#Preserving cultural diversity through Goal 15

[greenthestral]

Preserving Life on Land: Achieving Sustainable Development Goal 15

Goal 15 of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is focused on ensuring life on land, recognizing the importance of preserving and restoring ecosystems, promoting sustainable land management, and halting biodiversity loss. With the global population steadily increasing and human activities placing unprecedented pressures on terrestrial ecosystems, achieving Goal 15 is crucial for the well-being of both present and future generations. This article delves into the significance of Goal 15 and highlights key strategies and actions needed to protect and restore life on land.

The Importance of Goal 15 for a Sustainable Future

Goal 15, "Life on Land," holds immense significance as a fundamental pillar for sustainable development. Terrestrial ecosystems encompass a wide array of habitats, including forests, grasslands, wetlands, and deserts, each playing a vital role in supporting life on Earth. These ecosystems provide essential services that are critical for human well-being and the overall health of our planet.

One of the primary services provided by terrestrial ecosystems is the regulation of essential resources such as clean air, water, and soil fertility. Forests, for instance, act as "green lungs" by absorbing carbon dioxide and releasing oxygen, contributing to the purification of the air we breathe. They also act as natural filters, regulating water quality by capturing and filtering rainfall, replenishing groundwater reserves, and preventing soil erosion. Furthermore, healthy soils support agricultural productivity, ensuring food security for communities around the world.

Beyond the provision of essential resources, terrestrial ecosystems also support biodiversity and cultural diversity. They serve as habitats for countless species, many of which are yet to be discovered or understood fully. Biodiversity is crucial for maintaining the resilience and adaptability of ecosystems, as each species plays a unique role in the intricate web of life. Moreover, diverse ecosystems offer valuable opportunities for recreation, tourism, and cultural practices, enriching our lives and connecting us to our natural heritage.

Unfortunately, unsustainable land use practices pose significant threats to terrestrial ecosystems. Deforestation, driven primarily by agricultural expansion, logging, and infrastructure development, leads to habitat loss, fragmentation, and degradation. As forests are cleared, countless species lose their homes, pushing them closer to extinction. Moreover, the destruction of forests and other ecosystems disrupts the delicate balance of ecological processes, such as nutrient cycling, pollination, and seed dispersal, which are essential for the survival of ecosystems and the species they support.

Climate change further exacerbates the challenges faced by terrestrial ecosystems. Rising temperatures, altered precipitation patterns, and more frequent extreme weather events pose significant risks to biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. Many species are struggling to adapt to these rapid changes, leading to population declines and local extinctions. The impacts of climate change also contribute to land degradation and desertification, further compromising the productivity and resilience of terrestrial ecosystems.

By achieving Goal 15, we can address these pressing issues and protect the invaluable services provided by terrestrial ecosystems. Safeguarding biodiversity is crucial for maintaining the functionality and resilience of ecosystems. Preserving intact forests, restoring degraded habitats, and establishing protected areas are essential steps towards achieving this goal. These actions not only offer refuge to endangered species but also contribute to the preservation of genetic diversity and the restoration of ecological balance.

Moreover, achieving Goal 15 contributes to poverty eradication and the promotion of sustainable agriculture. Many communities around the world depend on healthy terrestrial ecosystems for their livelihoods, relying on agriculture, forestry, and other natural resources for income and sustenance. Sustainable land management practices, such as agroforestry, organic farming, and regenerative agriculture, can enhance productivity while minimizing the environmental footprint. By prioritizing sustainable agriculture and providing support to local communities, Goal 15 can foster economic resilience and ensure the well-being of both people and the planet.

Furthermore, achieving Goal 15 is crucial for the resilience of communities and economies that rely on healthy terrestrial ecosystems. Ecosystem services, such as water regulation, flood control, and climate regulation, are essential for reducing the vulnerability of communities to natural disasters and climate change impacts. By maintaining intact ecosystems, we enhance the capacity of landscapes to withstand and recover from environmental shocks, ensuring the long-term well-being and stability of communities.

Goal 15: Life on Land is a vital component of the Sustainable Development Goals, addressing the urgent need to protect and restore terrestrial ecosystems. By safeguarding biodiversity, preserving essential ecological functions, and mitigating the impacts of unsustainable land use practices and climate change, we can maintain the delicate interconnectedness between all forms of life on Earth. Achieving Goal 15 not only contributes to the preservation of our planet's natural heritage but also promotes poverty eradication, sustainable agriculture, and the resilience of communities and economies. It is an imperative task that requires collective efforts and the integration of sustainable practices into our daily lives and policy decisions. Only through our commitment to Goal 15 can we secure a sustainable future where life on land thrives for generations to come.

Preserving Biodiversity and Halting Deforestation

Biodiversity is the foundation of life on land, and protecting it is crucial for maintaining healthy ecosystems. One key aspect of Goal 15 is halting deforestation and restoring degraded forests. Deforestation not only contributes to greenhouse gas emissions but also disrupts ecosystems, displaces indigenous communities, and threatens the habitat of countless species. Governments, organizations, and individuals must collaborate to implement sustainable land-use practices, promote reforestation initiatives, and strengthen protected areas to conserve and restore forests.

Additionally, preserving biodiversity extends beyond forests. It involves protecting endangered species, conserving habitats such as wetlands and grasslands, and curbing the illegal wildlife trade. Ensuring the effective management of protected areas and promoting sustainable use of natural resources are vital components in achieving this goal.

Promoting Sustainable Land Management and Combating Desertification

Sustainable land management is essential for ensuring the productivity and resilience of terrestrial ecosystems. Degraded lands, soil erosion, and desertification pose significant challenges to achieving Goal 15. Land degradation not only affects agricultural productivity but also exacerbates climate change impacts, water scarcity, and food insecurity.

To combat these issues, sustainable land management practices such as agroforestry, conservation agriculture, and integrated watershed management must be adopted. These practices help restore soil fertility, reduce erosion, and enhance water retention capacity. Furthermore, promoting sustainable land management techniques can create employment opportunities, improve food security, and mitigate the impacts of climate change.

Addressing Climate Change and its Impact on Terrestrial Ecosystems

Climate change poses a severe threat to life on land. Rising temperatures, altered precipitation patterns, and extreme weather events can disrupt ecosystems, exacerbate desertification, and increase the vulnerability of species and communities. To achieve Goal 15, it is crucial to mitigate and adapt to the impacts of climate change.

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions through renewable energy adoption, transitioning to sustainable agricultural practices, and promoting afforestation and reforestation efforts are vital steps in combating climate change. Additionally, enhancing the resilience of ecosystems and communities through nature-based solutions, such as the restoration of mangroves and wetlands, can provide multiple benefits, including coastal protection, carbon sequestration, and the preservation of biodiversity.

Promoting Sustainable Consumption and Production Patterns

Consumer choices and production practices significantly impact terrestrial ecosystems. Unsustainable consumption, overexploitation of natural resources, and pollution contribute to land degradation and biodiversity loss. Achieving Goal 15 requires transitioning towards sustainable consumption and production patterns.

This can be accomplished through various means, such as promoting circular economy principles, reducing waste generation, adopting sustainable agricultural practices, and embracing eco-friendly technologies. Additionally, raising awareness among individuals and businesses about the environmental impacts of their choices and encouraging sustainable alternatives can drive positive change.

Conclusion

Goal 15: Life on Land is a critical component of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals, aiming to preserve and restore terrestrial ecosystems, protect biodiversity, and combat land degradation. By halting deforestation, promoting sustainable land management, addressing climate change impacts, and embracing sustainable consumption and production patterns, we can ensure the long-term viability of life on land. Achieving Goal 15 not only benefits the environment but also enhances human well-being, promotes socio-economic development, and contributes to the overall sustainability of our planet. It is our collective responsibility to work towards a future where life on land thrives, and every individual can play a part in realizing this goal.

[realtorjamier]

Things to Do in January in the DMV 2024!

Start the new year with a First Day Hike or a New Year’s Day 5K! Too cold for your liking? Stay warm inside The Kennedy Center while enjoying Disney’s “Frozen” Broadway production. Holiday revelry may have passed, but there’s no need to hibernate in January.

Disney’s Frozen The Kennedy Center 2700 F St NW Washington, DC January 1 – 21 An unforgettable theatrical experience filled with powerful performances, sensational special effects, stunning sets, and costumes, Frozen is a spectacular Broadway musical playing for a limited time at the Kennedy Center.

New Year’s Day 5K Maybe you’ve overindulged over the holidays. Get a running start on a healthy 2024 by running a 5K on New Year’s Day! Fredericksburg, Ashburn, Reston, Gaithersburg, Arlington, and several other cities in the D.C. area will offer up their streets for a cold-weather frolic into fitness. Click on the link above to search a location near you, or check out these links for races in these cities: Arlington, Va. Ashburn, Va. Fredericksburg, Va. Gaithersburg, Md. Reston, Va.

First Day Hikes If hiking is more your speed, check out the First Day Hikes (ranger-led or self-guided) available as part of a nationwide initiative led by America’s State Parks. First Day Hikes in Maryland First Day Hikes in Virginia First Day Hikes in West Virginia January 1

Winter Lantern Festival Lerner Town Square 8025 Galleria Drive Tysons, Va. January 1 – February 12 Experience a dazzling landscape of lights! Over 1,000 Chinese lanterns – all handmade by artisans – display their light and warmth for your amazement and for great photo ops!

Twelfth Night at Kenmore Historic Kenmore 1201 Washington Ave. Fredericksburg, Va. January 5 – 7 View dramatic scenes by costumed actors in the first-floor rooms of Kenmore with special musical performances by Colonial Faire. Experience the candlelight, music, and decorations of a colonial Christmas  – and the uncertainty of Revolution.

Women Soldiers in the American Civil War National Museum of Civil War Medicine 48 East Patrick Street Frederick, Md. January 6 Civil War scholars explore an unusual and courageous group of soldiers seldom discussed in the annals of Civil War history. Although women were forbidden by social custom and army regulations to enter military service in the Union and Confederate armies, a surprising number of women disguised themselves as young men and “went for a soldier.” Come learn about the best documented of these woman combatants.

Interfusion Festival Crystal Gateway Marriott 700 Richmond Hwy. Arlington, Va. January 11 – 15 “Building resilience is what enables us to not only rise, but ultimately, thrive.” Founded in 2016 under The Institute for Integrative Wellness, this festival includes educational offerings in positive psychology, meditation, and expressive arts. The Interfusion Festival aims to bring awareness of practices that may help combat mental health crises.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day Celebration Richard Montgomery High School 250 Richard Montgomery Drive Rockville, Md. January 13 This year celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day in a meaningful way. This Rockville event will showcase a panel discussion with city and county justice, equity, diversity and inclusion professionals. You can also watch a screening of the award-winning documentary “Finding Fellowship” followed by a Q&A discussion with Rev. Gerard Green, enjoy a drum performance by Soul in Motion, and sign up for service projects through a variety of nonprofit organizations participating in the Salute to Nonprofits. For the kids: a performance by Groovy Nate.

Super MAGFest Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center 201 Waterfront Street Oxon Hill, MD January 18 – 24 MAGFest (Music And Gaming Festival) celebrates video game music, gaming, and the gaming community with the goals of education, appreciation, and preservation of the culture and history of video games. The event runs 24 hours a day and offers consoles, arcades, tabletop, LAN, live video game cover bands, chiptunes, vendors, guest speakers, and more.

Washington Auto Show Walter E Washington Convention Center 801 Mount Vernon Place, NW Washington, D.C. January 19 – 28 Discover the future of transportation as electrifying innovations take center stage. This show promises an immersive journey into the world of electric mobility through the brand-new DC eDrives Experience at the 2024 Washington, D.C. Auto Show. The Washington, D.C. Auto Show is the largest public show in the nation’s capital.  

Monster Jam Capital One Arena 601 F St., NW Washington, D.C. January 27 – 28 Check out the action-packed motorsports with world-class driver athletes competing in intense competitions at Monster Jam. The trucks’ engines generate 1,500 horsepower due to a supercharger that forces air and fuel into the engine. The Monster Jam Pit Party (requiring a separate admission ticket) allows you to see these massive trucks up close and participate in Q & As with the drivers.

[neliakablog]

Exploring the philosophy and deep message in the 41st Denny Ja’s strongest light

In the 41st birthday celebration, Denny Ja’s strongest light has inspired and provided many in -depth messages to the people of Indonesia. The event which was held on August 15, 2022 presented a variety of stunning art offerings and inspirational speeches from famous speakers.    Denny JA’s strongest light, or often referred to as CT DJA, is an annual event held to commemorate the birthday of Denny JA, a leading intellectual and motivator in Indonesia. Through the theme “Exploring Philosophy and In -Deposits”, this year’s celebration aims to deepen our understanding of the values carried by Denny JA.    Philosophy is a branch of science that studies the origin and meaning of life and knowledge of reality, truth, and existence. In the context of the 41st Denny JA’s strongest light, philosophy became the main pillar that guided every message to be conveyed.    One message that we can learn from the 41st Denny Ja’s strongest light is the importance of freedom of thought and expression. In his speech, Denny Ja emphasized that this freedom is the right of every individual to express his opinion without fear or being restrained by the limits that should not exist. Denny Ja invites us to always dare to speak and think critically, and appreciate the various perspectives that exist.    In addition, Denny Ja’s strongest light also teaches us about courage and endurance. In this life, we will face various challenges and obstacles that test courage and resilience. Denny Ja reminds us that courage does not mean that he does not have fear, but dare to move forward even though fear. Resilience, on the other hand, teaches us to stay strong in dealing with difficulties and not giving up easily.    In addition to the message, Denny Ja’s strongest light also highlighted the importance of the values of togetherness and justice. In this growing world, togetherness is the key to achieving common goals. Denny Ja stressed that every individual has an important role in creating a more just and harmonious society. Without justice, there is no true peace and a peaceful life.    In the event, many famous Indonesian artists participated with extraordinary art offerings. Through dance, music, and visual art, they describe the in -depth message that Denny Ja wants to convey. Art provides a new way for us to understand and appreciate the beauty and complexity of the world around us.    Denny Ja’s strongest light is also a place to celebrate the diversity of Indonesian culture. In every art offerings, we can see how rich and a variety of Indonesian cultural heritage. Denny Ja invites us to maintain and preserve this cultural wealth, as well as respect the differences that exist.    In his conclusion, the 41st Denny Ja’s strongest light celebration has given us many philosophies and in -depth messages that we need to explore. Freedom of thought, courage, resilience, togetherness, justice, and cultural diversity are values that can shape a better society. Through art and inspiration from Denny Ja, we can continue to strengthen and illuminate the path of our own lives.

Check more: Exploring philosophy and in -depth message in the strongest light Denny Ja to 41

[doomonfilm]

Ranking : Gus Van Sant (1952-present)

I was somewhat familiar with Gus Van Sant prior into taking the deep dive through his catalog, but he was certainly a man that I thought I had a handle on.  I knew he had more than a few amazing films under his belt, but the recent years had not been kind to him (see the shot taken at him in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back).  I knew that he was from the Pacific Northwest (Oregon specifically), and his coming of age in an area that embraces weirdos and outsiders had an impact on him as a human and as a creator.  I knew that films like Milk and Good Will Hunting had taken Van Sant to the highest heights, while the collective panning of films like Psycho and Last Days served as valleys in a career full of glorious peaks.

What I came to discover, however, was a man with genuine creative integrity, and lots of it.  I found a director who understood his characters and actors on a human level, and shared them with viewers in ways that helped rich connections develop.  I saw a director who was not afraid to make those that society often considers outcasts the  emotionally rich and important centers of his narratives.  I watched Gus Van Sant present, explore, develop and refine his style over deeply independent and infamously studio-driven projects, giving all experiences as much care and attention as he was able.  I saw films I was familiar with find placement behind films I was new to, I discovered that his recent creative years have not been as kind to him as the first two-thirds of his career, and I can see that there still may be a bit of a smolder left in his creative fire.  

Ranking directors is a labor of love, but by no means do I consider myself the definitive professional on film canon.  I enjoyed all of the Gus Van Sant films I watched on some level, and as always, for those brave enough to interact, I’d be curious to see where you would make adjustments to the list.  But enough introduction talk, let’s get into what you folks came for!

17. Restless (2011) There are things about Restless that I want to love without judgement.  First and foremost, Mia Wasikowska is an absolute treasure who shines in this performance from the earlier portion of her career.  The portrayal of Hiroshi is one of the more subtle, substanced and interesting ways of using a ghost within the film framework.  As minor a thing as it may be to the casual moviegoer, some of this film’s technical aspects are astounding, specifically the costuming and the lighting choices.  Where the film distracts me, and therefore drops in these rankings, is where it takes the YA approach to the romantic drama, with a healthy dose of manic pixie dream girl energy thrown in for good measure.  When it comes to displaying romance on-screen, be it teenage or otherwise, there are no expectations, even for a director with a distinct style.  Where my issues arise are in the way that death is handled in this film… while I do understand that not every film has to be a distinct statement for a director (especially a film written by another individual), Gus Van Sant had already established a very mature approach to the subject of death, and the way that death and the manic pixie dream girl aspects are intertwined feels more on the amateur side than I am comfortable with for a Gus Van Sant film.  Maybe giving the impossibly troubled young man a muse with an expiration date as his way to find the best version of himself is a stroke of genius that provides a gateway for deep commentary on the concept of the manic pixie dream girl, but the film is so approachable and not the type to bare teeth (be it satirically or otherwise) that I doubt there is any subtext to its intention.  For that reason, this film finds itself on the bottom half of the Van Sant canon.

16. Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot (2018) After the critical and box office disappointment that was The Sea of Trees, director Gus Van Sant had quite the hill to climb with his next film, and with his adaptation of Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot, it seemed he was able to right those respective ships.  Strangely, the film failed to connect with me, and as far as I can tell, it seems to be the victim of an “all sizzle, no steak” scenario.  The film is certainly a showcase of a very diverse cast, and based on both the flashback-based and group therapy approach to the story, there are a wealth of opportunities to create memorable moments.  Unfortunately, and perhaps due to an oversight on my end, I failed to find enough substance during my viewing of the film to prop up the parade of moments.  What it felt like I was left with, sadly, was a Simple Jack-level approach to conveying a paraplegic-centered story, which undercut the fact that the film is actually telling the true story of cartoonist, artist and musician John Callahan.  That’s not to say that the film doesn’t have it’s positive aspects, such as the John Callahan illustrations and the animated versions of his work, but those positive aspects feel sparse in comparison to how much the film relishes in what feels like Oscar bait.  If nothing else, see this film for Jonah Hill, because it took me much longer than it should have to recognize him, partly due to his impressive weight loss and partly due to how dedicated he is to achieving the film’s period look.

15. The Sea of Trees (2015) Death is no stranger in the films of Gus Van Sant, but I don’t feel that it would be bold to state The Sea of Trees deals with death in the most direct manner.  For those that subscribe to grief having stages, this film accounts for all of them in some way, shape or form during the course of the narrative as we watch Arthur Brennan fall apart and rediscover himself in the wake of losing Joan Brennan, his wife.  Placing the film in Aokigahara (aka the "Japanese suicide forest") not only gives the film a sense of natural beauty, but a foreboding sense of dread and despair as well.  The core cast is as strong as any found in a Van Sant film, with Matthew McConaughey, Ken Watanabe and Naomi Watts all turning in solid performances.  Sadly, the film falters in one very core aspect : sympathy for the protagonist.  I found myself feeling very bad for Joan Brennan as I watched her arc, and despite knowing nothing about Watanabe’s character portrayal of Takumi Nakamura, I found myself sympathetic to him based solely on what he was emoting.  Arthur Brennan, however, is interesting in all the wrong ways… he is extremely cold and purposefully flat when introduced, the moments we share with the Brennans only seem to show Arthur finding joy at the expense of Joan’s pride, his view of the loss of his wife (and his world view in general) seem to be extremely self-centered, and when he does show heroic attributes they are rooted solely in self-preservation.  Perhaps if Van Sant had not already made such eloquent reflections on death via The Death Trilogy and Paranoid Park, The Sea of Trees could have been seen in a different light, but when you set such a high bar for your work, returning to stereotypical storytelling can feel flat and uninspired.

14. Last Days (2005) Last Days is a film with a weird energy and aura surrounding it… in some ways, it feels like the most performative film not only of the Death Trilogy, but out of the entire Gus Van Sant catalog.  At the risk of using too negative an adjective, it also feels the most exploitive, though neither of these observations are necessarily meant to be a knock against the film.  The Death Trilogy could not help but be exploitive at its root, as each film was inspired by an infamous death event, and with Michael Pitt’s Blake meant to be an avatar for Kurt Cobain, it would be simple to take the film at face value for some sort of glamourized and idealized fictional retelling of his tragic final moments, not to mention a few stylistic nods to iconic Cobain-related imagery.  What that viewer would be missing, in my opinion, is a film looking to make some familiar points on outsider culture (specifically alternative rock and roll counterculture and addict culture) minus all the glamour and shine.  While Blake’s house is grand, it’s decrepit and in a state of disrepair… despite it being isolated, expected and unexpected guests arrive constantly, not to mention an intrusive ringing phone that connects Blake to outworld obligations… Blake has a number of people living with him, but he almost never interacts with them.  Michael Pitt is done up to look so similar to Kurt Cobain that much of the narrative background is implied, and what we are left with is the Death Trilogy style implemented and fused onto a loose leaf narrative with just enough structure to let the supporting actors have isolated memorable moments while we watch Pitt’s Blake decay in the ways that many of us Cobain fans ruminated on in the wake of his sudden and tragic death at the height of his tortured popularity.

13. Gerry (2002) At the risk of sounding cliché, Gerry may be the most fascinating film in Gus Van Sant’s canon.  It marks a clear and definitive break in convention from a director that seemingly never cared too much for convention anyway.  Multiple aspects of this film make it extremely unique : both characters referring to one another by the same name (though Gerry eventually evolves into an all-purpose non-specific descriptor), a seemingly absent narrative, a shared goal between the characters literally referred to as “the thing” in order to purposely keep viewers in the dark and, perhaps most importantly, a deliberately methodical pacing that pushes even seasoned film lovers to the limits of their patience.  The film is beautiful, and that is a fact that cannot be denied… the painterly shot compositions of our characters in the isolated desert, the unfathomably long tracking shots that pull us deeper off the beaten path and the sonic stillness (due to a largely absent score that is replaced with the sounds of nature) either commit you fully to the experiment or come off as massively pretentious.  To view the film through that secondary lens, however, is to miss the point of it all.  Once it is understood that Gerry marked the entry point for Gus Van Sant’s Death Trilogy, you began to realize that Van Sant, in tandem with Matt Damon and Casey Affleck, are giving us an understanding of how we should view the trilogy, and how open-minded we should be in processing what is given to us, like some early high-concept version of what Quentin Dupieux would later go on to master in a more abstract manner.

12. Mala Noche (1985) It’s fitting that this was a feature-length debut from a driven and working director, as it has a very distinct look and feel to it that immediately lets you know you’re dealing with an innate storyteller and someone who has spent time observing the human condition.  In terms of visual and narrative balance, Gus Van Sant utilizes what feels like a mix of John Cassavetes and Jack Kerouac, respectively.  Van Sant’s use of titles in the film is striking, specifically in terms of the handwritten opening credits and the Dr. Pepper ad copy used to subtitle the Spanish language dialogue.  Focusing so heavily on immigration and homosexuality in 1985 is a bold choice, especially as neither group had yet to benefit (even if only minimally) from the onset of politically correct culture policing.  While the film was more than likely shot in black and white due to budgetary constraints, the infusion of somewhat modern elements (for the time) gives it a youthful and forward-thinking energy.  Having a film of this nature lean so heavily on multilingual and multicultural elements is refreshing, and even more impactful when examined under the boorish and (at times) tone deaf application that humanizes these elements.  For all of these aspects of the film, however, when examined at the pure narrative foundation, what we find is a story about how love can blind us from the reality we inhabit, and how we often choose to ignore the obvious when romance and romanticism enters the picture.

11. Psycho (1998) Of all the films in the Van Sant catalog, perhaps the bravest, boldest and most baffling entry is his nearly shot for shot remake of the iconic Alfred Hitchcock thriller and cinematic game changer Psycho.  Remakes were certainly not a new or unheard of practice at the time of the Van Sant Psycho release, but most directors opt to put significant twists or updates into their retelling of most remakes, and most films chosen do not hold the lofty stature and position that Psycho does when it comes to remakes.  Van Sant’s approach not only made viewers keenly aware of just how direct the homage was, but in some places, modern touches were added in very subtle ways to make the movie more palatable for modern audiences, including more salacious references to sexuality, sound design choices in both the diegetic and symbolic realm, and even an update or two to iconic scenes meant to make us much more uneasy with the Vince Vaughn portrayal of Norman Bates.  The actors cast were all famous and respected enough to keep the film’s timeless feeling in-tact, even if the remake could be taken as its own weird and warped project.  Personally, I’ve always loved this remake, and taken it as an experiment on the highest commercial level, and a signal to all that Van Sant (at the time) was done with the traditional approach to filmmaking and concepting.

10. Paranoid Park (2007) While many movies centered around skateboarding spend their time and design budget trying to make the outsider nature of the practice look “cool”, Paranoid Park spends its time making sure that the isolation, deep focus and rebellious attitude that come with skateboarding were more authentic than they were appealing.  High school is already a very taxing and polarizing section of juvenile development, and based on your perception at the time, the weight that the world unloads on you can feel wholly unbearable.  Perhaps this is what makes Paranoid Park such a tense film… that natural teenage angst is already imprinted into the film (and amplified due to the casting of relative unknowns), but Gus Van Sant’s signature use of alternative film stocks, obscure soundtrack and expressive, layered sound design but you square in Alex’s head from the opening moments.  As the narrative unfolds, we realize that Alex is not only dealing with standard-issue teen stress, but has unwillingly found himself involved in the type of events that change an individual’s world.  This film plays well as the first film post-Death Trilogy, as it deals with the gravity of mortality head-on much like the aforementioned three films, but does so from an adaptive stance rather than one based on true events.  If you’re a fan of skater flicks, movies with strong teen acting, or little-known Gus Van Sant gems, then Paranoid Park is a gem waiting for discovery.

9. Finding Forrester (2000) Gus Van Sant has always had a way with stories that dive below the surface of the human experience and condition, so it makes sense that his attempt at a New York-based movie about people living in “the hood” would cover an array of topics with masterful subtlety, specifically the topics of race relations, generational gaps and the blurry line between education and exploitation.  The casting on this film is extremely strong… then newcomer Rob Brown gives a riveting and dynamic lead performance, it’d be harder to cast a more perfect curmudgeon than Sean Connery, and appearances by F. Murray Abraham, Anna Paquin, Busta Rhymes and a Matt Damon cameo all stand out.  Speaking of Damon, Finding Forrester shares a similar energy to Good Will Hunting, but the proximity of release ultimately held Finding Forrester from finding its proper audience (no pun intended).  I wish I had more to say about this film outside of my personal feelings and connections to the story (which I will save for a dedicated deep dive in the future), but Finding Forrester is one of those films that has no trouble speaking for itself.

8. Promised Land (2012) As of the point that this blog post was created, this film stands as the last of the great Van Sant creations.  There is something about the Gus Van Sant approach to filmmaking that works best with “salt of the Earth” types, and with Promised Land being centered around the practice of fracking, much of that down-home nature is immediately baked into the story.  Speaking of the story, the film was co-written by the characters who ended up being the protagonist and antagonist of the picture, respectfully, which created an electric main dynamic that served as the spine for many other strong dynamics present in the film.  In terms of the cinematography, much of Van Sant’s bold approaches and stylistic shifts are absent, save for a few beautiful bird’s eye view perspective shots that give you a real idea of what rural America looks like.  Van Sant is no stranger to stacked casts, but he gets some truly top notch names to take part in this affair, and true to the clout behind these names, the performances are as stellar as they are believable and natural.  The film also touched a nerve with the actual oil industry due to some of its comments on fracking, despite it not having the reach or success of other Van Sant films.  While possibly an indicator that Van Sant would be making a stylistic shift, Promised Land still manages to capture what makes Van Sant his best self in terms of not only presenting real people, but topical and important situations.

7. Milk (2008) Gus Van Sant is clearly no stranger to having representation for the gay community in his films, so it makes sense that one of the hallmark films in his canon would center around gay rights activist and politician Harvey Milk.  Much like JFK crystalized Oliver Stone, or Spike Lee was raised to another echelon by Malcolm X, Van Sant found a second round of Academy Award-level validation via this biopic while solidifying himself as a creative who could go back and forth effortlessly between big budget studio films and independent projects.  With Sean Penn giving one of his signature chameleon-like performances and leading the pack, this Van Sant production is filled with tons of burgeoning talent who have since gone on to make names for themselves in the industry, including the likes of Emile Hirsch, Diego Luna, James Franco, Alison Pill and others, plus a standout performance from Josh Brolin (who also depicted George W. Bush in the same year for the aforementioned Stone).  While it may not be the most technically marveling film of Van Sant’s career, it is clearly one of his most important, and the way that it handles the messages it intends to share is as confident as it is even-keeled, which is important for a film that could have easily become a soapbox for espousing personal beliefs and political agendas.

6. Even Cowgirls Get the Blues (1993) This Gus Van Sant adaptation of the famed author Tom Robbins novel shares the same creative energy of films like Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Natural Born Killers, Harold and Maude and so on in the sense that it is a very expressive film with a very specific idea it is looking to present.  Where the aforementioned films explored ideas of free love taken to the extreme, the toxicity of media, love without judgement and so on (respectively), Even Cowgirls Get the Blues puts femininity and identity outside of the male gaze squarely in its crosshairs.  Uma Thurman takes on the role of Sissy with wide-eyed zeal, floating through a series of hitchhiker-based adventures until her reluctant visit to the Rubber Road Ranch helps her find the missing piece of her puzzle.  Seeing a bizarre, star-studded tale of a woman finding her agency sounds like it would work on the surface, but from what I could find, the film failed to make a connection with audiences and is considered a commercial and critical failure (which is probably why it was the toughest film to track down on this list).  That being said, I’m a sucker for films that catch a bad rap, especially when the combination of such a unique director and visionary author are the foundation of it, because it makes me curious about why I find connection where others did not… who knows, maybe it was those extremely distracting rubber thumbs (the only real knock I can make on the film), or maybe the Tom Robbins style is tough to transfer from page to screen, but for my money’s worth, I can see the vision.

5. My Own Private Idaho (1991) Somewhere within the intersection of films like Midnight Cowboy and Fight Club lies My Own Private Idaho, an extremely personal and nuanced film that covers many topics with depth and an ease that comes with wisdom and experience.  For example, when it comes to views on identity, we get two rich narratives that could easily both be their own film : Mike (portrayed by River Phoenix) is going through a crisis of identity based on a sordid history with his mother and absentee father that makes his search for love transform into a life of hustling as a way to find momentary intimacy; meanwhile, Keanu Reeves (who plays Scott) is an entitled young man awaiting an inheritance that decides to spend the time until it happens “slumming” with those many would consider the outcasts of society, much like the “tourists” spoken of by Edward Norton’s narrator in Fight Club.  The struggle with masculinity in the face of homosexuality is all over this film, from its multiple male on male connections to the very toxic manner that the core group interacts with one another, when they are not grieving or putting their livelihood in danger via petty crimes.  In terms of Van Sant style, the film is one of his most innovative (outside of the film holding the top spot) in terms of looks, with its unique range of colorful title cards, the pinhole vision that Mike uses on his road, or even the standout magazine rack sequence.  The film is also a perfect follow-up to Drugstore Cowboy, and could easily double feature with it to this day.  As someone not wholly familiar with Shakespeare’s Henry plays, I did not catch that My Own Private Idaho was an adaptation, so I will not only have to revisit it with that familiarity in tow, but  I will have to take a look into James Franco’s re-cut, My Own Private River, as well.

4. Elephant (2003) Based solely on the nature and definition of a trilogy, a second film can make or break things.  Gerry and Last Days share similarities in how quiet and isolated they are, so it makes sense that Elephant, part two of Van Sant’s Death Trilogy, would in many ways be the meat of the trilogy sandwich in terms of style and thematic substance.  Elephant operates on several distinct levels based on Van Sant’s observations of the world going into the new millennium, as the film allowed him a foundation for both experimentation and examination by proxy.  While the long takes and vast amount of distance traveled during said takes was present in all three films of the trilogy, Van Sant made a concentrated effort to make the shots look and feel similar to that of video games like the later Grand Theft Auto entries, hence a number of the shots being positionally locked during travel (often times a few feet behind the character at the center of that moment’s focus).  There are ramp-downs of the frame rate to punctuate certain moments, and quite often the camera is thrown on a tripod and allowed to take in the array of high schoolers living their standard life.  It is this mundane world-building aspect that not only gives the viewer a rapid but deep look into a handful of character’s lives, but it gives you a sense of the school’s social hierarchy while forcing you to reflect on where you once stood within it.  Per the film’s clever title, the elephant in the room eventually appears in the form of Eric and Alex, the pair of school shooters meant to reflect the Columbine Massacre perpetrators.  While school shootings weren’t an unknown phenomenon going into the 2000’s, Elephant became prophetic in its vision by releasing right before the numbers started rising at an alarming rate on these incidents.  In that sense, Elephant holds the dual distinction of not only being one of Van Sant’s best films, but one of his most important.  I will soon be looking into the 1989 Elephant film as well.

3. Drugstore Cowboy (1989) The power of Drugstore Cowboy as a modern-day narrative tragedy about the epidemic of prescription drugs, the dark allure of crime and the oddball way that broken people find solace in one another is immediately evident to anyone who has had the pleasure to see Gus Van Sant’s studio directorial debut.  Where the film really stands out however, in my opinion, is the way that Van Sant is able to achieve his major studio look while deeply applying a very artistic and personal aesthetic to the cinematography and editing.  The traditional looks are interspersed with the use of different film stocks, subtle blends of animation and flashes of stylistic edits that were almost certainly an inspiration for Darren Aronofsky’s “hip-hop editing” style.  Add to this an incredibly intuitive and expressive core cast driven by the chemistry between Matt Dillon and Kelly Lynch (and a very early Heather Graham supporting appearance), plus a strong appearance by the always memorable Max Perlich, a fiery James Remar performance and an iconic cameo from William S. Burroughs.  The jazz-influenced score not only makes key scenes livelier, but it is a symbolic statement on the drug use depicted in the film, while simultaneously playing counter to the soundtrack choices.  Period, point-blank, Drugstore Cowboy is the kind of film that surely put the world on notice, and was a clear signal of the magnificent work that would follow.

2. Good Will Hunting (1997) If held up to the standards of what people consider to be good (or even classic) film, Good Will Hunting more than holds up to scrutiny.  Visually there are a small handful of flourishes, and having Elliot Smith’s music accompany Will’s painful but enlightening journey has only become more of a bittersweet sting as the years go by.  In terms of performances, everyone brought their A+ game to the table, be it the leading performances of Matt Damon, Robin Williams or Stellan Skarsgård, the supporting performances of Ben Affleck or Minnie Driver, or even the engaging nature of Cole Hauser and repeat scene stealer Casey Affleck.  After a flurry of dedicated fandom viewings in the years following this film’s release, a very long period away from the film where I had leagues of personal growth, and a revisitation for this set of rankings, what I have discovered is that Good Will Hunting presents a wish fulfillment fantasy that was nearly incapable of being a reality in the pre-internet age for anyone other than a character like Will : an undiscovered genius with a degree from the school of hard knocks.  In a world where people often wish they had the correct answer to every question, the looks and personality to be a social magnet, and the ability to back up any tough talk with stone hands, Will Hunting stood as an idealized example you wished you could peel off the screen and have some beers with.  As the internet has invaded our lives, however, most everyone has turned into a keyboard version of Will Hunting, looking for fights online when not having briefly intimate Google sessions to flex our supposed knowledge.  Much like Will, many people find that the knowledge minus the wisdom of worldly experience and vulnerability leaves you a shell of a person filled to the eyeballs with regret, and perhaps that is why this film only gets better as the years go by, and remains among the best of the Van Sant creations.

1. To Die For (1995) For the longest time, I avoided To Die For simply because I was not a fan of Nicole Kidman…  the vast majority of her roles held no interest to me prior to To Die For (it took Eyes Wide Shut for me to really start paying attention to her), and because she was so key to the film, there was never a sense of urgency about seeing it.  As time went by, however, I started to hear rumblings that To Die For may have been a bit ahead of its time, to the point that technology and social practices have caught up to some of the ideas presented in the film.  I finally watched it for this ranking set, and man, I really missed the boat on this one.  Plain and simple, this film is pure genius on every level.  The presentation starts off documentary-esque, which not only allows for expedited distribution of backstory information, but immediately gives you an idea for the personalities of our key characters.  Kidman’s portrayal of Suzanne stood as the textbook example for what has become commonly known as sociopathy, with her blind desire for fame and respect leading to a wake of human destruction.  In terms of narrative pacing, the film proceeds like a match dropped at the endpoint of a long gasoline trail, slowly drifting towards the eventually point that everything blows up and damage must be assessed while blame and accountability must be handled, resulting in a truly powerful ending more than deserving of the heavy lifting that precedes it.  The 24-hour news cycle was on the horizon in 1995, daytime talk shows and MTv’s The Real World had not shifted into the reality TV landscape that we know today, and while a few high profile cases such as the Menendez Brothers and Pamela Smart trial (the loose inspiration for this film) had happened, the bombshell and watershed trail that was the O.J. Simpson murder case was hot on the heels of To Die For’s release (the same month, actually).  Stylistically, the film also bears striking resemblance to an updated version of Sunset Boulevard, be it knowingly or not.  Long story short, the best films not only comment on the times in which they are created, but gain relevance as time passes, and To Die For handled both of these things phenomenally.

[blacklinguist]

bling’s notes #1: where have all the languages gone?

initially, i thought of doing a more cohesive summary for these chapters. but as i tend to post handwritten notes (and not easily readable), i thought i would just throw up my notes from my reading of vanishing voices through this semester. i may or may not make separate posts about what i write, but please feel free to engage with anything i put down. :-] bolded points are for my own clarity for assignments

Language death is occurring more rapidly in the last five hundred years (Ubkyh, Manx, Catwaba Sioux). Even 100 years can be the difference between a thriving language, and a dead one. page 2

Languages begin to die once younger generations do not speak it at home in lieu of another dominant tongue. In the case of Esenc, his sons did not speak his, but Turkish. Irish was a stable language, with the third greatest collection of literature after latin and greek in west europe, but lack of home usage has brought uncertainty to the language's future. page 4

point 1 : The terms of language death. do languages die naturally ? should we characterize these extinctions as murders ? linguicide? (language suicide also noted, but that places the onus on the community, where most times, it is the devouring from another language that wipes out a community // self correct: natural disasters / disease can also contribute). death is not random nor sudden page 5 & page 7

el salvador in 1932, stopped speaking native tongues to not be identified as indigenous, but that contributed to a loss of heritage (page 5)

point 2 : linguistic diversity = cultural diversity, conversely, linguistic homogenity is cultural homogenity page 7

Paraguay only south american country with indigenous language retained by most of population, guaraní (page 8)

diversity in language study gives us more information about the linguistic and cultural experiences that humans have had worldwide page 11

smaller languages lend themselves to more grammatical complexity, especially when retained with in group communication (no need for 'simplification' for the masses?, can be more detailed with ideas) .. likened to jargon in subject circles to be more accurate (page 12)

point 3: do plants / animals hold more weight over languages when it comes to preservation ? are languages not seen as sacred? (page 15)

usefulness of language = west economic value (page 16)

the privilege of monolingualism, and the unsurprising and violent emergence of english as the world's lingua franca (page 18) // unity in tongue is not unity in thought

Rupert Murdoch responsible for spread of Hindi through asian tv channel Star (page 19)

politics are involved in eventual language death, stemming from linguistic persecution through laws (page 22)

point 4: page 23 : to preserve ourselves, our language, our heritage, is a selfish goal ... challenging that ... why is it selfish to preserve ourselves ? who are we if we are not ourselves ? if we do not care for ourselves ? how can we tend to others if we do not also tend to our own needs? there must be a boundary for caring for oneself vs indulging oneself ALWAYS before someone else // this seems like a privileged stance, especially when there are so many peoples fighting for their languages to be left alone, fighting for validity, fighting for the chance to raise their children in their own tongues.

where is the public perception of the importance of preventing language extinction, allowing those on the brink to be saved, and ending the persecution of languages that are not the Big 3?

[amariaethebigirl]

5 LGBTQ+ Advocates for Teens

1. Ose Arheghan, 18 (they/them) // Twitter

When Ose Arheghan started openly identifying as queer in the eighth grade, the microaggresions they faced motivated them to make their school safer for LGBTQ+ students. They volunteered on their high school’s cultural proficiency subcommittee, and they wrote a series about sexual and racial diversity for their school newspaper. This earned them the Student Advocate of the Year Award at the 2017 GLSEN Respect Awards. Now, as a student at Ohio State University, Ose works with Advocates for Youth to champion sexual health education and reproductive justice for young people.

2. Emi Salida, 19 (she/her) // Twitter

With her YouTube channel, Emi Salida is trying to be the kind of resource that she needed as a 16-year-old. Her videos provide information and personal stories about being asexual, which Emi hopes can make people feel less alone in their sexuality. Emi has raised awareness for asexuality and advocated for its inclusion in the LGBTQ+ community through work with media outlets like Cosmopolitan and HuffPost.

3. Ella Briggs, 11 (she/her) // Blog

Connecticut fifth graders elected Ella Briggs as their 2019 Kid Governor following her campaign to promote LGBTQ+ youth safety. She’s been working with her Cabinet on a guide for students starting gay-straight alliances (GSAs) at their schools, a poster contest to bring awareness to homeless LGBTQ+ youth, and a teacher webinar to train educators on LGBTQ+ issues. Her next goal? Becoming the country’s first lesbian president.

4. Ashton Mota, 15 (he/him)

Last year, Ashton Mota became a public face for Massachusetts’ “Yes on 3” campaign, which aimed to uphold a state law that provided protections for transgender people. Ashton shared his experiences as a Black and Latinx trans teen navigating an elite private high school, where he fought for the right to use his preferred name and play on the boys’ basketball team. He’s currently a youth ambassador for the Human Rights Campaign, and he uses his platform to advocate for LGBTQ+ people of color.

5. Kota Babcock, 18 (he/him) // Twitter

Kota Babcock received the Pedro Zamora Young Leaders Scholarship for his HIV/AIDS-related activism. As an intern with All the TEA, Kota fights the stigmas and stereotypes associated with HIV/AIDS in his home state of Colorado. He’s currently a student at Colorado State University, where he’s studying journalism with the goal of “preserve[ing] the legacy of those who fought and lost their lives to HIV/AIDS.”

[ayearinfaith]

𝗔 𝗬𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗶𝗻 𝗙𝗮𝗶𝘁𝗵, 𝗗𝗮𝘆 𝟰𝟴: 𝗛𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘂𝗶𝘀𝗺

“When we think of the Hindu religion, we find it difficult, if not impossible, to define Hindu religion or even adequately describe it. Unlike other religions in the world, the Hindu religion does not claim any one prophet; it does not worship any one God; it does not subscribe to any one dogma; it does not believe in any one philosophic concept; it does not follow any one set of religious rites or performances; in fact, it does not appear to satisfy the narrow traditional features of any religion of creed. It may broadly be described as a way of life and nothing more.”

-Supreme Court of India, from 1995 ruling on the minority religion status of Ramakrishnaism

Hinduism is an indigenous faith of the Indian subcontinent, currently practiced by over 15% of the global population and the world’s third largest religion. It is one of two surviving modern traditions to evolve directly from the historical Indo-European faith, the other being Zoroastrianism. The internal diversity of Hinduism is very high and has been likened by some to the use of “Abrahamic” as a single term for diverse traditions such as Judaism, Islam, and Christianity. The word “Hinduism” was coined in the early 19th century and comes from the ethnic term “Hindu”, itself derived from the name of the Indus River, located in modern day Pakistan.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗩𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗰 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻

Like with Shinto or Old Norse religion, indigenous faiths of Japan and Scandinavia, pre-modern Hindus were unlikely to have perceived themselves as being members of a religion. What would become Hinduism was simply their culture. Developments in self-identification have largely developed alongside the development of and need to distinguish from other traditions in India, most notably Buddhism and Islam. One of the earliest possible identifiers would have been “Vaidika” or “Vaidika Dharma”: the “way of the Vedas”. The Vedas, whose name literally means “knowledge”, are a collection of ancient scripture, some dating back as far as 1500 BCE. Though the beliefs of the Vedas have significant differences with modern Hindu denominations, perception of the Vedas as a source of truth is generally considered to be the defining feature of Hinduism, distinguishing it from other indigenous Indian faiths such as Buddhism or Jainism. Because of this direct and still active connection to 2-3000+ year old texts, Hinduism has often been called the world’s “oldest religion”. That said, the faith of the ancient Vedic people was quite different from the modern traditions. Many of modern Hinduism’s most venerated deities, such as Shiva, Vishnu, or Ganesha, are either absent from the Vedas, exist as alternate names for other gods, or are quite minor deities. Most prominent are gods like the king of the gods, Indra, and the fire god Agni, all of whom are generally easy to relate to the deities of European pagans. Aside from the Vedas the most important and universal Hindu scripture are the Upanishads and the Puranas. The Upanishads are actually a part of the Vedas, albeit the final layer of them, written in the second half of the first millennium BCE, by which time more familiar versions of figures like Vishnu and Shiva had emerged. From these come many core Hindu concepts such as Ātman (eternal soul) and Brahman (universal consciousness). The Puranas are a hug and diverse body of literature from which most of the legends and genealogies of the gods and the universe are derived.

𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗽𝘁𝘀

A significant difference between Hinduism and Buddhism is the belief in an eternal soul or Ātman. All living things have an Ātman, and when we die the Ātman is reincarnated in a new body. Escaping the cycle of reincarnation is seen as a type of salvation called Moksha. Though generally considered the ultimate “goal” of Hinduism, Moksha is only one of four concepts knows as Puruṣārtha, literally a “spiritual/human pursuit”. The other three are Dharma (righteous and ethical behavior, literally “path/way”), Artha (wealth, or means, also conceived of as purpose), and Kama (physical pleasures). Artha and Kama are seen as necessary for a fulfilling life, though they should never go against Dharma, and all is done in pursuit of Moksha. Karma, literally “deed” or “act”, is a concept of causality between reincarnations. Doing good deeds will cause someone to be reincarnated into a better life, while bad deeds have the opposite effect. One of the greater Hindu virtues is Ahimsa or non-violence and is applicable not just to humans, but animals and plants. This is the reason behind widespread vegetarianism in India, and also a source of conflict between Hindus and Muslims: the Islamic method of animal slaughter, Dhabīḥah, is seen as a slow and painful death in direct opposition to the Hindu method, Jhatka, which literally means “instantly”. In addition to the cycle of reincarnation, the concepts of illusion and truth are core to Hinduism. Truth in this context is Brahman, the universal consciousness and/or ultimate reality. Brahman is the supreme force in Hinduism, generally seen all pervasive and singular. The reality we perceive is ultimately an illusion, a concept called Maya. Enlightenment in Hinduism is the ability to perceive through Maya and into the true Brahman. The role of the gods in Hinduism is complex; sometimes they are supreme forces and sometimes they are just powerful superhuman entities. Often both is true, with the gods being emanations of each other and ultimately of Brahman itself. The Om, written in Devanagari as “ॐ” is one of Hinduism’s most recognizable symbols, and represents the primordial cosmic sound of the universe.

𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗗𝗶𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀

As has already been stated in this post, Hinduism is incredibly diverse. Academics and philosophers, from within India and without, have made many valiant efforts to categorize the various threads. The most widely used currently differentiate by which god, or gods, have been elevated to supreme status. Though functional, use of these terms should not be thought of in the same vein as Christian denominations, like Methodist or Catholic, which have relatively clear and exclusionary division. A Hindu person may or may not identify with one, or multiple of these divisions, or may consider themselves of an altogether different traditions or prefer a different system of division altogether. The four major denominations are as follows:

𝗩𝗮𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗻𝗮𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗺

Vaishnavism is the largest Hindu denomination, and is estimated to cover 2/3rds of the Hindu population, though an exact number is impossible to gather. Vaishnavism is named for and elevates Vishnu, the preserver god, to the status of supreme consciousness. The doctrine of ten avatars is a core belief, and the epics 𝘔𝘢𝘩𝘢𝘣𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘢 and 𝘙𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘺𝘢𝘯𝘢 are important texts.

𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗶𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗺

Shaivism is the second most popular denomination and probably originated in Dravidian South India. Shaivism elevates the destroyer god Shiva. Shaivism is best known for its asceticism and Yoga. The aniconic Lingam is one of its most recognizable artifacts.

𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗸𝘁𝗶𝘀𝗺

Shaktism is the worship of the supreme feminine energy, Shakti. The varied Hindu goddesses, or Devi, are collectively worshiped as emanations of this supreme force, especially Parvati, Kali, and Durga. The Hindu esoteric and mystic tradition, Tantra, is most common in this denomination.

𝗦𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝘀𝗺

Smartism is named for the Smriti texts, basically any scripture that is not the Vedas (or Upanishads). Smartism holds all gods in equivalents status, though generally portrays a council of five: Ganesha, Shiva, Vishnu, Shakti, and Surya. Smartism distinguishes the supreme consciousness, Brahman, into a Saguna Brahman, “Brahman with attributes”, and a Nirguna Brahman, “Brahman without attributes”. Put simply, the chosen deity is a face given to the universal consciousness as a means to understand it. Any deity can serve this function, and the more enlightened the practitioner becomes, the less they need this tutelary Saguna Brahman and can realize the true Nirguna Brahman. Smartism is seen as a syncretic tradition, developed as a means to bring disparate traditions together.

𝗔 𝗕𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗳 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗔𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱

This has been one of the most difficult posts I have yet to write. Deciding what to include and what to omit was incredibly difficult. I wrote, deleted, and rewrote this several times. Doing research was difficult and as it turns out the internet is full of Hindu voices with a lot to say. Just to give an example, Wikipedia itself is full with meta-pages with editors striving against each other for what I would describe as the “least incorrect” version. In the end my aim was simply to give what I felt was as brief and general a post as I could write and still give an effective overview of the basic ideas and terminology one can expect to encounter when speaking about Hinduism. Even after all this, I feel like I have failed at that. However, at some point I have to stop writing this and move on for the sake of this series, and that point is now.

Image Credit: I could not determine the source, though I believe this is an Om encircled by the Om Nama Shivaya mantra. If you are able to find or know the source, please let me know.

[carnegiemuseumnaturalhistory]

A Journey to France to Uncover the Mysteries of the Carnegie’s Grand Staircase

The Carnegie Institute has been in existence for 125 years and is one of the greatest architectural buildings ever designed in Pittsburgh. In 1985, Carnegie Institute President Robert Wilburn invited Dr. Cynthia R. Field, the Smithsonian’s Architecture Historian, to assess the artistic value of the museum. He asked, “what do you think is the most valuable specimen or painting in the museum?” She said, “The Building Itself is the Greatest Object of the entire Museum Collection” (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1: Carnegie plaque

The internationally-famous architect, I.M. Pei, who designed the Louvre’s glass pyramid that sits in the Louvre’s central courtyard in Paris, France, opined, “Architecture is the very mirror of life. You only have to cast your eyes on buildings to feel the presence of the past, the spirit of a place; they are the reflection of society.” In 2018, Architecture Digest ranked the Carnegie’s Grand Staircase the 8th best museum staircase in the world. The Grand Staircase was built by the Pittsburgh architectural firm of Alden and Harlow at the apex of America’s Gilded-Age building boom. During my research, I discovered that the architects employed multicolored classic marbles and fossil limestones in the interior design from Algeria, Croatia, Greece, France, Ireland, Italy, and the United States. The commission to build the Grand Staircase in 1907 incorporated two classical French fossil limestones in the columns and pillars, floor tiles, steps, walls, balconies, and water fountains. This monumental Beaux-Arts style staircase is modeled after the L‘Opéra Garnier ‛a Paris, Grand Staircase in France, c. 1875, and was visited by a French Delegation with Andrew Carnegie (Fig. 2). The architecture described as Beaux-Arts was taught at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, from the mid-19th century until 1900. It drew upon the principles of French neoclassicism and used modern building materials, i.e., iron and glass. And as such, it became a preferred architectural style in the United States from 1895 until 1910 in cities such as, Boston, Chicago, New York City, Pittsburgh, and Washington D.C.

Fig. 2: French delegation and Andrew Carnegie

In 2019, The Carnegie’s Grand Staircase and Music Hall Foyer were recognized in the book La pierre de l’Échaillon Une histoire locale, une renommée international for the use of Échaillon jaune (yellow) ornamental stone in the museum’s columns, pillars, and walls (Fig. 3). This book was published by S.P.I.A. (Sauvegarde du Partrimoine Industriel d’Autrefois, a historical society founded by Jean Paul Rey, president) (Fig. 4).  In the book, they describe how a small French village of l’Échaillon, pronounced Esh-ee-own, received recognition for its white marble (a limestone) used by famous French architects in 64 classic buildings and sculptures from 1875 to the early 20th century (Fig. 5).  I first met Jean Paul in October of 2016, when I was invited to give a presentation at an S.P.I.A. meeting on my research on the Carnegie’s l’Échaillon.  The meeting was held in an old schoolhouse in the village of Saint-Quentin-sur-Isère, Département de Isère, in southeast France.

Fig. 3: The Grand Staircase

Fig. 4: Jean Paul Rey and Albert D. Kollar

Fig. 5: Book cover

The French Limestones in the Carnegie’s Architecture

The Carnegie building stones research project progressed significantly, once we obtained the digital images of the architect’s blueprints from the Carnegie Museum of Art’s Architecture Department. With the assistance of my co-authors, Rich Fedosick and Kay Hughes of the Section of Invertebrate Paleontology, we examined the blueprints to understand the architects Marble Index terminology (Fig. 6). Eventually, we were able to interpret and recognize the location of the two French limestones based on the Marble Index letters, E for Échaillon and H for Hauteville. From a nonscientific perspective, the architects considered the Carnegie’s interior stones to be marbles. However, the geological definition of a marble is when a rock defined as a limestone or dolomite is subjected to high heat and pressure from geologic forces forms a metamorphic rock.  The six stones listed in the Marble Index as marbles, are limestones, a sedimentary rock enriched with fossil seashells. The characteristic rudist fossils and yellow color that distinguish the Échaillon stone are found in the 18 pillars and the 22 columns that rise 3.8 meters or 12.5 feet about the Grand Staircase, and in the walls of the Music Hall Foyer (Fig. 7).

Fig. 6: Marble index E and H letters

Fig. 7: Échaillon fossils

The other French limestone used in the Carnegie is Hauteville. This limestone was quarried from the Plateau d’Hauteville in the Ain Department, in eastern France. I visited this quarry in 2016 to investigate the geology of the quarry operation, to uncover evidence of the common fossil snail Nerinea in the quarry rock (Fig. 8), and to learn more about the cultural history of the region (Fig. 9).  The Hauteville limestone was used in the Grand Staircase walls, balcony features, water fountains, vestibule steps, and as floor tiles. Other locations include, the Hall of Sculpture and Hall of Architecture floors, the walls along the grand hallway, the Music Hall vestibule floor, the Founder’s Room vestibule floor, the floor and steps in the Smoking Room (now offices), the Forbes Avenue vestibule entrances to the music hall, carriage drive, and museum and fine arts. Moreover, the Hauteville floor tiles are distributed throughout the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh main entrance corridors. The Hauteville stone is beige in color and contains many visible fossils, none more distinctive than the robust Nerinea, a 12.7 cm/5-inch-long snail that serves as the index fossil for the limestone identification (Fig. 10).

Fig. 8: Hauteville Quarry fossil snail

Fig. 9: Hauteville directional signs

Fig. 10: Nerinea snail in Carnegie floor

Introduction to the l’Échaillon Carrières

There are three carrières or quarries in the Vercors cliffs located in the Isère River Valley that were excavated for White Echaillon or “Echaillon blanc,” Yellow Echaillon or “Echaillon jaune,” and Pink Echaillon or “Echaillon rose” during the 19th and early 20th century (Fig. 11).  These unique color combinations became popular for various interior and exterior architecture features in 194 buildings in western Europe, North Africa, and the United States. In 2016, Jean Paul Rey and members of S.P.I.A. led me on a field trip to the abandoned classic l’Échaillon white quarries (Fig. 12). We explored what is thought to be a 2,000-year-old Roman quarry and walked through a maze of underground caverns and narrow tunnels that contained abandoned mining equipment.  The other two Echaillon carrières are located several kilometers south in the small villages of Lignet, where the Pink Echaillon was quarried (Fig. 13) and Rovon, where the Yellow Echaillon was excavated (Fig. 14).

Fig. 11: Echaillon quarries locations, S.P.I.A.

Fig. 12: Visit to Echaillon

Fig. 13: Lignet Quarry Marker

Fig. 14: Rovon quarry

Cularo, Grenoble, and the white l’Echaillon stone

A fortuitous discovery was made by S.P.I.A. for their book while searching for evidence of the white l’Echaillon in the Gallo-Romans era 4th century Cularo or Grenoble, France today. In the Saint Laurent crypt that is preserved many meters below the modern-day street level tramway, a white capitol on top of a white limestone column was identified as l’Echaillon. This white capitol stone is presumably from the Roman quarry adjacent to the white l’Echaillon underground caverns. When Emperor Gratian ruled the Roman Empire from 367 to 383 A.D., he renamed Cularo after himself. Cularo thus became Gratianopolis, which through a later phonetic shift became Graignovol and then Grenoble. Although hard to find among the narrow streets and passageways of Grenoble, is a section of a Roman wall that once encircled Cularo, a portion of which is protected by a fence. This historic wall can be seen at Passage Sainte-Claire on the corner of Rue Lafayette, in the central city of Grenoble (Fig. 15). I suspect some of the white cobbles embedded in the wall may have their origin from the white l’Echaillon Roman quarry. Undoubtedly, more research will be necessary to make an affirmative conclusion.

Fig. 15: Roman wall

“Geology of the l’Échaillon Carrières”

The drawing of a new geologic map on the l’Echaillon carrières by Professor Thierry Dumont of the Université Grenoble-Alpes, confirms stratigraphically, the ages of the three limestone quarries. Among the three, the white Echaillon limestone is late Jurassic in age, whereas the pink Lignet and yellow Rovon limestones are early Cretaceous in age. The formal geologic name for the rose and yellow limestones is the Urgonian Formation. Fossils are abundant in the three limestones. Dr. Claudie Durand of Le musèum d’Histoire naturelle de Grenoble (Fig. 16) curated a diverse collection of 163 species of invertebrate fossils from l’Echaillon first published in 1919. Geologically, the three limestones were deposited in the tropical Tethys Seaway a circum-equatorial ocean of the Mesozoic Era. The strata form the Vercors carbonate platform, a buildup of late Mesozoic rudist (bivalve mollusk) reefs spanning 25 million years of evolution from (late Jurassic 140 million years ago to early Cretaceous 165 million years ago) (Fig. 17).  

Fig. 16: Dr. Claudie Durand

Fig. 17: Rudist (bivalve) reef fossils

The Rovon carrière provenance and fossils

The primary goal of this research is to define the geology and authenticate the specific provenance of all marbles, fossil limestones, sandstones, and the singular igneous granite rock used in the Carnegie building. The search for the provenance of the Carnegie’s yellow Echaillon was initiated in December of 2017 by Jean Paul Rey, when we were introduced to the Forman of the modern-day Rovon quarry. After a long discussion about our objectives, he granted permission to visit the old quarry. As darkness fell, we met with a local farmer who directed us to the quarry location in the Vercors cliffs that rise some 538 meters above his snow-covered field (Fig. 18).  

Fig. 18: Verors cliffs and old Rovon quarry

In October of 2018, the S.P.I.A. team pre-arranged to have several 4-wheel trucks transport ten people including Professor Fabienne Giraud-Guillot of the Université Grenoble-Alpes to the Rovon quarry. We ascended the long steep road that ended some 500 m from the main quarry. Surprisingly, the quarry was filled with massive limestone boulders that were cut by mechanical wire saws from the cliff rock (Fig. 19). Such large boulders make it virtually impossible to break with small hammers. For actual fossil collecting purposes, it is better to search for smaller size rocks to break apart (Fig. 20). This past October, transport to the Rovon quarry riding in a 55-year-old Russian built farm tractor was a treat (Fig. 21). And the fossil collecting was a success with 21 complete specimens collected for the museum of the diagnostic Caprina rudist bivalve clam (Fig. 22). The shape of these fossils closely resembles the fossils preserved in the Echaillon limestone in the Grand Staircase and Music Hall Foyer. Additional geologic data is being reviewed by colleagues from the Geology Department at the University of Zagreb in Croatia and the University of Ireland at Galway.  

Fig. 19: S.P.I.A. team

Fig. 20: Collecting fossils

Fig. 21: Russian tractor

Fig. 22: Caprina rudist clam

“Carnegie’s Grand Staircase in the 21st Century”

A study published this month by the BMJ, formerly The British Medical Journal, suggested that “when people of all ages participate in the arts and visit museums once a month or even every few months, they are likely to be more engaged in the world and may actually live longer.” Years ago, the Oscar winner actor Russell Crowe was in Pittsburgh, and he was asked what he did on his days off. In reply, he said, “I ride my bicycle to look at buildings and the architecture of the city.” I. M. Pei states, “Architecture brings people together.” I agree.

Maybe it’s time to reconsider how the Carnegie’s Grand Staircase is promoted to the public at large. For instance, the current arrangement of the free-standing dioramas situated on the first floor, awkwardly impede the flow of patrons walking among the pillars, columns, and the taking of photographs of the Grand Staircase.  Moreover, the placement of these dioramas detracts from the visual enjoyment of the famous John White Alexander multicolor murals. An artistic feature of the murals is their connection to the stone colors to enhance the first and second floors architectural features. The best vantage points to see this fabulous spectrum of color is from the third-floor balcony looking down to the first and second floors.

The Carnegie Museum of Art (Museum of Fine Arts) will be celebrating its 125th Anniversary in the fall of 2020. The Grand Staircase was designed as the showcase entrance to the Museum of Fine Arts for Pittsburghers of the early 20th Century. One hundred and twenty-five years later, perhaps, this world-class space can once again establish a new generation of museum patrons and become the destination as a place to be for its cultural and intellectual heritage.  And don’t forget, this staircase can be an Instagram-worthy site for a family portrait to encourage our younger audiences to visit too.

Albert D. Kollar is the Collection Manager in the Section of Invertebrate Paleontology at Carnegie Museum of Natural History. Museum employees are encouraged to blog about their unique experiences and knowledge gained from working at the museum.

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Top New YA Books in December 2020

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The YA genre is still booming, providing romance, adventure, and more for teens and adults alike. Here are some of the YA books from November 2020 we’re most looking forward to…

Top New Young Adult Books December 2020

The Cousins by Karen M. McManus

Type: Novel Publisher: Delacorte Press Release date: Dec. 1

Den of Geek says: A tale of family and suspense, this novel about uncovering a bloody secret looks like it’s full of atmosphere and a tinge of horror.

Publisher’s summary: Milly, Aubrey, and Jonah Story are cousins, but they barely know each another, and they’ve never even met their grandmother. Rich and reclusive, she disinherited their parents before they were born. So when they each receive a letter inviting them to work at her island resort for the summer, they’re surprised . . . and curious.

Their parents are all clear on one point–not going is not an option. This could be the opportunity to get back into Grandmother’s good graces. But when the cousins arrive on the island, it’s immediately clear that she has different plans for them. And the longer they stay, the more they realize how mysterious–and dark–their family’s past is.

The entire Story family has secrets. Whatever pulled them apart years ago isn’t over–and this summer, the cousins will learn everything.

Buy The Cousins by Karen M. McManus.

A Universe of Wishes by Dhonielle Clayton

Type: Short story collection Publisher: Crown Books for Young Readers Release date: Dec. 8 Den of Geek says: Some of the SF/F genre’s best authors (not to mention YA’s best authors) come together in a collection of fantasy from the We Need Diverse Books initiative. Publisher’s summary: From We Need Diverse Books, the organization behind Flying Lessons & Other Stories, comes a young adult fantasy short story collection featuring some of the best own-voices children’s authors, including New York Times bestselling authors Libba Bray (The Diviners), V. E. Schwab (A Darker Shade of Magic), Natalie C. Parker (Seafire), and many more. Edited by Dhonielle Clayton (The Belles).

In the fourth collaboration with We Need Diverse Books, fifteen award-winning and celebrated diverse authors deliver stories about a princess without need of a prince, a monster long misunderstood, memories that vanish with a spell, and voices that refuse to stay silent in the face of injustice. This powerful and inclusive collection contains a universe of wishes for a braver and more beautiful world.

AUTHORS INCLUDE: Samira Ahmed, Jenni Balch, Libba Bray, Dhonielle Clayton, Zoraida Córdova, Tessa Gratton, Kwame Mbalia, Anna-Marie McLemore, Tochi Onyebuchi, Mark Oshiro, Natalie C. Parker, Rebecca Roanhorse, V. E. Schwab, Tara Sim, Nic Stone

Buy A Universe of Wishes by Dhonielle Clayton.

This is How We Fly by Anna Meriano

Type: Novel Publisher: Philomel Books Release date: Dec. 15 Den of Geek says: It wouldn’t be a geek rec list without this grab bag of high school coming-of-age and Quidditch. Whether you’re a current or recovering Harry Potter fan or looking for a unique setting, this might have something for you.

Publisher’s summary: 17-year-old vegan feminist Ellen Lopez-Rourke has one muggy Houston summer left before college. She plans to spend every last moment with her two best friends before they go off to the opposite ends of Texas for school. But when Ellen is grounded for the entire summer by her (sometimes) evil stepmother, all her plans are thrown out the window. 

Determined to do something with her time, Ellen (with the help of BFF Melissa) convinces her parents to let her join the local muggle Quidditch team. An all-gender, full-contact game, Quidditch isn’t quite what Ellen expects. There’s no flying, no magic, just a bunch of scrappy players holding PVC pipe between their legs and throwing dodgeballs. Suddenly Ellen is thrown into the very different world of sports: her life is all practices, training, and running with a group of Harry Potter fans. 

Even as Melissa pulls away to pursue new relationships and their other BFF Xiumiao seems more interested in moving on from high school (and from Ellen), Ellen is steadily finding a place among her teammates. Maybe Quidditch is where she belongs. 

But with her home life and friend troubles quickly spinning out of control–Ellen must fight for the future that she wants, now she’s playing for keeps. 

Buy This is How We Fly by Anna Meriano.

Top New Young Adult Books November 2020

The Way Back by Gavriel Savit

Type: Novel  Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers Release date: Nov. 17

Den of Geek says: A shimmering historical fantasy brings its heroes on a journey through worlds of demons and the dead based on Jewish folklore. 

Publisher’s summary: For the Jews of Eastern Europe, demons are everywhere: dancing on the rooftops in the darkness of midnight, congregating in the trees, harrowing the dead, even reaching out to try and steal away the living. 

But the demons have a land of their own: a Far Country peopled with the souls of the transient dead, governed by demonic dukes, barons, and earls. When the Angel of Death comes strolling through the little shtetl of Tupik one night, two young people will be sent spinning off on a journey through the Far Country. There they will make pacts with ancient demons, declare war on Death himself, and maybe– just maybe–find a way to make it back alive. 

Drawing inspiration from the Jewish folk tradition, The Way Back is a dark adventure sure to captivate readers of Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book and Philip Pullman’s The Book of Dust.

Buy The Way Back by Gavriel Savit.

Rebel Sisters

Type: Novel Publisher: Razorbill Release date: Nov. 17

Den of Geek says: Onyebuchi returns to his anime-inspired anti-war series with Afrofuturism in space. 

Publisher’s summary: It’s been five years since the Biafran War ended. Ify is now nineteen and living where she’s always dreamed–the Space Colonies. She is a respected, high-ranking medical officer and has dedicated her life to helping refugees like herself rebuild in the Colonies.

Back in the still devastated Nigeria, Uzo, a young synth, is helping an aid worker, Xifeng, recover images and details of the war held in the technology of destroyed androids. Uzo, Xifeng, and the rest of their team are working to preserve memories of the many lives lost, despite the government’s best efforts to eradicate any signs that the war ever happened.

Though they are working toward common goals of helping those who suffered, Ify and Uzo are worlds apart. But when a mysterious virus breaks out among the children in the Space Colonies, their paths collide. Ify makes it her mission to figure out what’s causing the deadly disease. And doing so means going back to the homeland she thought she’d left behind forever.

Buy Rebel Sisters by Tochi Onyebuchi.

How to Pack for the End of the World by Michelle Falkoff 

Type: Novel Publisher: HarperTeen Release date: Nov. 10

Den of Geek says: This small stakes high school drama nevertheless feels timely for a world in which it seems like another disaster strikes every day. 

Publisher’s summary: If you knew the world was going to end tomorrow, what would you do?

This is the question that haunts Amina as she watches new and horrible stories of discord and crisis flash across the news every day.

But when she starts at prestigious Gardner Academy, Amina finds a group of like-minded peers to join forces with—fast friends who dedicate their year to learning survival skills from each other, before it’s too late. 

Still, as their prepper knowledge multiplies, so do their regular high school problems, from relationship drama to family issues to friend blow-ups. Juggling the two parts of their lives forces Amina to ask another vital question: Is it worth living in the hypothetical future if it’s at the expense of your actual present?

Buy How to Pack for the End of the World by Michelle Falkoff.

Top New Young Adult Books October 2020

Return of the Thief by Megan Whelan Turner 

Type: Novel Publisher: Greenwillow Books Release date: Oct. 6

Den of Geek says: The latest book in this acclaimed, long-running series known for intricate plotting and twists follows the continuing political machinations of Eugenides, the titular thief, in fantasy world-building based loosely on Greek mythology. 

Publisher’s summary: This beloved and award-winning series began with the acclaimed novel The Thief. It and four more stand-alone volumes bring to life a world of epics, myths, and legends, and feature one of the most charismatic and incorrigible characters of fiction, Eugenides the thief. Now more powerful and cunning than ever before, Eugenides must navigate a perilous future in this sweeping conclusion. Perfect for fans of Leigh Bardugo, Marie Lu, Patrick Rothfuss, and Sarah J. Maas.

Neither accepted nor beloved, Eugenides is the uneasy linchpin of a truce on the Lesser Peninsula, where he has risen to be high king of Attolia, Eddis, and Sounis. As the treacherous Baron Erondites schemes anew and a prophecy appears to foretell the death of the king, the ruthless Mede empire prepares to strike.

The New York Times–bestselling Queen’s Thief novels are rich with political machinations, divine intervention, dangerous journeys, battles lost and won, power, passion, and deception. Features a cast list of the characters in the Queen’s Thief novels, as well as two maps—a map of the world of the Queen’s Thief, and a map exclusive to this edition.

Buy Return of the Thief by Megan Whelan Turner on Amazon.

Over the Woodward Wall by A. Deborah Baker (Seanan McGuire) 

Type: Novel Publisher: Tordotcom Release date: Oct. 6

Den of Geek says: An experimental companion to McGuire’s intricate novel Middlegame, Over the Woodward Wall first came to life as a middle grade story that serves as a pop culture touchstone for the characters in that adult novel. It’s also a story by a master in its own right, although how well it holds up outside the companion novel is yet to be determined.

Publisher’s summary: Avery is an exceptional child. Everything he does is precise, from the way he washes his face in the morning, to the way he completes his homework – without complaint, without fuss, without prompt.

Zib is also an exceptional child, because all children are, in their own way. But where everything Avery does and is can be measured, nothing Zib does can possibly be predicted, except for the fact that she can always be relied upon to be unpredictable.

They live on the same street.

They live in different worlds.

On an unplanned detour from home to school one morning, Avery and Zib find themselves climbing over a stone wall into the Up and Under – an impossible land filled with mystery, adventure and the strangest creatures.

And they must find themselves and each other if they are to also find their way out and back to their own lives.

Buy Over the Woodward Wall by A. Deborah Baker on Amazon.

Blazewrath Games by Amparo Ortiz

Type: Novel  Publisher: Page Street Kids Release date: Oct. 6 

Den of Geek says: This sounds like a sports anime with dragons in book form. A compelling mystery as a tour of a fantastical racing league promises action and ambitious characters. 

Publisher’s summary: Lana Torres has always preferred dragons to people. In a few weeks, sixteen countries will compete in the Blazewrath World Cup, a tournament where dragons and their riders fight for glory in a dangerous relay. Lana longs to represent her native Puerto Rico in their first ever World Cup appearance, and when Puerto Rico’s Runner―the only player without a dragon steed―is kicked off the team, she’s given the chance.

But when she discovers that a former Blazewrath superstar has teamed up with the Sire―a legendary dragon who’s cursed into human form―the safety of the Cup is jeopardized. The pair are burning down dragon sanctuaries around the world and refuse to stop unless the Cup gets cancelled. All Lana wanted was to represent her country. Now, to do that, she’ll have to navigate an international conspiracy that’s deadlier than her beloved sport.

Buy Blazewrath Games by Amparo Ortiz on Amazon.

Top New Young Adult Books September 2020

Night Shine by Tessa Gratton 

Type: Novel  Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books  Release date: Sept. 8

Den of Geek says: We’re all about crossovers between fantasy and YA here, and this looks like a good stepping stone for a kid who is just about ready to start reading high fantasy. The prose style is slow and deliberate as the author tells a tale of romance, kidnapping, and friendship.

Publisher’s summary: In the vast palace of the empress lives an orphan girl called Nothing. She slips within the shadows of the Court, unseen except by the Great Demon of the palace and her true friend, Prince Kirin, heir to the throne. When Kirin is kidnapped, only Nothing and the prince’s bodyguard suspect that Kirin may have been taken by the Sorceress Who Eats Girls, a powerful woman who has plagued the land for decades. The sorceress has never bothered with boys before, but Nothing has uncovered many secrets in her sixteen years in the palace, including a few about the prince.

As the empress’s army searches fruitlessly, Nothing and the bodyguard set out on a rescue mission, through demon-filled rain forests and past crossroads guarded by spirits. Their journey takes them to the gates of the Fifth Mountain, where the sorceress wields her power. There, Nothing will discover that all magic is a bargain, and she may be more powerful than she ever imagined. But the price the Sorceress demands for Kirin may very well cost Nothing her heart.

Buy Night Shine by Tessa Gratton on Amazon. 

Punching the Air by Ibi Zoboi and Yusef Salaam

Type: Novel in Verse Publisher: Balzer + Bray  Release date: Sept. 1

Den of Geek says: Authors like Tochi Onyebuchi have taken hold of the moment to write political novels about incarceration in the last few years. This mix of poetry and prose adds to that genre with real world experience from prison reform activist Yusef Salaam. Publisher’s summary: The story that I thought 

was my life 

didn’t start on the day 

I was born  

Amal Shahid has always been an artist and a poet. But even in a diverse art school, he’s seen as disruptive and unmotivated by a biased system. Then one fateful night, an altercation in a gentrifying neighborhood escalates into tragedy. “Boys just being boys” turns out to be true only when those boys are white.  

The story that I think 

will be my life  

starts today 

Suddenly, at just sixteen years old, Amal’s bright future is upended: he is convicted of a crime he didn’t commit and sent to prison. Despair and rage almost sink him until he turns to the refuge of his words, his art. This never should have been his story. But can he change it?  

With spellbinding lyricism, award-winning author Ibi Zoboi and prison reform activist Yusef Salaam tell a moving and deeply profound story about how one boy is able to maintain his humanity and fight for the truth, in a system designed to strip him of both.

Buy Punching the Air by Ibi Zoboi and Yusef Salaam on Amazon.

Gold Wings Rising (The Skybound Saga) by Alex London 

Type: Novel Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux  Release date: Sept. 1

Den of Geek says: It’s always nice to see a fantasy series that moves away from the staple creatures, even if I love dragons, and this series replaces them with ghostly birds that give it a horror movie flavor. 

Publisher’s summary: The war on the ground has ended, but the war with the sky has just begun. After the Siege of the Six Villages, the ghost eagles have trapped Uztaris on both sides of the conflict. The villagers and Kartami alike hide in caves, huddled in terror as they await nightly attacks. Kylee aims to plunge her arrows into each and every ghost eagle; in her mind, killing the birds is the only way to unshackle the city’s chains. But Brysen has other plans.

While the humans fly familiar circles around each other, the ghost eagles create schemes far greater and more terrible than either Kylee or Brysen could have imagined. Now, the tug-of-war between love and power begins to fray, threatening bonds of siblinghood and humanity alike.

Buy Gold Wings Rising by Alex London on Amazon.

Top New Young Adult Books August 2020

Don’t Ask Me Where I’m From by Jennifer De Leon 

Type: Novel Publisher: Simon & Schuster Release date: Aug. 18

Den of Geek says: This looks like it could be an incisive and hard-hitting book that speaks to the way American Latinx students experience racism and navigate high school social life. It has gained high praise from authors including Celeste Ng. 

Publisher’s Summary: Liliana Cruz is a hitting a wall—or rather, walls.

There’s the wall her mom has put up ever since Liliana’s dad left—again.

There’s the wall that delineates Liliana’s diverse inner-city Boston neighborhood from Westburg, the wealthy—and white—suburban high school she’s just been accepted into.

And there’s the wall Liliana creates within herself, because to survive at Westburg, she can’t just lighten up, she has to whiten up.

So what if she changes her name? So what if she changes the way she talks? So what if she’s seeing her neighborhood in a different way? But then light is shed on some hard truths: It isn’t that her father doesn’t want to come home—he can’t…and her whole family is in jeopardy. And when racial tensions at school reach a fever pitch, the walls that divide feel insurmountable.

But a wall isn’t always a barrier. It can be a foundation for something better. And Liliana must choose: Use this foundation as a platform to speak her truth, or risk crumbling under its weight.

Buy Don’t Ask Me Where I’m From By Jennifer De Leon on Amazon.

Lobizona by Romina Garber 

Type: Novel  Publisher: Wednesday Books (Macmillan)  Release date: Aug. 4 

Den of Geek says: Described as a Hogwarts-style fantasy world with werewolves, this fantasy doesn’t flinch from the real world effects of ICE and deportation. 

Publisher’s summary: Some people ARE illegal. 

Lobizonas do NOT exist.

Both of these statements are false.

Manuela Azul has been crammed into an existence that feels too small for her. As an undocumented immigrant who’s on the run from her father’s Argentine crime-family, Manu is confined to a small apartment and a small life in Miami, Florida. 

Until Manu’s protective bubble is shattered. 

Her surrogate grandmother is attacked, lifelong lies are exposed, and her mother is arrested by ICE. Without a home, without answers, and finally without shackles, Manu investigates the only clue she has about her past―a mysterious “Z” emblem―which leads her to a secret world buried within our own. A world connected to her dead father and his criminal past. A world straight out of Argentine folklore, where the seventh consecutive daughter is born a bruja and the seventh consecutive son is a lobizón, a werewolf. A world where her unusual eyes allow her to belong. 

As Manu uncovers her own story and traces her real heritage all the way back to a cursed city in Argentina, she learns it’s not just her U.S. residency that’s illegal. . . .it’s her entire existence.

Buy Lobizona by Jennifer De Leon on Amazon.

Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger 

Type: Novel  Publisher: Levine Querido Release date: Aug. 25 

Den of Geek says: Charming illustrations and a ghost story deeply tied to a family’s history promise a richly textured tale from this Lipan Apache author. 

Publisher’s summary: Imagine an America very similar to our own. It’s got homework, best friends, and pistachio ice cream.

There are some differences. This America been shaped dramatically by the magic, monsters, knowledge, and legends of its peoples, those Indigenous and those not. Some of these forces are charmingly everyday, like the ability to make an orb of light appear or travel across the world through rings of fungi. But other forces are less charming and should never see the light of day.

Elatsoe lives in this slightly stranger America. She can raise the ghosts of dead animals, a skill passed down through generations of her Lipan Apache family. Her beloved cousin has just been murdered, in a town that wants no prying eyes. But she is going to do more than pry. The picture-perfect facade of Willowbee masks gruesome secrets, and she will rely on her wits, skills, and friends to tear off the mask and protect her family.

Darcie Little Badger is an extraordinary debut talent in the world of speculative fiction. We have paired her with her artistic match, illustrator Rovina Cai. This is a book singular in feeling and beauty.

Buy Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger on Amazon.

The Dark Tide by Alicia Jasinska

Type: Novel Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire  Release date: Aug. 4

Den of Geek says: Described as atmospheric and salt-soaked, this F/F romance might be a good introduction to readers who want to switch from post-apocalyptic YA to dark fantasy. 

Publisher’s summary: A gripping, dark LGBT YA fantasy about two girls who must choose between saving themselves, each other, or their sinking island.

Every year on St. Walpurga’s Eve, Caldella’s Witch Queen lures a boy back to her palace. An innocent life to be sacrificed on the full moon to keep the island city from sinking. 

Lina Kirk is convinced her brother is going to be taken this year. To save him, she enlists the help of Thomas Lin, the boy she secretly loves, and the only person to ever escape from the palace. But they draw the queen’s attention, and Thomas is chosen as the sacrifice. 

Queen Eva watched her sister die to save the boy she loved. Now as queen, she won’t make the same mistake. She’s willing to sacrifice anyone if it means saving herself and her city.

When Lina offers herself to the queen in exchange for Thomas’s freedom, the two girls await the full moon together. But Lina is not at all what Eva expected, and the queen is nothing like Lina envisioned. Against their will, they find themselves falling for each other as water floods Caldella’s streets and the dark tide demands its sacrifice.

Buy The Dark Tide by Alicia Jasinska on Amazon.

Top New Young Adult Books In July 2020

Feathertide by Beth Cartwright 

Type: Novel  Publisher: Del Rey  Release date: July 30 

Den of Geek says: This has won a lot of praise for its prose. While some fairy tale adaptations can come off as empty, not actually adding anything to the context of the tradition they’re supposedly writing in, this one’s specificity seems like it might set it apart and add detail to the central metaphor about a young girl’s search for her family. 

Publisher’s summary: Born covered in the feathers of a bird, and kept hidden in a crumbling house full of secrets, Marea has always known she was different, but never known why. And so to find answers, she goes in search of the father she has never met.

The hunt leads her to the City of Murmurs, a place of mermaids and mystery, where jars of swirling mist are carried through the streets by the broken-hearted.

And Mara will never forget what she learns there.

Buy Feathertide by Beth Cartwright on Amazon.

Running by Natalia Sylvester 

Type: Novel  Publisher: Clarion Books Release date: July 14 

Den of Geek says: A political novel of a different type. This fantasy of being part of a presidential campaign seems like it has a lot to say about family and change. 

Publisher’s summary: In this authentic, humorous, and gorgeously written debut novel about privacy, waking up, and speaking up, Senator Anthony Ruiz is running for president. Throughout his successful political career he has always had his daughter’s vote, but a presidential campaign brings a whole new level of scrutiny to sheltered fifteen-year-old Mariana and the rest of her Cuban American family, from a 60 Minutes–style tour of their house to tabloids doctoring photos and inventing scandals. As tensions rise within the Ruiz family, Mari begins to learn about the details of her father’s political positions, and she realizes that her father is not the man she thought he was.

But how do you find your voice when everyone’s watching? When it means disagreeing with your father—publicly? What do you do when your dad stops being your hero? Will Mari get a chance to confront her father? If she does, will she have the courage to seize it? 

Buy Running by Natalia Sylvester on Amazon.

A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor by Hank Green 

Type: Novel  Publisher: Dutton  Release date: July 7 

Den of Geek says: YouTube sensation Hank Green’s science fiction debut, An Absolutely Remarkable Thing, kicked off this series about alien robots. The sequel shows the aftermath, and continues to engage with the author’s internet in internet culture and science. 

Publisher’s summary: The Carls disappeared the same way they appeared, in an instant. While the robots were on Earth, they caused confusion and destruction with only their presence. Part of their maelstrom was the sudden viral fame and untimely death of April May: a young woman who stumbled into Carl’s path, giving them their name, becoming their advocate, and putting herself in the middle of an avalanche of conspiracy theories. 

Months later, April’s friends are trying to find their footing in a post-Carl world. Andy has picked up April’s mantle of fame, speaking at conferences and online; Maya, ravaged by grief, begins to follow a string of mysteries that she is convinced will lead her to April; and Miranda is contemplating defying her friends’ advice and pursuing a new scientific operation…one that might have repercussions beyond anyone’s comprehension. Just as it is starting to seem like the gang may never learn the real story behind the events that changed their lives forever, a series of clues arrive—mysterious books that seem to predict the future and control the actions of their readers—all of which seems to suggest that April could be very much alive. 

In the midst of the search for the truth and the search for April is a growing force, something that wants to capture our consciousness and even control our reality. A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor is the bold and brilliant follow-up to An Absolutely Remarkable Thing. It is a fast-paced adventure that is also a biting social commentary, asking hard, urgent questions about the way we live, our freedoms, our future, and how we handle the unknown.

Buy A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor by Hank Green on Amazon.

Top New YA Books June 2020 

A Song Below Water by Bethany C. Morrow 

Type: Novel Publisher: Tor Teen Release date: June 2 

Den of Geek says: After reading The Deep, I’m on board with the idea of black mermaids meeting YA fantasy world-building. The friendship at the center of this novel sounds cute and sweet. 

Publisher’s summary: In a society determined to keep her under lock and key, Tavia must hide her siren powers. 

Meanwhile, Effie is fighting her own family struggles, pitted against literal demons from her past. Together, these best friends must navigate through the perils of high school’s junior year.

But everything changes in the aftermath of a siren murder trial that rocks the nation, and Tavia accidentally lets out her magical voice at the worst possible moment.

Soon, nothing in Portland, Oregon, seems safe. To save themselves from drowning, it’s only Tavia and Effie’s unbreakable sisterhood that proves to be the strongest magic of all.

Buy A Song Below Water by Bethany C. Morrow on Amazon Read our interview with Bethany C. Morrow

Hood by Jenny Elder Moke 

Type: Novel  Publisher: Disney-Hyperion  Release date: June 9

Den of Geek says: An adventure in which a young girl joins Robin Hood’s adventures, this one reminds me of fanfic in the best way. A re-examination of legendary characters with the pacing of contemporary YA could be cinematic fun. 

Publisher’s summary: You have the blood of kings and rebels within you, love. Let it rise to meet the call.

Isabelle of Kirklees has only ever known a quiet life inside the sheltered walls of the convent, where she lives with her mother, Marien. But after she is arrested by royal soldiers for defending innocent villagers, Isabelle becomes the target of the Wolf, King John’s ruthless right hand. Desperate to keep her daughter safe, Marien helps Isabelle escape and sends her on a mission to find the one person who can help: Isabelle’s father, Robin Hood. 

As Isabelle races to stay out of the Wolf’s clutches and find the father she’s never known, she is thrust into a world of thieves and mercenaries, handsome young outlaws, new enemies with old grudges, and a king who wants her entire family dead. As she joins forces with Robin and his Merry Men in a final battle against the Wolf, will Isabelle find the strength to defy the crown and save the lives of everyone she holds dear?

In Hood, author Jenny Elder Moke reimagines the world of Robin Hood in lush, historical detail and imbues her story with more breathless action than has ever come out of Sherwood Forest before. This novel is a must-read for historical-fiction fans, adventure lovers, and reluctant readers alike!

Buy Hood by Jenny Elder Moke on Amazon

Sisters of Sword and Song by Rebecca Ross 

Type: Novel Publisher: HarperTeen Release date: June 23

Den of Geek says: A sisterly bond provides the heart at the center of this story of magic and war. The Ancient Greece-inspired world and the promise of magic and battles look good, but the emphasis on characterization and familial love raise this one above the rest. 

Publisher’s summary: After eight years, Evadne will finally be reunited with her older sister, Halcyon, who has been serving in the queen’s army. But when Halcyon unexpectedly appears a day early, Eva knows something is wrong. Halcyon has charged with a heinous crime, and though her life is spared, she is sentenced to 15 years. 

Suspicious of the charges, brought forth by Halcyon’s army commander, as well as the details of the crime, Eva volunteers to take part of her sister’s sentence. If there’s a way to absolve Halcyon, she’ll find it. But as the sisters begin their sentences, they quickly learn that there are fates worse than death.

Buy Sisters of Sword and Song by Rebecca Ross on Amazon 

Top New YA in May 2020 

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins 

Type: Novel  Publisher: Scholastic Press  Release date: May 19 

Den of Geek says: It’s arguable whether a new Hunger Games book from the point of view of the man who will become the despotic President Snow is really what readers wanted, but it’s here. Inevitably this one will spark a lot of conversation after the runaway success of the original series. 

Publisher’s summary: It is the morning of the reaping that will kick off the tenth annual Hunger Games. In the Capitol, eighteen-year-old Coriolanus Snow is preparing for his one shot at glory as a mentor in the Games. The once-mighty house of Snow has fallen on hard times, its fate hanging on the slender chance that Coriolanus will be able to outcharm, outwit, and outmaneuver his fellow students to mentor the winning tribute.

The odds are against him. He’s been given the humiliating assignment of mentoring the female tribute from District 12, the lowest of the low. Their fates are now completely intertwined — every choice Coriolanus makes could lead to favor or failure, triumph or ruin. Inside the arena, it will be a fight to the death. Outside the arena, Coriolanus starts to feel for his doomed tribute . . . and must weigh his need to follow the rules against his desire to survive no matter what it takes.

Buy The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins.

House of Dragons by Jessica Cluess  

Type: Novel  Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers Release date: May 12 

Den of Geek says: This YA fantasy distinguishes itself primarily by a varied cast of five characters, making it a good introduction to epic fantasy plus the “fun group of friends” appeal of a superhero squad. Also, there are dragons and a frightening fantasy job interview, two of my favorite things. 

Publisher’s summary: When the Emperor dies, the five royal houses of Etrusia attend the Call, where one of their own will be selected to compete for the throne. It is always the oldest child, the one who has been preparing for years to compete in the Trial. But this year is different. This year these five outcasts will answer the call. . . .

THE LIAR: Emilia must hide her dark magic or be put to death.

THE SOLDIER: Lucian is a warrior who has sworn to never lift a sword again.

THE SERVANT: Vespir is a dragon trainer whose skills alone will keep her in the game.

THE THIEF: Ajax knows that nothing is free–he must take what he wants.

THE MURDERER: Hyperia was born to rule and will stop at nothing to take her throne.

Buy House of Dragons by Jessica Cluess.

Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo 

Type: Novel 

Publisher: Quill Tree Books 

Release date: May 5 

Den of Geek says: This looks like it could be both a tearjerker and a sweet story of sisterly love. The tragic death of their father brings Camino and Yahaira Rios into each other’s lives in a new way. 

Publisher’s summary: Camino Rios lives for the summers when her father visits her in the Dominican Republic. But this time, on the day when his plane is supposed to land, Camino arrives at the airport to see crowds of crying people…

In New York City, Yahaira Rios is called to the principal’s office, where her mother is waiting to tell her that her father, her hero, has died in a plane crash.

Separated by distance—and Papi’s secrets—the two girls are forced to face a new reality in which their father is dead and their lives are forever altered.

And then, when it seems like they’ve lost everything of their father, they learn of each other. 

Buy Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo.

Top New YA in April 2020

Little Universes by Heather Demetrios

Type: Novel  Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.  Release date: April 7 

Den of Geek says: It’s not often that YA books focus on family, and the sisterly relationship at the heart of Little Universes looks well-crafted and heart-wrenching. When tragedy strikes, each sister will need to find a way to move on. 

Publisher’s summary: One wave: that’s all it takes for the rest of Mae and Hannah Winters’ lives to change.

When a tsunami strikes the island their parents are vacationing on in Malaysia, it soon becomes clear that their parents are never coming home. Forced to move to Boston from their sunny California home for the rest of their senior year, each girl struggles with secrets their parents’ death has brought to light and with their uncertainty about the future. Instead of getting closer, it feels like the wave has torn them apart.

Little Universes explores the powerful bond of sisters, the kinds of love that never die, and the journey we all must make through the baffling cruelty and unexpected beauty of human life in an incomprehensible universe.

Buy Little Universes by Heather Demetrios on Amazon.

What I Like About You by Marisa Kanter

Type: Novel  Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers Release date: April 7 

Den of Geek says: YA romance, and digital age romance in particular, can easily come off as cheesy or derivative. But this ‘love triangle between two people’ looks like a twist on relationships and online identity, plus the coziness of a crush story. 

Publisher’s summary: There are a million things that Halle Levitt likes about her online best friend, Nash.

He’s an incredibly talented graphic novelist. He loves books almost as much as she does. And she never has to deal with the awkwardness of seeing him in real life. They can talk about anything…

Except who she really is.

Because online, Halle isn’t Halle—she’s Kels, the enigmatically cool creator of One True Pastry, a YA book blog that pairs epic custom cupcakes with covers and reviews. Kels has everything Halle doesn’t: friends, a growing platform, tons of confidence, and Nash.

That is, until Halle arrives to spend senior year in Gramps’s small town and finds herself face-to-face with real, human, not-behind-a-screen Nash. Nash, who is somehow everywhere she goes—in her classes, at the bakery, even at synagogue.

Nash who has no idea she’s actually Kels.

If Halle tells him who she is, it will ruin the non-awkward magic of their digital friendship. Not telling him though, means it can never be anything more. Because while she starts to fall for Nash as Halle…he’s in love with Kels. 

Buy What I Like About You by Marisa Kanter on Amazon.

Elysium Girls by Kate Pentecost 

Type: Novel Publisher: Disney-Hyperion Release date: April 14 

Den of Geek says: It’s an interesting time for historical fantasy, and this looks a bit like a YA cousin of Upright Women Wanted, with more robots and monsters. Check out the crunchy mechanical horses on that cover. 

Publisher’s summary: In this sweeping Dust Bowl-inspired fantasy, a ten-year game between Life and Death pits the walled Oklahoma city of Elysium-including a girl gang of witches and a demon who longs for humanity-against the supernatural in order to judge mankind.

When Sal is named Successor to Mother Morevna, a powerful witch and leader of Elysium, she jumps at the chance to prove herself to the town. Ever since she was a kid, Sal has been plagued by false visions of rain, and though people think she’s a liar, she knows she’s a leader. Even the arrival of enigmatic outsider Asa-a human-obsessed demon in disguise-doesn’t shake her confidence in her ability. Until a terrible mistake results in both Sal and Asa’s exile into the Desert of Dust and Steel.

Face-to-face with a brutal, unforgiving landscape, Sal and Asa join a gang of girls headed by another Elysium exile-and young witch herself-Olivia Rosales. In order to atone for their mistake, they create a cavalry of magic powered, scrap metal horses to save Elysium from the coming apocalypse. But Sal, Asa, and Olivia must do more than simply tip the scales in Elysium’s favor-only by reinventing the rules can they beat the Life and Death at their own game. 

Buy Elysium Girls by Kate Pentecost on Amazon.

Top New YA Books in March 2020 

The Kingdom of Back by Marie Lu

Type: Novel Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers Release date: March 3, 2020 Den of Geek says: To put a twist on historical fantasy, author Marie Lu focuses just to the side of a world-changing life. Nannerl Mozart was a real person, and has appeared in fiction before with the aim of bringing some recognition to the famous musician’s talented but forgotten sister. The fairy tale element sounds like it will provide strong atmosphere in this musical novel. Publisher’s Summary: Born with a gift for music, Nannerl Mozart has just one wish–to be remembered forever. But even as she delights audiences with her masterful playing, she has little hope she’ll ever become the acclaimed composer she longs to be. She is a young woman in 18th century Europe, and that means composing is forbidden to her. She will perform only until she reaches a marriageable age–her tyrannical father has made that much clear.

And as Nannerl’s hope grows dimmer with each passing year, the talents of her beloved younger brother, Wolfgang, only seem to shine brighter. His brilliance begins to eclipse her own, until one day a mysterious stranger from a magical land appears with an irresistible offer. He has the power to make her wish come true–but his help may cost her everything.

In her first work of historical fiction, #1 New York Times bestselling author Marie Lu spins a lush, lyrically-told story of music, magic, and the unbreakable bond between a brother and sister.

Buy The Kingdom of Back on Amazon.

The Fire Never Goes Out by Noelle Stevenson

Type: Illustrated memoir  Publisher: HarperTeen Release date: March 3 Den of Geek says: Stevenson’s cute illustrations and enthusiastic storytelling have delighted me in her adaptation She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, so a look into her life and career sounds like an interesting look into the business of art, the animation industry, and living as a creative person. Publisher’s Summary: From Noelle Stevenson, the New York Times bestselling author-illustrator of Nimona, comes a captivating, honest illustrated memoir that finds her turning an important corner in her creative journey—and inviting readers along for the ride.

In a collection of essays and personal mini-comics that span eight years of her young adult life, author-illustrator Noelle Stevenson charts the highs and lows of being a creative human in the world. Whether it’s hearing the wrong name called at her art school graduation ceremony or becoming a National Book Award finalist for her debut graphic novel, Nimona, Noelle captures the little and big moments that make up a real life, with a wit, wisdom, and vulnerability that are all her own.

Buy The Fire Never Goes Out on Amazon.

A Phoenix First Must Burn, edited by Patrice Caldwell

Type: Anthology Publisher: Viking Books for Young Readers Release Date: March 10

Den of Geek says: A grab-bag of some of the best writers of color in the YA space today,this anthology faces challenges head-on to tell stories of Black women and gender-non-conforming people. It looks like a good mix of realistic and fantastical stories, set past, future, and present.

Publisher’s summary: Evoking Beyoncé’s Lemonade for a teen audience, these authors who are truly Octavia Butler’s heirs, have woven worlds to create a stunning narrative that centers Black women and gender nonconforming individuals. A Phoenix First Must Burn will take you on a journey from folktales retold to futuristic societies and everything in between. Filled with stories of love and betrayal, strength and resistance, this collection contains an array of complex and true-to-life characters in which you cannot help but see yourself reflected. Witches and scientists, sisters and lovers, priestesses and rebels: the heroines of A Phoenix First Must Burn shine brightly. You will never forget them.

Buy A Phoenix First Must Burn on Amazon.

Top New YA Books in March 2020 

Deathless Divide by Justina Ireland

Type: Novel (Second in series) Publisher: Balzer + Bray Release date: 2/4/20

Den of Geek says: Justina Ireland’s Dread Nation was a buzzy historical zombie novel with a keen awareness of racial dynamics in Civil War-era America. The sequel looks to be just as intense as the first. 

Publisher’s summary: The sequel to the New York Times bestselling epic Dread Nation is an unforgettable journey of revenge and salvation across a divided America.

After the fall of Summerland, Jane McKeene hoped her life would get simpler: Get out of town, stay alive, and head west to California to find her mother.

But nothing is easy when you’re a girl trained in putting down the restless dead, and a devastating loss on the road to a protected village called Nicodemus has Jane questioning everything she thought she knew about surviving in 1880s America.

What’s more, this safe haven is not what it appears—as Jane discovers when she sees familiar faces from Summerland amid this new society. Caught between mysteries and lies, the undead, and her own inner demons, Jane soon finds herself on a dark path of blood and violence that threatens to consume her.

But she won’t be in it alone.

Katherine Deveraux never expected to be allied with Jane McKeene. But after the hell she has endured, she knows friends are hard to come by—and that Jane needs her too, whether Jane wants to admit it or not.

Watching Jane’s back, however, is more than she bargained for, and when they both reach a breaking point, it’s up to Katherine to keep hope alive—even as she begins to fear that there is no happily-ever-after for girls like her.

Buy Deathless Divide by Justina Ireland on Amazon.

Cast Away: Poems for Our Time by Naomi Shihab Nye 

Type: Poetry Publisher: Greenwillow Books Release date: 2/11/2020

Den of Geek says: This unique book of poetry seems perfectly suited to today’s environmental and humanitarian issues. What happens to the things we throw away? What happens to the people who aren’t wanted? The metaphor is rich.

Publisher’s summary: Acclaimed poet and Young People’s Poet Laureate Naomi Shihab Nye shines a spotlight on the things we cast away, from plastic water bottles to those less fortunate, in this collection of more than eighty original and never-before-published poems. A deeply moving, sometimes funny, and always provocative poetry collection for all ages.

“Nye at her engaging, insightful best.”―Kirkus (starred review)

“How much have you thrown away in your lifetime already? Do you ever think about it? Where does this plethora of leavings come from? How long does it take you, even one little you, to fill the can by your desk?”―Naomi Shihab Nye

National Book Award Finalist, Young People’s Poet Laureate, and devoted trash-picker-upper Naomi Shihab Nye explores these questions and more in this original collection of poetry that features more than eighty new poems. “I couldn’t save the world, but I could pick up trash,” she says in her introduction to this stunning volume.

With poems about food wrappers, lost mittens, plastic straws, refugee children, trashy talk, the environment, connection, community, responsibility to the planet, politics, immigration, time, junk mail, trash collectors, garbage trucks, all that we carry and all that we discard, this is a rich, engaging, moving, and sometimes humorous collection for readers ages twelve to adult.

Buy Cast Away: Poems for Our Time on Amazon.

Rebelwing by Andrea Tang 

Type: Novel Publisher: Razorbill Release date: 2/25/20

Den of Geek says: Robot dragons? What more to say? The fantastical war story setting and high-energy cast of characters looks like it’ll make this one a good read for fans of Pacific Rim.

Publisher’s summary: Things just got weird for Prudence Wu. 

One minute, she’s cashing in on a routine smuggling deal. The next, she’s escaping enforcers on the wings of what very much appears to be a sentient cybernetic dragon. 

Pru is used to life throwing her some unpleasant surprises–she goes to prep school, after all, and selling banned media across the border in a country with a ruthless corporate government obviously has its risks. But a cybernetic dragon? That’s new. 

She tries to forget about the fact that the only reason she’s not in jail is because some sort of robot saved her, and that she’s going to have to get a new side job now that enforcers are on to her. So she’s not exactly thrilled when Rebelwing shows up again. 

Even worse, it’s become increasingly clear that the rogue machine has imprinted on her permanently, which means she’d better figure out this whole piloting-a-dragon thing–fast. Because Rebelwing just happens to be the ridiculously expensive weapon her government needs in a brewing war with its neighbor, and Pru’s the only one who can fly it. 

Set in a wonderfully inventive near-future Washington, D.C., this hilarious, defiant debut sparkles with wit and wisdom, deftly exploring media consumption, personal freedoms, and the weight of one life as Pru, rather reluctantly, takes to the skies.

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[allyklapak]

An Overview of the Mess at Hand

Fact: the severe state the earth is struggling to survive results from years of mankind’s relentless abuse. Fact: there are still many who turn a blind eye to these harsh realities because of economic, religious, and cultural personal interests. There exists a basis of understanding about the current state of the environment and the detrimental role man has played in its demise. Proper discourse on sustainability, from which solutions may arise, begins with developing a wholistic view of the environment. The environment is comprised of all the elements, both living and nonliving, with which we engage. This engagement creates the connections that environmental science targets for study. [^1] Through analysis of human activity, the extend of the damage done by our hand may be collected and categorized. Identifying destructive behavior and tracing it back to the responsible countries, companies, labor fields or common activities, assigns accountability. I do not believe that pointing fingers would excuse the lesser offenders from doing their part to fight climate change, but it should rather prompt the guiltiest parties into action to protect the planet and their reputations. Scientific principles of sustainability underscore how humans so strongly depend on the environment for survival.[^2] Solar energy is an invaluable and inexhaustible resource that organisms need either directly to photosynthesize or indirectly further down the food chain for energy to function. Maintenance of ecosystems is essential to promote biodiversity. Studies have shown a recent decrease in diversity as species are losing defining characteristics due to increased travel between once remote locations.[^3] A lack of biodiversity suggests a decline in productivity within an ecosystem as species’ specific jobs are left vacant by those that disappear. For example, if creatures that control certain disease carrying insects no longer exist, then these diseases may spread to the ill-equipped human population resulting in wasted time and funds to find a cure. Additionally, chemical cycling is an essential principle because it circulated the waste products of some species to become resources for others.[^3] For example, oxygen is expelled from plants but is vital to humans. Natural resources have been taken for granted through human carelessness and potential obliviousness to the different classes of resources. As aforementioned, solar energy is inexhaustible because it will be supplied by the sun until the star dies. Renewable resources have the potential to be limitless, as they can be naturally replenished, but they rely on mankind to not exceed the sustainable yield, which defines the rate at which resources can be consumed without depleting the entire supply. Conversely, nonrenewable resources, like fossil fuels, have a limited store that cannot be easily replenished. [^4] Acknowledging these differences should give humans the opportunity to see why certain resources are being conserved more urgently than others. Particular areas should be aware of their biocapacity to avoid perpetuating a heavy per capita footprint. A per capita footprint concludes the average footprint of a person from a certain place.[^5] If a nation uses resources at a rate faster than they are naturally replenished, its footprint exceeds the biocapacity and the location falls into an ecological deficit. [^5] The rate at which modern society wastes supplies demands 1.5 earths of resources.[^6] The United States especially squanders resources at an appalling rate. It accounts for 30% of the global environmental footprint, yet is only home to 4.3% of the world’s population.[^7] Similarly, China maintains an unsustainable footprint deficit due to grave degrees of pollution and the enormous population that expends an equally immense grain supply.[^6] The many variations of diagrams mapping ecological footprints portray the fact that well-developed nations in the west, east, and across Europe seem to be most averse to the environment. These maps portray collective data from various models projecting typical resource use. The IPAT model takes into account the population’s size, their affluence, and their use of technology.[^6] The Global Footprint Network’s calculator surveys diet, home energy usage, and transportation habits.[^8] I discovered that if my life habits were universal, humanity would need well over two earths to make up for the loss. After this shocking revelation I began to question the validity of the quiz. I use reusable coffee cups, I recycle, I thrift shop, how could my habits potentially be so problematic? The answer lies in aspects I had never considered to be in my power to change. The epiphany was reached that these minor switches were nearly futile compared to the bigger picture changes such as home power, which rests in the hands of the university. We must press bigger corporations in the fossil fuel industry to convert to cleaner energy. The win-win principle may be applied as working on infrastructure to produce cleaner energy creates new jobs in the interest of the environment. Conflicting world views cloud ethics and hinder unification under the goal for climate progress. Climate issues are class issues because affluent people exacerbate environmental problems through extravagance while the poverty stricken cannot afford to focus on these external concerns.[^10] Human-centered world views recognize the necessity of the world for humans and call for planetary management or stewardship.[^11] Scientists who composed the 1992 warning to humanity cautioned, “A great change in our stewardship of the earth and the life on it is required, if vast human misery is to be avoided and our global home on this planet is not to be irretrievably mutilated.”[^12] Life-centered perspectives feel compelled to protect the threatened species while the earth centered point of view highlights the dependence of human longevity on earth.[^11] I feel that these are almost indistinguishable. They all assent to the inherent obligation humans have to protect the earth and its inhabitants whether that be for their own sake or the sake of other organisms and future generations. Environmental science is based on these connections between man and nature, and some climate deniers cannot make these necessary connections. One of the most striking comparisons made in the text equates the fatality rate of mass starvation, a climate change repercussion, to over 90 full planes crashing each day.[^13] When quantifying the losses in familiar terms, I believe self-preserving individuals would be receptive to sustainability. Ethically we must care for the environment in order to address gender and class inequality and to care for the earth for posterity.[^14] In the 1900s, the movement started by Perkins Marsh to stop the misuse of resources split into two view: preservationists were led by John Muir to keep resources off limits, and conservationists under Teddy Roosevelt managed resources.[^15] Over the years, activists brought issues of pollution and abuse to light and in 1979, the First World Climate Conference took place to discuss the crisis. [^14] In 1992 experts in the field issue a warning to humanity to emphasize the perilous state of the earth.[^12] Scientists broke down this complicated issue into comprehensive and pedestrian terms to iterate their point to the public. In recent years studies including the 2001-2005 Millennium Ecosystem Assessment have emerged to link climate change to personal well being and the survival of humanity as a whole.3 Inaction makes the mess before us more dire every day. The earth will survive, it has for billions of years, but humanity might not. Discussion Question: The dialogue used to discuss climate change often pleads with the public to save our dying planet. However, Miller argues the planet will prevail, but humanity will not. Would the public be more receptive to the pleas of the the climate activists if the language used was more person centered and therefore more personal?

Word Count: 1194

Miller Jr, G. Tyler. Living in the environment: an introduction to environmental science. No. Ed. 19. Cengage Learning, 2017.

Miller, 5

Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005. Ecosystems and Human Well-being: Synthesis. Island Press, Washington, DC. 10

Miller, 6

Miller, 13

Miller, 14

Miller, 16

“How Many Planets Does It Take to Sustain Your Lifestyle?” Ecological Footprint Calculator. Accessed January 26, 2020. https://www.footprintcalculator.org/result1.

Global Footprint Network National Footprint Accounts, 2019 Edition Downloaded Jan 26, 2020 from http://data.footprintnetwork.org.

Miller 16,17

Miller, 20

“1992 World Scientists' Warning to Humanity.” Union of Concerned Scientists. Accessed January 26, 2020. https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/1992-world-scientists-warning-humanity.

Miller, 18

William J Ripple, Christopher Wolf, Thomas M Newsome, Phoebe Barnard, William R Moomaw, World Scientists’ Warning of a Climate Emergency, BioScience, Volume 70, Issue 1, January 2020, Pages 8–12, https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biz088

Miller, 21

[gemseduschool-blog]

Study In Australia The nation acclaimed for kangaroos, surfing and koalas, yet there is something else entirely to Australia. Australia covers a region of 7.69 million square kilometres. This makes it the sixth biggest nation on the planet and home to more than 23 million individuals. Its rich culture and history are established on its Aboriginal legacy and mix of lively societies. Australia is a worldwide pioneer in instruction. This makes it a famous report goal for universal understudies. Why Study in Australia? Concentrate in Australia offers a great deal of chances. There are more than 22,000 courses in 1,100 foundations the nation over. This makes it almost certain that your favored course will be accessible to examine in Australia. And also having the amount and assortment, Australia leads in nature of training. Seven out of the best 100 unis on the planet are in Australia. Their training framework positions eighth on the planet, in front of nations, for example, the UK, Germany and Japan. The Australian instruction framework is perceived as world-class. Nature of training is critical, yet so is understudy life. Australia is home to six of the forty best understudy urban areas on the planet. A 2012 overview uncovered that 88% of understudy respondents were fulfilled or exceptionally happy with living in Australia. This is nothing unexpected, as Australia is the tenth most joyful nation on the planet. Beside these, Australia and its administration put resources into worldwide instruction. For instance, there is over $200,000,000 contributed by the administration consistently for worldwide grants. This makes contemplating in Australia more open for global understudies. It is no big surprise that Australia is the third most famous understudy goal on the planet! More about Australia Australia is a standout amongst the most inviting and different nations. Half of the populace were either conceived abroad or have no less than one parent conceived abroad. There are more than 260 dialects being talked in homes crosswise over Australia! Beside its decent variety, the nation brags of its economy. It has seen unfaltering development, even all through the 2008 worldwide money related emergency. The nation, for the year 2014, had a GDP of more than $1.4 trillion. Because of its huge size, the nation has differing situations. It has more than 500 national parks and more than 2,700 preservation territories. These range from untamed life havens to Aboriginal stores. Over this, 17 of the UNESCO World Heritage destinations are in Australia. Models of these are the Great Barrier Reef and the Sydney Opera House. Cost of Studying and Living in Australia Study Expenses *Australia utilizes the Australian Dollar or AUD as its cash. As a well known examination goal, grants are focused. On the off chance that you are self financing you ought to know about the expenses of considering and living in Australia. Likewise with most different nations, the expense of training in Australia is subject to a few things. This incorporates the sort and span of your examinations, in addition to other things. For instance, English Language Courses are accessible at $300/week. Professional preparing or training then again will cost you $4,000 to $22,000. Professional preparing grants Certificate Levels (from I to IV), Diplomas and Advanced Diplomas. Expenses will be higher for the last mentioned. Four year certifications will make them burn through $10,000 to $33,000 per year. Expect higher expenses if seeking after your degree at a private foundation. Concentrates taken in an open foundation will for the most part cost less. Concentrate a Master's Degree will cost from $20,000 to $37,000 every year. Doctoral Degrees overall range from $14,000 to $37,000. As made reference to private schooling will result in higher expenses. Everyday costs There is a base typical cost for basic items for understudy visas. This is chosen by the Department of Immigration and Border Protection, and it is $18,610. Your everyday costs in Australia will rely upon which area you intend to live in. For instance, urbanized zones will have higher living expenses. There are a few distinct decisions for living game plans. Lodgings and guesthouses extend from $90 to $150 per week. Shared rentals and on-grounds living will cost $85 to $280. More costly choices are homestay ($235 to $325 every week) and rental ($165 to $440 every week). Beside settlement, your week after week costs will probably include: Goods or eating out ($80 to $280). Gas and power ($35 to $140). Telephone and web ($20 to $55). Open transport ($15 to $55). Way of life ($80 to $150). You should factor in medical coverage costs and abroad understudy wellbeing spread. Study and Work in Australia Working while you examine in Australia is an incredible method to cover your living and educational cost costs. It is critical that you check with the fitting government office first. Distinctive visas (examined underneath) have diverse stipulations on this. It ought to be conceivable to work low maintenance while you ponder.

[electronic-therapy-teletherapy]

Introduction to Social and Emotional Learning (SEL)

At E-Therapy, we offer social and counseling teletherapy services to our school partners. Mental health is top of mind as students suffer the isolation brought on by Covid-19 and an uncertain future. We know that social and emotional learning (SEL) is more important than ever before, so in today’s blog, we feature an guest article by SEL expert trainer and coach, Sue Laue.

An Intro to SEL

Empower Guest Blog From Sue Laue, Open Studio Project, Inc.

Now as never before, we as a global community must practice positive social and emotional skills to meet our biggest societal challenges. Educators worldwide are coming to realize that youth need to learn these skills early, alongside academic skills, to take their place as global citizens.

Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) is a process in which we learn about our emotions:

how to express and manage those emotions in positive ways

how to build relationships with empathy

how to appreciate diversity

Learning SEL skills is foundational for success in school, work and life.

Our global interconnectedness today demands an ability to understand the needs and cultures of diverse peoples to assure equity. Even within one’s own community, equity for all through understanding different perspectives is key to building successful and fair socio-economic strategies and to providing equal distribution and preservation of limited natural resources.

Employer surveys have shown that the skills most desired for employees are those that assist in building positive relationships, sharing, and teamwork. In addition, rewarding personal relationships are developed only with keen social and emotional skills.

Students can learn SEL skills

Research shows that SEL can be taught and students can learn the skills at all ages, academic, and behavioral levels. When a caring teacher, mentor, or parent models and teaches SEL skills, children can learn:

self-understanding

impulse control

bullying prevention

appreciation of diversity

empathy

goal setting

decision-making

self-confidence

When taught in an academic setting, students can achieve up to a 15% increase on standardized achievement tests, according to a meta-analysis by the Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning (CASEL), an international leader in SEL education and research based in Chicago.

Social and emotional learning programs have proven to increase academic success by:

teaching the five key SEL skills: promoting students’ self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship, and responsible decision-making skills

improving student attitudes and beliefs about self, others and school

Many schools and districts in the U.S. and around the world are integrating social and emotional learning standards and skills for students into their school climate improvement and academic curriculum initiatives. Illinois was the first state to mandate that schools teach SEL skills in 2003, and developed SEL Goals and Standards for instruction in all schools PreK-12.

The studies we have access to today show several benefits of SEL and an 11 to 1 return on investing in SEL for schools. Some of the top data points include:

Science Links SEL Instruction to Student Gains (% increase)

Social-emotional skills (23%)

Improved attitudes about self, others, school (9%)

Positive classroom behavior (9%)

Gains on standardized achievement tests (11-15%)

Reduced Risks for Failure (% decrease)

• Conduct problems (9%) • Emotional distress (10%)

Why Implement SEL in Schools?

Relationships provide a foundation for learning.

Emotions affect how and what we learn.

Social and emotional skills can be taught.

Positive impact on academic performance, health, relationships and citizenship.

Reduction of classroom management problems.

SEL teaches skills and attitudes which are demanded by employers.

SEL coordinates a framework to overcome fragmentation of prevention and positive youth development programs.

SEL helps students feel safe

Most importantly, SEL instruction helps students form positive relationships with adults and other students at school, diminish bullying, stand up for others, feel safe, focus, and achieve in all areas of their lives.

However, in order for lessons to be most impactful, SEL instruction must be delivered to students with fidelity to program and curriculum design and SEL lesson sequence – first teaching self-awareness and self-management, then social awareness and relationship skills and finally decision-making.

CASEL states that high quality SEL instruction must be SAFE, utilizing:

Sequenced activities to develop skills

Active forms of learning & teacher modeling

Focused attention on SEL in the curriculum

Explicit targeting of particular SEL skills for development

About the Author

📷Sue Laue, a social-emotional learning trainer and coach is CEO of Behavioral Solutions K-12 & Media Masters, Inc. For more detail on the studies she references as well as much more detailed information, you can visit www.casel.org.

This blog was first posted on: https://www.electronic-therapy.com/blog/introduction-to-social-and-emotional-learning-sel/

[eretzyisrael]

The Jewish Food Society wants to preserve your grandma’s recipes — before they’re lost forever By Josefin Dolsten

August 25, 2017 1:12pm

TENAFLY, N.J. (JTA) — Ayala Hodak usually cooks the way her mother taught her: adding a pinch of spice here or relying on her eyes — never a measuring cup! — to judge how much liquid to add.

But on a recent Tuesday, she was being much more meticulous.

At her spacious home in this suburban town less than 15 miles from New York City, Hodak, 52, who grew up in an Iranian family in Israel, measured the amount of salt and pepper she added to a stew. She also paused to demonstrate how thickly to cut a piece of beef.

Her reason for the precision: Hodak’s recipe was being recorded by a new nonprofit, the Jewish Food Society, which aims to be an archive of Jewish recipes from around the world.

Its kibbutz-born founder, who once promoted Israeli culture as an employee of the Israeli Consulate in New York, was inspired by the diversity of food traditions in Israel and her desire to preserve them in the Diaspora.

“I realized there is an urgency in capturing these stories because the older generation is about to leave the world, and many of these recipes are labor- and time-consuming in a way that we should really protect them,” the society’s founder, Naama Shefi, told JTA. “These are skills that would just disappear if no one could capture them in a methodic way.”

The project, which launched officially in March and receives financial support from several Jewish foundations, has added over a dozen recipes to its online archive, and more are on the way. Along with the recipes are photographs and stories of the cook’s family history, as well as how he or she learned to make the dish.

Each week, the group interviews a chef and takes down his or her story. If distance permits, a New York- or Israel-based employee will meet with the cook in person; if not, they communicate long distance. All ingredients are measured, and dishes are then re-created in a test kitchen and adjusted accordingly.

(Continue to site for a video of a recipe)

Though some participants work in the food industry — Hodak is the manager and co-owner of Taboon, a Hell’s Kitchen restaurant serving Middle Eastern and Mediterranean-inspired food — others are home cooks.

Shefi, 36, came up with the idea after a Shabbat meal in 2005 at the home of her now-husband’s grandmother, who was born in Turkey but also lived in Greece and South Africa prior to immigrating to Israel with her family.

“The flavors really represented all of their previous immigration stories and journeys, and some worlds that do not even exist anymore,” said Shefi, who lives on New York’s Lower East Side. “It was such a vivid expression of disappearing worlds, and of bitter and sweet memories. It was just moving, so I told him, let’s just spend a day with her try to capture a few recipes. It was just really inspiring.”

Shefi has always had an interest in food, though she did not get it at home.

“Good food wasn’t part of my childhood,” said Shefi, who grew up on Kibbutz Givat Hashlosha in central Israel. “Between the [kibbutz’s] communal dining room and the fact that my mom is not the best cook in the world, good food was out of reach.”

But as a young girl, she would urge her parents to take her to Tel Aviv’s Carmel Market or a nearby Yemenite neighborhood to try different types of cuisines.

“It became my life’s passion,” Shefi said. “At the beginning just because it tasted really good, but later because I realized it tells a fantastic story about families and people and cultures.”

In 2008, when she took the consulate job, she could use that passion in a professional way. Having just graduated from the New School with a master’s degree in film, Shefi was tasked with promoting Israeli culture. She decided to do so through food, hosting Israel-themed dinners, wine tastings and panels in New York. She also organized trips to the Jewish state for American food writers.

In 2013, Shefi launched the Kubbeh Project, a three-week pop-up in the East Village serving kubbeh soup, an Iraqi Jewish dish featuring meat-filled semolina dumplings in vegetable broth. The project received wide media coverage and had people lining up for hours for a taste of the delicacy.

“The first day I came to the venue at 2 p.m., I saw this line around the block, almost like a ‘Shakespeare in the Park’ line,” she said, referring to the popular free performances in Central Park. “And I was just amazed that these people are waiting for us. This line never stopped for these three weeks and people stood hours and hours in the snow.”

Hodak’s ghormeh sabzi, a beef stew with herbs that is served with rice. (Josefin Dolsten)

Now the Jewish Food Society, for which Shefi works full time, provides a way to combine her two passions: food and storytelling.

“For a while I was really interested in storytelling through filmmaking,” she said. “Still my main interest is storytelling, but the medium changed to food.”

In addition to the weekly cooking session, the nonprofit puts on larger-scale events, such as a Passover sederthat showcased three Mexico-born Jewish chefs, and Schmaltzy, a yearly storytelling event where people share the stories behind family recipes. A Moroccan-style Mimouna, a bread-filled celebration held the day after Passover, is in the works, Shefi said.

Her family are Polish Jews, not Sephardi, but Shefi said such distinctions blur in Israeli kitchens.

“Israel is a not just a melting pot, it’s a pressure cooker, so a Polish girl like me considered kubbeh as my own,” she told The New York Times.

Shefi’s long-term goal for the Jewish Food Society extends beyond the archive of recipes. She wants to establish a center for Jewish food in New York, where visitors would be able to take cooking classes and learn about their family’s culinary histories. Shefi describes her vision as “the James Beard Foundation for Jewish food.”

For now, the Jewish Food Society provides a way for Jews to engage with their culture, Shefi said.

“These [recipes and stories] are just huge parts of our lives, of our history as a people, and I feel that for many people that are less connected to Jewish culture and Jewish life, it’s a very inviting window to engage and to explore their identity,” she said.

Food also provides a lens through which to understand Jewish history, she added.

“I feel that recipes really carry our cultural DNA because they tell stories not just about a particular time in history, but also about how people used to live, how people used to celebrate, how people used to mourn, how people used to get together,” Shefi said. “It’s not just about the flavor and the food, it’s really about the experience.”

For her part, Hodak is excited to have her mother’s dishes — including ghormeh sabzi, a herb beef stew that her family would eat for Shabbat dinner, and a yogurt soup with cucumber and mint eaten on Shavuot — recorded for future generations.

“I thought it’s a great opportunity to spread my tradition,” she said, “to talk about my mother’s food and to keep it alive.”

[aldeiashistoricasdeportugal]

Discover the Historical Villages of Portugal on foot

Among the hills and valleys of the green countryside inside the central region of Portugal, full of legends and castles, tastes and traditions, there are 12 simple villages where you can feel at home. to get lost, never to see yourself again. The historic villages of Portugal, a destination of 12, are hidden paradises that take us on a journey into the past of kings and queens, epic and endless battles that have written history as those we know today.

Traveling to the historic villages of Portugal means discovering the history of a land of ruthless conquerors, through the stones of its pavements and its green walls and castles, proudly and bluntly built. It is also the guarantee of unforgettable moments of leisure, adventure and discovery, spiced with the incomparable flavours of the region that make up its typical gastronomy. The perfect destination for families or adventurers, where you can find endless hiking trails: 15 Small Routes (PR), which take you through the magical corners of the villages and the surrounding natural areas, and the Great Route 22 (GR22), Portugal’s largest walking route, which links the 12 historic villages of Portugal on a 600 km circular route.

A green destination The historic villages of Portugal, a destination of 12, are places of enchantment, surrounded by nature in its pure state that invites you to incomparable adventures. Walk through the territory of the villages Historic Portugal on foot is the promise of moments of unprecedented communion with nature, freedom and peace. Thanks to the commitment to the preservation of nature and the defense of green locomotion. of Portugal’s historic villages, it is a unique experience to get lost in these villages. Distance and absolute peace. Recently awarded the certificate BIOSPHERE DESTINATION – the first networked destination in the world to receive this award, and the national one to obtain this certification -, the Historic Villages of Portugal are an important component that puts sustainability and nature at the forefront.

Following old Roman sidewalks, crossing rivers and streams, climbing the most challenging slopes, descending through green valleys designed with terraces and crossing rocky geographies, golden plateaus and protected areas, or diving into crystal clear waters, discovering the territory of the Historical Villages of Portugal through the ancestral paths of the GR22 is a unique and unforgettable experience, which will make you feel like an authentic knight, the conquest of the imposing castles and walls of the Historical Villages of Portugal. For a more contemplative experience, follow the PR routes and explore, on foot, the labyrinthine paths of these paradisiacal localities, thus taking the opportunity to discover each of their magical corners.

A thousand and one breathtaking landscapes To visit the Historical Villages of Portugal is a unique experience, of constant surprise and dazzle. Travelling through this territory on foot is a roller coaster of emotions, where we discover at every moment different and unexpected landscapes. On the GR22, you will discover some of the most beautiful natural parks and reserves in Portugal, classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site: the International Douro Natural Park and the Archaeological Park of the Côa Valley, the International Tagus Natural Park, and the Serra da Estrela Natural Park, whose application for World Geopark was recently approved by UNESCO.

In addition to these UNESCO territories, the GR22 also takes you through other parks and nature reserves. not to be missed, as Serra da Estrela Natural Park, Protected Landscape of Serra do Açor, Serra da Malcata Nature Reserve, Private Protected Area of Faia Brava and Protected Landscape of the Serra da Gardunha. In these places, you will find unique fauna and flora of incredible beauty. For example, in the Private Protected Area of Faia Brava, take the opportunity to contemplate the impressive flights of birds of prey that cross the skies of this region.

In fact, the GR22 is the perfect route for those who like challenges and to travel independently, in full and intimate contact with the territory and those who live in it. On the walking side, the GR22 privileges the old rural roads, which constitute about half of its route, moving away from agitation and providing serenity, surprise and security.

Alone, with family or friends, choose your route and come live an unforgettable adventure in the Historical Villages of Portugal!

The GR22 has a circular route and extends for about 600km, in the walking mode it is possible to to be carried out in 28 (+2) daily steps within 12 (+1) sectors, which start and end in the same year. end in each of the 12 Historical Villages of Portugal. The beginning of the GR22 can occur in any of them. However, it is suggested its beginning and end at AHP Belmonte with circulation in the counterclockwise, because here also occurs the division of GR22 into two loops, North and South, adding one sector and two stages to the whole.

North Loop and South Loop If the option is to take the GR22 in two loops, north and south, the traveler can count on the following characteristics:

• North Loop: with 336km, it crosses eight Historic Villages of Portugal (Belmonte, Sortelha, Castelo Mendo, Almeida, Castelo Rodrigo, Marialva, Trancoso and Linhares da Beira) and has an accumulated difference of + 8,655m. The realization estimate is 16 days of walking or eight days of running;

• South Loop: with 327km, it crosses six Historic Villages of Portugal (Belmonte, Piódão, Castelo Novo, Idanha-a-Velha, Monsanto and Sortelha) and has an accumulated difference of + 9,855m. The realization estimate is 17 days walking or eight days running.

Historial paths For those who want to go at a more contemplative pace, or when the availability of time no longer allows or the goal is not the full completion of the GR22, there are 15 short route routes (PRs), equally perfect for walking. Approved and associated with the 12 Historic Villages of Portugal, these are routes that allow you to explore, step by step, the territory and surroundings of each of the villages that integrate it, revealing the richness and diversity of the natural, cultural and landscape heritage.

Throughout the territory, there are several services available to travelers: hotels with SPA, rural tourism houses, restaurants and cafes, perfect for restoring energy and discovering the irresistible cuisine and wines of the region. It is also a unique opportunity to hear, from the voice of local people, the myths and legends that make these places so special – as well as their traditions and customs.

You can plan your trip on foot through the Historical Villages of Portugal on our website, selecting the villages you want to visit and consulting the services available on your route – be it the GR22 or one of the PRs. You can also get the details of each stage of the route on our website. This way, you will travel in complete safety and comfort through the incredible territory of the Historical Villages of Portugal.

Choose your route and fall in love with the unique beauty of the Historical Villages of Portugal!

[aboriginalworldissues]

Opportunities and Challenges

Growing up I was made aware of the challenges indigenous peoples had to face. Now I  have become aware of the many challenges indigenous peoples face daily. 

The concerns of indigenous peoples have not always been represented at the United Nations. This is of course a challenge for indigenous peoples because it makes it feel as if our needs lack value. This is a shared feeling between 370 million indigenous peoples spread across 90 countries. United Nations (2009) ¨The United Nations system has, in recent years, taken a number of steps to atone for past oversights, increasingly building partnerships with indigenous peoples. There has been a vigorous and dynamic interface between indigenous peoples—numbering more than 370 million in some 90 countries—and the United Nations, an interface which, difficult as it is, has produced at least three results: a) a new awareness of indigenous peoples’ concerns and human rights; b) recognition of indigenous peoples’ invaluable contribution to humanity’s cultural diversity and heritage, not least through their traditional knowledge; and c) an awareness of the need to address the issues of indigenous peoples through policies, legislation and budgets. Along with the movements for decolonization and human rights, as well as the women’s and environmental movements, the indigenous movement has been one of the most active civil society interlocutors of the United Nations since 1945.¨(45).  Progress is important and vital for the opportunities of the Indigenous peoples.  However, the struggles and challenges remain in many parts of the world. Indigenous peoples are confronted with systemic discrimination;  Indigenous peoples are presented among the poorest and have no political or economic power. Indigenous women are forced to face the sexual degradation of rape and ethnic cleansing. Indigenous peoples were robbed of their right to life (forced assimilation, robbed of their culture). Throughout indigenous communities consent is not given to exploit the culture, heritage and traditions. They are faced with the challenge of market exploitation which decreases the value of their knowledge and cultural expression.  

Indigenous Human Right Defenders

Purpose:  United Nations (2009)¨There is a need for governments to establish mechanisms and processes for comprehensive dialogue and consultations with indigenous peoples to obtain their free, prior and informed consent in relation to any project that will have an impact on their territories and resources; therefore respecting the fundamental rights of indigenous peoples and ensuring they are able to exercise their rights in accordance with international human rights standards.¨(29). 

Human rights challenges and opportunities look like: 

 issues of violence and brutality 

 forced assimilation 

 marginalization 

 dispossession of land

 forced removal and relocation 

 abuse by military

 rape

exploitation  

There is growing concern for the Indigenous peoples of the Sahel. The current situation for the  indigenous peoples of the Sahel and other parts of Africa, where a number of factors, including climate change, are having a devastating impact on economic development and human security. The lack of recognition of the collective rights of these peoples has created fertile ground for their loss of territories and resources and the emergence of complex forms of conflict, including violent extremism. (The term "violent extremism" refers to the beliefs and actions of people who support or use ideologically-motivated violence to further radical ideological, religious, or political aims. Violent extremist views can manifest in connection with a range of issues, including politics, religion and gender relations. - Wikipedia).  Examples of violence and brutality have been heard from every corner of the world, most often perpetrated against indigenous persons who are defending their rights and their lands, territories and communities.

Indigenous peoples from all around the world are rising together to improve their quality of life by creating awareness. Check out these facts I was able to discover :-) 

 1. WHEREVER WE LIVE, INDIGENOUS PEOPLES ARE OUR NEIGHBOURS

There are an estimated 370-500 million indigenous people in the world, spread across 90 countries. They live in all geographic regions and represent 5,000 different cultures. 2. INDIGENOUS PEOPLE CREATED AND SPEAK AN OVERWHELMING MAJORITY OF THE WORLD'S 7,000 LANGUAGES

Indigenous languages are extensive, complex systems of knowledge. They are central to the identity of indigenous people, the preservation of their cultures, worldviews and visions, as well as expressions of self-determination.Many indigenous languages are under threat--it's estimated that one dies every two weeks. UNESCO has declared 2019 the International Year of Indigenous Languages to preserve these critical markers of cultural health. When indigenous languages are under threat, so too are the people who speak them. 3. INDIGENOUS PEOPLE ARE MORE LIKELY TO BE POOR AND VULNERABLE. 

While making up less than five percent of the world's population, indigenous people account for 15 percent of the poorest. They're more likely to suffer from malnutrition, and often lack adequate social protection and economic resources. The international community recognizes that special measures are required to protect their rights and maintain their distinct cultures.

4. INDIGENOUS PEOPLE LIVE SHORTER LIVES

The life expectancy of indigenous people is as much as 20 years lower than that of their non-indigenous counterparts. Often lacking adequate healthcare and information, they are more likely to get diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis, HIV and AIDS.

 5. INDIGENOUS WOMEN ARE MORE LIKELY TO SUFFER DISCRIMINATION AND VIOLENCE

More than one in three indigenous women are sexually assaulted during their lifetime, and they also have higher rates of maternal mortality, teen pregnancy, and sexually transmitted diseases. The Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples draws attention to the needs and rights of indigenous women and calls for action to protect them from violence.

6. THE WORLD INDIGENOUS PEOPLES’ GAMES BRING TOGETHER ATHLETES TO CELEBRATE INDIGENOUS TRADITIONS

Athletes from 566 aboriginal communities all over the world took part in the first World Games of Indigenous Peoples, held in 2015 in Brazil. The aim of the games is not just to compete, but also to share knowledge and cultures.

7. INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES LEAD ON PROTECTING THE ENVIRONMENT

Indigenous peoples are inheritors and practitioners of unique cultures and ways of living. Nearly 70 million indigenous women and men depend on forests for their livelihoods, and many more are farmers, hunters or gatherers These communities thrive by living in harmony with their surroundings. Research shows that where indigenous groups have control of the land, forests and biodiversity flourishes.

8. INDIGENOUS PEOPLES ARE FIGHTING CLIMATE CHANGE EVERY DAY

Indigenous communities’ contribution to fighting climate change are far greater than previously thought. Their forestland store at least one quarter of all above-ground tropical forest carbon – about 55 trillion metric tonnes. This is equivalent to four times the total global carbon emissions in 2014. Given that data isn’t available for all the lands native communities manage around the world, the actual impact is far greater.

9. INDIGENOUS PEOPLES ARE KEY TO THE 2030 AGENDA FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

From protecting the environment tacking inequality to ensuring peace and security, the Sustainable Development Goals won’t be achieved without indigenous people. The United Nations General Assembly has asked countries to emphasize their rights when implementing the 2030 Agenda.

10. THE UN DECLARATION WON’T SUCCEED WITHOUT THE SUPPORT OF PEOPLE EVERYWHERE.

The UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples is a milestone in solidarity with indigenous peoples and the global community. However, there are significant gaps between the formal recognition of indigenous rights and the reality. Since it adoption in in 2007, several countries, particularly in Latin America, have taken steps to recognize the identity and rights of indigenous peoples, but there is much more to do.

References:  United Nations (2009) ´State of The World Indigenous Peoples´ Retrieved from: https://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/documents/SOWIP/en/SOWIP_web.pdf

UNDP (2019). 10 Things to know about Indigenous People. United Nations Development Program. Retrieved from: https://stories.undp.org/10-things-we-all-should-know-about-indigenous-people