walt whitman

i love this quote more each time i read it. enjoy:

"This is what you shall do:
Love the earth and sun and the animals,
despise riches,
give alms to everyone that asks,
stand up for the stupid and crazy,
devote your income and labor to others,
hate tyrants,
argue not concerning God,
have patience and indulgence toward the people,
take off your hat to nothing known or unknown or to any man or number of men,
go freely with powerful uneducated persons and with the young and with the mothers of families,
read these leaves in the open air every season of every year of your life,
re-examine all you have been told at school or church or in any book,
dismiss whatever insults your own soul, and your very flesh shall be a great poem and have the richest fluency not only in its words but in the silent lines of its lips and face and between the lashes of your eyes and in every motion and joint of your body..."

~walt whitman

Today's Recommendation: Music

Today I recommend ...


... Pandora set to the Aretha Franklin channel.


I've been listing to it all afternoon.

red and yellow, black and white ...

Today I rode my bike to Balboa Park to finish off "Made to Stick" and enjoy an unusually warm January afternoon outdoors. Sitting on a bench in front of the coy pond it dawned on me one of the reasons I love America: the diversity of people you see on a day-to-day basis.

In Uganda everyone was African, with the exception of a few missionaries, British businesspeople and foreign journalists. In Honduras everyone was pretty much Latin. People looked different from each other, but not drastically like here.

I wasn't at the Park more than 30 minutes and I saw people from more than a dozen nations. How beautiful. People marvel at the diversity of fish in an aquarium, but people are no less diverse, I think. I love encountering so many different countries and cultures without even having to get into my car.

a day in the field

Highlights from work yesterday (i spend half the day out of the office):

This advertisement makes me want to throw up.

Was a little surprised to see this. But or a second was also tempted to add one to my window.

In case you can't read it -- "RIPPIE: Rich hippie". ha

what's this about?

I've been trying to figure out what this blog should be about --now that my adventure in Honduras is over. At times I feel like my life in San Diego is too boring to write about. It's not, but how do I communicate something about my current life in a way that interests and challenges or inspires you?

I'm not sure yet.

Today at work I decided to begin a list of my favorite things. Number one on the list today is Cocorosie. Check out their song "By Your Side". It makes me want to live a life worth writing about.

Congrats to my best friend Meghan on being engaged! I can't wait to be there dressed in whatever color you decide!

Traveling Stories

Traveling Stories: Fueling children's minds with stories.

"Every man who knows how to read has it in his power to magnify himself, to multiply the ways in which he exists, to make his life full, significant and interesting." ~Aldous Huxley

Huxley is right. Being able to read really does empower us to make our lives more full, significant and interesting. In a recent interview with Parade magazine Oprah shared similar sentiments. She said, "I wasn't a dreamer as much as I was a reader. That allowed me to see ... that there was a world beyond my backyard."

Oprah is right, too. But what about people who can read but have no access to books? This is why I am starting Traveling Stories, a non profit organization dedicated to putting books into the hands of kids who have none.

The idea for Traveling Stories began when I was teaching high school students in Honduras. My students hated reading but had little to no access to books, something I could hardly fathom having grown up in a country with bookstores and libraries in every neighborhood. During my trip home for Christmas I purchased 40 books from used book stores. I took them back to my students in January and made them read for an hour a day. Eventually they fell in love with reading! I saw their behavior and attitude toward learning English improve incredibly! I decided to try and provide that opportunity to more kids. Thus, Traveling Stories.

Currently I'm raising money to pay for the legal fees of becoming an official 501c3 organization. It's going to cost roughly $1,000 ($250 to get incorporated and $750 for the 501c3). Here's what I'm looking for:

1. 200 people willing to give $5 each
2. 50 people willing to give $20 each, or
   
3. 20 people willing to give $50 each.
   

This is an exciting time for Traveling Stories! A lot of great things are happening. If you want to learn more leave me a comment! If you want to donate please click on the "DONATE" button at the right of this screen!!

The first books will be donated to an orphanage and preschool in San Salvador, El Salvador.

Thanks for reading!

on the inside

I was thinking/looking over some of my recent posts and I'm grossed out by how ugly of a person I can be sometimes.
Life can be so beautiful, but why do I make a mess of it sometimes -- and why, when I'm met with ugly situations, do I sometimes choose to make them even uglier?
I think part of our purpose in life is to bring beauty to situations -- to expose it, to create it, to highlight it. We're meant to redeem the ugly things -- as we ourselves are being redeemed.

blue lips and more

Saw Regina Spektor last night.
She was wonderful.

It' Friday ...

and so far I'm not in love.

It's only 9:04 but already a few crappy things have happened.

1) got into a big fight in the bathroom with my sister. We both picked on each others' weak point. I made her cry. For some reason I laughed, even though I felt like crying too. She called me crazy.

2) at the coffee shop by work i got my butt half grabbed by a guy we'll call S. He came in for half-hug that turned into a butt graze. gross.


All this before I even stepped into work. What else will happen today!?

Jumper

Today it took more than an hour to get to work --and it was almost all traffic. (Normally it takes 25 minutes) About 15 minutes into the traffic a sign said "Expect Delays, Accident at 94 and 5 North.

About 35 minutes later I was merging onto the 5 North from the 94, expecting to see a huge accident. There was none. Instead I saw a woman standing on top of a bridge. Is it ironic that I was also listening to Third Eye Blind's "Jumper" about this time? But unlike the song, I was not urging this woman to step back from the ledge.


The bridge ...if you look real close you can see the woman standing on top, to the right of the palm tree.

If I remember correctly I said something a little more like "F@#$, Jump, B#$%^!"

Wow! Mean, right?!!!! I'm not proud of my road rage, but I think most of you would have similar responses.

It turns out that this woman has been threatening to jump since 1:30 this morning! WHAT?! So I wonder, why is she still there!?!? Why are 6-8 lanes of traffic still blocked for her?!?!! Can't they just tranquilize her and pull her off the bridge?

That's all ---just a little drive-to-work story. Hope your morning drive was less hateful. :)

circle of life

Today I am listening to "Circle of Life" from The Lion King soundtrack on repeat. It's amazing. I'm inspired to live a better life.
Here's the youtube video link. You owe it to yourself to watch it, at least once!

Also, just came across this --Psalm 96:

Sing to God a brand-new song. He's made a world of wonders!
Shout the news of his victory from sea to sea, take the news of his glory to all the lost,
news of his wonders to one and all!
For God is great, and worth a thousand hallelujahs.
His terrible beauty makes the gods look cheap; pagan gods are mere tatters and rags.
... Bring gifts and celebrate, bow before the beauty of God,
then to your knees -Everyone worship!
... Let's hear it from the sky, with earth joining in, a huge round of applause from sea.
Let wilderness turn cartwheels, animals, come dance, put every tree in the forest in the choir --
an extravaganza before God as he comes, as he comes to set everything right on earth,
set everything right, treat everyone fair.

pandas and punctuation books

If there was any doubt before (come one, there had to be some!), it's all gone now. I am definitely a nerd because today at the library (yes, I go to libraries on Saturday) I checked out a book on punctuation ... and started reading it ... and guess what?! I enjoy it!

Here's the book. We'll see if my punctuation gets any better. :)

Coffee Shop Pervs

On Monday afternoon I walked into my favorite coffee shop, the one right across the street from work, to order an ice tea.

Mr. Cafe Musician (the one who sits at the counter every day recording music and waiting for his big break) walked up to me, put his arm around my shoulder and said, "You got me sick."

"What?!" I asked.

"You got me sick when we were making out," Mr. Cafe Musician says.

"What the hell are you talking about. We've never made out and we're never going to make out," I saw.

"Well ..." he stammers. "Maybe in my dreams."

Then Mr. Cafe Musician tries to kiss my cheek --

"No way," I say.

Where do they come up with this crap?!!?

i'm back.

Hi.
It's me again.
It's been about a month and I think I'm ready to return to blogging.

Today's topic: being pursued.

I've been a Christian since I was 8 years old. It happened at the Del Mar Fair in a little Bible story tent (not creepy like it sounds). The decision to put God in charge of my life was simple: It made sense. It still makes sense. However, it's been 15 years and what still is not simple is figuring out how my life should look. Following God is a lot of work and most of the time I feel confused. So, I've decided to ask God something: Please pursue me.

I know the Bible promises that if we pursue God we will find him. But right now I really need God to find me. I want to feel wanted by him.

I'm not sure if this quote is relevant to the topic, but they said it in church today and I really liked it:
"God is present to us in the most destructive aspect of our cultural captivity." ~Robert Mulholland

we're on a break

I'm taking a break from journalism and re-evaluating what I want to do with my life. In the meantime I'm not reading as many newspapers and I'm not updating this thing.

Enjoy the silence.

Be back sometime in the future -- I think.

yesterday in pictures

Thursday, August 13, 2009. The day started as usual with getting dressed. By 8:15 a.m. I was signing paper work to donate blood for dengue research. Work began a little later than usual -- about 9:10. In the afternoon that shirtless man sat at the tables in front of my window. After work I met up with a friend for a Hornblower concert cruise with Meiko! It was a solid day.

cops kill crazy man

Yesterday I was trying to get to Horton Plaza, a mall in downtown. The traffic was insane and cops were everywhere. I found a parking spot and rushed toward the yellow caution tape to find out what had happened.

Apparently the cops had shot and killed a crazy man who had been walking around threateningly with a stolen steak knife.

The fired 3 or 4 shots and the man died on the scene, which just so happened to be one of the most trafficked streets in downtown San Diego.

My question is this: Was it really necessary to shoot (with real bullets) and KILL this crazy man?

Interestingly enough this story did NOT even make it on the front page the SD Union Tribune (the major city newspaper in San Diego). WHY?

What do you think? Would you have shot a crazy homeless man if he had started walking toward you with a steak knife? AND, do you think this story deserved to be on the front page? Click here to see what made the front page instead.

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"