Well, you see, this whole thing started with me wanting to tell you about our March 3^rd Sale. The idea behind this generosity is actually Laine’s way to celebrate Hina Matsuri or Girls’ Day with you.  

Hina Matsuri is the annual Girls’ Day Festival celebrated on March 3, (3/3), by Japanese and Okinawan families in Hawai’i. Hina Matsuri evolved from ancient Shinto purification ceremonies. Using origami dolls, girls could rid themselves of impurities by breathing upon the paper dolls, rubbing the dolls against their bodies, then casting away the dolls, and thus their sins, into a river.

Anyway, I thought that for this newsletter I would be a regular polymath and so I Googled “#3” to explore whatever few trite factoids bubbled up and I figured that I could throw them out to you like beads at a Gasparilla parade. Now I know the meaning of the Irish slang, clever dick.

Few bauble indeed. I discovered math enough to twist and tangle a strong man’s mind: Fibonacci Numbers, Heegner Numbers, Mersenne Prime, Lucas Prime, Stern Prime, for cryin’ out loud, Vulgar Fractions, too. Has math no mercy?

So, still with my mind spinning like a samara in the fall breeze, I switched tracks hoping to find something simpler and closer to the soul so I sought a metaphysical expression of the #3 and – bam- The Holy Trinity – swoosh – The Triple Goddess – pow – Thesis+Antithesis=Synthesis – Divine Law, Natural Law, Human Law. Even Mark Twain has his troika, “Lies, Damn Lies and Statistics”.

Although, I must admit that I am pleased to have found Robert Sternberg’s 3 Components of Love; Passion, Intimacy, Commitment.

And, yet, the 3s are still unexhausted.

3 Strikes
3 Wishes
3 Pigs
3 Witches
3 Blind Mice
3 Musketeers
3^rd time is the charm
Tinkers-to-Evers-to-Chance

Even our TV’s are set up to play the DVD on channel 3.

Did you know, do you care, that there are 3 golf balls on the moon?

I always thought that a Hat Trick was a well dressed gentleman on the wrong side of town.

Curley, Larry & Moe working for the law firm, Dewey, Cheatem & Howe.

Enough already! Don’t even get me started on the number 9.

So, let me just tell you about the damn sale –

Our main location at 1123 Thomasville Rd. in Midtown will also offer a special Girl’s Day Sale on 3/3 – 3/7.  All non-consigned jewelry will be 20% off.  We do have a wonderful selection of local jewelry artists and although their art is not on sale at this time you can still treat yourself to a lovely Girl’s Day gift for a very reasonable price! This month’s featured artist is Cheryl Sattler. Cheryl will be sharing with us “Moments in Time”. Cheryl sees time a little differently than most. In her delicate, sometimes gravity defining glasswork, she captures the essence of moments in time – their wonder and ephemeral nature. “Life speeds by leaving us with memories of moments.” There will be an artist’s reception for Cheryl at the Midtown location on 1^stFriday, 3/5 from 6 to 9 PM.

Our regular BALI HI hours are Monday-Friday 11-6 and Sat. 11-5 PM at 1123 Thomasville Rd between the Whataburger and Waterworks. We are downstairs with plenty of parking on the back side of the Salmon colored bldg. or you can enter from the stairs inside Lucy and Leo’s Cupcakery and Textures.  Cheryl’s special exhibit will be on display through March.

The Railroad Square Art Park location in with The Other Side Vintage will have a “Girl’s Day Sale” on all our women’s clothing and purses. Take 20% off from 3/3 through Sun. 3/7 at The Square.  Then look for a sale on some newly acquired Fair Trade/ Eco- friendly albesia wood products sometime in March or April.  We will let you know.

Guys don’t despair because ‘Boy’s Day” is 5/5 and you know Elaine brought back a ton of Aloha shirts when she was in Hawaii in October.

Oh, by the way, red pen circle the date, April 11^th. BALI HI & The Other Side Vintage will be presenting the annual Peace In The Park Festival at Railroad Square. This all day event will celebrate the great work that so many non-profit and civic organizations do every day to make Tallahassee & Leon County such a great place to live. So far we have over 30 community groups registered to participate and 12 bands will perform on 4 stages. Longineu Parsons will perform for the festival and Mayor John Marks will be the guest of honor.

Best Wishes & Peace,

Elaine & Bill Grace
BALI HI Trading Company
aloha@balihi.us
850/ 766-7175

 “Well, I’ll be a suck egg mule”, it’s February already, quite an appropriate time to poach a phrase from the voice of Tallahassee, Red Barber, his birthday is February 27th. I am sure that many of us used to listen to Red and Colonel Bob each Friday on NPR’s Morning Edition as they chatted about sports, the Tallahassee weather, Red’s garden and whatever the devil else flew past their window of thoughts. It ran a good stretch of time, from 1981 until 1992 when Red went to the Great Stadium in the sky. Maybe even some of you even listened when he was a sportscaster for the Cincinnati Reds, or when he was the voice of the Brooklyn Dodgers and introduced Jackie Robinson to the plate for the first time or maybe his “sittin’ in the catbird seat” calling the games for the Yankees up to his forced retirement in 1966. During the heart of this time I was living in Seattle. After carrying my books across the FSU campus in a tattered canvas Boy Scout backpack for so many years, I seem to only appreciate the Tallahassee flora after I began to listen to Red spin on about what was coloring his backyard while I was driving in the perpetual fall-like rain of Seattle. For that matter, after all that work and dedication to educational excellence, about all I can say that I learned in college is that you shouldn’t walk around with an opened bottle of beer in a single paperbag, that the egg probably came before the chicken, that you really don’t want to play Scrabble with Steve Deady and that I am pretty sure there is a word that rhymes with orange but it is in Arabic.

 February is also the birth month for Chelsea Clinton, February 27th. “Oh, Doctor”, she’ll be 30 years old this year. Awhile back I ran across the trivia that she is named after the Chelsea Hotel in Greenwich Village and this stuck with me because the hotel is referenced in a Leonard Cohen song that he wrote of Janis Joplin after her death.

I remember you well in the Chelsea Hotel
you were famous, your heart was a legend.
You told me again you preferred handsome men
but for me you would make an exception.

 The Chelsea has a very bohemian and romantic history. Over the years Bob Dylan, Arthur C. Clarke, Jim Morrison, Patti Smith, Leonard Cohen and Joplin lived there as did Mark Twain. Thomas Wolfe wrote there and Dylan Thomas drank himself to death there. Sid Vicious & Nancy Spungen had a room that nobody really wants to talk about after Nancy’s death in it. And even today you can get a room at the Chelsea for under $150 a night.

 And it is Valentine’s Day this month, of course, my lovelies. Oh yeah, another thing that I learned in college, mined in the rich pages of the Flambeau actually, from sometime when the 1980’s were still young, there is a lot of conjecture written about the origins of the St. Valentine’s Day, stuff about monks and such but less is written about the origin of the design of the heart, there are whispers though, in less delicate quarters, that suggest perhaps Georgia O’Keefe knows that flowers too unfold many symbols of true love.

 So, what else is going on in February, you ask? Well, you nosey Parker, let me tell you about BALI HI.

 BALI-HI Midtown has new expanded hours and we are now open Monday-Friday 11-6 PM and Sat. 11-5 PM. Don’t forget we are downstairs which can be accessed through Textures and Lucy and Leo’s Cupcakery or come around back and enter through the courtyard where there is ample parking. Sundays you can also find Elaine generally working down at Railroad Square. You can always call us for special appointment times too.

 This month we are celebrating the glass art of Alison Schaeffler-Murphy. Alison is a skilled and award winning artist who creates everything from jewelry to dishes. This exhibit is called “Keys Inspirations” and you will recognize how life in the islands inspired this beautiful art. Her work has to be seen up close to appreciate its light bending beauty! So come and meet Alison on 1st Friday, February 5th, in Midtown where we will be open until 9pm for your gallery and perusal pleasure.

 We are also welcoming a new artist Cindy Sbrissa. Wait until you see her glass mosaic hearts you will fall in love! We will feature Cindy’s amazing mosaic art in April with a “Garden Party” in the courtyard. You will also find some special Valentine jewelry gifts created by our many local artists. Jodi Fletcher in addition to her special heart jewelry has designed some adorable frames that just shout I Love You! We even have some cute glass art tags that will speak sweet sentiments for you created by glass artist Kelly Wood.

2-EARLY YEARS

3-INSIGHTS

4-JAGGER-COODER

5-RY-MILES-KIP

6-KIP-LANGSTON

7-CHILDREN-MARLEY’s MOM

8-MARLEY’S MOM-SEATTLE MARKET

9-WRAP UP

When I was about 8 or 9 my parents took the family to the Art Institute of Chicago, I guess to bore culture into us in both senses of the word. I have been fortunate enough to have been in a lot of the major art museums around the world and the piece that probably had the most effect on me of them all was a then recently acquire acrylic by Ivan Albright, an 8 foot tall painting called, “The Door”, or, “What I Should Have Done But Did Not Do.”

(Click here for Wikipedia Biography on Ivan Albright)
(Click here for link to “What I Should Have Done But Did Nor Do ” )

And now it is 2010. It seems like just hours ago we were partying like it was 1999. A decade is too much for me to get my convoluted grey matter around so, for the moment, let’s play, What happened in January, Bill?

Well, let me tell you, and, since Laine and I just had a movie date yesterday and we saw Sherlock Holmes, I will begin there – The Game is afoot.

According to fiction, Holmes and Watson met in January, 1888. Watson had returned from a British engagement in Afghanistan after having been wounded in battle off base from Kandahar. In the real life battle, the Brits, exhibiting the very definition of hubris, saddled up and led 2,476 men into a situation where they were easily surrounded by 25,000 Afghanis. They suffered over 60% causalities and the only thing that saved those remaining was apathy and humanity on the Afghan commander’s part.

As for the movie, it was an excellent escapist movie, fast paced in a family friendly way. But 2 mysteries were unasked and so unanswered, first, how horrible does a case have to be for Holmes to prohibit Watson’s request to tell the tale of The Giant Rats of Sumatra, and, how did our Sherlock thwart the gigantic, hostile force of the Cthulhu from taking over humanity?

1898 – Brooklyn was incorporated into New York City.
1902 – The first Rose Bowl was played.
1914 – The 1st scheduled air flight took place between, of all places, St. Pete and Tampa. They even charged for excess baggage.
1962 – The Beatles failed their audition with Decca Records and signed the next year with Columbia. The Decca executive claimed that guitar bands were on the way out.

December 9th, 2009- Linda Louise Friedling died. She was a wonderful woman and a very beautiful gal. She loved to laugh as much as birds like to sing and often when she was talking you would feel like she was letting you in on some minor conspiracy. She was that tall, lathe thin blonde girl at a party who let me believe that I was Superman once, when I really felt like I was Elmer Fudd in a blue t-shirt with a red S on the front. My first memory of Linda Lou was sitting behind her at an outdoor concert in Tampa and noticing that from behind, from her belt to the ground, her shapely Levi’s looked very much like a romantically curved letter W. I left the park that afternoon with a joyful appreciation for the alphabet. She loved to travel, mostly wheels on the ground kind of stuff, RVs and SUVs plowing forward into some adventure. I always wanted to sit and drink some coffee with her and hear her amusing yarns of misadventures and close encounters, but I never took the time. She always loved dogs and once had a wonderful co-pilot in a Golden Retriever named Sadie, and now I have adopted her Sheltie half-pint named Maggie. Well, I feed her and walk her; it is really my other 3 dogs that have adopted her into the pack. Some people carry their heart on their sleeve. Linda’s heart was too large for that, it beat with the rhythm of the wind at the tree line in the mountains and the breaking waves on any sandy beach. Linda’s heart was all inclusive and fearless and, not that I ever did notice, but now, I can almost see in the sanguine sky at sunset Linda’s heart embracing the world.

Linda Lou was Laine’s little sister.

She will be missed. She will be remembered. She is Loved.

So, did someone say, Soup? Wouldn’t a warm bowl of soup be just fantastic right now? Indeed it would. Now, imagine that you can warm your cockles and help some worthy causes at the same time. This Sunday, January 10th at Railroad Square, it is SOUPER Sunday – A bounty of tasty soup will brace you, including Laine’s acclaimed vegan Spanish Black Bean Soup at BALI HI and  amazing tasties at The Other Side, all supporting Second Harvest and Spread the Love. Noon to 5pm.

A couple of weeks down the trail, on Friday the 22nd from 6:30pm until 9pm BALI HI in Midtown will be staying open to celebrate our Key West Artist, Alison Schaeffler-Murphy’s exhibit, “Key Inspiration.” This is in conjunction with the Midtown Design Special Art and Trunk Sale, so come on out to 1123 Thomasville Rd in Midtown on the 22nd for a full immersion of art and exotic wonders.

A plethora of parking in the front and back of Midtown BALI HI.

On Saturday, January 30th, Noon – 6pm there will be an all day concert with over 8 bands, a silent auction, raffle, craft sale and plenty of food and beverages. The proceeds will go to benefit Tallahassee Rollergirl, Danger S, with her ongoing fight against Stage 4 Cervical Cancer.

Mahalo Nui Loa.

Elaine & Bill Grace

BALI HI Trading Company

aloha@balihi.us

“Now, Dasher! Now, Dancer! Now, Prancer! Now, Vixen! On, Comet! On, Cupid! On, On Donner and Blitzen! To the top of the porch! To the top of the wall! Now dash away! Dash away! Dash away all!”

About a half a dozen years back I was sitting in the airport lounge in Honolulu awaiting my cattle flight back to Seattle and to Sweet Laine for Christmas. It is possibly the longest flight over just water that one can take so I was never able to see a reason to claim a window seat. With that in mind, I was usually one of the last to board, but always behind me were the “non-rev” passengers, employees of the airlines or family members flying for free. On this warm Hawaiian December day, while I waited, the crowd thinned out to just a uniformed pilot in transit sitting across from me and a family – mom, dad & 3 young toddlers scampering about and a tyke on momma’s lap. A little girl about 6 years old was trying to remember the names of Santa’s reindeers and was struggling as she asked her father for help. He wasn’t much help, and, as if to save him from further embarrassment, the pilot leaned forward and politely offered to recite the roster and he did so with the rhythm and order of a father who had read the poem each year as a Christmas Eve ritual to his own children. When pilot was through the mother whispered excitedly to the lad on her lap, “That pilot has to know all of the reindeer’s names in case he is flying and sees them in the sky on Christmas.”

That is one of my precious moments in eavesdropping. And Laine wonders why I listen in on other people’s conversations.  

I just noticed that December 5th is titled, “Pardon Someone Day.”

Long ago I decided that when I die I want two things to take place, besides free drinks for all. First is that someone read aloud one of my favorite quotes to the few gathered. This one is from H. L. Mencken – “If, after I depart this vale, you should ever remember me and have thoughts to please my ghost, forgive some sinner and wink at a homely girl.”

The second thing that I would like to transpire is that after 49 days have passed someone would mail a postcard to all of my friends so that they can read in my own handwriting, “Everything is beautiful. Wish you were here, Love, Bill.”

So, what indeed is happening at BALI HI?

Free is always a good way to start. At our Midtown location at 1123 Thomasville Rd between Whataburger and Waterworks we are giving away goodies with your purchases – Free shell leis with any purchase, a recyclable cloth bag with purchases above $25, a beautiful Hawaiian calendar for purchases over $50 and a great, multi-pocketed Peace-Love Aloha tote bag for purchases above $100.

All the more reason to do all of your Christmas shopping at BALI HI.

These precious baubles can only be had at the Midtown Design Center at 1123 Thomasville Rd. (salmon colored building), downstairs from Textures and Lucy and Leo’s Cupcakery. There is ample parking in back on the Gadsden St. side or you may take the stairs inside after you treat yourself to some tasty cup cakes!

You will find Bill holding court at Midtown on 1st Friday, 12/4 when we are open until 9 PM. We are featuring some beautiful Hawaiian art including a new Tiki carver Elaine met during her last visit to the islands. You will also find many local artists with some absolutely amazing prices. As always, our lamps will brighten the holidays and make a very unique gift.

Please join us when the Midtown Design Center celebrates the inimitable Patty Maney’s Birthday on Thursday, 12/10. We will be open until 9 PM for your shopping and partying pleasure and, as always with Patty, it is for a good cause too!

BALI-HI TRADING COMPANY is happy to announce our 3rd year at the Railroad Square Art Park. We are very pleased to be sharing a new location with The Other Side Vintage at 607 McDonnell Drive.

In keeping with our tradition, we will be offering a special sale on our fabulous Aloha Shirts on Mon. 12/7 – Sun. 12/13.

Also, if you mention to the checkout person that you saw this notice, you will be given some free Balinese incense.

And, Hot & Special, BALI HI is now located on the internet. I feel that the ice has melted and the flood of all that BALI HI has to offer is now at your tender fingertips. Please check us out at www.balihi.us and if you have any suggestions on how to make the site better please email me and let me now. I’ll throw in a free lei for you.

 You don’t get an offer like that from the big box stores, now do you?

 As always, thanks for supporting Locally Owned Businesses.

 Best Wishes & Happy Holidays to you and everyone you love.

Elaine & Bill Grace
BALI HI Trading Company

________________________________________
In Midtown at – 1123 Thomasville Rd
In Railroad Square at – 607 McDonnell Dr
And on the web at – www.balihi.us
850/ 766-7175

November is finally here, and it is fuller than a funny car stuffed with clowns.

And, just this week my godson and his Marine unit pulled out of Afghanistan and should be in Okinawa by now. Thanks for the Service. Now it is R & R time – For you and your parents.

So, what’s happening at BALI HI, you ask?

Now, you remember that we are in two locations, right?

We are in a new location in Railroad Square. Just as you are entering the park there is a long stretch of green space on your left and then, rising up on the loading dock is a colorful warehouse, the home of BALI HI and The Other Side Vintage, a marriage made in Heaven and currently honeymooning in Paradise. – 607 McDonnell Dr.

Our shop in Midtown is amazing, and I have never lied to you. Elaine has fixed it up so it has the look and feel of an upscale Rodeo Drive with our low, low, Crazy Laine prices. – 1123 Thomasville Rd – Located in the salmon colored building between Waterworks and Whataburger. We are in the back where all of the ample parking is.

First, and sadly, we will be holding a memorial tribute for our dear friend, Gianna Mitchell, who died over the Halloween weekend in a tragic auto accident in Hawaii. She was so beautiful, so talented and so young. She was a truly wonderful person with a very impressive artistic talent. We are awestruck how energetically she was able to capture the wetness and the churning power of an ocean wave through the eyes of a surfer and rebirth it in acrylic. Gianna was born here in Tallahassee just 31 years ago, graduated from FSU and was all set to enter law school after a summer vacation in Hawaii, which lasted 9 years.

This First Friday friends and admirers will gather at the Midtown location from around 6pm until 9pm to share memories – Talk Story as is the colloquialism from her adopted state of Hawaii. Music will be performed by a fellow artist, Mershell Sherman and his didgeridoo band, DidjaVou. Please come on out and celebrate Gianna’s life.

And at Railroad Square will be a First Friday celebration of another sort – we will have three bands –

6-7: Midnight Matinee -

7-8: Elito – Solo Acoustic Latin Music

8-9: The Covers – As the name implies – R&B/R&R cover band. Some of the members were members of the Tallahassee Swing Band.

And the hits just keep on coming like late night AM radio show. Later in the month, on Saturday, November 14th, the South East Regional Yoyo competition will be held in Railroad Square. It will be a fun day of Walking The Dog and Rockin’ The Cradle. You don’t need a Yomega Brain to enjoy this sport. By the way, Tallahassee’s own General Lafayette was a big fan of the Yoyo, as was Baron Munchausen.

On Friday, November 20, Railroad Square will have it first Farmer’s Market with plenty of fresh, locally grown vegetables and other great goodies. Just in time for your Thanksgiving Dinner.

Aloha, My Friend,

Come on down to either or, better yet, both locations from 6pm until around 9pm and enjoy the beautiful evening with 3,000 of your closest new friends.

SATURDAY JAN 30-SPREAD THE LOVE
A benefit for a charity which helps support women in their fight against cervical cancer! We’ll be partying for a good cause during the last week of cervical cancer awareness month.  It’s an all-day event with local bands, artists, and vendors. Things will get cranking around noon, and we will party until 6. Admission is free but we will be collecting donations for Spread The Love Charity, a 501(c)(3) created by the friends of Stephanie Little, a Tallahassee Rollergirl who was diagnosed with stage 4 cervical cancer. Stephanie was recently moved to hospice care. Donations received will go to benefit Stephanie and her family (and others like her) to offset day to day costs, and to help promote awareness of the importance of early detection through screening for cervical cancer. For more information about Stephanie or Spread The Love Charity please visit
http://www.stlcharity.org.  12pm. to 5pm. Railroad Square will be celebrating the day of love!  Many of the shops and Studios at Railroad Square will be offering home baked items, along with their usual goodies. Come by and get some sweets for your sweetheart! THE SHOPS AND STUDIOS AT RAILROAD SQUARE PRESENT  February 5th – First Friday at the Circus: Loren Miller will be taking over the gallery.  Please follow the link to see Lorens exciting work:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lorenmillerart  
February 13th – ARTi-Gras: 11am. to 10pm.  February 14th – Sweet Sunday: 12pm. to 5pm. The Strange Circus Gallery will be celebrating the day of love!  We will have a bake sale and an art sale.  Come by and get some sweets for your sweetheart!  We are also looking for artists to have a solo show at the gallery.  If you are an artist or know someone who would be interested, please send us your information, 5 images of your strange and unusual artwork and an artist statement.  The Strange Circus Gallery will be open on the weekends of: February 20th – 21st from 1-5  & February 27th – 28th from 1-5.  If you can’t make it on these days, you are welcome to make an appointment to view the gallery.  Hope to see you all there!  Ekaterina Arslambakova and Amanda Boekhout  thestrangecircus@yahoo.com  (386)365-7189

South of Soho Gallery
First Friday, 6 to 9 and Saturdays, 11 to 5.  South of Soho Gallery will be pleased to welcome you February 6, from 6 to 9 PM and Saturdays from 11 to 5. Linda Van Beck, our featured artist of the month, is showing some exciting new work. Our other members will be exhibiting painting, photography and pottery.has over 35 vendors who bring you the best in funky, odd, trendy and vintage furniture, home decor, art, clothing, jewelry, music, collectibles and oddities.  Come see us today. www.TheOtherSideVintage.com  #224-6666  Open Sunday-Tuesday 12-5 and Wed.-Saturday 11am-6pm CALL FOR ARTISTS FIRST FRIDAY FEBRUARY – Deadline 2/3/2010 or until space runs out.  No Fees unless sold (35% Commission).  Original work only.  Must be properly framed with wire hanger.  Work will hang at least through 2/15/2010.  Send jpgs of the works you want to hang to renditionsart@comcast.net   We will hang properly framed work based on quality of the work and as space permits.  Questons, call 850 224-5554  CALL FOR ARTISTS – Deadline January 31, 2010 -  Artist Portfolios being reviewed for individual or group shows in 2010.  Please email us contact information, short bio, jpgs of work or link to your website.  Please let us know exactly what your interests are.  Send information to renditionsart@comcast.net  CALL FOR ARTISTS – No Deadline -  Renditions has just launched our new website. RenditionsArt.org . We are accepting a limited number of artists to have their work sold through the site on a commission basis.  Originals and reproductions are acceptable.  Work will not be kept on site, but retained by the artist until a buyer shows interest. If you wish to receive more information, please contact us via email at renditionsart@comcast.net . Friday 1/29 til Tuesday 2/2 In Stock Trade Paperbacks, Graphic Novels and Art Books  35% OFF*

We’ve got some great bands lined up to perform outside of THE OTHER SIDE (607 McDonnell Drive), with a little something for everyone:
1.21 Jiggowatts
Adrenaline
Beyond Bent
Girls on Film
Lucky Scars
Matt Stache and the Jackknife Barbers
The New 76ers
Pie Party
Sapphire Rebellion

But there’s tons of other stuff going on, too! Here’s what’s scheduled:
* Tallahassee Rollergirls will be going topless! Well, their hair, anyway. Vote which girl you’d like to see with a shaved head by donating toward her goal here: http://www.stlcharity.org/?p=89 * Silent auction including original works from FSU fine art students and other local artists.The Strange Circus Gallery will donate 15% of all sales that weekend to “Spread the Love” charity.  Other Railroad Square shops are also donating cash and items to the silent auction.
* Craft and bake sale, with delicious delights from Bacon ‘n Bakin.* 50/50 and merchandise raffle. All proceeds will go to Spread The Love.
* Bloodmobile on hand for community blood drive.
* Starseas Cafe will be serving food and beverages.

ARTi-Gras 2010 SAT FEB 13th 11am-10pm
Join us on Saturday Feb 13th for the first annual ARTi-Gras benefit for the Red Cross in the historic Railroad Square Art Park. It will be a day filled with great music, food, crafts, and fun! There will be musical performances from Longineu Parsons. Reed Mahoney, Swingin’ Harpoon, Hal Shows, Phil Nelson, Killer Meteor, Howlin’ Souls, and many more. At 2:00, we will be having a parade around the Square, which will be fun for all. There will also be many art studios open to the public, crafters, and the great vendors from Railroad Square. Please come support the Red Cross, and help their efforts to help Haiti in this critical time of need.

February 14th – Sweet Sunday:

Mark your calendars for this month’s events at the Strange Circus Gallery:

The Other Side Vintage

621 Gallery
First Friday: Space Relations  6:00pm-9:00pm.  A look into how individuals react to their own environment in context with the global community. The exhibition encourages audience participation. This exhibition includes work by featured artists Joel Dietrich, Owen Mundy, Chad Earpling. This exhibition will be on display through February 26th, 2010.  FSU Art Students League  Friday, February 5th 2010  6:00pm-9:00pm.  This exhibition will be on display through February 26th, 2010

Renditions 

Cosmic Cat Comics Big Sale 

Second Sunday (8/9) from 12-5 PM is “Pet Pool Party” and participating Shops and Studios will be have little pet pool outside their shop and doggie treats for your four legged friend.

And Thanks for Shopping Locally.

 Since August 1st – August 7 is Smile Week, I will tell an amusing story here sliding in just under the wire.

 On August 3rd, 1981, I was in Frankfurt, Germany, the international airport departure area to be exact. I had just completed an FSU summer program in Belgrade & Dubrovnik, Yugoslavia. This program was jointly sponsored by FSU and the Yugoslavian Government, FSU supplied the teachers and the government paid for the room & board at a downtown Belgrade hotel. About 10 of us from FSU spent a week in Belgrade and during this time we made friends with some 10 or 15 local college students. They had shown us around the city, translated for us, took us to campus parties and otherwise showed us a fine welcome. On our last evening there we all gathered in the hotel restaurant for a festive communal meal and, since our train didn’t leave until about 2am, we drank until the smoke filled bar closed.

 At closing time our patient waitress came over with about 20 little notebook pages filled with numbers for the price of all of our meals and copious drinks. On top of this pile of scraps was a larger sheet with the final tally for our whole little jamboree. I have no idea what it totaled to be but it was the longest string of numbers that I have ever seen that wasn’t the product of some calculation of Pi.

 As everyone began to discuss how to divvy up this bill I ceremoniously reached into the center of the table and like the true gentleman and proud American that I am, I insisted that I take care of it. I then had one of the locals help me figure up a ridiculously generous tip of about 50%, not bad considering the workers in this communist state probably only got tipped by Americans.

Then, like I had for all of my other meals, I signed for it, put my room number on it and handed it back to the waitress knowing that some Yugoslavian bureaucrat was going to dig into Tito’s budget and pick it up.

 It was pure pleasure to watch her joy and excitement; she was smiling like her lover had just whispered something delicious into her ear. Although I didn’t understand a word that she said, that was good enough for me.

 Golly, I wish that I travelled on government expense accounts more often.

 Now, if I could just do something about all of my outstanding parking tickets in New Orleans.

Back to the beginning, how do I know that I was in Frankfurt? Because that is when the American air traffic controllers decided to go on strike and for more than 2 days I was stranded in the wonderful company of a foreign exchange student from East Germany. For these days we shared stories, a single toothbrush, some granola bars and a couple of apples that I had “gepluckked.”

 So that is how I spent my summer vacation. Let me tell you what is happening out at BALI HI. We are moving!!! BALI HI will be joining with The Other Side Vintage at the “First Building on your Left” as you enter Railroad Square. This will be a wonderful confluence of The Other Side’s eclectic goodies and our tropical paradise bits and pieces.

We will also be moving a smaller portion of our exotic jewelry, art, home décor and gifts to Midtown, 1123 Thomasville Road, between the Waterworks and the Whataburger. CLICK HERE FOR A GOOGLE MAP

 This will all be in place by the 1st Friday next month, September 4th – God willin’ and the creek don’t flood.

 And please, don’t get me wrong, I am not lazy, just generous, yeah, that’s it, magnaninous, I don’t want to move one more item than I have to so we are marking everything but consigned items down at least 15% and some of our larger furniture is as much as 75% off. So, if you have been waiting for it and you don’t get it now, Shame On You.

Yyyyaaaayyy, nnnn, what’s up Doc?

To which you reply, “July First Friday, of course.”

 Let’s also not forget some of the other July anniversary dates. You know what folks, with just July as a mile marker, our own personal history is full of interesting steps:

July 1^st, 1966 – The ZIP Code was instituted
July 3^rd, 1971 – Jim Morrison died
July 10^th, 1964 – The Beatles released Hard Day’s Night
July 20, 1969, 10:56pm – Neil Armstrong stepped on the moon
July 30^th, 1975 – Jimmy Hoffa disappeared ( You should see the Jack Nickelson movie – HOFFA)

Other big dates:

July 2^nd, 1937 – Amelia Earhart disappeared in the Pacific. (You should listen to Joni Mitchell’s song titled, Amelia. It is one of my favorite of Joni’s)
July 6^th, 1885 – Louis Pasteur treated a child with the first anti-rabies vaccine. And almost 125 years later he saved my sweet Lanie’s life after she was attacked by a rabid bobcat here in Tallahassee.
July 7^th, 1898 – The US annexed Hawaii
July 15^th, 1881 – Pat Garrett shot & killed Billy the Kid. The Kid was just 21 years old.
July 17^th, 1821 – Spain cedes Florida to the US
July 22^nd, 1934 – John Dillinger was shot & killed by FBI Agent Melvin Purvis. (I am looking forward to the Johnny Depp movie)
July 27^th, 1940 – Bugs Bunny debuted.

The beautiful hula dancer on my Hawaiian calendar is confidently looking into the camera while in her pose as if to say, “Can we talk a moment here?”

Noting the Hawaiian annexation earlier it is probably important to her that I mention that there is a strong and legitimate Hawaiian sovereignty movement among the native islanders. One of the organizations has a very clever name, ALOHA – Aboriginal Lands of Hawaiian Ancestry.  After quite a few years of American businessmen shenanigans, over the stanch protests of Queen Liliuokalani, Hawaii was annexed. In 1993 President Bill Clinton, by way of a Public Law, offered an apology to the Hawaiian people. It is sort of fitting that the sweetest voice of the Hawaiian Rights Movement was honored with a huge funeral on July 10^th, 1997, Israel Kamakawiwo’ole, Bruddah Iz. He is most famous for his soft and tender cover of the song, Somewhere “Over the Rainbow.” He was also very vocal about native recognition and Hawaiian pride and in several of his beautiful songs he beseeches his listeners to appreciate the Hawaiian culture and its rich history.

Since First Friday will probably be over by the time that you read this let me jump ahead to what is happen for Second Sunday. On July 12^th Railroad Square will be hosting the LOT – Locally Owned Tallahassee –  members to set up and display their whatevers and introduce themselves to you. There will be dozens of your local business owners out here anxious to let you know why Tallahassee is sassy.  Come on out from noon until 5-pm for the little box people like BALI -HI.

Of Hawaiian importance, June 11^th is King Kamehameha (meaning: The Lonely One) Day. It is a public state holiday honoring Kamehameha The Great, the monarch who first established the unified Kingdom of Hawaii in 1810. Kamehameha is often referred to as the Napoleon of the Pacific for his prowess in warfare and achievements in diplomacy. This day is celebrated with a beautiful ceremony of an evening draping of long strands of colorful and scented floral leis on the 8 ½  foot tall statue of the king in downtown Honolulu. This amazing ceremony is repeated in the U.S. Capitol where the king’s statue is displayed. Before 2008, shortly after Hawaii-born Barack Obama was nominated, the statue was moved from the dark, back row of the Statuary Hall to a prominent position in the brand new Visitor’s Center at the Capitol. Now that is a show I would like to see if I am ever in D.C. at the right time.

For hard-core English majors and Irish aficionados, June 16^th is Bloomsday, a commemorative festival held annually in Dublin and around the world to re-live events from James Joyce’s novel, Ulysses, the date that the characters, Leopold Bloom and his wife-to-be, Nora Barnacle, spent the day strolling.  In Mel Brooks’ movie, The Producers, Gene Wilder’s character is named Leo Bloom, an homage to Joyce’s character.

Of course, June 21^st is the Summer Solstice (12:45am EST). It is both the longest and the shortest day of the year depending on your location north or south of the equator.

June 21^st is also Father’s Day so beat the rush and spend lots of money on the grand guy here at BALI HI and while you are at it, take advantage of our Father’s Day Hawaiian Shirt Sale – 20% off.

And what’s not to like about the name, June, I ask you? After all, that is the name of America’s 1950’s pinnacle of a wife and home-keeper and the mother of Beaver Cleaver.

So, what’s happening at BALI HI and around the Square, you ask? Well, let me tell you, Bali-HI Trading Company is proud to welcome a new artist to Tallahassee.  Jon Elliott will be the featured artist for the month of June with an opening reception on 1^st Friday, June 5^th from 6 to 10 PM. 

Jon’s exhibit is called “On the Other Hand”.  The expression has a whole new meaning when it comes to Jon’s art and life.  For the past 12 years, Jon has lived in a wheelchair after falling 21 feet through a roof onto a cement floor.  He spent 4 months in a comma and sustained partial paralysis of his left side.  He has neither walked nor been able to use his dominate left arm since. 

Jon was a student at the University of Miami, Ringling School of Art and a graduate of Pacific Northwest College of Art.  Jon has had to teach himself to paint with his non-dominate right hand, starting with taping the paint brush to his hand.  The past 12 years, through perseverance and self adaptation, Jon has developed a new body of work.

Jon’s art startles with its emotion and intensity.  What appears at first to be just little slices of daily life upon close examination offer a glimpse of much more beneath the surface of the paint.   Be sure to stop by Bali-HI during the month of June to see the work of this emerging young artist.  Bali-HI is open Wednesday through Saturday from 11 AM until 6 PM and Sunday from 12 to 5 PM.

For Second Sunday at the Railroad Square Art Park the 621 Gallery has put together another spectacular Summer Soulstice Festival. It is going to be hotter than anything Al Gore could predict. They have 5 bands lined up and fun stuff for the whole family that I can’t even tell you about for fear of starting a stampede again.

BANDS:   The Windfall,  The Frigidaires,  Aloonaloona,  Jane Jane Pollack, Yellow Dog

So come on out to BALI HI and to Railroad Square and I guarantee you that you will get your summer rolling in greased grooves.

Best Wishes,

Elaine & Bill

April is going to be a marvelous month for activities at BALI HI, Railroad Square and for life in general.

Bali-HI Trading Company is heading into spring with a great SALE! Our already unbeatably low priced solid teak outdoor furniture will be on SALE along with many other spring specials.  Also be sure to watch the Tallahassee Extreme Home Makeover on Sunday April 12 at 8 PM to spot décor items donated by Bali-HI.

On 1^st Friday we will be exhibiting the photographic art of the exquisite Kati Schardl.  Kati is assistant features editor for the Tallahassee Democrat. She is a true-blue North Florida native – born in Panama City and raised in Marianna. She is a writer, gardener, cook, reader, music lover, dancer and bona fide tree-hugging dirt-worshipper whose favorite times of the day are dusk and dawn, when the light is so ephemeral and yet so real that you feel you can grasp it like a cobweb and cup it in your palm. That’s what she has tried in a completely unschooled way to capture in the photos featured in this show, which also includes random images from travels that have taken her to Hawaii (twice) and New Zealand, and snaps of fires and sparks she has known and loved. She hopes that before she shuffles off this mortal coil she will get to see the fabled flash of green that comes just after the sun sets. She’s keeping her eye on that twilight horizon.

Join us for an artist reception on 1^st Friday, April 3 from 6 to 10 PM.  Meet Kati and see how she views the world through the eye of her camera.  As always we offer Hawaiian style food and beverages and an opportunity to meet the artist.  Kati’s art will be on display at Bali-HI Trading Company, 617 Industrial Drive, Wednesday through Saturday, 11 AM to 6PM and Sunday noon to 5 PM through Sunday, April 26^th.

Sunday this month, April 12^th, happens to fall on Easter so we are celebrating with a Peeps In The Park  Fun Day.   We will be open along with a few other hearty souls to make Easter 2^nd Sunday fun for adults too.  It is “Peeps in the Park” day.  Search for tiny eggs and stuffed plastic eggs to win gift certificates, prizes, discounts and of course Peeps!

On Sunday, April 19^th, participating Shops & Studios at the Railroad Square Art Park will host an afternoon of Peace & fun beginning at noon and continuing until 5pm and beyond. This event at the Railroad Square Art Park will commemorate the 51^st Anniversary of the design of the Peace Symbol as well as celebrate and honor peaceful practices and programs in Tallahassee. More that 50 civic & service organizations will participate displaying the spirit that volunteerism brings to our community. Throughout the Art Park will face painters, music by several local bands, Italian ice treats and assorted buskers. The Star Sea Café will be serving lunch and various other goodies will be available around the Park. Canned goods and money donations will be collected for the Big Bend Second Harvest to help people in need and to educate and inform the public about the problem of, as well as the solutions to, hunger. Bali-HI is offering for sale a beautiful Peace T-shirt and shopping bag designed by Nate King.  It should be available on 1^st Friday. There are women’s and men’s styles and many choices of colors.  Shopping bags are free with purchases of $100.  We now have a new selection of stained glass peace symbols by Kelly Wood. 

BANDS

 Sarah Mac Band

Moon Dance

Vulpes/Vulpes

SOMA

Yellow Dog

Unsigned Name

Yo Soybean

Yellow Dog

Lean HS Steel Drum Band

Bob Carey

Chris Perry

 PARTICIPANTS (Partial List)

Big Bend Cares

Collie Rescue

Peace Is Possible

2nd Harvest

Tallahassee Resource Group

Big Bend Hospice

Big Brother & Big Sister

Family Literacy

Big Bend Homeless

Aussie Rescue

Animal Service Center

FOOD

Star Sea Café

Peace, Love & Italian Ice

Soul Vegetarian

CHILDREN ACTIVITIES

Face Painting

Henna Artist

Popcorn

Bounce House

March always has made me think metaphorically about young lovers, like we all were once. March comes to us sometimes with a warm, soothing embrace and, oh, the promises it makes for the days to come and all the flowers it will bring to us.

Sometimes, too, March comes disheveled and wild, tempestuous & wickedly alluring. And who among us has not been seduced by that combination, asking for no promises, expecting no flowers and accepting whatever tomorrow will bring because we were adventurous, impetuous and so full of life we would not let our heart be corralled?

And, these days, March has become that old friend that I do not see often but each time we do gather we talk and joke and cry about our previous encounters and I listen to the tales of what has filled its days.

Of course there is March 17^th, Saint Pat’s, the day when everyone is Irish for 24 hours. I am among the fortunate, I am an actual citizen of the Irish Nation and I have a passport to prove it. I consider St. Pat’s to be a sort of amateur night for revelers so for you rookie partiers I suggest that you go to Wakulla County to do your drinking.

And, as a hat off to Tri-Eagle Distributors here in Tallahassee, in Hawaii, on March 14^th, is the Kona Brewers Festival. If you have ever wondered what Aloha tastes like you need to get down to Publix and pick up a 6 pack of some delicious Kona Beer.

 A couple of quick bullet points – On March 27^th, 1513 Juan Ponce de Leon sighted Florida and on the 3^rd of March, 1845 Florida joined the US for the first time.

On a personal note, March 21^st is my mother’s 90^th birthday and the ol’ gal is spry and doing well, thanks for asking. Sadly though, my father had the unfortunate timing to pass away on her birthday and 11 years later we all miss him incredibly.

For Laine and me, March 3^rd, 2003 (03-03-03) was the start of our adventure in Paradise. I had been living in Hawaii for about 6 months at that time and she in the Seattle area but on that day we landed together at the Honolulu Airport with our family of two dogs. Not so good for our dogs, it was the beginning of a 30 day rabies quarantine, doggie jail. I will never forgive Hawaii for the damage done to our pups’ health and sanity. It was the dirtiest trick we ever played on them.

Just to mention it because I found it interesting, March 14^th is considered Pi Day and at various universities and museums around the world they celebrated with pie feasts. The beginning series of numbers for the mathematical constant, pi, are 3.14. March 14^th is the day that MIT sends out its letters of acceptance.

Laine told me that I couldn’t tell this joke at the end so, of course, here it is, “Every month people ask me why I write a newsletter and I always have the same answer, “Because I never metaphor I didn’t like.”   Now here’s Laine for what’s happening at the Square.

What can I say? Bill never listens to me anyway!  He failed to tell you that March 3^rd is also “Girl’s Day “.

It is the Peach Blossom Festival in China and the Doll’s Festival in Japan.  It is also widely celebrated in Hawaii and was a good day to arrive.  It has a new special meaning for me as on 3/03/09 I started my 1^st day with Covenant Hospice as a PRN nurse.  I always liked things in 3’s.

Please join us this 1^st Friday for what is expected to be some fabulous weather and a very special performance of Railroad Square’s own “Sauce Boss”, Bill Wharton.  Bali-HI donated some of our great mirrors to the silent auction so come place your bids and help support all the good things “Planet Gumbo” does for our community.

Bali-HI will feature the unique photographic cell phone art of my son Nate King.  You can meet the artist before he heads back to places unknown on the West coast.  Be sure to join us for 2^nd Sunday, March 8 from 12-5 PM when Railroad Square will feature our bi-annual “Artists at Work”.  There will be live music from 2- 4 PM and Bali-HI’s own Jodi Rhea Foster will be on hand demonstrating her hand tied jewelry art.

Bali-HI has 8 local artists represented in the shop and we are proud to welcome E’layne Koenigsberg. Her cool scrabble tile necklaces are a hit and I love her “bone fish” bracelets and get lots of compliments when I wear mine.  Don’t forget we are still having our “Heading into Spring Sale” with sarongs and aloha shirts 15% off and 20% off all tropical and beach scene original art.  We will also give you a free handout on how to tie a sarong with purchase of same. As always, we still give a free energy efficient light bulb with every lamp purchase too.

And to jump ahead a little bit, be sure to highlight April 19^th on your calendar for our Second Annual Circle The Park For Peace Celebration. We will have some 40 community organizations out here introducing themselves to you, 8 bands will be performing throughout the day and throughout the park. We will also have food vendor and entertainment for children of all ages.

Best Wishes & Mahalo Nui Loa.

Elaine & Bill Grace

BALI HI Trading Company

You couldn’t guess it by walking around outside scantily clad these days but the word fever has its root word in the month of February. In ancient Roman days, long before the Fellini films, February was associated with a purification ritual called Februa. The Latin word for fever (febris) is associated with the idea of purification or purging, due to the sweating commonly seen in association with fevers.

I know that that is really a bit of useless information but somehow I am comfortable that you will tuck it away someplace in some cluttered mental closet and wow your friends with that knowledge at some future date.

Here is something else for your fun factoid file: If you look at the calendar you will see that February looks like a perfect block. February starts on a Sunday and, exactly 4 weeks later, ends on a Saturday. February is the only month that such a trick is possible and the year 2009 is one of the few years in which it actually happens.

And, of course, February is the month of St. Valentine’s Day. Although there is great debate about who St. Valentine was and his relationship to romance, he is one of my favorite saints, although some have recommended that I should lean a wee bit closer to St. Jude, the patron saint of lost causes. My saintly preference is sort of ironic because Laine will tell anyone who will listen that, mush-mush that I might be, I am not that much of a romantic. I don’t believe in soul-mates, I don’t believe in love at first sight and more than once I have found myself walking down the street thinking, “Oh, so this is what Jimmy Carter meant by lusting in my heart.” 

There is a song by John Hiatt called, Learning How To Love You.  One of the lines in it goes –

From the first kiss in the schoolyard
To the last heart broke in two
I didn’t know that it would be so hard
Learning how to love you.

We all make a lot of mistakes falling in love. Maybe that is why it is called falling-in-love, because it is an ongoing process, when we stop falling is when we crash. So we all keep on trying. And we keep learning. Maybe that is why we need a saint, to comfort us and assure us that our hearts can beat in someone else’s hands

This year, when you tell someone Happy Valentine’s Day let them know that you are still learning and that they are your favorite subject.

Happy Valentine’s Day, Laine.

Things are pretty sweet this month at Railroad Square. Bali-HI has expanded so come see our new space! We are all about the tropics as we get through the winter and head into a beautiful Tally spring. Come find that perfect tropical painting, lamp or Aloha shirt to lift your spirits and remind you of the warmth to come. We have fine handcrafted jewelry from 7 local artists if you are looking for that special ValentineS gift.  Several of our artists have created special Valentines gifts from heart pendants to handcrafted LOVE frames.

 2^nd Sunday (2/8) from 12-5 PM is “Sweet Sunday” and participating Shops and Studios will be having a bake sale with homemade goodies and sweets for sale.  The Cake Shop is donating some goodies too so be sure to get there early because these will go fast!  All proceeds will go to support 2^nd Harvest and Big Bend Homeless Coalition, HOPE Community.  Horse drawn carriage rides will also be offered this year, so it really will be a “sweet” event.

And Thanks for Shopping Locally.

Aloha, My Friend,

You would think that after all the years of dealing with the Holidays as an adult I would finally start getting comfortable with it but each year it sneaks up on me like that annoying person who hides in the closet waiting to jump out and yell, “Boo.”

It isn’t the gift giving aspect of Christmas that bothers me; I worked that angle out many years ago when I married Laine. She is very thoughtful and usually she will have something picked out for everybody by August and this is pretty amazing considering the size of the contingent that she has to deal with. Her side includes her family and friends and that is a large gathering indeed. On my side of the kith & kin line, although it is mostly just family, it is an Irish Catholic family that for almost 20 years went on a breeding spree. For a while there my sisters were human Pez dispensers, popping out little nieces and nephews at an almost preternatural rate. Bless them all, I think that they are the greatest kids in the world, not this world, of course, but certainly one of a galaxy nearby. And Laine is wonderful, she knows all of their names, most of their birthdays and which parent they belong to.

My hang up with Christmas is the family gathering thing. Except for healthcare, police / fire rescue & postal delivery, I don’t think anything should be socialized, especially holidays. Every year starting around January 2^nd I start polishing the memories of the previous Christmas gathering. Gleaming are the stories that my family told about their vacations (points to the sister who doesn’t have pictures), sparkling are the accomplishments of the children in academics, music and sports. As for my brother, he is sort of like Chandler from the sitcom, “Friends”. Nobody knows exactly what he does for a living but it might have something to do with business management and that he dates women prettier than Courtney Cox.

I have been blessed with a wonderful family and most of the time they love and tolerate me. And I am not a pretty package so even from family that is asking a lot. Even the year that I almost set fire to the kitchen one Christmas is a story that isn’t often repeated until after the wine has been flowing freely, which we call lunchtime at a Grace Holiday fete.

And the 2009 year will be fantastic – precious time with family, the gift of friendship continued, the pleasure of meeting and making new friends, the adventures that each dawn brings with it, the generous opportunities to continue to learn from my mistakes and the ability to effect change in Tallahassee.

Recently there was a letter to the editor in the Democrat written by Jeri Bush, the Director of VolunteerLEON (www.floridavolunteercenters.org.) In her appeal she illustrates that your gift of giving to the community can take many forms. “Volunteer opportunities abound in our great community, and thousands quietly do so throughout the year. Volunteers contend that the reward for their work is not money, but is, instead, the satisfaction of helping others, active involvement in our community and the friendships that they form through volunteer work.”

The Belgian playwright and Nobel Prize in Literature winner, Maurice Maeterlinck, put it succinctly, “An act of goodness is of itself an act of happiness. No reward coming after the event can compare with the sweet reward that went with it.”

Here is your chance at happiness for just 5 bucks or five cans of food.

Please join us for Souper Sunday on the Second Sunday of the New Year, January 11^th from Noon – 5pm. This second annual feast is a tasty fundraiser for the Second Harvest of Big Bend. Many of the participating shops and studios here at Railroad Square will be cooking up some of the best homemade soups and chilies you have ever tasted. Bowls will be sold for $5 or five canned food items and you can take your bowl to each shop and sample the warm varieties. We like doing fundraisers for 2^nd Harvest. We strongly believe that their mission to alleviate hunger is marvelous cause and, sadly necessary in every community. These are our neighbors who are hungry and we might not even know of their troubles. Although politicians talk about “poverty in America”, decision-makers avoid specifically mentioning the growing, and often deadly problem of hunger. George McGovern said in 1972, “To admit the existence of hunger in America is to confess that we have failed in meeting the most sensitive and painful of human needs. To admit the existence of widespread hunger is to cast doubt on the efficacy of our whole system.” Three decades later, evidence indicates that the existing system is failing a vast number of Americans. An estimated 36.2 million people lived in households considered to be food insecure and some 13 million children are living in households that are forced to skip meals or eat less due to economic constraints (16.9 percent of all children). It is impossible for me to put a face on these people so I will let you do that yourself. I did a simple Google search of Famous Homeless and came up with these names. Definitely keep in mind though, it isn’t just the homeless that are hungry, from the comfort of my car, with a Starbucks in the cup holder I am sure that I drive past many of the “food insecure” home every day – and so do you.

Please Support us for Souper Sunday. Here is a list that I came up with -   

Halle Berry
Jean-Michel Basquiat
Buddha (Gautama Siddhartha)
Drew Carey
Jim Carrey
Charlie Chaplin
Kurt Cobain
Daniel Craig
Ella Fitzgerald
Kelsey Grammer
Cary Grant
Woody Guthrie
Harry Houdini
Don Imus
Burl Ives
Jesus of Nazareth (Yeshua of Nazareth)
Eartha Kitt
David Letterman
Jim Morrison
John Muir
George Orwell
Gordon Parks
Sally Jessy Raphael
Debbie Reynolds
Joan Rivers
“Colonel” Harland Sanders
Tupac Shakur
William Shatner
Martin Sheen
Hilary Swank
Shania Twain
Whoopi Goldberg is a former welfare mom.
Carol Burnett is a former welfare kid.