Another Year Gone By

Flowers on the Inca Trail, Peru, November 2011.
Photo for Recycled Minds by dooglas carl.

by douglas reeser on December 31, 2011
It's hard to believe that another year has passed and we've finally reached the infamous 2012. Here at Recycled Minds, we've typically compiled a year-end post that highlights what we've talked about over the last 12 months. This year, that tradition slipped through the cracks. The end of 2011 finds the two of our editors and primary contributors either out of the country or extremely busy with other commitments (dooglas is busy trying to make sense of his life in Belize, while lana is consumed by a New Years business venture). Still, we wanted to leave our readers and fans with something to chew on here at the end of the year.

With this in mind, we've decided to spread the love to a few of the closest of the many friends of Recycled Minds. These are good friends who have helped and supported us over the years, and to who we hope we have reciprocated in some small way. For us, Recycled Minds is a labor of love. We put long, hard hours into the site in our attempt to provide a space for our friends and colleagues to spread our many messages. These messages seek to inform our readers of injustice in the world while simultaneously providing a space for creativity and ultimately dialogue that could lead to reconciliation and peace among our world's peoples. Big dreams for a small site, but we only hope to contribute to a better and brighter world. And the people who have shared through and with us deserve some further credit. So without further ado (and in no particular order) please check out and show some support for...

Artist and brewer Kevin Margitich. Kevin creates some of the finest contemporary wildlife paintings being produced in the US, while also brewing some the most creative beers you could think of. His art has been shown from coast to coast, but his brews have so far been exclusive to Philadelphia. Thanks Kevin for supporting us over the years and good luck in 2012!

Our good fiends Jonathan and Leigh at the Slingluff Gallery. The gallery shows some amazing artists culled from an international list of up and coming and established artists. They also produce the Pinecone Gentleman, a virtual creation that shares artistically inclined news and information from around the world. Jonathan has contributed some of his photos for our November First Friday Picture Show, while Leigh will share some of hers for an upcoming Picture Show in 2012. Thanks to the two of them for their continued support, and may they know greater success in 2012!

Anthropologist Federico Cintrón-Moscoso. Federico currently teaches students at the University of Puerto Rico while producing the online-site, Cultura de Papel. An aspiring photographer, he shared photos from a summer 2011 trip to Haiti for our September Picture Show. Fede has an insatiable mind, and can relate his experience and knowledge in a clear and understandable way, so be sure to check out his work. We look forward to further contributions, and wish him the greatest success in the coming year!

Food Creator Tender Branson. Tender, who also teaches the youth of south-central Florida, has created the wonderful food-centric site, write.click.cook.listen. The site combines his love of food and music and shares recipes, restaurant reviews, music-mixes, musician interviews and more. We have shared many a night with Tender, concert-going, and food-enjoying. He shared some of his food pictures for our October Picture Show, and we always look forward to his delicious vegetarian recipes. May Tender continue to enjoy his love of food and music in 2012!

Music lover, photographer and chemist, Btreotch. Btreotch has loved music for the last 6 months, but has somehow managed to contribute for some years at Coventry Music. For some reason he has joined the land of the Mormons for a post-doc position in Chemistry, but he has maintained a bit of sanity through his production of his photoblog, Bitches in Trees. We hope to one day again experience live music with Btreotch, and know that he will continue to do so in 2012 - enjoy!

And finally, the Occupiers. We have had some wonderful contributions to Recycled Minds in 2011. Some of them have been related to the Occupy Movement, like the great posts by Cyrus Kleege and the food tent manager from Occupy LA. The energy and excitement created by Occupy across the US and world has given us renewed faith that humanity will some day find peace and equilibrium. To the movement we give our ultimate thanks, and may Occupy continue to grow and find success in 2012!

To our readers and friends, happy new year! Stay in touch and keep reading!