#CHARLOTTESVILLE VIRGINIA FARMS

[mybeingthere]

Intaglio prints by Rachel Singel.

Rachel Singel grew up on a small farm in Charlottesville, Virginia. She received a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Virginia in 2009 and a Masters of Fine Arts in Printmaking from the University Iowa in 2013.

(Intaglio printing is the opposite of relief printing, in that the printing is done from ink that is below the surface of the plate. The design is cut, scratched, or etched into the printing surface or plate, which can be copper, zinc, aluminum, magnesium, plastics, or even coated paper.)

https://www.instagram.com/rachelsingel/?hl=en

[kelliealtogether]

From teacher AU. 🤏 close to being done the first draft. Then comes all the typing, revising, fun foreshadowing theme-y stuff, and making it actually sound pretty and not like word barf. 😅

Then that morning—Friday, the date they’d set to go out with Gansey and Blue an hour away in Charlottesville—they’d sat on the porch with their coffees, the Barns in soft focus around them. Mist hung low in the fields, outbuilding roofs glistened with dew, and just speaking felt like it fractured the delicate quiet blanketing the farm beyond the porch. But over their coffees, Ronan convinced Adam to take his bike instead of the BMW that evening. With some coercion and bribery, along with kissing the spot on Adam’s neck that made him compliant, Adam relented, and now as they were about to leave, he thrust a black motorcycle helmet into Ronan’s chest.  “Is this new?” Ronan asked as he inspected the helmet. When he opened the visor, it squeaked, and the foam padding inside showed no sign of salt residue from sweat. Matte black with sleek, shiny accents, the helmet wasn’t anything like Adam’s—cream-colored and retro-styled to match the look of his bike—leading Ronan to believe Adam hadn’t just had an extra helmet laying around. “Parrish, did you buy me a helmet?”  Adam didn’t answer right away, taking his time adjusting his own helmet’s strap beneath his chin before pulling a pair of gloves from his pocket. “I’ve never had a passenger, so, yeah, I bought you a helmet.”  Grinning, Ronan tossed and caught the helmet a few times before hugging it to the front of his leather jacket, careful to keep it away from buttons and zippers so it didn’t get scratched. “You were worried about my pretty face.”  “They’re mandatory in Virginia,” Adam replied, voice as unimpressed as the look he gave Ronan before he closed his visor and threw a leg over his bike. “But, yes,” Adam continued, slightly muffled behind his helmet. “I love your pretty face and your asshole brain and I don’t want anything to happen to them. Are you getting on or not?” 

[livinglibertytoday]

Living Liberty Today with Charlie Earl

The Circle

Generations of Western young people have searched for their purposes or identities. Some are fortunate and pick their life’s path and meaning at an early age while others stagger aimlessly for a few years hoping for a lightening bolt of clarity. Sadly, some will never have an epiphany and will live out their earthly lives feeling unfulfilled and underappreciated. A few will follow their stars until at last their hourglasses have run out. I wonder…are those star gazers delusional, imaginative, determined, or merely weird?

That’s life, isn’t it? A few people break through and discover fulfillment, satisfaction, and success while the remainder wallow in desperation for seven or eight decades. My life has roamed in the middle of the two extremes. I began my work history in the civil engineering field, moved on to home remodeling sales followed by a gig as a traveling salesperson for a gift shop supplier. My next route led me to a professional cow milker (a skill learned from my father) as I completed my undergrad in English and Communications. While in grad school at the University of Virginia, I began my love affair with commercial radio in Charlottesville before moving back to Ohio to serve as the ‘Farm Director’ for the two Findlay stations.

A radio station owner recruited me to manage his station in Ottawa, Ohio, and eventually with a group of friends and investors purchased that station plus one in Upper Sandusky. While in Ottawa, a vacancy occurred in the Ohio General Assembly (the legislature), and I filled that slot. I soon discovered that the legislative process was not for me. Much too slow with unprincipled compromise. So, I didn’t run again but chose to go to Bowling Green State University to pursue further graduate education and became News Director and General Manager at a small (very) market television station.  Bottom line: I explored a lot of careers during my life. For the entirety of my 78 years, I’ve been insatiably curious and impatient. After running for two statewide political offices, I finally spent the last few years as  a college teacher, I managed to channel my impatience into 15-week segments.

The event that triggered this reflective piece was the death of my younger brother last weekend. As I thought about our lives together along with our sister, I wondered if my lifelong journey shortchanged the people that I love. Did my grasping for the new or exciting challenge drive me to be insensitive to the needs and desires of those around me? Was my life track merely a way of avoiding connection and commitment? Fortunately, there is one connection- a vital one- that I’ve been able to strengthen in recent years. The Cross is my Salvation, and the Empty Tomb is my Hope. My steadfastness in reading the Word and seeking to follow Jesus Christ while listening for the Holy Spirit has silenced my wanderlust and brought me peace.

Thank God Almighty for the unearned gift of grace. Amen. Truth has no context.

[90363462]

last year Dave matthews was one of the presenters introducing Willie Nelson in the rock and roll hall of fame. Now the band that is named after him is in this year’s class.

Dave Matthews Band harnessed an eclectic sound and relentless touring schedule to become one of the biggest bands in the world. Long, intricate solos, non-traditional rock & roll instruments, unique time signatures, and an electric live show trademark their unique sound.

Dave Matthews Band (also known as DMB) is an American rock band formed in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 1991. The band's founding members are singer-songwriter and guitarist Dave Matthews, bassist Stefan Lessard, drummer and backing vocalist Carter Beauford, violinist and backing vocalist Boyd Tinsley, and saxophonist LeRoi Moore. As of 2024, Matthews, Lessard, and Beauford are the only remaining founding members.

Supported by a communal fanbase, Dave Matthews Band harnessed an eclectic sound and relentless touring schedule to become one of the biggest bands in the world – and they have continued to pick up new generations of fans along the way. Dave Matthews Band are one of the top-selling live acts of all time, and they are the only band with seven consecutive albums debuting at Number One.

They have been called a jam band, a college band, a pop band – and to their devoted fans, they are simply “DMB.” Hailing from Charlottesville, Virginia, the band formed in 1991 and cultivated a trademark sound that includes long, intricate solos, non-traditional rock & roll instruments, unique time signatures, and an electric live show. The airy jazz of LeRoi Moore’s saxophone blends with the animated bluegrass of Boyd Tinsley’s violin, while drummer Carter Beauford’s in-the-pocket grooves and bassist Stefan Lessard’s melodic lines create a powerful rhythm section. Dave Matthews fronts the band with captivating vocals, imaginative lyrics, and percussive guitar strumming.

The band quickly generated strong word of mouth thanks to endless live shows and an active tape sharing community. The 1993 independent-label debut Remember Two Things was popular in the local scene, but their major label debut, 1994’s Under the Table and Dreaming, landed them mainstream hits like “What Would You Say,” “Satellite,” and “Ants Marching.” 1996’s Crash went seven-times Platinum, earned the band its first Grammy award (“So Much to Say”) and yielded another hit, “Crash Into Me.” Live albums like Live at Red Rocks ’95 capture the band’s onstage energy and feature longtime collaborator Tim Reynolds on electric guitar. Musically, the band has influenced a generation of acoustic-driven singer-songwriters like John Mayer, Jason Mraz, and O.A.R.

In 2019, the United Nations designated Dave Matthews Band as Environmental Goodwill Ambassadors, and Matthews has served on Farm Aid’s Board of Directors since 2001. The band’s advocacy and activism has improved our world and inspired fans to think and act in new ways.

Selected Discography

“Ants Marching,” Under the Table and Dreaming (1994)

• “#41,” “Crash Into Me,” Crash (1996)

• “Warehouse,” Live at Red Rocks (1997)

• “Crush,” Before These Crowded Streets (1998) • 

• “The Space Between,” Everyday (2001)

• “Shake Me Like a Monkey,” Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King (2009)

• “Grey Street,” Live at Wrigley Field (2011)

• “Samurai Cop (Oh Joy Begin),” Come Tomorrow (2018)

What song/album made you a fan?

[thejoyofviolentmovement]

Happy May Day! And with Spring fully upon us, that means more festival announcements, y’all! So let’s get to it. Richmond, VA-based music festival Iron Blossom Festival is presented in collaboration with: Starr Hill Presents, an independently owned and operated concert promoter based in Charlottesville, VA that promotes over 300 events each year, ranging from small club shows to multi-day festivals. The company operates multiple local venues and have partnered in festivals across the country, including Bonnaroo, Outside Lands, SXSW, Pilgrimage and more. IMGoing Events, a full-service, independent entertainment company providing first-class live experiences and an innovative leader in the production, booking and marketing of live entertainment events including festivals, concerts and all types of special events. The company creates creates premier concerts and event experiences by offering the most intimate engagements. Haymaker Productions, a production and promotion company that has been producing and promoting concerts in the Richmond area since 2002. The Haymaker Productions team also provides production support for events such as the Olympics, Burning Man, World Cup and Formula One racing while continuing to curate the area’s favorite outdoor concerts at Maymount. Grand Rising Curations, an independent concert and festival promoter producing shows and providing talent buying, marketing, ticketing and production services throughout the United States. Iron Blossom Music Festival will return to Richmond, VA for the second year. Taking place September 21, 2024 – September 22, 2024, the festival will be an end of summer celebration with two days of incredible music, food, art and fun at the Training Center on Leigh (formerly Bon Secours Training Center). The festival draws from its host city’s vibrant and diverse community to bring fans a unique musical experience, with local artists sharing the stage with regional acts and national headliners. This year’s headliners include indie folk-leaning indie rock outfit Mt. Joy; CAAMP, who will be playing their only Southeast show this year; Americana group Turnpike Troubadours and Grammy-nominated soul outfit Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats. The festival’s lineup also includes Trampled by Turtles, Hippo Campus, Joy Oladokun, Indigo De Souza, The California Honeydrops, Royel Otis, Sumbuck, Chance Peña, Say She She, River Whyless, Susto, SG Goodman, Julia Pratt, Sarah Shook & The Disarmers, Victoria Canal, Dogpark, Jack Wharff & The Tobacco Flatts, and Kenneka Cook. Iron Blossom Music Festival’s second edition will be expanding this year’s footprint to include a larger food court an artisan bazaar, a GA+ Lounge and additional free water stations and shade structures while still offering the best of Central Virginia’s food, beverage and maker communities. Fans will continue to enjoy farm to table and delicious street foods, craft beats and cocktails, and wears from dozens of artisan vendors. A VIP experience is also being offered, giving fans up-close views, an exclusive lounge with cash bars, vendors, and more. Fans can guarantee themselves Tier 1 ticket pricing by signing up for the exclusive email/text presale at IronBlossomFestival.com. Tickets will be on sale to the general public tomorrow at noon at IronBlossomFestival.com. “Last year’s event truly was a celebration of the vibrant community here in Richmond. We can’t wait to bring everyone together again for another amazing weekend of music,” IMGoing Events’ Ken MacDonald says. “The city of Richmond continues to grow and thrive and the success of Iron Blossom is because of the people who live here and their enthusiasm for art and culture, especially live music. From the top notch lineup to the incredible food and beverage programming, Iron Blossom will again be one for the books” Haymaker Productions’ Tom Beals says. Iron Blossom Lineup  Mt. Joy CAAMP Turnpike Troubadours Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats Trampled by Turtles Hippo Campus Joy Olado...

[indoorverticalfarmingnews]

Virginia Venture Partners Invests in Babylon Micro-Farms

Virginia Venture Partners, an equity investment arm of the Virginia Innovation Partnership Corporation (VIPC), recently invested in Babylon Micro-Farms, an innovative startup based in Charlottesville, VA. This dynamic company offers a futuristic, IoT-enabled vertical farming platform, empowering anyone to cultivate fresh, sustainable produce with just the touch of a button. The driving force…

[forsythiahill]

Lovely snow in Virginia.

[harrietfaithart]

A little slice of #snowy #peacefulness in #charlottesville #virginia Arrived 2 days ago....I am #working on a #farm here #nofilter this video just turned #sienna on its own #deer #bluejays #cardinals #snow #countrylife and of course #squirrels #travelingartist #livelife (at Charlottesville, Virginia) https://www.instagram.com/p/BuzBoOqDC-j/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=ygnp57w3lfbp

[dailyunsolvedmysteries]

Morgan Dana Harrington

Morgan Harrington was an vivacious 20-year-old who was attending college at Virginia Tech University in Blacksburg, Virginia. On October 17, 2009, Morgan and a few friends drove from Blacksburg to the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia to attend a Metallica concert.

While the opening band was performing, Morgan decided to go use the restroom, figuring it was better to miss the opening act than her beloved Metallica. She was never seen alive again.

After Morgan failed to return for the beginning of Metallica’s performance, her friends became worried and called her on her cell phone. Morgan explained that she had not been allowed back in the venue due to a “no re-entry” policy. However, her friends were confused because there were bathrooms inside the arena. Morgan told her friends not to worry about her and that she would find a ride home. They assumed she would be fine and stayed for the duration of the concert.

Witnesses saw Morgan outside the venue, and stated that she did not appear to be with anyone, adding more mystery to who or what would have made her exit the arena entirely. The last confirmed sightings of Morgan placed her walking alongside the road, possibly hitchhiking, some distance from the concert venue.

Morgan’s disappearance was investigated tirelessly for weeks, and finally came to an end with a gruesome discovery. A farm owner living several miles outside of Charlottesville found skeletal remains on the outskirts of his property, about two miles off the map from any public road. The remains were tested and confirmed to be those of Morgan Harrington. She had allegedly met a violent end, and there were signs that she had been raped.

In September 2014, Harrington's case was linked to the murder of Hannah Graham through "forensic evidence" pertaining to Jesse Matthew, the main suspect in the latter case. 

On September 15, 2015, Jesse Matthew was formally charged with first-degree murder and abduction with intent to defile in the murder of Morgan Harrington. On March 2, 2016, after Matthew pleaded guilty to the 2014 murder of Hannah Graham and the 2009 murder of Morgan Harrington, a judge sentenced him to four consecutive life sentences. 

[mybeingthere]

Intaglio prints by Rachel Singel.

Rachel Singel grew up on a small farm in Charlottesville, Virginia. She received a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Virginia in 2009 and a Masters of Fine Arts in Printmaking from the University Iowa in 2013.

(Intaglio printing is the opposite of relief printing, in that the printing is done from ink that is below the surface of the plate. The design is cut, scratched, or etched into the printing surface or plate, which can be copper, zinc, aluminum, magnesium, plastics, or even coated paper.)

https://www.rachelsingel.com/

https://www.instagram.com/rachelsingel/?hl=en

[your-krazy-uncle-bob]

Meet Nashville's transqueer Latinx neurodivergent theologian

Robyn Henderson-Espinoza is the only Nashville-based transqueer Latinx neurodivergent public theologian that they know. 

"I don’t know anybody like me," Henderson-Espinoza, who uses gender-neutral pronouns, said in an interview. 

Yet, it was only recently when Henderson-Espinoza, 45, got to know their self better, such as the diagnosis that they are on the autism spectrum.

Amid this eventful period in their life, Henderson-Espinoza also made time to write reflections about their personal experience and its connections to larger socio-political events, which they then turned into a book. 

Henderson-Espinoza's new book "Body Becoming: A Path to Our Liberation" released Tuesday. The author will discuss the project at an event on April 2 at Thistle Farms from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Henderson-Espinoza — an ordained Baptist minister who has a Ph.D in philosophy — knew for many years they were transgender, but didn't explore what that meant to them until 2017 when they moved to Nashville from California. Henderson-Espinoza found a Vanderbilt physician who is overseeing Henderson-Espinoza's hormone therapy.   

Then, in 2018, Henderson-Espinoza learned they are on the autism spectrum. "It never occurred to me that my brain worked differently," Henderson-Espinoza wrote in their new book. "I realized that my socialization in the church and academy had been through neuronormative people who didn’t understand my body or my mind and had curated such a disconnection from my body!”

As this was all occurring, "I was writing in real time," Henderson-Espinoza said in an interview. While they were writing, Henderson-Espinoza was reflecting on their experience within a wider context.

Henderson-Espinoza's first book, "Activist Theology" released in 2019, is less personal than their new book. Henderson-Espinoza runs a nonprofit with a similar name, Activist Theology Project.

"My intentions in the world have been to invite people into relationship...I'm not trying to have a platform. I'm not trying to be a talking head. I’m trying to be in relationship and build a community," Henderson-Espinoza said in an interview.

One example in Henderson-Espinoza's new book of the connections between the personal and political was about attending a Unite the Right rally counter-protest. The Unite the Right rally drew white supremacists to Charlottesville, Virginia in August 2017 for a march.

"At that Charlottesville Unite the Right rally, I could actually feel the hate toward my body and the indifference to marginalized people," Henderson-Espinoza wrote in their new book.

The rally, and suspicious messages and mail Henderson-Espinoza received afterwards, created trauma for Henderson-Espinoza that they still deal with.

In the section of the book about the the Unite the Right rally, Henderson-Espinoza wrote, "We can’t shift the future in the direction we want it to go without first shifting our cultural understandings of bodies. This work demands our attention to self and attention to other."

I'll believe this is normal when I meet a member of this community who doesn't have three psychotherapist on speed dial.

[cwc-wiki]

August

1 August - Police arrest Chris at his temporary residence at the Regency Inn Richmond, on suspicion of incest. Livestreamers (such as Ethan Ralph) capture his arrest, while Chris asserted full confidence in the Dimensional Merge happening.

2 August - Chris is charged with incest, and is transferred from Henrico County Jail to Central Virginia Regional Jail: police warned that Chris may face additional charges from the allegations. Patreon suspends Chris in response to the incest allegations, and Twitter user jab50yen describes how he and Linda de-escalated Chris’s mental breakdown at the TooManyGames convention in 2018, confirming that Chris did not soil himself during the incident.

3 August - The license plates for Chris's car, the Son-Chu, were stolen by an anon on /b/: there were allegations that the person who stole the plates tried to frame someone else for the theft. The Kiwi Farms also report a rise in Chris-related listings on eBay, with sellers seeking to make a profit off the allegations.

4 August - A Greene County judge appoints Charlottesville attorney David Heilberg to represent Chris.

5 August - Chris makes his first appearance in Greene County court. He interrupts the judge multiple times and asks if he can retrieve his personal possessions from 14 Branchland Court. Chris is denied bond until his next court date on September 16th, 2021. CopperCab also uploads the second half of his interview with Chris from 2017, noting that he had always intended to upload the second part, but wasn't sure why it hadn't been done when the interview was still new.

7 August - Chris's case is briefly featured on Fox News, exposing him to millions of boomers.

13–15 August - Everfree Northwest, a My Little Pony convention held in Seattle, WA (which Chris planned on attending, but was ultimately banned from) took place without him.

15 August - An unusual video recorded in February 2021 of Chris, whilst possessed by Sonichu, pretending to kiss an imaginary Rosechu in a public library, is leaked.

16 August - Chris's YouTube account, CwcvilleGuardian, is hacked into. An old shitpost of Peter Griffin Anthony LoGatto saying "JULLLAAAAAY!" is uploaded to the channel.

29 August - A Kiwi Farms user confirms Barb's return to 14 Branchland Court.[1]

[rjzimmerman]

Excerpt from this story from Inside Climate News:

In 2014, Paul Hawken, an enviro-activist and the author of the 2007 climate classic, Blessed Unrest,  founded a nonprofit organization, Project Drawdown, and later published a global analysis of exactly which climate “solutions” had the best chance of slowing down the death march of global warming. It catalogued many ways to arrest carbon emissions, not ignoring the environmental impacts of racial equity and better education for women. The word drawdown was Hawken’s vision for a time when we could stop the incessant puffing of greenhouse gasses into our atmosphere and start clearing up that same airspace, sucking heat-trappers back down and sequestering them long enough to give the Earth a chance to regulate its own temperature again.

I liked the name for those sucking-down solutions: sinks.

Climate scientists will tell you that reducing carbon emissions needs to be the human priority right now. They’re not wrong. The emissions are the biggest bleeder in Earth’s triage condition. But the sad reality is that if we allow the amount of carbon already in the atmosphere to stay put, many people, animals and ecosystems will die before their time. It’s already begun. But the Drawdown research got me thinking less about lamenting and more about best next steps. Humanity’s chance is not over yet, and we’re not without resources: there are a lot of us, and nature is instructively self-healing.

By late spring, I was obsessively researching carbon sinks and trying to find people across North America who were going all-in on the sink of their choice, like greening abandoned farmland or protecting super-wet landscapes. In a fortunate piece of timing, Hawken’s team released a spring 2020 update to their climate solutions list, The Drawdown Review. A big chunk of it was about sinks, ranked by gigatons (to picture that: one gigaton of carbon dioxide would fill a billion bathtubs). My eyes searched the dozens of top-ranking sinks—the big one is tropical forest protection— and landed curiously on bamboo.

Bamboo. It was one of my lingering childhood memories, a bamboo plot maybe half a block wide that had grown up next to a creek near my family’s apartment in Charlottesville, Virginia. I remember finding paths into that green fortress padded down by previous kids. It felt like you were in a safe maze, with small clearings here and there for hideouts. I remember the glittering light.

Bamboo, The Drawdown Review reported, could turn degraded land (abandoned farms, landfills, old mining sites and more) into a ranking carbon sink. Bamboo production hit a top-76 solutions lists at No. 21, with the potential to sequester as much as 21.3 gigatons of carbon dioxide over the next 30 years if it’s planted aggressively (think: 400 million football fields’ worth of degraded land around the globe)

[eopederson]

Abandoned Store, Columbia Furnace, Virginia, 2020.

Did a longish drive yesterday into the hilly area just west of I-81 and the Shenandoah Valley. Beautiful day for a drive, and the weather this year has made for magnificent corn fields and lots of green. Not so magnificent were the “Trump/Pence” signs in front of many of the farms and the houses in the tiny settlements. Columbia Furnace is one of those, now mostly a handful of residences and several churches. We returned via the outer edges of Charlottesville where “Biden/Warner/Webb” signs predominated. The urban/rural and well-educated/poorly educated divide has never been more evident. Webb, by the way, is a young MD, one of the few blacks on the University of Virginia medical faculty who may win a “safe” Republican congressional district because the candidate nominated by that party is so lunatic-fringe extremist that even many in the party wince at electing him.

[thezoeshow]

birthday weekend continues with some solo #strawberry picking . . . #birthday #summer #strawberries #farm #strawberryfestival #summerfun #sundayfunday #zoe #birthdaygirl #vegan #wholesome #strawhat #sunnyday #americanapparel #macys #crozet #charlottesville #chilespeachorchard #virginia #southerngirl #countrygirl #bargain #weekend #selfie #metime #hotday #sosweet (at Chiles Peach Orchard)

[forsythiahill]

Decorating for the chickens 😄