Howdy friends! Many of you may already be familiar with Lisa Hoffman ... & for those of you aren't, boy, do I have a treat for you!!! Lisa's posts regularly blow me away with information about people, books, events, current affairs, & more. Her latest post is particularly interesting if you sew or if you just love handmade things... Lisa's previous post is about a TV show on the Sundance channel I'd never heard of, and once I started looking at the links Lisa provided, it was like I was Alice in Wonderland falling down that tunnel... an hour and a half later I had to stop and rethink what it was I was supposed to do that morning! I had a blast and I didn't have to leave my studio or get out of my jammies!!! It's a wonderful mix of information from an incredibly cool lady, and every time I stop by, I can count on learning about something I might not have heard of otherwise. On top of that, Lisa is an extremely friendly, welcoming host, and has become one of my favorite "virtual" internet friends. I hope you'll take a minute to visit Lisa and become a fan of her site, too!
In other news, today is the twentieth anniversary of the opening of the Berlin Wall... over the next few days, in 1989, there was a celebration in the streets and people on both sides of the wall started chipping away at the wall, taking chunks of it; until at last, the freed people of Berlin, East and West, tumbled the giant divider of the people, literally and figuratively.
From the site Berlin-life.com:
The version of the ‘Wall’ that started life in 1961, was in fact not a wall but a 96 miles barbed wire fence. However, after this incarnation proved too easy to scale, work started in 1962 on a second fence, parallel to the first but up to 100 yards further in. The area in between the two fences was demolished to create an empty space, which became widely known as "death strip" as it was here that many would-be escapers met their doom. The strip was covered with raked gravel, making it easy to spot footprints, it offered no cover, was mined and booby-trapped with tripwires and, most importantly, it offered a clear field of fire to the armed guards – who were instructed to shoot on sight.
In 1975 I was lucky enough to visit Berlin and gained access into East Berlin through the famed Checkpoint Charlie. I was a very young teenager and it was a terrifying experience, (there were armed guards watching our every move) and one I've never forgotten. But the city of Berlin was one of the most beautiful European cities I saw on that trip, very cosmopolitan, clean, and loaded with the obvious history. No one ever imagined the wall would be torn down and the city and country united. Perhaps there is room then, for hope for the world today, that we might be able to find a way towards peace, too.
I'm going to be very busy for the next week, studying for ACLS, which stands for Advanced Cardiac Life Support. It is a provider course for health care professionals... I stupidly let my certification expire years ago. In an effort to improve my job chances and make myself more marketable, I'm taking the class again next Saturday. I've got a LOT of catching up to do! So, I will not be doing much in my studio this week, but please be sure to check back!
Now, GO MAKE SOMETHING!!!
I didn´t know that you´ve once been to Berlin - I´m sure you wouldn´t recognize it, not even the Western part of it. I´m originally from Cologne which has more and much older historical monuments, but I like to visit Berlin as often as possible because it has a special flair and lifestyle that I like.
Posted by: Marion | November 08, 2009 at 01:29 PM
Lisa is the bomb! I second your recommendation to head over to her site!
Posted by: Seth | November 09, 2009 at 11:39 PM
Kathy - what a delightful surprise to pop over here and see the lovely face of one of my best friends! You got her pegged, always one with new and fresh info. How nice to see you cheerleading for her. (Today is her bday!!)
What an experience you had in Germany - something to remember as we freely walk through our own cities.
Posted by: michelle ward | November 10, 2009 at 03:13 PM