Don't Sit Still

Flirting In Red #20121

November is all about preparing for Thanksgiving and holiday shopping and diving in with both feet into the spirit of the season. Garnets and rose colored quartz are just so very festive. And in Swarovski crystal burgundy just shines and is sure to catch the eye.  That's why we chose to focus on those warm colors of the heart.  And the charity we are pairing these works with is one close to our hearts. American gem Michael J. Fox has a wonderful record of pushing through advances in order to find a cure for Parkinson's.  We are donating 25% of all we do this month to Michael J. Fox's Foundation For Parkinson's Research.

"Orange you Glad" #20122

According to their website, as recent as November 14th they were published for their  study, published online in Annals of Neurology, the researchers interviewed 99 twin pairs in which one twin had Parkinson's Disease while the other did not. The interviews focused on each individual’s work history and hobbies. The researchers were probing for situations that would have exposed individuals to the solvents perchloroethylene (PERC), carbon tetrachloride (CCI4) — both commonly used dry cleaning agents — and TCE. TCE was banned by the Food and Drug Administration in 1977. It once was used in dry-cleaning solutions, adhesives, paints, carpet cleaners, as a metal degreaser and as an anesthetic, skin disinfectant, and coffee decaffeinating agent, among other uses. TCE is also the most common organic contaminant in groundwater, and is found in up to 30% of drinking water supplies across the United States. (In September, the Environmental Protection Agency announced that TCE was also carcinogenic.)

#20123

Several studies have linked an individual’s exposure to solvents with an increased risk of Parkinson's Disease. But the Goldman Tanner study is the first to report population-based findings data on the relationship between TCE exposure and Parkinson's Disease.

To date, no definitive cause for Parkinson's Disease has been discovered, yet environmental factors may in fact trigger the disease and have long been the focus of intense interest among Parkinson’s researchers. Michael J. Fox's Foundation (MJFF) has funded multiple studies into environmental factors believed to play a role in Parkinson's Disease research, including a portion of the work being carried out by Tanner and Goldman.

Other studies include:

• A 2006 grant to the Harvard School of Public Health was the first large scale study to examine the possible links between chronic, low-dose exposure to pesticides and PD risk. Data showed that individuals reporting exposure to pesticides had a 70 percent higher incidence of PD than those who did not.
• This past May, a team of researchers headed by Dr. Brad Racette of Washington University in St. Louis reported final outcomes of their work investigating how exposure to metals might lead to a higher risk for PD. Racette’s team studied 600 welders across the world, finding that, according to Positron emission tomography (PET) scans, welders had an average 11.7 percent reduction in a marker of the chemical dopamine compared to those who did not weld (Dopamine is decreased in certain brain regions in people with PD).

All this according to the wonderful work described when you go visit MJFF's website at http://www.MichaelJFox.org. Yay Michael. We celebrate your devotion to a cure the best way we know how: with our pledged support.  You can help too by donating directly or purchasing one of our One-Of-A-Kind pieces as a gift (or gifts) this holiday season.  Check out our latest creations at www.ebay.com by doing a search for -- Missing Links Lisa Lindo --.

Never too early to get those gifts on their way for the holidays.  And our best to you and yours.

Lisa Lindo
misssinglinksfiound@gmail.com

Interview Reprint: Los Angeles Times

It's a packed night in Hollywood and the neighborhood's newest club, the Highlands, is crawling with industry folks. This is talent agent Lisa Lindo's party. For the past eight years, she has hosted this annual networking night for deal-hungry agents, producers, financiers, film distribution and script development reps who attended the Sundance Film Festival but didn't finish schmoozing.

(Lindo Exclusive, 2010)

This year's fete was believed to be the largest yet, with more than 1,500 gathering at the mammoth, multilevel club overlooking Hollywood Boulevard. The music is loud and the club is dark on this Monday night, but Lindo, in a knee-length suede coat and colorful beads, turns heads wherever she goes. She ushers people in with: "Go make friends."

Read More...http://articles.latimes.com/2002/mar/07/news/lv-angles07

Global Green USA: Our Spotlight For January

What a crazy beginning to this year. Good things and sad news things and all I can think of to do is put one foot in front of the other and work to make things better every day.  Spreading messages of hope and sharing whatever I learn with others brings a yin to the loud yang of the news, helping to feel like we can still make a difference.  Like I can make a difference.

So far in 2011, we've had private showings in Los Angeles, Maui, New York and D.C. for the pieces being auctioned to benefit Global Green for the month of January.  Global Green USA (www.globalgreen.org) is the only national environmental non-profit headquartered in Southern California with offices in New Orleans, Washington DC, and New York, and is one of over 31 national GCI affiliates throughout the world to foster a global value shift toward a sustainable and secure future by reconnecting humanity with the environment.

We look forward to your continued suggestions of causes we should spotlight in the future, and communities that you would like to see carry Missing Links.

Traveling around, it is so clear that everywhere I go we are universally sharing the need for Peace, calling out to an end to senseless violence.  Yes, I'm a peacenik.  It's more important than ever to speak loudly these days about your beliefs, your hopes for change.  Or at the very least, incorporate your beliefs into the way you choose to make money.  Right?

Well, it turns out, without really meaning to do so, I've been collecting things.  In my desire to learn about what kind of good is already being done in the world, I collected stories, shopping adventures, jars, and containers, and tools and books.   Wherever I went, I always managed to make time to dash away and discover whatever vintage jewelry shop or local beadery might be open. 

I made a hobby out of working with semi-precious stones (since 2003 actually), and started sitting with artists and beaders from Holland to Hawaii, studying color choice and adding bags of brightly colored beautiful bits to my collection.  Gathering seed beads, hammered silver, items of pewter, beach glass and gems that make me just blush, like Garnets and Citrine.  My first teacher started out the first class by saying, "Never go shopping for beads unless you have a lot of time, and a lot of money."  Lucky for me, I had both.  And I'll go more than a few extra miles to find that intimate item I can add to our collection of odds and ends, ribbons and starfish, dreams and causes. Often pleasantly surprised that the walk itself swept me into adventures I would never have had otherwise.  But those stories are for another time.

When I moved to D.C., I decided to round up all the different hiding places I had filled with my sparkly divalicously decadent loot.  Now, surrounded by rainbows of carvings and facets, I have to say, I could open a bead store myself and probably not run out of stock for years.  ;-)

I believe in working with sustainable materials, stones I've carried around with me as I go, adding to my jars and baskets, bowls and boxes of stones, pearls, glass beads and art beads and Czech glass, and silver lined beads, and blown glass pieces, items made from discarded elk horn, just amazing how the wide range of colors and textures grew and grew.  It's from these elements and intentions that all of our Missing Links items are born and seeing the response from all of you is so very encouraging. 

Our next private showing (snow or shine) will be Wednesday, January 12, 2011 in Baltimore, MD.  To receive an exclusive invitation, or even if you are unable to attend, please "like" our facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/MissingLinksFound

and visit our blog frequently at:
MissingLinksFound.blogspot.com