and who might you be?

It's Monday, which means I'm posting beads, which means I have a ton to do, and not a lot of free time for chatting. But as I munch my cinnamon toast this morning (yes, it's as good as you remember), I find myself wondering who reads this, if anyone... It's OK if I'm all alone in here. It's good practice. But if I plan to mention things like Pirate Treasure, I want to know if anyone is listening... So, if you read this, do me a quick little favor please. Click "comments" at the end of this entry, and say something, anything, and leave your name if you want to. Don't send an email - I get too much email already! As always, when I start these little places that invite participation, I'd love to see you join in. Halloooooo? Anybody out there????

Question of the day...

... I woke up late this morning, to the sound of the goats hollering from across the yard. It was almost 9:00 and they were hungry, poor babies. It's been a long, busy week, and I guess I just needed the extra rest. But as their insistent "blaaaaas" crept into my consciousness, they crossed paths with the question that's probaly going to be stuck in my head all day now. Have I done enough? The obvious, off the top answer, is - Yes, of course. You're exhausted. Enough already... But the real answer is - Yes, for the moment. Take it easy today. Refuel. And then do some more... It's that way on our day to day personal level, and also on a World level. Until everyone has what they need, there's more to do.

I was pretty excited to see Oprah yesterday. Did you watch it? She and uber-cool Bono were out on the town in Chicago, promoting the new RED campaign. It's brilliant. Wish I'd thought of it. Wish I had the clout to make something that big work. But they don't need me, and besides, I'm kind of busy here...

The basics of RED are simple. Several large companies have joined together and created special "RED" products - some are actually red in color, some are not. They're available in the US and the UK, and the cool part is, a big chunk of the proceeds goes to buy medication for people in Africa who can't afford it. Thousands of people will be helped, and all we have to do is what we already do best... shop!

I signed up for the mailing list, so I'll know what's available when. My kids like my beads well enough, but I know they really want the newest, hottest stuff for Christmas and birthdays. I'm shopping RED this year! The kids will have what they want, and my consumer-resistant soul will be soothed by the fact thay we're helping someone else in the process. Win win baby!

Here's the link to RED. (Who doesn't somewhere deep in their heart want a red ipod? I do!)
Red is part of Bono's ONE Campaign To Make Poverty History. I signed the declaration, and now I'm telling you, my friends. I hope you'll sign it too, and let me know. If enough of you join in, I'll order a bunch of the white ONE wristbands and share them with you!

I'm really not some kind of wild-eyed activist. I just do what I can, and know that if we all do a little, some day it will all get done. Some day the answer to the question will be, Yes, I've done enough.

Beadist Pirates on the loose!

Hello Beadists! As captain of the Beadist Ship, I've come up with a plan for the MANY of you who try to jump to the front of the bead line each week. It's a Beadist Pirate Pass. It'll get you "in" to buy beads early, but it isn't free... it requires a Good Deed.
All the details are on the Beadist Pirate Pass page.
This week I'm making extra lovely hearts with flowers drifting inside, as well as tab-shaped flower beads, for those of you who "are't heart people"... I'm a little suspicious of non-heart people, but I won't give up on you!
I'm heading back to the studio now. How many beads are "enough"? HaHa! Never enough!

Carry on!

I need a favor

It'll take less than a minute of your time, and won't cost a penny!

There's a wonderful place in Taos, called the DreamTree Project. It's a transitional living program for youth, which provides a wonderful service for our community, and ultimately reaches far beyond Taos, to wherever these kids find themselves as they follow their lives and their dreams. The reasons for their being at DreamTree are as varied as the young people themselves. But more important than why they're there, is the fact that DreamTree gives them a safe, supportive home where they have responsibility to themselves as well as to the community. They learn skills in all areas of life, and eventually leave DreamTree as competent, caring young people, ready to start their lives and to give something back.

Now for the favor. I'm not asking you to send money! Only to click on your computer and help DreamTree win the Volvo For Life Award. The prize is $50,000 and a shiny new Volvo!

Kim Treiber, co-director and co-founder of DreamTree is nominated for the award. All you have to do is click on her name to vote for her! So here's the link to the voting page. Just check the box next to Kim's name, and click "submit". You can also go to the Volvo Awards main page, then go to New Mexico, and Kim Treiber.

Thank you so much! Hooray for Kim Treiber, DreamTree, Volvo, and YOU!!!

Beans and tortillas and silver earrings...

It's a good thing I'm not trying to make a living doing silver... I don't like beans and tortillas that much... Back in August, I learned a little bit about silversmithing from my good pal Eleanore MacNish. She's so cool. Gave me two days of her time and even took me shopping to help me filter through all the tools and stuff required to make silver jewelry. Last night I finally got the courage to go out and try something on my own. After two hours of measuring, sawing, filing, shaping, soldering, re-soldering, more shaping and hammering... I have these semi-cool, but rather unwearable earrings. I don't know how to make a hinge, so there isn't enough room to put them on without hurting my ears. I know because I did put them on. Taking them off was even worse! But it's a start. And don't get all excited about my success with the hearts. I didn't make those... Kate McKinnon did, and you can buy them too. They're wonderful!

I'm not going to bag the whole idea of silver. Like knitting, I might never be great at it, but I enjoy the doing. Like I say to friends who tell me they're "stuck" and don't know what to do... You have to do something before you can do something else...

For now, I think I'll go back to bangle bracelets for a while. I'm pretty good at those, and hey - you can never have too many bracelets! Lauren told me she used to secretly call me Jangle Mommy because she could always tell where I was by the sound of my bracelets. Here's a picture of one I made back in August for my friend, Karena's, birthday. The five rings represent the five decades of her life, all separate, but connected and interlocked, part of the whole. She turned 49, which puts her in her 50th year - just like me. It's not the most beautiful piece of jewelry in the world, but it does have sort of a Barbarian Chic, don't you think?
And so, onward... silver, beads, beans... another busy day...

Konichiwa

When I looked out the window this morning, I thought I'd woken up to winter in Japan. I've never been to Japan, but this is how I imagine it. The mountains to the south have incredible depth that can only be seen when the sun is just so, or when they're draped in gauzy clouds like they were this morning. This is my view from my writing table/dining table. It's actually the view from the whole front of the house, which faces south and is almost completely floor-to-ceiling windows for terrific passive solar. We never bother to close the curtains, because the daytime looks like this, and the night time sky is a thick soup of stars. In summer we can even see the milky way. I can't bear to block any of it out, so the neighbors get what they get if they decide to peek across the yard into our windows!I zoomed in on the tops of the hills, and sure enough, that's snow. Oh boy... here we go. Too lazy - and in denial - to build a fire, I closed the bedroom window and found my warm bathrobe in the back of the closet...
Then to cheer myself up, I poured orange juice into a gold-rimmed wine glass, put my buttery toast on a yellow Fiestaware plate, and drank lots of coffee while waiting for the sun to come up over the clouds. It was worth the wait. It was even worth finding my coat for the first time in months and herding the goats over to the other side of the yard so they could eat some of the last leaves and flowers of summer.
Meanwhile, Rick is on the coast of northern California this morning - a place notorious for it's gray skies and endlessly drippy days... But it's sunny there this week, and he's enjoying a beautiful drive up the coast on his way to Seattle. I'm so glad! And looking out the window here once more before heading for the office, it looks like the sun might win today, and melt the snow, and give Taos another bit of Indian Summer.

Mandalas to go!

My friend Rae has been designing beautiful mandalas for a while now, and has put together a wonderful website where you can buy her images as cards, book marks, buttons, and more! She even has little greeting card-sized altars - altarcitos - which are perfectly portable and fit almost anywhere you want a beautiful focus for your attention.
Visit her fledgling website at FourRavens.com. You'll enjoy your time there!

the right tools for the job...

I had a great day. I try to call Sunday my "day off", but usually get sucked into doing some kind of work related thing... Not today though. I woke up to dark rainy weather, and was actually happy about it. If you know me at all, you know that rainy days generally make me want to crawl in the closet and hide until the sun comes out. I'm like a reverse vampire. I need sun. But today was different. The rain was a good excuse to stay inside and bump around the house, doing whatever I felt like doing from moment to moment. The first thing I did was take my coffee back to bed and read a few pages of Writing Down The Bones. When I read the two little words "writing table", I about jumped through the ceiling. Table! I never thought of a writing TABLE! I'd been thinking desk all this time, and wondering where I was going to fit another designated little space for myself in our already-crowded house. Then I realized that we have this big, beautiful dining table that we don't even like to eat at. I smoothed out the pretty French tablecloth with it's pomegranite pattern all red and cheery, and covered it with my laptop, notebooks, pens, books I'm trying to read, and my dusty deck of tarot cards. I haven't looked at the cards for a long time, but have today's picks sitting in front of me for inspiration. It's not a traditional deck. Those are too creepy for me. This has lovely artwork and names like Playfulness, Comparison, Creativity, and Receptivity. I find a lot of intuitive clues to what's really going on in my own head. The next step is to actually do the writing! I spent this afternoon at a poetry reading and a fashion show, followed by meeting with friends at the Taos Inn. A great time the whole day through. I feel a little guilty having so much fun without Rick. But you know, there's a lot to be said for some time to ourselves now and then. Time to do as we please without compromise or negotiation. I wanted to hang my pajamas in the bathroom this morning, and darn it, I did! I wanted to watch Desperate Housewives tonight and did that too. Then TV was too lame, so here I am, at the end of the day, at my Writing Table, pretending for all I'm worth to be a writer, until maybe someday I actually will be. And the funny thing about this - I ate my cheesy eggs and toast right here at the table this morning, grinning at my writing tools, my computer humming away at my side...

Counting the days...

I mentioned before that Rick was going to Seattle for a family and friends reunion. He's driving, so it will be about a two week trip. That's a long time for us, since we spend almost all of our time together. I could freak out and feel lonely right off the bat, but I've been planning to use the solitary time creatively, and possibly even productively. I have that silversmithing set-up that's been neglected since August ... and a lot of reading that never gets done... and writing. I've been thinking for years that I'd like to be a writer, a serious writer, a consistent writer. Ha! said the Universe and handed me beadmaking instead. No complaints about that, but I still seem to have the tug to write, so maybe I'll start one of those books I've been thinking about...

Natalie Goldberg helped me a lot with the getting started phase, years ago, when I read Writing Down The Bones. I still love it. Still have it in the "to read" stack. Natalie used to live in Taos, and talked about it a lot in her books. She's at least a little bit responsible for our moving here. We looked at Taos because she said she loved it. She didn't steer us wrong.

So here I am, in Taos, a self-imposed recluse for a couple of weeks. I'm not nervous with Lucy here with me... she tries to eat our friends, so I know she wouldn't tolerate intruders. She and the goats and cats are good company. And well, so am I. I just never seem to have time to hang out with me. I'm planning some serious frou-frou spa time here. Mud on my face. Pink toenails. Chick flicks. The works. And still... I miss Rick already, and maybe because I'm counting the days until he comes home, I suddenly came up with the idea to create a calendar for you. Something pretty, beady, download/printable one page at a time, and best of all, free to you! Watch for it in December. Then you can count some days of your own.

Lucy is looking kind of sulky this evening, so I promised her pizza. Maybe she'll let me paint her toenails too...

the HEART of space

I'm not the only one seeing hearts everywhere. Rick has been lining pathways with river rock, and keeps bringing in heart-shaped rocks in to show me. He also "accidentally" made the paths that connect to the labyrinth into a giant heart. Wonderful! I've gotten email from two of my beadist friends, Deni and Michelle, steering me to this beautiful Heart Nebula...

The website is Astronomy Picture Of The Day, and the heart can be found in the archives for October 3, 2006. Guess what I'm going to make today!!!

Trajectories Catalog

The Bead Museum and the ISGB have gotten together for a really beautiful bead exhibit that spans the glass bead movement over the last 10 years. We've come a long way! The Trajectories exhibition runs through mid March at the Bead Museum in Glendale, Arizona, and will then go on the road, maybe to a town near you! One of my beads is in the show, which I'm quite pleased about. I'm in excellent company! I got my show catalog in the mail yesterday, and it's just beautiful. Order yours by contacting the Bead Museum. You'll find me on page 28! This is my bead...

Queen Of The Roller Derby

Lauren was in town this weekend, just because she missed us. We had a nice visit, and got really silly and went roller skating last night. It was my idea. I really had to twist some arms to get everyone else to go. I hadn't skated in about 20 years, but back in the day, I was the fastest kid on the block. My mom had gone to school with Ann Calvello, who was the Queen Of The Roller Derby. She told us stories about Ann, and we watched roller derby on TV on Saturdays... man, I really wanted to be in the roller derby too! And even though that window of opportunity has been closed and been stuck shut with layers of old paint for a very long time, I still love to skate. What could be better than wheels on your feet and wind in your hair? The rink here is pretty crummy, with a worn out concrete floor that will soon be iced over for hockey season. It's hard when you fall, so I didn't fall. But poor Rick.... he biffed four times - hard. And he's 6'4", so he has so far to fall. He's napping now. Nothing broken but his pride. Before we go to "Roller Boogie" night again, I think I'll get him some padding. I wonder if there's a Senior Roller Derby circuit I could join...

A note to all Beadists on my NEW mailing list... It's October! My Beadist Anniversary Month! I have a gift for all of you - a Virtual $10 Gift Certificate for each and every one of you. You can use it any time this month, one discount per person, only on beads. It's my way of thanking all of you who have kept me going all this time, and also of encouraging those who still don't own a Kim Miles bead to get one now! Thank you everyone. Without you, I'd still be making pizza for a living!

Taos Fall Arts Festival

This is a big weekend in Taos. The annual Fall Arts Festival kicks off with more festivities than Christmas. Tonight is the Taos Open and Taos Invites Taos. There's a craft fair in the park all weekend, gallery events all over town, the Quick Draw on Sunday, and a truckload of other things all around the area. I guess I won't get a lot of work done for a few days. I have to go see all this!
I'm not participating as an Artist/Beadist because I'm not represented by any of the local galleries. I just love going out there to see all that art and all my friends. Maybe next year I'll be more involved. My friend Nancy Racine is a killer jewelry designer, who also happens to love my beads. She's going to start using them in some of her pieces for Art Divas Gallery. This is fun for me because I was one of the original Divas when the gallery opened, shortly after we moved here. I left when my website started keeping me too busy to keep up, so now it will be nice to have some of my work out there again. I live in a town full of artists, but nobody here ever heard of me... actually, that kind of invisibility can be a good thing!
Over and out for now. Beads on Monday, but maybe not very many... you understand! I need to refuel!

My New Website!!!

I did it! My new website is live and in person at kimmiles.com. It turned out to be a lot more work than I'd anticipated, but now that it's done, it was a piece 'o cake. I like cake. Think I'll go have some to celebrate... won't you join me? While you're at it, have a look around the site, and please let me know if you spot any typos or problems with links and things. It's a mighty tangled web behind the scenes... My next project is to come up with a Hidden Treasure someplace on the site next week. You'll only know about it if you read my blog, so check back before Monday. I know... I said I wanted a more grown-up format... maybe I lied... Maybe I just wanted to shake things up. We all need a little more fun, don't we?
Carry on!

hearts everywhere...

It seems to have started a few weeks ago, when I needed to make heart beads. I still need to make them. I still love to make them. Next, the heart became an important part of the Beadist Emblem... And now the heart theme is showing up in the oddest places. Look at this picture! Doesn't it look like the Beadist Emblem??? My friend Karena sent this to me. A bird flew down her chimney the other day, and was trapped in the woodstove. The only way to set it free was to open the door and let it into the house. It slammed into her big living room windows several times before finding the front door and flying outside. And because it was covered with ash, it left this beautiful bird print on the window. Amazing! And just yesterday I was sorting out some things on my website, and came across this picture of a handful of beads. I hadn't noticed before that my hands form the shape of a heart... Now I'm really going to be watching for these things. The more we pay attention to the little notes sent by the universe, the more it sends them!One other thing for you this morning. It seems unrelated at the moment, but I could be wrong...
I've really been enjoying listening to Pandora Internet Radio while I'm here in the office. Try it out! It's free, and it's very smart. You tell it the name of an artist or song you like, and it creates a personal radio station just for you. You listen to it right through your computer. You can create as many stations as you want, with different types of music for all your musical moods. You can even tell it if you love or hate any particular song it plays, and it will pay attention! I love this because it plays music I'd never even know about otherwise. It's expanding my musical world!
Carry on!

the Official Beadist Emblem

I thought you might like to know what's going on behind the scenes. So much secrecy! Well, here's part of what I've been working on. At first I thought it was going to be my personal logo, but as it went along, it became more and more something to share. As the word Beadist clarified itself to me, it became apparent that this was indeed the Beadist Emblem! It started with a photo of a lotus bead, which I traced and simplified and placed in the center of the heart. Notice how your eyes can make it look like either a bead on the heart, or a little fire within the heart? Totally accidental. I wanted wings that weren't too "biker". These seem strong enough to carry the heart, while still being gentle and sweet and playful. And then there's the flame/hand at the top. It's borrowed from the Sacred Heart we see so much of here in New Mexico, (I have a collection of them on my kitchen wall!) but is, of course, more creative and artistic than religious. To be clear... Beadism is NOT a religion. Oh no. For me it's a way of life, but for most folks, it's really just about beads, beads, beautiful beads! I have plans for some wonderful Beadist Gear in the near future... buttons, stickers, t-shirts, mugs..... the possibilities are endless!
I'm posting beads on my streamlined website today. The new site will be up in a few days!

I'm wondering...

...why is it that most people do not sign their names in emails? Hmmm??? I know this is true because today I sorted through 310 emails to update my mailing list, and most didn't have a name anywhere on them. How bizarre. Would we send a letter to someone and leave it unsigned? I think not. I'd like to gently suggest to the entire world that we be sure our full names are somehow included in every email we send. It could be in the "from" line of the address, or as a nice signature at the end of the note. I'm on a mission. Help me out here.
Sincerely,
Kim Miles

first day of autumn...

I guess summer really is over... not only is today the equinox, there's snow on Taos Mountain, and it's cold and poopy down here in the valley.
Of course, living at an elevation of 7,000 feet, I guess we have to expect extremes. Still.... what happened to summer this year? I'm pretty sure I missed it. OK, OK... no more whining. I'll just go make some beads.

I'm also making a lot of progress on my website changes. It's going to be fun. You'll see!

Stay warm. I'll be back.

Beads Of Courage

One of my customers sent me the following article today. I'm new to Beads Of Courage, and now I'm even more inspired to make these beads and send them off. The first thing I do each day in the studio is make two beads for Beads Of Courage, and two for the HOPE Bracelet Project. They add up quickly! Time to send some in! This is a good example of Beads For A Better World!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARBULLETIN.COM Alyssa Miller's Beads of Courage, awarded after each procedure or accomplishment in her cancer treatment, are threaded on a strand nearly 30 feet long. Alyssa's parents, Marv and Maude, say her beads are precious to her.

Little bits of bravery

"Beads of Courage" recognize the painful battles fought by the youngest cancer patients

By Katherine Nichols
knichols@starbulletin.com

Seven-year-old Alyssa Miller already has endured more than most people do in a lifetime. Diagnosed with a Wilms' tumor in 2004, she has survived 12 surgeries -- including the removal of both kidneys, a liver resection and open heart surgery -- three rounds of chemotherapy and dialysis three times a week. Medications have caused a hearing impairment, and there's an incision that still hasn't healed five months after surgery. Following her latest health crisis, which included 11 weeks in intensive care, she lacks the strength and energy to walk, and allows her parents to transport her to and from the hospital in an oversize stroller.

Editor's note Alyssa Miller died on Thursday, just after this article was completed. Her parents asked that it run in its original form, to recognize the courage she showed in her short life and to acknowledge the hope that Beads of Courage can offer to other children with cancer.

"We've taken a very active part in her treatment," said her father, Marv Miller. "Part of that is because you feel so helpless. You try to find ways to bring a smile to her face, but some days, you just can't."

What always seems to bring a smile to Alyssa's face, however, is her bead collection. When the nurse presents a variety of beads for her to choose from, Alyssa's shoulders straighten, a grin emerges, her eyes sparkle and she breaks her silence with questions about how many she has earned this time.

Alyssa's mother, Maude Miller, said that Alyssa normally lays out all of the beads and narrows her selection to eight or 10. The process can take up to an hour, with mother and daughter conferring along the way.

It's all part of a program at Kapiolani Medical Center for Women & Children called Beads of Courage, started in May for pediatric oncology patients, "to acknowledge and honor what they're going through," said nurse Pam Carey-Goo, the pediatric clinical coordinator. The 50 to 60 participants range from babies to age 22. Initiated by Jean Baruch, a nurse in Arizona, Beads of Courage is used in 10 hospitals nationwide, but Kapiolani is the first in Hawaii.

The first thing young patients do is spell out their names with lettered beads. Then they choose a small, round glass bead for each procedure, special accomplishment or event. If they receive chemotherapy, they earn a certain color bead. For radiation they get a glow-in-the-dark bead. There's a different one for staying in the hospital, and especially difficult events, such as losing one's hair, call for a custom-crafted bead in the shape of a head -- with hair.

On the last day of therapy, they select a handmade purple heart of courage bead. To accommodate youngsters who had begun their regimen before the program started, nurses sat down with parents and added up the procedures, so each patient could create a strand that accurately depicted his or her course of treatment.

"This is something that has helped Alyssa," said Carey-Goo. "It's important to her."

Kids string their beads on a black silk cord, to use as a necklace if they wish. But for most the collections are far too long to wear. Some teenage boys have glued theirs to a basketball or a train set, or placed them on wire to create a sculpture. No matter how they are exhibited, the beads become tangible displays of their owners' harrowing journeys.

CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARBULLETIN.COM Cheye Mokuhalii, 11, holds two beads he earned after undergoing treatment for Stage 4 Ewing's carcinoma. Cheye has collected more than 200 beads through the Beads of Courage program and says he will keep them even after he gets well.

Kapiolani hopes to start a pilot project with siblings, giving them beads to "symbolize how they're helping and what they're going through," said Carey-Goo. Brothers and sisters would collect their own, plus get an additional bead to give to the sibling with cancer, so they have matching sets. A red heart bead starts the set for people who do not have cancer but are involved. This includes professionals at the hospital.

"Nurses and other staff members are going through a lot, also," said Carey-Goo. "They fall in love with these kids. And I feel they need to be acknowledged for what they do and what they're feeling."

Beads of Courage was a success from the start. "Usually we present staff with new things, like computerized charting," said Carey-Goo. "But this program they embraced right away, and they're very busy." Physical therapists -- whose sessions can be especially difficult for kids suffering from serious illness -- have found the beads to be an extremely helpful source of motivation.

"I was thinking, 'This is kind of nice for the kids, and they'll have fun with it,'" recalled Larry Taff, who donated funds to start Beads of Courage with his wife, physician Kheng See Ang. "But it was so touching. We were all choked up. It's much more significant than we thought it would be in terms of how the kids and the nurses feel about it."

Carey-Goo agreed. "It's like, 'Look what I've been through.' It's very visual."

One glance at Alyssa's strand, which stretches nearly 30 feet, makes that clear. Actually, it should be longer because she has more than 2,600 beads for dialysis (depicted with 26 beads representing 100 each). "Her strand is beautiful, and it really symbolizes her fight against cancer," her mother wrote in an e-mail. "The great thing about this program is that every child who takes on this fight is able to see a physical representation of all that they have been through."

CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARBULLETIN.COM Pam Carey-Goo, pediatric clinical coordinator at Kapiolani Medical Center for Women & Children, says the beads symbolize what each child has gone through during treatment.

Cheye Mokuhalii, 11, lives on the Big Island but travels to Oahu regularly with his grandmother June Kropfelder to treat a Stage 4 Ewing's carcinoma that began in his lower back.

"I used to be in a lot of pain, but chemo has been helping," he said from the lounge in Kapiolani's Pediatric Ambulatory Unit. "I couldn't sit down. I had to stand up all day at school, and I couldn't go in the car."

Most of his beads remained at home on the Big Island with his family, but he was happy to share details. Mokuhalii said he'd earned one for losing his hair and eyebrows. And tube insertions? "I got a lot of those," he said. "(The strand) helps me remember the hard times. It helps me be proud of myself because I did something I never wanted to do."

On a particularly difficult occasion -- when doctors told him the chemotherapy wasn't working after his first round -- he earned a bead with bumps on it, representing an unusually bumpy time.

"We try not to use it as a reward system, but rather as a recognition system," said Brenda Maglasang, a nurse who has worked with pediatric oncology patients for 12 years. "But the beads are more than a diversion. It's also a way for kids to really communicate what they've been through," especially to those who don't understand why patients can't come to school, play outside or be around anyone with a cold.

Did he plan to keep the strand of beads forever? "Yeah," said Mokuhalii. "In the future, I can look back and say, 'Wow, look what I've done.' It means a lot."

"You can actually see that you were brave," his grandmother added.

Maude Miller concurred. One day, she said, this strand "is going to mean a lot to Alyssa." To her parents, it already does.

© Honolulu Star-Bulletin -- http://starbulletin.com

big changes...

First, I want to thank all of you who so generously donated to Laura Brito's community workshop! Together we raised over $1000! She's just thrilled, and sends her thanks and hugs to all of you! If you'd like to make a donation, I'll continue the "10% off your beads" offer until the end of the month. Every dollar helps!

Now for my news...
October will mark my 10 year anniversary as a beadmaker. Amazing. And I think it's time for some changes in my website to commemorate the landmark, and to reflect more who I am and what I'm doing NOW. I'm changing the look, paring down the clutter, and even designing a new logo with the help of a couple Design Goddess friends. It's going to be cool!

And... the Secret Bead Club is going to close up the clubhouse. It's been wonderful fun, but I think we've outgrown it as a group. We need something that's still fun, but a little more grown up. Just a little! SBC will soon stand for "Southwest Beadist Colony"! Basically, a Beadist is anyone who loves beads. No guilt, no rules, no public nudity, no dogma, no ritual, no weird food. Just beads and whatever else makes your heart sing. For me it's even more than that, because beads are my life. I make my living with them. They're part of almost everything I do. While it's not a religion, it sure is a lifestyle! You can start to ponder what beadism means to you, and feel free to add your thoughts here.

I'll be sending out an email soon, explaining what we're up to, and asking you to simply reply to the email if you want to stay on my mailing list. With almost 1,000 names on my current list, it's a good idea to find out who really wants to be there. Everyone is welcome, but no one is held hostage!

There you go. I'll keep you posted as I get things sorted out. The new website will be ready in October. Stay tuned!

skunked

We have a major skunk problem in the neighborhood this year. Every night they come into the yard and stink us out. Last night Lucy (our dog) got sprayed in the face at bedtime. Hideous! Poor girl had to sleep in the studio, which really annoyed the cats. Rick went out first thing this morning for tomato juice. I mixed it with hydrogen peroxide, baking soda, and shampoo. Then we both suited up in old clothes and gave her a bath. She hates baths. It was not pleasant for anyone involved... The good news - there was ice on the bird bath this morning, which means that the little stinkers will go into hibernation soon... hopefully not under our porch...

I'm quite sure we deserve some delicious vodka cream pasta for dinner tonight. It's a Rachel Ray recipe. I saw her make it on Oprah the other day, and have been dreaming of it ever since.
Maybe you need some too. If you can't come over, here's the recipe:

"You Won't Be Single for Long" Vodka Cream Pasta

Recipe courtesy of Rachael Ray

From The Best Burger in America Discovered!

Serves 4

Printer-Friendly Version Review This Recipe

It's Rachael Ray's most romantic dish!

INGREDIENTS

• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, once around the pan in a slow stream
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 shallots, minced
• 1 cup vodka
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 1 can crushed tomatoes (32 ounces)
• Coarse salt and pepper
• 16 ounces pasta, such as penne rigate
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 20 leaves fresh basil, shredded or torn

Serve with:

• Crusty bread, for passing

Heat a large skillet over moderate heat. Add oil, butter, garlic and shallots. Gently sauté shallots for 3 to 5 minutes to develop their sweetness. Add vodka to the pan (3 turns around the pan in a steady stream will equal about 1 cup). Reduce vodka by half, this will take 2 or 3 minutes. Add chicken stock, tomatoes. Bring sauce to a bubble and reduce heat to simmer. Season with salt and pepper.

While sauce simmers, cook pasta in salted boiling water until cooked to al dente (with a bite to it). While pasta cooks, prepare your salad or other side dishes.

Stir cream into sauce. When sauce returns to a bubble, remove it from heat. Drain pasta. Toss hot pasta with sauce and basil leaves. Pass pasta with crusty bread.

* For more information about Rachael Ray, visit www.rachaelrayshow.com.