Alexandra Amaro Jewelry Giveaway!

Fiesta Fada Bracelet by Alexandra Amaro

Do you love summer, bright colors, and centuries-old treasures?

Do you like winning free jewelry?

(I thought so!)

In honor of my favorite season, I've decided to do the first-ever Alexandra Amaro jewelry giveaway: the Fiesta Fada Bracelet. This cheerful bracelet features a mix of 300-year-old trade beads recovered from shipwrecks off the coast of Mozambique Island. These special beads are then paired with turquoise, lapis lazuli, angelite, coral and sterling silver to create an upscale-boho design.

Contest Rules:

Using the Contact Form on the Alexandra Amaro website, tell me how you found my blog or my jewelry site. Know me in "real life"? Drop a line just to say hi!

Everyone who sends me a message using the Contact Form between June 22 - June 30 will be entered in the drawing. On July 1st, I will have Rico draw the winning name from a hat.

Yes, I will ship internationally. No, I will not fill your inbox with spam and unwanted junk. You can expect an email newsletter from me quarterly at most.

Happy summer (to all those in the Northern Hemisphere) and best of luck to all!

La Vida Expatica #3: The Essential Items for Travel

In the last post in the Expatica series, I talked about the random, sentimental, and often times impractical items we expats insist on hauling halfway around the world and back. You guys had some fabulous contributions, by the way. Teapots, teddy bears, books and more books. My favorite, however, was shared off the blog by my friend S., a UK expat living in Mozambique, who said that her 5-year-old daughter most certainly qualified as 'impractical'.

This time, however, I'd like to touch on the practical, ultra-useful items that are at the top of the list for any trip, long or short. As expats, we (hopefully) learn to travel light, to use products that have multiple functions, to bring clothing that transitions easily from day to night. I'd imagine we have some awesome tips to share.

As I get ready to pack yet another suitcase (we're going on a little jaunt to the Houston-area for a friend's wedding), I'd like to invite you to share the top five items you absolutely must have in your suitcase, be it for a weekend trip or for a year-long posting.

Mine are:
1. large pashmina-style scarf (I'm always cold)
2. earplugs
3. pair of ultra-comfortable ballet flats (my faves are Born brand)
4. havaianas (gets you through beaches and icky showers)
5. mascara (favorite is YSL)

Today Was One of Those Days

It all started when I was reading the paper this morning. There was a cutesie little feature on "quotes from dads" submitted by readers.

SHIT, I thought, not again*.

I'd forgotten Father's Day. Or so I thought for about 20 minutes until I frantically went on Amazon.com to pick out a present for overnight shipment, debating whether to cook up an excuse or just be straight and admit I'd forgotten, and saw a page full of grills and gadgets and geeky stuff perfect for Dad.

It's next Sunday. Sigh of relief. My present's already in the mail.

Then I got ready for a nice, productive day all by myself here at Casa Cali. Rico and my mom had an all-day meeting, so I was looking forward to organizing my office, making some jewelry, doing laundry and catching up on emails. We only have one car, so I was ready to spend the whole day at home.

It was too good to be true, though. I soon discovered I'd spaced a workout session with my trainer at 4pm - all the way in Oakland. And I had no car.

Thankfully my mom lives about a 30-minute walk from our house. I managed to email her in the middle of their meeting and get permission to use her car. I'd have to go on an unexpected walk, but I thought I'd solved my logistical problem...until I remembered that I HAD NO DRIVER'S LICENSE. It had stayed in Rico's wallet after our jaunt to the local bar yesterday to watch the World Cup game.

Shit. Again.

Still, I thought I'd go ahead and risk it. I walked to my mom's house, got her spare key, found her car in the building's garage, and promptly hit another obstacle. I couldn't figure out how to get the damn garage gate open from the inside without the clicker. My mom had said there was a box where you could use the key to open the door, but I couldn't find it anywhere.

I went in search of the maintenance man to help me, but he was nowhere to be found. I finally had to ask some random couple walking their dog if they could show me how to open the garage door from the inside. I tried to put on my most innocent, "I'm not trying to steal anything or break in" face possible.

The stupid key box turned out to be about the size of a walnut and was hidden all the way in the darkest corner of the parking garage. I never would have found it without that neighbor.

So then, after all the car and garage drama, I was finally with vehicle and on my way to the studio in Oakland to work out, praying for no cops along the way.

Upon arrival, my trainer - who is never, ever, ever late - wasn't there. Turns out she didn't have me in her schedule. I managed to work out with another trainer who was free at that time, but still, I felt so crazy.

I NEVER have days like this, where everything seemingly goes wrong, or at least deviates significantly from the plan. Sometimes I have a little scheduling hiccup, or forget about a doctor's appointment...but a whole sequence of stuff is rare. It sort of knocked me off kilter, so I'm doing what any sane girl would do at the end of a day like this:

BATH + WINE + TRASH TV.


* Last year I forgot my Dad's birthday, and couldn't believe I'd make a similar mistake two years in a row.

My Favorite Necklace

CCA 1st Semester: Jewelry/Metal Arts I

Jewelry/Metal Arts I is an introductory class for people working with small-scale metals, either jewelry or sculpture. It's essentially a crash course in soldering, sawing, hammering, filing, riveting, texturizing, patination and tons of other basic joining, forming and finishing techniques.

It's also hard as hell for an intro-level class.

After the first week, once students had an idea of what J/MA I would consist of, at least 4 people dropped the course. The rest of us soldiered through what would prove to be a semester full of learning, experimentation, lots of frustration, and some triumphs.

Working with metals is no joke. The technical aspect alone is so challenging that it's tempting to make the design aspect an afterthought. But it's art school, so clearly that wasn't an option. Instead we put in studio time. Lots and lots and lots (and lots) of studio time.

Over the course of the semester, we made only four projects in J/MA I. Approximately three to four weeks per project, save for our ring assignment which only took one. There are many dozens of hours dedicated to each project, sometimes for a deceptively simple end product.

This was one of the main changes for me in terms of how I look at jewelry design and production. Prior to taking J/MA I at CCA, the longest I'd ever spent on one projet was probably about 5 hours, including design time. Now I've made pieces that take upwards of 60 hours of production time, and that's only the beginning.

Previously I'd let my materials inform my designs. This was, in part, a forced decision due to the relative lack of jewelry-making materials in Mozambique. I worked with what I had, resulting in astronomical creativity but little planning. My jewelry was intuitive, my process completely flexible and spontaneous.

Now it's just the opposite. I must plan extensively for each piece, including to-scale drawings and cardstock models. I make technical models and sample pieces to test the way a particular piece of wire will bend or the exact color a patina will produce. It's a lot of work, and I'm still getting used to the process. Regardless, I can see the massive jump in the level of my pieces, not just because I have learned new technical skills but because of the sheer amount of time I dedicate to my jewelry.

Here are photos of the jewelry I made this semester. I already posted these images on Facebook, but there are important people in my life who read this blog but are anti social networking, so I thought I'd re-post.

My very first attempt at metalsmithing. The assignment was to make a piece of jewelry based on a personal symbol. I chose the African Daisy, a flower that is able to flourish in any environment. I used layers of brass and copper to make a pendant, then stamped and sawed away at the metal to create the desired effect. I used a cluster of sterling silver rivets in the center of the flower to give texture and put a very dark patina on the copper so it turned black.

This project was insanely difficult. I had problems getting the circles to solder together, and the cluster of rivets pushed my technical skills. Getting the patina to get as dark as I wanted it was also hard. Overall, though, I was really pleased with how the pendant turned out. I plan to put it on a long, thin leather cord and wear it to death.

Our second project was to make a sterling silver ring. Here are some of my initial sketches for the project. I was drawn to curvy, floral shapes initially, but then I remembered how hard it is to saw curves in small pieces of metal. So I decided on a very precise, geometric design to make my life easier since we only had a week to work.

I actually designed the ring for Rico, and he now wears it on his right forefinger. It suits him perfectly - I'll have to get a photo at some point.

Our third project was to take an organic object and abstract it to get inspiration for a piece of jewelry or small sculpture. I chose a piece of star coral that I'd found on the beach in Mozambique. These are my initial studies of the piece of coral, and of a few other items in my collection of sea treasures. I was especially interested in the shapes inside the pores on the coral's surface. They looked like tiny, cell-like flowers, repeated endlessly in a perfect illustration of 'organized chaos'.

I took some inspiration from the Ibo Island metalsmiths and thought about a chain-maille style necklace using the floral shape from the pores on the coral's surface. Each daisy-like component started out as a straight piece of wire, which I then shaped by hand and soldered shut. I ended up using 78 tiny flowers for my necklace.

I joined all of the floral components with handmade jumprings to make a chevron shape. I love the way multiple imperfect elements can come together to create the illusion of something perfect and symmetrical. If you look really closely at this necklace, you'll see that there is no true middle point, and that on one half the flowers are joined with 2 rings, and on the other they are joined with only 1. It's a bit hard to see in the photo, but in person it's a really cool effect.

This necklace is my very favorite piece of jewelry at the moment. I love wearing it and feeling how the metal drapes over my collarbone and chest like fabric. I can't wait to start limited production of this design for sale!

Our final project was to make a box. It could be any shape or size, but had to include a lid and have at least one stone bezel set on it somewhere. I decided to make something rectangular with a hinged lid, figuring that it was best to start with a simple design and work my way up from there.

Even a simple design was super hard. I realized that I have an awfully difficult time visualizing a 3-D box in detail, how the sides come together, how the lid should fit. Even my sketches and model looked funky, and it only "clicked" for me once the box was already cut and built. I definitely learned some good lessons on this project, and would like to make more boxes even though it was such a challenge the first time around.

My favorite part of the box project? Learning to bezel set stones. I had 11 moonstones laying around that I'd received as a gift, and decided this was the perfect opportunity to put them to good use. It was really hard to get the bezel wire to solder to the big box lid without anything melting, but somehow it all came together. I gave this box to my mom for Mother's Day, partly because the gray, twilight colors remind me of her love of the pre-dawn hours, but also because I knew she wouldn't care that the hinges aren't lined up exactly right and therefore the box never closes 100%. ;)

Bottom line? Metals is insanely hard work, but equally rewarding for those who are passionate about jewelry/sculpture and disciplined enough to put in the necessary planning and production time.

Cherry Fanatic

It's no secret that I love cherries. Along with figs and fresh medjool dates, I am capable of eating them until I am sick. I just can't get enough!

A couple of weekends ago, I convinced Rico to go with me to Brentwood, an agricultural town in the Sacramento delta, to pick our own cherries. His immediate reaction was like Why on earth would anyone drive for 45 minutes in order to pay to pick fruit in the heat of summer? but he indulged me and we ended up having a great time. At least I did. I think Rico just enjoyed seeing me act like a child on Christmas as I searched for the darkest, biggest, juiciest cherries in the orchard.

After about 30 minutes of picking, we had 11 pounds of cherries and decided to call it a day. True to form, I ate about 6 of those pounds of cherries in the following week. When the fabulousness of the fresh fruit had weaned, I decided I'd make jam. I'm happy to report it was a successful project, and I now have all of the home canning supplies necessary to make jam out of the endless blackberries that have taken over our garden. Should be a tasty summer!

Reciprocating the Love

It's funny how we make friends in this age of blogs and forums and Facebook. Over the past few years, I've come to know the J sisters - two fellow global nomads originally from Angola but with incredibly international backgrounds - through our respective blogs. While our online friendship is super enjoyable, I wish I could meet Jo Ann and Jess in person, as I just know we'd have a great time cooking, listening to cool world music and talking about our love for writing.

While I don't foresee a meet-up in the immediate future (the girls live in France), I can still share a bit of the love here. Both Jo Ann and Jess have been awesome supporters of my life-change to become a jewelry artist, and they were kind enough to feature my work on their sites.

First Jess ran this very cool intro to my jewelry on her blog, Cartas à Filó-sofia. It's written in Portuguese, but is still worth checking out for the non-lusophone out there because she has a smashing fashion sense, lives in Paris, travels a lot and takes lovely photos documenting it all. If you can read her words, you're in for a treat as she is a talented writer as well.

Then Jo Ann, Jess' older sister, did this in-depth interview with me as part of her ongoing series of portraits on writers and artists. The original interview was conducted in English, then she translated it into French, the language of her blog. Jo Ann is a writer herself - like the "real" kind, with published novels and no alternate day job - and she really knows how to capture someone's personality and story by just asking 10 questions. If you are a writer or artist and are in need of a professional yet engaging biography, you should very definitely contact Jo Ann through her portraits site Jo Ann Ècriture.

Now, if only airfare were just a tad cheaper right now so I could say thanks in person...

Mozambique Island: Summer 2010 Collection

Here's a little preview of the latest antique Mozambique Island trade bead jewelry over at Alexandra Amaro.

I find such pleasure in figuring out how to transform these special old beads, especially since no two are exactly alike and many are so weathered by the centuries under the Indian Ocean that it's hard to imagine them in an elegant design. By mixing them with silver, gemstones and pearls they take on a new life, dressed up and ready for cocktail parties and jet-setting holidays.

Blue Tesouro Necklace - antique trade beads, lapis lazuli, freshwater and swarovski pearls, sodalite, sterling silver

Black Tesouro Necklace - antique trade beads, onyx, freshwater and swarovski pearls, smoky quartz, sterling silver

Fiesta Tesouro Necklace - antique trade beads, lapis lazuli, coral, turquoise, angelite, sterling silver

Fiesta Fada Bracelet - antique trade beads, lapis lazuli, coral, turquoise, angelite, sterling silver

I am in the process of listing these and many more pieces from the Summer 2010 collection on the Alexandra Amaro site. Have a look and let me know what you think!

White

Continuing with the colors series...

White decor at beach house in Bilene, Mozambique

Detail of ceiling at Maputo's train station (CFM)

Church at Ilha de Moçambique

Well inside the centuries-old home of our friends Z. and K. on Ilha de Moçambique

Rooftop linens in the breeze - Ilha de Moçambique

Noon sun on white courtyard - Ilha de Moçambique

Train to Sapa, Vietnam

Vietnamese porcelain factory

Detail of stairway inside Museu de Arte Contemporânea - Niterói, Brazil

Old mansion - Santa Teresa, Brazil

Summer Plans

On my master to-do list for Summer 2010:

• finish production for Fiesta jewelry collection
• photograph and list new jewelry on my website
• do a photography session with models wearing my jewelry
• create a small ad campaign targeting jewelry clients in Mozambique
• lots and lots of gardening
• plant some squash
• make blackberry jam with the berries from our garden
• paint Rico/my mom's home office a nice steel blue
• paint the tv room a dark amber-ish color
• rip out carpet downstairs and install new wood flooring (together with Rico, obviously)
• have a brazilian bbq
• finish the drawing of my rehearsal dinner dress
• organize my art supplies
• get a better filing system for all of my papers
• formalize my translation business
• continue typing up my old journals
• hang our hammock in the backyard
• organize and print photos from our time in Mozambique
• go hiking on a new trail
• have an almond dessert party
• get a massage
• go to a friend's wedding in Houston
• go to our cousin's wedding in Rio

Sounds like fun, no?

Five Years

Chimoio, October 2005

Five years ago today I arrived in Mozambique for the first time. I gave a shout of joy when I saw Rico waiting for me in the midst of the crowd of taxi drivers and hustlers outside the Maputo airport. We hadn't seen each other - or even been in touch - for the previous five years, since the good old days when we were classmates at business school in Rio. Rico took me out to dinner that night at Costa do Sol where we watched the moon rise over the Indian Ocean, then ate crab and drank too many bottles of white wine. The rest, really, is history.

Lucky, lucky me. :)

CCA 1st Semester: Drawing I

This was perhaps the class at CCA I was most nervous about. I've never had formal instruction in drawing, in fact never taken any sort of a drawing class in my life. I imagined art school would be full of the kind of people who can draw amazing pictures seemingly from birth, and that I would clearly be the odd one out.

My initial feedback from the school sort of confirmed this. I was under the impression that prospective students were required to include some drawings in their application portfolios. So, trying to make up for my lack of experience, I decided the best thing would be to practice drawing as much as possible in the months leading up to the application deadline. Back in Maputo, I recruited my friends A. and H. to sit and draw with me. I asked an artist friend to give me some pointers (the most emphatic of which included 1-never use a conventional pencil sharpener when you are making Art, and 2-never, ever draw from a photograph). Over a few months I drew my own hands, a ceramic vase, lots of squiggly technique exercises, a pair of guinea hen statues that sat on our table, and the interior of our friends Z. and K's centuries-old home on Ilha de Moçambique. I thought I was on a roll.

Upon arriving in the US, I thought it would be good to show some diversity in my drawings, so I tackled portraiture. I drew a portrait of my mom, then a self-portrait using a mirror that took me 4 long hours to complete.

I submitted the two portraits and the drawing of the home on Ilha in my application portfolio. The man who reviewed it, after looking at a dozen or so photos of my jewelry, looked at me perplexed when he came across my drawings.

"Your jewelry is really good, but why did you include these? I'd consider removing them before you do the official online submission of your portfolio."

Well, ok. I can respect someone who is honest in their feedback. I'm not a master of drawing, and the reviewer was simply calling a spade a spade. So I took the drawings out of my portfolio and mentally prepared myself for the semester-long struggle that would be Drawing I should I be admitted to CCA.

It's funny how these things happen. Quite surprisingly, Drawing I turned out to be one of the best classroom and learning experiences I've ever had, in any of the (extended) schooling I've done over the years. In large part, this was due to our fabulous teacher, Jean. She is in the fashion department at CCA and is the right balance of warm, tough, funny, down-to-business, encouraging and realistic. She started each class with a meditation period, then proceded to teach us the basic bones of drawing. We learned specific techniques. She coached us along the way. She assigned challenging (but fun) homework and gave concrete, useful feedback during critiques.

I really looked forward to Drawing I each week, but in no way was it an easy class for me. In fact, it was a struggle nearly every step of the way. There was no way to procrastinate my way through the work, and it was hard not to immediately be "good" at new skills. I especially found it challenging to draw the figure, which made for a wholly frustrating 4 weeks or so when we were drawing from live models.

Interestingly, I think a lot of the students had similar experiences, even if they were very proficient at drawing to begin with. Firstly, our teacher was incredibly good at pushing each student according to their own capabilities, and not expecting everyone to be at the same level. Secondly, it seems that everyone has a strength and weakness when it comes to drawing techniques. Someone might be a master at line drawings, but have an insanely hard time seeing shadow and creating mass on the paper. Others are much more comfortable working in 3-D (mass) versus 2-D (line). I'm definitely the latter, my favorite medium being conté crayon.

Then, at the very end of the semester, we got thrown the curve ball that is ink wash. Drawing with wet ink is super different from anything we'd done in class thus far, and to be good at it you basically just need to let go and be very free with your hand. Hard to do after a semester of learning technique and precision!

Without a doubt, my drawing skills improved immensely, but I'll never be a superstar. Still, I learned a lot and can definitely see how being able to draw reasonably well will help my jewelry work as I move forward.

Here are some of my drawings from the semester, in chronological order. I'm still working on my final drawing, even though I've already received a grade on it, and will take a photo once it's finished. I'm drawing the teal cocktail dress I wore for our rehearsal dinner. It's full of ruffles and rutching and is a big challenge to draw!

Recycling in Maputo!

Good news for Maputo and for the environment. I'm so pleased to see a formal recycling scheme finally being implemented in the city.

The Associação Moçambicana de Reciclagem - Mozambican Association for Recycling (AMOR - LOVE in Portuguese) opened three "eco-points" in the city of Maputo where you can leave your garbage in bags already sorted (Monday to Friday from 8h to 16h).

AMOR collects all waste including paper, cardboard, plastics, cans, glass bottles and e-waste. The waste will be paid per kg depending on the type of product. The "eco-points" are green containers located in the areas of Coop, Museu and Baixa.

For more information, please contact:

AMOR email: amor.mocambique@gmail.com
Stephane Temperman; Presidente, +258 84 46 177 64.
Antoine Bossel; Vice-presidente, + 258 82 30 399 11

Now the next step should be a campaign to reduce the use of plastic bags. I've never seen such plastic bag waste - from veggie sellers to supermarkets - in my entire life. The worst part is that most of the baggies are so flimsy they get holes in them before you've got your purchases home, and therefore can't be reused. What a difference cloth totes would make!

Summer (a girl can hope, right?)

1. Moçambique3, 2. Astounding colors of glowing Coral Plant and its wondrous turquoise seeds, 3. 5 May 2007 Maputo Mozambique, 4. Periwinkles, 5. Pomegranate, 6. Indian Wedding, 7. Turquoise, 8. When I Think of New Mexico, 9. Fuschia Macro

Colors and senses inspiring (and inspired by) my latest jewelry designs. Lots of corals and turquoises and royal blues for summer. While it's no secret that I love strong colors, I find myself even more drawn to them now. I imgaine it's the direct result of spending an entire semester working with nothing but metal when it comes to jewelry designs!

Perhaps I'm also trying to coax the weather to become more summer-like here at Casa Cali. Apparently we are having an exceptionally wet, cool, and extended Winter/Spring period, which gives me some hope. Still, I am longing for pool weather in a major way!

La Vida Expatica #2: The Things We Take With Us

Dear fellow expats (and serial in-country relocators),

When you are an expert at packing up and moving all of your worldly posessions at least once every two years, you become awfully practical about what to keep and what to leave behind (as discussed here).

However, we are all sentimental beings and occasionally a not-so-practical item will squeeze its way into the mix. You know what I'm talking about: those special little (or not so little!) objects that remind us of home, of family, of friends, or even of a particular cuisine or lifestyle. We carry them with us in hopes that geographical distance won't be the end of our fond memories and personal bonds.

Sometimes these mementos are easy to fit in a suitcase or pack into a cargo box: old photographs, a cookbook, a jewelry box, a satchel of lavender from a garden past. Other times, our sentimental objects are oversized, impractical, heavy as all hell, and prone to cause problems at customs.

On my personal list of the wholly absurd (but emotinally satisfying) things I've hauled halfway around the world and back, the following stand out:

- a complete set of antique silver flatware;
- all of my jewelry-making supplies (#1 in creating headaches at customs);
- all of my old journals (20 volumes, to be exact)
- countless cans of green chile (although as a New Mexican, this is really an essential and not a luxury).

What about you? I'd love to know the most random things you've repeatedly packed up and carried with you over the years. What are the objects you can't imagine leaving behind? Please share in the comments!

Calling All Animal Lovers in Mozambique

If you are in the Maputo area, please stop by the May fair on Saturday, May 15th to help M.A.P.S., the first and only animal crelty prevention society in Mozambique. They have finally found a place to rent that is perfect for sheltering animals in need, and will provide loving care, veterinary services and potentially grooming/boarding to dogs, cats and other furry/scaled/feathered ones. M.A.P.S. is conducting a membership drive to help make their vision a reality.


The plight of animals in the Maputo area is particularly bad - lots of abuse and abandonment - not to mention the TERRIBLE cycle of selling neglected little puppies on the roadside to people with soft hearts who just can't resist rescuing an animal in need, despite knowing it just perpetuates the problem. M.A.P.S. will hopefully raise awareness and provide some much-needed services and support for Mozambique's animals and those who care about them.

La Vida Expatica, #1

A nascent idea for a new series of posts...

I take comfort in surveying my things - clothes, art, notebooks, etc. - and realizing that a particular sundress or the yellow, brown and magenta abstract floral painting hanging on the wall of my office have accompanied me over several continents and through multiple years.

As expats we say so many goodbyes to people, places, even pets. It's hard, but I think most come to terms with that aspect of the lifestyle sooner or later. I can even see the silver linings in leaving so much that's dear to our heart behind: you get to meet and connect with hundreds more amazing people than those who don't live abroad (or in different cities distant enough either in miles or in culture to feel like different countries). That alone is worth the goodbyes, for sure.

You also tend to become a minimalist. I mean, I suppose some people are lucky enough to get sufficient container shipments paid for by their work to hold onto everything they so desire...but really I don't envy those people, despite lusting after their furniture and art.

I think when you have to constantly fit your possessions into two suitcases and a few air cargo boxes, you are forced to evaluate what's *really* important to you, to your happiness. There is an important line between what's nice to have and what's essential to have (to one's soul/well-being, I mean, not essential as in shelter and clean water - if you're an expat, you're likely already MASSIVELY thankful for all those aspects of 'essential'). The things you do keep, and haul halfway around the world with you, are the ones that are really worth hanging on to. The rest, at some level, is clutter.

The 'primavera ambulante' dress was made in Vietnam but now lives in California. I love that I'm posing so glamourously in front of a stack of bricks.

I take great pleasure in rediscovering and reusing the objects that have accompanied me over the last 15 years. It's like, by wearing that fabulous raspberry-colored wool overcoat I got at Zara back in 2001(in Rio, of all places), I am somehow reconnected with the Ali that was back then. I remember who my friends were, the apartment I lived in, the obsessions I had at the time (weight, bad skin, how to avoid taking Administração Financeira at school). It's a bit like reading through an old journal...the verbal and visual snippets from our past jolt us back in time, to an expired incarnation of self, if only for a few moments.

Cinco de Mayo con Julieta

Tonight Rico and I are going to see Julieta Venegas' concert in Oakland. I am super excited, as she is one of my favorite artists and I've never had the chance to see her play live. Even better is that the concert hall is just a block from BART, so no need to drive or be paranoid about enjoying a beer or two.

Here are a couple of my favorite songs by Julieta Venegas. Wish y'all were here to join us!

A Break

I have terrible tendonitis of the forearm. Not tennis elbow or carpal tunnel's, but a throbbing, chronic pain in the muscles on the top side of my arm that run from my elbow to my wrist.

Many people have wondered, upon hearing me complain of debilitating pain in my arm, whether it's due to my jewelry work. Thankfully - mercifully - the answer is no.

The tendonitis is due to hours upon hours of using a laptop and mouse, which is good and bad. Bad in the sense that these days, computer use is truly inevitable for most people in most professions in most parts of the world. I'm bound to overuse my arm in bouts for the rest of my life (translating, writing papers, emails, web updates, even blogging when I have an idea that I furiously need to record lest I forget it forever). The good news is that I can, in fact, reduce my computer use.

While a nearly imossible task to ponder, especially if the bulk of your daylight hours have been spent on or near a computer for the last 7 years, and admittedly quite anxiety-inucing to think about (What will I miss out on? An important email? A Skype call? A heart to my Etsy shop? A comment on my blog?), I am happy to report that it's possible. More than possible. It's a pleasure.

I am happily semi-connected these days.

Sometimes it's in intense bouts of blog posts or copy-writing, but for the most part I'm offline. At least to compared to my computer usage before the tendonitis problems (which really started to interfere in my life in the last few months we were in Maputo, to the point where for several days I was unable to hold a fork or a pen, much less do anything "productive").

I make myself turn off the computer at night, and I never bring the laptop upstairs if I can help it. Our decision to make the downstairs part of our house the Work level, and the upstairs part our Life level has totally helped. Unlike our work-on-the-dining-table, eat-in-the-office patterns in Maputo, we actually have parts of our house that are totally dedicated to work. We still don't maintain super-rigid schedules, but it makes a tremendous difference in being happy working from home.

Okay, sometimes we break down and eat takeaway pizza in front of our computers while working, but it's infrequent. I swear.

Back to the arm thing. Having a physical separation between "computer on" and "computer off" zones has helped get disconnected. School has definitely helped, too. Being in studio classes for 6 hours a day, during which I have absolutely no inclination to look at email or read celebrity gossip, I couldn't care less about a computer. Even about a phone (I am notoriously terrible for ignoring my calls, forgetting to listen to voice mails, forgetting my phone on silent/off)...

Speaking of the phone, I think I am the only person on earth who can say that getting a Blackberry lead to decreased internet use and time "connected". It's been a wonderfully unexpected silver lining to me finally agreeing to get a Blackberry. Remember the description of my phone use habits above? I was perfectly happy with a phone that didn't access the internet or any of that hoo-haw. I used it to make calls (and ocasionally receive them). I didn't even text because, despite my LOVE AFFAIR WITH THE SMS back in Mozambique, texting is damn expensive here and I refuse to pay $0.20 to say "Running 8m late".

I was content in my phone simplicity, but getting a proper website for my jewelry made me aware that it's important to be able to respond to an email in the middle of the day far from the computer. If I get a sale, I want to know asap so I can plan the time I'll need for production, if necessary. Hours can actually make a difference. So I agreed to Rico's long-running attempt to convince me to get a Blackberry.

In the beginning, I was frustrated because I didn't know how to use all the buttons. So I used the phone even less, and didn't even go online. But then I learned how to retrieve my emails, and all was good in the world. In my break between classes, I can quickly check to be sure there's nothing urgent. The rest of the emails or Facebook updates or whatever...I IGNORE. Part of me can't believe I've conquered the "Oh my God, what a ludicrous blog post on development in Mozambique, I HAVE TO RESPOND IMMEDIATELY with my opinion!" instinct that plagues so many of us online, but seemingly I have.

And what does responding immediately, via Blackberry, to the important stuff and simply letting the rest wait until I am ready to sit at the computer for a few hours accomplish? It gets me away from the trap of hour-upon-hour of vague, aimless surfing of the web and checking to see if I have any new emails just because I went online to answer one little thing, or make a comment on a blog post. It horrifies me to think about how much time I've spent over the years moving my fingers and exhausting my forearm muscles with absolutely no productive aim, no entertainment value, or even a semblance of a connection (with others)? Just compulsive refreshing of the inbox and the Facebook home page, with occasional outings to read blogs or look up random things on Wikipedia. I've wasted a horrific amount of hours doing nothing online. It's no wonder my arm hates me.

Between my newfound ally (the Blackberry) and my school schedule, however, things are looking up. Sometimes I go for 2 or 3 days without even switching on my laptop. Instead I garden, make jewelry, or watch tv. Okay, lots of tv these days. I'm not sure if switching internet gossip for 16 and Pregnant can be called a good trade, but my tendonitis sure feels better. And part of me feels, in a very humble way, like a miniscule 21st-century trimph has been made: we can actually choose how much time and effort we spend online, on the computer, connected. Although some days it's hard to believe there's not an umbillical cord stretching from the monitor, anchoring you to your chair.

Coffee and Adrenaline for Fuel

Also known as finals week at art school.

Sleep-deprived nights, weekends spent in one studio or another without barely a glimpse of the beautiful day outside, callused and cut fingers, dirty nails, multiple outbursts of filthy words directed at the all-too-fast passing of the hours, creativity pushed to the limit.

And then there is the adrenaline. If one manages to finish one's project on time, to one's exacting standards, there is always a presentation that must follow. Show off your work to your peers and teachers, name the flaws before anyone else can, rattle off something profound about concept and materials and process, and hope for the best.

I'm currently one project down, three to go. Plus two translation jobs Rico and I have taken on. Feels like the last few weeks we spent in Maputo, where everything was on overdrive and sleep was at a premium.

More later. I'm off to finish a couple more pages of translating and then knock out an art history take-home exam.

Final Stretch

It's crunch time at art school and I'm trying not to stress about the multiple final projects I must turn in next week. Sort of easier said than done...

I am currently working on a copper box covered with 11 bezeled moonstones (for my jewelry class), a drawing of my rehearsal dinner dress in graphite pencil (for drawing, obviously) and a wooden treasure chest filled with "trade beads" made out of wood (for my 3D visual dynamics class). I also have an art history exam to write.

I am loving the moonstone box project, but technically speaking it's killing me. I spent several hours trying to solder with hard solder today and the damn stuff just wouldn't flow. I think I was having problems getting up to temperature. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day at the torch.

I'm looking forward to doing the drawing of my dress, but because it doesn't depend on going to campus to use the metals studio or wood shop, I'm putting it off until the weekend.

The wooden box and beads project is my least favorite of the whole semester. It's been a bad combination of technical difficulties - the result of insufficient demonstrations and teacher support (in my opinion, as someone who has never used table saws and a lathe before) - and simply not being "into" the project. Sometimes that happens...just a part of the experience. I try to think of it like strengthening a muscle - some days the exercise is painful and just plain sucks, but it's all building up to the greater goal of sexy arms and strong legs, or whatever.

I have many photos of my work from this semester but haven't managed to post them here on the blog yet. As soon as I get these final projects turned in, I'll do that.

Until then, wish me luck: in addition to finals, I have my First Year Portfolio Review tomorrow. I will have 5 minutes to present 15-20 slides of my work in front of a panel of faculty members and art professionals. The school is giving out two $3,000 scholarships to first year students based on this review. I can't help but get my hopes up that I might win, although I know that as a Spring-admission student (i.e. I started classes in January as opposed to September) I am naturally at a disadvantage because I haven't taken as many classes and therefore am limited in the scope of work I can show. Still, I'd love to be one of those two lucky students...

Motive-ate

I woke up very early this morning - 5:30 - to finish a term paper for my art history class. I'm so uninspired... I guess the lack of motivation for writing (something I usually love) is a sign that I'm ready for the semester to be over. Or at least for a giant coffee and the promise of some cute new clothes if I get all my work done. :)

The other day my friend Claudia and I were chatting on the phone and we came up with the concept of the "fashion carrot". We both use it to motivate ourselves. In my case, I've promised myself a trip to Anthropologie (I've never been to one of their stores before!) if I get straight A's this semester. Art school definitely isn't about the grades, but I know I'm an A-student, so the measure is really more about putting in the effort and giving my best rather than wanting a particular letter grade...and sometimes a little reward makes the process that much easier!

I'm hoping the above serves as an auto pep talk for this interminable paper I'm trying to write at the moment!

Okay, back to work.

Mexico Meets Bossa

An oldie but goodie out of Mexico. Love the bossa nova/lounge vibe and her incredible voice. I listened to this song somewhat compulsively my first months in Chimoio while working on our business plan for the tea processing client. Enjoy!

Mortifying, But Too Good Not to Share

For most of my teenage years, and well into my twenties, I kept a journal. Here is a particularly priceless excerpt from one of them, written when I was 14 years old:

November 11, 1995

TO DO:

• Go to Smith's and buy more hair dye
• Wear my walkman 24/7
• Become an enigma
• Have different looks daily, i.e. hair, clothes
• Start wearing cool makeup and jewelry
• Get a life on weekends
• Get Aiden!
• Throw an exclusive, kick-ass party

Verbatim, I swear.

HUGE Spring Sale - 40% off all Alexandra Amaro Global Fusion Jewelry

Neo Mexica Necklace - turquoise, swarovski pearls, sterling silver

To celebrate spring and make room for some new designs for summer, I'm running a huge sale on all Alexandra Amaro jewelry currently listed on my website. Take 40% off your entire order through April 15th! Simply enter discount code SPRING once you start the checkout process.

Carolina Necklace - Mozambique Island trade beads, golden quartz

I am done with my current semester at CCA on April 29th, so I will *finally* have time to list my new pieces on the website. Check back soon for the Summer 2010 collection featuring lots of sterling silver jewelry to show off my newly acquired metalsmithing skills!

Happy spring, and happy shopping!