The Timeless Transylvania of my Heart and Soul

A Wandering Weaving Shuttle

An antique shuttle from Țara Făgărașului (the name of the land near the Carpathians that covers part of the area of Brașov County in Romania), has been traveling for some time over meridians, connecting them by an invisible thread. It is the weaving shuttle of “mama Ruța” from Mândra, and you can find its story by clicking  here. (Use Google Chrome for an almost instant translation).

The citadel of Făgăraș, Brașov County, Romania

I have been honored to be the shuttle’s host for a while, proud that it comes  from my mother’s birth place, especially since my own maternal grandmother, “mama Maria” from Vad, Șercaia Parish, used to weave yards and yards of rugs, blankets and all kind of wondrous cloths. I don’t remember her shuttles, just her loom, which used to fascinate me. Holding mama Ruța’s shuttle, I felt the same thread connecting me to the amazing guild of the weavers from Țara Făgărașului, and I realized that this guiding  thread was always there, weaving a fabulous tapestry in my spirit; the details of this tapestry were just beginning to reveal themselves…

First, I took the shuttle to the Wesselényi castle in Jibou, my native town, where I happened to be for a few days in August. The former park of one of the most beautiful Renaissance castles in Transylvania has been functioning since 1968 as a Botanic Garden and it harbors the Biological Research Centre.

Then, with the loom shuttle in my purse, like an unmistakable identity sign, I returned to the metropolis that I call home since 2008: New York!

And here is the antique shuttle enjoying views of the East Coast megalopolis:

watching Manhattan’s skyline from across the Hudson and from Liberty Park, towards Lady Liberty,

and taking a stroll through Central Park.

I must admit I cheated on this one – I took this picture at an art opening that featured photography from New York.

The shuttle’s next destination? Not just one, but a whole bunch of them, in an extended world tour, beginning  October 14! You too can request the shuttle by writing to the email address provided on its blog. It is a magic traveling shuttle, carrying a spark from the sprit of mama Ruța  from Mândra, Romania, the relentless weaver who wanted so much to see the world. Host it for a while, and you will realize that by doing so, you are strengthening the warp of one of the world’s oldest and most mysterious tapestries…

Old Loves, Eternal Loves

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Tourism Cares Invites Letters of Inquiry for Worldwide Grants Program | PND | Foundation Center

Tourism Cares Invites Letters of Inquiry for Worldwide Grants Program | PND | Foundation Center

May 22, The International Day of Biodiversity

Video message by Edward Norton, United Nations Goodwill Ambassador for biodiversity on the occasion of the global launch of the International Year of Forests 2011.
The global launch of the International Year of Forests 2011 has been held in conjunction with the High-Level Segment of the ninth session of the United Nations Forum on Forests.

International Year of Forests 2011 website.

World Day for Cultural Diversity

 

A subject that always stirs my interest and activism. Accused during my teenage years in communist Romania of being “too cosmopolitan” and interrogated by the overly nationalistic authorities, as a consequence, at the age of seventeen, I can say I have been keeping a very keen interest in other cultures than mine for all of my adult life.

I was looking with a pleased smile over the suggestions of the UNESCO Facebook campaign “Do One Thing For Diversity and Inclusion” for this day – pleased because I have checked almost all those thought starters for individuals.

It’s no wonder to me that destiny has led me live in one of the most culturally diverse neighborhoods that I have ever encountered. Jersey City, at least its downtown, where my home is, not only has that refreshing urban variety that I have always favored, but it is also amazingly tolerant and peaceful. (Maybe I shouldn’t say amazingly, but unfortunately tolerance seems not to be yet the working norm in the world). I have no doubt that this harmonious patchwork of cultures has a lot to do with the fact that the place has become a thriving hub for a lot of free-spirited, creative people attracted by the affordability of living in a place so close to Manhattan.

I can only hope that more and more neighborhoods in the US and the world will become just as welcoming and peaceful.

What Makes You Tick?

…was the prompt that showed up on my visual journal page for today. Then I started drawing random shapes and writing quickly what I saw in them. And these were my answers: arabesques, coat of arms, colorful gems, mozzarella and basil, hand-made slippers, grey stones, upholstered chairs, papyrus scrolls, artwork, doodles, exuberance, yarn, heirloom yarn, vintage everything, heirloom everything!

So, what makes YOU tick today?

The Latest

I have been invited to participate in the eyeJAZZ training session that will begin tomorrow, March 17 2011. I am supposed to post my videos online, so be warned.

Why Jazz?

In short, because it is a lifelong love story.

In (life)long…

Music was not viewed as a suitable career in my small town bourgeois intellectual family in communist Romania. We had enough difficulties as it was. However, music, and especially jazz, has been a constant presence in my home ever since I was born. My parents were avid jazz record collectors, so, naturally, I grew up listening to jazz on a regular basis. During elementary school I took up private guitar lessons and later I taught myself to play piano, accordion and harmonica.  Encouraged by my father, who is a writer, I was publishing poetry, book and music reviews in national literary magazines. However, I followed a career in science. This was due to my mother, who one day brought home a microscope borrowed from a science teacher colleague; what can I say: as a standard nine year old nerd, I was hooked.

During my teen years I started my own record collection - naturally, a lot of rock, at first. But the fascination for jazz was still present, somewhere in the back of my exploration-starved mind.  Jazz was comforting. Jazz was home. My room may have been blasting hard rock, but I also had to regularly play my favorite old record: a seventies jazz-rock compilation.

After I graduated, I had the chance to substitute as a junior-high music teacher for a while, in a suburb. I cannot  forget the amazement of those kids, faced with the sudden obligation of copying scores, learning music theory and sight-singing, instead of repeating the same old popular songs every time.

During that time, I began focusing mainly on jazz and contemporary classical music. It was the dawning of the internet era, so I soon started a jazz blog, initially called  Jazzy Eliza’s Wor(l)d, later Hector’s Lounge, and an online jazz appreciation show at an underground radio station. Though short lived, that radio show, called Jazz Tuning, threw me directly into the realm of jazz journalism and music production. I was editing audio, I created my own jingles, I was communicating live with my audience - the works.

As I was covering each and every jazz festival and concert in the area, I eventually began collaborating with an American jazz musician (who has meanwhile become my husband), first as a promoter, then as a tour manager, as well.  I produced a jazz CD. I relocated to the US. I started my own label. I managed two radio promotion campaigns and their follow-ups.  I further developed my audio editing skills. Since then, we released a few jazz singles, in preparation of a big music project…

Lately I’ve been delving into animation and video editing. Mostly Corel Painter and Final Cut Pro. As a trained visual artist with a background in mass media, it was inevitable.

So what’s next?

Well, wouldn’t you like to know…

...And This Is How It Begins

 

Why fear oblivion,

when it can harbor unutterable beauty?

Fallen angels walk among us,

trying to remember heaven,

striving to recreate it

here on Earth,

from veiled fragments

of a long lost memory...

They had to forget it;

or else how could they climb again

Jacob’s ladder

one

step

at

a

time?

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Zentangle I

Zentangle I, originally uploaded by soranatarmu.

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Story of Our Life