Horny Toad is proudly sponsoring MoveShake – a film series focusing on individual movers and shakers of environmental and social change. Produced by our good friends at Red Reel Video, these films give a look into the lives of people dedicating themselves to their cause and the personal struggles and successes that come with the journey.  MoveShake will premier at MountainFilm in Telluride this weekend, May 26th and 27th.  If you’re there be sure to say hi – Allie and Sarah are some of our favorite people on the planet and we know you’ll like them too.

Also, be sure to watch this video clip – we’re pretty sure it’ll make you want to see more.  Then join the Red Reel ladies at moveshake.org on Thursday, June 7th 7-9 PM MDT as they host the online viewing of their first two MoveShake films followed by a live Q&A with Mountain2Mountain founder, Shannon Galpin.

AND MoveShake wants you to get involved! They’ve launched an Instagram campaign called MoveShake Unite so that stories of positive change made by Movers and Shakers across the world can be seen everyday. Whether it’s someone from the local farmer’s market doing especially good work or an event like a local beach clean up, they invite us to submit photos as evidence of visual “drops in the bucket” toward the change we’d like to see in the world.  Let’s fill the bucket already!  Hashtag your Instagram photos with #moveshake whenever you see positive change happening.

Meet Horny Toad models Caroline and Michael.  We’d offer an intro saying how great they are, but their interview pretty much speaks for itself.

HT:  Who are you, Caroline and Michael?

Michael:  We are a couple of madly in love newlyweds. We are educators, entrepreneurs, permaculturalists, travelers and yogis. We are life loving, passionate, empowered and inspired individuals who are here to make a difference.

HT:  Tell us about your work.

Caroline:  I have a small business called One World Permaculture that offers education, consulting and design. My favorite scenario is when I fuse them together, consult a client and create a learning opportunity to share with the community. That is what One World Permaculture is all about.

Our home is my biggest project as well as a weekly classroom for 10 adults who are earning their Permaculture Design Certificate.  We house seven hens, two cats and a sweet bee hive as well as many gardens. Our goal is to create an urban permaculture center and to grow more food than we can eat. There is always more to do but I love my work! Working with students and clients spreading the good word of sustainability makes the full schedule feel easy. I can say that I am going with the flow and feeling the abundance.  I also teach Permaculture design at Austin Community College and feel blessed to be able to offer these design techniques in this setting.

Michael:  I am the owner/director of the Whole Life Learning Center in Austin, TX. It’s a three day program for youth ages 5-13. I taught at a handful of alternative schools around Austin before realizing that the school I wanted to work at didn’t exist yet, so I founded it! Our program has a holistic, integrated, inspired curriculum developed with the youth and the community. We also run a one-day program called Freedom Fridays which is a ton of fun too!

HT:  How did you get involved with permaculture?

Caroline:  I discovered permaculture while living outside of Durango, Colorado in 2005 and quickly started studying and practicing the design principles. I brought them into my lower elementary Montessori classroom. Reconnecting youth to the interconnectedness of all things kept me inspired and wanting to learn more on the subject. Now I feel rooted in the study and practice and try to incorporate it into every facet of life.

Michael:  I had heard of permaculture while at the University of Illinois, but I didn’t live permaculture until I came to Austin. I moved onto a five acre ranch complete with chickens, fruit trees, and a dozen garden beds. I quickly tapped into the vibrant permie community around Austin and got involved with various projects and initiatives. I find that, more than anything, permaculture is a lifestyle, which I love sharing with Caroline and our community.

HT:  What do you do for fun?

Caroline:  My new favorite thing is playing the ukulele and writing simple songs. I just bought a new uke in Hawaii and am in love with her! Michael and I play together as much as possible. Also, going to Barton Springs, traveling just about anywhere, gardening, keeping my bees, and cooking delicious meals for the people I love.

Michael:  We ride our bikes down to Barton Springs to lay out in the sun, take a dip in the rejuvenating waters, play some Frisbee, do some acro-yoga, and strum our ukuleles. We also love to be out in the gardens working on our little slice of paradise.

HT:  You’ve just returned from Hawaii… tell us a little about that.

Caroline:  …I can say that it was a powerful trip. We were on retreat for ten days and traveled a bit on either side. It was also our honeymoon and was the perfect way to deepen our relationship as well as the spiritual foundation that we are building our marriage upon. We sang, snorkeled, swam with spinner dolphins and turtles, all in deep meditation. I left Hawaii in such a deep love for my husband, God and myself and am still flying.

HT:  Everyone on the Spring ’12 photo shoot talks about how there wasn’t a dry eye in the house the time you sang to each other on the sofa (see top photo). If you don’t mind, tell us what you like best about the other person.

Caroline: Michael’s willingness to love and be loved. . . and his playfulness. Plus, He is so damn HOT!

Michael:  Ha! Sometimes we have to be careful not to make folks puke from our cuteness! I fell in love with Caroline the moment I set eyes on her. We met at a teacher training, she was the new Language Arts teacher. As we got to know each other that weekend I saw her beauty, strength, and open heart shining through. Most of all, it’s her willingness to say a big YES to life that made me fall in love with Caroline.

HT:  Where do you see yourselves a year from now?

Caroline:   A year from now. . . so much can happen in a year. If everything continues I see myself rooted in the community, serving in remembrance. We have both planted so many seeds in the last year and are nurturing our baby projects. A year from now, we will most likely be doing the same.

Michael:  Thriving, growing as partners and as individuals, and pouring passion into our projects.

HT:  What inspires you?

Caroline:  Standing in my truth and living from my heart at all cost inspires me. I am inspired by the perfection and interdependence of nature and the universe.

Michael:  The feeling of aliveness I get when I remember that I am the author of my own destiny, I am the artist creating the masterpiece of my life (when I let go and let God/Life Force/Love move my paintbrush, that is). I stay inspired by doing what I love and loving what I do. I and I love helping others do the same (it’s contagious). In short, music and movement, handstands, the arts, balancing rocks, Nature, watching the milk swirl in my coffee, learning, sweet love, community, and good food & drink!

HT:  How do you define comfort?

Caroline: Comfort is feeling at ease in any situation. Comfort is soft, flexible, and stylish. Comfort is necessary.

Michael:  Feeling at home within my self. Balanced. Allowing myself to be carried by the world, rather than trying to carry it. That’s comfort.

HT:  What is your fondest wish for the world?

Caroline: I wish for the world to open our eyes to possibility. If we can dream it, it is possible.

Michael:  For people everywhere to wake up to their true selves, and their calling, or dharma, in life. For people everywhere to wake up to their relationship with our Mother, Earth, and to see all the beautiful possibilities for human culture here. And for people everywhere to see the beauty and perfection and inherent rights of all human beings. A global culture and family, living locally, and vibrantly in harmony with the whole planet. Amen.

True love. Maybe. Norm doesn't look convinced.

Bike love… we got it in spades.  That’s why we find Traffic Solution’s Bike Challenge so alluring. For the month of May (or CycleMAYnia as it’s called in these parts) we’re competing with local businesses to see who can log the most bike commutes.  Not to toot our own (bike) horns or anything, but so far we’re in first place for companies our size.

Toad Team One

Winner gets to support their favorite local charity with a generous donation courtesy of Traffic Solutions… AND they get the distinction of being known champions.

Toad Team Two

Our friends at CycleMAYnia are keeping things lively this month with a list of cool events such as a charity fashion show.  Design team members Lindsay (below left) and Lucy (below right) modeled Horny Toad clothing for the event.  Lucy completely stole the limelight.

Photo of Lindsay and Lucy by Jeff Clark

Is there a commuter challenge where you live?  If so we’d love to hear about it.  And stay tuned to see if we are in fact commuter champions.  If so we’ll totally make a bumper sticker commemorating it.

Did you know that avocados are actually a fruit? It’s time for our annual homage to the “alligator pear” (as it’s called in certain parts of the world). Horny Toad headquarters is basically smack in the middle of the avocado belt.  It’s a tough neighborhood but someone’s gotta live here.

Starting from top left and going clock-wise: Haas; Fuerte; Bacon and Pinkerton avocados.

On a recent trip to the Farmer’s Market we loaded up on several varietals for the purpose of discerning what’s what, taste-wise.  From top left, going clock-wise we sampled Haas (3 below), Fuerte (2 below) and Bacon (1 below).  We didn’t sample the Pinkertons (bottom left, above) because they weren’t ripe enough.

1. Bacon 2. Fuerte 3. Haas

The Bacon avos were either loved or hated, based on their creamy, fatty consistency.  The poor Fuertes were a little watery and got no love whatsoever.  Haas were the clear winners, eliciting comments such as “They’re smooth and a perfectly firm at the same time!”  And “This is the reason why I love avocados!”   A little tip:  adding salt takes the avo from delicious to sublime.

Opinions get strong around here when talking avocados.

Do you have a favorite avocado?  Tell us!

This is Meg – she’s one of our models.  If you visited the house of Meg and her husband Ian in the woods of Maine you’d probably find their (now) toddler in the front yard embroiled in a game of hot pursuit with some overly-friendly chickens.

You’d also see evidence of Ian’s affinity for out buildings  – he built their greenhouse, chicken coop, boathouse, woodworking shop and a sauna with his own two hands.

Meg and Ian grow as much of their food as they can in a big garden surrounded by a dilapidated but beautiful raw wood fence. And did we mention that they’re also teachers at the school Ian attended as a kid?

A five-minute commute along the rugged Maine coast gets the couple to work. “Our school is lucky to have access to acres and acres of woods and fields. The children learn to use their hearts and hands as much as their heads and to integrate the three. They spend lots of time outside in the garden, caring for the chickens, tapping the maple trees, learning to knit and blacksmith. We don’t use textbooks and the children create their own beautifully illustrated books on each subject they study,” says Meg. “I have 25 amazing 4th & 5th graders that I’ve been with since they were in the second grade. My husband teaches 8th grade in the classroom on the other side of the wall and, because of the vents, they can hear us singing every morning. Sometimes we take requests.”

Meg and Ian, we love your life!

courtesy of Phil Borges

As a sponsor of Mountainfilm in Telluride (May 25-28), we’re excited to be a part of an eclectic roster of guests, films and programs that encompass adventure and environmental, cultural and social issues.

Photographer Phil Borges will exhibit his work and share his experiences at this year’s festival. By photographing people in indigenous cultures, the artist aims to heighten awareness of the issues faced by citizens in the developing world. He has a particularly close and long-standing relationship with Tibet and its people, and his latest book, Tibet: Culture on the Edge, reflects this beautifully.

This conversation with Phil and the stunning photographs he’s generously shared with us offer a glimpse into a weekend of good things to come at this year’s Mountainfilm in Telluride:

courtesy of Phil Borges

Your work strives to heighten people’s understanding of the many issues faced by those in the developing world. There are so many. How do you decide where to aim your lens?

It’s been a process of discovery for me. At first, my main interest was documenting indigenous cultures. As I became aware of the external pressures these people were dealing with, I began narrowing my focus on the human rights issues they faced (e.g. China’s occupation of Tibet and oil spills in the Ecuadorian Amazon). Over time, I became aware that the one human rights violation that affects almost every culture is the discrimination and oppression of women and girls. Since women’s empowerment has proven to be one of the best strategies to address poverty, build peace and environmental sustainability in communities and countries, I started to focus on this. In fact, I had returned to Tibet in 2009 to document a program that was addressing the extremely high rate of maternal mortality within the nomadic community when I became aware that climate change was creating such devastating consequences on the Tibetan plateau.

You were an orthodontist until you were 45. What prompted your dramatic career shift?

I fell in love with photography, and it swept me away.

When you show up in a community, how do you initiate relationships that lead to capturing such intimate images?

It just depends on the circumstances. If I’m making films for NGOs, as I have been lately, the introductions are made by the organization working in the community. When I was showing up in tribal communities unannounced, I just started taking Polaroids of the kids. It wasn’t long before everyone wanted a photo of themselves.

courtesy of Phil Borges

How many shots do you usually take before you get one that you know will work?

When I was making portraits with film I usually shot about 10 to 15 frames. With digital I can see when I’ve got what I want, so I’m tending to shoot less. Even when I was shooting film I was noticing that I usually got it in the first 5 frames.

courtesy of Phil Borges

You seem to have a special bond with the Tibetan people. Is that an accurate assessment, and if so, how would you explain it?

I love the Tibetan culture. Having a population that addresses “self cherishing” and “self grasping” from cradle to grave on a daily basis creates compassionate people and a nurturing social environment. Not that there aren’t other cultures that work at building compassion, it’s just that such a large percentage of the Tibetan population does it and they do it every day!

You founded Bridges to Understanding, an organization that connects students in Seattle, Washington with other students around the world. Through this program, you hope to build global citizenship. What have been some of the most rewarding results?

I could talk about this for hours. What I intended to happen in the beginning was a lot harder to do than I thought. We would pair up 14 photographers and writers (mostly from the U.S.) with 14 middle- or high-school students in small communities in Africa, Asia and Central/South America. Together in a workshop environment, we created a multimedia piece that addressed a social or environmental concern that the students had. In the process of creating the story, the students engaged in their community in a way that they never had before. They interviewed their community leaders and researched the issue —pollution of their rivers, teen pregnancy, etc. — then at the end of the workshop they showed the film to their community. I could share so many anecdotes demonstrating how this empowered the students.

We did the same digital storytelling training in Seattle classrooms and encouraged the Seattle students to share their stories online with the students in the developing world. We were hoping that this would lead to deep exchanges that would go on over time. Unfortunately, it was almost impossible to keep the students communicating online across cultures. I started the program in 2000 when the Internet was hardly functional in the developing world and before Facebook and Google Translate. With these new tools it might be possible. The most powerful exchanges occurred face to face in the two-week long workshops. I learned that giving young people a voice around substantial issues in their communities was transforming for them and built their community engagement/citizenship. The online global piece was just a lot harder to do.

Learn more about Mountainfilm in Telluride and check out this year’s lineup of visionary guests such as Phil Borges here.

volunteers mobilized!

Every Spring Horny Toad closes its office for a day to participate in the Backyard Collective, an event by The Conservation Alliance that brings together regional companies and grantees for a day of environmental action. Last Thursday we headed out to the beautiful San Marcos Foothills Preserve with our friends at Deckers, Patagonia, Vapur, REI and Channel Island Outfitters for a satisfying morning of pulling invasive weeds and planting native species. The weather was great and so was the turnout: over 150 people!

Get the Conservation Alliance’s full scoop on the 2012 Santa Barbara Backyard Collective here.  Learn more about the rest of the Conservation Alliance’s mission here.

girls with gardening tools

A quick peek at the history of Earth Day will tell you that it was inspired by an event right here in our hometown.  In 1970, while visiting Santa Barbara after a devastating oil spill ravaged its coast in 1969, Wisconsin senator Gaylord Nelson was so outraged that he organized the day as a rally of awareness and education.  Today it’s an annual celebration of ways reduce our dependency on fossil fuel and live more sustainably on our precious, wild and beautiful planet.

This year Earth Day takes place on Saturday April 21st.  We’ll be at the Santa Barbara festival along with our friends at Sonos, who have put together this great playlist for you to enjoy.  How will you spend Earth Day 2012?

Our "What's in Your Bag?" contest winner, Megan (she's the tall one).

Through random lottery we selected a grand prize winner for our “What’s in Your Bag?” Sweepstakes, and now we’re hooking her up with the perfect wardrobe for a few days in Santa Barbara.  We’re super excited to meet Megan and her travel companion, both of whom we’ll fly here for a long weekend. We’re putting them up in one of our favorite local hotels, and we’re really hoping they’ll make it to Toad Headquarters for lunch.  We’re also hoping she’ll partake in a couple of our favorite activities while she’s here, such as wine tasting and whale watching.

There’s a lot of talk a lot about everyday adventure at Horny Toad.  But what good is talk with no action?  We held this contest because we wanted to get to know our customers better, and we also wanted to share the gift of our beautiful hometown.  In our minds, there’s no better place for soaking up simple pleasures like sun and salt air.

Stay tuned.  We plan to do these kinds of of contests occasionally.  It feels good to share the good.

 We love this photo from Megan’s “What’s in Your Bag?” Pinterest board.  You can check out her entire board here.

Our love of all things cheesy, gooey and deep fried is obvious to even the most casual reader. That’s why we’re digging this Green Velvet Smoothie – we need something to counteract all that Queso.

Our model Luna Paige Smith invented this recipe for her forthcoming cookbook Nourished.  Get ready to be pleasantly surprised: the avocado and banana give it a creamy, rich texture while the mango and dates add subtle sweetness and the mint and cilantro provide a refreshing finish.  In Santa Barbara pretty much everything but the mangoes and bananas can be sourced locally year round.  You can substitute other fruits, but the brilliant green color is guaranteed with this particular combination.

Green Velvet Smoothie

1/2 ripe avocado

1 small banana

1/2 ripe mango

4 medjool dates, pitted

6 large mint leaves

1/2 cup chopped cilantro

5 large kale leaves, stem removed

Add all ingredients to a blender. Then fill the pitcher 2/3 full with water.  Blend until creamy smooth. Add more water if it’s too thick and blend well. Pour into a tall pint glass and be happy.