art auction for new lesbian film

Kada Films is in preproduction for a new lesbian film, to be called Life Abstract, starring Deak Evgenikos, of Itty Bitty Titty Committee recent history (I think this time, sans spectacles).

The filmmakers are sponsored, in part, by two wonderful organizations: The American Art Therapy Association, and AidsUnited. A percentage of the proceedings from the film are given to these groups.

Fundraising for the film is coming, at this time, in the form of an art auction: artists working in varying media have donated pieces, on which you, the public, can bid for a limited time.

The plot of the film centers around a young artist who is working out her history of childhood abuse through art, and uncertain she's able or willing to love. This speaks to many of us, no?

When the filmmakers approached me, to donate art for the auction, I said their work made perfect sense to me, so they could have their choice of whatever they liked, from my website. They chose a piece I'd only recently added to the Art of Scars portfolio, "La Espalda Sufría," which I actually never intended to sell, as it represents a very personal moment between Rebecca and me. I'm thus offering it at the auction as a limited edition.

Due to the fact so much of the work at the auction is in an upper price range, I suggested to the filmmakers I could perhaps donate works I could price lower, so not everything would be cost-prohibitive to younger lesbians (which are, after all, their viewing audience). They agreed, so look for more pieces, in a more affordable price range.

I do hope you'll support the making of this film. We can, through community effort, bring together something worth seeing.

And, of course, Deak Evgenikos deserves stronger lead roles *s

~Emmanuela

Millions Against Monsanto Campaign 2011

I care about the types and qualities of food I purchase: this is how I nourish my children.

Since my first pregnancy, way back in 1980, my standards for nutrition have been what I thought were impeccable: each of my four children have been kept to a balanced, healthy diet of vegetarian, organic foods, as small children. They have, on some occasions, been permitted small amounts of cane sugars, but are not regularly permitted, in childhood, refined foods of any kind.

When the children reach adolescence, and are free of the nagging illnesses (including acne) troubling so many children, I permit more choices. Each tends to find "fast food" and "junk food" to be not only distasteful, but a source of havoc to the GI system and, of course, to the vanity, the moment the skin objects to the toxins ingested.

Years ago, many savvy consumers realized Whole Foods was becoming the WalMart of the natural foods industries. We stopped giving that corporation our money, long before the feds stepped in, to mandate terms regarding funds.

Where the federal government will not provide protection for the public is in the arena of food content. We've watched this for decades: it's about profit. During the attempts at regulating homeopathics and herbal remedies, the USDA was swift and large, in its appearance in our markets. Now, however, when what we want is clear labeling, we'll see no such action. There is simply no money to be made, in truth telling about what is done on the farms the federal government supports.

It's time, once again, for local action.

I'm about that.

it's not just one country. ever.

covert operations? no. just site overhaul.

I am not typically a proponent of working behind clouds of secrecy—so, when I tell you my site got buggy in a way approximating plague, and I thus had to pull the index page, I'm being only slightly hyperbolic.

I urge you to permit me add (please . . . I'm cranky, and am compelled to vent): I upgraded; reinstalled; and performed three clean re-installations of two different applications, before my website and I were even close to speaking terms. WTF. There were also some not even slightly amusing travails, involving . . . okay, I won't geek it terribly . . .

The end result is a completely redesigned and restructured site.

Surprised?

Mm. As am I.

I've already been told the new look is "masculine."

(this is me, sliding my eyes sideways . . .)

Of course, Lyssie thinks it's fab, so what else matters? *s

Erm, other than the fact that I love it, mm hmm.

Bold. Minimal. A little edgy.

Not unlike a woman who hasn't slept in several days . . .

          and is expecting her eldest daughter and her most long-term ex to arrive, in the morning.

Did I mention my spectacles are broken?

Yeah: I'm operating all this madness, while holding one finger against the bridge of my nose, in an effort to keep the spiky metal thing from rendering me Woman of One Eye.

Feelin' hella sexy,


~Emmanuela

Answer: Are You Still Sick?

in short: yes.

the whole social networking gestalt escapes me—but c'mon, gente, you do have my phone number (okay, i don't always turn on my phone) and my direct email address (well, okay, i forget to answer email, too) . . .

so, seriously: i've left everyone in the dark?

okay, i'll take that. i guess, in truth, i'm not much for discussing my private life, and i particularly do not love anything that sounds of distress. years ago, i wrote, somewhere, "there is nothing as clearly effortless as the human complaint." qué no?

to be perfectly clear: it's not my feet. physicians have a tremendous interest in my toes, heels, and soles, because that's where i'm most visually symptomatic. over the last two years, i've lost the ability to walk or stand, for any sustained period of time.

no, i'm not diabetic. i've been tested a million times (yes, that's hyperbolic). no, the etiology is not vascular. the same tests have been thoroughly run and rerun. a vascular surgeon finally ruled out that arena as the cause.

the one specialist who's been of any help at all, in terms of treatment, believes the correct diagnosis is autoimmune. on this point, i actually agree with a physician. that said, i can't get a rheumatologist in this area to run the tests i need, because i don't fit their ANA profile—even after i explain that current pathology (within the last twenty years) indicates that many people with autoimmune illnesses do not have positive ANA results, so other markers should be used. i still can't get them to run other tests; they say they "wouldn't understand" the panels i want.

i've changed PCPs three times, in two years. now, i've changed HMOs. if that doesn't work, i'm leaving this rural forest burg and its surrounding idiocy, for a return to civilization.

this isn't much information; i know. but who really wants an entire med history on the web?

facts are: i have some sort of chronic, aggressive illness; i'm fighting it; i intend to win.

it won't be the first time.

here's hoping it's the last.

thanks for asking.

~emmanuela

Coming Out: Who Is Canéla Jaramillo?

It's no secret that I have a legal name, separate from the pseudonym under which I work as a photographer, no? Well, not if you've been paying attention, mi gente: I do state, in every profile, that I'm a writer/editor in another life, or under my legal name.

Those who have spent time in my presence are typically given both my names—and their preference as to which they'd prefer to call me. Most who meet me as Emmanuela continue to refer to me by that name—after twenty years, both identities live, and are mine.

We've discussed—here and in other online fora—my intrepid difficulties with online social networking. Some people have gone as far as to refer to me as a Luddite, due to my seeming lack of skills with certain areas of the internet. In fact, my ignorance is bliss: I just don't love any of the services I don't use, and I am abundantly happy, without them.

Current best practices for those who maintain project websites, like mine, suggest SEO (search engine optimization) via visibility on, yes, social networking sites. Ay.

So I put my photography name on the face place. Guess what: it works, for SEO.

Then, though, I received an email from that site, alerting me that my eldest daughter "listed" me "as her mother," and the site wanted me "to confirm this family request."

Um.

Well, that just seemed wrong. I had to ponder: Emmanuela de León is known to have children, sure. But part of what is most sacred to me, within our family, is our names—and my legal surname is the same as my daughter's, very much by choice, and by Méxicana tradition.

Ponder.

I had to think about why I had initially chosen a pseudonym for my work as a photographer. Way back in the day, I recalled, during the completion of my post-graduate work, there was some trepidation over how a dalliance in photography would be received. I was, then, after all, what was once called "a Blue Chip Chicana": a target minority, working in-field, and attending the best schools. It was expected by all I would advance to the heights of academia. What the fuck was I doing playing with a camera? What would people think?

As it turned out, I was diagnosed with epilepsy, just a year after I completed my doctorate. I'd already been hired as an adjunct professor, and had not yet even made a lateral move, in my career, when I was declared "disabled."

More strangely, to me, the photography gig was extremely well-received. The people who called me Emmanuela began to far outnumber those who remembered me by my Dr. title.

Since moving East, when people ask me which name to use, I actually say I'm more comfortable with Emmanuela, because my legal name makes me feel either like a parent or as if I'm in the midst of some arduous battle, in which I am inevitably called Dr. Jaramillo. There are very few people remaining who simply call me Canéla, my legal first name, and are close to me.

There's nothing hidden, is the thing: Canéla and Emmanuela have the same histories, the same number of children, the education, the same lives. Anyone could have linked that, if paying attention *s

Well, that's how I see it.

I have to mention the fact that I was not so inspired, when (okay, I won't mention names) "a friend" told me he was even more impressed, to have me as his friend, after he ran my legal name through a search engine. I said, "What: Emmanuela wasn't good enough for you?" Geeeez.

Dr. Canela Jaramillo is a person of accomplishment. So what. I'm fifty years old, gente, with four children, and a solid education. I said I just picked up photography, about ten minutes ago. Did y'all think I was in stasis, the rest of the time?

Yes, I'm also an author and a editor. I've built schools, cradle to grave. I'm a curriculum specialist. A former professor. I've said these things.

As my son used to quip: Ain't no thing but a chicken wing *s

Emmanuela, I guess, is just Canéla Light . . . and I like it that way. It's good to have an occupation in which I am simply free to make art.

To all of you who have known all this for so long: sorry to bore.

For those to whom this is fresh: it's not a big deal, once you become accustomed to it *s

And: should I now consider one unified name?

I just had new business cards made . . . ay . . .