My kids love fruit. Yours might too. But it never can hurt to have a little more fruit-filled inspiration in our lives. That's what one teacher thought just before setting her kindergarten class loose on this fruity art project. Still Life With Kool-Aid is what she calls it. And here's what Jessica Burkett did.

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Antiretroviral therapy (ART) exists. It's designed to help those living with HIV. Yet a recent report revealed that only 31% of HIV positive people in low to middle income countries are receiving the necessary treatment.

Efforts by organizations such has the World Health Organization, UN Aids, and UNICEF have made a dent in the problem. In fact, an extra 950,000 people received treatment last year. But the agencies' goal was to have three million on ART by the end of 2005; that number has still not been reached.

The lacking distribution of ART is largely because of funding, but other factors create barriers as well. The poor health care systems in underdeveloped countries and untrained staffing also inhibit progress. In addition, up to 20% of people in highly infected countries are unaware that they carry the virus.

There is something you can do to help. Have you gone RED yet? Simply purchase services and products that are labeled (Product) RED and a portion of the proceeds will be put toward HIV medication distribution and other AIDS-related charities.

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When I attend a yoga class I'm content with a positive, accomplished instructor, a clean hardwood floor and a few scattered candles. Just enough ambiance to transport participants into the New Age. Now how about combining a triangle pose with deeper appreciation of a piece of modern art?

Imagine yoga in an art museum. No strolling through a hollow museum section by section, trying to absorb as much of the art as possible for your admission fee. No walking around with a docent-led group, nudging your way up front to hear what this art expert is sharing about multitude pieces. Those are both truly wonderful experiences, but I would love to try focusing in depth on only one room's surrounding art while physically challenging mind and body in yoga poses.

Every Third Thursday University of Texas's Blanton Museum of Art offers a yoga class. The instructor leads yoga while discussing works of art on walls enveloping the room -- a recent focus piece was an abstract expressionist painting. The Austin community has responded with many regular attendees. Mixing art appreciation with the healthy aura of yoga sounds divine -- an intellectually intriguing experience definitely worth trying. Not sure if yoga art is available beyond this Austin, TX opportunity, but successful museum programs spread fast. Please share if you've ever attended one!

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Hard work got you down? Feeling tired? Stressed out? Hmmm. Lots of us are. In response, most folks take a nap, get a massage, or check out a movie. My good friend Art Adkins took a different route for stress relief though. Instead of just chilling out, he wrote and published a book! Ever think of doing that? I thought it was a pretty cool concept.

Art is a Sergeant with the Gainesville Police Department in Florida and a former LAPD Sergeant as well. He's spent 27 long years in law enforcement and to him, creating a murder mystery involving the criminals and cases he's been involved in for decades became his escape. The Oasis Project is a clever and exciting tale of a family's murder and the secrets surrounding it. Art brings the case to life in the way that only a true law enforcement officer can do.

I'm impressed that in efforts to just relax, Art put his mind to work. Where many people choose TV time as the decompressor of choice, Art kind of took on a part time job. Is there something productive you can do when you're frazzled? Maybe you could quilt, scrapbook, write or woodwork. Maybe you can create some extra income for yourself while you're doing it too! The Oasis Project is not only a fun and exciting read, it's a little bit of motivation for the rest of us to do even better.

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Florence Studio in Italy is creating artwork that veers sharply from the norm. Their collection, Beautifully Big, is a series of sculptures of classic figures, but with larger proportions, like this one of an obese Michelangelo's David. They have a number of such sculptures, which you can see by visiting their website.

What do you think of these pieces of art? Awe-inspiring? Nausea-invoking? I must say, I kind of like them -- they're well-done and they're a good reminder that big is beautiful -- more so than skeletal anyway. But does glamorizing obesity in artwork make it seem like being obese is ok, even though it's unhealthy?

Via Neatorama.

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Tattoos are an artistic expression of individuality, style, and art, and have (until now) only been appreciated by those with the gift of sight. But now, through the efforts of a student at The University of Arts Berlin, you can also make a statement that can be felt and appreciated by the blind.

By having a series of small beads or a small plate embossed with text (made of stainless steel, titanium, or plastic) implanted under the skin you can have an expressive work of art that can be appreciated through both sight and touch. It's braille for your skin!

Would you do it? I'm thinking with color maybe, without it just looks an organized group of zits.




Via Trendhunter

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They say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but this artist's masterpiece came from another body part. Marco Evaristti, a Chilean artist, had fat liposuctioned from his own body, then used it to create meatballs which he then put on display in an art gallery.

The piece, which Evaristti and 12 friends eventually ate, was meant to draw attention to modern-day people's obsession with food and with weight loss. Evaristti says:

"You eat, and when you're fat, you go to a clinic, have an operation, have your fat removed and you start to eat again."

The artist is no stranger to shocking displays. In 2004 he painted an iceberg red, and in a different display he filled blenders with water and goldfish and invited visitors to make their own "fish soup."

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Sometimes I get personality quizzes sent to me by a friend through a website, urging me to try it as I'm guaranteed to learn so much about myself. I usually delete them, but recently a friend sent me this quiz. It's a visual quiz, one that tests for what the creators call your Visual DNA -- in other words, how you react to images and what your image choices say about you.

Try out the Visual DNA test and see what you think. As a photographer, I thought it was inspiring and helped me understand my personality better. It helped me realize the many faces to art, love and everything in between. It also conjured images of things I love: laughter, music, indulgences, holidays and landscapes.

Am I way off base here, or did it inspire you as well?

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Easter is just a few days away, and I'm encouraging you to encourage your Easter bunny to consider each child's health while creating a basket. Baskets are a blast and so much fun. They don't have to be filled with sugar, fat, and junk like traditional baskets of the past though.

My kids have never even heard of a Peep and they've always been thrilled with Easter. We fill their baskets with tons of fun, and usually just one small hollow chocolate bunny. They love it and your kids will too. Here are some ideas for both healthy theme baskets and Easter morning fun. Have fun with it, and enjoy the fact that you're putting personal effort into their day. Don't cower to the advertisers pressure to shove junk into the little ones you love the most. Have a day that's exciting, fun, and happy in every way.

Choose a theme such as:

Sports: Balls, mini bats, shin guards, a sports team t-shirt or hat, new sneakers, jump rope, Sports Illustrated for Kids, water bottles, whistle, cones, sweat bands, sports watch, game tickets

Arts & Crafts: Paint, pencil, crayons, brushes, stamps, glue, pom-poms, googly eyes, construction paper, kid scissors, glitter, coloring books, paper bags for puppets

Beach fun: swimsuit, colorful kid sun-block, visor, shovel, pail, mini umbrella, summer Barbie, books, a personalized voucher for a trip to the beach, water park or pool, slip and slide, make a kiddie pool the basket, water bottles

There are two trains of thoughts out there. One that says to stay completely focused on every moment of your workouts to get the best out of it, and then there is mine. Mine says do whatever it is you need to do to accomplish your goal, make the time fly by, and allow your training to remain as enjoyable as possible so you continue to go back to it.

For example. I love exercise! In fact, I've made my career out of it. I'm also human. Sometimes my four mile jog just becomes freaking dull and if I don't have anything to take my mind off of the constant 'left, right, left, right' in my mind I would just be one more quitter in the world. So this is what little Miss Fitzness does to pursue her amazing goal of ultimate fitness. I get on the treadmill, stepper, gauntlet, rower, etc, completely armed. I bring an mp3 player, cell phone with ear piece, magazine, and then I usually set up in front of a T.V. At that point I set my magazine with many pretty pictures (think Cosmo or Glamour) on the machine and start to run. Then I choose my noise. Sometimes I chat, and sometimes I listen to music. Sometimes I talk on the phone, while looking at pictures and then check out the scroll on FOX News.

Does any of that make my workout suffer? Heck no! It allows me to complete it. All of these nonsensical distractions allow me to avoid any silly chatter in my head that would talk me out of finishing. In fact, usually I end up going harder than I planned, because I'm not bored to death! On the flip side, when I'm training for my sport, Full-contact Kickboxing, I'm 100% without interference. Fully focused. Ready for everything. If you are an athlete, I encourage you to do the same.

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