Thor Was My Baby, My Shadow & Administrative Assistant

After my beautiful “Benji-looking” stray nearly died at age 12 around 1998, I began learning a great deal about alternative treatment and nutrition for animals, particular dogs and cats. Thor was one of those special kinds of dogs that everyone just had to play with and he loved to play back. His love of humans was uncanny, considering (the vet told me) he had been abused most of his life until he escaped (or was abandoned and I found him, or he found me).

This will be my first Thanksgiving without Thor. He is buried less than a mile from here on his favorite mountain where he endlessly chased squirrels, rabbits, and anything that moved. Every Thanksgiving I used to pull his bed next to the table, as he was family, and fill his plate next to the table. He was the most well-mannered at the table, and always imbibed the least. He was my hero but I could tell, he thought I was his. I miss him greatly and tend to remember him more on holidays like today, this Thanksgiving. I am grateful of the wonderful life I had with him. Sometimes it is important for me to share how that came to be, since it was not supposed to happen.

After what my local vet diagnosed as “juvenile seizures” and that he’s have to be on barbiturates
the rest of his life, and probably put down within a year, I said “No thank you, and begin to study on the Internet. I read all kinds of controversy, must of which I was not aware was happening such as attacks on the pet food industry for ingredients not much better than arsenic and vitamins. The dire warnings turned out sadly to be correct. But the dog food lobby is a most powerful one and we will probably never hear about it in our lifetime unless we live down under or in Europe where the lobby does not have a stranglehold on the veterinary community.

Within a few weeks, or Thor barely moving and my having to get water down him with a dropper, I learned of the b.a.r.f diet (barf = biologically appropriate raw foods) or (bones and raw foods). It took me awhile to become accustomed to it, and I knew I would have a difficult time feeding Thor raw chicken bones and all. After all, for my lifetime of owning pets I was always taught the fastest way to kill or choke a dog was with a raw chicken bone. Later I found that was both true and false. It is cooked chicken bones which do not bend and are not flexible that choke an animal; same as any other cooked bones. All my life I had given my dogs leftover rib or steak bones, and just lucky none choked or died.

Thor learned to love fruit and vegetables and I was learning his favorite blends and bought a food
processor. Within a month, he had more energy than when I had found him as a puppy. I introduced herbal tinctures; and learned tinctures (from western nations with strict growing guidelines which did not include dysentery etc were the way to go). I also learned pills and capsules have virtually no medicinal value (Even 60 Minutes did a story on that one). By the time Thor reached 18, he was walking five miles a day with me and even mountain climbing. Nothing could slow him down.

He already had phase 2 CHF (congestive heart failure) for years of abuse, bad eating habits, little
or no exercise, etc. But heart conditions in dogs is very different than humans. They do not feel the “freight train” pain, but their nervous system simply begins to go numb. Fortunately his new diet turned that around. He lived another four beautiful years of which three of them he acted like a 6 week old puppy. I’d never seen anything like it. Because I also had become disabled due to congestive heart failure, put on the sidelines of corporate America, and went back to school, mostly online at home, I actually got to truly know my dog for the first time ever. I mean really get to know him. I had had dogs all my life, but this was very different. He had a personality like a mature adult and the temperament of the best of the best border collies, though he was mostly Polish Lowland Sheepdog and bearded collie. He looked like Benji but about 15 pounds heavier.

Thor because my shadow. He stayed right by my feet while I worked and studied at my desk fortunately five years and walked with me at the end of the day. He loved his life, the attention of
the shopkeepers during the walk, the kids who all wanted to pet him. He taught me how to love life and love people unconditionally. He was certified and worked in nursing homes, with shut ins, and all kinds of people who when they even just touched him, you could see their own healing begin to take place.

Every elderly person with whom we worked felt compelled to tell me stories of all their dogs and experiences with them growing up Thor would listen as attentively as I did, actually more so, with his head right next to them; they would end up telling their dogs about Thor and seeming to forget that I was in the room

In late 2006, Thor finally succumbed to his heart disease at age 22. He died peacefully at home in my arms. He is now buried on atop his favorite mountains where I took him for daily walks to chase every kind of animal under the sun. I know now without a doubt, if it had not been the work of  a world renowned veterinarian surgeon from a small town in Australia and a pet nutrition researcher name Shirley Shirleys-Wellness-Cafe.com, he would not be here to help me too help me tell you his magnificent story, and, it truly is nothing less than spectacular.

Thor was upwardly mobile & optimistic

Rick London is a writer/designer/entrepreneur and founder of Google’s #1 ranked offbeat cartoon funny gifts where he sells tees, mugs, greeting cards, etc. bearing his Londons Times Cartoon images, and his over 8000 offbeat cartoons Londons Times which have remained the #1 offbeat cartoon on the Internet since 2005. A large portion of Londons gift sales benefits various animal charit

Henry David Thoreau was born in historic Concord, MA, home of the most prolific thinkers of our time, The Transcendentalists.

Walden Pond

Less than two miles from Concord was Walden Pond, the mystical body of water that, aside from his writings, made Thoreau famous. Walden was a cool glacial lake surrounded by a piney woods. Thoreau, of course, picked it for what was known as “his famous experiment.

Thoreau loved Concord and all the intellectual thought and experimentation it had to offer. On December 5, 1856 he wrote in his journal, “I have never got over my surprise that I should have been born into the most estimable place in all the world, and in the very nick of time, too.”

During this time, many of his peers and colleagues were moving west, to explore the wildfrontier. Thoreau stayed put in Concord as in the middle of the 19^th century the town was surrounded bysome of the most accomplished authors of his time; Ralph Waldo Emerson, Bronson and May Alcott and their daughter Louisa Mae, Margaret Fuller, Nathaniel Hawthorne and many others. Intellectual thought and change was encouraged, whereas in other small communities this was not necessarily so in, not just Concord, but much of small-town America.

Henry David Thoreau

Thoreau graduated from nearby Harvard, where he would often bring home friends to entertain in Concord.  Long before Henry was born, Concord was steeped in rich history. In 1635 it was established as the first inland English settlement, 20 miles from the coast.

On April 19, 1779, the American Revolutionary War had begun at the Battlefield of Concord. Over a half century later Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote a poem about a historic even he called “the shot heard ’round the world.” in a poem called “Concord Hymn”.

While still at Harvard Thoreau spent one of his summer vacations living with his friend Charles Wheeler at a place called Flint’s Pond in a small cabin and slept on bunks of straw for over a month.

But they were not alone in that hey stayed close to the Wheeler family eating and socializing with them. Thoreau loved this vacation and again returned to it, not realizing it was becoming the inspiration for his finally moving to Walden Pond and building a small house in the woods.

Walden was not Thoreau’s first choice. He looked at several areas including a place called Baker Farm, and another called Fairhaven Hill by the Sudbury River and even Flint’s Pond, where he’s stayed during his college years.

Those places were excellent for fishing and Walden was not, and though it had gorgeous scenery, Thoreau said “It did not approach grandeur”.

Thoreau finally settled on Walden due to the pond’s depth and clarity, unlike some of the closer-by muddier ones, he could see down Walden to a depth of 30 feet. There were parts of Walden so deep that the local legend was that it was so uniquely deep that in the center itwas bottomless.

Nevertheless, Thoreau was pragmatic and measured the deepest point to be a little over 100 feet and was still “thankful that this pond was made deep and pure for a symbol,” continuing, “While men believe some ponds will be thought to be bottom less.

Emerson purchased eleven acres surrounding Walden Pond and visited often, allegedly to save the trees from being cut as contractors were hoping to do to build. Emerson agreed to

allow Thoreau to live on his land in exchange for building the house Emerson could later use as his study. This solved Thoreau’s problem of finding a simple way of living for this “Walden experiment”.

There are only theories as to why Thoreau chose Walden. Many think it was because the pond so near his home and he used it for bathing and drinking. Also nearby was Brister’s Spring, which offered cold water which kept him cool on warm summer days. Also the land was elevated so flooding was rare, trees were, for the most part preserved, and the home faced south, which kept it warm during winter storms.

In Chapter 2 of Walden Pond, Thoreau described “Where I Lived and What I Lived For,” writing, “I was seated… so low in the woods that the opposite shore, half a mile off, like the rest, covered with wood, was my most distant horizon….it impressed me like a tarn [small mountain lake with steep banks] high up on the side of a mountain, its bottom far above the surface of other lakes, and, as the sun arose, I saw it throwing off its nightly clothing of mist, and here and there, by degrees, its soft ripples or its smooth reflecting surface was revealed, while the mists, like ghosts, were stealthily breaking up of some nocturnal conventicle The very dew seemed to hang upon the trees later into the day than usual, as on the sides of mountains.”

Chances are good that Thoreau’s good friend Emerson had a great influence on him. Emerson wrote about and embraced nature and even begun the word with a capital “N” (or Nature).

Thoreau said, “ In wildness is the preservation of the world.” This famous quote from the essay “Walking” boldly declares one of Henry’s most emphatic beliefs, but it is often misquoted as “in wilderness is the preservation of the world.” Though he was a devoted observer of Nature and loved to immerse himself in the woods during his walks, what Thoreau meant to highlight was not an untouched “wilderness” separate from humanity, but instead an independence of the spirit epitomized in the world “wildness.”

His experiment living at Walden was not meant to be a wilderness excursion or a period of hermitage. In the opening statement of the Walking, he writes, “I wish to speak a word for Nature, for absolute Freedom and Wildness, as contrasted with a freedom and Culture merely civil – to regard man as an inhabitant, or a part and parcel of Nature, rather than a member of society.” Thoreau felt that society constrained the individual and he looked to the wildness of nature as pointing to our belonging to a higher way of life with much for freedom than society had to offer.

Thoreau Love Quote Shoes

Henry David Thoreau Slip On Love Quote Shoes

Thoreau Love Quote Canvas Bag

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Rick London is a freelance writer, cartoonist and designer. One of his ventures is called Shoes That Amuse which are the only shoes on the market featuring famous poets, writers, and philosophers and their most famous love quotes; Thoreau one of his most popular.   London is also brand designer for actress/author Mariel Hemingway and owns numerous funny gift stores featuring his cartoons on funny tees, funny mugs, and other funny gifts and collectibles.  His Londons Times Cartoons has been Google and MSN’s #1 ranked offbeat cartoon on the Internet since 2005.

by Rick London c2009

One could say we are enduring a recession, what others might call a depression, it matters not what word is used to describe it. It is very familiar; not due to experience, but from listening to my grandparents when I was a child. I used to laugh and make fun because they told the story over and over. The story of their own store closing, their neighbors going out of business; of going in groups to large grocery stores begging for food or extra credit for food to have enough for their family, of taking on two, three sometimes four jobs just to get by (If they could find that many jobs). Houses foreclosed and businesses closing on every corner. Trading their older pigs (they had a farm) for merchandise and even real estate.

Given this reality, things don’t seem very optimistic do they? If one is a thinker and/or creativeperson, and many using the Internet today are, these are the days of carpe diem. From Carnegie to Bill Gates, these are times when if one ever had entrepreneurial dreams, why not try them now? They did and they didn’t even have the Internet as a major tool to market their wares. (Of course Gates did later). Because of blood, sweat tears, and cyberspace, capital venture is not necessarily needed anymore. Brainpower, persistence, and good “Google Real Estate” rule the day.

If one still has a day job, certainly do not quit it, but spend a few hours a night on that dream. Build a web site. Learn to do the things you’ve always wanted to do online. Take some classes on the Internet. Yes, many of these schools are every bit as accredited as Harvard and Yale (in fact many of the classes online are taught there). Be willing to make mistakes. But be open to learn too.

Volunteer in your community. I learned a lot by teaching the elderly how to go back to school using the Internet. I learned even more showing them how to set up websites and businesses. I got feedback from people, some of whom knew more than me, and some of whom knew different things than me, and we were all able to help each other.

Be willing to scale down. If your mortgage note or rent sends you into a frenzy each month, sell your home and be willing to take a smaller one or apartment. It is only temporary and who are you trying to impress? We are all in this together. Everyone is hurting and struggling; even the very wealthy. They may make a larger income but their expenses of keeping up that lifestyle often parallel, and we see millionaires go bankrupt every day now.

Compare shopping. Not just prices but quality of food. I like to buy all organic but I cannot always afford to. So I buy some of my food raw and organic, and much of the rest of it raw fruits and vegetables. A box of oatmeal and honey goes a long way and helps my cholesterol and offers roughage.

Buying toilet paper and paper towels in large bulk may cost more per purchase, but it can last a few months. Generic is often the best buy, but not always (even though it often costs the least). Look at the ingredients as well. If you are a cola fanatic, switch to tea. I buy a box of tagless black tea for $1.22 and save almost $100 a month not buying carbonated drinks. I buy herb teas to drink throughout the day and stopped coffee. I notice a lot less doctors appointments or ailments as well. Food does make or break our health and we get to choose which it is.

Is that late model German car serving you well like it used to, or just leaving you with a huge note and gasoline bill and less bumpy ride? My used Saturn gets me to the same places and a tank of gas lasts me nearly a month. Someone else has my old Mercedes and that is just fine with me.

Shopping is still a very important part of Western (and Eastern culture) especially during holidays, birthdays, graduations, weddings, etc.

I no longer shop in malls for gifts and I strongly suggest you rethink that too. This is for several reasons. Most mall stores carry items that can be found anywhere, even if they are from major designers. The built in costs of buying items at a mall as compared to an Internet shop is massive. I need not educated anyone who has run a retail store on this matter.

Many Internet stores offer hand crafted or limited release gifts that the recipient cherishes andremembers for a lifetime. It may be a humorous gift that you know matches his or her personality. It need not be expensive. Some of the best gifts I have found on the Internet are under twenty dollars.

Many online shops offer free shipping worldwide with purchases of seventy five or a hundred dollars or a certain percentage off the cost of the total sale. These type online stores are in many ways like online mini-malls; they have a thousand or several thousand various goods; not expensive such as hand crafted/designed T-shirts, canvas tote bags, caps, greeting cards, mouse pads, hoodies, aprons, shoes, and really a little something for everyone. One can do their entire shopping at one of these stores and buy for everyone for less than a hundred or $150 click a mouse and send it out. They even let you include a personalized card where you sign your name in any font you like online.

You’ve gotten a valuable collectible gift that goes up in value rather than down, you didn’t stand in line at a mall forever, you saved on gasoline getting there, you bought a gift that means something to the person who received it, and you created jobs by ordering perhaps a custom gift that is often printed upon order (you’ve helped the economy while doing the right thing).

Vacation at home. I don’t mean in the house though its okay to do that, but in your own community. Discover parts of the region you’ve never seen. Take the whole family if you have one. Take the dog or dogs if they are your family. Many inns are pet-friendly these days and all you have to do is call or email ahead of time to find out. You’ve saved a bundle and the prices of jet travel is prohibitive these days.  Near home, you can find a nice hotel such as a Quality Inn that oddly has rooms that can rival any 5 star hotel$10 including tip.

Whatever it is we are experiencing, a depression, a recession, or just an economy on the skids, itis effecting us enough to where it is time to take action and make some necessary changes, even if they are just temporary. In some ways it is a good thing. No more energy, at least for now “keeping up with the Jones’. Heck, the Jones’ may be trying to stay out of bankruptcy court while you are scaling down.

When it all passes, the one who made the most right choices will rise to the top. Never ever give up, keep working hard, and be frugal. Starbucks and other such chains, for now, should be a relic that we all enjoyed, and may enjoy again, when/ if this depression (or whatever it is) ends. Until then, stay healthy, stay safe, work hard, and you will thrive.

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Rick London is a freelance writer, cartoonist, and entrepreneur. He is the founder of Google and MSN’s #1 ranked Offbeat Cartoons and gifts by Londons Times. He also owns several e-shops with over 100,000 gifts bearing his cartoon images on funny gifts such as Rick London Collection where customers receive a 12% discount on all purchases of $75 or more through the holidays and LT Superstore where he offers free shipping on hilarious gifts worldwide on all purchases over $100.

It was not too many decades ago when the naïve mindset of our country, and most countries, was that the President was “the good daddy who taught us right from wrong; fiscally, morally, and behaviorally. Here’s some news.

The President is not our Daddy; and, if anything we are his. Many who have not worked within the confines of the Washington D.C. Beltway (I did for over a decade in media covering Capital Hill, The White House, the first Gulf War, etc), might not understand, the President of the United States is your employee.

The Office Of The Presidency is not a very glamorous job. In fact there are only two main descriptions within it. a. Keep our citizenry safe and b. balance the budget. Though of course it is more ideal if our president keeps his zipper up while performing his duties, or not be inebriated and choking on pretzels while his two dogs look on, as long as he gets the job done, he has done what we elected him to do.

You see, he/she works for us, not vice versa. If we find ourselves in a “photo-op” with the president, it is he who should be excited, not us, as he gets to take a picture with his boss (one of us). So why wait for the President to tell us the economy is okay. We know it is not okay as long as we are throwing billions of dollars into a war in which we do not belong. So be it. One day, we pray, he may come to his senses and start bringing them home as he promised every day as he campaigned for the job.

Meantime, we the small businesspersons of America must continue doing commerce so our clients and customers will have products to purchase. Yes, they may be merchandise that costs less than they normally would, but that is fine. Just the very act of making a purchase, clicking a mouse, charging it on your debit or credit card (or Paypal), shows the rest of the country that it is okay to still buy goods. We do not have to wait for the president to tell us “things are going to be okay”. He is not our daddy. We love shopping for our friends and family, and no economy is going to change that, even if it is merely a card or a mouse pad or a hoodie, we’ve made a purchase, created jobs, and made someone else very happy.

Please don’t wait for one of your employees (the President) to tell you “everything is okay, lets start spending”; do it on your own, maybe he’ll get the picture, and know we are not waiting for him to tell us. After all, we are the boss.

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Rick London is a freelance writer, entrepreneur, cartoonist and owner of estores such as ShoesThatAmuse.com the worlds only famous love quote shoes and The Rick London Collection, a collection of thousands of his award-winning offbeat cartoons on tees, mugs, aprons, and many other gifts and collectibles. His over 4500 award-winning Google #1 ranked  odd cartoons can be found here.

A New Philosophy Of Cartooning by Rick London

by Rick London

Picasso's Peanuts: A Londons Times Cartoon

I entered the business of cartooning in March of 1997 having no idea what was to come. Before I embarked upon this “mysterious venture”, I decided it would be to my advantage to consult with top cartoonists around the country. I was surprised how many of them were “open and available” to speak with me were. Fortunately, I was both too young and naive to know NOT to bother “the masters”. So when Charles Schulz picked up his phone, I started asking the five journalistic W’s (Who, what, when, why, and where). His (and others) advice turned out to be just what the doctor ordered. I was starting to “develop a philosophy” of cartooning even though I had not even yet begun my amazing adventure into online cartoon merchandising.

Why did Schulz become a cartoonist? Like me, he’d tried just about everything else and didn’t do it very well. I asked him if there was any money to be made in such a venture. I could almost “see” his smile on the other side of the line. He assured me there was plenty, but not to expect it in newspapers. He told me that even if you do get syndicated, the money is still just pennies per newspaper and that the smart way to approach it, that is, to look at it as a career, is licensed merchandise, such as tees, caps, mugs, etc. He told me he made millions more in licensing than in publishing.

I told him I did not draw very well (which is true) and, that I wanted to try something very new and different. It was to be a color cartoon in which the artwork, for the most part was more “fine art” than cartoon art, and that I wanted a “different look and feel to each cartoon, but a theme, focused on wordplay and picture-play in which, at times, the viewer might have to take a second or two to “get it”.

Seeing Guide Cats: A Londons Times Cartoon

Schulz assured me that nearly 20% of all cartoons we see in the newspapers are “team efforts” that is, an artist and writer, and that if I did not feel my own artwork was “up to snuff”, to recruit an artist to draw my concepts. He also encouraged me to read as much as I could about Walt Disney because what I was about to attempt was actually a “Disney model without animation”; he actually called it “Disney meets Gary Larson”, which was a bit flattering to say the least.

I also spoke with several other cartoonists, most of whom created in the same genre as Gary Larson’s Far Side, such as Leigh Rubin (Rubes), Dave Coverly (Speed Bump), and Jon McPherson (Close To Home). I was amazed, again, at how open and available they made themselves. In fact Leigh and I became good friends and talked regularly on the phone. He was already one of the world’s leading cartoonists, and I was just starting. That didn’t matter to him. I will never forget that kind of generosity and his willingness to lead me in a direction that made it work for me. And of course the same is true for Charles “Sparky” Schulz (Sparky by the way was what he liked to be called. That was the name of his favorite dog, a Schnauzer; and I knew I liked him right away. I have a tendency to “hang with” fellow animal lovers, and Schulz also had an uncanny biting wit, often held back in “Peanuts”, even though it was always funny, was meant for family audiences, his target. In real life, he displayed a sense humor that reminded me a great deal of some of my British favorites such as John Cleese of Monty Python.

There seemed to be a common thread regarding “the philosophy of cartooning, amongst all of the masters. That is, “Sure, you must make a living in this world, but keep the day job. Cartooning is a labor of love, and, only 1% or so actually end up doing it for a living. One must approach it with a very open mind and a love for making people laugh, and to be flexible, as the Internet at the time, was changing the whole nature of the “cartoon business”.

All of this advice turned out to be pragmatic. The Internet changed everything. Licensed merchandise became even more of “the key” to making it work than Sparky Schulz had felt; and he had seen it coming. Today, though my cartoons appear in publications worldwide; mostly trade magazines, college textbooks and on websites, the majority of my take is from the sales of funny gifts and collectibles. When I look back over the past twelve years it has all becomes a blur. I have had the opportunity to work with some of the finest illustrators in the world, who could comprehend and render my concepts and writings, Thinking back to the words of the cartoon masters it is still a labor of love.

Roach Infidelity: A Londons Times Cartoon

Although I am one of the few lucky ones who has been able to eek out a living via cartoons, even if I didn’t I would probably still be doing it, or something creative, merely because I don’t care for water fountain gossip and power-ties that choke my neck while doing work I despise (or simply can’t do very well). In the end, if someone is entertained, or feels better because of something I have created, or a job or jobs are created because I thought of a cartoon and it was created, I go to bed thinking, “No, I didn’t save the world (as I felt surely I would in the ’60’s), but I hopefully, when I leave it, it will be a little bit nicer place to live.

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Author Rick London is the founder of Londons Times Cartoons, Google’s #1 ranked since 2005 and four funny gift stores featuring his licensed images.   He also is the founder creator of ShoesThatAmuse.com, the worlds only women’s footwear featuring famous philosophers and their love quotes. He designs licensed Hemingway gifts and collectibles for actress/author Mariel Hemingway, and is co-founder of SEO firm PenAndInkinc.com

The  1st place winner “serious” caption:  Brenda Trigg of Ms, having written: “You are after all what you cook”

The 1st-place  winner of the humor caption is Tina Marie Stinnett f Ca., with:  “Om yummy earth deva”~Mariel’s green goddess kitchen” Tina Marie Stinnett.

Actress/author Mariel Hemingway added a new humorous twist to go with the relaease of her new Mariel’s Kitchen holistic cookbook (HarperOne) by adding a “Write My Cartoon Caption” contest.  Her cookbook teaches simple methods to cook simply and live holistically.

The book can be purchased online at Amazon.com or Barnes & Nobles or purchased at your favorite local bookstore.

She also has her own personal blog which she updates regularly.

Much on her blog deals with family, quietness, meditation, spirituality, yoga,  and much more.There were  two (first place) winners. One in the humor category, and one more serious category.

The cartoon was created by Rick London and Gogue of Londons Times Cartoons, Google’s #1 ranked offbeat cartoon since 2005.

Both winners will receive a signed copy of Mariel’s Kitchen Healthy Living Cookbook, an organic T-shirt designed by Rick London from Hemingway’s soon-to-open-store Mariel Hemingway Healthy Gifts which will have the address www.MarielHemingwayHealthyGifts.com.  They also will “be followed” on Twitter by both London and Hemingway.

Both Mariel Hemingway and Rick London are descendants of famous authors; of course Mariel’s maternal grandfather was Ernest Hemingway and London’s great x3 aunt was poetess Emma Lazarus who penned the poem “The Next Colossus; the last verse which appears on the pedastal of the Statue Of Liberty: “Gift us your tired, poor, huddled masses, etc”.

They met at Twitter, ironically arriving the same night, noticed they had many common interests and similar backgrounds and began doing business together.  Of course Ms. Hemingway was the first actress to speak publicly regarding healthy eating and the environment, and perhaps has done so the longest.  London is the only cartoonist who has devoted an entire store to organic tees bearing his cartoon images at Rick London Organics.

Both London and Hemingway thank everyone for the fine job, there were some wonderful entries, and congratulations to both winners, Brenda and Tina.

Write A Caption & Win Prizes

To enter Mariel’s contest: You may post your captions here on this blog (below), or at Mariel’s personal blog or email to ricklondon@cablelynx.com.   Hemingway will announce the winner on both blogs and at Twitter on May 4, 2009 at 1 p.m. E.S.T.

(Note): If you do not have a WordPress account, and do not wish to open one, please mail entries to info@LondonsTimes.us

(Please note there is an “s” after the “n” in LondonsTimes, not Londontimes. Thank you.

Rules: All caption entries must pertain to health, healthy food, holistic, nature, etc. Copyright to the caption will remain the writer’s, but by entering the contest, participant agrees to allow usage of caption on Mariel Hemingway Health Gifts.   The winning entry will receive a signed copy of Mariel’s new book, a signed organic cotton tee, a signed open edition cartoon (of image seen above) autographed by Rick London, and both
London and Hemingway agree to “follow the winner” on Twitter (should the winner choose for them to). Please open a free WordPress.com account to enter contest here, or a free Feedburner.com account to enter  on Mariel’s blog. Or you may email your caption(s) to info@LondonsTimes.us (In subject line please put MHContest). Please note there is an “S” after the “N” in Londons Times. It is not “Londontimes” .  Thank you and good luck! (Family and associates of Mariel Hemingway & Rick London are exempt from enterting this contest). Entree deadline is May 1, 2009 at 9:00pm EST. Mariel will announce winner on May 5, 2005.

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For more information regarding Mariel Hemingway’s book and products please read press release .  Thank you. 

Mariel Hemingway Write-My-Caption Contest

PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release Contact:              Rick London Group, LLC

March 20, 2009                                                               info@LondonsTimes.us

ACTRESS/AUTHOR MARIEL HEMINGWAY FINDS NEW CREATIVE WAY TO RAISE HOLISTIC HEALTH CONSCIOUSNESS VIA TWITTER, PUBLISHING, ORGANIC CLOTHING, AND A CONTEST!

Debates between literary scholars continue over who was the greatest author in contemporary history, and whether they agree or disagree, the name “Ernest Hemingway” always evolves. Historians tend to agree, he was, no doubt, one of the greatest, if not the greatest at his craft of all time.

Another phenomena is happening in the Hemingway family,  just two generations later. His maternal granddaughter, Mariel, one of America’s favorite actresses, and now author and holistic-health activist, has completed numerous books and her latest one, is regarding healthy living titled “Mariel’s Kitchen: Simple Ingredients For A Healthy And Delicious Life” to be released May 5, 2009, but can be pre-ordered from Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble, or from your favorite neighborhood bookstore. (Mariel’s Kitchen: Simple Ingredients for a Delicious and Satisfying Life Mariel Hemingway. HarperOne, $32.99 288 pages)

More information on Mariel and the book are available on her personal blog on yoga, healthy eating, meditation, and spirituality, and Mariel’s Kitchen website which describes her healthy recipes and ways to live a better, happier life including love and spirituality.

Hemingway says, “It is about real food for real people with simple ingredients and recipes that are healthy, seasonal and make you conscious and aware of what you are eating so that you can feel good, eat well and be totally satisfied.” Hemingway said.  She even has her own recipes for her new organic treats “Blisscuits”.

And Hemingway is not the only one who believes in what she has written. Publishers Weekly reviewed the book and said, “Hemingway proves that healthy food can be enticing, and her dishes will appeal to even the least health-conscious among us.”

Mariel Hemingway is even going a step further with this holistic cookbook,  utilizing not just image licensed products, but organic ones in what might call a “new holistic techno-paradigm” utilizing technology.  She plays no roles on the Internet. at social networks like Twitter. It is like talking to one’s best friend or neighbor.

She provides valuable information to her thousands of Twitter followers on a daily basis. Unlike many celebrities who use pre-written text; or, are simply “bots”, Hemingway thoughtfully takes time with each question regarding holistic living and answers it personally.

Ironically, cartoonist/writer/& digital-product designer Rick London (creator of Mariel’s licensed goods),  also, coincidentally, is a direct maternal descendant of a famous writer, poetess Emma Lazarus, who penned the poem “The Next Colossus”, part of which appears on the base of the Statue Of Liberty, “Give us your tired, your poor, huddled masses…etc”.  His family has a museum,  called Gomez Mill House, which was the first family home in the 1700’s. The Gomez webpage has  “history page”

Both Hemingway and London met while social networking.  They started on Twitter.com at the same time.  A story appeared about it in the Hot Springs Sentinel Record by A & E reporter Alison Harbour.

Hemingway will be opening an online store, “Mariel Hemingway’s Healthy Gifts” in late April or early May to coincide with sales of the book. The shop will start with 100% organic cotton T-shirts for men and women, designed  by London, (founder of Google’s #1 offbeat cartoon “Londons Times Cartoons”), and his partner/illustrator “Gogue” of Spain.

Both Gogue and London have worked together for years, with London as creative/art director, and Gogue as illustrator. London also owns numerous online stores featuring his funny gifts and tees.

They created two cartoons for the campaign, with identical backgrounds. Both show a caricature of Mariel cooking in her kitchen, along with herbs and flowers growing throughout the cartoon, and even caricatures of her two daughters (growing out of an herbal stem) as if they were blossoming flowers or herbs. It even includes her to Yorkshire Terriers, one on her head and one with paws on stove watching her prepare her food.

The textiles for the tees are manufactured by Edun Live, which is owned by Paul Hewson (Bono Of U2) and his wife Ali. Ali has her own line of organic fashion as well which are sold at Edun.

Print-On-Demand firm Zazzle.com is printing and drop shipping worldwide, offering fast turnaround, and 100% money-back guarantees. In addition, Zazzle uses a totally non-toxic dye process. Some are not aware, but not all organic clothing is made equally. Salon Magazine recently published an article on the subject of toxic dyes in some organic clothes. Mariel’s Healthy Gift Tees are 100% toxic-free, as well as 100% organic cotton.

Finally, Hemingway is taking yet another creative twist in her efforts to promote good health. At Twitter, she is launching a “TwitContest” (or contest on Twitter) which allows twitters to blog to her with the best captions for her “image cartoons” The winner will receive a free signed copy of her new book, and a signed organic tee from Mariel Hemingway’s Healthy Gifts.

Though designer Rick London is adding “famous quotes regarding healthy living, food, exercise, etc onto tees with her stock photos, on other Hemingway tees and goods,  he has purposely left the cartoon caption blank at Hemingway’s request.

London said, “Mariel actually came up with this “name the caption” idea.  I was floored.  I thought to myself  (in a David Letterman-esque way) “This is going to be more fun than human beings should be allowed to have…Not to mention having fun getting healthy. She’s offering the entire spectrum of holistic living as nobody else has before, to my knowledge.  Even adding family, humor, love, and other values that we so often take for granted in our fast-paced society.”

He adds, “And as if that is not enough, she’s also, in a way, offering an ‘Andy Warhol fifteen-minutes-of-fame’ to someone who comes up with the best caption for her cartoon.”

She plans to add other organic products as well such as aprons, tote bags, etc.

She will not decide the winner on her own but have friends and family vote on it democratically so as to offer transparency, as well as holistic goodness.

To enter Mariel’s contest: You may post your captions here on this blog (below), or at Mariel’s personal blog.  Hemingway will announce the winner on both blogs and at Twitter on May 1, 2009 at 10 p.m. E.S.T.

Rules: All caption entries must pertain to health, healthy food, holistic, nature, etc. Copyright to the caption will remain the writer’s, but by entering the contest, participant agrees to allow usage of caption on Mariel Hemingway Health Gifts.   The winning entry will receive a signed copy of Mariel’s new book, a signed organic cotton tee, a signed open edition cartoon (of image seen above) autographed by Rick London, and both
London and Hemingway agree to “follow the winner” on Twitter (should the winner choose for them to). Please open a free WordPress.com account to enter contest here, or a free Feedburner.com account to enter  on Mariel’s blog. Or you may email your caption(s) to info@LondonsTimes.us (In subject line please put MHContest). Please note there is an “S” after the “N” in LondonsTimes. It is not “Londontimes” .  Thank you and good luck!

]]> http://ricklondon.wordpress.com/2009/03/21/mariel-hemingway-name-that-caption-contest-for-her-new-mariels-kitchen-book/feed/ 4 ricklondon Mariel's Kitchen http://ricklondon.wordpress.com/2009/03/18/what-happens-when-descendants-of-two-famous-authors-meet-on-twitter/ http://ricklondon.wordpress.com/2009/03/18/what-happens-when-descendants-of-two-famous-authors-meet-on-twitter/#comments Wed, 18 Mar 2009 03:02:27 +0000 ricklondon http://ricklondon.wordpress.com/?p=349 ]]>

Image By RickLondon/& Gogue

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN DESCENDANTS OF FAMOUS WRITERS MEET? Actress/holistic author/environmental activist/authorMariel Hemingway (www.MarielHemingway.org) is a direct descendant of author Ernest Hemingway, her maternal grandfather. In cartoonist/E-entrepreneur Rick London’s direct line of maternal fire was poetess Emma Lazarus, who was a great (etc) aunt or cousin on his mother’s side of the family www.Gomez.org), built by London’s great great, etc. grandfather, Luis Gomez, and is the oldest continuously lived-in Jewish home in North America.

London never explored the exact connection with his maternal (Gomez-side), and only learned of it in his young adulthood, when his grandmother, Ruth London, was contacted by author Stephen Birmingham in the mid 1970’s for an interview for his book “The Grandees” which highlights his mother’s family. Also in that lineage was U.S. Supreme Court Judge Benjamin Cardozo. Ernest Hemingway, of course, authored “The Old Man And The Sea” (among many others) and Lazarus penned the poem “The New Colossus”, in which the last verse appears on the base of the Statue Of Liberty “Give us your tired, poor, huddled masses” etc. (among many other poems). She was mentored by her best friend, Ralph Waldo Emerson.

However the chances of the two meeting and doing business together were slim. London grew up in Hattiesburg, Ms, and now lives in Hot Springs, Ar. Hemingway was born in Mill Valley, Ca, grew up in Ketchum, ID and makes her home in Los Angeles. London says, “The Internet turned that into a 6 Degrees Of Separation” story. London is the founder and co-creator of Londons Times Cartoons, the #1 Google-ranked offbeat cartoon on the Internet since 2005, http://www.londonstimes.us. He also is the founder of Shoes That Amuse, the world’s only famous love quote shoes, recently featured in the Hot Springs Sentinel Record. (www.ShoesThatAmuse.com).

Londons Times Cartoons is a cooperative effort, between London, (writer and creator of concepts) and a group of team illustrators led and managed by cartoonist Rick Diesslin. Diesslin also has his own cartoons regarding religion and scouting and is a published cartoon author with books available at Amazon.com http://www.the-cartoonist.com. Hemingway has been on the front-lines of American culture via her acting skills for several decades, and is not yet fifty. London is fifty-four.

Hemingway has had leading roles in a large spectrum of films from “Lipstick” to the riveting sad but true, Bob Fosse Film “Star 80” regarding Playmate Dorothy Stratton.

Ironically, actress Jamie Lee Curtis, shares the same birthday as Hemingway, grew up on the same street in Ketchum, ID, and also played Dorothy Stratton, in the made for TV film “The Dorothy Stratton Story”. Now, Hemingway, though still involved in acting, has set her sites on “giving back” via “Mariel Hemingway’s Healthy Living”, teaching people to eat well, live healthily, meditate, exercise, and create a “new self”.

Her web blog is a plethora of “green information” which London said is “extremely helpful and insightful”. In late February, London was digitally-designing both shoes for his online shoe firm and cartoon products for his online licensed stores. He received a notice from Keds that his most recent design, a love quote and image of author Ernest Hemingway, had been approved.

At the end of the day, London, as usual, shifted gears and begin his online social networking campaign, this night, he chose Twitter.com. He was new to Twitter, but had been hearing all the hype and decided to try. Oddly enough, at about the same time, Hemingway, who was readying her new holistic cookbook “Mariel’s Kitchen, Healthy Living From The Inside Out, for publication in mid-April 2009, also chose Twitter, and was “learning the ropes there”. Both parties were impressed with the myriad of “Twitters” from Internet marketers to Hollywood celebrities; all walks of life.

One of the first persons to welcome London to Twitter was actress Demi Moore. About a decade ago, London and his creative staff had created a Demi Moore cartoon as part of a creative series titled “Panel Hollywood Cartoons”, a part of Londons Times. The particular panel was a parody on the cover spread of Moore when pregnant on Vanity Fair.

London, who admits both growing up in the rural south (and seeing many cows and becoming “familiar with their humor” and the later influence of Gary Larson’s Far Side, helped him in his decision to “humanize cows” as, he felt they were already funny. Often he would combine popular Hollywood Celebs with cows which he often jokingly called “Bovine Divine”.

London sent a link to Moore to the cartoon of her on his website at Twitter.  She wrote him back a “Thank you, and that she’d gotten a good chuckle” London says, “Demi is a great sport. I’ve noticed a great many actors and actresses of whom we’ve forwarded copies of their cartoons enjoy them, and some have even given us a positive review which appears on our website.

And a few don’t asking that we remove them, which is a bit silly as it helps them too, and when one cannot laugh at self, there may be some big unresolved issues underneath. It is so important to do that. Even for me.”

A few hours after chatting with Moore, London heard from Hemingway, via a message. She’d “heard” of his work. London says that Mariel revealed that Demi (Moore) had been the impetus to let her know of his work. He was stunned. “I felt Mariel had too much on her plate from her own busy career to know that he or his work existed.”

Oddly, London has followed Hemingway’s career for several decades and was always a big fan since Woody Allen’s “Manhattan”. Hemingway was a very young actress at the time. London adds, “After reading Mariel’s blog, I discovered that, though she still enjoys acting, and why not, she is as good as it gets in that arena, she also is very interested in family, and health and helping. That can be a rarity,a stabilizing force, and I was impressed.

Her blog is very prolific and newsworthy, and (not surprisingly) well-written. When they met London said, “I may have jumped the gun. I’m not superstitious but I felt it was too odd that Keds/and Zazzle had approved the Ernest Hemingway shoes, and then 6 hours later I was talking to his granddaughter. So I asked her if she might model the Ernest Hemingway shoes if Keds liked the idea, I would pitch it. London says, “We chatted several times. She did not care for the shoes, but enjoyed the handbags and was always polite and friendly.

He adds, “However, she did enjoy my digital designs and cartoons and became more interested in digital design creations for online products and Internet marketing and we talked a bit about it. I learned a good deal about it when going back to school in my forties. London said, “I read Mariel’s beautifully-written blog and discovered yet another commonality. She has been very active in holistic healing and healthy-eating, and I had always had an interest in that.

I opened one of the early health food stores in Mississippi, in 1977. I was a marathon-runner and a bit of an outcast as a vegan in that part of the world at the time.” Hemingway has written several highly-rated books on the topic, and this has helped London renew his interest in the topic. He started back on a healthy diet almost immediately after reading the blog, something he had often ignored, making excuses for “lack of time” etc.

The two continued talking about health and products and seemed to share a vision on that philosophy and London asked if he might design a few 100% organic cotton tees to begin a licensed product store and she agreed. London coincidentally was the first (and only to his knowledge), cartoonist to “go green” with his T-shirt manufacturing http://www.RickLondonOrganics.info (launched last year). London designed several men’s and womens tees for Hemingway, which she liked, but wanted some minor changes which London is in the process or facilitating. The store Mariel Hemingway’s Healthy Gifts (www.MarielHemingwayhealthygifts.com) will be launched in April after London has completed about 50 designs using her stock photos and adding a famous quote regarding nature, animals, pets, eating, etc. on each tee.

London said she plans to add organic tote bags and other organic goods, and will offer both retail and bulk wholesale as London says, “I’m hoping she might agree to show the products to major retailers such as Wal-Mart etc. and see how the organic clothing line works in these outlets.

I noticed Wal-mart had very much increased its natural and healthy food lines, and it only makes sense that clothing and peripheral goods will come next. I believe whichever major retailer tries them will profit greatly, and, provide a much-needed product. London says, “Am sorry to drop names but this is one of those “name dropper” stories in that it is a “kismet one”. He adds, and I have to drop yet another to complete the entire story. Bono (Paul Hewson) of U2 and his wife Ali, own the textile manufacturing plant that produce our organic women’s tees www.Edunonline.com, both are very active in holistic living and health and Ali Hewson has her own designer line of organic clothing at Edun Live.

London says, “So as usual, here I find myself way out of my league, but it is great fun to know that I can make a difference in a small way, just being involved with these talented and caring people, who, prove by their actions, they are not just in it “for them”, they really give something back, and that is a great educator for me.

In addition to all this, London says he and his “better half” had already been in the early stages of a trip to Ireland next year. Hewson makes his home in Dublin, and the couple have been in touch with Edun Live about touring the factory that produces Londons’s women’s green tees. London is waiting to hear back from Bono on that issue. London says, “The whole story is still such an oddity to me…one of those ‘truth can be stranger than fiction ones, but it was too odd not to take notice.

(Addendum) to story: London contacted his family museum, Gomez Mill House and director Ruth Abrahams revealed to him that (in the plans) for their upcoming 300th anniversary, they plan a huge organic garden (this was before London even contacted the museum). So the story has yet more oddities. Also London (and his partner Gogue (www.GogueToons.com) from Spain) designed this (attached) new image for Mariel Hemingway’s licensed products this week, for her new holistic-living products. For more information contact green@londonstimes.us