palestine

The world's support - it's an admission of the injustices, a public viewing of the wounds. It's heartbreakingly intimate - the world witnessing you (an entire people) in your most vulnerable state and holding you up.

From BBC: the link.

angles

From every angle, every view, it's love. You can never see it all - it's in a different dress each night.

hoboken post-irene

She blew us off!! (Yes, intended!)

hoboken pre-irene

backpack

Don't pretend you don't know who this is:

My niece MADE these goody bags for her little 3 year old sister's birthday!!

corner dry cleaner

I really just liked this phrasing. It made me want to be a better person.

good graffiti

I'm in a cafe with pro-Palestinian graffiti on the bathroom wall. Can anyone identify the place??

(Yes, I do believe it's the only one in the city - I'd be happy to know I'm wrong.)

new york moment(s)

Meatpacking District. Historic moment (slight delay in posting).

Olifants

Elephants. There's no living thing as majestic. I could swear I hear them - not see them out in the physical world.

They captured an elephant out in South Africa in Kruger and transported him to Mozambique to help the population that was recovering after the civil war. When they released him, he must have been so lost - terrain unknown. During the wild fires he left the park - no fences around like Kruger.

They tried to bring the elephant back. They drugged him, but he didn't make it. He died on the truck.

Forty years old.

When they buried him with a gun salute, I lost it. A burial fit for a king. An honorable death.

only in hoboken

it all just came together...

steve earle

I cradled it, I tenderly took it home, I expectantly eyed it on my bedside table for weeks, I opened it, I anticipated beautiful words spilling out of the hard covers...

but I found a story, a story with magical realism (if I've said it once I've said a thousand times - nobody should even try it - no one - after Garcia Marquez and Allende), with the following sole passage that, in all reality, only half-begged for a rereading:

Naturally it was her grandfather who had first recognized that spirits of all kinds were drawn to Graciela like moths to a flame and that she possessed the rare ability to see and hear them all. That same internal beacon attracted human attention as well, and her grandfather had told her that if she was to have any peace in this world, she had to learn how not to be noticed when she didn't wish to be. It was simply a matter, he said, of damping down that inner light.

From I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive by Steve Earle

yoga class

Quotes taken from The Wisdom of No Escape by Pema Chodron:

... renunciation is seeing clearly how we hold back, how we pull away, how we shut down, how we close off, and then learning how to open. It’s about saying yes to whatever is put on your plate, whatever knocks on your door, whatever calls you up on your telephone. How we actually do that has to do with coming up against our edge, which is actually the moment when we learn what renunciation means.

Many of us can probably relate to coming up against our edge. It may be the time that we shut down, resorting to the silent treatment, unable to say more, unable to put down the flood gates we’ve put up. Or for some of us, it may be the time that we let emotions overtake us, when we bring up all of our resentment, regardless of whether or not it has anything to do with the actual situation, when we let anger gush out to throw others off the scent of our fear and our vulnerability.

We may be aware at the time that we’ve come up against our edge. Or we may realize it after the fact. It may take us hitting the same wall again and again, reaching the same edge over and over, before we realize that we’ve come up against our edge. The realization is part of the process, and we get better and better at it if we open our awareness to it.

Whenever you realize you have met your edge - you’re scared and you’re frozen and you’re blocked - you’re able to recognize it because you open enough to see what’s happening. It’s already a sign of your aliveness and the fact that you’ve shed a lot, that you can see so clearly and so vividly. Rather than think you have made a mistake, you can acknowledge the present moment and its teaching, or so we are instructed. You can hear the message, which is simply that you’re saying “No.”

Where we regularly practice this process is in yoga. The yoga practice can be seen as us voluntarily offering ourselves up to the process of coming up against our edge. Each time we step on our mat, we move through the practice almost with the intention to reach our edge in an asana. With Ashtanga Yoga, it’s more formal - we’re instructed to stop when we reach our edge, not to move on to to the next asana until we’ve worked through that current “edge”.

Once we’ve recognized it, the question becomes “how do I move beyond that edge?” We get in that situation, either in that asana or in that personal dynamic outside, and we tighten up, we respond, we resist, we make excuses, we avoid. We can force our way through it, or we can try to work it out mentally, consciously. But it’s much simpler than all that.

The instruction isn’t then to “smash ahead and karate-chop that whole thing”; the instruction is to SOFTEN, to connect with your heart and engender a basic attitude of generosity and compassion toward yourself...

So, you SOFTEN. You don’t run away, you don’t get up and walk out the room, you don’t shut down and avoid. In our yoga practice, we reach that asana, and we already have a solution, we’re already trained - through yoga - how to SOFTEN: we breath deeply. And as we practice this on the mat, we can train ourselves how to respond off the mat when we feel ourselves tighten and our vision constrict to focus on that one hurtful thing someone said or that one painful circumstance we find ourselves in. So, as we practice today, we can be aware of this:

The whole journey of renunciation, or starting to say yes to life, is first of all realizing that you’ve come up against your edge, that everything in you is saying no, and then at that point, SOFTENING.

world trade center

It's really something being in the center of activity. Here's a scene of television vans at the World Trade Center after yesterday's news. The building at the end is new construction at Ground Zero. Nothing particularly profound to say. Just sharing the bustle.

political

It's sometimes a little tense, but I make it a point not to bring politics into other arenas, particularly work. So, how unbelievably angered and insulted to be sitting in a talk on schizophrenia and genetics in which a map of the Occupied Territories is included on a scientific slide, "to fill the empty space on the slide", according to the presenter. Political propaganda that never ends - it's passive aggression.

All I could do was shake my head, and out of frustration, I kept shaking and shaking. The person next to me was checking me out from the corner of his eye. Maybe he thought I disagreed with the results, but he probably didn't realize he had just unknowingly internalized the Zionist claims to Palestinian land.

acceptance speech

I'd like to thank my parents for believing in me and supporting me as I pursue my dreams. And I'd like to thank the Academy...

Background: In the year of the rabbit, U Conn Huskies won, and they were my pick.

The rabbit rages on.

peanuts are not nuts

Why the deception?

rabbit

Happy Chinese New Year! Year of the Rabbit. That's me.

They say be careful. Good things can happen, and bad things can happen.

I see my old self in the description but not my new self. Can you morph into another animal?

Oh, and apparently I'm classy.

Here's what I found.

Occupying the 4th position in the Chinese Zodiac, the Rabbit symbolizes such character traits as creativity, compassion, and sensitivity. Rabbits are friendly, outgoing and prefer the company of others. They also prefer to avoid conflict. In confrontational situations, Rabbits approach calmly and with consideration for the other party. Rabbits believe strongly in friends and family and lacking such bonds can lead to emotional issues.

Their serene nature keeps Rabbits from becoming visibly upset. Because they’re serene animals, Rabbits are easily taken advantage of. Their sensitive nature makes them shy away from aggressive or competitive situations. They’re overall conservative and not interested in taking risks.

Classy, sophisticated, expressive, well-mannered and stylish, those born under the Sign of the Rabbit enjoy leaning about cultural issues and learning about people from other countries. Rabbits are most comfortable being home, and their homes are always neat and organized. Home is also where Rabbits prefer to entertain. Rabbits are conservative in their decorating tastes.

Rabbits should work at building more self-confidence and self-worth so they can feel more secure. The desire for remaining in safe, comfortable environments keeps Rabbits from taking risks which sometimes causes them to miss out on good opportunities.

Health

Even though Rabbits don’t usually get visibly upset or stressed, they do tend to keep these feelings inside. When they don’t express these feelings, such feeling can cause Rabbits to become ill. Rabbits could benefit from more everyday activity which would reduce their stress levels and better their health.

Relationships

Rabbits are very sexual, but tend to give more of themselves than they should. This can lead to unrealistic expectations and unhealthy situations. Rabbits need partners who won’t take advantage of their giving nature. Such pairings will be strong.

Career

Rabbits are articulate and good communicators which is why friends and acquaintances seek out their advice. It’s also why Rabbits make excellent diplomats and politicians. Other good careers for Rabbits include: writer, publisher, actor, fashion designer, therapist, doctor, administrator, public relations, and teacher.

tupperware consultant

Ha. Tupperware Consultant. How can you say that with a straight face? She (I'm going to go ahead and assume it's a she) could have been bolder - Tupperware Scientist, Tupperware Specialist, Tupperware Guru.

winter highs

I'm loving this winter. I love that the routine is broken up by the weather, that the world may have to stand still if it ices. That people move out of your way so you can pass down the narrow path that's been cleared in the snow banks. I love that you wonder each day what tomorrow's weather will be and above freezing is celebrated as a gift. I feel awake and alive. And knowing that spring is coming keeps the outlook towards the future, hopeful and at the same time certain.

union square

snow

ice storm

surreal new york

validation

The feeling of validation, of people out there hearing and seeing the truth, of having even those not directly effected willing to speak up - that is what brought me to tears this morning.

savage detectives

If anyone has read The Savage Detectives by Bolaño and understands the point, speak up now.

Although I must say that without the last 10 pages of the 500+ page book it really would have seemed aimless. I enjoyed the first 100 and last 100 pages. It was the 300 in between that I didn't think took you anywhere but round and round in circles.

happy new year

Sometimes you just don't have any words.

Here's to a fresh new start! HNY!