Ugh

Financial aid battles... I thought I left them behind in undergrad.

Now I get to do that wonderful lay out your whole life for them to judge... It's going to be so much fun. I can feel it.

Putting on my armor, I will let you know how it goes.

procrastination ...

World Travel So Far

Map Legend: 5%, 14 of 263 Territories

lived here

airport only

vacationed here

studied here

plan to go here

These are the countries I have been...

© worldmapmaker.com | Travel Insurance

You can make one of your own at worldmapmaker.com

for some reason the map isn't showing and the USA map html code isn't coming up -- and, well, I need to get back to work!

Testing

We'll see if this helps me to post more often.

Truthfully I am feeling less anonymous than I would like to be so I have been struggling with what to put here, so I need to work that out.

But I might be up for short posts via this contraption.


-- Posted from my iTouch

Mostly Boring Details

Photos to come... as soon as I figure out how to get them off the new camera.

I am sort of settled into Albuquerque now... that is to say, I have unpacked the relocube. Most of the boxes are unpacked. Still need some furniture -- but for now the beach chairs are serving as a makeshift couch. Turtlemina is still waiting to be moved to the bigger tank, but I found a little table on craigslist that should work. And at least the bed frame will be delivered on Tuesday -- hopefully the mattress will not be far behind. For now, the air mattress continues to serve its purpose.

I am thankful for

-friends who are willing to help carry, unpack, sort, and put up with attitude
-a city laid out on a grid ... it makes being new to town a little bit easier
-some rain that brings a cooler week
-getting at least three runs in this week
-cafes with free wifi and one neighbor with unsecured wireless
-and much more... just too tired to think anymore tonight.

Tomorrow... classes start. I am nearly ready... or I am as ready as I can be.

New adventures await.

I'm not dead

This was posted on July 24th, but I just got around to it -- though I am guessing I have been needing it for much longer than last week. ;)

Oh and this doesn't really count as a blog post, but it's as much as I can muster at this moment.

July 24, 2009
Transforming a Misperception
Lack

We all know what it feels like to want something we don’t have. It may be a pair of expensive jeans, a romantic partner, or rent money; it may be a certain attitude, a car, or a savings account. This is part of life, and in the best-case scenario, we experience a constant flow of money and material possessions, companions and experiences, in and out of our lives. However, many of us linger in a state of wanting and not having, a state of lack that never seems to subside. We consistently perceive ourselves as not having what we need or not having what we want. This is an energetically draining state to be in. It is also self-perpetuating because how we feel about ourselves determines what we are able to create for ourselves.

How we feel profoundly influences how we perceive our reality. When we feel we are lacking, we look around and see what is not there. On the other hand, if we feel abundant, we can look at the very same situation and see a completely different picture, one full of blessings and advantages. The more we see the blessings, the more abundant we feel, and the more blessings we attract. Similarly, if we see lack, we tend to create and attract that energy.

If you find yourself habitually residing in a feeling of lack, it may be due to a core belief formed in your childhood or even in a past life. It may be because you are out of touch with your inner divinity, which is the source of your abundance. In any case, know that your perception of lack is a misperception that can be corrected with awareness and effort. It can be as simple as taking 10 or 15 minutes each day to quiet your mind and imagine yourself in a state of unlimited abundance, handling the financial demands and others in your life with total ease, drawing from an endless supply of resources. Know that it is your birthright to be fully supported in the fulfillment of your needs and desires.

bad blogger

I have been super negligent of the blog -- the list of things to write is getting longer and longer -- and I also have a ton of pictures -- but it may be June before I get to it.

I am at present --
sorting and packing my life into boxes
getting ready to start a temp gig
registering for graduate courses
helping a friend with her blogs and facebook fan pages
keeping up with my online job
looking for an apartment in Albuquerque
trying to stay sane

I will be back as soon as I can ...

More Spring Scenes

I was sort-of pre-nostalgic while I waited to hear from graduate schools. There was little chance that I would get to stay in my neighborhood, in my cozy, sometimes too small apartment while in graduate school.
There are so many things that I will miss, but maybe most of all these lovely flowers.This tree (or bush?) is slightly above the sidewalk on the street that leads from the bus or to the casual carpool. The best thing about them is when the petals fall. It is a like a pink road back home.
I like to get close to the flowers, but the camera not so much...maybe someday I will figure it out


Just starting to figure out it might be spring.


I know that New Mexico will have just as much beauty...

it will just be different.

Finally back in my backyard...
my landlady does this, not me. I kill plants, but I don't mean to.These photos are from around the neighborhood some taken on 3/4/09... I more but they will have to wait for a few days. Posting photos is a royal pain, takes HOURS, ok, feels like hours.

Spring Sprung Early

Photos taken 2/9/09
I missed taking these photos last year.Even though it is not really spring, yet, the tree in my backyard has been fooled by the rain followed by brilliant sun.I am going to miss this!

Need to take the after shot and post it...soon

Not really an april fools joke...

La letra de SOLAMENTE UNA VEZ por Agustin Lara "El flaco de oro"

Solamente una vez
ame en la vida
Solamente una vez
y nada mas

Una vez nada mas en mi huerto
brillo la esperanza,
la esperanza que alumbra
el camino de mi soledad

Una vez nada mas
se entrega el alma
con la dulce y total renunciacion
y cuando ese milagro realiza
el prodigio de amarse
hay campanas de fiesta que cantan
en el corazon

Y cuando ese milagro realiza
el prodigio de amarse
hay campanas de fiesta que cantan
en el corazon

Pledge to Be the Change

If you haven't signed the pledge to stop using the r-word, please do! Today is the day of action 3/31/09.

Be the change.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T ??

It has been an awful week for Oakland.

I have been trying not to write about it... but it is not possible to ignore it completely. The events of the past week will shape the community for a long time to come.

That angers me because once again the lives of some are valued differently than the lives of others.

I am not trying to bemoan the fact that the city is hurting or that mourning is necessary and important, particularly for the family members.

But let's be honest... for many months and years to come the triggers will be poised because four men gave their lives in the line of duty -- something that they all knew well was a possibility when they took the job.

We ignore, however, the real issues that led to the fateful day.

This man is the product of this community -- and that community is larger than just his family. We, as a community, failed him over and over and over and then he did the unthinkable and now we demonize him as though we had nothing to do with this.

And that is not even taking into account the gun manufacturers or the NRA (there -- I named them by name, let their search engines find this and see the havoc they have wrecked).

I feel these three articles sum up the desperate straits where Oakland finds itself right about now.

-The educational system has systematically (sorry for the redundancy) produced undereducated graduates that have few options as adults.
-Once parolees serve their sentences, the community and society does not adequately support or supervise re-entry.
-With the economic situation continuing to deteriorate and the aforementioned educational situation, we can expect to see more and more brazen crimes -- as long as it is easier to get a gun than an education, we cannot hope for a better citizenry -- productive citizens do not drop from the sky or spring from Zeus' brain fully formed.

I hope that the officers will rest in peace -- and that the deeply troubled young man who took their lives and gave his own will also find some peace.

I think this young man's piece from Youth Radio sets forth the feeling of many of Oakland's residents.
----------------
Update: I thought this story would end here -- without the mention of the finger pointing at the black community for raising c*p haters, but no, I am forced to discuss the rancor because the "families" who were willing to put their loved ones on parade as a final farewell instead of giving them private, dignified burials, were also willing to display the racial hatred that all too often justifies the deaths of young black men but not the justified anger of the black community towards a justice system and law enforcement.

a proper farewell

The marquis read at the end of the night: "We love you Oakland"It's a final message to the patrons and the city.

Here's mine back at the Parkway -- and to the Fischers -- thanks for creating the space for this fantastic community to grow!
For those who don't know the Parkway Speakeasy Theater personally -- this is an adorable old theater (gently used and in shabby chic disrepair) where you could watch a movie (not quite first run) for $5. There was wine and beer -- and a full menu of great food -- carefully delivered to you during the movie. Inside the theater, level one, you could snag a sofa with coffee table or a table with chairs or the "bar" to set your food on. Upstairs, there were more sofas and theater seats with tables carefully placed every two chairs.

Most people loved to get a sofa -- but I preferred to be upstairs with the tables between seats -- a place to put your cups and popcorn and get a great view of the screen.

Creature comforts aside, the best part was ALWAYS the audience participation! It is not the place you go to quietly watch the movie, baby brigade aside (where folks could bring their pre-toddling kids to a place where everyone understands!).

The Parkway Speakeasy Theater will be sorely missed in Oakland!

Favorite memories:

--Watching Sideways there with a large group of friends -- we were having a good time, but the folks across from us -- at a table for four with at least five bottles of wine were really having a great time

--Oscar bash with Yader -- can't remember the year, you can check out the photos

--last minute two for one with Seraphina to see The Wedding Crashers; we grabbed the two last seats at the back of the theater. They were tall chairs, almost like bar stools but with backs. I laughed so hard I almost fell off my chair!

--Seraphina always got me to go to movies I wouldn't have considered otherwise or just didn't get around to seeing them in the other theater -- or these were just Parkway movies -- let's see, X Men, 29 Days Later, Wedding Crashers, Cadillac Records, Hustle and Flow, Bettie Paige, Lake House...
--Waiting line for what seemed like hours to make sure to get to see three more movies before the Parkway closes.

--There are just some movies that you need to see that Parkway, for the audience participation factor, so you might need to see them more than once: Juno, Crash, Walkout, Transamerica, Wallace and Grommit, Sicko

--Going to see the Dixie Chicks movie, Not Ready to Make Nice, with Jace -- it turns out that the boiler was out and it was freezing, so they were handing out individual blankies as you walked in... parkway style!

--The day I got Sergio to go see Rap Dreams with me at the Parkway...miracle.

--Watching my first ever Rocky Horror Picture show for its last performance: MAGIC!
I am sure there are tons of experiences that are not coming to mind, but they are locked in my heart. The Parkway is one of the things that made Oakland home for the past nearly seven years.

dreaming of adobes, chilis and sacred places

red chiles drying in Hatch
Graveyard, Garfield
Mesilla


Chimayo

Taos Pueblo



all pictures from fall trip to New Mexico