I write the blog for myself. And one of it's purposes is to record things for me to refer to later. I have found myself looking up the Feng Shui directional diagram a number of times, and it's not easy. So, here's what it says:
Entering the house, the first center square is career. To your right is skills and knowledge, and to your left is helpful people and travel.
The center square of the house is health. Standing at the center of the house with your back to the door, to your right is family and to your left is creativity and children.
At the back of the house, with your back still to the door, the back center square is fame and reputation. To your right is relationships and love, and to your left is prosperity.
Tuesday, April 26, 2005
Monday, April 25, 2005
On the bus of life...
I really should be working, because, afterall, I have some work to do, but why start when you're... wait a minute....
Jo says: "If you're not ready for rejection, you're not ready to date." Don't worry; I'm fine now. I just thought that was really, extremely wise. :-)
Last Friday night I road AC Transit for the first time in a while. I can't stress enough how important it is for we transportation planners (and planners in general) to ride the bus. There was a little tiny girl on the bus alone; she looked like she was about 8 years old. She sat next to the bus driver.
Driver: Where are you going?
Girl: I don't know.
The bus pulled up to a stop, at 39th Street, and girl began to alight.
D: What street is that?
G: 39th
D: Remember that. That's your stop next time someone asks.
Thank Goddess we have bus drivers out there looking after our children. I am reminded of another time, on SF Muni, when a woman in a totally crazy outfit was telling the driver about what hard time she was having (rehab?). The bus driver suggested she go to church. The woman said she had trouble finding a church that wasn't too judgemental, and the driver began to suggest a few. After a few more exchanges, the woman said something like "You know, we really rely on you for guidance. Life is really hard, and without you there to help guide us, I think a lot of us would be completely lost." (I wrote it down at the time, but now it is coming from memory. I might check my notebook and add the actual quote later.)
Today, bus drivers out our Ministers. They are our guardians. Our shephards. We could be lost in the mountains of urban kaos without them. Let's start a bus driver appreciation day. Maybe I will write a book about it.
I rode the 43 bus from downtown Oakland to outer El Cerrito (Carolyn's house), and unbelievably, it was quite pleasant. Unlike BART, it was clean and on-time. Unlike Muni, there were no crazy people yelling. Unlike riding my bicycle, I just sat there and watched the cities go by without a worry entering my mind.
Jo says: "If you're not ready for rejection, you're not ready to date." Don't worry; I'm fine now. I just thought that was really, extremely wise. :-)
Last Friday night I road AC Transit for the first time in a while. I can't stress enough how important it is for we transportation planners (and planners in general) to ride the bus. There was a little tiny girl on the bus alone; she looked like she was about 8 years old. She sat next to the bus driver.
Driver: Where are you going?
Girl: I don't know.
The bus pulled up to a stop, at 39th Street, and girl began to alight.
D: What street is that?
G: 39th
D: Remember that. That's your stop next time someone asks.
Thank Goddess we have bus drivers out there looking after our children. I am reminded of another time, on SF Muni, when a woman in a totally crazy outfit was telling the driver about what hard time she was having (rehab?). The bus driver suggested she go to church. The woman said she had trouble finding a church that wasn't too judgemental, and the driver began to suggest a few. After a few more exchanges, the woman said something like "You know, we really rely on you for guidance. Life is really hard, and without you there to help guide us, I think a lot of us would be completely lost." (I wrote it down at the time, but now it is coming from memory. I might check my notebook and add the actual quote later.)
Today, bus drivers out our Ministers. They are our guardians. Our shephards. We could be lost in the mountains of urban kaos without them. Let's start a bus driver appreciation day. Maybe I will write a book about it.
I rode the 43 bus from downtown Oakland to outer El Cerrito (Carolyn's house), and unbelievably, it was quite pleasant. Unlike BART, it was clean and on-time. Unlike Muni, there were no crazy people yelling. Unlike riding my bicycle, I just sat there and watched the cities go by without a worry entering my mind.
Wednesday, April 20, 2005
More song lyrics
Matt played this song for me on his ipod today. I can hardly believe it. And I certainly can't believe it's been around since 1973, and I'd never heard it. The chyck played at Woodstock for crying out loud.
Artist: Deana Carter
Song: Brand New Key
I rode my bicycle past your window last night
I roller skated to your door at daylight
It almost seems that you're avoiding me
I'm ok alone but you've got something I need
Well, I've gotta brand new pair of roller skates
You got a brand new key
I think that we should get together
And try them out ya see
I've been lookin' around a while
You got somethin' for me
Oh, I gotta brand new pair of roller skates
You got a brand new key
I ride my bike, I roller skate, don't drive no car
Don't go too fast, but I go pretty far
For somebody who don't drive I've been all around the world
Some people say I've done all right for a girl
Oh yeah, yeah-yeah-yeah, yeah-yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah, yeah-yeah
I asked your mother if you were at home
She said yes, but you weren't alone
Oh sometimes I think that your avoiding me
I'm ok alone but you got something I need well
I've gotta brand new pair of roller skates
You got a brand new key
I think that we should get together
And try them out ya see
La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la
La, la, la, la, la, la
Oh, I gotta brand new pair of roller skates
You got a brand new key
Artist: Deana Carter
Song: Brand New Key
I rode my bicycle past your window last night
I roller skated to your door at daylight
It almost seems that you're avoiding me
I'm ok alone but you've got something I need
Well, I've gotta brand new pair of roller skates
You got a brand new key
I think that we should get together
And try them out ya see
I've been lookin' around a while
You got somethin' for me
Oh, I gotta brand new pair of roller skates
You got a brand new key
I ride my bike, I roller skate, don't drive no car
Don't go too fast, but I go pretty far
For somebody who don't drive I've been all around the world
Some people say I've done all right for a girl
Oh yeah, yeah-yeah-yeah, yeah-yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah, yeah-yeah
I asked your mother if you were at home
She said yes, but you weren't alone
Oh sometimes I think that your avoiding me
I'm ok alone but you got something I need well
I've gotta brand new pair of roller skates
You got a brand new key
I think that we should get together
And try them out ya see
La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la
La, la, la, la, la, la
Oh, I gotta brand new pair of roller skates
You got a brand new key
The First Time
Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday I trek the 5 blocks between my house and BART and attempt to board the Pittsburgh Bay Point train that leaves the 24th Street station at 8:33 AM. The problem with this system is that the train is never, ever on time. Sometimes I take a delayed Richmond train. Sometimes I wait. and wait. and wait. This morning, for the first time since I started this job in February, I arrived at the station and the right train arrived on-time. Boy howdy.
My drawing class is focusing on bones and muscles at the moment. I am very grateful that I have bones and muscles and that they work, but, to be perfectly honest, I have no interest in drawing them. I guess my subconscious took over, and I produced the absolutely ugliest drawing of bones and muscles you can imagine. My teachers great and all that, but maybe yesterday's drawing will get her off my back about the bones and muscles.
Starting Friday is dance week, and I recommend that all of my readers in the Bay Area (of which there are like, what? 3? But anyway...) check out www.bacndw.org for free dance stuff to do and see.
My drawing class is focusing on bones and muscles at the moment. I am very grateful that I have bones and muscles and that they work, but, to be perfectly honest, I have no interest in drawing them. I guess my subconscious took over, and I produced the absolutely ugliest drawing of bones and muscles you can imagine. My teachers great and all that, but maybe yesterday's drawing will get her off my back about the bones and muscles.
Starting Friday is dance week, and I recommend that all of my readers in the Bay Area (of which there are like, what? 3? But anyway...) check out www.bacndw.org for free dance stuff to do and see.
Monday, April 18, 2005
the end of suburbia
Suzahna invited a few of us over for dinner and see this documentary. She found it particularly compelling after her experience with the Ukrainian elections last fall/winter (where she lived for the last year on a Fulbright). For some reason, she didn't find it depressing, but I think her guests last night felt differently.
The documentary included a lot of footage displaying a sort of 50s view of the American Dream, and interviews with lots of old white men on the impact of the oil crisis. I can't say I disagree with them, but I don't have much patience when commanded to listen to so many old white men discuss authoritively what will happen to this country and the world as a whole in response to the decisions of their previous incarnations (the old white men who made all those decisions about how we all would live 50+ years ago and messed it up). The only women in the film were 1950s housewives with overly-coiffed hair monitoring children in their huge front lawns.
I was reminded of a talk I heard on NPR a month or so ago on "3rd Wave" Feminism (what post-post-feminism is called, it turns out). They even said that the concerns of environmentalists are often at odds with the concerns of women of color. Even at the Carfree Cities Conference last summer, most of the speakers were white men, and the free bicycles provided had seats for men that were very uncomfortable for the female pelvis. I don't believe that the issues oppose each other, and I really really believe that we all need to make more of an effort to bring ourselves together.
At work today, I spent a few minutes catching up on local transportation-related news, and so much of it has to do with these same problems: seniors losing their licenses and ending up isolated and depressed in their suburban homes; the high cost of maintaining the Bay Bridge for cars, and how people don't want to pay a higher toll (even though in Europe road tolls are much, much higher); how no one can afford to live in the city because housing prices are so high due to lack of supply. There is hope: Mayor Newsome wants more housing built in the city, with fewer parking spaces (as I understand it); downtown Livermore is being redeveloped into mixed-use; the new bridge will probably allow non-drivers and end years of discrimination. But I just don't think any of it is happening fast enough possibly because, in part, no one is thinking enough about the issues of equality in transportation planning. argh!
I got home before 11, but spent the following 3+ hours sorting papers, passively watching tv, and waiting for the elusive sleep to come.
The documentary included a lot of footage displaying a sort of 50s view of the American Dream, and interviews with lots of old white men on the impact of the oil crisis. I can't say I disagree with them, but I don't have much patience when commanded to listen to so many old white men discuss authoritively what will happen to this country and the world as a whole in response to the decisions of their previous incarnations (the old white men who made all those decisions about how we all would live 50+ years ago and messed it up). The only women in the film were 1950s housewives with overly-coiffed hair monitoring children in their huge front lawns.
I was reminded of a talk I heard on NPR a month or so ago on "3rd Wave" Feminism (what post-post-feminism is called, it turns out). They even said that the concerns of environmentalists are often at odds with the concerns of women of color. Even at the Carfree Cities Conference last summer, most of the speakers were white men, and the free bicycles provided had seats for men that were very uncomfortable for the female pelvis. I don't believe that the issues oppose each other, and I really really believe that we all need to make more of an effort to bring ourselves together.
At work today, I spent a few minutes catching up on local transportation-related news, and so much of it has to do with these same problems: seniors losing their licenses and ending up isolated and depressed in their suburban homes; the high cost of maintaining the Bay Bridge for cars, and how people don't want to pay a higher toll (even though in Europe road tolls are much, much higher); how no one can afford to live in the city because housing prices are so high due to lack of supply. There is hope: Mayor Newsome wants more housing built in the city, with fewer parking spaces (as I understand it); downtown Livermore is being redeveloped into mixed-use; the new bridge will probably allow non-drivers and end years of discrimination. But I just don't think any of it is happening fast enough possibly because, in part, no one is thinking enough about the issues of equality in transportation planning. argh!
I got home before 11, but spent the following 3+ hours sorting papers, passively watching tv, and waiting for the elusive sleep to come.
Sunday, April 17, 2005
delay
Anne Lammot on NPR this afternoon: the problem with god, or at least one of the top 5 most annoying things about god, is that he or she doesn't answer right away.
I could say that about nearly everything I can imagine, except maybe my own voice, but when sent into mobile phone technology, there is still a delay!
I could say that about nearly everything I can imagine, except maybe my own voice, but when sent into mobile phone technology, there is still a delay!
the unconscious art of graffitti removal
I so wish that I had thought of this! Sam and Jess had a dvd with shorts, and one of them, created by a friend of Shanti's from college in Portland, is called "the unconscious art of graffitti removal". It includes beautiful urban shots, composing the graffitti removal squares like Mark Rothko paintings against their industrial buildings. She interviews the graffitti removal workers, explaining that their lack of aesthetic consideration is exactly what contributes to artistic value of graffitti removal. The short is also an excuse for a lot of lovely images of gritty, industrial Portland neighborhoods.
on the little piece of paper
I keep a little piece of paper (the back of a credit card offer or something like that) next to the computer, and when I think of words of wisdom to put in the blog, I jot them down. My hope at the time is that I will add them next time I feel moved to blog, but, well, here's the reality:
"At a certain point, everything is a coincidence." Now, I have absolutely no idea what I was thinking when I wrote that down.
"I have fallen back in love with San Francisco." Ah, yes, that I understand, and it's true. It took some time, but I feel it now. The question is: what do I do with it? I sometimes go through life thinking (and it is entirely my mother's fault) that if I am in love, all the answers will be obvious. Ha! I think that was back in the day when being in love meant making babies and your love was your career.
It's been a pretty debauched weekend so far (and I still have another event tonight! "The end of suburbia" dinner party at Suzahna's). Last night was a dinner party and 2 party parties; the final one involved a home karaoke machine. If I had money to burn, that would be the first thing I would buy for myself! All parties were within 0.5 mile of my house, yet when I left the final one at 1:40 AM, and Shanti and Marshall got on their bikes (I was on foot), I had absolutely no idea in which direction I lived. I felt like a small furry animal who lives underground, closing my eyes and walking down the populated sidewalk in some general direction pulled only by my core.
What else should I fill you in on? I ran 3 times this week, which is of course, the goal, but I did not meet my goal of 7 hours of exercise. I attended a belly dance class with Elizabeth, and my abdomen still hurts when I laugh or sneeze. Afterwards we went to Zuni Cafe, where both the salad and shoestring fries had identical textures. I ordered the fries as part of a project from a couple weeks ago, where a group of us road our bikes around SF sampling the french fries at all recommended venues. Did I tell you about that already? There was no consensus on the best, but the place at 18th and South Van Ness (Whiz Burger?) might be your best bet. Zuni did not rival them, and they were 4X the price.
I met Anne and Ray at the Monkey Club at 21st and Bryant on Friday night. It's a cute little bar with tasty cocktails and a good happy hour. I would go there again. We were meeting their friends who have a juice company called Adina, sort of herbal infusion juice. Nice, and good with vodka. One of my favorite galleries, 66 Balmy, had their opening Friday night. The exhibition is the work of Nicholas Coley who seems to be doing beige streetscapes a la Diebenkorn, but with really cool brush strokes and use of purple in the shadows. Thursday I attended another gallery opening at the Theater Artaud. The art was nothing special but my companion and I had a really fun moment over a painting of chickens on pedestals with falling... eyes?.. and either shrubbery or green high-rises in the background. Also wonderful was that they served sangria, and you know how I feel about sangria!
"At a certain point, everything is a coincidence." Now, I have absolutely no idea what I was thinking when I wrote that down.
"I have fallen back in love with San Francisco." Ah, yes, that I understand, and it's true. It took some time, but I feel it now. The question is: what do I do with it? I sometimes go through life thinking (and it is entirely my mother's fault) that if I am in love, all the answers will be obvious. Ha! I think that was back in the day when being in love meant making babies and your love was your career.
It's been a pretty debauched weekend so far (and I still have another event tonight! "The end of suburbia" dinner party at Suzahna's). Last night was a dinner party and 2 party parties; the final one involved a home karaoke machine. If I had money to burn, that would be the first thing I would buy for myself! All parties were within 0.5 mile of my house, yet when I left the final one at 1:40 AM, and Shanti and Marshall got on their bikes (I was on foot), I had absolutely no idea in which direction I lived. I felt like a small furry animal who lives underground, closing my eyes and walking down the populated sidewalk in some general direction pulled only by my core.
What else should I fill you in on? I ran 3 times this week, which is of course, the goal, but I did not meet my goal of 7 hours of exercise. I attended a belly dance class with Elizabeth, and my abdomen still hurts when I laugh or sneeze. Afterwards we went to Zuni Cafe, where both the salad and shoestring fries had identical textures. I ordered the fries as part of a project from a couple weeks ago, where a group of us road our bikes around SF sampling the french fries at all recommended venues. Did I tell you about that already? There was no consensus on the best, but the place at 18th and South Van Ness (Whiz Burger?) might be your best bet. Zuni did not rival them, and they were 4X the price.
I met Anne and Ray at the Monkey Club at 21st and Bryant on Friday night. It's a cute little bar with tasty cocktails and a good happy hour. I would go there again. We were meeting their friends who have a juice company called Adina, sort of herbal infusion juice. Nice, and good with vodka. One of my favorite galleries, 66 Balmy, had their opening Friday night. The exhibition is the work of Nicholas Coley who seems to be doing beige streetscapes a la Diebenkorn, but with really cool brush strokes and use of purple in the shadows. Thursday I attended another gallery opening at the Theater Artaud. The art was nothing special but my companion and I had a really fun moment over a painting of chickens on pedestals with falling... eyes?.. and either shrubbery or green high-rises in the background. Also wonderful was that they served sangria, and you know how I feel about sangria!
Wednesday, April 13, 2005
Online dating and career placement
Grace says:
Okay, so I'm not that old, but it is like the "outplacement" that (my company) provided- the counseling on how to look for a job after so many years with the same company. The online thing is like that.
Okay, so I'm not that old, but it is like the "outplacement" that (my company) provided- the counseling on how to look for a job after so many years with the same company. The online thing is like that.
Sunday, April 10, 2005
Wednesday, April 06, 2005
Forget Safety [update]
Rob Brezsney has once again selected a little wisdom for us:
Thoreau: "Do not be too moral. You may cheat yourself out of much life. Aim above morality. Be not simply good; be good for something."
Rumi (as translated by Coleman Barks):
"Forget safety.
Live where you fear to live.
Destroy your reputation.
Be notorious.
I have tried prudent planning
long enough.
From now
on, I'll be mad."
Last night, as I rode my bike over the hill back towards home from my art class in the fabulous warm sunlight, I thought to myself, wouldn't it be fabulous to get some friends together and go the beach right this minute for some cool air, salty waves, sand between the toes kind of action! So, after checking my email, I did. I called 12 of my favorite people in the Bay Area and not one of them could rush off to the beach at a moments notice on an unexpectedly beautiful day.
Here are some of the excuses I heard:
* By the time we got there it would be my bedtime, and I am so tired.
* I run tonight. (Me: I can run. We can run at the beach.) No, but I am have been having this problem with my foot, so I can only run under close surveillance of my trainer, and our appointment is tonight.
* I am already out in the beautiful weather (Bernal Heights, not the beach) with someone else.
* I have bongo class with my roommate.
* I have rehearsal for a women's music performance in Alameda.
* And several "I didn't get your call in time. That would have been perfect!" And to that I ask, "What is the point of having a cel phone if you can't cut class and go to the beach at a moment's notice."
Oh, did I mention I was cutting class? Yeah (guilty expression), while I loved my French class in Paris, the one here makes me miserable. I think I'll drop it. This is part of my ongoing effort to be passionately in love with myself and my life.
Speaking of which, Rob Brezsney says that the last few and next few weeks suck. This has certainly been true of the last few. Astrologyzone (one that Kristin recommended) said no such thing. Yeah, in my spare time I am going to study who provides the most accurate horoscopes. Not.
PS, as a brief update to my effort to get to the beach last night, I heard back from another friend I unsuccessfully summoned for the adventure. Matt says I always call him when he is on BART. His phone has been broken, losing numbers and the like (yes, this is true). So, he went to the beach and looked for me. Alas, if I had only known, I would have been there to be found!
Thoreau: "Do not be too moral. You may cheat yourself out of much life. Aim above morality. Be not simply good; be good for something."
Rumi (as translated by Coleman Barks):
"Forget safety.
Live where you fear to live.
Destroy your reputation.
Be notorious.
I have tried prudent planning
long enough.
From now
on, I'll be mad."
Last night, as I rode my bike over the hill back towards home from my art class in the fabulous warm sunlight, I thought to myself, wouldn't it be fabulous to get some friends together and go the beach right this minute for some cool air, salty waves, sand between the toes kind of action! So, after checking my email, I did. I called 12 of my favorite people in the Bay Area and not one of them could rush off to the beach at a moments notice on an unexpectedly beautiful day.
Here are some of the excuses I heard:
* By the time we got there it would be my bedtime, and I am so tired.
* I run tonight. (Me: I can run. We can run at the beach.) No, but I am have been having this problem with my foot, so I can only run under close surveillance of my trainer, and our appointment is tonight.
* I am already out in the beautiful weather (Bernal Heights, not the beach) with someone else.
* I have bongo class with my roommate.
* I have rehearsal for a women's music performance in Alameda.
* And several "I didn't get your call in time. That would have been perfect!" And to that I ask, "What is the point of having a cel phone if you can't cut class and go to the beach at a moment's notice."
Oh, did I mention I was cutting class? Yeah (guilty expression), while I loved my French class in Paris, the one here makes me miserable. I think I'll drop it. This is part of my ongoing effort to be passionately in love with myself and my life.
Speaking of which, Rob Brezsney says that the last few and next few weeks suck. This has certainly been true of the last few. Astrologyzone (one that Kristin recommended) said no such thing. Yeah, in my spare time I am going to study who provides the most accurate horoscopes. Not.
PS, as a brief update to my effort to get to the beach last night, I heard back from another friend I unsuccessfully summoned for the adventure. Matt says I always call him when he is on BART. His phone has been broken, losing numbers and the like (yes, this is true). So, he went to the beach and looked for me. Alas, if I had only known, I would have been there to be found!
Saturday, April 02, 2005
Friday, April 01, 2005
Osama loves your SUV
Grace says:
I saw an Osama Heart Your SUV sticker for the first time the other
day and loved it.
I saw an Osama Heart Your SUV sticker for the first time the other
day and loved it.
...being of sound mind and body...
I, _________________________ (fill in the blank),
being of sound mind and body, do not wish to be kept
alive indefinitely by artificial means.
Under no circumstances should my fate be put in the
hands of peckerwood politicians who couldn't pass
ninth-grade biology if their lives depended on it. If
a reasonable amount of time passes and I fail to ask
for a cup of fresh-ground French roast and access to
my email, it should be presumed that I won't ever get
better.
When such a determination is reached, I hereby
instruct my spouse, children, and/or attending
physicians to pull the plug, reel in the tubes, and
call it a day. If they won't do it, go out on the
street and get some random passerby or wino.
Under no circumstances shall the members of the
Legislature enact a special law to keep me on
life-support machinery. I don't care how many
fundamentalist votes they're trying to scrounge for
their run for the presidency; they should play
politics with someone else's life and leave me alone
to die in peace. It is my wish that these boneheads
mind their own damn business, and pay attention
instead to the health, education, and future of the
millions of Americans who aren't in a permanent coma.
It just goes to show you how sick you have to be in
this country to get Congress to pay attention to your
health care.
I couldn't care less if a hundred thousand religious
zealots send e-mails to legislators in which they
pretend to care about me or demonstrate outside my
hospital with their bleeding Jesuses and sandwiches
with Mary's face on them. I don't know these people,
and I certainly haven't authorized them to preach and
crusade on my behalf. And the Pope should mind his own
friggin' business, too.
And if any of my family goes against my wishes and
tries to turn my case into a political cause, I hereby
promise to come back from the grave and make his or
her existence a living hell.
______________________________________
Signature
______________________________________
Witness
______________________________________
Witness
being of sound mind and body, do not wish to be kept
alive indefinitely by artificial means.
Under no circumstances should my fate be put in the
hands of peckerwood politicians who couldn't pass
ninth-grade biology if their lives depended on it. If
a reasonable amount of time passes and I fail to ask
for a cup of fresh-ground French roast and access to
my email, it should be presumed that I won't ever get
better.
When such a determination is reached, I hereby
instruct my spouse, children, and/or attending
physicians to pull the plug, reel in the tubes, and
call it a day. If they won't do it, go out on the
street and get some random passerby or wino.
Under no circumstances shall the members of the
Legislature enact a special law to keep me on
life-support machinery. I don't care how many
fundamentalist votes they're trying to scrounge for
their run for the presidency; they should play
politics with someone else's life and leave me alone
to die in peace. It is my wish that these boneheads
mind their own damn business, and pay attention
instead to the health, education, and future of the
millions of Americans who aren't in a permanent coma.
It just goes to show you how sick you have to be in
this country to get Congress to pay attention to your
health care.
I couldn't care less if a hundred thousand religious
zealots send e-mails to legislators in which they
pretend to care about me or demonstrate outside my
hospital with their bleeding Jesuses and sandwiches
with Mary's face on them. I don't know these people,
and I certainly haven't authorized them to preach and
crusade on my behalf. And the Pope should mind his own
friggin' business, too.
And if any of my family goes against my wishes and
tries to turn my case into a political cause, I hereby
promise to come back from the grave and make his or
her existence a living hell.
______________________________________
Signature
______________________________________
Witness
______________________________________
Witness
Thursday, March 31, 2005
Newsflash on Anger
This just in: acting on your anger makes you an angrier, more aggressive person. (Source: NPR right this minute) Just like "How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice." Acting out on your angry feelings makes feel anger stronger and more frequently which isn't healthy for yourself or others. Venting anger does not reduce it.
Tuesday, March 29, 2005
quote from the sfbc bulleton
"It's high time that we stand up to planners and politicians who don't yet understand that it's
pedestrians that bring life to a community,
and it's cars who suck all the life out. While it's important to lobby public officials for
traffic calming and other public safety
improvements, it's also important to assert the fact that our streets don't exist merely for the
ease of motorists."
Jay Walljasper, Project for Public Spaces
pedestrians that bring life to a community,
and it's cars who suck all the life out. While it's important to lobby public officials for
traffic calming and other public safety
improvements, it's also important to assert the fact that our streets don't exist merely for the
ease of motorists."
Jay Walljasper, Project for Public Spaces
Monday, March 28, 2005
Page Zero 3/25: Stiglitz Warns of Violence If Wolfowitz
My friend here at RIDES, Marty, puts together a weekly news bulleton:
> From: "Martin Dooley"
>
> MARCH 19/20 ANTIWAR ACTION REPORTS FROM HUNDREDS
> OF CITIES
> http://www.pephost.org/site/R?i=F_x252h_cw-72suC2Mm5YQ..
>
> ZNet Commentary
> The Normalization of Torture, Death Squads and
> Contempt for the Rule of Law March 19, 2005
> By Edward Herman
> http://www.zmag.org/sustainers/content/2005-03/18herman.cfm
>
> World Bank Workers Reject Wolfowitz
> http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/031905D.shtml
See Ilana's response I will post in the comments. (Ilana is my sister who works at the World Bank.)
>
> ZNet Commentary
> Harassment Laws March 20, 2005
> By George Monbiot
>
> It was the greatest legal victory against
> corporate power in living memory. Last week, two
> penniless activists, Dave Morris and Helen Steel,
> persuaded the European Court of Human Rights that
> Britain's libel laws, under which they had been sued
> by McDonald's, had denied them their right of free
> speech. The law will probably have to be changed, depriving the
> rich and
> powerful of their most effective means of stifling public protest.
> So why
> aren't they hopping mad about it? The company which sued Dave and
> Helen will
> say only that "the world has moved on ... and so has
> McDonald's."(1) The
> Confederation of British Industry, so quick to denounce the legal
> rulings it
> doesn't like, hasn't uttered a word. They don't care, and they
> don't need
> to. You can see why by reading the Serious Organised Crime and
> Police Bill,
> which has now passed through the Commons for the third time. What
> civil law
> once gave them, criminal law now offers instead. The law is left
> wide open:
> there is nothing in it to prevent a company from seeking an
> injunction and
> damages against someone who has handed out leaflets to two of its
> customers.
> To demonstrate harassment, it needs to show that the protester's
> conduct has
> caused its customers "alarm or distress": but again the law grants
> it as
> much scope as it could ask for. This bill, like the 1997 Protection
> from
> Harassment Act, fails to distinguish between the manner in which
> information
> might be presented, and the information itself. If you stood
> outside a
> chemist's shop, telling people that one of the drugs they were
> using caused
> mutations in human foetuses, you would be alarming or distressing
> them even
> if you behaved with the greatest courtesy. The bill goes on
> (sections 122
> and 123) to redefine harassing someone in his home in such a way as
> to
> permit the police to ban all protest in a residential area. Under
> the bill
> you don't have to go knocking on someone's door to merit a year
> inside and a
> £2500 fine. You merely need to represent to "another individual"
> (ie
> anyone) "in the vicinity" of someone else's home, "that he should
> not do
> something that he is entitled or required to do; or that he should
> do
> something that he is not under any obligation to do". Which is, of
> course,
> the purpose of protest.
> http://www.zmag.org/sustainers/content/2005-03/08monbiot.cfm
>
> NY REVIEW OF BOOKS
> The Real Afghanistan
> By Pankaj Mishra
> http://www.nybooks.com/articles/17787
>
> Protests in US, Europe as Bush Defends Iraq War
> http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/032005B.shtml
>
> Oil Drilling In Alaska
> Richard Lott
> Civil Engineer "They're drilling in the Alaskan wilderness? That's
> too bad.
> Someone really ought to look into passing laws to put such places
> under
> federal protection so this doesn't happen again."
> Cecelia Mayo
> Systems Analyst "This can't be true. Bush described himself as an
> environmental guardian last fall, and I've seen photos of him
> standing in
> front of trees."
> Angel Macias
> Lifeguard "At least now we'll see the area destroyed in 10 short
> years
> instead of watching global warming do it over a painful, drawn-out
> 40."
> Ted Bonner
> Locksmith "What I don't get is why this counts as 'a victory for
> the energy
> lobby' instead of 'a loss for the country at large.'"
> Floyd Holden
> Author "But... but where will there be pristine and untouched
> wonders left
> for me to drive my GMC Yukon through?"
> http://www.theonion.com/index.php?pre=1
>
> The Return Of Latin America's Left
> by Alvaro Vargas Llosa, The New York Times
> There's a new pragmatic left ascending in Latin America, and
> it's a
> great opportunity for reform.
> http://www.tompaine.com/opinion/#004178
>
> Remembering Romero
> by Mark Engler, TomPaine.com
> Archbishop Oscar Romero was murdered 25 years ago today as
> part of the
> original 'Salvador Option.'
> http://www.tompaine.com/articles/remembering_romero.php
>
> Strange Bedfellows Unite to Fight Patriot Act
> http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/032305G.shtml
>
> SEC may sue Perle over Hollinger
> http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20050324/RPERLE24/TPBusiness/Canadian
> By OTIS BILODEAU AND PETER ROBISON
> Thursday, March 24, 2005 PageB3 Bloomberg, with files from staff
> According to an investigation by a special committee of Hollinger
> International's board last year, Mr. Perle admitted that he signed
> off on
> many of the transactions without reading the documents. In a
> report, the
> committee sharply criticized Mr. Perle as a "faithless fiduciary"
> whose
> "head-in-the-sand behaviour" breached his duty to protect
> shareholders. The
> committee also found that Mr. Perle and an affiliated company
> pocketed more
> than $7-million in compensation and investments from Hollinger
> International
> and a subsidiary.. . .
> The board at Hollinger International ousted Lord Black in January,
> 2004. The
> company later sued him, saying in a report issued in August that he
> and
> other top executives looted the company of more than $400-million
> over seven
> years.
>
> March 27, 2005
> FRANK RICH
> The God Racket, From DeMille to DeLay
>
> http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/27/arts/27Rich.html?8hpib=&pagewanted=print&position=
> As DeMille readied his costly Paramount production for release a
> half-century ago, he seized on an ingenious publicity scheme. In
> partnership
> with the Fraternal Order of Eagles, a nationwide association of
> civic-minded
> clubs founded by theater owners, he sponsored the construction of
> several
> thousand Ten Commandments monuments throughout the country to hype
> his
> product. The Pharaoh himself - that would be Yul Brynner -
> participated in
> the gala unveiling of the Milwaukee slab. Heston did the same in
> North
> Dakota. Bizarrely enough, all these years later, it is another of
> these
> DeMille-inspired granite monuments, on the grounds of the Texas
> Capitol in
> Austin, that is a focus of the Ten Commandments case that the
> United States
> Supreme Court heard this month.
> That bullying, stoked by politicians in power, has become
> omnipresent,
> leading television stations to practice self-censorship and high
> school
> teachers to avoid mentioning "the E word," evolution, in their
> classrooms,
> lest they arouse fundamentalist rancor. The president is on record
> as saying
> that the jury is still out on evolution, so perhaps it's no
> surprise that
> The Los Angeles Times has uncovered a three-year-old "religious
> rights" unit
> in the Justice Department that investigated a biology professor at
> Texas
> Tech because he refused to write letters of recommendation for
> students who
> do not accept evolution as "the central, unifying principle of
> biology."
> Cornelia Dean of The New York Times broke the story last weekend
> that some
> Imax theaters, even those in science centers, are now refusing to
> show
> documentaries like "Galápagos" or "Volcanoes of the Deep Sea"
> because their
> references to Darwin and the Big Bang theory might antagonize some
> audiences. Soon such films will disappear along with biology
> textbooks that
> don't give equal time to creationism.
> James Cameron, producer of "Volcanoes" (and, more famously, the
> director of
> "Titanic"), called this development "obviously symptomatic of our
> shift away
> from empiricism in science to faith-based science." Faith-based
> science has
> in turn begat faith-based medicine that impedes stem-cell research,
> not to
> mention faith-based abstinence-only health policy that impedes the
> prevention of unwanted pregnancies and diseases like AIDS.
> Faith-based news
> is not far behind. Ashley Smith, the 26-year-old woman who was held
> hostage
> by Brian Nichols, the accused Atlanta courthouse killer, has been
> canonized
> by virtually every American news organization as God's messenger
> because she
> inspired Mr. Nichols to surrender by talking about her faith and
> reading him
> a chapter from Rick Warren's best seller, "The Purpose-Driven
> Life." But if
> she's speaking for God, what does that make Dennis Rader, the
> church council
> president arrested in Wichita's B.T.K. serial killer case? Was God
> instructing Terry Ratzmann, the devoted member of the Living Church
> of God
> who this month murdered his pastor, an elderly man, two teenagers
> and two
> others before killing himself at a weekly church service in
> Wisconsin? The
> religious elements of these stories, including the role played by
> the
> end-of-times fatalism of Mr. Ratzmann's church, are left largely
> unexamined
> by the same news outlets that serve up Ashley Smith's tale as an
> inspirational parable for profit.
> But faced with McCarthyism in God's name, most Democratic leaders
> went into
> hiding and stayed silent. Prayers are no more likely to revive
> their spines
> than poor Terri Schiavo's brain.
>
> NEW STRAITS TIMES
> Two carry medical data in their arms
> GEORGE TOWN, Wed. - Two Malaysians have had the world's smallest
> identification chips embedded in their arms.
> http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Thursday/National/NST32285911.txt/Article/indexb_html
> LOWES FOODS BRINGS BIOMETRIC FINGERPRINT PAYMENTS AND CHECK CASHING
> TO
> CUSTOMERS
> http://www.lincolntribune.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=978
> US Document Indicates Bin Laden Escaped Tora Bora
> http://www.voanews.com/english/2005-03-23-voa53.cfm
> PATRICK BOND
> A New War? On Wolfowitz's World Bank
> http://www.ukzn.ac.za/ccs/default.asp?2,40,5,609
> HOW TO TURN YOUR RED STATE BLUE
> Christopher Hayes, In These Times
> In order to grow, progressives need to learn from
> evangelical movements: Systematically expand the
> universe
> of access points to their worldview and actively
> recruit
> people into the fold.
> http://www.alternet.org/story/21584/
>
> RAGING FOR THE MACHINE
> Scott Thill, AlterNet
> In Brian K. Vaughan's 'Ex Machina,' the comic
> book hero
> paradigm is turned upside down -- a gay mayor of
> New
> York dealing with rather more real -- but no less
> heroic -- situations.
> http://www.alternet.org/mediaculture/21587/
>
> BRAZIL'S BOLD MOVE
> Kelly Hearn, AlterNet
> Determined to get affordable drugs for its
> citizens living
> with HIV/AIDS, the Brazilian government threatens
> to break
> some of Big Pharma's patents.
> http://www.alternet.org/envirohealth/21586/
>
> ONE-WAY PLANET
> Tom Engelhardt, Tomdispatch.com
> Exactly how narrow have the boundaries of
> discussion about
> the American "mission" in the world grown in the
> Bush
> years?
> http://www.alternet.org/story/21589/
>
> TRAGEDY AT RED LAKE
> H. Mathew Barkhausen III, SNAG Magazine
> "I can only wonder how things might have turned
> out
> differently if Weise had had a traditional Ojibwe
> upbringing, was well-acquainted with his native
> tongue and
> traditions."
> http://www.alternet.org/wiretap/21594/
>
>
> JUST SAY ... NOTHING
> Alexandra Marks, Christian Science Monitor
> Today's parents are more likely to have used
> drugs in
> adolescence than any other generation. Yet
> they're proving
> more reluctant to talk about it to their
> children.
> http://www.alternet.org/drugreporter/21438/
I was just discussing this matter, indirectly, with Elizabeth and Wendy last night. I observed that in my on-camera public speaking coaching video tape, I look like a teenager. Elizabeth observed that this is probably because our parents never grew up, and therefor we do not know how. We have role models for what it is to be, or at least look like, an adult.
> Army Misses Recruiting Goal Again; To Use 'Patriotic Appeal
> http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0324-08.htm
> George McGovern | Patriotism Is Nonpartisan: Challenging a Mistaken
> War Can
> Take More Courage than Fighting One
> http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0324-36.htm
> Reverend Jesse L. Jackson, Sr. | If It's Really A 'World' Bank,
> Then Let's
> Look South
> http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0324-35.htm
>
> Journalists tell of US Falluja killings
> http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/6890A8DA-AF79-45AD-BB4F-42C060978A07.
> htm
> Thursday 17 March 2005, 13:41 Makka Time, 10:41
> GMT
> Journalists accuse US soldiers of targeting
> children
>
> The picture they are painting is of US soldiers
> killing whole families,
> including children, attacks on hospitals and
> doctors, the use of
> napalm-like weapons and sections of the city
> destroyed.
>
> 'My father and the neighbour went to the door to
> meet them. We were not
> fighters. We thought we had nothing to fear. I
> ran into the kitchen to put
> on my veil, since men were going to enter our
> house and it would be wrong
> for them to see me with my hair uncovered.
> "This saved my life. As my father and neighbour
> approached the door, the
> Americans opened fire on them. They died
> instantly. "Me and my 13-year-old brother hid in the kitchen
> behind the fridge. The
> soldiers came into the house and caught my older
> sister. They beat her.
> Then they shot her. But they did not see me. Soon
> they left, but not before
> they had destroyed our furniture and stolen the
> money from my father's
> pocket."
>
> Journalist and writer Naomi Klein has also come
> under attack for insisting
> that US forces are eliminating those who dare to
> count casualties.
>
> No less than the US ambassador to the UK David
> Johnson wrote a letter to
> British newspaper The Guardian that published
> Klein's work, demanding
> evidence, which she then provided.
>
> Why graft thrives in postconflict zones
> A report issued Wednesday said Iraq could become
> 'the biggest corruption
> scandal in history.'
> By Mark Rice-Oxley | Correspondent of The
> Christian Science Monitor
> http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0317/p06s01-wogi.html
>
> LONDON - Five Polish peacekeepers are arrested
> for allegedly taking
> $90,000 worth of bribes in Iraq. Several Sri
> Lankan officials are suspended
> for mishandling tsunami aid. US audits show large
> financial discrepancies
> in Iraq. Reports of aid abuse taunt Indonesia.
>
> America's Agenda for Global Military Domination
> by Michel Chossudovsky
> http://globalresearch.ca/articles/CHO503A.html
>
> 03/17/05 "CRG" - - The Pentagon has released
> the summary of a top
> secret Pentagon document, which sketches
> America's agenda for global
> military domination. This redirection of America's military
> strategy seems to have passed
> virtually unnoticed. With the exception of The
> Wall Street Journal (see
> below in annex), not a word has been mentioned in
> the US media.
> Israeli Nuclear Whistleblower Vanunu Faces New Jail Term
> http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0318-06.htm
> Medea Benjamin | Reigniting the Anti-War Movement
> http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0318-28.htm
> Jimmy Carter To Chair Election Reform Commission
> http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=politicsNews&storyID=2005-03-25T012905Z_01_N24598718_RTRIDST_0_POLITICS-ELECTION-USA-CARTER-DC.XML
> U.S. Using Anti-Terror War to Gain World Oil
> Reserves - Soviet
> Intelligence Chief
> http://www.mosnews.com/news/2005/03/21/shebarsh.shtml
> Created: 21.03.2005 14:05 MSK (GMT +3), Updated:
> 14:05 MSK
>
> On the pretext of fighting international
> terrorism the United States is
> trying to establish control over the world's
> richest oil reserves, Leonid
> Shebarshin, ex-chief of the Soviet Foreign
> Intelligence Service, who heads
> the Russian National Economic Security Service
> consulting company, said in
> an interview for the Vremya Novostei newspaper.
>
>
>
> THE APOCALYPSE WILL BE TELEVISED
> Posted on Friday, March 11, 2005. A review of
> selected
> books from the "Left Behind" series. Originally
> from
> November 2004. By Gene Lyons.
>
> http://harpers.org/TheApocalypseWillBeTelevised.html
>
> UNDEMOCRATIC MEDIA OVERSEAS
> Rory O'Connor, AlterNet
> A new book argues that Japan has the least
> trustworthy media
> in the democratic world -- and guess how it
> began.
> http://www.alternet.org/mediaculture/21553/
>
> http://www.metrotimes.com/editorial/story.asp?id=7302
> Why we must lose this war
>
> by Jack Lessenberry
>
> 02/09/05 "Metro Times" - - Gwynne Dyer isn't
> exactly a wimp. Not many
> guys from Newfoundland are. Born during World War
> II, he has been
> fascinated by things military all his life, and
> has served in three navies
> - ours, Canada's and Great Britain's. He has
> university degrees from
> all three countries too, and a Ph.D. in military
> and Middle Eastern
> history. During the 1980s, he produced and
> narrated the best documentary
> series about the nature of war that I've ever
> seen.
>
> "The United States needs to lose the war in Iraq
> as soon as possible.
> Even more urgently, the whole world needs the
> United States to lose the war
> in Iraq. What is at stake now is the way we run
> the world for the next
> generation or more, and really bad things will
> happen if we get it
> wrong."
>
> Interestingly, if that happens, we may not be
> able to afford to be a rogue
> state for very long. In what's surely the most
> telling and terrifying
> part of this book, the author takes on the most
> frightening topic of all
> - the real condition of the American economy,
> which is now totally
> dependent on foreign investment.
>
> You'd scarcely know it from the "mainstream
> media," but we're now
> the biggest debtor nation in history, owing far
> more to foreign countries
> than they do to us, and running up $500 billion
> more on our "credit
> card" every year.
>
> Why does this go on? Dyer argues what other
> economists have told me in
> whispers: "The U.S. economy is a confidence trick
> based on everybody
> else's perception that the United States is
> centrally important for the
> world's security and that its economy is
> centrally important for the
> world economy."
>
> That was absolutely true in 1945, and largely
> true even in 1985. But not
> anymore. If you look at only those foreign
> investments that could be
> liquidated fairly quickly, the total, he
> estimates, would come to about $8
> trillion. If those investments started to move
> elsewhere, the value of the
> dollar could be cut in half, Dyer estimates,
> overnight.
>
> Guantanamo Abuse 'Videotaped'
> http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0321-06.htm
>
> Danny Schechter | Miscovering Anti-War Protests (Again)
> http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0321-21.htm
> Institute for Public Accuracy : Responses to "Sweeping" UN Report
> http://www.commondreams.org/news2005/0321-06.htm
> Halliday, who was head of the oil-for-food program in Iraq until
> resigning
> in protest in 1998, added: "Secretary General Annan -- a Washington
> creation
> -- pussyfoots on USA corruption of the UN, the Charter and
> international law
> as highlighted by the illegal invasion of Iraq, threats of armed
> aggression
> against other member states (Iran, Syria, North Korea) and
> unwillingness to
> sign on to the minimalist Kyoto environmental accords. The
> Secretary General
> does however push the International Criminal Court, which has
> frightened
> those guilty in Washington into rejection. Bottom line -- unless
> all member
> states begin to respect and apply international law the UN will
> continue to
> fail, and fall short."
> HIJACKING DEMOCRACY IN IRAQ
> Scott Ritter, AlterNet
> What occurred in Iraq on Jan. 30, 2005 was an
> American-brokered event, not an expression of
> Iraqi
> national unity. The U.S. lowering of the Shi'a
> vote is case in point.
> http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/21566/
>
> THE SECRET LIFE OF DUST
> Beverley Thorpe, AlterNet
> The first U.S. study to test chemicals in
> household dust
> found a toxic cocktail in our homes, made of
> hazardous
> chemicals emitted from commonly used products.
> http://www.alternet.org/envirohealth/21562/
**** of critical importance!****
>
> America leads the world in mental illness
> http://www.mydd.com/story/2005/3/14/15253/7082
> http://www.who.int/mental_health/en/
OMG! Look at the top 3. I've been meaning to observe for a while now, that when I was in France, I heard people say ALL THE TIME that they couldn't do thus and such because their friend/parent/sibling/partner was depressed. Of course, in this puritalican country (US), we WASPs never EVER talk about how we feel. So, where does that leave us? The most depressed and doing the most ineffective things about it (medications, suicide).
>
> The World Health Organization has released a
> study that verifies the
> United States is the undisputed champion in
> mental illness*, dominating
> various pathologies ranging from anxiety to
> depression to poor impulse
> control. We easily vanquished underachieving Old
> Europe in
> post-traumatic stress syndrome, bipolar disorder,
> and bulimia nervosa.
> Additionally, our magnificent land trounced the
> supposedly productive
> Asian countries in both senility and agoraphobia,
> while coasting past
> Africa in pediatric hyperactivity.
>
> The End for GM Crops: Final British Trial Confirms Threat to
> Wildlife
> http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0322-04.htm
> Huge blast rocks Texas oil plant
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4377519.stm
>
> An explosion has rocked an oil refinery in Texas,
> killing several people
> and injuring dozens.
> A year ago, the complex was evacuated after an
> explosion that cost the
> refinery $63,000 in fines for safety violations.
> Story from BBC NEWS:
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/world/americas/4377519.stm
>
> Administration Kept Mum About Unapproved Modified Corn Sold
> http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0323-02.htm
>
> Ted Rall | Buck Up, The World Hates Us More Than Ever; Why the Left
> Was
> Right After All
> http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0323-30.htm
> From: "Martin Dooley"
>
> MARCH 19/20 ANTIWAR ACTION REPORTS FROM HUNDREDS
> OF CITIES
> http://www.pephost.org/site/R?i=F_x252h_cw-72suC2Mm5YQ..
>
> ZNet Commentary
> The Normalization of Torture, Death Squads and
> Contempt for the Rule of Law March 19, 2005
> By Edward Herman
> http://www.zmag.org/sustainers/content/2005-03/18herman.cfm
>
> World Bank Workers Reject Wolfowitz
> http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/031905D.shtml
See Ilana's response I will post in the comments. (Ilana is my sister who works at the World Bank.)
>
> ZNet Commentary
> Harassment Laws March 20, 2005
> By George Monbiot
>
> It was the greatest legal victory against
> corporate power in living memory. Last week, two
> penniless activists, Dave Morris and Helen Steel,
> persuaded the European Court of Human Rights that
> Britain's libel laws, under which they had been sued
> by McDonald's, had denied them their right of free
> speech. The law will probably have to be changed, depriving the
> rich and
> powerful of their most effective means of stifling public protest.
> So why
> aren't they hopping mad about it? The company which sued Dave and
> Helen will
> say only that "the world has moved on ... and so has
> McDonald's."(1) The
> Confederation of British Industry, so quick to denounce the legal
> rulings it
> doesn't like, hasn't uttered a word. They don't care, and they
> don't need
> to. You can see why by reading the Serious Organised Crime and
> Police Bill,
> which has now passed through the Commons for the third time. What
> civil law
> once gave them, criminal law now offers instead. The law is left
> wide open:
> there is nothing in it to prevent a company from seeking an
> injunction and
> damages against someone who has handed out leaflets to two of its
> customers.
> To demonstrate harassment, it needs to show that the protester's
> conduct has
> caused its customers "alarm or distress": but again the law grants
> it as
> much scope as it could ask for. This bill, like the 1997 Protection
> from
> Harassment Act, fails to distinguish between the manner in which
> information
> might be presented, and the information itself. If you stood
> outside a
> chemist's shop, telling people that one of the drugs they were
> using caused
> mutations in human foetuses, you would be alarming or distressing
> them even
> if you behaved with the greatest courtesy. The bill goes on
> (sections 122
> and 123) to redefine harassing someone in his home in such a way as
> to
> permit the police to ban all protest in a residential area. Under
> the bill
> you don't have to go knocking on someone's door to merit a year
> inside and a
> £2500 fine. You merely need to represent to "another individual"
> (ie
> anyone) "in the vicinity" of someone else's home, "that he should
> not do
> something that he is entitled or required to do; or that he should
> do
> something that he is not under any obligation to do". Which is, of
> course,
> the purpose of protest.
> http://www.zmag.org/sustainers/content/2005-03/08monbiot.cfm
>
> NY REVIEW OF BOOKS
> The Real Afghanistan
> By Pankaj Mishra
> http://www.nybooks.com/articles/17787
>
> Protests in US, Europe as Bush Defends Iraq War
> http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/032005B.shtml
>
> Oil Drilling In Alaska
> Richard Lott
> Civil Engineer "They're drilling in the Alaskan wilderness? That's
> too bad.
> Someone really ought to look into passing laws to put such places
> under
> federal protection so this doesn't happen again."
> Cecelia Mayo
> Systems Analyst "This can't be true. Bush described himself as an
> environmental guardian last fall, and I've seen photos of him
> standing in
> front of trees."
> Angel Macias
> Lifeguard "At least now we'll see the area destroyed in 10 short
> years
> instead of watching global warming do it over a painful, drawn-out
> 40."
> Ted Bonner
> Locksmith "What I don't get is why this counts as 'a victory for
> the energy
> lobby' instead of 'a loss for the country at large.'"
> Floyd Holden
> Author "But... but where will there be pristine and untouched
> wonders left
> for me to drive my GMC Yukon through?"
> http://www.theonion.com/index.php?pre=1
>
> The Return Of Latin America's Left
> by Alvaro Vargas Llosa, The New York Times
> There's a new pragmatic left ascending in Latin America, and
> it's a
> great opportunity for reform.
> http://www.tompaine.com/opinion/#004178
>
> Remembering Romero
> by Mark Engler, TomPaine.com
> Archbishop Oscar Romero was murdered 25 years ago today as
> part of the
> original 'Salvador Option.'
> http://www.tompaine.com/articles/remembering_romero.php
>
> Strange Bedfellows Unite to Fight Patriot Act
> http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/032305G.shtml
>
> SEC may sue Perle over Hollinger
> http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20050324/RPERLE24/TPBusiness/Canadian
> By OTIS BILODEAU AND PETER ROBISON
> Thursday, March 24, 2005 PageB3 Bloomberg, with files from staff
> According to an investigation by a special committee of Hollinger
> International's board last year, Mr. Perle admitted that he signed
> off on
> many of the transactions without reading the documents. In a
> report, the
> committee sharply criticized Mr. Perle as a "faithless fiduciary"
> whose
> "head-in-the-sand behaviour" breached his duty to protect
> shareholders. The
> committee also found that Mr. Perle and an affiliated company
> pocketed more
> than $7-million in compensation and investments from Hollinger
> International
> and a subsidiary.. . .
> The board at Hollinger International ousted Lord Black in January,
> 2004. The
> company later sued him, saying in a report issued in August that he
> and
> other top executives looted the company of more than $400-million
> over seven
> years.
>
> March 27, 2005
> FRANK RICH
> The God Racket, From DeMille to DeLay
>
> http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/27/arts/27Rich.html?8hpib=&pagewanted=print&position=
> As DeMille readied his costly Paramount production for release a
> half-century ago, he seized on an ingenious publicity scheme. In
> partnership
> with the Fraternal Order of Eagles, a nationwide association of
> civic-minded
> clubs founded by theater owners, he sponsored the construction of
> several
> thousand Ten Commandments monuments throughout the country to hype
> his
> product. The Pharaoh himself - that would be Yul Brynner -
> participated in
> the gala unveiling of the Milwaukee slab. Heston did the same in
> North
> Dakota. Bizarrely enough, all these years later, it is another of
> these
> DeMille-inspired granite monuments, on the grounds of the Texas
> Capitol in
> Austin, that is a focus of the Ten Commandments case that the
> United States
> Supreme Court heard this month.
> That bullying, stoked by politicians in power, has become
> omnipresent,
> leading television stations to practice self-censorship and high
> school
> teachers to avoid mentioning "the E word," evolution, in their
> classrooms,
> lest they arouse fundamentalist rancor. The president is on record
> as saying
> that the jury is still out on evolution, so perhaps it's no
> surprise that
> The Los Angeles Times has uncovered a three-year-old "religious
> rights" unit
> in the Justice Department that investigated a biology professor at
> Texas
> Tech because he refused to write letters of recommendation for
> students who
> do not accept evolution as "the central, unifying principle of
> biology."
> Cornelia Dean of The New York Times broke the story last weekend
> that some
> Imax theaters, even those in science centers, are now refusing to
> show
> documentaries like "Galápagos" or "Volcanoes of the Deep Sea"
> because their
> references to Darwin and the Big Bang theory might antagonize some
> audiences. Soon such films will disappear along with biology
> textbooks that
> don't give equal time to creationism.
> James Cameron, producer of "Volcanoes" (and, more famously, the
> director of
> "Titanic"), called this development "obviously symptomatic of our
> shift away
> from empiricism in science to faith-based science." Faith-based
> science has
> in turn begat faith-based medicine that impedes stem-cell research,
> not to
> mention faith-based abstinence-only health policy that impedes the
> prevention of unwanted pregnancies and diseases like AIDS.
> Faith-based news
> is not far behind. Ashley Smith, the 26-year-old woman who was held
> hostage
> by Brian Nichols, the accused Atlanta courthouse killer, has been
> canonized
> by virtually every American news organization as God's messenger
> because she
> inspired Mr. Nichols to surrender by talking about her faith and
> reading him
> a chapter from Rick Warren's best seller, "The Purpose-Driven
> Life." But if
> she's speaking for God, what does that make Dennis Rader, the
> church council
> president arrested in Wichita's B.T.K. serial killer case? Was God
> instructing Terry Ratzmann, the devoted member of the Living Church
> of God
> who this month murdered his pastor, an elderly man, two teenagers
> and two
> others before killing himself at a weekly church service in
> Wisconsin? The
> religious elements of these stories, including the role played by
> the
> end-of-times fatalism of Mr. Ratzmann's church, are left largely
> unexamined
> by the same news outlets that serve up Ashley Smith's tale as an
> inspirational parable for profit.
> But faced with McCarthyism in God's name, most Democratic leaders
> went into
> hiding and stayed silent. Prayers are no more likely to revive
> their spines
> than poor Terri Schiavo's brain.
>
> NEW STRAITS TIMES
> Two carry medical data in their arms
> GEORGE TOWN, Wed. - Two Malaysians have had the world's smallest
> identification chips embedded in their arms.
> http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Thursday/National/NST32285911.txt/Article/indexb_html
> LOWES FOODS BRINGS BIOMETRIC FINGERPRINT PAYMENTS AND CHECK CASHING
> TO
> CUSTOMERS
> http://www.lincolntribune.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=978
> US Document Indicates Bin Laden Escaped Tora Bora
> http://www.voanews.com/english/2005-03-23-voa53.cfm
> PATRICK BOND
> A New War? On Wolfowitz's World Bank
> http://www.ukzn.ac.za/ccs/default.asp?2,40,5,609
> HOW TO TURN YOUR RED STATE BLUE
> Christopher Hayes, In These Times
> In order to grow, progressives need to learn from
> evangelical movements: Systematically expand the
> universe
> of access points to their worldview and actively
> recruit
> people into the fold.
> http://www.alternet.org/story/21584/
>
> RAGING FOR THE MACHINE
> Scott Thill, AlterNet
> In Brian K. Vaughan's 'Ex Machina,' the comic
> book hero
> paradigm is turned upside down -- a gay mayor of
> New
> York dealing with rather more real -- but no less
> heroic -- situations.
> http://www.alternet.org/mediaculture/21587/
>
> BRAZIL'S BOLD MOVE
> Kelly Hearn, AlterNet
> Determined to get affordable drugs for its
> citizens living
> with HIV/AIDS, the Brazilian government threatens
> to break
> some of Big Pharma's patents.
> http://www.alternet.org/envirohealth/21586/
>
> ONE-WAY PLANET
> Tom Engelhardt, Tomdispatch.com
> Exactly how narrow have the boundaries of
> discussion about
> the American "mission" in the world grown in the
> Bush
> years?
> http://www.alternet.org/story/21589/
>
> TRAGEDY AT RED LAKE
> H. Mathew Barkhausen III, SNAG Magazine
> "I can only wonder how things might have turned
> out
> differently if Weise had had a traditional Ojibwe
> upbringing, was well-acquainted with his native
> tongue and
> traditions."
> http://www.alternet.org/wiretap/21594/
>
>
> JUST SAY ... NOTHING
> Alexandra Marks, Christian Science Monitor
> Today's parents are more likely to have used
> drugs in
> adolescence than any other generation. Yet
> they're proving
> more reluctant to talk about it to their
> children.
> http://www.alternet.org/drugreporter/21438/
I was just discussing this matter, indirectly, with Elizabeth and Wendy last night. I observed that in my on-camera public speaking coaching video tape, I look like a teenager. Elizabeth observed that this is probably because our parents never grew up, and therefor we do not know how. We have role models for what it is to be, or at least look like, an adult.
> Army Misses Recruiting Goal Again; To Use 'Patriotic Appeal
> http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0324-08.htm
> George McGovern | Patriotism Is Nonpartisan: Challenging a Mistaken
> War Can
> Take More Courage than Fighting One
> http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0324-36.htm
> Reverend Jesse L. Jackson, Sr. | If It's Really A 'World' Bank,
> Then Let's
> Look South
> http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0324-35.htm
>
> Journalists tell of US Falluja killings
> http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/6890A8DA-AF79-45AD-BB4F-42C060978A07.
> htm
> Thursday 17 March 2005, 13:41 Makka Time, 10:41
> GMT
> Journalists accuse US soldiers of targeting
> children
>
> The picture they are painting is of US soldiers
> killing whole families,
> including children, attacks on hospitals and
> doctors, the use of
> napalm-like weapons and sections of the city
> destroyed.
>
> 'My father and the neighbour went to the door to
> meet them. We were not
> fighters. We thought we had nothing to fear. I
> ran into the kitchen to put
> on my veil, since men were going to enter our
> house and it would be wrong
> for them to see me with my hair uncovered.
> "This saved my life. As my father and neighbour
> approached the door, the
> Americans opened fire on them. They died
> instantly. "Me and my 13-year-old brother hid in the kitchen
> behind the fridge. The
> soldiers came into the house and caught my older
> sister. They beat her.
> Then they shot her. But they did not see me. Soon
> they left, but not before
> they had destroyed our furniture and stolen the
> money from my father's
> pocket."
>
> Journalist and writer Naomi Klein has also come
> under attack for insisting
> that US forces are eliminating those who dare to
> count casualties.
>
> No less than the US ambassador to the UK David
> Johnson wrote a letter to
> British newspaper The Guardian that published
> Klein's work, demanding
> evidence, which she then provided.
>
> Why graft thrives in postconflict zones
> A report issued Wednesday said Iraq could become
> 'the biggest corruption
> scandal in history.'
> By Mark Rice-Oxley | Correspondent of The
> Christian Science Monitor
> http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0317/p06s01-wogi.html
>
> LONDON - Five Polish peacekeepers are arrested
> for allegedly taking
> $90,000 worth of bribes in Iraq. Several Sri
> Lankan officials are suspended
> for mishandling tsunami aid. US audits show large
> financial discrepancies
> in Iraq. Reports of aid abuse taunt Indonesia.
>
> America's Agenda for Global Military Domination
> by Michel Chossudovsky
> http://globalresearch.ca/articles/CHO503A.html
>
> 03/17/05 "CRG" - - The Pentagon has released
> the summary of a top
> secret Pentagon document, which sketches
> America's agenda for global
> military domination. This redirection of America's military
> strategy seems to have passed
> virtually unnoticed. With the exception of The
> Wall Street Journal (see
> below in annex), not a word has been mentioned in
> the US media.
> Israeli Nuclear Whistleblower Vanunu Faces New Jail Term
> http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0318-06.htm
> Medea Benjamin | Reigniting the Anti-War Movement
> http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0318-28.htm
> Jimmy Carter To Chair Election Reform Commission
> http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=politicsNews&storyID=2005-03-25T012905Z_01_N24598718_RTRIDST_0_POLITICS-ELECTION-USA-CARTER-DC.XML
> U.S. Using Anti-Terror War to Gain World Oil
> Reserves - Soviet
> Intelligence Chief
> http://www.mosnews.com/news/2005/03/21/shebarsh.shtml
> Created: 21.03.2005 14:05 MSK (GMT +3), Updated:
> 14:05 MSK
>
> On the pretext of fighting international
> terrorism the United States is
> trying to establish control over the world's
> richest oil reserves, Leonid
> Shebarshin, ex-chief of the Soviet Foreign
> Intelligence Service, who heads
> the Russian National Economic Security Service
> consulting company, said in
> an interview for the Vremya Novostei newspaper.
>
>
>
> THE APOCALYPSE WILL BE TELEVISED
> Posted on Friday, March 11, 2005. A review of
> selected
> books from the "Left Behind" series. Originally
> from
> November 2004. By Gene Lyons.
>
> http://harpers.org/TheApocalypseWillBeTelevised.html
>
> UNDEMOCRATIC MEDIA OVERSEAS
> Rory O'Connor, AlterNet
> A new book argues that Japan has the least
> trustworthy media
> in the democratic world -- and guess how it
> began.
> http://www.alternet.org/mediaculture/21553/
>
> http://www.metrotimes.com/editorial/story.asp?id=7302
> Why we must lose this war
>
> by Jack Lessenberry
>
> 02/09/05 "Metro Times" - - Gwynne Dyer isn't
> exactly a wimp. Not many
> guys from Newfoundland are. Born during World War
> II, he has been
> fascinated by things military all his life, and
> has served in three navies
> - ours, Canada's and Great Britain's. He has
> university degrees from
> all three countries too, and a Ph.D. in military
> and Middle Eastern
> history. During the 1980s, he produced and
> narrated the best documentary
> series about the nature of war that I've ever
> seen.
>
> "The United States needs to lose the war in Iraq
> as soon as possible.
> Even more urgently, the whole world needs the
> United States to lose the war
> in Iraq. What is at stake now is the way we run
> the world for the next
> generation or more, and really bad things will
> happen if we get it
> wrong."
>
> Interestingly, if that happens, we may not be
> able to afford to be a rogue
> state for very long. In what's surely the most
> telling and terrifying
> part of this book, the author takes on the most
> frightening topic of all
> - the real condition of the American economy,
> which is now totally
> dependent on foreign investment.
>
> You'd scarcely know it from the "mainstream
> media," but we're now
> the biggest debtor nation in history, owing far
> more to foreign countries
> than they do to us, and running up $500 billion
> more on our "credit
> card" every year.
>
> Why does this go on? Dyer argues what other
> economists have told me in
> whispers: "The U.S. economy is a confidence trick
> based on everybody
> else's perception that the United States is
> centrally important for the
> world's security and that its economy is
> centrally important for the
> world economy."
>
> That was absolutely true in 1945, and largely
> true even in 1985. But not
> anymore. If you look at only those foreign
> investments that could be
> liquidated fairly quickly, the total, he
> estimates, would come to about $8
> trillion. If those investments started to move
> elsewhere, the value of the
> dollar could be cut in half, Dyer estimates,
> overnight.
>
> Guantanamo Abuse 'Videotaped'
> http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0321-06.htm
>
> Danny Schechter | Miscovering Anti-War Protests (Again)
> http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0321-21.htm
> Institute for Public Accuracy : Responses to "Sweeping" UN Report
> http://www.commondreams.org/news2005/0321-06.htm
> Halliday, who was head of the oil-for-food program in Iraq until
> resigning
> in protest in 1998, added: "Secretary General Annan -- a Washington
> creation
> -- pussyfoots on USA corruption of the UN, the Charter and
> international law
> as highlighted by the illegal invasion of Iraq, threats of armed
> aggression
> against other member states (Iran, Syria, North Korea) and
> unwillingness to
> sign on to the minimalist Kyoto environmental accords. The
> Secretary General
> does however push the International Criminal Court, which has
> frightened
> those guilty in Washington into rejection. Bottom line -- unless
> all member
> states begin to respect and apply international law the UN will
> continue to
> fail, and fall short."
> HIJACKING DEMOCRACY IN IRAQ
> Scott Ritter, AlterNet
> What occurred in Iraq on Jan. 30, 2005 was an
> American-brokered event, not an expression of
> Iraqi
> national unity. The U.S. lowering of the Shi'a
> vote is case in point.
> http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/21566/
>
> THE SECRET LIFE OF DUST
> Beverley Thorpe, AlterNet
> The first U.S. study to test chemicals in
> household dust
> found a toxic cocktail in our homes, made of
> hazardous
> chemicals emitted from commonly used products.
> http://www.alternet.org/envirohealth/21562/
**** of critical importance!****
>
> America leads the world in mental illness
> http://www.mydd.com/story/2005/3/14/15253/7082
> http://www.who.int/mental_health/en/
OMG! Look at the top 3. I've been meaning to observe for a while now, that when I was in France, I heard people say ALL THE TIME that they couldn't do thus and such because their friend/parent/sibling/partner was depressed. Of course, in this puritalican country (US), we WASPs never EVER talk about how we feel. So, where does that leave us? The most depressed and doing the most ineffective things about it (medications, suicide).
>
> The World Health Organization has released a
> study that verifies the
> United States is the undisputed champion in
> mental illness*, dominating
> various pathologies ranging from anxiety to
> depression to poor impulse
> control. We easily vanquished underachieving Old
> Europe in
> post-traumatic stress syndrome, bipolar disorder,
> and bulimia nervosa.
> Additionally, our magnificent land trounced the
> supposedly productive
> Asian countries in both senility and agoraphobia,
> while coasting past
> Africa in pediatric hyperactivity.
>
> The End for GM Crops: Final British Trial Confirms Threat to
> Wildlife
> http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0322-04.htm
> Huge blast rocks Texas oil plant
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4377519.stm
>
> An explosion has rocked an oil refinery in Texas,
> killing several people
> and injuring dozens.
> A year ago, the complex was evacuated after an
> explosion that cost the
> refinery $63,000 in fines for safety violations.
> Story from BBC NEWS:
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/world/americas/4377519.stm
>
> Administration Kept Mum About Unapproved Modified Corn Sold
> http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0323-02.htm
>
> Ted Rall | Buck Up, The World Hates Us More Than Ever; Why the Left
> Was
> Right After All
> http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0323-30.htm
Sunday, March 27, 2005
Taxi!
Kristin and I took a taxi to the Ballet the other weekend. We were gossiping about our friends and our (lack of) sex lives. Our driver said: "don't worry about me. I don't speak English." When we got out of the taxi, he said "Thank you for the 'Sex and the City' recap." Hilarious!
Self-assessment/body image
So, I took this public speaking class yesterday, and I found it incredibly helpful(speechskills.com)! It's on-camera coaching with an outline of what makes a good (general word used intensionally) speaker. I had a few basic issues with being taped, like I think my hips look too big straight on, so I usually try to put one foot in front of the other or take a wide stance to change that appearance. I also think I look fat, and all that.
As a slight digression, I was at this party with Gabe the other month. The music was fine, and the drinks free, and before too long I was dancing up a storm (while he was chatting up the hot little chicas). I danced for a while with this guy. We were having a great time. Near the end, he said in my ear (because otherwise I would not have been able to hear him over the music), "you are super cute.... you are exactly twice as cute as you think you are." I laughed it off because I thought he was trying to chat me up and I wasn't interested in him in that way.
I know I have a pretty face, good shoulders, a nice long back, beautiful arms, a Jennifer-Lopez butt, and that these are good things. I weigh about what I should. But I didn't realized how little confidence I had in the whole package until I watched this tape we made yesterday. I AM exactly twice as cute as I thought I was. My little party friend told the truth!
I even thought my public speaking was much worse than it actually is. Sure, I say too many "um"s (and apparently I say "actually" too much). Sure, I struggle to stand still. But I have a good loud voice, an animated style, and I am cute as hell.
Self-flattery is grossly under-rated in our society!
As a slight digression, I was at this party with Gabe the other month. The music was fine, and the drinks free, and before too long I was dancing up a storm (while he was chatting up the hot little chicas). I danced for a while with this guy. We were having a great time. Near the end, he said in my ear (because otherwise I would not have been able to hear him over the music), "you are super cute.... you are exactly twice as cute as you think you are." I laughed it off because I thought he was trying to chat me up and I wasn't interested in him in that way.
I know I have a pretty face, good shoulders, a nice long back, beautiful arms, a Jennifer-Lopez butt, and that these are good things. I weigh about what I should. But I didn't realized how little confidence I had in the whole package until I watched this tape we made yesterday. I AM exactly twice as cute as I thought I was. My little party friend told the truth!
I even thought my public speaking was much worse than it actually is. Sure, I say too many "um"s (and apparently I say "actually" too much). Sure, I struggle to stand still. But I have a good loud voice, an animated style, and I am cute as hell.
Self-flattery is grossly under-rated in our society!
Friday, March 25, 2005
Bette's speech from the memorial
Judith Scott
Joyce, John, Lilia, Ilana, Taylor—all of Judy’s family, my heart is with you,
I feel so fortunate to have known Judy and to have spent a good deal of time with her over the past many years. I would like to talk about what it was like being with her, to tell about a typical visit with her.
Running out of my house one day, I grabbed the nearest magazine to bring to her. In the car I glanced over at it and saw that it was Sports Illustrated. Not only were my kids going to be looking for it, I was sure she wasn’t even going to be interested in it—it wasn’t like the magazines she liked looking at. Oh well. As I bounded up the stairs at Windsor House and into the big room, there she was in her favorite spot. She acknowledged me; then returned to looking at her magazines. I sat next to her on the couch and scooted in real close; she continued leafing through the pictures. Soon she decided she had made me wait long enough—she turned her face into mine and with her deep laugh brought both arms around my neck in a bear hug giving me kisses, interspersed with raspberries, nose pinches, and her hand pushing on my face. This routine greeting left both of us laughing each time—and I loved it!
I looked at and admired her rings, her brightly colored band aids, her necklaces, her purse filled with all kinds of goodies, and of course her signature scarves and hat. She always looked like a bohemian artist, even when she was dressed in her pajamas and smelling fresh of soap—her scarf and necklaces would by just right!
Joyce always said to me, “Try to get a few magazines away from her, she carries too many, they are too heavy.” I knew better than to try. Those were hers and she held them close to her. I remembered that I had brought her even another, but whoa, she probably wasn’t going to be too happy with Sports Illustrated. I gave it to her. She looked at the football player on the cover, turned a few pages, went back to the cover and looked again. Then she started laughing and picked it up and kissed it—laughing she held it high and then kissed it again and again. She added it to her collection and my kids were out of luck for reading that issue.
Time would fly by for me during my visits with Judy. Sometimes I would massage her back, then lean over for her to massage mine; sometimes we would play with a deck of cards; sometimes we would wander up to her room; sometimes my visits would be brief, sometimes I couldn’t pull myself away. Whenever it was time to go, Judy would both wave and say bye-bye and go back to her magazines, or walk off to go up to her room…she too had things to do. I would leave smiling and feeling filled with Judy. Those were fun times—each of which I will always treasure and always remember.
There were also harder times, Judy liked her routines, her structure, going between Windsor House and Creative Growth; her life was predictable and she was leery of new things. Joyce wanted to help expand her life as there were so many things they could do together—and also the world was calling to Judy. So there were some “firsts” for Judy. There was the car ride that would bring her to Dutch Flat for the first time, there was the trip over the Bay Bridge for the first time where she would see her art in the huge Exploratorium on Opening Night, and firsts not yet done--the practice trip with an airplane ride that would have prepared her for a flight to France this summer.
These were actually times of great anxiety for Judy. Joyce offered such patience, such loving support; she also offered a little trickery and bribery. Judy wouldn’t get in the car that first time she was going to Dutch Flat. So, we brought her dear friend Paul, from Windsor house, into the car with us. Judy relaxed as they sat together in the back seat; we drove to get them an ice cream or a slurpy, some treat. After a bit more driving around, we took Paul back and kept right on going to Dutch Flat with Judy. She soon learned that Dutch Flat was a very special place to be and that adventures led to great times with Joyce and with family, just as she had enjoyed seeing her work in the show at the Exploratorium.
During a visit just last week there was a new development. I think Judy had indeed gotten Joyce’s travel bug. Joyce and I arrived to visit with her and we saw that Judy had packed a bag and was ready to go. It didn’t matter where, she knew if it was with Joyce it would be good. I am glad to have had a small part in helping to show Judy a broader world. I grew, too, as I saw Judy embrace each huge step in her growing world.
I admire, as we all do, this woman who survived so many years of unimaginable horror with such resilience and spirit. I am fortunate to have spent time with her, to have loved her and felt her love. I am ever thankful that her twin, Joyce, has given us all so much by bringing Judy to us to share with us and with the rest of the world.
Judy’s friend Bette
March 20, 2005
Joyce, John, Lilia, Ilana, Taylor—all of Judy’s family, my heart is with you,
I feel so fortunate to have known Judy and to have spent a good deal of time with her over the past many years. I would like to talk about what it was like being with her, to tell about a typical visit with her.
Running out of my house one day, I grabbed the nearest magazine to bring to her. In the car I glanced over at it and saw that it was Sports Illustrated. Not only were my kids going to be looking for it, I was sure she wasn’t even going to be interested in it—it wasn’t like the magazines she liked looking at. Oh well. As I bounded up the stairs at Windsor House and into the big room, there she was in her favorite spot. She acknowledged me; then returned to looking at her magazines. I sat next to her on the couch and scooted in real close; she continued leafing through the pictures. Soon she decided she had made me wait long enough—she turned her face into mine and with her deep laugh brought both arms around my neck in a bear hug giving me kisses, interspersed with raspberries, nose pinches, and her hand pushing on my face. This routine greeting left both of us laughing each time—and I loved it!
I looked at and admired her rings, her brightly colored band aids, her necklaces, her purse filled with all kinds of goodies, and of course her signature scarves and hat. She always looked like a bohemian artist, even when she was dressed in her pajamas and smelling fresh of soap—her scarf and necklaces would by just right!
Joyce always said to me, “Try to get a few magazines away from her, she carries too many, they are too heavy.” I knew better than to try. Those were hers and she held them close to her. I remembered that I had brought her even another, but whoa, she probably wasn’t going to be too happy with Sports Illustrated. I gave it to her. She looked at the football player on the cover, turned a few pages, went back to the cover and looked again. Then she started laughing and picked it up and kissed it—laughing she held it high and then kissed it again and again. She added it to her collection and my kids were out of luck for reading that issue.
Time would fly by for me during my visits with Judy. Sometimes I would massage her back, then lean over for her to massage mine; sometimes we would play with a deck of cards; sometimes we would wander up to her room; sometimes my visits would be brief, sometimes I couldn’t pull myself away. Whenever it was time to go, Judy would both wave and say bye-bye and go back to her magazines, or walk off to go up to her room…she too had things to do. I would leave smiling and feeling filled with Judy. Those were fun times—each of which I will always treasure and always remember.
There were also harder times, Judy liked her routines, her structure, going between Windsor House and Creative Growth; her life was predictable and she was leery of new things. Joyce wanted to help expand her life as there were so many things they could do together—and also the world was calling to Judy. So there were some “firsts” for Judy. There was the car ride that would bring her to Dutch Flat for the first time, there was the trip over the Bay Bridge for the first time where she would see her art in the huge Exploratorium on Opening Night, and firsts not yet done--the practice trip with an airplane ride that would have prepared her for a flight to France this summer.
These were actually times of great anxiety for Judy. Joyce offered such patience, such loving support; she also offered a little trickery and bribery. Judy wouldn’t get in the car that first time she was going to Dutch Flat. So, we brought her dear friend Paul, from Windsor house, into the car with us. Judy relaxed as they sat together in the back seat; we drove to get them an ice cream or a slurpy, some treat. After a bit more driving around, we took Paul back and kept right on going to Dutch Flat with Judy. She soon learned that Dutch Flat was a very special place to be and that adventures led to great times with Joyce and with family, just as she had enjoyed seeing her work in the show at the Exploratorium.
During a visit just last week there was a new development. I think Judy had indeed gotten Joyce’s travel bug. Joyce and I arrived to visit with her and we saw that Judy had packed a bag and was ready to go. It didn’t matter where, she knew if it was with Joyce it would be good. I am glad to have had a small part in helping to show Judy a broader world. I grew, too, as I saw Judy embrace each huge step in her growing world.
I admire, as we all do, this woman who survived so many years of unimaginable horror with such resilience and spirit. I am fortunate to have spent time with her, to have loved her and felt her love. I am ever thankful that her twin, Joyce, has given us all so much by bringing Judy to us to share with us and with the rest of the world.
Judy’s friend Bette
March 20, 2005
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