The Inner Life of a Cell

January 3, 2011

When I saw this video on the inner life of a cell during one of my Biology lectures this last fall, I was astounded at the unbelievable complexity of the human body....the sheer multitude of simultaneous processes happening in our bodies in order to make them function and thrive.

In those moments when I want to run for the hills because of the difficulty of course material, all I have to do is remember this beautiful marriage of art and science and the gratitude I feel for the people of Harvard University who crafted it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mszlckmc4Hw

The Heart Goes Pitter Patter

January 3, 2011

The photo above just about sums up just how happy I am to have this woman in my life....the absolute delight we bring out in one another.

I feel grateful to be dating someone who I can hike a beautiful trail with on a clear, sunny day...with the adorable dog she's sitting for, Roxy and Charlie, my feisty little man who finally let his guard down...

I feel grateful to be dating someone who doesn't let me leave her space when my shoes are untied...perhaps because I may fall or they may get wrapped around the gas pedal as I drive...

I feel grateful to be dating someone who tells me to watch for the icy patches at the top of SW Scholls Ferry Road...

I feel grateful to be dating someone who notices when I am someplace else and asks what's on my mind...

I feel grateful that we can both get giddy about trashy vegan tofurky "pepperoni" pizzas and watching football with a blanket wrapped around us... football... something I am not normally a fan of, but that which is growing on me because she likes it so much... 

I'll always look back on year 35 and say it was the best ever because that's when I "met" my Heather McD...

Begin Anew...

January 1, 2011

In this moment, I am feeling deep gratitude for my dear family, for my girlfriend, Heather, for the phrase "begin anew," for my ability to laugh and let go and for the opportunity to artistically display all of my intentions for the new year...

To new beginnings, whether they be by moment, by minute, by hour, by day, by month, by year... 

How Fleeting This All Can Be...

January 2, 2011

"How fleeting this all can be." Those were the words my friend Sarah shared after our friend Kristin's father died in a skiing accident on the winter solstice. It's unbearable for me to think about losing my father, particularly at a younger age than what I typically associate with death. Kristin shared what it was like for her to wake up on Christmas and not have her father there making banana waffles and acting silly in a Santa outfit. The lack of physical presence...that's the heart wrenching, aching part of loss.

The end of the year and the beginning of winter certainly seemed to mark the end of life in many circles. 

My mom and dad's kitty, our beloved Elliot experienced her last day of life on this earth on December 31, 2010. She was nearly 20 years of age. I was on speaker phone with the rest of my family (sans Hava) at the veterinarian's office when Elliot was taken in to be put to sleep. "Put to sleep." Those words. A euphemism I'm grateful for, yet so terminal sounding. Hearing the tech describe what would happen as Elliot was injected broke my heart and I instantly felt like I was there with my family. It brought me back to the painful day of having to put our beloved Lily to sleep, our cat of eight short years. Surreal. An unbearable choice. And something I never wanted to have to do again.

Elliot...I remember the day we brought her home as a kitten....her tiny, lengthy, meow. My heart is heavy just thinking about walking into my parent's house without seeing her mysterious, stoic little body....her quiet strength....her beautiful green eyes and fluffy, full grey hair. The way she used to paw out for more brushing of the hair when I'd stop to give my hand reprieve. Cancer took her away from us, but her spirit will never leave us.

18

October 18, 2010

Today is the 18th. 18 is my favorite number. My middle name is "Hy," the shortened version of my Grandpa Hyman Dennenberg's name. It is the Hebrew word for "life" and I've always appreciated carrying that kind of presence around with me. 

This word is represented by two letters in the Aleph-Bet, "hay" and "yud" and those numbers are, in turn, represented by the numbers 8 and 10, which added together become 18, hence the symbolism of the number 18 in the Jewish culture.

It's the day I choose to begin anew. It's the day I set intentions to see pivotal changes in my life or to even change ingrained habits that aren't necessarily the healthiest. It's my soccer jersey number. And today, it happens to be the day I was granted an educational stipend through Campus Compact/Americorp's Students in Service Program! This is my first educational scholarship since high school and for that I am incredibly grateful.   

For more information on the background of this number: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chai_%28symbol%29

Postcard of the Day

Tomboy....to Lezzie....

Magnet of the day:

Butt Ugly

Artist Statement:

...sidewalks, streets, bus stops, on the edge of storm drains, flower beds, inches from trashcans....this is the melange of places that I discovered the cigarettes contained in this jar....over the course of two days. Upon moving to Portland, I was stunned that such a beautiful, sustainable, caring town was also butt ugly, literally and figuratively.

...I chose to represent this contradiction in the form of a mason jar – something so simple and beautiful – what should be a holding space for grains, nuts and bolts, beads...

...the intention of this piece is to help reveal the True Price of a cigarette: lung and throat cancer, air pollution, water pollution, animal experiments, exploitation of tobacco farmers, the paper used for rolls, land and water used to grow the tobacco....

...and about changing Portland for the better.

...since I have made this discovery, I have made a point of picking butts up on my walks around the neighborhood, collecting hundreds of butts. The waves of sadness I still feel when I see this trash are tempered by the empowering realization that one less butt will make its way into the earth's waterways. One less butt will choke out marine life. One less bird will have to be forced to use a cigarette butt to build a nest...and a little less anger will be in the world.

...the impact is already tangible...

Price of Piece: $54

~Daniella Dennenberg

I just donated this piece to an old co-worker's benefit fundraiser for a trip to the Gulf Coast to promote alternatives to oil. I hope it sells at her silent auction! 

Compassion Fatigue...coming full circle...

I would recognize that site anywhere...the metal bars, the white feathers flying haphazardly, the stench....the STENCH. I was heading home from a class and noticed what I thought was a semi full of crates fly by as I got on the highway. It's an atypical site here in Portland, but this would make for the second in about a month, so I followed my intuition. 

My heart sank at the possibility of being faced with seeing animals who I couldn't help in the least. There is probably no single thing that makes me feel more helpless than witnessing abuse, cruelty, neglect and not being able to do a thing about the egregiousness. Somehow I felt that the least I should be able to do is look this abomination in the eye. I decided that I would catch up to the semi, which at that point was flying at top speed and ride alongside it. Sure enough, there were hundreds and hundreds of chickens crammed inside of those metal cages. I looked to connect with the faces of these animals....to see their individual suffering so that, if nothing else, I could continue to be their voice.  

I could barely distinguish the birds from one another - the dirtiness of their feathers broke my heart...and my spirit, the absolute despondent looks on the faces of these creatures, their once bright red combs that had become pale, countless of them in these tiny spaces. They looked bewildered and resigned to their dictated circumstances. Completely trapped into a system they would never choose to be part of. Tears streamed my face and blurred my driving vision. I "pulled it together" and paced my speed as much I could until my path diverged from theirs. I told them that they were not alone and I wished for them the least violent and painful of deaths. 

The emotions that this stirred in me are countless and indescribable. We have become so disconnected as a species that a truck full of sentient creatures is treated as the equivalent of a truck load of oranges on their way to market...so disconnected that we allow ourselves to be part of this system, one that treats innocent creatures like commodities. Born into a life of misery, suffering and death, all for the sake of desire, convenience, and the rationalizing that allows for desire and convenience to override compassion, empathy, wisdom, caring, and kindness. 

For more information, please visit www.farmsanctuary.org and www.veganoutreach.org.

A Snickers in Disguise

There it sat...on the top of my scanner/printer just waiting to be consumed. I purchased it two days ago at the local vegan grocery store Food Fight. It was an impulsive purchase. I was feeling naughty. This was the Snickers-like candy bar I had waited nearly 15 years for! And it lives up to that bar...to the trashy candy bar bar, that is! Though I purchased it with some hesitation - one ingredient stood out to me. Months back, I had read a story about the Girl Scouts and their attempt to raise awareness about the plight of orangutans in Borneo and Sumatra as the result of the derivation of palm kernel oil.

According to one website, "palm oil plantations are a huge problem for orangutans in Indonesia and Malaysia as entire forest habitats are destroyed to make way for plantations. In both Indonesia and Malaysia, the increase in palm oil plantation acreage is the primary cause of permanent rainforest loss. With the native peat forest that is destroyed goes the incredible array of biodiversity the forest supports. The number of species that live on Borneo alone is immense: 210 mammals (including orangutans), 420 birds, 254 reptiles, 100 amphibians, and 368 freshwater fish.

So...off an email went to the company, and now I'm sending a snail mail letter as well...

As a consumer, you can make a difference!

The Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil, a voluntary association created by organizations involved in every step of the supply chain for palm oil, is working to promote the growth and use of sustainable palm oil.  Any product that contains palm oil, palm kernel, palmitate or any derivative of the word “palm” is an opportunity for people to help save endangered animals and their habitat. People can support companies that are members of the RSPO and purchase products that contain palm oil, palm kernel oil or palmitate only from companies that are members of the RSPO.
For a list of products made by members of the RSPO and a sample letter to can send to companies, visit this link: http://www.orangutan.net/orangutans-home/items-to-avoid/palm-oil.


Signing off, D

Magnesium sulfate...who knew?

March 8, 2010

I've been drawing myself evening epsom salt baths to help speed the recovery of my feet and while they feel incredibly good, I was curious to know more about the health benefits....I found this incredibly interesting:

Researchers and physicians suggest these health benefits from proper magnesium and sulfate levels, as listed on the web site of the Epsom Salt Industry Council:

• Improved heart and circulatory health, reducing irregular heartbeats, preventing hardening of the arteries, reducing blood clots and lowering blood pressure.
• Improved ability for the body to use insulin, reducing the incidence or severity of diabetes.
• Flushed toxins and heavy metals from the cells, easing muscle pain and helping the body to eliminate harmful substances.
• Improved nerve function by electrolyte regulation. Also, calcium is the main conductor for electrical current in the body, and magnesium is necessary to maintain proper calcium levels in the blood.
• Relieved stress. Excess adrenaline and stress are believed to drain magnesium, a natural stress reliever, from the body. Magnesium is necessary for the body to bind adequate amounts of serotonin, a mood-elevating chemical within the brain that creates a feeling of well being and relaxation.
• Reduced inflammation to relieve pain and muscle cramps.
• Improved oxygen use.
• Improved absorption of nutrients.
• Improved formation of joint proteins, brain tissue and mucin proteins.
• Prevention or easing of migraine headaches.

All this from a bath, hurray! While there are many different brands of Epsom salt, they are all the same product chemically, and can even be found at a feed store. Add 3-5 cups of Epsom salt and soak for at least 12 minutes. Do this three times weekly.

A peanut sauce to write home about...

The Meat Lover's Vegetarian Cookbook Steven Ferry and Tanya Petrovna

Here's the recipe from the book:

Makes 4 cups
10 minutes

2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 onion, chopped medium
6 cloves garlic, sliced finely
3/4 cup roasted peanuts
1 14-oz can of coconut milk
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tsp red chili flakes

1. Saute onions and garlic in oil until transparent.
2. Place onion and garlic mixture in a blender or food processor, together with other ingredients. Blend thoroughly into smooth paste. Serve warm.

Here's how I did improv with the ingredients I had laying around:

I used oat milk instead of coconut milk and bragg's instead of soy sauce and ground peanut butter instead of whole peanuts and a combo of agave and maple syrup. Oh, and no chili flakes...SO, one could say this is an entirely different recipe! All that is missing are cilantro and green onions!

Episode 6...

This was my latest art piece for Leave No Plastic Behind and it was a really fun one to watch it fall into place. I decided to use a melange of mediums: shoe molds, tea bag tags, wine corks, bottle caps, gardening signs, old credit cards and natural paper.

Here's a good little article that came out on our art collective:
http://www.good.is/post/how-to-make-an-american-quilt-out-of-plastic

You Don't Look, Period - Hebrew Mamita

A elder friend of mine passed this along and it's worth the post:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubdGjzzJiVs

I liked that it challenged even my own expectations around being a Jewish woman....spoken word is not typical of the Jewish culture...that I'm aware...I liked how strong and confident this woman is and I like that in that tiny amount of time my heart was changed and that this was partially why she did this piece: I managed to learn something new about my culture, feel reaffirmed as a Jew, and let go of some of my stereotypes. I also like that the audience was full of people of color and that she wasn't preaching to the choir. oh, and a lot of what she shared reminded me of some of my inner homophobia and some of the things I've already been confronted with (you're gay? with an expression following that suggests I don't seem gay because I don't "look gay").

My Sweet Charlie

Ode to Charlie - February 20, 2010

It is hard to imagine that Charlie came into my seven fateful years ago. I was on my way up to leading a workshop in the bay area at an student animal rights conference (about a 10 hour drive). My dear friend, Kathy Kan and I who had both studied the egregious impacts of animal agribusiness, decided that we would stop off in the Chino area, AKA armpit of the dairy industry, to capture some photos and take some footage of the conditions. I knew this footage would lend further credibility to my presentations in school classrooms.

In searching for dairy lots, we came across a veal ranch instead (baby calves stripped away from their mothers at 1-2 days of age - often chained at the neck and unable to even turn around in their tiny stalls so as to produce the highly demanded anemic flesh, otherwise known as veal - such a euphemism) and decided to use our video camera to document what we could from the side of the highway. My heart was broken within the first minute...seeing baby calves deprived of every shred of decency, anything that is natural to them.

But something else quickly caught our attention. Sitting in plain view was a small, shivering dog. He looked terrified and as we approached him, he took off running towards the barbed wire fence that separated the veal farm from the highway.  Fortunately, Kathy grabbed his back legs just as he nearly slipped through the fencing and he reached back to bit her. Tellingly, he didn't break skin. He was skittish and displayed definite signs of having been neglected or abused. We quickly discovered he had a lacerated shoulder and knew he needed immediate veterinarian help...Kathy used her wildlife rehab knowledge and compressed his shoulder with a handful of grass to stop the bleeding. It worked like a charm. Who knew? Good thinking.

We scooped him up, decided to leave the site in search of a local vet...I had no desire to find his "owner" - who would abandon a young pup and leave him without any identification...perhaps he never had a home at all, but if he did, he wasn't going back. We found a vet clinic about 5 miles away and they happened to have one remaining appointment slot and 15 minutes before closing. Upon entering the clinic, we were asked for Charlie's name and since he was unnamed, they assigned "stray" to him. His name would eventually become Sikora (the last name of a mentor and dear friend who had a similar rescue story) and then finally Charlie.

They said he was about one-year-of age and they based that on his dental records. After some x-rays ruled out major issues like having been shot, he was given Rimadyl and Clavamox and we were well on our way. We had a 9 hour drive ahead of us and Charlie happily konked out for most of it. He was virtually silent, the antithesis of the personality I'd see develop months down the road - my fiesty, scrappy, protector! Kathy lives in Maine and she knew she could not adopt him. At the time, my sister and I were living with three cats and a rabbit and the possibility of bringing a hunting breed (terrier) into the house seemed a recipe for disaster. Yet my heart could barely handle the thought of adopting him to someone and leaving him behind in San Francisco. I visited the potential of having my parents foster him, but every idea I had faded with each passing hour on the drive back.

Charlie is my best friend here in Oregon - he's loyal, incredibly bright, completely zany, gets away with anything with his pools-of-chocolate eyes, is consistently stubborn and one of my best teachers. He's grown immensely since we moved to Oregon - his trust in others had noticeably shifted. He's just about the cutest dog around. We've shared countless fun memories together and I am so happy he's in my life.

I love you and honor you today, Charlie. Happy eight birthday - here's to many more. xo, Dani