“O ye men of wisdom among nations!
Shut your eyes to estrangement, then fix
your gaze upon unity. Cleave tenaciously
unto that which will lead to the well-being
and tranquillity of all mankind. This span
of earth is but one homeland and one
habitation. It behoveth you to abandon
vainglory which causeth alienation and to
set your hearts on whatever will ensure
harmony. In the estimation of the people
of Baha, man’s glory lieth in his knowledge,
his upright conduct, his praiseworthy character,
his wisdom, and not in his nationality or rank.
O people of the earth! Appreciate the value
of this heavenly word.”

~ Baha’u'llah~

Click to view and/or print flyer (pdf format) ahc-flyer

Alternating Hemiplegia of Childhood Foundation
invites you to:

The 3rd annual AHC (Alternating Hemiplegia of Childhood)
Spring Fling Silent Auction Dinner Dance

Saturday,
May 3,
2008 • 6:00pm

Hartford Hilton Hotel
315 Trumbull Street
Hartford,
CT 06103

Alternating Hemiplegia of Childhood (AHC) is a rare neurological disorder.
The disorder causes episodes of complete or partial paralysis of the body that can last for minutes,hours or
days. During episodes,brain damage can occur and cause temporary or permanent loss of cognitive and
physical abilities. Children with AHC often have associated symptoms such as lack of muscle tone, painful stiffening of the extremities, erratic eye movements, developmental delays, mental retardation and seizures.
The cause of AHC is/are unknown and there is no known cure for the disorder.
AHC is a degenerative disorder.

What Can I Do?

• Spread the word! Share this flyer with anyone and
everyone! Public awareness will help more children and
adults to be properly diagnosed.
• Attend the AHC Spring Fling on Saturday, May 3, 2008
at the Hartford Hilton.
• Make a donation! Make checks payable to the AHC Foundation,
or you may visit www.OSIBusinessServices.com/AHC to pay by
credit card.
• Ask more questions! Visit www.ahckids.org or visit
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/afha/ and learn about the various issues affecting children and families with AHC.

Where Does the Money Go?

The AHC Foundation is a volunteer, non-profit organization that is managed by the parents of children with
AHC.
The AHC Foundation mission is to raise monies to fund research and raise awareness in both the medical and public communities. Our vision is to find a cure for AHC and to identify others who have been misdiagnosed.
For more info on upcoming events and news about
AHC, you may also visit
www.OSIBusinessServices.com/AHC .

If you have further questions or comments you may call
(860) 680-9410.

Well, the new business, BZ Mobile Tax Services LLC is officially up and running! As is the new website for it! So take a moment and go check it out! It’s a bit bare at the moment, but before the end of the year, there will information regarding long distance accounts. I will be making available long distance tax preparation for artists with special deals just for all you artists out there! We are, as far as I am able to determine, the ONLY truly mobile tax preparation service in the state of CT! So check it out and be sure to bookmark it as updates will be forthcoming!

bzmobiletax.com

Have a great one….and BE great!
Lori B.

_________________________________

We are now up and running! So for all of you artists out there who are frustrated with not being able to locate a local accountant who is familiar with artists and how they need to run their businesses, your search is over! We will be offering long distance tax preparation via phone/fax/mail beginning with the next tax season in Jan. 2009 !! So save your receipts and breathe easy.

I will post again when we are ready to pre-schedule appointments for next year and have price scheduling available to email to you. But don’t forget ….you can always email anytime with questions and suggestions!

Have a great one….and BE great!

“The difference between the price of gold and the price of fine gold jewelry is like the difference between the price of paint and the price of a Picasso”

~Harold Tivol~

“There is no such thing as a minor lapse in integrity.”

~Tom Peters~

“When we review history from the beginning of human existence to the present age in which we live, it is evident all war and conflict, bloodshed and battle, every form of sedition has been due to some form of prejudice, whether religious, racial or national, to partisan bias and selfish prejudice of some sort.”

~ Shoghi Effendi~

What is truth? This question may be rivaled in complexity only by “Why are we here?” Throughout time, humankind has sought out truth. Truth is at the root of our existence and some say the purpose of our existence. In order to understand the meaning of truth, we must first qualify the classification of the definition. The word, truth, itself carries different meanings across several planes. There are sometimes subtle and other times vast differences in the meaning of the word when discussing academic or historical truth, legal truth, self-evident truth, religious truth, or personal truth.

In all aspects, truth is based and built upon the academic definition of the word. The academic definition gives the following for the word truth: “the true or actual state of a matter; conformity with fact or reality” (Dictionary.com, 2006). This idea of conformity to fact is what gives meaning to the idea of historical or scientific truth. In these realms, truth is a fact that has been proven through accepted methods or has occurred historically. Truth, in this sense, is based on the past and what has already been and may bear no meaning on the future.

When considering the meaning of truth as it pertains to legality we must introduce a new aspect: reasonable doubt. In the legal world, truth is often defined as that which can be proven to be fact beyond a reasonable doubt. This means that we must only go so far in determining something to be true. What may not, in reality, be an accurate reflection of fact, can be deemed the truth in a court of law. We can see evidence of this in those who have been wrongfully convicted of crimes they did not commit. Their guilt was deemed as truth through evidence to a point “beyond reasonable doubt.”

Self-evident truth is a type that we don’t speak of very often, but our lives in the United States are based on it. The U.S. declared freedom with these words, “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness…” (Declaration of Independence, 1776). This idea that truth exists on its own accord and that certain facts are given the title of truth automatically is at the very core of freedom.

The idea of truth being self-evident may be drawn from religious truth. A truth that is based on faith and beliefs is difficult to argue. From the beginnings of our human existence, there have been religious leaders offering new versions of religious truth. Religious truth is the belief that truth is sent from a power beyond our comprehension and commands unwavering belief in that truth with faith, regardless of our ability to understand that truth. From the early teachings of Krishna to the modern Baha’i religion, the idea of religious truth remains the same.

Personal truth is born from and plays a part in all of the other kinds of truth. What this means is that we each have our own perspective, and so each have our own personal truths. What is true for me may not be truth for you. “The truth is always a compound of two half- truths, and you never reach it, because there is always something more to say.” (Tom Stoppard). For example: You are standing on one side of the street, while I am on the other. A car drives by. The side of that car facing me is painted black while the side that faces you is painted white. For each of us a different truth exists. For you, a white car has just driven by, while for me, a black one has. While neither of us is wrong in our perception of the truth, we each have our own different truth as it pertains to the same action. One of my favorite quotes on personal truth is, “Your whole life is nothing but a dream. You live in a fantasy where everything you know about yourself is only true for you. Your truth is not the truth for anyone else…” (Don Miguel Ruiz, 1999, p. 55).

As we can see, the definition of truth is not only dependent on the context it is taken from, but also on the perspective from which it is viewed, as well as on the context to which it will be applied. I suppose this means that there is no simple truth to be told.

(This essay was written as a class assignment….. I thought I would share it with you.)

“We must always look ahead and seek to accomplish in the future what we may have failed to do in the past. Failures, tests, and trials, if we use them correctly, can become the means of purifying our spirit, strengthening our characters, and enable us to rise to greater heights of service.”

Don’t we all wish to have time for all that we wish to do? A time for every purpose? Especially those of us that answer to more than one or two callings.

Some of you may be aware that I am not only an artist, wife, and mother, but also a student. I am finishing up my Bachelor’s of Science degree in Accounting. (The nerd part of my “rebel nerd” designation). I am working full time at school right now which means four classes at a time and only 12 weeks to cram those full four classes in, instead of the usual semester.

If this were my only other distraction, I might yet be finding more fruitful time for musing. Alas, it is not. I am also studying for the Special Enrollment Exam* (to become an Enrolled Agent) and the start up of a tax and bookkeeping company with my brilliantly cool tax partner, Jackie Z. How does this relate to my art? One of the things I hope to offer through this business venture is an extension of my tax advice geared to artists. I hope to help fill a void in this industry. It is near impossible sometimes to find someone to help with taxes that understands artists and how their “businesses” operate. I am hoping to be able to offer long-distance tax services (due to popular demand) for artists across the country, most likely beginning with the next tax season -early 2009. I feel a need to not only help clarify tax codes and how they affect or do not affect artists, but to also offer direct one on one tax services and advice.

So…know that even though the art is at a temporary pause, my muse is wide awake and lots of new designs are being worked on while I prepare for an added chapter to my life as a “rebel nerd.” I will post updates on my progress towards this end as well as notification of when I am taking on new clients.

*From irs.gov: ” What is an enrolled agent? An enrolled agent is a tax professional, who has demonstrated special competence in tax matters, applied for enrollment, and has been issued an enrollment card.” “An enrolled agent is a person who has earned the privilege of practicing, that is, representing taxpayers, before the Internal Revenue Service. Enrolled agents, like attorneys and certified public accountants (CPAs), are unrestricted as to which taxpayers they can represent, what types of tax matters they can handle, and which IRS offices they can practice before.”