Lifestyle
Black-Owned Company Develops “Hidden Diversity” Greeting Cards to Address Overlooked Consumer Market of the Cultural “In-between”
Hidden Diversity Greetings was created to focus on inclusion that a culturally fluid audience is not used to seeing. The greeting card line was developed by Culturs global multicultural lifestyle network
Last Updated on May 18, 2025 by Rod Washington
FORT COLLINS, Colo. /PRNewswire/ — Hidden Diversity Greetings was created to focus on inclusion that a culturally fluid audience is not used to seeing. The greeting card line was developed by Culturs global multicultural lifestyle network, which activates 21st century diversity by creating media, products and experiences that embrace hidden diversity. A certified black-owned business with a social mission, Culturs focuses on “in-between” cultural populations, including multiethnic, multicultural, mixed-race and geographically mobile (like immigrants, refugees and Third Culture Kids) with a focus on people of color – because everyone should feel like they matter.
Culturs Art Director, Diana Vega, felt especially nurtured by the project while repatriating to her homeland of Merida, Mexico after obtaining a Masters Degree at Colorado State University. She designed the cards using her personal experiences and that of the company’s multicultural audience, and its team of cross-cultural staff that span 17 countries. “Being Cross Cultural is to be divided in many places,” she said. So she created a card that embodies this and shows an individual with the brown skin she’s used to seeing in her homeland standing in between mountain and sea, which represent the mountains of Colorado and the beaches of the Yucatan.
The entire line is colorful and vibrant, uplifting both giver and receiver, while extolling the virtues of varied cultural concepts. Vega’s favorite part of the line is “The Universal Language of Food,” which celebrates cultural favorites like samosas from India, Ghanian FuFu and Tacos Al Pastor from central Mexico. Other cards include the “definition series,” with words like HIRAETH: A Welsh word for “a feeling of longing for a home that no longer exists or never was.” Or “Global Soul,” which visualizes a quote from author Pico Iyer defining “A person who has grown up in many cultures all at once — and so lived in the cracks between them.” Many of the definitions come from Aldine’s decades of research in culturally fluid populations, which also were featured in a university level class she developed and taught for almost a decade.
The cards are as visually stimulating and diverse with the people they depict, as they are in their messaging — something that is still lacking in many greeting card lines. Hidden Diversity greetings are cards and journals with messages from the “in-between” cultural community addressing times when words aren’t enough, and friends and family just might not know how to approach. In cases like these, the cards to the talking and the sentiments hit the spot.
The line is printed in the United States on high-quality post-consumer recycled paper. They retail for $7.99 each or $34.99 for a set of five. Find them at CultursMag.com/Shop.
SOURCE Culturs
Naturist Blog
Embrace Liberation: Celebrating National Nude Day
Celebrate freedom and body positivity on National Nude Day, an empowering reminder to embrace our natural beauty. #NationalNudeDay #BodyPositivity
Last Updated on July 12, 2026 by Daily News Staff
Embrace Liberation: Celebrating National Nude Day
In a world where societal norms often dictate how we present ourselves, National Nude Day offers a unique opportunity to break free from conventions and embrace our natural state of being. Observed on July 14th, this day encourages body positivity, self-acceptance, and the celebration of individuality. Join us as we explore the significance of National Nude Day and the empowering message it conveys.
What is Nude Day about?
- Embracing Body Positivity:
National Nude Day serves as a powerful reminder that our bodies are beautiful in their natural form. It challenges the unrealistic beauty standards perpetuated by media and encourages us to appreciate ourselves and others without judgment. It’s a day to celebrate the diversity of bodies and foster a culture of acceptance. - Empowerment and Self-Acceptance:
Shedding our clothes on this day can be liberating, symbolizing the acceptance of our bodies and embracing our flaws as part of our unique identity. By embracing our natural state, we break free from the pressures of conformity, nurturing a positive relationship with ourselves and boosting our self-esteem. - Connection with Nature:
National Nude Day also provides an opportunity to connect with nature in a profound way. By being in our natural state outdoors, we can experience a sense of freedom and harmony with the environment. It’s a chance to feel the sun’s warmth on our skin, the breeze caressing our bodies, and to appreciate the beauty of nature without barriers. - Breaking Taboos and Challenging Stigma:
National Nude Day challenges societal taboos surrounding nudity and fosters a more open and inclusive conversation about body image. It encourages discussions about body positivity, consent, and the importance of respecting personal boundaries. By engaging in these conversations, we can challenge the stigma associated with nudity and promote a healthier mindset.
National Nude Day is not just about shedding our clothes; it’s about embracing our bodies, fostering self-acceptance, and challenging societal norms. It’s a day to celebrate diversity, promote body positivity, and encourage conversations that lead to greater understanding and acceptance. So, on this day, let us shed our inhibitions, embrace liberation, and celebrate the beauty of our natural selves. Happy National Nude Day! https://nationaldaycalendar.com/national-nude-day-july-14/
What is Nude Recreation Week?
Read the article: https://stmdailynews.com/what-is-nude-recreation-week-2/
A Footnote
National Nude Day, celebrated each year in July, is an informal observance embraced primarily by nudist and naturist communities around the world. While the event’s lighthearted name may invite misconceptions, its core purpose is far removed from sexuality or eroticism. Instead, National Nude Day promotes body positivity, personal freedom, and the celebration of the human form in its natural state. For many participants, the day serves as a reminder of the importance of accepting one’s own body and appreciating the diversity of shapes, sizes, and appearances that define humanity.
The practice of social nudity has a long and varied history, with roots in cultural, philosophical, and recreational traditions. Naturism, in particular, emphasizes living in harmony with nature, fostering a sense of equality and community by removing clothing—a social equalizer that diminishes visible markers of status, fashion, and material wealth. National Nude Day aligns with these principles by encouraging people to embrace comfort with their own bodies and reduce the stigma and shame that society often imposes regarding nudity.
Participants in National Nude Day may engage in various activities depending on their comfort level and local regulations. Some may visit designated naturist resorts or beaches, where social norms and legal protections allow for clothing-free recreation. Others might observe the day privately, enjoying solitude at home, practicing mindfulness, or meditating in the nude to connect with their body and surroundings. The observance is often framed as an opportunity to cultivate self-confidence and challenge internalized body insecurities, promoting mental and emotional well-being.
Importantly, National Nude Day is about consent, respect, and the normalization of nudity in appropriate contexts. Advocates stress that the celebration is non-sexual and not an invitation for voyeurism or sexual behavior. Its aim is educational and philosophical, emphasizing that nudity is a natural human state rather than a moral or social transgression. By recognizing and participating in this day, individuals can explore freedom from societal pressures, experience heightened self-acceptance, and foster a broader cultural understanding of the human body.
In essence, National Nude Day is a celebration of liberation, self-expression, and respect for human diversity. It encourages people to rethink preconceived notions of the body, embrace naturalism, and promote inclusivity. While it remains a niche observance, its message of body positivity, acceptance, and personal freedom resonates across cultural boundaries, reminding participants that the human body, in all its forms, deserves acknowledgment and respect.
For more information and related resources:
health and wellness
Heat waves can leave homes dangerously hot – even for young, healthy adults
Heat waves can turn homes into dangerous heat traps—especially during blackouts or in houses without AC—pushing indoor temperatures and humidity into lethal territory even for young, healthy adults, not just the elderly.
Heat waves can leave homes dangerously hot – even for young, healthy adults
Zoltan Nagy, Eindhoven University of Technology
Most people know that heat waves can be dangerous, but what they may not realize is that the heat indoors can be much worse than outdoors.
When the power goes out and air conditioning stops, or in homes without cooling, a house starts to function like a greenhouse during a heat wave. Heat enters through windows and walls and has nowhere to go. Air stagnates.
Within hours, indoor temperatures can climb well above what the thermometer shows outside, especially on upper floors and in rooms with south-facing windows. Over longer periods, especially if temperatures don’t cool off overnight, conditions can become lethal.
Most heat-related deaths occur indoors. When a heat dome sent temperatures soaring in the Pacific Northwest in 2021, 98% of the more than 600 deaths in British Columbia happened inside homes. Washington and Oregon also saw high numbers of deaths in homes that lacked air conditioning.
In Europe, where only 1 in 10 households have air conditioning, heat waves killed an estimated 60,000 people in 2022 and 47,000 in 2023, largely inside buildings never designed for these temperatures.
People of all ages are at risk in heat waves like these. I spent eight years at the University of Texas at Austin studying how buildings respond to extreme heat. In a recent study, my team assessed the heat risk in every single-family home in Austin.
We found that even younger, healthy adults face far more risk than they realize.
How hot is too hot for a human body?
Your body maintains a core temperature of about 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit (37 degrees Celsius). To cool down, it pushes blood to the skin and sweats. But when air temperature is high, that convective cooling weakens. When humidity is also high, sweat cannot evaporate.
If the body has no way to release heat, core temperature rises. If the core temperature increases past about 104 F (40 C), the body’s thermoregulation starts to fail. Past 109 F (42.8 C), death becomes likely.
What makes indoor heat especially dangerous is that it does not let up at night in homes that lack air conditioning. Outdoor temperatures typically drop after sunset, and someone outside can get a few hours of recovery. But a poorly insulated home that has been absorbing heat all day releases that heat slowly, keeping indoor temperatures elevated through the night. A person inside the home never gets a break.
After two or three nights of this, even healthy people start to be at serious risk for heat-related illnesses.
Why homes heat up more than people expect
People tend to underestimate indoor heat for a few reasons.
One is that the thermostat typically sits on one wall in one room. It does not tell what the temperature is in an upstairs bedroom or near a sun-facing window. In older, underinsulated homes, the actual felt temperature can exceed 90 F (32.2 C) even when a thermostat reads 75 F (23.9 C). The hot walls, ceilings and windows can radiate heat directly onto your body.
Another reason is that people assume all homes respond to heat the same way. However, a newer home with double-pane windows and good insulation acts like a thermos, keeping heat out for a longer time. An older home with single-pane windows and cracks in the walls heats up fast.
Two houses on the same street, exposed to the same outdoor conditions, can have completely different temperatures inside. And in a blackout, where neither home has cooling, those differences can become a matter of life and death.
What we found in Austin
Our study combined two datasets. From Austin’s tax appraisal records, we pulled basic property information, such as the year the home was built, the size and the number of stories for each of the city’s 213,000 single-family homes. We then matched each home to the most similar energy simulation models in a U.S. Department of Energy database that contains thousands of detailed, physics-based building energy models representing the U.S. residential building stock.
Using those models, we simulated each building’s indoor temperatures over time during a three-day heat wave and power outage with outdoor temperatures above 110 F (43 C).
We found that 85% of homes got hot enough to pose a significant risk of death for an elderly occupant. But what surprised us was the risk to younger people.
Under today’s climate conditions in Austin, about 15% of homes already have the potential to get hot enough without air conditioning to pose serious heat risks to healthy adults. Under future warming scenarios, that number jumps to as high as 65% if average summer highs reach 104 F (40 C). Further, climate projections for Austin show that heat waves will double in frequency by the end of the century.
We found three types of buildings and accompanying risks:
- Resilient homes, which are newer and well insulated, tended to have temperature and humidity conditions that would be survivable for an elderly occupant throughout the simulated heat wave with blackout.
- Critical-risk buildings, which are mostly older homes, became dangerous almost immediately.
- And then there was the middle group – homes where temperatures rose slowly during the simulated blackout, day by day, possibly giving occupants a false sense of security until it was too late.
Texas has already seen conditions like our case study’s – a heat wave paired with a power outage. In 2024, a derecho knocked out power for nearly 900,000 Houston households while the heat index climbed to 100 F (37.8 C). Seven weeks later, Hurricane Beryl cut power to 2.6 million homes, leaving them without power for over three days, with temperatures over 90 F (32.2 C).
What you can do to stay safe
If you can’t get cooling at home, there are steps you can take that can help.
Move to the lowest floor of your home, where it will be coolest. Close the blinds and curtains on sun-facing windows. Drink water constantly to stay hydrated, which is essential for regulating body temperature.
If you’re facing a blackout, be sure to also check on elderly neighbors, especially those living alone. You can also try to find a public cooling center; many cities now open them during heat emergencies.
Longer term, upgrades such as reflective window film, attic insulation and lighter-colored roofing can reduce how much a home heats up. After the 2021 heat dome, British Columbia’s coroner recommended updating building codes to address heat.
Our own findings point in the same direction: We propose that new homes should be required by building codes to maintain conditions in which at least light physical activity remains possible for all occupants for at least 72 hours during a power outage.
As summers get hotter with climate change and blackouts become more frequent, the risks of people suffering heat illnesses will only continue to rise.
Zoltan Nagy, Professor of Building Services, Eindhoven University of Technology
Heat waves can leave homes dangerously hot – even for young, healthy adults
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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Summer is supposed to be the season of yes: yes to rooftop drinks, weekend flights, beach clubs, festivals, and finally trying that hobby you’ve been bookmarking since January. But according to a new Dating.com analysis, the “main character summer” lifestyle can come with a very real price tag—especially if you’re paying for everything on your own.
Dating.com’s latest report, Dating.com Reveals the Most Expensive Cities to Be Single in Summer 2026, looked at 50 popular destinations worldwide and ranked them by what it calls a Single Tax Score—a composite measure of the costs singles are likely to face during peak summer months.
Why being single can cost more than you think
The study builds on Dating.com’s earlier findings that 43% of singles focus on self-care—from gym memberships and skincare to solo dates and travel. At the same time, 41% of singles say they’d feel less lonely if they had more money, underscoring how financial flexibility can influence how often people can say yes to experiences that build connection.
Dating.com’s resident therapist, Jaime Bronstein, LCSW, notes that the assumption “single = cheaper” often doesn’t hold up. Couples can split rent, transportation, meals, and entertainment, while singles absorb the full cost alone—plus summer’s calendar tends to be packed with higher-priced social events and trips.
The 10 most expensive cities to be single in Summer 2026
Here are the top destinations where the summer “single tax” hits hardest, based on Dating.com’s ranking.
1) Miami (Single Tax Score: 75)
Miami takes the top spot thanks to steep nightlife and entertainment costs. Dating.com estimates:
- $110 for a solo date night
- $200/night for beach clubs and nightlife venues
- $280/night average summer hotel rates
2) New York (74)
New York lands at #2 with high costs across nearly every category:
- $115 average solo date night
- $380/night average summer hotel rates
Even without flight costs for locals, accommodation and social spending push NYC near the top.
3) Mykonos (72)
Europe’s most expensive destination for singles on the list, Mykonos is priced like a fantasy:
- $1,900 average summer flights from New York
- $280/night beach club and nightlife costs (highest in the study)
- $300/night average hotels
4) Las Vegas (70)
Vegas is built for entertainment—and the bill reflects it:
- $250 average festival/concert tickets (highest among the top ten)
- $180/night nightlife costs
- $145/night average hotels (relatively affordable, but spending adds up fast)
5) Boston (67)
Boston’s biggest driver is lodging:
- $390/night average summer hotel stays (highest of any city in the top ten)
- $108 average solo date night
6) Maldives (64)
A classic “romantic” destination that gets especially expensive solo:
- $480/night average hotels (highest in the top ten)
- $1,300 average summer flights from New York
- $124 average solo date night
7) San Francisco (62)
San Francisco remains costly for both travel and everyday experiences:
- $820 average flights from London
- $100 typical solo date
- $245/night average hotels
8) Los Angeles (61)
LA’s premium social scene pushes it into the top ten:
- $100 average solo date night
- $820 average flights from London
- $22 average rooftop cocktail
9) London (61)
London’s costs are driven by international travel and peak-season lodging:
- $1,900 average flights from New York
- $295/night average hotels
- $108 average solo date
10) Santorini (61)
Like Mykonos, Santorini’s popularity inflates nearly every summer expense:
- $1,900 average flights from New York
- $160/night beach club and nightlife costs
- $310/night average hotels
What to watch for (and how to plan smarter)
The takeaway isn’t “don’t travel” or “don’t go out.” It’s that destination choice can dramatically change the cost of a solo summer, and singles may want to budget differently than couples.
If you’re planning a solo trip (or just trying to make the most of where you live), consider:
- Swapping one premium hotspot for a value city (the ranking includes lower-cost options like Bangkok, Medellín, Mexico City, and Kuala Lumpur)
- Prioritizing experiences that don’t scale with group size (museums, walking tours, day trips, free festivals)
- Booking lodging early in high-demand cities where hotels are doing the most damage
As Bronstein emphasizes, being single isn’t a problem to solve—and solo experiences can be just as meaningful as romantic ones. The goal is to make sure your summer plans support your life, not stress your wallet.
Methodology (in plain English)
Dating.com reviewed 50 popular destinations and analyzed costs associated with being single in summer, including:
- Date night costs for one person
- Summer hotel rates
- Summer flight costs
- Rooftop cocktail prices
- Festival and concert ticket prices
- Beach club costs
- Pet-related surcharges
- Other seasonal leisure expenses
Each factor was normalized on a 0–1 scale (with 1 representing the highest cost), then combined into a final score to rank cities from most to least expensive for singles.
Source: Dating.com, via PRNewswire (June 25, 2026)
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