Let me warn you right now, this is personal; this is largely stream of consciousness introspection.

For too long, I’ve lived comfortably in the space of being fine, okay, happy often, sad sometimes, but even. The reach for that space of joy and real contentment seemed reserved for people that had it together – the people that went to college right from high school, that graduated with a degree in something useful and tangible rather than taking years to travel and explore the world and the country around us. My time in school consisted of finding ways to get college credit for independent studies where I could travel and write, speak another language – a real liberal arts education-learn about the world you live in-type of experience. My degree is a BA in International Studies, or sometimes I throw in the political science, or the writing focus. I went to The Evergreen State College, known locally as a “hippie school” – and nationally as an incredibly progressive and successful twist on conventional pedagogy. Talking about what your degree from Evergreen is in – well, it really just depends on your audience. All of this to say: I have taken the long way round to find myself in this place – Seattle, working in one area but entirely immersed in another, surrounded by people I love and respect, connected, but often solitary.

I’ve got these thoughts roiling around that are full of people I know dealing with the REAL stuff:

• One friend, she is vibrant and young and beautiful – she is about the kindest person you may ever meet – she has cancer, she struggles everyday to overcome the utter unfairness and indignities of this disease. She is inspiring – she wakes up every day and fights this. (I am working hard not to swear here, this makes me so angry that invectives seem the only real way to convey.)
• There is another woman that invited me into her home when I didn’t have much in the world and who allowed me the time and space I needed to get my feet under me after moving to Seattle, she’s been diagnosed with a disease that will slowly suffocate her in the next few years. She is tough and curmudgeonly. I love her.
• In the midst of all this, my sister (through love and marriage and divorce from my dad, her mom) – she had a baby yesterday. She and her husband are young and no doubt they will struggle financially to make it work. But she had this baby boy and it’s everything you know? She is the most tender and resilient woman I know. I love her like crazy, and her husband too. I worry for them, what they’re up against starting out. But I know they will absolutely make it through, with many stories to tell. I can’t wait to see this unfold.
• My closest friend of many years is dealing with addiction. She’s too far away and we’re too out of touch for me to know what’s going on in truth. She’s endured unspeakable loss and come through only to succumb to this part of herself again. She is whip-smart, caring, beautiful – she was my place of safety and calm for years. And right now, she is lost to me. I cannot help. Only hope, hope she surfaces and can forgive me for not being there and only able to witness this from across an ocean.

There are so many I know right now, deeply, utterly fighting to exist in a world where every day the news is full of violence, environmental disaster, fear. All this fear. In the face of all this – it seems like an affront to continue living in a space of being just okay. Do you know what I mean? When confronted by all the pressures existing, your only choice must be to live truly, fully, in the present and for yourself.

My own fears seem so trivial. They are. And yet, I think they are common.

• After years of dropping everything I know to move to a new place, find new friends, make a new life in a new community – I want to stay put. Yet, an equal part of me wants to keep doing it, live in a foreign country, gain fluency in another language. Reinvent. Rediscover.
• I’ve spent so much time exploring places, experiences, different directions and careers – that it feels like I may have missed that window of finding a partner, a family. It may not be true, but it feels real.
• The part of me that feels alive and strong is spent volunteering for an organization that I love, but can’t sustain me financially. The career I’ve been in, that I’m actually really good at, doesn’t really feed me on an intellectual or emotional level.
• And a big part of who I am – the one who creates, who writes, who sees design and truth in a moment, a photograph, that part is far too often set aside for the everyday things.

The part of writing that I love (and sometimes struggle with revealing) is the truth of it. All of what I’ve written above is raw, perhaps filtered a bit, but true. Right now, right here, true. We may have never met. We may have known each other for years. When you write honestly, from that core place, it resonates.

So here it is: I am done with safe, with feeling fine. Risk and fear and love and jumping fully into the unknown again – that is where I’m starting over. It’s the beginning, again.

And here, is what I am grateful for:

…there is much more, many more photos, people, moments. All of it – all of it, I know I am entirely lucky and blessed to have both near and far.

Terra Madre was made up of over 5,000 representatives from 160+ countries.

A new friend from Benin, Africa - Pascal Gbenou, a rice farmer, advocate, president of the Conseil de Concertation des Riziculteurs du Bénin - and teller of good stories.

Slow Food USA president, Josh Viertel and a roomful of Slow Food chapter leaders from every region of the country.

Carlo Petrini, founder of Slow Food International

And for a perspective on Terra Madre from The Atlantic – check out, “Slow Food’s Conference: Sustaining the Sustainability Crusaders.”

The response I’ve had so far is nothing short of stunning. People from all areas of my life have sent in donations of $10, $25, $50, even $150 – all to help me achieve this goal. All of them sending along messages of support, of congrats, wishing me luck, wanting to know more about Slow Food, it’s been a bit overwhelming in the best possible way. I hope that you all have an opportunity to reach out to your community of people in some way like this, to be vulnerable and lay bare a need, a deeply hoped for wish – because I have to say, it feels really, really good. Sort of like a wonderful cocoon of warmth and generosity in the most heartfelt way.

I was incredibly hesitant to reach out to the people in my life to ask them to support me in this venture. In my day job I work in development helping to raise funds for the arts, when I can afford to donate to worthy causes – it’s often a combination of local arts and international aid organizations. There are so many worthy non-profits that I had a pretty tough time being able to justify adding my personal dream of attending Terra Madre into the mix. But there were people, a lot of them actually, that reminded me not to give up before even trying. Smart people. Good friends.

I’m pretty new to this blogging thing, I’ll get around to using less words to describe a simple thing – but for now, bear with me. It’s hard to be succinct with what feels simultaneously like gratitude, love, trust, confidence – it’s something I wish I could aptly convey to all that have shared a kind word of congrats or a welcome check in the mail. It goes much farther than a bank transaction. I’m deeply thankful.

The best part of this experiment is the reminder we’re all moving along this path together, that being vulnerable and open, even when it’s uncomfortable – can so often yield the most surprising results.

Hollyhocks always remind me of my grandma, lovely.

Lucky pig eats Herbfarm leftovers. Woodinville, WA

Ava, her chicken, and me, Seattle

Henry and Ava - love these two, Seattle

Out on the pontoon while home in MN, Rice Lake

The dock at Kay & Tim's, Rice Lake

A view through the door of the old chapel - Collegeville, MN

Amber & David at the Twins game

Dad and Amber, porch conversations - Menomonie, WI

Burning Beast! The best holiday of the year!

One beast, of many. Burning Beast 2010.

Le Menu. Burning Beast 2010.

Amy and Scott = love. Burning Beast 2010.

Morgan at Sitka & Spruce, Seattle

Gardens, Seattle

Morgan and Rian, a lovely pair at the opera. Seattle

Rian and Jen at the opera, Seattle

Red Rock crabs, 1st time crabbing! Steilacoom, WA

Lichen, the woods at St. John's - Collegeville, MN

Rebecca and Alice, Ch. Ste. Michelle. Woodinville, WA

Pam and Jen, Ch. Ste. Michelle. Woodinville, WA

Lavender at the Olympia Farmers Market. Olympia, WA

Ava and cupcake. Seattle

Jon's experiment with cooking eggs in compost.

Jon and his peaches

Jon and Georgia at the Queen Anne Farmers Market

Peach jam in the making. Seattle

That's me and Michael Pollan. Photo: Traca Savadogo

The evening of September 11th found us in a crowded pub in Doolin, just a short drive from Galway and the ferry from the Aran Islands. After leaving Inis Mór we simply wanted a place to watch the news and relax some while waiting to get through to family in the US. Doolin is also reputed to have some of the best trad musicians in Ireland.

We arrived later in the afternoon without reservations and much of the town’s B&B’s were full. On the recommendation of one of the innkeeper’s we checked with, we knocked on the door of a rosy-cheeked man in his late sixties. Apparently Daniel’s wife was off in Dublin and he’d had one or several nips o’ the whiskey, so he was more than genial. They were in the process of getting set to sell the B&B so they no longer advertised, but he gave us lodging nonetheless.

Ravenous and craving the comfort of strangers packed into a cozy pub we made our way down to O’Connor’s for some dinner and several pints of Guinness. They had an enormous television set in one room of the pub and we all watched sickly as the crashes were replayed over and over. Daniel showed up an hour or so later and gallantly rescued me from the not-so-subtle advances of the town scallywag (in Daniel’s opinion anyway). He introduced us around to his friends and we took seats close to the circle of musicians that had finally started up.

It was a long night back and forth to the phone trying to get through to my companion’s family in NYC, going back for more music and pints, and finally collapsing into a comfortable bed. It was a terrible day to be away from my country, but made immeasurably more tolerable by the hospitality and kind sentiments of so many of the Irish.

From 9/11/01, A long night in Doolin…, igougo.com, March 2002

What’s all this about? Well, I’ve been serving as the co-chair of Slow Food Seattle since the beginning of the year and doing my best to connect the people in our local community to the places, purveyors, farmers, and traditions that are at risk of disappearing for any number of reasons – globalization, big ag, subsidies, our busy lives juggling family, work, and finances. We’ve got some incredible resources, artisans, and groups committed to doing the same in this region and I’m proud to be one among many. It’s something that I care deeply for and want to continue to learn about and support. This coming October, Slow Food International will come together in Torino, Italy for an event called Terra Madre. I’ve been invited to attend as a participant in the role of an observer – which means that I have a tremendous opportunity ahead of me. The only thing holding me up right now? Finances.

So I’m stepping forward into the rest of Horace’s oft repeated Carpe Diem. According to my friend Becky, the phrase is part of the longer “Carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero” – “Seize the day, trusting as little as possible in the future.” That the ode says that the future is unknowable, and that instead one should scale back one’s hopes to a brief future, and drink one’s wine. The full quote tells a better story.

Carlo Petrini speaking at Terra Madre

Terra Madre is an international Slow Food convention of sorts. Members of chapters from countries around the world gather together every two years to share what is happening in their communities on topics ranging from small-scale agriculture, sustainable food production, gastronomy, globalization, and economics. In essence, coming together to collaborate and inspire, to bring the tenets of Slow Food – Good. Clean. Fair – into a multicultural discussion and to share innovative solutions.

I know there are many important ways to be philanthropic with so much needed in the world, and I am greatly humbled and appreciative for the people in my life that have encouraged me to go this route. I want to bring the experience of Terra Madre home to Seattle, to our community, and I need your help to do it. This is the start of my fundraising efforts to get to Torino in October, I hope you’ll consider donating what you can via the PayPal button above, potentially donating your extra airline miles, or more simply, by dropping a check in the mail to the address below.

Jennifer Johnson | 4727 42nd Ave. SW, Apt. 414 | Seattle, WA 98116

For those local to the Seattle area, I’ll be holding a fundraising event in early October with a promise of great food and drink, more to come on that soon. Thank you – or with luck, I’ll be saying – Grazie mólto!

Check back at my Terra Madre page for updates.

Details on Terra Madre

This is the most recent post on it from the Slow Food Seattle site. For more info, the best description is direct from the Terra Madre site:

More than 5,000 representatives from the worldwide Terra Madre network will meet in Turin, Italy for the fourth time this October 21 to 25 – coinciding once again with the international Slow Food fair Salone del Gusto. The five-day meeting will bring together food communities, cooks, academics, youth and musicians from all over the world, who are united in a desire to promote sustainable local food production in harmony with the environment while respecting knowledge handed down over the generations.

A new feature in 2010 will be a focus on cultural and linguistic diversities – in recognition of the need to defend minority ethnic groups and indigenous languages, and with an appreciation of the value of oral traditions and memory. At the opening ceremony, representatives of indigenous communities from all continents across the world will speak to the audience in their native languages.

The second day will be dedicated to examining eight crucial issues for the future of agriculture and the planet (from biodiversity to renewable energies and education to traditional knowledge). On the third day communities will meet in national and regional sessions, while on the fourth day Earth Workshops will be held.

The official closing session of Terra Madre will be marked by the presentation of a program of proposals from the Terra Madre network for a sustainable future. There will be specific opportunities during the event to receive information, to present projects involving taste education (gardens, canteen projects etc.) or food biodiversity (Presidia and Earth Markets) and to organize Terra Madre Day in your community or country – with the second edition to be held on December 10, 2010 around the world. The Terra Madre youth network will play an important role during the event.

For those who have never been to the opera, an invitation to attend might elicit worries about how to dress, how in the world you’re going to understand it, and how you might get out of the whole thing – isn’t opera supposed to be, well, boring? The truth though, is that opera has something for people of all ages and you don’t have to be an aficionado to enjoy its charms. Opera is a union of all the arts – drama, poetry, music, dance, costumes, sets, and lighting design – into one big wonderful spectacle of voice, music, and emotion.

Washington State is home to several opera companies from Tacoma to Spokane – with Seattle Opera as its most recognized, both critically and by audience attendance. Founded in 1963 by Glynn Ross, the company’s first general director through 1983, Seattle Opera boasts the highest per capita attendance of any major opera company in the United States. The company’s production of Richard Wagner’s Ring Cycle draws audiences from around the world, pulling visitors from 49 states and 19 countries. For the last twenty-five years, former music critic and lecturer Speight Jenkins has led Seattle Opera as general director and he celebrates his anniversary during the 2008-09 season.

OPERA IS FAR FROM BORING
Though you won’t find the opera singers jumping across the stage in Matrix-esque stunts and hi-speed car chases – you will witness stories filled with intrigue, mistaken identity, murder, lovers (often of the star-crossed variety), tragedy, betrayal, magic, and even pyrotechnics. In fact, at Seattle Opera’s home at McCaw Hall, there is a “room” from which a gas pipe leads to the stage, used for all productions that feature live flames. Seattle Opera’s own fire designer, Tim Buck designs the fire effects and oversees the execution and safety for all of the productions where fire is used. Buck’s fire design projects include the celebratory fireworks for Ariadne auf Naxos as well as the protective ring of fire around one of the lead characters in Wagner’s Ring, Brünnhilde. Buck also does dual duty as Seattle Opera’s flight technical director and is responsible for the flight, harness design, and safety of the singers who are flown across the stage including the Rhine Daughters in Seattle Opera’s current production of Der Ring des Nibelungen.

OPERA SINGERS ARE ATHLETES
Did you know that opera is almost always sung without amplification? Though it would certainly make the singing easier, opera by tradition has never utilized microphones or any other method of amplification (with the exception of some outdoor productions). For a singer, using a microphone is akin to an athlete using steroids – a quick fix and ultimately, cheating. Singers must be heard over full orchestras (anywhere from 30 to 70 players) and rely on years of physical training to project their voices – with the help of venues engineered with perfect acoustics – to the farthest seats in the topmost tiers.

KNOW THE BASICS – VOICES
The women in opera are generally categorized by their singing range – from highest to lowest are soprano, mezzo-soprano, and alto. Sopranos are the often the heroines, and the mezzo-sopranos and altos are frequently the mothers, elders, and witches. For the men, the same standard applies to their singing voices – from tenor, baritone, to the lowest, bass. The tenors are the famous singers (the most familiar, collectively known as “The Three Tenors,” are José Carreras, Plácido Domingo, and Luciano Pavarotti) and are often the hero and dashing love interest while baritones and basses play the father, the evil arch nemesis, and of the up-to-no-good criminal.

NO FLUENCY REQUIRED
Though it’s true that most operas were written in Europe and performed in their original Italian, German or French – you will still be able to understand every word. Thanks to the invention of supertitles or English captions in the mid-1980s – and Jonathan Dean, English captions writer for Seattle Opera – you don’t need to be fluent in a foreign language to follow the story. Supertitles are English translations of what is being sung, projected above the stage. Despite the early controversy amongst opera companies, critics, producers, and patrons, Seattle Opera was among the early-adopters of this new technology. Prior to the advent of supertitles, performances would often be done twice at Seattle Opera – one version in its original language and another in English. Even operas sung in English are usually captioned, as singers hold vowels longer which makes it difficult to understand every word.

OPERA IS FOR YOUNGER AUDIENCES TOO
Thinking of taking your kids or grandkids to see an opera performance? According to a recent audience survey, a significant percentage of Seattle Opera patrons said they began a lifelong love of opera after being exposed to it at a young age. Kids and young adults are able to engage with the story, music, emotion, drama, and visuals of the productions. Through more than 400 education events and activities per season, Seattle Opera’s Education department endeavors to capture the imagination of the future generation of opera-goers. Over 10,000 students each academic year take part in Opera Goes to School and Experience Opera, programs designed to engage students from grade school to high school. The Education department also provides an intensive training ground for young professional singers through the Young Artists Program, a 20-week production-based curriculum, now in its eleventh year.

Opera Goes to School, another long-time favorite of the Education Department, introduces opera to grade-schoolers through a week-long residency at each participating grade-school. Using an original kid-friendly interactive adaptation of Richard Wagner’s Rheingold called Theft of the Gold: The Ring Begins, staff and singers from the Young Artists Program work with grade-school students and teachers to learn and perform their very own opera. At the end of the residency, students and singers perform the production they’ve created for their classmates and parents.

Middle- and high-school students have an opportunity to get an insider’s perspective through backstage tours of McCaw Hall that culminate with a short recital by members of the Young Artists Program. Students learn about the jobs done by stage management, costumes, wigs and make-up, props, sets and lighting while exploring all that takes place behind the curtain.

Experience Opera gives teachers custom-created study guides that allow them to integrate opera into their classroom curricula. In addition, more than 5,000 high school students yearly attend the dress rehearsals of main stage productions so they can experience a fully-staged opera production first-hand.

Seattle Opera’s nationally recognized Young Artists Program (YAP) provides career guidance and training for young professional singers, typically between 22 and 32 years old. Auditions were held throughout the country and from an extremely competitive pool of over 600 applicants, ten singers were accepted for the 2008/09 season. YAP Artistic Director Peter Kazaras, Education Director Perry Lorenzo, and YAP Music Director Brian Garman lead the program, which includes acting training, master classes with professionals in the industry, auditions, and networking opportunities. The season culminates in a fully produced opera with orchestra. The 2008/09 Young Artists Program participants will perform scenes from Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin in communities across Washington and in the spring they will stage a full production of Benjamin Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

The Young Artists for the 2008/09 program are Eugene Chan, Thomas Forde, Margaret Gawrysiak, Megan Hart, Michael Krzankowski, Alex Mansoori, Elizabeth Pojanowski, Vira Slywotzky, Michelle Trovato, and Bray Wilkins. Four artists—Eugene Chan, Margaret Gawrysiak, Megan Hart, and Elizabeth Pojanowski—are returning for their second season with the Young Artists Program.

CULTIVATING FUTURE OPERA-LOVERS
With an eye towards developing new generations of opera lovers, Seattle Opera’s affiliate group – BRAVO! offers members between the ages of 21 and 39 the opportunity to mingle with other young opera patrons. Founded in 1996, BRAVO! is one of the industry’s largest young patrons groups in the arts with 600+ members and growing. Membership benefits include discounted tickets, access to private receptions during intermission, and a plethora of behind the scenes educational events and parties throughout the year (including the always sold-out Laser Opera).

EXPAND YOUR OPERA KNOWLEDGE  – ADULT EDUCATION PROGRAMS
Whether you are a longtime opera fan, a recent convert, or a curious neophyte, there are a wide range of outreach and education programs available both in Seattle and around the state. Sitting in on a seminar led by one of the opera’s education staff, a pre- or post-show lecture at McCaw Hall, or even an afternoon at the public library will deepen and enrich your opera-going experience.

Free, one-hour opera preview lectures are held around the Puget Sound that focus specifically on each upcoming opera and help attendees learn more about the story, composer, and the cultural and musical context of each work. These lectures are typically held in cafés, bookstores, libraries, and museums around the Seattle area. In addition to Seattle Opera’s own lectures and educational events, both the Seattle and King County Library Systems offer free opera lectures throughout the year led by educator and opera expert Norm Hollingshead. The venerable Elliott Bay Book Company in historic Pioneer Square also hosts General Director Speight Jenkins and Education Director Perry Lorenzo for Aspects of the Opera, an informal discussion about each opera, on the Friday night before each production opens.

If you’ve decided to attend an evening at Seattle Opera, be sure to include one of the pre-performance lectures called Overtures to the Opera, in your plans. The hour-long lecture discusses each opera’s composer, story, and cultural context. This ticketed event takes place 90 minutes before curtain time and tickets can be purchased at the box office the night of the performance.

ENJOY THE JOURNEY
Learning about opera doesn’t need to be an overwhelming experience. Like anything worthwhile in life, it’s a gradual process that builds in layers over time. Take advantage of the internationally-acclaimed opera in Washington and perhaps it will be the beginning of a lifelong appreciation, even passion.

Up next in Seattle Opera’s 2008/09 Season is Sophocles’ ancient tragedy, Elektra, by Richard Strauss. Elektra runs from October 18 – November 1, 2008. Rounding out the rest of the season are The Pearl Fishers (January 10 – 24, 2009), Bluebeard’s Castle & Erwartung (February 21 – March 7, 2009), and a new production of The Marriage of Figaro (May 2 – 16, 2009).

Olympia’s olfactory destination boutique – Archibald Sisters

Downtown Olympia is in the midst of a boutique renaissance with artfully-curated shops springing up on nearly every block. The Grande Dame – or more like the hip aunty – of them all is Oly institution, Archibald Sisters. Founded in 1975, this modern-day apothecary originally included the eponymous sisters and is now run by sole proprietor, Phil Rollins.

Once across the rosy-hued threshold, customers are treated to an eclectic array of products purposely placed with a hefty dose of humor. This wonderfully quirky store features a selection of toys for big and small, jewelry, accessories, unique cards and gifts for just about anyone on your shopping list. “Olympians make a point of bringing people from out of town to see the store.” Rollins says. “You hear laughter erupting at different points. My vision is that it’s a happy place.”

The heart of the business is their customizable collection of over 130 fragrances. Knowledgeable staff will custom mix your very own combination of scents into a variety of lotions, perfume, bubble bath, soaps, even shampoo and conditioner. Loyal customers make regular pilgrimages from all points near and far to pick up their favorites like bestselling names Oly Girl, Lush, China Rain, Sex on the Beach, and for men, Buff. If you need a little help deciding on a gift, they can put together a good gift basket too. For those that stop in while visiting and get addicted to the luxurious lotions and perfumes – not to worry – all your favorite custom fragrance products are available for mail-order online or by phone.

Any visit to Olympia deserves a trip to see what’s new here, stock-up on good smells, and to at least take a look at the always creative, smartly-designed window displays. Archibald Sisters is also active in the community arts scene and is always a great stop during the town’s twice-yearly Arts Walk every fourth Friday and Saturday in April and first Friday in October.

Archibald Sisters | 406 Capitol Way S, Olympia, WA 98501 | 360.943.2707, 800.943.2707
Monday-Friday 10am-7pm | Saturday 10am-6pm | Sunday 11am-5pm