Hey, FYI I made it in the top 25 for Just!Proud! Thanks for your votes ~ I still need more though!
Here’s the prize I’m going for:
* Being the 1st FACE of JUSTPROUD Fashion Brand
* Worldwide coverage of being the 1st new face
* A photo/film shoot in either Europe or USA (to be decided)
* Flights, hotels and expenses fully covered
* Appearance on FashionTV
* Your stage to be known WORLDWIDE!

Thanks again for your support!

I got an email notification today that I made it to the top 50 in the Just!Proud Fashion Brand Contest based on votes. Thank you!! If you haven’t voted for me to be the face of this revolutionary little brand, please vote here. Voting ends NOV 18.

From there you can link to FB, Digg, stumbleupon, twitter etc., if you so choose.

Here is my motivation statement:  “I love fashion as an art form and as an empowerment tool. People should be free to express themselves through fashion, regardless whether they fit into a stereotype of ‘traditional’ beauty. Plus modeling & posing is much fun!! Cameras love me!”

A little more information about Just!Proud ~~ it’s not just for models, it’s for fashion-lovers, designers, photographer and anyone who aspires to make an impact through fashion & design art. It’s a grassroots, but international idea. Contestants in the modeling contest represented 24 countries!

You do have to created a login to vote. This is simply so they can track and make sure no one votes more than once. After that, you don’t have to participate if you don’t want to .. but there will also be ambassador roles and the community will play a big role in the direction of this brand  via discussions & forums etc. …

So please check it out –> www.justproud.org

A new international, community-driven [read: social media] fashion brand is emerging on the ‘interwebs’. It’s called Just!Proud.

WEBSITE: www.justproud.org

BLOG: http://justproudblog.blogspot.com/

I entered the contest to be the ‘face’ of this brand because it seems to me to represent a new way of thinking in the fashion & modeling industry. I view fashion as an empowerment tool, allowing people to express themselves. I like that Just!Proud doesn’t have the ‘prereqs’ for their models ~ i.e.  have to be a certain height & weight. It seems much more democratic – fashion by the people, for the people.   Appeals to the idealist in me ..

So, please vote for me!! –> http://justproud.com/en/model/castingcall/View.aspx?id=292

The winner represents this new fashion brand internationally for once year. Sort of like a Ms. America … but it depends on YOU!

Hey! I’m excited because I think I finally figured out the proper title for what I do on a daily basis:

I am a Communication Designer. Specifically in health care. This definition is broad/vague enough to encompass all that I do, but specific enough to aptly describe it.  On a day to day basis I’m: designing customer service banners & poster; ordering promo items; manipulating image & text; editing photos; creating brochures & mailers for different hospital departments & programs; gathering information and laying out hospital-wide newsletters; coordinating physician lectures & mass faxing flyers; writing press releases; taking photos & writing copy for our website. You get the idea …

A Communication Designer “seeks to attract, inspire, create desires and motivate the people to respond to messages, with a view to making a favorable impact to the bottom line of the commissioning body, which can be either to build a brand, move sales, or for humanitarian purposes. Its process involves strategic business thinking, utilizing market research, creativity, and problem-solving.”  I work mainly with visual & text.

Hey, my twitter feed is now located on the sidebar of this blog. I likely update twitter several times a day in lieu of lenthy blog posts. This at least helps me to feel connected and archive ideas that I may want to write about or reference at a later point.

Feel free to follow me on twitter, or comment on my ‘tweets’ on wordpress. It’s all about staying connected!

PEACE,

aletha

I just uploaded a few more pics onto my color & bnW pages. I haven’t been modeling much lately b/c I’ve had this awful rosacea on my face [only on one side though!?]. It’s just getting under control.
I think I got a little resigned/ defeated about modeling, plus questioning the ethics of it all … topic for a whol other post.

Hey, I’m on twitter now.
My work is blocking FB, Youtube, Pandora, etc. and discouraging streaming audio & video.
Interestingly, they haven’t [yet] blocked twitter or wordpress.
So, I joined twitter this morning.
http://twitter.com/alethafaye

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/05/business/05smart.html

Don’t be fooled by a stupid label. The foods that are best for you, generally don’t have any packaging or labels!! Fruits & Veggies!!! DUH.

I’ve always considered myself a feminist, even before I knew the word.

But today I just read the most mind boggling, hate-filled sexist web site that I think I’ve ever seen. Let me tell you, it poisons you. My brain hurts. I can’t believe most of what this guy was saying was serious - I was actually laughing in disbelief. Like “Wow, does this person actually think this way??!”  [I don't want to link to it b/c it is soooo negative, but basically if you google 'men better than women' his is probably the top site. Don't damage your brain though, and don't waste your time/energy arguing with his hate speech.]

Originally, I was looking for some kind of humorous content like ‘Top 10 reasons women are better than men,” because it’s something I’ve been thinking about lately.  Generally I steer clear of declaring anyone ‘better’ than anyone else … it’s so relative.  Lately I’ve been getting pretty fed up with, but also amused by, the north american male gender. This conflict also points towards my own weaknesses as a woman – that despite the faults I may find with a/my man, those things endear him to me.

I wonder “Could I live without men?” I think the answer is ‘yes’. But do I want to?  I don’t think so.  I do miss comraderie with female cohorts though. This weekend I’m going to see Ani DiFranco live with a girlfriend of mine. It may be the boost that I need …

http://www.hybridcars.com/battery-toxicity.html

Just something I was thinking about this morning … thought you might find it interesting. I’m glad to know that lithium batteries are a bit safer for the environment – I just wonder about mining/extraction and social impact of that … A lot of mining for these kinds of elements happens in developing countries [i.e. in Africa] where there are human rights abuses linked to the industry. More research needed …