rasta

I'm off to see the Wailers tonight! Wish Bob was coming too.

7-eleven and other musings

Have you ever found yourself at the 7-Eleven soda counter trying to decide which straw to use with your 32 oz. big gulp? The green straw is barely tall enough for the cup, but the red one sticks out of the cup a good four to five inches. As you may have guessed I've faced this dilemma several times. Today I chose the red straw and trimmed it down with scissors. Perfecto!

This little story has nothing to do with why I originally wanted to update my blog.

The original reason I wanted to blog today was to say that I'm considering a career change. I'm not sure I want to be a foreign correspondent (or even a journalism, whoa!) anymore. Here's why: Since I've moved back from Honduras I've been reading/watching the news coverage of the removal of President Mel Zelaya and over and OVER again the journalists get it wrong. The same thing happened with the genocide in Rwanda, the violence in Somalia and probably hundreds of other cases.

SO ... as far as I see it I have two choices: 1) abandon my hopes of being a journalist and find a career more suited for my passions, or 2) pursue journalism with a steadfast commitment to investigation and accuracy.

Awww ... life ... what a confusing game.

Jewel

JULY 20, 2009 -- Last night I saw Jewel at Humphrey's. It was amazing. It reminded me why I, in middle school, listened to the "Pieces of Me" CD until it no longer played without skipping.

The same sentiments that appealed to the 13-14 year-old me appeal to the me today: songs about broken hearts and the power of kindness and love to heal a hurting world.

Yes, Jewel is a hippy who sings melancholy chic hits, but her lyrics resonate with the insecurities within each of us -- insecurities that drive us to buy, bUY, BUY things to impress people and make ourselves seem cool.

If you've never listened to Jewel check out these --they're a few of my favorites!

"Deep Water"

"Uncommon Life"

"Stonger Woman"

"Who Will Save Your Soul"

mediocre

I finished my first week at The San Diego Reader today. It's nice to have a job and my coworkers are awesome. Surprisingly they've shown a real interest in my life and have asked lots of questions. It's these questions that have made me realize how mediocre I possibly might be.

"Oh so you surf?" said one sales rep after I put a pic of waves in El Sal on my computer.
"Well, not really. I'm learning," I answer.

"You play guitar?"
"I took a class in high school and play for fun, but I'm not really any good."

"You were in Honduras a whole year? You must be fluent at Spanish?"
"Not really."

"You have plans for the weekend?"
"Nothing really. I might hang out with friends from my university and on Sunday I'm going to the Jewel concert with my mom."

"So, did you have a serious boyfriend in college."
"No."

"You must've seen a lot of crazy s@#$ in Honduras -- you know, like gangs and political stuff?"
"Not really. That all happened the day I left."

ANYWAY, these questions have made me want to actually finish something. When people ask I want to be able to say, "Yes I do play the guitar and I'm damn good at it."

entry level

I'm back in San Diego ... and the search for a job has begun! The more I talk to friends my age the more I think we're experiencing the same emotions: confusion and frustration. We're done with college but we don't yet have the job of our dreams --- and we're not sure what that job actually is anymore.

With that said, I had my second interview at The Reader today -- it's not for an editorial position, but I'm still excited about it. I should know by the end of the week if I got the job!

Tonight a bunch of friends from JBU are coming over for dinner -- it should be a blast! Tomorrow I'm going to Mexico with my dad and Bethany -- I'm pretty excited about that too! Friday I'm getting new registration tags for my car ... and that's the extent of my life plans for now.

Peace.

ousting presidents

I'm back in the U.S.A. safe and sound, but I can't help but wish I was in Honduras to see first-hand how the situation with President Zelaya will turn out. I've been reading updates in the New York Times, but when I compare them to the information I receive from people in Honduras and my own first-hand experiences I'm deeply frustrated.

The Organization of American States (OAS) called the military overthrow an "old-fashioned coup" and has given Honduras three days to replace their ousted president. The OAS says that if Honduras doesn't let Zelaya back they will be suspended from the group.

Here's the thing that makes me livid. The articles do not accurately portray the situation in Honduras. The Honduran president has been trying to change the constitution so that he can stay in power at least for another term. He was telling people to go to the polls to vote to make these changes. Technically, according to the Honduran constitution, this is an act of treason against the country because it goes against the constitution. However, until the president formally published something telling people do vote to change the constitution it wasn't made official. The night before President Zelaya was removed he published this edict, thus giving the military legal reason to remove him.

It wasn't an illegal coup!

The Honduran military wasn't acting unruly or chaotically --- they were simply defending their country's constitution and democracy! The U.S. and other members of the OAS need to get their facts straight!

To get better information about the situation in Honduras read the comments on the New York Times article today.