SuperForest

Today on the National Mall in Washington, DC (in conjunction with the National Cherry Blossom Festival), Lululemon Athletica sponsored free yoga for all levels.  They were trying to get 1000 yogi’s to attend and I believe there were!  They had yoga instructors from the DC area and even had a few instructors from California fly in to participate in the peaceful event.  People brought their own incense to burn, everyone who had a yoga mat brought their own (if you didn’t have one it was fine) and literally the sun came out in the middle of the yoga session.  It was truly a beautiful day.

On stage, the instructors did incredibly advanced yoga moves in congruence with the beginner level moves that were being instructed to the public.  It was fascinating to see the sheer strength of those yogis!  After the yoga session there was 5 hours of performances from local groups such as the Hypnotic Gurus playing sitars and Japanese dancers performing for the Cherry Blossom parade.

The leader of the yoga session, Peggy Mulqueen, started the session off by reciting (in her own words more or less) a Japanese poem that said, “Under the shade of a Cherry Blossom tree, there are no strangers.”  What a powerful way to start your day with 999 other people you don’t know!  Next year, they hope to not only cover the area in front of the monument, but the entire mall!

Ever gone snowboarding or skiing and done something really cool and wish you had a picture of it? That happens to me all the time (except usually it’s someone else doing something cool and I wish I had a picture of it.

Well, my buddy Superforester Ben has figured out a way to do it!  It goes a little something like this…You know how you are on a roller coaster and your picture is taken at a certain spot? Then you can walk over to a place at the bottom of the coaster and check out your photos and buy them if you want?

That’s kind of what Snapsportz does, but on the slopes! Ben and his team have placed cameras in terrain parks and other spots all over Powder Mountain in Utah. When you buy a lift-ticket, you are given an Snapsportz RFID tag with a number on it.  As you ride by certain spots in the mountain (which are clearly marked), a reader on the camera “sees” your RFID tag and immediately takes 5-6 sequential photos of you doing your thing!

Then, when you get on the lift, you just whip out your phone, or iPod touch or any PDA and go to Snapsportz.com, type in your tag number and check out your photos!  You can even buy them right there from your phone.  Right now, it’s just offered in Powder Mountain, Utah…but soon it will be all over the country!  Go Superforester Ben!!  Go Snapsportz!

Also known as Pe’ahi…the name given to a surf break off the coast of Maui.  The wave typically comes every year between December and February.  It can get as tall as 70ft and reach speeds of 30 MPH.  Because if it’s ferocious heights and speeds, it’s almost impossible for an average human to catch this wave on his/her own.  That is why the surfers are towed in by jet skis…pioneered by such surfers as Laird Hamilton (first picture) and Dave Kalama. The wave is famous for it’s beautiful “wave” shape that also sort of resemble the fin of a shark….a very LARGE shark…hence, “Jaws”.

I was lucky enough to be there this year in December, to witness this phenomenon.  To behold it was just a once in a lifetime opportunity, but to behold it from a boat right next to the wave was almost like taking a drug.  These photos were taken by my buddy Ben Kottke who is a surf, wedding and snow sports photographer.  He was standing right next to me on the boat the entire time, so this gives you an idea of what it was like!  Enjoy, and if you can make it to Maui in December-February, you could be lucky enough to “catch” this wave.  It’s also whale season so you can see some beautiful breachin’ going on!!

9 reasons to go to Maui in December.  (First pic is Laird Hamilton).  This is known as potentially the largest wave in the world.  It’s incredible to behold.  They call it Jaws.  At the bottom are a few more reasons to visit Maui.  All of these amazing photos were taken by surf, wedding and snowcat photographer, Ben Kottke.

Last night during dinner, during a heated political conversation, dad broke into some mythology.  In my research, I found that it is also an Aesop’s fable…but you know how us Greeks are.  Everything came from ancient Greece.  So here we go:

In ancient Greece…the God of the Sun and the God of the Wind wanted to have a contest to see who was stronger and more powerful.  As they were looking down upon the earth, there was a man with a jacket on.  The two powerful gods decided that they would try and see who could get the man to take his jacket off.

The eager wind said, “I’ll go first.”  He mustered up some heavy winds and blew them as hard as he could towards the man.  The man covered his face and his jacket blew around, but the man used the jacket to cover his face.  The wind only blew harder and thought, “I will blow so hard that he will HAVE to take that jacket off.”  The man only wrapped his jacket around himself tighter.  Eventually, the frustrated wind gave up, telling the sun that it was impossible.

As the Sun patiently listened, it was his turn.  The Sun shined it’s warm smile down upon the man and without any struggle, the man warmed up and took off his jacket.

This is by no means a ground-breaking story, but the moral of the story is that kindness simply works better than violence.  I think the wind learned his lesson.  So the next time you get frustrated, perhaps shining a warm smile is the best option.

I have always heard that “A messy room means a creative mind”…or something like that.  Well, I take that quote to a whole new level.  Every roommate of mine has always known that I have “Jo Droppings” (a term coined by my 6 roommates in Nags Head, NC one summer) and that I don’t like to put things away.  They also know that I am a creative.

Now that I am doing a lot more artwork, the “Jo Droppings” have gotten out of hand.  I live in a one bedroom condo with my husband and if you leave out a glass, it looks like the place is trashed.  Never mind if the bed isn’t made, my clothes are EVERYWHERE and we just got married, so there’s Crate & Barrel boxes completely covering our condo.  Well now there are sheets of paper with drawings all over the place as well.  They range from all sizes, 12×12, 8.5×11 all the way up to 18×24.  There are books of paper, illustration boards, large water color papers and whatever else I can draw on.  These are not things that I would care to part with any time soon.  I want to hang on to all of my art work because I treasure it.

So, I looked all over the internet to see what sort of storage was available for large sheets of paper.  It seems as though, the only thing available is called a “Flat File” and it ranges anywhere from $500-$5000.  Most of them were around $1500.  Um, that’s a lot of clams.  I would much rather fly to Maui thankyouverymuch.

That’s when I headed to Pearl Arts & Crafts to see what I could find.  I bought:

6 sheets of 1/2″ foam core 20×30, 10 pieces of wood sheet 1/4 x 1 x 24, and some craft glue.

With my student ID, it cost about $40.61.  That’s a lot cheaper than $1499.99!!!!  I got home, and this is what I did.

I basically just cut the pieces of wood down to 20 inches (with help from a neighbor with a skill saw).  Then I just put the craft glue on both sides of the pieces of wood and glued them to the edges of the foam core.  I placed some heavier objects on the top after I was done to help the glue settle.  In 24 hours, this guy will be ready for awesome….and I saved thousands!

I’m sure most of you have seen this already, but I was so incredibly touched by it.  I don’t need to write much, as the video explains it all.  I was so touched and inspired by this.  I hope you are too.

Hey guys!  Just had a delicious and authentic Peruvian dinner with my pop.  Tonight, he was talking about “Thunderbirds”.   There are a few theories about these birds…one being that they are a spirit of thunder, lightning, and rain in the form of a huge bird in the mythology of certain Native American peoples.  They are commonly used in totem poles….like this one

Another theory is that there are a few species of birds that like to ride upon the thermals that may precede a storm.  They fly at high altitudes, where the storm sort of begins…and therefore if one of these birds is spotted, it’s a good indicator that a storm is coming.  Hence, you have a “thunderbird”!

So, by the way…I took a 2 day caricature workshop this past weekend and used my dad as my model!  Here is Michael Kosmides Sr. in caricature.

Enjoy!  Love Jo!!

Yay!  Hello my knowledge-thirsty friends…I’ve got some information-libations for you!

My dad is an incredible man.  He got a full academic scholarship to Cornell back in the 70’s.  His native tongue is Greek, but his English vocab is better than most writers I know.  He can tell you the Latin word for any plant or fish.  He reads STRICTLY reference materials…meaning dictionaries, encyclopedias, almanacs, atlas’s, etc…I’m talking front to back. He builds model boats, cars and planes from scratch and crashes them only to start over because he likes a challenge. His memory is a steel trap, basically if he reads it, he remembers it.   Everything from physics, to black holes and especially the science of food, my dad can tell you about it. I guess it’s a nice way of saying he’s a nerd…but man, what would I pay for that brain?!

So after some really interesting knowledge from my dad the other night, I decided to make this a weekly routine.  I swear this info is straight from his noggin’ and not from anywhere else.  I tried to give a link to further explain, but the topic itself was brought about by my dad, Mr. Michael Kosmides Sr.

Here goes:

Did you know, that after 10 years, the weight of your mattress can be up to 10 lbs heavier due to dust mites? Yes.  If you’ve had the same mattress for several years, you may want to to some research.

We shed skin and these mites eat the dead skin cells.  They each have about 20 waste droppings a day…so if over 100,000 mites can live in 1 square yard, then that’s a LOT of waste.   If you have pets, there is a lot more for these mites to munch on. They are also a major cause of allergies, itchy eyes, runny noses and congestion! There is no proof as to how much weight your mattress/furniture will gain, but there is most likely an increase in weight.

To read more, go to Environment, Health and Safety Online.

That’s it! Short and sweet…just like my dad.

Love and health – Jo Edwards (new last name!)

Hello my my friends. I missed you!! I just got back from 2 mindblowing weeks in Mexico and they need you.

The truth is, a lot of stuff has gone down in Mexico for the past several months.  I have been acutely aware of most of it because in November of ‘08, we decided to get married in Mexico in July of ‘09.  I’m not dismissing the seriousness of some of the situations in several regions of the country, but in my opinion, a lot of it was overblown media and most of it occurred very far from the tourist-y Meccas of Mexico.

“Mexico is letting the world know that we are ready to welcome back travelers and continue to offer the beauty, culture, history, gastronomy, and pristine beaches our country is known for — and of course, all within great proximity and at a great value,” said Oscar Fitch, the Mexico Tourism Board’s CEO.

Obama is doing a big “Mexico Recovery” campaign and I’m gonna help him out!  I have been seeing the commercials all over the place, and they are incredibly accurate.  Mexico is beautiful.  The people are friendly, the food is delectable, and the ocean is delicious.

We had picked Mexico for our wedding because it was central to both the east and west coasts, the weather was guaranteed to be amazing and things generally cost less money in Mexico.  We chose correctly!  The parts of Mexico that run on tourism like Cancun, Playa del Carmen, Puerto Morelos, Cabo San Lucas, Cozumel, etc…are hurting.  This is a shame since these areas have fine white sand (that never gets hot!), crystal clear water, the 2nd largest coral reef in the world (next to Australia – great for diving/snorkeling), and I think about 4 days of rainfall a year.

Since I was recently there, I witnessed a lot of construction (near Cancun/Playa del Carmen) being done to improve conditions, lots of prices being dropped, to accommodate tourists, and a lot of effort being put into beautifying the area.  I even had friends get round trip direct flights for $84!  All I am sayin’ is…go there!  Enjoy the amazing hospitality, food and beauty that is Mexico’s specialty.

For more amazing pics, go to our wedding site, www.thebirdandtheb.com