| well... | |||
| 07:53pm 12/05/2006 | |||
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Okay, I defected to livejournal. terra_farma I knew I said I wouldn't, but I did. I really like this journal, so I will try to keep it alive somehow. It's okay to drop in though:) |
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| Post | |||
| Here's where I try to get things up to date... | ||||
| 10:48pm 06/05/2006 | ||||
Anyway, I have to try to catch up on things. Squeeze and I have had two cars by now - both became such maintenance nightmares that we donated one to the St Vincent de Paul, and the other is awaiting its fate in front of our house. The car situation seemed to figure heavily in past entries, but alas, it was not the panacea we had hoped. With fuel costs and insurance and all the tikky-takky junk that goes with car ownership I think the next transportation goal is a bicycle rickshaw. I'll get back to this later - I'm a bit tired and I have to work in the morning. |
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| Read 8 - Post | ||||
| I can't believe this is still here! | |||
| 05:29pm 05/05/2006 | |||
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Of course after a stellar rant like that, my hard drive kaboomed and I lost everything digital. I still have my sweet analog life though. For some reason I had trouble logging back in from other places until I realized that I had an underscore in my user name (sometimes keeping a notebook is a good idea if these little details escape you). Ooohhh..... Squeeze and I worked everything out immediately and I'll have to go further into this at a later date - I have a gazillion things to do, and I only recently have been able to make time to do them. I hope I haven't offended anyone by dropping off the face of the earth, but my computer access was limited to the library, and even then I rarely made it there. I really missed this blog and my blurty pals though - forgive me? Also - I didn't kaboom my computer myself - well, not physically. I just tried to do too much with it at once, and it just refused to do anything. An aside - "sad mac" is really cute, but you never want to see it. |
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| Read 9 - Post | |||
| I want OUT!!!!!! | ||||
| 04:35pm 29/07/2003 | ||||
( why? ) Never get a joint account - never. It's as big an indicator that things are about to fall apart as getting your lover's name tattooed to your body. |
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| Read 10 - Post | ||||
| beat poetry about a rubber fish - written 6/1/03 | ||||
| 02:25am 27/07/2003 | ||||
I see the rubber fish in there cold fishy eyes see one black hair plastered to the cold tub wall. *curtsies* |
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| Read 4 - Post | ||||
| mmm - extra ranty goodness.... | ||||
| 01:46am 27/07/2003 | ||||
As an internet user, I represent 59% of the US population (source: Cyberatlas). That actually pleasantly surprised me - I figured it was less. I'd like for it to be more. When you consider that this does not figure in how many of the 59% only have internet access at work or school (where it's not as if you can fart around online all day, plus it's not really private) or the library (where you may have to sign for a time slot, and give it up within a prescribed amount of time), the number ceases to appear large. So, with this in mind, how many of the 59% are catching up on current events online? How many of these are just going to the same old sites (owned by one of the six worldwide media outlets - AOL/Time-Warner, Disney, Bertlesmann, Viacomm, News Corporation, and Vivendi-Universal - here's a colorful, informative chart!) that trumpet gung-ho-jingo-jango crap? What is the current truth as seen by the average person in this country? Anyway, I'm a bit troubled about this - I don't want to tell people what to think - all opinions expressed here are my own, but I have been thinking about this for several years now, and I think that we are in the middle of a huge journalism revolution, and journalism and politics and law are all connected. It's like The World drew The Death card - there will be changes, change is scary, but change makes life interesting and helps you learn. With all the horribleness going on in the world, I still think there is a chance that we can all come through this stronger, wiser, and more compassionate. I don't like to be gloomy about the state of things - I'm really a happy person most of the time, but I consider this dumbing down of the truth to be more than insulting - it's dangerous. When a politician can lie (not just about WMD, but education, healthcare, the economy) with no outcry from the mainstream press, it is an outrage - there are too many people out there who think that because they watch the news and read the paper, they are getting news. Anyway, I'm going to list some alternative news links pretty soon in a separate entry. I don't have time at the moment to compile a list, but many of the links I plan to include are in past entries. I'll throw in this one, just for fun. I used to think I lived in the most boring time in human history. All that has changed. I just got these in my email: " It is not your obligation to complete the task [of perfecting the world], but neither are you free to desist [from doing all you can]." - Ethics of the Fathers 2:16 "To guard your home by mysterious ceremonies is not enough, you must guard it by good deeds. With good deeds you should turn to your parents in the east, your teachers in the south, your wife and children in the west and your friends in the north. Above you, worship the spirit, and below you, honor all that serve you." -Majjhima Nikaya |
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| Post | ||||
| school and other stuff | ||||
| 04:56pm 25/07/2003 | ||||
Kitty's teacher came by today to meet us - I like her. I can tell she genuinely likes kids, and is interested in them as individuals - she asked if Kitty needed any special help in any areas, how she likes to learn, all that, and she interviewed Kitty without being all cutesy and elementary schooly (with the wooden schoolhouse necklaces and quilted pinafores and perfectly starched bangs) - woah - she treated her like a person! Imagine! Since this is the first year for the charter school, she is really excited about it - she said that they will have more freedom with teaching methods than she is accustomed to. I really like how this is going so far. Almost every woman in my family is either a schoolteacher or a former schoolteacher (or a daughter of a schoolteacher, or studying to become a schoolteacher...), and they all bitch about curriculum. Ever wonder why some teachers don't seem to care? It's because they aren't always allowed to teach. In the last several years, my mom has been extremely frustrated because instead of teaching English and History, she's teaching how to take standardized tests. She says that the school district could save a lot of money if they'd just hire a babysitter to do that so that she can do what she's trained to do - teach English and History. She used to love teaching - her students are still crazy about her too (I swear she taught every kid in my hometown). The "Powers That Be" are so concerned about stupid test scores that they kill the desire to teach in teachers, and the will to learn in students. It was bad when I was in school - but I am still in touch with some of my former teachers, and my mom still teaches at my high school, and I hear from aunts, cousins, and their friends about how much worse it is now - they are all just wishing they went into another field at this point. Who catches all the blame for this? The teachers. It's fucked. Here's some stuff I read a couple of days ago and pasted into my client, but forgot to post. Thought I'd share: The Prosecution Calls... - from tompaine.com Congress Has Second Thoughts On Patriot Act (GOOD!) Here's a creepy picture of the logo mentioned in the above article from The Memory Hole. edited to add the following (and then once again to fix an awkward paragraph): I just found this - it goes well with the above rants about public education. |
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| Read 3 - Post | ||||
| Doot doot doot | ||||
| 02:32am 23/07/2003 | ||||
Okay - I checked. It is, and the song's called "Danny's All-Star Joint." Amazing, that internet. Well, Mijo just woke up - gotta motor. |
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| Read 6 - Post | ||||
| All I do is bitch about the heat, but this time I really mean it | ||||
| 12:59am 23/07/2003 | ||||
It seems like most people in my life have been on edge lately - I know I have. Lots of sass mouth back and forth with the kids, lots of snippy remarks between the Squeeze and me, though we easily get past that sort of thing. I've been overly caffeinated because I can't seem to wake up, then I have trouble making myself go to bed at a decent hour because it's so hot, and then there's all that coffee I drink. I started exercising recently because I really need to be in better shape to deal with Mijo - he's growing so quickly, and picking him up was starting to put strain on my back. I feel better now that I started stretching every morning, and I have been stretching with these resistance bands that really make my back feel loose and relaxed. I used to do yoga every day, but unfortunately I rarely make a habit of doing anything really healthy - it was great while it lasted though. Maybe I should start again. Squeeze has tomorrow off, and he and Kit-kat are going adventuring downtown. I think they might be picking up comics and guitar strings. I hope Kitty doesn't wilt in the heat. I just want to go somewhere right now and make snow angels. I want to be one with snow. I want to crawl inside the freezer. |
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| Read 2 - Post | ||||
| Survey | ||||
| 03:02am 22/07/2003 | ||||
Stolen from |
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| Post | ||||
| Big kids get to stay up late and watch movies | ||||
| 06:21pm 21/07/2003 | ||||
I love The Goonies - it makes me want to move to the Pacific Northwest and ride bikes everywhere. |
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| Read 9 - Post | ||||
| Watch me! I'm can FLY!!!!! | ||||
| 06:03pm 21/07/2003 | ||||
Now he's getting into Squeeze's comics and guitars - I'd better intervene. Bye! "One of these days I'm gonna put on my shoes, and then I'm gonna walk all over and then I got my shoes on and .... how does that go again?" - Bear, singing "These Boots are Made For Walkin'" |
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| Post | ||||
| I just got this in my email... | ||||
| 01:41am 20/07/2003 | ||||
"To my mind, democracy is more compassionate, more harmonious, more friendly than any other system. It respects others' rights and considers others equally as human brothers and sisters. Although you might disagree with them, you have to respect their wishes." -His Holiness the Dalai Lama Wow. Let's get one of those - they sound great! |
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| Post | ||||
| Everything, all at once, infinity squared. | ||||
| 01:30am 20/07/2003 | ||||
Kitty's teacher called today - she is setting up meetings with all of her students. She's coming over next Friday to meet us and tell us about what to expect. This is the first year for this school, and there are only 22 kids in Kitty's grade. She'll be in first grade - I didn't send her to kindergarten last year because we are in an awful school district, and she was four - I worked with her some, but since she is interested in learning, she is mostly self taught (she has a LeapFrog and a little toy laptop - both have lots of reading, math, music, and art games, and she plays with them all the time). She knows how to read a little, and she knows how to add and subtract, and she's very social, so I think she's pretty well prepared. She needs a bit more structure so that she will move ahead with her reading, but she knows all the basics. Quite frankly, I think she's a genius (all my kids are geniuses - like their parents ^_~) - she knows how to teach herself, and that's one of the most valuable things to know. We stayed in today - I'm a baby when it comes to the sun lately. My skin just fries. The kids are so lucky they inherited Squeeze's coloring - they can handle a bit more sun than I can. They gradually turn brown - even fair haired Mijo. I burn, and then everyone yells at me about it. I'm usually pretty careful about the sun - but once in awhile, I mess up. I still feel icky. I've been so emotional lately - not so much in a bad way - just way more easily moved to tears than normal. The kids and I went through their cds, and found Free To Be You And Me, and despite the fact that for some stupid reason our right speaker cuts out when we play cds, I played it anyway. I love that CD - I still have a vinyl copy from when I was a little kid. It makes me cry when I listen to it now though. I love "When We Grow Up" and "It's Alright To Cry" - and I am old enough to get "Parents are People." "Housework" is hysterical though - Carol Channing reads it, and one of the lines that has popped into my head on a semi-regular basis since I was six is: "Your mommy hates housework, Your daddy hates housework, I hate housework too, And when you grow up so will you." Carol Channing is frikken' psychic. She says it so sweetly that it doesnt sound as harsh and negative as it looks in print - it's like this nice sweet cookie baking grandma with a warm smile telling you this harsh awful truth - mainly to point out the lie in advertising that cleaning is strictly women's work, and we love it, so we smi-i-i-i-ile so big and are so happy to cook and clean nonstop and buy products galore. "That lady's an ac-tress, and she's earning mon-ey to say all those phrases..." and then she recommends that to keep the peace in the household when you grow up, do the housework together. I think I'm more entertained by that album than the kids are. It has shaped who I am today. It was essential to my being. I played it at parties when I was in college, I subjected my old roommates to it whenever they were sad, I had it on my wall, I have used many of the songs on mix tapes, and it was the first thing I bought for the new baby after I got pregnant the first time (and I was crying when I took it to the counter - Waterloo Records, Austin Tx for the local readers, so I took a little shit for it). Squeeze did all the grocery shopping today because I felt ick, and because he's a wonderful guy (oh god! I'm crying again - I love him!!!!). He got all the right stuff, even the stuff from the health food section (where he hates to be seen because it's not macho) - and he got chocolate, and Sam Adams Summer Ale (which he hates and I like, but never buy), and those weren't on the list. *sigh* I'm never like this - I usually can't cry, even when I'm really upset. I don't really have any hang-ups about crying or anything as far as I know - I just generally don't do it. Things have been so weird like that the last few months. I don't mention it much, but things feel different, and it's making me act weird and out of character. I feel like everything I've been hardwired to consider unshakeable fact is suddenly up for debate. It's all upside down. I finally get the term "existential" - it used to be just a word I recognized and waved at, without considering the meaning. Now it's a word that encompasses everything - so I guess an "existential crisis" is when you are questioning everything down to its bare elements. Fuck! That's big and little all at the same time! Is that what I'm having? It's not that bad if it is. Maybe I've got something else. I feel incredibly lucky and incredibly happy and incredibly sad. It's all in there at the same time, and it doesn't turn off. I should go to bed now. I think I'm starting to ramble. c.j.'s radio olio |
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| Read 2 - Post | ||||
| "Neigh-bors...everybody needs good naaay-bors!" | ||||
| 01:52am 19/07/2003 | ||||
"It's damn hot, ain't it?" "Yep." "When're ya going to cut that lawn?" "What lawn? That's patchy groundcover." "hm. well. You gonna put that baby down?" "No - I just came out to check the mail - if I put him down, he takes off." "I don't b'lieve he can walk. I ain't never seen him walk. Can he walk? He's big to not be walking." "He walks fine. Thanks so much for your concern. He walks right into the street. Sometimes he runs into the street very quickly." "I ain't seed him walk. I could teach him to walk. My grandbabies walk. What'd you get?" (!!!)"Um - an AOL disk, and a utility bill." "You got a computer?" "Yes." "You gonna use that disk in it?" "No. I'm going to make it into a coaster. AOL is the devil." "hm. Seems wasteful." "I'm sorry you feel that way. Well, bye!" "Oh okay. Bye." I live in Eeyore's depressing part of the Hundred Acre Wood. What a drag. I check the mail or toss something out or pick up the newspaper or watch the kids out in the yard, and instead of friendly neighbor chat, I get rude personal criticism. At first I was chatty and friendly - now I look around before going outside and make it fast. So far, most of my neighbors suck. I need to move to the country. At least when I have lived in the country you could see the neighbor's car about two minutes before they showed up to the house, and if they bothered to come out, it wasn't to criticize. I have been shopping this "move to the country" idea to Squeeze for years - I think eventually he'll give in - but only because the neighbors drive him crazy too. I feel a little shitty about it though. I always thought it would be cool to have neighbors, but usually I either didn't know them at all or they drove me batshit crazy. A few were cool in that "Wave, smile, goodbye!" way. There are a couple of those around here too - it's mainly my neighbors left, right, and across from left - they have been in this neighborhood since dinosaurs ruled the earth, and I think their mission in life is to drive away anyone who moves into this house. My mother-in-law thinks it's funny. When I would tell her about Neighbor Left's grouchy criticism, she would nod and say "Yeah, the last guy got really reclusive after moving here. She was all up in his business constantly. All my renters have had run-ins with her." I need to just get over it. I don't want to hurt her feelings - I think she's lonely. I tried though. We do not seem to connect on any level. I have had good neighbors though. There was a really cool couple that lived next-door to us when we were in the duplex. We were practically in each other's pockets, having barbeques and birthday parties together, watching games, pulling pranks. They have three children now too - each one of theirs was born a year after each one of ours (try to make sense of that, because I really don't know a better way to say that at the moment). I miss them. I guess we should get in touch with them - apparently they live on our bus route. Squeeze ran into them on the bus not long ago and they exchanged numbers, but none of us have called each other yet. The neighbors in the back are okay too - I get along with them, but I don't really see them very often (well, I do, but only because our kitchen window overlooks their yard, so they're right in my face when I do the dishes). I still want to go camping though - Mud's mom has extended an open invitation for us to camp on her land, and she lives in a camper in the middle of nowhere. It's freakin' bliss - near the Colorado River. I need a car to get there though. carcarcarcarcarcarcarcar. carcarcarcarcarcarcarcarcarcarcarcar. car. "...ultimately the biggest power in prayer for me comes from the willingness to accept the answers." -Julia Butterfly Hill |
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| Read 9 - Post | ||||
| Please send me some herbal tea and bath bombs | ||||
| 06:57pm 18/07/2003 | ||||
I've been looking for information online about the walk out in the House of Reps today - Lloyd Doggett was interviewed not long after it happened (key words - "police state," "one-party politics," and "democracy in danger") and I want to find a transcript, but after he went off the air all the news immediately went the opposite direction - it's like the poor media doesn't know what to report. I can't find anything on it except the AP wire story and a bunch of retreads on ten thousand frikken' news sites. Was there only one reporter there? I doubt it. More!!! Most of the news lately is distracting. I don't like the fact that we sent a bunch of kids far from home to kill and be killed, and then to police people who no longer want their help (if they ever did), and top officials used bogus intelligence to start this rumble. I don't like that when soldiers start to doubt the war and lose trust in the administration, the "higher ups" say "Oh, they're just hot, tired, and cranky. They'll probably say lots of mean stuff." These are the same people who haven't served a day in the military, are in air conditioned buildings, and only break a sweat when questioned about their campaign contributions. I haven't served a day in the military either, but I know this - these people weren't drafted - they went in by choice. I may not agree with everything they are ordered to do, but I will say that most military personnel I've known in my life have been dedicated to their work, and they are trained to deal with uncomfortable conditions (it's their moms sending the air conditioners for their tents ^.^- it's an extension of making sure the kids are dressed in weather appropriate gear I guess). I'm sure hearing a bunch of upper level civilians try to weasel their way out of their responsibilities doesn't help their morale. But, of course, a basketball scandal is big news. and yes, it is that time of the month, and my ovaries feel like they are in a vice. The pressure only eases up when I'm ranting. Ah, sweet rantiness. Here's where I mention that I haven't done the car shopping because I felt icky. Tomorrow my excuse will be "leprechauns stole my shoes" or "I was abducted by sleestacks." |
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| Read 2 - Post | ||||
| Just looking for inspiration today - have some quotes | ||||
| 12:56am 18/07/2003 | ||||
I think women dwell quite a bit on the duress under which they work, on how hard it is just to do it at all. We are traditionally rather proud of ourselves for having slipped creative work in there between the domestic chores and obligations. I'm not sure we deserve such big A-pluses for all that. - Toni Morrison Master technique and then forget about it and be natural. - Anna Pavlova Artistic growth is, more than it is anything else, a refining of the sense of truthfulness. The stupid believe that to be truthful is easy; only the artist, the great artist, knows how difficult it is. - Willa Cather Interpretation is the revenge of the intellectual upon art. - Susan Sontag Art is not an amusement, nor a distraction, nor is it, as many men maintain, an escape from life. On the contrary, it is a high training of the soul, essential to the soul's growth, to its unfoldment. - Lawren Harris The arts are the rain forests of society. They produce the oxygen of freedom, and they are the early warning system when freedom is in danger. - June Wayne The artist alone sees spirits. But after he has told of their appearing to him, everybody sees them. - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe They are so damn 'intellectual' and rotten that I can't stand them anymore....I [would] rather sit on the floor in the market of Toluca and sell tortillas, than have anything to do with those 'artistic' bitches of Paris. - Frida Kahlo, on Andr? Breton and the European surrealists Well, art is art, isn't it? Still, on the other hand, water is water! And east is east and west is west and if you take cranberries and stew them like applesauce they taste much more like prunes than rhubarb does. Now, uh... Now you tell me what you know. - Groucho Marx One of the strongest motives that lead men to art and science is escape from everyday life with its painful crudity and hopeless dreariness, from the fetters of one's own ever-shifting desires. - Albert Einstein You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing which you think you cannot do. - Eleanor Roosevelt Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius -- and a lot of courage -- to move in the opposite direction. - Albert Einstein I wanted a perfect ending. Now I've learned, the hard way, that some poems don't rhyme, and some stories don't have a clear beginning, middle, and end. Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what's going to happen next. Delicious Ambiguity. - Gilda Radner Deliver me from writers who say the way they live doesn't matter. I'm not sure a bad person can write a good book, If art doesn't make us better, then what on earth is it for? - Alice Walker The truth is not wonderful enough to suit the newspapers; so they enlarge upon it, and invent ridiculous embellishments. - Annie Sullivan Propel, propel, propel your craft softly down liquid solution. Ecstatically, ecstatically, ecstatically, ecstatically, Existence is simply illusion. - Fred Rogers My only concern was to get home after a hard day's work. - Rosa Parks There is a fountain of youth: it is your mind, your talents, the creativity you bring to your life and the lives of the people you love. When you learn to tap this source, you will truly have defeated age. - Sophia Loren Sources: Famous Quotations theotherpages.org Quotations by notable women: Index If you have any doubts that we live in a society controlled by men, try reading down the index of contributors to a volume of quotations, looking for women's names. - Elaine Gill No shit - all the quotes by women were on pages especially about quotes by women - the other pages had MEN ONLY - and they say women talk too much! Sorry - men are the bee's knees. Yay men! |
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| Post | ||||
| Have some links! | ||||
| 05:37pm 17/07/2003 | ||||
TomPaine.com's Steven Rosenfeld interviews Raymond McGovern of Veterans Intelligence Professionals for Sanity The Memo! Intelligence Unglued - By Tom Engelhardt "Niger and Iraq: the war's biggest lie? Investigation: Neil Mackay reveals why everyone now accepts that claims Saddam Hussein got uranium from Africa are fraudulent ... except, that is, Britain's beleaguered prime minister and his Cabinet supporters" Group wants Cheney to quit for overstating reasons for Iraq war - By Simon Marks Those 16 words the tip of the iceberg - By Nicholas D. Kristoff At the moment I am watching CNN and I put on a mix tape for the kids to dance around to while I soak up the news (such as it is - I'm sorry - I can't help it) - even the press is hot on the trail now. Well it's about frikken' time! Not much else to report otherwise, and we're putting off the car shopping another week. |
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| Post | ||||
| pink glitter and bath bombs | ||||
| 12:07am 16/07/2003 | ||||
Hm. Well, today I did a bunch of stuff not worth writing about, like following Mijo around with a wet rag and a mop, making a heaping platter of bean and cheese tacos in the time it took to heat each tortilla, watching Kiki's Delivery Service, and all the usual stuff. I called my mom to make sure she didn't blow away in the hurricane (she didn't, and neither did my grandmother and my aunt). We opened all the windows, since it was really windy today (we're too far in for the hurricane to do anything besides make it humid and windy). Well, I guess that's where it went, huh? Tomorrow Squeeze has the day off, but since the weather is expected to be really bad, we're probably not searching for a car yet. I've probably said this before, but I love looking in on the kids when they're sleeping. They all look so (crap - I don't want to be a cheeseball, I really don't. Fightitfightitfightit! No-o-o-o-o-o-o-o!!!) CUTE!!! Kitty looks like a rag doll tossed up on the top bunk - all I can see is a foot, but her big toe is pointing to the ceiling. Bear looks like she's trying to do long division in her head - her eyebrows are scrunched up - maybe there was a remainder and that bothers her. Mijo is chubby and I want to squeeze his fat legs before he grows tall and his baby fat goes away, but he'll wake up and I'm too tired to mess with him. During the day I get so frustrated with them sometimes - they fight and tattle on each other, and while I'm mediating between the girls, Mijo grabs my shoes and hides them. What is the deal with babies and shoes? Every time I need to put on my shoes, I first have to hunt them down, and I then have to dump out bits of crayon wrappers, crayons, food, toys, or whatever else he had in his hands when he took off to hide them. The girls did the same thing, but he really gets a big kick...nevermind. He puts Kitty's shoes on his hands and walks around on all fours, stomping his hands and grinning like he invented that trick (but I know better). Mijo ate a cockroach today. He was sitting in the corner of the living room, crunching away, happily. I went to investigate, and he smiled at me - and bits of cucaracha fell out of his mouth (these things no longer phase me - I just say "Ew" and clean him up). He looked really pleased with himself. Maybe I should change his nickname to Renfield. I guess I could bitch about the government, but I think instead I'm going to sit back and imagine that all the politicians that upset me will wake up tomorrow morning to find out that their precious stinky oil has magically been turned into pink glitter and fizzy bath bombs, and that everyone they ever tried to keep down with their bulljive are joyfully swimming in pools of chocolate syrup or riding hoverbikes or dancing with Teletubbies. Not sure what that would accomplish, really, but I like the idea of these uptight codgers being baffled beyond repair. Squeeze thinks he may have found our dream car again - here's hoping this one isn't a $15,000 classic refurbished Chevelle like the last one he saw. When I saw it, I said "We can't even afford the paint job on this." He said "Naah - bullshit. It's a Chevelle - how much could they possibly charge?" Apparently, as much as they think they can get. I bet the price goes down, but probably not far enough for us. The other car he found is a Caprice - it apparently looks like the taxi he used to drive, which is a good thing, because he loved that car. Yes, I realize that the new car will probably rely on gasoline made from the same stinky oil that I want to turn into pink glitter and bath bombs. My life is full of contradictions, I guess. |
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| Read 2 - Post | ||||
| Hi family! | ||||
| 12:38am 15/07/2003 | ||||
-His Holiness the Dalai Lama I'm working on it. Accepting people at face value, being receptive - these are some of my goals - since I'm generally pretty introverted, they are difficult ones sometimes. Still, I consider the source, and if anyone should be pissed off at people, it should be the Dalai Lama - and he isn't (or he gets past it very well). I guess this is where inner peace comes in. My problems are small and few and repairable. I can do this. Today I made the grocery run. I missed the bus and ended up talking to a guy who just moved here - he's from Abeline, and he's staying at the Salvation Army until he finds work and a home. I'm not sure how old he is, but he has three grandchildren. He seemed really youthful though. It's funny to see Austin from a newcomer's perspective - he was so amazed by Leslie Cochran (the leopard-print thong wearing, cross-dressing, bearded local character who once ran for mayor). He also said that people were really friendly toward him compared to other places he had been. He's black - I don't know what that's like, but I do know some Texas towns are friendlier than others if that's the case. I wasn't sure how Austin would compare to many other cities though, since Austin is split by I-35, and I've heard people say some ignorent things here (it's the opposite of the redneck situation I saw growing up - it's more like a pc "I don't want to fuck up and say the wrong thing and have other people think I'm a racist" situation - it still sucks though). I live in East Austin, which is traditionally lower income, and mostly populated by people of color. When I moved to this side of town I was warned that I was in dangerous territory by several people who only knew Eastside lore (after seven years or so in East Austin I have had one vcr stolen - by preteens who were nice enough to clean up after themselves). Once you cross I-35, you are downtown - and rent jumps by several hundred dollars, and lets just say things are different. Anyway, he's new in town, I figured he could make up his own mind. I wish we had introduced ourselves - he was very interesting to listen to. He didn't appear to be down on his luck or even to be having a bad day. I've met several people staying at the Salvation Army in the past, and the only happy people I met who were staying there were mentally ill (for example - Gene the Cowboy WWII Vet was the happiest man alive - and completely cracked). This guy reminded me of the character Woody from Cheers - really friendly, really open, really receptive. Anyway, I got groceries, went home, and the children ran me ragged. They must be the most affectionate kids ever - the time they were away was fun for them, but they really missed us, and since they've been home, they've been all hugs and kisses, and "pick me up!" and "swing me around!" and "hold me." Mijo really wants to talk - he has inflection and it sounds like he has some sort of sentence structure - all he needs now are words. He's been playing the harmonica almost non-stop, and singing. The girls have been raiding their costume box and putting on shows. I missed them - but I know now why it took about two and a half days to catch up on sleep when they left. The worst thing I can say about them is that they are exhausting - but that in itself isn't so bad or even unexpected - one child can be quietly occupied - three children are constantly competing for attention. When are we going car shopping?!! |
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