In Touch with Tanja Barnes

Change in the world can only happen one step at a time. We all...

Wed, 23 Dec 2009 03:04:00 -0800

Change in the world can only happen one step at a time. We all can make that difference. Kiva’s mission is to connect people through lending for the sake of alleviating poverty. Join my Kiva lending team today. Kiva also has fabulous gift certificates perfect for the holy days.

Give Thanks #72

Sun, 29 Nov 2009 05:14:03 -0800

Give Thanks #72

Give Thanks #71 - Andie

Fri, 27 Nov 2009 01:07:21 -0800

Give Thanks #71 - Andie

Give Thanks #70

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 10:54:06 -0700

Give Thanks #70

Give Thanks #69

Thu, 10 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Give Thanks #69

Give Thanks #68 on Vimeo (via Vimeo) It’s been years since...

Sun, 21 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Give Thanks #68 on Vimeo (via Vimeo)

It’s been years since I hang out with Art Kinsey, my friend from highschool. We once hung out in the San Fernando Valley but now he runs this super awesome pizza place called Gioia in Berkeley. I need to do a video about that place! Happy Father’s Day, Art!

In Loving Memory: Joseph Lawrence Huckins on Vimeo (via...

Mon, 04 May 2009 17:24:00 -0700

In Loving Memory: Joseph Lawrence Huckins on Vimeo (via Vimeo)

My beloved community suffered a heavy loss last week when Joey Huckins passed away in a tragic work related accident. Below is the obituary as featured on Placeropolis.com

Joseph Lawrence Huckins
12/15/1978 - 4/30/2009

Joe lived life to the fullest. Joe had dreams and then he lived them as an inspiration to us all. Joe worked as a tree trimmer; a job that he dearly loved. On Thursday, April 30, in a job related accident, much too early in life, God took Joe away. Joe was everyone’s favorite grandson, son, brother and uncle and friend.

Joe is survived by a large family and many friends. His parents, Chick and Ginny, His brothers and sisters and their spouses and children, Tom and Lisa Huckins, Zachariah, Cecilia, Magdalena, Dominique and Giana; Peter Huckins; Katie and Ken Prust, BJ, Kenny, Kolbe, Kyler, Sophia and Levi; Tim and Stephanie Huckins, Jacob, Spencer, and Lucy; Teresa and Tony Landry, Chloe, Anthony, Emily, Lizzy, Mitchell, Austin, Molly and Gracie; Pat and Stephany Huckins, Charlie, Johnny, Sarah, Mae, Jimmy and Christina Josephina (Born the day before his death); Rob and Andrea Huckins, Anna, Alli, Bobby and Ashley; Chris Huckins, Mitzy Huckins, JP Huckins and Anne Marie Huckins. His Grandmothers Mary Huckins and Betty Triol, his aunts and uncles, Judy and Chuck Paine, Marjorie and John Hamon, Barbara Triol, Susie Huckins and Gary Huckins. There is a lingering emptiness in this family that Joe filled.

Joe attended St. Joseph’s Catholic School and Del Oro High School and was also home schooled. Joe was born at Auburn Faith and lived nearly his entire life in Auburn, until he started traveling.

He visited Rome, Ireland and Mexico with his parents. He traveled to and lived for extended periods in Venezuela and New Zealand. He traveled to Thailand and India, and more recently to Mexico where he learned to surf. Just last week he returned from a two-week bike ride that started in Phoenix and ended in El Paso.

Besides bike riding, Joe was an expert of many pursuits, including, sailing, windsurfing, skateboarding, snow skiing, snowboarding, wakeboarding and canoeing. While many of us struggled to learn something new, Joe not only picked it up instantly, he excelled at doing it. Many friends and family members will greatly miss living vicariously through Joe’s many adventures.

Joe is the personification of all good things a man is capable of being; with just the right amount of mischief, playfulness and kindness included, which made him so loveable and well respected. Because of Joe there is a lot more love in this world.*

Viewing of the body will be on Wednesday, May 6, at 5 pm and Rosary will follow the viewing at 7 p.m.

Lassila Funeral Home
51 Grass Valley Highway
Auburn, CA 95603

Funeral will be Thursday, May 7 at 10:30 a.m.

St. Josephs Catholic Church
1162 Lincoln Way
Auburn, CA 95603

Reception to follow at St. Teresa’s Parish Hall on Atwood Road.

In lieu of flowers please donate to:

Immaculate Conception Apostolic School
28000 Rawlings Lake Rd.
Colfax, Ca 95713

*First published in the Gold Country Media Newspapers on 5/3/2009.

Slideshow images courtesy of Tony Tohono and Burntown.

Music Gleam Remix by Etherine available on Magnatune.com

How To Talk Like A Pirate On Facebook! on Vimeo (via...

Thu, 30 Apr 2009 13:21:55 -0700

How To Talk Like A Pirate On Facebook! on Vimeo (via Vimeo)

Avast! Set yer native tongue ter pillage ye olde Facebook. This video tutorial will be teachin’ ye how! Shiver me timbers and tell me your thoughts!

Me Want (Anthony’s) Cookies! on Vimeo (via Vimeo) After...

Thu, 23 Apr 2009 22:03:33 -0700

Me Want (Anthony’s) Cookies! on Vimeo (via Vimeo)

After seeing my friend Hollis in the hospital I went to go meet up with some friends for brunch in the Mission district of San Francisco. Quite serendipitously I walked past this bakery and I was like “mmmmmm…cookies”! Who doesn’t like cookies? Right? ZOMG…they were the best cookies EVAR! As it turns out Anthony’s Cookies is brand spankin’ new and now they’re open for business! Come to their Grand Opening party this Saturday 25 April 2009 from 1-3 pm.

Anthony’s Cookies are located at 1417 Valencia Street, San Francisco, CA.

(415) 655-9834 http://anthonyscookies.com

Pillow Fight Day - Los Angeles 2009 on Vimeo (via Vimeo) On...

Sun, 05 Apr 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Pillow Fight Day - Los Angeles 2009 on Vimeo (via Vimeo)

On Saturday April 4th 2009, there were massive pillow fighs in cities world wide!

More info at pillowfightday.com

Is this thing on?

Mon, 16 Mar 2009 10:44:41 -0700

Is this thing on?

Help Hollis Hawthorne (via tanjabarnes) So far Friends of...

Fri, 13 Mar 2009 00:52:00 -0700

Help Hollis Hawthorne (via tanjabarnes)

So far Friends of Hollis have rallied together to raise about 1/2 the monies required to get Hollis Hawthorne back home.

Please help if you can by making a donation at http://www.friendsofhollis.com

art lab: the art of hair (# 2) on Vimeo (via Vimeo) Two months...

Fri, 06 Mar 2009 10:00:00 -0800

art lab: the art of hair (# 2) on Vimeo (via Vimeo)

Two months ago I got a fantastic makeover by Billy Van Rooy from Art Lab. Last week he wrote on my Facebook wall inviting me to come in for an update. He’s so awesome. Look what he did for me!

Art Lab
1410 Montana Avenue
Santa Monica, CA 90403
310-394-5200
artlabsalon.com

Help Hollis Get Home

Thu, 05 Mar 2009 10:00:00 -0800

Chicken John is a Friend of Hollis Hawthorne

Wed, 04 Mar 2009 16:09:00 -0800

A word from my pal Chicken John:

OK so I know that everyone is broke and people are downright terrified and the economy and the unemployment (10%? Holy Jimmy Carter Batman!!!) and the rents are sky high and it’s raining and we are out of coffee…

I know.

And our partisan government is so confused and ineffective it’s like watching 14 year olds on a first date ordering food at a restaurant and noticing the boy is trying add up how much $ he’s got and how much he’s spent and he just spilled his water and his friends are texting him images of donkey porn and he doesn’t have a car or a chance….

I know.

And everyone has a cause and the seals and the climate and the zoo and the little children and the Iraq and the drugs and the gangs and unfair and the union and the harassment and Gavin’s hair and the storefronts….

I know.

I know. Listen. I need you lock arms with me for a minute. Take a stroll. I have some bad news. Our friend Hollis was involved in a motorcycle accident. She might could use some help. She is in India. She has a brain injury. She’s on a respirator. A respirator is a violent affront to the human body. To say it’s un-natural is an understatement. Horrible. Horrible is a good word. It’s like a compressor, in an auto garage. The tube is big, like a garden hose. Taped to your face with white medical tape. Forcing air into your lungs. Mechanical contraption would be another good description. Infernal device. This machine keeps the blood in Hollis’ body oxygenated. It’s dealing with breathing while Hollis figgers out how to do that again. She got smacked pretty hard and forgot for a minute. There is a place that can teach her how to do this again. We would like to introduce Hollis to this place. And for this, we can use some help.

Where are the finest doctors? I ask you good people of San Francisco, the City of Art and Innovation? Why right here of course. Where would you want to live if you were the best doctor in the world. You would be at Stanford Medical Center. Of course you would be. The best of all things. Best and brightest. All here. It’s us, actually. We are the best and the brightest. If you argue with me, then you’ve just been here too long. You really need to get out more.

Hollis needs to board at Stanford Medical Center. She has been cleared to travel, and it is reasonable and prudent for her to traverse the 10,000 mile trek safely. How, you may ask, does one travel whilst hooked up to a respirator? In an ambulance. With 2 doctors. A few nurses. A guy in a gorilla suit, I dunno. But there’d better be at least one guy in a fucking bell-hop outfit for $200 LARGE. Yup. Two Hundred Thousand Dollars. You want to charter a medical air ambulance you better sell your Google stock.

I can’t begin to solve the injustice in the world. In my city. On my block. I can’t solve the injustice that occurs in my kitchen, for chrissakes. But a random stranger contacted me about the junk boats the other day, and out of the blue donated $100 to my paypal account to support the project. She is a lady that lives on a boat, and is into things that are ecologically sustainable. It always feels like a freak accident when a random stranger finds out what you doing and wants to help just because you’ve inspired them. It’s the world I wanna live in, so I’m goona donate the $100 she gave me AND I’m gonna add my $100 to it and give $200 towards the $200,000 ambulance ride for Hollis. I just wanna keep it going. Think of it as an philanthropic stimulus package. Hollis was involved in a freak accident. She fell off a rented scooter going 5 miles an hour and got the handlebar stuck in her helmet. I don’t even understand it. But when clowns have accidents of course they are “freak” accidents.

Hollis needs to come home, to get the attention she needs. Always the attention whore, that one. She needs to get on that plane. She needs help. Where are we at? Today, 4 or 5 days after the accident, already $20K has been raised. We got 10%. It can be done. It’s not going to be easy. And there are no angels anymore. All that Microsoft money and the start-up money and the VC money is gone. There is only actual money. But we are many, and Hollis is just one. We can take her. I for one want to be one of the people who helped Hollis and be part of the awesome community that came together when one of us was fucked. Fucked. I mean, she can’t breathe. She needs help.

The amount you donate is unimportant. Ya got what ya got. ANY donation, even one dollar, is important. Her mom, her boyfriend, her sisters, her roommates, her co-workers at Last Gasp, the people in her dance troupe, DPW, Vaude de Vivre… on and on… your donation is fuel that powers the beacon of our community. So what if your donation is small? God doesn’t care if you sing off key, she only cares how LOUD YOU SING!!!!! Every donation not only brings the goal closer, but also invigorates the family. So far there have been 400 unique donations. 5 days, guys. Whoa. That’s kinda crazy.

Donating is easy.

Paypal: elizastrack@gmail.com

I’m donating $200. But I’m an over-achiever. I also plan on making Hollis work the door at some events in the future to pay me back, but that’s another story.

But since I’m an over-achiever, I’m gonna commit to 4 times my $ in a match. I’m gonna commit to raising $800 more by begging my friends and family IN ADDITION to putting it out on this list here. I’m gonna send an email to my 20 closest and mostest and beg for $40. I’m gonna tell them that for $40 they can be a member of the coolest club on Earth. This new group of stellar awesomeites called: Friends of Hollis.

I’m proud to be a member.

http://friendsofhollis.blogspot.com/

Help Hollis Hawthorne! Late last week Hollis Hawthorne suffered...

Sun, 01 Mar 2009 23:36:00 -0800

Help Hollis Hawthorne!

Late last week Hollis Hawthorne suffered severe trauma to her brain from a motorcycle accident while traveling in India. Though she has no health insurance, Stanford Medical has offered to take her case and treat her. Now all Hollis needs is an air ambulance from Pondicherry to Palo Alto. Please help if you can by making a donation at http://friendsofhollis.blogspot.com/

In loving remembrance of Lou Genise 4 November 1970 - 13...

Tue, 17 Feb 2009 15:32:00 -0800

In loving remembrance of

Lou Genise

4 November 1970 - 13 February 2009

This video is a mashup of footage taken at the memorial service for Lou Genise this past weekend and videos taken by others during his lifetime. It is second time in less than nine months I’ve brought my video camera to such an event. The first time was last spring for my friend Otto which sparked a series of videos called “Give Thanks”. I realize this is a very vulnerable time for everybody and so I tried not be intrusive. I hope that I didn’t offend anybody. This is my way of grieving, remembering and saying goodbye.

Valentine's Day Mix Tape

Wed, 11 Feb 2009 12:46:00 -0800

Song #1 Mystery Artist with Mystery Song. Name that tune!

Love your musician. Buy their music.

Song #2 “Silly Love Songs” Paul McCartney & Wings — Listen here.

Song #3 “Pokinoi” Cirque Du Soliel — Listen here.

Song #4 “Solo Por Tu Amor” Manuel Franjo — Listen here.

Come join me at my Digital Birthday party and taking your...

Mon, 09 Feb 2009 09:58:07 -0800

Come join me at my Digital Birthday party and taking your questions today at 4:00 pm PST!

Facebook | Your Videos: How to Make a Facebook Badge For Your...

Wed, 28 Jan 2009 18:01:37 -0800

Facebook | Your Videos: How to Make a Facebook Badge For Your Blog or Website

My friend DivaDanielle asked me “Tanja, hey where did you get the facebook widget that is on your podcast?”

This video shows you how!