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RichardbBrunner

~ creative arts therapist

RichardbBrunner

Author Archives: RichardB

Veterans Transition House program uses art as therapy

18 Wednesday Sep 2024

Posted by RichardB in Creative Art Therapy

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PTSD, vets, Wounded Warrior

Pablo Picasso once said that "Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life."

For a number of men at the Veterans Transition House, art is helping them work through the struggles and challenges born from their military service.

James Reid, Transition House director, said the Veterans in Transition Art Program is a valuable therapy tool that helps the men relax and tap into their creative side.

"Some may be resistant (to it) at first, but after a while the walls break down. They surprise themselves with what they can do," said Fred C. Macedo Jr., support coordinator at the Transition House.

The two year-old program is being done in collaboration with ArtWorks! Partners for the Arts and Community Inc. and is funded through a Massachusetts Cultural Council grant.

One recent afternoon, 15 men gathered to draw, using oil pastels on black paper for an activity called "Darkness into Light," in recognition of the winter solstice.

"Many of the men here have never done art before. I want them to have the experience of using the materials … In seeing that they can do something, they may see something about themselves," said instructor Mary Harman.

Veteran Joseph Simmons studied the Patriots logo on a hat and copied it onto his paper.

"My wife gave me this hat for Christmas. It was so hard to be away from my family (during the holidays), but I needed to deal with some things. I’m getting better now," said Simmons, who, like many of those at the VTH, is struggling with addiction and psychological issues.

"I didn’t want to do the art class at first, but it helps a lot … I miss my wife, Kelly, so much. We were just married last spring and she has been sticking by me through everything," added Simmons somewhat sadly.

Two other veterans, Jeff Theroux and Jimmy Rogers, were quick to jump in to cheer him up by waving their homages to the Celtics and Red Sox, then talking Simmons into posing with them for a group photo.

"I’m 33 days sober and you can put that in the paper. It’s a celebration. I go to AA meetings every day and do some of this art," said Rogers, who made it though the holidays without taking a drink and plans to return to his barber shop a healthier, happier man.

According to Deborah Smook, education and outreach coordinator for ArtWorks!, the Transitioning Veterans Art Program is a terrific example of how the organization is helping diverse members of the community connect with art.

"A lot of people think that you have to be special or different to do art, but really art is for everyone. It is almost our right. You don’t have to be in a special category," Smook said.

ArtWorks! recently hosted an exhibit of the veterans’ work at its Acushnet Avenue gallery. The exhibit, called "I Don’t Have an Artistic Bone in my Body," showed pieces ranging from pencil drawings to sculptures.

A highlight was a 23-tile mosaic that was a collaborative effort of 60 men who worked on it as they transitioned in and out of the house.

Although the focus of the program is art as therapy, rather than profit or recognition, veteran Mark Hamilton has become known in the area for his portraits and has had numerous requests to paint on commission.

"Art has definitely helped my self-esteem. It has occupied a lot of my time and helped me interact with people, which I don’t like to do," Hamilton said. "Some people call the Veterans Transition House the last stop. For me, it has been the best stop." From SouthCoastToday.com

Watch: The Soldier and the Constitution

17 Tuesday Sep 2024

Posted by RichardB in constitution

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constitution, Military, nonpartisan

“The principle of civilian control of the armed forces and the military’s norm of nonpartisanship are bedrock features of democratic governance. While military service members are encouraged to exercise their basic rights as citizens, such as voting, those on active duty face a number of restrictions regarding their political activity. This film helps educate service members on the military’s norm of nonpartisanship and why it’s critical for the military to avoid the appearance of participating in partisan politics, especially during an election year.”

Cybersecurity for Democracy: Facebook

16 Monday Sep 2024

Posted by RichardB in Social Media

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Facebook, Social Media

There are many reasons why I left Facebook and Instagram. One of those reasons is Meta’s continued violations of its stated policies in exchange for more money.

Read the report here. Cybersecurity for Democracy

” ….64% of those Telegram-linked ads appear to have violated Meta’s policies, including some promoting illegal activity.”

Top Songs I Listened to in 2023: Peter Inn | yMusic

16 Monday Sep 2024

Posted by RichardB in Music

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favorites, music, top

Dawn will come

14 Saturday Sep 2024

Posted by RichardB in quote

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dark, dawn, light

“Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come. You wait and watch and work: You don’t give up.” Anne Lamont

Lewis Black: “2 Day Free Shipping” – Thanks For Risking Your Life

13 Friday Sep 2024

Posted by RichardB in youtube

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funny, Lewis Black

Rutu Modan and the Queen of the Scottish Fairies

11 Wednesday Sep 2024

Posted by RichardB in Uncategorized

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cartoon, children, gender identy, graphic novel, kids

Rutu Modan, an illustrator and comic book creator, is a chosen artist of the Israel Cultural Excellence Foundation. She has done comic strips for the Israeli newpapers Yedioth Acharonot and Ma’ariv and illustrations for The New Yorker, Le Monde, The New York Times and many other publications. Her first graphic novel, Exit Wounds, will be published in June. Ms. Modan, usually based in Tel Aviv, is currently in Sheffield, England. Queen of the Scottish Fairies is truly fun.

Rutu Modan – Queen of the Scottish Fairies

 

Top Songs I Listened to in 2023: On the high river bank | Как над яром, над ярочком

09 Monday Sep 2024

Posted by RichardB in Music

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favorites, music, top

Fake USPS email scam

08 Sunday Sep 2024

Posted by RichardB in About, Data hack, scam

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About, Data hack, email, scam, usps

The newest scam, at least for me has two parts.

Part one: send an email that appears to be from the US post office telling me they have a package but need more details (my address) to complete delivery. My first thought, my email and address are already in the US postal system. It’s likely a scam.

Part two: wait a few days and send a text saying basically the same thing. My first thought, is USPS that daft that they can’t piece together info that they already have? No.

Everyone (in N.America) can expect scam emails, texts, ect, since a data broker was hacked and 100’s of millions of ID’s including S.S numbers were stolen.

Anyone else have this particular scam present itself?

Sylvan Esso – Dress | Emily Chamberlain Choreography

08 Sunday Sep 2024

Posted by RichardB in dance, Music

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dance, music

The corporate war against green policies: Climate litigation

06 Friday Sep 2024

Posted by RichardB in Environment

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Business, climate, courts

AMA Update: CDC COVID-19 vaccine guidelines

05 Thursday Sep 2024

Posted by RichardB in Wellness

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AMA update, covid, health, wellness

PASSAGE OF STRANGE QUARK MATTER THROUGH THE EARTH

04 Wednesday Sep 2024

Posted by RichardB in Science

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earth, quark, space

I read this article a few years ago and it keeps poping up.
SMU RESEARCHERS DESCRIBE TWO SEISMIC EVENTS WITH THE PROPERTIES FOR THE PASSAGE OF STRANGE QUARK MATTER THROUGH THE EARTH

DALLAS (SMUNews) — Researchers from Southern Methodist University have described two seismic events that they believe may offer the first evidence of a previously undetected form of matter passing through the earth.

This form of matter — known as “strange quark matter” — is so dense that a ton-sized nugget would be about the size of a red blood cell. Physicists have suspected since 1984 that this very heavy form of matter might exist, but no one has yet found evidence of it.

In 1984, Harvard physicist and Nobel Laureate Sheldon L. Glashow suggested that one way such matter might be found would be if a physicist teamed up with a seismologist to search for traces of the matter that might have passed through the earth at supersonic speed. In 1993, SMU physicist Vidgor Teplitz asked Eugene Herrin, a seismologist in the Department of Geological Sciences in SMU’s Dedman College, to collaborate with him on the project. The two were assisted by David Anderson, a senior systems analyst in the Department of Geological Sciences, and Ileana Tibuleac, then a Ph.D. student in the Department of Geological Sciences.

In a paper submitted to the Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America and published online at http://xxx.lanl.gov/ (subject area: astrophysics), the SMU researchers describe how they found evidence of strange quark matter by searching through more than a million records of seismic events collected by the U.S. Geological Survey from 1990 to 1993 that were not associated with traditional seismic events such as earthquakes. These records of so-called “unassociated events” were collected from seismic stations set up around the world to monitor earthquakes and nuclear testing.

In a paper previously published in 1995 (available online at http://cornell.mirror.aps.org/abstract/PRD/v53/i12/p6762_1), Herrin and Teplitz had determined that it would be feasible to search for seismic events that might indicate passage of strange quark matter (also known as nuclearites) through the earth because such events would have a distinct seismic signal — a straight line. This would be caused by the large ratio of speed to the speed of sound in the earth. Herrin estimates that strange quark matter might pass through the earth at 250 miles per second, 40 times the speed of seismic waves. The team also determined that the minimum requirement for detection of a nuclearite would be detection of its signal by seven monitoring stations.

In their new paper, the SMU researchers describe two seismic events with the linear pattern they were looking for. One event occurred on Oct. 22, 1993, when something entered the Earth off Antarctica and left it south of India .73 of a second later. The other occurred on Nov. 24, 1993, when an object entered south of Australia and exited the Earth near Antarctica .15 of a second later. The first event was recorded at seven monitoring stations in India, Australia, Bolivia and Turkey, and the second event was recorded at nine monitoring stations in Australia and Bolivia.

“We can’t prove that this was strange quark matter, but that is the only explanation that has been offered so far,” Herrin said.

The SMU team is now trying to determine where the heavy quark matter may have come from. In April 2002, two different teams of scientists reported that they had identified collapsed stars that might be composed of ultradense strange quark matter. Scientists believe that chunks of strange quark matter might be created when stars made of strange quark matter collide.

Unfortunately, Herrin notes, seismologists may not be able to find any more events that suggest the passage of strange quark matter through the Earth. In 1993 the U.S. Geological Survey stopped collecting data from “unassociated events” such as those that the SMU team used in its research.
—— —– —–

I first posted this article pre-2010, and just checked the links which are non-functional. When I have some more time I will attempt to find the original source material. Richardb

Top Songs I Listened to in 2023: MARO – oxalá

02 Monday Sep 2024

Posted by RichardB in Music

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favorites, music, top songs

blue of the sky

31 Saturday Aug 2024

Posted by RichardB in blue, photos, quote, sky

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photo, vision

“A very great vision is needed and the man who has it must follow it as the eagle seeks the deepest blue of the sky.”  Crazy Horse

blsy

Stevie Wonder new song: Can We Fix Our Nation’s Broken Heart

31 Saturday Aug 2024

Posted by RichardB in Music

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music, new, Stevie Wonder

Promoting Mental Health: The Holistic Approach of Acupuncture and Consci…

30 Friday Aug 2024

Posted by RichardB in Wellness

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health, wellness

Dark skies stars

29 Thursday Aug 2024

Posted by RichardB in My Photos, Uncategorized

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Arizona, Dark sky, Pixie 7, Stars

Pixie 7 set at night sight with 4 minute exposure. Southern AZ USA looking south. 08-28-2024

Health

28 Wednesday Aug 2024

Posted by RichardB in Health and wellness

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big health, health care

Illness that is of a chronic nature has a huge impact on individuals separately, as well as within the context of family systems. Health care systems, being “systems”, have an inability to care for patients on an individual basis. While this impersonal method of heath care is promoted as cost effective, it increases costs in the long run by not holistically treating the client. Impersonal health care adds to the disassociation patients and their families often experience; for the ill body, the new family/life dynamic, the medical profession, and the possibilities of wellness.

 

In 1990 I worked with Bear, a 38 year old womyn who had a late stage mastectomy. She was dealing with issues of an altered body, of death, her children being motherless, things left undone. During a 10 day group movement based expressive arts residential retreat, she took the opportunity to explore some of these issues. One of her expressions was in the form of a healing ritual. Most of the group stood on one side of a pond, singing the gospel hymn, “Wade on the water”. On the other side, Bear was carried down to the waters edge, wrapped in a blanket, and left there, standing, still wrapped. She slowly undid the blanket and waded into the water, slowly swimming to the other side, where, like a chorus of angels we waited, still singing, and now sobbing.

 

Bear engaged in a method of healing that falls, far, from the “systems” method of health care. Her methodology embraced her needs, hopes and fears in a manner that can only be facilitated in an open, heartfelt atmosphere. The waves that she stirred that day are still going, still rippling outwards, deeply and profoundly on all those around the pond and beyond.

Top Songs I Listened to in 2023: Gian Marco, Rubén Blades – Aún Me Sigo Encontrando

26 Monday Aug 2024

Posted by RichardB in Music

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2023, favorites, music

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