounded the theories of resonance, coherence, quantum change, kinesiology, patterns and modalities have become in the final version. I like how the book’s narrative thread ties them all together in step-by-step chapters so you as the reader–-through instruction, heart-warming stories, and interactive how-to actions–-experience your own upward shift in resonance.

This is much more than Chloe’s moving journal of discovery; it is a self-help book of the best kind. Because of Chloe’s dedicated efforts to create a breakthrough system for personal transformation, we now have tangible means and steps to improve our resonance and create our own conscious evolution. As Jim Oschman writes in the Foreword: "There is no work more significant for these times."

I’m telling everyone I know that when they want to transform their experience of life, it’s time to open this book and start reading!

rg

Flaunt-a-Friend Friday!

Sean Thompson is an amazing guy. He has spent his entire life truly living the words of an unknown philosopher: “Don't wait for your ship to come; swim out to it.”

He started his career earlier than most. Sean spent most of the 90's on business travel, and when he was actually home in Austin he exhausted most of his time getting caught up at the office. Issues at home and with family or friends often took the back seat. When he had down time to spend, unfortunately it usually went towards errands and the ever elusive to-do list. Flying off to a well-deserved vacation after another big client gig, Sean had a major epiphany: if he was the unofficial "go to" guy for friends, it was time for him to be that guy for clients. He spent the rest of the flight and ensuing vacation writing his business plan. When he landed back in Austin, Four Star Service was born.

Four Star Service has evolved over the years into a diverse suite of assistance services suitable for just about anyone, with any lifestyle and on any budget. Whether their client is an executive, a homemaker a vibrant senior--or all of those things--Sean and his team will tailor a plan to assist in productivity or relieve stress and free you up to enjoy the life that you're working so hard to create.

So, do yourself a favor, add one more thing to the top of your to-do list: give Sean a call. He and the team at Four Star Service will take that list out of your hand and free you up to do more important things, like enjoy your life!

Whatta Wednesday!

Just a quick post. Cafe Caffeine has taken a solid lead in the Austin360 poll for the best coffee shop!

Thanks to everyone for helping us get to the top!

The poll is still open and we're still voting...go Team Caffeine!

rg

"I had to have this weird thing about trying to illuminate the collective unconscious and help humanity."

I first met Bill at Nottingham Elementary in Houston Texas. He was far from the average 3rd grader. We shared a few classes and G-H homeroom through high school. I remember seeing him at the Comedy Annex in Houston when we were teenagers, then again when I was in Austin after college on a visit back from my life of waitressing & sailing in St. Thomas. The last time I saw him was at Igby's Comedy Cabaret in West Los Angeles while I was living in Santa Monica. Many people knew him better than me through those years, but I always knew that we had some odd connection. After his death in 1994, I learned alot more about his philosophical take on life and how deeply he connected to the infinite. The quote above is something I've used on my email signature since I've been on this iCREATE journey. It knocks me out with it's depth and simplicity. And every time I ready it, I can hear Bill saying it with a mix of resignation and hope.

Not everyone got to know Bill Hicks before he left the planet, but I recommend immersing yourself in his legacy. It's chilling how current his message is 13 years after his death.

[Just to add to the randomness of it all, our coffee shop, Cafe Caffeine is across the street from Alex Jones of Info Wars fame. Both Bill's & Alex's sites are connected to Sacred Cow Productions, which is the brainchild of Kevin Booth who has kept the Hicks legacy alive.]

rg

Flaunt-a-Friend Friday!
Pliny Fisk III, Austin's own "Godfather of Greenbuilding"

I first met Pliny about 4 years ago at one of the Center for Maximum Building Potential's monthly open houses I attended with mosaic tile master Craig Lopez. I didn't know a whole lot about greenbuilding or methods for environmentally-conscious living at that time, but soon became fascinated with the incredible environment that Pliny and his partner Gail Vittori had created out on FM969.

Back in 1975, while serving as assistant professor at the University of Texas’ School of Architecture, Pliny co-founded the CMPBS, an independent non-profit research and educational firm that concentrates on the interrelationships between the built and natural environments with a focus on sustainable community and local economic development.

The center’s broad agenda includes work and research in the areas of environmental planning and policy, environmental hazards, sustainable community planning in underrepresented communities, environmental justice, green architecture and construction, sustainability theory, materials science, life cycle assessment, building systems, and patent and product development.

Since the center's inception, Pliny has had a pivotal role in moving this agenda forward in four areas: architecture, master planning, participatory gaming and quantitative methods.

“CMPBS' body of work reflects the importance of recognizing the international protocols of life cycle assessment, geographic spatial analysis, and the footprint representation of sustainable technology as not limited to purely technical methods, but as a basis for public and client awareness and understanding” Fisk explained. “This new interpretation and visualization framework accepts interoperability between diverse disciplines as key in the creation of iconographic sequences, pictorial computer modeling, and infinite scaling procedures that literally interconnect the actions taken at the home level to those at a national or international level.”

A project exemplifying CMPBS’s work in these areas was the co-development of BaseLineGreen™, a modeling tool used to establish the environmental and economic baselining of generic building types. The center used this methodology in several green specification projects including work for the Pentagon Renovation Program in Washington, D.C., the NIST EpiCenter in Bozeman, Mont., the UT/Houston Health Science Center in Houston, Texas, and Seattle Green Building initiatives in Seattle, Wash.

CMPBS architecture projects include the internationally published Advanced Green Builder Demonstration and the Laredo Demonstration Farm. Additionally, the center developed an ecological land planning procedure, “Eco-BalancePlanning™,” which it has employed in master planning projects totaling more than 11,000 acres.

With CMPBS, Fisk has received several national and international awards including the United Nations’ Earth Summit Award, presented in 1992 at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro Rio. The award recognized the center’s work with the city of Austin in creating the world’s first Green Builder Program. He has received the American Solar Energy Society’s 2000 Passive Solar Pioneer Award, the first Sacred Tree Award for “significant contributions to the advancement and transformation of green buildings in the public sector” from the U.S. Green Building Council in 2002, and the Presidential Team Award for contributing to the plan for moving towns relocated by the Mississippi Flood.

You can read more about Pliny in popular magazines such as Dwell and Metropolis. Or check out his team website for the U.S. Department of Energy's 2007 Solar Decathlon to see his brilliance in action!

rg

We Have Faith!

Well, at least we have one of her handworked metal water features right outside of Cafe Caffeine. When Jeff Lewis founded the cafe in 2005 he wanted a unique element that would epitomize free flowing creative energy of South Austin and Faith Schexnayder did an amazing job. You can see more of her work at Flatfork Studio; if you're in the neighborhood, just look for the giant foam chicken outside her studio...she won't be far behind.

At Cafe Caffeine, we also have faith that we will get the 100 votes we need to make our coffeehouse #1 in the Austin 360 reader's poll for best coffeehouse in Austin. If you get a chance, please stop by the website and cast your vote for the South Austin tradition of good coffee and free flowing creativity!

rg

I just met Hillary Clinton!

Well, the big event was tonight and we got to meet Senator Clinton. She was quite stylish, very gracious and obviously deeply committed to her work. The event was hosted by a long time friend of hers from back in "Texans for McGovern" campaign days and it felt like we were just joining a conversation they had begun 30+ years ago.

I didn't fully know what to expect of the evening. We are inundated with media images of political figures, usually in some heightened, pressured, stressful environment. Or in a completely modulated formal setting. I had some thoughts about Senator Clinton formed by mass media; but I also have a friend who has known her for over 30 years and says he can't think of a finer person to have as our President. Another friend's mother lives in Buffalo New York and cannot say enough nice things about the Senator and what she's done for the 'real people' of upstate New York. I was fortunate to meet President Clinton in 2005 when he was in Austin signing his book so I knew that Hillary Clinton had to be his equal for their relationship to have lasted so long in such a pressure cooker.

What we saw tonight was a strong, smart, thoughtful woman who is fully committed to her principles. She was accessible, interested and had a much softer energy than is generally portrayed in the media. She took time with everyone, whether they were on the catering staff, old friends or new supporters. In her speech she spoke passionately about getting back to the principles of Americans; in her actions, she proved it was more than just words.

There is still a long campaign ahead, however tonight made me feel hopeful that it wasn't just another egotistical fight to the finish for the moneyed class. Rather, it's got the potential to be a reawakening of the American dream for those who had come close to giving up on that potential for themselves and their families.

rg