In honor of 2010 and the first anniversary of our website launch, Too Shy to Stop decided to raise money for the National Endowment for the Arts, “a public agency dedicated to supporting excellence in the arts, both new and established; bringing the arts to all Americans; and providing leadership in arts education”.

For a donation of $20.10, we promised to write a 500-word piece about young people and their creative endeavors. We are still receiving donations from readers so we have yet to tally the total. However, below are two talented and creative individuals who wanted us to share their stories.

Quarter Life Doesn’t Have to Be a Crisis

Ten words for 2010: charming, crafty, nostalgic, flirty, thrifty, adventurous, sassy, colorful, vibrant, and candid.

“There’s a West Wing episode with the line ‘Decisions are made by those who show up.’ Well, I’m here,” says Lisa Rowan, a 24-year-old from Takoma Park, MD who founded Quarter Life: The Beltway’s Best Vintage and Thrift, a blog for nontraditional shoppers in the Washington, DC metro area. Recent posts include profiles of local consignment stores, advice for staying warm in the skimpiest of party dresses, and tips for giving vintage purses as gifts.

A former history major, Rowan is nostalgic for fashion from decades past. She cites Jackie O., a woman with “class, style, and substance”, as a fashion icon. During a time when Jessica McClintock dresses were all the rage, Rowan wore a vintage Oleg Cassini gown to her senior prom. She even found a pillbox hat to complete her look. Says Rowan, “Sometimes another generation’s fashion comes back in today’s picture.”

She writes for the young and broke, those DC-area young professionals who want to look stylish without breaking the bank. In a city where many ambitious people dress to impress, some might not know how to look their best on a budget. Though Rowan works in an office where wearing jeans is encouraged, she has lots of clothing that she wants to share.

“In 2009, I dabbled a little bit in eBay by selling items that I had found on the cheap but didn’t fit into or couldn’t wear,” says Rowan. “In 2010, I’m keeping my fingers crossed that I can open an eBay store and share some great finds with my readers.”

Not only is buying secondhand clothing the “green” thing to do, but it also helps aspiring fashionistas flex their creative muscles.

“Art is everywhere, even on our own bodies in our everyday lives,” says Rowan. “We’re creating a portrait for future generations.”

Technology and social media are vital to Rowan’s hobby. She enjoys reading fashion blog Haberdash Vintage (http://haberdashvintage.com/), updated by Boston fashion blogger Punky. In addition, she maintains two Twitter accounts: @quarterlife202 and @lisatella, Rowan’s personal Twitter account.

“Without computers, what would I do? Go through the phone book look up a bunch of stores?” says Rowan. “With the Internet and social media, I can be as current as I want to be.”

Rowan visits thrift stores when she can, but her greatest challenge is separating work and blogging from her downtime.

“I get excited when I talk to enthusiastic store owners or employees who love the secondhand scene. If you get excited about something, you want to work on it all the time,” says Rowan. “The Quarter Life wheels are always turning in my head.”

When she’s not blogging, Rowan plays for a kickball team and takes pictures in and around Washington, DC.

Though Rowan launched Quarter Life in October, she looks forward to building her readership and expanding her content. She says, “I hope that Quarter Life can be a trusted source for the broke and fabulous in DC and beyond.”

Listening to Your Childhood

Ten words for 2010: experimental, fusionful, philosophical, poetic, cultural, symbolic, creative, productive, loving, and passionate.

“We provide creative and contemporary music that touches on the imaginative states that are so easily obtained during childhood and harder to sustain as we grow older,” says 24-year-old songwriter Chris Braciszewski. He created Snuffaluffagus, a home studio project that has become a collective of musicians like Japandi, Alex Kent, BoomSnake, and Brian Warren. “We want to make you feel like a kid again through art and music.”

Listeners can stream tracks from Snuffy’s 2008 release Animals EP: A Folk Fairy Tale (Gnome Records) online. With playful and imaginative track titles like “Wolfrabbit” and “Worried Worm”, the EP invites listeners to explore fairy folk lands.

Braciszewski, who has been involved with his musical projects since 2006, is also involved with Gnome Records, a vinyl record label that supports bands in the Pacific Northwest and Southern California. Gnome Records strives to release albums in unique ways that help distinguish their artists from all the other musicians recording and distributing their music online.

“We release digital music and vinyl in creative ways. For our last release, we gave the digital album away for free and released a coloring book that coincides with the album’s story line, song by song,” says Braciszewski. “We also play as many shows, both touring and local, as possible to give people a chance to experience what we have to offer live.”

Though the band has been playing shows at Backspace in Portland, OR and The Che Cafe in San Diego, CA, Snuffaluffagus is leaving the West Coast for Manhattan in 2010. Says Braciszewski, “We ended up playing some amazing shows that really re-affirmed that this is what I want to do with my life.”

When he’s not writing and performing music, Braciszewski enjoys traveling, listening to and making music, and art. He also enjoys the company of friends and family as well as wine and poetry by Pablo Neruda, one of his favorite creative individuals.

“I really look up to a lot of the creative musicians that are pushing the levels of new music as well as pop music,” he says, citing unique bands from Brooklyn, NY as major influences.

MySpace is just one way that Snuffaluffagus spreads word about upcoming shows and new releases. Says Braciszewski, “Though technology intensely affected the record industry, hurting sales, it has also opened up a whole new space for creative music and marketing. We are promoting awareness of American arts by trying to stay on the cutting edge of recording and releasing music.”

In 2010, Snuffaluffagus will release upcoming album “Brazil Wood Poetry”, play live as much as possible, and tour when able. They are already preparing a West Coast tour for the summer.

“Putting something creative out into the collective consciousness is very beneficial to the art community in general,” says Braciszewski. “A lot of people do care about the arts, but I also think that probably just as much don’t care. Especially during a recession, people can be distracted by economic worries and other factors. We offer a sound that appeals to anyone willing to give art a chance.”