Alright!
After being severely chastised by my roommate for not going to get a free taco yesterday and seeing Jacoby Ellsbury at the Taco Bell ONE BLOCK from my office...
http://wbztv.com/local/local_story_303130025.html
(paste next 2 lines as 1 line)
http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/
2007/10/31/ellsbury_scores_with_fans_at_steal_a_taco_promotion/
and realizing what an idiot I am for not going, I've got to write this blog as a confession for my horrible disloyalty to my distant relative.
http://www.daily-times.com/ci_6694208?source=most_emailed
You see, being Kin thla chii nii, and Jacoby being Tachinii, we are "not related" in the Navajo way, however, we are related in the sense that we both come from the same Tribe. Oddly enough, he is one of my closest relatives in the clan sense in this city. Moreover, I've wanted to get a chance to say hi to him, and learn more about him in the Navajo Way. Since he's now world famous and every girl wants to date him, and I'm obviously clueless (didn't know he'd be at Taco Bell yesterday due to Leopard upgrades for my PowerBook G4's), this makes my prospects much worse.
It also brings up all those Native American mascot issues, the "1/2 Navajo 1/2 White" issues, and other rising-star issues we (the Native American Community of Boston) are forced to face and even defend. I've just read this blog entry of another person who talks about this in detail.
http://the-editors.blogspot.com/2007/10/jacoby-ellsburys-burden.html
I do feel for the guy, and there are some excellent points made in this post. Again, I wish him the best, "cousin to cousin."
:-)
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Thursday, October 18, 2007
What's in a name?
Greetings everyone!
This is my "new" blog and I've decided to name it after corn pollen since I've always been taught to pray with it in a holy way (hozho). I found the following description exactly suited to the implicit knowledge I've always had concerning this vital substance.
http://www.twinrocks.com/index.php?mod=legenddesc&legend_id=171
This blog should be around for a while.
:-p
This is my "new" blog and I've decided to name it after corn pollen since I've always been taught to pray with it in a holy way (hozho). I found the following description exactly suited to the implicit knowledge I've always had concerning this vital substance.
http://www.twinrocks.com/index.php?mod=legenddesc&legend_id=171
This blog should be around for a while.
:-p
The Wage Gap
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Yesterday evening Abby and I went to the Association for Women in Science (www.mass-awis.org) membership drive with Evelyn Murphy (http://www.wageproject.org/) and she informed us on a new proposition of beginning workshops that help women become more aware of the wage gap between men and women, what we can do about it, and what ways we can inform each other about these inequalities.
It was an extremely informative talk. I won her book also! I'm going to read it, and I'll let you know what I learn about discrimination in the work place of America.
Yesterday evening Abby and I went to the Association for Women in Science (www.mass-awis.org) membership drive with Evelyn Murphy (http://www.wageproject.org/) and she informed us on a new proposition of beginning workshops that help women become more aware of the wage gap between men and women, what we can do about it, and what ways we can inform each other about these inequalities.
It was an extremely informative talk. I won her book also! I'm going to read it, and I'll let you know what I learn about discrimination in the work place of America.
ACS Boston Meeting Talk
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Walking the Road Between Two Worlds
Ya’a’teeh! Hello! Shandiin Beyet yinishye. My name is Shanadeen Begay. Kin thla chii nii ei nish thli doo tah na zha nii bashishchiin. I am Red House clan born for Tangle People. Aadoo dibe thlizhin ei da shichei doo tse dezh gish nii ei da shinali. Moreover, my mother’s father’s clan is Black Sheep and my father’s father’s clan is split rock between a gap clan. Kot’ eego ei asdzan nishli. I am female. Gallup, NM dee’ iiyisi naasha. My home town is Gallup, NM. Doo Fort Defiance, AZ di shi’ dizhchi. And I was born in Fort Defiance, AZ. Boston, MA di shighan. I live in Boston, MA. Nakii naahaigo aadi shighan. I have lived there for two years. Aadoo Boston University di iinishta’ aadi Chemistry baiinishta. Also, I attend Boston University and Chemistry is my field of study. Thomas Keyes ba naahnish. I work for Thomas Keyes. Ahe hee. Thank you.
This is the way a Navajo person introduces themselves to their new friends, and so this is how I address you all. I want to thank you all for coming here today, and for being supporters of the American Chemical Society Scholars program. I’ve been an ACS scholar and alumni for four years. I have had a great relationship with the ACS Scholars Program staff and encourage any undergraduates listening to this talk to learn more about this program and meet the wonderful staff involved in this work.
I have entered the Theoretical chemistry field because of two main influences. The first is my family. My father and nali, my father’s grandmother, have been the two halves of the circle that form my travels to graduate school. My father was forcefully taken away from his home in Coal Mine, AZ as a child and attended a series of boarding schools, one of which was a MA boarding high school called Andover. I always had a desire to learn about the places he lived and so it was not so difficult to come to Boston after my undergraduate education was complete. My nali, or father’s mother, is the person who taught me Navajo stories in Navajo, she started to teach me how to weave, and the hozho, or balance, of my cultural heritage. She is the one who taught me how to pray early in the morning, and so I will now bring this talk into the blessing of the corn pollen in hopes that all that is done here at this meeting will be received in a balanced and peaceful way.
From in front of me, Early Dawn and the pollen from my ancestor’s prayers and wisdom teach me.
From the back of me, Evening Twilight and Yellow corn’s pollen from my ancestor’s prayers and wisdom teach me.
From the bottom of my feet, Mother Earth and Little Wind’s Child’s pollen teach me.
From the top of my head, the Sky and the Sun and Bluebird’s pollen teach me.
From the tip of my tongue, Little Wind’s Child and pollen teach me…
For Native American children, it can be difficult to move away from their family and take risks in the wider academic experiences offered in other parts of the country and world. My father has taught me that for my generation, the best way to come back to the Dine, my people, is most easily done in a figurative sense. There is so much in the world to be learned, so much I can be taught, and pursuing a career in Chemistry is the way I have chosen to give my gifts and talents back to the greater community.
My path has taken me to pursue my doctorate degree at Boston University, and I have had a chance to learn about proteins in simulations. I have been fortunate to find a career that combines my two undergraduate skills: one in computer science, and the other in discovering chemistry. This path has been the way that I have been true to myself, and how I delicately walk between the two worlds every modern Native American must face.
Remembering the teachings of my nali, my father’s mother, I have found a home away from my home in Chi’ chil tah, NM, and I have found a continual inspiration to continue to ask the questions, “Why does a chemical system work in the ways it does? What are the deeper mathematical principles in nature, and how to we approach these problems?”
When the nights get late, the papers to dry, the coding too obscure, the derivatives too cumbersome, and the protein too large, I always think about two quotes that have guided me through my continual transformation.
The first is from Annie Mae Pictou Aquash. She was an American Indian Movement activist who died for her dedication to her Native people in her struggle for acknowledgement as an American Indian here in Boston. She said,
“I’m not going to stop fighting until I die, and I hope I’m a good example of a human being and my tribe.”
The other quote is from E. E. Cummings, he said.
“To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best night and day to make you everybody else—means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting.”
And so these quotes lead me to continue my path, to continue to fight for my heritage, and to fight for my future as a chemist. To be part of this vibrant and exciting community while contributing my own piece to the overall theoretical understanding of small molecules and proteins has been my great privilege.
My heart is always with my people, for I fully understand them in their struggles, and I would like my journey to continue in a path where I can serve them through my skills as a chemist. I don’t know if this will take the form of becoming a teacher, professor, or if it will be achieved through another career in chemistry, but I know that up to this point my path has been always away from my people in a physical sense. I have been physically removed from them. Soon, I hope to return, and to bring a greater understanding of the world of chemistry, of all cultures and people and how they understand theory and science.
The American Chemical Society Scholars Program has been like a close friend, always there to help me closer to my vision. I have gained benefits of academic success through their funding support. But more importantly I have been able to attend the ACS meetings and network with professors from all across the world who share my passion for theoretical science. It is the funding ACS has supplied that allowed me to attend the San Francisco meeting where I met David Wales and was able to make the first contact with him and learn about his research. And so, this has lead to my summer internship in the Wales group learning about a course-grain DNA model and taking the time to understand how to implement this model into a minimization code called GMIN.
My internship in Cambridge has been a truly transformative experience. I have leaned to be more committed to my goals, more dedicated in my cause, and more true to myself (as E.E. Cummings would hope!)
When I return to Boston, I will help coordinate an Indigenous Film Festival where my role is to portray the benefits science can have to the Native Community. I want to be a representative for positive change. There have been a great number of environmental injustices committed on Native Land. Uranium mine dumping on the Navajo Reservation, the loss of salmon runs in northern California for the Salish tribes, the loss of huge tracts of rainforest for the Amazon Indians. Our way of life as protectors of our mother earth is threatened, and I would like to use my skills in chemistry, and my representation as a chemist to help fulfill my birthright to protect the female nature of our planet. Native people need a voice, and need a way to express their grief. But more importantly, they need a way to move past these 400 years of pain and begin to find solutions. I want one way to find these solutions to be through problem solving and understanding the fundamental elements of the chemical world around us.
In the distant future, I would like to start translating chemical terms into Navajo, and start to form a vocabulary in Navajo to describe chemistry. I would like to make science available to my people in their own voice and lives. So many cultural ideas and our way of life is taught only by describing and using Navajo words. I want the Dine to have a teaching about chemistry; I want us to look forward and be progressive in science and not just to remember our past in ceremonies.
I have always desired to be a medicine woman for my people. This training takes many years and many songs and rites must be learned. I think that my medicine can be taught in two ways, the first through the “objective” science, and the other through the “subjective” ceremony. And so my plot to take over the world continues in this way, and I live each day to see this reality.
I would invite each one of you to continue your own journeys, and weave them together with your endeavors in chemistry. As a great leader of the Indian people (this time I mean from India) once said, “Be the change you seek in the world.”
And so in closing, I will finish with the second half of the prayer I gave earlier, in dedication to all I have planned, and in hope that you will succeed in all your plans as well.
From the front of me, Evening Twilight and pollen teach me.
From the back of me, Early Dawn and yellow corn’s pollen teach me.
From the bottom of my feet, Mountain Woman and Little Wind’s Child’s pollen teach me.
From the top of my head, the Sky and Moon and Ripener’s pollen teach me.
From the tip of my tongue, Little Wind’s Child and pollen teach me.
Ahe’ hee’.
Walking the Road Between Two Worlds
Ya’a’teeh! Hello! Shandiin Beyet yinishye. My name is Shanadeen Begay. Kin thla chii nii ei nish thli doo tah na zha nii bashishchiin. I am Red House clan born for Tangle People. Aadoo dibe thlizhin ei da shichei doo tse dezh gish nii ei da shinali. Moreover, my mother’s father’s clan is Black Sheep and my father’s father’s clan is split rock between a gap clan. Kot’ eego ei asdzan nishli. I am female. Gallup, NM dee’ iiyisi naasha. My home town is Gallup, NM. Doo Fort Defiance, AZ di shi’ dizhchi. And I was born in Fort Defiance, AZ. Boston, MA di shighan. I live in Boston, MA. Nakii naahaigo aadi shighan. I have lived there for two years. Aadoo Boston University di iinishta’ aadi Chemistry baiinishta. Also, I attend Boston University and Chemistry is my field of study. Thomas Keyes ba naahnish. I work for Thomas Keyes. Ahe hee. Thank you.
This is the way a Navajo person introduces themselves to their new friends, and so this is how I address you all. I want to thank you all for coming here today, and for being supporters of the American Chemical Society Scholars program. I’ve been an ACS scholar and alumni for four years. I have had a great relationship with the ACS Scholars Program staff and encourage any undergraduates listening to this talk to learn more about this program and meet the wonderful staff involved in this work.
I have entered the Theoretical chemistry field because of two main influences. The first is my family. My father and nali, my father’s grandmother, have been the two halves of the circle that form my travels to graduate school. My father was forcefully taken away from his home in Coal Mine, AZ as a child and attended a series of boarding schools, one of which was a MA boarding high school called Andover. I always had a desire to learn about the places he lived and so it was not so difficult to come to Boston after my undergraduate education was complete. My nali, or father’s mother, is the person who taught me Navajo stories in Navajo, she started to teach me how to weave, and the hozho, or balance, of my cultural heritage. She is the one who taught me how to pray early in the morning, and so I will now bring this talk into the blessing of the corn pollen in hopes that all that is done here at this meeting will be received in a balanced and peaceful way.
From in front of me, Early Dawn and the pollen from my ancestor’s prayers and wisdom teach me.
From the back of me, Evening Twilight and Yellow corn’s pollen from my ancestor’s prayers and wisdom teach me.
From the bottom of my feet, Mother Earth and Little Wind’s Child’s pollen teach me.
From the top of my head, the Sky and the Sun and Bluebird’s pollen teach me.
From the tip of my tongue, Little Wind’s Child and pollen teach me…
For Native American children, it can be difficult to move away from their family and take risks in the wider academic experiences offered in other parts of the country and world. My father has taught me that for my generation, the best way to come back to the Dine, my people, is most easily done in a figurative sense. There is so much in the world to be learned, so much I can be taught, and pursuing a career in Chemistry is the way I have chosen to give my gifts and talents back to the greater community.
My path has taken me to pursue my doctorate degree at Boston University, and I have had a chance to learn about proteins in simulations. I have been fortunate to find a career that combines my two undergraduate skills: one in computer science, and the other in discovering chemistry. This path has been the way that I have been true to myself, and how I delicately walk between the two worlds every modern Native American must face.
Remembering the teachings of my nali, my father’s mother, I have found a home away from my home in Chi’ chil tah, NM, and I have found a continual inspiration to continue to ask the questions, “Why does a chemical system work in the ways it does? What are the deeper mathematical principles in nature, and how to we approach these problems?”
When the nights get late, the papers to dry, the coding too obscure, the derivatives too cumbersome, and the protein too large, I always think about two quotes that have guided me through my continual transformation.
The first is from Annie Mae Pictou Aquash. She was an American Indian Movement activist who died for her dedication to her Native people in her struggle for acknowledgement as an American Indian here in Boston. She said,
“I’m not going to stop fighting until I die, and I hope I’m a good example of a human being and my tribe.”
The other quote is from E. E. Cummings, he said.
“To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best night and day to make you everybody else—means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting.”
And so these quotes lead me to continue my path, to continue to fight for my heritage, and to fight for my future as a chemist. To be part of this vibrant and exciting community while contributing my own piece to the overall theoretical understanding of small molecules and proteins has been my great privilege.
My heart is always with my people, for I fully understand them in their struggles, and I would like my journey to continue in a path where I can serve them through my skills as a chemist. I don’t know if this will take the form of becoming a teacher, professor, or if it will be achieved through another career in chemistry, but I know that up to this point my path has been always away from my people in a physical sense. I have been physically removed from them. Soon, I hope to return, and to bring a greater understanding of the world of chemistry, of all cultures and people and how they understand theory and science.
The American Chemical Society Scholars Program has been like a close friend, always there to help me closer to my vision. I have gained benefits of academic success through their funding support. But more importantly I have been able to attend the ACS meetings and network with professors from all across the world who share my passion for theoretical science. It is the funding ACS has supplied that allowed me to attend the San Francisco meeting where I met David Wales and was able to make the first contact with him and learn about his research. And so, this has lead to my summer internship in the Wales group learning about a course-grain DNA model and taking the time to understand how to implement this model into a minimization code called GMIN.
My internship in Cambridge has been a truly transformative experience. I have leaned to be more committed to my goals, more dedicated in my cause, and more true to myself (as E.E. Cummings would hope!)
When I return to Boston, I will help coordinate an Indigenous Film Festival where my role is to portray the benefits science can have to the Native Community. I want to be a representative for positive change. There have been a great number of environmental injustices committed on Native Land. Uranium mine dumping on the Navajo Reservation, the loss of salmon runs in northern California for the Salish tribes, the loss of huge tracts of rainforest for the Amazon Indians. Our way of life as protectors of our mother earth is threatened, and I would like to use my skills in chemistry, and my representation as a chemist to help fulfill my birthright to protect the female nature of our planet. Native people need a voice, and need a way to express their grief. But more importantly, they need a way to move past these 400 years of pain and begin to find solutions. I want one way to find these solutions to be through problem solving and understanding the fundamental elements of the chemical world around us.
In the distant future, I would like to start translating chemical terms into Navajo, and start to form a vocabulary in Navajo to describe chemistry. I would like to make science available to my people in their own voice and lives. So many cultural ideas and our way of life is taught only by describing and using Navajo words. I want the Dine to have a teaching about chemistry; I want us to look forward and be progressive in science and not just to remember our past in ceremonies.
I have always desired to be a medicine woman for my people. This training takes many years and many songs and rites must be learned. I think that my medicine can be taught in two ways, the first through the “objective” science, and the other through the “subjective” ceremony. And so my plot to take over the world continues in this way, and I live each day to see this reality.
I would invite each one of you to continue your own journeys, and weave them together with your endeavors in chemistry. As a great leader of the Indian people (this time I mean from India) once said, “Be the change you seek in the world.”
And so in closing, I will finish with the second half of the prayer I gave earlier, in dedication to all I have planned, and in hope that you will succeed in all your plans as well.
From the front of me, Evening Twilight and pollen teach me.
From the back of me, Early Dawn and yellow corn’s pollen teach me.
From the bottom of my feet, Mountain Woman and Little Wind’s Child’s pollen teach me.
From the top of my head, the Sky and Moon and Ripener’s pollen teach me.
From the tip of my tongue, Little Wind’s Child and pollen teach me.
Ahe’ hee’.
Haudenosaunee and Peace Keeping
Saturday, September 15, 2007
Hello again everyone!
I've made it back to Boston, and have finally slowed down enough to post some new thoughts on peacekeeping. For years now, I've admired a quote from Oren Lyons who is the Chief and Faithkeeper of the Onondaga Nation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iroquois which is a member of the Haudenosaunee. I found this quote in the "Honoring Nations: Celebrating Excellence in Tribal Governance" handbook from The Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development http://www.ksg.harvard.edu/hpaied/ 2005 edition.
Haudenosanee history tells us that when the Great Peacemaker came amongst our people some thousand years ago, he gave us democratic principles. These principles include an understanding of responsibility. The Great peacemaker told us, "When you sit and you council for the welfare of the people, think not of yourself, nor of your family, nor even of your generation." He instructed us to make our decisions on behalf of seven generations coming, and those faces that are looking up from the earth, and each layer waiting their time, coming-coming-coming. Chief Shenandoah used to say, "You had better start planting." That is what these honored programs are doing. Planting takes all kinds of forms and all kinds of ideas. The 2005 Honoring Nations Honorees are demonstrating democratic principles and taking responsibility-planting the seeds for the coming generations. Congratuations and thank you, for serving your people well.
I just wanted to finally post this for all to see. :-D
Hello again everyone!
I've made it back to Boston, and have finally slowed down enough to post some new thoughts on peacekeeping. For years now, I've admired a quote from Oren Lyons who is the Chief and Faithkeeper of the Onondaga Nation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iroquois which is a member of the Haudenosaunee. I found this quote in the "Honoring Nations: Celebrating Excellence in Tribal Governance" handbook from The Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development http://www.ksg.harvard.edu/hpaied/ 2005 edition.
Haudenosanee history tells us that when the Great Peacemaker came amongst our people some thousand years ago, he gave us democratic principles. These principles include an understanding of responsibility. The Great peacemaker told us, "When you sit and you council for the welfare of the people, think not of yourself, nor of your family, nor even of your generation." He instructed us to make our decisions on behalf of seven generations coming, and those faces that are looking up from the earth, and each layer waiting their time, coming-coming-coming. Chief Shenandoah used to say, "You had better start planting." That is what these honored programs are doing. Planting takes all kinds of forms and all kinds of ideas. The 2005 Honoring Nations Honorees are demonstrating democratic principles and taking responsibility-planting the seeds for the coming generations. Congratuations and thank you, for serving your people well.
I just wanted to finally post this for all to see. :-D
London Visit
Monday, August 27, 2007
Hello Everyone,
So I'm currently in London and I've visited around Embankment and central London. I've taken some photos, and have met up with Ranmali today and yesterday. I went to see the carnival today, but didn't get to see it because I got sick! Unfortuanately, I ate some food with fish in it and eventually had to leave to eat some corn, and other foods. :-/ Well, my talk in Boston last Monday went well, and I'll post the text as soon as I get the pictures up!
I hope all is going well for everyone and see the Boston folks soon!
Hello Everyone,
So I'm currently in London and I've visited around Embankment and central London. I've taken some photos, and have met up with Ranmali today and yesterday. I went to see the carnival today, but didn't get to see it because I got sick! Unfortuanately, I ate some food with fish in it and eventually had to leave to eat some corn, and other foods. :-/ Well, my talk in Boston last Monday went well, and I'll post the text as soon as I get the pictures up!
I hope all is going well for everyone and see the Boston folks soon!
Dublin visit
Sunday, August 12, 2007
Hello All,
So I've been in Dublin one day, and I've seen the Kilmainham Gaol (Jail) where many political prisoners leading revolutions and poor Irish people who committed offense from 1796 and 1924. I've also wondered around the City Center some and found my hostel. Today I'm off to see the Writer's Museum, a James Joyce site, and the Guinness Storehouse if I have time. Write more later, these internet cafes are always so confining! :-)
Hello All,
So I've been in Dublin one day, and I've seen the Kilmainham Gaol (Jail) where many political prisoners leading revolutions and poor Irish people who committed offense from 1796 and 1924. I've also wondered around the City Center some and found my hostel. Today I'm off to see the Writer's Museum, a James Joyce site, and the Guinness Storehouse if I have time. Write more later, these internet cafes are always so confining! :-)
http://www.terrihendrix.com/discography.html
Tuesday, August 07, 2007
Jim Thorpe’s Blues
By Terri Hendrix
The great Jim Thorpe was Indian pride
The athlete of the century was cast aside
They took his medals right out of his hand
And buried nuclear waste on Indian land
Nuclear waste on Indian land
We’ve got high tech people with low tech souls
And dot com wifi Internet polls
We curse the wind and use the sun to tan
And bury nuclear waste on Indian land
Nuclear waste on Indian land
Run Geronimo Run
They’re gonna seal the deal
With a forked tongue
If you knew back then
What we know now
You’d run Geronimo run
Yea
We’ve got arrow heads we’ve got beaded bags
With made in china sticker covered up by price tags
Something for nothing will one day be
Nothing for something for you and me
Nothing for something for you and me
All I know about Indian history
Is what I’ve seen on the TV screen
I’ve been a tourist
I’ve had my picture made
And spent a fortune on a slot machine that never paid
Nothin for something for you and me
The great Jim Thorpe was Indian pride
The athlete of the century was cast aside
Ashes to ashes and dust to dust it’s anybody’s guess who we can trust
And it’s the guys in ties who will shake your hand
And bury nuclear waste on Indian land
Nuclear waste on Indian land
Jim Thorpe’s Blues
By Terri Hendrix
The great Jim Thorpe was Indian pride
The athlete of the century was cast aside
They took his medals right out of his hand
And buried nuclear waste on Indian land
Nuclear waste on Indian land
We’ve got high tech people with low tech souls
And dot com wifi Internet polls
We curse the wind and use the sun to tan
And bury nuclear waste on Indian land
Nuclear waste on Indian land
Run Geronimo Run
They’re gonna seal the deal
With a forked tongue
If you knew back then
What we know now
You’d run Geronimo run
Yea
We’ve got arrow heads we’ve got beaded bags
With made in china sticker covered up by price tags
Something for nothing will one day be
Nothing for something for you and me
Nothing for something for you and me
All I know about Indian history
Is what I’ve seen on the TV screen
I’ve been a tourist
I’ve had my picture made
And spent a fortune on a slot machine that never paid
Nothin for something for you and me
The great Jim Thorpe was Indian pride
The athlete of the century was cast aside
Ashes to ashes and dust to dust it’s anybody’s guess who we can trust
And it’s the guys in ties who will shake your hand
And bury nuclear waste on Indian land
Nuclear waste on Indian land
Dublin visit
Hello All,
So I've been in Dublin one day, and I've seen the Kilmainham Gaol (Jail) where many political prisoners leading revolutions and poor Irish people who committed offense from 1796 and 1924. I've also wondered around the City Center some and found my hostel. Today I'm off to see the Writer's Museum, a James Joyce site, and the Guinness Storehouse if I have time. Write more later, these internet cafes are always so confining! :-)
So I've been in Dublin one day, and I've seen the Kilmainham Gaol (Jail) where many political prisoners leading revolutions and poor Irish people who committed offense from 1796 and 1924. I've also wondered around the City Center some and found my hostel. Today I'm off to see the Writer's Museum, a James Joyce site, and the Guinness Storehouse if I have time. Write more later, these internet cafes are always so confining! :-)
The Cherokee ask, "Where are your women?" (a.k.a. Thinking Seven Generations ahead)
Sunday, August 05, 2007
Ya'a'teeh (Hello),
Having thought about the meaning of using wisdom and love. Coming from a tradition where women were respected, and indeed regarded with great knowledge in peacekeeping and effective in implementing these strategies, I will draw from this knowledge. I sit as a member of this council of grandmothers and warrior women in the circle of fire, as we plan for the Dine, for the people. I know that "we must plan for peace much harder than we plan for war (Lord Paddy Ashdown, the international community’s representative to Bosnia)."
Peacekeeping lessons
1) When being attacked, know you aren't creating any other person's reality, this means not taking their actions/speech personally. We cannot control the choices people make. This is liberating. How do you receive my comments not as a personal attack?
2) Our role in communicating is to listen to other's experiences, and being with them in their own experiences and supporting. Deep listening to peoples needs is at the center of the conflict, looking for a place of agreement--a common ground. This creates understanding.
*Deep listening involves seeing the beauty of the human being. What needs are not being met that this person is reflecting?
2.5) It is about restoring, and unpacking, and re-emerging.
3) Get clarification of the source of conflict. Trying in the best way, to be responsible for my speech, and knowing the intentions of speech.
4) There must be a commitment to staying present to myself, not abandoning my own emotions and needs as I help another explore their's.
5) Make time to be quiet. Practice maintaining an environment that maintains these values...discriminate what you allow into your thinking (TV shows, magazines, internet websites, etc).
Example: The need to diversify the circle is to realize it is not about you at all, it is about the circle.
Practical uses
1) Unlearn persecution, defend human rights. Remove amnesia by punishing those of worst crimes, total amnesty is a bitter blow since truth without justice can leave a bitter taste.
2) Give the prerogative to the (wo)men to decide for themselves what is their role within international rights. Can anyone effectively address poverty and inequality? Can anyone address poor diet and lack of clean water in a balanced way? Local social economic leaders need to assume responsibility of future. The people need to create their own vision from within. Third party intervention has to be understood and the third party intervenor must understand how to intervene. The one who intervenes must be prepared for equal treatment of both sides.
This is a DRAFT, I've not been clear about all ideas....still in the process of revising.
Ya'a'teeh (Hello),
Having thought about the meaning of using wisdom and love. Coming from a tradition where women were respected, and indeed regarded with great knowledge in peacekeeping and effective in implementing these strategies, I will draw from this knowledge. I sit as a member of this council of grandmothers and warrior women in the circle of fire, as we plan for the Dine, for the people. I know that "we must plan for peace much harder than we plan for war (Lord Paddy Ashdown, the international community’s representative to Bosnia)."
Peacekeeping lessons
1) When being attacked, know you aren't creating any other person's reality, this means not taking their actions/speech personally. We cannot control the choices people make. This is liberating. How do you receive my comments not as a personal attack?
2) Our role in communicating is to listen to other's experiences, and being with them in their own experiences and supporting. Deep listening to peoples needs is at the center of the conflict, looking for a place of agreement--a common ground. This creates understanding.
*Deep listening involves seeing the beauty of the human being. What needs are not being met that this person is reflecting?
2.5) It is about restoring, and unpacking, and re-emerging.
3) Get clarification of the source of conflict. Trying in the best way, to be responsible for my speech, and knowing the intentions of speech.
4) There must be a commitment to staying present to myself, not abandoning my own emotions and needs as I help another explore their's.
5) Make time to be quiet. Practice maintaining an environment that maintains these values...discriminate what you allow into your thinking (TV shows, magazines, internet websites, etc).
Example: The need to diversify the circle is to realize it is not about you at all, it is about the circle.
Practical uses
1) Unlearn persecution, defend human rights. Remove amnesia by punishing those of worst crimes, total amnesty is a bitter blow since truth without justice can leave a bitter taste.
2) Give the prerogative to the (wo)men to decide for themselves what is their role within international rights. Can anyone effectively address poverty and inequality? Can anyone address poor diet and lack of clean water in a balanced way? Local social economic leaders need to assume responsibility of future. The people need to create their own vision from within. Third party intervention has to be understood and the third party intervenor must understand how to intervene. The one who intervenes must be prepared for equal treatment of both sides.
This is a DRAFT, I've not been clear about all ideas....still in the process of revising.
Moving toward The Great Law of Peace
Thursday, August 02, 2007
The Colonization...
http://www.reason.com/news/show/33298.html
Inez Hernandez-Avila...
http://www.rambles.net/irwin_natspir00.html
The healing and Scott Kayla Morrison...
http://www.newberry.org/collections/indianmss.html
The present...
http://people.ku.edu/~mihesuah/
The men...
http://www.nemasys.com/ghostwolf/
How strong am I??
The Colonization...
http://www.reason.com/news/show/33298.html
Inez Hernandez-Avila...
http://www.rambles.net/irwin_natspir00.html
The healing and Scott Kayla Morrison...
http://www.newberry.org/collections/indianmss.html
The present...
http://people.ku.edu/~mihesuah/
The men...
http://www.nemasys.com/ghostwolf/
How strong am I??
The Orchard (Tea, Post-docs, and Maori)
So,
I will tell more about my Sunday excursion to "The Orchard," which there are plenty of, but only one where Virgina Woolfe hung out! It is in Grantchester, a new friend told me about it 2 weeks ago as he was passing through the house I live in. He had come here to graduate with a PhD in Neuroscience, and the weather was OOOhFFaul (as David Wales, my temporary adviser, will exclaim when he dislikes one thing or the next).
So having remembered this new PhD person's recommendation, I invited Barabra to tea and she invited Bryn. We walked along the path by the river Cam, and saw many cow patties, and fields. We sat outside in the sun filtered by little apple tree leaves and drank our Elderflower sparking cider and I ate scones with some hot chocolate. Barabra is thinking of doing a post-doc at Berkeley, and I am thinking of my need to talk about Native American issues. So we chat about this and that--compilers...operating systems that we hate and love...Fortran make files...then we head back.
Not able to contain myself any longer, I blurt out my feelings about Native American issues in the US, and Bryn and I suddenly are engaged in a long conversation about Polynesian New Zealanders and the differences/similarities to America. He is quite forgiving on the matter, and I am too, in the end--having my practical nature take over. But, I was glad to impress upon him my deep feelings, and beliefs, and he seemed to validate my colonized self. BLAH! NOT what I wanted, but what I FULLY expected. But, it is not his fault, how was he to know?
I seem to find peace in the idea of returning to my home and learning more about myself. I offered this as a mental consolation prize...it will do for the moment given this reworking of the mind and fleshing out of ideas. One cultural idea to the next.
I feel alive, validated in some strange way, and yet happy to share. The most treasured moment comes when Barabra and I are standing outside of the college (I don't remember which one, I'll ask), and she says that she thinks the important thing is what needs to be restored, and what should we try to resolve in this time, this age. I agree wholeheartedly. She explains how her grandfather was a soldier, somewhat against his will, but still taking pride in his Austrian nation. She does not know how to channel her guilt, what exactly she has inherited, and she does not know what it means for her to move beyond the human condition, and "be good" (for lack of a better word).
I, suddenly remembering a post I read about GhostWolf, who was abused in every way imaginable as a child, thought about how I interpreted the child's message. That being forced to do things as a child, knowing no better, and having no options, cannot truly be held accountable for those actions. (There is freedom, a profound, deep freedom in knowing this that has helped me in my own journey.) Moreover, she seemed to be describing her grandfather somewhat in this way, in my opinion, and there resonated a vague similarity.
She then started up about the study done at Stanford where there was a fake prison set up http://www.prisonexp.org/ and it had ended horribly. But then, she said she has decided that she wouldn't be part of this abusive scheme because she was female. In this study, Christina Maslach was the person who "blew the whistle" so to speak, and ended the whole event. She was the one who spoke out while everyone else (all male and from one cultural background) became evil.
Barabra had touched on our ability to think ahead, to plan for future generations. Women are especially good at this, they think about all things at once in a naturally harmonic way. I immediately explained that the Enron scandal was also reported by a women, Sherron Watkins, who also stated that the long term implications for the company is what caused her to come forward. Misty, a friend of mine, has argued in a paper "Sisters of Invention: How Women in Science & Technology Leadership Change Everything," that women think of sustainability more than men do, especially when sexually aroused.
I told Barabra of this, affirming her gut instinct as a woman, and we quietly celebrated our feminine nature in all its wondrous glory as only two women can. I then hoped that if any women/man from my tribe, who knew her cultural values, had participated in such a study, then (s)he would have spoken out as well...there could be no other way. I ended it by conjecturing that possibly her grandfather was a victim of circumstance, and he was also abused by the system. One question that remains...who is TRULY to blame? Who do we brand the unmerciful torturer for killing people, for planning from such a one-sided voice and idea? This is my struggle to understand, my interpretation, and desire to learn.
All I knew at that moment, is wisdom and love must be used, a whole lot of wisdom and love to heal this hurt. This was my reality, where I was being led to go.
I will tell more about my Sunday excursion to "The Orchard," which there are plenty of, but only one where Virgina Woolfe hung out! It is in Grantchester, a new friend told me about it 2 weeks ago as he was passing through the house I live in. He had come here to graduate with a PhD in Neuroscience, and the weather was OOOhFFaul (as David Wales, my temporary adviser, will exclaim when he dislikes one thing or the next).
So having remembered this new PhD person's recommendation, I invited Barabra to tea and she invited Bryn. We walked along the path by the river Cam, and saw many cow patties, and fields. We sat outside in the sun filtered by little apple tree leaves and drank our Elderflower sparking cider and I ate scones with some hot chocolate. Barabra is thinking of doing a post-doc at Berkeley, and I am thinking of my need to talk about Native American issues. So we chat about this and that--compilers...operating systems that we hate and love...Fortran make files...then we head back.
Not able to contain myself any longer, I blurt out my feelings about Native American issues in the US, and Bryn and I suddenly are engaged in a long conversation about Polynesian New Zealanders and the differences/similarities to America. He is quite forgiving on the matter, and I am too, in the end--having my practical nature take over. But, I was glad to impress upon him my deep feelings, and beliefs, and he seemed to validate my colonized self. BLAH! NOT what I wanted, but what I FULLY expected. But, it is not his fault, how was he to know?
I seem to find peace in the idea of returning to my home and learning more about myself. I offered this as a mental consolation prize...it will do for the moment given this reworking of the mind and fleshing out of ideas. One cultural idea to the next.
I feel alive, validated in some strange way, and yet happy to share. The most treasured moment comes when Barabra and I are standing outside of the college (I don't remember which one, I'll ask), and she says that she thinks the important thing is what needs to be restored, and what should we try to resolve in this time, this age. I agree wholeheartedly. She explains how her grandfather was a soldier, somewhat against his will, but still taking pride in his Austrian nation. She does not know how to channel her guilt, what exactly she has inherited, and she does not know what it means for her to move beyond the human condition, and "be good" (for lack of a better word).
I, suddenly remembering a post I read about GhostWolf, who was abused in every way imaginable as a child, thought about how I interpreted the child's message. That being forced to do things as a child, knowing no better, and having no options, cannot truly be held accountable for those actions. (There is freedom, a profound, deep freedom in knowing this that has helped me in my own journey.) Moreover, she seemed to be describing her grandfather somewhat in this way, in my opinion, and there resonated a vague similarity.
She then started up about the study done at Stanford where there was a fake prison set up http://www.prisonexp.org/ and it had ended horribly. But then, she said she has decided that she wouldn't be part of this abusive scheme because she was female. In this study, Christina Maslach was the person who "blew the whistle" so to speak, and ended the whole event. She was the one who spoke out while everyone else (all male and from one cultural background) became evil.
Barabra had touched on our ability to think ahead, to plan for future generations. Women are especially good at this, they think about all things at once in a naturally harmonic way. I immediately explained that the Enron scandal was also reported by a women, Sherron Watkins, who also stated that the long term implications for the company is what caused her to come forward. Misty, a friend of mine, has argued in a paper "Sisters of Invention: How Women in Science & Technology Leadership Change Everything," that women think of sustainability more than men do, especially when sexually aroused.
I told Barabra of this, affirming her gut instinct as a woman, and we quietly celebrated our feminine nature in all its wondrous glory as only two women can. I then hoped that if any women/man from my tribe, who knew her cultural values, had participated in such a study, then (s)he would have spoken out as well...there could be no other way. I ended it by conjecturing that possibly her grandfather was a victim of circumstance, and he was also abused by the system. One question that remains...who is TRULY to blame? Who do we brand the unmerciful torturer for killing people, for planning from such a one-sided voice and idea? This is my struggle to understand, my interpretation, and desire to learn.
All I knew at that moment, is wisdom and love must be used, a whole lot of wisdom and love to heal this hurt. This was my reality, where I was being led to go.
Mystery becomes Her
Having stepped aside from the gaping hole that is the dragon's throat, I am now free to breath a sign of relief and throw myself into integrating arccos with dot products and coding Mathematica routines for torsion angles. My new literary companion is "Reading Lolita in Tehran" and I am sitting in Gourmet Burger Kitchen eating out alone for the first time. Mey has given me this book after my requesting to know more about her world and the world of her mother in Iran. I'm sensing some deep longing in her to share, and most importantly to be heard in this sense. Not just listened to, but deeply understood for some wrong--injustice in the past. So I am trying to learn, open to experiences here, always open...
Mey also has great taste in food, so she has suggested that I eat at a Turkish restaurant called "Anatolia", or a French one called "Cafe Rouge," and even there is a good British pub called "Mitre." My first week here, she invited me with some of her friends here to go to Al Casbah (any one have "Rock the Casbah...Rock the Casbah! going through their head?") which was an Algerian restaurant that was great fun! I met her mom, and some of the Spanish and French people from the Cambridge Theory Sector then.
I was planning the 20 min walk to one of these fantastic places, but I was absorbed in learning about new birth control methods and old friends from another life of teenage penitence for sins I did not commit...but you only learn this with time, and wisdom.
Everything closes by 9 pm here, so to be safe, this is where I eat. The food is undercooked, the burger big, but the red sweet relish makes it unappetizing. Oh well, this is fun, and new, and life has that wonderful, dreamy quality again...and I delight in its return. We will see what Lolita does in Tehran, just thinking about it makes me condone adultery and wish for bright, scandalous clothing. The rebel in me lives on, though being suppressed by my more "cultured" (clears throat) self (looks down nose snobbishly) :-P
Originally posted 1/08/2007
Mey also has great taste in food, so she has suggested that I eat at a Turkish restaurant called "Anatolia", or a French one called "Cafe Rouge," and even there is a good British pub called "Mitre." My first week here, she invited me with some of her friends here to go to Al Casbah (any one have "Rock the Casbah...Rock the Casbah! going through their head?") which was an Algerian restaurant that was great fun! I met her mom, and some of the Spanish and French people from the Cambridge Theory Sector then.
I was planning the 20 min walk to one of these fantastic places, but I was absorbed in learning about new birth control methods and old friends from another life of teenage penitence for sins I did not commit...but you only learn this with time, and wisdom.
Everything closes by 9 pm here, so to be safe, this is where I eat. The food is undercooked, the burger big, but the red sweet relish makes it unappetizing. Oh well, this is fun, and new, and life has that wonderful, dreamy quality again...and I delight in its return. We will see what Lolita does in Tehran, just thinking about it makes me condone adultery and wish for bright, scandalous clothing. The rebel in me lives on, though being suppressed by my more "cultured" (clears throat) self (looks down nose snobbishly) :-P
Originally posted 1/08/2007
Re-emergence
Sorry for not posting for a while,
but I've been feeling under the weather, and reading a Native American book. Now that I've reflected on it some, I feel better and the sun has been out for 3 whole days now! WOW! I've posted some pictures of me punting from last Friday afternoon/night. I went out with some of my new friends: Mey, Joanne, James, George, and Alex and we had a great time! On Sunday I went to "The Orchard," which is a tea room, and had some tea with two new friends Barbara and Bryn.
Originally posted...well, I don't remember, 2 days ago?
but I've been feeling under the weather, and reading a Native American book. Now that I've reflected on it some, I feel better and the sun has been out for 3 whole days now! WOW! I've posted some pictures of me punting from last Friday afternoon/night. I went out with some of my new friends: Mey, Joanne, James, George, and Alex and we had a great time! On Sunday I went to "The Orchard," which is a tea room, and had some tea with two new friends Barbara and Bryn.
Originally posted...well, I don't remember, 2 days ago?
Stone walls and Red Earth
When planning to come here I had expected there to be similarity to Boston. I’d been warned by a friend that his English parents had not seen any architectural differences, on the whole, between England and the North East. After a day of touring his mom had merely commented, “It’s just like home…show us something different!” But now that I’m here, this reality has taken on a new meaning for me. I have looked around and seen nothing fundamentally different. The attitudes, flow of life, color of skin, and of course architecture REALLY are the same.
I laughed at this similarity to hide the sick feeling in the pit of my stomach…It was all familiar, too familiar…And then my instinct took over and I wandered into my stark dorm room and ordered two books, “Reinventing the Enemy’s Language: Contemporary Native Women’s Writings of North America”, edited by Joy Harjo and Gloria Bird and “Indigenous North American Women: Decolonization, Empowerment, Activism”, by Devon Mihesuah.
For a week I wandered daily to the Porter’s lodge for Downing College, missing all the stone walls and their radiant beauty, only to find out if my ‘pigeon hole’ held my books.
It was 2 weeks later that they came, and I was going there during my lunch break, not having time the night before. I was thinking of my computer program and the work that I should be doing, and how far I was behind on coding it, when the porter informed me of their presence. I unexpectedly showed a bright, flashy grin and sighed while I clutched them tightly and thanked him kindly as is British custom. Then I rushed out to the Downing playing field, and tore into one of the books. I fervently read the passage from Devon’s books about Anna Mae, and felt her mind wrap around me like a warm blanket in the freezing breeze and cloudy skies.
I looked at the stone steeple before me on the horizon and new that this was destiny, that it was time for me to learn of these things, and forget the oppressors ways.
Before I knew it, tears trickled down my cheeks as my Native Power returned, and my Identity was given back by these tales of anger, change, and love. The heroine of these tails was deep in my soul, and I began to know myself more deeply that day, so far away from my home.
Originally posted 21/07/07
I laughed at this similarity to hide the sick feeling in the pit of my stomach…It was all familiar, too familiar…And then my instinct took over and I wandered into my stark dorm room and ordered two books, “Reinventing the Enemy’s Language: Contemporary Native Women’s Writings of North America”, edited by Joy Harjo and Gloria Bird and “Indigenous North American Women: Decolonization, Empowerment, Activism”, by Devon Mihesuah.
For a week I wandered daily to the Porter’s lodge for Downing College, missing all the stone walls and their radiant beauty, only to find out if my ‘pigeon hole’ held my books.
It was 2 weeks later that they came, and I was going there during my lunch break, not having time the night before. I was thinking of my computer program and the work that I should be doing, and how far I was behind on coding it, when the porter informed me of their presence. I unexpectedly showed a bright, flashy grin and sighed while I clutched them tightly and thanked him kindly as is British custom. Then I rushed out to the Downing playing field, and tore into one of the books. I fervently read the passage from Devon’s books about Anna Mae, and felt her mind wrap around me like a warm blanket in the freezing breeze and cloudy skies.
I looked at the stone steeple before me on the horizon and new that this was destiny, that it was time for me to learn of these things, and forget the oppressors ways.
Before I knew it, tears trickled down my cheeks as my Native Power returned, and my Identity was given back by these tales of anger, change, and love. The heroine of these tails was deep in my soul, and I began to know myself more deeply that day, so far away from my home.
Originally posted 21/07/07
Continuing thoughts...
Hello All!
So I've been here almost 2 weeks, and I am starting to feel more content in my life here. I have become content with my loneliness, thus asserting my control over it...choosing to write comfortable about it. Writing seems my close friend here. I've unfortunately seen Johanne, a nanny for a Charleston, NC family leave in the last couple of days. I had a great time talking to her 2 nights ago about life, love, and England.
One thing I've noticed about the English people is their polite behavior, they are always staying they are "sorry" or over-explaining themselves (in my opinion). In contrast, it seemed they are much more reserved, while Zurich people were very stern faced and never smiled. They seemed to project a rational persona. Romans were excitable and talkative--always agitated at one thing or the next. Of course this is a generalization, these thoughts seem to be the touchstones that may mind remembers on quick reflection.
Johanne and I went to a British Pub and played some card games. That was fun, but everything we've seen so far closes by midnight, so we came home early. My eyes are adjusting to the greyness and the calm, quiet it brings. It seems very ordered here, a quality I am coming to despise but is empirically essential for humans. Cambridge encourages my deep Empty Peace to grow, and the stability of a monk's focus exists in the maid cleaned rooms, and single rooms void of plants, pets, and pictures. I've always longed for that feeling when rushed, and I must learn to accept and recreate this at home, although I think it cannot be forced.
I rather enjoy walking at night. There are less people and it is cooler. I like the rhythmic cooing of the owls as they overlook the stone chapel walls. As for the room, it is better now, the ghosts have been chased away by the shrieking children downstairs...which is fine by me! No, I am starting to have moments of contented breaths between missing my family, home, and the atmosphere of the Southwest. Troubles fade away during the walks when I am happily amused by new streets to explore...similar to happy Fedor's explorations.
So I've been here almost 2 weeks, and I am starting to feel more content in my life here. I have become content with my loneliness, thus asserting my control over it...choosing to write comfortable about it. Writing seems my close friend here. I've unfortunately seen Johanne, a nanny for a Charleston, NC family leave in the last couple of days. I had a great time talking to her 2 nights ago about life, love, and England.
One thing I've noticed about the English people is their polite behavior, they are always staying they are "sorry" or over-explaining themselves (in my opinion). In contrast, it seemed they are much more reserved, while Zurich people were very stern faced and never smiled. They seemed to project a rational persona. Romans were excitable and talkative--always agitated at one thing or the next. Of course this is a generalization, these thoughts seem to be the touchstones that may mind remembers on quick reflection.
Johanne and I went to a British Pub and played some card games. That was fun, but everything we've seen so far closes by midnight, so we came home early. My eyes are adjusting to the greyness and the calm, quiet it brings. It seems very ordered here, a quality I am coming to despise but is empirically essential for humans. Cambridge encourages my deep Empty Peace to grow, and the stability of a monk's focus exists in the maid cleaned rooms, and single rooms void of plants, pets, and pictures. I've always longed for that feeling when rushed, and I must learn to accept and recreate this at home, although I think it cannot be forced.
I rather enjoy walking at night. There are less people and it is cooler. I like the rhythmic cooing of the owls as they overlook the stone chapel walls. As for the room, it is better now, the ghosts have been chased away by the shrieking children downstairs...which is fine by me! No, I am starting to have moments of contented breaths between missing my family, home, and the atmosphere of the Southwest. Troubles fade away during the walks when I am happily amused by new streets to explore...similar to happy Fedor's explorations.
Now I know what GREY is...
Thursday, July 05, 2007
Hello All,
So I have finally made it to Cambridge, England and I've gotten an internet connection in my office. I've mostly been setting up things and getting provisions for my dorm room. It has been rather dreary here since I've come, and there is a cold rain so as to keep me from exploring outside after work. My new place seems to be the only thing of interest right now...I have suspicions it is haunted. I've noticed that little things will move through out the day, not suprising since I have a maid who dusts and makes my bed. But, still...my shirt sometimes is made up different then I left it the night before; and I know the maid comes during the day.
When doing my laundry, I sometimes turn around and expect to see a persons face looking at me, but I never do. I always think it will be the Chaplin or his wife checking up on me. They live on the first floor of the 3 story house, but I've not seen any lights on or heard any noise from anywhere except the faint creeking of walls and clashing thunder...until last night. The fire alarm went off at 10 pm and I woke up startled. I had just fallen asleep. Annoyed I wandered over to the Porters house across the green, and they said something must have tripped it, and there was nothing to worry about.
Today, I went back to check on my laundry, and I heard a women's soft humming through the tiny, cramped walls. I looked around, down the dark stairs, and saw no one. I went outside to see if the Chaplin's light was on, there was nothing. So, I left, having changed over the laundry, and here I sit in my office, waiting for the next adventure.
Hello All,
So I have finally made it to Cambridge, England and I've gotten an internet connection in my office. I've mostly been setting up things and getting provisions for my dorm room. It has been rather dreary here since I've come, and there is a cold rain so as to keep me from exploring outside after work. My new place seems to be the only thing of interest right now...I have suspicions it is haunted. I've noticed that little things will move through out the day, not suprising since I have a maid who dusts and makes my bed. But, still...my shirt sometimes is made up different then I left it the night before; and I know the maid comes during the day.
When doing my laundry, I sometimes turn around and expect to see a persons face looking at me, but I never do. I always think it will be the Chaplin or his wife checking up on me. They live on the first floor of the 3 story house, but I've not seen any lights on or heard any noise from anywhere except the faint creeking of walls and clashing thunder...until last night. The fire alarm went off at 10 pm and I woke up startled. I had just fallen asleep. Annoyed I wandered over to the Porters house across the green, and they said something must have tripped it, and there was nothing to worry about.
Today, I went back to check on my laundry, and I heard a women's soft humming through the tiny, cramped walls. I looked around, down the dark stairs, and saw no one. I went outside to see if the Chaplin's light was on, there was nothing. So, I left, having changed over the laundry, and here I sit in my office, waiting for the next adventure.
Venice is for women; Amsterdam is for men
Saturday, June 30, 2007
Ahh yes,
We are finally in Amsterdam and have felt the circle of human experiences complete. We have seen the two sides of Michaelangelo's work--the holy paintings of the Sistine Chapel in Rome and pornographic scenes of Fawns and Nymphs mating in the Sex Museum here. Now we feel more balanced, and I'm convinced he was an artist before being a religious painter. Well, we've seen the infamous prostitutes in their windows, and the coffee shops abound, full of the young, foreign, excited males ready to indulge in debauchery and the unknown.
As in Paris, wandering the streets is fun, and I always feel a sense of grounding after I've seen the local neighborhoods by foot and unpacked the room just the way I like it. It disturbs me there is little thought of the dangerous side of sex, and no emphasis on the consensual nature of sexual experiences.
We've seen the Anne Frank House, and there was such a sense of sadness and it was very sparse. The message here was clear, Freedom of Speech, Religion, and Press is important and many challenges exist to threaten these principles today (Church censorship of Gay Rights, Racism and Hate Speech against the Different, and US Government Invasion of Privacy). There seems to be a proud ideology centered around freedom(s), and common respect among the locals, and the tourists are some what upsetting to them in there lust for thoughtless acts of debauchery.
Erik liked the Van Gogh Museum, most of the works were done in 10 years time, and it is amazing he accomplished so much. At the end of his life he seems to have gone mad from epileptic seizures...but who really knows how mentally ill he really was before going into the sanitarium.
Well, we should head out now to Explore more! I have so much more to say about all the places, but so little time right now!
Ahh yes,
We are finally in Amsterdam and have felt the circle of human experiences complete. We have seen the two sides of Michaelangelo's work--the holy paintings of the Sistine Chapel in Rome and pornographic scenes of Fawns and Nymphs mating in the Sex Museum here. Now we feel more balanced, and I'm convinced he was an artist before being a religious painter. Well, we've seen the infamous prostitutes in their windows, and the coffee shops abound, full of the young, foreign, excited males ready to indulge in debauchery and the unknown.
As in Paris, wandering the streets is fun, and I always feel a sense of grounding after I've seen the local neighborhoods by foot and unpacked the room just the way I like it. It disturbs me there is little thought of the dangerous side of sex, and no emphasis on the consensual nature of sexual experiences.
We've seen the Anne Frank House, and there was such a sense of sadness and it was very sparse. The message here was clear, Freedom of Speech, Religion, and Press is important and many challenges exist to threaten these principles today (Church censorship of Gay Rights, Racism and Hate Speech against the Different, and US Government Invasion of Privacy). There seems to be a proud ideology centered around freedom(s), and common respect among the locals, and the tourists are some what upsetting to them in there lust for thoughtless acts of debauchery.
Erik liked the Van Gogh Museum, most of the works were done in 10 years time, and it is amazing he accomplished so much. At the end of his life he seems to have gone mad from epileptic seizures...but who really knows how mentally ill he really was before going into the sanitarium.
Well, we should head out now to Explore more! I have so much more to say about all the places, but so little time right now!
Paris
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Hello All!
So Erik and I have spent one full day and one night wandering about Paris. So far we have seen the Notre Dame Cathedral, Louvre, and some of the area around Sac De Cure. We got tired of seeing all of the Jesus paintings in the Louvre, and were happy when there were scenery and fruit paintings. There was only one painting of a African person, so we took a picture to commemorate it's rareness. The Egyptian statues were the best part along with the more modern paintings. Notre Dame was very nice to look at, but the religious "push" of the audio tour was annoying to say the least. Learning about the Gothic architecture and the purple coloring representing the coming of Christ is informative. Last night we met a talkative lady at the Vietnamese restaurant we ate at and she told us about women in the France army and how the history of French disliking America was foolish. She also told us about how she has lived here for 15 years, the architecture of the houses (they were made for poor people, but now are expensive and have thin walls), and the best restaurants in the area. Well, I should go, we need to get crossaints and coffee and head out for another day of adventure.
Hello All!
So Erik and I have spent one full day and one night wandering about Paris. So far we have seen the Notre Dame Cathedral, Louvre, and some of the area around Sac De Cure. We got tired of seeing all of the Jesus paintings in the Louvre, and were happy when there were scenery and fruit paintings. There was only one painting of a African person, so we took a picture to commemorate it's rareness. The Egyptian statues were the best part along with the more modern paintings. Notre Dame was very nice to look at, but the religious "push" of the audio tour was annoying to say the least. Learning about the Gothic architecture and the purple coloring representing the coming of Christ is informative. Last night we met a talkative lady at the Vietnamese restaurant we ate at and she told us about women in the France army and how the history of French disliking America was foolish. She also told us about how she has lived here for 15 years, the architecture of the houses (they were made for poor people, but now are expensive and have thin walls), and the best restaurants in the area. Well, I should go, we need to get crossaints and coffee and head out for another day of adventure.
Intermission / Wild Goose Chases in Zurich
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Shanadeen (Originally posted 16/07/07):
Once we got to Zurich, my feet were so sore, that I was happy to take the trolley everywhere. Chris like it too, wanting to get the best value out of the Zurich Card. We did well, having gotten a free ride around Lake Zurich where I took a hefty nap in the serene blue glassiness. Erik and Chris chatted away about Chris' program and random topics about electronics, pirating software, new software....
The food service was consistently expert and the food was very cleanly prepared but expensive. Chris had his B-day the last day we were together, and he wanted Sushi/tappenyaki. There was less showmanship in the presentation of food, but it was tasty nonetheless.
We also had some wild goose chases with trying to go to museums that were closed, and a park that didn't exist where Erik thought it was. The Swiss observe Sunday as a closed shop day, and Chris said it was the same in Munich.
The explorations around the city mostly involved hunts for ice cream late at night and ringing the bell unexpectedly in the trolleys. We wanted to go see some waterfalls, but it cost 40 euro/person so this ended our hopes to explore outside the city. Zurich city center is one big shopping center, and we got used to eating at roadside stands for 6 euro a pop.
Well, enough reminiscing. I'm going to turn of my country music (yes, I am that homesick now that I'll listen to it) and go to bed :-)
Shanadeen (Originally posted 16/07/07):
Once we got to Zurich, my feet were so sore, that I was happy to take the trolley everywhere. Chris like it too, wanting to get the best value out of the Zurich Card. We did well, having gotten a free ride around Lake Zurich where I took a hefty nap in the serene blue glassiness. Erik and Chris chatted away about Chris' program and random topics about electronics, pirating software, new software....
The food service was consistently expert and the food was very cleanly prepared but expensive. Chris had his B-day the last day we were together, and he wanted Sushi/tappenyaki. There was less showmanship in the presentation of food, but it was tasty nonetheless.
We also had some wild goose chases with trying to go to museums that were closed, and a park that didn't exist where Erik thought it was. The Swiss observe Sunday as a closed shop day, and Chris said it was the same in Munich.
The explorations around the city mostly involved hunts for ice cream late at night and ringing the bell unexpectedly in the trolleys. We wanted to go see some waterfalls, but it cost 40 euro/person so this ended our hopes to explore outside the city. Zurich city center is one big shopping center, and we got used to eating at roadside stands for 6 euro a pop.
Well, enough reminiscing. I'm going to turn of my country music (yes, I am that homesick now that I'll listen to it) and go to bed :-)
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