Sunday, November 25, 2007
mary pumps the positivity
i can't sit still when this plays...
finefinefinefinefinefine- oooh!
cuz i like what i see when i'm looking at me when i'm walking past the mirror...
i won't change my life, my life's just fine!
(it doesn't hurt that michael's jamming alongside her in the tux.)
Friday, November 23, 2007
thanksgiving
met the parents and family... they were such fun and very sweet people. so things are moving on their rapid way and i wonder if that means to a rapid demise. i hope not, but life is unpredictable in the main- maybe it's actually predictable in the main and only unpredictable sometime. in any case, in this instance i leave our relationship in the realm of the enjoyably, solidly, unpredictable. his mom's funny and kind, his dad's sweet and kind, his sister's really chill and his brother's a pretty hot military gay. plus his grandma's down-to-earth and approachable. he likes my grandma, too. oh yeah, he met some of my family the day before. that also went well.
we fed him chinese food. they did the traditional thanksgiving thing. it was sweet. the desserts really were a treat- especially the vegan chocolate peanut bomb. wow.
after we left, i got myself a bacon cheeseburger and loaded potato skins. excellence.
we fed him chinese food. they did the traditional thanksgiving thing. it was sweet. the desserts really were a treat- especially the vegan chocolate peanut bomb. wow.
after we left, i got myself a bacon cheeseburger and loaded potato skins. excellence.
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
some e.e. cummings
my sweet old etcetera
aunt lucy during the recent
war could and what
is more did tell you just
what everybody was fighting
for,
my sister
isabel created hundreds
(and
hundreds) of socks not to
mention shirts fleaproof earwarmers
etcetera wristers etcetera, my
mother hoped that
i would die etcetera
bravely of course my father used
to become hoarse talking about how it was
a privilege and if only he
could meanwhile my
self etcetera lay quietly
in the deep mud et
cetera
(dreaming,
et
cetera, of
Your smile
eyes knees and of your Etcetera)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
since feeling is first
who pays any attention
to the syntax of things
will never wholly kiss you;
wholly to be a fool
while Spring is in the world
my blood approves,
and kisses are a better fate
than wisdom
lady i swear by all flowers. Don't cry
--the best gesture of my brain is less than
your eyelids' flutter which says
we are for each other: then
laugh, leaning back in my arms
for life's not a paragraph
And death i think is no parenthesis
- both poems from 100 selected poems by e.e. cummings
_____________________________________________________
being a sentimentalist, i chose these two poems.
when cummings wrote his poems, did he aspire to greatness or to just write? was he influenced by others? had he studied poetry extensively? when viewing his work, did he see through the lens of structural rules established through academic study? was every word positioned strategically, or was the process more organic- an innate talent?
i'm sure there has been exposition of his method in some book or article out there. maybe he has discussed it himself. i guess i'll take a look around.
if anyone reads this and wants to add a favorite cummings poem to this post or information about his method, please do.
aunt lucy during the recent
war could and what
is more did tell you just
what everybody was fighting
for,
my sister
isabel created hundreds
(and
hundreds) of socks not to
mention shirts fleaproof earwarmers
etcetera wristers etcetera, my
mother hoped that
i would die etcetera
bravely of course my father used
to become hoarse talking about how it was
a privilege and if only he
could meanwhile my
self etcetera lay quietly
in the deep mud et
cetera
(dreaming,
et
cetera, of
Your smile
eyes knees and of your Etcetera)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
since feeling is first
who pays any attention
to the syntax of things
will never wholly kiss you;
wholly to be a fool
while Spring is in the world
my blood approves,
and kisses are a better fate
than wisdom
lady i swear by all flowers. Don't cry
--the best gesture of my brain is less than
your eyelids' flutter which says
we are for each other: then
laugh, leaning back in my arms
for life's not a paragraph
And death i think is no parenthesis
- both poems from 100 selected poems by e.e. cummings
_____________________________________________________
being a sentimentalist, i chose these two poems.
when cummings wrote his poems, did he aspire to greatness or to just write? was he influenced by others? had he studied poetry extensively? when viewing his work, did he see through the lens of structural rules established through academic study? was every word positioned strategically, or was the process more organic- an innate talent?
i'm sure there has been exposition of his method in some book or article out there. maybe he has discussed it himself. i guess i'll take a look around.
if anyone reads this and wants to add a favorite cummings poem to this post or information about his method, please do.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
school
either i'm the biggest dummy or i'm just not cutting it. ok. granted i've only gotten A's in my grading. but i wrote my draft abstract for my master's project. yes, it was a very rough draft. my preceptor took a look at it and then wrote a two-pager which eliminated most of the language i used and every place where i'd gotten creative with describing the study's parameters! to make it worse, he used 'track changes,' so i can see every little part of my work that he discarded. ouch.
maybe it's because i think i'm a pretty good writer that makes this feel like such an affront. i want to revise his revision and eliminate almost everything that he did, out of spite. i can't do that though... i'm in this position to learn and this is a huge lesson.
LESSON:
an abstract for a study or a paper is not an introduction for an essay.
just when you think you know some shit, you learn you don't know nearly as much shit as you think you do.
blah.
i need to catch up on everything...
maybe it's because i think i'm a pretty good writer that makes this feel like such an affront. i want to revise his revision and eliminate almost everything that he did, out of spite. i can't do that though... i'm in this position to learn and this is a huge lesson.
LESSON:
an abstract for a study or a paper is not an introduction for an essay.
just when you think you know some shit, you learn you don't know nearly as much shit as you think you do.
blah.
i need to catch up on everything...
Thursday, November 08, 2007
male aggression
and male oppression. i've got a lot of work to do around this stuff- i need to have some real conversations, especially with men, and do some hardcore reading.
i'm largely ignorant and the scope of it, from preliminary discussion and thinking, is immense.
any volunteers? i listen well...
i'm largely ignorant and the scope of it, from preliminary discussion and thinking, is immense.
any volunteers? i listen well...
Thursday, November 01, 2007
stop violence against women
did a small demonstration in response to the call for a day of action on October 31st. The BE BOLD. WEAR RED. campaign was really important to me. i'm glad i made the space for it and that other folks came out. altogether there were 10-12 folks- mainly women- that attended. the call was in response to some violent acts perpetrated against women of color in the recent past; i recognize the racism that makes it ok to ignore violence done to brown bodies and the silence that surrounds violence done to women of color and i acknowledge that violence towards any woman is steeped in a history of sexism and patriarchy, so it was imperative that I act. i also wanted to make it more universal, so the sign i made said 'stop violence against women.' i love koyuki. she's a great friend. mike's a lucky dude to have her in his life. she helped me a lot.
two women came up and told their stories. it made the act worthwhile. i think of all the stories we didn't hear, but the women that may have felt encouraged by our making our stance. i also felt a little weird about putting something that i care about on such a public platform. it went well for two days worth of planning though...
here's the text of the call:
Recent events in the United States have moved us to action. Violence against women is sadly, not a new phenomenon in our country or in the world, however, in the last year women of color have experienced brutal forms of violence, torture, rape and injustice which have gone unnoticed, received little to no media coverage, or a limited community response. We are responding to:
* The brutal and inhumane rape, torture, and kidnapping of Megan Williams in Logan, West Virginia who was held by six assailants for a month.
* Rape survivors in the Dunbar Housing Projects in West Palm Beach, Florida one of whom was forced to perform sexual acts on her own child.
* A 13 year old Native American girl was beaten by two white women and has since been harassed by several men yelling "white power" outside of her home
* Seven black lesbian girls attempted to stop an attacker and were latter charged with aggravated assault and are facing up to 11 year prison sentences
In a Litany of Survival, Audre Lorde writes, "When we are silent, we are still afraid. So it is better to speak remembering we were never meant to survive." These words shape our collective organizing to break the silence surrounding women of color's stories of violence. We are asking for community groups, grass-root organizations, college campus students and groups, communities of faith, online communities, and individuals to join us in speaking out against violence against women of color. If we speak, we cannot be invisible.
Join us and stand up to violence against women!
* Be bold, be brave, be red. Wear red on October 31, 2007. Take a picture or video of yourself and friends wearing red. Send it to: beboldbered@gmail.com. We'll post it!
* Take Your Red to the Streets! Know of a location where violence occurred against a woman of color? Have a public location where you feel women of color are often ignored? Make violence against women of color visible by decorating the space in red. Be sure to send us pictures and or video of your display!
* Rally! Gather your friends, family, and community to rally. Check out the Document the Silence website for the litany we're asking participants to read together on October 31st. Be sure to send us pictures and/or video of the event! You could even gather where you created a display!
--
STOP THE VIOLENCE
WEAR RED ON OCTOBER 31, 2007
http://documentthesilence.wordpress.com/
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
and here's a tiny picture of us before City Hall in Philadelphia:
two women came up and told their stories. it made the act worthwhile. i think of all the stories we didn't hear, but the women that may have felt encouraged by our making our stance. i also felt a little weird about putting something that i care about on such a public platform. it went well for two days worth of planning though...
here's the text of the call:
be bold be brave be red stop the violence http://documentthesilence.wordpress.com/
Recent events in the United States have moved us to action. Violence against women is sadly, not a new phenomenon in our country or in the world, however, in the last year women of color have experienced brutal forms of violence, torture, rape and injustice which have gone unnoticed, received little to no media coverage, or a limited community response. We are responding to:
* The brutal and inhumane rape, torture, and kidnapping of Megan Williams in Logan, West Virginia who was held by six assailants for a month.
* Rape survivors in the Dunbar Housing Projects in West Palm Beach, Florida one of whom was forced to perform sexual acts on her own child.
* A 13 year old Native American girl was beaten by two white women and has since been harassed by several men yelling "white power" outside of her home
* Seven black lesbian girls attempted to stop an attacker and were latter charged with aggravated assault and are facing up to 11 year prison sentences
In a Litany of Survival, Audre Lorde writes, "When we are silent, we are still afraid. So it is better to speak remembering we were never meant to survive." These words shape our collective organizing to break the silence surrounding women of color's stories of violence. We are asking for community groups, grass-root organizations, college campus students and groups, communities of faith, online communities, and individuals to join us in speaking out against violence against women of color. If we speak, we cannot be invisible.
Join us and stand up to violence against women!
* Be bold, be brave, be red. Wear red on October 31, 2007. Take a picture or video of yourself and friends wearing red. Send it to: beboldbered@gmail.com. We'll post it!
* Take Your Red to the Streets! Know of a location where violence occurred against a woman of color? Have a public location where you feel women of color are often ignored? Make violence against women of color visible by decorating the space in red. Be sure to send us pictures and or video of your display!
* Rally! Gather your friends, family, and community to rally. Check out the Document the Silence website for the litany we're asking participants to read together on October 31st. Be sure to send us pictures and/or video of the event! You could even gather where you created a display!
--
STOP THE VIOLENCE
WEAR RED ON OCTOBER 31, 2007
http://documentthesilence
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
and here's a tiny picture of us before City Hall in Philadelphia:
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