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Coming of Age

Cultural Traditions

Many cultures around the globe have coming-of-age ceremonies, which mark a person’s transition from childhood to adulthood. The ages, rituals, and ceremonies vary from culture to culture.

In recent years, architects, fashion designers, interior designers, and retailers have used the term “democratic design” to define quality designs that are affordable and accessible to mainstream consumers.

Tea Time

Having a cup of tea is a daily ritual for many people around the world. This soothing beverage can be enjoyed solo or shared with friends over conversation. Setting aside some leisure time for tea can be like going into an adult “time out.” Relaxation reigns—even if it’s only for fifteen minutes.

A Modern Look at Primitive Art

"The dust of bones, primitive weapons, coal, and buried wood—the old human as well as solar energy—come down to us tangled like roots in the fermentation of the dampness under the earth." So begins Elie Faure's epic five-part translation of the History of Art from ancient times to the early 20th century.

Three Important War Correspondents

Natural diamonds are formed under high pressure and temperature. In the same regard, great expression and acts of human courage and talent often emerge from desperate, high pressure situations. A look back at some of the first female war correspondents shows they formed their own diamond-like sheen under some of the roughest pressures.

Best Witches of All Time

In the good old days of serfdom, papal supremacy, the waning black plague, unhinged superstitions, and blood-letting, there were witches. They were women—perhaps devil worshippers or maybe just misunderstood gardeners with a penchant for herb cultivation—who were hunted, persecuted, and burned at the stake by the thousands all across Europe and America up until as late as the 18th century.

Timeless Drama of Love Poems

Love. Does it change over time, over country borderlines, across generations and cultures? Or is it the one all-encompassing trait of humanity? If it doesn't change, is there a simple cipher we can use to access old love poetry?

Grace in Anarchy

She was once called "the most dangerous woman in America." Detractors claimed that she was strictly a proponent of politically-charged violence and revolution. Others might know her by her 1970's sloganized phrase, "If I can't dance, then I don't want this revolution." Still others know little more about her than vague, anarchist stereotypes or by her relationship with Alexander Berkman, a contemporary anarchist who attempted to assassinate President William McKinley.

History of Birthstones

Many people have heard of birthstones, the gemstones correlating to the month of one’s birth date. Most people don’t know where the custom originated. As with many ancient customs, birthstones align with religious traditions.

Accounts from Missionaries

The conquering and subjugation of any nation by another takes place on three fronts: military, religious, and cultural. India’s importance to the British Empire hinged on British rule of the country. Not only did England overpower the country by means of warfare, but it imposed laws and its religion upon India.

India and China

The Silk Road introduced Europeans to exotic, new flavors and launched them upon a culinary adventure as they developed trade and exercised imperialistic determination to conquer and rule. From Indian curry to General Tsao’s chicken, the spices, flavors, and textures of the Orient made their home in the Western world and began a subtle campaign to conquer the conquerors.

The Most Enduring Chinese Export

The discovery of China by Marco Polo opened western countries to a wealth of new products that Europeans soon coveted and China soon manufactured in great quantities to meet that lucrative demand. Porcelain, a ceramic material that transcends mere crockery in terms of strength and translucent white color, was not the least of these fine products. Polo’s record of his journey, Il Milione (volume 1 and volume 2) contain the first mention by a European of this fine pottery.

The Not-So-Wicked Witch of the East

Forget pointed black hats, black cats, and riding on brooms. Well, maybe not the broom. Slavic folklore brings to children a much more frightening witch than anything dreamed up by Western Europeans. Native to Eastern European and Russian cultures, Baba Yaga blows through legend like a force of nature. Sometimes kind, sometimes cruel, and usually portrayed as a hideous, old hag living in a hut standing on chicken legs and surrounded by fence made of human bones, she wields a mortar and pestle and either a broom or mop, but she’s never predictable.

Rap and its Griot Roots

Rappers wandered the Earth long ago. They were entertainers, but also advisors and diplomats adept at synthesizing histories with the present. Both scorned and lauded, lavished with jewels and praise and well-travelled, they rapped their tales for slaves and kings alike. Cultural writer Lafcadio Hearn relates in a letter to Henry Edward Krehbiel:

... through the yellow desert northward into the Maghreb country, often a solitary wandering … they play old Congo airs for the great black population of Stamboul, whom no laws or force can keep within doors when the sound of griot music is heard in the street ... [griots] carry their music with them to Persia and even to mysterious Hadramant, where their voices are held in high esteem by Arab masters...the transplantation of negro melody to the Antilles and the two Americas, where its strangest black flowers are gathered by the alchemists of musical science and the perfume thereof extracted by magicians like Gottschalk. (Afro American Folksongs by Henry Edward Krehbiel, 38)

Extrapolations on the Myth

Genesis 11, a book of the Bible, tells the story of the Tower of Babel, the origin myth of language. The people of the great city of Babylon shared a common tongue and a common intention to build a tower that might reflect both their city and its accomplishments. “Come, let us build ourselves a city," they said to one another, "with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”

Ways of Seeing, and Why Context Matters

In a his four part documentary Ways of Seeing, John Berger discusses in part one the multitude of presentations that distort how we approach and perceive art. The space in which a painting is displayed effects its perception just as much as the difference between seeing a piece on a crowded opening night or a quiet weekday visit at noon. It’s one thing to travel to see an entire, original painting, and quite another to see that painting through a television screen, in print, or by looking it up on the Internet. Furthermore, the opinions of an art critic, who has studied and enjoyed paintings, techniques and art history all his life, would differ from a disinterested child forced to see that same painting.

King Kalākaua

King Kalākaua, the last king to reign over Hawaii, was much more than the partying happy-go-lucky man that his title as the Merrie Monarch suggests. On top of ending an economic depression by entering into trade deals with Ulysses S. Grant, he single-handedly revived native Hawaiian pride and culture that had been repressed by European and American missionaries and brought Hawaii onto the international stage with strong relationships he built during two world tours.

A Snapshot of South Korea

People around the world are getting ready to tune into the scene in South Korea, since it will host the XXIII Olympic Winter Games from February 9th to 25th in Pyeongchang County.

Many South Koreans believed that the Winter Games presented an ideal way to promote the country’s mountains and scenic vistas; but, one month before the games, ticket sales were still sluggish as tensions with North Korea continue to dominate headlines.

Longevity

As we age, we yearn to remain healthy and retain our quality of life. Many believe that age is just a number and that people are only as old as they feel.

Age doesn’t hinder some from pursuing an education, exploring an interest, or even engaging in an extreme sport. Former President George H. W. Bush went skydiving in celebration of his ninetieth birthday.

Exploring the History of Fashion

Design drives many areas of our lives—the homes we live in, the furnishings we select, the cars we drive, and the clothes we wear. The choices we make reveal quite a bit about who we are. They provide outlets for self-expression and define our personal style.

While architecture, film editing, and graphic design enjoy a more prominent ranking in the hierarchy of design, fashion design is often perceived as more frivolous.

Coming of Age

Cultural Traditions

Democratic Design

Tea Time

A Modern Look at Primitive Art

Three Important War Correspondents

Best Witches of All Time

Timeless Drama of Love Poems

Emma Goldman

Grace in Anarchy

History of Birthstones

Impressions of India

Accounts from Missionaries

Asian Cookery

India and China

Porcelain

The Most Enduring Chinese Export

Baba Yaga

The Not-So-Wicked Witch of the East

Rap and its Griot Roots

Tower of Babel

Extrapolations on the Myth

Colorblindness

Ways of Seeing, and Why Context Matters

The Merrie Monarch

King Kalākaua

A Snapshot of South Korea

Blue Zones

Longevity

Exploring the History of Fashion