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seasonal highlights: Cuban cranes, Julia Fordham, Fashion Week...

friday, september 10, 14:20 est | Mark on Ellen | OMG...I saw our president, Mark Rosen, on the Ellen DeGeneres Show this morning. Apparently Mark sent a letter to to Ellen telling her about his 'Ellen blond highlights' hour at his Seattle salon Etherea Salon. How cool is that!!! I've heard through the grapevine that Ellen has done all sorts of green building and other sustainable stuff on her show as well. Gotta love Ellen.

Another busy day here in NY yesterday. Spent the afternoon checking at an event hosted by Danny Seo raising awareness for Call2Recycle.com a company that recycles batteries, cell phones, etc. Afterwards, I finally had a chance to sit down and have a great talk with model, actress Angela Lindvall who founded Collage Foundation. Finished the day off by attending a small fundraiser for the NY chapter of Environmental Leadership Program (ELP) and got to meet a lot of wonderful people doing amazing things.

thursday, september 9, 11:50 est | Sean in the City | All is well at NY Fashion Week. Started my NY visit with another listen to the fabulous voice of Julia Fordham at Joes Pub. Julia had a full band with her this time so it was a bit more rock than here Seattle show...still amazing though.

On Wednesday I paid a visit to Q Collection guys Jesse and Anthony to check out their showroom of fabulous sustainable furniture and accessories. OMG...I want one of everything. We conspired a bit to get Q Collection stuff on Oprah and Queer Eye, so stay tuned. After Q Collection I hopped on the L train and went over to see the latest goodies at The Future Perfect in Brooklyn. David Alhadef continues to have a great thing going there with some of the coolest stuff that happens to have a great sustainability story as well. Stay tuned for some pics.

Last evening was spent at the great Fashion Week post-party put on by Organic Style Magazine and Angella Lindvall's Collage Foundation. Got to meet up with entomologist and model Summer Rayne Oakes and of course, ecostylist to the stars Danny Seo was there. Great time and a wonderful fundraiser for Collage.

friday, august 27, 11:57 pst | Ichi's 200th | Got a chance to attend a Seattle Mariners game last night. We lost but I did get to see Ichiro hit his 200th home run which was pretty darn cool. It was also Native American night at Safeco field so that was really amazing as well. It was also great to see what the Mariners are doing in the community including Jamie Moyer's Moyer Foundation.

tuesday, august 24, 13:54 pst | six feel hotter | OK...how impressed was I when global warming and resource scarcity came up on Sunday's episode of Six Feet Under. As George put it, wars in the future will be fought over water, not oil." Love it. Perhaps even EMA Award or even OSSA Award potential?

Went to see my landscaper-by-day, musician-by-night buddy Josh play in his band Spyplane last night. Great indie rock sound and it'a always cool to know somebody in the band.

sunday, august 21, 10:53 pst | deutsch duo | It was quite the German weeknd for me. I went to see Hedwig and the Angry Inch at the Rebar on Friday (spectacular by the way) and then Intiman's The Singing Forest.

monday, august 7, 00:56 pst | happy after Julia | Just went to see one of my favorite musical artists, Julia Fordham, play down at the Tractor Tavern. I've been a fan ever since my high school days (read: late 80s) when her song Happy Ever After came out which included a bit about Apartheid in South Africa. The song was one of the first times I caught the connection of how popular culture could help make the world a better place. Julia is such an AWESOME singer and performer. Amazing voice, totally down-to-earth and really funny (fab British humor of course). I may get a chance to see her again in NY while I'm there for Fashion Week.

monday, august 9, 16:56 pst | there really is an oprah | It's a pretty rare thing that I get to watch Oprah these days but today was one of those luck days. The show was actually a review show but as usual, I did find myself tearing up here and there...all happy stuff, but great stuff nonetheless. My favorite was a little guy name Holden finding out that 'there really is an Oprah'. Too cute. Another great thing, all the proceeds from the Oprah Boutique benefit her Angel Network.

I also received a personal phone call from WA Senator Patti Murray this afternoon. Well, to be honest she was calling the couple who owns the house where I'm housesitting...but it was still cool to take the call. She and Congressman Jim McDermott are two of my favorite politicians these days.

Finally...OK, how much to I love Fox's The Simple Life? Being a Nebraska farm boy at heart I have to say that I really do love the show. Yeah, Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie can be obnoxious at times, but most of the time it really is entertaining. I actually ran into Nicole briefly at the LOHAS 8 conference in May. She's actually a really great person and totally gets the sustainable style thing.

friday, august 6, 10:40 pst | all about art | Went to see the Van Gogh exhibit at SAM last night. Always amazing to see great works of art up close and personal. My favorite was the Olive grove but several of the forest/pine pieces got me too. Afterwards did a bit of the first thursday art walk and hit upon a couple great artists with a sustainability connection. Al Phillips is doing amazing glass art work, as well as beautiful pieces from salvaged cedar. In addition he started a native tree garden to conserve and showcase native flora. Jon Cornforth is also doing outstanding work. Jon travels to some of the most beautiful places in the world and captures nature at it's best. More importantly, as a biologist he truly understands the critical issues facing endangered species and habitats.

thursday, july 29, 13:14 pst | mark madness | Just ran across Herbivore Magazine yesterday at the Madison Market while picking up some organic flowers for our board president, Mark Rosen, who was hosting an SSF 'summer get together'. Wow...great style and even better content.

Speaking of the summer get together/board meeting...Mark can really put on a spread. A fancy cosmo, some great BBQ and the best icecream cake I've ever had.

wednesday, july 28, 9:54 pst | tommy boy | A little Seattle celeb news...saw Tom Skerrit walking his dog in Madison this morning. Well known for his rolls in Top Gun, Picket Fences, etc. the Oscar nominated and Emmy Award winning Tom is also a big time environmental supporter and activist doing lots of PSAs, narrating documentaries and working with the Environmental Media Association (EMA).

tuesday, july 27, 23:09 pst | Special K | I got a chance to watch Theresa Heinz Kerry's speech at the DNC this evening. Yes, yes, yes. She is an outstanding woman and I really admire the fact that she addressed the DNC in several languages at some point. Plus, her understanding and support of environmental issues can't be beat. It was great that her son introduced her as well...bit of a throwback to the JFK Jr. days.

tuesday, july 27, 11:08 pst | big ben | Saw on the Today show that Ben Affleck helped inspire Florida democrats at the DNC. He also made some comments about a political career of his own while wolfing down a sandwich with Katie Couric. Might we have a President Affleck one of these days? I say go for it.

In other news...bought a really great Coogi tie at the Value Village yesterday. I was digging Coogi bigtime while in Sydney for the 2000 Olympics...just couldn't quite afford the stuff I liked. Second-hand style, gotta love it.

monday, july 26 | doing dnc | I ate my breakfast this morning watching Russell Simons, founder of Def Jam Records speaking on MSNBC about the Boston Hip Hop Summit being held at the Democratic National Convention. Really cool stuff that will hopefully get a lot of young folks out to vote. We've listed them on our voting style guide too.

Speaking of the DNC, my friend Jessamyn is doing a blog from the there on library.net. Good stories. There are actually lots of blogs on the DNC site if you're interested.

friday, july 23 | sean's splurge | Confessions time...I splurged yesterday and bought that Ermenegildo Zegna bamboo/cashmere sportcoat I've been wanting for about six months now. The good news is I saved $800 since it was on sale at Marios here in Seattle. Luckily, Sandy Orsillo, my favorite salesperson going way back to Nordstrom had been keeping an eye on it and let me know about the sale. The bad news is of course how much it still cost, but I still think it was worth it as Zegna is one of my favorite designers AND it's made from bamboo, a sustainable resource. I'll be able to model it around a lot.

In other news, I'm off to San Antonio, TX this weekend to watch pentathlon nationals. It's an Olympic year so it should be a great event. Still deciding if I want to go to Athens or not. Stay tuned on that one. It was through penathlon endeavors that I met Emily deRiel, the Sydney Modern Pentathlon silver medalist who is now on our International Advisory Board.

thursday, july 8 | big blue | I presided over the first of our monthly Seattle UNICEF chapter meetings today. We used to meet seasonally to gear up for big campaigns and such but we decided it would be a good idea to start meeting monthly so that we could get more events going on with partner organizations in the area such as

tuesday, july 6 | vicky, very vicki | Yeah!!! I got to attend a birthday party for good friend Vicki Robin this evening. I call Vicki the 'goddess of good times' and always look forward to catching up with her. She's involved in so many things it's hard to keep up, but here are just a few...Your Money or Your Life, Conversation Cafe, the New Roadmap Foundation, Let's Talk America, and the Simplicity Forum. It was actually Vicki, along with Paul Hawkin and a few others that partly inspired SSF...they both spoke at an Oregon Sustainability Forum several years back and emphatically said that we need to make sustainability more hip and fun. We're trying Vicki, we're trying.

thursday, july 1 | he's back | Fresh back from my trip to Cuba. I'll collect all the photos and stories and post them ASAP. In the mean time let me just say it was awesome...as much for the culture as the fieldwork. Stay tuned...

books...

Audrey Hepburn, An Elegant Spirit *****
Yes, I'm being very liberal with my stars on books these days, but what can I say...I have good taste. Ms. Hepburn is a major role model for me and with this book her son has made readers feel like they had the chance to spend an afternoon hearing the family's best stories. Having had the opportunity to meet Sean Ferrer in association with our OSSA Awards makes this book and it's stories even more special.

Writers' Houses *****
I was so excited to find this book at our local used book store, especially since the home of Karen Blixen (aka Isak Dineson) - my favorite author - was on the cover. As my sprawling one bedroom estate "Five Ferns" demonstrates, I'm a sucker for rich interiors with lots of stories so this book was practically written for me.

The Motorcycle Diaries *****
I picked this book up in Havana on the way out of Cuba after my Earthwatch trip. I've read other books on and by Che Guevara, but I must say this book is now one of my favorites. Travel journals are always great, but a travel journal by a young, soon-to-be revolutionary...now that's good reading. Four stars only because I felt like he dropped the ball in some parts...really eloquent in places, just basic narration of travels in others.

Found Style *****
Another great secondhand, five star read/peruse. What I love about this book is it shows how you can combine very antique with very modern. Not always an easy thing to do for some people...seems like it's either way antiquey or over-the-top vintage modern.

movies...

I, Robot *****
Yeah, I'm a huge scifi fan so it's no surprise I liked this movie. Certainly great acting and effects, but I really liked the pokes at what society might become, commercialism in the future and the fact that even robots will some day have rights to defend.

Fahrenheit 9/11 *****
I was both pleased and let down with this movie. It wasn't as Michael Moore as I expected and although the story and facts he presented were compelling, I felt like there were a lot of missing links. I do hope that it wakes poeple up to the fact that the presidency - any presidency - is a lot of show, a lot of who you know and a only a little true substance.

restaurants...

The Chapel Bar *****
Yay, another place to get organic beef. Yes, I'm still a meat eater, but finding organic is never easy. Chapel, is of course known for it's WAY cool ambiance and great drinks, so I was really pleased to find the organic burger and other tasty items on the menu, including local produce. And...finding a hip new use for a funeral home chapel is soooo sustainable.