Video by Juwan Platt
A peek behind the curtain…
A student of photography and videography, Juwan Platt is a youthful sprite with the soul of a man 4 times his age. A visual storyteller, he enjoys capturing people in their natural element allowing life to be their only stylist. His website, The Innovative Mint, showcases life’s unmarred photographic flavor better than any five-star restaurant. Juwan is a lover of travel, good food and well-fitting pants.
My formative years were made up of blueberry pie. Each summer Mom would drag my sister and me to the blueberry farm where we’d sit on buckets and encourage plump, steel-blueberries from their perch. “Try not to get the stems,” Mom would instruct. “Or the green berries. Or the ones that have a hint of red—they’re too bitter. They’ll ruin the pie.” In between her cautionary tales, she’s slip into a quiet meditation, working methodically through the rows.
There’s nothing like a worldly person to remind you you’re not.
When I meet Merveille Kasongo, her body language reads like one of those signs on the back of a semitruck that warn: “Stay back 200 feet.” Her arms remains locked at her sides and without smiling she looks directly at me with big dark eyes lined with lashes so thick I wonder how they could be real. My brassy American sensibilities are, of course, injured.
Lately, I love accessorizing with oversized and over the top rings. The bigger the better! When I saw this fabulous handmade glass ring, I immediately thought Thanksgiving. The beautiful touch of turquoise mixed with browns, and the setting has just enough shimmer to make it even more delicious. The hand-cut glass incasing looks as if it is magnifying a feather, which made even more appropriate for all of this talk around the studio about American Turkeys!
